After the edict establishing the Institution of carriage was established, Ying Zheng posed another question: "Do you gentlemen know how this land and sky we inhabit are like?"
Upon hearing this question, the officials became more suspicious of whether the current king sitting on the throne was truly the King.
He first suddenly announced that he would establish an heir, then proposed to set up the "Vehicle Platform" to monitor public opinion, and now asks a question about "How is this land and sky we inhabit?"
The former kings would not have acted this way.
When the officials remained silent, Ying Zheng added another sentence: "I am not asking how the land and sky we inhabit were formed, but rather what form does the earth and sky take?"
What form does the earth and sky take?
Though they were puzzled as to why Ying Zheng would ask such a question today, the ministers still provided an answer. One minister said, "I believe that the heavens resemble a canopy, the earth like a chessboard, round for the heavens and square for the earth!"
This statement was endorsed by the majority of the ministers. The notion of the round heavens and square earth was the mainstream perception of the universe in this era.
There was also a minister who said, "I believe the body of the heavens and earth resembles an egg, with the earth encircled by the heavens."
This theory did not receive much support from others. The theory of the round heavens and the square earth had already been proposed in this era, but was not widely accepted.
This minister spoke not because he believed this theory, but to differ from the widely accepted "round heavens and square earth" view, hoping to pique Ying Zheng's interest.
Ying Zheng asked, "If the body of the heavens and earth resembles an egg, how could our great Qin be situated on the earth, and what about the northern Huns and the southern Baiyue?"
The minister was caught off guard by Ying Zheng's question. He had heard this theory before but had not studied it himself, so he had to honestly reply, "I do not know!"
Ying Zheng said: "I have recently heard a theory similar to what you just said. It claims that the land and sky we inhabit is a sphere, and our great Qin is but one region on it. Also, it is not the central and broadest part of the land and sky that we and you officials believe it to be. In reality, it does not even account for one hundredth of the entire world."
At this moment, the entire hall fell into silence, for the information in the words was too revolutionary to their previous beliefs.
Although the ministers did not care about whether the heavens and earth were round or square, as it did not affect their governance of the country, the statement "it is not what we and you officials believe to be the most central and extensive part of the land and sky. In reality, it does not even account for one hundredth of the entire world" was indeed a shock to them.
Because most of the ministers had always held the notion that the nine states were the most central, finest, and fertile land in the heavens and earth. Besides the nine states, other areas were all considered uncultivated lands. Even if there were fertile lands elsewhere, they could not compare to those of the nine states.
Of course, the ministers of this time were far superior to those who were educated by Confucian scholars later on. They had more pioneering spirit and a desire to expand territory. They would not have thought that our empire, as a superior state, was rich in resources and had everything it needed, so there was no need to conquer those barbarian lands.
However, Ying Zheng's words were too explosive. If it weren't for Ying Zheng being the King, there might have been some ministers who interrupted and shouted: "What are you saying nonsense?"
Ying Zheng had been observing the expressions of the ministers and saw their shock and disbelief. There was a sense of satisfaction in his heart, and he was even more eager to see the reactions of the ministers when they saw the globe.
"Bring the globe and let us all take a look!"
What is the Earth? What is a globe?
At Ying Zheng's command, four eunuchs entered carefully carrying a tray from outside. The carefulness of the eunuchs made it seem as if they were carrying their own lives.
Indeed, in Ying Zheng's mind, the globe was more valuable than the lives of these eunuchs.
Four eunuchs carrying the tray entered the hall. The ministers saw that there was a ball on the tray, which was covered in various colors.
Is this the globe that the king mentioned? Could this ball show the land and sky that we inhabit? If so, where is our great Qin located, and where am I?
The ministers were filled with various thoughts, but then they heard Ying Zheng say, "This object is called the 'globe.' 'Earth' is the name for this land and sky we inhabit, but because it is so vast, we find it hard to visualize it, so we have made this item to represent it. All the colors on it, except blue, represent a country or a region of land."
Seeing all the colored regions on the globe, even the most senior officials couldn't help but show surprise. There were so many of them!
Seeing the only black region on the globe, Li Si asked, "May I ask Your Majesty, is this black region perhaps?"
As he spoke, Li Si's voice trembled because if this black region were the realm of the Qin Empire, it would indeed be less than one hundredth, no, perhaps not even one thousandth of the entire globe.
How could Li Si not be shocked by this?
He thought that by helping Ying Zheng to annihilate the six states, he had already accomplished a monumental feat of unprecedented grandeur, but did not expect that the unified Qin Empire, which dominated the world, was less than one thousandth of the entire globe.
Ying Zheng said, "According to what the other person said, this black region is where our great Qin Empire is located!"
A minister shook his head and said, "Impossible! The Qin Empire has an army of thousands and miles of territory. How could it be so small? It must be that the other person is deceiving Your Majesty!"
At this point, Meng Tian, who had been watching the scene in silence, spoke up: "If we are all living on a sphere, then we must be living on the surface. Otherwise, we would surely fall off."
Upon hearing this, Ying Zheng glanced at Meng Yi, who was not far away, and Meng Yi looked a bit embarrassed.
Meng Tian noticed the change in his brother's expression. He immediately understood what was going on. His brother had been serving the King and had probably seen the globe earlier, so he asked the same question.
A minister asked, "Your Majesty, dare I ask if it is as Meng General has said?"
Ying Zheng said, "According to what the other person said, it is not like that. This globe hangs in the universe with no difference between up, down, left, or right. People can live on its surface, inside it, and even below it."
Since the words had already been said, Meng Tian decided to satisfy his curiosity and asked, "Your Majesty, will those living below not fall down?"
Ying Zheng said, "The other person said that there is a force pulling us, like an invisible rope tying us to the earth. Have any of you ever thrown stones or shot arrows into the sky? Do the stones and arrows eventually fall to the ground?"
The ministers thought about it carefully and realized that indeed, when stones are thrown into the sky or arrows are shot out, they eventually fall to the ground. Some ministers wanted to argue that stones and arrows are too light to be believable, but then they thought of larger objects that also seem to fall downwards and eventually land on the ground.
Wang Ben, standing behind his father, asked, "Your Majesty, what does this blue color represent?"
Ying Zheng said, "This is the sea!"
When Ying Zheng said that the blue on the globe represented the sea, the ministers were once again taken aback. If their land and sky were truly like this globe, then that meant the land area was much smaller than the sea.
This gave the ministers who didn't believe that the land was a ball a point to argue against: "If that's truly the case, how can we be floating on the sea? The sea cannot hold all the continents and lands of the world. How can it be possible?"
Ying Zheng was very straightforward: "The other person did not say that!"
Meng Tian stared at the wooden globe and suddenly had an inspired thought: "If the heavens and earth are truly like this globe, then isn't it possible for us to go from south to north and from east to west?"
Meng Tian exclaimed excitedly, "That's right! To verify whether this globe is true, we just need to go east and return from the west. If we can do that, then this globe must be true."
A minister shook his head and said, "The realm of the Qin Empire is only a fraction of this globe. By this estimate, how many years and months will it take to verify its truth?"
