As when they came, Li Ke and his fleet passed through the Black Sea Strait to the Aegean Sea, but because of the hurry they came last time, they didn't come and enjoyed the beautiful scenery of the Aegean Sea, especially the city of Athens located on the Balkan Peninsula, and they didn't have the opportunity to visit last time.

Athens is an ancient city with a history of more than 1,000 years, and was once the political and economic center of ancient Greece, although it has since declined several times, but under the rule of the Eastern Roman Empire, it has been revived, even compared to Constantinople.

The news of the Tang prince's arrival in Rome had already reached Athens, so Li Ke and their arrival were also warmly received by the local nobles, but it was a pity that Li Ke and they were in a hurry, so after playing for a few days, they still refused the enthusiasm of the local nobles, and then went on the road again.

After that, they stopped in Crete for a while, and then went west, and when they passed by the Apennine Peninsula, Li Ke stood on the bow of the ship and looked out over the peninsula from afar, with a hint of confusion in his eyes.

In fact, in Li Ke's mind, the most ideal place to build a country is not the Iberian Peninsula, but the Apennine Peninsula in front of him now, after all, this is the birthplace of the Roman Empire, the peninsula is not only rich in products, but also has a large population, even if it has been looted by the barbarians in the north several times, but the civilization foundation of the island is still there, if you can build a country here, then whether it is agriculture or industry and commerce, you can get the fastest development.

Unfortunately, he had to take into account the reaction of the Eastern Roman Empire, so Li Ke had to give up here, but this abandonment was only temporary, and he would establish a kingdom of his own in Iberia. And after really gaining a foothold, then the next step is the Apennine Peninsula in front of you. There is also the barbarian kingdom named Frank, all of which will be on his list of conquests in the future.

The Apennine Peninsula divides the entire Mediterranean Sea into two parts, east and west. Crossing Sicily in the southeastern part of the Apennine Peninsula, Li Ke and his fleet came to the western Mediterranean. Originally, after Li Ke chose to establish his own power in the Mediterranean, he didn't have to go to the Americas, but he wanted to go to the Iberian Peninsula to find out the situation first, and by the way, he also escorted Lu Wan's fleet to the Atlantic, and then it was not too late for him to return by warship.

Now Rome's forces are shrinking, and although the navy is still quite large, it is mainly concentrated in the eastern Mediterranean, so after crossing the Apennine Peninsula. There were few Roman navies in the western Mediterranean, but the Vandals and Alans gradually proliferated, but most of these ships went to Rome or the Great Food, and only a small part of the fleet had to cross the Strait of Gibraltar to the Atlantic, as they did.

The capital of the Visigothic kingdom was called Toulus, located in the northeastern part of the Iberian Peninsula, and was an inland city quite far from the coast, and quite far from the Strait of Gibraltar, as can be seen. Although the Visigothic kingdom controlled the entire Iberian Peninsula, its center of rule was located in the northeastern part of the peninsula, and it did not attach much importance to the southwestern part of the peninsula bordering the central part and the Strait of Gibraltar.

Moreover, the Strait of Gibraltar was not as important as in later periods, and the main maritime activities of the Roman Empire were concentrated in the Mediterranean and Black Sea regions. Few ships leave the Mediterranean. Europe is still a wild land, and even a kingdom like the Franks is only a barbarian kingdom in the eyes of the Romans. In addition, marine activities in this area have not yet developed. So there are not a lot of ships coming in and out of the Strait of Gibraltar, at least not compared with the Black Sea Straits.

Although Gibraltar's commercial and military value was not as important as in later generations. However, the west coast of Europe and Africa needs to communicate with the Mediterranean coast. It was also necessary to pass through this strait, so as early as more than 1,000 years ago, the Phoenicians established a port city on the southern shore of the Strait of Gibraltar, called Dingis, which was later the famous port of Tangier, Morocco.

It's just that Dingis has been in several wars later, and the Kelfarkels, Vandals, Romans, etc. have ruled here, and now it is occupied by the Visigothic Kingdom, so the Strait of Gibraltar is also called the Dingis Strait by the Visigoths. As for the name of the Strait of Gibraltar, it was specially marked by Li Su when he made the world map, and even Li Su himself did not know that the name Gibraltar would not appear until decades later.

The Visigothic kingdom was not satisfied with the entire Iberian Peninsula, so it extended its tentacles across the Strait of Gibraltar to North Africa, only to stop near Dingis because of the stubborn resistance of the Vandals and Alans.

It is precisely because of the existence of Dingis that in the Strait of Gibraltar, in addition to the merchant fleet, there are also many Visigothic warships patrolling, but most of these warships are modeled on the Romans, and the construction technology is obviously not up to par, not only the ships are smaller, but the speed is not as fast as the Roman warships.

Li Ke and they may be the first Han fleet to reach the Strait of Gibraltar, not to mention the four tall warships, the other ships in the fleet are also tall, compared to them in the Mediterranean region, they are like dwarfs around giants, so the arrival of their fleet immediately attracted everyone's attention.

However, after Li Ke entered the Mediterranean, they had already become accustomed to the shocked eyes of the locals, so they were very calm, and the whole fleet first entered the port of Dingis, and then found a merchant who knew Greek, and after giving a certain reward, the other party helped them buy fresh water, food and other supplies, and then rested in the port for one night, but the next day when they were about to leave the Strait of Gibraltar, they encountered a trouble.

"What's going on, what the hell are these Visigoths going on?" Li Ke looked at the Gothic warships around the ship with a gloomy face, and asked with anger in his tone. As soon as their ship left the port of Dingis, they were surrounded by a fleet of Visigoths, and the size of the fleet was not small, and it was roughly estimated that there should be more than a hundred three-oared warships to surround their fleet.

"Your Highness, wait a minute, Mr. Cen has already gone to inquire, and there should be news soon." Lu Wan hurriedly spoke, but his face was also not very good-looking, and his intuition told him that today's affairs might not be easy.

With the hegemony of the Eastern Roman Empire in the Mediterranean, Greek also spread, and in the entire Mediterranean, Greek has almost become the lingua franca, so when encountering the situation in front of him, Cen Changqian, as the best person in the fleet, is also Li Ke's first strategist, so he naturally has to come forward to be responsible for communication.

Cen Changqian rode forward in a small boat, and soon a Visigothic ship came forward, and Cen Changqian explained his intention loudly in Greek, and then, guided by a small warship, he met the general of the Visigothic navy on one of the largest five-oared warships.

"You are the fleet from the Tang Dynasty?" The general on the other side was a stout bearded man, not showing his age, with a few scars on his face, and even missing a single ear, and his attitude of speaking was extremely arrogant.

"Yes, I wonder why the general is blocking our way?" Cen Changqian seemed very calm, although the other party's ships were twice as many as his own, but the oar-seat boat under his feet was not equipped with Greek fire like the Romans, not to mention anything else, just the four warships behind him could sweep them, so Cen Changqian also seemed fearless.

"Why did you stop you?" The one-eared general plucked his nostrils very rudely, and then dug out a black mass in front of Cen Changqian, and looked at him contemptuously while rubbing it, and said, "Our city lord said that he is very interested in your ship, so now your ship belongs to us, and the people of your fleet must also stay, when can we build this kind of big ship ourselves, when can you leave!" ”

Cen Changqian was almost angry when she heard this, thinking that barbarians are barbarians, and even robbery is so levelless. However, as a last resort, Cen Changqian didn't want to use force with the other party, so he had to speak again: "Your Excellency General, we are the fleet of the Tang Dynasty, and we have been personally received by His Majesty the Eastern Roman Emperor before, and even have the official document signed by him in my hand, I hope you can think about it and don't ......"

"Smack!" What Cen Changqian didn't expect was that before he finished his words, the one-eared general in front of him slapped him, but he only felt a numbness on his face, and his whole body was also crooked by this force, and he almost fell to the ground, and then the whole left side of his face was hot and painful.

"Hahaha~, don't talk nonsense in front of Lao Tzu, Lao Tzu's ancestors killed countless Roman noblewomen in the city of Rome. This is Dingis, our Goth's territory, and you have to listen to Lao Tzu here, otherwise you will all die! The one-eared general looked at Cen Changqian's embarrassed appearance and laughed arrogantly.

Looking at the other party's arrogant appearance, Cen Changqian was furious in his heart, as the number one strategist of Wu Wangfu, how could he have been insulted like this? However, it is also blamed on him for being too careless, thinking that these Goths should be similar to the Romans, at least they know some etiquette, and they will not do anything even if they can't talk.

But he forgot that the reason why these Goths were called barbarians by the Romans was because they were all barbarians, rude and stupid and blindly arrogant, thinking that they would be invincible if they achieved a small victory, and the Tang Dynasty was too far away from here, so they didn't know the strength of the Tang Dynasty at all, although Rome was the hegemon of the Mediterranean, but it was still not taken into account by these people, and even if they provoked the other party again, then these barbaric Goths would probably kill themselves first, and then order to seize the ship. (To be continued......)