open sea

Chapter 545
At noon, in the East Palace of the Forbidden City, two young men, one big and one small, who hadn’t slept enough, were sitting outside the palace wrapped in thick winter clothes and basking in the sun.

The big Han warriors in golden helmets and armors moved the earth sphere from the emperor's bedroom to the stone steps outside the hall, and a huge map of the world made of tanned deerskin was laid on the floor under the chairs of the two.

"Your Majesty has read Chen's Tao Te Ching, what do you think of that book?"

In the palace, Zhang Juzheng and Empress Dowager Li were sitting on the side. The emperor was like a quail and he didn’t dare to ask anything. He was totally different from the spirit of the court meeting. Naturally, Chen Mu didn’t dare to be presumptuous. The meal was very serious and very boring. .

If they continue to be restrained like this, although little Wanli will have high talents, but his repressed nature will definitely cause problems with his personality. The students of later generations will be nervous about their studies and the teachers will be strict, but after all, there will still be classmates playing and chatting with them to relieve stress, but the emperor have what?
Chen Mu was dragged to the East Palace by Wanli, watched the little emperor command his warriors to lift out the sphere of the earth, and took out a huge map of the world that he had hidden for a long time. The childish notes on racecourses and Nanyang fishing grounds were invited to read like a treasure, and with a proud look, he raised his chin and told about the cleverness of covering the windows with a thin cloth to prevent light at night, which made Chen Mu's nose sour for no reason. .

This picture is very naive, very naive, with traces of sketches and alterations on it, which even lowers the grade of the leather scroll map.

Chen Mu, who was randomly transferred from the military guard to twenty flag officers who graduated from the Navy Lecture Hall, could draw a hundred times more rigorous than this picture.

However, its majestic length of four feet long and three feet wide means that this is absolutely impossible to complete, and Wanli is only one person, and only 12 years old. Chen Mu seems to be able to see that in countless nights, the doors and windows of the palace Putting on the cloth and carefully lighting the lamps in the hall, the little emperor, who was avoiding his mother's punishment, lay down on the ground clumsily and earnestly, carefully sketching out a grand blueprint with pen and ink.

No one to play with him, no one can even talk to him normally, the royal descendants have been lonely since childhood.

Chen Mu can assure you that Zhang Juzheng must be aware of this problem, because he was in Zhifang before the court, and he heard Xu Jue casually mention that the cabinet produced white lotus flowers, and the Hanlin Academy produced double white swallows. After a meal.

'The emperor was young, so he shouldn't use these strange things to make the emperor playful. '

As the leader of the eunuch, he knows the general situation very well, but in fact the emperor is not greedy for fun, he has nothing to do with it.

So Chen Mu spent the whole morning listening to the emperor's narration of the masterpiece, like describing the grand blueprint of a great empire with childish tone and ideas, and also like finding a long-lost bosom friend to tell the secrets buried in his heart, more like a student finally finding a long-lost teacher Like waiting to check homework, recite the special products of each plot, and describe the arrangements for the people of each plot in the future.

"You speak first."

Little Wanli held in his arms the pet cat that Siam paid tribute to at the end of last year, squinted his eyes and spread it out on the chair, lazily basking in the sun, and from time to time put out a small piece of pie from the small square box between them, He takes a bite and lets the cat take a bite.

The pie was still the old taste of Chen Mu's last visit to the palace a few years ago, and it was bought by Wanli's eunuchs outside Donghua Gate.

Today he was authorized to spend a day with Chen Mu who has not returned to Beijing for four years. It seems that Chen Mu doesn't care about the rules, he won't scold him for sitting idle, and he doesn't seem to be afraid of him, which makes him very comfortable , said: "You have heard a lot, the earliest and best map of the Ming Dynasty was drawn by you, what do you think of my map?"

"Your Majesty is wrong. The first and best map of the Ming Dynasty was not drawn by a minister. Maps require standards, and the method of planning and drawing squares is the first choice. This method originated from Pei Xiu's six bodies of cartography in the Jin Dynasty. Zhebaili, this method is used in many maps of Guochao, the best is Luo Hongxian's "Guangyu Tu", but this method does not take into account that the universe is round."

Chen Mu raised his finger and pointed at the huge sphere of the earth, and said in a persuasive and entertaining way: "If there is one county and one prefecture, you don't need to think about these things, but the map of the world must consider latitude and longitude. At four places with the same longitude, Baima, Junyi, Fugou, and Shangcai, the height of the shadow was measured, which overturned the previous saying in the Northern and Southern Dynasties that "the ground is separated by thousands of miles, and the shadow is one inch long". By one degree."

"Chen's map in the Tao Te Ching, Jingwei followed this example, combined with the Western map obtained by the war, and pieced it together into today's map. Your Majesty can see that many places on the map are newly added. All powerful countries in the world have been Join this race to discover the world, their technology is improving, Your Majesty was born in the generation of Emperor Ming, Daming can't be the one who is discovered, but the one who discovers others."

Little Wanli seemed to understand but half understood, nodding his head and smilingly, he weighed the big sleeve of the sun and moon robe, pointed at the ball with his hand out and said: "I have already found them!"

"You mean, my map is already very accurate?"

"At this stage, this map is the most accurate map of the world in Ming Dynasty, but I think His Majesty can make it more accurate." Chen Mu raised a smile and said: "The Nanyang Military Mansion has always been used for war, and there is a shortage of manpower in the country. The astronomical calendar is not accurate enough, and the prediction of solar eclipses often fails. A new calendar should be compiled. Mathematics is advanced enough. A new calendar should be formulated and the longitude and latitude of the universe should be further measured. This is not only beneficial to the calendar, but also beneficial to war.”

"In the next generation, China's territory will expand rapidly. The territory currently governing Luzon and Xinming is still small, but with the further exploration and exploration of Xinming and Guinea, the territory will be doubled. The exact calendar and maps used."

After Chen Mu finished speaking, he cupped his hands to Xiao Wanli and said, "I have finished talking about my views on Tutu, and it's time for Your Majesty to talk about Your Majesty's views on Tao Te Ching."

The little emperor blinked and said, "Is this the end?"

"It's not over yet, you haven't said whether the map I made is suitable for use, but it's impossible. The queen mother made people burn the map when she saw it, and I begged to snatch it back after the corners were burned; the Tai Tuo asked me to be humble and studious , Think more about the strategy of governing the country, don't do these meaningless things, what about you?"

Chen Mu smiled, of course he knew what Wanli wanted to hear, and he also knew the purpose of others' words, he said: "The queen mother is your majesty's mother, the queen mother can decide what your majesty will learn and what not to learn; Mr. Zhang Ge He is His Majesty's teacher, Ge Lao can advise His Majesty to learn what is beneficial to the country."

"What the Empress Dowager and the Elder Ge taught is correct, but this does not mean that I have to repeat those correct advices again. Your Majesty was able to make this picture with a young body, even if it is copied, so You can't do it in less than half a year if you spend your energy and time. Your Majesty has this wisdom and perseverance, and the restrictions and advice of the Empress Dowager and the Elder will naturally be remembered in his heart. He understands the emperor's responsibility, and I think that there is no need for my ministers to persuade me."

"I thought that if the late emperor was still there, he would be very pleased to see this map of the world and would encourage him more. As an important minister of the court, Chen should overstep and tell His Majesty a truth on behalf of the late emperor."

Chen Mu said, showing his hands from the big sleeves of the scarlet robe, picked up a piece of pie and chewed it slowly. This pie is not as delicious as mountains and seas. In fact, the taste is just ordinary, but it was Emperor Longqing's favorite pie during his lifetime.

"The Ming Empire that the late emperor took over was precarious. There was a financial deficit inside, and there were southern and northern barbarians outside. There were endless rebellions in various places. The generals were exhausted, and the virtuous ministers were exhausted. The emperor was helpless, and the slightest carelessness fell apart."

"As for Daming, which His Majesty took over, domestic reforms have achieved initial results. The warehouse has been sufficient for two years. Grain production has increased year by year, military technology has developed rapidly, commercial activities have flourished unprecedentedly, and there are countless culture, education and entertainment. It is easy for imperial soldiers to attack and defend. The Tatars in the northern part of the country are farming and raising sheep, and they dare not invade their borders, and the Huangming fleet is invincible across the four seas—this is the most powerful empire in the world.”

"Daming is a ship, and the rudder is held in His Majesty's hands. What I want to tell His Majesty on behalf of the late emperor is that for the rejuvenated Daming Empire, there is nothing impossible. There is only one problem. Where will the king lead his people to go?" ?”

(End of this chapter)