In the Southern Song Dynasty, I competed with Mongolia for the world

Chapter 558 I'm afraid I'm not suitable for the emperor

Guiyou was unwilling to give up, knowing that the Song army would not agree, and said: "We don't know how to make those firearms. Even if you lend them to us and return them to you after the battle, without the bullets you provide and the responsibility of repairing them, it will be useless for us to have them in our hands."

This makes sense. If the Song army really provided flintlock rifles to the Mongolian army, the Mongolian army would not know how to repair them, nor would they have the ability to make their own projectiles and parts. It would be difficult for them to form supplies and sustained combat power for at least five to ten years.

But Song Jun was obviously unwilling to do so. Luo Lei said, "This matter is up to His Majesty. Wait until I report to the court."

Every time the two sides met, they would chat about this matter, but they would never quarrel and were considered to be restrained. Especially now, Guyuk urgently needed the support of the Song army to defeat Batu and Mongke and consolidate his Khan position.

Then Luo Lei asked about their return gifts.

The Song army certainly did not give it up for free. Even though the Song army promised to help them when Guyuk ceded the copper mines and the city of Layi along the Ishimu River, the Mongolian army still had to pay something in exchange.

Guyou thought about the goods on the note, then waved his hand and slowly spoke, and gave the Song army 10,000 horses, 10,000 cattle, 20 ships of sheepskins, and one ship of cattle horns, tendons or dried goods.

The value of the things he gave back was actually comparable to those of the Song army's goods, but in terms of practicality, they were far inferior. Moreover, goods like cattle and horses had to be transported overland and would be damaged.

Guyuk was also a bad guy. He knew that the Song army had no shortage of war horses and cattle.

The Song army occupied all the territory of the former Great Mongolia and had a large number of horse farms all over the country, as well as farms in Persia and Central Asia. There was no shortage of cattle, horses, and sheep.

So Guyu sent cattle and sheep to the Song army in return.

And because they were short of craftsmen, they also gave some ox horns and tendons used to make bows to the Song army.

Because he had seen the bows of the Song army. The bowstrings of the Song army were now made of hemp ropes, which was the easiest to make. On the contrary, using cow tendons to make bowstrings was a complicated process and took a long time to make.

He gave the Song army a large amount of beef tendons, which consumed the Song army's craftsmen and time.

But Luo Lei didn't seem to care. After listening to Guyu's cargo list, he said that the value of the Song army's cargo far exceeded that of Guyu.

Guyu was a little unhappy, because according to the market price, the value of the goods he brought back was not low, 10,000 war horses were worth a lot, but for the Song army, they were not very practical now, and the Song army had no shortage of war horses, so Luo Lei said that the value was far lower than the goods of the Song army, so he said: "Then give me another 100,000 dinars."

Of course, the silver content of one dinar is not as much as that of one tael of silver, but its purchasing power is still good in Central Asia and Persia. Luo Lei thought about it, then smiled and nodded in agreement.

The two sides reached an agreement in a friendly manner and completed another transaction. The Song army seemed to have obtained a bunch of useless things, but after getting them, they could sell them to other dynasties. The Song army had no shortage of war horses, but other dynasties did.

Guyuk received a large amount of military supplies and would continue to maintain his military advantage over Batu and Mongke.

That night, Guiyou also hosted a banquet for Luo Lei and arranged for several exotic beauties to accompany him. Luo Lei accepted all the invitations. When he woke up the next day, his legs felt a little weak.

He didn't dare to stay for a few more days as his kidneys were about to break, so he had to return to Daming Prefecture as soon as possible.

He came here on Guyuk's ship and left on Guyuk's ship as well. When passing by Baku, Luo Lei specifically asked to stop and take a look at Baku.

The city of Baku is located on the western coast of the Caspian Sea. It was the capital of Azerbaijan in later generations and the largest city on the Caspian Sea. Its population in later generations was more than two million, but at this time it was only a few hundred thousand.

It is known as the lowest capital city in the world because it is 28 meters below sea level.

But this is a good place. It is the most important port in the Caspian Sea now and will be in the future.

When Mongke and Kublai Khan ruled the city of Lai, they wanted to expand the port and build a shipyard here, but it was not under their control at the time and was garrisoned by Quduan.

Later, there was internal strife among the Mongolian army, and Kuoduan was still stationed here.

After Batu and Mongke were defeated, Guyuk ordered Kuoduan to expand the port and build a shipyard here to expand the Mongolian navy.

So after Luo Lei went ashore, he saw many local people along the coast being driven by the Mongolian army to work.

A captain next to him stepped forward and whispered, "This place looks very low, will it be flooded when it rains? What's the use?"

The centurion was very surprised to see that Luo Lei would come to take a look and stay for a few days every time he passed by the Caspian Sea, and felt that this place seemed very useful.

Luo Lei thought for a moment and said, "We must take this place back in the future, so it would be a good idea to take a look at the terrain first."

Of course he knew why. Emperor Zhao Yurui had summoned him specifically, and this place would be an important oil production area in the future.

At its peak, Baku produced half of the world's oil.

Now that the mining period has not yet begun, Luo Lei wanted to see if the Mongols had discovered it. After coming a few times, he found that the Mongols did not know.

He knew that oil was not easy to extract, and if the Song army was allowed to come and look for it, it would probably take a long time.

He then said, "There is a lot of oil here, which can be used to make incendiary bombs. However, the Mongols don't know that oil is very useful to our dynasty. If the Mongols get it, it will be a big problem in the future."

Luo Lei was at the dock at the moment. He spoke very loudly and no one knew if his voice could be heard. There were several of his companions, Song Jun, around him. After hearing what he said, they all looked confused.

Luo Lei certainly didn't know whether the Mongols heard it or not, but a few days after he left, Kuoduan of Baku suddenly gathered a group of craftsmen and men and began digging holes all over the city, allegedly looking for some treasure.
-
April of the fifteenth year of Yuanzhen.

Western Java.

This place was originally the territory of the Singhasari Dynasty, and the king at that time was Kenalo.

Ken Alo was born into a poor civilian family and was once the most famous robber in Kediri. Later, he became a personal servant of Tunggul Ametung, the feudal lord of the Dumaban area of ​​Kediri State.

Not long after, he killed his master, married his master's beautiful wife Ken Dedes, and became the new feudal lord of Dumaban. Based on this, he raised an army to destroy the Kingdom of Jianyiri and established the Shinhasari Dynasty.

When the Song army conquered Srivijaya in Sumatra, Ken'alo also sent part of the navy to cooperate. At that time, his adopted son Anusapati strongly opposed it and believed that they should unite with Srivijaya to fight the Song army, but Ken'alo did not agree and sent a navy to follow the Song army to attack and destroy Srivijaya.

After destroying Srivijaya, the Song army maintained trade with Ken'alok while strengthening its rule over Srivijaya.

After less than two years of stability, Meng Ying, the commander-in-chief of the Borneo Province, began to organize a war against the Sinhasari Dynasty.

When Zhao Yi first arrived in Persia to take charge of the affairs of the Ming Province and the Central Asia Province, his elder brother, the eldest prince Zhao Qi, had already arrived in the Xinhasari Dynasty.

On the fourth day of April, several large ships docked at a port in western Java. The eldest son of the emperor, Zhao Qi, the King of Han of the Song Dynasty, had already stood at the bow of the ship, looking at the dock port in front.

There were many Song army warships and various transport ships in the port, densely packed, more than a hundred of them. Because the port here is small, all the ships have to queue up to dock.

His ship is quite large and cannot reach the shore for the time being.

After a while, the accompanying general Meng Zhijing came to remind him: "King of Han, we need to change to a small boat to go ashore."

"Okay." Zhao Qi responded, turned around and took his men to exchange small boats with Meng Zhijing.

They were a group of dozens of people, divided into seven small boats, slowly approaching the shore. After a while, Zhao Qi saw a large ship of 3,000 tons on the shore, with a large number of people walking from the shore to the ship.

Because the distance was close, he could see that those people were all black, obviously the people of the Xinhasari Dynasty. Many of them were crying and shouting, seemingly unwilling, while the Song army was whipping them from behind.

Bang, bang, bang, the sound of whips was endless, and Zhao Qi's face turned red instantly.

"Ah" Suddenly, there was a cry in the air, and a man from the Xinhasali Dynasty jumped directly from the deck holding someone, and fell into the sea with a splash.

There were cries of surprise all around, and the soldiers of the two Song dynasties appeared on the shore. One of them took a bow and arrow, looked at it, turned around and walked back. After a while, he came back with a flintlock rifle in his hand. Bang, he fired a shot into the sea, and it was not known whether it hit the target or not.

Zhao Qi's face changed drastically, and he turned around and asked Meng Zhijing: "Did the person who jumped into the sea just now hold a child in his arms?"

Meng Zhijing's expression remained unchanged, and he smiled faintly, "It's not a child, it's a woman."

"How dare you lie to me? I clearly saw that it was a child." Zhao Qi was furious: "Why did you force the people to jump into the sea?"

Meng Zhijing was stunned, turned around and looked at Yan Le, the admiral of the Song Dynasty's Singapore and Malaysia naval forces stationed in Singapore, and shouted, "When you get ashore, ask the naval forces what's going on and why they forced the people to jump into the river?"

Yan Le secretly groaned in his heart, but he had no choice but to say, "Yes."

After a while, their boat reached the shore. Zhao Qi climbed ashore and saw a sea of ​​people. The local people brought their families with them. Many couples with three or four children were queuing to get on the boat. There were cries everywhere in the crowd, and some were begging the Song army, as if they were unwilling to get on the boat.

He sat on a rock nearby to rest with an unhappy look on his face. Meng Zhiying asked someone to bring a stool, but Zhao Qi ignored him and just waited.

After a while, Yan Le came back and reported to Zhao Qi that the court wanted to move the Persians here and move 2,000 households of the local people to Persia.

This was a tactic often used by his father, Emperor Zhao Yurui, to cross-migrate people from various countries.

Of course the local people didn't want to leave their homes, so they cried and begged everywhere, unwilling to get on board. Just now, a couple didn't want to get on board, so they jumped into the sea from the gangplank.

Zhao Qi noticed that Yan Le still said that the people who jumped into the sea were a couple, and said that the couple had swam back to the shore and nothing happened, so the Song army would not pursue the matter.

"You are all lying to me, thinking that I am a fool." Zhao Qi was furious. He was obviously a child, yet he was drowned in the sea. You are so inhumane.

But he didn't curse out loud, these words were just in his mind.

His personality is different from his second and third brothers. He is more upright and also more introverted. Most of the time, he keeps some things in his heart and is unwilling to tell others.

Yan Le continued, "The court treated them well. The people who migrated to Persia were given land and houses. They believed that the Hashali Dynasty was a slavery system. These people were like slaves in the local area and had no private property. Migrating to Persia was a good thing. They didn't know what was good and what was bad. When they arrived in Persia, they realized that only the Song Dynasty treated them well."

After Yan Le finished speaking, the civil and military officials who followed Zhao Qi all said, "These people don't know what's good for them. Our Great Song Dynasty is the Celestial Empire, so of course we will only help them. King of Han, don't be angry."

Zhao Qi thought, it’s no use getting angry, you will still do the same thing.

This was the order from his father, Emperor Zhao Yurui. Although Zhao Qi was dissatisfied, he would certainly not openly disobey it.

Besides, like Zhao Yi and others, he has some power in controlling several provinces in the South China Sea, but the real power is not in his hands.

A general like Meng Zhiying can disobey him.

He thought about it, and said to these people earnestly: "Since we have conquered the Xinhasari Dynasty, we must be better to our own people, even if they are the people of the Song Dynasty."

"The King of Han is wise."

"The King of Han is wise."

"King Han is right."

There was a chorus of agreement all around, but Zhao Qi felt uncomfortable when he looked at the corners of these people's mouths. They were all telling lies.

He was not in the mood to worry about this, so he just stood up and asked Meng Zhiying as he walked, "Where is the Song Dynasty now?"

Meng Zhiying said that the Sinhasari Dynasty was defeated and had retreated to East Java.

There were originally three dynasties in Java, located in west Java, the center, and the east.

After the unification, Ken'alo seized power. Now the Song army has defeated Ken'alo, and Ken'alo has retreated back to East Java.

Currently, the Song army only occupies West Java. It plans to relocate some of the people first, and then land the army, advance both by land and sea, and fight from west to east. Before the end of this year, it will definitely clear Java Island and destroy Ken'alo's forces.

By then, the entire Nanyang region, including Yinni and other places, will belong to the territory of the Song army.

"How soon can the war end?"

"Before the end of November at the earliest." Meng Zhijing said.

He still had some reservations. According to the above battle plan, the goal had to be achieved by October.

Ken'aluo now has only tens of thousands of troops, and almost all of his warships have been destroyed. As long as the Song army solves the logistical problems, they can destroy him at any time.

"No matter we win or lose the war, the local people will suffer. We should end the war as soon as possible and manage Java well." King Zhao Qi of Han spoke again in a serious tone.

Meng Zhijing immediately said, "What the King of Han said makes sense."

The two chatted casually, and Meng Zhijing deliberately lagged behind by half a body length, secretly glancing at Zhao Qi from time to time.

Meng Zhijing is the son of Meng Gong. He certainly knows that the current emperor now has three princes stationed in local areas, and everyone is guessing who will become the emperor in the future.

The eldest prince Zhao Qi came out first and had the merit of conquering Srivijaya. After conquering the Sindhi Dynasty, Zhao Qi's merits and fame would be even greater.

But Meng Zhijing was afraid that Zhao Qi's character was not suitable for being an emperor.

The current emperor of the Song Dynasty must be ruthless.

The Great Song Dynasty now controls more than a dozen countries, with a territory of billions and billions of people. It is not an exaggeration to call it the most powerful country and the largest country in the world.

With Zhao Qi's character, how could he suppress the governors and princes below him?
He was lost in thought when Zhao Qi suddenly asked, "How is the battle going in Siam (Sukhothai Kingdom)?"

Meng Zhijing came back to his senses and said quickly: "It is said that our Song Dynasty has launched three simultaneous attacks, and the King of Siam has submitted letters of surrender several times. It should be destroyed soon."

Zhao Qi sighed, "After defeating Siam, do we need to mobilize troops again?"

(End of this chapter)