However, when the rainy season in the South China Sea was approaching, the Tang lord garrisoned the city of Mona to shelter from the rain. Soon, he received information from the western Siam country.

The commander of the Western Route Army, Yang Qingque, commanded 70,000 troops to attack Siam. On the 15th day of the first lunar month, the Tang army defeated more than 10,000 guardians and monk soldiers in Siam and tens of thousands of temporary Lang Sikun troops on the north bank of the Yonghe River. The commander of the monk soldiers, Su Shan, died in battle.

On the 18th day of the first lunar month, Yang Qingque soldiers came to the city and besieged Sukhothai City, the king of Siam.

Siam is a class system. First-class people are monks and nobles, second-class people are called warriors, third-class people are civilians, and fourth-class people are slaves. Because of their kindness to warriors, the resistance is relatively strong.

On the 25th day of the first lunar month, after a fierce siege, the Tang army captured Sukhothai City and fought with the only remaining elite soldiers in Siam. At the cost of nearly 2,000 casualties, they wiped out the last ten thousand armored soldiers of Siam: the Warriors Army.

The Siamese King Lang Ganheng, a tough man who was later called "Thailand First Emperor" by the Thais, committed suicide and died for his country. All other royal members and noble temple masters were captured.

The Sukhothai Kingdom, which was established for fifty years, was declared to perish.

The Tang army confiscated the royal family and nobles in Sukhothai City. The temples were more than 36,000 kilograms of gold, more than 270,000 kilograms of silver, more than 3,000 kilograms of ivory, more than 500 kilograms of rhinoceros horn, and other gems are difficult to estimate.

Even the golden Buddhas and silver Buddhas of various major temples were all occupied by the Tang army.

The Tang army divided troops everywhere to defeat the city lords and the monks of the temples in various places, confiscated gold, silver and land, and killed people.

The entire Siam country was in a bloody storm. The fierce resistance of the Siam army in the past made the Tang army ruthlessly suppress any resistance forces in the name of punishment.

In less than a month, more than 40 city-states in Siam were all pacified. More than 2 million Siam people, a territory larger than Jiangnan, were included in the control of the Tang army.

When Li Luo received the report, he immediately ordered Yang Qingque: Siam has been destroyed, but Luo Wo can be destroyed!

Luo Wo was once strong in history in the south of Siam. However, Luo Wo was just a small miniature country with a population of hundreds of thousands. This time, the four countries resisted the Tang Dynasty, and Luo Wo did not participate.

The imperial edict of the Tang Lord arrived in Sukhothai City. Yang Qingque ordered the She general Qu Shi to guard Sukhothai and personally led an army of 30,000 to continue south.

On March 12th, Yang Qingque defeated more than 30,000 soldiers and horses of Luowo Kingdom in the east of Sanyu Mountain and west of Zhaoboye River.

On March 15th, Yang Qingque captured Luowo City. Luowo King Jiashan raised fire.

Luowo Kingdom, which had been established for hundreds of years, was defeated by the Tang army.

The Tang army went to war for several months, traversing across the Southeast Asian countries, and successively defeated the four kingdoms of 800, Zhen La, Siam (Sukothy), and Luowo.

Later generations of the entire Indochina Peninsula were placed under the control of the Tang court.

On March 21, the good news came to Mona City where Li Luo was located. The long rainy season ended. The weather became hotter and hotter, the mosquitoes became more and more fierce, and more and more soldiers died of illness. The Tang Dynasty ruler Li Luo had to issue an edict to return north.

Before returning to the north, Lord Tang did several major things.

The first thing is to abolish the privileges of Brahmins and Buddhist monks. The state status of Buddhism and Brahmins is abolished.

The second thing is to abolish the Khmer script and Sukhothai script and use Chinese characters instead.

The third thing is to abolish the "Mandala system" of the city-state lords and switch to the Central Plains county system.

The fourth item is that all place names that do not conform to the Central Plains style, regardless of mountains, rivers, cities, etc., are all replaced by Chinese names. Yuansuketay City, Chiang Mai City, Angkor Thom, etc. are all abandoned.

The fifth item is to build major Taoist temples in various places.

The sixth item is granted the barbarian civilians the identity of a second-class citizen, and they are taxed 40% of the taxes, and they can serve as officials under the eighth rank. Those who pass the Chinese language examination will be promoted to the Tang people and will be given the Han surname. Those who fail the qualifications will not be allowed to be promoted.

The seventh item is to establish the Nanyang Protectorate of the Tang Dynasty, which governs the civil affairs of the original four countries. The Nanyang Protectorate of the South China Protectorate is divided into six Guihua Prefectures, which is an administrative region of the fourth rank, with a status lower than that of the state and higher than that of the county.

Below the six Guihua Prefectures, twenty-four counties and one hundred and eight counties were set up. All officials above the seventh rank were allocated from Dianzhou, Guizhou and Jiaozhou.

Chen Yu, the governor of Jiaozhou who has been in Nanyang for a long time and has adapted to the climate of Nanyang, was appointed as the governor of the Nanyang Protectorate. The governor's office was located in the east of Tonle Sap Lake, which was changed to Nan'an Lake, where the Central Plains-style Nan'an City will be built.

He dispatched Guangzhou Governor Li Jiao to take over as Jiaozhou Governor.

The eighth item is to screen 30,000 Tang army soldiers from Guangzhou, Dianzhou, Guizhou, Jiaozhou, Myanmar, Xiangzhou and other places, stationed in the jurisdiction of the Nanyang Protectorate, and become the Nanyang garrison. Two thousand policemen from above were selected to form police halls in various places to maintain public order.

The Nanyang garrison was not commanded by the governor of the Nanyang Protectorate, but was under the jurisdiction of the three states of Jiaozhou, Xiangzhou and Myanmar. Once a war broke out, the Jiaozhou Jiedushi was temporarily the commander and the Xiangzhou Jiedushi was the deputy commander.

The Governor of Nanyang is also the third rank, equivalent to the governor of the state. The difference is that the Governor is in charge of the ranks and has the power of supervision. Although the Governor does not hold the main military power, he has a governor-guarding regiment, and can write to the governor of the three states at any time and asks to mobilize troops to quell the rebellion.

After making some arrangements, when the new governor of the Nanyang Protectorate Chen Yu felt that Li Luo did not want to stay in Nanyang, which was increasingly unaccommodating, he handed over the aftermath to Chen Yu and issued an order to return to the north.

On March 28, in addition to the 30,000 "Nanyang Town Guards" selected, more than 100,000 other Tang troops took hundreds of thousands of prisoners, royal nobles from several countries, and a large amount of gold, silver and treasures, and returned north with a full load.

The southern expedition, which lasted nearly five months, came to an end with the Tang army occupying the Nanyang and the destruction of all the countries.

This massive southern expedition, the Tang court expanded thousands of miles of territory, collected nearly 6 million people, obtained gold and silver equivalent to more than 40 million taels of silver, and obtained more than 400,000 slaves.

The Brahmin and Hinayana Buddhist forces who ruled the countries for hundreds of years were wiped out.

For the first time in thousands of years, the Central Plains regime ruled the entire Indochina Peninsula.

In mid-April, the army came to Nujiang. Lord Tang looked back at the turbulent Nujiang River and looked back on the journey of the rock. With generosity, he couldn't help but chant:

"One journey of wind and rain accompanied by iron horses, two of the expeditions of South China Sea is the meaning of a long journey. Three crossings of Nujiang River shocked the witches and ghosts, and looking at the vast wilderness. Five-colored earth is conquered by the ends of the world, six armies are triumphantly reunited and the flag is raised. Seven barbarian borders become kingly land, eight ridges are in the same track of the emperor's hometown. Nine tripods return to Qin and now are here again, and ten lives can be revived by the Han Daochang. A hundred generations of saints have a thousand years of careers, and thousands of miles of mountains and rivers have passed through the Tang Dynasty."

After chanting, the Tang lord stood alone in Jiangyan, looked around everyone, and pointed at the river water: "The water of the Nujiang River flows south, and it will never return after entering the sea. A hundred years later, I and all of you are loess, and the great achievements of the soldiers in the southern expedition should be proved by this Nujiang."

"I sent an order to order the Protectorate's Office to erect the Nanfeng monument here, and carve the names of all the soldiers who died in battle and died, thinking that it was later century."

All the ministers bowed together, and everyone was filled with tears.

Since the Southern Expedition, only three or four thousand people have died in battle. However, more than six thousand people have died of illness!

Dozens of people died almost every day in the army. Especially when the rainy season comes, more people will die of illness. If the Tang army had not been tenacious, the morale of the army would have been depressed.

Tens of thousands of soldiers died in the southern expedition of the Tang army, most of whom died of illness. Tens of thousands of soldiers were born in a vital way when they went to the expedition, but at this time they became a jar of ashes. How could it not be heartbroken?

This price is not bad.

This was still the case when the Tang army's anti-disease and medical methods made great progress.

Why did the Central Plains fail to conquer the South China Sea in history? It is not because of military incompetence, or even because of distance, but because of "unfamiliar adaptation to the local environment".

But Li Luo did it.

Although there is a price.

The countries in the South China Sea will no longer exist in later generations!

…………

Walking in Jiangling, the Guangzheng Hall of the Tang Palace.

At this time, the spring is shining brightly and the sun is shining brightly. The Tang court is discussing the court. Today is actually a meeting of the imperial front, and only officials above the third rank can participate.

"I heard from the Queen that your Majesty's army was carrying more than 400,000 slaves this time, so the army was slow to move. I am afraid that your Majesty will be unfavorable to the dragon body when he is away for a long time. Should you ask Your Majesty to return first?"

The Minister of War Du Lie reported.

The Regent Queen Choi Soo-ning sat upright, his voice clear and peaceful: "Your Majesty has already sent a letter saying that this southern expedition is hard, and he should not leave the soldiers and return first, but should return with the soldiers."

How could he come back first? Li Luo said that he had too many gold, silver and treasures and too many slaves this time. He had to... look at it, so that he would not make any mistakes along the way.

Men are so good at making money and make a fortune when they fight. Good men.

"Your Majesty the Queen." Lin Bi mentioned it, "More than 400,000 slaves, there are many women among them. How long can they last in a day? It's fifty miles long. Most of the young and strong people have to go to Guanzhong to serve labor. How many days will they take for thousands of miles? How much food is consumed?"

"As far as I see, it is better to leave male slaves in Nanyang to build stations. This control of Nanyang is not enough. Female slaves can be brought back and given to civilian men without wives."

"As for the laborers in Guanzhong, at most, they would have to use the Central Plains pseudo-Song and Yuan army captives. Anyway, the Northern Expedition was also very fast. There is no need to let the slaves in Nanyang go so far and spend so much food to Guanzhong."

Cui Xiuning felt that Lin Biju’s suggestions were very good. She and Li Luo had never thought about this issue in depth.

"Okay. Then I will send a letter to Your Majesty, asking Your Majesty to leave the male slave in Nanyang to build an inn. Well, this inn must connect Dianzhou and Guizhou inn, so that Chang'an to Nanyang will arrive in at most ten days!"

As long as the Nanyang Post Station and the mainland are combined, the fast horses can indeed convey the news in ten days from Chang'an to Siam or Xiangzhou. Even if the army sets out from Chang'an, it can arrive at at most two months.

The biggest benefit left by the Yuan court to the Tang Dynasty was this post station. The Yuan Dynasty's post station was only comparable to later generations after entering the modern era.

The Minister of the Jiao Temple Zeng Du said, "What Your Majesty the Queen said is very true. Since the Tang Dynasty unified the southern country and overhauled the water conservancy, followed by the Tao Temple Academy. However, this inn has not been built in one more station, and all of them are used in the Yuanting Inn. The mainland is still sufficient, but there is no station built in Xiangzhou, Jiaozhou, Myanmar, and the transportation is very inconvenient, let alone the newly acquired territory of the South Ocean."

"I requested to allocate funds to build stations in these areas. Those slaves alone are not enough."

"I object." Wu Tu, Minister of War, said, "Siam and other people are just quasi-civilians and second-class people. Why should they be allowed to serve labor for a fee? The court directly ordered the levy to prevent them from starving to death. They asked for wages, but there was no."

Cui Xiuning said: "The things in the Yuan Dynasty are not completely worthless. For example, although millions of people were killed or injured in the construction of this inn, it cannot be said that they should not be built. They just need to consider the suffering of the people, they cannot be built for free, and they cannot be rushed to achieve success. Even slaves and quasi-Tang people are the people of the Tang Dynasty and cannot abuse them. If they are exhausted, the loss will be the court."

Who could have imagined that the Yuan Dynasty actually built the main artery of transportation that runs east and west through Europe and Asia, and north and south through Dali? The frequent use of troops to the west and south through the Yuan Dynasty was the most important of all dynasties, which depended on the highly developed post station. The reason why the Tang army's southern expeditions so smoothly mobilized troops south was that it was dependent on the Yuan court post station.

Historical records of the Yuan Dynasty: "Where people come, they set up post stations to make posts come and go, just like walking in the country." It is simply unprecedented.

It was the Yuan court who used a knife to force the Han people and people of all ethnic groups, and how many people were exhausted to death to build a well-connected station system. From this, it can be imagined that the terrible dynasty with basic structures was terrible.

Unfortunately, after the demise of the Yuan Dynasty, most of the post stations were abandoned. After a long time, there was no more road.

"Let those slaves build slowly, don't be anxious. This southern expedition has just ended, and the northern expedition will be needed this year. Guanzhong is still under construction. Although the Nanyang Post Station is important, it is not an urgent task." Cui Xiuning opposed the big move.

"Gu Kai, how many three-eyed handguns are made by the Firearms Bureau of the Ministry of Works? " Cui Xiuning looked at Gu Kai, the Minister of the Ministry of Works.

Gu Kai was originally an armored master. Because of his superb skills and an old man from the Haidong era, he actually reached the position of Minister of Works and was also named the Minister of Works. Throughout history, it has been a scorpion shit.

It can be seen that a platform is more important than personal ability.

"Qi Bi, the Empress has completed 32,000 pieces. By this autumn, 50,000 three-eyed pistols will definitely be completed." Gu Kai returned.

The three-eyed handgun is an auxiliary weapon prepared for cavalry. Because the cavalry of the Tang army is not as good as the cavalry of the Yuan army, Cui Xiuning could only order the development of a handgun suitable for cavalry.

This pistol is essentially no different from the musketeer's musket. It's just that it's very short, has a small amount of charge, and has an effective range of only fifty steps, which is far worse than a bow and arrow.

However, compared with the three-eyed muskets of the Ming army, the three-eyed muskets designed by Cui Xiuning are still much more advanced. Although the Ming army was equipped with a large number of three-eyed muskets, they did not have a rotary mechanism and could only use a fuse rope, and their effective range was only thirty steps.

The Tang-style three-eyed musket is more advanced and reliable than the Ming-style musket. It is not only a rotor, flintlock, but also has much stronger effective range and reliability.

However, it is still just an auxiliary weapon.
To be continued...