After saying that, Su Chen glanced at Elsa and said, "Get ready. It is estimated that the fleet will set sail to meet the Tang Dynasty in the next few days."
Elsa smiled slightly: "I am alone, what should I prepare for? I look forward to following the commander to the Tang Dynasty as soon as possible."
Su Chen: "That's good!"
Asking people to put away the map, Su Chen put things in West Asia behind him and stopped caring about them.
Then he came out of the hall and came to the city wall. Su Chen quietly looked at the busy scene inside and outside Basra:
The sergeants are transporting a large amount of ordnance to the coast for loading.
The Persians were busy moving a large number of cannons from the Tang military camp to their own military camp on the other side of the river.
Su Chen promised to give Lapu Pasu some of the Tang army's cannons, which made the Persians overjoyed.
Envoys from the Kingdom of Canni and Lachem were running around in the city, watching the excitement.
The two envoys from Dashi tried hard to hide the anger on their faces and secretly took note of how much Tang equipment the Persians had obtained.
"Commander, I'm here to enjoy the scenery with Elsa!"
Xue Rengui ran to the city wall to say hello, followed by Liu Rengui, Sun Renshi and other generals.
Su Chen glared at Xue Rengui, ignored him, and said to Liu Rengui and others: "Have you decided who will stay?"
Su Chen simply let Liu Rengui and others discuss the headache of who should stay in Basra.
Liu Rengui said with a smile: "We have agreed, Master Sun Ren will stay!"
"Other personnel are basically confirmed."
Sun Renshi glared at Liu Rengui: "Did you have such a discussion?
You guys are working together to plot against me!"
Cheng Wuting smiled and said: "Hey! Old Sun, who plotted against you?"
"You came up with your own idea, who gets the short-term contract and who stays, do you still want to go back on it?"
Su Chen glared at them, knowing what they were discussing!
"Just stay for a few more months. After the army returns to the court, we will immediately recruit a group of people to replace the brothers who stayed behind."
"We have worked hard for more than a year and finally secured a piece of land. We cannot afford to leave it unattended."
Sun Renshi glared at Liu Rengui and others, and said to Su Chen: "Commander, is this enclave really important to the Tang Dynasty?"
"After all, this place is more than 20,000 miles away from the Tang Dynasty. The imperial court doesn't care much about the land of Mobei and Gaoguli, let alone here?"
Su Chen smiled and said: "Don't worry, this place will definitely become the favorite of the imperial court in the future!"
"Places like Mobei and Gaoguli were abandoned because they failed to bring benefits to the imperial court and instead consumed a large amount of military resources every year."
"It's also my fault that the officials in the court were too stupid and couldn't come up with a suitable governance plan, so that a lot of resources around our country were wasted."
Sun Renshi muttered: "Commander, I don't think there is much output here?"
Su Chen: "Output?
This is a commercial port, a place where goods are distributed, what kind of output is needed?"
"When we go back, there will be a large number of merchant ships coming here from the Tang Dynasty across the ocean, and the Maritime Silk Road will replace the Silk Road on the northern land."
"Most of the goods in Datang will be sold to various places through Basra. By then, Yangzhou's tax revenue will not be as good as here!"
Everyone opened their eyes wide: "Are we going to collect taxes here in the future?"
Su Chen: "Nonsense! This is the territory of the Tang Dynasty, and all trade must be taxed according to the commercial laws of the Tang Dynasty."
"Taxation is only the income of the imperial court, and it only accounts for a small amount of money."
"The majority of profits are from trade. Look at the many wealthy merchants in Chang'an. Didn't they all rely on the Silk Road in the northwest of the Tang Dynasty?"
"Such a highly profitable trade route, with hundreds of thousands of years of history, has been controlled by Hu merchants. I really don't know what those rotten scholars think?"
"From now on, the Maritime Silk Road will be led by Datang!"
Everyone listened to Su Chen's big talk and didn't know what to say.
"Commander, we in the Central Plains have always emphasized agriculture and suppressed business. You know this."
Liu Rengui whispered.
Su Chen: "That's stupid!"
"The national policy of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing business is a despicable method used by a group of elites to harm the people of the country for their own selfish interests."
Now that there was no military mission to worry about, Su Chen said a few more words casually. As a result, everyone looked at each other, not knowing how to answer.
"Teacher! What's the point of telling the generals this?
They don’t know anything about trade and taxation.”
Li Chengqian also came to the city wall with several followers.
Everyone raised their hands together: "Your Highness!"
Su Chen smiled and said: "Your Highness, are you done?"
"We are just chatting, just saying a few words casually."
Li Chengqian: "There is nothing to be busy with. Zubair and Osman have already sent us the compensation that should be paid to us this year."
"There's nothing going on here."
Su Chen: "Just in time, the army is almost ready,"
"Your Highness, pick a date and we will set sail back to Datang!"
Li Chengqian smiled: "All the soldiers are eager to return home, so what date should we choose?"
Let’s take a look at the weather these days. If it’s suitable, set sail as soon as possible!”
Su Chen nodded: "Okay! It's autumn now, and the storms on the sea have calmed down a lot, so we should be able to sail away."
"If nothing unexpected happens, we will set sail in three days!"
…
Three days later, the Royal Navy Fleet of the Tang Dynasty left Basra and officially set sail back to the Tang Dynasty!
Sun Renshi and a thousand soldiers temporarily staying in Basra,
And Rappasu led three thousand Persian elites,
As well as the envoys from the Kingdom of Dashi, the Kingdom of Cannae, and the Kingdom of Lachem, they bid farewell on the coast.
The fleet left Basra, sailed southeast in the Persian Gulf, passed through the Strait of Hormuz, and was joined by two warships.
When crossing the Strait of Hormuz at the beginning of the year, two warships were severely damaged and were left by Su Chen on the beach of a small island in the west of the strait.
After the Big Eater discovered it, they repaired the two warships and towed them back to Hormuz.
Later, the food fleet was basically wiped out in Basra, and the Persians took the opportunity to capture Hormuz.
The big eater didn't have time to tow the two ships away, and they fell into the hands of the Persians.
When Rappasu found out, he returned the boat to Su Chen.
Su Chen sent several craftsmen, and with the help of the Persians, the two ships were completely repaired and then stopped in Hormuz.
Most of the weapons on the two warships were dismantled by Su Chen, and the rest were also dismantled by the big eater.
Su Chen simply used them as cargo ships.
The whole army was as focused as an arrow, and the fleet was moving forward at high speed with full sail throughout.
Leaving the Gulf of Oman and heading south along the west side of the Indian Peninsula, the fleet arrived at the Lion Country opposite the southernmost corner of the Indian Peninsula, which is Sri Lanka.
After repairing in the Lion Kingdom for several days and replenishing fresh water, fruits and vegetables, the fleet continued to move forward at high speed, heading east across the ocean and arriving at the northernmost tip of Sumatra Island.
The fleet stopped at the northwest entrance of the Strait of Malacca, preparing to pass through the Strait of Malacca after completing supplies.
