"Not only Istaheli's warships, but also our twenty warships at Lingya Gate." King Srivijaya said, "I just don't know how many warships the Song Army can bring in one go?"

"So what if the Song army can dispatch a hundred ships? They have traveled a long distance and can only win every battle. As long as there is a slight draw in the battle, they will have no time to delay." The prime minister smiled and said, "In the words of the Song people themselves.

Said, their wishful thinking was wrong."

King Srivijaya said: "After defeating the Song army, I will send envoys to the Song Dynasty to question their emperor. They must pay the price, otherwise the Song people will never want to walk in this sea area in the future."

On February 28, Li Bao, who had been waiting in Ancient Siam for more than half a month, finally received the latest information: Srivijaya had sent an army to Ancient Siam.

At this time, the Srivijaya navy sent to the Bangni Kingdom had already approached Bangni.

They will come up short.

The core battle of the South China Sea in the 11th year of Jingkang was fought along the line from ancient Siam to Lingya Gate and then to Lingjia.

At the end of February, Srivijaya's second navy quickly advanced towards ancient Siam.

By the fifth day of March, many businessmen from Lingya Gate had already brought the news of the deployment of the Srivijaya navy to the ancient Siam Kingdom.

Early in the morning on the sixth day of March, Li Bao sent troops from the ancient Siam Kingdom, and twenty-eight Song warships advanced southward.

The two armies were staggered on the sea and did not meet.

By March 13th, the Song army was approaching Lingya Gate.

Lingya Gate is Singapore in the 21st century. In the Song Dynasty, a big city had not yet been formed here. It was only surrounded by some short earth walls and served as the garrison of the Srivijaya Navy.

Of course, there are also some places where businessmen from various countries can pass through and live.

Whether they are people from the Song Dynasty, merchants from various countries in the South China Sea, or passing by cannibals, Zhuxiang people, Tianzhu people, or Jews, they will all choose to stay here.

In the 12th century, Quanzhou was the largest port in the East, and Lingya Gate was the largest port in the South China Sea. It guarded the east-west connection, and countless amounts of money flowed into Srivijaya here every day.

It is precisely for this reason that the Zhao Guan family covets this place.

The ships near Lingya Gate quickly discovered the fleet of unknown origins and immediately reported to Lingya Gate.

After many observations and analyses, the Srivijaya Navy at Lingya Gate determined the identity of this fleet: Song Army.

Ling Yamen's naval commander Adula was a general who had experienced hundreds of battles. He had received news from the royal city a few days ago that the Song army might be going south.

After he confirmed the identity of the Song Army, he did not rush to send troops to show his identity as his master. Instead, he sent a large number of small fishing boats or merchant ships to spy on the Song Army's situation.

Li Bao turned a blind eye to Srivijaya's spying.

On the morning of March 15, Li Bao's fleet entered the vicinity of Linga Island, which was Istaheli's sphere of influence.

Lingga Island is about two hundred miles away from Lingya Gate and can be reached by sea voyage in two days.

At this time, Li Bao was writing a diary in his room, recording his experiences all the way south.

There was a knock on the door.

"Manager Li, Chief Tang is here."

Li Bao immediately put down his pen and opened the door. The boat shook slightly, but everyone was used to it.

"Where are the people?"

"Waiting for you on the deck."

Li Bao got on the deck and Tang Zijian came over immediately.

"Manager Li, Da Shiren received the news a few days ago, and may already know that we are coming."

"What's the big eater doing?"

"There is no action at the moment, the big cannibal is unwilling to take action with us."

"them……"

Tang Zijian said: "They want to hand it over to Srivijaya and let us fight with Srivijaya. After all, they also have business dealings with us. Many cannibals live in Guangzhou, Quanzhou, Mingzhou, and Hangzhou."

"These big cannibals are smarter than I thought. They know that when we come here at this time, the first thing that will intensify is not the relationship with them, but the relationship with Sriwijaya. They choose to stay put and avoid the war."

"And if we choose to fight the Three Buddhas together, we will fall into a quagmire." Tang Zijian added, "We must find a way and take action against the big cannibal as soon as possible."

"There is only one way now."

"Mr. Li, please give me your orders, and ask your subordinates to cooperate."

Li Bao looked at Tang Zijian and said, "Just hit him."

"Just hit?"

Li Bao pointed to Ling Jiadao in front and said: "That's right, fight directly and decide quickly. The island is not big. Once the war starts, there will be no way to avoid the cannibals."

"But if we start a war without any excuse, we will have no way out from doing business with the cannibals."

"The big cannibal here maliciously lowers the price of our goods, and also collects part of the toll tax without authorization, which violates our "South China Sea Trade Regulations of the Song Dynasty". It is natural for Wang Shi to go south."

"The "South China Sea Trade Regulations of the Song Dynasty"?" Tang Zijian was slightly startled.

He is the head of the Nanhai Trading Company of the Song Dynasty. How come he has never heard of the "Trade Rules of the Nanhai Sea of ​​the Song Dynasty"?

"Yes."

"But there is no such rule?"

"It has been written and sent out. It is not here yet, but it has been stamped with the seal of His Majesty the Emperor and the Government Hall."

At noon that day, he received the latest intelligence that the Srivijaya navy at Lingya Gate was advancing here.

Li Bao no longer hesitated and quickly advanced towards the harbor of Lingga Island that afternoon.

In the evening, the setting sun filled the sea, reflecting the cloud-like sails of the Song Army's warships.

A large man-eating ship sailed towards the Song army's battleship group in the warm sea breeze.

Before dark, Li Bao met the cannibal's messenger named Faisal.

Faisal landed on Li Bao's main battleship. He could actually speak Chinese, but in Fujian dialect.

This is normal. In this era, most Arabs did business with Fujianese.

Most of the Song merchants in Nanhai were Fujian and Cantonese.

Faisal said: "On behalf of our lord Istakhli, I would like to extend my sincere greetings to your country and His Majesty the Emperor of your country."

"On behalf of the Song Dynasty, I also extend my sincere greetings to you." Li Bao said.

However, Li Bao was from the north and he didn't understand the Fujian dialect very well. He only understood it after the soldiers translated it.

Faisal continued: "I wonder what your country is doing here?"

"Come here to protect our merchants." Li Bao said.

"Your merchants are not in danger in this area," Faisal said, "but your warships are close to our area, which will cause us to misunderstand."

"What's the misunderstanding?"

"I misunderstand that your country wants to go to war with us?" Faisal said.

"Is it possible..." Tang Zijian took over, "This is not a misunderstanding?"

Faisal was stunned for a moment, looked at the young man and said: "You can't say this nonsense. We are all doing business on the sea. In your words, peace is the most important thing and it is good for everyone."

"Yes, peace is the most important thing and it is good for everyone. But the current rules are only good for you, but not for us at all." Tang Zijian continued.

"We have always respected you."
Chapter completed!