After Li Ke defeated the Visigothic army near the Strait of Gibraltar, there was no army in southern Iberia that could stop his advance, so after a simple integration, he immediately divided his troops into three ways to attack the Visigothic cities, and in just a few days, all the coastal cities in the southern Iberian Peninsula fell into Li Ke's hands.

And this is already Li Ke is very restrained himself, otherwise, the entire southern part of the Iberian Peninsula has already fallen into his hands. However, he knew that his troops were insufficient, and although he had incorporated a part of the Visigothic army, the loyalty of these people could not be guaranteed, and only the 50,000 firearms troops in his hands could be trusted, and the defensive force was limited.

Eat bite by bite, let alone occupy the land of other countries, Li Ke first occupied the coastal port, and then sent some soldiers to guard it, in case of an attack by the Visigothic army, he could also calmly retreat with the help of the navy. After all, he doesn't have many troops, and every soldier is very precious, and losing one of them will make him feel distressed.

Malaga City is located in the northeast of the Strait of Gibraltar not far away, is a very prosperous port city, because it is rich in fishing salt, so as early as the Philician period, it has formed a city, and later the Romans occupied here, many Romans moved to this city, but also made this port city very prosperous, even after the Visigoths occupied the Iberian Peninsula, the residents of the city, still according to the Roman way of life, did not suffer much.

After Li Ke occupied the city of Malaga, he felt that the port here had great potential for development, so he temporarily used this place as a garrison for the army, and his mansion was also here. During this period of time, he, Cen Changqian and other advisers were stepping up their time to count the situation in the various areas they occupied. At the same time, some administrative and military adjustments were made.

But today in Li Ke's temporary mansion, he was warmly entertaining a few acquaintances. These people are the envoys sent by the Eastern Roman Empire, among which Cilo is Li Ke's old acquaintance, and he has the qualifications to envoy to the Tang Dynasty, so he took the lead this time, as for the other envoys, Li Ke also met a few times when he was in Constantinople, and he could barely be called an acquaintance.

"His Royal Highness King Wu, it's been nearly two years since we last said goodbye, but I didn't expect us to meet again. But on this Iberian Peninsula, I salute Your Highness! Silo raised his wine glass and toasted to Li Ke with a happy face.

I saw that Li Ke also raised his glass with a smile on his face and said: "Ambassador Ciro is polite, the trip to Rome that year also made this king leave a deep impression on Rome, especially His Majesty Constans II and Empress Irina, who welcomed us very warmly, but after a year or two, I don't know how they are in good health now?" ”

Siro knew that although Li Ke was asking about Constans II and Irina. But in fact, Irina was the only one who wanted to ask, after all, the relationship between the other party and Irina was well known in Rome, so she replied: "Your Highness, Empress Irina is in good health. It's just that after leaving Her Highness, she often lives in manors outside the city, and rarely returns to live in the Holy Palace. ”

Li Ke's heart moved when he heard this. It's been almost two years since he and Irina were separated, when he was in Datang. I also often think about the days I spent with Irina, this time when he returned to the Mediterranean. The first one wanted to meet the other party, but he was really inseparable from him, and his entry into the Mediterranean Sea had already posed a threat to Rome, so it was really inconvenient to see Irina.

After chatting a few words, Ciro finally began to tell his true purpose for coming to see Li Ke, only to see a cautious expression and said: "His Royal Highness King Wu, our Rome and the Tang Dynasty are allies, and we naturally have a supportive attitude towards the military operations of the Tang Dynasty, but I don't know why His Highness brought troops to the Iberian Peninsula and why he fought with the Visigoths?" ”

In response to Xiluo's questioning, Li Ke unhurriedly took a sip of the wine glass, and said slowly: "Presumably Ambassador Xiluo also knows what happened two years ago, these Visigoths not only want to seize the king's ship, but even the king has to be arrested as a slave, how can this kind of shame and humiliation be endured, so after my father's consent, I came with some of my soldiers and horses, in order to avenge the revenge of the year!" ”

Li Ke had long known that Rome would ask about his invasion of the Mediterranean, so he had already prepared several excuses, and at the beginning, he was ready to use the banner of allies, after all, the Visigoths were also enemies of Rome, and now he was attacking the Visigothic kingdom himself, and he was also helping Rome. But then it happened that the Visigoths took the initiative to attack themselves, which was simply an excuse to send it to the door.

Xi Luo secretly pouted when he heard this, although he knew better than anyone that Datang was powerful, but he also knew that Datang would never send an army of tens of thousands of people to attack a small kingdom for the sake of a prince being attacked, and this kingdom was thousands of miles away from Datang, and the cost alone was an astronomical amount, even if it was Datang, it would not be possible to support it for a long time.

"I see, but I don't know to what extent His Royal Highness King Wu wants to retaliate?" Ciro said helplessly. Although he scoffed at Li Ke's reason, he couldn't refute it, because the Visigothic Kingdom attacked Li Ke first This matter is big or small, at worst, it is just a misunderstanding, at most let the Visigothic Kingdom apologize, but at worst, it is related to the majesty of the Tang Dynasty and the safety of the royal family, which is enough for the Tang Dynasty to send troops to destroy its country and its species.

"This is very simple, our Datang has always had a tradition, for the enemy who violates the majesty of my Datang, it has always been to capture the leader of the other party, and then send it back to Chang'an to sacrifice to the Taimiao, so as long as the Visigothic king is caught, this matter will be over." Li Ke replied very easily, and listening to his tone, it was as if it was a trivial matter to catch the Visigothic king.

As soon as Li Ke's words came out, Xiluo and the other envoys all looked at each other, what is the difference between capturing the Visigothic king, what is the difference between that and destroying the Visigothic kingdom, and when Li Ke completely occupies the Iberian Peninsula, will the Tang Dynasty still withdraw?

"Your Royal Highness King Wu, with all due respect, if you capture the Visigothic king, what will you do with the land of the Iberian Peninsula?" Ciro finally decided not to go around in circles anymore and asked the most crucial question directly. Although Li Ke had been preparing for more than two years to gain a foothold in the Mediterranean, among the Romans, except for Irina and Theodosius, who knew a little, the others did not know anything at all, and even many people welcomed Li Ke's return to the hospital.

After hearing this, Li Ke glanced at Ciro very calmly, and did not rush to answer, but looked as if he had thought about it for a while, and then asked: "If the Visigothic king is captured, then the Iberian Peninsula will also fall into the hands of our Datang, but this land is too far away from our Datang, so it is not easy to manage, I don't know what advice the Roman side has?" ”

Hearing Li Ke's words, Xi Luo's face immediately showed a look of surprise, and he said in a very excited tone at the moment: "His Royal Highness King Wu is wise, if the Tang Dynasty wants to reach the Iberian Peninsula, it must take several months by boat, and it will also have to pass through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal controlled by the Great Cannibals, with the current relationship between the Great Food and the Tang Dynasty, if the other party cuts off this line of communication, then Your Highness, you will be in danger on the peninsula, so we in Rome think that the Tang Dynasty can hand over the Iberian Peninsula to our Roman Empire at that time, After all, this was also our homeland in the first place, and there was no problem in managing it. ”

As soon as Xi Luo's words fell, the other envoys also spoke and persuaded one after another, and the content was similar to Xi Luo's words, which was nothing more than singing praises for the alliance between the Tang Dynasty and Rome, and then wanted to take over the management of the peninsula from Li Ke for nothing.

Li Ke sneered in his heart, but his face did not show half a point, but said in a calm tone: "Rome is a firm ally of our Tang Dynasty, and it is nothing to hand over a useless piece of land to you to manage, but if we want to lay down here, we also need to spend considerable manpower and material resources, if it is given to your country for nothing, I am afraid that the country will have a bad impact on this king, so I hope that Rome can also show its sincerity!" ”

After Li Ke finished speaking, a pair of eyes stared at Xiluo and the others with a smile, and his words were also very clear, if you want him to give up the Iberian Peninsula, you will have to pay the corresponding price. Of course, this is the foundation of Li Ke's country, and he will definitely not give up, the reason why he says this is just to let Rome retreat.

"Sincerity?" After hearing this, Ciro frowned, and exchanged glances with several envoys around him, and a little helplessness flashed on everyone's face. At this time, they already understood that Li Ke was not easy to fool, and if they wanted to get the Iberian Peninsula, they had to come up with a price that the other party was satisfied with.

The Iberian Peninsula is the largest of the three major peninsulas in the Mediterranean, and the peninsula is surrounded by plains, agriculture is relatively developed, and the central part is a plateau, mainly based on animal husbandry, and is also rich in iron ore, which can be said to be a very fertile land, and it is not easy to come up with a price that can be exchanged with the cost of this land.

"Your Highness, how do you see this, if the Tang Dynasty hands over the Iberian Peninsula to our Roman management, then we are willing to pay for it, but we need to ask Your Majesty for the specific amount!" In the end, Ciro had to come up with a solution that was not the way to go.

If you want to pay the price that Datang is satisfied, it is nothing more than land, population or money, but the territory of Datang is vast, dozens of times larger than their Rome, and Rome has no extra land to exchange, as for the population and land are the same, there is no need to mention it, the only thing left is to buy it with money, after all, as long as the price they pay is right, Datang should sell this land that is too far away from the country.

It's a pity that they don't know that occupying Iberia is Li Ke's private act, and now Li Ke is just holding the banner of the Tang Dynasty to drag time with them. (To be continued......)