Qin Ming put down his chopsticks, rolled his eyes, and said:
"Uncle Li, it's a long story."
Li Er glanced at Qin Ming with interest, then put a piece of braised pork in his mouth and said:
"Then just say it slowly, I have plenty of time."
Fang Xuanling and Li Xiaogong on the side were also very curious about this question and pricked up their ears, waiting for Qin Ming's next words.
Upon seeing this, Qin Ming's face showed a look of memories, and then he sighed and said:
"Hey, last winter, my nephew went to Chang'an East Market for shopping. He happened to meet an old man setting up a bookstall, so he bought a few books from the stall."
"Among them is a travelogue written by a scholar from the south of the Yangtze River. It records the story of him going out to sea by boat, encountering wind and waves, and then traveling to various countries in the south of the Tang Dynasty. One of the articles happened to mention the customs and customs of the Champa Kingdom. My nephew That’s the news I got from this travelogue.”
Li Er's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he asked:
"My dear nephew, where is that book? Take it out and let me have a look."
Qin Ming's face showed a hint of bitterness, and he sighed again and said:
"Hey, what a pity, that book has been burned by my nephew."
Li Er, who had been so cheerful just now, couldn't help but became furious when he heard this. He slapped the table and stood up. He pointed at Qin Ming and said angrily:
"You're a prodigal, you burned such a precious travel journal as you asked. I have to beat you up for your parents today."
As he said this, Li Er rolled up his sleeves and greeted Qin Ming.
Li Er was really angry. Although he had not read the travelogue, when he thought about it, since the travelogue could record the rice of Champa State, there might be other types of grains as well.
What's more, it's a travel diary of a trip to the southern countries. Maybe there is other more important information?
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent Zhang Qian as an envoy to the Western Regions. Since then, the Silk Road has been established. It also opened up exchanges between the Central Plains dynasty and the Western Regions. As long as the Silk Road continues, the Central Plains will be able to continuously obtain goods from the Western Regions.
It can be said that the Silk Road laid the foundation for the strength and prosperity of the Central Plains dynasties.
After the Tang Dynasty defeated the Eastern Turks in the fourth year of Zhenguan, it reopened the Silk Road to the Western Regions, allowing many countries in the Western Regions to establish trade relations with the Tang Dynasty in recent years.
As a result, the revenue of the state treasury has become increasingly abundant in the past two years.
He was even called Tian Khan by the countries in the Western Regions.
For Li Shimin, this was simply both material and spiritual satisfaction.
Li Shimin was still thinking just now, since that travel book recorded the customs and customs of the countries in the south of the Tang Dynasty.
If it can be studied carefully, then maybe the Tang Dynasty can also open up a Silk Road in the south.
As a result, just when he wanted to borrow the travel notes and expand his imagination about a better future through the contents of the travel notes, Qin Ming's sentence burned, which was like pouring a big basin of cold water on Li Er's head.
In this case, how could Li Er not be angry.
When Li Xiaogong saw that Li Er wanted to beat Qin Ming, he not only helped to persuade Li Er, but also said with a look of gloating:
"Yes, this kid deserves a beating. Your Majesty, please don't hold back!"
If you want to be honest and honest in the field, you have to be Fang Xuanling, the famous Prime Minister of the Tang Dynasty.
Seeing that His Majesty was about to beat Qin Ming, he quickly stood up, grabbed Li Er's sleeve, and said:
"Your Majesty, please calm down. Qin Ming is still injured. Can you please spare him for once?"
Qin Ming didn't expect Li Er to have such a big reaction. He looked at Li Er with an aggrieved face and said:
"Uncle Li, you can't blame me. The travel notes written at that time were so colorful that they were like fairy tales."
"There are mice that are taller than humans, roosters that are bigger than cows, elephants that roll grass with their trunks to eat, dragon fish that are as big as hills, and rice that is harvested three times a year, etc."
"My nephew just made it up for the sake of the book. In addition, my nephew often had nightmares about those monsters, so he burned the book."
"If I hadn't seen the elephant lantern made by the merchants in Champa during the Lantern Festival, my nephew still can't believe that everything written in the travelogue is true!"
When Qin Ming finished speaking, Li Er and the other three were all stunned.
But soon Li Er broke away from Fang Xuanling's pull angrily. He asked with red eyes and gritted teeth:
"That rooster that's taller than a cow? Is it also from the Champa Kingdom?"
Qin Ming was stunned for a moment when he heard this. He never expected that Li Er would ask this question. He wondered:
"Uncle Li, why are you asking that rooster?"
"What? What do you mean? We, the people of the Tang Dynasty, have worked so hard for a year and can't even eat a few meals of meat. If those small countries really have such big roosters, of course they have to catch them and raise them. Let's tell you quickly, what is the rooster? Are you from the Champa Kingdom?"
When Qin Ming heard this, he couldn't help but marvel at Li Er's amazing brain circuitry.
"Well, it is recorded in that book that the rooster, which is bigger than a cow, is an animal on a continent south of the Champa Kingdom. There is a sea between that continent and the Champa Kingdom."
Fang Xuanling frowned and asked:
"My dear nephew, what do you mean by mainland?"
"Continent is the term used in that travel book, which refers to a large piece of land that cannot be seen in the sea. Of course, the reason why he said it is a continent is mainly because, according to his travel notes, he was there There are no traces of human activity on the mainland, only groups of various animals.”
Li Xiaogong stood up immediately after hearing this and asked:
"My dear nephew, do you mean that it is an unclaimed land? Did the travel notes say how big that place is?"
Qin Ming wanted to tell Li Xiaogong that the continent was bigger than the Tang Dynasty.
But he couldn't say that because it was too unbelievable. Even if he said it, Li Er and the others might not believe it.
Thinking of this, Qin Mingchao shook his head and said to Li Xiaogong:
"The travel notes say that the continent is very big, but it doesn't say how big it is specifically."
At this time, Li Shimin on the side had calmed down. He sat on the chair and pondered for a while and asked:
"My dear nephew, did you just talk about taking a boat? Could it be that the person who wrote the travelogue traveled around the southern countries by boat?"
Qin Ming thought for a while and nodded.
Seeing Qin Ming nod, Li Er slapped the table and laughed:
"Yes, why didn't I think of bringing the soldiers there by boat?"
Fang Xuanling immediately understood the meaning of Li Er's words. He lowered his head and thought for a while, then whispered to Li Er:
"Your Majesty, the Tang Dynasty is far away from Champa City. Even if we travel by water, it will still consume a lot of money. Moreover, I heard that there is a big difference between ships traveling on the river and ships in the sea, so this matter needs to be considered in the long term. "
........
