Shi Si was just a messenger. He was not good at judging the truth or falsehood of what others said, nor did he know much about marching and fighting, so he could not give a definite answer to Tang Ding.
This made Tang Ding frown, but he had no better way, and he didn't understand what the slave girl was talking about. He sighed, shook his head slightly at Zhu Biao who looked at him, and then stopped.
Say more.
Seeing that Tang Ding no longer asked him, Shi Si thought for a while and decided to tell the slave girl's request.
"Your Highness, she has something to say to Your Highness, and she asked me to convey it to her."
"Oh? What are you talking about?" Zhu Biao said calmly.
Shi Si lowered his head slightly and said, "She wants to ask us to help her restore her country."
Restoration of the country?
Several people were surprised. They didn't expect that the slave girl would make such a request.
Han Du first shook his head. You must know that the purpose of coming out this time was mainly to broaden Zhu Biao's horizons. After all, it is better to travel thousands of miles than to read thousands of books. Zhu Biao stayed in the cage in the East Palace all day, just like being in prison.
, Han Du was a little worried that he would get sick from suppressing it.
Originally she only planned to patrol Nanyang and then return to Beijing, but she was dragged to this place by Zhu Biao. This was enough to make Han Du dissatisfied. Now this slave girl actually asked to help her restore the country?
Are you kidding? I came here for tourism, not for fighting.
However, Zhu Biao was somewhat interested in the slave girl's request. Not only did he not reject it directly, but he said with great interest: "Help her restore the country? In other words, help her kill her brother? Did you say any conditions? Such a big man
Busy, she can't just open her mouth with empty teeth, right?"
Shi Si felt embarrassed when he heard this, and quickly explained: "She seems to have never said any conditions, so I asked her immediately."
After asking the slave girl a few questions, Shi Si's face immediately turned red with anger when she received the answer.
Seeing the situation, Zhu Biao asked curiously: "What's wrong? Doesn't she really want to be a free hand?"
Shi Si nodded with an ugly expression, "Your Highness really got it right. She actually said that Daming should help her."
Seeing such an ignorant person, Zhu Biao shook his head slightly and said, "Since she has no conditions, just tell her to be her slave and stop thinking about other things."
Shi Si immediately spoke to the slave girl and directly rejected her request.
But this slave girl may have seen hope and was unwilling to miss such an opportunity. She even had the courage to grab Shi Si's hand directly, and pointed at Zhu Biao with her other hand. She was obviously asking Shi Si to give her a hand.
What she said was relayed to Zhu Biao.
Han Du ignored the two people's pull and moved closer to Zhu Biao.
Zhu Biao glanced at Han Du doubtfully and asked in advance: "What, what do you think?"
Han Du nodded and said with a smile: "Your Highness still understands me. Your Highness has already guessed it before I even opened my mouth."
"If you have anything to say, just say it." Zhu Biao glanced at Han Du as if he was a little discouraged.
Han Du nodded, the smile on his face faded, and Zhu Biao was shocked as soon as he opened his mouth. "I think we should help her restore her country."
Zhu Biao looked at Han Du intently and said nothing. He knew that since Han Du said this, he must have his reasons.
Han Du did not show off and continued: "Your Highness, actually this place, the location of the Mamluk Dynasty, is very important."
"Well, I really can't see it. What's the point?" Zhu Biao thought for a moment, then shook his head.
Han Du waved his hand and smoothed the carpet. He took out a few teacups and placed them on the ground.
"These two teacups are land. The sea here is where we are now, and this side is opposite. Your Highness, please see, there are only three or four hundred miles between these two seas. Your Highness, do you know if it is from us?
How far is it to go south from here, bypass the Sea of Storms, and reach the other side?”
Seeing Zhu Biao looking at him thoughtfully, Han Du said directly: "More than ten thousand miles away!"
The others looked at each other in shock after hearing this. They didn't expect it to be so far away.
"What do you think?" Tang Ding guessed Han Du's thoughts and spoke hesitantly.
In the eyes of everyone, Han Du nodded and pointed his finger sharply between the two cups on the ground, "If a canal is dug here to connect these three to four hundred miles, then we can go directly without going through the Sea of Storms.
You can reach the other side.”
The people of the Ming Dynasty were familiar with the matter of digging canals. After all, canals were dug in the Spring and Autumn Period in history.
As soon as Han Du proposed digging a canal, everyone began to wonder whether this method was feasible. First of all, there is definitely no problem in digging a canal, not to mention that it is only three or four hundred miles. The Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal is five to six thousand miles long, although it is
All dynasties worked together to dig it out, but with the current national power of the Ming Dynasty, there is still no problem in digging a canal three to four hundred miles long.
The only problem is that this canal is tens of thousands of miles away from the Ming Dynasty. It would be troublesome to dig it.
"What do you want to do?" It's so far away. It's definitely impossible to send people from the Ming Dynasty to dig it out. We can only solve it with manpower and material resources." Zhu Biao said lightly.
It was precisely because it was impossible to mobilize manpower, material and financial resources from the Ming Dynasty that he was so calm. Anyway, no matter whether the canal could be dug or not, the Ming Dynasty would not suffer any losses.
Han Du smiled slightly, glanced at the slave girl, and said: "Don't she want us to help her restore her country? Let's use this to negotiate terms with her and let her cede land and pay. And if she wants to restore her country,
There will inevitably be war, and when there is war, there will be slaves. The greater the scale of the war, the more people will become slaves. With land, money and slaves, are we still worried that we cannot dig out this canal?"
The future scene described by Han Du was very beautiful, but Zhu Biao still said thoughtfully: "The war will indeed produce a lot of slaves, but in that case, our losses will also expand. If the casualties are too heavy, then the gains will not be worth the losses!"
Zhu Biao also wanted to fight this battle, but he had to consider the casualties of the navy. If fighting for another country resulted in too many casualties, Zhu Biao worried that the soldiers would be dissatisfied.
Han Du shook his head and smiled, and explained: "The navy will participate in the battle, but it will not participate from the beginning until the slave girl returns to the country."
When talking about the naval battle, Han Du instantly became energetic.
Others were also attracted by Han Du's aura, and watched Han Du calmly and calmly without blinking, as if he was commanding thousands of troops.
"The navy only needs to defeat the Mamluk army first and let everyone see how powerful we are. Then let the slave girl recruit her people to fight for her in the subsequent battles."
"Is this okay? You mean, we only need to defeat the Mamluk Sultan's army once from the beginning to the end?" Tang Ding was a little in disbelief.
"Of course." Han Du nodded matter-of-factly, "Didn't the slave girl say she was a princess? Since she was once the princess of the Mamluk dynasty, and even the first heir, then she should be a loyal subject to her.
We can also test the authenticity of her identity as a princess here. If she can't even recruit people, then she must be fake."
Zhu Biao nodded and suddenly said, "Your idea is good. This way the navy's losses can be minimized. And it is also very important to find out whether her identity is true or false. If we plan for a long time for a fake princess,
If it spreads, it will be a joke."
"But if we only help her fight one battle, then the terms will be difficult to negotiate.
"Ah." Tang Ding sighed with regret. What a great opportunity this is. If he can help this princess until she returns to the country, the benefits will be unimaginable. "
Han Du chuckled and said in a calm tone: "That's why we have to negotiate the terms in advance, but we must be careful not to explicitly agree to her. By then, even if she is dissatisfied with our help,
But as long as she sees the strength of our Ming Dynasty navy, she will have the wisdom to shut up."
"Moreover, we only need to deter the rest of the Mamluk dynasty. As long as the news of our support for her spreads, those people will definitely turn their backs on her when facing her. This is the greatest help to her."
Having said this, Zhu Biao couldn't help but feel excited. There was not much risk, but the benefits were extremely huge. In the face of such benefits, he had to be excited.
"Are you confident that you can intimidate the entire Mamluk dynasty with just one battle?"
Han Du nodded and said directly: "This time we will use cannons. I am going to remove the cannons on the warships and use a thousand cannons to blast the opponent's liver and gallbladder!"
Zhu Biao and Tang Ding glanced at their feet, and then looked down the hillside in the direction where the cavalry had just charged. The more they looked, smiles appeared on their faces.
Although this hillside is not high, it stretches out continuously, embracing the large plain below. Only now did Zhu Biao and Tang Ding discover that this was a battlefield that was extremely conducive to the use of artillery.
The two of them instantly understood what Han Du meant. He wanted to wait here and decide the outcome in a battle!
Seeing Zhu Biao and Tang Ding both nodding in agreement, Han Du turned back to Shi Si with a smile and said: "You are responsible for talking to that woman in the past two days. If you want us to help her restore her country, ceding land, paying compensation, and providing slaves are all indispensable.
."
Shi Si didn't think there was anything wrong when he heard this. He nodded and asked, "I wonder if Mr. Hou can give an exact amount?"
Han Du thought for a moment and said: "The land must be at least one hundred miles on both sides of the sea, the slaves must be at least 500,000, and the gold must be at least one million pounds. Based on this condition, go and talk to her. If you
If we can negotiate more, I will ask His Highness the Crown Prince for instructions and I will give you an additional 10% of the benefits."
Zhu Biao and Tang Ding took a breath together. Everyone already knew how long the two sides of the sea were when they came. If they could really get hundreds of miles of land on both sides of the sea, the combined area would not be smaller than a kingdom.
Even Horumos may not be as big as this ceded land.