Zhao Shizhen, who was brainwashed by Chen Mu in Nanyang, was extremely unaccustomed to life in the hinterland of Beijing, he knew what Chen Mu wanted to do, and he also knew better how impossible Chen Mu's vision was determined by the environment of Beijing.

It seems that the administrative center of the Ming Dynasty will never regard overseas as a starting point for exploration, and people are more concerned about where disasters and harvests occur, which brings Zhao Shizhen a deeper sense of frustration.

Even when the emperor and the emperor were eager to learn about overseas affairs, it was only for the sake of understanding more, and there was no intention of paying attention to it.

The imperial court's attention to foreign countries only stayed for a short time in the years of Emperor Longqing's reign, and the treasury could not make ends meet, and it urgently needed a breakthrough to open up sources and reduce expenditure to survive those days, and Chen Mu and the Nanyang Military Government played this breakthrough well.

In return, the Nanyang military government had all the power overseas, and it still retains it even now.

But that attention is no longer there, since Zhang Juzheng took power, the implementation of the examination law and the implementation of the tax whip law, the rule of officials has become clearer and the trend has been reversed, the imperial court has made up for the arrears of military expenses in northern Xinjiang, and the entire empire has been revitalized.

In contrast, where is the maritime revenue?

When the tax revenue is 29 million and the expenditure is 30 million, the Nanyang Military Government's 1 million taels of sea transportation is the top priority.

But when the expenditure is 30 million taels and the income is 33 million taels, does the overseas 1 million taels still matter?

It is also difficult to have an impact on Daming.

However, the little Wanli Emperor, who was forced to study by the real emperor Zhang Juzheng, brought a glimmer of hope to Zhao Shizhen, and the emperor was full of curiosity overseas.

"Your Majesty, the people of Shanxi have suffered a disaster, and the cabinet elder ordered the ministers to follow the governor for disaster relief.

At the end of the lecture in Wenhuadian, the scholar retreated, and Zhao Shizhen asked Zhang Juzheng for instructions and got a moment to say goodbye to the emperor. 、

After the empty hall retreated from the bachelors and guests, only the palace guards and accompanying eunuchs, the eleven-year-old Wanli Emperor stood up from his seat below, bowed to Zhao Shizhen, and said, "Chang Ji will tell me about the Heavenly Sphere again." ”

The so-called armillary sphere is a globe, which was known to the poor Nanyang military government at the beginning of the year, and was first covered with a copper ball, and then a map was drawn and painted with different lacquer colors.

The armillary ball in the palace was not made by the Nanyang Military Government, and no one in the world knew Chen Mu's production style, Zhang Juzheng sent it to the Ministry of Industry after reading it, and asked the officials of the Ministry of Industry to do it again as it was, which was much more exquisite, and then sent it to the palace.

Now the map has been circulated among the Ming officials, wealthy merchants in the north and south, and landlords, but it is not the shape of the heavenly sphere, and it is mostly seen on porcelain and furnaces, forming the pattern characteristics of the Longwan period.

Zhao Shizhen was extremely pleased with the emperor's preference for foreign affairs, nodded and walked quickly to the huge armillary sphere, and turned: "Where does Your Majesty want the ministers to start?" ”

"Where is Shanxi?"

Zhao Shizhen turned the half-human-high hollow copper ball and said: "This is Shanxi, there is the Great Wall in the north to separate Mongolia, Xuan and Dafu are the frontiers, and Xuanfu has the Ordnance Bureau to produce guns and armor; Speaking of martial arts, he is a good general of His Majesty's protégé. ”

"General Zhenshuo!"

Emperor Xiao Wanli quickly answered and recited: "The Ordnance Bureau was established by Chen Mu when he was the general of Zhenshuo during the Longqing period, and the malaise of Wanquan Dusi was eliminated, the weapons were reorganized, and the birds and heavy artillery were made, and the first emperor gave the name of General Zhenshuo. General Zhenshuo is a loaded car, with a total weight of 476 pounds and four taels, I know it! ”

It is written in the Tao Te Ching, the little emperor is at the time when he is most interested in weapons, and he was forced by Zhang Juzheng to learn the art of the ** king like a strict father, and he is sleepy when he listens to it, but he is very interested in learning Chen Mu's things.

Wanli was born in Yuwangfu, and his memory is already the time to enter the Forbidden City as a prince, and in those few years, the world was going to be chaotic, either the people in various places were in turmoil or the northern prisoners committed crimes, and the war report flew into Beijing like snowflakes, even the Forbidden City could not stop the news of the war.

The emperor was interested, Zhao Shizhen was willing to teach, and Chen Mu wrote clearly in the textbook, and the eleven-year-old Wanli Emperor even made it clear that there were several steps between the reloading of the artillery and the reloading.

"Your Majesty is wise."

Zhao Shizhen arched his hand and said: "However, it is not enough to know the ordnance, the graduates of the North and South Lecture Martial Arts Hall are all the children of His Majesty's protégés, Chen Shuai said that weapons are important, and the people who use weapons are more important." ”

"I know! The 762 students in the first phase of the North and South Lecture Martial Arts Hall are all my students! The little emperor responded very proudly, walked to the side of the Heavenly Sphere, looked at it carefully, and asked, "Where is Guangdong, is this?" No, this is Nanzhi, Nanzhi, Zhili. ”

"Back to Your Majesty, Guangdong is here, south of the sea, the southernmost of the Ming Dynasty."

As soon as Zhao Shizhen finished speaking, Xiao Wanli looked at the copper ball here and there, and said with a frowning little eyebrows: "No, the southernmost thing in the world is Xinming, there is no easternmost and no westernmost, it is connected, the lion country of the westernmost land of the Ming Dynasty, the national letter just sent a few days ago." ”

Zhao Shizhen hurriedly nodded yes, and said in his heart that the emperor remembered this matter quite clearly, and he would know it after listening to it.

To be honest, it is not easy to teach the emperor to read, if it is in the identity of Zhang Juzheng, then it is no problem, Qi Jiguang, Chen Mu, and Li Chengliang's identities are also okay, but it is too difficult to be like him, and the guards in the hall are afraid when they cough.

"The ball is so big, why is it called Da Ming, this is clearly Xiao Ming."

Emperor Wanli stretched his little arms and legs, eager to put the big sleeves of the dragon robe on his shoulders to the sun and the moon, and pointed to the national boundary on the armillary sphere with his little thin arms and said: "The blue is the bright of the sea and the red sea, and the pink is the tributary country, oops, why is there still any remaining color?" ”

The Mongols and Jurchens in the north, the Indochina countries, the Mughals, the Ottomans, and even as far away as Spain all possessed vast and vast territories, which were large but not too large compared to the Ming Dynasty.

"Back to Your Majesty, the rest is for other countries."

The little emperor pouted unhappily when he heard Zhao Shizhen say this, and muttered in a low voice: "This is going to be filled in red, how long will it take?" ”

"Your Majesty, you don't necessarily need to go to war." Telling the little emperor these things made Zhao Shizhen want to laugh a little, even if he was the emperor, how could the eleven-year-old Son of Heaven start a war? He said: "It's not that you can't make the kingdoms your own, it's just that it's not easy to manage them. ”

"On the side of the couch, how can you allow others to snore!"

The little emperor's words were loud, and after pouting bitterly and hatefully, he smiled awkwardly and asked, "Yes, I said that, right?" ”

Zhao Shizhen could only nod and said: "Your Majesty is right, Chen Shuai is now trying to find a piece of land on the side of the Spanish couch for a good night's sleep, but he has not yet reached a treaty, and he may be in this place soon." ”

He turned the celestial sphere, and the bronze ball made a slow and dull sound, fixed on the side of Spain, and said: "Seville is about here, and in the future, the Ming may be able to lease this place for a hundred years, and this will also turn red." ”

The little emperor looked at the bronze ball carved on the map, and sighed solemnly like an adult.

"I have a long way to go in coloring!"