The Shilifoshi Palace didn't look very tall, but the furnishings inside were very nice. It was very comfortable to look at. Moreover, due to the ventilation and shading done well, people wouldn't feel hot when they stayed in the room. Instead, it felt very cool.
The palace maids here were very pretty and young. Their clothes gave people a refreshing feeling. It was very comfortable to look at.
After Ang Lee finished his breakfast, he walked around the palace and went to sleep in the guest room. He was woken up in the morning. In fact, he didn't get enough sleep. It was a good choice to take a nap in the afternoon.
King Shilifoshi had woken up two hours earlier in the morning. He had worked hard at the port for more than two hours. He was exhausted. Now that he had finally sent Li An away, he needed a good night's sleep to replenish his energy.
However, he had to accompany Ang Lee to hunt the next morning. Therefore, there were some things that needed to be done in advance to prevent Ang Lee from being disappointed if they didn't manage to hunt the tiger.
He immediately gathered a few generals from his country and prepared to give out the tasks.
"Your Majesty, do you have any instructions?"
A few of the burly generals asked.
King Shilifoshi yawned and said, "Tomorrow, I will be accompanying Assistant Minister Li to hunt the tiger in the mountains. However, if we don't manage to find the tiger, Assistant Minister Li will be unhappy. Therefore, you have to prepare in advance to force the tiger into a certain area. It will be more convenient for tomorrow's hunt."
"Yes, Your Majesty. We will go and prepare now."
The generals replied loudly. This wasn't a difficult task. They had carried out such tasks many times before.
In fact, in ancient times, if ordinary people wanted to hunt, it was completely based on luck. If they found the prey, they could hunt. If they didn't find the prey, they could only return empty-handed.
However, when the royal family and nobles hunted, it was different. Before they hunted, they would send a large number of troops to mark out the hunting area. These troops would completely seal off the hunting area and not allow any outsiders to enter. This was to prevent accidents or assassins from appearing.
In addition, during the hunt, there would be a large number of people in charge of driving the prey to the front of the nobles. This would allow the nobles to hunt more easily. At the very least, they had to reduce the range of activity of the prey. Otherwise, where would the nobles find prey in such a large forest? Moreover, during the driving process, they could also discover hidden wild beasts. This would prevent the nobles from being ambushed by the prey, which would lead to unpredictable dangers.
Therefore, since ancient times, the nobles mainly hunted in groups and didn't go into the forest to hunt by themselves. Such a large-scale hunt was more costly and it would cause more disturbance to the commoners.......... Emperors usually didn't hunt often to avoid disturbing the commoners' daily life.
Think about it, a large-scale deployment of troops would definitely damage some of the crops along the way, causing the commoners' fields to be reduced. After the hunt, the hunters couldn't go into the mountains to hunt, and the commoners couldn't go up the mountains to chop firewood. This way, the commoners' daily life would be disturbed.
Generally, the nobles hunted in a regular pattern. For example, the spring hunt, the autumn hunt, and so on. The autumn hunt was the most popular because in autumn, many prey were storing fat in preparation for the cold winter. Therefore, the animals were more plump and healthy. This kind of prey was the most suitable for the nobles.
Moreover, the autumn climate was more comfortable. It was said that autumn was cool and the temperature was neither hot nor cold. Going out to hunt in this season was very enjoyable for the body. If it was summer, the heat would be unbearable, and winter would be cold, so it wasn't suitable for group hunting.
As for the spring hunt, it was similar to the autumn hunt. The climate was also more comfortable. Moreover, the spring plants had just started to sprout. While hunting, they could also go for a walk. It was killing two birds with one stone.
Of course, the so-called spring, summer, autumn, and winter only existed in the temperate zone. In tropical areas like Shilifoshi, there was no change in the four seasons at all. The climate was always the same.
There were no four seasons in the tropics. According to the terrain and vegetation, it was divided into tropical rainforest, tropical desert, and tropical monsoon.
Among them, the tropical rainforest climate was high temperature and rainy all year round. There was no obvious seasonal change, and the weather was always extremely humid. The tropical desert climate was high temperature and dry all year round. There was also no obvious seasonal change. Only the tropical monsoon climate was divided into two seasons, the dry season and the rainy season. The dry season was high temperature and little rain, and the vegetation was withered. Animals generally had to carry out large-scale migrations in search of water and food. The rainy season was high temperature and rainy, and the vegetation was lush, suitable for the survival of animals and plants.
Most of the territory of Shilifoshi belonged to the tropical rainforest climate. It was high temperature and rainy all year round, and there was no seasonal change at all.
The tropical rainforest climate was very disruptive to hunting. Because of the heavy rain, it would seriously interfere with hunting. Who would be willing to hunt in the rain? The rain would also wash away the tracks of the prey, making it impossible for the hunter to track the prey.
Of course, the tropical rainforest climate was only high temperature and rainy. It did not mean that it would rain every day. There were still sunny days, and it was not a bad choice to use the sunny days to hunt.
In the Tang dynasty, there was no weather forecast. However, experienced people could still predict the weather characteristics for a period of time based on some astronomical phenomena. Therefore, they could completely predict the weather conditions for the next few days.
Ang Lee's fleet also carried a large number of astronomical telescopes. Moreover, they observed along the way. After all, a ship at sea must always pay attention to the direction. Once the direction was wrong, unpredictable things could happen.
Astronomical telescopes could not only predict the weather, but also determine the direction at sea. Although the compass had been invented long ago, it was never wrong to have double insurance.
After arranging the hunting matters, Shilifoshi's Guowei lay down to rest. He was tired all morning, and no matter what, he would sleep until the evening before he could get up.
Dinner was arranged in the main hall of the palace. The food was sumptuous, and the program was exciting. Ang Lee did not expect at all. For a small country like Shilifoshi, it was not easy to make such a big scene.
Ang Lee was very satisfied. He immediately said that he was an old friend of the foreign country for many years, and they would always be friends. The Tang dynasty and Shilifoshi would always be a family.
When he was half drunk, King Shilifoshi lamented that his country was weak and often bullied by pirates. When he heard that the Dragon Tooth Gate Kingdom was controlled by pirates, he was so nervous that he could not sleep well for half a month. He was afraid that Black Wolf would send the main force of pirates to Shilifoshi's port. If that happened, his kingdom was likely to be lost.
When he heard that Black Wolf was eliminated by the Tang dynasty's army, he was so excited that he did not sleep for a few days. He celebrated happily for a few nights and sent officials to Malacca to express his gratitude to the Tang dynasty's imperial court.
However, after Black Wolf, this huge threat, disappeared, he began to worry about the small pirate groups around him. After all, the Black Wolf group also grew from small pirates. If one of the pirate groups suddenly grew and absorbed the strength of the other pirates, it would quickly become a powerful pirate force of thousands of people. This would be a huge threat to his kingdom's soldiers.
In order to eliminate the pirates, he sent 2,000 soldiers to encircle and suppress a group of pirates. He wanted to establish his kingdom's prestige, and at the same time, to express his loyalty to the Tang dynasty's imperial court. However, more than 100 of the 2,000 soldiers he sent died, and 300 to 400 were injured. They killed less than 50 pirates. Moreover, they could not break the pirate's lair. After two days of stalemate, Shilifoshi's soldiers had to retreat and give up the encirclement and suppression of the pirates. Because the casualties were too great, there was not much meaning to continue fighting.
However, what he did not expect was that the Tang Army divided into five groups and easily destroyed the pirate's lair. These five pirate's lair included one that Shilifoshi had once encircled.
The pirate's lair that Shilifoshi could not take down even after losing hundreds of soldiers was taken down by the Tang Army with almost no casualties. Moreover, it only took them a short time. The difference in combat power was too terrifying.
The King's compliment made Ang Lee very comfortable. The Tang dynasty's army's combat power could become so strong because of him. If it were not for him promoting industry and inventing gunpowder and machinery, how could the Tang Army have such a strong combat power and destroy the pirates so easily?
However, Ang Lee did not agree to the King's suggestion that he wanted to buy the advanced weapons of the Tang Army. After all, these advanced weapons were too powerful. Whether to sell them to Shilifoshi or not was not up to Ang Lee alone. He must get the approval of the imperial court of the Tang dynasty.
Of course, in Ang Lee's opinion, as long as they could be sold at a high price, some of the second-rate advanced weapons could still be sold to friendly countries. After all, they were only second-rate weapons. Selling them to friendly countries would not pose much of a threat to the Tang dynasty.
In addition, with the level of these backward small countries, it was absolutely impossible for them to imitate the weapons of the Tang dynasty. Therefore, there was no leakage of secrets.
Take the artillery as an example. Although it was only an iron tube, the casting requirements were very high. If the craftsmanship requirements were not met, not only could it not fire the shells normally, but the barrel might also explode, causing irreparable damage.
Therefore, if the Tang dynasty sold a few cannons to friendly countries, the friendly countries could only own these few cannons. The same was true for the shells. The Tang dynasty would sell the small countries a corresponding number of exploding shells according to the practical combat needs of these small countries. As for the iron balls, they could produce them themselves. They could not threaten the Tang dynasty.
"Your Highness, regarding the artillery, I really can't make the decision. I need the approval of the imperial court. However, you can directly report to the imperial court of the Tang dynasty and point out your country's needs. Perhaps the imperial court will agree to sell you a few cannons."
Ang Lee said seriously.
Ang Lee supported King Shilifoshi's suggestion to buy the artillery. Buying a dozen or so cannons would give them courage. Moreover, after the exploding shells were used up, they would buy more. This would be a long-term business that would bring endless financial resources to the imperial court of the Tang dynasty.
However, Ang Lee was not sure what the imperial court would think. Therefore, he could not make the decision to sell the Tang dynasty's weapons to King Shilifoshi. This arms business would require King Shilifoshi to apply to the imperial court of the Tang dynasty himself.
When King Shilifoshi heard this, he said, "Assistant Minister Li, how should Xiao Wang apply?"
"That's easy. You can say that Shilifoshi is always loyal to the Tang dynasty. Pirates often attack the surrounding area and the soldiers are not as strong as they want to be. You can plead to buy ten cannons to increase the strength of the pirates and help the Tang dynasty to maintain peace at sea. The imperial court might agree after weighing the pros and cons."
Ang Lee said with a smile.
"Yes, yes, yes. Xiao Wang will remember this. Come, let's continue drinking."
King Shilifoshi said politely.
After drinking a few more cups, King Shilifoshi said, "Assistant Minister Li, there are more than five groups of pirates around Shilifoshi. Xiao Wang really wants to lead the elite troops to wipe out the pirates and see how they are beaten to a pulp."
After saying that, he looked intoxicated.
Obviously, any man would fantasize about becoming the most powerful leader, commanding thousands of troops to wipe out the entire world, and making everyone submit to him.
This kind of feeling was very good. However, King Shilifoshi had never enjoyed this kind of feeling. The reason was that Shilifoshi was too weak. He could not even wipe out the small group of pirates around him. How could he lead thousands of troops to wipe out the world?
"That's not difficult. After tomorrow's hunting, I can accompany Your Highness to wipe out the pirates' lair. I'll let Your Highness see how the Tang Army can wipe out the pirates' lair. Haha!"
Ang Lee said loudly.
"That's great. Xiao Wang will let his troops lead the way. Let's go wipe out the pirates together."
King Shilifoshi was very excited. He had never wiped out a pirate's lair in his life. This time, accompanying the Tang Army to wipe out the pirates' lair would definitely not be dangerous because he would be protected by the powerful Tang Army.
The banquet was very successful. Everyone ate and drank happily. The topics were very agreeable. In a happy atmosphere, the banquet ended successfully.
They ate a little too much during the banquet. If they went straight to bed, it would be a great burden on their bodies. Ang Lee and King Shilifoshi walked around the palace and talked about some topics that both of them were interested in. They only went back to rest when their stomachs were almost fully digested.
King Shilifoshi treated Ang Lee very well. Other than good food and accommodation, he also sent four beautiful palace maids to serve him in all aspects.
However, Ang Lee had to go hunting the next morning. So, he had to rest early. Naturally, he could not enjoy the beauties. It would not be too late to enjoy the beauties after he came back from hunting and had a good rest.
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