Ji Tang

Chapter 1050 Urgent and Prelude

On the rough sea at the western end of the strait, the Dashi fleet was completing the handover ceremony.Not long ago, a fleet of more than 100 ships came here again.This is the fleet supported by Dashi, and it will soon be under the command of Governor Maimon.

Looking at the huge fleet in front of him, Maimon was very high-spirited for a moment, and he actually had the illusion that he was better than me.

"Your Excellency the Governor!"

Just as Maimon was imagining that he was leading a landless fleet across the sea and approaching the coast of Datang, the officials who came to hand over the situation softly called out.

"Ok?"

Maimon was stunned for a moment, and saw that the other party was hesitant to speak. After thinking about it for a moment, he understood the reason, and then he dismissed everyone around him.

"The great Caliph has an order to deliver?"

Only in this way can the other party be so cautious, and it seems to be a relatively private matter!
Seeing that there was no one around, the other party whispered: "Your Majesty has received news that the believers of Allah in Chang'an of the Tang Dynasty are being persecuted by pagans. This is a blasphemy against the great Allah, a contempt for the Caliph, and even more... Give me a big fight."

The other party looked sad and angry, and he didn't know if he really thought that Datang had raised the butcher's knife.

"His Majesty the Mufti is in danger now, and the great Caliph is extremely angry. As His Majesty's most loyal subject, and as the youngest governor of Dashi, don't you feel angry?"

Maimon was a little surprised when he heard this. He gave the order to Chang'an himself, but how did Mufti get to Tang Dynasty?Still in danger?

If others don't know, how can he know who the Mufti is?He was a confidant of his own emperor, a confidant he had grown up with. Although on the surface he was in charge of the academic affairs of the capital, secretly he was an intelligence agency in charge of the caliphate.

Now he is trapped in Chang'an?Now there's trouble.

"Does your Excellency the Governor have anything to hide?"

Seeing that Maimun didn't speak, the other party's attitude became a little ambiguous. How could he, a close minister of the emperor, not know the status of the Mufti in His Majesty's heart?

When he came, His Majesty told him that he must ensure the safety of Mufti at all costs!
It's not that His Majesty cares much about Mufti, but that his identity is too important.Once captured by Datang, given his position in Dashi, he would know too much, which was unacceptable to Dashi.

So, either die or come back alive, there is no other way!
"No no no!"

Maimon was startled and shook his head quickly: "I'm just thinking about something!"

"What's your Majesty's explanation? Or what can I do for Your Majesty?"

When the other party saw Maimon's attitude, his face suddenly looked much better.But he still said with a cold face: "Your Majesty has nothing to explain, but he is a little confused about the governor staying here for so long. Let me ask your Excellency the governor, is it because Dashi's soldiers are not brave enough, or is it because Dashi's warships are not enough?"

As he spoke, he glanced at Maimon and whispered: "Or is it that Governor Maimon can no longer fight?"

Maimon's eyes narrowed, but they soon returned to normal.He said in a deep voice: "I understand what your Majesty means!"

"You go back and tell His Majesty that I will launch an attack on Datang as soon as possible. But please give me some time. Datang's strength is not weak, and they are not in a hurry to fight Dashi now, but are preparing for a confrontation. We want to attack To eat along the coast, we must defeat the opponent's power at sea, otherwise we will never easily enter the traditional strength range of the Tang Dynasty."

"Once I make a wrong decision, it will be very difficult for me to escape unscathed."

Seeing that the other party's face was not very good-looking, he quickly said: "Don't worry, Your Majesty, I have obtained a lot of information about the other party. Now I am almost ready. I just need to find the main force of the other party's fleet. With the strength of our fleet , will definitely defeat the opponent without any doubt."

"At that time, we will be able to do whatever we want along the coast of Datang!"

After hearing Maimon's words, the other party breathed a sigh of relief and said: "We are all His Majesty's loyal ministers. Don't blame His Majesty for urging you. Now tens of thousands of soldiers are fighting far away from homeland, and the daily consumption is increasing day by day. It's okay for a short time. , once it goes on for a long time, we simply won’t be able to hold on.”

Then he bowed and saluted: "Your Excellency, Governor, please understand His Majesty's urgent mood!"

Maimon's eyes were bitter, but his expression did not change. He said solemnly: "Please go back and tell your Majesty that Maimon will not betray your Majesty's trust!"

"Well, that's good. Now that the handover has been completed, this will be the last batch of support, and it will be up to the Governor later."

After saying that, he was not polite and took the people away directly!

When Maimon was the only one left on the boat, he looked to the east with an ugly expression.

It's not that he doesn't want a decisive battle. Based on the current military comparison between Dashi and Datang in the South China Sea, Dashi has most of the advantages.If there was a decisive battle, he would have done so long ago.

But now the Duke of the Tang Dynasty is not anxious at all, and the battles between the patrol ships on the sea have never stopped.But no matter what, they failed to find each other's main force.

How can he fight decisively if he can't find the main force?Should we plunge into the other side's coastal areas?
If that were the case, the other party would probably be able to laugh out of his dreams.When the time comes to cut off your own escape route, you will fall into a situation where there is no way to go to heaven and no way to enter the earth.

Among other things, this strait must not be lost. Once lost, there will be no going back.

As for Chang'an, he didn't care too much.What about the mufti?As long as he won the battle, what would happen if Datang captured him?The relationship between Mufti and himself was not good to begin with, and was even somewhat hostile.

Don't think that you don't know that you are in the south and that he slandered you in front of the Caliph.If he hadn't had a clear conscience and his unusual relationship with the Caliph, I'm afraid he wouldn't have been able to continue being a governor!

"Come on!"

"Your Excellency the Governor!"

"Immediately send out all patrol ships to look for the main force of the Tang Dynasty. Once you find the opponent's main force, don't act rashly and report back immediately!"

"Yes, Your Majesty the Governor!"

Just to the east of an island with towering mountains hundreds of miles away from the strait, it is blocked by mountains and has a special status and environment.This place cannot be seen from the north, west, or south.

At this time, on the east side of the island, white sails reflected the sky, thousands of sails raced, and huge warships rose and fell on the sea.If Maimon saw it, he would definitely know that this is where the main force of the Tang Dynasty is located.

He never imagined that the Tang Dynasty would sail a warship to this place?

It is not far from the strait, it can even be said to be very close.It's not like they haven't explored this place before, but they have never come to the east side of the island.

Even if they encounter a cruise ship from the Tang Dynasty, they will only be taken for a spin on the sea. Even if they are overtaken by the opponent, they will not bring the ship here.

The topography of this island is extremely strange.On the east side of the island, two towering small mountains extend from the island, like two arms, holding a huge sea area in their arms on the sea.Moreover, there are no reefs in this surrounded sea area, and the water is deep enough to stop all types of warships.

In addition, this place is simply a natural haven. After accidentally learning that there was such a place, Ji Song was ecstatic.After on-site investigation, the main fleet was moved to this place without hesitation.

Then two fleets of more than a hundred warships were separated to attract the enemy's attention in the north and south respectively.Make it difficult for the other party to detect the true location of the main force.

Moreover, here he ordered that nothing that can float on the sea should be thrown on the sea, just to prevent the other party from accidentally discovering the anomaly here!
Since this is an uninhabited island, there is no human habitation for hundreds of miles around.So as long as you ensure that you are not exposed here, you don't have to worry about being discovered.

At the edge of this huge fleet, there is a ship that is different from ordinary ships.This is the latest warship delivered by Datang some time ago.The flagship battleship named Chang'an by the emperor.

This is the largest ship in the Tang Dynasty so far, weighing eight thousand stones.The hull is 35 feet long and 100 feet wide.There are three floors.The lower level was equipped with the latest artillery, but only fifteen.The second floor is a ballistae, equipped with more than [-] of them.The third floor is the command post, with a huge drainage system above it. When facing enemy siege, relying on the tall hull is enough to make warships smaller than him dizzy!

"Okay, I have been waiting for many years, and finally I have a real battleship!"

Ji Song was on the third floor, looking at the terrifying war weapons below, patting the railings, feeling extremely excited!
Could he not be excited?Such battleships are already comparable to the treasure ships of later generations.This is a skill that will only be available after thousands of years.

But now that he saw this battleship, he could already imagine how spectacular and exciting Zheng He's feat was when he led tens of thousands of soldiers to sail the treasure ship to the South Seas seven times!
"Unfortunately, there are still too few artillery pieces!"

At this time, half a year has passed since the Chang'an family gathering.During this time, he has been continuously accumulating strength to cope with the decisive battle in the future.

The emperor did not disappoint him. No less than ten warships of more than [-] dan arrived every month.Not long ago, this unprecedented giant ship was also sent over.

That is Ji Song. If it were anyone else, Li Shimin would not be so ambitious.After learning the specific data of this battleship, Li Shimin was also shocked with anger!
This is simply a giant beast on the sea. Once it falls into the hands of a caring person, he can rely on him to establish a country on the sea.

"Come on, my father and the others almost evacuated the prisoner before we brought him here. You didn't see that, but that guy Yan Liben was almost mad to death at that time."

"That means His Majesty comforted you a lot, otherwise you would have been waiting for someone to knock on your door when you went back!"

Along with the arrival of the ship was Cheng Chusi. In addition, Li Desai and Yuchi Baolin also came.There were no less than 20 future heads of the Xungui family.

Ji Song doesn't think this is just taking credit.None of you know what's going on now?Martial law has been imposed along the coast of the Tang Dynasty. The only people who can come here at this time are Ji Song's favors over the years.

Otherwise, who would be stupid enough to send his heir here?Unless you are crazy!
"No, what does what you rob have to do with me? If you want to find it, you have to go to the old men!"

Ji Song was dumbfounded. What does this have to do with him?

"Hehe, think about it, who can he offend? Duke Wei? Return my father? Or Pauline's father? If he dares to say anything, I will let him understand what banditry is. Maybe even him Everyone’s house was robbed.”

"After all, you are young, so he can still take advantage of his seniority. Besides, you are not here, even if the blame is placed on you, can you still fight back?"

Ji Song pointed at a few people who were trembling with anger, shameless, so shameless!

"Oh! Forget it, just do whatever you want. Anyway, as long as the things arrive."

But then he looked at Shen Zhen, who was touching the barrel of the cannon as if touching his wife at the bottom, and said helplessly: "It's been almost five or six fucking years, how come so many artillery pieces have been built? Could it be that someone was embezzled? "

You know, gunpowder has been secretly used in the Tang Dynasty for almost ten years, and he also informed everyone about the principles of artillery.But after all these years, only a dozen have been made?This motherfucker has more children than he has.

Li Desai on the side rolled his eyes and said angrily: "Come on, just be content with a dozen artillery pieces. You don't know that your father-in-law almost got into a fight with Yan Liben because of these dozen artillery pieces."

"Do you know how much copper this artillery requires?"

"It's three thousand kilograms. How can this damn weapon be made? It's just committing evil!"

Li Desai said sadly: "This accuracy is not good enough. It would be good if two or three of the ten rounds can hit the target. And the shells are also made of fine iron. This is simply using money to hit people!"

"Isn't it?"

Ji Song was stunned. He didn't expect that this would be the case?

Lack of copper?

But then I felt relieved. The reason why so many bronze cannons were produced during the Ming and Qing Dynasties had a lot to do with the Central Plains absorbing a large amount of silver and making it the most important currency in circulation.

It was only after silver became the main currency in circulation that excess copper was used to make cannon.But Datang was not good enough. The overseas territories were still in the initial stage of development and had not reached the point of supporting Datang in return.

Therefore, whenever a bit of copper is mined now, it will basically become Tongbao.It is impossible for anyone to waste it.In the Tang Dynasty at this time, there was no difference between copper and money.

"Okay, let's forget I wronged him."

Ji Song said bluntly.

These dozen or so artillery pieces were only used at critical moments, and basically did not help much in the overall battle situation.Is that accurate?Twenty-three out of ten shots on land.on the sea?Haha, if you get hit by one shot, it will be smoke coming out of your ancestral graves.

"Okay, let's not talk about it."

Ji Song stopped the topic and looked at everyone.The boy he once was now looks middle-aged.Each one of them took off their tenderness and looked much more stable.

He was not surprised at all that Fang Yiai and others did not come.

First of all, they were local officials, and it was impossible for the emperor to release them.Fang Xuanling and others have already planned the route, and it is impossible for their children to take risks!

He looked at Li Desai and sighed: "You shouldn't have come, Uncle Li now"

"Do you think I want to come? If my father were fine, he would have nothing to say, and he could come here even if he ran away. But like he is now, I really don't want to come. I don't want to not even see him for the last time!"

He said with red eyes: "But he threatened me with his own life, saying that if I didn't go, he would immediately go on a hunger strike and die."

"Can I not know what the old man is thinking? He wants to take a gamble! Once this battle is won, the wealth of my Li family for the next hundred years will be guaranteed."

Ji Song sighed after hearing this, patted his shoulder, and said nothing!
(End of this chapter)