Ang Lee had his eyes on the Sinai Peninsula not only because of its excellent geographical location, but also because it was the only way to build a canal connecting the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. At the same time, it also had mineral resources necessary for the construction of various infrastructures.
Coal, clay, iron ore, gypsum, and oil were the most basic resources in the Sinai Peninsula. Sand was even more abundant, and these resources were all necessary for the construction of infrastructures. They played a very important role in the construction of the Tang Dynasty's canal and the construction of bridges on the canal.
Most of the peninsula was desert, and the reserves of sand were the most important. However, there were many forest resources in the mountains in the south. In the forest, in addition to a large amount of wood, there were also a large number of wild animals, such as goats, antelopes, sand foxes, leopards, wild cats, jackals, hares, hedgehogs, moles, falcons, eagles, partridges, grouse, and so on.
Therefore, the Sinai Peninsula was very rich in all kinds of resources, not just yellow sand. Just because most of the Sinai Peninsula was desert, it did not mean that the Sinai Peninsula had no resources except sand. Such an understanding was very wrong.
Since there were so many resources in the Sinai Peninsula, it was natural to exploit them. After all, the Tang Empire needed to run this place, and the exploitation of resources was inevitable.
For example, building a super-large bridge required a lot of reinforced concrete materials, and it was impossible to transport all of them from other places. It was most cost-effective to exploit them locally.
"How is it going? How many resources have the engineering team found?"
Ang Lee looked at Li Feiyu and asked.
When the advance party set off, many exploration teams set off together. Their mission was to explore the direction of the canal and the surrounding resources of the peninsula to support the construction of the entire peninsula.
"Big Brother, these brothers are really good. They found several mines in just a few days, including a large coal mine, two iron ore mines, clay mines, and gypsum mines."
Li Feiyu said excitedly.
Ang Lee was very happy to hear that. He said happily, "That's amazing. They found all these resources. Where are they located?"
Ang Lee was very happy that the engineers had found a large number of resources. With the support of these resources, Ang Lee's plan could be implemented.
Li Feiyu took out a map and clearly marked the location of the basic resources. For example, iron ore was marked with a solid triangle, oil with a solid trapezoid, gypsum with a hollow triangle, and coal with a solid square. These symbols were very convenient to mark, much more convenient than the Chinese characters.
"Yes, it's really great. These resources are all concentrated in the southern area. In this way, a complete industrial zone can be formed, which is very helpful for us to dig the Tang dynasty's canal. Great, even God is helping me!"
Ang Lee said excitedly.
Ang Lee did not expect such an effect. He did not expect that the people under his command not only found a large number of resources in the Sinai Peninsula, but also that the distance between these resources was not very far. This was very conducive to the optimization of resources and the promotion of large-scale construction.
"Big Brother, there are not many people in the peninsula, only some scattered towns. Now, all of them have been conquered by us. However, our forces are very limited, so we can't station troops in all the towns. We can only station troops in the most important places. Along the line of the canal, we have developed three towns, one at the two ends and the other in the middle. The towns at the two ends are ports by the sea, but the one in the middle is in an oasis in the desert. When the canal is dug in the future, the town in the middle can also become a port by the sea."
Li Feiyu explained his deployment.
Ang Lee nodded with satisfaction and said, "Very good. It's very good that we can focus on garrisoning three towns when we don't have enough forces. The next thing we need to do is to build these three towns well. In addition, we need to increase the mining and manufacturing of resources. We need to store enough building materials first, and then we can start to build the canal and the bridge over the canal."
"Big Brother, this is the first coastal town that we have occupied. The population is not large, only more than 1,000 households. The total population is less than 5,000, and they are all honest people. Most of them are fishermen who rely on fishing for a living. There are many people in the nearby villages. They often come to the town and exchange the prey they catch and the food they grow for fish and whale oil from the fishermen in the port."
Li Feiyu said.
Ang Lee nodded with satisfaction and said, "This port is very good. It's big enough, but the number of docks is too small. We should build docks in all the extra places so that more ships can be docked."
"Big Brother, you're right. I've already asked people to prepare for it. The data has been analyzed, but we lack materials now, so it will take some time to expand the docks."
Li Feiyu said.
Ang Lee nodded and looked at the thousands of small fishing boats in the port. Because of the arrival of the Tang Dynasty fleet, they could only choose to squeeze together to make room for the bigger and better docks for the warships of the Tang Dynasty. In this way, it would be slightly more difficult for these fishermen to travel. After all, there were so many ships docked together. If the ships inside went out, the ships outside would have to go out with them. Otherwise, they would not be able to move.
"Feiyu, this is the last stop of our trip. We have to build the Sinai Peninsula well, especially the Grand Canal. However, the amount of work required to excavate the canal and build the bridge is huge. It's not something that can be completed in a short period of time. All we need to do is to open the bridge."
Ang Lee said.
Ang Lee had a plan for the construction of the Tang Dynasty's canal. As long as this plan was carried out strictly, there would be no problems.
All kinds of construction required a considerable amount of human resources. In other words, if the construction was to be carried out smoothly, the local people must be recruited to join the ranks of the workers.
This was indeed what they had been doing all along the way. A lot of extra labor along the way had joined the construction. Anyway, as long as they were paid a certain amount, they would agree to work.
After the advance party arrived, the construction team had already begun to recruit workers. Now, more than a thousand workers had been recruited inside and outside the town. Some fishermen had even given up fishing. After all, fishing was not always profitable. Some people were not skilled enough, so they would rather work to earn more.
This group of workers consisted of hundreds of carpenters. They were mainly responsible for cutting trees in the mountains to provide enough wood for the construction of the Tang Dynasty. Some of them were responsible for mining gravel and sand. These construction materials were very important and were necessary for the expansion of the port town.
Of course, these materials alone were not enough. They also needed lime, cement, steel, and other materials. Only when all these materials were ready could the comprehensive construction be carried out.
The current population was still too small. They needed to attract more people so that the Tang Dynasty's canal could be built faster. This was not difficult. As long as there were enough benefits here, the surrounding people would want to gather around the Grand Canal. When the time came, the population would naturally increase.
Moreover, in order to attract more people here as soon as possible, Ang Lee had already announced that the Tang Empire would build the Tang Dynasty's canal at the northernmost end of the Red Sea. In this way, smart people would naturally be attracted. As long as the population was enough, the port town would develop into a metropolis sooner or later.
The goal of these port towns was to develop into a large-scale port city. The minimum goal of each port city was to have a population of more than 50,000. Otherwise, how could it be called a city? A port with a few thousand people could only be called a town, and a port with three to five hundred people could only be called a village.
Before Ang Lee arrived, there were too many discovered minerals that had not been developed because of the lack of technical personnel. Now that there were more people, the lime mine and the cement workshop that used lime as the raw material could be built. Iron ore resources could also be mined.
Li An personally assigned a small number of technical personnel to be in charge of these important constructions. They could directly request how much resources they needed, and he could also assign them troops. After all, many of the mining locations were in the forest. They might encounter wild beasts, or they might violate the interests of the local people, and they would be opposed by the people. All of these required a strong army to back them up.
"Big Brother, there is a village near the iron mine. If we mine the iron here, it will definitely pollute the nearby land and inevitably destroy the land of the local people. I'm afraid that they will oppose it. It's not easy to handle!"
Li Feiyu said.
Ang Lee thought for a moment and said, "It's not easy to handle, but as long as we can give them enough compensation and give them a chance to work, I think most of them will agree. In addition, we will send an army to guard here. With the deterrence of a strong army, the few people who have objections can only swallow their anger."
"How should we determine the amount of compensation? If we lose too much, we will suffer losses. "
Li Feiyu said.
Ang Lee said with a smile, "Don't be so stingy. As long as the iron mine can be produced smoothly, we will definitely gain more than we lose. Give them ten years' worth of crops. In addition, let them work in the iron mine and pay them a month's salary in advance to gain their trust. In the future, when their income increases, they will naturally understand that they will not suffer losses. As for the deterioration of the environment, it is not a big deal. These people are poor and don't have so much leisure time to care about the quality of the environment."
This was a very realistic problem. Only people with certain material conditions would pursue a good living environment. For example, the snowy scenery in winter was very romantic, just like the scenery in a fairy tale world. You could stand in the snow and enjoy the beautiful scenery to your heart's content, watching the snowflakes dancing in the sky. However, if you didn't have a cotton-padded coat and shivered from the cold, then you wouldn't have the mood to enjoy the snowy scenery.
A rich person could leisurely enjoy the scenery in the snow. They felt that being able to see the beautiful scenery was a kind of enjoyment in life. A poor person, on the other hand, couldn't even wear warm clothes in the winter. They cared more about cotton-padded clothes. They would rather wear cotton-padded clothes to go to places with bad scenery than wear unlined clothes in the picturesque snow.
The people near the iron mine were undoubtedly poor people. They cared more about material life. Therefore, as long as their needs were met, the iron mine workshop could be opened smoothly.
Even in the future, this kind of situation where there was a factory and mining enterprise at the doorstep was very popular. After all, it was the greatest pursuit of every ordinary worker to be able to get a job with income without having to leave their hometown.
Compared to the people of the Hua Xia Empire in the future, who had to leave their hometown to work in distant cities, in the current peninsula, the people could have a job as soon as they left home. It was too good!
The main attraction was that the income of being a miner was much higher than farming and hunting. This was the key to the problem. If the income was not as good as farming and hunting, these people would not be stupid.
Just like the people of the Hua Xia Empire in the future, why did they all go to distant big cities to work? It was because the jobs in these big cities had higher incomes. If they squatted at home and farmed, the income was too low. The income of farming for a year was not even enough to be the income of a month of working. As a result, who would want to stay at home and farm? They would definitely go out to work.
If there was an enterprise at the doorstep that also gave a salary similar to that of a big city, then these people would definitely choose to stay at their doorstep to work. In this way, they could take care of their families and earn a lot of money at the same time. It was killing two birds with one stone. Everyone would be happy.
This was the effect that Ang Lee wanted. As long as the iron mine was on the right track, it could form a virtuous cycle. The people would not object to having an iron mine at their doorstep after tasting the benefits. Moreover, the smelting method of this era was not too polluting. After all, it was an iron mining workshop, not a chemical factory that would make people tremble at the mention of it. The pollution was still relatively limited and was completely within the tolerable range.
"Next to this iron mine is a forest. There must be a lot of game in it!"
Ang Lee's hands were itching to go hunting.
"Yes, Big Brother. In this forest, I heard that there are a lot of wild animals. The local villagers can often hunt goats, foxes, hares, grouse, and sometimes even leopards. This is also one of the main income of the local villagers. What's the matter, Big Brother, you want to go hunting too? "
Li Feiyu asked.
Ang Lee nodded and said, "Yes! I haven't hunted for a long time. My hands are itching. It's time to relax. If I can hunt a leopard, hahaha! "
"Haha! Once Big Brother takes action, the leopard will be easily caught! I'll go with you. "
Li Feiyu said.
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