Chapter 573: Duke of Nanyang

On the Wuya warship of Duke Lu.

"So, that Bafa...Fa..."

In the cabin of the warship, Hou Junji was looking at the map hanging on the wall and talking to a tanned man. At this time, he couldn't remember the name.

Fortunately, the tanned man was very considerate and added:

"Baffa Varman, Your Highness the Duke."

Nodding, Hou Junji pinched his beard and frowned and said:

"So, this Bafa was originally a prince of Funan, but he became the ruler of Zhenla by marrying the princess of Zhenla?"

"It is indeed as the Duke said, it is absolutely correct, Your Highness the Duke."

Hou Junji nodded, and then continued to try to sort out the relationship between the characters in these Nanyang countries:

"Last year, the ruler of Funan died, so this Bafa, who had become the ruler of Zhenla, , want to be the common ruler of the two countries? "

"More than that."

The dark-skinned man added:

"Funan has a crown prince, but Bafavarman relied on the strong military force of Zhenla and wanted to forcibly seize the throne. Now they are still fighting."

"Strong military force?"

Hou Junji immediately became interested:

"How many soldiers are there?"

The dark-skinned man over there was a little embarrassed, and Hou Junji suddenly realized that he had forgotten that this place was a barren land, and he was not accustomed to elegant language and mathematics, so this very ordinary question became a difficult problem for this person.

But fortunately, after getting along with each other for this period of time, there are other solutions to this problem:

"Wu Ba, can the military force of Zhenla be as many as my fleets?"

The dark-skinned Wu Ba was relieved immediately, and after thinking carefully, he said with certainty: "Probably as many as the four fleets of His Royal Highness the Duke."

There are more than 900 people in his fleet, and four fleets also mean about 4,000 soldiers?

Even if we add the elephant soldiers unique to the Indochina Peninsula, more than 4,000 infantrymen plus more than ten elephants, such a force...

Hou Junji, Duke of Lu and General of the Right Guard of the Tang Dynasty, could not help but sigh and gave his own evaluation: It is really weak.

In the past, he would not take such a force seriously, unless it was the elite of the palace soldiers.

But here, such a force can be called strong, and it can bully the weak with strength, unscrupulously.

Recalling that he had to leave Chang'an because of the crime of Guangmu, recruit hundreds of bad people and 900 strong retainers to go south together, it seems to have been a few years ago.

Crossing the sea to Yizhou to learn how to operate a ship, identify the wind and observe the stars, and then using the order of His Majesty to mobilize nine large and ten small warships, Hou Junji began to explore and manage Nanyang as he promised to Li Shimin.

The topography on the maps of later generations is indeed fine, but how many countries are there in this Nanyang land? What are the customs of the people? What is the abundant product? And so on, no one knows.

After the fleet set sail, Zhuya was used as a rest and supply point, and then it was a steady exploration to the south.

Speaking of the Nanyang strategy, the most important thing is undoubtedly the Champa rice, which has been mentioned many times in later generations and is on your majesty's mind.

But this task encountered difficulties at the beginning. Whether it was inquiring in Jiaozhou or asking in Zhuya, no place Champa was found.

There was no way, Hou Junji could only lead the fleet to leave the territory of the Tang Dynasty and explore the Linyi Kingdom south of Jiaozhou.

Because he wanted to manage Nanyang, Hou Junji had a lot of history of this place.

Linyi Kingdom originally belonged to the Rinnan County of the Han Dynasty, formerly known as Xianglin County. After the fall of the Han Dynasty, a famous Qu Lian rebelled and established himself as the king of Linyi. At the end of the Jin Dynasty, China was dark, and this despicable Linyi Kingdom also went north and invaded repeatedly.

Fortunately, Emperor Wu of Song Dynasty was full of military virtue and sent the governor of Jiaozhou to conquer Linyi and force it to pay tribute. Liu Fang of Sui Dynasty conquered it again and destroyed the country to establish Linyi County. After the fall of Sui Dynasty, this place has been lost until now.

In view of this history, Hou Junji came with an attitude of good negotiation at first. As long as he found the news of Champa rice, everything would be fine.

But unfortunately...

Hou Junji went lightly to show his sincerity, and the Linyi natives were arrogant and thought that the Tang people were afraid of him.

In the end, both sides used blood as ink on the beach to outline the bloody sunset.

All the retainers under his command were from the government soldiers, who were familiar with the method of forming a battle array and were invincible in frontal assaults.

The bad people in Chang'an jumped into the battle array lightly, and were best at self-protection and harassment. Although they were not good at frontal combat, they were particularly good at harassing and plundering the battle array.

The combined efforts of the two made the natives flee at the first sign of trouble.

This battle made Hou Junji think: Compared with the local dialect, it seems that Tang Hengdao's words are more effective.

It was also because of the fear of this war that the people in Linyi who still respected the Chinese system and the elegant language of the Central Plains knew that the Central Plains China had once again set its sights on this place, so there was an undercurrent in the small country.

After all, if you count carefully, this place has been ruled by the Han Dynasty for nearly 400 years. Although it has been independent from the Xia Dynasty, it has been another 200 years since Emperor Wu of Song to the Sui Dynasty. In the eyes of the locals who hold the orthodox Chinese culture, the nobles of Linyi at this time are traitors.

Among them, the radicals directly joined Hou Junji and his party and volunteered to serve as guides.

Wu Ba met Hou Junji under such circumstances.

After the failure of negotiations with Linyi, Hou Junji simply spoke with a sword and declared with his ship.

According to the address provided by Wu Ba, a local, Hou Junji personally led his men to frequently raid the places where the nobles of Linyi were near the sea, and only retreated leisurely after looting several times.

This place will certainly be incorporated into Han territory in the future. Those who want to seize the land and establish their own name have plenty of Tang warriors to teach them how to behave. Hou Junji doesn't want to waste any more time here.

The money and goods were for his own enjoyment, while the information about Linyi Kingdom was sent to Zhuya along with the rice seeds. Officials there would rush them to Chang'an, and Hou Junji would not have to worry about what happened next.

Continuing south, Hou Junji intended to visit the concave area at the southern end of the Indochina Peninsula, but he did not expect that after the explanation of the local Wu Ba, they seemed to have just bumped into the annexation of the two countries in Nanyang.

Hou Junji woke up from his memories, and thought about what Wu Ba had just said, and could not help but mutter:

"This Bafa is also an unsatisfied man. He is not satisfied with being the king of the country with the position of the son-in-law, and he even wants to attack his brothers without any consideration of the flesh and blood relationship!"

"No, how can we sit idly by and watch such an unfair thing?"

Wu Ba's eyes were immediately filled with eagerness.

Although he still carried the Han surname, his mother was separated and his father died early. His memories of Huaxia were only the awkward Xia language taught by his father when he was young, and the faded stories told by him.

In those stories that were incompatible with the Linyi Kingdom, benevolent and righteous people acted according to "reason", and chivalrous and brave soldiers sacrificed their lives for "righteousness".

Compared with them, the behavior standards of the nobles of the Linyi Kingdom were as lowly as the dust under their feet.

In the Duke of the Great Tang in front of him, Wu Ba seemed to see the people in the stories his father told him when he was young, walking from fantasy to reality.

So Wu Ba no longer hesitated, stepped forward and asked loudly:

"Wu Ba of Linyi County, I am willing to be the pioneer of the Duke and die for our Tang!"