“…… During this time, Li Zitong's sailors frequently went to sea, and according to the news from those of us who stayed on the Ryukyu Islands, it is very likely that Li Zitong will invade this island. Du Ruhui's voice echoed in the room.

And we, all of us, sat quietly in the office of the General Staff, listening to intelligence analysis.

"No wonder he would make so many sailors without much combat power." Wei Yunqi patted his forehead and said abruptly.

"Putting a good Jiangnan without a base, and going overseas to seize the Ryukyu Islands, it seems that Li Zitong has lost hope that he can hold the line of Taihu Lake. Your Majesty, should we remind General Qu Tu and General Qin to speed up their march and be sure to trap Li Zitong to the east of Taihu Lake. Han Shige stroked his thick beard and said in a deep voice.

"By the way, what is the situation with Li Zitong's sailor now?" I stroked my brows and sat down on the couch, although Li Zitong retreated before fighting, which proved that he lacked the heart to fight, but it also gave me a more interesting idea.

"Your Majesty, Li Zitong's sailors have a total of 157 warships, but here, there are only 34 warships that can really be counted as warships, most of which are the warships of the former dynasty that Li Zitong captured when he occupied Jiangling. In addition, there are more than 30 small warships, which carry less than 100 people, so there is no cause for concern. After a little thought, Du Ru gave the answer.

"The rest of the ships also have newly built ships, which are more like cargo ships used by maritime merchants, and there are no weapons of water warfare at all......"

I chimed in and suddenly interjected. "How big is the newly built ship? If it is manned, how many? ”

"Back to Your Majesty, if you convert it according to the unit of measurement of the sailors of my Huaxia Empire, most of them are merchant ships of about 100 to 150 tons, if they are used to carry people. A hundred tons can carry two hundred soldiers, and one hundred and fifty tons can carry three hundred, of course, a maximum of ten days. The samurai immediately replied.

"Ten days of sailing?" I nodded. "One hundred and fifty-seven ships, then, according to two hundred people, at one time, you can carry 30,000 horses across the sea."

"Across the sea?" Han Shige was stunned for a moment, and repeated my words with some confusion. However, Yang Gongren and Wei Yunqi had some understanding.

"Your Majesty, do you mean that Li Zitong is not desperate, but has another way out?" Wei Yunqi stood up and walked to a map of the coastline of the Chinese Empire.

"Well, I think that Li Zitong wants to give up the land of Taihu Lake in the south of the Yangtze River, and then lead his army to this Ryukyu Islands." I said with a smile.

"It's not a way out." Yang Gongren nodded and analyzed. "That Li Zitong has a few ups and downs, he is the best at surviving in the cracks, so far, every time there seems to be no way to live, he can always rise and fall, such a ability, there are few in the world."

"On the Ryukyu Islands, most of them are natives, all of whom are tribes and do not belong to them, and have not yet established a state. Therefore, if Li Zitong goes to it, he must be able to set Ryukyu into a country. ”

Li Xuanba frowned, stood up, and said proudly. "Your Majesty, in this case, the minister asked the army to ask for it, but he couldn't let Li Zitong escape."

"Your Majesty, the minister thinks that if Li Zitong leaves Jiangnan and goes to Liuqiu, it is not a bad thing for the court." Wei Yunqi smiled, and suddenly came to such a sentence.

"Oh? If you have any ideas, just tell me and listen to them. I said with a smile. There was encouragement in his eyes.

"Your Majesty, the land of the Ryukyus is only 1,400 miles away from the nearest place south of the Yangtze River, if it is an old boat, it will only take three days, and if it is a warship of my Chinese Empire, it will not take two days to get here. Importantly, the Ryukyu Islands are connected to the north by the Japanese land, to the south by the Ryukyu Islands, the Ryukyu Islands, and further south, Luzon. Wei Yunqi walked slowly in front of the map.

Here, it is equivalent to a line, encompassing the sea area between Ryukyu and China. If one day, our Huaxia can take all this line, then the sea area of our Huaxia will be very peaceful......"

Wei Yunqi has no sense of sea power, let alone the theory of sea power, and he doesn't know that the enemy of China in the future will come from the sea. However, he at least had his own ideas, and now, as more and more people understand the incredible benefits that sea transportation can bring, and see the wealth that the islands beyond the sea bring to the Chinese Empire.

They have all understood that crossing the sea has brought infinite benefits to the Chinese Empire that have never been seen in the past.

In addition, most of those islands are barren lands, with few human tracks, and there are no kingdoms, such as Luzon, where there is only a group of barbarians who lead beasts and cannibals, and those barbarians, not only do they have no writing, but even their language is like a beast barking.

But a place like this has an innumerable amount of wealth, minerals, spices, whatever it is, that would drive a normal merchant and pioneer crazy. Not only did merchants from Cochin appear on Luzon Island, but even maritime merchants from Quanzhou and other places had already organized a fleet and began to march towards Luzon after hearing the news.

On the island of Luzon, construction of the first permanent pier has begun. Those laborers from the land of Jiaozhi are working hard and honestly with their blood and sweat to compose a song of construction here.

And the craftsmen from Jiaozhi are directing a group of laborers to build cement kilns, lime kilns, and brick kilns. It is expected that within six months, the number of workers in copper and gold mining-related industries will exceed 10,000.

In addition, in the south-central part of Luzon, a vast plain is found, which is very suitable for growing rice, or Champa rice, where it is hot and rainy, and there is no problem with three or even four seasons a year.

That is to say, the yield per mu of one acre of land here can reach six to eight times that of the north of the Chinese Empire, why do you say that, you have to start from the food crops suitable for planting in the north, the north is more suitable for planting wheat, but the yield of wheat, one mu is one and a half stones, which is already very good.

In addition, if you usually plant some soybeans and the like in rotation, you can get three seasons in two years, and three seasons down, that is, four stones.

However, rice is different, one acre of medium paddy field, harvesting three stone rice in one season is not too easy at all, and here can be planted for four seasons, then, it is twelve stones, compared to the north, it is indeed exaggerated to the extreme.

Rice, although it is said to be the staple food of southerners, the problem is that in this era when people can't even eat enough, and even the bark and grass roots want to be pulled into their stomachs, it is thankful that there is something to eat.

Moreover, rice can be used for many purposes, not only to relieve famine, but also to make wine, and to feed livestock. Well, of course, in the case that food can fully meet the needs of the common people.

According to the news, the area of the south-central plain of Luzon Island is not inferior to that of the Bashu Plain. In addition, this plain has a dense water network, which is very suitable for rice cultivation.

More and more good news is coming, which makes Ben Gongzi can't help but feel a little moved. But to let those prisoners of war and slaves become the main force of Luzon is not in line with my ideas and ideas.

After all, that island should be in the hands of the Chinese nation. So, I decided to convene a Cabinet meeting to discuss the feasibility. The most important reason is to convince these people, influence their thinking, and lay the foundation for the future expansion of the Chinese Empire.

After they and I have one mind, they will immigrate to the surrounding areas, so that they can truly turn these places into the territory of my Huaxia Empire, the so-called vassal state, no matter how much they respect Huaxia, and wait until the future, it will be a bunch of two-skinned faces.

“…… Your Majesty, do you mean that people migrated from the Lingnan region to Luzon? However, how could the people of Lingnan easily leave their homeland and go beyond the ocean? Fang Xuanling first raised doubts. In addition, if you really want to migrate people to farm. Why use the people of Lingnan, can it be said that the large number of displaced people who are still stranded in Guanzhong cannot go? ”

"There are two reasons for this, one is that the climate in the south is hot, while the people in the north are more able to tolerate the bitter cold and the heat and humidity. The climate there is similar to that in the south-central part of Cochin, and you should know before sending troops to Cochin. I sent 8,000 soldiers to Cochin, and more than 30% of them were treated for illness and heat stroke in the first year. ”

I cocked three fingers. "Any idea what this concept is? This means that out of these 8,000 people, more than 2,400 people have been infected by the disease due to the weather in one year. ”

"Your Majesty is very true." My uncle, who is now the secretary of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, has finally relieved a heavy burden for that Fang Xuanling. With his ability, he quickly became familiar with the big mess of the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

As an uncle who has been in Cochin for many years, I think I have more say in this regard than I do, so after my uncle got up and spoke, all the ministers cheered up. "And that's not even counting the craftsmen, their families...... The old man's stay in Cochin is not short, there is no severe cold in winter, but the summer is extremely long, in addition, the mosquito breeding is extremely serious, and poisonous snakes are also perennial...... The old man also suffered from malaria once, but fortunately there is a special medicine, otherwise...... I am afraid that the loss of manpower due to malaria alone will be at least more than 20%. ”

"And if you are a southerner, they are far more familiar with that kind of climate than we are, and they are more able to adapt to that kind of climate. The old man has observed many times that the people and soldiers south of the Yangtze River should be more able to adapt to the climate and environment of the land of Jiaozhi. In the north, not only is it much worse in terms of adaptability, but it is also more likely to suffer from various diseases......"

Listening to the old man's words there, everyone who was still puzzled couldn't help but fall silent. Malaria, also known as "swing", is an acute infectious disease transmitted by mosquitoes, once people are infected with this disease, they will suddenly have chills, shivering, and then high fever, nonsense, delirium, if not treated in time, it will be life-threatening.