Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 264: The Ming Dynasty Nobles Returning from a Round-the-World Voyage

Zhu Houzhao didn't expect that he wanted to do a good thing for Zhang Heling and Zhang Yanling in front of his sister, the Empress Dowager, but ended up hurting the two brothers. He couldn't help but said, "What the Queen Mother said is right. These two uncles are still very ignorant, but this is also their kind intention. You should accept it, at least you have to accept this statue of the Virgin Mary."

"Is this the Holy Mother of the Western Barbarians? She looks very kind, so I will accept her." Empress Dowager Zhang nodded with a smile. At this time, the eunuch Gao Feng rushed in: "Empress Dowager, Your Majesty, the Marquis of Jianchang has returned to the capital!"

……

Marquis of Jianchang Zhang Yanling has indeed returned to the capital.

However, because his fleet sailing around the world was under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of War, he now had to come to the Ministry of War to take delivery.

Although Zhang Yanling lost a lot of men and horses during this round-the-world voyage, he was still excited after calming down.

"Wang, I really didn't lie to you! This land is indeed a sphere, and the place we live in should really be called Earth! Really, I completely believe it now!"

Zhang Yanling stamped his foot and walked around the main hall of the Ministry of War. "No, I have to tell His Majesty this. Not just His Majesty, I have to tell everyone in the world that the earth is indeed a sphere, and we live on a sphere. It really is the Earth!"

Minister of War Wang Shouren saw that Zhang Yanling was acting like a man with insanity, so he could only persuade him: "Marquis Jianchang, drink some tea first, don't worry. Did your fleet really keep moving forward and then come back?"

"I really didn't lie to you. Wang Bu Tang, you must believe me. I didn't expect this result, but it is true. I went through untold hardships and discovered many new continents. But after crossing a vast ocean, I did arrive at my Daming Sea (the South Sea is called Daming Sea on the Kunyu World Map, so it is written like this here)!"

"I didn't expect something like this to happen, but it is true. The earth is indeed a sphere. If I hadn't made this trip myself, I wouldn't have believed it!"

Zhang Yanling sat down and started shaking his head.

Wang Shouren was also somewhat skeptical after being influenced by Zhang Yanling's words, but he still couldn't help asking: "Marquis Jianchang, even if what you said is true, why didn't we fall off when we walked on this ball, especially the people or other things on the other end of the ball, why didn't they fall off?"

"I am also puzzled! I don't understand what is going on. Why don't people at the bottom of the ball fall off? Why doesn't the seawater flow out? There are many things I can't figure out, but what I am sure of is that the earth is a sphere!"

As Zhang Yanling was speaking, Xia Yan came in. When he saw Zhang Yanling, he dropped the document from the Ministry of War on the ground in surprise and said, "Marquis Jianchang, when did you come back? Didn't you continue sailing?"

"No way! Minister Xia! You've come just in time. I have something to tell you. Since I said goodbye to you in Ceuta, I have been moving forward. First, I crossed a vast ocean (the Atlantic Ocean), drifted for a long time, and sixteen or seventeen people died of illness. I actually discovered a new continent and found the sweet potatoes that Your Majesty mentioned. I also brought back many spices, and then continued to sail. This time, I crossed another vast ocean and drifted even longer (the South Pacific Ocean). Even I fell seriously ill. But just when I thought that my group of people were going to die at sea, I found the ship of our Ming Dynasty. At that time, I was happy and shocked. I was happy that I finally had the opportunity to return to my Middle Earth, but I was shocked to find that this earth is really a sphere and you can really walk back from a place if you keep walking forward!"

Zhang Yanling said this, and Xia Yan, who had sailed with Zhang Yanling for some time, naturally believed it without a doubt, and couldn't help but be very shocked and said: "It seems that the earth is indeed a sphere, and the place we live in should indeed be called the Earth!"

"Excuse me!"

Xia Yan said this and ran out with a bow.

Wang Shouren hurriedly shouted, "Minister Xia, where are you going?"

"Let's go to the Imperial University! If the place where we live is really the Earth, then the Earth model made by Your Majesty is real! I have to go and take a look!"

As Xia Yan spoke, he quickly instructed an official from the Ministry of War: "Bring along the navigation data of Eunuch Sanbao and follow me to the Imperial University!"

Zhang Yanling also became interested when he saw this, and hurriedly followed him: "Minister Xia, wait for me, I will go with you!"

……

An hour later.

In front of a wooden globe, Xia Yan, Zhang Yanling and Wang Wensu were all staring at the globe intently.

"Marquis Jianchang, is it true that we live on Earth?" Wang Wensu, the current chief academic officer of the Imperial University of Peking, asked Zhang Yanling.

Zhang Yanling nodded: "It's true! I just don't know if the sea and land are really the same as those on the globe."

"They are consistent. The navigation records of Eunuch Sanbao and mine are combined, and with your record, the places we have passed are exactly the same as the land and sea marks on your majesty's globe. After we first crossed Malacca from the Daming Sea, we should have entered the Indian Ocean, then went around Cape Verde and entered the Atlantic Ocean. You see, the sea that the Jianchang Marquis first crossed alone should be the Atlantic Ocean, and then the place where you landed should be America, and then the sea that the Jianchang Marquis passed through should be the Pacific Ocean!" Xia Yan said, and slapped the table excitedly: "If we are really on the earth, if all this is true, then what your majesty said is true, then there are still so many lands in the world that have not been discovered by our Daming, and what are the South Pole and the North Pole like? Is it really as your majesty said, with polar day and polar night?"

"Your Majesty is truly a god!" Zhang Yanling couldn't help but say.

"The ancients said that the earth is located in the center of the sky and its body is round to correspond to the degree of the sky. China is located north of the equator, so the North Pole is always visible and the South Pole is always invisible. Two hundred and fifty miles south, the North Pole is one degree lower. The Yuan Dynasty's theory of a round earth is indeed true! But, we are on the earth, why don't we fall off?" Wang Wensu couldn't help but recite a few sentences of ancient texts and then asked again.

"That's exactly what I mean. Since you and I are on the ball, why don't we fall off? Why doesn't the sea water overflow?" Xia Yan couldn't help but smile bitterly.

Zhang Yanling said: "Perhaps only your Majesty knows. Your Majesty is the Son of Heaven, and his knowledge is gifted by God!"

"Then shall we seek an audience with His Majesty?" the three asked in unison.

……

Zhu Houzhao had just received the news that Jianchang Marquis Zhang Yanling had returned to Beijing. He only smiled faintly and thought to himself, "Did Zhang Yanling really return from his voyage around the world? In history, Magellan started his voyage around the world in 1519 and completed it in 1522, which was between the 14th year of Zhengde and the first year of Jiajing. Zhang Yanling completed his voyage around the world in the 12th year of Zhengde, only five years earlier than Magellan! The gap between Portugal and the Ming Dynasty is not big. The Ming Dynasty must speed up the pace of global colonization!"

While Zhu Houzhao was thinking this, the eunuch Liu Jin came to report: "Your Majesty, the Marquis of Jianchang, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War Xia Yan, and the Imperial University of Peking's Chief Academician Wang Wensu want to see you."

"Call them in," Zhu Houzhao said, and then he met Zhang Yanling and others directly in the Cining Palace.

When Zhu Houzhao saw Zhang Yanling, he asked directly: "Marquis Jianchang, do you believe that the earth is a sphere now?"

"Your Majesty, I am now completely convinced that the earth is indeed a sphere!" Zhang Yanling nodded. Just as he said, he no longer dared to question the sacred learning proposed by Zhu Houzhao.

Zhu Houzhao just smiled and asked Xia Yan and Wang Wensu: "Why did you come here too? Do you also believe that the earth is a sphere?"

"I believe it, but what I don't know is, if the earth is a sphere, why don't people fall into it and why doesn't the sea overflow?"

Xia Yan replied.

Wang Wensu also nodded and said, "So, we have come here specially to ask your majesty for advice."

Zhu Houzhao saw an apple on the table, so he took it in his hand, stood up, and threw the apple to the ground and asked, "Do you understand now?"

Zhang Yanling, Xia Yan, Wang Wensu and others were a little confused, and they didn't know what Zhu Houzhao wanted to tell them by doing this.

Seeing this, Zhu Houzhao had to continue to enlighten him: "An apple falls to the ground, and a person falls after jumping from a height. Neither of them flies up, nor even goes up. Have you ever thought about why this is the case?"

"Is there attraction? Is it the earth that is attracting us and everything else?" Xia Yan asked with sudden realization.

Zhu Houzhao nodded.

"Your Majesty is truly a god. I failed to understand such an obvious truth. Your Majesty's holy teaching states that everything moves because of the action of forces. So, the earth makes objects fall because of the force of attraction. Because of the force of attraction, they will not fall."

At this time, Wang Wensu suddenly realized what was going on. He was so happy that he couldn't help laughing as if he had eaten candy. He hurriedly bowed to Zhu Houzhao and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your guidance. I understand it now. I'll take my leave."

Zhu Houzhao nodded: "Go ahead."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Wang Wensu now just wanted to go back quickly and study and think carefully about the natural science knowledge written by Zhu Houzhao. He suddenly felt that he was about to discover new natural laws, so he excitedly ran out of the Forbidden City.

Here, after asking, Xia Yan did not mean to rush back to Imperial University for research. Unlike Wang Wensu, he only needed to know that everything on the earth did not fall down because the earth had gravity on everything. He was not very interested in studying the gravity that attracted everything on the earth. He was more concerned about how the Ming Dynasty would respond to this new discovery.

Zhang Yanling was like Xia Yan. After hearing Zhu Houzhao's explanation that the reason why people at the bottom of the ball didn't fall off was because of the earth's gravity, he didn't think about studying the gravity. He just said, "According to what Your Majesty said, the earth has gravity, so we won't fall off. But in any case, the earth is a sphere, and it is correct to call it the earth."

(End of this chapter)