Not long after Fan Xuan was taken away, the captain of the Intrepid named Xiao Feng came over and reported to him the situation of the fleet: "...... Lord Wang, for two days in a row, we haven't seen a single pirate ship, and even the merchant ships of Dashi are getting fewer and fewer, and they have almost disappeared, according to those pirates who surrendered, this is very abnormal. ”

The big cannibals can cross thousands of miles of ocean to Datang, there are pirates everywhere along the way, and the natives along the way are extremely fierce, if there is no force, then they will definitely not be able to reach Datang.

And according to records, this group of big food and maritime merchants took advantage of the chaos to break through the city of Guangzhou during the Anshi Rebellion, and their force can be imagined. It can be said that the Great Cannibals are the main caravan on this route, and they are also the most powerful pirates!

Xiao Quzhi took out a chart from a two-foot-long copper cylinder, placed it on the small table, pointed to the location of the Strait of Malacca below, and said, "So far, we haven't encountered the main fleet of the Great Food, they must be hiding somewhere."

This area is a wide sea area, and it is not easy to hide, and once we find it, they will have nowhere to escape, so the most likely is that they are hiding in this narrow waterway. The terrain is complicated, the islands are all over the place, and they are more familiar with the current conditions than we are, so they are most likely ready to ambush us here! ”

Xiao Feng is not the Xiao Feng in the Eight Divisions of the Heavenly Dragon, but a disciple of the Xiao clan in Lanling, who was mainly responsible for running the Yangtze River channel in the past, and was appointed as the captain of the Intrepid by Xiao Qubing this time. The other three big ships were named Warrior, Brave, and Pioneer, and the captains were Mu Shuiguang and Li Huaming, the captains of the Tang Dynasty Navy Zhaowu, and Wei Yu, a disciple of Jingzhao Wei.

Xiao Feng looked at the dotted waters of this island, and also gasped: "Lord Wang." So what do we do? We have only twenty-two battleships. And escort merchant ships! ”

Li Qi also said, "Master." The big food merchants are all over Guangzhou, Mingzhou, Yangzhou, Haizhou and other places in my Tang Dynasty, and Xiao Qi thinks that these big cannibals must have gotten the news a long time ago, so we haven't met many big food fleets along the way.

If it is really as Xiao Qi guessed, then they must have accumulated all their strength and waited for us, according to Feng Zhixing's estimate. Their fleet consisted of at least 150 warships, and with the geographical advantages, it was very difficult for us to bargain. ”

Xiao Quzhi nodded: "So we must gather all the merchant ships together, find a good harbor to anchor, and I will leave one big ship and two medium ships as escorts." The other nineteen ships could go into battle lightly, luring them out of the strait and fighting a decisive battle in the wide sea. ”

Xiao Feng asked, "Where is the King of Lanling going to leave the merchant ships at anchor?" ”

"This is it." Xiao Quzhi pointed to a coast in the south of Linyi Kingdom (later Jin~Lan~Bay), and said: "This is a natural excellent port, with a water depth of more than ten zhang. It can berth tens of thousands of ships, and the width of the port is no more than three miles. Three warships are guarding here, so you can be sure that nothing will go wrong!

In a while, you will take a large ship and two medium ships to find this port for me, and you must keep this small nautical chart and not lose it or leak it, otherwise the military law will be ruthless! ”

Xiao Feng was a little stunned, because the sea map given to him by Xiao Qubing was too detailed, especially the terrain of that harbor, which was indeed very conducive to defense, but the question was that King Lanling also came to the South China Sea for the first time, how did he know so clearly?

Li Qi didn't have a trace of surprise, he continued to ask, "Then Master, if we bring out the Great Eater Pirates, will they come out?" ”

"That's nature!"

"Why?"

"Because of spices, although Dashi produces milk~incense, myrrh, pepper, etc., it does not produce cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

Think about what they would do if we let the wind out and say I know the approximate location of the Spice Islands, and we're not sailing the Channel, but all the way east? ”

"I think some people will be sent to wait in front."

"So, from now on, our fleet will start all kinds of combat exercises, let Zi Hao and them do sparring partners, after all, they have been pirates for so many years, and they know more about the strength and tactics of the Great Cannibal Fleet!

By the way, where is our caravan? ”

"It'll be there in two days."

Xiao Quzhi nodded: "There is another fierce battle below, tell the sailors to catch more fish and lobster scallops, and we will add dinner in the evening!" ”

In addition to the bow of the ship equipped with ramming, the bow and side of the ship were equipped with a crossbow, and each warship was also equipped with a new type of batter.

In wartime, equipped with a stone hammer and a copper hammer, you can easily smash the enemy ship; In your spare time, you can also put on a net pocket to catch fish, using levers and pulleys, two or three people can easily catch five or six hundred catties of fish.

For so many days, these sailors and soldiers of Tiance Mansion have eaten the freshest seafood every day, and their mouths have been raised, and they are not delicious at all, but for a large lobster of forty or fifty catties, a large scallop of three or four catties, and a large sea crab of four or five catties, all of them still have no resistance.

Li Qi broke off a lobster claw weighing more than two catties, gently twisted it and pulled out the snow-white chela inside, dipped it in the sauce, and ate it in two bites, and his face suddenly showed a very happy expression.

The taste of this fresh lobster and fresh shellfish is simply beyond his imagination, and of course, what fascinates him more than the deliciousness is this fresh and exciting and colorful life.

Compared with the incomparably ordinary life before, this new life brought to him by Xiao Quai's illness is simply an earth and a sky!

"Master, this place is so rich, the rice grows three times a year, and it doesn't need to be taken care of at all, there are fruit trees everywhere, the forest is full of precious wood, and you can catch so many delicious seafood in the sea casually! How come we didn't find such a nice place before? ”

"Is this considered rich? When you see the rosewood, ebony, and agarwood all over Java, the small islands full of spices, the large gold mines, and the gems everywhere, then you will be truly rich!

When the time comes, you will know that the ocean is full of treasures, and that most places are now the equivalent of Borderlands, or only a few wild people live on them. Whoever grabs it is whoever's is! ”

"That's right. Now that we are here, these places are all our Datang! Li Qi took a small sip of rice wine. laughed and said: "As long as Master envisions, after eliminating this group of Great Cannibal Pirates, garrisoning in that Lion City, you can firmly block the passage of the Great Cannibal into Datang, and then turn this sea area into the inland sea of Datang."

The rice that crops three times a year here can be continuously transported back to the Central Plains and Guanzhong, and Datang will no longer have to worry about hunger! The mahogany, spices, gold, silver, and precious stones here can be used to fund the expansion of our trading company.

With money. In just a few years, the Four Seas Trading Company will be able to expand more than ten times, and when the time comes, it will ......"

Thinking of the happy place, he suddenly paused, and returned to the previous question: "Master, you haven't told me yet, why didn't we Datang know to come here to have a look before?" ”

Xiao Quzhi thought for a while: "Because before, our eyes were only on Guanzhong and the Central Plains, and we thought that it was the best place in the world, and we couldn't look down on other places."

Another reason is that when the people here come to pay tribute, they don't take out good things. Don't say it, we don't come out to see. How will you know?

Of course, the most important reason is that our policy is problematic! In fact, the Tang Dynasty firmly tied the people to the land and strictly forbade the people to go abroad, which seemed to be convenient to manage, and could reduce wealth losses and increase taxes. But in the long run, this is all very wrong! ”

Li Qi and more than a dozen captains and generals listened to Xiao Quai's speech while eating seafood, and it was not the first time they had heard such deviant words, but none of them felt that it was wrong, more in their hearts.

Of course, if you had a different person and said the same thing to them, the result might have been completely different.

"Because of the powerful families and the gentry class will continue to annex land, coupled with the growth of population, the result will definitely be a large number of peasants lose their land and become homeless, and in the end it is not difficult to manage, and if the homeless people really have no way to live, they will rebel!

In addition, this mentality is also wrong, just like a village or town, with a market, the villagers get convenience, but at the same time there are many disputes, such as thieves, swindlers, and child abductors. Then the magistrate said that this was not easy to manage, so he simply closed the market.

Although this analogy is a bit ridiculous, the Tang Dynasty and all dynasties have indeed done this! This is a very negative mentality and practice of choking on food.

A correct and positive attitude does not mean restricting the activities of the people for the sake of convenient management, but rather that if management cannot be carried out and there will be a lot of chaos, we should strive to improve our management ability, train more officials who are good at management, and study more management methods.

However, there are also historical reasons for this, such as Laozi and Zhuangzi, as well as the policy of fooling the people that began in the Qin Dynasty, all of which treated this issue negatively, and then passed it down to the present day, forming a mindset. ”

"Master, then how can we find ways to improve our management ability and efficiency?" Li Qi frowned and said, obviously he was thinking seriously.

Xiao Quzhi smiled, he wanted to say that in fact, I only know that I should work in this direction, and the specific plan is really not very clear. Without waiting for him to answer, a personal guard ran over and brought two people, one of whom was Feng Zhixing, the leader of the "pirates" who was being pursued by the Tang fleet.

"This is the Mahabadadra you are talking about?" Xiao Quzhi asked, "You weren't noticed when you came, right?" ”

Feng Zhixing has completely taken refuge in Xiao Quai, he, like Gao Lishi, is a descendant of Feng An, and in terms of seniority, he should call Gao Lishi Uncle Tang.

Later, in the era of the old ladies of the Wuhou family, the Feng family broke the family because of being implicated in a conspiracy ~ counter-case, Gao Lishi, whose original name was Feng Yuanyi, was caught and castrated as a eunuch, while Feng Zhixing's father ran out and finally became a pirate.

Xiao Qubing has promised Feng Zhixing to help him clear his identity, as long as he has made enough contributions, he will be re-named the Duke of the State in the future, and it is not impossible to hand over a large area of the South China Sea to him in charge, and he also promised to send his son to study at Tiance Academy. It is both a hostage and a favor.

Because of these reasons, Feng Zhixing can be described as doing his best: "Back to the prince, absolutely not." He has one condition for this Mahagavatra, saying that after killing the king of Linyi, he will be the new king of Linyi! ”

Before, Xiao Qubing was about to storm the capital of Linyi and occupy the city, but Feng Zhixing offered a plan that he could find Neiying, which was this Mahagagadra.

It is said that this guy has long been opposed to being suppressed by the king of Linyi for a long time, and her daughter was snatched and abused to death by the prince of Linyi.

Xiao Quzhi smiled and said: "No problem, you tell him, don't let him do anything, as long as he finds a way to stay in the city, and when King Linyi is defeated and retreats, don't let him enter the city!" ”

Feng Zhixing patted him on the shoulder and said to him for a while, and the Mahagagathara was immediately so excited that he was about to cry!

Under the same night sky, in the imperial palace of Champa less than ten miles away from Xiao Qu's illness, a large-scale divination activity was being held in Jiandravarman.

Fan Xuan took Xiao Qu's words back without a word, and the violent Jiandra Varman immediately made his own decision, although that son loved him, but not to the point where he could give up everything for him.

The conditions proposed by the other party are clearly deliberately difficult, and it is impossible to do it on your own side! Do these Tang people really think that they are afraid of them?

There are only more than 2,000 of them, but they happened to frighten our war elephants with rockets and fireworks, but tomorrow there will be no war elephants, but there are more than 15,000 troops in the royal city!

Since the other party wants to fight, let's fight! (To be continued.) )

PS: PS: A few words added.