Ever since Ang Lee had removed all the spices and raised the prices of silk, porcelain and other goods, the merchants' purchase volume had not decreased, but had greatly increased. This seemed unreasonable, but it really happened. This was the so-called trick. This kind of thing happened constantly in any era, but it always lasted for a long time. There were always people who were willing to pay for the trick.
In fact, this trick was to create a sense of urgency and scarcity. It made the merchants believe that if they didn't act soon, all the cheap goods would be bought out by others. Others would make a lot of money as soon as they sold the goods, and they would lose this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make money. So, why not act quickly? What were they waiting for?
Therefore, a group of merchants began to scramble for the rest of the goods, fearing that they would be robbed by others. This allowed Ang Lee to sell a large number of goods he had seized from the pirates as soon as possible, so that he could get back his capital as soon as possible. Then, he could buy the necessary materials and carry out certain construction in Tianguang Port and the Black Dragon Sea Area.
In the future, Tianguang Port would be the headquarters, and the soldiers in the Black Dragon Sea Area would be the subordinates. They would need to return to Tianguang Port often to be stationed there. Soldiers would also be reassigned from Tianguang Port to take turns guarding the pirates. This could reduce the fatigue of the soldiers to the greatest extent, so that the soldiers could better adapt to this task.
The sales of the goods were very smooth, which made Ang Lee very happy. The effect of this trick was so good that it was beyond Ang Lee's expectations.
"I really didn't expect that they would be sold out so quickly. I originally thought that it would take a month to sell them out, but they were sold out in less than a day. This is too fast, haha!"
Ang Lee looked at the large number of gold pancakes and coins on the table. He was in a very good mood. These money were obtained after selling the goods. Ang Lee was naturally very happy to be able to sell so many goods so quickly.
With this money, Ang Lee had more confidence. He could continue to expand Tianguang Port and recruit more people to work there. The construction speed of the port would certainly be greatly accelerated.
The construction of the port was mainly to expand its scale so that more ships could be docked at the same time. Naturally, the ancillary houses near the port had to be built on a large scale so that they could provide enough supplies for the ships in the port. At the same time, since it was a large port, it naturally had to be developed into a commercial center. A large number of commercial houses were naturally indispensable. Building these houses required a lot of materials and money. Without money, nothing could be done.
In order to pay for the soldiers stationed in the Tang dynasty, Tianguang Port naturally needed to develop some industries. The industries that Ang Lee had already thought of were shipbuilding and some other subsidiary industries.
Now that there was a shortage of ships all over the world, it was naturally the most appropriate time to develop shipbuilding. Even though many places in the Tang dynasty were vigorously developing shipbuilding, compared with the demand for ships on the sea route, these shipbuilding facilities were still slightly inadequate. Therefore, it was appropriate to develop one in Tianguang Port.
Shipbuilding required steel, wood, and other products, all of which needed corresponding development. In addition, Black Dragon Island needed to deeply process fish products and make canned fish. Canned fish needed pottery. There was no raw material for pottery near Black Dragon Island, but Tianguang Port happened to have this material. Therefore, it was most appropriate to build a pottery workshop here. After the pottery workshop here was built, it could be transported to Black Dragon Island so that the canned fish workshop on Black Dragon Island could be used.
Because Black Dragon Island needed to deeply process fish products, its demand for spices was naturally great. This time, the spices robbed from the pirates were sealed up. They could be used by Black Dragon Island for a while in the future, but it was definitely not a long-term solution. No matter how much spices were stored, there would be a day when they ran out. When these stored spices were used up, they would have to buy them again. If they bought them here, the cost would undoubtedly be higher. Only by buying them on a large scale from the Tang dynasty could they save on the cost of purchasing raw materials.
If they could directly grow spices on Black Dragon Island, the effect would be better. Of course, Ang Lee was also very clear that many spices were not suitable to be grown in the tropics. Some spices were special products of the temperate zone. After changing the environment, these plants would not grow.
As for spices, there were more types. The common spices were cardamom, star anise, cinnamon, bay leaf, agaricus leaf, clove, and so on.
These spices could grow well in the temperate zone. Of course, most of them could grow well in the tropics. Therefore, Ang Lee felt that it was completely possible to transplant some high-quality spices saplings from the Tang dynasty and plant more in the Black Dragon Islands. In this way, when the Black Dragon Island lacked spices in the future, they would not have to spend a high price to buy them. They could directly collect them on the island and dry them in the sun. Then, they could process them and use them. In this way, the cost of producing fish products could be greatly reduced, and thus, greater profits could be obtained.
Because Tianguang Port was too far away from the Tang dynasty, the iron and steel industry here was not developed. Therefore, the shipyard Ang Lee wanted to build here was mostly made of wood. He would only use steel in the important parts. After all, this was the tropics. In the vast tropical rainforest, there was a lot of wood. You could have as much wood as you wanted, and it was impossible to use it all. Wood was very suitable for shipbuilding here. Although the quality of wood was not as strong as that of iron, it was enough.
In the future, whether it was ordinary fishing boats, whaling boats, or armed clippers, the shipyard controlled by the officers and soldiers would be able to build them. Of course, they could also build turrets for pleasure. It was not a big problem to build wooden merchant ships. It was necessary to build more ships that the local shipyards could not build in order to maximize the profits. After all, in any era, only a monopoly could maximize the profits. Only a monopoly could occupy the absolute dominance. Without a monopoly, the profits would not be high. However, with a monopoly, the profits could be ten times or even a hundred times, or even higher. These were all caused by the scarcity. Any item with a scarcity could cause a scramble to obtain the greatest profits.
"Assistant Minister Li, it's not difficult to build a shipyard. However, without mature craftsmen, this shipyard will only be an empty shell."
Chen Long opened his mouth and said.
Of course, Ang Lee had considered this problem long ago. The best craftsmen were naturally the old craftsmen who had worked in this industry before. For example, the craftsmen on Giant Tree Island were a good choice. In addition, there were also some shipyards in some small ports near Tianguang Port. These shipyards did not have high profits. If they could annex these small shipyards and bring all the skilled craftsmen to Tianguang Port, Ang Lee believed that the shipyard in Tianguang Port could develop very well and become the most splendid shipyard in the surrounding hundreds of miles. "These shipyards in Tianguang Port are too small.
"The development of the shipyards in the surrounding area is too poor. The smallest workshop only has more than 20 people and can only build small fishing boats. Such shipyards have no future. We can take over these small shipyards and have them come to the shipyard in Tianguang Port. We can give them 30% more salary. I believe they won't refuse. In addition, if they perform well, we can give them extra rewards. I believe that there will be brave men who will do it with such a great reward. As long as we give them enough wages, I believe that it won't be difficult to recruit workers in Tianguang Port. "
Ang Lee said confidently.
For workers, as long as they were given enough wages, it was not a difficult thing to do. No matter how dirty and tiring the work was, as long as they were paid, they would be willing to do it. After all, for most ordinary people, it was already very difficult to support themselves. How could they choose a job?
The construction of a shipyard took time. Similarly, it also took time to recruit workers. The construction of a shipyard would take no less than two months. However, it was hard to say how long it would take to recruit workers. If the wages were higher, it would be easier to recruit workers. If the wages were lower, it would be more difficult to recruit workers.
However, Ang Lee was not in a hurry. The problem of the pirates on Black Dragon Island had not been solved yet. After this problem was solved, the next step would be to carry out construction. It was not a problem to recruit workers now. As long as he had enough money, the more people he could recruit, the better.
After resting in Tianguang Port for several days, Ang Lee and his soldiers took a medium-sized fishing boat to Black Wolf Island. Yesterday, his soldiers sent back the news from Black Panther Island. With the cooperation of the captured pirates, the soldiers smoothly captured Black Panther Island and captured more than ten pirates on the island without any accident. Now, more than 200 soldiers of the Tang Dynasty were stationed on Black Panther Island and began to build defensive facilities on the island to ensure their absolute safety. At this time, the only islands still under the control of pirates were the Black Dragon Islands controlled by the Black Dragon. As long as they captured the Black Dragon Islands, the whole Black Dragon Sea Area would be under their control.
"Assistant Minister Li, the Black Panther Island has been captured. Now there is only one Black Dragon left. When are you going to slaughter it?"
Chen Long asked excitedly.
For Chen Long, the Black Dragon was now the last group of pirates, and the Black Dragon only had five or six hundred pirates, which was not enough. As long as Ang Lee wanted to take action, he could easily kill the Black Dragon. However, Ang Lee pursued zero casualties and was not willing to let his soldiers suffer heavy losses. Every soldier had a family behind them. If this soldier died in battle, his family would be in great grief. Therefore, it was best not to lose any soldiers under his command.
"The pirates under the command of the Black Dragon have not gone out to rob recently. He is really good at holding back!"
Ang Lee opened his mouth and said.
"Assistant Minister Li, I heard that the Black Dragon robbed a team of five merchant ships three months ago. That team was not easy to deal with. There were more than two hundred guards accompanying them. If they encountered pirates like the Black Panther, they would not rob them at all. But the Black Dragon dispatched more than five hundred people under his command, which was more than twice the number of guards on the merchant ships. All the armed clippers were dispatched, which was a total of eight, and there were more than ten medium-sized fishing boats accompanying them. With so many forces suddenly pressing over, the guards on the merchant ships were frightened. They resisted for a while, and after paying a certain amount of casualties, they were forced to agree to the pirates' robbery, on the premise that the pirates did not harm their lives. The Black Dragon also agreed to let these guards and merchants all gather on one merchant ship. After the Black Dragon and his crew robbed the goods of the four merchant ships, they were allowed to return to the four merchant ships. The Black Dragon took his fleet and the last merchant ship and left the place of the robbery. After returning to the Black Dragon Island, the Black Dragon emptied the last merchant ship's goods and sent the ship to the Giant Tree Island to let the craftsmen there dismember the merchant ship. After all, merchant ships are relatively slow and do not like to use merchant ships to rob. After the craftsmen of the Giant Tree Island obtained a large amount of wood from dismembering the merchant ship, they built an armed clipper ship for the Black Dragon Island. This was the request of the Black Dragon, so they did not dare to disobey."
Chen Long opened his mouth and said.
"Robbing a total of five merchant ships, it seems that the Black Dragon has made a fortune. He has been holed up in his lair for three consecutive months without coming out. He is really patient."
Ang Lee said with a smile.
This was also the intelligence of these pirates. They wouldn't frequently go out to rob merchant ships for a long time. They would only rob once in a while. When they had enough money, they would stop robbing. When they didn't have enough money, they would return to their old business. This way, controlling the frequency of robbing could make merchants relax their vigilance, which would be beneficial for them to rob often in the future. The frequency of robbing was lower, and it wouldn't be easy to attract the attention of the soldiers. The soldiers wouldn't go to a certain area to patrol every day just because of the occasional robbing. Even if they went there, they might not necessarily encounter pirates. After all, pirates only appeared occasionally. After patrolling for a few days and finding no pirates, the soldiers might not come again. After all, the location where the Tang warships were stationed was still very far from the Black Dragon Sea Area. It wasn't easy to come here. After patrolling for a few days, if they still didn't find anything, they would naturally return to the base. Moreover, the frequency of robbing here wasn't high, and it wouldn't attract the attention of the soldiers.
"The situation of the Black Dragon Island's defense has been investigated by Black Dog. I believe there will be a result soon. If the Black Dragon Island's defense is not tight, we may be able to kill our way in and directly destroy their lair. It will save us the time of waiting for them to go out to sea."
Chen Long opened his mouth and said.
Ang Lee nodded and said, "If the defense of the Black Dragon Island is really a mess, we can naturally attack it directly. However, there are five to six hundred pirates on this island. This strength is really not weak. I'm afraid it's not as optimistic as we think. We still have to think of a better way. Can we transfer the Black Dragon's men to other islands?"
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