The route from the Great Song Dynasty to Arabia was opened during the Tang Dynasty, and when the Song Dynasty suffered frequent defeats in the northwest wars and the land Silk Road was cut off, it relied more on maritime trade, and this route became increasingly prosperous. The northeast monsoon travels to the Strait of Malacca between October and December each year, and then crosses the Bay of Bengal in January of the following year. By February or March, they will arrive in southern Arabia and travel along the northern shore of the Persian Gulf, stopping at ports to replenish fresh water and provisions, and finally passing through the Strait of Hormuz with the southwest monsoon and arriving at their destination in April, which means six months.

The return voyage will take place in September or October, when the northeast monsoon will come on, and the two-month journey will take you to the coast of Malabar in India, followed by a long wait until the storm season in the Bay of Bengal has passed. After arriving in Chidah in the Malay Peninsula in late January of the following year, they had to wait for the monsoon once again, otherwise they would not be able to cross the Straits of Malacca. After that, they have to take advantage of the southwest monsoon in the summer to travel all the way north, and at this time there are basically no typhoons in the South China Sea, and if everything goes well, they can reach Quanzhou in May.

So it will take at least a year and a half for this trip down, and now the emperor wants to lead the naval army to conquer the Seljuk Kingdom in person, which really scared a few people, the sea is not as good as the land, danger is everywhere, if it is not good, the ship will sink and people will die, and the number of people who die on this route is unknown. Moreover, the road is far away, and it will take at least more than a year, or even several years, to return to China, and once something happens in the country, he will not be blind, so he resolutely disagrees with the emperor's personal conquest......

However, the starting point of Zhao Ta's consideration is different from others, and in this century, in the traditional center of civilization, it has undergone a series of re-organization.

in the Middle East. The Seljuk Empire of the Turks rose rapidly, conquering vast areas from Central Asia to Asia Minor. Took control of the Abbasid Caliphate and became the new leader of the Islamic world. and dealt a heavy blow to the Byzantine Empire. In Europe, the Holy Roman Empire was still in its prime, and the Pope was a counterweight to the throne and the Crusades.

In the traditional sense of civilization, there are also two countries that have entered the list of world powers. One is the Chola Kingdom in South India, which not only basically controls South India, but also occupies a large area of Southeast Asia and controls the transportation of the Indian Ocean. The other was the North Sea Knut Empire. It was the master of the Viking Dynasty who built a vast empire that almost turned the North Sea into an inland sea, including present-day Britain, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.

The Song Empire, located in the east, rose rapidly after the near collapse of the country, and was very prosperous economically and culturally, and the total population further recovered to more than 80 million people. After a series of conquests, the power has spread all over East Asia and has become a well-deserved boss in East Asia. Now the tentacles have extended to Central Asia, involved in the disputes in West Asia, and wants to control the trade routes between East and West Asia. to gather more wealth.

Zhao Ta understands that the essence of conflict between countries is the first competition for land and wealth, which is also the basis for maintaining the existence of a country, and once there is a conflict between these two interests, war is basically inevitable. Now that the Great Song Dynasty opened up trade routes and exported its products to various places, it would inevitably cause some powerful eyes, and they all wanted to make a fortune from it. Seljuk is one of them. He took control of the coast of the Middle East, plundered the wealth of the merchants of the Great Song Dynasty by direct or indirect means, and then turned the loot and sold it to Europe. made a fortune from it, but those originally belonged to the Great Song Dynasty.

The second is the spread and invasion of different religions and cultures. This is often done by force, and is more brutal and bloody than the struggle for land. Although the Seljuk Empire was a state founded by the Turks. But it abandoned its former religion and converted to Islam. At this moment, it was at its peak, the country was strong, it owned most of the territory including present-day Turkey, Syria, Iran, Iraq, and part of the territory of a large number of "stans", it was the overlord of West Asia, the alliance of the Muslims, and the caliphate was nothing more than a plaything in the hands of the Seljuk Turks.

The arrival of Zhao Tan had changed the course of the Northern Song Dynasty's demise at the hands of the Jurchens, and he had always been wary of the rise of the Mongols, and now he wanted to eliminate the soil in which they grew and the environment in which they could develop. Then the countless history of the Mongol conquest and destruction of the country in the west may not be staged, and the western countries may benefit from this growth.

At this time, the Liao State of Yelu Dashi and the Seljuk Empire did not border, but the rise of Western Liao itself made the Seljuk Emperor feel the biggest and most fundamental threat from the East. Sensing threatened, the Seljuk Turkic Empire's Sultan Sanjar sent troops to conquer the Liao and called on Muslims of the common faith to wage jihad against the aliens. Zhao Ta wanted to take this as an opportunity to unite the Liao State to launch a sniper attack on the invasion of the West.

Zhao Ta thought that although the struggle for hegemony between the East and the West was still in its infancy, since it was determined that there would be a conflict sooner or later, it would be better to fight early than later, and to show the strength of the Great Song Dynasty and let them see the strength of the East, so as to deter the Western world and dispel their thoughts of invading the East, so as to win a peaceful environment for the continued development of the Great Song Dynasty and save the East from foreign invasions.

According to historical accounts, Yelu Dashi led his army to defeat the attack of the Seljuks, causing it to decline, and the political pattern of Central and Western Asia also underwent a series of changes. The Western Liao also lost Yelu Dashi, a promising monarch, the following year, and Zhao thought that as an elite figure who had left a strong mark in history, he should be able to recognize his current crisis and the benefits of peace talks with the Song. Therefore, he must reach a political alliance with him before his return, and lay the foundation for the direction of the development of relations between the two countries after his death.

However, Zhao Ta did not have the idea of dominating the world, he understood that the information and transportation conditions of this era could not complete the effective rule of a superpower, just like the empires established by Rome, Persia and Mongolia across various continents, but they were difficult to maintain for a long time, and soon fell apart and fell back into division, gradually declining in a series of internal strife. Instead, it is better to manage one-third of one's own acre of land within the scope of one's ability, and establish a general defensive circle through alliances to isolate the war from the territory of the Great Song Dynasty.

Based on the above considerations, Zhao Ta set his attitude towards Western Liao at the beginning of his army in Gaochang, and prepared for a series of actions after that. It also decided that the war launched by the Great Song Dynasty could not be too deeply involved, and it could only be a short, peaceful, and fast punitive battle. And half a year was enough time for the attack on the water all the way, which also made Zhao Ta itch, and he moved the idea of pro-conquest, wanting to relive life at sea......

"Official, it's the beginning of November, it's the beginning of the monsoon, even if you want to go on a personal expedition now, it will take time to mobilize troops and raise baggage, I'm afraid it will be difficult to make the trip this year!" Zhe Meiluan thought about it and said with a smile, she was also blinded by the emperor's words just now, and after thinking about it, even if she sets off now, it will be difficult to catch up with the monsoon, so she can only wait until next year.

"Sister Zhe, you still haven't guessed the official's thoughts, since he said that he wanted to recruit in person, he must have been prepared, don't be fooled!" Zhao Xin followed the emperor for the longest time, knowing that he has always been good at planning, and will never act rashly under normal circumstances, the matter of the western expedition to Gaochang has been decided as early as a year ago, and the use of the water army must also be in its consideration, it must be that the water army did not return in Goryeo at that time, so it was not announced, and now the Western Expeditionary Army has successfully arrived in Gaochang It is time to dispatch the water army.

"Official, you don't really owe everything to Dongfeng, right?" Zhi Meiluan asked in surprise when she heard this.

"Hehe......" Zhao Ta smiled awkwardly and lowered his head.

At that time, he thought that once the war to aid Goryeo was deadlocked, the naval army would be pinned down in Goryeo, so he secretly formed an expedition fleet with the experimental fleet as the main force and moved to the islands near Quanzhou Port to stand by. At the same time, in the name of intensive training, 15,000 people from the Leopard Wing and Wolf Wing armies were dispatched to form a landing force and sailed to the vicinity of Quanzhou for training in crossing the sea and conducting long-distance raids. When they were ready to go, they hesitated, but the Western Xia army failed to fulfill the contract and sent troops as scheduled, which caused the land march to be delayed, and the sea route could only be slowed down and stayed in Quanzhou for training, so as long as an order was given, they could immediately sail to sea!

"Sure enough, it was premeditated, if it hadn't been mentioned by chance today, I'm afraid the official family would have sneaked away a long time ago!" Li Xiaoxiao glared at the emperor and said angrily.

"How so? How can such a big event be hidden! Zhao Tan shook his head and said.

"Hmph, it's not like this kind of thing has never been done, didn't the official family leave a book for everyone before the wedding, and prepared to run away secretly......" Zhao Xin didn't believe it at all, the emperor had a criminal record, and it was often difficult to change the things he decided, not to mention the things that had been calculated for such a time. It's just that she accidentally slipped out of her mouth, forgetting who the emperor was for, and when she realized that the words had come out, she couldn't help but be embarrassed.

"Xin'er, don't you understand my hard work and refuse to help me?" Zhao Ta listened and looked at Zhao Xin with a complaining gaze and said in a trembling voice.

"Official, I'...... As the saying goes, 'the son of a daughter can't sit down', the emperor is the lord of the world, and every move is related to the safety of the community, and it is a very dangerous and uncertain place! Zhao Xin's heart was softened by the emperor's expression, but he instantly understood that he wanted to take the opportunity to excuse him, and immediately refused to say good things for him.

"Hmph, since I know that I am the lord of the world, and my words are golden rules as soon as I say them, do you dare to disobey them, and I don't dare to break those bullshit rules?" Zhao Ta said indignantly.

"The concubines don't dare, please think about the society for the sake of Your Majesty!" The four of them knelt down and saluted and said in unison, listening to a tone that was more resolute than the emperor...... (To be continued......)