When the pirates occupied the Black Dragon Islands, they collected taxes from the affiliated fishermen. Although the tax rate was not high, it was still a considerable amount of income. If the Tang dynasty controlled the islands, they could also collect taxes, or not collect taxes. They could change it to letting the fishermen pay a certain amount of their catch. In this way, they could also get a good income and relieve the consumption of the soldiers stationed there.
There were more than ten thousand fishermen living in the Black Dragon Archipelago. Ten thousand people paying for their catch was definitely not a small sum. In addition, Li An was planning to let the soldiers stationed here produce daily, so it could more or less offset the expenditure.
Of course, the number of soldiers stationed here could not be too many. If there were more than ten thousand soldiers stationed here, no matter how much production activities were carried out, it would not be enough to offset the consumption of soldiers. The number of soldiers stationed here should be as small as possible. It was enough to control this area. There was no need to station too many soldiers here.
According to Ang Lee's calculation, 500 soldiers were enough to station in the Black Dragon Islands. These soldiers were enough to control this area well and could even cover an area of hundreds of miles, cutting off the pirate activities in this area. The daily consumption of so many soldiers could be maintained as long as the soldiers could share a certain amount of production tasks and be responsible for some industries. There was no need for additional financial support from the imperial court of the Tang dynasty. These soldiers could even feed the imperial court of the Tang dynasty and replenish the national treasury.
Because the Black Dragon Island was the core island and the deep-processing industry of fish products was to be developed here, at least half of the soldiers stationed here in the future, which was about 250 people. Because the tasks of planting and breeding on the Black Tiger Island were more important, more soldiers were required, about 100 people would be enough. As for the remaining three islands, 50 people would be enough to guard each island. With the elite soldiers of the Tang dynasty, 50 people on each island would be enough to deter the surrounding area and prevent pirates from appearing in the surrounding area. This would make the Silk Road on the Sea of the Tang dynasty safer in this area and make overseas trade more prosperous.
Of course, in addition to the Black Dragon Archipelago, the garrisoned troops in Tianguang Port also needed to develop industries. If this port was to be developed into a super huge port in the future, the number of soldiers stationed there would naturally be more, at least two or three thousand. With so many garrisoned troops and horses, the daily consumption was naturally not small. Without the support of industries, the imperial court would have to use the national treasury's resources to support this port, which would undoubtedly slow down the imperial court's development in other aspects. At present, the imperial court was engaged in large-scale construction everywhere, and the territory of the Tang Dynasty was gradually expanding. Although its income was increasing year after year, it also needed to spend a lot of money, especially the newly developed America and Australia, as well as the vast western region of the Tang Dynasty. All of these required the support of a large amount of national treasury, which was simply a bottomless pit. Therefore, it seemed that the imperial court was getting richer and richer, but compared with the money needed to vigorously develop the new territories, it was still a drop in the bucket. Therefore, the imperial court should avoid using the national treasury as much as possible. The overseas industries should support the national treasury as much as possible instead of asking for money from the national treasury, so as not to affect the development and development of the Tang Dynasty's key areas.
As far as the current Tang dynasty was concerned, as long as the profits were from America and Australia, the imperial court would not take a single cent. Instead, it would allocate more resources from the national treasury to develop the new territories there. The development of America and Australia was even greater than that of the Tang dynasty. For this reason, the imperial court had also invested a lot of energy in the construction of super-large ships. The shipyard in Laizhou had been expanding all the time. Every year, a large number of super-large ships would be launched there. At the same time, the coastal areas in the southern part of the Tang dynasty, such as Guangzhou, were also developing large-scale shipyards and preparing to build super-large ships together with Laizhou. If the Tang dynasty wanted to control the vast area in the west, it had to vigorously develop railway construction. If it wanted to control the two extremely large territories, it needed to vigorously develop super-large ocean ships. Without railways, all kinds of materials and personnel could not contact the distant areas in the west, which was easy to generate centrifugal force in this area. Without a large number of super-large ships, the Tang dynasty's control over America and Australia would be greatly weakened. In order to control these two large new territories, a large number of super-large ships had to be built at all costs.
Whether it was the construction of railways or super-large ships, they could not do without massive amounts of steel. In addition, the new buildings that the Tang dynasty was promoting, as well as a large number of bridges and high-quality roads, also required a large amount of steel. Although the imperial court had developed a large number of iron-smelting workshops in the mainland and overseas, it was still a little difficult to meet the huge demand. In order to avoid the shortage of steel, the construction in some areas had to be abandoned. For example, the houses in ordinary provinces and counties were still made of wood. There were no new buildings built in large numbers. Only a few areas such as the capital city had built new buildings on a large scale. The new buildings were not popularized on a large scale because they wanted to reduce the consumption of steel as much as possible and use the limited steel where it was most needed.
The number of iron-smelting workshops under the control of the Tang dynasty directly determined the speed of the empire's expansion and development. The more steel there was, the faster the empire would develop. Without enough steel resources, the development would be limited to a certain extent.
According to Ang Lee's understanding, both Australia and America had a large number of high-quality iron ore resources. If he wanted to build railways and super-large ships on a larger scale, he must develop the iron-smelting workshops in America and Australia as soon as possible and send more manpower to these two places to develop the iron-smelting industry. The steel output of these new territories could not only meet the needs of the local development, but also be transported back to the mainland of the Tang dynasty by large ships, so that the mainland could develop faster and better.
Of course, there were many industries in America and Australia, and the land was vast enough. As long as they were developed well, the strength of the Tang Empire would be greatly improved. The development of a new world would certainly bring great benefits. If possible, Ang Lee would like to visit Australia and America in person to see the new worlds there.
Just as Li Anchang was thinking about going to America and Australia to take a look, the official in charge of sales walked in.
"How is it? Have all the silks been sold? "
Ang Lee asked.
The official replied, "Assistant Minister Li, 20% of the silks have been sold. According to the current trend, all the silks will be sold out within a month. As long as the price is low enough, there's no need to worry about the sales. If Assistant Minister Li hadn't planned to sell them earlier, we wouldn't have been able to sell them even if the price was higher."
Ang Lee said with satisfaction, "Good, good. Keep working hard. By the way, how are the sales of porcelain, spices, and sundries? Are the sales good?"
This time, the valuable goods obtained from the pirates were not only silk, but also porcelain and other products. These products were also very valuable. If all the products were sold, they would surely bring Ang Lee sufficient funds. These funds could be used to develop the industries in Tianguang Port and the Black Dragon Islands, thus avoiding the consumption of the national treasury's money by the officers and soldiers stationed in these two places.
"Assistant Minister Li, the sales of porcelain are also good, but slightly worse than silk. The sales of spices are even weaker, but they can be sold out in two months at most. As for the department stores, they are the most popular, but they are all bought in small batches. Only less than 10% have been sold."
The official said.
Hearing this, Ang Lee nodded and said, "We have plenty of time, so we don't need to be too anxious. As long as we can sell out in the end, it will be fine."
"Assistant Minister Li, in fact, there is no need to rush to sell spices at all. Whether it is Tianguang Port or the Black Dragon Islands, there are a large number of fishermen who catch a large number of fish. With so many fish, salt alone is obviously not enough, and spices are also needed. With spices, the taste of the fish will be better. In other words, we don't have to worry about the sales of spices. The local ordinary people will buy spices all year round. It seems to be a bit of a loss if we sell a large amount of spices at a low price. In addition, Assistant Minister Li intends to build a fish product processing workshop on the Black Dragon Islands, which obviously needs spices. If we sell them all, we will need to buy them at a high price in the future. It is not cost-effective. It is better not to sell them and save them for the fish processing workshop in the future."
The official said.
Hearing this, Ang Lee felt that it was quite reasonable. He nodded and said, "That's right! In the future, when we open a fish product processing workshop, we do need spices as a raw material. If we sell the spices at a low price now and have to buy them at a high price in the future, it is not cost-effective at all! Well, let's stop selling the spices and save them for the fish processing workshop in the future. Well, let's do it this way. Stop selling the spices and save them for the fish processing workshop in the future. However, we can't tell others that the spices have been bought out. Put all the spices into two fishing boats and ship them to the Black Wolf Island. Let these merchants have a good look at our products and see if they are very popular. In addition, we can raise the price of silk and porcelain appropriately. "
Since spices could be used as a raw material for the deep processing of fish products, it was very reasonable to give up selling them for the development of the fish product processing industry in the future. In addition, shipping all the spices to the Black Wolf Island in one go could give these merchants an illusion and give them a sense of urgency. If they did not hurry up and buy the spices, the remaining goods would be sold out.
In order to match this sense of urgency, Ang Lee also increased the price of the remaining goods to let the merchants see that if they did not buy, not only would the goods be sold out, but the price had also increased and would continue to increase in the future.
"Yes, I will do it right away."
The official said.
Soon, all the spices were transported to the fishing boats and shipped to the Black Dragon Sea Region. They were prepared to be shipped to the Black Dragon Island in the future for fish product processing.
"The spices are sold out so quickly? There were still a lot of them yesterday. "
"Are there really no more?"
"Are there any more spices? I want to buy some. "
A group of merchants gathered at the entrance of the spices shop and asked a petty official who was locking the door.
The petty official said with a smile, "No more, there's none left. All the spices were bought by a big merchant."
"Will there be more in the future?"
A merchant asked with concern.
The petty official shook his head and said, "There shouldn't be any spices so cheap. After all, the pirates nearby have been killed. We can't let the soldiers rob them and sell them to you cheaply! You missed the opportunity, so you can't blame others! Alright, everyone make way, make way! "
"Who is this! He's so dishonest, taking all the benefits by himself. "
"Aiya! If I had known, I would have taken action earlier. I was just a step slower and all the good things were taken by others. Sigh! "
"Let's go to the silk shop again."
Several merchants were slightly depressed and walked to the silk shop together, ready to buy some cheap silk to calm their nerves.
"What, the price of silk has increased? The price is not cheaper than the place of origin! It's only 10% cheaper than here. This price is not cheap, is it still worth buying? "
"How can he raise the price so casually? This is too dishonest. I've prepared the money, but the price has increased. It's too much. "
"With such a high price, we can't make much money even if we buy it. It's better not to buy it!"
"Forget it, forget it, I won't buy it. Let's go!"
The group of merchants was a little dissatisfied when they saw the price of silk rise. After all, compared with yesterday, the price of silk had increased by at least 30%. This price increase was unacceptable to the merchants. The price had exceeded the price of the raw materials. Of course, Ang Lee's price was not excessive. If these merchants went to the Tang dynasty to buy goods, after deducting the transportation fee, the price might be higher than the price of the silk when they arrived here. This price was actually not expensive. For the merchants, it was not much different from buying goods directly from the Tang dynasty, so it was not so attractive. However, in any case, the silk was slightly better than buying goods from the Tang dynasty. At least they didn't need to spend a lot of time transporting goods. These merchants just accepted it for a while, but in the end, they would still pay the bill. This was absolutely not a problem.
"Don't complain. If you don't want to buy, I won't force you. Buying and selling is voluntary, isn't it? The spices have been bought out, and the silk can only be sold for a few days. If you don't believe it, just wait and see."
The petty official smiled. He felt that these merchants were too greedy. It was enough that they could make money, but they still wanted to make more.
These merchants didn't know what to say. They didn't say that they wanted to buy, but they also didn't say that they didn't want to buy. They just stood quietly in the shop, their faces a little gloomy.
At this time, Ang Lee sent a subordinate to buy some goods from the silk shop. He bought a lot of goods, which made the merchants even more nervous. If these cheap goods were really bought out, they wouldn't even have a chance to make a little money.
At this time, these merchants were very regretful. When the price was very low yesterday, they didn't seize the opportunity to buy more. Now that the price had increased by 30%, their profit was reduced by more than half. How could they not collapse and regret that they didn't buy earlier? Of course, it was useless to regret. Now that the price of silk had increased, it was impossible to reduce it for them.
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