Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

"Why."

Jiang Xinghuo sighed and said, "I forgot to explain to you the globe that you were thinking about so much, and I asked you to bring it back intact again. It's really because I have a bad memory."

Zheng He was startled, and then a smile appeared on his face.

That is to say, the emperor was nearby just now. Although he carried a globe when he went out to enjoy the lectures, he still couldn't use it.

Zheng He wanted to ask Jiang Xinghuo about the globe. After all, it was something he could never forget after taking one look at it.

And it was only today that he was allowed to take a look, so naturally he was very itchy.

But the emperor was listening to the lecture, and what he was listening to was "State Administration," which is used to govern the country. Did Zheng He dare to interrupt the emperor's thoughts and ask Jiang Xinghuo to teach him geography instead?

I don’t have the guts, you know.

Even due to Zhu Di's oppression, Zheng He was embarrassed to look at the globe placed behind him, covered with a layer of linen and tied with hemp rope from below.

Don't blame Jiang Xinghuo for hiding it tightly, it's really not easy for others to see this thing.

In the past, Jiang Xinghuo wanted to wait for death, so he left the "Prison Notes" and the engraved globe. Now the situation is slightly different, so Jiang Xinghuo naturally needs to pay more attention.

And the purpose of Jiang Xinghuo's initiative to show the globe to the other party is also very simple. If the other party is really Zheng He, then he must have a strong interest in exploring the world. This interest must be far beyond ordinary people!

This is a secret that only Jiang Xinghuo knows in this world.

Only he, a time traveler, can predict the fate of famous people.

This is the so-called "just do what you like".

Westerners in the Age of Discovery were able to complete a circumnavigation of the world with a few wooden ships that were not very powerful. There is no reason why Zheng He, who had a fleet of treasure ships with larger tonnage and more adequate supplies, could not do the same in the Ming Dynasty.

Since the other party has already realized that the earth is round, he only needs to briefly introduce the geographical conditions and ocean current circulation of each continent, and send a sextant design drawing by the way. In terms of technical conditions, circumnavigation of the world in the fifteenth century has already been completed. There is no resistance anymore.

As for the improvement of the sails and hull, that is a matter for later.

"Just take a look if you want."

Jiang Xinghuo took out the globe from the straw pile, and untied the hemp rope binding the linen cloth, revealing the entire globe, and held it up to the prison fence to show the other party.

Jiang Xinghuo looked at the other person who was also lying on the fence, staring intently, and his heart was filled with complicated thoughts.

Before the great geographical discoveries in the West, and before Zheng He's voyages to the Western Ocean, in the East, at the national level (non-civilian navigation and trade), it could be said that they knew very little about the world beyond their own scope of knowledge.

Therefore, it is natural for people with lofty ideals in this era to be curious about the world.

Zheng He suddenly discovered that on the night he was imprisoned, because Jiang Xinghuo pointed him to the Maldives, he only saw the side of the globe with the Ming Dynasty and the Western countries. It didn't matter at first glance, he now saw On to the other side.

Zheng He asked in surprise: "There are two continents larger than the Ming Dynasty, but we have never discovered them?"

Zheng He's surprise is very reasonable, because for the Western countries, whether it is the current Timurid Khanate, Mughal Empire, Mamluk Dynasty, Ottoman Empire, or the more distant Hungary, Poland, Holy Rome The Empire, the Teutonic Knights, Norway, Sweden, Novgorod, and even Yinggelan, Falangxi, and Neck Low are still within the scope of cognition.

Of course, this understanding only means that knowledgeable people in the Ming Dynasty can know a little bit about the far west through the information left by the Mongolian expedition to the west.

Knowing the name of a country is already great, but as for more, you can't count on it.

But no matter how you put it, these Western countries are within the scope of Ming's cognition.

As for the two continents that suddenly appeared on Jiang Xinghuo's globe, they were completely unaware of it, so surprise was inevitable.

"Of course."

Jiang Xinghuo's smile was like that of a fisherman waiting for a big fish to take the bait.

Jiang Xinghuo pointed at the African continent and said: "The continent in the lower left corner of Mecca is called Africa. It has been discovered by people long ago, but it is mostly desert and grassland, and most of the people living in it are uncivilized barbaric people."

Because the name was smooth and he couldn't think of a name to change it to, Jiang Xinghuo continued to call the two continents the same as in his previous life.

Jiang Xinghuo turned the globe to the position of America again, so that America was centered towards Zheng He.

"As for the other connected northern and southern continents on the globe, it's called America. The one in the south is called South America, and the one in the north is called North America."

"I'm afraid North America is still in an age of ignorance at this time, but there are civilized kingdoms in South America, and their products are even richer. Not only is gold and silver everywhere, but there are also several high-yielding crops that can produce thousands of kilograms per acre. As for why no one has discovered it, it’s because North and South America are separated from other continents by oceans.”

It’s not that there is gold and silver everywhere, Japan is also full of gold and silver and it is very close to the Ming Dynasty. Compared with the distant and unknown America, it is easier for the Ming Dynasty to occupy it.

But high-yielding crops?

A high-yielding crop that can produce thousands of kilograms per acre? !

And there’s not just one kind, but several? !

When Zheng He heard this, he was as shocked as if a huge wave had stirred up in the sky.

After all, Eunuch Sanbao was a figure very close to the decision-making center of the Ming Empire. Of course he understood what these resources meant to the Ming Dynasty.

Food is the most important thing for the people!

In the feudal era of China, food was the most important strategic resource. Without merchants and gold and silver, everyone could barter, but without farmers farming, the people would rebel if there was no food to eat.

This is the fundamental reason why Zhu Yuanzhang emphasized agriculture and suppressed business.

Everyone is running around trying to make money by doing business opportunistically, but who will honestly produce food with their backs turned to the earth and the sky?

On the other hand, if there is enough food to eat, the social atmosphere will be more inclined to engage in handicrafts and commercial trade for a better livelihood.

This is a social phenomenon problem determined by manufacturing factors, and it couldn't be simpler.

The reason why Jiang Xinghuo wanted to reveal the secret of several high-yielding crops in South America was because of his own calculations.

The first level is naturally to test the other party's reaction and determine whether the other party is Zheng He.

The second level is that if the other party is Zheng He, then if the other party is informed of the news in advance, the other party will be more likely to arrive in America and bring back a large amount of potatoes, corn and sweet potatoes.

After all, Jiang Xinghuo is a soul traveler, and he did not prepare potatoes, corns and sweet potatoes in advance and take them with him through time travel. Moreover, in many time travel novels Jiang Xinghuo has read, Jiang Xinghuo thinks that the matter of asking Westerners to buy potatoes, corns and sweet potatoes in the early Ming Dynasty is basically impossible.

The reason is very simple. It is now the thirty-fifth year of Hongwu in 1402 AD (the fourth year of Jianwen), and Columbus, the first person in the West to explore the New World of America, did not follow the instructions of the Spanish rulers Isabella and Fiji until August 3, 1492. On the order of Dinant, carrying books for the Ming Emperor, he led three ships and ninety sailors to sail from Port Barros, across the Atlantic Ocean, and reached the Bahamas, Cuba, Haiti and other places.

There is still a time difference of ninety years. The Westerners don’t have it themselves, so where can they buy it from them?

The third level is that if Jiang Xinghuo's instigation works, and the other party is really Zheng He, and he really brings back potatoes, corn and sweet potatoes, then the industrial revolution will have the most important foundation.

Highly developed agriculture is the foundation for the development of industry.

As for the three-piece set of potatoes, corns and sweet potatoes, there is no need to say how useful it is in filling the stomach.

Let’s just talk about Jiang Xinghuo’s life of “hungry people in prosperous times”, which was the last years of Qianlong in “our Qing Dynasty”.

Not counting the period of the Supreme Emperor, Emperor Qianlong reigned for a total of sixty years, and it was from this period that the number of people waiting for food in the Qing Dynasty began to grow explosively.

In the sixth year of Qianlong, China's population was 143 million. In the fifty-eighth year of Qianlong, when Jiang Xinghuo traveled through, China's population had reached 300 million!

It has doubled!

It's just a matter of decades.

The Ming and Qing Dynasties were a period of very frequent and severe natural disasters in Chinese history. This was obviously not a good thing for ancient agriculture, which almost relied on the sky for food. The reason for the rapid population growth during this period was the introduction of potatoes, corn and sweet potatoes.

And Zheng He naturally understood the importance of agricultural food production to the Ming Empire.

If there are really high-yielding crops with an output of more than a thousand kilograms per mu, then in terms of increasing agricultural income, it will be much faster than going to thousands of miles of stone ponds and digging for bird droppings!

So Zheng He kept asking.

"Then the Ming Dynasty can move east across and occupy it?"

Jiang Xinghuo glanced at the excited inmate and couldn't help but sigh.

I really feel a sense of belonging to the Ming Dynasty. I have been sentenced to prison, and I am still thinking about how to expand the territory of the Ming Dynasty.

So, you are so excited, you are Zheng He, right?

However, Jiang Xinghuo still shook his head and said, "You are thinking too much."

Zheng He held up his long beard and didn't know where he was wrong.

This is because Zhang Tianshi and Li Jinglong listened to the previous lecture on ocean currents. Zheng He was still supervising shipbuilding in Quanzhou at that time.

Well, it might also be to exterminate Japanese pirates at sea.

Jiang Xinghuo said slowly: "Although I mentioned it in my previous lecture, with the current navigation technology conditions, it is more difficult to cross the Pacific Ocean to the east, and it is far less easy than to go west around Africa and then cross the Atlantic Ocean. The westward route has more supply points along the way, and in addition to crossing the Atlantic Ocean, it can also be sailed along the coastline, making it safer, more convenient and less likely to get lost.”

"Of course, no matter how safe and convenient it is and not easy to get lost, according to the normal historical development trend, the Ming Dynasty will have nothing to do with this new continent."

"Why?"

After hearing what Jiang Xinghuo said, Zheng He frowned deeply and felt confused.

This sea route does not seem difficult to walk, right?