Ang Lee was naturally very happy that he had easily occupied Malacca, annihilated and captured more than 5,000 pirates, and did not suffer any losses.
Since the establishment of these advanced troops, the Tang Dynasty's army faced a lot less pressure when facing foreign enemies. Almost every battle was won, and the victory was very easy. This was caused by the difference in weapons.
With the advanced troops, it was naturally very easy to fight pirates. But to open the Maritime Silk Road, in addition to eliminating the great enemy, the pirates, they also needed to contact the surrounding countries and build good relations with them to promote prosperity together. The problems of tariffs and laws must be solved well, otherwise, it would seriously inhibit the prosperity of trade.
The area around Malacca was an important location of the Maritime Silk Road. It was a very key place. There were many small countries in this area, and each region had many special products that other regions did not have. The trade with the Tang Dynasty was very complementary. Dealing with these small countries was very important for the prosperity of the Maritime Silk Road.
At this moment, the core force of Black Wolf's huge group of pirates had been eliminated, and the sharp sword hanging over the heads of the surrounding countries had disappeared. The ones who eliminated Black Wolf's group were the Tang Dynasty's navy. In this way, the Tang Dynasty's navy could use their status as benefactors to coerce the surrounding countries to obey the national policy of the Tang Dynasty.
Ang Lee believed that this task should not be difficult to complete. Although the national policy of the Tang Dynasty was somewhat coercive, which made the kings of the other countries somewhat uncomfortable, the policy of the Tang Dynasty was also mutually beneficial. In the long run, it was very cost-effective for these small countries. Therefore, as long as they were patient and persuaded, and deterred by force, they could achieve their goal.
The sea breeze outside was very comfortable. Ang Lee looked at General Rao Yue and said, "What's your name?"
"It's too long to remember. Assistant Minister Li, just call me General Luo."
General Rao Yue said with a smile.
Ang Lee nodded and said, "General Luo, it's not bad to call you that. Did your king send you to deal with Black Wolf?"
General Luo said: "Yes, ever since our King found out that the Dragon Tooth Gate was controlled by pirates, he couldn't sleep well. The strength of these pirates is growing too fast. In just a few years, their strength has doubled. They are a great threat to our Rao Yue."
Ang Lee nodded and smiled: "Your king is not bad, he has his own ideas. He is not a sitting duck. How many troops does Rao Yue have?"
General Luo puffed out his chest and said, "Assistant Minister Li, our Rao Yue has 3,000 elite soldiers and 5,000 reserve soldiers."
"They don't have a lot of troops, but it's not bad for Malacca."
Ang Lee said and asked: "Since your Rao Yue knows that Black Wolf is a great threat, why don't you contact the other countries? As long as the other countries join forces, their military strength can definitely surpass the pirates."
General Luo sighed: "We have already contacted the other countries. However, the other countries are afraid of the pirates' despotic power and don't dare to join forces to fight the pirates. Also, the pirates have been operating in Malacca for many years and are not weak. We want to do it, but we can't! Therefore, the King came up with this idea. He wanted me to use the birthday celebration as an excuse to get rid of the pirate leader. "
Ang Lee heard this and laughed: "You want to do it, but you can't? In my eyes, the pirates were nothing more than a motley crew. Their combat strength was not worth mentioning. Not worth mentioning at all! "
Ang Lee felt much better after putting on a pretentious attitude.
General Luo was obviously unhappy, but he had nothing to say. After all, what Ang Lee said was the truth. Not long after the Tang Army attacked, the pirates were all gone except for those who were killed or captured. Ten thousand pirates were defeated in an instant. It was obvious that the combat strength of the Tang Army was beyond their imagination.
Ang Lee didn't care whether General Luo was happy or not. Now was the time for him to show off. He didn't need to worry about anything else.
"The main force of the pirates has been annihilated by our army. Next, our army will be stationed in Malacca and carry out an effective clean-up of the remaining pirates. In this raid, the pirate leaders were basically captured alive. This is your credit, General Luo. I will report this to the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty. His Majesty will definitely reward you."
Ang Lee spoke very politely, but this was tantamount to putting Rao Yue under the Tang Empire and making Rao Yue a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty.
"Thank you, Assistant Minister Li. Because of the threat of the pirates, Rao Yue has been unable to have any contact with the Tang Dynasty. Now that the pirates have been annihilated by you, Rao Yue can send a delegation to the Tang Dynasty and officially establish diplomatic relations with the Tang Dynasty. The Tang Dynasty is a big country, and Rao Yue is willing to be a vassal state."
General Luo wasn't angry. This was the national policy that their King had thought of long ago. They more or less understood the policies of the Tang Dynasty. It was very cost-effective to be a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty. They only needed to pay tribute to the Tang Dynasty every once in a while in exchange for a large amount of rewards from the Tang Dynasty. In short, it was very cost-effective to be a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty. Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many small countries fighting to be a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty.
Hearing this, Ang Lee was naturally very happy. He hurriedly said, "This is a good thing! You can go back to Rao Yue and tell your King that he can now send a delegation to the Tang Dynasty. If he is still worried, I can send a few steam gunboats to escort you to Chong Hai Island. After Chong Hai Island, there won't be any pirates. "
"Oh, that's great. Thank you, Assistant Minister Li. I'll prepare to go back now."
General Luo said happily.
"No hurry, no hurry. I still need to send a delegation to Rao Yue to discuss the unification of tariffs and the Maritime Silk Road with your King. You can take the Tang Dynasty's delegation back with you."
Ang Lee requested.
General Luo nodded and said, "No problem. This is very good. I'll go and prepare."
In order to make it easier to manage, Ang Lee asked the soldiers of the Vanguard Battalion to divide the captured pirates. Each camp could only allow a maximum of 500 pirates, and there must be 100 soldiers of the Vanguard Battalion in charge of guarding each camp. In this way, more than 4,000 pirates were killed, and more than 800 soldiers of the Vanguard Battalion were killed. Fortunately, 4,000 soldiers of the Vanguard Battalion had already landed, and the remaining 800 soldiers were still strong.
It was already very late. For the sake of safety, the soldiers in charge of chasing the pirates began to return one after another. They once again captured several hundred pirates who had surrendered. The result was quite good.
"Big Brother, all the soldiers have returned. Leaving 500 soldiers to guard should be enough."
Li Feiyu said.
"How are the casualties? How many pirates did we capture?"
Li Feiyu said, "The Dragon Martial Army followed behind. There were basically no casualties, only a few sprained their ankles. The Vanguard Battalion also suffered very few casualties, less than 50. We captured three to four hundred pirates, most of whom surrendered voluntarily and are now in the captive camp."
Ang Lee said, "Today's harvest is very good. We wiped out the main force of the pirates in one fell swoop. The remaining pirates are nothing to be afraid of. Let the soldiers have a good rest. From tomorrow onwards, we will divide into many groups and eliminate all the pirates here. In addition, we must persuade the surrendered pirates to join the Vanguard Battalion and further strengthen the Vanguard Battalion's combat power."
"Big Brother, don't worry! Leave these to the subordinates. Most of these pirates took this path to make a living. As long as we give them a chance, they won't dare to not surrender. They can only be used by us. "
Li Feiyu said.
Ang Lee smiled and said, "What we lack most now is vanguard soldiers. Let these guys be our vanguard soldiers. It won't be a pity even if they die. Now we have 5,000 vanguard soldiers. After taking down Black Wolf, we have captured 4,000 to 5,000 people. It's estimated that we can capture another 10,000 pirates. In this way, our Vanguard Battalion can reach up to 20,000 people. This number is really too big. I'm a little worried."
"Big Brother, what are you worried about? Are you afraid that these surrendered pirates will rebel? "
Li Feiyu asked.
Li An nodded and said, "That's right. Although the soldiers of the Vanguard Battalion are also part of the Tang Army, they are still pirates who have surrendered. They have done bad things in the past. If they rebel, it will be a big problem."
"Then what should we do? Should we control the size of the Vanguard Battalion and kill all the newly surrendered pirates?"
Ang Lee shook his head and said, "Of course not. If we kill all the surrendered pirates here, what will the surrendered soldiers of the Vanguard Battalion think? Will they still dare to work for the Tang Dynasty? If we kill the chicken to warn the monkey, it will make the soldiers of the Vanguard Battalion feel sad for the death of the rabbit. In this way, they will be forced to rebel. "
"Then it's better to let them go home and farm. This will not increase the number of the Vanguard Battalion, nor will it stimulate the soldiers of the Vanguard Battalion."
Li An said, "Pirates are all experts at raiding and robbing. Most of them don't know how to do farm work, so there won't be many who are willing to go back to farming. If we force them all to go back to farming, they will only return to their old jobs and become bandits or something."
"Well, after talking for so long, we still can't do this and that. Can we only sit and watch the Vanguard Battalion grow stronger day by day?"
Li Feiyu touched his head. He didn't know what Ang Lee was thinking.
Ang Lee said, "It's inevitable that the Vanguard Battalion will grow stronger. But we can take a better way to make them truly become good people and never rebel."
Li Feiyu hurriedly asked, "Is there such a good way? What can we do to make these pirates completely change their attitude?"
Ang Lee said, "Start a family and strengthen ideological education."
"Start a family and strengthen ideological education."
"Yes, this is a time of war, and the Vanguard Battalion's most important mission is to fight and reduce the losses of our main force. But their piratical habits haven't changed much. Right now, our main force has the advantage, so they don't dare to act rashly. But once our main force gets stronger and stronger and someone with ulterior motives tries to sow discord, the situation will become very difficult to say. If we want to change this situation, we have to have them completely abandon their piratical habits and become qualified Tang soldiers. The most important method to change their piratical habits is through strict education, brainwashing them, and having them form families. As long as their families are stable and they have something to worry about, they won't dare to rebel, lest they implicate their families.
Ang Lee explained.
"Big Brother, it's not easy to educate pirates, especially the older pirates. Their ideas have been deeply ingrained. It's easier to educate the younger ones. However, we will work hard. Big Brother has the secret book of brainwashing, so we are not afraid that we can't change them. But the problem of starting a family is not easy. Will there really be women willing to marry pirates with their morals?"
Li Feiyu said.
Ang Lee said, "Most of the people who died in the war are men. The number of women is much more than that of men. There's nothing wrong with a woman who hasn't married choosing a pirate who is already a soldier of the Tang Dynasty. It's better than living alone!"
"That's right. It's very hard for a woman to live alone. It's always good to have someone to take care of her. She can also have children."
Ang Lee pointed to the map in front of him and said, "Look at the map. These important places must be guarded by soldiers and horses. The pirates of the Vanguard Battalion are all from nearby areas. They are more adapted to the local environment. It's a good choice to let them guard these key points. After they settle down, they can marry the local women. Of course, the imperial court of the Tang Dynasty will also send some soldiers and horses to guard these key points with them."
"Rising Island, Dragon Tooth Gate, Malacca, where are we going next?"
Li Feiyu asked.
Ang Lee said, "No hurry. Let's rest for two months first! There are more than 10,000 pirates in the vicinity. Although they are all small scattered armed groups, it will take a long time to completely eliminate them. In addition, the small surrounding countries must be settled as soon as possible. Let them sign an agreement with the Tang Dynasty to unify import and export tariffs and formulate policies more suitable for foreign trade. "
"Two months is enough for us to do a lot of things."
Li Feiyu said happily.
Ang Lee looked at the map and began to think about the prospects for the future.
Opening up the Maritime Silk Road could facilitate trade between the Tang Dynasty and the countries along the way, so that they could prosper together. It would be of great benefit to both sides.
However, the technology of the countries along the way was too backward, and the goods they produced were too few. In particular, some of the specialty goods and raw materials were too scarce, so they could not meet the vigorous demand of the Tang Empire.
This situation was bound to affect the development of the Tang Empire. In order to break this situation, they must increase the production of the specialty goods of some small countries. By adopting machine production and assembly line management, they could greatly increase the production, which would bring them huge wealth and also meet the vigorous demand of the Tang Empire.
However, the people of these small countries had never come into contact with advanced machinery and lacked the relevant experience of assembly line management. Asking them to do these things by themselves was tantamount to whimsy. It was an impossible task no matter what.
The only feasible way was for the businessmen of the Tang Dynasty to enter these small countries with capital and management teams, as well as the advanced machinery of the Tang Dynasty. They would enter the market of these small countries as investors and set up various large-scale workshops in these small countries to achieve the goal of increasing production.
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