Ang Lee and his party only stayed in North City for a few days before continuing south. Most of the railway plans along the way had been completed, and only a few positions were still under consideration. Several people in charge of the planning had different opinions, which led to the final decision. As Ang Lee passed by, these undecided plans were finally finalized. The railway line that ran through the capital of the Tang dynasty to the Indian Sea had been completely determined. Moreover, more than half of this main artery had been repaired. A small part of the southern half had also begun to be built with the completion of the exploration.
Without stopping for too long, Ang Lee and his party moved quickly along the way. It did not take long for them to enter Tianguang Port in the southern part of the Pyu Autonomous Region. It was originally an inconspicuous small port in the southern part of the Pyu Autonomous Region. The population of the port was only a few hundred people. Although it was called a port, there were very few merchant ships inside. Instead, there were more fishing boats belonging to fishermen in the port. The number of fishing boats here was four to five times that of merchant ships, accounting for at least 80% of the total number. Among these fishing boats, the number of small fishing boats was undoubtedly the most, while the number of large fishing boats was not many.
The small fishing boats mainly caught ordinary fish near the port, while the large fishing boats' goal was to enter the deep sea and catch huge whales. There were not many local whaling boats, but the whaling boats' goal was undoubtedly greater. The quantity of each whale was very sufficient, and the value of a whale was far greater than that of ordinary fish. In addition, the whale had a very important resource, which was whale oil. Whale oil was the oil boiled from the subcutaneous tissue, internal organs, and bones of the whale. It was a very important and practical resource. It could be used as a fuel for industrial applications, as well as lubricating grease. It could also be used as soap for cleaning the body and candles for lighting. Therefore, the value of whale oil could be imagined.
A huge whale could naturally obtain a lot of whale oil. In addition to the huge benefits of whale oil, the other parts of the whale's huge body were also sufficient and could be sold at a high price, thus allowing the fishermen in charge of catching whales to reap a great harvest. Of course, catching whales was not an easy task. Ordinary small fishing boats did not have this ability. Not only were whales huge, but they were also quite powerful. When they struggled, they could produce a very large force. It was not difficult for them to overturn a small boat. Even medium-sized fishing boats could not resist the power of whales. Only large fishing boats could maintain balance in the struggle of whales.
Even so, the risk of catching whales was very high. Once a whale went crazy and desperately hit a large fishing boat, even if it only made a small hole in the bottom of the fishing boat, it was enough to sink the fishing boat. If one was unlucky and was besieged by many whales, it would not be strange for a large fishing boat to be badly damaged. Throughout history, many fishing boats had been destroyed by whales, and many fishermen had lost their lives. Just the whale fishermen in Piao Country alone would lose dozens of people every year, and there would even be a whaling boat that would sink every few years.
But even so, it still could not stop the whaling boats from continuing to leave the port, and it still could not stop the fishermen who wanted to catch whales. After all, the benefits of catching whales were too great. In the face of such great benefits, the loss of dozens of fishermen a year was nothing.
The reason why Ang Lee chose Tianguang Port was because of the natural conditions here. If it was built into a super port at a critical time, the scale of the completed port would be at least hundreds or even thousands of times larger than it was now. Only such a huge port could meet the needs of the Tang Empire in the future, and it was in line with the interests of the Tang Empire.
The Pyu cities along the way could no longer arouse Ang Lee's interest. In Ang Lee's mind, Tianguang Port was the most important area in the Pyu Empire.
If such an important port was not completely controlled by the Tang Empire, it would be too passive. But as long as the Tang Empire wanted this port, they would naturally not dare to refuse. Not only the small Tianguang Port, but also the surrounding area within a hundred miles of Tianguang Port would be the territory of the Tang Empire. This was equivalent to cutting off meat from the Pyu Empire. But there was no other way, because the Pyu Empire was too weak. The Tang Empire's request was not very high. It only had a radius of a hundred miles. Moreover, two-thirds of the area was on the sea, and only one-third of the area was occupied by land. It was not densely populated, and there were no large cities. There were only two counties, and the population was not very large, only about 10,000 people.
When the Tang Empire made this request, although the Pyu Empire was very unhappy, they could not challenge the Tang Empire, so they could only accept it. Losing a port and the nearby hinterland was much better than losing their political power.
The Pyu Empire was not without opposition forces. If they did not agree to the Tang Empire's request, the Tang Empire could totally support the opposition forces of the Pyu Empire to seize the political power. The Tang Empire did not even need to do anything. After they obediently offered Tianguang Port, the Tang Empire Imperial Court would not only not support the opposition forces, but also support the Pyu Empire. This would make up for the loss of the Pyu Empire.
"Haha! The Pyu King is sensible. He not only agreed to give Tianguang Port to the Tang Empire, but also sent two white elephants. Now the two white elephants have been boarded and are going to be sent to Guangzhou by sea and land. Then they will be sent to Chang 'an by the railway in Guangzhou. They will be sent to the capital of the Tang Empire in two months at most. "
Chen Long said excitedly.
Ang Lee stood at the top of a mountain not far from the port. Looking at the nearby scenery, he nodded and said, "The Pyu Empire is weak, so it is a wise decision to make. Let's not worry about these things. Now we should plan the future Tianguang Port well! In the future, it will be a place where sea and iron transportation will converge. Although it is not the only place, it is still a very important one. We must plan it well. Well, it will take about three months to finish the design. "
"Assistant Minister Li, these small things can be left to your subordinates. You won't do it yourself, will you?"
Chen Long said.
Ang Lee said with a smile, "I'm just drawing a rough map. The details will be left to my subordinates to perfect. The three months I said will naturally be left to them. They can come and take a look occasionally. In these three months, we will go to sea to fish and enjoy the scenery. If we encounter pirates, we don't mind fighting them. It will be too boring to draw maps all day long."
"Fishing in the sea? I haven't tried it yet. The fish in the sea are very big. The biggest whale is said to be bigger than a house. I really want to see it with my own eyes. It will be great if I can catch one myself."
Chen Long's face was full of expectation.
Ang Lee said with a smile, "It is not easy to catch a whale. The whale is very big. Many fishermen not only failed to catch a whale, but also lost their lives. This is not a fun thing to do. The risks are great, so we must be fully prepared. "
"Oh, I've heard about that. But how do we catch a whale? A whale is bigger than a house. How big of a fishing net do we need to use? The fishing net must be strong enough. I'm afraid it won't work without a rope as thick as an arm. "
Chen Long said.
Ang Lee actually did not know how to catch a whale. However, there were many whaling ships in the port. He would know if he went to ask them himself.
"There are six whaling ships in the port now. Let's go and ask. But these six whaling ships are a little small! How can such small ships fight against the huge power of the whales? I'm afraid that it will be very risky to go to sea in such a small ship! If the ship is hit by a whale and sinks, we can only fall into the sea to feed the fish. "
"It is so dangerous. Forget it! Let's wait until we find a big enough whaling ship to catch a whale! "
Chen Long said.
Ang Lee nodded and said, "Let's go to the Pyu King for help! I believe they must know where to find the best whaling ship. Maybe it is a whaling ship from our Tang Dynasty. But this is a small port. The bigger whaling ships will definitely not stay here. "
"Okay, I'll do it right away."
Chen Long said.
A few days later, four large whaling ships sailed into Tianguang Port. As Ang Lee had guessed, these four large whaling ships were all from the Tang Dynasty. They had been staying in a large port more than a hundred miles away. This time, they were ordered to come to Tianguang Port. Although this would interfere with their normal whale catching plan, they dared not refuse to do something for Ang Lee.
Being able to own such a large whaling ship naturally could not be an ordinary person. They could not wait to please Ang Lee. How could they not seize this opportunity to show off?
"Haha! Now we have a whaling ship, and a large one with the best performance. In this way, we don't have to worry about being hit by a whale. "
Ang Lee said in a very self-confident manner.
The four large whaling ships that were approaching were actually the whaling ships that Li An had personally designed. At first glance, Li An could already confirm it. After all, how could he be wrong about the ships that he had painstakingly designed?
One had to know that ordinary whaling ships were not only smaller in size, but they also needed to rely on sails and oars. The large whaling ship that Li An had designed, on the other hand, relied on the power of machinery. It was faster, had a sturdier hull, and required fewer people. Its overall performance was much better than ordinary whaling ships. With such an advanced whaling ship, Li An's safety concerns when he went out to sea to hunt whales could be dispelled.
"Assistant Minister Li, we don't have to worry about the threat of whales, but I heard there are pirates nearby! What if we encounter pirates? It's still not safe enough! Why don't we send a few gunboats? In this way, our safety will be more guaranteed. "
Chen Long opened his mouth and said.
Ang Lee shook his head and said, "There's no need. Just deploy more soldiers in the whaling ships. These whaling ships are much faster than ordinary ships. Even if the pirates discover them, they won't be able to catch up. You don't have to worry. With four whaling ships, each ship will be guarded by sixty soldiers. It's more than enough to deal with the threat of pirates. It won't even be difficult to capture a few pirate ships."
At this time, in addition to going out to sea to relieve his boredom, Ang Lee also had the thought of disguising himself as a pig to eat the tiger and rob the pirates. According to Ang Lee's understanding of these pirates, they didn't have powerful weapons that could destroy ships. Those heavy crossbows and catapults couldn't cause fatal damage to large ships. Moreover, they didn't intend to sink merchant ships or fishing boats. Their goal was to rob them. Therefore, as long as they found a fat sheep, they would all use the method of boarding. After the pirate ships approached the merchant ships, a large number of pirates would rush into the merchant ships with weapons in hand and use force to control the crew of the merchant ships. Then, they would directly capture the merchant ships or take the valuable goods on the merchant ships and let the merchant ships go so that they could rob them again.
As long as the pirates were at this level, Ang Lee didn't have anything to worry about. With four large whaling ships, each ship would have sixty elite soldiers. Four ships would have two hundred and forty soldiers. With so many soldiers, it would be enough to deal with the pirates. It must be known that these elite soldiers had the strength to fight against ten people. The strength of the pirates was insignificant.
If the pirates launched a boarding battle, they would be seeking their own deaths. Ang Lee didn't mind wiping out these pirates and then rushing into the pirate ships to take them for his own use.
Very soon, the four large whaling ships sailed into Tianguang Port and slowly docked at the dock. Li An walked over to them personally.
These four large whaling ships belonged to the same whaling merchant. The merchant was an old man in his fifties who looked quite spirited.
"Greetings, Assistant Minister Li, I'm Chen Fugui."
The old man had seen Ang Lee's portrait and naturally recognized Ang Lee.
Ang Lee looked at Chen Long beside him and said with a smile, "I have the same surname as you, Chen Fugui. That's a good name. By the way, did I disrupt your whaling plan by asking you to come here? Did you suffer any losses?"
Chen Fugui said with a smile, "I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare. We didn't suffer any losses. We just came back from whaling and rested for ten days. According to the rules of our whaling business, we usually have to rest for at least a month before we can go out to sea again. After all, the sea is too difficult. We need to rest for a period of time when we come back."
Li An nodded approvingly and said, "This time, you guys should rest a little less for a few days! I want to hunt whales nearby for fun. Do you know where there are more whales nearby? It's best if it's the nearest one. I don't want to go too far. "
"Assistant Minister Li, the nearest one is near the Seagull Archipelago. However, there are too many islands there and pirates often appear. It's not very safe. The Red Crab Archipelago, which is twice as far away, is safer."
Chen Fugui answered truthfully.
Ang Lee said, "Then let's go to the Seagull Archipelago. What's wrong with pirates? Do you think I'm afraid of pirates? I might as well tell you that I have more than two hundred guards on this trip to sea. They are distributed among your four whaling ships. With so many guards, if you are afraid of the threat of pirates, you should be worried about them."
"This … Alright then! Since we have the elite troops of the Tang dynasty to protect us, we naturally don't have to be afraid of pirates. When does Assistant Minister Li plan to set off? "
Chen Fugui asked.
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