According to Zhu Xi's science: learning is "not exhaustive, and the people are wise." Speak the word of the saint and understand the world. It is a matter of being mindful of a plant and a tree, and a tool is used, what kind of knowledge is this? In this way, the hope of gaining is to drink sand and want its food. "Firmly confines people in the narrow range of "preserving heavenly principles and destroying human desires". Denial of the social value of natural sciences. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, scientists were no longer concerned about a single grass or tree but the whole of nature, breaking through the shackles of science, and taking the pleasure of studying and visiting nature, with Xu Xiake being the most typical.

Xu Xiake is obviously different from the Confucian scholars in history, not for any political purpose, religion. It is purely to visit nature for pleasure, "poor Kyushu inside and outside, explore the strange and secluded, to waste sleep and eat, poor and above, high and for birds, dangerous and ape, down and fish." This reflected the strong desire of the people of the time to understand nature and study society at the time of the budding of capitalism, which contributed to the formation of a humanist worldview.

In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, China's science and technology culture has reached its peak, but at this time there were many contradictions, first of all, a sentence in the "Analects", which arose under the explanation of Cheng Zhu Lixue, that is, "parents do not travel far, and there must be a way to travel", explaining that Confucius emphasized that children should be fed and filial to their parents (traveling far away, it is impossible to do it), but he did not object to a person going out to struggle when he has a legitimate and clear goal.

Nowadays, the primogeniture system is basically implemented, and the eldest son enjoys the greatest resources of the whole family, but the ancient precept that the eldest son does not leave home limits his development, which is one of the reasons for the gradual decline of many families. It is difficult for people who often do not go out to improve their horizons, so they can only be lonely and unheard, resting on their laurels, and rejecting many new things. Then there is the fact that China's self-sufficient agrarian economy has limited the demand for technology applications and has not been able to promote rapid technological development.

Compared to Europe, there are dozens of large and small countries in a land about the size of China, most of them believe in Christianity, but the teachings of the church restrict people's ideology, so that many people are brutally persecuted and have to leave their countries, because different countries have different attitudes towards these people.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the co-ruler of China was Zhou Tianzi, and their co-ruler was the Pope. In the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, it was the time when China's ideology, culture, and science and technology developed the most, which can be described as "a hundred flowers blooming, a hundred schools of thought contending", the famous example is that Confucius traveled around the world and spread his Confucianism "benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom, faith, loyalty, and filial piety", Mozi promoted his "love, non-aggression, economy, ghosts, and heavenly wisdom" everywhere, and Lao Tzu Li Er spread "Taoism is natural, all-encompassing, natural inaction, and living in harmony with nature", which were the three most famous schools of thought at that time.

Medieval Europe was in a similar situation, the difference was that they were all under the rule of Christian doctrine, but there were different interpretations and understandings of illusory doctrines, and different schools of thought emerged, in fact, for their own interests, to maintain different ways of governing the state, which caused all kinds of different thinkers to travel around and spread their ideas. In the later part of this period, the prototype of modern civilization appeared, and it began to develop at a high speed in science and technology, approaching the level of China's science and technology during the Song Dynasty, and finally achieved a breakthrough, while China was interrupted by the Mongol Empire in this bottleneck period, and there was a scientific and technological fault.

Zhu Youxiao's going out means that the Ming Dynasty has begun a wide range of scientific and technological cultural exchanges both at home and abroad, the country is naturally very simple, after the establishment of several universities, the exchange is more convenient, but a variety of modes of thinking, teaching methods are still backward, he hopes to learn from the European teaching model since the Middle Ages, promote the progress of teaching methods, change the tradition of experience teaching to scientific theory teaching methods, summarize experience as a theory to teach, and have a systematic theory as the foundation.

Xu Xiake, known as Hongzu, Zhenzhi, and Xiake, was a Ming geographer, traveler and writer. Zhu Youxiao fell in love with Xu Xiake's idea of traveling thousands of miles, and decided to let him lead some people to Europe for an investigation, systematically learn the teaching methods of Europe, plus some young scholars, observe the scientific and technological level of Europe on the spot, and learn some different methods.

This team of investigation and study is still very strong, such as Gu Yanwu, Huang Zongxi, Chen Zilong, Fu Shan, Li Ciyu (Li Zhizao's second son), Li Zubai, etc., these people are now in their twenties, which is the best age to accept new knowledge and new theories, and these people will be the leaders of their respective disciplines in the future. Zhu Youxiao sent these people out, intending to let them conduct a comprehensive investigation of the teaching and learning experiences of China and the West, and even sublimate better methods from them.

Xu Xiake led the team to set off, and their first stop was the Republic of Venice, because Zhu Youxiao knew that many of the greatest scientists in Europe were now in the Republic of Venice, because of the relative freedom of belief here, especially the fact that there was no punishment agreement with the Roman Inquisition, and many so-called pagans could freely express their opinions here, including doctrines opposed to Christian doctrine. More importantly, Zhu Youxiao knew that Galileo, the most famous scientist in Italy, now lived here, and he would be the first to be visited.

This team had a total of fifteen large ships, and in addition to these expeditions, there were also merchants from the Ming Royal Trading House who traveled with them, carrying a lot of goods, ready to try out the relevant trade activities from here. Because Zhu Youxiao thinks that the Venetian merchants are also one of the world's famous merchants, see if you can find the know-how of their business.

In the late spring of the ninth year of the Apocalypse, Xu Xiake and his entourage came to the Republic of Venice, and the beautiful scenery they saw, small boats, arched bridges, and merchants in all kinds of beautiful costumes made people dizzy.

The city of Venice is a city on the water, with the warm veins of the river at dusk, reflecting the towering spire of St. Mark's Basilica, built in the ninth century in honor of St. Mark's Basilica in the heart of St. Mark's Square. At the beginning of the founding of Venice, the bones of the saint Mark of Jesus were transported here from Alexandria, Egypt, North Africa, and they built the most majestic and beautiful St. Mark's Basilica, which is a Greek cross shape equal to the horizontal and straight, is a mixture of Byzantine, Romanesque, and Gothic architectural styles, it is the spiritual center of the city, and it is also the protector of the city of Venice, bringing courage and hope to the people, and the church of St. Mark was built and destroyed, and it took more than 200 years to build. The cathedral is also a treasure trove of art: it displays the spoils of the four Venetian crusades, and is one of the richest and most luxurious art treasures in Europe.

The boat moved silently. The murky green river has been soaked in water for hundreds of years, and the damp smell of the roots of the walls is filled with the happiness and tranquility of the sunset in the moss ancient courtyard walls, which surround the quiet garden courtyards, immersed in the dim shade of lilac.

Along the ancient streets and alleys on both sides of the canal, in the turquoise water bathing and caressing, exuding cyan light. In the gurgling sound of the river, it is like entering a dream. The sound of the rippling water breaks the silence, the moonlight poetically covers the throat, the mysterious palace is like a dynamic picture, and many ancient streets and alleys on both sides of the strait make people feel intimate, faintly visible like a labyrinth of brilliant lights, and there are bars and shops on both sides, and the windows are fancy and lively.

The sound of the water is soft, and it is intimate, and the hull of the boat gently shakes as the water waves fluctuate. The sound of the water flowing in this whispering is poetic and hazy: it seems like the night, lights, oars, and water sounds on the banks of the Qinhuai River thousands of miles away...... I fell into a dream leisurely, and I wondered if I was in a passenger boat, or in my homeland and homeland across the world?

In this picturesque beauty, there are poems and books for generations, Gu Yanwu, Huang Zongxi, and Chen Zilong, who are in the habit of cultivating and reading heirlooms, can't help but want to compose poems. The exotic scenery is indeed beautiful, but even Xu Xiake, who is good at landscape description and likes to travel and watch, did not stop to enjoy such beautiful scenery, Zhu Youxiao gave them the task not these, they came to learn. Xu Xiake is not a scholar, but he has rich travel experience, so he poured a basin of cold water on everyone at the first time, in this strange environment, no one is allowed to go out alone, lest accidents occur, these people are Zhu Youxiao's treasures, and he can't explain what went wrong.