Wentang

Chapter 653 Talking about the World

After seeing the ceremony, everyone took their seats. Li Shimin glanced at the courtiers and generals, and he was full of pride in his heart. This is his capital to fight for hegemony.

Li Chengqian sat in the first seat below him.This is the first time he has appeared in public after being injured, and the joy from the heart is undisguised on his face.

His injury has improved greatly, and he can already move with a limp, and he can move freely with the help of arm crutches, but it will be at least one or two months before he recovers.

However, the doctor had already assured him that after the injury healed, he would act like an ordinary person without lameness.

This kind of meeting that decides the future direction allows him, a prince, to attend, which shows how satisfied Li Shimin is with him.

Li Shimin took the lead and said, "Misters, I don't need to say much about the purpose of this meeting. You all understand the purpose of this meeting. In the past, we looked at the world as if we covered the veil, and we could only see the corner in front of us."

"This also gave us undue self-confidence, thinking that the Central Plains is the center of the world, and everything outside the Central Plains is a barren land..."

"Now that the veil is lifted, we can witness the true face of the world. At the same time, it also makes us understand that Datang is not the center of the world."

"Besides Great Tang, there are also powerful countries and prosperous civilizations. Some countries and civilizations are even right next to us, and they may stretch out their claws at us at any time..."

Speaking of this, he suddenly asked: "Shouldn't anyone think that as long as we practice the holy way everywhere, others will live in peace with us?"

Everyone shook their heads. There may be such fools, but there is absolutely no such childish person who can sit in this room.

Li Shimin smiled with satisfaction: "That's good. If there is such a person, you must tell me in advance. I will create the best conditions for him and send him to the enemy country to practice the holy way in his heart."

"Haha..." Everyone burst into laughter.

In the midst of these jokes, Datang's external strategic direction was determined, and they took the initiative to participate in the world hegemony, creating an unprecedented glorious history belonging to them.

Li Shimin continued: "Before you only saw the whole map of the universe, and you didn't know much about the actual situation in each place. So your books tend to be conservative and full of worries about the future."

"It's not your fault, it's my mistake. I should tell you the more specific situation. Among us, Cui Lan knows the whole picture of the world best. Let him analyze the current world situation for you now."

If it was in the previous life, there would definitely be applause at this moment, but it's a pity that this group of 'natives' don't understand this, which makes Yue Shan quite regretful.But it still makes him very happy that everyone pays attention to him.

Coming to the front of the map, Yue Shan didn't say anything nonsense in the opening remarks, and went straight to the point: "Let's put it simply, the world centered on Tang Dynasty can be divided into two different worlds, the east and the west. Let's talk about the east first... ..."

"This is Nanzhan Buzhou. The overall area is larger than that of the Tang Dynasty, and it is isolated overseas. It can also be regarded as a large island."

"There is no powerful country on this island, or there is no country at all. The civilization is very backward and still in a very backward and primitive stage, even more backward than the barbarians in the south of the Tang Dynasty."

Speaking of this, Yue Shan could clearly see that the expressions on everyone's faces relaxed a lot. He knew what these people were thinking, and there was one less powerful opponent.

"These people are scattered all over the island in tribes and live a nomadic life. But I want to emphasize that although they live as nomads, they don't have horses. There are no horses in the whole Nanzhan Buzhou."

Everyone's eyes lit up immediately. Nomads live without horses, and civilization is still very backward. This...

"Moreover, the natural conditions here are more suitable for human survival than in Lingnan. There are not so many schistosomiasis, no miasma pervading everywhere, and there are not even large beasts, tigers, leopards, and wolves."

"Bang." There was a loud noise, and Cheng Yaojin yelled loudly: "This is simply a gift from the heavens to Datang."

How did you become Datang's thing? You, Cheng Yaojin, are really shameless, and other people despise you.Then they all opened their mouths and said: "Yes, yes, God and God are to blame. This Nanzhan Buzhou belongs to my Tang Dynasty."

"Haha... Zhuqing's words are deeply in my heart. This Nanzhan Buzhou must be owned by my Tang Dynasty." Li Shimin said, "However, we will talk about how to get it later, and now continue to listen to Cui Lan's explanation."

Only then did everyone quiet down, Yue Shan slid his fingers to stop at one place, and said: "This is Dongsheng Shenzhou, a place of great treasures, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is the most precious place in the world."

"Is it bigger than the Central Plains?" Xiao Yu seemed a little unwilling to believe it.

"It can only be said that each has its own strengths, but overall it is indeed slightly better. Let me give you a few examples." Yue Shan said: "There are grains that can easily exceed five shi per mu, and not Less than two."

"Hiss." Everyone gasped, and most people's eyes were red.

Fang Xuanling said in a trembling voice: "Does Yue Hou take this seriously?"

"Of course it's true."

Fang Xuanling immediately said to Li Shimin: "Saint, I would like to go to Dongsheng Shenzhou to get better seeds, please allow me."

"The minister is also willing to go."

"Me too!"

Others also got up to petition one after another. This is a good breed with an yield of more than five stones per mu, how many people can it feed.With the good-bred Datang, more troops can be formed and fight further afield.

Li Shimin smiled and said: "Everyone, don't worry, Cui Lan and I sent a fleet to Dongsheng Shenzhou last year, and we should be able to return this year. Even if we can't bring back good seeds, we can explore a safe route and prepare for the next sea trip." Prepare."

Hearing this, everyone praised in unison: "The sage is wise."

At this time, Li Jing suddenly said worriedly: "Since Dongsheng Shenzhou has such treasures, then their strength should be very strong, and they may become the strongest enemy of my Tang Dynasty."

"Haha..." Yue Shan continued with a smile: "Don't worry, Lord Wei. In theory, a powerful country should be born here, but it has the same flaw as Nanzhan Buzhou, and there are no horses."

Another place without horses?Everyone was both happy and puzzled. In their perception, horses should be found all over the world. Why are there no horses in so many places?

"Not only are there no horses here, but there are no boats in the true sense. Metal smelting technology is very backward. Only the southern region has bronze tools, and other places still use stone tools and bone tools."

"Isn't that even worse than a slut?" Yu Chigong muttered.Everyone else nodded approvingly.

"It's not the same. Although they don't have horses, ships, or metal tools, they rely on their population advantage to give birth to their own civilization. Although it's not as splendid as my Chinese civilization, we can't belittle them because of this."

"Without metal tools, they couldn't cut down trees in large quantities, couldn't manufacture large-scale equipment and tools, and couldn't communicate with people far away without horses. They developed a civilization based on city-states based on local conditions."

"The so-called city-state civilization is centered on the city, ruling the surrounding villages and towns within hundreds of miles, and then communicating with each other between city-states."

City-state?Township?civilization?

Everyone here showed ferocious smiles. In front of the powerful fleet and the powerful army armed to the teeth, they were the chickens and dogs.

"This treasure land should also belong to my Tang Dynasty." Li Ji said dryly.

"Yes." The others agreed.

Regarding their hooliganism, Yue Shan just wanted to say that I like it, and he added: "During the Zhou Dynasty and the Shang Dynasty, many survivors of the Shang Dynasty refused to accept the rule of the Zhou Dynasty and went northward, crossing this strait to Dongsheng Shenzhou to settle and multiply. .”

"So strictly speaking, the people of Dongsheng Shenzhou are also of my Yanhuang lineage, but as time goes by, gradually they have forgotten where their ancestors came from."

"Oh, it turns out that our ancestors had already gone there during the Shang and Zhou dynasties, and that Dongsheng Shenzhou has been my land of China since ancient times." Li Ji said as if suddenly enlightened.

"We have forgotten our ancestors, we have an obligation to let this group of Shang Dynasty survivors know their origins, and we are also obliged to educate them so that they know the rites and righteousness..." Ma Zhou said.

Everyone present became excited. Kung Fu Datang now has two more territories that are much larger than Datang. Can you not be excited?

Yue Shan continued to introduce: "This is the country of Japanese slaves. This is Xinma Island, the new land of my Tang Dynasty. The sage plans to turn this place into a horse farm. In the future, horses will be inseparable from all over the world."

"Although the territory of the Wanu Kingdom is small, they have a heart that swallows like a snake. In the letter of credence they gave to Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty in the former Sui Dynasty, they claimed to be the emperor of the country of the sunrise. If we can't solve this problem, I am afraid it will become our country in the future. A confidant at sea."

"Wonu country is rich in gold and silver, and the largest silver mine is enough for my Tang Dynasty to mine for hundreds of years, and the annual silver production is no less than one million taels."

What?Rich in gold and silver?Everyone's eyes lit up again.

Although they didn't say anything, Yue Shan knew that in their hearts, this place was already designated as the territory of Tang Dynasty.

Yue Shan added fuel to the fire: "Wanu Kingdom is very dissatisfied with our occupation of Xinma Island, and they are secretly accumulating troops with the intention of going to war with us."

"Liu Rengui was ordered by the saint to lead the main force of the Dizhou navy to attack the Japanese slave country a month ago, and wiped out the enemy's navy. He burned more than [-] warships and wiped out more than [-] enemy troops."

Some people have already known this news before, so they don't find it surprising.But some people only heard about it today, and they were naturally very surprised.

Why didn't we hear any news beforehand, and we actually fought a war with the Japanese slave country thousands of miles away?It sounds like a big win.

If it was before, they would definitely question whether it is not good to attack the vassal state at will.

But now, there is only one sentence, good fight.

"I won't repeat Goguryeo, Baekje, Silla, Khitan, and Xueyantuo. Everyone knows about them. Let me introduce here..." Yue Shan pointed to the Tibet area and said:

"This is now divided into three countries, Tubo, Subi, and Baoji. But anyone who pays a little attention to the situation here knows that the Tubo family is the only one, and the two countries of Supi and Baoji are on the verge of extinction at any time. If it weren't for me Datang supported them behind the scenes, and they were wiped out seven or eight years ago."

"The 12-year-old father of Tubo leader Songtsan Gampo was poisoned to death. He was ordered to take over the position of leader when he was in danger. He found the murderer and avenged his father in a very short time. Then he integrated the power of the whole country to invade..."

"This man is very ambitious. Once he is allowed to unify the Three Kingdoms, it will be a big trouble for my Tang Dynasty."

"Tubo is located on a plateau. People in our plains used to suffer from shortness of breath and fatigue, and they were prone to sudden death after strenuous exercise..."

"Tubo can attack, retreat and defend, but we can only defend passively. Therefore, if Datang wants to expand abroad, it must first solve this place. Otherwise..."

Li Jing seemed to think of something, and said: "The sage began to emigrate to the Qinghai area ten years ago. Over the years, he has moved more than ten thousand households. He also spent countless money and food to resettle these people. The original purpose is here..."

"The sage is far-sighted, and the minister admires him."

At first, everyone wondered what the immigration to Qinghai had to do with Tubo, but after thinking about it, they suddenly understood what was going on.Immediately admired Li Shimin.

Xiao Yu, Fang Xuanling, Wei Zheng and the others felt ashamed apart from admiration. Back then they often made trouble for Li Shimin about this matter.I don't know what to think about immigrating to Qinghai, which is not a shit.

Now I know, in order to adapt those people to the local climate, recruit soldiers.

Seeing that his deep meaning was finally understood, Li Shimin was also very happy, and the monarch and his ministers enjoyed themselves for a while.

After pausing for a while, only Yue Shan continued: "Next, I will introduce the situation in the west. My Tang Dynasty's enemies are mainly concentrated here. The west is Xiniu Hezhou."

Everyone's expressions immediately turned serious. Without Yue Shan's introduction, they could tell that Xiniu Hezhou was Datang's greatest enemy just by looking at the map.Nanzhan Buzhou and Dongsheng Shenzhou have only one name, and there are no countries and forces marked inside.

But Xiniu Hezhou is different. All the places above are marked with countries or forces, and there are no blank areas. The area of ​​some countries even exceeds that of Datang.

"You may not have any idea about these countries simply by introducing them in this way. Let me talk about two examples that you are more familiar with, so that everyone can understand them better."

"First of all, it is the Great Qin. It is not the Great Qin of the First Emperor, but the Great Qin of the Far West. Many people should have heard of this name."

"The real name of this Great Qin is the Roman Empire. This is a powerful country that has created countless brilliance. When their territory was the largest..." Yue Shan drew a big circle on the map, spanning the three continents of Europe, Asia and Africa, and said: " This circle is their territory."

Yue Shan gave a general description of the history of the Roman Empire, mainly talking about the history of Caesar and Octavian.Hearing that these two men led the army across thousands of miles to conquer foreign countries, they were all amazed.

When he heard Caesar's famous saying "I come, I see, I conquer", Li Shimin showed a yearning expression.

Everyone was shocked, the Roman Empire was too powerful.The territory is several times larger than that of Datang, and it also has a splendid civilization.

It wasn't until this time that the sense of superiority from the heavenly kingdom gradually disappeared in their hearts, and they regarded people from other places as the same existence.

"The farthest journey of Caesar and Octavian is here. It is called Egypt, and it is also an ancient civilization with a long history. The Kunlun Hill described in the Classic of Mountains and Seas is here."

"Shan Hai Jing is true?" Fang Xuanling exclaimed.

"Uh..." Yue Shan hesitated for a moment before replying, "I don't care whether the Classic of Mountains and Seas is true, but the description of the Kunlun Hill is very similar to this country called Egypt."

"But how did the ancients know...Egypt? Could it be that they have been there?" Fang Xuanling asked.

"I don't know about that. Maybe I've been there, maybe I heard it, maybe I have a fairy friend or something." Yue Shan shook his head.

"We will discuss the matter of Shan Hai Jing in the future, and now I will tell you the second example, the Huns."

"The Huns were defeated by the Han Dynasty, some surrendered, and some migrated westward, and finally they came to settle here." Yue Shan pointed to a certain part on the map, and continued:
"After decades of reproduction, the Huns have become stronger again. 200 years ago, their strength reached its peak again, and a monarch named Attila appeared. Even if everyone in history is counted, this person is The hero at the forefront..."

The story of Attila, the whip of God, is easier to understand for the people of Tang Dynasty. After all, the Huns were defeated and driven away by the Han Dynasty.

They couldn't help feeling passionate about Attila's achievements, and felt sorry for his sudden death, which led to the sudden collapse of the Hun Empire and disappeared in the long river of history.

Through this example, they also realized more deeply how important an excellent heir is to a country.

After telling the story of the Roman Empire and Attila, Yue Shan continued to explain the current power structure in the West.

"The Sasanian Dynasty, a powerful country established by the Persians... However, this country is on the verge of extinction, and it is the Arabs who will destroy them..."

"Further to the west is the Byzantine Empire and the Frankish Kingdom. The Byzantine Empire was once a part of the Roman Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire..."

"Slavs, why are they called 'people' instead of Slavs, because they are barbarians in the mouth of the Romans."

"As the name suggests, the people here are very barbaric and have a low level of civilization, and they don't have the concept of a country. They live in groups and tribes. But we can't underestimate them because of this..."

"These people are strong and fearless. It's a bit exaggerated to be one against ten, but it's not a big problem to be one against three against four. If my Tang army encounters them, we must be careful..."

Yue Shan talked about the major forces on the two continents of Europe and Asia and their conflicting relations with each other, so that the group of elites in Datang had a clearer understanding of the situation in the entire world.

But this is not over yet, Yue Shan hesitated before saying cautiously: "I will tell you two religions now, they will be the most powerful enemies of the Tang Dynasty. If they are not handled properly, they will even cause damage to my Tang Dynasty from within. Split."

Everyone was stunned, Yue Shan's tone was not so cautious when he introduced the powerful Roman Empire just now.It is so serious now, which shows that these two religions are different, and they cannot help but pay attention to them.

"One of these two religions is the Green Church and the other is the Christianity."

"Christianity has a history of more than 600 years, with a wide range of believers...Greenism has only been born for a few decades, and now its founder is still alive, the leader of the Arab Empire, Muhammad..."

"Why do I say that these two religions will become my Great Tang's rivals? This has something to do with doctrine... They are both monotheistic religions. The so-called monotheistic religion means that there is only one god, and everything originates from God and is attributed to God..."

Seeing everyone's puzzled look, Yue Shan knew that they hadn't realized the difference between monotheism and polytheism.After thinking for a while, he took out his trump card and said:

"Greenism and Christianity strictly prohibit worshiping ancestors. They believe that everything is bestowed by the gods. Worshiping ancestors is to compete for the credit of the gods and divide the loyalty to the gods. It is an act of blasphemy."

"Ah..." No need for Yue Shan to make more introductions, just not allowing ancestor worship is already unacceptable to everyone who is doing it.

"This is forgetting one's ancestors."

"I really can't believe that there is such a religion that instigates people to be unfaithful and unfilial."

"Buddhism doesn't even dare to do this..."

"This is a cult, and they are absolutely not allowed to enter Datang..."

"Yes, anyone who converts to these two sects will be severely punished..."

"Some people actually believe in this kind of cult. I can't figure it out, I can't figure it out."

Every civilization and nation has taboos that cannot be touched. For the Chinese at this time, offering sacrifices to ancestors is a taboo.Anyone who dares to say that ancestor worship is not allowed is definitely the common enemy of everyone.

What makes them even more puzzled is that there are actually people who believe in this kind of religion.

Don't say they can't figure it out, Yue Shan can't figure it out either.What is even more incomprehensible is that these two religions will become the two largest religions in the world, and the number of believers is several times that of No.3 Buddhism.

"Whether we believe in Taoism or Buddhism, they are all polytheism. This kind of religion is often inclusive, and you don't have to force it whether you believe in it or not."

"The same is true of my Chinese civilization. In the pre-Qin period, a hundred schools of thought contended, and now there are countless schools of mathematics. The collision of ideas can often give birth to the most brilliant civilization."

"Monotheism is either me or the enemy. As long as I don't believe in it, I'm all heresy, and I have to be eliminated. It's very extreme. And they are especially good at lobbying and bewitching the monarchs of other countries, and forcefully change the belief of the entire country through these monarchs."

"Monotheism also has a natural advantage. The only true god is easy to give birth to fanatics. Such people are often fearless and can explode with strong combat effectiveness."

"Because there is only one true God, it is easy to twist believers into a single rope. So once they develop, it will be very scary."

"We must be careful when contacting them in the future, and we cannot treat them with common sense, otherwise we will suffer a lot."

"...Confronting them is not only about the land under our feet, but also about our ideas. Even if we temporarily conquer that land, but the people above all believe in monotheism, we will not be able to truly occupy it..."

"So we must prepare for the ideological confrontation in advance, not only to occupy their land, but also to find ways to transform their thinking, so that they can break away from monotheism and accept our civilization..."

"This..." Everyone, including Li Shimin, looked at each other in blank dismay.

They are good at fighting, but how to fight this kind of ideological war is really beyond their ability.

In the end it was Fang Xuanling who said: "Yuehou, you are the leader of Xinxue, I'm afraid it depends on you literati. I'm afraid we are powerless."

Yue Shan said without hesitation: "I'm already preparing for this. I just finished a new book titled, Chinese Civilization recently. After the meeting is over, I will submit it to the sages for evaluation. Then you can help improve it together."

"But it's not enough to rely on me alone. We must work together with the scholars of the Tang Dynasty. It is best to bring in Taoism and Buddha together to be sure."

Everyone's eyes turned to Li Shimin, only he can make decisions about this kind of thing.Li Shimin pondered for a while, and then said: "This matter is very important, I need to think carefully, let's talk about other things first."

Yue Shan nodded and said: "That's about all I know about Xiniu Hezhou. If I continue to talk about it, there will be a lot of my personal opinions in it, which may affect your thoughts, so I won't talk about it."

"Now let me talk about Beiju Luzhou, which is a large piece of territory in the north of the Great Tang. Although this land is connected to my Great Tang, it can be regarded as two different continents."

"Beiju Luzhou has a cold climate. It is covered with snow and ice for half of the year, and the crops are harvested once a year, so there are few people. There are only a few scattered barbarians struggling to survive, and there is no strong force."

"But this piece of land is very fertile. If we can overcome the cold, it can support tens of millions of people. In the future, when the population of our Tang Dynasty is large, we can try to migrate part of it here."

"Let's talk about this place, which is the Black Earth Continent, where the Kunlun slaves live. It is hot all year round, and there are all kinds of wild animals everywhere. When people go out hungry, they can catch a few to feed their hunger."

"And the land is extremely fertile, and the climate is suitable for farming. Just sprinkle a handful of seeds on the ground and wait for the harvest without management."

Although they have been surprised countless times and their hearts have been shocked countless times during this short period of time, they still can't help being amazed when they hear this.

"In this way, isn't this place richer than Dongsheng Shenzhou? Then why is there no powerful country and influence here? Could it be that there are some defects?" Fang Xuanling asked.

"There are no flaws, there is everything here. The reason why no powerful forces and countries have been born is precisely because they are too rich. People here can eat and wear without doing anything, so naturally they lose the motivation to develop .” Yue Shan said:

"So until now, the primitive life has been maintained here, and a brilliant civilization and a powerful country have never been born."

"This..." Everyone was speechless, it was the first time they had heard of such a thing after living for so many years.Being too rich is a bad thing.

"If a country has no foreign enemies, it will perish forever. The sages never deceive me."

"What a waste of money."

"Since they don't know how to cherish it, then this place should belong to me, Datang."

Hearing this sentence, Yue Shan almost burst out laughing. He felt weird just now, but now he finally remembered, isn't this the catchphrase of the two sages of the West in the novels of the previous life.

But if you want to go to Buzhou in the south, win in China in the east, and now you want to go to the Black Earth Continent, can you manage it?

"Personally, I feel that Nanzhan Buzhou and Dongsheng Shenzhou have a higher priority than the Black Soil Continent."

The others looked at the map and nodded in agreement. After all, these two continents have not been discovered by outsiders, and Datang can seize the opportunity to occupy here.

The Black Earth Continent is different. It is connected to Xiniu Hezhou, and the competition will be fierce in the future.And judging from the map, Datang is relatively far away from there, and it is not as safe as developing the southeast two continents.

Yue Shan naturally had his own thoughts, but he didn't want to say more, for fear that his thoughts would affect other people's judgments.

"Let's talk about the extreme south and the extreme north. These two places are the extreme north of the sky and the extreme south of the earth, and they are also the two most special continents in the world."

"It is covered with ice and snow all year round, and the temperature is so cold that a pot of boiling water will turn into ice lumps after just a few breaths. The Arctic is better. Antarctica has no earth and rocks and is completely composed of a huge iceberg..."

"This is a restricted area for human beings, and it can be completely ignored... This is the general situation of the world. I have finished the introduction, and everyone can speak freely."

"Teacher." Li Chengqian spoke at this time, and said, "You haven't said where my Tang Dynasty is."

"Hehe... I almost forgot." Yue Shan said with a smile, "My name is Tang Dynasty..."

"Middle-earth China."

(End of this chapter)