Chapter 880 His Majesty has returned to the Tang Dynasty!
The fertile fields in Australia were cultivated by soldiers of the Tang Dynasty after cutting down the original ancient trees and burning them.
The fields here are already very fertile, and with the addition of plant ashes, the fertility of the fields is even higher.
Therefore, after going around, the crops and vegetables grown in these fields were growing in such a way that Li Shimin, Li Xiaogong and other veterans were amazed and extremely satisfied.
As for those gold mines, silver mines, and iron mines.
Let Li Shimin, Li Xiaogong and others be even more happy.
Just around this small town built by Li Changling with 50,000 people, there are two gold mines, three silver mines, and six iron mines being mined.
Moreover, after so many years of mining, each gold mine can now mine 400 kilograms of gold per month; each silver mine can mine 800 kilograms of silver; and each iron mine can mine 5,300 kilograms of pig iron.
The mineral content is very high.
In addition, there is an extremely large carboniferous mountain around the small town!
According to surveys by experienced miners, this carboniferous mountain is sufficient for 50,000 people for more than a hundred years.
After the inspection, Li Changling took Li Shimin and others to a spacious, bright main hall built entirely of heavy wooden blocks.
"Your Majesty, veteran generals, at the end of today I will invite you to have a good taste of Australian meat.
Except for some familiar cattle and sheep, the animals in Australia are completely different from the animals in my Datang Dynasty.
Even the birds flying in the sky and the fish swimming in the water are different."
"oh?"
Regarding food, Li Xiaogong may be the one who has the most research and favorite among this group of people.
Therefore, after hearing Li Changling's words, his eyes suddenly lit up.
"With such lush vegetation in Australia, there are no such things as lions, tigers, hares, poisonous snakes, flying dragons, sparrows and pigeons?"
Li Changling was stunned and quickly bowed his hands and said with an embarrassed look on his face: "The king's atonement is due to the general's negligence. There are indeed flying dragons, sparrows and pigeons, and poisonous snakes, but the general has never seen hares, lions and tigers in Australia.
However, it is not these that the general invites your majesty and the old generals to eat today, but wild animals unique to Australia."
"For example, Australia's cattails are generally three feet taller than my Tang Dynasty catkins."
"There are also century-old turtles, whose shells alone are three feet square!"
"The meat of those big rats around here is also outstanding!"
"In addition, there are some very large birds in Australia, which are not only beautiful in appearance, but also have very delicious meat."
"There are more than ten kinds of strange-looking big fish in the Australian sea, and the meat is also very delicious..."
"Where?"
Just listening to it made Li Xiaogong a little impatient.
"Go back to the king, the general has arranged for the chef to cook!"
"Can you find any good chefs in this small town?"
Li Xiaogong couldn't help but glare at Li Changling, his face full of disgust.
"Quickly send someone to take me and the chefs with you to the back kitchen. Maybe I and the chefs with you can teach your chefs a few tricks!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty, thank you, Prince!"
Only then did Li Changling react and quickly thanked Li Shimin, Li Xiaogong and others.
Immediately, he ran out quickly.
He cooks meals for His Majesty privately, and if anything goes wrong, he will not be able to escape the blame!
However, with the chef brought by His Majesty, it will be different!
After a while.
Li Changling finally opened the door and came in.
Behind him, followed a group of Li Shimin's guards.
Each guard held a large plate of hot meat in his hands.
After placing it on the table, Li Shimin, Li Xiaogong and others couldn't help being surprised again.
It's really big!
Every plate is a big plate about one foot in size.
The plate was filled with unknown meats. The meat was tender and delicious. As the heat rose, the whole hall suddenly overflowed with the aroma of meat.
A total of twenty large plates were divided into two tables and placed in front of Li Shimin, Li Xiaogong, Li Chenglu, Niu Jinda and others.
Although there were only ten plates per table, this group of veterans still ate with satisfaction.
After the meal, everyone lay down on the big chairs with comfortable faces.
"I remember that when I asked you to come to guard Australia, you were still a little greedy for the prosperity of Chang'an and didn't want to come to Australia. How about it? Why don't you want to come to Australia now?"
Li Xiaogong looked at Li Changling who was standing respectfully aside and said jokingly.
"Hey, don't be surprised, Prince, because the general was young and ignorant at the time!
In Australia, although the general and the others had a population of 50,000, they could still eat meat to their fullest extent. This situation was something that the general would never dare to imagine in the Tang Dynasty.
Sometimes, the generals will have the illusion that the criminal prisoners in the city who were sent into exile do not look like exile at all, but rather like they are here to enjoy blessings!
If His Majesty hadn't issued an edict that the captains of the Australian Zhechong Prefecture would be rotated every year, the general would have wanted to stay in Australia for the rest of his life!"
Li Changling quickly replied.
"It seems that your life in Australia is very prosperous!" Li Xiaogong said with a smile.
Li Shimin also looked at Li Changling curiously.
Li Changling quickly smiled and bowed his hands.
"The general does not dare to deceive your majesty and the prince. In Australia, apart from guarding against the sea turtles rushing into the small town, the general only needs to lead a group of soldiers every day to supervise the mining of gold and silver mines, and the rest is done.
The main purpose is to take the soldiers out to sea to catch big fish in the sea for the people in the small town.
In Australia, there are countless big fish of all kinds in the sea. As long as you don't leave the coastline for more than 2,000 steps, you are basically not in much danger.
On land, the animals that eat meat are just wild dogs, and they will not endanger the lives of people like us in the Tang Dynasty.
This continent is completely a blessed land for the people of our Tang Dynasty!"
Li Shimin suddenly asked: "So, if another 50,000 people migrate to Australia, will they survive?"
Li Changling hurriedly replied: "Your Majesty, even a hundred thousand people of the Tang Dynasty can survive. Moreover, the big fish in the sea alone are enough to eat!"
"I see!"
Li Shimin nodded thoughtfully.
"When I came this time, there was very little coal left on the more than 200 large ships. Can you, Australia's coal, replenish the fleet?"
"Return to Your Majesty, absolutely fine!"
"Um?"
Li Xiaogong glared, "You guys have to think clearly, those are two hundred large steel ships. To make up for the coal consumed by the ships, each ship needs at least three hundred shi!"
Two hundred large steel ships require at least 60,000 stones of coal!"
Li Changling bowed respectfully to Li Xiaogong, "Thank you, Prince of Wales, for reminding me, but there may be a shortage of vegetables and food in Australia, but there will never be a shortage of coal. Just the coal mountain behind the small town is endless.
Moreover, it is extremely easy to mine. One person can mine with a shovel and a basket.
However, the only thing that makes it difficult for the villain is that there are only 50,000 people in the small town, of which only more than 20,000 are young and strong.
If you want to fill more than 200 large ships with coal, it will take at least five days with only 20,000 young people in the small city."
"It doesn't matter, as long as you have enough coal, there will be five hundred soldiers on each ship, and it will be enough to load it in two days!" Li Shimin said softly.
"Thank you, Your Majesty, General!"
Li Changling breathed a sigh of relief.
In the next two days, soldiers on more than 200 large steel ships began to use this method to transport coal to the large ships they were on.
As for Li Shimin, Li Xiaogong and others began to wander around Australia separately.
Li Changling was also very relieved about this.
Under the protection of a group of imperial guards, except for sneak attacks by poisonous snakes, no animal in Australia can threaten Li Shimin and others.
As for venomous snakes?
I'm afraid there won't be any poisonous snakes that can get into Li Shimin's army!
Three days later.
Each large steel ship was loaded with more than four hundred stones of coal, and the bottom of each large ship was filled to the brim.
Under the watch of Li Changling and 50,000 Australian Tang people, two hundred large ships slowly set sail and headed north.
…
"Your Majesty, it's time to return to Chang'an this time!"
After passing Luzon Island, Li Chenglu took the time to find Li Shimin and asked him respectfully.
"I finally came out, why can I go back in such a hurry?"
Li Shimin glanced at Li Chenglu slowly, and said with a half-smile, "You really think that I don't know that Xuanba asked you to accompany me on the expedition, even though I want to train you.
But the deepest purpose is to let you watch me and prevent me from wandering around on these continents overseas and losing my life in vain."
Li Chenglu smiled bitterly and said helplessly: "Your Majesty is wise!"
"snort!"
Li Shimin sneered and continued: "However, during my reign, the territory of the Tang Dynasty expanded so much. I haven't even seen it. How could I lead my army back to Chang'an so easily?"
"It's been nearly two years since Chenglu came out, and I feel homesick."
Li Chenglu looked aggrieved, "Besides, Your Majesty has brought out one hundred thousand young men of the Tang Dynasty. Maybe in the past two years, the sons of these men's families will be all over the place.
But what is pitiful is that these sons of the Tang Dynasty have not seen their wives and children at home in the past two years, and their children cannot recognize them!"
Hearing this, Li Shimin couldn't help but be stunned.
Then, he looked quietly towards the sea.
After a long while, he slowly said: "No matter how you try to persuade me, I will never miss this good opportunity."
"Li Wei!"
"The end is here!"
"After passing on my edict, after the fleet returns to the Tang Dynasty, I will also go to inspect the Japanese country and small countries such as Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla. However, I only plan to go there with an army of 30,000 people.
Among the hundreds of thousands of men in the fleet, those who are worried about their parents, wives and children can disembark along the way..."
Before he finished speaking, Li Shimin changed his words again.
"No, no need to pass it on!"
Li Wei was stunned, "Your Majesty?..."
"Two hundred large ships and one hundred thousand men will all return home. At the seaports of Suzhou, Haizhou, and Qingzhou, each state will replace 10,000 soldiers and follow me to Japan, Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla!" Li Shimin said.
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Li Wei responded and walked down.
Li Shimin turned his head again and looked at Li Chenglu.
"Chenglu, when you arrive at Haizhou or Qingzhou seaport, you can get off the ship and go to Lijiazhuang by yourself!"
Li Chenglu's face turned bitter again and he shook his head repeatedly.
"Your Majesty, I can't go back to Lijiazhuang alone!"
"Why?" Li Shimin asked.
"Your Majesty hasn't even gone back. If Chenglu goes back to Lijiazhuang alone, Aye will break Chenglu's legs!" Li Chenglu said.
"I remember that Xuanba has never punished you severely since you were born. As for beatings, he has never been beaten once!" Li Shimin said.
"Your Majesty, this time is different!"
Li Chenglu said quickly.
Seeing this, Li Shimin did not argue with Li Chenglu, but said directly: "In this case, you guys will follow me to inspect small countries such as Japan, Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla!"
"Chenglu obeys the decree!"
Li Chenglu saluted slowly!
…
Two months later.
The fleet entered the waters of Datang and passed Liuqiu.
Half a month later, the fleet passed Suzhou and ten thousand soldiers came up from Suzhou.
At the same time, the fleet also lost dozens of large ships.
Another half month later.
The fleet has arrived in Haizhou.
Likewise, the fleet once again added 10,000 soldiers, while losing dozens of large ships.
This meeting was thousands of miles away in the city of Chang'an.
The Prince of the Tang Dynasty was sitting in the palace with an anxious look on his face, reviewing the memorial in his hand.
Suddenly, there was a rush of footsteps outside the hall.
"Old minister, see His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"
Li Chengqian raised his head, looked up, stood up quickly, and returned the greeting.
"Uncle, there is no need to be polite!"
Then, he walked to the sofa nearby and helped Changsun Wuji to sit down slowly.
"My uncle only recovered two days ago. Why didn't he stay at home to recuperate for a few more days? Why did he come to the palace..."
Suddenly, when he remembered something, Li Chengqian's face lit up and he quickly looked at Changsun Wuji.
"I dare to ask my uncle, but there is news about my father?"
"Back to Your Highness, the shopkeeper in Suzhou received news that half a month ago, His Majesty's fleet had returned to the Tang Dynasty and stopped in Suzhou. Twenty thousand soldiers disembarked from the fleet, and at the same time, His Majesty also came from
Suzhou recruited 10,000 soldiers and continued northward!"
Changsun Wuji slowly reported the news.
"Father is back?"
Li Chengqian's face was startled, and then he looked confused, "Since my father has returned to the Tang Dynasty, why didn't he send someone to deliver the news to the palace?"
"Don't you know how much your mother missed him during the two years he was away? Uncle..."
"Your Highness, I am wondering why your Majesty wants to recruit 10,000 soldiers from Suzhou!"
Changsun Wuji said with a solemn expression.
"Why?" Li Chengqian asked subconsciously.
"Back to Your Highness, our Tang Dynasty is now prosperous and peaceful, and there are no foreign enemies. If Your Majesty is planning to return to Chang'an, you can just come back directly from Haizhou or Qingzhou.
There is absolutely no need for Your Majesty to put down the soldiers from Suzhou and other nearby states and cities on the original fleet and recruit new soldiers again.
Such behavior, unless His Majesty has no intention of returning to the palace!" Changsun Wuji said with a thoughtful look on his face.
"Father has no plans to return to the palace?"
Li Chengqian was startled again, his eyes widened, and he looked at Changsun Wuji with a face full of surprise.
"Uncle's intention, my father is also going to inspect small countries such as Goguryeo, Silla, and Baekje?"
"Your Majesty may even go to Japan!"
Changsun Wuji said with helplessness on his face, "Your Majesty feels that this will be his last trip to sea. He must inspect the entire territory of the Tang Dynasty before he can return with peace of mind!"
"Then my father will go to America, right?"
Suddenly, Li Chengqian thought of something again and stood up directly, with a look of shock on his face.