Maritime merchants are also engaged in the pirate business, and pirates are also engaged in the maritime business. At first glance, pirates are more troublesome than maritime merchants. But...
On the other hand, no matter how strong the pirates are, they cannot be stronger than the regular armies of several major empires.
Regardless of whether it was the Roman Empire, the Tang Empire, or even the Arab Empire, which had the worst ships, once a formal military operation was organized, the pirates would still be unable to withstand it.
Where there is light there is shadow.
The more developed the maritime trade is, the more developed the pirates are! And the more developed the pirates are, the more developed the more powerful real pirates are.
Of course, this is the most important thing and the least important thing.
The most important thing in the world is force, but what is more important than force itself is name - with name, force has its source.
And the pirates are an excellent source of reputation... The army can be sent out directly, and the only way to colonize is through violence.
But with pirates, empires have the possibility to legitimately expand...
Little Hannibal spent many years in the purgatory of Eastern Europe and didn't realize many things, but this was among them.
certainly……
After all, the pirates are not the most critical. After all, after the pirates are dealt with, the Roman army will expand wider. At this time, it will have to directly face the regular military pressure from various empires.
...and this place is the real plan of little Hannibal.
If you send troops first to take the lead, you will face a "horse" that is eyeing you.
But...if you foresee the opponent's "horse", then this horse no longer poses a threat!
and……
After weighing many factors, little Hannibal found that the Tang Empire, not to mention, was a deep and cold opponent, and no one knew how their horses were arranged. This was also the little Hannibal's intuition that told him that the Tang Empire was the real thorn in his side.
reason.
But Arabia is different. As long as these beasts see meat and blood, they will pounce on them desperately!
...This kind of attitude towards life is very good, and little Hannibal also appreciates it. But...
Attitude, return to attitude. Bearing, return to bearing!
Since I, as the Lord of Rome, could predict Arabia's reaction, then...
You can eat this piece of meat yourself!
Little Hannibal didn't know whether this plan would really succeed in the end, but he knew for sure that it was worth the try and effort!
...And, it is necessary to have a lot of accumulation and cultivate more vitality in order to truly manage the Tang Empire - this is the clearest point in young Hannibal's mind, although it is only something derived from intuition.
…
Three months later.
April on Earth.
As the saying goes, April in this world is full of beauty.
In later generations, April in the lunar calendar was around June in the solar calendar, which was the beginning of summer vacation.
Summer is here.
This is often the busiest time for farming families.
Summer is a hot but beautiful season, beautiful but also hot.
This period of time is the time when Li Er appreciates the memorial and feels the breath of summer. Yes, although summer is very hot, the sun is strong, but it is also the season when the grain in the fields is vigorously filling and growing rapidly. The heat is hot, but the people
Being able to watch the food in your own fields grow rapidly is a kind of enjoyment.
For Li Er, summer is mainly relatively leisurely. After all, at this time of year... many seaports and cities along the coast are slow in business. After all, maritime merchants always have to rest, and of course the rest time of the year is also
They are all arranged in the summer when storms and storms occur frequently. As a result, there are relatively few official documents.
At this time, Li Er can do things purely out of his own thoughts as a king, such as building various projects... It may be an occupational disease. The rulers of the country, especially the more powerful ones, all like construction.
study.
but……
On this day, Li Er was smiling and leisurely reading the memorial in the Ganlu Palace, thinking about when another bridge or dam could be built on the upper reaches of the Wei River, when suddenly a chamberlain walked into the palace quickly.
Li Er couldn't help but put down the memorial, frowned slightly, and looked at the chamberlain who was walking quickly outside the hall with some surprise.
——The palace is the most particular place in a country, and it is also the place where rules are the most important. After all, this is the starting point of the world's rules. Even the emperor and princes have strict rules for their walking, living, sitting and lying down, not to mention those of the chamberlains.
Walking, standing, sitting and lying down.
And this is a relatively leisurely season for government affairs - there was no leisure in previous years, but in recent years, as Datang has had cement, more and more various dams and irrigation canals have been built... This agricultural drought has
Of course, waterlogging disasters have not been eliminated, but generally speaking, the more fatal harvest failures are becoming less and less common.
Another important point is that this period only lasted for a few years during the Zhenguan period, and it was still the early years. When the people of the world were at peace, there was no time to create a baby boom... so the overall situation was that there were more people and less land.
The contradiction between man and land is not obvious, and a lot of new water conservancy projects are built every year. Of course, there is nothing to be busy this summer. Li Er only needs to be an architecture enthusiast.
And at this time...
It is not strange for a person to walk faster than usual, but in the palace... this situation is rare enough, so it attracted Li Er's attention!
And based on Li Er's many years of experience, this is obviously... first of all, there is obviously an urgent report.
But Li Er was puzzled as to what the specific emergency report was.
Could it be that there was a flood somewhere? This can't be true... Floods in the Tang Dynasty are not a strange thing, but to the extent that they need to be reported to the emperor urgently, this is a bit...
What else can there be besides this? All the maritime merchants have been on vacation recently, no... maybe even the pirates have laid down, after all, there are only a few ships and countless tropical storms on the recent sea.
.
However, the chamberlain came over quickly, and Li Er stopped guessing and listened directly to the chamberlain, "Your Majesty, there is an urgent report from Duke Qiao, Duke Wei, and Duke Lu!"
"What?!"
…
Before Li Er could read the memorial, he was stunned.
What a damn guy, three generals who were out of town reported urgently at the same time?!
No, Chang'an is going to fall?
Of course, even if Chang'an was about to fall, Li Er, who now basically knew that he had a successor, would not panic, but the three of them rushed to report at the same time...
Li Er's mind was confused for a second, but he quickly reacted.
Rome.
Definitely something to do with Rome!
Of course, it may also be related to the Arab side. For example, Arabia swallowed up Persia and Kushan and began to threaten the northwest border of the Tang Dynasty. However, this possibility is unlikely. It would take too long, and...
