The moon stars are scarce, but the black magpie has not yet reached the time to fly south. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 infoThe palace was already silent, except for the night breeze that was starting to get a little muggy through the window edges, gently stirring the pages on the table.

A few kerosene lamps were still on, illuminating a large sheet of silk spread out on the table.

The people at the table propped up the table with their hands on the table, lowered their heads, and stared at the large piece of silk cloth on the table, looking back and forth.

Suddenly, the light on the table brightened again, and the person staring at the silk cloth turned his head sharply, only to see a gentle woman holding a lantern, standing behind him at some point.

"Your Majesty, it's late at night, why are you up again?" The man behind him asked, carrying a lantern.

"Guanyin, I can't sleep!" The person who was staring at the silk cloth on the table was the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin. At this moment, the silk cloth spread out in front of him was a map of the world.

"Guanyin, you see, the world is so big, and the Tang Dynasty is so small." Li Shimin pointed to the map and said to Empress Changsun: "Look, our Tang Dynasty is only like this. ”

"This is ......" Empress Changsun looked at the map in amazement, her eyes widened, and she looked at the piece that Li Shimin pointed at with his finger on it.

"This piece is Datang." Li Shimin explained to her: "This is a map given to me by Xia Hongsheng, and it is the appearance of the whole world. This is the Tang Dynasty, this is Liaodong, this small piece is Goguryeo, next to it is Baekje, and below Baekje is Silla. Across a strait, these islands are the Wa Kingdom. Down, this is the coast of our Datang coast. Here, this is Lin Yi Country. ”

"This ...... Our Datang, it's so small? Empress Changsun was very surprised: "These small countries are even smaller, and I am afraid that there is no big palm." ”

"Hehe, Guanyin, do you know where those caravans of the Hu people, as well as the caravans of the Tang Dynasty going west, passed through and where they went?" Li Shimin asked with a smile.

"The concubine doesn't know." Empress Eldest Sun shook her head: "The concubine only knows that she goes all the way to the west, and she goes far away, and she comes and goes, but she is afraid that she will have more than a year." ”

Li Shimin nodded, and then drew on the map: "Look, this is the Longyou Road of the Tang Dynasty, they went west out of Yangguan and passed through the countries of the Western Regions, which is this one. And then it goes west, and this is Persia, and then it goes west, here. This is called the Eastern Roman Empire, which is what we call Great Qin. This Great Qin is a big country like our Datang, and this large area is his territory. This was the end of the westbound caravan. Here they sold their goods to the merchants of Great Qin, and then the merchants of Great Qin continued to sell those goods further west. ”

"Your Majesty, what about here?" Empress Eldest Sun pointed her finger down, pointed to the huge land that was much larger than the Tang Dynasty, and asked.

"It's borderland, it's hot, it's rainy, it's hot and wet. The people there had dark skin, short, curly hair, and thick lips, darker than Kunlunnu. There were some very dark-skinned Kunlun slaves that the Persians had brought from there. The body is very strong, with a lot of strength and stamina. Li Shimin said: "These are all what Xia Hongsheng told me, and I don't know how he knew about the situation there." ”

"And what about here?" Empress Eldest Sun pointed to the other side and asked, "This looks like it's connected." ”

"Yes, it's borderlands too." Li Shimin said: "There is a lot of cultivated land in the upper piece, and there is a lot of grain with a high yield in the lower piece, which we do not have in Datang. The people here are yellow and black, like Kunlun slaves, and are said to be the descendants of the southwestern soldiers. ”

"Qiang? So far?! How did it pass? Empress Eldest Sun was taken aback and couldn't help asking.

"Here." Li Shimin pointed to the Bering Strait on the map and said: "The strait here is extremely cold here in winter, the sea is frozen, and the distance between the two sides is not very far. ”

"In the middle of the night, why did Your Majesty suddenly remember to come and see this thing?" Empress Eldest Sun looked at the map, then at Li Shimin, and asked.

Li Shimin turned his head to look at the map, sighed, and said, "The world in front of me is so big, isn't it the great rivers and mountains that God has given me?" I can't wait to reach Liaodong tomorrow, recover Liaodong, destroy Goguryeo, and then free my hands to see this world that God has prepared for me! ”

"Your Majesty......" Empress Eldest Sun felt the strong self-confidence and domineering in Li Shimin at that moment, and couldn't help but tremble in her heart.

"Your Majesty, Goguryeo has no disrespect for the Tang Dynasty now, why is Your Majesty so obsessed with Goguryeo?" Empress Eldest Sun calmed down her heart, which was beating violently because of Li Shimin's domineering appearance, and asked, "Has Your Majesty forgotten ......?"

"Now, I feel that Yang Guang's attack on Goguryeo was a correct decision. It's just that he didn't pick the right time, and he didn't have that talent. Li Shimin waved his hand and said, "If Goguryeo is not removed, it will be a big disaster in the future." You see, Goguryeo occupies the land of Liaodong, and there is such a large place in the north, where the Ya tribes, the Murwei Kingdom, the Driving Du Mei, and the Yaksha Kingdom are all places where Ru Mao drinks blood and is not civilized, and if Goguryeo is based on it, its power is no less than that of the Turks. Going straight south, the harm is even worse than that of the Turks. Today's decision is made, only Liaodong is not Bin, the heir is strong because of the horses, and the ministers are guided to conquest, and the funeral begins. I take it from myself, and I will not leave behind the worries of future generations. ”

Empress Changsun gently grabbed Li Shimin and called: "Your Majesty, the concubine is a female concubine and does not understand national affairs. However, the concubine felt that His Majesty had done enough, good enough. If His Majesty wants to conquer Goguryeo, he must have come to him. Your Majesty, you have the best soldiers and advisers in the world, and there is a strange person by your side, so why can't you sleep because of this? If you have a good physique, you can see the capital of the world on this map! ”

Li Shimin turned his head, patted Empress Changsun's hand gently, and said, "Don't worry, Guanyin, I'm not worried about Goguryeo. I'm thinking about a problem. Guanyin might as well think about it for me. ”

"This ...... Concubines and women can't interfere with ......"

"It doesn't matter." Li Shimin shook his head and said, "I'm thinking, Xia Hongsheng has always wanted to go to Quanzhou and set up a maritime business. I'm going to let him go? ”

Empress Eldest Sun thought for a moment and asked, "Then why didn't Your Majesty allow it before?" ”

"Because my current center of gravity is in Liaodong, in Goguryeo, not on the sea." Li Shimin said: "Yes, but it is different now. Previously, I discussed the matter of Goguryeo with Xia Hongsheng, and he proposed to focus on the sailors and conquer the three kingdoms of Goguryeo, Baekje and Wa at the same time, and all the achievements were completed in one battle. Xiaogong is now in Ryukyu, if Xia Hongsheng is sent to Quanzhou, he can train sailors with Xiaogong. I have seen the soldiers he has trained, all of them are elite soldiers, and I estimate that the method he proposed to train sailors will be as effective as that of military cadets. In addition, now that Datang needs to accumulate grain and grass, Quanzhou is close to Linyi State, and it has sea ships to trade with Linyi State, so I also want him to go to Quanzhou to facilitate operation and try to get more grain from Linyi State. (To be continued.) )