Li Shimin did not express any opinion. This suggestion was somewhat contrary to the education he had always received.
The people can follow it but cannot know it.
While mocking the common people for being stupid, they also set up numerous obstacles to prevent the common people from receiving education.
The policy of obscuring the people is in the interest of the ruling class.
What the ruling class fears most is change, because change means risk, and they will even make many anti-intellectual decisions for the sake of immediate stability.
This situation exists all over the world.
During the ancient Roman period, a man made an invention that could greatly improve the country's strength. He was very happy to find the emperor and presented his technology to him.
The Roman emperor at that time gave him five hundred gold coins to buy out the technology, then destroyed it and warned the man not to spread the technology.
Because new technologies will bring about changes, and changes will cause instability in the country, we might as well not change.
The ruling class also likes to look for experience in history and regard it as a model, euphemistically calling it imitating the sages.
For example, when Li Shimin resettled the surrendered Eastern Turks, so many ministers believed that Sinicization should be implemented. Why did he ultimately choose a conservative approach?
Because this was a mature method used by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, this method alleviated the Han's border problems to a certain extent and secured stability for the Han Dynasty for hundreds of years.
Sinicizing the Turks seems to be a good idea, but there is no precedent in history. Who can guarantee that it will achieve a good result?
So even though he knew that Chineseization might be a better approach, he ultimately chose Wen Yanbo's conservative approach of keeping his tribe intact and respecting their customs and habits.
It is undeniable that Li Shimin was an enterprising monarch, but he was still limited by the times and was accustomed to being conservative and seeking stability in many policies.
At the same time, in his heart, people are just tools. This cannot be denied. Is it necessary for tools to understand so much?
The suggestion of building a sense of civilized identity seems very good, but no one knows what the consequences will be. It is normal for him not to express his opinion.
In his previous life, Chen Jingke often discussed history with people on the Internet, and he had a fairly good understanding of the mentality and thoughts of the ruling class, so he could guess Li Shimin's thoughts and concerns.
But he knew how to break it - to make them feel threatened.
People like Li Shimin never give up and will give it a go even when faced with a desperate situation. As long as he knows that staying the same is a dead end, he will put aside all worries and change.
What Chen Jingke has to do is to make him feel threatened and at the same time give him enough motivation.
Civilized war is the threat, and the vast unexplored world is the motivation.
It was impossible for Li Shimin to believe everything he said. He would definitely send someone to investigate afterwards and take corresponding countermeasures only after the investigation results came out.
So he wasn't anxious at all when he didn't get a reply. The seeds had already been planted and were just waiting to take root and sprout.
He also decided to water the 'seed' and apply some fertilizer to make it grow faster.
I looked around and found a bile-shaped white porcelain bottle about twenty centimeters in diameter in the study.
He walked straight over and took the porcelain bottle over. He drew a map of the world with a pen and said, "The land we are on is not a round sky, but an oval. This is the whole map of the world."
Li Shimin's breathing became rapid again. Even though he had known that the world was wider, he still couldn't restrain his excitement when he saw it with his own eyes:
"Zhang Heng said, 'The sky is like a chicken's egg, the celestial bodies are round like projectiles, and the earth is like a chicken's egg.' I always thought it was nonsense, but I didn't expect it to be true."
Chen Jingke said with admiration: "Zhang Heng is indeed a great scholar. He can come up with such an answer that is close to the truth by relying on his naked eyes and experience."
"But the sun is the 'yellow in the chicken', and the earth under our feet is a ball rotating around the sun."
Li Shimin didn't care much about Zhang Heng and the geocentric and heliocentric theories. He focused all his attention on this white porcelain vase.
At this time, this ordinary bottle has become a priceless treasure in his eyes.
"Tell me quickly, where are these places and what are their characteristics..."
Unknowingly, he used the title "I" again.
Chen Jingke knew his mood, so he pointed at the porcelain vase and introduced: "The north of Goguryeo is the sphere of influence of the Shiwei and Mohe people, and it is even more bitter and cold here."
"Continuing towards the northeast corner, there is a strait. Through the strait, you can reach another piece of land... During the Zhou Dynasty and the Shang Dynasty, some survivors of the Shang Dynasty passed through this strait to reach this land..."
"For today's Datang, there are three most important food crops here. One is potatoes, the other is sweet potatoes, and the third is corn. The yield of potatoes and sweet potatoes can reach more than five dan per mu, and with careful care, it can even reach ten dan."
Even though Li Shimin was a little numb after hearing too much shocking news, he still couldn't help but exclaim.
"Does Jing Ke really mean what he said?"
"Seriously." Chen Jingke said with certainty.
In fact, what he was thinking was, of course, false.
He couldn't say whether the potatoes had not been cultivated with improved seeds, but the original yield of sweet potatoes was very high, with the yield per mu easily exceeding 1,000 kilograms. However, considering the fertility of the land, he tried to keep the yield as low as possible.
But even if the yield was five dan per mu, it was still an unimaginable high yield for Li Shimin. You must know that the yield of two dan per mu in the early Tang Dynasty was considered a high yield, and he did not dare to think of ten dan.
"I will send people to look for good seeds right away." Li Shimin said anxiously.
Chen Jingke was naturally happy to see this situation. He had given Li Shimin new ships and navigation skills before, but so far there has been no big movement in the court.
There are many reasons for this, but in the final analysis, they still do not pay attention to the ocean, or the benefits that the ocean brings to them are not great enough.
This time I will tell you about America and its fine varieties, and see if you are in a hurry.
However, considering the actual situation, he still dissuaded him: "Sage, don't be impatient, now is not the time."
"It is thousands of miles away from Chang'an to this strait, and there are many dangers along the way. The survivors of the Shang Dynasty were killed and wounded before they could reach the opposite land. Your Majesty's hasty sending of people there may cause many unnecessary sacrifices."
Li Shimin's heart was moved and he asked: "Since your family knows that there are good seeds, why don't you take them?"
Chen Jingke pretended to be sad and said: "How could you not take it? According to the genealogy, our family sacrificed hundreds of children and thousands of slaves to roughly understand the situation on this continent."
"It's just that we encountered a big storm on the way back and nine out of ten of the fleet were damaged. The ship carrying fine seeds also sank. Only a few ships came back."
"It is precisely because of the failure of this operation that our family's vitality has been severely damaged and we are no longer able to organize such a large-scale voyage... What is left are only records about that continent and this rough map."
