Parallel Ming Dynasty: The more he compared, the more devastated Zhu Yuanzhang became.

If we could expand the territory of the Ming Dynasty to thousands of miles overseas, wouldn't the vast ocean become the inland lake of our Ming Dynasty?

If he could truly accomplish this, then Zhu Yuanzhang would surely become an emperor of unparalleled merit and unparalleled brilliance, even surpassing the First Emperor Ying Zheng.

Thinking of this, Zhu Yuanzhang's heart surged with emotion, and he could hardly contain his excitement.

But, in the blink of an eye,

The light in Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes dimmed suddenly, because he was not even sure if he could last another month or two, so how could he have the chance to see the day when the Ming Dynasty's territory expanded overseas?

Even if the Ming Dynasty were to expand its territory and sail overseas, that would be something that only future generations could accomplish.

As Zhu Yuanzhang was immersed in such reverie, Zhu Duo continued, "The world is vast and boundless, much larger than we imagine. Although the Ming Dynasty possesses a vast territory spanning thousands of miles, it is still a very large and powerful nation."

But anyone who has ever sailed across the ocean will understand that the vastness of the ocean is far more magnificent than the entire territory of the Ming Dynasty.

On the other side of these vast oceans lie countless countries, some of which, like the Ming Dynasty, have long reigns and great power, and many of them are even more powerful than the Ming Dynasty today.

To put it bluntly, the Central Plains was never the center of the world, and the Ming Dynasty was merely one of many powerful dynasties in the land.

Zhu Duo's words completely overturned everyone's deep-rooted understanding from ancient times to the present, and the princes in the hall immediately became restless.

Zhu Di immediately couldn't help but speak up, "Zhu Duo, since ancient times, the Central Plains has been the center of the world, the core place where heroes from all directions compete for supremacy. The other four foreign barbarians are all alien beings born around my Central Plains."

How could you utter such blasphemous words?

Zhu Duo's expression suddenly turned cold. "What did I say? What did I say? Do you really think that the Celestial Empire is omnipotent and that the Ming Dynasty is the only center of the world?"

You may hold such thoughts, but people who have lived and thrived in other countries for thousands of years have never even set foot on the land of the Ming Dynasty. Why should they agree with your ideas and think that the place where you are is the center of the world?

Uncle Zhu Di, have you ever sailed on the high seas? I suppose not.

If I told you that there is a country with a history of three thousand years far away in the ocean, they also consider themselves the center of the world, think that all the countries overseas are foreign lands, and regard the Ming Dynasty as a remote barbarian country, how would you feel?

Try looking at it from a different perspective.

In the eyes of others, you're nothing more than the kind of small, foreign country you yourself look down on!

"you--"

Zhu Di was speechless after hearing these words, and couldn't think of a single rebuttal for a long time.

"That's enough!"

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned and said in a deep voice, "Fourth brother, sit down!"

"Yes……"

Zhu Di's face still showed resentment, but he dared not disobey Zhu Yuanzhang's orders and could only sit down reluctantly.

Zhu Yuanzhang continued, "We understand what Duo'er means. In short, we can't be arrogant and complacent behind closed doors. We need to know our own limitations and recognize our own position."

Zhu Duo added from the side, "Arrogance is the greatest sin that hinders a country's progress."

"Arrogance is the greatest sin..."

Zhu Yuanzhang repeated the words to himself in a low voice. The more he read them, the heavier they felt, pressing down on his heart.

Back when they were vying for power with Chen Youliang and Zhang Shicheng, didn't those two fail because of their arrogance?

They all thought we were outnumbered and doomed to defeat, but they never expected that we could overcome the odds and defeat them, like a snake swallowing a giant elephant, ultimately conquering the Central Plains and establishing the Ming Dynasty we know today.

"Dor is right..."

Zhu Yuanzhang took Zhu Duo's words to heart completely.

Zhu Duo then changed the subject and continued, "I also learned some earth-shattering knowledge from foreign merchants overseas that would be hard for anyone to accept."

Moreover, after repeated deductions and verifications, this knowledge is absolutely true and accurate.

"What?"

Seeing Zhu Duo speak so solemnly, Zhu Yuanzhang immediately regained his composure and listened attentively.

"The earth is round."

At that time, Magellan had not yet been born, and the fact that the Earth is round has never been proven by anyone in this day and age. Zhu Duo said he learned this from foreign merchants, which was obviously a fabrication to deceive them.

But he was absolutely certain that the earth was round; every word he said was true.

Zhu Yuanzhang and everyone in the hall were stunned. They were all dumbfounded and couldn't understand why Zhu Duo would make such an absurd joke at this time.

That's not funny at all.

Zhu Yunwen's eyes suddenly lit up. After being suppressed by Zhu Duo for so long, he finally seized an opportunity to counterattack. He immediately said, "Zhu Duo, if the earth is really round, wouldn't all the rivers and seas in the world flow downwards? Does that mean that before long, all the water in the world will be completely drained away?"

Zhu Yuanzhang also sighed and said, "Duo'er, your imperial grandfather is not so old that he is blind and confused and cannot distinguish right from wrong."

"Nephew, we must admit that the various items produced by your Peace Trading Company are indeed novel and exquisite, but what you are saying now is too outrageous and too far-fetched."

We are not stupid, and you shouldn't try to fool us.

The princes in the hall all showed their dissatisfaction, none of them willing to be just a background figure listening to him speak.

Zhu Duo smiled faintly and explained slowly, "Let me give you a very simple example. Even if none of you have ever sailed on the high seas, you must have all been to the seaside and seen the ocean."

Have you ever noticed this phenomenon?

When a ship sails in from the distant sea, we always see its mast first, and then the entire hull, as if the ship is slowly rising from the sea.

Upon hearing this, everyone exchanged bewildered glances. After Zhu Duo's explanation, they recalled that it did indeed make sense.

If the earth were truly flat, then when a ship sails from afar, we should be able to see the entire hull at a glance, rather than seeing the mast first and then the hull, with a specific order.

Seeing the hesitation and doubt on everyone's faces, Zhu Duo simply smiled calmly.

This kind of ingrained concept, passed down for thousands of years, can never be completely shaken by a few words. He never expected that he could convince everyone with just a few words.

Seeing that everyone remained silent, Zhu Yunwen quickly continued to question, "But this alone is far from enough to prove that the earth is round, isn't it?"

He knew in his heart that he had to defeat Zhu Duo once, otherwise, if things continued like this, he would probably lose all standing in the heart of his grandfather, Zhu Yuanzhang.

Therefore, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and confront Zhu Duo head-on! Moreover, Zhu Yunwen was actually quite confident that he could win this matter against Zhu Duo.

After all, the idea that the earth is round is simply too far-fetched. Even if you told it to a child who doesn't understand, the child would just laugh and wouldn't believe it at all.

Anyone with common sense would not believe such a thing.

There is an ancient saying: Heaven is round and Earth is square.

If Zhu Duo had said that the sky was round, he might have believed it to some extent, but he really couldn't figure out what the earth would look like if it were a round sphere.

How do people living on the other side of the sphere stand on the ground?

Won't it fall? If it does fall, where will it land? Will it fall straight into the sky?

Or are the people living on the other side of the earth all standing upside down, with their heads down and feet up?

It's absolutely ridiculous.

Thinking of this, Zhu Yunwen quietly straightened his back, feeling even more confident.

Zhu Duo completely disregarded Zhu Yunwen's little scheme and continued unhurriedly, "This one example alone is certainly not enough to convince you all. But there is a common phenomenon in celestial phenomena that I think you all know."

"We all know that the sun is round."

But sometimes the moon is full, and sometimes it is a crescent moon. Why is that?

When the moon becomes a crescent, it is actually because half of its light is blocked by the earth as it moves into the center.

Let's talk about the solar eclipse, which everyone knows about, and the lunar eclipse.

The specific principles behind this are too complicated to explain, but whether it's a solar eclipse or a lunar eclipse, the shadow that blocks the light is always round, and that's beyond doubt.

It's like one round object gradually having its light obscured by another round object.

After hearing this, everyone nodded to themselves, as it seemed to make sense.

Zhu Duo continued speaking without pausing.

"In the prefectures and counties of the southern border of my Great Ming Dynasty, at noon on the summer solstice, the sun shines directly on people's heads, and the sunlight can shine straight into the bottom of a deep well, leaving not even a trace of shadow on the ground."

Even if you stand a long stick on the ground, it won't cast a single shadow.

At any other time of the year, even if you erected the same stick again, you could never do that.

Every year on the summer solstice, it is the same.

"At the same time every summer solstice, if you take this prefecture in southern Xinjiang as the center and go south to another prefecture or north to another prefecture, and make the same observation, you will find that in the prefectures and counties to the south, the shadow of the stick will be biased to the north, and in the prefectures and counties to the north, the shadow of the stick will be biased to the south."

"In addition, after the glass mirror was successfully developed, I created a convex lens and based on it, I made a telescope. By observing the night sky through the telescope, you can clearly see that the moon in the sky is a complete sphere."

Especially during a lunar eclipse, the shadow cast on the moon by the earth becomes exceptionally clear.

"In the far north and far south of our Great Ming Dynasty, the constellations that can be seen when climbing the observatory at night are completely different. In fact, many stars that can be seen in the south disappear completely when they reach the north."

"..."

Zhu Duo spoke eloquently, listing seven or eight pieces of evidence and methods to prove that the earth is round.

Zhu Yuanzhang and the others in the hall were increasingly alarmed as they listened, a chill creeping down their spines.

If everything Zhu Duo said is true, then it can be almost concluded with certainty that the earth is indeed round!

Even so, there was still one thing they just couldn't understand.

Why is it that the earth is a sphere, yet they stand on it without falling or getting hurt? No matter where they go in the world, they always have their feet on the earth and their heads under the sky.

Zhu Duo had already prepared his explanation and said, "The earth itself contains an invisible force that can firmly attract all things in the world to its surface, leaving them nowhere to escape. It is precisely because of this force that people cannot jump infinitely high; after jumping, they will always be pulled back to the ground, and they can only walk steadily by supporting themselves on their feet."

What Zhu Duo said today, under normal circumstances, could easily be labeled as spreading heresy and misleading the public.

If Zhu Duo hadn't already delivered so many mind-blowing and shocking statements, if someone else had said these things for the first time, Zhu Yuanzhang would probably have immediately ordered them dragged away and executed.

After a long period of shock, Zhu Yuanzhang and his entourage were still unable to recover from the shock.

Zhu Duo then changed the subject, saying, "Actually, there is a way to verify the truth of this matter personally."

"What method?"

Zhu Yuanzhang immediately blurted out the answer and pressed for an answer.

He felt that what he had heard today was so revolutionary that he could not digest it all at once.

Zhu Duo spoke in a clear, resounding voice, uttering three words: "The Age of Exploration!"

"The Age of Exploration?!"

"Was it about sailing out to sea to trade with foreign merchants and asking them if this matter was true or false?"

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned, pondering to himself before asking the question.

Zhu Duo slowly shook his head and said, "No, what I mean by the Great Exploration is sailing a ship to completely circle this land and finally return to the land of my Great Ming Dynasty!"

"What?! How is this possible?!"

Zhu Yunwen screamed in shock and jumped up from his seat.

Zhu Duo remained calm and continued, "Why not? I already said that the earth is round. Oh no, from now on we shouldn't call it the earth, we should call it the planet, after all, the earth is a sphere, isn't it?"

"More than 70% of the Earth's surface is ocean, with land making up only a small portion. As long as we find the right course, we can sail around the entire globe and return safely to the Ming Dynasty!"

"From then on, my Great Ming Dynasty was able to truly see this world clearly and truly understand its entirety!"

"Moreover, if we can dedicate the full strength of our nation to development for decades, we will be able to usher in a true global maritime era, truly set sail overseas, and expand our territory!"

"Let the dragon flag of my Great Ming Dynasty be planted on every inch of this land!"

"At that time, no matter where the sun goes in the sky, wherever the sunlight shines, that will be the territory of my Great Ming."

On that day, the Ming Dynasty will truly become the empire on which the sun never sets!

Zhu Duo spoke with a bold and unrestrained tone, enunciating each word clearly.

In the original historical trajectory, the later Qing Dynasty was not weak. Even during the Qianlong era, the Qing Dynasty's military strength was still among the world's top levels.

In the end, however, the powerful ships and cannons of Western countries forced open the country's doors, and it suffered endless humiliation.

The root cause of all these tragedies was the policy of isolationism, which caused China to miss the most important century-long turning point in human history!

While the Qing Dynasty was still immersed in the dream of being the Celestial Empire and closed itself off from the world, countries around the world had already embarked on the magnificent Age of Exploration, thereby shaking off ignorance and backwardness, and riding the wave of the Renaissance, driving the rapid development of science and technology throughout the world!

If the Qing Dynasty had kept up with the Age of Exploration, the world today would surely be one where China reigns supreme and all nations pay tribute!

And now, in the Ming Dynasty of the fourteenth century,

Zhu Duo had already begun planning to usher in the Great Age of Exploration for the Ming Dynasty!

Zhu Duo harbored a grand ambition: to make the Ming Dynasty a truly immortal empire on which the sun never sets!