"My lord, although these southern islands are vast, there are only two of them in the center. One is the Strait of Malacca, which is the hub of the east-west trade routes, and can get rich by collecting toll taxes, so it supports the great power of Sriwijaya, which has been a hegemon of the southern islands for hundreds of years. The other is the island of Java, although this small island is not big, but the land is extremely fertile, and you can grow anything you can grow, so the population of Java is extremely large, even more than the entire Sriwijaya country, so it is always rising power and Sriwijaya to compete.

The royal families and nobles of the Three Buddhas and Java Island are all relics of Tianzhu, and they still have some contact with Tianzhu itself. Among them, the royal families on the island of Java mostly practice Brahmanism, and the royal families on the island of Sriwijaya practice Mahayana Buddhism. The Three Buddhas were often caught in the chaos of the Tianzhu countries because of the dispute between Buddhism and Brahmanism, and the national strength was involved. Two hundred years ago, it was almost destroyed because of the war with the Tianzhu Chola Kingdom, and it was only recently that it finally recovered its national strength. It is precisely because of the frequent wars with the Tianzhu Chola Kingdom that the Three Buddhas can not destroy the Brahmanical kings on the island of Java. The southern islands were in turmoil in the battle between the kings of Tianzhu Chula, Srivijaya and Java.

However, there is a British lord in the current Srivijaya country, known as the king of Sharontra. More than ten years ago, he took advantage of the decline of the Chola Kingdom to conquer the island of Tianzhu, and now he is planning a second expedition. It is said that he wants to compete for the East Tianzhu as the son-in-law of the Protector of the Pole Protector ......"

Ji Lao Thief was sitting in the cabin of the Daming, and explained the situation of Nanfan Islands to Chen Dexing very dutifully. He is known as the leader of the eighteen maritime merchant pirate alliance groups in the South China Sea, and he can really be regarded as Nanfantong. Many of the things he said were unheard of by Chen Dexing. Although the Taoist priests of the Heavenly Daoist Sect have already sent to the Three Buddhas. But it is still unrealistic for those Taoists to really understand an ancient great country in the short term. At least it is not as good as the Ji family, who has been a thief in the South China Sea and a businessman for three or four hundred years.

In fact, the Ji family and the Liang family and the Chen family (also descendants of Jiangzhou Yimen Chen) among the eighteen families in the South China Sea. and Chen Dexing and Chen Zilong are all relatives) have a semicolon in the country of Srivijaya - all high-grade maritime merchants and pirates will open N semicolons overseas, so as not to be wiped out by people if they lose their momentum. Therefore, the Ji family, the Liang family, and the Chen family have a semicolon not only in Srivijaya. Semicolons were also opened in Khmer, Cochin and Annam.

One of the most awesome is a branch of the Chen family's maritime merchants, Chen Shoudu, a descendant of the Jimo Chen clan who became rich by fishing in the country of Annan, and he founded a dynasty in Annan - the Chen Dynasty of Annan! Now the emperors of the Chen Dynasty in Annam, Chen Huang and Chen Dexing, are actually distant relatives. However, the relationship between the two sides is not close, because Chen Huang and his crown prince Chen Yu are both Buddhists, and Chen Yu is also a monk and the founder of Annam Bamboo Forest Zen Buddhism......

The prince of the Confucian power of Annan actually wanted to become a monk, which shows how powerful this Buddhism is now in the southern countries - Chen Dexing's Tiandao Sect, the biggest opponent encountered in the process of going south is not the Tianfang Sect, but Buddhism that has been silently cultivated in the south for nearly a thousand years!

However, Buddhism in Nanban is not monolithic. Rather, it is divided into Mahayana Buddhism and Theravada Buddhism (Hinayana Buddhism). Among them, the Khmer and Bagan (Burma) countries are popular in the upper Theravada Buddhism, and the Sukhothai kingdom was also a follower of the Sukhothai Buddhism before it was converted. The kingdoms of Annam and the Three Buddhas practice Mahayana Buddhism. Among them, Buddhism in Annam came from China, and Buddhism in the Three Buddhas came from the Pala Protector Dynasty, so it is not only Mahayana Buddhism, but also Tantra, and the Dharma King of Uszang is the same path.

In addition, Ceylon, which the king of Shahentra was about to attack, was a Theravada Buddhist. So the war between Sriwijaya and Ceylon also had an element of Buddhist sectarian strife.

In short, it is not necessary to be the king and hegemon in China. But when you go abroad, whether you go to the south or conquer the Western Regions. Religion cannot be left unconsidered. Otherwise, it will be twice the result with half the effort!

Chen Dexing thought for a moment, he seemed to be quite interested in the affairs of the Polo Dynasty, and asked: "This Polo Kingdom has been extinct for decades, how can it still have so much influence?" ”

The Polo Kingdom used to be the overlord of Tianzhu. It was a great power that rose to prominence with Buddhism as its state religion after the Gupta Dynasty of King Rings. However, after hundreds of years of development, it came to an end ninety years ago, when it was destroyed by the conquerors of the Celestial Sect from Central Asia. And the Nalanda Monastery and the Chaojie Monastery supported by the Balo Kingdom lasted for some more years. In the end, it was completely destroyed by the Heavenly Sect army.

"A hundred-legged insect, although it is dead, it is not stiff." Old Thief Ji smiled and said, "The Polo Dynasty has flourished for hundreds of years. How can you not have a little backhand? As far as the minister knows, the king of the three Buddhas and the Bala kingdom are allies for hundreds of years, and the two sides still have a marriage relationship, when the Polo Dynasty has gone, they have transferred a large number of gold and silver treasures to the three Buddhas, and many high-ranking monks from the Polo royal family have also transferred to the three Buddhasyaya. Many of the great temples and Jambi in Sriwijaya and many estates in Palembang are now owned by the Polo family in exile in Sriwijaya. ”

"I see, it seems that when I got to the Three Buddhas, I wanted to talk to the characters of the Polo family......" Chen Dexing muttered to himself, then stood up, pushed the door and walked out of the cabin, today's conversation is over, the information obtained from this conversation needs to be digested carefully.

Moreover, calculating the voyage, tomorrow should arrive at the small Luzon Bay of Luzon Island, if Pu Shougeng and Ma Shoushan have not escaped, it will inevitably be a big battle! So now he is going to the map room on the ship to discuss military affairs with Zhao Youyu, Gu Dali, Fang Yumen and others.

……

On the horizon, a large group of people and vehicles slowly appeared.

The reason why it was a man-cart rather than a horse-drawn carriage was because the two-wheeled carts full of all kinds of pickled meat, salted fish, and dried fruits were being pushed and pulled by the able-bodied Indians on the potholed plains—the Mingzhou Continent was truly a wonderful place, a country of choice with abundant natural resources that made the people of the Old World jealous, but it was outrageously backward.

Not only did there be no horses to pull carts, but even the carts pulled by people had just been made by the Ming colonists, and the Indians had not invented wheels before that...... Without wheels, there are no cars, and without cars, there are no animals pulling carts (there are no horses, but there are cows), and there is no need for roads for vehicles.

So the colonists who conquered the Mingzhou continent, Meng Qi, Yang Aguo, and Wen Tianxiang, could only walk from San Francisco in another time and space with two feet to conquer Mexico, which was more than 3,000 miles! And the 10,000 Indian soldiers they had gathered, not only had to walk on their own, but also had to take turns pulling carts and carts, which were loaded with military rations, which was really hard work.

Relying on a pair of measuring rulers to measure to "Mexico" step by step, it is naturally not fast. The army walked twenty miles a day, slowly three thousand miles, and at this rate it would take at least four or five months. And that's with plenty of logistical supplies! In fact, the so-called logistical supply is the pickled meat and salted fish loaded on more than 200 carts, which is enough for the army to consume for a month at most.

When the food was exhausted, the expeditionary force had to hunt while marching. These more than 3,000 miles may not be completed in seven or eight months.

However, the biggest difficulty is not the long road, but how to maintain the morale of the army during the expedition - this time the Indian Eight Banners who had just formed the army, the core was the 3,200 Indian soldiers who took a year to pull up, and after completing the "Eight Banners" adaptation of the Jinshan Indians, another six or seven thousand Indian soldiers were added, and eight flags were formed, each flag was more than 1,200 people, which was regarded as an association, and the assistant leader and the four subordinate leaders below were all sergeants of the land expedition.

In order to facilitate communication, each sergeant officer was assigned an Indian scholar to act as an interpreter. At the same time, this Indian scholar also served as a military Taoist of the Heavenly Daoist Sect. And these followers are the key to maintaining the morale of the army.

Yes, the main means of maintaining morale was religious superstition – for the Eight Bannermen of India, who had just emerged from primitive communism and entered private ownership, the pie of wealth was not necessarily comparable to that of an almighty god. And keeping them believing in God at all times is the key to keeping this Native American army from disintegrating on the march.

It's finally time for the army to rest, and it's time for dinner. The Eight Banners of the Indians were a daily meal, all of which were fish and meat, no rice and noodles, plus some dried fruits. Of course, the nutrition is sufficient, and the salted food is far more delicious than the light food of the Indians, so the Indians are still more satisfied with the food in the army. Yang Aguo, who became the commander of this army of 10,000 people at a young age, circled around the troops with his hands behind his back, and Yang Aguo, who had only one hand, followed behind him. One of them is in charge of military power, and the other is in charge of divine power, as if they were the commanders and political commissars of this army. Naturally, we must pay close attention to the changes in the morale of the army, but the current situation is still relatively optimistic.

Each Zuo has its own food unit, sitting around the barbecue. Grilled meat, grilled fish already give off an attractive aroma. But the Indians did not start to enjoy it, but did evening lessons—that is, to recite a passage of the Taiyi Sutra of Light before dinner, and then they could eat. This is called reading before eating, which was originally a religious ritual of Mingjiao (presumably from the Christian pre-dinner prayer cottage), and now it has been moved to Tiandao by Mo Yingniang intact.

In addition, Tiandao believers also go to the Taoist temple every ten years to listen to the Taoist and burn incense, and after burning incense, they can also talk to the Taoist alone. These are the rituals of the Ming Sect, which were also introduced to the Heavenly Daoism by Mo Ying Niang. However, in Middle-earth, Heavenly Daoists tend not to strictly observe these religious rituals. On the contrary, the Indian Eight Banners of Jinshan are now doing a good job, as if they really believe in the Heavenly Taoism. (To be continued......)