Whether it was the aircraft carrier or the landing ship, they had to be transformed immediately so that they could be put into active service and meet the needs of eliminating pirates. All of this required the support of the emperor. Opening up the sea route required the support of most of the court officials, nobles, and merchants. Only in this way could things go smoothly.
According to the Nanyang Nautical Chart, Ang Lee already had a relatively perfect business idea, and this idea must be known to the emperor, the court officials, and even the common people, so that all the people of the Tang dynasty would support this magnificent undertaking.
The Tang dynasty newspaper was a very good medium. Ang Lee decided to simply publish his idea of opening up the Maritime Silk Road in the Tang dynasty newspaper. He used easy-to-understand words to let the people understand the importance of opening up the sea trade route. As for the details, there was no need to write them down. After all, the common people's level was very limited. If he wrote them in too much detail, they would not understand. In addition, there was a risk of leakage.
Of course, maritime trade had always existed. It had started hundreds of years ago, and it still existed even now. The reason why Ang Lee proposed to create this term was that he wanted to completely improve the environment of maritime trade, so that the Tang dynasty merchants could trade more safely and quickly and earn more profits. At the same time, it would also allow the court to gain more benefits.
In short, the Maritime Silk Road that Ang Lee had improved would undergo earth-shaking changes. It was not an exaggeration to say that it was opening up the sea route.
The imagination of the Maritime Silk Road was reported on the front page of the Tang dynasty newspaper. This caused a great uproar in the capital and became a hot topic among the common people.
Many people who thought they were knowledgeable began to talk loudly. Some pointed out the benefits of the sea trade route and commented on it, while others pointed out the shortcomings of the sea trade route. In short, everyone's opinions were different, and it caused a great debate.
The impact of the news on the front page was obvious. After reading it, the emperor could not sit still and asked several court officials for their opinions.
The court officials represented different interests. Some expressed full support, some expressed opposition, and some refused to express their opinions, which gave the emperor a headache.
"The Maritime Silk Road sounds like a way to make money!"
After the minister left, Li Longji muttered to himself.
"I shouldn't talk too much, but over the years, Assistant Minister Li's suggestions have always been beneficial to the country and the people. If Your Majesty has any doubts, you can summon Assistant Minister Li and ask him."
It was rare for Gao Lishi to support Ang Lee.
"I will definitely meet him, but I need to figure out some things first."
Li Longji frowned and pondered.
"The Nanyang pirates have existed for more than a hundred years. Our Tang dynasty's navy has almost never experienced a great battle. If we are defeated by the pirates, the imperial court will lose face."
Li Longji voiced his concerns.
Over the years, the Tang dynasty's army had been greatly improved. The main border armies were equipped with artillery units, which were enough to deter the surrounding countries. The capital also had a powerful armored artillery unit. Recently, a new Sky Army was established. Its strength was enough to look down on the world. However, Li Longji was still a little unclear about the strength of the navy. Even if the steam ships were equipped with cannons, could they really defeat the cunning pirates?
"Everyone is worrying too much. How can the Tang dynasty's army be defeated by pirates? Since Assistant Minister Li dares to mention the Maritime Silk Road, he must have full confidence. It's better to listen to his opinion."
Gao Lishi was going all out today and continued to interfere in politics.
"Good. Summon Ang Lee."
Ang Lee had been thinking about how to perfect the Maritime Silk Road. After receiving the decree, he immediately rushed to the palace and brought the newly drawn map with him.
"Your Majesty."
Ang Lee bowed slightly.
"Assistant Minister Li, I'd like to hear about your idea of the Maritime Silk Road."
Li Longji asked straightforwardly.
"Come, hang the map."
Ang Lee asked the eunuch next to him to hang the map. Then, he stood in front of the map and prepared to introduce the situation.
"Your Majesty, please look. This blue line is the area that the Maritime Silk Road will pass through. These densely packed red dots are the cities and supply points along the way. The big red dots are the big cities, and the small red dots are the smaller cities. There are also different colored blocks representing different small countries. If there are black skulls on the sea, it means that pirates often appear here."
Ang Lee pointed at the marks on the map and began to introduce in detail.
"There are so many pirates on the sea. It's really not easy to be a sea merchant! No wonder the price of goods in the Tang dynasty increased dozens of times. "
Li Longji looked at the black skulls on the map and sighed.
"Your Majesty, the maritime trade route has been established for hundreds of years. In recent years, it has benefited from the development of the Tang dynasty's industrialization and has become more and more prosperous. But pirates have also prospered and are a great threat to the maritime trade route.
They must be eliminated, "Ang Lee said seriously.
"The Tang dynasty's navy hasn't fought for many years. What are Assistant Minister Li's chances of success?"
Li Longji asked with a frown.
Ang Lee was stunned for a moment and then hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, why do you say that? How can mere pirates be a match for the Tang dynasty? Your humble servant only needs 10,000 elite soldiers to wipe out all the pirates along the way."
"Assistant Minister Li is so confident?"
Li Longji seemed to lack confidence in the Tang dynasty's navy.
"Your Majesty, please take a look. Your humble servant has recently designed two new naval weapons. This picture is of an aircraft carrier, and this picture is of a landing ship. With these two weapons and dozens of steam gunships, there is no need to fear any pirates."
Ang Lee took out two drawings and presented them to Li Longji.
"What kind of ship is this? What's so good about it?"
Ang Lee explained, "Your Majesty, the top of this ship is flat and can dock ten airplanes. It can take off and fight on the sea. The front of this ship can be opened and can carry ten armored gunboats. If it suddenly rushes to the beach, the pirates won't be able to stop it."
Li Longji didn't understand, but he felt that it seemed very powerful.
Ang Lee continued to explain. He told the Emperor that it would take two months to prepare a simple aircraft carrier and five landing ships. In addition, he needed to transfer a flying brigade and an armored gunboat brigade from the capital as the core force of the long-distance fleet. He also needed to transfer more than 30 steam gunboats from Laizhou and other places as the backbone of the fleet. As for the logistics fleet, there were more than 100 ships.
The scale of the transfer was not very large, but it still took 30% of the most elite forces in the capital. One of the three flying brigades of the Sky Army and one of the four armored gunboat brigades of the Tang dynasty's navy had to be transferred. The total number of steam gunboats in the Tang dynasty's navy was not many. Transferring 30 ships at once could be said to be transferring all of their main force.
The number of soldiers gathered was not large, only 10,000, but they were the most elite troops of the Tang dynasty. Their strength was far greater than the motley crew of pirates. Of course, defeating the pirates along the way would not be a problem.
"Do you have to go in person? Can you send someone else? "
Li Longji could not bear to leave Ang Lee. It would take a long time to open up the Maritime Silk Road. It would take at least a year or two to go back and forth.
"Your Majesty, the Maritime Silk Road is extremely important to the Tang dynasty. There are many things that I must go in person. As for the naval battle of the Sky Army, only I know how to train and fight. No one else can replace me."
Ang Lee insisted on personally leading this elite force to protect the Maritime Silk Road.
Then, Ang Lee listed out the benefits of protecting the Silk Road one by one to completely convince the Emperor.
First of all, eliminating the pirates would further promote the prosperity of the Maritime Silk Road and allow the merchants to reap huge benefits. Second, after the pirates were eliminated, the cost of the Maritime Silk Road would be greatly reduced. The goods would be cheaper, and the common people would be able to buy the products they needed more easily.
Also, with the prosperity of the Maritime Silk Road, the Imperial Court would also be able to obtain more revenue, which was also beneficial to the Imperial Court.
In addition, if the pirates were not eliminated as soon as possible, their strength would become stronger and stronger, which would also pose a great threat to the coastal defense of the Tang dynasty.
The countries along the way would more or less bully the merchants of the Tang dynasty. They would impose high taxes on the goods of the Tang dynasty, forcing the prices of these goods to increase. In this way, the sales would be affected to a certain extent. The finances of these small countries would also soar excessively, resulting in a blowout in strength. They would also impose excessive export taxes on the goods imported by the merchants of the Tang dynasty, thus once again exploiting the merchants of the Tang dynasty. This situation must be changed.
In short, the chaos of the Maritime Silk Road must be effectively rectified. Otherwise, this important way of making money would become a way of making money for the pirates and the countries along the way. It would have little to do with the Tang dynasty.
For such an important way of making money, the Tang Empire must take a large part of it. Otherwise, it would be abnormal and necessary correction must be made, even at the expense of war.
Since ancient times, the power of wealth and military power had always been proportional. Only by being proportional could one maintain a strong power. If one had a huge amount of wealth but did not develop military power, there would be a risk of being plundered. If one's military power was strong, it would be a waste if one did not seize the opportunity to fight for wealth. Moreover, a huge military power needed financial resources to maintain it. Therefore, military power must serve to maintain financial resources.
The Tang dynasty had the most powerful military power today. If it did not grab the biggest share of the Maritime Silk Road, it would be a great loss, which was not conducive to maintaining its eternal power.
"Assistant Minister Li, do you mean that the Tang dynasty still needs to station troops along the way? How many soldiers and horses do we need?"
Li Longji looked at the map and asked.
"Your Majesty, we don't need too many overseas troops, but the most important places must be guarded by strong soldiers. Moreover, we need to send officials to manage them and turn them into overseas territories of the Tang dynasty, such as here, here, and here."
Ang Lee pointed at Malacca, and then at Gu Lin, Keshi, Aden, Kirwa, and other places. These places were the core and important places, especially Malacca, which was the most important overseas enclave and relatively close to Yazhou of the Tang dynasty, must be fully managed.
As long as the Malacca area was well managed and the pirates in this area were completely eliminated, the imperial court of the Tang dynasty would have enough reason to collect tolls from ships passing by, which was a huge income. After the Maritime Silk Road became busy, it would definitely be a very considerable source of income.
In addition, the ships coming and going must rest at the port of Malacca. In order to welcome more and more ships in the future, after the Tang dynasty occupied Malacca, the nearby port would be expanded and Malacca would be thoroughly managed, making it an important source of income for the Tang Empire.
As for the other key points, they needed to be controlled and rebuilt step by step, so that the power of the Tang Empire could fully control the Maritime Silk Road and support the merchants of the Tang dynasty, so that the Tang dynasty could obtain the greatest benefits.
"Yes, Assistant Minister Li is right. These places are all important and need to be guarded by troops. At present, the maritime power of the Tang dynasty is somewhat insufficient!"
Li Longji said regretfully.
There were many key points on the Maritime Silk Road that needed to be guarded by the Tang dynasty, but the Tang dynasty only had a small amount of maritime power. It was more than enough to guard one or two points, but if they wanted to maintain such a large area of sea, they would need more naval combat ships.
"Your Majesty is right. These things need not be rushed and need to be done step by step. In the future, it will be enough to station ten steam gunboats in each of these areas. The main force of the navy will be stationed in Guangzhou and will take turns to patrol everywhere to completely eliminate the pirates."
Ang Lee said.
"The preparations will take a lot of time. Assistant Minister Li, when do you plan to leave?"
Li Longji asked with concern.
"Your Majesty, one month is enough for me to prepare. After arriving in Guangzhou, I will need another month or so to prepare, and then we can go south."
Ang Lee answered seriously.
"Good, I support you. If you need anything, just tell me."
Li Longji said straightforwardly.
"Thank you, Your Majesty. I will go back and prepare."
Ang Lee was very happy and left the Imperial Palace to prepare.
Going south to open up the Maritime Silk Road was a big operation. There were many things to prepare, not only materials and equipment, but also a lot of people.
Ang Lee would go out for at least a year this time. He must take enough troops and attendants, as well as all kinds of daily necessities.
"Husband, you are going to Nanyang for one or two years. Do you have to go?"
When the wives heard that Ang Lee was going on a long journey, they all looked reluctant.
"I am going to do business. It's not like I won't come back. You don't have to worry. This time, I am going to take Yun 'er, Jiaren, the two maids, and the four Kunlun slaves. There are six people in total. That's enough."
Ang Lee said.
"Husband, it will be a hard journey. Take me with you!"
"Husband, I also want to go to Nanyang."
Ang Lee waved his hand and said, "No, the sea is too hard. How can I bear to let you suffer on the sea? It's better not to go. You are not allowed to go. "
Although the sea was romantic, it was definitely tough. Li An was going out this time to open up the Silk Road on the sea, not to travel. It would be somewhat inconvenient to bring his wives along. It would be better to leave them all at home and have a few close servants to serve them.
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