APSIL -Chapter 157 The Map

On the second day of classes at Nine Chapters Hall, the more than twenty Imperial Academy students spent an entire painful morning being bombarded by Lu Sanlang’s endless exercises.

Then, in the afternoon, after Zhang Shou used the words “Tianyuan Method” to ignite the students’ enormous interest, he threw out the ultimate weapon—the linear equation—and, without the slightest sense of responsibility, handed the task of explaining it over to Lu Sanlang before quietly leaving.

Only those who had actually taught knew how exhausting it was.

Besides, Zhang Shou now had to teach as many as eight classes a day. There was no way he could endure that workload, so naturally, more and more of the teaching had to rely on Lu Sanlang or the students’ own self-study.

Furthermore, explaining the simplest linear equations to a group of people who did not even understand what an equation was would completely drain his patience.

He was also deeply resentful that the simplified mathematics textbooks created during the founding emperor’s era had been lost.

By the time he reached beneath the grand academy gate of the Imperial Academy, he saw that the carriage sent by Zhang Kang was already waiting there.

Of course, there was also A-Liu, who always appeared whenever he was needed.

Having gradually grown accustomed to such bumpy rides, Zhang Shou climbed into the carriage after half a day of exhaustion and unknowingly fell asleep.

Only when a knocking sound came from the wooden wall did he suddenly wake up.

“Young Master, we have arrived at the Bureau of Military Equipment.”

Zhang Shou rubbed his cheeks and finally recovered some energy before stepping out of the carriage.

Only then did he realize that he was standing in a quiet alley.

There were no sharp sounds of metal being struck, no clanging of tools, and not even the voices of people talking could be heard.

It seemed completely inconsistent with the name Bureau of Military Equipment.

A green-robed official approached and immediately explained.

“The bureau offices are located here, but the workshops are underground. The surrounding land all belongs to the Bureau of Military Equipment, and many buildings nearby are empty, so there is little noise.”

“Since this is your first visit, Doctor Zhang probably does not know the rules here. Without an order from above, even princes or imperial relatives cannot enter the Bureau of Military Equipment.”

“Therefore, Marquis Weinan asked me to bring you to another private residence he owns here.”

Seeing how carefully the man explained everything, Zhang Shou immediately smiled and thanked him.

A classified institution naturally had strict rules.

Maps might be extremely valuable to merchants and fleets, but to the Bureau of Military Equipment, they were probably not as precious as important weapons and military technology.

Especially since he only wanted to see maps of the world beyond the Ming borders.

It was not surprising that such things could be taken out.

Since there was no one else around, Zhang Shou chatted with the official leading him there.

Only then did he learn that the man was Li Wei, an eighth-rank registrar of the Bureau of Military Equipment.

Although he was only one rank below Zhang Shou’s own position as Imperial Academy Doctor, Zhang Shou was not foolish enough to think that the difference between seventh and eighth rank was truly insignificant.

Seeing that the other man remained respectful yet distant, Zhang Shou asked only a couple of questions before stopping.

When they entered an ordinary-looking courtyard, Li Registrar suddenly asked: “Doctor Zhang, are you here to solve the fourteen-ring Linglong box?”

Zhang Shou did not hesitate and immediately pretended to be confused.

“What fourteen-ring Linglong box?”

Seeing the confusion on Zhang Shou’s face, Li Wei naturally did not imagine that this famous young prodigy would pretend ignorance.

He lowered his voice.

“That is a secret box that has been kept in the Bureau of Military Equipment for many years.”

“The outside has a fourteen-ring character lock. If handled incorrectly, it will trigger a self-destruct mechanism.”

“Because your reputation for deciphering codes is well known, I naturally assumed that was why you came.”

Since Zhang Shou had decided to play dumb, he intended to continue until the end.

“Haha, I only came because Lu Sanlang has some friendship with Marquis Weinan. I met the marquis yesterday and became curious, so I hoped he could make an exception and allow me to see the maps of all the nations under Heaven.”

Li Wei immediately laughed.

There was clearly some disbelief in his expression.

“Maps of all nations under Heaven?”

“Those foreign lands beyond civilization? At most, they are merely dozens or hundreds of tiny countries.”

“When Doctor Zhang sees those maps, you will understand.”

Zhang Shou became even more suspicious after hearing that.

However, he soon learned the answer.

After entering the central room and seeing Marquis Weinan Zhang Kang, the elderly nobleman—though clearly old, still carrying traces of the heroic spirit he must have possessed in his youth and looking nothing like the barbarian people claimed—waved his hand and dismissed Li Wei.

Then he pointed toward the eastern room.

“Because it is not an important item, I brought it out.”

“Go inside and take a look.”

“Since you said you do not want to borrow it, only look once, then I will give you one quarter of an hour. That should be enough, right?”

“Naturally. Thank you, Marquis.”

Zhang Shou cupped his hands in thanks and immediately entered without hesitation.

Even during the day, lamps were still lit inside the room.

Using the light, he immediately saw three maps hanging on the wall.

However, because the lighting was still insufficient, he could only make out their general outlines.

Then he noticed something unexpected on the table beneath the maps.

It was a huge globe.

His first reaction was disbelief.

At this era, many Westerners had apparently not yet accepted that the Earth was round.

Columbus’s voyage—which would truly prove the Earth’s spherical shape—had not even begun.

Yet somehow, despite having only the ancient wisdom of the founding emperor, the Ming people had already abandoned the idea that Heaven was round and Earth was square, believing instead that the world was a sphere?

While he was still wondering, Zhang Kang’s quiet voice came from behind him.

“This was left behind by the founding emperor.”

“He said that he once dreamed that the Heavenly Emperor carried him high above the clouds, where he discovered that the world was not a flat square but a sphere.”

“So he ordered craftsmen to create this.”

“Afterward, he personally had these lines and maps drawn onto it.”

“Naturally, more than a dozen copies were made.”

“Since the founding emperor claimed that this was created after receiving guidance from the Heavenly Emperor, the first of the three maps is a flat projection created by transferring the spherical surface onto paper.”

“The next two were drawn after comparing them with information gathered by our fleets.”

“Although the small countries they encountered differed slightly, the general outlines of the continents were similar.”

“The founding emperor truly was chosen by Heaven…”

Zhang Shou only half-listened to Zhang Kang’s explanation.

His attention was entirely focused on the globe.

He stared at the lines of longitude and latitude.

At the clearly outlined seven continents and four oceans.

At the marked territory of the Ming Empire.

At the countless countries covering the European continent.

He himself had owned a massive globe at home and collected countless world history maps in his study.

Carefully rotating the globe, he discovered that the positions of the seven continents and four oceans were surprisingly close to his memories.

The accuracy was impressive.

Then, based on the approximate locations of Spain and Portugal, he determined that this was a world map from around the fourteenth or fifteenth century.

At that moment, he completely confirmed his conclusion.

The founding emperor was not only obsessed with maps.

He was a map enthusiast whose map-related skills had reached the maximum level.

If it were him, he would never have been able to mark not only the Kingdom of Spain but also carefully distinguish the Kingdom of Castile and the Kingdom of Aragon.

And that jagged border line that looked like it had been bitten by a dog?

He definitely could not have remembered that.

But soon, his attention was drawn toward the colored regions representing the Ottoman Empire and the Byzantine Empire.

At the same time, Zhang Kang’s voice reached his ears again.

“After the great ships sailed across the seas, the court naturally devoted every effort to searching for the larger countries described in the founding emperor’s dream.”

“These two countries were naturally among the first investigated.”

“Although they are far from our country, they are not of our people. Their intentions must be guarded against.”

“However, when several ships finally returned after countless hardships, the information they brought back was completely different.”

“Doctor Zhang, you can look at the second map.”

Zhang Shou raised his head and carefully examined the second map.

After some effort, he discovered that the Byzantine Empire had already lost Constantinople and its territory had shrunk greatly.

Meanwhile, the later powerful Ottoman Empire only controlled a considerable area east of the Aegean Sea, including parts of former Mysia, Lydia, and Ephesus.

Its forces had already crossed Constantinople and entered former Byzantine lands in Thrace.

Recalling the expansion history of the Ottoman Empire, Zhang Shou realized that the empire had likely not yet reached its peak.

But Zhang Kang’s next words suddenly made his heart move.

“When the founding emperor first ascended the throne, he defeated the Timurid Empire.”

“Timur later submitted tribute and acknowledged his submission.”

“To the east of the Timurid Empire was this Ottoman country that the founding emperor had dreamed of.”

“The founding emperor ordered the border armies to continuously accept surrendered northern soldiers, repeatedly defeating Timur’s forces.”

“Timur could only push westward.”

“The Ottoman country suffered several devastating defeats.”

“Later, when Timur’s strength greatly increased and he prepared to launch an eastern expedition, he died halfway there.”

“After our fleets arrived and investigated, we discovered that this Ottoman country was actually only so large…”

Before Zhang Kang could continue, Zhang Shou suddenly asked: “When was this map drawn?”

“After that, did anyone investigate again and redraw the maps?”

“No.”

“That region is simply too chaotic.”

Speaking of chaos, Zhang Kang frowned.

Then he casually continued: “Besides, those western countries fight each other every day and are extremely poor. Trading with them does not bring much profit.”

“Compared with them, India produces far greater wealth.”

“Therefore, before Emperor Yingzong’s reign, after sailing south, most fleets simply passed through the Strait of Malacca and continued only as far as India.”

“There were people in the court who wanted to explore further, but due to certain reasons, those plans were abandoned.”

Zhang Shou finally understood.

The imperial fleets went overseas searching for possible descendants of the founding emperor who might threaten the imperial throne.

Merchant ships went overseas to sell goods and obtain gold, silver, gems, and spices.

As a result, the Ottoman Empire—which had once been repeatedly defeated by Timur—was underestimated.

The small European nations were also looked down upon.

Before discovering the wealthy yet backward Americas, those European countries truly could not produce much wealth.

Zhang Shou looked over the three maps on the wall and reached his conclusion.

The first map used what would later become the Mercator projection, transferring information from the globe onto a flat surface.

The second map modified the first using information gathered from voyages.

But because the changes were mostly limited to the Ottoman Empire, Byzantine Empire, and some European states—with many borders drawn as simple straight lines—he knew the fleets’ understanding of those regions was shallow.

They had probably only visited once or twice.

As for the third map, it mostly followed the second but modified the center position, placing the Ming Empire at the center of the world.

This adjusted map revealed a strong sense of being the center of civilization.

He had to admit:

The founding emperor wanted his people to open their eyes and see the world.

But now it seemed…

Their eyes had opened.

Just not very wide.

Ultimately, internal turmoil was the greatest killer.

The fact that the Ming Empire had survived repeated internal conflicts without collapsing was already remarkable.

Zhang Shou sighed inwardly.

Then he smiled at Zhang Kang.

“Thank you, Marquis, for granting my rather presumptuous request.”

Seeing Zhang Shou’s satisfied expression, Zhang Kang laughed.

“I know you scholars like to say: ‘Reading ten thousand books is inferior to traveling ten thousand miles.'”

“Now that you have seen the map, please also put some effort into the fourteen-ring lock.”

“Naturally.”

Although Zhang Shou agreed readily, he laughed inwardly.

I’ll just try a little.

I’m not a god, after all.