Late Tang

Yanjing, South Study Room of the Forbidden Palace. .

At this time, Li Jing was also studying a huge map that covered most of the wall and was a foot long. However, this map was not an ordinary map, but a map of the South China Sea.In this era, due to the prosperity of sea trade, Tang people are no strangers to the sea.Although the traditional division of the four seas does not entirely refer to the ocean.The four seas of the Tang people, the East China Sea does not only refer to the waters outside the Yangtze River Estuary, so the East China Sea also includes the Bohai Sea, the Yellow Sea, and the East China Sea outside the Yangtze River Estuary. This is the largest ocean in the eyes of Tang people, and it is also the most familiar ocean.

The south of the East China Sea is the South China Sea, which was also called the Rising Sea and Boiling Sea in the Han Dynasty and the Southern and Northern Dynasties.Tang people are a little more unfamiliar with this sea area than the East China Sea.However, the prosperity of the Maritime Silk Road in recent years has gradually revealed the mystery of the South China Sea.

In addition to the two southeast and southeast seas, the North Sea in the eyes of Tang people is the huge Lake Baikal on the Outer Mongolia Plateau, and the West Sea is Qinghai Lake located in the west of Hexi.These two huge lakes were called the sea by the Tang people.

After the powerful Qin Fan conquered the tribes in the Northeast, the northernmost garrison had crossed the Greater Khingan Mountains and brought Beihai into Qin Fan's control.Beihai is also the northernmost border of the northernmost actual control area of ​​Qin Fan today.The West Sea is too far away, and this is currently the only area that Qin Fan has no influence on.

The land of the East China Sea has already become the inner sea of ​​the Qin army.The Bohai Sea is even more surrounded by the lands of the Qin Dynasty. In recent years, a core circle around the Bohai Sea has been built along the Bohai Sea. The triangular trend of the Shandong Peninsula, the Liaodong Peninsula, and the Tianjin, Beijing and Tang areas has made the Bohai Sea truly and completely the Qin Army's inner sea.And the more peripheral Yellow Sea and East China Sea, with the actual control of the Zhoushan Islands, Ryukyu Island, Tamna Island, Tsushima Island, etc., the Qin Army became the overlord in this sea area.

Compared with Qin Fan's dominance over the East China Sea, Qin Fan's control is not too strong in the South China Sea area on the increasingly lively Maritime Silk Road.However, with the continued prosperity of sea trade, the South China Sea has become more and more lively, including the islands and coastal areas of the South China Sea.

On Li Jing's map, the names and territorial divisions of the southeastern countries have already been marked in detail by the navy.

Li Jing compared the countries in the southeast at this time with reference to the geographical countries of later generations. In modern Vietnam, the north still belonged to the Tang Dynasty at this time, and it was the protector of Annan. protect.In the central part of Vietnam, at this time, it was the Champa Kingdom, which was called Linyi Kingdom in the Sui Dynasty, and was once attacked by generals sent by Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty.The domestic Champa rice is the most high-yield and high-quality rice. Qin Fan introduced Champa rice from Champa several years ago. Today, Qin Fan's rice-producing areas are basically planted with this high-yield rice.

South of Annan and Champa are Bagan and Chenla.The Kingdom of Bagan, which is later Burma and Chenla, is roughly equivalent to later Cambodia. At this time, it was the golden stage of the Angkor Dynasty. The famous Angkor Wat in later generations was left by the Angkor Dynasty, which respected Buddhism. .

To the west of Annan, Champa, Bagan, and Chenla are the Nanzhao Kingdom, Tianzhu, and Sinhala Kingdom. These three kingdoms will be the Yunnan region of China, India, and Sri Lanka in later generations.

On the islands in the South China Sea, there are many countries such as Mayi, Srivijaya, Java, Gujedah, Sanyu, Luosasi, and Manali. According to the discovery and record of the special expedition team sent by the Navy There are more than [-] island countries, and more than [-] large and small islands.They not only reached the Malay Archipelago, but even reached distant Australia. The sailors on the expedition fleet of the Qin Dynasty even thought that Australia was the last island in the world, so they called it an extinct island.

Among these islands in the South China Sea, the ancient kingdom of Sri Lanka is the strongest, followed by the kingdom of Java, and the ancient kingdom of Sanyu and Mayi in the Philippines are also very strong. In addition, there are also Manali, Rosas and other countries.In addition to the name of the extinct island, the Australian mainland is also collectively called Rossos, and the Darwin port area in the north is called Manali.

The expedition fleet lasted nearly ten years, and it can be said that the distribution of the situation in the Nanyang Islands is clearer than those of the natives.

The expedition fleet not only drew a complete map of the South China Sea, but also clearly marked the proven ocean routes, ports suitable for docking for supplies, and special products on the islands.

The prosperity of east-west commerce on the sea has also greatly promoted the development of the island countries in the South Seas. For example, Sanfoqi even gradually unified the Malay Archipelago. They even have a powerful navy and an army that cannot be underestimated.

Sanfoqi, Java, and Mayi on the sea, plus Champa, Chenla, Bagan, and Tianzhu on the coast, these are the seven dragons in the South China Sea.The Maritime Silk Road between China and the Western countries has allowed these countries on the sea to enjoy huge profits and develop rapidly.

After the Qin Army Navy controlled Ryukyu Island and Hainan Island, its strength in the South China Sea was greatly enhanced.After Qin Fan cut down [-] sailors last time, the sailors sighed greatly.Seeing that the Qin army will not use troops against the southeast in a short time, the naval heroes are useless, and they may be cut down again at any time.The generals of the navy became more and more anxious. In the end, they actually came up with a super long plan and submitted it to Yanjing.

The naval generals represented by Li Xu proposed to Yanjing in the report that they should send the navy to the south to seize Puluozhong Island directly, so as to control the Koluofusha Strait, an important sea passage from the South China Sea to the Tianzhu Sea.Kerofusha and Puluozhong are both ancient countries in the South China Sea. Kerofusha is the ancient name of the ancient city of Malacca in Malaysia in later generations. At this time, it was called Kerofusa. Offer five-color parrots to Emperor Gaozong.

Puluozhong is the ancient country name of Singapore.

At this time, Malacca and Singapore were just small island countries in the South China Sea, but the famous Strait of Malacca was more than 400 years ago. The Arabs opened up an ocean-going waterway from the Indian Ocean through the Strait of Malacca to the South China Sea. This route is two thousand miles long. The well-known sea channel, shaped like a funnel, has a width of only 65 kilometers at the south mouth, and gradually widens to the north, reaching a width of 249 kilometers at the north mouth between Sabang in Indonesia and the Kra Isthmus in Thailand.The Strait of Malacca runs from southeast to northwest.Its northwest end leads to the Andaman Sea in the Indian Ocean, and its southeast end connects to the South China Sea.The strait has a total length of about 1080 kilometers, with a maximum width of 370 kilometers in the northwest and a narrowest point of 37 kilometers in the southeast, with a water depth of 25 to 150 meters. It is an international waterway connecting the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean, as well as the crossroads between Asia and Oceania.

Right now, this main road is mainly controlled by Srivijaya. In addition, Puluozhong and Kerafusa also have partial control rights. In addition, Java is also gradually intervening in this sea main road.

Srivijaya and Java, relying on their powerful navy, took away most of the control of the strait that originally belonged to the two island countries of Puluozhong and Korafusa. While eating meat, they only left a little broth for them.Now the guys in the navy are also very sharp-eyed. After years of investigation, and the experience of a navy fleet escorting maritime merchants to Taixi, they are deeply aware of the importance of this passage.Their idea is very simple, find some work for the navy, so that they will not be dismissed.

As for the Sanfoqi and Java, they really didn't pay attention to them.The strength of Sanfoqi and Java is to dominate the small island countries in the South China Sea, but Qin Fan's navy can completely crush them.You don’t need much, you just need to send a squadron, and then take a marine and a coastal defense force to occupy Puluozhong, and use Puguzhong’s excellent natural deep-water port to build a water tank there. Division base, build castles, docks, water plugs, etc., and then wait to sit on the ground and set up customs to collect money.

Of course, if this is the only way, not many people are needed.In the navy's plan, they are going to send a squadron there, and they will also bring a marine army there. Their plan is to establish a base in Puluo, where 5000 people, including logistics personnel, will be permanently stationed. big base.

Therefore, in addition to occupying this important strait, the navy certainly has other functions.

war!

In the words of the navy generals, even though there are tens of thousands of islands and more than 200 countries in the South China Sea, many so-called countries are just one island.In most countries, the army is no more than a thousand people.Even a powerful country in the South China Sea like Srivijaya has no more than 5 troops combined.What's more, their equipment and tactics are really too backward. Compared with the elites like Qin Jun, they are not opponents at all.

The entire South China Sea, the so-called Seven Flood Dragons of the South China Sea, can barely be called a middle-level feudal town in the Central Plains.

Since the military strength of the natives in the South China Sea is so weak, they still occupy such a prosperous sea route and make money by sitting on the ground.And more importantly, the output of these tens of thousands of large and small islands is not small.Not to mention the various rich minerals that have been proven, that is, the rice produced on those big islands, it is worth doing it.

The navy has a big appetite. Controlling the important channel of the Maritime Silk Road, the Luofusha Strait is just an appetizer. Their real plan is to prepare to use the combat effectiveness of their navy, using giant ships and cannons, strong bows and crossbows, to serve The king of Qin conquered this piece of South China Sea, and conquered these islands in the South China Sea that had never been included in the borders of China in history, and conquered them as the territory of the Qin Dynasty, expanding the territory and expanding overseas.Although this goal seems a bit lofty, it is very difficult to achieve it with 5000 people.However, the generals of the navy were very smart. At the beginning, the requirements were small, but the expected results listed were very rich.As long as this plan is approved and launched, as long as the results of the battle are achieved, it will be a matter of course to increase the army, increase the number of warships, etc.?

Only in this way can it be guaranteed that the Qin Fan Navy, which still has 10 people left, will not be considered useless and be cut down again.

Li Jing stared at the huge map of the South China Sea and all nations on the wall, lost in thought.It has to be said that Li Jing's heart was really moved by the proposal of Li Xu and other navy generals. (To be continued.)