Corban's brow furrowed even tighter. The conversation next door was neither too loud nor too soft, and sounded like a normal conversation. It did not seem like it was meant for him to hear, and he had been sitting in the room for almost an hour. If it was meant for him, it should have happened not long after he entered the room.
In other words, Corban had completely believed Lian's words, and believed that the Tocharian Kingdom had made huge concessions to the Tang Dynasty. As such, he had to hurry back to the Stone Kingdom and inform their king of this important matter, and listen to the king's opinion. After all, such a huge concession was not something a mere envoy like him could make the decision.
After confirming the authenticity of the matter, Corban immediately put down the wine glass in his hand and called for his attendants to hurry to the Western Railway Station in Chang 'an. He wanted to return to the Stone Kingdom as soon as possible.
At the same time, he also ordered his subordinates to go to the Tang Dynasty's market and buy several high-capacity motorcycles, as well as enough gasoline. After all, the Tang Dynasty's train only went to Anxi, and there was still a long way to go to the capital of the Stone Kingdom. If he were to ride a horse, it would take a lot of time, but if he were to ride a motorbike, he would be able to get there quickly.
The speed of a motorbike was indisputable. During the New Year period in the future, because of the shortage of trains and cars, many people who wanted to go home from work would choose to ride a motorbike. Many people's homes were thousands of kilometers away, and that was enough to show that it was possible to travel thousands of kilometers on a motorbike.
When Corban boarded the train, there was a pair of eyes staring at him from behind, and after the train left, the person immediately left and ran in the direction of Ang Lee's villa.
"Assistant Minister Li, Corban has left on the train."
"Oh, really? You saw it with your own eyes."
Ang Lee was very excited.
"Assistant Minister Li, your humble servant saw it with his own eyes. There is no mistake about it."
"Great, great, great. Prepare the carriage. I'm going to the palace to see the Emperor."
Ang Lee was very happy and decided to go to the palace immediately to tell Li Longji the good news and discuss the next step of the plan.
After entering the palace, Ang Lee quickly met Li Longji and happily told him the good news.
"Assistant Minister Li, are you sure?"
Li Longji was also very happy, but he was not sure if the Stone Kingdom's king would agree to the Tang Empire's request.
"Rest assured, Your Majesty. The Stone Kingdom is full of merchants, and they understand the importance of the railway to them. If the Tang Dynasty insisted on building the railway to Tocharia, the Stone Kingdom's people............................
Li An analyzed.
. "Li Longji stroked his beard and said seriously," I hope Assistant Minister Li's analysis is correct. It would be best if the Stone Kingdom could agree to this request. If not, I plan to make the Stone Kingdom a state of the Tang Dynasty. "
After saying that, he looked very proud. Now that the Tang Dynasty's strength had become very strong, it would be very easy to take over a small country like the Stone Kingdom. The railway would allow the Tang Dynasty's main forces to easily enter Anxi without fear of interference from the western countries. They could even swallow the western countries in one go and establish a vast empire.
"Your Majesty is correct, but this lowly subject believes that the King of the Stone Kingdom is a wise man. Thus, it is best that we begin to build the railroad as soon as possible. As a precaution, we can mobilize some soldiers into Anxi to strengthen the Great Tang's momentum and have the countries of the west submit."
Ang Lee suggested.
Li Longji nodded and said, "I plan to send an armored artillery brigade into Dianqian City. In addition, Assistant Minister Li can ask the Railway Bureau to immediately prepare all kinds of materials needed for the construction of the railway. Also, the steel workshops around the capital should speed up the production of the railway from now on."
"Yes, Your Majesty. I will arrange it."
Li An nodded and walked to the side of the map with Li Longji. They looked at the planned route for the next step of the railway construction.
This planned route had been drawn by Ang Lee a month ago. However, Li Longji had to consider some interests, so it had not been made public. Except for Ang Lee and Li Longji, no one else knew about this planned route.
These days, when Li Longji was free, he would take out the map and study it carefully to determine whether Ang Lee's planned route was suitable or if there were any parts that needed to be modified.
Ang Lee's planned route was to start from Dianqian City, pass through Botaling, and enter Suiye City, the westernmost military town of the Tang Dynasty, to connect with the last town of the Four Towns of Anxi. Then, from Suiye City, it would go west through Julan City and enter Talos City of the Stone Kingdom.
After the railway arrived at Talos City, the route would be divided into two. One would continue west along the Yaosha River, and the other would go south to connect the countries in the river and directly lead to the Tocharian region.
In Ang Lee's plan, Talos City was obviously a transit station, which showed the importance of Talos City.
The first stop south of Talos City was the capital of the Stone Kingdom, Tuozhe City, which also showed the importance of the Stone Kingdom.
To the south of Tuozhe City, one would have to pass through the Kang Kingdom, the Mi Kingdom, the Shi Kingdom, the An Kingdom, the He Kingdom, the Cao Kingdom, and other small countries. These small countries were very small, much smaller than the Stone Kingdom, but their economies were very developed. This was because they were closer to the Tocharian Kingdom and the Abbasid Caliphate in the west.
The Kang Kingdom could also be used as a transit station for trade. Therefore, near the Kang Kingdom, the Tang Dynasty's railway would be divided into two. One would go south to the Tocharian Kingdom, and the other would go west to the Abbasid Caliphate.
Therefore, after the railway left the country, there would be two transit stations. The first would be Talos City of the Stone Kingdom, and the second would be Sawejian City of the Kang Kingdom.
Now that the Stone Kingdom's envoy Corban had taken the bait, the next step would be to deal with the Kang Kingdom's envoy. However, with Ang Lee's methods, this was very easy.
Looking at the winding railway line that led to the western countries, Li Longji was in a heroic mood. Li An was also in a very good mood. After a round of discussion, Li An returned to the R&D Center and began to arrange the production of railway tracks and other work related to the laying of the railway.
Corban was a very good friend. He had sent many local specialties that Ang Lee liked very much, especially the beautiful and considerate Mei 'er. In short, Ang Lee liked all the gifts very much. And now, Corban was sure to send an even greater gift, which was the land of the Stone Kingdom, the land along the railway.
Of course, even if the Tang Dynasty obtained this land and built the railway, it would only serve the people of the Stone Kingdom. It would only benefit the Stone Kingdom.
Half a month quickly passed. Corban returned to Chang 'an, and so did the envoys from the Kang Kingdom and the other countries of the river, bringing back the latest orders from their kings.
Just as Ang Lee had expected, these small countries feared the Tang Dynasty and hoped to borrow the strength of the Tang Dynasty to resist the rising Abbasid Caliphate in the west. Thus, after some consideration, they agreed to the Tang Empire's request and were willing to offer the land that the railway would pass through to the Tang Empire. They did not have any extravagant hopes of getting a share of the railway.
The Imperial Court of the Tang Dynasty was overjoyed to hear that the river countries had made concessions. They immediately began to recruit craftsmen and use the railway to transport them to Anxi. Freight trains were also used to transport the railway and other goods to Anxi.
Of course, the manpower of the Tang Dynasty alone was not enough. The countries along the way needed to recruit a large number of people to assist the Tang Dynasty in building the railway. In return, the Tang Empire would give them a discount, such as a twenty percent discount. This would allow the merchants of the river countries to use the railway system of the Tang Dynasty even more cheaply.
Of course, the extent of the discount was linked to their contribution in helping the Tang Dynasty build the railway. Those who contributed more would get a higher discount, while those who contributed less would get a smaller discount. Moreover, there was a time limit to the discount.
In order to continue getting the discount, the countries along the way had to continuously contribute to the railway system of the Tang Dynasty. In the early stages, they would help the Tang Dynasty build the railway, and in the later stages, they would maintain the normal operation of the railway, such as repairing the railway lines. Although the railway was very sturdy, it still needed long-term maintenance. As long as the countries along the way were willing to contribute to the maintenance, the Tang Dynasty could continue to give them a discount. After all, it was good for everyone. Only when both sides profited could they do it for a long time.
Because the Tang Dynasty was also building the railway in China, human resources were relatively tight. Therefore, only 150,000 skilled craftsmen were sent to Anxi to build the railway. The rest of the labor could only be provided by the countries along the way. How long it would take to build the railway depended on how much manpower the countries along the way could provide. Anyway, the Tang Dynasty only had so many people. It could not waste too much manpower to build the railway line. The Tang Dynasty was in a full-scale industrialization and was very short of manpower.
Of course, in order to make up for the lack of manpower, the Tang Dynasty would transfer a large number of construction machines to Anxi. In this way, the 150,000 craftsmen could match a million manpower.
Now that gasoline engines and pneumatic tires had begun to be mass-produced, the construction machines produced were very advanced, and their reliability had also been greatly improved.
With the railway already connected to Anxi, it was very convenient to go to Anxi for an inspection. It would only take a few days by train to get there. Therefore, in order to see the specific situation of the railway in Anxi, Ang Lee decided to take the train to Anxi's Bihuancheng. At the very least, he had to take a look at Botaling.
It was at least five thousand miles from Chang 'an to Bihuancheng. After the railway speed increased, it would take at least three days to reach. Therefore, Ang Lee would have to take at least three days to reach Bihuancheng. After that, he would have to transfer to a bus to Botaling.
In order to relieve the loneliness of the journey, Ang Lee brought Mei 'er with him. After all, Corban was accompanying him back to the Stone Kingdom, and this little loli was given to him by Corban. He had to keep her by his side to show respect to his friend, showing that he was very satisfied with Corban's gift.
In the future, Ang Lee's behavior would definitely be condemned in speech and in writing. However, in the Tang Dynasty, it was a very normal thing. No one would say that Ang Lee's character was bad. Even Ang Lee's wives did not have the slightest opinion about it. After all, they had things to do, so why would they care about Ang Lee's carefree attitude? Moreover, Mei 'er was so sweet and gentle. With a young lady to take care of their husband, they would be more at ease and not have to worry about Ang Lee not having anyone to accompany him when he was lonely.
The carriage that Ang Lee rode in this time was a state-of-the-art suite, which was even grander than the limousines of the future. After all, the area of the carriage was larger than any large passenger train, and the interior was naturally more spacious. It was much better than the small soft sleeper compartment from before. Moreover, such a large suite was only used by Ang Lee alone, and no one else had the right to use it. This was the emperor's special decree to prepare the advanced carriage for Ang Lee's travels. It was to show the emperor's favor for Ang Lee, and also to flaunt Ang Lee's noble status.
In the Tang Dynasty, in addition to the emperor's travels, Ang Lee's treatment was the best. The emperor's special train could occupy five or six carriages. Although Ang Lee only occupied one carriage, this treatment was quite good. At least, Ang Lee was very satisfied. Such a large carriage was divided into many rooms, which was not much different from the three-bedroom, one living room, and one bathroom of the future. This carriage was equivalent to a 70-square-meter house. Living in it, one could look at the scenery outside the window while moving. That feeling was needless to say. The most important thing was that he was holding a little girl in his arms, which made him feel even better.
"Alang, open your mouth."
Mei 'er peeled an orange and stuffed it into Ang Lee's mouth.
"Well, it's delicious. Give me another one."
Ang Lee stroked Mei 'er's soft skin as he chewed on the piece of orange in his mouth.
When Mei 'er heard this, she continued peeling oranges. She wrapped one arm around Li An's neck. This method of peeling oranges allowed Li An to smell the scent of the oranges. At the same time, he could also smell Mei' er's body fragrance. Coupled with the pleasure of caressing her, it felt so good that he was about to ascend to heaven.
"Assistant Minister Li, Corban requests an audience."
The guard outside the door reported.
Ang Lee did not mind Corban coming to ruin the atmosphere, because he was not afraid of Corban at all. He could still hug Mei 'er in front of Corban, just like the young people of the future, who could flirt with each other on the streets, completely ignoring the hate-filled eyes of single dogs. They also did not care about social morals, as long as they were happy. The feelings of others could be completely ignored.
"Let him in."
As Li An spoke, he planted a kiss on Mei 'er's tender lips. He narrowed his eyes in infatuation, enjoying this smooth feeling.
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