Tibet

There is a slender thing hanging on the wall, about less than six feet long. It has a copper pipe in the front and a long branch carved out of wood at the back, making it easy to lift.

Duan Xiushi took off the weapon from the wall and said with a smile: "This thing is called a gun, or a matchlock gun to be precise. It has a range of two hundred steps and will be used to replace crossbows in the future. Its biggest advantage is that it is low in cost and shoots a small iron pellet. Much cheaper than an arrow.”

"Can we equip the army?"

Duan Xiushi shook his head, "Compared to the crossbow, it is very inconvenient to use and has a similar range. It will not be equipped with the army for the time being. When we continue to develop and improve it, when the flintlock is developed, it can be equipped with the army on a small scale. There is really no need now. Crossbows It’s very powerful.”

"Since it's not as good as a crossbow, why should we develop it?" Ma Lin asked straightforwardly.

Duan Xiushi smiled slightly, "The crossbow has reached its peak, but the musket has just begun. It involves a lot of technology. I am afraid it will take several generations of efforts to make it more powerful, more convenient and faster."

Three days later, Emperor Li Ye officially appointed Ma Lin as Marshal of the Northern Campaign, and led a 100,000-strong army and 50,000 supply camels to Liaodong.

In the blink of an eye, on the first day of November, a relatively grand wedding was held in the Daming Palace, because this was the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty marrying the princess of the Shi Kingdom. It was a marriage between the Tang Dynasty and the countries in the river, and it had far-reaching political significance.

The wedding was held at Chengtianmen. Chengtianmen is a gate in name but is actually extremely wide. The tower above is a palace. A large number of guests were invited, including officials of the fifth rank and above in Chang'an, all foreign envoys in Chang'an, and the famous Su Special merchants and so on.

The Supreme Emperor and the Empress Dowager personally proposed marriage for them.

In a warm and solemn atmosphere, Emperor Li Ye of the Tang Dynasty officially married Shi Qianquan, the princess of the Shi Kingdom, as his concubine and was canonized as Concubine Li.

The Sogdians in Chang'an were full of joy, celebrating the marriage between Datang and Sogdians and becoming one family.

At night, in the Penglai Palace, Queen Dugu Xinyue presided over a small entry ceremony. Shi Qianquan served tea to his wife, the Queen, and officially became a member of the family.

The new house is in the Zhujing Hall, which is also Shi Qianquan's palace. It has been re-decorated in the Sogdian style, which is quite exotic.

At night, everyone retreated, and there were only two people left in the palace. Li Ye held up Shi Qianquan's chin, pulled her into his arms and kissed her gently, then picked up her legs and entered the hazy bed in the big tent. Inside,

Under the illumination of the wedding candle, the most beautiful princess from the Stone Kingdom started a new life journey.

Shortly after marrying Shi Qianquan, on the ninth day of November, a light snowfall came, and Li Ye's family, led by Queen Dugu Xinyue, set off for Huaqing Palace to spend the winter.

Li Ye has not gone to Huaqing Palace for the time being. He has been busy these days. King Tuyuhun, Sijie Khan, Queen Zhenla, and Prince Srivijaya all gathered in Chang'an these days. Of course, it was just a coincidence, not an appointment.

In the morning, in the imperial study room, Wei Jiansu reported to Li Ye the situation of Queen Zhenla.

Among all the visiting dignitaries, Li Ye was most concerned about Sijie Khan and Queen Chenla. Sijie Khan's visit was related to the plan to jointly attack Shiwei, while Queen Chenla's arrival was related to the gains and losses of the Mekong Delta.

Li Ye had already received a detailed report from Du Huan before. Du Huan's miraculous move in replacing the land really impressed Li Ye.

Of course Li Ye didn't want the Linyi Kingdom. The Linyi Kingdom was basically a mountainous area with only a narrow plain along the coast and not much arable land. This was the fundamental reason why the Linyi Kingdom wanted to occupy the mouth of the Chenla River in the south. Moreover, the people were generally white-eyed wolves and held no grudges. Remember, Li Ye doesn't want such a citizen.

He ordered the occupation of Linyi State just to use it as a springboard to facilitate the Tang Dynasty to obtain food from the Mekong Delta.

Now that Du Huan was replacing the Mekong River Delta with land from Linyi Kingdom, Li Ye was extremely excited. He praised Du Huan highly and ordered him to give him a purple gold fish bag and a five-acre house in Chang'an.

The key is that Du Huan replaced the Mekong Delta in a reasonable and legal way, so that future generations can stand tall and say that it has existed since ancient times.

Therefore, legal principles are very important. If Bakhanna can be merged reasonably and legally, he will never send troops to occupy it.

"What's Queen Zhenla's attitude?" Li Ye asked again.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, the Queen of Zhenla approved the replacement plan, but she also made several requests. One is to use the road. Zhenla officials need to use our territory to go to Linyi, and the transportation of goods also needs to use the road. She hopes It was not a big problem for Datang to allow them to pass smoothly, so Wei Chen agreed.

The second request was for Datang to negotiate with Lu Zhenla and ask Lu Zhenla to withdraw northward and return Shuizhenla's population and land. "

Li Ye nodded, "The second request can be agreed. The imperial court will send envoys to Lu Zhenla. If they refuse to agree, the Tang army will directly destroy them."

Wei Jiansu continued: "The third condition is a bit difficult to handle. They want to occupy the city port."

Li Ye frowned. He had already taken a fancy to Champa Port. It was more than three thousand miles from Jiaozhou to the Mekong Delta. It was unrealistic to ride a horse or a car. It was even more of a nightmare to transport it by land. Of course, it was by sea, but the sea route was three thousand miles. Duoli is still a little far away, and a supply port is needed in the middle, and Champa Port is the most suitable, a natural and excellent port.

"The third condition cannot be agreed. Champa Port is crucial for us to control the mouth of the Chenla River. Wei Xiangguo can negotiate with them and allow them to use Champa Port normally in exchange for other conditions."

Wei Jiansu nodded, "I will negotiate with them for the second time this afternoon."

In the afternoon, in the political hall, Wei Jiansu and Du Huan continued to talk to Queen Chenla on behalf of Datang to discuss land exchange matters between the two countries.

In fact, they had discussed many details before, including demarcation, allocation of people to stay and stay, the affiliation of the two countries, etc. These have been clarified. The key is the third item in Chenla's demand. Regarding the ownership of Champa Port, both parties have Disagreement.

Wei Jiansu said slowly: "I need to clarify the fact that Champa Port is not actually a legal name, and we never call it Champa Port. During the Han Dynasty, it was called Rinan Bay and belonged to the Han Dynasty. Asahi Nan County later belonged to the Annan Protectorate of the Tang Dynasty. A war broke out in the Tang Dynasty more than ten years ago, and Annan was not taken into consideration. Rinan Bay was occupied by pirates like the Zhuluo Kingdom. Our capture of Rinan Bay is not an occupation, but an occupation. It’s called regaining one’s homeland.”

Queen Elaine of Zhenla sighed and said: "What does Wei Xiangguo mean? The Tang Dynasty clearly cannot hand over Champa Bay to us?"

Wei Jiansu nodded, "Zhenla can use it, no problem. In addition, Datang can give Zhenla some help in other aspects."

At this time, Du Huan also smiled and said: "Your Highness the Queen, I would also like to add that Rinan Bay is located in the northernmost part of Linyi Kingdom. It is far away from Shuizhenla. It is closer to Lu Zhenla, but it is of no significance. It is large and separated by many mountains. If Zhenla wants to manage the people in Champa, they can move the people south. I suggest that it is best for Zhenla to raze Champa to the ground and completely erase the traces of Linyi State. "

"Okay! Let's discuss it."

This time Queen Elaine came to the Tang Dynasty with her right prime minister Sha Weng. When they returned to the lounge, Queen Elaine sighed and said: "As we expected, the Tang Dynasty refused to give us Champa Bay."

Prime Minister Sha Weng smiled slightly and said: "There are many seaports in the south. Cam Ranh Bay is very good. It doesn't hurt to give them Champa Bay. The key is to get the shipbuilding technology of the Tang Dynasty. Otherwise, we will always only have small boats. In addition, Du Shijun reminded me , the people of Champa City should be moved to the south, and Champa City should be completely razed to the ground, so that the Champa Kingdom can no longer be restored. "

Elaine nodded, "That's all we can do!"

The two returned to the negotiation site, and Elaine put forward her own conditions, "We can give up Champa Bay. In exchange, we hope that the Tang Dynasty will teach us the technology of building large ships."

Wei Jiansu smiled slightly, "Of course, but let me explain one thing. The Tang Dynasty has clear regulations that the maximum number of shipbuilding techniques taught to foreign countries cannot exceed three thousand dan. We can only give Zhenla the shipbuilding technology of three thousand dan ships."

Elaine sighed and said: "Three thousand stones are already a very big ship for us."

After many rounds of negotiations, the two parties formally reached a replacement agreement. Chenla used the Chenla River Delta to replace the land of Linyi State, and the replacement also included population.

As Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, Li Ye signed a replacement agreement. He officially renamed the Chenla River Delta to the Zhongnan Delta, established Zhongnan Prefecture, and changed the Annan Protectorate Prefecture to Annan Road, including Jiaozhou Prefecture and Zhongnan Prefecture. Du Huan became the first Governor of Zhongnan Prefecture.

At the same time, Lingnan Road was changed to Guangnan East Road and Guangnan West Road. The next step was to move some Han people to Zhongnan Prefecture and fully develop Jiaozhou Prefecture and Zhongnan Prefecture.