Chapter 488 I Think He Looks Like a King

On March 8, the 12th year of the Qingli calendar, the Song Dynasty envoys arrived at Vijaya, the capital of Champa.

Upon learning that the Song Dynasty envoys had arrived, the Champa King Rudravarman III entertained them with hospitality and held a banquet in the kingdom to welcome the envoys.

In the face of Tan Wenxue's request to go to the Song Dynasty to attend the annual meeting at the end of the year, Rudravarman III agreed and said that he would go there in person.

The Song Dynasty held a grand celebration this time, and the requirements for East Asian countries were that the kings of the vassal states must attend, and those who were too far away should also send envoys.

Basically, except for the Liao Emperor Yelu Chongyuan, all the kings of the surrounding countries in East Asia must come, including the Japanese emperor.

The reason why Rudravarman III agreed so readily was that in addition to the fact that the Song Dynasty was now strong and the South China Sea Navy had put great pressure on Southeast Asian countries, the most important thing was that he had taken a lot of advantages from the Song Dynasty.

During the Han Dynasty, the entire Vietnam region was the territory of the Han Dynasty and was under the jurisdiction of the Jiaozhi Provincial Administration.

The administrative planning is divided into three counties. The Red River Delta area in the north is called Jiaozhi County, the narrow coastal area in the middle is called Jiuzhen County, and the southernmost area is called Rinan County.

This situation did not change until the late Eastern Han Dynasty.

In 137 AD, Qu Kui, the son of Gongcao of Xianglin County in Rinan County, killed Xianglin County Magistrate, became independent from China, occupied most of the original Rinan County, established Champa Kingdom with Brahmanism as the state religion, and since then, the southern part of Vietnam has been Champa.

The northern part of Vietnam has always been under the control of the Central Plains Dynasty. It was not until the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms that Wu Quan defeated the army of the Southern Han Dynasty at the Bach Dang River and made northern Vietnam independent.

So before 937 AD, Vietnam was directly bordered by Champa and the Central Plains Dynasty.

Just don’t think that northern Vietnam became independent very late, but its martial virtue is very abundant. After 937 AD, the Wu Dynasty, Ding Dynasty, and Li Dynasty were established in northern Vietnam, and they fought with Champa many times and defeated Champa many times.

In particular, the Le Dynasty once invaded the capital of Champa, killed the king of Champa, and almost destroyed Champa. Champa had to move its capital southward to retain its name.

Then the Vietnamese Ly Dynasty replaced the Le Dynasty and continued to fight with Champa. From 1021 to 1026 AD, Champa was almost destroyed by the Vietnamese Ly Dynasty, with heavy casualties and a large amount of territory lost.

In the fourth year of the Qingli period, that is, in 1044 AD, King Li Fuma of the Ly Dynasty led a large army to personally attack Champa and defeated the Champa army in the Battle of Wupujiang.

In this battle, Li Fuma killed the Champa king Ludharavarman II and forced Champa to become a vassal state of the Vietnamese Dynasty, which had to pay tribute to the Ly Dynasty every year.

In this way, the Ly Dynasty was in its heyday and became more and more rampant.

And since then, the northern Vietnamese and the southern Cham people have also formed a feud between the north and the south of Vietnam.

Originally, although the Ly Dynasty did not destroy Champa in history, the northern part of Vietnam has always been suppressing the south, and hundreds of years later, it destroyed Champa.

But what no one expected was that history has changed dramatically now.

In the fourth year of the Qingli reign, Li Foma was showing off his power in Champa and was a hero for a while. As a result, he was defeated by the Song Dynasty at the beginning of the fifth year of the Qingli reign, and he was bombarded into ashes by the Song army.

Although the Song Dynasty did not recover the Red River Delta, the homeland of the Central Plains, it also supported the former Le Dynasty royal family in the local area, and stationed troops in Thang Long Prefecture and Jiangnan Province to fight against the rebellious forces within the Vietnamese Dynasty.

As a result, the Vietnamese Dynasty fell into great civil strife, and uprisings broke out in various places. The supported Le Dynasty was exhausted and dealt with everywhere. Occasionally, it needed the help of the Song army and was unable to invade Champa again.

The Champa King Rudravarman III, who inherited his father's throne, was naturally overjoyed. Taking advantage of the civil strife in the Vietnamese Dynasty, he immediately sent troops to the north and recovered a large area of ​​his homeland with almost no obstacles, including the old capital Indrapura.

Although the military strength was still very weak, it was thanks to the Song Dynasty.

During the reign of King Rudravarman III, trade with the Song Dynasty made the country rich. Taking advantage of the Song Dynasty's demise and the Vietnamese Li Dynasty's recovery of their homeland, the economy and territory were developed and expanded, making Champa in a period of prosperity.

So at this time, King Rudravarman III's reputation in the country was booming, so he naturally had to continue to cling to the Song Dynasty and continue to pay tribute to the Song Dynasty.

Therefore, facing the request of the Song Dynasty envoy, King Rudravarman III certainly would not refuse.

The first stop of the envoys was very smooth, which greatly boosted the confidence of Tan Wenxue and others, so they set off again two days later and headed south to Brunei.

Brunei was located in the northern part of Kalimantan Island in later generations. Its territory was part of Brunei and East Kalimantan Province in Indonesia in later generations. The capital had a population of 10,000. It was recorded in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and it had frequent exchanges with the Central Plains during the Northern Song Dynasty.

The Song Dynasty delegation followed the monsoon southward, still at an average speed of 180 kilometers per day, and after six days, they crossed 1,100 kilometers and arrived safely and smoothly in Brunei.

The group was soon warmly received by the King of Brunei, Xilimanuo.

When he learned the purpose of the visit, Xilimanuo hesitated.

In the past few years, he had sent people to pay tribute to the Song Dynasty, but tribute was tribute, and only the left and right ministers were sent. Now he is going in person, and no one knows how many accidents will happen in the middle.

However, under the persuasion of the powerful merchant and translator of Brunei who accompanied the delegation, Xilimanuo finally agreed to their request.

Now the Song Dynasty can't afford to offend.

The South China Sea Fleet will appear in the port of Brunei several times a year to station and replenish supplies, and one ship can destroy his country.

After inviting another country, the delegation was full of confidence and set off again on March 16th, heading south to Java Island to invite Java, one of the last two countries in Southeast Asia.

After the envoy to Java, they will officially cross the Strait of Malacca, and in the process of crossing the strait, they will go to Sumatra Island to invite the last country, Srivijaya.

Java is very far away, with a journey of nearly 2,000 kilometers. The delegation took a full ten days and encountered wind and rain on the road before arriving in late March.

During the Chunhua period, Java sent envoys to the Song Dynasty to pay tribute, and it took 60 days to arrive at Dinghai County, Mingzhou, which is Ningbo Zhenhai County in the future.

Because it was too far away from the Song Dynasty, the envoy's journey was nearly 6,000 kilometers, so Java has never paid tribute to the Song Dynasty since the Chunhua period.

However, the exchanges between the two sides are still relatively frequent.

Because Java and Srivijaya were enemies and attacked each other, both sides wanted to win the support of the Song Dynasty. Therefore, although no envoys were sent, merchants traded back and forth. Java merchants often sued Srivijaya for bullying them.

Srivijaya was also afraid of being blamed by the Song Dynasty, so during the reign of Emperor Zhenzong of Song Dynasty, a Buddhist temple was built in Palembang to celebrate Zhao Heng's birthday. Emperor Zhenzong of Song Dynasty specially gave a bell for this and inscribed on it: "Long Live the Heaven".

These two countries can be said to love and hate each other.

When he heard that the Song Dynasty envoys had arrived, King Airlangka of Java also warmly entertained them.

This person was a woman, the daughter-in-law of the former king Murocha.

Because Murocha and his son were killed in the battle with Srivijaya, and his grandson was young, the royal family had no heir for a while, so Airlangka inherited the throne.

During this period, the war between Java and Srivijaya had ended with Java's defeat. Srivijaya's power spread throughout Sumatra and occupied the western part of Java, making it unprecedentedly powerful.

Knowing the intention of the Song Dynasty envoy, Airlangka first replied politely that she was willing to go to Song Dynasty, but was afraid that if she left, Srivijaya would take the opportunity to attack, so she wanted to refuse.

However, Tan Wenxue told Airlangka that if they became a vassal state of Song Dynasty, Song Dynasty would protect them, and if Srivijaya dared to attack, they would be destroyed.

Hearing this, Airlangka knew that he had no reason to refuse, so he readily agreed.

In this way, three consecutive stops, Champa, Brunei, and Java successfully completed the mission.

In fact, during this period, there were more than three countries in the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia, including Brunei, Java, and Srivijaya.

But the rest of the countries are recorded as countries, but in fact they are tribes, subject to these three regimes, just like the Liao Kingdom is mainly composed of Khitan people, but there are many tribes such as Jurchen, Bohai, and Mengwu.

So basically inviting these three countries is enough.

In early April, the Song Dynasty delegation set off again. This trip took a month and the journey was nearly 4,000 kilometers. Finally, they were about to leave Southeast Asia and go to the Indian Ocean from the Strait of Malacca.

This trip was almost within the mission's expectations.

Because the journey to Southeast Asian countries is about 4,000 kilometers, the time is one month, and after leaving the Strait of Malacca, it is almost 4,000 kilometers to the Indian Peninsula, and the time is also about one month.

Then enter the Persian Gulf from the Indian Peninsula, which is also 4,000 kilometers away, and the time is still one month, so three months to go and three months to return is a very smooth situation.

However, the court took into account the possibility of accidents on the way, such as encountering storms, so it gave four more months, and they could return before the end of the year.

Seeing that the journey went smoothly, Tan Wenxue and his team were very happy. The envoys stayed in Java for two days, replenished some fresh water and food, and then sailed towards the Strait of Malacca.

The capital of Srivijaya was in Palembang, not on the seaside, so a few days later, the envoys arrived at the lower reaches of the Musi River.

After Tan Wenxue and Wang Shining discussed, they decided to leave the fleet at the estuary, and the main members of the envoys took the Guangzhou down the river to Palembang.

The Musi River is very wide, with a large flow and deep water. It can accommodate 10,000-ton ocean-going ships. In later generations, it was an important trade river in Palembang, Indonesia. The envoys of the Song Dynasty could pass through.

But it was also because of the large flow of water that ordinary ships lacked mechanical power and had a slow upstream speed. They were afraid of wasting time, so they used the Guangzhou, which relied on steam power to speed up.

After making this decision, the group immediately took action.

The Guangzhou then went full speed ahead, full power, and rumbled towards Palembang.

Palembang is only 80 kilometers away from the seaport. With the horsepower of the Guangzhou, it can be easily reached in just half a day.

They set out in the morning and arrived in Palembang at noon.

On April 7, the climate in Southeast Asia in early summer was hot, or very sultry. There was a heavy rain two days ago, and the water flow of the Musi River surged, and the flood spread.

In the rolling waves, the Guangzhou saw a vast river bank from afar.

At the foot of the mountain at the far end of the river bank, there is a vast plain.

The plain is lush and green, with lush forests and villages along the way. Due to the large amount of water and small amount of land, most of the houses are on the water, and bamboo houses are built with pillars, and some are even bamboo rafts.

On the shore are mostly fields, with paddy fields crisscrossing. The local residents have slightly dark skin and look at the behemoth on the river in surprise from the houses on the water.

"Doctor, commander."

Srivijaya's great businessman Pu Jin pointed to a city on the river bank in the distance and introduced them: "That is Old Port, the capital of Sri Lanka."

"Well, it's certainly majestic."

The two observed with telescopes, still very emotional.

They never expected that there would be such a prosperous country at this end of the South China Sea.

I saw a majestic city on the horizon in the distance.

The city wall is tall and mighty, dozens of miles long, and it seems like there is no end in sight.

The outside of the city is like the villages seen along the way. The residents live on the water, and there are densely packed houses on the water.

It's different outside the city. There is finally land, and the people's clothes are much better.

Land houses have appeared, just like in the suburbs of Bianliang.

The city is very prosperous, with various two-story buildings everywhere. Standing high on the bow and looking through a telescope, you can see the streets in the city are crisscrossed and arranged neatly, and there are many Buddhist temples and pagodas.

Overall, this place looks a bit like the state government office on the 1st Road of the Song Dynasty. The streets are lined with shops and signs, and there are many pedestrians walking around in the city.

Moreover, there were many ships parked on the pier outside. It was obvious that Srivijaya had very frequent trade exchanges, whether with neighboring countries or heading north to the Song Dynasty.

"Although Old Port is not as good as Guangzhou, it is also the largest city in our country. With more than 100,000 people in Dingkou, we are the largest country in the South China Sea!"

Pu Jin said quite proudly.

"Well, no wonder King Jhapo said you bullied them. You are indeed stronger than Jhapo Kingdom."

"I see there are many pagodas and temples in the city."

"I heard that there was some displeasure with you, Sri Lankan, because of the garrison of the Song Dynasty in Puluo Zhong a few years ago?"

Zhang Youwei stood up with his hands behind his back and said: "I hope that your King Srivijaya will put aside the past grudges and have friendly relations with me, the Song Dynasty, and don't make any mistakes."

"Yes Yes Yes."

Pu Jin nodded repeatedly.

When he came back this time, he also made up his mind to persuade the king not to provoke the Song Dynasty again.

Soon the Canton rumbled into the port.

Its appearance caused nearby Sri Lankans to flee in panic, pointing at the Guangzhou and screaming in the local language, as if they had seen a ghost.

The rumbling sound and the white smoke above really frightened them.

After a while, the originally lively pier was deserted. Many people were hiding from a distance and peeking out to watch.

The envoys were not surprised by this situation.

The same is true when they go to other countries. Perhaps the dignitaries of those countries have heard of ironclads, but the people of their own country are unlikely to see them.

So of course it fills them with fear.

When the boat stopped, everyone did not go ashore. Pu Jin and his entourage disembarked first.

This is customary.

Of course, it is impossible for the envoys to disembark directly and run all the way to the palace. Someone needs to report it.

As for whether the other king came to greet him in person or sent someone to greet him, that was another matter. At least when Champa and other countries were in the past, the king of the other side came to welcome them in person.

"Please wait a moment, the doctor and the commander. I will immediately ask the king to greet you."

Pu Jin said something to them, then got off the boat and left.

Everyone stayed on the boat.

Soon Pu Jin went straight into the city with more than ten followers.

Even though Pu Jin was a wealthy businessman in Guangzhou, he was submissive in front of Wang Han and others.

But in Sri Lanka, he was a top dignitary and very powerful.

Many of the shops on Guanglin Street belonged to him, so after Pu Jin got off the boat, he entered the city in a swagger.

After a while, local dignitaries came to greet him, and then took him to the palace.

At this moment, in the palace of Sri Lanka, King Siriki was enjoying singing and dancing.

He was dressed in gorgeous silks, with gold bracelets on his hands, gold rings studded with precious stones, and even the hat on his head had gold ornaments.

Srivijaya controlled the Straits of Malacca, and the entire east-west trade was controlled by him, so the country was naturally very wealthy.

Historical records record that "there was a lot of trade gold, the people were very rich, the land was very fertile, and the Buddha statues and utensils were all made of gold."

It's just that the Strait of Malacca has been snatched away by the Song Dynasty. Although his wealthy life will not suddenly plummet, the loss of such a large piece of fat still makes Xilichi very unhappy.

I couldn't beat him, and there was nothing I could do, so I had to let it go and take care of myself first.

"Your Majesty, Pu Jin is back."

A dignitary came in and said.

"oh?"

Xilichi said: "Let him come in."

"yes."

The dignitary then went out.

Pu Jin came in, saluted Xilichi and said, "Your Majesty."

"You're back? What did you bring this time?"

Xilichi laughed.

Pu Jin was Sri Lanka's richest businessman, but he lived in Guangzhou during the Song Dynasty all year round and came back less frequently in a year.

However, every time I come back, I will bring a large number of Song products from Guangzhou.

The luxurious silk clothes he wore were donated by Pu Jin, and he also spent a lot of gold to let Pu Jin bring back some golden Buddhas and jade Buddhas from the Song Dynasty.

So every time Pu Jin comes back, he can bring him a lot of things.

"Your Majesty the King, I am not coming back to do business this time, but I am bringing an envoy from the Song Dynasty here."

Pu Jin said: "They are now at the port outside the city, hoping to invite your majesty to the Song Dynasty to participate in the New Year celebrations of the Song people."

"What?"

Xilichi's face suddenly turned cold and he said, "Pu Jin, do you know what you are talking about? Don't you know that the Song Dynasty people robbed our Pu Luozhong?"

"Of course I know, but this is an opportunity to make good friends with the Song people."

Pu Jin quickly said: "Your Majesty, the Song people are now powerful and their ships are all over the ocean. If we cannot make good friends with them, I am afraid we will be in great danger."

"How many of them came?"

Xilichi asked.

"Your Majesty, what is this?"

Pu Jin wondered.

Xilichi said angrily: "The sea is very stormy. Who knows if you die at sea?"

His last attack on Puluozhong was defeated by the Song Dynasty navy.

But Sri Lanka was very good at water warfare. That time, the Song Dynasty navy established a station in Puluo and defeated them in a land battle.

This made Xilichi feel that if they were in the water, they would definitely be able to wipe out the Song army.

So I have always been worried about this matter.

However, Pu Jin was shocked and said: "Your Majesty, please don't do this. The Song people are more powerful than we imagined. They only need a hundred people to kill ten thousand of us, not to mention that they are far more than a hundred."

"Do they have many messengers?"

Xilichi was puzzled.

"As many as ten thousand."

Pu Jinhan was almost down.

"What, more than 10,000 people, all here?"

Xilichi was shocked.

There are more than 10,000 people, which is one-tenth of the population of Palembang.

So many people came running over, but he didn't know?

But fortunately, Pu Jin said: "Not really, just a ship came, and the rest of the people are at sea, but if it comes, they can arrive tomorrow."

"."

Xilichi fell silent.

He can only recruit more than 10,000 soldiers now. If he recruits the whole country and lets the tribal vassal states below send people, the number will only be tens of thousands at most.

Facing the opponent's 10,000 troops, he may not be able to defeat them.

So after a moment of silence, he waved his hand and said, "Yelloye."

"His Majesty."

The leader of the guards, Yeloye, came in.

"You lead the army out and drive the Song people away. I don't want to see them for a moment."

Xilichi gave the order.

"What if they resist?"

Yeloye asked.

Xilichi said coldly: "Then kill him. The Musi River is rising recently, so he is said to be flooded."

"Your Majesty, you must not do this."

Pu Jin sweated like rain for a while and said: "Even if you don't want to go, you can still send us an envoy because of your illness, but you must not make enemies with the Song people!"

"You are probably worried about your business in Song Dynasty."

Xilichi sneered and said: "The Song people are thousands of miles away from us. Am I afraid of them? They seized Puluozhong and only sent more than a thousand people. I will take it back sooner or later."

The importance of the Strait of Malacca had already become apparent during the Northern Song Dynasty. After his death, Sri Lanka fought with the Chola dynasty of the Indian Peninsula just to compete for this route.

You must know that the Chola Dynasty was four thousand kilometers away from Sri Lanka and crossed the entire Bay of Bengal to fight a war. It can be seen how costly it was.

But if we seize the Strait of Malacca and control it to collect tolls from Arabs, it will be worth the cost.

But after all, the Chola Dynasty was too far away. Although it defeated Srivijaya in the early stage and even captured Srivijaya's capital Palembang, the logistical supplies were too difficult and they eventually evacuated back, leaving Srivijaya still controlling the Strait of Malacca.

Now that the Strait of Malacca has been taken away by the Song Dynasty, Xilichi has undoubtedly lost a huge piece of fat, which is equivalent to the Song Dynasty being cut off from the Silk Road by Xixia, or even worse.

Because although Xixia is isolated from the Silk Road, it is only isolated from the Hexi Corridor. Businessmen from the Western Regions can still use the Hehuang Corridor, and the trade volume on the road is far behind that of sea transportation, and the trade volume is not at the same level at all.

Therefore, the loss of the Malacca Strait will bring Srivijaya a loss of millions of dollars in income every year, which is an astronomical figure for a country like Srivijaya.

At this time, facing the invitation from the envoy of the Song Dynasty, Xilichi naturally would not agree.

He was still thinking of finding an opportunity to snatch Puluo Zhong back and regain control of the Malacca Strait. How could he go to Song Dynasty himself?

What if this is a conspiracy by the Song people?

As for the question of the power of the Song Dynasty.

It’s not like Xilichi didn’t know that Song State was powerful.

But the Strait of Malacca is the lifeblood of their country.

Secondly, he thought that the Song Dynasty was too far away from them, and it was impossible for the Song Dynasty to send a large army for an expedition.

He is accumulating strength to annihilate the Song army in Puluo.

Even if the opponent knows this situation and sends men and horses over, and you can't resist it, you can still retreat to defend and wait for the opponent's main force to leave before taking back Puluozhong.

Therefore, Xilichi was not worried about the Song army at all.

"Humph, Pu Jin, you actually brought outsiders to your own country. Have you forgotten that you are a deceased Sri Lankan and not a native of Song Dynasty?"

Finally, Xilichi snorted coldly and said: "If you hadn't paid me many good tributes over the years, I would have killed you and hung your head on the city wall to tell the people that you are a traitor!"

"His Majesty."

The people of Pu and Jin were dumbfounded, but they knew that Xilichi was angry, so they had no choice but to say in despair: "It was my fault. I will tell the people of Song and let them leave."

"Go ahead."

Xilichi lay back on the throne again, with lingering anger still on his face.

When Pu Jin left the palace, he felt like the world was spinning.

He never expected that the king would actually be at odds with the Song Dynasty, but he could not persuade the king, so he had to leave the palace and return to the ship to report the matter to Tan Wenxu and the others.

At this moment, Tan Wenxu and the others on the boat were still waiting. Less than half an hour later, they saw groups of soldiers coming out of the city.

"King Srivastava should have come to greet him."

"Well, get ready."

Tan Wenxu and Zhang Youwei thought it was the king coming to greet them, so they planned to disembark.

However, before they could get off the deck, they saw Pu Jin running out of the city in a hurry.

He was running like crazy this time, unable to take into account his image as a powerful man. He even dropped his hat on the ground, with an anxious look on his face.

Wang Shining had been observing with a telescope, and when he saw someone running wildly in the city, he looked over and saw that it was Pu Jin. Seeing that his expression was wrong, he said, "Two doctors, wait a moment."

"What's wrong?"

Tan Wenxue and Zhang Youwei were already preparing to disembark with several deputy envoys and dozens of envoys' entourage. When they heard Wang Shining's words, they looked at him in confusion.

Wang Shining said: "Something is wrong, wait and see."

When the two saw what he said, they looked at each other, stopped, and stood on the side of the ship to continue waiting.

In a short time, thousands of Srivijaya's troops rushed to the shore and surrounded the pier aggressively. There were still people shouting in an incomprehensible language below.

Since Pu Jin had taken away his people, everyone could not understand, but looking at the other party's aura, they understood that the person coming was evil, and they looked at each other for a while.

But the stalemate didn't last long, and Pu Jin rushed over.

He had connections in the army, and soon he became more and more famous. He came to the ship and panted: "Mr. Commander, the commander is in trouble."

"What's wrong?"

"The king has lost his mind and gone crazy. He wants to become an enemy of the Song Dynasty and wants to drive you away. He also said that if you don't leave, you will be killed."

"Um?"

Zhang Youwei frowned and said, "It seems that your king is very unwise."

Pu Jin smiled bitterly and said: "I have also advised you, but nothing can be done."

"What should we do now?"

Tan Wenxue looked at Zhang Youwei and Wang Shining and said, "Are you leaving or not?"

"Humph, I, the Song Dynasty, sincerely invite you, but the other party is not only ignorant of good and evil, but also dares to send troops. Are you trying to trick me, the Song Dynasty, into not being able to fight?"

Wang Shining said angrily: "With my order, other countries will be destroyed in an instant!"

"Let's take it slow first. You destroyed his country and the court still has a mission. Where can we find a king to return to his throne?"

Zhang Youwei smiled bitterly.

Tan Wenxue frowned, pondered for a moment, and said quickly: "Do you remember what happened to Fu Yiyang?"

Fu Yiyang, whose real name is Fu Jiezi, was named the Marquis of Yiyang for killing King Loulan!

"You mean to establish another king?"

Zhang Youwei said.

"good."

"Is it possible that you have a good reputation as a teacher?"

"The one who attacked our Song Dynasty navy for no reason was in the front, and the one who was rude to our Song Dynasty envoy was in the back!"

Tan Wenxue's eyes showed a cold light.

He is from the Ministry of Etiquette, so he naturally knows how to find charges for the other party.

Pulau Chung became Singapore in later generations. In fact, Sri Lanka did not occupy it at that time because it was just an uninhabited place. Building a port across the strait on the other side would obviously be very costly and not conducive to management.

So Srivijaya controlled the island of Batam opposite Singapore and established a port charge there.

But after the Song people came over, they built a port in Pulu on the other side, so Arab merchants went there and no longer paid tolls to them, causing Srivijaya to lose a lot of income.

So Siriki took the initiative to launch an attack in order to destroy Puluozhong and force the Arab merchants to return to Batam.

Therefore, the initiator of the war between the two sides was Xilichi. The Song Dynasty did not attack Srivijaya, but Xilichi sent people to come and were defeated. The Song Dynasty did not continue to pursue it.

Now the Song Dynasty took the initiative to show goodwill, inviting the other party to the Song Dynasty to participate in the celebration, and also gave gifts, hoping to ease the relationship between the two countries. As a result, the other party not only refused to agree, but also expelled or even killed the envoys, and continued to attack Puluo Zhong and seize the Strait of Malacca. go back.

Then this is undoubtedly an excuse to send troops.

"Just this new king?"

Zhang Youwei did not doubt whether the Guangzhou had the strength to destroy Srivijaya, but he was worried about what would happen after it was destroyed.

Tan Wenxue pondered for a moment, raised his head and looked at Pu Jin, with a strange light in his eyes.

"Do you think he looks like King Srivijaya?"

"Me? King?"

Pu Jin opened his mouth wide, pointed at himself and said with a look of disbelief: "Really or not?"

Tan Wenxue, Zhang Youwei, and Wang Shining looked at each other, and then they all laughed.

"He does look like a king to me."