Ang Lee didn't plan on eating grouper, but it was tiring to keep fishing, so he gave the fishing rod to Hei Dou and let it play to its heart's content. He strolled around to look at the scenery and see what fish everyone had caught.
"Everyone, do your best. The one who catches the most fish will also be rewarded. The first place will be rewarded with ten gold coins."
Ang Lee said to the people on the boat who were fishing.
Everyone was very motivated when they heard this, and they worked even harder. They had nothing to do anyway, and fishing was a pastime.
"Alang, do you want to eat a large yellow croaker?"
Yun 'er had stayed up all night to play cards with the beauties, and she only got up when it was almost noon. When she heard the mention of a large yellow croaker, she walked out of the cabin. Because there were two more maids, they had more time off to indulge themselves. Even if they stayed up all night and slept the next day, Ang Lee wouldn't say anything. It was normal for young people to indulge themselves occasionally.
Looking at the sleepy Yun 'er, Ang Lee smiled and said, "Hurry up and wash your face! Your face is full of wrinkles. It's so ugly. "
Yun 'er pouted her lips! She ran to wash her face.
Ang Lee asked the kitchen to prepare lunch. The large yellow croaker had to be stewed, and several of them were stewed. As for the grouper, they had no choice but to give up because they didn't have any left.
In addition to playing, Ang Lee still had a lot of important things to do, such as the situation in Aden City and the entire Tang dynasty. This was related to the interests of the Tang dynasty, so he had to pay attention to it.
Fortunately, the advance party sent out earlier was very good. As long as they found something important, they would report back immediately, so that Ang Lee could get first-hand information.
At this moment, a ship appeared in front of them. Because it was quite far away, it was difficult to see it with the naked eye. However, every ship in Ang Lee's fleet had a telescope with a magnification of fifty times, so they could confirm the identity of the other party very quickly.
"Assistant Minister Li, the advance party has returned."
The soldier in charge of observing quickly ran down and told Ang Lee this important news.
Ang Lee was naturally very happy. He ordered the ship to move forward slowly and lowered the lifeboats, preparing to pick up the vanguard soldiers.
Soon, the advance ship approached. The soldiers boarded the lifeboats and finally boarded Ang Lee's ship.
"Assistant Minister Li, we've discovered something."
The soldier said.
"Tell me, what did you find?"
Ang Lee asked with concern.
The soldier said, "We found that Ziyad's camp had 100 elite cavalrymen and 100 replacement horses. They were escorting a general to Khorasan. We used binoculars to observe carefully. This general's attire should be Ziyad's. His age and appearance are also very similar."
"Oh, Ziyad has left the camp. How bold of him! Aren't you afraid that the enemy will attack? "
Ang Lee said curiously.
This was indeed a very important piece of news. If the advance team wasn't wrong and Seiyad had really left the camp, it was a very important matter. It was a huge matter.
What could be so important that Ziyad had left his army and returned to Khorasan? Did this prove that Apos's illness was real? Or did something very important happen in Khorasan that forced Ziyad to abandon his army and return to Khorasan?
"This news is very important. Did you discover anything else?"
Ang Lee asked.
"There are some small discoveries, but they don't seem too important."
The soldier replied.
"Speak."
The soldier thought for a moment before replying, "Our people were scouting the Osman camp and discovered that the soldiers were holding a celebration. Many of the soldiers were drinking. Also, the City Lord of Aden, Altik, frequently appeared in the city's observation tower. He would stay there for two to four hours. We don't know what he's up to."
Ang Lee pondered for a moment before saying, "The fact that the Osman camp is holding a celebration seems to prove that Apos's illness is real. Compared to the previous rumors, as well as Ziyad's abnormal behavior, we can almost confirm it. By the way, what is the observation tower? Why does Altik go there so often?"
The soldier replied, "The sightseeing tower is a very tall tower in the inner part of Aden. It has nine floors, and standing at the top of the tower allows you to overlook the entire city. You can even see the situation outside the city at a glance. Usually, only the bottom three floors are open for viewing. The upper floors are closed off, and only the city lord and a few people are allowed to go up. As for why Artek would appear there so often, I really don't know. Oh right, there's one more thing. Our people looked into the city from the mountains outside the city, and found that the city's defense is very good. There are many hidden places where soldiers and horses are deployed. Normal people wouldn't be able to find them. We only found them with the help of binoculars."
Ang Lee nodded and waved his hand. "Go back and continue scouting. Report back immediately if you discover anything important."
"Yes, I'll be taking my leave now."
The soldier walked toward the lifeboats and returned to the advance party.
When they saw the advance party, many officials and generals knew that the advance party of Aden City had discovered something important again. Therefore, many people gathered around Li An in an attempt to find out more about this matter from him and discuss it with him. As high-ranking officials, this was something that they should be concerned about.
Li Feiyu, Nanxia, and the others all gathered around Ang Lee.
"General, what important information did the advance party send back?"
Nanxia asked.
Ang Lee told everyone around him about the information that had been sent back from Aden City. This important information naturally had to be shared with the high-ranking officials under his command. There were many things that needed to be discussed together.
"Looks like the relationship between the three parties is very delicate! None of them are idle. "
"If Ziyad really did return to Khorasan, his troops will be at a disadvantage. I wonder if Osman knows about this."
"From the fact that Osman's camp is celebrating, it seems like he doesn't know that Ziyad has already left. Otherwise, he would be preparing his troops for battle and attacking Ziyad's camp."
"Something big must have happened in Khorasan. Otherwise, a steadfast general like Ziyad wouldn't leave his troops so easily."
"At the very least, this proves that Ziyad really is about to die. He must have something important to tell Ziyad! Otherwise, he wouldn't be in such a hurry to return. "
Many of his subordinates chimed in.
Ang Lee smiled and spread open the map in front of him. "Everyone, let's discuss what we should do after we arrive at Aden City!"
Only by making detailed plans in advance could one not panic at critical moments.
His subordinates looked at the distribution of forces on the map and all gave their own opinions. Many of their opinions were contradictory, but it was enough to show that they had put in a lot of thought.
Ang Lee didn't express his own opinion. He was thinking. He had to think through all the suggestions his subordinates had given him and find a plan that was the easiest to implement and most beneficial to the Tang Empire.
In Ang Lee's opinion, if he wanted to control this area well, he absolutely couldn't let the Apus dynasty unify the former land of the Umayyad dynasty. Otherwise, the Tang Empire would have a lot of trouble overseas. He had to divide the former land of the Umayyad dynasty into many small countries to better control these scattered small countries.
Many of his subordinates also proposed the strategy of divide and conquer. In general, they wanted to divide the land of the Umayyad dynasty into more than five small countries.
What Ang Lee was looking forward to was to divide this great empire that spanned across Europe, Asia, and Africa into more than fifteen Xiao Wang countries, or even more than twenty.
Because there were many ethnic groups in this area, there were contradictions between different ethnic groups. It was not easy for different ethnic groups to live in harmony. If they were divided by ethnic groups, the resistance would be relatively small.
A large area in the eastern part of the empire was inhabited by Persians. It was feasible to restore the Persian Kingdom. The Arabian Peninsula could be divided into many countries. The northern part of the empire had a more complex ethnic composition, so it could be divided into more countries.
Spain in Europe was the last territory of the Umayyad dynasty. The Balkan Peninsula would probably be divided into many countries because of ethnic differences. The African part in the southern part of the Mediterranean Sea would be divided into at least three to five countries. In this way, it would be divided into at least dozens of countries.
Of course, the premise was that the new Apus dynasty would fall into internal strife and have no ability to unify the former dynasty's independent land.
According to the trajectory of history, the new Apus dynasty, under the leadership of the second Caliph Mansur, would eventually unify most of the former dynasty's land and have actual control over it, thus forming a huge empire that would be envied by others.
But now, because of the emergence of Ang Lee, the first Caliph of the Apus dynasty was about to die, and the empire would fall into a period of turmoil. At this time, Ang Lee had a lot of room to play. As long as he could intervene in the internal strife of the Apus dynasty, he would be able to influence the fate of the Apus dynasty, thus leading the dynasty to decline and division, which was in the interest of the Tang Empire.
Of course, Ang Lee would not intervene too blatantly. If he did, it would cause a backlash from the entire Tang dynasty. If everyone united against the Tang dynasty, the situation would be terrible.
The best way was naturally to sow discord and let the various forces of the Apus dynasty fight with each other, thus weakening their strength. At present, there were indeed too many people in the Apus dynasty that could be used, such as Osman, the general of the Umayyad dynasty, Altik, the lord of the city of Aden, and Abdullah, the uncle of Apus. These people could all become targets for Ang Lee to win over and control.
Considering Mansur's wisdom and the powerful strength of Mansur's group, when necessary, Ang Lee could let some of his troops become mercenaries under Altik, thus increasing the strength of the resistance forces of the Apus dynasty.
The regular soldiers of the Tang dynasty naturally could not join the foreign army, but the soldiers temporarily recruited from Malacca were all pirates. It was completely feasible to let them join Altik as mercenaries as long as they changed into the uniform of Altik's army.
Even if Mansur found out, there was nothing he could do. After all, these soldiers were pirates recruited by the Tang Empire. It was reasonable for them to disband temporarily. As for these disbanded troops suddenly joining Altik's army, it was the pirates' business. It had nothing to do with the Tang Empire. Even if the Jade Emperor and Allah were to report this to them, it would be useless.
Of course, if Altik was obedient, he could naturally help him. But if he was not obedient, Ang Lee could also support someone else. He could even take away Altik's position as the lord of the city, or support Abdullah's army so that Mansur would not be able to defeat his uncle and fall into a long period of separation and decline.
In the end, when the various parties were exhausted from fighting, Li An could persuade the various forces to stop fighting and sit down to discuss the division of the territory! Everyone would have a share.
Although the ambitious Mansur would not be willing, if he did not have the strength to defeat the strong enemies in front of him, there was nothing he could do. Who asked you not to have the ability? Blame me.
Of course, all these were just ideas. When he thought about it, it was very satisfying, but when he really wanted to implement it, it would not be easy. But Ang Lee was confident that he could complete this idea.
There were still many areas in the plan that needed to be improved. Ang Lee had to think carefully. Before he completely thought it through, he would not tell his subordinates so that they would not be able to adapt when the plan was changed.
Two hours later, everyone had caught a lot of fish, but there were no groupers. There were a lot of yellow croakers and many other fish, totaling up to a few thousand catties. After all, there were many people involved in fishing, so catching a few thousand catties was not a problem at all.
The one who had the most harvest was a guy who worked in the kitchen on Ang Lee's ship. This guy was usually very inconspicuous, but who would have thought that his fishing ability was not small. He caught more fish than two or three people combined. And Ang Lee was also very trustworthy, so he gave the guy a generous reward of ten gold coins.
There was no place to spend money on the sea, but this was not absolute. There were several aunties in the kitchen who were over forty years old. They were not bad looking, but their cooking skills were not necessarily good, but they were chosen by the chef in charge of the kitchen. As for why they were chosen, how could Ang Lee not understand? It was just that Ang Lee never went to a place like the kitchen. As long as the food was cooked well, Ang Lee would not interfere too much with the chef's way of using people.
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