Li An had long known that the population of Khaling Kingdom was much larger than that of Shili Foshi. The land was also more fertile due to the frequent eruptions of volcanoes. However, he did not expect Khaling Kingdom to be much poorer than Shili Foshi. Even the palace gave off a feeling of poverty and desolation. Li An had wanted to eat and drink to his heart's content, but when he saw the empty palace, he felt that it was better to save some food for Khaling Kingdom.
"The palace is so big, but there are so few people here!"
Ang Lee looked at the palace and felt that there were too few people. It was not suitable for such a large scale.
The King said helplessly, "Assistant Minister Li, you may not know, but there were originally many palace servants here. However, because of the past few years of fighting the rebellion, the country's strength has been greatly depleted. Therefore, 90% of the palace maids and other servants have been dismissed. Half of the guards have also been transferred to the frontline to fight the rebellion. Therefore, there are fewer people here. However, once the rebellion is over, this place will continue to be lively."
After that, he ordered the servants to serve breakfast. It looked quite sumptuous with more than a dozen dishes, including both meat and vegetables. However, compared to Shili Foshi's breakfast, this breakfast was too thin and gave people a feeling of poverty.
Ang Lee did not really care about food and drink. It did not matter if the ingredients were a little shabby. Anyway, there was so much food that they could not finish.
"Your Highness, your life is far worse than King Shili Foshi's. I thought Khaling Kingdom was richer than Shili Foshi. It turns out that Khaling Kingdom is so poor. "
Ang Lee said faintly.
"Our country is in chaos and our strength is much weaker than a few years ago. Even the palace has to save money. I hope Assistant Minister Li will not blame me for not receiving you well."
The King of Khaling Kingdom said.
"Your Highness, you are already very considerate to receive me in person. I do not care about food and drink. I did not rest well last night. I am a little tired. I will go to rest first. See you tonight."
After breakfast, Ang Lee asked to rest. There was nothing to talk about with this old and sad King.
The guest room was of the highest standard. Many of the decorations in the room were added at the last minute. It was much cleaner and more upscale than the place where the king lived, to show the importance of the Heling Kingdom to the envoys of the Tang dynasty.
In fact, Ang Lee was not tired at all. He said that he wanted to take a break just to avoid the King of the Ha Ling Kingdom. Then, he would send his confidant to the Ha Ling Kingdom to investigate the situation. He wanted to know if the King's words about the internal strife were true, whether there was a need to help the King, and what benefits he could gain by helping the Ha Ling Kingdom quell the rebellion.
Although one of the important missions of Ang Lee's trip was to eliminate the pirates along the way, other than the Tang Empire, the countries along the way also had vested interests in eliminating the pirates along the way. If he could not get some benefits from the countries along the way, he would feel sorry for himself.
Right now, the Zha Ling Country seemed to be very poor. If one wanted to get the benefits of money, it would be very difficult. However, the Zha Ling Country was rich in resources, and its reserves of resources were not low. If one wanted to get benefits, it was still very easy.
"Send more people out to investigate secretly in the Zha Ling Kingdom. You must find out all the details of the civil strife in the Zha Ling Kingdom. You must report to me before nightfall."
Ang Lee gave the order.
"Yes, Assistant Minister Li."
The subordinates received the order and immediately went to investigate the situation in various parts of the Zha Ling Kingdom. The furthest they went was more than 30 miles to understand the situation as comprehensively as possible.
What Ang Lee had to do was rest and think about the benefits of helping the Ha Ling Kingdom, as well as what benefits the old King would give them.
At lunchtime, the palace servants of the Ha Ling Kingdom sent more sumptuous dishes and told Ang Lee that they would set up a banquet in the evening to welcome Ang Lee's arrival.
After lunch, the subordinates who had been sent out returned one after another. They reported the truth of the situation to Li An.
The King of the Ha Ling Kingdom did not lie. His younger brother had indeed colluded with the pirates and other evil forces. He had given the pirates official titles to let these bad guys support his puppet regime.
Because of the failure of the attack and the strong counterattack, the King's younger brother's situation was very bad. Therefore, in order to not be destroyed, he could only cooperate with the pirates and indulge them to do evil. In addition, in order to raise enough strength, he had to recruit a large number of soldiers in the areas under his control and increase the plundering of the wealth of the people. This made the areas under his control even more miserable and caused more resentment among the people.
Therefore, as far as the current situation was concerned, the situation was more favorable to the King. However, the King's advantage was not overwhelming, and the King's younger brother was defending the strategic terrain. Therefore, the war of putting down the rebellion eventually formed a tug-of-war for many years. It greatly consumed the national power of the Ha Ling Kingdom, causing the originally rich country to gradually decline.
Since the King's younger brother really colluded with the pirates, Ang Lee did not have to be polite. He had enough reason to send the elite troops of the Tang dynasty to help the King eliminate the rebels.
"Big Brother, the evidence that the King's younger brother colluded with the pirates is conclusive. What are you going to do? Do you want our army to help you put down the rebellion? "
Li Feiyu asked.
"What do you think?"
Ang Lee asked.
Li Feiyu said loudly, "Big Brother, since the King's younger brother colluded with the pirates, we don't have to be polite. Let's just beat him directly. The soldiers have been impatient for a long time."
Ang Lee nodded and said, "That's what I mean, but don't say it out loud for the time being. We came all the way here to help the Ha Ling Kingdom quell the rebellion, so we should get some benefits. It's just that I don't know how much the King of the Ha Ling Kingdom can give us."
"Big Brother is right. The army of the Tang dynasty can't help for nothing. We really should get some benefits. At dinner, we can ask the King in person and see what he says."
Li Feiyu said.
Ang Lee said with a smile, "That's what I'm thinking. You should immediately send people to collect the topographic map of the Ha Ling Kingdom, as well as the deployment of the troops on both sides. Before the war, we must figure out the situation first. We can't fight unprepared."
"Big Brother, don't worry! I've already sent people to collect the information. I'm sure we can figure out the situation soon. "
Li Feiyu said with a smile.
"Good boy, you know what Big Brother is thinking. Go and rest! You still have to attend the banquet hosted by the King of the Ha Ling Kingdom in the evening. "
Ang Lee smiled and returned to the soft couch to rest. The banquet would take a long time to prepare, so Ang Lee had to rest first and recover his energy.
Before dinner, a large number of maps were sent to Ang Lee. The maps collected by different soldiers were different, so these maps must be integrated to form a useful map.
The rebel army was mainly concentrated in the east, occupying the high mountains and other strategic positions, making it difficult for the King's army to break through. Nearly half of the soldiers defending the high mountains were bandits in the mountains and pirates along the coast. These desperadoes were quite good at fighting. With the advantage of the terrain, they were fully capable of blocking the rebel army.
The rebels and pirates had more than 10,000 people, while the King had mobilized 20,000 soldiers, which was much higher than the other side.
In addition, the Ha Ling Kingdom only had 30,000 soldiers. The King was using two-thirds of his strength to quell the rebellion, so one could imagine the consumption of national power. On the other hand, the rebel army occupied the sparsely populated eastern regions. Therefore, their military strength was even more limited. Ten thousand soldiers and horses made up four-fifths of the rebel army's total military strength. The rebel army only had three thousand soldiers and horses in reserve. Their reserve strength was also much weaker than the king's.
Looking at the situation of both sides, Ang Lee knew very well that as long as he persisted, the King would eventually wear down the rebel army and win the final victory. However, the price he would pay would also be relatively high. The national power of the entire Ha Ling Kingdom would further decline, and the lives of the people would be more difficult, even leading to the collapse of the country.
If the Tang Army joined in quelling the rebellion, it would undoubtedly be the last straw to crush the rebel army. It would ensure that the civil strife in Ha Ling Kingdom would be quickly quelled, thus preventing the decline of the Ha Ling Kingdom's national power and solving the urgent problem of the Ha Ling King.
"Assistant Minister Li, the King invites you to a banquet."
A subordinate reported.
Ang Lee nodded and led a group of subordinates to the main hall of the palace for the banquet.
Since the rebellion, the main hall of the palace had not held a banquet for many years. This time, it was Ang Lee's good fortune to hold a banquet again.
Because the King did not work in the main hall for a long time, the hall was not crowded. Coupled with the high humidity of the tropics, there was a moldy smell in the hall. However, the smell was not very strong and was still within the acceptable range.
However, it could be seen that in order to welcome Ang Lee, the King of Ha Ling Kingdom had put in a lot of effort. He took out all the best food in the palace, and the table was full of old wine. There were also a lot of officials accompanying him, and enough senior officials of the Tang Army were invited.
"Your Highness, you are so polite. You even took out all the best treasures. Haha!"
Ang Lee said with a smile.
The King grinned and said, "Our country is suffering from natural and man-made disasters and is short of supplies. There is really no better food to entertain the distinguished guests from the Tang Dynasty. I hope the distinguished guests from the Tang Dynasty won't mind."
"Your Highness, you are too polite. This is already very good. Come, let's toast together."
Ang Lee smiled and drank with everyone.
After a few drinks, Ang Lee looked at the King and said lightly, "I already know almost everything that has happened in your country. The rebels colluded with bandits and pirates and confronted the government army for several years, leading to the decline of your country's strength. The people have no way to make a living, and even the royal family lives a tight life. Now, you can take out so many delicious food to entertain us. I am really grateful!"
"You're welcome. As long as the distinguished guests from the Tang Dynasty don't mind the coarse food, it's fine. Come on, let's continue drinking."
After a few more drinks, Ang Lee rolled his eyes and said, "There are spies of the rebels in Yunwu City. Do you know, Your Highness?"
This was not the truth. Ang Lee deliberately said this to dig a hole for the King to jump into.
"It's not surprising that we have enemies among our enemies and enemies among our enemies!"
The King smiled and asked in confusion, "What do you mean, Assistant Minister Li? Did the spies of the rebels come to you? "
Ang Lee smiled and nodded. "Yes, the spies of the rebels came to my subordinates and said that the King took the throne by usurping power. He also said that as long as the Tang Army helped your brother take the throne, half of the wealth and land of Heling Kingdom would be given to the Tang Dynasty. He was really sincere."
After that, he looked at the King of Heling Kingdom seriously to see his reaction.
"Bang …"
The King was obviously frightened, and the cup in his hand fell to the ground unconsciously.
"Assistant Minister Li, this is not true. The rebels are the usurpers."
"Assistant Minister Li, the rebels have sinister intentions. They want to take advantage of the Tang Dynasty. They won't really give the Tang Dynasty so many benefits."
"Assistant Minister Li, the rebels colluded with the bandits. They are inhumane and must not be trusted."
The ministers of Heling Kingdom were frightened and hurriedly explained nervously to Ang Lee not to be fooled by the rebels.
Ang Lee smiled happily and confidently. He said lightly, "Why are you so nervous? If I had listened to the spies of the rebels, how could I have dared to come to the banquet? Not only that, but I will also help Heling Kingdom eliminate the rebels so that the people here can live a stable life and no longer have to worry about the turmoil."
"That's great, that's great."
"Assistant Minister Li is so righteous. The people of Heling Kingdom will be grateful to the Tang Dynasty."
"With the help of the elite troops of the Tang Dynasty, it will be much easier to eliminate the rebels."
The ministers of Heling Kingdom were happy.
"Assistant Minister Li, do you have any additional conditions? What do you need Heling Kingdom to do? "
The King asked nervously.
Ang Lee smiled and said, "The condition that you must agree to is that you must be friendly with the Tang Dynasty for generations and obey the Tang Dynasty's Maritime Silk Road policy. As for the rest, it depends on Your Highness. I will not force you."
The conditions that Ang Lee gave were almost no requirements. Heling Kingdom was eager to be friendly with the Tang Dynasty for generations. Heling Kingdom also knew a little about the Maritime Silk Road policy. It would not cause much loss to their country.
But the King was an experienced man. He would not really refuse to give them any benefits. In comparison, the Tang Army had not yet sent out troops. If the conditions he gave were too low and the Tang Army refused to fight hard, it would be no different from not helping. Therefore, in order to quell the rebellion as soon as possible, he must show enough sincerity to make the Tang Army work hard willingly.
"Come on, bring me the map."
The King ordered.
Soon, the map of Heling Kingdom was spread out and displayed in front of Ang Lee.
"Assistant Minister Li, if the Tang Dynasty's army is willing to help us quell the rebellion, all the spoils seized after the war will belong to the Tang Army. All the food and drink needed by the Tang Army will be provided by Heling Kingdom. If any of the Tang Dynasty's soldiers die in battle, Heling Kingdom will pay double the compensation. In addition, this island is sparsely populated, so we will give it to the Tang Dynasty. What do you think, Assistant Minister Li?"
The King of Heling Kingdom said.
Ang Lee did not care about the spoils of Heling Kingdom's rebels, nor did he care whether Heling Kingdom could provide him with food and supplies. He also did not care about the compensation for the soldiers who died in battle. After all, the Tang Dynasty's soldiers rarely died in battle. However, the King of Heling Kingdom gave him a large island, which caught Ang Lee's attention. This island was far from the core island of Heling Kingdom. He looked at the map and found that the location was not bad.
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