I want to ruin the country

After the Mid-Autumn Festival, Yining ended his mourning period and moved back to the Qianqing Palace from the Xianfu Palace.

He held a briefing meeting in the Qianqing Palace.

Because the plan in his mind was too grand, if he proposed it rashly, everyone would definitely be shocked, so he had to communicate with several trusted ministers in advance.

The participants included Lin Zexu, Du Shoutian, Chen Fuen, Seng Linqin and Zaiyuan.

This briefing lasted a whole day, and no one except those who attended the meeting knew the content of the meeting.

But everyone noticed that the bosses all had serious expressions.

The next day, Yining convened another enlarged meeting in front of the emperor.

Those who attended included all the cabinet ministers, the regent ministers, the Grand Council ministers and several governors-general who held military power.

In addition to them, the Censorate, the Dali Temple, Shuntian Prefecture, Zeng Zhenfan, You Zongtang, Luo Shixin, Zhang Zhidong and Zhang Xiang were added.

A new large conference room was opened for this meeting.

This large conference room was just renovated by Yining according to the style of later generations.

There is an oval table in the middle with some flowers on it.

The table was also filled with various melon seeds, candies, tea, and snacks.

The table was surrounded by chairs with thick cushions and backrests.

Lin Zexu and his companions were already quite old, so they wouldn't feel too tired even if they sat on such a chair for a long time.

Everyone felt it was new to hold a meeting in such an environment for the first time, but Yining didn't feel anything unusual. Was this how it should be?

The wall behind Yining and the entire wall opposite were covered with gold velvet curtains.

There is a shelf on the left rear side of Yining, and on the shelf is a huge globe that is about one person tall.

Yining asked skilled craftsmen to make this globe according to the dimensions he gave.

Yining Road,

"My Lords, today we are holding a military meeting, which concerns the future survival of our country.

Please listen carefully, take notes, and feel free to ask questions if you don't understand. Did you understand?"

"understand!"

"Today's meeting will be very long. There are refreshments on the table. If anyone is thirsty or hungry, please feel free to use them. Don't hesitate!

There's a bathroom in the next room, feel free to use it, no need to ask!"

The current emperor has already given everyone too many surprises and joys.

Not to mention that he might come up with a few new words from time to time, even if he suddenly produced an atomic bomb for no reason, no one would find it strange!

The emperor is a god, and he is connected to the Jade Emperor. There is also a god ancestor who controls him remotely from behind. There is nothing to be surprised about, and no explanation is needed.

Yining said,

"Before the formal meeting begins, I'd like to take everyone to learn about our country and other countries in the world!"

As he spoke, Yi Heping had already pulled open the velvet curtain on the wall behind Yining.

It turns out that this is a huge map of China!

Yining took a long pole, walked to the front of the map, and asked everyone to come closer.

Everyone has seen maps, especially generals who fight in wars, who cannot live without maps every day.

However, this was the first time they had seen such a large color map.

Yining picked up the pole and pointed at the capital.

"Everyone, we are here!"

After briefly describing the situation in the capital, Yining then explained the situation in each province using a map.

He talked in great detail about the origin of this place, major historical events, geography and humanities, mineral resources, and its importance to the entire country.

Although most of the participants in the meeting had a certain understanding of the country as senior officials, they were enlightened after listening to Yining's speech.

With this map, things that were previously vague now appear before my eyes like a movie. It is so intuitive and very memorable.

After talking about China, Yining took everyone to the globe.

"Everyone, this is the planet we live on now. It's round, and its name is Earth!"

Everyone was shocked to see such a huge globe.

In fact, in 1492, German navigator and geographer Beheim invented and produced the world's earliest existing globe.

This globe was completed by him and a painter and is now kept in the Nuremberg Museum.

这架最早的地球仪上标注了2000个地名、100幅插画和48面旗帜、15艘船、50多个图列。

It caused a sensation at the time, but due to the lack of information and inaccuracy, there were many errors in the labels above.

This globe is different. It was made according to the satellite ranging of later generations, and the errors are calculated in centimeters in reality.

Although the current production process relies on manual labor, these skilled craftsmen still gave Yining a surprise, as it was exactly the same as the laser printing in later generations.

However, the efforts of the craftsmen are enormous!

In fact, today's Chinese are not that ignorant. They have been exposed to many arguments that the earth is round.

What we learned in school was that Aristotle summarized three methods to prove the theory of the spherical earth.

However, China always believed that "the sky is round and the earth is square" until the late Ming Dynasty when it learned from Western missionaries that the earth was round.

In fact, this view is totally wrong.

The Chinese are much smarter than foreigners. They have been exploring the shape of the earth since a very early time.

In order to prevent readers from accusing me of being superficial, let us just briefly review this matter.

During the Spring and Autumn Period, the Chinese already had the concept of "the sky is round and the earth is square".

If the sky were really round and the earth were square, then the four corners would not be covered.

During the Warring States Period, Shi Shen of Wei and Gan De of Qi mentioned that solar and lunar eclipses were phenomena in which celestial bodies eclipsed each other, proving that the earth was round.

At this time, Europeans were still hiding in the cracks of the rocks!

During the Han Dynasty, someone compiled the "Gan Shi Xing Jing".

During the Eastern Han Dynasty, further progress was made. Zhang Heng proposed that "the celestial sphere is like a chicken egg, and the earth is like the yolk in the egg, isolated inside. The sky is large and the earth is small."

During the Tang, Song and Yuan dynasties, the Chinese finally discovered that "the earth is round."

A group of Tang Dynasty monks were ordered to formulate the Dayan calendar. They observed the altitude of the North Star at 13 points.

It was found that there was a difference of more than 30° between the southernmost Vietnam and the northernmost Tiele.

During the Yuan Dynasty, Guo Shoujing was ordered to formulate the "Shushili" calendar. He observed the altitude of the North Star at 27 points.

The southernmost point is in the South China Sea, and the northernmost point is in the North China Sea. It is found that the difference between the two is 50 degrees.

The difference in the altitude of the North Star at different locations confirms the existence of latitude.

Confirming the difference in latitude is not enough to prove that the earth is round.

The History of Yuan Dynasty records that when formulating the Western Expedition Gengwu Yuan Calendar,

Yelu Chucai measured the lunar eclipse in Xunsigan City and Kaifeng City at the same time.

He discovered that the lunar eclipse in Xunsigan City was indeed three hours earlier than the lunar eclipse in Kaifeng City, and thus he discovered the existence of longitude.

There are differences in longitude and latitude, and combined with other phenomena, it is theoretically enough to prove that the earth is round.

At this time, Magellan had not yet circumnavigated the world!