Ang Lee originally planned to deal with a sinister businessman like Zhang Batian as a warning to others so that the businessmen of the Tang dynasty could do business in peace. But now, he changed his mind.
Because none of the ordinary businessmen who knew their place were outstanding. They could make a lot of money by hiding in the sea trade and avoiding the pirates. If they were caught by the pirates, they would lose a lot of money. In short, it was just a child's game of hide and seek, not to mention that they could start workshops in other countries along the way.
To put it simply, Ang Lee found Zhang Batian's talent and felt that this guy was very capable. He could deal with the pirates and the royal families of the countries along the way. His ability was really not weak. If he was in charge of cross-border trade negotiations, he would be very suitable.
With Black Wolf's confession, Ang Lee could arrest Zhang Batian at any time. He was not afraid that this old guy would not listen to him.
After talking about Zhang Batian's matter, Ang Lee asked Black Wolf to go in person and take the soldiers of the Vanguard Battalion of the Tang Army to persuade the other pirates who were unwilling to surrender. Some small leaders also took the Tang dynasty's troops to persuade them to surrender. In terms of effect, of course, Black Wolf's persuasion had the best effect. After all, he was the leader of the pirates and always had a great prestige in this area.
Ang Lee did not have to go in person to persuade them to surrender. He took a few confidants to enjoy the scenery nearby.
It had to be said that the scenery of the port of Malacca was very good. Standing on a high place, one could overlook the entire port. Hundreds of ships of various types were parked in the port in an orderly manner. It was quite spectacular.
However, Ang Lee was more concerned about the resources near the port and the natural resources deeper in. After the pirates occupied Malacca, the land within a radius of more than 100 miles around the port was the world of the pirates. Now that the pirates were destroyed by the navy of the Tang dynasty, this large piece of land should naturally be the land of the Tang dynasty.
The Tang dynasty wanted to establish a county here to rule this important piece of land. In fact, they only needed to rely on the favorable conditions of the port to generate great economic value, which was enough to support the people and government offices of the whole county. At the same time, they could also provide some funds to support the navy of the Tang dynasty.
However, this economic structure was too simple. If they only relied on the port, in the future, the people would have to rely on external imports for everything they needed. If the merchant ships no longer stopped at the port or the number of docked ships decreased, it would be a great blow to Malacca.
For example, in a certain country in the future, oil resources were extremely rich. Because selling oil was so profitable, the people and businessmen in the country invested in the oil industry. Everyone became rich, and the bosses were very rich. The ordinary people also had a good life. In their leisure time, the poor brothers could also lie on the beach and leisurely bask in the sun.
However, the oil market suddenly underwent a shocking change. The price suddenly fell to the bottom of the valley, close to the cost price. This directly led to the collapse of the country, because oil could no longer make a lot of money. As a result, there was not enough money to buy food and daily necessities from abroad. The lives of the people naturally plummeted. They could not even eat. Even a roll of toilet paper as a reward was enough to move people to tears.
Some people said that there was so much land in this country. Why didn't they cultivate it? How good would it be if they could produce their own food? Then they would not have to import it.
This was naturally because oil in this country was too profitable. The income from oil was many times more than agriculture. Only a fool would go into agriculture. They could just import food directly.
After the oil price fell, it was impossible to form a large-scale agriculture in a short period of time. After all, agriculture required a large number of agricultural machines and the people needed to have the ability to farm. These things were not available in this country. Because there was no money, they could not buy agricultural machines. In addition, the people had been in the oil industry and did not know how to farm. They also did not have the strong ability to endure hardships. If they were to farm, there was no guarantee of the production.
Most importantly, these people who were used to living a good life could no longer bear the heavy burden of labor. Their bodies would resist orders. Therefore, riots accompanied this country.
In the future, Malacca would be a county of the Tang dynasty. With the support of the entire Tang dynasty, there would be no such situation. However, it was not good to let all the people in the county work in the port industry. This way, all the living materials in the county would have to be imported. This would be very troublesome.
What Ang Lee wanted to do was to check the resources around Malacca and see if there were any industries that were worth developing. This would increase the economic diversity of Malacca County.
Malacca was a coastal area. Naturally, there would be fishermen. Fishing could be used for personal use or export. It was a very good industry. However, the entire trade route was at sea. There were still many fishermen. Therefore, the profits of this industry would not be high. It was enough to survive.
In the forest not far from the port, Ang Lee saw many coconut trees, palm trees, fruit trees, and a small area of grassland.
Coconut trees could be used to make coconut juice. Palm trees could be harvested for palm seeds. Palm seeds could be sold to merchants or set up a local oil processing factory. Fruit trees could be sold directly as food. If the advanced manufacturing industry of the Tang dynasty was introduced, they could be developed into canned fruits. This would increase the economic value of fruits.
As for the grassland that was overgrown with weeds, it could be used as a factory site. It could also be transformed into farmland to grow fresh vegetables for the people of the county. This would allow the people of the county to eat fresh vegetables.
Ang Lee ordered his subordinates to draw a map of the nearby terrain on paper. They also marked the resources at different locations to facilitate the development of the county.
After gradually settling the waters around Malacca, there were still many pirates in the west. Although the scale was not very big, there were still quite a number of them. Ang Lee needed to deal with them.
However, Ang Lee needed to consolidate the land that he had obtained and station troops there. He was afraid that he would not be able to move forward for the next two months.
In order to quickly secure the cross-border investment, Ang Lee personally wrote a letter to Zhang Batian. He requested the old man to come to Malacca immediately. Otherwise, he would use force to kidnap him. With a strong force as his backing, Ang Lee was not afraid that Zhang Batian would not listen to him.
When his subordinates received the order, they immediately led two steam gunships to Guangzhou at the highest speed. This was to allow Zhang Batian to go south as soon as possible. This was exactly Ang Lee's strategic goal.
After spending some time in Malacca, Ang Lee suddenly thought of the palm oil factory in Rao Yue. This factory was Zhang Batian's property. Right now, Zhang Batian was still far away from Malacca. He wanted to go to Rao Yue to take a look and see how the palm oil factory was doing. He wanted to see how it operated, how profitable it was, how much tax Rao Yue collected, how the local workers were like, and how hardworking they were.
Ang Lee personally led more than ten large steamships and close to a thousand soldiers to Rao Yue. He wanted to personally see the palm oil factory under Zhang Batian's name. Of course, he also wanted to pay a visit to the king of Rao Yue and discuss with him about the Maritime Silk Road. He also wanted to talk about the benefits that this road would bring to Rao Yue once it was completely unblocked.
The distance from Malacca to Rao Yue was not very far. After a day, Ang Lee arrived at Rao Yue's port and immediately docked the ship.
The people of Rao Yue who had discovered the Tang dynasty's ship earlier had reported the news to their superiors. When the king of Rao Yue heard that a high-ranking official from the Tang dynasty was coming, he was so scared that he hurriedly came out to welcome him. He was the king of a small country and represented the supremacy of this country. However, his small country only had a population of several tens of thousands and a standing army of only three thousand soldiers. It was much smaller than the elite troops led by Ang Lee. Naturally, he did not dare to be arrogant in order to avoid bringing trouble to himself due to his lack of etiquette.
The elite troops of the Tang Army under Ang Lee's command easily dealt with the threat of the pirates and occupied the pirate's lair. This was a huge blow to the king of Rao Yue. It made him realize the huge gap between himself and the Tang dynasty.
"Assistant Minister Li, look, the king of Rao Yue has come to welcome us in person. What about so many people?"
His subordinates were very happy to see the king coming to welcome them in person. This showed that Rao Yue had given them a name.
Ang Lee smiled and said, "Rao Yue is just a small country. It's about the same as the county magistrate of the Tang dynasty. At most, it's just a provincial governor. In terms of real power, it's lower than you."
"Haha!"
Ang Lee's steamship was very large. It was the first to dock and lowered a suspension ladder.
The moment Ang Lee walked down, the king of Rao Yue hurriedly stepped forward to welcome him. He was afraid that he would make Ang Lee unhappy.
"Your Majesty, this handsome senior official of the Tang dynasty is Assistant Minister Li."
General Rao Yue next to him introduced him.
"Xiao Wang greets Assistant Minister Li of the Celestial Empire. It's really a blessing for Rao Yue that Assistant Minister Li can come to Rao Yue!"
The king smiled very politely and said gratefully, "When General Luo came back, he told Xiao Wang that this time, the Tang dynasty's Sky Army wiped out the pirate's lair in two hours and wiped out more than 10,000 pirates in one fell swoop. The pirates were all looking for their teeth on the ground. It was really satisfying. You should know that these pirates have been bullying small countries like ours for years. As soon as the Tang dynasty's Sky Army arrives, we will be saved. "
Ang Lee put on the airs of an adjutant and said, "Your Majesty, you are too polite. I was ordered to open up the Maritime Silk Road, which includes attacking the pirates along the way. I have zero tolerance for pirate forces. I will attack one after another until all the pirates are eliminated. As for wiping out all the pirates, there are still many fish that have escaped the net! Our army is going all out to wipe out all the pirates. I believe that it won't be long before we wipe out all the pirates. By the way, General Luo's contribution in taking down all the pirate leaders in one fell swoop is indispensable! "
After that, he looked at General Luo and nodded.
"I don't dare, I don't dare. It was all by chance. I can't compare with Assistant Minister Li and the Tang dynasty's Sky Army."
General Luo said.
"Assistant Minister Li, Xiao Wang has already asked people to prepare food and wine. Although the palace is simple and crude, I hope Assistant Minister Li won't mind. Please."
The King of Rao Yue said politely.
Ang Lee smiled and said, "Your Majesty, you are too polite. There's no need to rush to eat. I didn't come here just to visit the King. There is one more thing I must do."
"What is it, Assistant Minister Li? As long as I can do it in Rao Yue, I will not refuse."
The King of Rao Yue said politely.
Ang Lee asked, "I heard that a merchant named Zhang Batian of the Tang dynasty opened a workshop in Rao Yue. Is that true?"
"Yes, it is true. This man seems to be in cahoots with pirates."
The King said.
General Luo continued, "Assistant Minister Li, this Zhang Batian didn't appear directly, and we have never seen him in person. It was his subordinate who came to open the workshop. He also brought a letter of recommendation from Black Wolf, asking us not to make things difficult for Black Wolf to open a workshop here."
"Where is it?"
Ang Lee asked with concern.
"It's less than ten miles to the west from here. We will arrive soon."
General Luo answered.
Ang Lee nodded and said, "Good. Since we have nothing to do, Your Majesty, are you interested in taking a look?"
The King said, "Xiao Wang has never seen the workshop since it was built. Let's go together! General Luo, please lead the way. "
Although ten miles was not far, the King and Ang Lee were both people of high status. How could they walk? A luxurious carriage was quickly prepared.
This was the King's carriage, but he didn't mind letting Ang Lee ride it.
Although this carriage was very luxurious and belonged to the King, Ang Lee didn't feel comfortable sitting in it. This was because the carriage didn't have a spring damping system. It was a little bumpy and uncomfortable.
"Your Majesty, after Zhang Batian's workshop was built, how will it affect Rao Yue?"
Ang Lee asked.
The King thought for a moment and said, "I won't hide it from Assistant Minister Li. To tell you the truth, after this workshop was built, our Luoyue Country only received benefits and no harm. More than a hundred commoners worked in the workshop and their income was slightly higher than the average farmer's. Every year, they also had to pay a certain amount of money to our Luoyue Country. However, I heard that Zhang Batian earned more.
Seeing that the King was a little jealous, Ang Lee smiled and said, "Don't worry about how much Zhang Batian earns. As long as Rao Yue gets the benefits, it's fine. If Zhang Batian didn't come and went to other small countries, you wouldn't even get the benefits, right?"
The King frowned and said, "That seems to be the case. Assistant Minister Li is right. No matter how much Zhang Batian earns, Rao Yue gets the benefits."
'This child is worth teaching.'
Li An silently cursed in his heart, but he opened his mouth to praise: "Your Highness is right to think this way. In the future, there will be more and more Tang merchants coming to open workshops. Your Luo Yue Country's days will become better and better, haha!"
"Hahahaha!"
The King also laughed.
"Your Majesty, your carriage is not good! It's too bumpy. "
Ang Lee complained when he got out of the carriage.
The King quickly explained, "Assistant Minister Li, this is already the best carriage in Rao Yue. There's nothing better."
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