First Minister of the Tang Dynasty

...

Linyi State, occupied the city.

Fan Touli, the ruling prince of Lin Yi, is struggling to deal with the domestic conflicts in Lin Yi. Originally, there were disputes among the barbarians in the southwestern part of the peninsula, but basically the three major countries were in peace with each other.

However, this time the Zhenla Kingdom directly set off a huge storm, intending to annex the Funan Kingdom in one fell swoop, which had a huge impact on the small countries and tribes in the southwest.

As far as Linyi is concerned, the land area is small. Although it is famous for Champa rice, it relies more on trade. Linyi's treasury revenue also relies largely on commercial taxes, because Linyi is connected to Chenla, Countries such as Funan are close to the sea in the east and have excellent sea ports. They are adjacent to Jiaozhou in the north and are connected to all directions.

Many caravans from the northern Han people gathered here to lead to the west, and the same was true for caravans from various countries in the west.

But now, Chenla is about to annex Funan. Funan is in danger with only one special animal kingdom, while Linyi "closes itself to the country" and never interferes, which seriously affects the interests of those merchants.

Fan's position as the leader of Linyi is actually not stable, and is often controlled by the wealthy families in the country. Now those wealthy merchants are putting pressure on him and need to clear the trade routes as soon as possible, which also makes Fan Touli extremely passive.

"Humph", Fan Touli looked at the letter in his hand with a pale face, and threw the letter into the brazier to burn without hesitation, "Damn it, you are using your Majesty to oppress me...".

"Prince, if you don't turn the switch on, let alone those merchants who can't stand still, and the people in the city won't be able to bear it either." An official with a short beard sitting next to him said worriedly: "Since Chenla is now on good terms with our country, then it should be We don’t want to take action against our caravans. We really don’t understand why we have to close the passes and cut off the roads?”

"Confused." After hearing this, Fan Touli glared and scolded: "I don't support the king's decision to sit back and ignore it, but I agree with the king's decision on the matter of closing the pass."

Seeing the puzzled expression on the official's face, Fan Touli took a deep breath and said directly: "Yishana's ambitious ambitions are now inflated. If our caravan appears on the battlefield during this sensitive period, it will be extremely dangerous. It may cause conflicts, and then he can take the opportunity to attack. It is better to do less than to do more, and just endure this period of time."

Now the armies of the southwestern barbarians have nothing to do with being well-trained. The war between Zhenla and Funan is in full swing. Both sides are in urgent need of supplies. Now that your caravan from Linyi appears in front of you, you can't guarantee it. They will encounter "bandits" by chance at night and lose both their lives and property. This is the focus of Fan Fanzhi's father and son's consideration.

Looking back, Ishavarman's reason for launching the war was that a certain Chenla caravan disappeared in Funan. Ishavarman sent a letter to Zhibovarman, asking for its return. Zhibovarman had an unruly character. He did not investigate the truth of the matter, but just reprimanded Ishnavarman. Ishnavarman was furious and therefore raised troops.

The exact truth of the matter is unknown, but one thing is that it may be deeply influenced by Chinese culture. When the barbarians in the southwestern part of the country set out to attack, they would also issue a proclamation to rebuke the enemy country.

As a monarch, how could Fan Fanzhi not know the dirty nature of this? He immediately ordered the pass to be closed and prohibited entry and exit to prevent the war from spreading to Linyi. However, Fan Fanzhi, who was ill in bed, may not have had any idea. The grandson will eventually burn this fire to Linyi Kingdom.

"Father, it's not good." Just when Fan Touli was upset, Fan Zhenlong hurriedly broke into the house and said, "Father, the people from Zhenla and Zhenla are here."

Fan Touli took a closer look and saw that Qilin'er, who used to be so heroic in the past, was now covered in mud and in a miserable state. After hearing what Fan Zhenlong said clearly, he sat up and asked, "You, can you explain clearly?"

Fan Zhenlong looked sad and angry, "The Zhenla people are too treacherous. In front of them is the grain security team, and behind there is the old man from Shemoling ambushing me. I fell into the trap, and then they discovered our identities. When I returned to the capital, I heard that Yi She Naxian has already given the order to send troops."

Fan Touli's eyes darkened, and he fell down on the couch. His eyes widened and his throat rolled, and he said with difficulty: "This, you didn't grab anything, but you attracted the Zhenla people here?"

Fan Zhenlong lowered his head and lowered his eyebrows, not daring to speak.

The official who was listening finally understood the cause and effect, and then he turned pale with fright. He clapped his thigh and shouted: "This, prince, hurry up, please ask the king to come out to take charge, a disaster is coming."

"Yes, yes, Your Majesty." Fan Touli, who was taking charge for the first time, seemed to be grasping at straws and hurriedly led the two of them to the harem (courtyard). In the harem, Fan Fanzhi was lying in the arms of a beautiful maid, holding a southern pearl in his hand. He admired it carefully and exclaimed from time to time, "When it comes to pearls in the world, my southern pearl is the best...".

"That is", the beautiful maid looked at the crystal clear southern pearl with bright eyes, "the king is the richest person in the world and owns the most beautiful pearl in the world."

"You are still too short-sighted." Fan Fanzhi clicked his tongue and shook his head. "I once heard that in the palace of the Sui Emperor in the north, the walls were covered with orbs and the floor was covered with silk. I don't think this is worth mentioning."

"Father, something bad is going on...".

"Prince, the king has rested. You will... tomorrow."

"Go away." Fan Touli kicked his guard over and rushed directly into the house. This scene was very similar to Fan Zhenlong's before.

There was a sway, and Fan Fanzhi was startled. The Nanzhu in his hand fell to the ground and rolled to the side. Seeing this, the beautiful maid hurriedly stepped forward to pick it up. Fan Touli, who was filled with anger, pushed it aside.

"You are so presumptuous, why are you panicking?" Fan Fanzhi frowned and reprimanded, then his face turned and he looked at the frightened maid with a warm look on his face, "Come on, come on, beauty."

"Father, a disaster is coming." Fan Touli was not surprised and could only say anxiously: "The Zhenla people are coming."

"What?" Fan Fanzhi was stunned at first, and then turned pale in astonishment, "Funan is gone? How dare he do it first, Yishana?"

So Fan Touli told the whole story with a grimace about the fish in troubled waters that he and Fan Zhenlong had planned, and Fan Fanzhi was completely stunned.

Time seemed to stand still, and for a long time, a roar sounded in the room.

"Idiots, you two are idiots, cough cough..." Fan Fanzhi's face turned red with anger and he almost lost his breath.

Fan Touli was so frightened that he hurriedly comforted him, "Father, calm down, calm down, the Zhenla people haven't arrived yet, they haven't arrived yet."

"How dare you, what do you think? You actually want to rob the Zhenla people's food and grass," Fan Fanzhi roared ferociously, "Don't you know how much you weigh!"

"Aweng, the matter has been done. No matter how much you say, it will be useless." Fan Zhenlong had always been dissatisfied with his grandfather's cowardice, and immediately said hesitantly: "Now we should think about how to resist the Zhenla people...".

"You, Fan Zhenlong, our Fan family will be destroyed sooner or later at your hands." Fan Fanzhi turned his head and glared at Fan Zhenlong.

The elderly Fan Fanzhi probably did not expect that his words turned out to be a prophecy, and it came true decades later.

(End of this chapter)