Neon Clothes and Iron Clothes

Chapter 929 Mekong River

"No, I'm just telling the truth! In fact, you can go and see the ongoing war with your own eyes!" Bayon said: "Of course I know that the Tang Dynasty is unparalleled in the world, but Chang'an is far away from here, and Water Zhenla is very close to here!"

Hearing the seemingly submissive but threatening words from the other party, Jumong remained silent and did not refute immediately. A few minutes later, he said: "You are right. I want to go there in person to see for myself whether it is as you said. Also, even if we agree to send troops in the end, it is not unconditional!"

"What conditions?"

"Money! The daily cost of a large army is thousands of gold coins. We can't ask the Tang Dynasty to bear this expense, right?"

Hearing Jumong say this, Bayon felt relieved. In negotiations, it is not a problem to make conditions, but to not speak up. Even if the price is sky-high, it can be paid in the end. Besides, even if he agrees, when and how to pay is another matter. There are too many tricks in this. There are too many things to quibble about. Once the arrow is shot, there is no turning back. As long as the Tang people shoot this arrow first, the rest of the things will be easy.

"So you want money before you send troops. That's easy to say!" Bayon said nonchalantly, "Everyone knows that my king's treasury is full. Just tell me how much money you want!"

"Five million guan!" Jumong stretched out his right hand and shook his five fingers: "As long as you have this number, we will send troops immediately!"

Even though Bayon had been prepared, he was still shocked by Jumong's greed: "Sir, don't be ridiculous. Five million strings of cash? Is the Tang Dynasty going to mobilize an entire nation this time? If we really have so much money, why don't we just attack King Heling directly? Why bother your army?"

Jumong also knew that the price he had just offered was a bit too high. After all, in history, nearly a hundred years later, the Tang Dynasty implemented the Two Tax System, and its annual revenue was only 1089 million strings of cash and 215 million shi of grain. He asked for half of the Tang Dynasty's annual revenue a hundred years later without any hesitation. No wonder the other party refused directly.

"Five million guan is indeed too much!" Jumong smiled and said, "Then how much are you willing to pay?"

"Five hundred thousand is the most!" Bayon cut off a zero without hesitation. "Even if it is five hundred thousand, it cannot be paid in one lump sum. You have to pay it after your warships arrive. And you can't pay with copper coins. You can only pay with food, cloth, and other gold, silver, and pearls!"

Jumong was not annoyed by Bayon's bargaining. In his opinion, it was only natural. If Bayon agreed readily, he would become suspicious. After all, the Southeast Asian countries at that time did not have the technology to mint copper coins. Most of the copper coins used in their countries were shipped from the Tang Dynasty. If they had to pay with copper coins, you would not be able to collect 500,000 strings of coins even if you collected all the copper coins in Southeast Asia.

"Then how much is the first payment before we set out?" asked Jumong.

"Fifty thousand! No, thirty thousand at most!"

"Okay!" Jumong answered so readily that Bayon was surprised. "I hope you can deliver it as soon as possible! Otherwise, if the war is delayed, you will be to blame!"

"Of course!" Bayon said with a smile, "Please believe in our sincerity!"

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The Mekong River originates from Zaduo County, Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, my country, on the northeast slope of the Tanggula Mountains, flows through China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and flows into the South China Sea in Vietnam. The river is also known as the Lancang River in China. The Mekong River is the transliteration of its English name, Mekong, which is derived from the abbreviation of the Thai word Mae Nam Khong. Mae Nam means "big river" in Thai, and Khong is the name of the ancient Thai people for the Khmer people. The original meaning of the Mekong River is "the river of the Khmer people". The Mekong River has nine streams when it flows into the sea, so it is also called the Nine Dragon River.

As the first nation to dominate the Indochina Peninsula, the rise of the Khmer people is inseparable from the Mekong River. In its heyday, its territory included the entirety of today's Cambodia, as well as most of Thailand, Laos, and the Mekong Delta in southern Vietnam. But fundamentally, the core area of ​​its empire consists of two parts - the area around Tonle Sap Lake, and the Mekong Delta. The former is land Zhenla, the origin of the Khmer Empire, and the latter is water Zhenla, with convenient transportation, fertile land, dense population, and developed maritime trade. For more than a hundred years, the Khmer people set out from the area around Tonle Sap Lake, went down the Mekong River, controlled the Mekong Delta, incorporated it into the territory of the empire, and used the wealth of the Mekong Delta to support the empire's army, temples, and glory.

The Mekong Delta was also the weak spot of the Khmer people. It was not only the largest source of wealth for the empire, but also the fastest route to the heart of the empire. The middle and upper reaches of the Mekong River were turbulent and the water flow was highly seasonal, making them unsuitable for shipping. However, the lower reaches were much wider and smoother. Going upstream from the mouth of the Mekong River, one could reach the Tonle Sap Lake, the heartland of the Khmer people. Hundreds of years later, the Champa army advanced by land and water, went up the Mekong River, attacked the Tonle Sap Lake, defeated the Khmer navy, and took advantage of the situation to capture the Khmer capital of Angkor on the shores of the Tonle Sap Lake, and captured and looted it.

The Javanese are now fighting a life-and-death battle with the Khmer for the Mekong Delta. They have basically controlled most of the South Pacific Islands and are expanding their trade bases to the Indochina Peninsula. They are mainly merchants and are not as greedy for land as the Burmese, Thais, and Vietnamese in later generations, but the Mekong Delta is undoubtedly a sweet bait that the Javanese will never give up. It is not only the only way from the Malay Peninsula to the South China port, but also through the Mekong River to go deep inland. The Khmer and Javanese, like the Thais and Burmese, the Champa people and the Vietnamese hundreds of years later, shed endless blood for this land.

The sea breeze blows through the reeds like waves. You can see dotted bamboo sheds on the shore and canoes paddling across the sea from time to time. Fishermen pick up bamboo cages that have been sunk underwater in the reeds and take out fish, crabs, shrimps and other delicious prey. In this rich water area, all food is abundant and even ordinary people can easily get enough to eat.

Bayon was not wearing armor, and his upper body was almost naked, wrapped in a piece of linen. He looked no different from the busy local fishermen. He could not tell that he was a distinguished royal envoy. He did not want to be like this, but the Javanese fleet was very active. Compared with the Javanese who had experienced many storms, the Khmer navy was much inferior. This was also the main reason why the Khmer were always in a passive position in the battles in the Mekong Delta.

"Don't worry!" The captain saw Bayon's worry and comforted him, "The Javanese fleet is very powerful, but there are islands and sandbanks everywhere, and there are countless harbors. As long as we get into them, no matter how many Javanese there are, they can't catch up!"

"Thank you!" Bayon nodded: "I hope it's as you said! But if possible, I still hope you have a safe journey!"

"Of course!" The captain laughed. He was silent for a while and asked in a low voice: "Your Excellency, I heard that the Tang people have the power of thunder. Is this true?"

Bayon turned around and saw curiosity and hope in the captain's eyes. He smiled and said, "Yes, the Tang people also demonstrated it to me. It is indeed the power of thunder!"

"That's too scary!" The captain let out a long breath: "I heard that only gods can drive thunder! But the Tang people can also--"

"You don't need to worry, the Tang people are our allies!" Bayon interrupted the captain: "Let the Javanese worry!"

"That's right, that's right!" The captain nodded, but there was no sign of relief on his face. Bayon turned around and secretly laughed at his own clumsiness. His lies couldn't even fool his own captain.

With the sound of oars, the sea became narrower, or the river, where the river and the sea had already mixed together and could not be distinguished. A thin mist rose all around, the sails creaked in the wind, and the wooden oars paddled smoothly. Floating planks and corpses could often be seen on the river, and traces of war could also be seen on the shore. Bayon tried to recall what it looked like here before he set out: villages could be seen every few miles on the river bank, and canoes were everywhere on the river. Boats from the inland stopped on the shore, and people took rice, iron, gems, and animal skins from them to exchange for salt, spices, dried fish, and various overseas goods. But now everything is gone, and the war destroyed them all, leaving only death, disease, and ruins. After about half an hour, Bayon finally found a village with people. Under the command of the captain, the sails were lowered, and the oarsmen skillfully approached the shore and tied the ropes. Bayon felt anxious, but he knew that the sailors needed rest and fresh food, and he himself needed first-hand information, otherwise he would be doomed if he ran into the arms of the Javanese.

"Bring some wine! If you have chickens, kill two. A dog is also fine!" The captain's voice was loud. He took off the purse from his waist and shook it vigorously twice: "Did you hear that? I have plenty of the best Tang coins. Bring them all up!"

"No wine!" The answer was from a middle-aged woman. Her face was pale, her lips were green, and she looked nervous. She looked back from time to time. Bayon looked behind her and saw eyes flashing behind the fence. Maybe they were not eyes, but hoes and spear tips.

"No wine?" The captain looked at the village and said, "Don't kid me, there are a lot of rice fields in your village. Don't you make wine?"

"Yes, but they were all taken away, including the rice in the warehouse!" the woman replied.

"So what do you eat?"

"Tubers, reed roots, small fish, or something else!" the woman answered.

Bayon didn't say anything. He knew how women got green lips. He had heard that eating too much cassava would cause this. That's what war is like. He raised his head and asked, "Who stole it? How many of them are there?"

"I don't know!" The woman shook her head: "It's the same, no matter who comes, they will grab it." At this point, the woman realized that she seemed to have said something wrong, and quickly bent her knees: "I'm sorry, I'm a country girl, I don't know that much!"

"Forget it!" Bayon waved his hand and asked the woman to stand up. "Bring whatever you have to eat. We'll pay!"

The woman withdrew, and Bayon sighed. The captain saw that he was not in a good mood, and whispered to comfort him: "It's nothing, war is like this? Only by defeating the Javanese as soon as possible and restoring peace, this kind of thing will end. You brought back the covenant of the Tang people, which is always a good thing!"

"You're right!" Bayon nodded. "If the Tang people are willing to try their best, it won't be difficult to defeat, or at least repel, the Javanese!"

"Are you saying that the Tang people may not try their best?" The captain heard Bayon's hidden meaning and asked in a low voice.

"Yes!" Bayon nodded. "The Tang generals put forward a lot of conditions, but they are hesitant about the specific time of sending troops. The most important thing is that I heard that there are conflicts among the Tang people!"

"If that's the case, it's going to be troublesome!"

"Yes!" Bayon nodded: "So I only told the Tang people to jointly attack Linyi instead of fighting with the Javanese! Otherwise, he would definitely refuse!"

"In that case, the Tang people will eventually find out the truth, right?" the captain asked, "What should we do then?"

"We can only act according to circumstances!" Bayon said, "Involve him first, and we can deal with the rest later! Besides, the Tang generals are very greedy, which is a good thing!"

"Greedy? What do you mean?"

"During the negotiations, the Tang general asked us to pay a large sum of money for sending troops, about five million strings of cash!"

"Five million strings of cash? Do you mean copper coins?" The captain was also shocked by this astronomical figure: "You won't agree to it, will you?"

"How is this possible?" Bayon laughed. "Even if we melted down all the bronze statues in the temples in the capital, we wouldn't have that much copper money! The Tang general is just shouting at the top of his lungs. Don't you think he's like a businessman?"

"Yes! Five million strings of cash, tut tut!" The captain shook his head: "So how much did it finally amount to?"

"one tenth!"

"That's 500,000 strings of cash?" The captain said with a wry smile, "That's a lot of money, too! Do you agree?"

"Yes!" Bayon nodded: "But I said, you don't have to pay with copper coins, you can pay with gold, silver or other goods. There is no other way. If you don't give the Tang general a satisfactory price, he will not send troops!"

"Okay, now I know what you mean about greed! But why is it a good thing?"

"It's simple. The Javanese are very rich!" Bayon laughed. "They control the trade route to the west. The docks of Palembang are full of ships and the warehouses are filled with all kinds of precious goods. If the Tang general is greedy enough, it won't be difficult to pull him over!"

"That's right!" The captain nodded. At this time, the woman came over with two plates, on which were two peeled and cut fresh fish, two cut lemons and a little shrimp paste. This way of eating raw fish is very common in Southeast Asia.

"Just make do with it!" The captain laughed. He took out a few copper coins from his pocket and threw them to the woman: "There are only fish in this village!"