It was precisely because they had been robbed and many of their companions had died that these Weizhou businessmen who sold fresh fish no longer went fishing at sea, even if they had accumulated enough money to rent a merchant ship. It was not easy for them to fish at sea. Once they were robbed, they would suffer a great loss. Losing the fish was secondary. The most terrible thing was that they might lose their lives.
Knowing that the pirates outside the Pyu Empire had become so rampant, Ang Lee was very angry. The Tang Dynasty had spent so much effort to open up the Silk Road on the Sea, which could generate considerable profits. If it was destroyed by these pirates, the loss would be too great.
Ang Lee had expected this situation. After all, the Silk Road on the Sea was tens of thousands of miles long, and they had to pass through many kingdoms and islands along the way. The situation at sea was very complicated. It was already very difficult for the forces deployed by the Tang Dynasty to protect a few key positions. They were really powerless in the vast sea. It was too easy to hide a pirate ship in the sea. If there was only one pirate robbery, it could be solved by mobilizing more warships, but pirates could not be robbed in only one area. Moreover, pirates could appear at any time. They were like weeds that could not be wiped out. As a result, the Tang Dynasty's warships would be unable to protect all the merchant ships along the way. However, the effect of the attack was still there. If it were not for the Tang Dynasty's patrols and attacks from time to time, the pirates would be ten times or even a hundred times more rampant than they were now. The Silk Road on the Sea would be completely cut off, and the layout of the Tang Empire would be a complete failure.
"The profits are too great. No wonder there are pirates. They are really a headache."
Ang Lee sighed.
After the Tang Dynasty opened up the Silk Road on the Sea, there were more merchant ships on this trade route, and it became more prosperous along the way. However, this also attracted the attention of many greedy people, and pirates came into being. The more prosperous the trade route was, the greater the profits from robbery, and the more worth the risk. Many poor people quickly became rich because they became pirates. Of course, some people were caught by the Tang Dynasty's warships and lost their lives, but because the profits from robbery were too great, they were willing to take the risk even if there was a risk of losing their lives. This was also an important reason why pirates were difficult to completely eliminate.
It was almost impossible to completely eliminate pirates. What the Tang Dynasty could do was to reduce the scale and frequency of pirates to a relatively small extent. Once pirates were rampant somewhere and there were a large number of pirates and a large number of pirate ships, the Tang Dynasty's warships would immediately launch an encirclement to eliminate these pirates. As for the pirates who were very few in number and whose whereabouts were uncertain, it was really difficult for the Tang Dynasty to eliminate them. It would take a lot of effort to find them, and they might not necessarily find them. The bigger the pirates, the easier it would be to find them. However, there were too many small and scattered pirates, so it was very difficult to find them. In addition, eliminating a large group of pirates could earn great merits, while eliminating a small group of pirates could earn too little merit, so it was difficult for the generals of the Tang Dynasty to not take it seriously.
For example, when the officials of the imperial court encountered a murder case, they were very attentive and tried their best to solve the case as soon as possible. For this reason, they did not hesitate to mobilize a large number of people in order to achieve the goal as soon as possible. However, when someone lost a small amount of property, they did not ask about it at all. At most, they would say a few perfunctory words, and then nothing more. It was also very difficult to find the property lost. After all, for such a trivial matter, the officials would not get any merit even if they solved it. This was originally the responsibility of the officials, so it was natural for them to solve it. As for major murder cases, although it was also the responsibility of the officials, solving such cases could win the favor of the superiors, gain the recognition of the people, and even get a good reward, which was not available when they destroyed small cases.
As for small groups of bandits, if the Tang Dynasty's warships encountered them while patrolling, they would also take care of them. However, if they did not encounter them, then there was nothing they could do.
After chatting with several people of Weizhou for a while, Ang Lee took a group of people to a nearby restaurant to have a good meal.
The northern city of the Pyu Dynasty was not very large. It was similar to a medium-sized county in the Tang Dynasty, but it was one of the largest cities in the Pyu Dynasty. Most of the houses in this city were two-story, not three-story houses. Although there were one-story houses, there were not many. Almost all the houses were two-story houses at first glance, which was quite similar to most counties in the Tang Dynasty. These double-story houses were very common in ancient times. The land in the city was precious and the population was large. In order to save the limited land, it was natural to build more buildings. If the buildings were too tall, the cost would be higher, and the maintenance would be more difficult. Therefore, the double-story houses, which balanced the scarcity of land and the difficulty of building houses, were widely used.
Ang Lee and his group chose three rooms on the second floor of a restaurant. Ang Lee and Zhao Yefu shared one room, Chen Long and the guards shared another.
Standing in front of the open window, Ang Lee saw the bustling crowd on the street. He also saw several people from Weizhou who were selling seafood. This reminded Ang Lee of the pirates again.
"An, what's wrong with you? Are you still thinking about the pirates?"
Zhao Yefu asked with concern.
Ang Lee nodded and said, "This time I left the capital with the excuse of building the railway. Originally, I had to return as soon as I finished my business, but now I don't want to go back like this. I want to stay at the seaside for a while and destroy the pirates around here. It's also good to protect the fishermen here so that they can live and work in peace."
Zhao Yefu frowned and said, "These small things can be done by ordinary soldiers. You don't need to do it yourself."
Such small things really didn't need Ang Lee to do. With Ang Lee's current status, he naturally should do more important things. Small things like fighting the pirates could be left to ordinary soldiers, giving them some opportunities to make contributions. However, Ang Lee liked this kind of cat-and-mouse game very much. The scenery overseas was infinitely good. It wasn't easy to come out, so naturally, he wanted to play to his heart's content.
"I don't need to do it myself, but I want to accompany you more and play at the seaside more. Although the capital is prosperous, it's too boring. The scenery overseas is infinite. How interesting it is to catch pirates on the sea! In addition, I won't stay too long. I'll return to the capital in half a year at most. "
Ang Lee said with a smile.
Zhao Yefu heard this and nodded with a smile. She hadn't been to the seaside yet. She had only heard of the sea, but Zhao Yefu wasn't very clear about what the sea looked like. This time, she had the opportunity to go to the seaside to play for a long time. Naturally, it was the best thing.
There were a lot of delicious food in the restaurant. Many of them were local specialties, which couldn't be found anywhere else. This really made Ang Lee have a lot of food.
"Hey, what's this?"
Zhao Yefu picked up a ring-shaped piece of meat and asked curiously.
Ang Lee said with a smile, "This is good stuff. It's very nutritious. This is an elephant. Isn't it very big?"
Zhao Yefu was stunned for a long time. Only then did she understand what Ang Lee was talking about. Suddenly, a trace of red appeared on her face and she stopped eating.
"Haha! This is good stuff. I have to eat more so that I have strength at night. "
Ang Lee smiled and picked up a few pieces of meat to eat.
These pieces of meat were naturally a local specialty delicacy. They were the top ingredients and were also men's favorite nourishment. This was the elephant whip. The elephant whip was considered a big guy among animals. After all, the elephant in the Tang Dynasty was big enough, so the elephant whip couldn't be small. The huge elephant whip represented the dignity of the male elephant. At the same time, because people stubbornly believed that what they ate would be nutritious, they believed that eating elephant whip was to supplement that thing. As a result, the price of elephant whip continued to rise and it became a high-end food. Only the most high-end restaurants in big cities had this dish. Ordinary restaurants didn't have this dish. After all, there were only so many elephants in the Pyu Autonomous Region. A male elephant only had one whip. The quantity of this thing was relatively scarce and it couldn't be popularized. Only the richest people could afford it. There were many things that couldn't be eaten even if one had money. After all, the supply was really tight. Ang Lee was also lucky. After arriving at this restaurant, the elephant whip arrived and he was lucky enough to taste a plate. This plate was not a complete elephant whip, only about one-tenth of it. After an elephant whip was made into slices of meat, there were ten servings, which could satisfy ten tables of guests.
Seeing Ang Lee eating very happily, Zhao Yefu smiled and didn't say anything. He seemed to be very happy and looking forward to it.
In another private room of the same restaurant, the shopkeeper of the Angi Family's gem store was discussing something with a businessman at the moment.
"Oh, Brother Angi, you intend to take over my shop. Isn't your shop doing well? I don't see how prosperous your business is. Besides, North City isn't that big. You don't need to open two shops to sell jewelry, do you?"
A businessman in blue asked curiously.
Although he planned to sell the store and leave the city, he knew the shopkeeper of the Angi Family, so he naturally knew the situation of the shopkeeper's store. For jewelry stores, although they could open branches, there was generally only one store in a city. The branches could only be in other cities. After all, even if the ancient cities were relatively large, they could not be compared with the big cities of later generations. There were only a few streets. Except for the giant cities like Chang 'an City, the general cities' streets would not be very large. Gemstones were expensive luxury goods, so there would not be many customers. It was completely unnecessary for the same businessman to open two gem stores in the same city.
The shopkeeper of the Angi Family said with a smile, "You're right, but you want to sell the store, and I want to buy the store. As long as the price is agreed, you don't have to care about these trivial matters."
Obviously, the shopkeeper of the Angi Family naturally could not tell the businessman in blue that the Tang dynasty was going to build an eight-lane railway station here. This was told by Ang Lee himself. Other businessmen did not know about it. If other businessmen knew about it, they would definitely rob the store. After the businessman in blue heard about it, he might not sell the store, or at least take the opportunity to raise the price.
"Haha, Brother Angi, you're right. As long as the deal is agreed, I really shouldn't care about these things."
The businessman in blue smiled embarrassedly.
The shopkeeper of the Angi Family said while forging iron at night, "In that case, give me a price! Let's make a deal as soon as possible so that you can sell the store as soon as possible and make a fortune in the world. Haha! "
"Well, since we've been old friends for many years, I can't ask for a sky-high price. This is the price!"
The businessman in blue stretched out his hands and gave a price.
The shopkeeper of the Angi Family's smile suddenly froze. After hesitating for a moment, he gave another price, which was equivalent to giving the young man in blue a 10% discount. This price was not too high. After all, the shopkeeper of the Angi Family really wanted to buy the store. Naturally, he would not ask for too much. Otherwise, the seller would not buy it, and his purpose would be ruined.
The price given by the businessman in blue was naturally a bit high. It was originally left for the shopkeeper of the Angi Family to bargain. Seeing that the shopkeeper of the Angi Family only reduced the price by 10%, he was quite happy. Although it suddenly reached the bottom line in his heart, at least it was not lower than the bottom line in his heart. This was enough.
"Let's each take a step back. This is the price! I'm very sincere. "
The businessman in blue gave a 5% discount with a smile.
The shopkeeper of the Angi Family pretended to hesitate and said, "Well, it's settled. After all, we've been friends for many years. Come on, let's finish the wine and dishes first. Later, we'll go through the formalities. In this way, we'll be even. "
Although he said it lightly, the shopkeeper of the Angi Family was very nervous. What he was most afraid of was that the businessman in blue in front of him would delay the handover time. If the businessman knew the plan of the Tang dynasty, the transaction would definitely not go on. Therefore, he must complete the formalities as soon as possible and hand the money to the businessman in blue. In this way, everything was settled. At that time, even if the businessman in blue regretted, it would be too late. The formalities were in black and white, and it was useless to regret.
"Brother Angi, since you're in such a hurry, I can't leave for another half a month. Besides, there are still some leftover goods in the store that need to be dealt with as soon as possible. They can't be dealt with in three or five days!"
The businessman in blue said lightly.
Hearing this, the shopkeeper of the Angi Family was a little nervous. He said hurriedly, "It's just some leftover goods. Just leave them to me. Those leftover goods are also useful to our Angi Family. Why don't you sell them to me at a cheaper price? I won't be picky and will take all of them.
What do you think? "In order to get the shop of the businessman in blue, the shopkeeper of the Angi Family was going all out. He did not hesitate to buy the leftover goods in the shop because this shop sold cloth, which was the material used to make clothes. The Angi Family could really use it, so it would not be a waste.
"Brother Angi, you're too anxious. Are you going to open a silk shop? Even so, it doesn't seem to make much difference if you do it one day earlier or one day later!"
The businessman in blue said curiously.
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