There is no doubt that Zhang Zhun's words shook everyone present. Well, to be precise, everyone except Xue Zhidie. Before this, Zhang Zhun had already mentioned to Xue Zhidie that the earth was round. Their eyes all subconsciously looked at Zhang Zhun. The reason is very simple, everyone has always thought that China is the center of the world, the sky is round, and China is the center of the world. However, judging from the map given to them by Zhang Zhun, China occupies only a very small part.

"Any questions you need to ask?" Zhang Zhun looked at them with shining eyes and asked slowly.

"My lord, is the world really that big?" Zhou Zhengyu asked cautiously.

Zhang Zhun nodded heavily and said in a deep voice: "That's right, the world is really that big. Although our country is already very large, with thousands of miles of rivers and mountains, vast plains, stretching mountains, boundless deserts, and the winding Yangtze River and the Yellow River, I must tell you that compared with the whole world, our country is still very small. ”

After a slight pause, Zhang Zhun said slowly: "Unless it is, expand our territory to all regions of the world." Let our nation live on all the lands of the world. If we do that, we are qualified to say that our country is the world and the world is our country. ”

Fang He asked, "My lord, in other parts of the world, are there Han people?" ”

Zhang Zhun replied: "There should be none, unless we have already controlled it and then immigrated from the Central Plains." In other parts of the world, there are other diverse peoples. They are completely different from us Han Chinese. Some people's skin is completely white, and some people's skin is completely dark......"

Liu Dong couldn't help but raise his hand.

Zhang Zhun nodded, indicating that he could speak.

Liu Dong said incredulously: "A person with black skin all over his body? Are they sick? ”

Zhang Zhun shook his head and said methodically: "They are not sick, they are born black...... Well, their teeth are white. They live in distant Africa. If I'm not mistaken, when Zheng Gong went to the West, he once went to the east coast of Africa and met black people there. At that time, Zheng Gong also said that they were cursed people, and it was God who made their whole bodies turn black. Actually, no, they are born. ”

Fang He said curiously: "So, the red-haired ghost from the West is also born with red hair?" ”

Zhang Zhun nodded, and said slowly: "To be precise, their hair is not red, but brown. They were actually Dutch, from a country called the Derean League. Later, the country was renamed the Netherlands. The Dutch also have a unique nickname, called the sea coachman. And the Francos, which we often mention, is actually from Portugal and Spain. They were the initiators of the Great Voyage, and the world of the sea was the first thing they began to explore. ”

However, Francois actually means French. France, again, is another country. In the future, there may be another country called the United Kingdom, which will appear in the South Seas. The countries just mentioned belong to Europe. These countries are not very large, about the size of one of our provinces, or only about a few of our provinces. The whole of Europe combined is not as large as our country. ”

"Europe is also in a period of war. Relations between Spain and Portugal have always been bad. Britain and Spain had just fought a war at sea, and Spain was defeated. The Dutch rose very quickly and amassed a strong economy. But their military might, like the British, who rose at the same time. The French are the hegemon of the European continent and are trying to secure their hegemony. France and England were often at war. ”

Everyone looked at each other and felt that this world was really wonderful.

Of course, they will not doubt Zhang Zhun's statement, in fact, they actually vaguely guess something about the fact that the earth is round. Only Zhang Zhun's statement can perfectly explain the strange phenomenon of the sea and the sky. At the same time, the explanation of the red-haired ghost and the Franc machine is also quite professional, and there is absolutely no possibility of fraud. Even if it is a fraud, it requires extremely professional knowledge!

Suddenly, Xue Zhidie asked, "Besides our country, there are other countries...... So, is there another world outside of ours? ”

Zhang Zhun was slightly stunned.

This woman's thinking is really incredible! It can be associated with the world!

Looking at Xue Zhidie's inquisitive gaze, Zhang Zhun nodded lightly and said affirmatively: "Yes, there are other worlds outside of our world. Our world is a round ball. Outside of this sphere, there are more spheres. Some spheres are not as big as the earth, but some spheres are tens of thousands of times larger than the earth......"

Xue Zhidie frowned and said, "How do you know?" ”

Zhang Zhun shook his head and said slowly: "I won't tell you how I know." I only know that this world is like this. If you don't believe it, you can slowly verify my claim. ”

Xue Zhidie pondered for a moment without words.

Naturally, others are even more speechless.

After a slight pause, Zhang Zhun slowly narrated the world geography according to the map.

The first part of the book is a general description of the geography of the world. Here, the concept of the seven continents and the four oceans is mentioned in detail, accompanied by a brief introduction. The characteristics of each continent, each ocean, are also recorded in this book. These all come from Zhang Zhun's knowledge, which is at least 400 years ahead of this era.

It was the first time that Yang Guohua and others learned that Westerners had come to East Asia through such a distant ocean. Speaking of which, I really have to admire these crazy Westerners, especially those Franco-robot and red-haired ghosts, they are so courageous. Looking at the distant route outlined, according to their estimates, the voyage from Europe to East Asia, in less than a year, I am afraid it will not be completed at all. I think that Zheng Gong (Zheng He) back then, starting from East Asia, the farthest place he reached was only to the coast of Africa, and there was still some distance from the Cape of Good Hope. It is even further to cross the Cape of Good Hope and travel north along the west coast of Africa.

For the first time they knew about the South Seas, they also had a detailed understanding of it. Originally, in addition to the port of Manila, there are also ports in Giadin, Brunei, Jakarta, Malacca, Surabaya, Ambona and other ports in Nanyang. And on the East Asian side, in addition to Naha in the Ryukyus, there is also an island called Jeju Island. A little further afield, there is also the island of Guam. On the other side of the Indian Ocean, there are important ports such as Ceylon, Kalihet, Kolkata, and Oman. Compared to the information on the map, what they knew before was actually only a drop in the bucket.

"This world is so big!"

Fang He couldn't help but say with emotion.

From Yuegang in Fujian Province to Manila in the South Seas, in their opinion, it is already a rather distant route, and it takes almost a month and a half to make a round trip. However, judging from the map, this section of the voyage is less than the length of a finger. Similarly, the route from Hangzhou to Yuben feels quite far away, but from the map, it is simply unbearable. Among other things, it takes an entire year just to cross the vast Pacific Ocean.

"For the past 100 years, the sea has been a paradise for Europeans. Led by navigators such as Columbus and Magellan, they made great voyages around the world. They have seized a lot of places, seized a lot of resources, and controlled a lot of feng shui treasures. The rich Americas have been seized by them. In the same way, the rich Southeast Asia, the South Seas, was also seized by them. Unfortunately, we don't have navigators like that. We are a hundred years behind, and if we don't catch up, we will be abandoned by the world. In the vast ocean, there is no longer our Chinese. ”

"In fact, our country has never lacked sailing warriors, but because of the national strategy, the sea ban has been implemented for decades, so that our navigation level has been getting farther and farther away from the world's advanced level. I don't know if you feel that our warships, in terms of combat effectiveness, have a considerable gap with the warships of the red-haired ghosts. However, the warships that the red-haired ghosts appeared in East Asia were only their second-rate warships, and the largest displacement was only six or seven hundred tons, and the guns loaded on the ships were thirty or forty, and at most they would not exceed fifty. ”

"But in Europe, in the coming decades, whether it's the Netherlands, or the United Kingdom, or Spain, France, there will be a large number of large warships on the oceans. The largest warship, with a displacement of more than two thousand tons, will have more than a hundred guns on board. Sailors on board, more than a thousand people. Such a warship is a moving battle fortress. If we don't catch up, we will be defeated by such a tough opponent. ”

Xue Zhidie said a little unconvinced: "Our treasure ship is not small, we have a big ship of two thousand materials. ”

Zhang Zhun shook his head lightly and said slowly, "Do you have any drawings for the treasure ship?" ”

Xue Zhidie was speechless for a moment.

Because of the policy of banning the sea, the construction materials of the treasure ship have been destroyed by order of the imperial court. Whether there were any survivors or not, she didn't know. In short, the real treasure ship is definitely gone. After the seventh return of Zheng He's fleet, all the ships were idle on the beach, slowly endured the wind and rain, and finally all decayed. Not even a large fortune ship. The largest ship she could build was the No. 2 Fuku, which weighed about 250 materials. According to Zhang Zhun's estimate, the displacement of the No. 2 Fu ship should be about 250 tons. The distance from a treasure ship with a displacement of thousands of tons is too far.

[Author's note: There are different opinions about the conversion of materials and tons, and I have adopted a one-to-one statement here.] That is, 1 material = 1 ton, so that everyone can also see at a glance. The largest treasure ship is about 2,000 materials, and the displacement is about 2,000 tons. Don't come to shoot me ......]

"Since we don't have the blueprints for the treasure ship, we have to redesign and build other ships. Treasure ships are not necessarily the best. Only by being eclectic and learning from the advanced technology of others can we improve our shipbuilding level faster. ”

Zhang Zhun said with a solemn face.

Xue Zhidie nodded, indicating that he was taught.

On professional matters, she is absolutely calm.

After a short break, Zhang Zhun continued his teaching.

"Everyone knows that the goods from Jiangnan are transported to Manila in exchange for a large amount of silver. In particular, the best-selling is raw silk, and it has always been said that there is a boatload of raw silk that can be exchanged for half a shipload of silver. However, do you know where this silver comes from? Franc machine, what do you want these raw silk for? ”

"You may not know it, but in fact, Manila itself does not produce silver. What Manila has, is gold. However, what we brought back from Manila was all silver, not gold. So, where does all this gold go? Where did the silver come from? Could it be that the Westerners brought the gold back to Europe, and then the silver from Europe? Of course not! ”

"In fact, the silver we bought in Manila was brought back from Mexico by Westerners. If you look at the map, in the northeast corner of the Pacific Ocean, where there is standard silver, it is Mexico. Mexico is a large silver-producing country, with a large amount of silver produced, and millions of taels of silver are produced every year. After our goods arrived in Manila, the foreigners selected some of these goods, mainly raw silk, and transported them to Mexico through the Pacific Ocean. And from there in exchange for a large amount of silver. ”

"As you may have noticed, going from Manila to Mexico and back from Mexico is a cycle. The raw silk is transported over, and the silver is pulled back. The Franc Robot Man is using our raw silk in exchange for silver from the local indigenous people of Mexico. And then the silver flowed into our country from Manila. As for gold, the gold mined in Manila was brought back to the country by the Franco. They value gold more than silver. ”

"Our neighbouring country, Zoben, also has good silver mines. The annual mining volume is hundreds of thousands of taels. Therefore, if our goods can be sold in this book, we should be able to obtain a considerable amount of silver. However, intelligence shows that the maritime trade of Yuben is under the control of Zheng Zhilong. If we're going to get involved, there's bound to be a rush. Therefore, until we are strong enough, we will not be able to get involved in the business of this book for the time being. ”

After saying so much in one breath, Zhang Zhun stopped and drank water.

Fang He asked whimsically, "My lord, since Mexico has so much silver, can we directly transport raw silk to Mexico?" As long as it doesn't go through the hands of other people, wouldn't our profits be even higher? ”

Zhang Zhun nodded and said regretfully: "In fact, I believe that everyone here has such thoughts. That's right, Fang He's assumption is indeed very profitable. However, there is one thing that I did not mention, which is that the local indigenous people of Mexico have been controlled by the Spaniards. With the exception of the Portuguese, no one else could do business with the Spaniards at all. Unless, we have strong enough force to expel the Spaniards and occupy the local silver mines. ”

Fang He looked at the map and said regretfully: "It's too far, I can't do it!" ”

Liu Dong also licked his lips and said regretfully: "Yes! It's too far! It's going to cross the whole Pacific! ”

Zhang Zhun said: "Actually, the Pacific Ocean is not a problem, but the battle is. With the unfolding of the Age of Discovery, each country began to divide its own sphere of influence in the world. If you want to occupy someone else's sphere of influence, you must use force. In other words, it is only through battle that other territories can be captured. It is not very difficult for our army to reach Mexico, it is really difficult to gain a foothold there and keep fighting. ”

Everyone, you look at me, I look at you, and they all shook their heads gently.

At this time, it is too dreamy to imagine something so far away.

Zhang Zhun didn't continue to talk about this issue, and it was useless to talk about it until that time. If there is such a day in the future, it is not too late to talk about it. At the end, he reminded: "This is a relatively complete chart, you should keep it well, so that it will not leak out." ”

"Understood!"

"Don't worry, my lord, we will never leak it out!"

Yang Guohua, Zhou Zhengyu, Fang He, Liu Dong and others naturally understood the value of the chart and expressed their stance one after another.

In this era, perfect charts did not appear at all, and even relatively rudimentary charts did not exist. Most of the time, it is passed on from generation to generation by relying on the captain's own experience. A lot of sailing experience is even dictated. The choice of captain is a very important matter. Many people want to be a captain, but there are not many who can really be a captain.

For example, not everyone can be a captain of the "Manila galleon" that travels from Manila along the Kuroshio all the way to the west coast of Mexico. Basically, the people who drive this route are some very special people. They have their own tightly knit organization, and only those within the organization can share their experiences about sailing. They don't easily pass on their experience and knowledge about Kuroshio to others.

Yang Guohua and the others didn't ask Zhang Zhun where his charts came from, they were used to Zhang Zhun's omnipotent ability. If Zhang Zhun was just an ordinary person, they would definitely think that Zhang Zhun was a demon, and maybe he would throw it into the fire and burn him to death. However, Zhang Zhun is their boss. The greater Zhang Zhun's ability, they all take it for granted.

"Next, let's focus on monsoons, trade winds, ocean currents, tides, ......"

After eating at noon, after resting for a while, Zhang Zhun continued to speak.

The most important content contained in the "Basic Knowledge of Navigation" is naturally the monsoons, trade winds, currents, tides and other natural conditions related to navigation itself. For the captain, these are the main things, the real nautical expertise. If you don't have this knowledge, you can't go to sea at all.

(To be continued)