Neon Clothes and Iron Clothes

Chapter 927 Design
"No need to be polite!" Yuanbao looked the man up and down. Like most of the natives of the South China Sea, Bayon's skin was much darker than that of the Tang people in the Central Plains. He was also much thinner, with protruding cheekbones and deep-set eyes, giving people a feeling of being mean and vicious.

"Thank you, Governor!" Bayon stood up and said, "I am here on behalf of the King of Cambodia to wish you a long life and happiness!"

"Thank you for your trouble, my lord!" Yuan Bao nodded. "I remember your envoy came here a few days ago. Why are they here again today? Is there something going on?"

"That's right!" Bayon looked around and lowered his voice, saying, "I came here this time to report something important to you, my lord!" He paused for a moment and said, "After Linyi was conquered by your country, its prince, in order to avenge his country, has surrendered to the Kingdom of Heling (a kingdom on the islands of Java and Sumatra in Indonesia today, an important node on the Silk Road at the time, and also considered one of the most powerful Hindu countries in Southeast Asia at the time) and borrowed troops!"

"Borrow troops from Heling?" Yuanbao showed a puzzled expression. He knew the general geographical location of Heling, but with the technical conditions at that time, he was in Jiaozhou and had no sense of reality for such a faraway country. Seeing this, Bayon hurriedly explained: "My dear, you don't know that the ancestor of the king of Linyi was said to be a prince who migrated from Heling. The relationship between the two countries was originally good, and the royal families often intermarried. The mother of this prince was a princess of Heling, so he and the king of Heling are cousins!"

"So that's what happened!" Yuan Bao nodded. He certainly wouldn't believe the other party's words. "But as far as I know, Linyi is currently in a civil war. That prince can't even be crowned king, so how can he avenge us? Moreover, he sent envoys to pay tribute to the Tang Dynasty a few days ago, but I don't see any intention of revenge. Besides, why did your country send you to deliver this news? What's your intention?"

"Sir Governor, that prince has not yet unified Linyi and is not strong enough to retaliate against your country, so of course he will pretend to be submissive. As for why my lord sent me to report him, it is because Linyi and Heling are both our country's sworn enemies!"

"So you want to use the power of the Tang Dynasty to deal with Linyi and Heling?" Yuanbao asked.

"It can't be said to be exploitation! It should be said that both sides benefit from it!" Bayon laughed and said, "After all, Linyi is indeed an enemy of the Tang Dynasty. Taking advantage of its weakening strength, we can destroy it, divide its land, and marry each other as a long-term plan. Isn't it beneficial to both sides?"

"I understand what you mean!" Yuanbao smiled and clapped his hands twice. Two servants walked in from outside and stood behind Bayon.

"Dear guest, I cannot give you an accurate answer to your proposal now!" Yuan Bao said, "Please go down and rest first. I will give you an answer after I have thought it over. In order to avoid leaking the news, I will arrange you in a secret place. I hope you can rest in peace and do not leave the residence without permission!"

"Thank you! I'll remember it!"

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"This guy is most likely a liar!" Suda, who was wearing a round-necked short robe with his sleeves tied tightly, looked like he was going out hunting. He gave his answer without hesitation: "The Khmer king is most likely trying to drag us into a mud pit and profit from it!"

"I agree with your judgment of that Bayon!" Yuan Bao laughed, "I didn't trust this guy from the first time I saw him, but you are wrong about one thing. From the first day we arrived in Jiaozhou, we have been in a quagmire. Don't forget, it was you who gave the order to raid the capital of Linyi!"

"Okay!" Suta shook his head helplessly: "I have no choice. If I didn't do this, we might still be fighting with the rebels in Jiaozhou in the endless wild forest!"

"I didn't blame you, in fact you helped me a lot!" Yuan Bao said, "But sometimes liars will tell the truth. What Bayon said is true. Now is indeed a good opportunity to intervene in Linyi!"

"You want to annex Linyi?" Xu Tuo asked curiously, "Isn't it time now? I've seen your plan. It will take at least four or five years to build the port and factory area in Jiaozhi City. How can you get the resources to implement your plan to annex Linyi at this critical moment?"

"You're right, but I'm not the one who's planning to attack Linyi!" Yuanbao smiled slyly.

"Who?" Sudaka was stunned when he heard this: "Jumong? Are you going to let Jumong and the others go?"

"That's right, I really can't hide it from you!" Yuanbao laughed, "They are not at ease staying in Jiaozhou, so let them go to Linyi. If they conquer it, it will be theirs. If they fail, they can only blame themselves for their incompetence, not me!"

"Do Jumong and his people have the strength to annex Linyi?" Sudaka glanced at Yuanbao and said, "You are not trying to kill someone with a borrowed knife? That is not possible!"

"How is that possible? We are brothers after all. No matter how much we fight in private, we will not hold them back when facing those barbarians!" Yuan Bao laughed and said, "Didn't Daddy give each of us a good ship and 100,000 silver coins? They must have had some private money when they went south. Anyway, whether it's recruiting soldiers or buying weapons and food, I will give them the lowest price. If they have the ability to win, I will report to the court on their behalf and confer official positions on them. If they lose, as long as they can escape back, I will definitely save their lives. This condition is good enough, right!"

Xu Tuo was silent for a while: "Yuan Bao, even if you are not killing someone with a borrowed knife, at least you are shifting the blame to Jiangdong!"

"What can I do?" Yuan Bao spread his hands, "My father asked me to stay in Jiaozhou and open up the South China Sea. But to open up the South China Sea, there are still many things to do in Jiaozhou! You know this Suta better than anyone: weapons and gunpowder are the most basic, and the most important thing is trade. Only by boosting trade can I have taxes and maintain a large fleet. Otherwise, the annual land taxes will drive the farmers to death, and there will not be much to get! These things will not show results in a short time, and are Jumong and others people who can wait patiently? Even if they are, they are not willing to spend time on Jiaozhou."

"Okay!" Suta sighed, "You are right. Don't worry, if father blames you in the future, I will explain it for you!"

"Okay! I've been waiting for you to say this!" Yuan Bao was overjoyed when he heard this: "This makes me feel at ease!"

"Then when do you plan to tell Jumong and the others?" Suda asked.

"Let's wait until the rice is harvested!" Yuan Bao said with a smile, "As long as there is food in the warehouse, there will be no need to panic!"

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Anding County Government (a county under Jiaozhou in the Tang Dynasty, with its seat in Dinghua County, Taiyuan Province, Vietnam today)
Jumong sat by the window. It was already dusk. Through the window, he saw the oil lamps and fires in the distant windows being lit one by one, illuminating the courtyards of the county town. He couldn't help feeling lonely in his heart.

Recently, he often dreamed of snowfields, dense forests, swamps, meadows and wolves. In the dream, the wolf howled at him, as if it was talking to him, and he seemed to understand what the wolf was saying... Of course, it was not like human language, but it was not far off... It was as if he had mastered it before, but had forgotten it because he had not used it for a long time. Jumong could not help but think of what his mother had said to him when he was a child: The ancestors of our Goguryeo people had the blood of the blue wolf flowing in their veins, but it was not passed down to their descendants.

Outside, a hound howled, long and sad, as if it was missing its homeland just like him. Other hounds followed suit, their voices echoing over the county office, chilling people to the bone. Jumong let out a long breath, stood up and walked out of the house.

"Sir!" The attendant bowed slightly to Jumong. "What's wrong with these hounds?" Jumong asked, "Are they not fed?"

"Probably not!" The attendant shook his head. "Old Wang, who feeds them, loves them very much. How could he miss them? He must want to go hunting. These guys haven't been to the forest to have some fun for a while. They must be bored!"

"Yes!" Jumong nodded: "I have been in Anding for some time, it is time to go out and hunt!"

"That's great!" The attendant said with a smile, "Since I came to Jiaozhou, I have been staying in my room all day. If I continue like this, I will lose my archery and horsemanship skills!"

Jumong smiled and was about to say something when he suddenly remembered something: "I'm afraid it will take some time for the hunting to happen!"

"What happened?" asked the attendant.

"Have you forgotten? The rice harvest is coming soon!" Jumong sighed, "No matter how important hunting is, we can't miss farming!"

"Okay!" The attendant's face showed obvious disappointment. He sighed, "Sir, we came to Jiaozhou to establish a foundation, but now? Every day I stay in a broken county town and can only see a bunch of farmers working the land. When will this life end?"

"It won't be long, it won't be long!" Jumong whispered, as if he was answering his subordinates, or as if he was answering himself.

At noon the next day, a messenger arrived from Jiaozhi City. After reading the letter, Jumong showed an excited look. After thinking for a while, he let the messenger go to rest first, and then summoned a few trusted subordinates.

"Yuanbao invited me to Jiaozhi!" Jumong handed the letter to his subordinate on the right: "He said that the King of Cambodia sent a secret envoy to report that the prince of Linyi Kingdom borrowed troops from the Kingdom of Heling in order to harm our Tang Dynasty! So he invited me to discuss it!"

"Heling Kingdom, Cambodia Kingdom, the names of these barbarians are really hard to pronounce!" The subordinate who read the letter gave up and passed it to the next person: "It doesn't matter, anywhere is fine, it's better than staying here, my horn bow is almost moldy!"

"Well, it's good to have a battle!" Another attendant said eagerly, "It's not that the brothers below can't stand the hardship, but they just have no purpose. If this continues, something bad will happen sooner or later!"

"Okay, you two will come with me to Jiaozhi City, and the rest of you will stay here. Make sure nothing goes wrong while I'm away!" said Jumong.

"I obey my orders!"

Anding County is not far from Jiaozhi City. If you ride a horse, it takes no more than a day's journey. In fact, the seven or eight counties under Jiaozhou at that time were not far from each other. They were basically in the delta near the mouth of the Red River and on the land route to Hepu and Nanning. This is also in line with the technical conditions at that time - the Tang people basically controlled the Red River Delta and coastal plains, which were most suitable for farming. As for the inland dense forests and mountains, although they belonged to the territory of the Tang Dynasty on the map, in fact there were only local Tuman tribes and large uninhabited areas.

Jumong and his companions set out early in the morning with two horses, and arrived at Jiaozhi City at dusk. After showing their badges, they entered the city and were about to go to the posthouse to rest when Jumong suddenly heard someone shouting, "Is that Jumong?"

Zhu Meng turned around and said happily, "It's you, brother Yaoshi. It's been a long time since we last met!"

"Yes!" The pharmacist jumped off his horse, took a few steps forward, held Zhu Meng's arm, and asked in a low voice: "Did you also receive the letter from Yuanbao?"

"That's right!" Jumong said, "No matter what, come back and take a look before making a decision!"

"Yeah! I think so too!" The pharmacist whispered, "I think we should make an agreement first, and advance and retreat together!"

"Of course!" Jumong nodded: "We must all move forward and retreat together!"

The two of them had a tacit understanding and couldn't help but smile. They arrived at the posthouse and saw houses and roads being built everywhere along the way. The pharmacist smiled and said, "If nothing else, Yuanbao is really good at business. Look here, and here, Jiaozhi City is much more lively than when we left!"

"Of course, he was the governor of Cangzhou before he came to Jiaozhou. When it comes to management and administration, I'm afraid none of my brothers can match him!" Jumong snorted coldly, "It's just that this person is narrow-minded and intolerant. If Su Tuoge is the governor of Jiaozhou, what's wrong with us working for him?"

"Yes!" Medicine Master sighed, "What can we do? Father has arranged for Suta to stay in another place!"

"You don't have to worry too much. If we stick together, Yuanbao can't do anything to us!" said Jumong.

That night, Jumong secretly discussed with several brothers who had already arrived and agreed to advance and retreat together. So the next day he went to the governor's mansion to meet Yuanbao.

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"Brothers, please take a seat!" Yuan Bao was very polite this time. He met everyone in his study, wearing a casual robe and a quilt on his head. He looked easygoing and relaxed. "I summoned you all here not for anything else, but because the secret envoys from Cambodia came to form an alliance with me to divide up the Linyi Kingdom. This is not something I can do alone, so please come and discuss it together!"

Everyone exchanged glances, and Jumong said, "Brother Yuanbao, you are too polite. You are always smart and you must have already made up your mind. Why don't you tell us first so that we can hear it!"

"Brother Jumong, you are joking!" Yuanbao seemed not to hear the hidden thorn in Jumong's words, and said with a smile: "In fact, it doesn't matter if you say it first, just think of it as a starting point. In my opinion, it is very simple, either agree or refuse! There are good reasons for agreeing and good reasons for refusing!"