The struggle for the throne among nine princes—I really don't want to be the crown prince.

Chapter 419 We Must Open Our Eyes to the World
Chen Daoquan was completely stunned!
He felt like a lightning rod struck by lightning—numb from head to toe!

This foreigner named Tang Ruowang is probably talking nonsense!

Why doesn't this guy say pigs can climb trees? Did he escape from some opera troupe?

The earth is round? How could that be!
But they insisted on making it sound very convincing, saying that more than a hundred years ago, someone led a fleet westward, only to return to the starting point.

If the earth isn't round, this simply can't be explained.

Chen Daoquan's mind was buzzing, and for a moment, he couldn't even speak.

After all, the theoretical system of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau was entirely based on the concept of "a round heaven and a square earth".

It's like the load-bearing walls of a house; now that the foundation has been dug up, won't the house collapse?
Hearing Shen Ye call his name, he stammered, "Your Highness, I still... I still don't believe the earth is round."

"This...this is not scientific!"

Chen Daoquan scratched his head anxiously, "If the earth is round, why doesn't water flow downwards?"

"I do not believe!"

Shen Ye said with a smile, "There are many things in the world that cannot be explained, that's because we haven't studied them enough."

"But we have to acknowledge and accept what has been proven."

"As for other issues, we can study them later."

"Chen Daoquan, your explanation is extremely disappointing!"

At this point, he turned to Zhou Bao and instructed him, "Zhou Bao, please ask Mr. Tang Ruowang to go and rest for a while."

No sooner had Tang Ruowang left than the scene erupted in chaos:

"Is the Earth really round? Does that mean we're all just rolling around on one big sphere?"

"That must be it. Otherwise, how do you explain the foreigner's claim of circumnavigating the globe? It couldn't be that the entire fleet got lost, could it?"

"I never expected the Crown Prince to find such a foreigner. Sigh, this has really slapped our old faces..."

Just as everyone was discussing it enthusiastically, Shen Ye calmly spoke up: "The Imperial Observatory hasn't even figured out what the Earth looks like, yet they're talking about the interaction between heaven and man. Isn't that ridiculous!"

"Westerners knew that the earth was round more than a hundred years ago, and they even sailed around the world."

"But what about us? We don't even know how to learn from what others offer us. When there's an earthquake in Mount Tai, we say that Heaven is wrathful."

"Don't you feel ashamed or embarrassed?"

Shen Ye's words made the assembled officials blush and turn pale in turns.

The earthquake at Mount Tai was said to have "incurred the wrath of Heaven and the resentment of the people," which was originally their perfect weapon to use against the Crown Prince!
As it turned out, the prince acted unpredictably, throwing out the bombshell statement, "The earth is round," which left them completely bewildered.

After all, they are used to the idea that the sky is round and the earth is square, and that humans and nature interact.

Although the sky is still a bit blurry, the fact that the earth is round has already been proven. Under these circumstances, they didn't know what to say.

Tong Guowei sighed inwardly. With the idea that the earth is round, the debate on the heavens was basically doomed to fail.

It's unbelievable that the Crown Prince could turn the tide at a time like this!
He even had a sense of despondency.

Tong Guowei sighed inwardly: Well, the Debate on Heaven is basically over.

It's difficult to depose the crown prince, but it seems even more difficult to depose the current crown prince!

He was waiting for the Crown Prince to announce the end of the meeting when he heard Shen Ye say again, "Bring up the 'Map of the World'!"
At Shen Ye's instruction, a map that was a full five meters in size was brought up.

This map was created by Shen Ye based on his memories from his previous life, combined with nautical charts from Tang Ruowang and others.

This debate on the heavens isn't just about what the heavens look like.

He also wanted to take the opportunity to do some things.

After the map was hung up, Shen Ye slowly walked to its location and said calmly, "My lords, can you find where we are now?"

Tong Guowei and Zhang Ying were both looking at the picture carefully.

Although they were all very knowledgeable people, they were still shocked when they saw this picture.

They thought they lived in the center of the world, surrounded by wild and desolate lands.

But looking at this huge map, I suddenly felt a sense of the vastness of the world.

"Your Highness, we are here." Tong Guowei looked carefully for a few moments, then compared the map he had seen before and located the capital.

"That's right, we're right here!"

Shen Ye pointed to the map and said, "But does everyone know which country is the largest in the world?"

If Shen Ye had asked this question earlier, the people present might have immediately said it was the Great Zhou Dynasty, but now, faced with such a large map, they dared not speak for a moment.

In the cold wind, the sixth and seventh-rank officials standing below all stared wide-eyed, listening quietly.

This time, they came with great force, ready to pin the blame for offending Heaven directly on the Crown Prince.

But to their surprise, the crown prince did not follow the usual path at all.

He directly found a foreigner and used the foreigner's words to prove that the earth is round, thus directly overturning the idea that the sky is flat and the earth is square.

Although they were unwilling to believe what the foreigners said, those people had already circumnavigated the globe for over a hundred years.

This kind of thing simply can't be faked.

Therefore, for some people who were hoping to become famous overnight, their path to fame was essentially cut off before they even took the stage. This debate on the heavens seems to be coming to an end now.

Unexpectedly, the Crown Prince then produced a map of all nations and asked everyone which country was the greatest in the world.

Seeing that the ministers in front remained silent, some people immediately felt that their opportunity had arrived.

He stepped forward and said, “Your Highness, we are the Celestial Empire, the largest country in the world, naturally our Great Zhou.”

Although this person was only a sixth-rank official, his words carried a hint of arrogance.

Shen Ye smiled and asked, "How should I address this gentleman?"

"Your subject is Wang Bozhong, a sixth-rank assistant director of the Ministry of Revenue."

When Shen Ye asked his name, the man's voice became much louder.

Shen Ye smiled and said, "Lord Wang, the largest country in the world is no longer us, but the British Empire located in Western Europe."

"It is called the empire on which the sun never sets for only one reason: its territory is spread all over the land we live on."

"The meaning of 'the empire on which the sun never sets' is that the sun shines on their land forever."

At this point, Shen Ye pointed to the blue areas on the map and said, "Here, here, and here, these blue areas are all its territory."

Looking at the large expanses of blue on the map, especially the area around India, some people couldn't believe it: "How can India be called the place where the sun never sets?"

“This…this should be the Mughal Empire,” a fifth-rank official couldn’t help but retort.

Only after he finished speaking did he realize that his questioning of the crown prince was somewhat rebellious.

He hurriedly said, "Your Highness, please forgive my rudeness. It is really... really that what you said is different from the records I saw in the Court of Colonial Affairs."

Shen Ye smiled and said, "Today is a debate on the heavens, and no one will be punished for their words!"

"Since this gentleman knows about India, he should be familiar with it. India is a large country with a large population and a rich and splendid culture."

"This is where Buddhism originated."

“The monk Xuanzang traveled west to this place to obtain Buddhist scriptures.”

"But such a great power was defeated by the British Empire just a few decades ago, and then ruled this place."

"As for the Mughal Empire, it has already been destroyed."

Although the topic was the Mughal Empire, Tong Guowei and the others still felt a sense of unease upon hearing this.

Such a great nation, wiped out so easily, and we didn't even have a shred of news...

Shen Ye coughed and pointed to the "Map of the World" and said, "Do you all know where the British Empire originated?"

Because there were so many blue areas on the map, no one could guess what was going on for a while.

After a moment of silence, someone pointed to the location of South America and said, "Could it be here?"

"This place is vast and rich in resources, and it is most likely to give rise to a large country."

Shen Ye shook his head and said, "Your reasoning is not bad, but it's a great pity. The birthplace of the British Empire is not here. This place is just a colony of the British Empire."

"Your Highness, what is a colony?" Although Zhang Ying didn't know what the Crown Prince was really up to, he was still willing to broaden his horizons.

Shen Ye said, "A colony is a place controlled by the British Empire using force."

"Could the birthplace of the British Empire be here?" someone else asked, pointing to the location of North America.

Shen Ye pointed to the Americas and said, "Everyone, there's no need to guess anymore. The birthplace of the British Empire is not here at all."

As he spoke, he pointed to the region of Africa and said, "There isn't one here either."

"Your Highness, the British Empire couldn't have originated here, could it?" A third-rank official pointed to the British Isles and asked incredulously.

Shen Ye smiled and said, "My lord, although I know you don't believe it, congratulations, you're right. This is the origin of the British Empire."

"More than a hundred years ago, the British Empire was just one of three small countries on this island. In recent years, it has relied on its invincible fleet to colonize the world."

"We have established our current territory among all the nations of the world."

"Moreover, the British Empire amassed countless gold and resources through these colonies, which were continuously transported back to its homeland via large ships."

"Because the colonies were too large for them to manage, they built manors, and the lives of these manor owners were similar to those of the gentry during the Jin Dynasty."

The aristocratic families of the Jin Dynasty!

Upon hearing the Crown Prince mention this title, Zhang Ying felt a surge of longing.

Although he knew that the life of the aristocracy was something they could never return to, that didn't stop him from longing for it.

The British Empire, with its vast territory, actually allowed people to build enormous manors; this was truly...

Several of the older princes looked at the vast territory on the map, and many of them showed strange expressions.

The eldest prince, in particular, completely lost his chance to ascend the throne because of his own stupidity.

Under such circumstances, if the imperial court also establishes a colony, would he have the opportunity to become a prince there?
Suddenly, his heart burned with passion.

"Your Highness, what is your purpose in telling us all this?"

(End of this chapter)