"Coral is nothing. Going south from here, the mountains and plains of the islands are filled with all kinds of precious spices."
Seeing Li Chengqian's eyes widening, Su Chen continued:
"Your Highness, please pay close attention to the indigenous boats. Maybe that canoe is a whole thousand-year-old rosewood!"
Li Chengqian waved his hands resentfully: "Stop talking, besides, I don't want to go to the big food."
"By the way, King Srivijaya said he wanted to go to the Central Plains to pay a pilgrimage. I have already agreed. Let's take him with us when we go back."
Su Chen said indifferently: "As long as this trip to the big food goes well, it won't matter when I get back."
"On this journey, there are not a hundred, but dozens of kingdoms, big and small. Your Highness can take some more back to make His Majesty happy."
Li Chengqian thought about it and thought it was a good idea, but that was a matter for the future.
"I also found out clearly about the conflict between the cannibal and Srivijaya. It was the cannibal who arrested local people to do coolies and angered Srivijaya."
"They had a big fight a month ago and Sri Lanka was defeated miserably. This time it was supposed to be revenge."
Su Chen's eyes widened: "They're just sampans, but they still want to take revenge on the cannibal?"
Li Chengqian spread his hands, this is someone else’s state matter!
"Teacher, after we leave, can we leave the camps left by these big cannibals to these natives?"
"I think we in the Tang Dynasty will definitely come here again, whether it is warships or merchant ships, and having good relations with the natives here will reduce a lot of trouble."
Su Chen thought for a while: "Your Highness, you can decide this matter yourself, but Your Highness should be careful of their betrayal!"
Li Chengqian nodded.
After another two days of repairs locally, the ship has been repaired and the fleet is ready to set sail again.
"Commander, why do you want me to go back?"
"We're not even halfway through the voyage yet. I'm going back alone, and I still have to be laughed at!"
Fang Yiai looked at Su Chen, unwilling to return to Datang.
"Fang Jun! As a rule, what happened here requires a battle report to be sent back to the court and His Majesty."
"The journey back is quite difficult and dangerous, so we can't send a messenger back, and he can't cross the ocean."
"So we need to send a capable and responsible person back to deliver the battle report,"
"Look, your frigate has been sunk. If you go out and eat, you won't be able to be the captain anymore."
"When you return to the Tang Dynasty, not only can you continue to be a captain, but you can also command a fleet. What a majestic thing!"
Originally, Su Chen had no intention of sending any battle report to Li Er, as it was too far.
However, Liu Rengui and others believed that it was necessary to report the appearance of the cannibal in Malacca to the court.
And there happened to be a few ships that were not suitable for continuing the voyage.
Didn't four main gunboats have big holes blown out by the cannibal suicide attack?
Two of them sank, while the other two struggled to the beach and successfully sat on the beach, thus escaping the disaster.
In the past few days, with the efforts of the crew, the holes opened by the explosion have been repaired.
However, even if the big holes opened by the explosion were repaired, Su Chen had no intention of moving forward with them for safety reasons.
Crossing the Indian Ocean for the first time, there are some things that you should be afraid of just in case.
There was also a frigate, which was also brushed down by Su Chen.
There are also some injured sergeants who are not suitable for continuing to go to the feast.
Combining many factors, Su Chen decided to dedicate a small group of people to sail the three ships back and send a battle report to Li Er.
It just so happened that the wounded soldiers were sent back at the same time.
After the matter is decided, it is a problem to send who will go.
The person who leads the team back must be above the captain level.
After all, the voyage is not close, and without certain capabilities, it is difficult to command the three ships to return safely.
But none of the dozens of captains in the fleet were willing.
We have all come this far, and no one wants to give up halfway!
In the end, everyone unanimously decided: let Fang Jun go back!
Who told him that he was Fang Xuanling's son? He should be given some care so that it would be easier for him to talk to a group of civil servants when he returned.
.
So Fang Yiai took about 300 people on the way home with a look of displeasure.
"Fang Jun, although you have two gunboats, the crews are insufficiently equipped, and most of them are wounded."
"Be careful on the road!"
Before leaving, Su Chen gave instructions.
Fortunately, it is late autumn now, the South China Sea is relatively calm, and Fang Jun has also been a captain for a few days, so returning safely is not a big problem.
After letting Fang Jun go back to deliver the message, other ships began to pass through the Strait of Malacca and enter the Indian Ocean.
Areca at the western end of the Strait of Malacca, where the fleet began to split into two.
The first fleet, Su Chen, with fourteen main gunboats and twelve frigates, is preparing to go all the way west, through the Strait of Grete, across the ocean to the Lion Country on the opposite side of the Indian Peninsula, and then west across the Arabian Sea into the Gulf of Aden.
, and finally enters the Red Sea.
The remaining six galleys and twenty frigates formed the Second Fleet, which continued north along the coastline, bypassing the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Peninsula, with its final destination being the Persian Gulf.
After seeing off the second fleet of galleys and frigates led by Sun Renshi, Su Chen also ordered the ships to start moving forward at full speed.
"Teacher, the destinations of the two fleets are so far apart, how can they reconcile when the time comes?"
Su Chen smiled and said: "We will go around the Red Sea and then look for them."
Li Chengqian was good at gesturing on the map: "The speed of the Second Fleet is already slow. How long will it take for them to go around the Indian Peninsula along the coastline like this?"
Su Chen said: "It took the Great Eater a hundred and ten days, so they still need it in fifty days."
"The ambush of the Great Eater in Malacca failed, and I guess I won't send another ship out in the short term,"
"Now that we have entered late autumn, the sea waves are relatively calm, and the safety of the two fleets is still guaranteed."
Li Chengqian continued to draw on the map with his hands, frowning and said: "I found that Persia and Tianzhu are actually not very far away from me in a straight line to the Tang Dynasty."
"Going up the Xindu River, we will almost reach Belu. When our army defeated Tubo, our army went to Belu."
Su Chen smiled and said: "His Highness is right. In terms of distance, going to Tianzhu, Persia, and Dashi by land is much closer than by sea and land."
"In fact, the several valleys in Bolu are the sources of the Xindu River, which is the main route from the northwest to Tianzhu."
"But the land route has to go through countless mountains and vast deserts, so it is impossible to walk."
Li Chengqian put the map away: "I know, but I was a little surprised when I suddenly saw that I had gone around in such a circle."
"We have to run four thousand miles at a time this time, is that really okay?
You know, a slight mistake can make a thousand miles, if the course is just a little bit wrong..."
Su Chen said helplessly: "Your Highness, you have said this several times."
