Osman was very tall, and he was about forty years old. This was the age when a man's mind was the most mature, and he was also a man in his forties.
Men of this age were very uncle-looking, and they were the type that young girls liked the most. Of course, only those who had money and status could be considered uncle-looking. If they didn't have money and status, they would be disdainful old men.
Osman was tall and strong, and he looked very manly. He was also a general of the Umayyad dynasty, and he could have anything he wanted. In the future, he could definitely charm thousands of young girls, causing a lot of them to fall in love.
However, Osman wasn't a gentle uncle. He was a veteran general who had been on the battlefield for a long time. He was very vicious and merciless. During the expedition to France, he killed many people, especially when he was defeated and fled. In order to vent his resentment, he slaughtered many defenseless Frankish civilians. His methods were ruthless.
Although Osman was a cruel guy, his loyalty was not bad. He was loyal to his master. After hearing about the turmoil in the country and the birth of the Apus dynasty, he did not choose to submit to the Apus dynasty. Instead, he chose to remain loyal to the Umayyad dynasty, which only existed in name. He became the last pillar of the Umayyad dynasty, and he gained the trust of the dynasty's new leader, Dalraman.
For his own safety, Dalraman went to Spain to ascend the throne and established the Umayyad dynasty. Osman, on the other hand, withdrew his troops from France and went to Egypt by sea. He had recently arrived near Aden, and he was preparing to contact the rebels within the Apus dynasty to fight against the new Apus dynasty.
However, what Osman did not expect was that the Shi 'ar forces and other forces seemed to be very wary of him, and they did not clearly state that they wanted to fight against the Apus dynasty together. This was not surprising, as all of these factions and the Apus faction were allies against the Umayyad dynasty. They only allied with their enemy to fight against a new enemy. Many people were not sure whether this was right or wrong. Even if they wanted to ally, they could only do it secretly, and they could not openly ally. Otherwise, many things would be difficult.
If Osman and Altik were to form an alliance, how would they split the profits after defeating the Apus dynasty? Whether Dalraman of the Umayyad dynasty should be the Caliph or Ali's descendants should be the Caliph was a non-negotiable matter. Without a common political goal, this alliance would appear too fragile. The alliance would be a motley crew with their own ulterior motives.
Osman was a mature and steady person. He hadn't been able to join forces with Altik, but he wasn't in a hurry. This was because people at his age understood that there were many things that were useless even if they were anxious. It was better not to be anxious.
At this moment, not only was Osman not anxious, but he was also very excited. This was because he had heard that the founder of the Apus dynasty, Apos, was seriously ill and was about to die. To him, this was absolutely great news.
"That damned Apos is finally going to die. This is something worth celebrating. We must celebrate. Let the soldiers celebrate."
Osman said without hesitation.
"General, Apos is about to die. Will it cause internal strife? If there's internal strife, that would be great. "
"Let's hope so! If Apos's men have internal strife, that would be great for us. The pressure on our shoulders would be greatly reduced. "
"No matter what, it's better for us to wait and see how things develop."
The subordinates all expressed their opinions.
Osman looked to the east. That was where Ziyad's main camp was located. He paused for a moment, then said, "They've already taken over Egypt. They have ten thousand soldiers stationed there. This has cut off our path of retreat. Let's hope that internal strife breaks out. Otherwise, we'll be in a very bad situation."
"Don't worry, General! I'm willing to bet that internal strife will definitely break out. It will definitely happen. "
One of the subordinates prayed.
Osman laughed and said loudly, "Alright! Let's celebrate together! "
In the northwestern region of Aden City, the Osman army held a celebration to celebrate the passing of their enemy leader, Apos. One could imagine that they would hold another celebration when Apos passed away.
Ang Lee's ship traveled at a leisurely pace on the vast Arabian Sea. Since they weren't in a hurry to reach Aden City, there was no need to deliberately increase their speed to conserve precious fuel.
Traveling on the sea, all they could see was the vast ocean and the blue sky. Occasionally, they could see seagulls and whales in the sky. Overall, it was quite monotonous.
It was human nature to enjoy a colorful life. A monotonous life was very uncomfortable, so those who traveled on the sea for a long time had to find something to adjust their emotions.
For example, watching a television series was a good idea. However, there was no such thing as a television series in this era, let alone games. Therefore, it was impossible to count on something like that.
At the very least, Ang Lee didn't have any other means of entertainment apart from reading books and cuddling with beauties. However, everything was tiresome. Eating too much food would make one sick, reading too much would make one dizzy, and having sex too much would make one tired. It was always necessary to constantly change the type of entertainment to allow one to relax.
"It's so boring! What should I do? "
Ang Lee stroked the white fox in his arms. He didn't feel so tired anymore. After all, they had just had a great battle two hours ago.
"Alang, I'm hungry. Let's eat something!"
The white fox said coyly.
"What do you want to eat, baby?"
Ang Lee asked gently.
"Grouper. Braised grouper."
The white fox said coyly.
Ang Lee immediately shouted, "Hei Dou, go and tell the kitchen to make braised grouper."
Hei Dou was the most obedient. He quickly ran to tell the kitchen. However, he quickly ran back and said loudly, "Alang, the kitchen said they don't have grouper."
The kitchen couldn't prepare too many ingredients. It was impossible for them to prepare all kinds of food. Moreover, Ang Lee didn't eat grouper often before, so the kitchen didn't prepare it. Moreover, according to the kitchen's understanding, the fleet would arrive at Aden City soon after leaving Anzhu City. It was fine as long as there was enough food.
"Alang, I want to eat grouper."
The white fox was unhappy when she heard that.
Ang Lee naturally couldn't blame the kitchen for such a small matter. However, the white fox really wanted to eat grouper, so he had to think of a way.
Since the kitchen didn't prepare grouper, he could only look for it in the sea. There were all kinds of fish in the sea. If he was lucky, he might be able to catch a few grouper.
"Whether you can eat grouper or not depends on your luck."
Ang Lee wouldn't spoil the white fox too much. If there really wasn't any grouper, he could only eat something else.
"Is the nearest port too far away?"
The white fox asked.
Ang Lee patted the white fox's head and said softly, "What are you thinking about? Just to let you eat grouper, you have to send a ship to the nearest port to buy it. Even Alang doesn't dare to be so willful, let alone you. "
As someone who sympathized with the soldiers, Ang Lee wouldn't learn from the old man Li Longji. In order to let his beloved concubine eat lychees, he actually used the courier station to rush the delivery of lychees. It was too willful.
However, this period of history had been rewritten. The railway network of the Tang Empire had been connected to the south. Fresh lychees from the south could be sent to Chang 'an in an extremely short time. Not only the nobles like Li Longji could eat fresh lychees, but also the ordinary people of the Tang Empire could eat lychees.
Of course, in order to show the nobility of the nobles, the lychees provided by the royal family were of the best variety. The ones responsible for the delivery were also the fastest royal procurement trains. However, the lychees on the market of Chang 'an were all transported by ordinary trains. There were differences in variety and freshness.
Lychees were relatively delicate fruits. After being picked, they would go bad in a very short time. As the saying went, lychees changed color in one day, their fragrance changed in two days, and their taste changed in three days. After four or five days, their color and fragrance would disappear.
The south, which was rich in lychees, was several thousand li away from Chang 'an. Therefore, in the ancient times, lychees couldn't be sold in Chang' an. Only the emperor, Li Longji, would willfully use the power of the courier station to deliver lychees.
Because the distance was too far, it wasn't as simple as using the courier station to deliver lychees. Otherwise, even if the courier station did their best to deliver the lychees, they would still go bad by the time they reached Chang 'an.
In order to curry favor with the imperial concubine, the people used the method of transplanting the entire lychee tree. They dug up the lychee tree from the south, placed it on a ship, and watered it day and night so that it wouldn't dry up.
The ship traveled north until it reached the Qinling Mountains where the waterways weren't connected. Then, it would immediately pick the lychees and have the courier station take care of the delivery. Because the Qinling Mountains weren't too far from Chang 'an, the courier station could deliver the lychees to Pure Flowers Palace within a day so that the imperial concubine could taste fresh lychees.
This method undoubtedly used a large amount of manpower and resources. Of course, this wasn't a big deal. What was terrifying was that Li Longji actually used the courier station. If there was an emergency, wouldn't it delay things?
Ever since the Tang dynasty's railway was connected to the south, the lychees could be transported back to Chang 'an within a day if they were transported by the imperial train. The effect was similar to before.
However, in order to let Yang Guifei eat even fresher lychees, the people below actually used the old method this time. They transplanted the entire lychee tree into the carriage of the train and watered it as insurance.
Lychee trees were generally relatively large. Even the smaller ones were still relatively large. The parts that exceeded the capacity of the train could only be cut off. This also caused a certain kind of waste.
Yang Guifei was naturally even happier because these lychees could be delivered to her in perfect condition. Moreover, she could see the lychee tree and personally pluck the lychees from it.
She even had people plant the lychee tree in the imperial palace and water it. Of course, it was impossible for a fruit tree like the lychee tree to survive in the north. Even if it could barely survive, it wouldn't be able to bear delicious lychees.
If the railway was already built, Li Longji could bring his beloved concubine to Lingnan to personally pick the lychees. However, he was the ruler of a country after all, and leaving the palace wasn't a simple matter. There were all kinds of guards and officials, and if he went to the south just to eat lychees, it would be a waste of manpower and resources. Compared to that, using the train to transport the entire lychee tree would consume much less manpower and resources. Thus, naturally, no one dared to object.
Moreover, when a lot of lychees were transported, Li Longji would also reward the ministers in the imperial court. Almost all the ministers had eaten fresh lychees that had just been plucked. Of course, they couldn't say anything about such a small matter.
Because the fresh lychees in the market were all transported by ordinary trains, it generally took one or two days to arrive. Therefore, the color would change a little, but it would definitely not spoil. In addition, smart businessmen had already found a way to preserve the freshness. They soaked the lychees in cold water. In this way, the quality of the lychees could be preserved to the greatest extent. When the lychees arrived in Chang 'an City, they would still be fresh, so that the ordinary people in Chang' an City could eat fresh and delicious lychees.
Ang Lee couldn't eat lychees now, and he didn't dare to have extravagant hopes. However, if he wanted to eat grouper, there might be hope. There might be grouper in the sea under his feet. When the ship was sailing slowly, it was very good for fishing.
"Alang wants to catch grouper in the sea, but where can there be grouper?"
The white fox looked at the sea and gently shook her head.
Ang Lee looked at Hei Dou and ordered, "Pass down my order. Tell all the people who have nothing to do to go fishing on the deck. Those who catch grouper will be rewarded handsomely."
Hei Dou soon went to pass down the order. Soon, a large group of people went fishing on the deck. Ang Lee himself took a large fishing rod and sat on the deck to fish.
There were many people on Ang Lee's ship, and almost a quarter of them went fishing. Naturally, many people on other ships were fishing.
Generally, fish moved in groups. Therefore, some places had a large number of fish, while some places had no fish at all. The places where the Tang Dynasty fleet passed by were places where there were no fish, so no one caught any fish.
However, the Tang Dynasty fleet had been moving forward all the time. There were no fish in the place where they passed by, but it didn't mean that there were no fish in the place where they would pass by later. Therefore, everyone was not discouraged but continued to stand on the deck to fish.
Hard work paid off. After a while, the Tang Dynasty fleet passed by a school of fish. Almost all the people who participated in fishing caught fish. However, they only caught a few kinds of fish, and there was no grouper.
"Alang, large yellow croakers are also good. Let's eat them!"
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
