Tibet.

Chapter 1426: Territory Exchange
Queen Elaine of Water Zhenla was about fifty years old and had been in power for thirty years. When she arrived, Zhang Boyi and Li Chengshi both avoided her and were received by Du Huan, who was the Chief Clerk of Annan Protectorate and Director of the West Sea Trade Bureau. The West Sea Trade Bureau was just a cover and its real name should be the West Sea Jinglüe Bureau.

The main purpose is to control the Zhenla River Delta and establish a rice planting base.

Inside the big tent, Queen Elaine of Water Zhenla bowed slightly and said in fluent Chinese: "Twenty years ago, I went to the Tang Dynasty to pay homage to the emperor and was received by the emperor. The emperor told me that if Zhenla was in trouble, the Tang Dynasty would definitely send troops to help. Twenty years later, I didn't expect that the Tang Dynasty really fulfilled its promise."

Du Huan smiled slightly and said, "Does the Queen want to hear the truth or false compliments?"

"Of course I want to hear the truth!"

"The truth is that we don't know what promises the former Tang emperor made to Zhenla. We destroyed Linyi because they dared to invade Tang territory, kill Tang people, and collude with Chola to wreak havoc in Southeast Asia. Frankly speaking, the current Tang emperor does not have a good impression of Zhenla. When the emperor ascended the throne last year, the queen did not go to congratulate him, nor did she send a special envoy."

Queen Elaine was startled and quickly explained, "Last year we were still in the midst of a land and sea war and were unable to go to pay homage to the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty."

"It is precisely because you are in the midst of a war that you should have gone to the emperor in time to gain the support of the Tang Dynasty. You would not have ended up in such a miserable situation today. If I am not mistaken, you only have one city left now."

Elaine lowered her head and sighed for a while, "I don't know how Lu Zhenla suddenly became so powerful. He defeated us miserably and even lost our northern territory."

Water Chenla is today's Cambodia, and Land Chenla is today's Laos. Water and Land Chenla were originally one country, but they split during the Tang Dynasty's Wu Zetian era. The two countries have been in constant dispute over territorial issues.

Du Huan said slowly: "Lu Zhenla suddenly became stronger because they got the support of Nanzhao, but Nanzhao has been almost destroyed by the Tang Dynasty, and Lu Zhenla will no longer have support. On the contrary, if Shui Zhenla is willing to cooperate with the Tang Dynasty, we can help Shui Zhenla recover the northern land."

The land to the north of Water Chenla is the Tonle Sap Lake Plain, which has now been occupied by Land Chenla.

Queen Elaine certainly knew that the Tang Dynasty’s cooperation was conditional and that it would not help her for free.

She hesitated for a moment and asked, "I wonder what conditions are required for the help provided by Du Changshi?"

Du Huan nodded, "We do have a condition. We plan to exchange land with Shui Zhenla."

Elaine was startled and said quickly: "We dare not take the land of the Tang Dynasty."

Du Huan smiled slightly, "Linyi Kingdom has perished. We plan to use Linyi Kingdom's land to exchange for the Zhenla River Delta. In terms of area, Linyi Kingdom is much larger."

The Linyi Kingdom was not just a long and narrow strip of land along the coast, but also included large areas of mountains. In terms of area, the land of the Linyi Kingdom was twice the size of the Zhenla River Delta.

"Shui Zhenla and Linyi are also bordering each other, right?"

The Shui Zhenla Kingdom partially borders the Linyi Kingdom to the east, but that is a vast mountain range, and of course there are also small paths leading to the Linyi Kingdom.

Elaine was silent for a moment and said, "Do I have no choice?"

Du Huan said calmly: "In fact, Shui Zhenla has another choice, which is to maintain the status quo. I believe the Queen will not choose this option."

Elaine sighed, "This is not something I can decide alone. I need to discuss it with the left and right prime ministers."

Two prime ministers of Water Zhenla came with Queen Elaine. One was called Shaon and the other was called Kama. Both of them held real power in the country.

Inside the big tent, the three of them were silent for a long time. They all realized that the Tang Dynasty had already set its eyes on the land at the mouth of the Zhenla River and it would be impossible to return it to them. They either had to accept the exchange from the Tang Dynasty or maintain the status quo. In that case, Zhenla would lose everything.

At this time, Sha Weng slowly said: "Queen, please agree! This is the best plan. If you don't agree, I'm afraid that all Water Zhenla will be gone." Prime Minister Kama also said: "In fact, we will not suffer any loss, and we will even gain some advantage. If we take over Linyi, not only will the feud be gone, but the area will also be larger. Moreover, with the support of the Tang army, Lu Zhenla will not dare to attack us again."

Queen Elaine nodded and said, "I need to go to Chang'an, pay homage to the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, and then settle this matter."

In the afternoon, Queen Elaine met with Du Huan and said that Zhenla agreed to his exchange plan, but they had to go to the emperor for a pilgrimage and formally sign the exchange agreement in Chang'an.

Du Huan agreed to Queen Elaine's request.

However, Zhang Boyi was a little worried. He found Du Huan and said, "Du Changshi, the emperor did not agree to exchange land with Linyi and Zhenla!"

Du Huan smiled and said, "The emperor doesn't want the land of Linyi. There is too little arable land, most of it is mountainous, and there are so many foreigners. If we have money to feed them, it would be better to develop Lingnan. What the emperor wants is the large tracts of fertile land in the Zhenla River Delta. The emperor told me that it is the best place in the world to grow rice. I understand the emperor's intention. He wants to take the delta legitimately and legally. Is there anything more legal and reasonable than land exchange in this world?"

Zhang Boyi nodded, "Perhaps what you said makes sense, but it's best to report it to the emperor as much as possible!"

Du Huan nodded, "I will report this to the Emperor as soon as possible!"

After a pause, Du Huan continued slowly: "As the Censor-in-Chief, I have the responsibility to remind you that if you don't deal with Wei Yulin as soon as possible, you may not be able to serve as the governor for long."

Zhang Boyi was speechless for a long time. Du Huan was referring to the fact that Wei Yulin allowed his soldiers to rape hundreds of women from the harem of Linyi Kingdom, which seriously violated the military laws of the Tang Dynasty. Zhang Boyi had too few troops and did not set up a military supervisor, but he forgot that Du Huan had the title of Censor-in-Chief.

Zhang Boyi nodded and said, "I will severely punish Wei Yulin and the offending soldiers later."

Du Huan pondered for a moment and said, "Soldiers can offset their merits and demerits, but Wei Yulin is a general of the Jiannan Jiedufu Prefecture. You have no right to deal with him. How about this! I suggest that he be suspended from his post and submitted to the Privy Council for disposal."

"I will definitely do it!"

Zhang Boyi was very clear that his fate was in the hands of Du Huan. As long as he added a few words to the report and increased his own responsibility based on the facts, he would be immediately dismissed from office.

A few days later, hundreds of large merchant ships from Guangzhou arrived at Champa Port and Angkok City at the mouth of the Chenla River, transporting one million shi of rice to Yangzhou, and then transshipped from Yangzhou to Chang'an.

Also traveling along the way were Queen Elaine of Water Zhenla and Du Huan and others. He had to return to his country to report on his work and then accept his next assignment.

The second batch of spoils returned from the Western Regions and 700 Tang girls arrived in Chang'an, along with Li Chenghua and Princess Shi Qianquan of the Shi Kingdom. After two months of hardship and exposure, they finally arrived in Chang'an.

For the last leg of their trip, Li Chenghua and Shi Qianquan took a horse carriage. After entering Guanzhong, the scenery began to change. Shi Qianquan enjoyed the beautiful scenery along the way. All he could see was green, which was completely different from the Gobi Desert in Shiguo.

She said to Li Chenghua happily: "Now I know why the Sogdian girl went to Chang'an and refused to come back."

Li Chenghua smiled and said, "They don't want to come back just because of these trees!"

"Why is that?"

Li Chenghua deliberately kept the secret and said with a smile: "You will know when you get to Chang'an!"

(End of this chapter)