Film and TV: Starting from the marriage with Zhao Linger

The team had more than 10,000 people, and even the Tang Dynasty envoys they sent out only had 600 people, including 500 armored soldiers, dozens of accompanying personnel, and a dozen warriors who participated in the election.

However, Li Shouxi directly brought more than 10,000 people. Although most of them had nothing to do with the mission, it showed the demeanor of a great country.

"Fifteen thousand people, what a grand ceremony!"

The Tang Emperor had a smile on his face, and had no intention of pursuing Li Shouxi's behavior of not traveling light and riding a horse to catch up with the delegation.

The travel of such a huge fleet can better demonstrate the power and majesty of the Tang Dynasty and its style as a superior country.

Moreover, compared with the speed of the delegation on foot, the speed on water is not slow.

After all, there are thousands of mountains and rivers between Yangzhou and Yongzhou.

The journey was long and the delegation might not be able to travel 300 miles in a day.

But the water route is different. The vast ocean is flat and the journey is mostly in a straight line, so it is not a problem to travel 500 miles a day. A month is 15,000 miles, and a straight-line journey of 50,000 miles can be reached in three or four months.

This is the speed of cargo ships, which is equivalent to five knots per hour in nautical miles.

But these are warships. When fully loaded, they can easily reach a speed of ten knots per hour. With a tailwind, they can reach fifteen knots.

"Your Majesty, the King of Yan is an envoy of the Tang Dynasty, but he brought dozens of merchants and thousands of slaves south. I am afraid it is a loss of dignity for the country!"

Suddenly, a burst of anger broke the silence, and then the sonorous and powerful voice scolded again:

"Merchants are lowly people who pursue fame and fortune. Since ancient times, they have been the last of the 'scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans'. They are mean people.

The slave trade is even more contrary to the Confucian spirit of benevolence and righteousness, and is criticized by scholars all over the world. Moreover, as a saintly prince, the King of Yan needs to set an example and be more benevolent and righteous.

To compete with the people for profit and to bring misfortune to the slaves is really unworthy of a saint!"

hiss hiss hiss...

Everyone looked at the man who gave the direct advice, and their expressions varied.

Obviously, this person is a minister under a certain prince in the court. This move is to exclude dissidents. It is just short of bluntly saying that Li Shouxi is a person who "is close to villains and stays away from wise ministers", "is profit-seeking and forgets righteousness", and "has no benevolence".

For a moment, most people frowned.

The Prince of Yan is not in the court, but his reputation in the court is no less than that of the several princes.

Moreover, Prince Li Yan was the only prince who held military power among all the princes. Two hundred thousand Yanyun armored soldiers and one hundred thousand tiger, leopard and wolf cavalry were all regular elite soldiers wearing armor and holding spears, and they were an absolute force that could sweep across an area.

Duke Zhenguo Su Yunshan?

Anyone with a bit of information skills knows that the Duke of Zhenguo has been almost sidelined by His Royal Highness the Prince of Yan, and is only the nominal commander-in-chief.

This is also the most brilliant thing about His Royal Highness the Prince of Yan.

"What a joke! It is true that merchants are lowly people, but as long as they pay taxes and abide by the law, they are citizens of the Tang Dynasty.

Moreover, if it were not for the great talent and strategy of His Royal Highness the Prince of Yan, how could Liaodong be comparable to the granary of Jiangnan in such a short period of time and become one of the richest places in the Tang Dynasty? In the past, in order to govern Liaodong, the Ministry of Revenue had to allocate at least tens of millions of guan every year to suppress the remnants of Goryeo and defend against the barbarians in the northern desert!

In comparison, His Royal Highness the Prince of Yan can be said to be a man of great talent, knowing how to use people and managing the world.

As for the barbarian slaves, they are even more of a joke!

Our Tang Dynasty has suffered from the troubles of barbarians on the border for many years, especially the barbarians in the northern desert, who often went south to plunder and abducted our Han people as slaves. This is just returning the favor in their own way.

Lord Cui sympathizes with those barbarians, but have you ever asked the dukes in the court whether they agree or not?"

The rebuttal, neither humble nor arrogant, was as loud as thunder and echoed throughout the hall. For a moment, everyone was silent.

The person who spoke was not from the prince's faction, but from the neutral camp's Minister of Revenue Li Quan.

Li Quan was from the Longxi Li family and was related to the Tang Dynasty Li family. Therefore, he dared to refute and was not afraid of revenge from the princes.

The influence of the Five Surnames and Seven Families is not just empty talk.

Li Quan's rebuttal was not for Li Shouxi, but for the finances of their Ministry of Revenue.

Liaodong's tax revenue turned from loss to profit, and the taxes paid each year even increased, which greatly alleviated the financial crisis of the Ministry of Revenue.

This is exactly the situation that their Ministry of Revenue wants to see.

If Li Shouxi was gone in Liaodong, he didn't believe that the other princes and aristocratic families were clean. He was afraid that Liaodong would soon turn from profit to loss and become a dish on the table of the major aristocratic families.

It’s not that the black soil is not strong enough, but that Liaodong has 300,000 border troops, and the annual financial investment is more than 10 million strings of cash.

War horses, armor, military pay...

Each item listed separately would be an astronomical figure, not to mention that His Royal Highness the Prince of Yan is a man of great talent and strategy.

At this time, the black soil in Liaodong could barely be self-sufficient. Without Li Shouxi's suppression, the aristocratic families would step in to share the spoils, and then all the expenses of the border troops would have to be borne by the Ministry of Revenue.

As for family interests?

One is Longxi and the other is Liaodong, they are not comparable.

"Okay, that's the end of it!"

The Tang Emperor did not want such a tense atmosphere in the court at this time, and a war of words was about to break out.

Moreover, he did not feel that there was anything wrong with Li Shouxi's actions. If Li Shouxi made money, the border would be more stable and the Ministry of Revenue would reduce a huge expenditure.

At least over the years, the holes in Liaodong have been almost filled.

Moreover, Li Shouxi's attitude clearly shows that he wants to keep Liaodong as his base camp and has no plans to return to Beijing in the short term. This is what he values ​​most.

The nine dragons fighting for the throne and brothers killing each other are definitely not the situation he wants to see now.

At this time, the Prince's Party, the Prince of Wu's Party, and the Prince of Wei's Party have already begun to show their ferocious side. If the even more terrifying Prince of Yan's Party is added to the mix, there will probably be more than a thousand ducks in this court in the future.

This shows that the wisdom and vision of his eldest prince are by no means comparable to those of the crown prince and others.

However, this time of luring the tiger away from the mountain was also a test for Li Shouxi.

It is also a tactic of the emperor, a means to reduce the strength of Liaodong.

There is no family affection in heaven!

Even if it was his son, when the imperial power felt threatened, the Tang Emperor would still take action.

This time, he didn't want Liaodong to continue to grow.

For example, the Zulong-class giant ships and the Black Dragon-class battleships are signs that Li Shouxi is preparing to expand the strength of the navy.

This also made the Tang Emperor feel that Li Shouxi's ambition was so great that it was by no means comparable to that of the Crown Prince and others, and he was also the best choice for successor in his mind.

But since ancient times, there has been a rule that the eldest son should be chosen as the heir rather than the eldest son, and the eldest son should be chosen as the heir rather than the most capable one.

Whether Li Shouxi can reach the summit depends on whether he can withstand the next test.

···

"Your Highness, the sea is windy, be careful not to catch a cold!"

On the dragon head deck.

Mei Jian, with her slender and graceful figure in the sea breeze, gently put on a fox fur coat for Li Shouxi.

Looking at the vast and boundless sea, those who go out to sea for the first time are all filled with awe or are touched.

Even though the huge warship under their feet was 48 zhang in size, the surging waves that occasionally raised waves of 10 zhang were too terrifying, which made everyone who went to sea for the first time feel fear.

If those sailors had not had enough experience, they would have been thrown into the sea to feed the fish.

As for Li Shouxi?

I just came out to enjoy the sea breeze out of sheer boredom.

"Your Highness, what is that?"

Suddenly, a fountain gushed out from the sea in the distance. Everyone, not knowing what was going on, looked at the reef-like protrusion with curiosity.

But the experienced sailors all showed fear on their faces.

Chapter 8: Giant Whales of Different Species Fight in the Water

"Sea monster! It's a sea monster!

Leave this sea area immediately, it is a sea monster that specializes in attacking fishing boats."

"Your Highness, be careful. This water column is spewed out by a sea monster. It is a trap designed to lure us in for prey."

·

Upon seeing this, the sailors hurriedly tried to turn the rudder and sail away, speeding up and leaving the sea monster's hunting area.

But at this time Li Shouxi saw different colors.

whale?

Faintly seeing the huge fish head raised up, Li Shouxi immediately determined that it was a giant sperm whale.

But what was strange was that while Li Shouxi was staring at the sperm whale, the sperm whale, which originally fed on giant deep-sea squids, seemed to have also been staring at them, and was moving towards them with aggressive hostility.

Although Li Shouxi had also heard of incidents of sperm whales attacking whaling ships.

But it was a whaler.

Generally speaking, sperm whales will not actively attack humans.

With the perception of the seventh level of enlightenment, Li Shouxi sensed the hostile attack of the sperm whale. He would not sit still and wait for death, so he quickly ordered:

"The Black Dragon class ships should disperse, the Jiaolong class ships should go first, the Black Armored Soldiers should prepare their spears for projection, and the others should aim with their crossbows and be ready to attack the approaching whale at any time!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

The soldiers were fearless and obeyed orders.

After hearing Li Shouxi's order, they raised their sharp spears for throwing and launched their powerful crossbows and water guns, intending to hunt down the terrifying sea monster that was attacking.

This also made the sailors nearby tremble with fear and look terrified.

This is the invincible sea monster in the ocean!

"My Lord, you are worth a lot of money..."

“No need to say more, this sea monster is coming for us and there is no way to avoid it.

Moreover, I am not as delicate as you think. It is just a beast and cannot do anything to me."

Interrupting the old sailor's advice, Li Shouxi looked at the huge sperm whale that was getting closer and closer. When it was a hundred feet away, it suddenly dived and disappeared from everyone's sight. This made the soldiers who were ready to go lose their target immediately, which also made Li Shouxi feel nervous.

This is the ocean, and it's this beast's world.

Once the sperm whale attacks the warship underwater, they will surely be trapped and killed on the water. Thinking of this, Li Shouxi quickly looked at the old sailor beside him and ordered:

"Find a few good swimmers and bring crossbows with you. We can't let this beast attack the ship from the bottom!"

"Your Highness's body is worth a million gold..."

"Go!"

As he roared in a dignified manner, the evil spirit accumulated at the border was released, causing the sailors who were worried about being obstructed to tremble involuntarily.

The old sailors realized that His Royal Highness the Prince of Yan was not the pampered man or the playboy they knew. He was a real martial arts master who fought against the barbarians at the border and a great general on the battlefield.

As for Yuwen Chengdu and Li Shentong?

Although he is not a landlubber, he can only exert 30% of his strength underwater.

However, Li Shouxi practiced the Taoist longevity secret, so his combat power in water was not weakened much, and it was even more convenient for him to fight.

The four swords of plum, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum are for girls, and are not suitable for getting wet in the water.

Pfft!Pfft!Pfft!

As Li Shouxi took the lead in jumping into the water, the sailors who were originally fearful suddenly became energized and followed closely.

In this feudal society with strict hierarchy, even someone as noble and worth a fortune as Li Shouxi took the lead in the charge. How much are their worthless lives worth?

This is also the reason why they are so excited.

After entering the water, Li Shouxi could vaguely see a huge and majestic whale rushing towards him from below.

That huge and terrifying body was like a small mountain, causing people to feel despair and fear.

Li Shouxi was at the seventh level of enlightenment, and his murderous instincts honed over the years on the battlefield made him vaguely aware that the beast was coming for him, not the Zulong warship, which made Li Shouxi feel a little surprised.

Not to mention it was his first time going out to sea.

Just based on the huge size of this beast, it is also a top predator in the ocean. His body is not even big enough to fill the gaps between teeth. There is no way that there can be any intersection between them, right?

Could it be that he is a time traveler, and Jiuzhou Tiandao is using this sperm whale to eliminate the anomalies?