Chapter 308: The road to domination is long and arduous

I stayed in Langya Xiu Kingdom for about two or three days.

After roughly understanding the local customs and practices, the scientific research team also left some general records…

Zhao Xin then led the fleet and continued to sail south.

It took about ten days.

The fleet could see a large area of ​​islands and land in the distance.

At this time, the three Buddhas have arrived.

All I can say is that business here is very prosperous.

There are merchant ships coming and going everywhere.

There are Arabs, some indigenous people from Southeast Asia, and even people from Fuzhou.

As far as the eye can see… just at a glance, there are probably at least hundreds or even thousands of ships.

When the ships stopped not far from the seashore, the soldiers and officials of Srivijaya who were responsible for collecting taxes and guiding the ships into the inland river probably saw these 32 uninvited guests.

Why is it called an uninvited guest?

Probably out of intuition.

If they were really here to do business, they would not stop on the sea, drop anchor, turn the boat sideways and stay stationary near the river mouth.

Soon, a small boat came from Srivijaya with a man who looked like an official on board, rowing towards this side.

The other party can also speak Chinese.

Asked Zhao Xin: “What are you doing here?”

Zhao Xin’s ship looked very big, and the people on board did not look like ordinary civilians or businessmen at all.

The other party was actually a little nervous.

Zhao Xin also asked Cai Jing to reply to the other party, “We are the army of the Song Dynasty. Let your king come in person to kowtow and apologize to the upper country. Otherwise, we will attack and destroy your country within half a month.”

After hearing this, the other party was immediately dumbfounded.

There was a pause.

But soon…

The other party reacted.

They immediately asked people to row the boat back and then informed their king of the matter.

When the king heard this, he was naturally dumbfounded!

But he immediately remembered that they had rejected the Song Dynasty two years ago.

When they heard that the other side only had about thirty ships, they quickly relaxed.

The main thing is that in their area, if you don’t bring more than 200 or 300 ships, you can’t even say you are sending troops to attack others.

then……

The king then asked his ministers, “What do you think?”

Srivijaya understood the Song Dynasty.

That’s a huge country with a vast territory.

The population of its country is something they can never compare to.

Someone came up with a bad idea: “Why don’t I lead the troops to destroy the enemy directly? They only have so few ships, they can’t possibly be our opponent.”

“Besides… there are only thirty ships. We don’t need to be afraid of them at all.”

The king said, “You have never been to the Song Dynasty, so you don’t know how powerful it is.”

“Every one of their soldiers wears armor and is invulnerable to swords and spears.”

“You look at us again?”

At a glance, everyone was just wearing a shawl.

but……

This is also due to climate and customs.

If you don’t dress like this, you’ll get heat stroke.

Then the king asked, “Does the other party mean that as long as we go out and kowtow and apologize, everything will be fine?”

The person who came back replied: “That’s what they said.”

But one of the officials said, “Don’t be fooled. What if they want to capture you, the king, alive?”

The king then said, “But it seems impossible for us to defeat the other side. What do you think, monk?”

The king’s eyes soon fell on a monk.

The monk said, “Why don’t I go and check out the situation first?”

King: “That’s best!”

Zhao Xin’s side…

After all, it is impossible to stay on the boat forever.

So on that day, they asked the officials on the shore to provide them with a place to land.

And the other person is also a bit silly.

They probably never thought about what kind of threat Zhao Xin and his group would pose to them next.

Although I don’t understand what Zhao Xin and his group are here for.

But it also provided Zhao Xin and his group with a place to stay.

Zhao Xin let one thousand people land first, and the remaining people were provided with food by the one thousand people who landed.

in this way……

It was probably two or three days later.

A monk appeared in front of Zhao Xin without any big fanfare.

The two sides started talking directly. “I wonder if we failed to welcome the envoy from our country. What is the purpose of the envoy’s visit to our country?”

Cai Jing also replied on behalf of Zhao Xin: “Two years ago, our Great Song Emperor informed your country that you could not collect taxes from our Great Song merchant ships. Not only did you collect taxes, you also beat our people. Our Emperor said that we should attack and destroy your country.”

The monk also realized the seriousness of the problem and asked, “Why is it so?”

Cai Jing also said: “Our emperor said that we will not bully you. We only have 3,000 people. We will give you ten days to organize soldiers and navy. If you win, we can forgive the past. But if you lose…”

The monk asked, “What if I lose the fight?”

Cai Jing said, “Since you have lost the battle, your country of Srivijaya will be renamed Srivijaya Province from now on.”

The monk said, “The envoy’s intention is that… the Song Dynasty wants to make this place its own land?”

Cai Jing: “That’s right.”

The monk understood.

“I will report this to our king.”

Another two or three days passed…

The monk then passed the news back.

Ok!

Unfortunately, the Song Dynasty really wanted to confront them and was determined to occupy their territory.

Fortunately, the other party was quite polite and gave them ten days to prepare before starting the fight.

Zhao Xin’s side…

Cai Jing also said to Zhao Xin: “Why should the emperor reason with a bunch of barbarians? Why not just lead the troops to attack their country?”

Zhao Xin said, “I am a peace-loving person. Do you really think I am a war maniac? Besides, there are so many civilians and business travelers here. Once a fight breaks out, everything here will be destroyed.”

“Why don’t we both agree to have a civilized fight so that the other side can accept defeat with a clear conscience?”

After more than ten days of preparation.

soon……

In the depths of the river and outside the ocean, countless warships of all sizes surrounded them.

Good guy!
One look at the ships, large and small, and there are definitely no less than four or five hundred of them.

But it’s understandable.

After all, it is a war of annihilation. If they really lose, Srivijaya will be controlled by the other side.

Since there was going to be a war, both sides were very civilized and evacuated all merchants and civilians.

in fact……

The King of Srivijaya should let the people see how shameless Zhao Xin is.

We also need to publicize Zhao Xin’s evil deeds to the people.

After all…

Such actions of the Song Dynasty should be regarded as aggression.

But firstly, maybe time is tight, and secondly, they may not be able to mobilize all the people.

Therefore, there was no propaganda to the people across the country.

of course!

For the military, there must be an oath-taking ceremony.

They said that the Song Dynasty was arrogant and rude, and that it wanted to seize their land and their women for no apparent reason. Isn’t that insane?
Therefore, whoever could repel the Song army would be rewarded with beautiful women, gold and silver.

When the soldiers heard this, they were all excited and their eyes lit up immediately.

this day.

morning.

It was probably around eight or nine o’clock.

After a final conversation, the two sides began to attack.

The King of Srivijaya did not want to make a big fuss, so he told Zhao Xin that if the country could not win the battle, they could just raise their hands and surrender, and they would stop the army immediately.

Zhao Xin, on his part, replied to the other side: “I hope you all will give your best.” Probably since the Spring and Autumn Period, there has never been such a civilized war in history.

It is the combination of various factors that has led to the current situation.

Four hundred and fifty large and small warships against thirty-two warships.

Srivijaya side…

Even if their king racked his brains, he could not imagine that there was any possibility that he would lose.

After all, our numbers are ten times that of the enemy, how can we lose this battle?
However, the ships of the Song Dynasty were indeed tall.

This is something their small boats cannot compare to.

As the horn sounded.

This war started soon.

On the Song Dynasty side, all the soldiers quickly adjusted the direction of the muzzle, aimed, and fired.

The two steam battleships also ignored the wind power and moved casually without using any wind power at all.

The key is……

The target was still the ship commanding them.

Boom boom boom boom!
When the cannon sounded.

When the shells fell into the sea, creating waves ten feet high.

Whether it was the king, ministers, or soldiers of Srivijaya, they all finally realized that this battle might not be easy to fight.

Yes!

Those small boats were not so easy to be hit.

Those big ships are simply sitting ducks.

Under the attack of artillery, the soldiers on the ship soon let out bursts of ghostly howls.

From the beginning of the war, the morale of Srivijaya soldiers suffered a severe blow.

So much so that the soldiers on the small boats almost forgot to continue rowing forward after seeing the situation behind them.

can only say……

The naval battle had just begun for a short while when the ruler and his subjects in Srivijaya realized that something was amiss.

The scary thing is…

Some of the small boats were packed with people and were hit by the shells.

This resulted in everyone on the boat being smashed into pieces.

The sound of blood and wailing never ceased.

It is said that the soldiers of Srivijaya are fierce and everyone is used to fighting.

But at this time…

The Srivijaya soldiers couldn’t help but waver.

Naturally, there is no shortage of brave warriors in Srivijaya.

only……

When they had rowed with great difficulty for almost fifty steps, someone on the boat raised a musket and aimed it at them.

The breech-loading rifle can fire up to seven rounds per minute.

Some people who are born with fast hand speed can even fire nine shots.

Although the sealing is not very good due to the lack of rubber, both sides in naval battles basically do not wear any armor.

At most, you can just use a wooden shield.

Therefore, even if the sealing is a little worse, it is still fatal enough.

About an hour later…

On the sea, the war has almost stopped.

The Srivijaya soldiers were not fools either.

When faced with a war that is impossible to win, they will never die in vain.

As for the King of Srivijaya…

All I can say is that, although he didn’t want to admit it, he had indeed lost.

As the soldiers’ morale was completely lost, Srivijaya had to admit that they had no chance of winning.

Surrender directly!

Even the prince who led the troops and instigated the king to start a war at the beginning did not dare to say that he wanted to fight.

after all……

A battlefield like this one, filled with thick smoke and looking like the end of the world, would scare anyone who sees it.

Seeing that they had all surrendered, Zhao Xin asked them all to abandon their boats and go ashore.

to be frank!
Zhao Xin felt a bit of a headache when he saw so many of them.

You said to kill them all, that doesn’t seem very humane.

But you said not to kill.

I won’t allow anyone to snore beside my bed.

In fact, Zhao Xin impulsively thought about whether he should kill all the men in Srivijaya.

But this doesn’t seem very humane.

and……

You have killed all the laborers. Who will collect spices for you in the future?
Although it is said that the spices from Srivijaya itself are not as good as those from other islands in terms of quality, and are relatively inferior.

“We are willing to surrender!”

After everyone gathered.

Zhao Xin then came in front of them.

Zhao Xin then said, “From now on, I will be the king of your Srivijaya. Do you have any objections?”

The people kneeling in front shook their heads.

Zhao Xin also rubbed his forehead.

——Why can’t I be so cruel?
He should kill all these people!
of course!

He still had to deal with the king, prince, queen, princess and so on of Srivijaya.

can only say……

Let’s gather them all together first.

then……

Then pack them together and send them to Song Dynasty.

Just say…

The Song government wants to meet them.

When the time comes, pack them all up and take them away. From now on, this country will belong to you.

It turns out that this Srivijaya is indeed worthy of being a Buddhist country.

Looking around, there are quite a lot of monks.

But monks are good!

Monks are intellectuals. They may not be proficient in Chinese, but at least they have no problem with it.

Come to think of it…

If he wants to rule Srivijaya next, he will still have to rely on them.

it’s over…

Zhao Xin detained them all and then acted according to the plan.

Set up camp on the shore.

Take a rest first.

Then gather all the royal family members here first.

The King, Queen, Prince, Princess and others of Srivijaya seemed to understand a little bit when they saw the posture of the Song army.

I probably can’t go back now.

It was Zhao Xin who told them that he would take them back to the night before their departure for the Song Dynasty.

Planning to use a beauty trap with Zhao Xin.

Prepare to take action while Zhao Xin and others are off guard.

He even specially asked someone to deliver some fine wine.

Zhao Xin directly detained the monk who helped the King of Srivijaya to deliver the wine.

He did not drink the fine wine they brought him.

As for the beauties…

Too lazy to even look.

At last……

Both sides stopped pretending.

Zhao Xin directly ordered people to tie up the hands and feet of the King of Srivijaya, the prince, the queen, the princess and others, and they were treated like prisoners.

And they also arrested hundreds of soldiers who participated.

Then the monks who participated were also killed.

The road to rule is long and arduous.

(End of this chapter)