The cost of Datang steamships is indeed much more expensive than ordinary sailboats, but it is not too expensive, simpler, at most two or three times the price of a sailboat, if it is advanced, it is more than ten times the price.

And because this technology is only mastered by Datang, so, even the most humble ordinary steamship, can be sold at a sky-high price, as long as Datang is willing to sell, there must be someone willing to spend a lot of money to buy, but the current output has not been raised, Datang opened up the Americas and Australia, the demand is huge, there is no surplus steamship to sell to other countries, in addition, the overseas supporting settings have not been formed, maintenance and management will be troublesome, just like the car is difficult to popularize, the popularity of steamships also needs a certain amount of time, At least the Maritime Silk Road will not be popularized until it is fully completed.

There will always be people who like good things, the monarchs and ministers of Nan Tianzhu, after seeing the steamship of the Tang Dynasty and understanding the powerful functions of the steamship, they all seemed a little tempted, but as soon as they heard that the price was very expensive, they were slightly disappointed, Nan Tianzhu's economic conditions were not good, if the price of the steamship was really very expensive, they really couldn't afford it, besides, they didn't use it often.

In addition to the steam power system, many of the settings on the Datang steamship are very exquisite, looking much more advanced than ordinary sailboats, and giving people a very comfortable feeling as soon as they enter the cabin.

"Your Majesty, there are many black plumes of smoke found on the sea."

A soldier stepped into the cabin and reported.

When the Datang official heard this, he said happily: "It must be our Li Shilang, who has arrived with the main fleet, let's go to the command platform and have a look!" ”

After speaking, he led everyone to the higher command platform, on this command platform, there are multiple fixed telescopes, and there are many moving ones, which can better observe the surrounding situation.

"Sure enough, there are a lot of smoke columns! This is the smoke column on a steamship, but why can't you see a steamboat? ”

King Eero asked curiously.

The Datang official replied: "Because the distance is too far, it is naturally invisible, and there is a telescope here, and you can see it with him." ”

After saying that, you will demonstrate in person and observe the smoke column in the distance.

The telescope was very difficult to use, and King Hérault and others quickly learned how to use it, and used it to see a large fleet of ships in the distance.

However, because the earth is round, they can only see part of the ship, and they can only see the upper part of the ship, and the lower part is not visible.

"Oops! Is this ship going to sink, how can you only see the upper half, the hull is buried in the water, isn't this just sinking? ”

"Yes! These steamships are really powerful, they can actually be driven on the bottom of the sea, and they will be able to float later. ”

"It's a good boat, it's fast, and it can drive underwater."

The ministers of Nan Tianzhu were stunned, thinking that the steamship in the distance was moving in the water.

The Datang official laughed, laughed at these ignorant guys, paused, and said, "Don't worry, you can see the full picture of the hull in a while." ”

Sure enough, it didn't take long for this steamship, which originally seemed to be buried in the water, all came out, looking mighty and spectacular, especially the towering smoke column, which gave people a very domineering feeling.

"That's not right! How come there are only more than 50 ships, less than half! ”

The Datang official looked at it carefully for a long time, and felt that the number of steamships was not right, and he clearly remembered that Ang Lee's main fleet had at least a few hundred ships of various kinds, how could there be only fifty left? Where did the rest of the steamships go?

"What, there are more steamships?"

King Eero was surprised, the large number of steamships in front of him was spectacular enough, if there were more steamships in Datang, how rich it would be! Could it be that Datang is really extremely strong, so strong that they can't even imagine it.

"That's right, it's just a small part, there are more steamships, but I don't know why they didn't come together."

Datang officials said.

King Ero of Nantianzhu spoke: "Let's get off the ship!" Go to the dock and get ready to welcome the high-ranking officials of the Tang Dynasty. ”

After speaking, he took a group of people off the boat and walked to the dock to greet him.

Because the Datang fleet is full of steam ships, the speed of travel is very fast, and you can soon see the entire hull with the naked eye, which is a spectacular visual feeling.

All the people in the port of South Tianzhu Garrigar have their eyes on the sea in the distance, they have never seen such a spectacular scene? Many of the people put their feet on the floor so that they could see better.

Among them, naturally, the Lion Kingdom spies are indispensable, they are ordered to pay close attention to the wind and grass in the port of Garigarh, especially the movements of the Tang fleet, as long as the Tang fleet arrives, they must report the situation to the top, so that King Coolam can be the first to know.

So many people looked at the Datang fleet, which made the Datang soldiers on the fleet very proud, they could naturally see the crowd in the port, and after Li An used the binoculars, he could even see everyone's facial expressions.

Spying on other people is something Ang Lee likes to do because it's really fun, especially if the other person doesn't know about it at all.

"Li Shilang, the king of Nantianzhu, has come to greet us in person."

The subordinate said happily.

Along the way, which time was not greeted by the king in person, however, many were greeted in the palace and the royal city, this time, the king of Nantianzhu came to the port, this etiquette is very in place, and it can fully reflect the respect for the Tang Dynasty.

"This port is very big, but the location is not too good, and the port in the south can control the strait, which is our goal."

Li An said casually, and did not answer the words of his subordinates.

He is now more concerned about how to take the port of South Tianzhu, as well as the port in the north of the Lion Country, as for the number of courtesies in front of him, it is not very important.

Li An did not ask his subordinates to ask the king of Nan Tianzhu to meet him at the port in person, and his subordinates did not say that he must let the king go to the port to greet him in person, but the king intended to curry favor with Datang, and he was willing to come in person, so there was no way.

"Tell me, how many of these curious people are the works of the Lion Nation?"

Ang Lee asked.

"Li Shilang, you don't need a lot of fine work, it is estimated that there are more than a dozen."

The subordinate replied.

Li An carefully observed for a long time, and said: "Far more than that, I have seen more than twenty at a glance, and there should be many more that I haven't seen." ”

By observing the expressions of the people in the crowd, Ang Lee can tell who is the lion traitor.

"Li Shilang, the face of the Lion Kingdom is not engraved, how did you find out?"

The subordinate asked.

Ang Lee replied: "This is very simple! As long as you can see their expressions clearly, the ordinary people should have a regular expression, and people who are friendly to Datang should be happy expressions, only those who are afraid of Datang will show a look of fear, and when they see people with fearful expressions, it should be the fine work of the Lion Country, however, it may not be accurate, I just said. ”

"Li Shilang saw it, his subordinates took a closer look, and really found a few people with abnormal expressions, this trick is very good."

The subordinate said.

The harbor of Garigal is very large, because there are many trading merchant ships passing through here, so there are still more berths, and there is no problem at all to dock fifty steam ships.

"Woo woo woo ......"

After the steamship entered the port, in order to prevent a collision, a loud warning sound was sounded, and the surrounding boats quickly avoided it.

"Dock over now."

With an order, Ang Lee's boat was the first to enter the harbor, and subsequent ships followed, occupying a large berth in the port of Garigarh.

"Li Shilang, Xiao Wang has been waiting for a long time, welcome to our little Nantianzhu, very welcome."

King Hérault's attitude was extremely respectful, and he almost knelt down for Ang Lee.

"Haha! Hello Your Royal Highness, we're just passing by, so I'm sorry. ”

Ang Lee replied with a smile.

"Li Shilang, we have long heard of the prestige of Datang, and we in Nantianzhu are willing to be friendly with Datang forever."

Ero said with a smile.

"Haha! That's good, we in Datang will also treat every friendly small country as a friend. ”

Ang Lee said with a smile.

"That's good, Li Shilang, the port conditions are poor, but the royal city is still dozens of miles away, and now it's dark, Li Shilang has worked hard all the way, can you be wronged and live temporarily in the small town next to the port."

King Ero of Nantianzhu asked in a low voice.

Li An smiled and replied, "Of course you can, it's the same wherever you live, please!" ”

"Li Shilang, please."

King Hérault led a large group of people to a small town not far away.

The small town was part of the port, with only three sides of the wall, and the easternmost side was the harbor, thus forming a complete defense.

The city walls were patrolled by soldiers, and the harbor was well lit by small ships, which were sufficient to withstand an attack of average intensity, and would be really powerless in the event of a large-scale strong enemy.

Li An brought 50 ships this time, with 3,000 soldiers and horses, all of whom boarded the dock and set up tents in the city.

Garigar, who is guarded by 3,000 soldiers and horses, will naturally not have security problems, and Li An can be completely assured of this, with the equipment and combat power of the Tang Dynasty's soldiers and horses, no matter how many enemies come to sneak attack, they will not be able to win.

In this way, Li An can naturally rest assured that he will spend the night in Garrigal, without worrying about any safety problems, as for the purpose of this trip, he is not in a hurry anyway, and he will talk about it after sleeping enough.

In the direction of the Lion Country, King Coolam didn't have the heart to sleep at all, and the news of the arrival of the Tang fleet had already arrived in the direction of Garigar, and the ships, weapons and troops of the Tang Dynasty soldiers and horses were all told about it, and the investigation was extremely careful.

"Your Majesty, those hateful merchants are really lying, didn't they say that Datang has hundreds of ships and more than 10,000 soldiers and horses, but according to our people's understanding, they only have more than 50 ships and only 3,000 soldiers and horses.

A minister analyzed.

"Could there be any soldiers and horses that haven't arrived?"

Another minister hypothetical.

"Probably not, the biggest official of Datang has arrived, the main fleet should all arrive, Datang should only have so many ships, it is the merchants who boast, or the distance is too far, the rest of the ships will stay in Malacca or return to Datang mainland."

Another minister said.

"Your Majesty, Datang only has 3,000 soldiers and horses, we don't need to be afraid of them at all, if we can defeat Datang soldiers and horses in one fell swoop, the prestige of my lion country will be greatly increased."

The minister of the Young Zhuang faction spoke, and his attitude was extremely resolute.

"Isn't it too risky to take the risk of attacking the Tang Army, if we anger the Tang Dynasty, won't we get into big trouble."

King Khurram suddenly lost his mind.

"Your Majesty, Datang must be here for Nan Tianzhu, if we don't take the initiative to attack, when Datang's soldiers and horses are ready, we will definitely lose more soldiers, and a sneak attack can reduce losses."

The ministers of the Shaozhuang faction like sneak attacks the most, and they were able to quickly take a large number of ports in the south of Nantianzhu before, using the trick of sneak attacks, and this time, they also wanted to take advantage of the unstable foothold of Datang to give the Datang fleet a sneak attack.

King Kuram shook his head and said: "Don't worry, Datang has not officially interfered in our affairs with Nan Tianzhu yet, let alone made territorial claims to our northern ports, beware that the previous matter was Nan Tianzhu's trick." ”

"Your Majesty, the opportunity to sneak attack is right in front of us, if we wait for Datang to prepare, we will lose the opportunity to sneak attack."

The officer of the Young Zhuang faction was dissatisfied.

King Kulam said disdainfully: "What are you afraid of, Datang only has 3,000 soldiers and horses, why should we be afraid, when Datang has a move, we have an excuse to do it, and we must be famous for dealing with a big country like Datang." ”

Obviously, King Kuram is still a little scared, he doesn't think that Datang's 3,000 soldiers and horses are a threat, but Datang's soldiers and horses are far more than 3,000, if it is attacked for no reason, it may completely anger Datang, and when more soldiers and horses come to attack, their lion country will be in trouble.

"It's a shame to lose such a great opportunity......"

"Alright, let's all go down! Continue to closely monitor the Datang fleet. ”

King Khurram resisted the minister's persuasion and told them to go back.

In fact, this is indeed a good opportunity for a sneak attack, the Datang fleet is really not very prepared, as long as a sneak attack is suddenly launched, there will inevitably be certain results, but if you want to annihilate the Datang Mission in one fell swoop, this is a task that must not be completed, and they underestimate the strong strength of the Datang fleet.

And once they sneak attack, it will be equivalent to giving Li An enough excuse to attack, so that the whole country of the Lion Kingdom will soon be disintegrated, and the entire territory may be occupied.

It's just that the number of soldiers and horses in the Tang Dynasty is not large, and it is unrealistic to fully occupy the Lion Kingdom, but it is still very easy to occupy the core territory in the north.