According to the current population standard of the Dragon Tooth Sect, it was at most a middle county. It was not even qualified to be an upper county. However, the imperial court had designated it as Wang County, which showed how much importance it attached to the Dragon Tooth Sect. This showed that the entire county had a high potential. The population was still small for the time being, but soon, many people would flock to settle here. It was not impossible for the population to exceed 10,000 households, and 10,000 households would be able to meet the needs of Wang County.
In addition to the Dragon Tooth Sect County, the nearby Malacca County and Zonghai County were also upper counties. It was very likely that they would continue to be upgraded to become Wang County and Wang County in the future.
These relatively independent counties would also be formed into a new county in the future. The name was Nanyang County, and the Dragon Tooth Sect in the middle was the most suitable place for the county to be governed.
That was to say, the Dragon Tooth Sect, which had an excellent geographical location, had not only become a high-standard county, but would soon become the county seat of Nanyang County. The discussion of forming a new Nanyang County had already begun. The imperial court had not decided on the candidates, so they would first establish several counties separately and send officials to govern them.
After the follow-up feedback, they would decide who would be the County Governor of Nanyang County. It was very likely that they would choose from the county magistrates.
The Dragon Tooth Sect was thousands of miles away from the southernmost Yazhou and Jiaozhou of the Tang Dynasty by sea. It could be regarded as an isolated enclave overseas. If they wanted to firmly rule here, they must station a powerful armed force here. Naturally, it was most effective to use the navy in the territory near the sea. Only with a powerful navy could they occupy the entire key sea area.
This was a very important part of the maritime trade route proposed by Ang Lee. Now, it had been done. The pirates were almost eliminated, and one-third of the entire route was safe.
But there was a bigger challenge waiting for Ang Lee's Tang Dynasty fleet further away. The next fulcrum was near the Lion Kingdom, which was also a key location of the Maritime Silk Road. It was the southernmost protrusion of the South Asian Subcontinent and also the lower end of the very busy maritime trade route. Almost all the trading ships of the Tang Dynasty and the Arabian Empire had to stop in this area, and then continue to rush to their respective destinations after replenishing their supplies.
Although there were no narrow straits in this area and the ships could avoid them, the ships of this era were too small and did not have enough tonnage. Their speed was also very slow. As a result, the living supplies they carried would quickly be used up. This meant that they had to dock frequently to replenish their supplies, and this area was the best midway supply station. After replenishing their supplies here, they could sail straight to Malacca or the port of Dashi. If they did not stop here midway, it was very likely that they would run out of water, resulting in the deaths of the crew.
In short, no matter what, this area at the southern end of the South Asian Subcontinent was a hurdle that all the ships could not bypass. They had to pass through here and stop for a while.
Therefore, in the era of the Tang Dynasty, the southern end of the South Asian Subcontinent was as important as Malacca for maritime trade.
Although there were no narrow straits in this area and ships could pass through from far away, the urgent need for supplies made all the ships have to pass through here and stop. As a result, the commerce here gradually developed and became a relatively prosperous area.
Such an important geographical location was also an area that the Tang Dynasty had to set foot in. If they could control this important area, it would play an important role in the development of the Maritime Silk Road. This area was also another important area besides Malacca.
It was not difficult for the Tang Dynasty to control this area. There were many small countries near the Strait of Malacca, and there were also many small countries at the southern end of the South Asian Subcontinent. With so many small countries, their strength was very scattered and they had no strength to fight against the Tang Empire. Therefore, it was not difficult to take them down.
The next stop was the country of Geguruo, which was located near the Strait of Malacca and thousands of miles away from the southern end of the South Asian Subcontinent.
From Geguruo, there were two choices. One was to follow the coastline and go in a semicircle to the Lion Kingdom. The other was to go directly west and go to the Lion Kingdom.
Both choices had their advantages and disadvantages. The advantage of going by the coastline was that they could resupply at any time and pass through many small countries. The disadvantage was that they had to travel two or three times longer.
The advantage of going directly was that the distance was shorter and they could reach their destination faster. However, the disadvantage was that there were no supplies on the way. Once the speed was too slow, it was easy to run out of food and water, which was more dangerous. Moreover, they could not pass through the small countries along the way and talk about cooperation with these small countries.
Before arriving at Geguruo, Ang Lee had been thinking about the route. Should he go through the small countries one by one or go directly to the Lion Kingdom?
Of course, there were many officials of the Tang dynasty who were also thinking about this problem. Their opinions were not uniform. Some supported going by the coastline, while some supported going directly.
The officials who supported going by the coastline were relatively slippery officials who liked to eat and drink along the way. The officials who supported going directly were relatively upright. They hoped that the Silk Road could be opened as soon as possible so that this road could benefit the people of the Tang dynasty and the world.
Ang Lee thought about it again and again and after a discussion with many officials, he made the final decision to divide the fleet into two groups. One group would visit the countries along the coastline, while the other group would go directly to the Lion Kingdom.
Some of the officials would go by the coastline, while Ang Lee would lead the main force to the Lion Kingdom. Because of the importance of the Lion Kingdom, it was impossible to leave in a short time after arriving at the Lion Kingdom. Therefore, in the end, the fleet that went by the coastline would definitely meet up with Ang Lee's main force.
For example, when he was near Malacca, Ang Lee stayed for a few months. His mission was mainly to eliminate the pirate group, and at the same time, to understand the local situation and prepare for the Tang Empire to control this area.
Then, after arriving at the Lion Kingdom, Ang Lee would face the same mission and prepare to control this area. In addition to persuading the small countries to cooperate with the Tang dynasty, he also had to find an important place for the Tang Army to station, just like the Dragon Tooth Gate at the entrance of Malacca.
Perhaps the land near the South Asian subcontinent was already owned, but as long as it was needed by the Tang Empire, even if it was owned, they could ask for a piece of land. It was said that there were also pirate groups in this area, so there was nothing wrong with robbing the pirate's territory.
According to Ang Lee's knowledge, at the southern end of the South Asian subcontinent, the terrain was very bad. Mountains and valleys separated various areas, thus forming different tribes. These tribes gradually formed small countries, which caused a lot of small countries in this area.
For thousands of years, they had never been unified. In the end, because of the invasion of the Western colonists, they opened up a transportation route between the mountains. This geographical area was then mixed into a unified country.
In any case, at least in the era of the Tang dynasty, there were many small countries in the South Asian subcontinent, and there was no possibility of unification.
Ancient countries were formed naturally. Between the countries, there were likely to be a lot of unowned land that no one cared about. These lands were either barren, inconvenient, or too close to the enemy, so they were abandoned and became wastelands that no one wanted to own.
In fact, these abandoned wastelands were likely to contain huge resources. Even without these important resources, the land itself was a huge resource. Stones, trees, ores, water, these were all important national resources.
These unowned lands could be occupied and turned into the territory of the Tang dynasty. Of course, these unowned lands were likely to be in poor conditions, which was a little troublesome for Ang Lee.
After crossing the strait, they arrived at the country of Geguruo. This small country was similar to the previous ones, with a small population and soldiers. When they saw the Tang Dynasty fleet, they were so scared that they couldn't even straighten their backs. Naturally, they didn't dare to compete. There was no need to talk about negotiations, so there would be no accidents.
Ang Lee was not worried about Geguruo. This country was easy to deal with. After dealing with this country, the next step was to go to the South Asian subcontinent, which was farther away.
Due to the rampant pirates in Malacca, not many merchants of the Tang dynasty could reach the South Asian subcontinent. Therefore, they didn't know much about the situation there. Before going there, they must first understand it.
Geguruo was the starting point of tens of millions of people in the South Asian subcontinent. The people and officials here were certainly more familiar with the South Asian subcontinent than the Tang dynasty.
Ang Lee needed to understand the specific situation of the South Asian subcontinent here so that he could smoothly control the southernmost part of the subcontinent. This way, the Tang dynasty could plant a nail there and then control the entire South Asian subcontinent to serve the Maritime Silk Road of the Tang dynasty.
"Assistant Minister Li, we have arrived at Geguruo. The King has come to welcome us in person."
A subordinate reminded Ang Lee, who was still thinking in the cabin.
Ang Lee responded and said, "After getting off the ship, you need to find some topographic maps around the Lion Kingdom. The more, the better."
"Yes, Assistant Minister Li."
The subordinate responded.
Ang Lee nodded and got off the ship to meet the King of Geguruo. After greeting him for a while, he went to the palace to stay.
It would take some time for dinner to be ready. The King went to rest. Ang Lee also rested in the guest room of the palace.
"Assistant Minister Li, this is the map we found. Take a look. There are all kinds of specifications, which are often used by merchants. What about the maritime routes?"
A subordinate came in and said.
Ang Lee glanced at it and was very satisfied. He looked at it carefully.
The drawings were very clear. They were drawn by merchants when they were trading. The sea routes, cities, and countries along the way were marked. It was the drawings that Ang Lee needed.
This drawing came at the right time. Ang Lee needed it to figure out the situation of the South Asian subcontinent. It was sent at the right time.
From the map, it could be clearly seen that there were dozens of small countries in the southernmost part of the South Asian subcontinent. On the small island across the sea, there was a relatively large country, which was the Lion Kingdom.
There were dozens of small countries on the continent. There were also a few relatively large ones, such as the South Tianzhu Country, the East Tianzhu Country, the West Tianzhu Country, the Brahman Country, the East Buddha Country, the Bo Luo Country, the Da Chang Country, and so on.
These slightly larger small countries were all small coastal countries, which meant that they had their own ports to the sea. If not, how could they have developed into a relatively large small country? Being on the coast meant that it would be more convenient for them to communicate with merchants from the outside world, thus increasing their wealth and obtaining more powerful strength.
After analyzing these small countries, Ang Lee saw that the most powerful small country was the isolated Lion Kingdom.
The Lion Kingdom's area was not very large. It was about twice the area of the Tang dynasty's Yazhou. Compared with the Tang Empire, it was a very small and inconspicuous country. However, compared with several small countries across the sea, it was much more powerful.
This small country benefited from a relatively independent island environment, as well as good terrain and transportation conditions. Thus, it gradually developed to the scale of hundreds of thousands of people. There were also many cities. It was said that the number of monks alone was as high as 20,000 people. The scale could be said to be very large.
The advantageous conditions of being on the main sea route made the Lion Kingdom relatively wealthy. Its population gradually increased, and its strength gradually became stronger.
In order to protect its wealth, the Lion Kingdom built a huge army with a total of more than 50,000 soldiers. In the South Asian sub-continent, it was a very powerful force.
It was much more powerful than many small countries across the sea. In order to seize more resources, the Lion Kingdom began to attack the other side of the sea. They wanted to capture part of the South Tianzhu's territory, which was the most important and fertile land.
The strength of the South Tianzhu was no match for the Lion Kingdom. It could not resist at all. Therefore, part of the coastal ports were captured by the Lion Kingdom. In this way, all the merchant ships that came and went on the trade route had to dock at the ports controlled by the Lion Kingdom.
This created a monopoly. The Lion Kingdom began to raise the price of water and food that ships needed. The price of water and food increased by several times, causing the merchants to complain.
Of course, compared to the profits of the maritime trade, the increase in the price of water and food did not cause a fatal impact. Therefore, the merchants only complained and did not make a big fuss over this matter. Moreover, after the Lion Kingdom occupied the core supply position, to a certain extent, the pirates were expelled. This made it safer for merchant ships to pass through this place, thus making up for the losses caused by the pirates.
At this moment, the Lion Kingdom only occupied a small amount of important territory on the other side of the sea. However, if it was not stopped, its ambition would grow bigger and bigger, and eventually it would invade more countries.
In history, during the Xuanzong era of the Tang dynasty, which was a hundred years after Ang Lee's year, the Lion Kingdom launched a large-scale attack on the neighboring Pyu of the Tang dynasty. The Pyu had no way to fight back. The Pyu had no choice but to seek help from the neighboring country to the north, Nanzhao. With the help of Nanzhao's elite army, the Pyu finally defeated the invasion of the Lion Kingdom.
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