Ang Lee did not need to think about anything at the moment. He just needed to sleep comfortably. Although the mission was important, it was not difficult. After all, whether it was Osman or those guys in Spain, they were relatively weak. They did not have the strength to compete with the Tang Dynasty, especially Osman. If the Tang Dynasty had not sold him so many weapons, he would not have been able to pacify Egypt so quickly and still have the strength to conquer other places.
When a person's strength grew, his ambition would also grow correspondingly. He would no longer know his own surname. Ziyad was only a general of the Umayyad Dynasty. After the dynasty was destroyed, he could honestly declare his loyalty to the small Spanish court. However, after his strength grew, he immediately showed his true colors. He actually called himself Sultan and drew a clear line with the small Spanish court. This caused the small Spanish court to send troops to quell the rebellion and caused Osman to go on an expedition to Spain.
Ziyad was ambitious. If he could break away from the small Spanish court, it would be a good thing for the Tang Dynasty. In this way, they would become two countries and their strength would be divided. However, Ziyad's ambition was too big, much bigger than Ang Lee had imagined. Not only did he break away from the small Spanish court, but he also expanded everywhere. In a fit of anger, he even wanted to destroy the small Spanish court in order to strengthen his own power. If Osman really annexed Spain, the results of Ang Lee's painstaking efforts would go down the drain. This was something that Ang Lee could not tolerate.
In Ang Lee's view, the small Spanish court was weak and far less powerful than Osman. Of course, this was mainly reflected in their combat ability. In terms of national strength, both sides should be about the same. They were both relatively weak forces. It was only because Osman was good at war and had an elite army under his command that Osman's strength was stronger than the small Spanish court. If a war really broke out, the result would be no doubt. Osman's army would definitely be able to destroy the small Spanish court. This would cause Osman's power to be too strong and seriously damage the interests of the Tang Empire.
Because the canal of the Tang Dynasty had not been built yet, there was no need to take a boat from Yunhe City to Egypt. They could directly go by land. In a few days, they could reach the port at the back of Egypt and meet the current leader of the Egyptian regime, Osman.
Because there was no real road along the way, the vehicles were quite bumpy. Fortunately, Li An's car had a very perfect shock-absorbing system, so it didn't feel too bumpy sitting in it. Those vehicles without shock-absorbing systems were more unlucky. It was estimated that the soldiers' internal organs would be out of their bodies from the jolts.
There were still bumps, but they weren't very big. This was the prerequisite for Li An to be able to sleep peacefully. From the time they set off to the camping site, Li An had been sleeping and didn't wake up for a moment. It wasn't until the car came to a complete stop that Li An slowly woke up when he couldn't hear the engine or feel the bumps.
The first time they camped was in an oasis in the desert. There was a small lake with some drought-resistant plants around it. The scenery looked pretty good. It was a good place to camp, but it was definitely hot. After all, this was the hinterland of the desert. If they wanted to cool down, they had to wait until night.
There was sand everywhere in the desert, and the specific heat of sand was relatively low. In other words, sand absorbed heat quickly, but it also dissipated quickly. This caused the desert to be very hot during the day and very cold at night. In the desert, they could experience the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn, and winter in a day. It was a very good experience!
In order to speed up the march, Ang Lee set a rule that in a day, they would use fourteen hours to travel, and only ten hours to set up camp. Therefore, as soon as the army stopped, the soldiers quickly set up tents and prepared all kinds of food.
The army only needed a few days to reach the port at the north of Egypt, but the logistics department prepared double the amount of food to ensure the absolute safety of the journey. Even a lot of fresh water was prepared. Moreover, they had to constantly replenish water along the way.
This was because water was the most important resource in the desert. Not only did humans and animals need water, but the engines of various vehicles also needed water to cool down. Otherwise, it would be very easy for them to malfunction.
When the sky turned dark, all the food was ready. The soldiers began to eat and drink. Many soldiers took off their armor and even their underwear. After all, it was really too hot. They couldn't stand wearing armor, and even ordinary clothes were very uncomfortable.
"Big Brother, the weather in the desert is really hot. Even the wind blowing on the body is hot. The warhorses can't stand the heat."
Li Feiyu was half-naked, and he complained while drinking iced red tea.
"It's not just that. When it's late at night, people will wake up from the cold. It's hot during the day and cold at night. What kind of weather is this?"
One of the subordinates said.
In fact, on the way to Maia City last time, they had already complained once. Of course, they weren't looking for someone to blame. They were just lamenting, lamenting that they were dissatisfied with the environment.
Just like in the future, when the food in the cafeteria wasn't good, the employees would complain when they ate. Basically, they would complain every time they ate. It had even become a habit. If they didn't complain about the food in the cafeteria one day, others wouldn't be used to it, and they wouldn't be used to it either. It was as if something was missing.
In fact, this was also a way to vent. They used this method to reduce their pressure and let themselves feel less stressed.
Ang Lee smiled and said, "Tell the soldiers to put their blankets beside them. Whenever they feel cold, they can use the blankets. Don't let them catch a cold."
Ang Lee had always been very concerned about his soldiers. It wasn't wrong to describe Ang Lee as someone who loved his soldiers like his children. Ang Lee was such a person.
"Big Brother, there's so much sand here. If we build a glass factory here, we can definitely produce a lot of glass, and the cost can be reduced to the minimum."
Li Feiyu looked at the sand dunes and said.
Ang Lee smiled and said, "The cost of sand is gone, but the cost of labor and transportation is too high. Even in Chang 'an City, the cost of sand isn't much. It's the labor and transportation that are expensive. Of course, there's also the technology. Only the cost of sand itself is negligible."
Obviously, the cost of sand wasn't the main cost of making glass. There was plenty of sand in the desert, so the cost was almost zero. However, the living conditions in the desert were too harsh. If a glass factory was opened in the desert, no one would be willing to work without paying more. This would raise the labor cost, and the finished glass still needed to be transported out. This was another huge cost. Therefore, it wasn't cost-effective to make glass in the desert. It was better to make glass in a place with good scenery. This way, the craftsmen would have a better production and living environment.
At present, only Ang Lee completely mastered the technology related to glass. The craftsmen under his command only mastered a part of it and couldn't form a complete industrial chain. In order to prevent the technology from being leaked, Ang Lee would not allow the construction of glass factories abroad. Otherwise, the technology would be leaked out sooner or later. At that time, Ang Lee's secret money-making technology would be gone.
Don't try to influence Ang Lee with chicken soup for the benefit of the world. It was absolutely impossible for Ang Lee to give the technology to the world for free. Ang Lee didn't have such a high consciousness. Even if he gave the technology to the businessmen of the Tang dynasty for free, Ang Lee wouldn't be willing to do so. If the technology was completely leaked out, Ang Lee wouldn't be able to make any money.
Because of the special relationship between Ang Lee and the imperial court of the Tang dynasty, the high-quality glass and finished products he produced were all supplied to the imperial court first. Therefore, the imperial court of the Tang dynasty wouldn't interfere. Moreover, Hua Xia had a tradition since ancient times, that was, they wouldn't force people with knowledge and technology to disclose the technology. Basically, they wouldn't disclose it.
This was because humans were selfish. They were unwilling to tell others the secret recipes that they had painstakingly researched. Scholars were like this, skilled people were like this, teachers were like this, and everyone was like this.
It was for this reason that many ancient technologies were lost. Because many technologies were passed down from father to son, once the family died out, it would be lost.
Of course, Ang Lee wouldn't think about what would happen in the future. As long as he was living a comfortable life and making money that he couldn't spend, it would be enough. What was the point of thinking about things that would happen hundreds or thousands of years later? It was simply a waste of time.
For the sake of his own safety, Ang Lee needed to give part of the technology to the imperial court, keep some for himself, and share some with other dignitaries. Only in this way could he satisfy everyone. If he only cared about his own enjoyment, it would be very troublesome. Many people would be jealous. Earning money together was the best idea in this era.
For example, Yang Zhao's women's underwear and skin care products were both invented by Ang Lee and transferred the technology to him free of charge, allowing this old guy to make a lot of money. Although his reputation might not be very good, Yang Zhao wasn't stupid. He wouldn't directly manage these two industries, he would leave them to his trusted henchmen. He could be considered as the boss behind the scenes. Usually, when he had nothing to do, he wouldn't run to the workshop.
However, the nobles in the capital weren't fools. They all knew who the boss was, and everyone knew that the boss of the skin care products and the boss of the women's underwear were both Yang Zhao's people. Therefore, these two industries were undoubtedly Yang Zhao's. However, because these were legal industries, they could also serve noble women very well. Therefore, other than ridiculing them in private, they didn't think that there was anything wrong with it. They even bought some in private and gave them to the young ladies in the brothel as gifts when they went to the brothel to have fun.
Righteous noble children would also secretly buy some and give them to their wives. Then, when they heard their wives' sweet laughter and scolding, they would take the opportunity to hug their wives. In short, many people said that it was bad, but they liked it very much in their hearts. They would still take care of Yang Zhao's business. This was also the reason why Yang Zhao's voice was so good.
Since ancient times, women's money had always been the easiest to earn. This was because women were naturally vain, liked to compete with others, and liked to enjoy life. The two industries that Ang Lee gave to Yang Zhao were undoubtedly the ones that could move a woman's heart the most. Therefore, money definitely couldn't escape from them.
Perhaps Yang Zhao would occasionally complain that Ang Lee gave him unpresentable industries. However, when he looked at the account book every month, he only felt gratitude. This was because the money he earned was really too good. It was much better than ordinary industries. Moreover, Ang Lee gave him industries that could make a lot of money, so how could he have any complaints?
Ang Lee went down south to build the Maritime Silk Road. Naturally, he would spread some of the technology. However, the most profitable and core technology couldn't be spread. Some technologies were suitable to be spread to the entire human race, while some were suitable for one person to keep. The two couldn't be mixed.
For example, low-level technologies such as mining iron ore and producing concrete didn't need to be too strict. This was because the profits in these aspects weren't high, but the demand was high. If these technologies were also restricted, it would seriously affect the construction of the Maritime Silk Road, causing a shortage of construction resources.
In other words, only when more people were mining iron ore and producing cement and concrete could the price of these resources be reduced. This would be beneficial to the construction of the Tang dynasty's Maritime Silk Road, allowing the Tang dynasty's Maritime Silk Road to develop faster and better.
The large-scale construction of the Tang dynasty's domestic infrastructure couldn't be done without a large amount of steel and cement resources. It was because Ang Lee generously made all these technologies public that a large number of nobles and tyrants produced these raw materials. This lowered the price of construction materials on the market, allowing the Tang Empire to smoothly carry out the construction of infrastructure and promote the rapid development of industrialization.
It was the same for the construction of the Maritime Silk Road to the south. Ang Lee generously offered the technology of cement and steel to the Tang dynasty's businessmen who did business in the small countries. He let them mine resources in these small countries, thus promoting the overseas construction of the Tang dynasty.
There were soldiers patrolling the camp at night, so the soldiers could rest at ease and not worry about encountering danger. Moreover, there was no danger in the desert. Large beasts couldn't survive in the desert, and small animals posed no real threat to people. As for enemies, they certainly didn't exist. No one dared to oppose the soldiers of the Tang dynasty, unless they didn't want to live anymore.
After a night's rest, the Tang dynasty's troops continued to move toward the hinterland of Egypt the next morning. They wanted to reach the important coastal town in the north of Egypt as soon as possible and have a good chat with Osman about life. They wanted to let him know what he was capable of, what he should and shouldn't do, what he could and couldn't get.
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