Qin Qiong instructed the guards: "Tell General Su about today's events, and then keep it for future reference." The tactical strategy of each army was entrusted to the two generals Su and Niu, and the discussion was closed. ”

"Yes!"

The staff generals left, and Qin Qiong let out a long breath.

Tang Jian comforted on the side: "I think seven years ago, if it wasn't for the saint who ascended the throne, would my Tang Dynasty have such a prosperous era?" ”

"That's it, it's destiny." Qin Qiong was no longer entangled, and after sighing again, he said, "It seems that I need to think more about teaching Huai Dao." ”

Tang Jian said: "It's better to ask Liu Mu, do you know that although Liu Mu's son has not been by his side for many years, he has an excellent education." At the age of two, he can dress himself, at the age of three, he does not need to be fed, and by the age of five, he can already distinguish between wheat seedlings and leeks. ”

Qin Qiong's eyes lit up: "This is amazing, the third child in Lao Cheng's family, he still made a mistake between sugar and salt when he was a teenager." Once, I grabbed a handful of alkali for steaming buns and threw it into the soup pot. ”

Tang Jian was stunned for a moment, and laughed heartily.

On both sides, Willow left the front line and went to Temasek.

As the eastern outlet of the Straits of Malacca, Temasek is not a piece of land, but an island separated from it by a curving, slender waterway.

In the future, the great Kalimon Island, the current name here is the Tang Dynasty Malacca Dongrong Town.

The exit of Xirong Town on the other side of the Strait of Malacca is divided into Xirong South Town and Xirong North Town, and controlling the Strait is equivalent to controlling one of the important passages of communication between the East and the West.

The other two passages are Wonder Island and Africa's southernmost seaport, which has not yet been named.

Is Temasek barren?

There are tens of millions of acres of sugarcane fields used as military farms, and the huge income guarantees the rich life of the officers and soldiers of the South China Sea Navy Division stationed at this time.

Sitting on the seashore, Liu Mu, dressed in a long linen robe, nibbled on sugar cane while watching the recruits of the sailors run wild on the beach with heavy loads on their backs.

Feng Zhidai sat beside Liu Mu with two coconuts: "Little uncle, if you bite that thing too much, your throat will hurt." ”

"Yes." Willow took a coconut.

Feng Zhidai stretched out his hand and pointed to the other side of the strait: "Last year, the Emperor Taishang traveled to the West Port of Borneo, and mentioned it as if he was joking, and the other side of the strait seems to have malicious intentions towards us. ”

"It's not that there is malice, but I like us Tang people very much." With a smile, Liu Mu threw aside half of the sugar cane in his hand, grabbed the coconut and took a sip.

Feng Zhidai immediately said: "Since it is friendly, should the Emperor be discouraged?" ”

"Like doesn't mean friendly. According to the records in the Sui book, the country of Gantuoli once went to pay tribute and offered many treasures, among which there is a rose water, have you ever heard of it? ”

"I've heard it, I've seen it. It was a very precious treasure back then, but now it is a very ordinary object. ”

Liu Mu said that if he didn't come to Datang, the rose water would indeed be extremely precious, and the perfume distilled from the rose flower was packed in a stained glass bottle.

This kind of stained glass is from the ancient Egyptian method, the success rate is not 100%, and the ingredients are all up to luck, so there will be all kinds of colored glass.

Yanagi continued: "The tribute of the Gandari State only shows the respect of a small country for a large country, and it never offers anything in return. And since the name of the country was changed a few years ago, it should have changed the king. Now it's called the death of the Buddha, or the death of Sri Buddha, I can't remember, it's a new kingdom of Tianzhu. ”

Feng Zhidai added: "Called Sri Buddha to pass away, claiming to have been enlightened by the Buddha." ”

"Yes, let's just talk about the tribute of the new country, you may not know their list and the reward requested, among them, the price of pepper is almost a pound and thirty yuan, the sage knows very well that pepper is in the area we occupy, and he also knows the value, but he still reads it in the first tribute, and gives."

"Given?" Feng Zhi Dai Xin said that this price is already a pitfall.

Many of the spices sold by Datang to the Mediterranean did not dare to ask for this kind of price difference, and how many dangerous seas were transported to the Mediterranean.

Liu Mu smiled: "Then the next year they came again, and the people from the Ministry of Rites hinted that the price of their pepper and other items was a bit high, and they lowered the price, from thirty guan to twenty-nine guan five hundred yuan, and then they were still using the market price of Chang'an City, asking for a reward price, that is, half the price to purchase silk." ”

"The result?" Feng Zhidai asked anxiously.

As a result, after the Ministry of Rites refused, they said that they would declare war on Datang, believing that Datang did not respect them. I also learned about this matter because it was a critical juncture in the Western Expedition, and the saint once again chose to be tolerant. ”

After listening to Liu Mu's words, Feng Zhidai's face seemed to be crying and smiling, and his expression was extremely strange.

Liu Mu smiled: "So, they like Datang, because Datang people are stupid and don't dare to fight." ”

"They didn't pay a third tribute?"

"Here, Empress Changsun gave a small hint, Dugu Shura, this guy sank all the ships of Sri Buddha in the East China Sea, and sank them one by one, claiming that they had encountered wind and waves."

Speaking of this, Liu Mu stretched out his hand and pointed to the other side: "I don't understand, just across this strait, they also have fishing boats, don't they understand that Datang is already outside their door, why do they put on an attitude that they are uncles, and the Datang people in their eyes are stupid and dare not fight?" ”

Feng Zhidai shook his head, he couldn't figure it out either.

Liu Mu also shook his head: "I have been thinking about this question for a long time, but I haven't figured it out. ”

"If you don't understand, don't think about it, how will the little uncle arrange it after the battle of the Six Edicts is over?"

Liu Mu held his chin and thought for a while: "According to the knowledge of the death of Sri Buddha, they do not have any real cities, and the king also lives in the boundless rainforest, to be honest, I can't find a way to fight them, and the materials we consume may be one-tenth of the profit from attacking them, or even less." ”

Feng Zhidai asked, "Do they have a small population?" ”

"Many, even populous, but there are no real cities, and even the king travels with boats instead of horses, because the waterways are too dense, and the specialties are extremely rich but they don't know how to manage, and the people are fierce and good at water warfare and jungle warfare, but they are mostly melee battles rather than group battles."

"So, once they invade their territory, the army will be attacked from all sides day and night, maybe the lethality is not high, they have more dead and wounded, but it will be a huge blow to the morale of our soldiers."

Liu Mu nodded: "Yes, my eldest brother-in-law also said so, their way of fighting is like bandits in the dense forest, absolutely not participating in frontal combat, in the constant harassment and attack, once they find an opportunity, they will besiege from all sides like wild beasts." ”