Great Ming Dynasty Wen Chao Gong

Chapter 86 The concept of mainland island

"If you want to read history books well, it is not enough to just read books. It is best to see the actual situation. But people only have two feet, and one person cannot see so many mountains and rivers, so it is best to have a You can look at the map." Zhang Xiao said.

"That's true. It's just that although the student's family is relatively wealthy, it is true that this map has never been owned. This map must only be found in the homes of high-ranking officials. Or those Franconian missionaries from foreign countries may have brought the map with them. Yes, the student just happened to see the map brought by the missionary once." Li Zhizao said with emotion.

"I wonder if Zhenzhi has ever seen this thing from a missionary?" Zhang Xiao pointed to the globe placed next to him.

"This is?" Li Zhizao looked at this rather large globe in surprise.

"If you are willing to believe that the land we live on is on a sphere, then you can call this thing the earth." Zhang Xiao said.

"Is this a map brought by foreign priests? But the maps of foreign priests don't seem to be so precise." Li Zhizao looked at the globe and was a little excited.

"Zhenzhi can get closer and take a closer look. This globe can also rotate. Just slowly turn it and look at it." Zhang Xiao said.

"Thank you so much, Zhang Shidu. Zhang Shidu, this is the Ming Dynasty, then this is Korea and Japan." Li Zhizao pointed out the locations of several countries.

"It is indeed here. Due to the size limit, I only marked the locations of the two capitals and several big cities. Many places were not marked properly." Zhang Xiao said.

"It's much better than the map of all nations drawn by foreign priests that I saw before. The territory of the Ming Dynasty drawn in that map didn't look like anything at all, and it looked particularly small. Could it be that Zhang Shidu drew this map yourself? It wasn't made by foreign priests. ?" Li Zhizao suddenly reacted.

"I made it myself. Do you see anything when you look at this globe?" Zhang Xiao asked.

"I can actually see it a little bit, but I don't think so from the map. Now, looking at the globe, we can see that the land we live in is surrounded by a vast ocean." Li Zhizao said.

"Yes. So from this perspective, we all live on an island, but the island we live on is the largest island in the world. It can also be called the world island." Zhang Xiao said while using gestures to refer to the Eurasian and African continents. Rowed in a circle.

"Then why is America not considered a world island?" Li Zhizao asked.

"Because although America is big, it is still small compared to the World Island, and the population is not large. Moreover, America is divided into North and South America. Although there is a long and narrow continent in the middle, it is full of high mountains and dangerous forests, making it inconvenient to travel at all. Kirsti, who had conquered the Aztec country that year, wanted to make new achievements, so he led his army to continue the conquest along this narrow strip of land. As a result, he suffered heavy casualties and gained little, and the natives he encountered were even more ferocious. I had no choice but to go back home. Therefore, you can also understand North and South America as two large islands in similar locations." Zhang Xiao said.

"I see, Zhizao has learned a lesson." Li Zhizao said.

"Zhenzhi, you said before that you wanted to read "History of the Yuan Dynasty" to see the clever way to deal with the Mongols in the north. Now if you look at the map, can you probably point out where the Mongols are?" Zhang Xiao asked.

"The Mongols probably live in the same place as the Huns, which is probably right here." Li Zhizao pointed to the location of Monan and said.

"The place Zhenzhi is pointing to now is roughly where the Tuman Khan is. In addition, there are also the descendants of Anda Khan, Shunyi King Shalik, but the area where the Mongols are located is definitely more than that. Here, here, Until here, it is the territory of the Mongols." As Zhang Xiao said, he pointed his finger at the northwest region of China in the original time and space, as well as Outer Mongolia, Siberia, Crimea, Central Asia, and even Afghanistan. There is North India.

"So big..." Li Zhizao said with some surprise. "Is it big? Compared with the Mongol and Yuan Empire, which was at its peak, it is already much smaller. So even if the court drives away the Tuman Khans and even drives away the Shunyi King, there will still be Oara tribe Run over. The centipede is dead but not stiff. The world hegemony established by Genghis Khan and his descendants is simply too powerful." Zhang Xiao said.

"Yes, such a powerful Mongolia, I don't know how Taizu defeated them back then, and drove the Mongolian emperor out of Dadu." Li Zhizao sighed.

"So, if Ming Dynasty wants to completely defeat the Mongolian forces, it is basically saying that it wants to dominate the World Island. The core area of ​​the World Island is basically occupied by the Mongols now. If these places can be controlled, then they can If we occupy this place, not to mention the Franco Kingdom, all European countries will tremble. When the Mongolian and Yuan cavalry came from the east, they were unable to withstand it," Zhang Xiao said.

"Xiaosheng has become superficial. He dared to talk about the strategy against Mongolia before, but now it seems really ridiculous. Zhang Shidu, can Xiaosheng ask you for more advice in the future?" Li Zhizao asked.

"Of course you can. What I said may not be right. It's just that you don't know some things, so you think I, Zhang, am awesome. Zhenzhi, you are willing to think about national affairs at such a young age. You have a literary reputation in the imperial examination and are willing to study. New things will definitely have a bright future in the future." Zhang Xiao said.

"Thank you Zhang Shidu," Li Zhizao said.

……

At this time, in the Jianzhou Jurchen Department, thousands of miles away from the capital, Shuerhaqi looked at his elder brother who was looking increasingly gloomy with some worry.

"Brother, does it have to be like this? After all, we are still in-laws with Ye Hebu, so do we have to fight against each other? When Sister-in-law Menggu first got married, she was still singing, dancing, and laughing. Recently, she is scared to see you, don’t be ridiculous, she doesn’t dare to say anything more,” Shuerhaqi said.

"My good brother, what do you think we should do? Give up all the territory we occupy and give all the tribes we captured to the Yehe tribe?" Nurhaci asked.

"We can always talk about it? Why are the two sides making such a fuss? If we really want to fight, we only have so many people in the State Development Department and we still lack everything. Can we fight?" Shuerhaqi didn't look like it. There is little confidence.

"Why can't they beat us? The Ye He tribe just has more people than us, and there are some elite cavalry who know how to bully other Jurchen tribes. If the Ye He tribe is so powerful, why don't they attack Mr. Li? To avenge their father-killing Revenge? Just to scare me from the Jianzhou Department?" Nurhachi said.

"Brother, you said so. After all, we are all from the Jurchen tribe. Why do we have to make such a fuss? They are marrying off girls no matter what. At worst, we might as well give in first. Now we still need to develop." Shu Erhaqi advised.

"Brother, we two brothers became orphans that day and were ostracized by our families. We had thirteen armors and fought many battles before we had these subordinates. No one can take away what we have now, even if it is ...What happened to the in-laws? Didn’t Genghis Khan finally fall out with his sworn brother Jamuka and his adoptive father Wang Khan? Back then, these three families were as close as one family. Didn’t they fall out because of the grassland? There can only be one overlord. Just like now, each Jurchen tribe can only have one overlord. As long as we become stronger, the Yehe tribe will definitely not give up with us." Nurhaci said.

"Now that the situation is so urgent, brother, you still want to show your favor to the Ming Dynasty and ask for help from North Korea." Shuerhaqi said in confusion.

"The above is an attitude. After all, I am still the commander of the Jianzhou Left Guard of the Ming Dynasty. Since there is a war in the imperial court, I will naturally respond. If the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty really lets us go, I will personally lead the troops into the court. , so that you can train your troops and practice battle formations. Just guard your home. Our mountains are high and densely forested. As long as we guard the passes, it will be difficult for a hundred thousand troops to break in. At worst, our villages will no longer want to go into the mountains to deal with them. "Nurhachi said.

(End of this chapter)