Ang Lee's plan for the Northwest Port was very detailed. He had thought of almost all the problems he could think of. Moreover, he had made preparations in advance for possible situations.
For example, when there were not many people in the early stages, the roads did not need to be very wide. Temporarily building a narrower road could save money, but the number of people in the city would definitely increase quickly. This place would be the trading center of the entire region in the future. The land was connected to Tocharia, so the population would inevitably increase. Therefore, in order to prevent the trouble of repeated construction, solving the problem once and for all by building a wide road was also a very good method.
In other words, Ang Lee was more cautious when doing things. He could consider the situation many years later. Many officials who proposed to save money were very short-sighted.
Ang Lee remembered that when the new city in the future was first built, because the road was very wide, there were not many cars on it. It seemed very wasteful. Many people felt that the imperial court was wasting money. Why didn't they build a narrower road? However, five years later, these people did not think so. As the surrounding houses were uprooted, more and more people bought cars. The originally wide road gradually became crowded. Not only was the road no longer wide, but it also became a little narrower. Many people began to complain again. Why didn't they build a wider road in the beginning?
Only short-sighted people would keep complaining. First, they complained that the road was too wide and wasting the taxpayers' money. Then, they complained that the road was too narrow and did not consider the convenience of the taxpayers.
Even after the government office decided to expand the road, these people were still not satisfied. They always said that the government office would only build and tear down, tear down and build again. This way, they could get rebates! Wouldn't it be better if they built a wider road in one go?
The people who planned the city were ordinary people, not gods. No one knew how much traffic there would be in a city in the future, and how wide the roads would be in different areas of the city.
In addition, there would be many variables. For example, a few very large restaurants would suddenly close down. As a result, the road in front of the restaurant would be extremely wide and wasteful.
Therefore, the planning had to be adjusted accordingly and leave room for improvement. For example, in Li An's plan, there was a lot of room for improvement. When necessary, some of the streets with low houses could be demolished to expand the city's roads. The beach at the port could also be used as an expansion site for the port in the future. There were also many villa areas that could be adjusted to a certain extent.
Because only Ang Lee knew the characteristics of cities in the future, only Ang Lee's city planning plan was the most reasonable. Other people wouldn't understand the situation of a metropolis, so they weren't capable of designing a metropolis.
After some explanation, all the subordinates understood Ang Lee's good intentions and were willing to support Ang Lee wholeheartedly. They wrote their names in the memorial to the imperial court.
After a night's rest, Ang Lee prepared to lead the huge Tang Dynasty fleet to leave the bustling port of West Tianzhu and head northwest in a grandiose manner.
"Assistant Minister Li, the ships are almost ready. We can set off in an hour."
The subordinate came to report with the purpose of letting Ang Lee prepare in advance and board the ship earlier.
Ang Lee nodded and walked out of the tent. He immediately ordered people to pack up the tent and ship it away.
Before he walked to the pier, Ang Lee saw many officials of West Tianzhu standing at the pier. Needless to say, their purpose of standing there must be to see Ang Lee and the others off.
The chief officer of the port was certainly indispensable. The king of West Tianzhu, who claimed to be the governor of the western region, also came. In addition, there were more than a dozen civil officials and more than a hundred guards.
At this moment, the king of West Tianzhu was admiring the Tang Dynasty steamship in front of him with relish. He was amazed by the advanced and imitated shipbuilding technology of the Tang Dynasty.
"Such a big ship must not be very swaying at sea. It's much more comfortable than a small boat. I just don't know what it's like inside."
The king of West Tianzhu sighed.
"Your Majesty, why don't we go in and have a look before they leave?"
The chief officer of the port was also very curious. He wanted to observe these behemoths more closely and he hoped to figure out the internal structure of these behemoths.
When the king of West Tianzhu heard this, he felt that it made sense. He hurriedly said, "Why don't you go and talk to Assistant Minister Li and let us board the ship and have a look?"
The chief officer of the port said happily, "Yes, Your Majesty. I'll go and find Assistant Minister Li now."
After that, he turned around and saw Ang Lee walking over, so he trotted to greet him.
"Assistant Minister Li, are you leaving now?"
The chief officer of the port asked politely.
Ang Lee nodded and said, "We've troubled you these days. We should go. We'll set off in an hour."
"Haha, the ships of the Tang Dynasty are really big and spectacular."
The chief officer of the port praised.
Ang Lee seemed to have noticed something, but he didn't mention it. Instead, he continued to walk forward, completely ignoring the chief officer of the port's intention to express.
Seeing that Ang Lee didn't take the initiative to invite him, the chief officer of the port felt very embarrassed. His face became slightly cold, and then he walked to Ang Lee with a smile and asked cheekily, "Assistant Minister Li, can we visit the ship?"
When Ang Lee heard this, he stopped and looked at the chief officer of the port next to him meaningfully. Seeing the other party's face full of expectation and flattery, he smiled gently and nodded, "You can have a look, but there's not much time left. You have to come back quickly."
"Thank you, Assistant Minister Li. I'll go and tell them now."
The chief officer of the port ran to tell the king of West Tianzhu.
"Assistant Minister Li has agreed to let us visit the ship."
The chief officer of the port reported excitedly.
The king of West Tianzhu said happily, "Good, that's great. We can go up and have a feast for our eyes."
The two of them followed Ang Lee and happily boarded the largest ship in the Tang Dynasty fleet, which was Ang Lee's ship, which could be called the flagship of the Tang Dynasty fleet.
"Stop, you can't go up."
The soldiers of the Tang Dynasty blocked the guards of West Tianzhu who wanted to get on the ship. Even if Ang Lee didn't say it, they knew very well that they must not let the foreign soldiers get on the ship. Letting the civil officials of West Tianzhu on the ship was already giving them enough face. How could the guards be qualified to get on the ship?
"What's going on?"
Asked the chief officer of the port.
A soldier of the Tang Dynasty answered, "The guards can't go up. This is the rule."
The chief officer of the port nodded and went up obediently.
Seeing all this, Ang Lee said with a smile, "It's very safe on the ship. Why do you need guards? Are you afraid that the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty can't protect you?"
"Yes, yes, yes. With the protection of the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty, we don't need guards on the ship. Hahaha!"
The chief officer of the port immediately replied flatteringly.
"Oh! This deck is really big. There are so many vegetables and fruits on it. Even apple trees can grow on the ship. It's amazing. "
"After getting on the ship, we found that the ship is bigger than we thought! It's really great. "
"It's really a pleasure to be able to go to sea on such a big ship!"
Many West Tianzhu officials were quite excited after getting on the deck of Ang Lee's ship. After all, for these people, it was the first time in their lives to get on the most advanced steam ship of the Tang Dynasty.
The king of West Tianzhu, standing at the front of the deck and looking at the sea in front of him, felt different. He had a feeling of overlooking the world.
Looking back at the West Tianzhu navy ship not far away, it was simply a small toy. There was no comparison at all.
There was really no comparison between the steam ships of the Tang Dynasty and the small oar ships of West Tianzhu. The gap between them could not be described by one or two generations. If there was a war, the steam ships of the Tang Dynasty did not need to fire. They could just crash into the warships of West Tianzhu and smash them to pieces.
How could the king of West Tianzhu not see this? However, West Tianzhu was a country with limited manpower and financial resources, and they did not have advanced technology. It was very unrealistic to build steam ships. Even if they wanted to buy from the Tang Dynasty, they probably did not have enough funds. The maintenance costs in the later stage would even drag them down.
Moreover, after seeing the steam ships of the Tang Dynasty, they did not even have the courage to ask for the price. Even if they boldly offered to buy them at a high price, the Tang Dynasty would not sell them, at least not for the time being. Because the Tang Dynasty did not have enough steam ships, how could they sell them to other countries? Steam gunships that involved military force could not be sold to other countries, let alone steam gunships that involved military force.
When technology and production could keep up, especially when the overseas construction of the Maritime Silk Road was completed, the Tang Dynasty could sell steam ships at a high price and make a lot of money for themselves.
Steam ships had high requirements for maintenance and supply. The relevant facilities in the territory of the Tang Dynasty along the way were not built in place, so the steam ships did not have enough security on this trade line. What if there was a major breakdown? The ships could not be operated.
The Tang Dynasty fleet led by Ang Lee was relatively large, so it carried a lot of maintenance equipment and maintenance personnel, which were enough to ensure the normal operation of the entire fleet. However, ordinary merchant ships did not have these conditions. If they broke down midway, it would be very troublesome.
It was inevitable that steam ships would break down midway. No one could guarantee that steam ships would not break down. The solution to this problem was to build relevant maintenance and supply facilities in the overseas territories of the Tang Dynasty along the way to help the steam ships that broke down midway, thereby reducing the losses as much as possible.
The Tang Dynasty already had three overseas territories. The distance between each of the two territories was more than a thousand miles, which was not too far. It was enough to meet the maintenance and supply needs of the steam ships.
As for how to deploy these facilities, Ang Lee had already written the relevant plans. However, because the current situation was not mature enough, there was no need to propose them to the imperial court. In addition, many of the plans could be adjusted and revised appropriately to make them more reasonable.
Ang Lee looked at these Western Tianzhu officials as if he were looking at country bumpkins. After they finished sighing, he said, "What can you see from the deck? The cabin is a real different world. Everyone, please!"
"Oh, it's great that we can go to the cabin to have a look. Let's go!"
The Western Tianzhu officials were very happy. They followed one another to the cabin to have a look.
The cabin was very large and divided into many areas, including the living area, the kitchen area, the dining area, the storage area, the power area, and so on.
Ang Lee first took them to the power area, which was the core area of the entire steam ship. If there was a breakdown in this area, the entire steam ship would break down.
Therefore, the power area was the core of the entire steam ship. It was also the most important area. It must be watched over all the time. There must not be the slightest accident.
Looking at the huge machinery in the power area, the Western Indian King and others were all shocked. The equipment was very well-made, and many small parts were never seen before. These small parts could be used as works of art if they were dismantled.
"Hey, aren't these all charcoal? We have them in Western Tianzhu."
A Western Tianzhu official saw something familiar.
"Yes, it's charcoal. There are so many of them here. No wonder these ships emitted so much black smoke when they entered the port. "
The port master was surprised.
The Western Tianzhu King looked at the charcoal curiously and asked Ang Lee, "What are these charcoal used for?"
Ang Lee said with a smile, "These charcoal are very important. They are used to sail the ship. That is, the power of the ship. With these charcoal, there is no need for manpower to paddle because the consumption is very high. So, we have to prepare more. "
"These charcoal can make such a large ship sail. It's so powerful. How should we use it?"
The Western Tianzhu King continued to ask.
Ang Lee asked a soldier to open the inlet of the boiler. Suddenly, a wave of heat gushed out.
Although the ship had not yet sailed, it was very close to the time of departure. Therefore, the boiler had begun to preheat. They only needed to add a little more fire and adjust some valves. Then, the steamship could sail.
"There is such a big fire here. Is this the power of the steamship?"
The Western Tianzhu King was stunned. The other Western Tianzhu officials were also very surprised.
Ang Lee looked at these country bumpkins and said, "This fire is the smallest. If we want to sail the ship, we need to add more charcoal to make the fire stronger. Haha!"
"Amazing, it's really amazing. It's really amazing."
Everyone in Western Tianzhu was quite amazed. They felt that the steamship technology of the Tang dynasty was too awesome.
After a careful tour of the engine area, they walked to the warehouse area. On a steam ship, the warehouse area was very large and there were a lot of storage areas. A large amount of materials were stored inside. Near the engine area, a large amount of charcoal was stored for easier transportation. The other warehouse areas stored a large number of daily necessities, such as food and fresh water.
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