The members of the camel caravan who destroyed the railway, as well as the other local ruffians of the Stone Kingdom who took advantage of the situation, all received the punishment they deserved. However, except for some who were beheaded, most of them were only sentenced to a few years in prison. They could start anew in the future. The slightest threat was only reprimanded and given a few hundred beatings before being released.
This was also proposed by Ang Lee. He wanted to give these Stone Kingdom people who had made a mistake a chance to turn over a new leaf. By treating them gently, it would certainly improve their good impression of the Tang Dynasty and make them more willing to rely on the Tang Dynasty.
The members of the camel caravan who had made less mistakes were punished and educated well. Then, they were very willing to join the railway system of the Tang Dynasty and become official employees of the railway system of the Tang Dynasty.
This approach not only solved the livelihood of these people, but also satisfied the needs of the railway system of the Tang Dynasty. After all, it was impossible to maintain too many workers of the Tang Dynasty in Stone Kingdom. The huge railway system required a lot of employees. These camel caravans who had lost their livelihood were naturally the best candidates for recruitment. Recruiting them could be said to be killing two birds with one stone.
As for the fact that they had attacked the railway construction team and hurt the people of the Tang Dynasty, it was not a big deal. Since it had passed, there was no need to be too calculative. For the greater benefits in the future, this little bit of tolerance was necessary. The Tang Empire was the most powerful country in the world, so it was necessary to have a basic tolerance. As long as they were convinced and followed the Tang Dynasty, they could be forgiven.
Since there were still some days before the train started, these unemployed camel caravan members who had nothing to do all volunteered to join the railway construction team. They wanted to earn money to support their families with their hard work.
Stone Kingdom had always been an important trade route between the East and the West, so the camel caravan had always been relatively developed. There were tens of thousands of members. Except for a few leaders, most of them were escorts and coolies. These people joined the railway construction team and greatly accelerated the progress of the railway construction, so the railway could be built faster and better.
When there was nothing to do, Ang Lee would take a group of people to the railway construction site in the name of inspection. He would inspect and guide them on the spot and ask them if they had any difficulties. If there were any difficulties, Ang Lee would personally guide them to solve the problems.
In short, wherever Ang Lee went to the construction site, the railway construction progress would be greatly improved, and the quality of the project would also be improved.
Of course, Li An's role was real. He was not like the leader of a certain country in the future who did not know anything. However, the people of the country were more ignorant. In the end, when the leader went to the fish farm, the production of fish increased. When the leader went to the sheep farm, the production of sheep increased. When the leader went to the dairy farm, the milk production of the cows immediately increased. In short, their leader had become a god-like existence. Wherever the leader went, that place would be illuminated by the light of the leader. All kinds of crops and production would be greatly enhanced.
This kind of personal worship was also for the cohesion of the nation and to maintain the stability of the regime. It could be considered as for the benefit of a certain group. However, the use of ignorant people to effectively rule the people would itself seriously inhibit the normal development of a country. If the people all became ignorant people, how much power could the development of society have? How much hope could the nation have?
Seeking truth from facts was the way of the king. What was the point of doing these fake things? It would only make people more ignorant and more servile.
Of course, Ang Lee was very familiar with the railway system. Therefore, it was completely possible for Ang Lee to go to a certain place and guide the technical staff to improve the quality and output of a certain place. There was no fake element. After all, Ang Lee was an expert in this field. After some guidance, it could indeed improve the quality and output of a certain place.
With sufficient manpower, the railway construction progress was greatly improved. According to Ang Lee's preliminary estimate, the railway of the Tang dynasty could be directly connected to Talos and Tuozhe in the Stone Kingdom in two years at most. This would promote the economic development of the Tang dynasty and the countries in the middle of the river, and expand the influence of the Tang dynasty to the western region.
While Ang Lee was waiting, an elite army of the Tang dynasty had already entered Talos City in the Stone Kingdom. Ang Lee also knew the young general in the lead. It was Duan Xiushi, who used to be Ang Lee's bodyguard.
This time, Duan Xiushi came with 3,000 elite soldiers of the Tang dynasty, including an elite artillery team with 10 cannons and more than 50 artillery soldiers.
This was the elite force that Gao Xianzhi had specially transferred from his artillery brigade. His purpose was to improve the strength of Duan Xiushi's troops so that this small force of 3,000 soldiers could be competent for the important task of guarding the Stone Kingdom.
In the future, the Tang dynasty would transfer more troops to other countries to achieve the Tang Empire's control over the whole world. It was just like a certain country in the future that had hundreds of military bases all over the world to achieve the goal of controlling the whole world. The current Tang Empire was definitely the most powerful superpower on the whole planet, and it was fully capable of achieving the goal of controlling the whole world.
In short, sending troops to guard the Stone Kingdom was only the first step. The next step was to send more troops to guard more important areas. This was the Tang dynasty's established plan, which was conducive to the unification of the whole world. In the future, when all the countries became vassals of the Tang dynasty, it would also be the happiest time for the people of the world. Only by unification could peace be brought, and only then could war and turmoil be stopped.
"Your humble subordinate pays respects to Assistant Minister Li."
After Duan Xiushi arrived at Tarlos, he asked his deputy to arrange the deployment chores, while he himself went to Ang Lee's residence as soon as possible.
"Duan Xiushi, we haven't seen each other for a few years, and you've already become a general. Amazing!"
Ang Lee didn't care about which troop Gao Xianzhi was sending, so he naturally didn't ask. However, he didn't expect that this person was his old acquaintance, Duan Xiushi, which was at least a little surprising.
"Haha! Compared to Assistant Minister Li, I'm far inferior. Your humble subordinate still needs to consult Assistant Minister Li more. "
Duan Xiushi appeared very humble, but after so many years of experience, he had become much more confident. He was not nervous at all when he saw Ang Lee, and he appeared very confident.
And after so many years of weathering, Duan Xiushi's face had become even rougher, at least twice as rough as it had been in Chang 'an. In other words, his skin had become even thicker, and he seemed even more mature and composed, like a Great General.
"Forget about consulting. This official is no longer leading soldiers. Right, you brought three thousand soldiers with you this time. What do you think? Are these three thousand soldiers up to the task of guarding the Shi Kingdom?"
Ang Lee loudly asked.
"Assistant Minister Li, be at ease! This lowly subordinate's three thousand elites is enough to look down on the world. Protector-General has even assigned us an artillery team, making us even stronger. Even if the enemy is one hundred thousand valiant soldiers, this lowly subordinate is confident that we can defeat them in a single blow. "
Duan Xiushi confidently declared, exuding a domineering aura.
"Three thousand against one hundred thousand, and you want to defeat them in a single blow? General Duan's tone is quite bold!"
Ang Lee said with a smile.
"This is all because Assistant Minister Li has invented so many practical weapons that have greatly increased the fighting power of our army. I won't hide it from Assistant Minister Li. Our army is equipped with ten armored vehicles. If we line up and charge, it will be enough to strike fear into the hearts of the enemy."
Duan Xiushi proudly declared.
"Haha! Ten armored vehicles? What an imposing aura! With ten cannons, General Duan is truly going to dominate the Shi Kingdom. Even if all the soldiers of the Shi Kingdom were put together, they would still be no match for General Duan. "
Ang Lee happily said.
Even without Ang Lee's inventions, the Anxi army of the Tang dynasty would have been enough to intimidate the weak soldiers of the Shi Kingdom. After all, the Shi Kingdom was a commercial country. All the common people were thinking about how to do business and make a fortune so that they could live a comfortable life. Thus, they were naturally unwilling to throw their lives away. And if all the soldiers were afraid of death, their fighting power was naturally not worth mentioning.
Later generations of the Wo Nation were praised by the world for their valiant fighting power and their fearlessness of death. They were known as the warrior spirit, and they fought without regard for their lives. But in the commercial cities of the Wo Nation, the soldiers recruited were indeed all afraid of death. Whenever there was a war, they would all apply for sick leave, and even torture themselves to make themselves sick so that they could avoid the war. In short, this army was completely incapable of fighting.
When there was a war, the army marched very slowly. By the time they arrived at the battlefield, the battle had already ended, and they could return safely. But the reputation of being greedy for life and afraid of death had already spread throughout the world. Even decades later, people would still talk about this cowardly army of the Wo Nation.
The Shi Kingdom was located on the main road between the East and the West. Almost all the common people in the country were engaged in business. Under the influence of the desire for profit, everyone wanted to gain more benefits. Of course, they were not willing to throw their lives away. Everyone was greedy for life and afraid of death. People who grew up under such influence had a strong will to fight.
After the Tang Dynasty became rich, the fighting spirit of the common people also weakened. But the Tang Dynasty was vast and rich in resources. Not all places were rich, and there were many places with strong customs. In addition, the army of the Tang Dynasty was equipped with advanced equipment. Some of the army could almost defeat the enemy without any casualties. Therefore, the soldiers naturally became much braver and did not fear battle at all. Instead, they were eager to gain military merits through battle and seek the greatest benefits for themselves.
Therefore, although the Tang Dynasty became rich and commercialized, the combat power of the army of the Tang Dynasty did not decrease at all because of the continuous improvement of equipment. On the contrary, it became more and more powerful. Even if a medium-sized army of thousands of people was sent, it could defend an area.
It was just like the Western empires of later generations. They could send a few thousand people and set up a few cannons to conquer a big country with a population of hundreds of millions. This was the result of the generation gap in technology.
The military force of the current Tang Dynasty was equivalent to that of the Western powers of later generations. A medium-sized army could deter a big country. If tens of thousands of soldiers gathered, they could even destroy a big country and make a big country like Tibet choose to obediently surrender.
Relying on its geographical distance, Dashi had always ignored the warnings of the Tang Dynasty and continued to bully the vassal states of the Tang Dynasty, forcing these small countries to pay them a high protection fee. The Tang Empire had always been suffering from transportation difficulties and could not teach Dashi a lesson, so the situation continued to worsen. But now, the situation was different. The railway was about to open. As long as the railway line entered Stone Kingdom, all kinds of strategic materials of the Tang Dynasty could continuously enter Stone Kingdom, thus supporting the continuous combat ability of the Tang Dynasty's army and allowing the army of the Tang Dynasty to fight a medium-sized battle in the west.
This was also the situation that Dashi's emperor and courtiers were most worried about. Therefore, they tried their best to obstruct and prevent the Tang Dynasty from building a railway in Stone Kingdom to maintain their interests in the river and prevent the threat of the Tang Dynasty to them. But they clearly did not realize that it was the established policy of the Tang Dynasty to pave the railway to the world. This was not something they could stop. This kind of action would only lead to a merciless failure. Moreover, it would also bring great harm to themselves, which was a lesson that the Tang Empire might launch.
Of course, Dashi's emperor and courtiers clearly did not realize this. They were too confident and too eager to keep receiving tributes from the other countries in the river. Therefore, they did not hesitate to take the risk of destroying the railway that the Tang Dynasty was building.
In the palace of Dashi, King Apos was very angry when he saw these courtiers who returned in failure. These people, who were eating his salary and supported by him, not only failed to complete the task he gave them, but also persuaded him to give up the hostility against the Tang Dynasty and support the Tang Dynasty to build a railway in the river. They even asked him to introduce the railway of the Tang Dynasty to Dashi to promote the economic development of Dashi.
"Your Majesty, the Tang Dynasty's army is extremely powerful. Our army is no match for them at all. They have made up their mind to build a railway in the river. Almost all the people of Stone Kingdom support the Tang Dynasty's approach. Even the people of the camel caravan have been persuaded by them. If we want to destroy the railway now, we can only send out our army. But this is tantamount to directly confronting the Tang Dynasty. The price is too high. We don't have an absolute chance of winning."
"Your Majesty, the strength of the Tang Dynasty is not something we can fight against. Many useful things in the palace were made by the Tang Dynasty. The gap between us and the Tang Dynasty is too big. We can't fight them by force."
"Yes, yes, the Tang Dynasty is extremely powerful. Our country can fight against them."
All the courtiers expressed their reverence for the Tang Dynasty. They believed that the country they were loyal to could not be compared with the Tang Dynasty. For the safety and stability of the country, they had to cooperate with the Tang Dynasty and not be hostile. This was in the interest of Dashi.
"Are you so afraid of the Tang Dynasty? Did you receive some benefits from the Tang Dynasty?"
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