Li Ang had long known that the population size of the Heling Kingdom was much larger than that of Sri Buddha, and the land was more fertile because of the frequent eruptions of volcanoes, but he didn't expect that the Heling Kingdom was much poorer than the death of Sri Buddha, and even the palace gave people a very poor and dilapidated feeling.

"With such a big palace, there are a few people!"

Ang Lee looked at the palace and felt that there were too few people to adapt to the huge scale.

The king said helplessly: "Li Shilang doesn't know, originally there were a lot of palace people here, but because of the rebellion for several years, the national strength was consumed, so the servants such as the palace maids were cut ninety percent, and half of the guards were transferred to the front to quell the rebellion, so there are fewer people, but as long as the counterinsurgency is over, it will continue to be lively here." ”

After saying that, let people offer breakfast, it looks quite rich, more than a dozen dishes, meat and vegetarian ingredients, but compared with the death of Sri Buddha, this breakfast is too thin, giving people a very poor feeling.

Ang Lee doesn't really care about eating and drinking, it doesn't matter if the ingredients are a little shabby, anyway, there are so many that you can't finish eating.

"His Royal Highness's life is far worse than that of the passing of Sri Buddha, and the official originally thought that the kingdom of Haling was richer than that of Sri Buddha? It turned out that he was so poor. ”

Li An said lightly.

"There is more than one civil strife in our country, and the national strength is much worse than in previous years, and even the palace has to save money, and if the hospitality is not good, I hope Li Shilang will not blame it."

The king of the kingdom of Heling said.

"The king greeted him personally, he was already very thoughtful, how could the official care about eating and drinking, he didn't rest well last night, the official was a little tired, go and rest first, and see you in the evening."

After breakfast, Ang Lee asked to rest, and there was really nothing to talk about with this old and sad king.

The guest rooms are of the highest standard, and many of the interior decorations in the rooms are added temporarily, which is much cleaner and more upscale than the place where the king lived, to show the importance that the Heling Kingdom attached to the envoys of the Tang Dynasty.

Li An was actually not tired at all, and said that he wanted to take a break, just to avoid the king of the Heling Kingdom, and then send his henchmen to the Heling Kingdom to comprehensively investigate the situation to find out whether the civil strife that the king said was true, whether it was necessary to help the king, and what benefits could be gained by helping the Heling Kingdom to quell the rebellion.

Although an important mission of Ang Lee's trip is to eliminate the pirates along the way, the vested interests in eliminating the pirates along the way, in addition to the Tang Empire, there are also countries along the way, and if you can't get some benefits from the countries along the way, you will be too sorry for yourself.

The current Heling country seems to be very poor, and if you want to get the benefits of money, I am afraid that you can't get too much, but the Heling country is rich in products, and the reserves of resources will not be low, and if you want to get benefits, it is still very easy.

"You send some more people out to secretly investigate in the Heling Kingdom, you must find out all the circumstances of the civil strife in Heling, and you must report the situation to this official before evening."

Ang Lee gave the order.

"Yes, Li Shilang."

The subordinates received the order and immediately went to all parts of the Heling Kingdom to investigate the situation, and traveled as far as thirty miles to understand the situation as comprehensively as possible.

All Ang Lee had to do was rest and think about the benefits of helping the Heling Kingdom, and what kind of benefits the old king would give them.

At lunchtime, the people of the Heling Palace brought more sumptuous dishes and told Li An that they would set up a banquet in the evening to welcome Li An's arrival.

After lunch, the subordinates sent out returned one after another, and truthfully reported the real situation to Li An.

The king of the kingdom of Heling did not lie, his younger brother had indeed colluded with the pirates and other evil forces, and made these pirates official, so that these bad guys would support his puppet regime.

Because of the failure of the first blow and the strong counterattack, the situation of the king's brother was very unoptimistic, so in order not to be destroyed, he could only cooperate with the pirates and indulge the pirates to do evil, in addition, in order to raise enough strength, he had to recruit a large number of troops in his control area, and increase the looting of the wealth of the people, which made the people in his control area even more miserable, and also caused more public resentment boiling.

Therefore, as far as the current situation is concerned, the form is more favorable to the king, but the king's advantage is not overwhelming, and the king's younger brother is guarding the dangerous terrain, so the counterinsurgency battle finally formed a tug of war for many years, which greatly consumed the national strength of the Heling country, and gradually put this originally rich country on the road of decline.

Since the king's younger brother really colluded with the pirates, then Li An did not need to be polite, and there was enough reason to send the Tang elite soldiers to help the king exterminate the rebels.

"Big brother, the evidence of the king's brother's collusion with pirates is conclusive, what are you going to do? Do you want our army to help put down the rebellion? ”

Li Feiyu asked.

"And what do you mean?"

Ang Lee asked rhetorically.

Li Feiyu said loudly: "Big brother, since the king's younger brother has colluded with the pirates, then we should be polite, just hit him directly, the soldiers have long been impatient." ”

Li An nodded and said: "That's what I mean, but don't say it for the time being, we have come all the way to help the Heling Kingdom to quell the rebellion, and we have to make some benefits anyway, but I don't know how much benefit the king of the Heling Kingdom can give us." ”

"What the eldest brother said is that my Tang army can't help in vain, and it really should get some benefits, and at dinner, you can ask the king in person and see what he has to say."

Li Feiyu said.

Li An said with a smile: "I have this intention, you immediately send someone to collect the topographical map of the Heling Kingdom, as well as the deployment of troops on both sides, before fighting, you must first understand the situation, and you can't fight an unprepared battle." ”

"Big brother, don't worry! I've sent someone to collect it, and I'm sure I'll find out the situation soon. ”

Li Feiyu said with a smile.

"Good boy, I know what the eldest brother thinks, go and rest! In the evening, why not see the dinner held by the king of the Heling Kingdom? ”

Li An smiled and returned to the soft collapse to rest, the dinner is estimated to take a long time to prepare, so Li An must rest first and recuperate enough.

Before dinner, a large number of maps were delivered to Ang Lee, and the maps collected by different soldiers were different, so these maps had to be integrated to form a large and useful map.

The rebels were mainly concentrated in the east, occupying dangerous positions such as high mountains, making it difficult for the king's army to break through. Nearly half of the soldiers and horses defending the mountains were bandits in the mountains and pirates along the coast, and these outlaws were still quite capable of fighting, and with the advantage of the terrain, they were fully capable of blocking the counterinsurgency officers and troops.

There were more than 10,000 rebels and pirates, and the king mobilized 20,000 men and horses, which was much higher than the other side.

In addition, the army of the Heling State is only 30,000, and the king is equivalent to using two-thirds of the force to quell the rebellion, and the consumption of national strength can be imagined. Because the rebels occupy the sparsely populated eastern region, the strength is even more clumsy, with more than 10,000 soldiers and horses, accounting for four-fifths of the total strength of the rebels, and the reserve troops in the rear of the rebels are only 3,000, and the reserve force is much weaker than that of the king.

Looking at the situation of the two sides, Li An knew very well in his heart that as long as he persisted like this, the king would eventually drag down the rebels and achieve the final victory, but the price paid would be relatively high, and the national strength of the entire Heling Kingdom would further decline, and the lives of the common people would be even more difficult, and there was even a danger of causing the country to collapse.

If the Tang army joins the counterinsurgency, it will undoubtedly be the last straw that crushes the rebels, which can ensure that the civil strife in the Heling Kingdom will be quickly quelled, so as to keep the national strength of the Heling State from continuing to decline and solve the urgent needs of the king of the Heling Kingdom.

"Li Shilang, the king invites you to a banquet."

A subordinate reported.

Li An nodded, and took a group of subordinates to the main hall of the palace for a banquet.

Since the rebellion, the main hall of the palace has not held a banquet for many years, and this time it is considered to be a blessing from Ang Lee, and the banquet is held again.

Because the king has not been working in the main hall for a long time, the main hall is not popular, and the tropical humidity is high, resulting in a musty smell in the hall, but the taste is not very large, and it is still within the acceptable range.

However, it can be seen that in order to welcome Li An, the big man, the king of the Heling Kingdom has made great efforts, taking out all the delicacies in the palace, the table is full of aged wine, the number of officials accompanying him is also very large, and the number of high-ranking officials of the Tang Army invited is also enough.

"His Royal Highness the King is so polite, he actually moved out all the treasures at the bottom of the box, haha!"

Ang Lee said with a smile.

The king grinned and said: "Our country is due to natural disasters and man-made disasters, and there is a shortage of materials, so there is really no better food to entertain the distinguished guests from the Tang Dynasty, and I hope that the distinguished guests of the Tang Dynasty will not mind." ”

"Your Royal Highness the King is gracious, this is already very good, come, let's raise a glass together."

Ang Lee smiled and drank with everyone.

After drinking a few glasses, Li An looked at the king and said lightly: "What happened in your country, the official already knows almost everything, the rebels colluded with bandits and pirates, and confronted the official army for several years, resulting in the decline of national strength, the people are not living, and even the life of the royal family is tight, but now, I am really grateful to be able to bring out so many delicacies to entertain me!" ”

"Don't dare, don't dare, as long as the guests from Datang don't mind eating and drinking, come on, let's continue to drink."

After a few more glasses of spirits, Li An rolled his eyes and said, "There are rebels in the royal city, and His Royal Highness can know it." ”

This is not true, Ang Lee said this on purpose, just to dig a pit for the king and make him jump in.

"It's not surprising that there is me in the enemy, and there is an enemy in me!"

The king smiled and wondered, "What does Li Shilang mean?" Did the rebel eyeliner find you? ”

Li An smiled and nodded: "That's right, the rebel eyeliner found the official's subordinates, he said that the king was usurping power, and also said that as long as my Tang Army helps your brother seize the throne, half of the wealth and land of the Heling Kingdom can be given to the Tang Dynasty, which is really sincere." ”

After speaking, he looked at the king of the Heling Kingdom seriously, wanting to see the other party's reaction.

"Bang ......"

The king was visibly frightened, and the cup in his hand fell to the ground unconsciously.

"Li Shilang, this is not true, the rebels are the usurpers."

"Li Shilang, the rebels have sinister intentions, he wants to use Datang, he won't really give Datang so many benefits."

"Li Shilang, the rebels collude with pirates and bandits, they exterminate humanity, and they must not be trusted."

The ministers of the Heling Kingdom were frightened, and hurriedly explained nervously, telling Li An not to fall for the rebels.

Li An smiled, smiled very happily, smiled very confidently, and said lightly: "Why are you so nervous, if this official listens to the eyes of the rebels, how can he boldly come to the banquet, not only that, but this official also wants to help the Heling Kingdom to exterminate the rebels, so that the people here can live a stable life, and no longer have to worry about turmoil." ”

"Great, that's great."

"Li Shilang is so righteous, the people of my Heling Kingdom will be grateful to the Tang Dynasty."

"With the help of the elite soldiers and horses of the Tang Dynasty, it will be much easier to exterminate the rebels."

The ministers of the Heling Kingdom were happy.

"Is there any condition attached to Li Shilang? What do you need me to do in the Kingdom of Heling? ”

The king asked nervously.

Li An smiled and said: "The condition that the king must agree to is that he must be friendly with the Tang Dynasty for generations and obey the Maritime Silk Road policy of the Tang Empire. ”

The conditions given by Li An are hardly any requirements, and they are friendly with the Tang Dynasty, so why can't the Heling Kingdom? The policy of the Maritime Silk Road, the Heling Kingdom also knew some, and it was not much of a loss for their country.

But the king is an old man, so he won't really give any benefits? In comparison, the Tang army has not yet sent troops, if the conditions he gave are too low, and the Tang army is unwilling to fight hard, what is the difference between it and not helping, so in order for the Heling Kingdom to quell the rebellion as soon as possible, he must show enough sincerity so that the Tang army can work willingly.

"Someone, bring the map."

The king ordered.

Soon, the map of the Kingdom of Heling was spread out and displayed in front of Ang Lee.

"Li Shilang, if the Tang Dynasty soldiers and horses are willing to help us pacify the rebels, then after the pacification, all the captured spoils will belong to the Tang army, and all the food and drink needed by the Tang army's soldiers and horses will be supplied by my Heling Kingdom, if there are soldiers killed in the Tang Dynasty, my Heling Kingdom will pay double the pension, in addition, this island is sparsely populated, so it will be given to the Tang Dynasty, I don't know what Li Shilang wants?"

The king of the Heling Kingdom spoke.

Li An doesn't care about the spoils of the rebels of the Heling Kingdom, let alone whether the Heling Kingdom can provide food supplies for itself, and he doesn't care about the issue of soldiers dying in battle, after all, the Tang Dynasty soldiers rarely die in battle, however, the king of the Heling Kingdom sent a rather large island, but it made Li An very eye-catching, this island is far away from the core island of the Heling Kingdom, and after looking at the map, the location is not bad.

This island, along with the rising sea island, as well as Malacca, is exactly on the three corners of the equilateral triangle, as long as you control these three points, you can control the entire Strait of Malacca very well, which is very important for the Tang Empire.