The melodious music of the piano and flute surrounds the main hall, and the ten dancing queens who are slightly powdered twisted and danced to the music with their bewitching figures, and many of the officials who drank in the palace were stunned by the spring color, and looked directly at the seductive figure of the dancing queen. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

Looking at Zhang Shi's anxious appearance with a pair of bull's eyes that were about to burst out, Li Yu laughed for a while, and the red wine he had just drunk in his mouth flowed down the corner of his mouth.

Xin'er and Ling'er, who were sitting beside them and serving, picked up Xiupa and gently wiped the corners of Li Yu's mouth, and then gave Li Yu a strange look.

When the banquet was in full swing, the little eunuch took a book and walked gently from the side of the hall to Li Yu and handed it to Xin'er.

Xin'er opened it and saw that it was a report from the Royal Weekly on the undertaking of the Nanyang Exploration Mission that Xun Jun had ordered him to publish a month ago, and handed it to Xun Jun, who was intoxicated with dance and music.

The most direct way for the Royal Weekly to expand its influence was to set up branches in the major prefectures and counties of the Tang Ten Provinces, and these branches were used by Li Yu as overseas offices to announce overseas development missions.

Li Yu took a sip of red wine, put down the jade glass in his hand and glanced at the book, secretly happy. He waved to Li Xiaojie, who was standing on the left hand side and was waiting for dispatch at any time, to signal the removal of the dance music.

Li Xiaojie gave the order and used a soft sharp voice to make the kabukis retreat.

The singing and dancing stopped suddenly, which made the officials in the hall who were feasting and drinking stunned, Zhang Shi reluctantly looked at the figure of the graceful dancing girl far away, until Xue Ne on the side poked his bucket waist before coming back to his senses.

Li Yu patted the report on the desk and said with a smile: "A month ago, I ordered the Nanyang exploration and pioneering mission published by the Royal Weekly to be rewarded. The eight missions were immediately taken over by the maritime merchants of Jiangnan and Lingnan Provinces, and even a few groups of pirates who were famous in the southeast joined them. When we send our troops to the South Seas to set up the Governor's Office, there will be several cities in Luzon and Borneo in the South Seas that will obey the orders of the Andong Metropolitan Protectorate to supply the southward fleet, which will undoubtedly make the Metropolitan Protectorate's Nanyang development much easier. ”

"It's still His Royal Highness's old scheming, and with just a few islands in the South Seas, he can exchange his official position for the effectiveness of many maritime merchants and pirates on the southeast coast." Xiao Shu, who was the king of the palace, congratulated.

Xue Jun frowned and said: "The maritime merchants and pirates in the southeast are not ordinary people, they are cunning by nature, greedy for money, and have no benevolence or righteousness, and they have ships, people, and wealth. His Royal Highness gave him the post of assassin history, which could be placed in a state, and after possessing a place, he was afraid that Yang Fengyin would disobey the order. ”

What Xue Sanyang said was reasonable, but at present, it is still attracting them to go to Nanyang to develop and occupy an area, saving the financial, material and human resources of the Metropolitan Protectorate, and there is no hurry about its restrictive measures. After the southern expeditionary forces of the Metropolitan Protectorate established a solid Governorate on the islands of the South Seas, they could effectively deter these areas controlled by maritime merchants and pirates. Then install officials in these areas, and gradually take over their authority, so that they can avoid future troubles. ”

After listening to His Royal Highness's follow-up plans, Xue Jun had no objections, and Li Yuan and other officials also said that it was feasible.

The next question is about the formation of the army of the Southern Expedition.

Because he wanted to establish two governorships in Luzon at one time, and establish a governorate in the area of Borneo in the later generations of Brunei, he had to recruit three guards and troops to the south.

Which three guards and armies should be selected to go south became a question for Li Yu and a group of officials to consider.

Xue Jun clearly said that he could no longer be removed from the first formation and the most effective Ten Divine Beast Guards, otherwise the combat effectiveness of Anton's defenders would be greatly reduced, and it would be difficult to resist Silla's sudden attack.

Pure cavalry such as Yanyun and Beihai Iron Cavalry are naturally not considered.

Then it can only be drawn from the Liao Eighth Army and the United Army.

Judging from the situation in the northeastern part of Luzon and northeastern Borneo after the return of the Southeast China Sea expedition last year.

There is no country on Luzon Island, only the indigenous tribes, most of them build villages along the river and live, the big ones have thousands of mouths, and the small ones have more than 100. The weapons are sharpened bamboo poles, simple bows and arrows, and poison blowing needles, and iron tools are extremely rare.

According to the historical materials and the materials of the pilgrimages and expeditions of overseas countries collected by the imperial court, there are two small countries in the northeast of Borneo. Although Sandakan is said to be a country, it is actually very weak and there is no cause for concern. However, there is a Buddhist country named Bori whose strength is not bad, and it was founded in the area of Brunei in later generations.

The location of Bori was the area where Li Yu wanted to establish the Governor's Office, so he had to think very carefully, and the army sent must also be capable of fighting.

"Your Highness, we might as well bypass the country of Bori and establish a Governor's House in a place to the northeast of it, which is known locally as Sabah."

Wei Chengqing's proposal was approved by Li Yuan and Xiao Shouye, and it was important for the army under the Metropolitan Protectorate to gain a firm foothold in the South Seas in advance, and there was no need to conflict with the local country from the beginning.

Avoiding the conflict with the Bori Kingdom in the early stage was advantageous to the Tang army that came from the expedition. But this conflict is sooner or later, it is better to give him a surprise attack and solve once and for all the only enemy in the northeast of Borneo.

Li Yu, who was decisive, smiled and said, "Don't you dare to commit it because you have an enemy?" Since sooner or later there will be a battle, it is better to raid the next battle. ”

Li Yu set the tone, and the courtiers had no choice but to follow Li Yu's wishes and select a capable soldier from the Eighth Army of Liao to deal with it.

Chosen and chosen, only the Zhendong Army led by Wei Chi Xunyu was suitable, and he had attacked domestic cities, and followed Li Yu to the south to conquer Jianmu Cen and An Shun, and he had rich experience in battle formations. Wei Chi Xunyu himself does not live up to his grandfather's style and has the qualifications of a strong general.

The two armies that went to Luzon were drawn from the Eighth Army of the New Liao, which was one of the united forces—the Barbarian Army led by He Ruolie and the Di Exterminator Army led by Xiao Rensuo. The two generals are both rare generals in Li Yu's army, but the soldiers under his command have never fought.

Just when Li Yu was planning to dispatch troops, Daoist Zhang Yunjie, who was in charge of the Surveying and Mapping Department of Yanwangfu, was worried: "As His Highness said, the area where the four seasons are summer is a tropical climate, and the jungle and rivers are full of mosquitoes and insects. Shi Zunuo was bitten by mosquitoes and drank raw water to be susceptible to epidemics, and he was afraid that the whole army would die due to the epidemic before he could fight. In ancient times, the Qin expedition to Baiyue and the Han expedition to Jiaozhi were all due to the hot local climate and too many mosquitoes, and the northern soldiers were still on the road due to infection with epidemics. Luzon and Borneo are all tropical, and I hope that Your Highness and your ministers are very heavy. ”

Tropical diseases are indeed a problem, especially malaria, which is the most widespread and well-known. Historically, malaria has caused the deadliest and most horrific death toll among tropical diseases.

Malaria is the most severe among the Pacific islands, with Borneo and New Guinea being the most severe.

After the southeast sea expedition explored the northeastern part of Borneo, a malaria outbreak occurred in the fleet, killing dozens of people.

Zhang Yunjie's worries can stump Li Yu, drinking raw water to cause schistosomiasis can be strictly banned, but mosquitoes that can transmit malaria are not easy to handle.

The only cinchona tree that is effective in treating malaria is still in the Bolivian jungles of South America.

As for Artemisia annua, not every local product contains antimalarial ingredients, and chemical extraction of the substances in it is required to effectively treat malaria. Did the Tang Dynasty have this technology? Li Yu said, I don't have this technology.

Like taking Chinese medicine to boil Artemisia annua into a decoction orally, Li Yu could only smile bitterly, this method has not been tried in later generations, let alone effective.

After thinking about it for a long time, Li Yu could only say that he would equip the army going south with more quicklime and prepare a large bundle of artemisia annua to boil soup and drink it to see if it worked.

After landing in Luzon and Borneo, the army must strictly enforce the prohibition of drinking raw water, and the camping site must be far away from low wah and swamp areas. The camp is also disinfected with quicklime, filled in small puddles around it, and eradicated mosquito breeding grounds to prevent malaria.

As for whether the effect is good or not, you will only know if you have tried it.