Within two days, there was a rumor among the big merchants of Chang'an City that the Western Regions trade route was about to be opened and everyone could make money. And hearing the news, many people went crazy. The benefits of this trade route are well known, and the market demand is so great that there is almost no market. Instead of shopping hard in China, those wealthy businessmen should take this trade route and then obtain greater benefits. And those small businessmen are also glad that if those wealthy businessmen and giants put some of their energy into those Western Regions trade routes, then the domestic market will be vacant a lot, and they will be able to take a breath. Everyone began to prepare the caravan, and as soon as the organizational order of the imperial court was issued, they would immediately follow everyone. When the time comes, a caravan of tens of thousands of people will set off with soldiers, so the safety factor will definitely be much higher. With the protection of the army and the imperial court, do you still need to talk about commercial interests? At that time, as long as the tax is paid on time, the problem will not be a big problem. Even the imperial court planned to set up an official caravan to play tickets, so everyone lost their eyes.

However, everyone found that because the trade routes had been cut off for a long time, they were a little unfamiliar with the Western Regions. They urgently need to find someone to popularize Western geographical knowledge and understand the human structure of the West! And at this time, everyone set their eyes on Jingwen. Because Jingwen was the first to propose the development of the Western Regions trade route, and he proposed to make this Western Regions trade route. And many businessmen want to ask Jingwen to popularize the knowledge of the Western Regions to everyone, and then everyone can go and make money!

"Ladies and gentlemen, since you asked me to popularize the things of the Western Regions for you, I will also say it directly. When the time comes, if I say something different from your worldview, don't hit me. Jingwen said.

"The emperor has arrived!" A shrill voice said.

And this voice caused a great sensation. Because the people present were mainly merchants, but they had never seen the emperor at all, and now when they heard this voice, they immediately became excited. They did not suspect that this voice was fake, because they had the audacity to impersonate the emperor in Chang'an. There is absolutely no such person. Therefore, they knew that they were afraid that they would be able to meet the emperor, and they were so excited in their hearts! Since ancient times, how many merchants have been able to meet the emperor? I'm afraid there aren't even a few! Now that the emperor was about to appear in front of them, of course they were excited.

"The grass people have seen the emperor!" The merchants immediately saluted and said.

"Okay, no need to be polite, today I also want to come over and hear about the Western Regions. The ancients said that it is better to travel thousands of miles than to read a thousand books, although it is impossible for me to travel thousands of miles away. But I also want to hear about what the Western world is like. Li Shimin said.

And Li Shimin immediately turned his head to Jingwen and said, "Jingwen Aiqing, you can just talk about it." ”

"Your Majesty, I'm afraid that what I say will subvert a lot of your ideas, don't you mind!" Jingwen said.

"It's okay, what else can there be?" Li Shimin said indifferently.

Jingwen first took out a large piece of paper and spread it on the wall. And on this piece of paper is obviously a map, and this map is very huge, with a lot of colors on it. And the names of some countries are marked on it. For example, the Tang Dynasty, the Western Turks, and the nearby Dongying and Goguryeo. And what are some small countries in the South. As for the far west, that large area of land is represented by the word "Europa". As for the south, what is the so-called Tianzhu, southwest. There is Tibet.

And everyone can see at a glance that this map is the map of the world that is roughly known at present. But to everyone's surprise, this map has turned everyone's mind upside down. In ancient China, many people believed that China was at the center of the world. Otherwise, why is it called China? In later generations, the word China was also an extension of the center of the world, and even after more than a thousand years, there is still this legacy. But now this map has clearly turned their thinking upside down. The homeland of China is actually in the east of this world, not in the middle of something.

What's even more surprising is that Datang is not the largest country in the world, and it only occupies the size of a fist on this map. And the largest piece of land is in the north of the Tang Dynasty, which is a very barren place in legends. As for the second largest, that is, the place called Europa, it is also larger than the current Datang.

At present, the Tang Dynasty has not been able to possess the Western Regions, and even Goguryeo has not perished, so the territory of the Tang Dynasty is actually relatively "small". Later generations said that the Tang Dynasty could have more than 10 million square kilometers, which refers to the Middle Tang Dynasty. During the Middle Tang Dynasty, Goguryeo was destroyed and the Western Regions was nominally owned, so the territory of the Tang Dynasty reached more than 15 million. However, the Western Regions account for at least one-third of the area. Now the Tang Dynasty has not even been able to destroy the Western Turks, Goguryeo is still "at large", and the southern Tianzhu State is still a hegemon. On the whole, in terms of land area, the early years of the Tang Dynasty did not have an absolute advantage in the world.

And this map is obviously different from the traditional Chinese thinking. Traditionally, Chinese have considered themselves to be the center of the world, and the land area is the largest in the world. Obviously, the Tang Dynasty and even the Central Plains are not the center of the world, but the "edge" of the world, which is in a very eastern area. As for the land area, it is not the largest in the world, and the so-called Europa is even larger than the Tang Dynasty. How can the people of the Tang Dynasty, who have always been deeply influenced by the theory of Chinese superiority, accept it?

Everyone exchanged heads and discussions, obviously very ignorant of this situation. And even Li Shimin's face was dark for a while, obviously very unhappy about this situation. Li Shimin was the emperor, and the emperors of China have been educated since ancient times, and the Central Plains is the country with the largest territorial area and the center of the world. But now this map has been slapped in the face, which made Li Shimin's eyes "painful", and it was obvious that the pride in his heart had been hit.

"Jingwen, why don't you quickly replace the map and put the Central Plains in the east of the world? My Datang is obviously in the center of the world, how can it be in the East? The eunuch beside Li Shimin said angrily.

The eunuchs just want to curry favor with the emperor, but now they actually say that China is not the center of the world, which makes the emperor very depressed. The emperor was depressed, and the eunuch was responsible for helping the emperor relieve his depression, so of course he had to reprimand Jingwen. (To be continued......)