The reason why Ang Lee came to Osman this time was to give him a way out so that he would not lose face. Therefore, he had been talking about some things that had nothing to do with labor. It seemed that they were just chatting, but Ang Lee knew that even if they were chatting, they would definitely talk about the labor problem.
As a matter of fact, Osman casually asked Ang Lee to take the little beauty back to the Tang dynasty, which gave Ang Lee a way to talk about the labor problem.
After thinking for a while, Ang Lee looked at Osman and said, "I also want to take the little beauty back to the Tang dynasty! But I haven't finished the task given to me by the imperial court. Even if I want to go back, I can't! "
"Oh, Assistant Minister Li, what problems have you encountered? Can I help you?"
Osman asked, pretending to be sincere.
Seeing that the time was right, Ang Lee said, "The task given to me by the imperial court is to build the Tang dynasty's canal, but the lack of labor has always been a big problem. If I can't gather enough labor, I'm afraid that the canal of the Tang dynasty can't be completed. In this case, the imperial court will hold me responsible. In addition to coming here for sightseeing, I also planned to ask for some labor from you. But the Sultan is such a good friend. How can I force him to do something against his will and cause him trouble?"
After that, he looked at Osman.
Hearing this, Osman pretended to be shocked and said, "Assistant Minister Li, I really didn't expect that in order to build the Grand Canal that will benefit the people of the world, you are shouldering so much pressure. Since we are friends, how can I not help you? I have to help you. "
After that, he frowned and thought deeply, as if he was in pain.
Seeing Osman like this, Ang Lee said, "The Sultan also has his difficulties. It's difficult to transfer enough labor. But if he only transfers ten or twenty thousand people, I'm afraid it's not enough. It's still difficult for me to return to the Tang dynasty. I'm afraid that I will be punished!"
After that, he pretended to be worried.
Osman felt that this was a good way out, so he quickly said with a loyal expression, "Assistant Minister Li, don't worry. Since we are friends, I will do my best to recruit more labor to build the canal for the Tang dynasty. In the worst case, I will cancel the expedition. In this way, at least 100,000 soldiers and laborers can be saved. If it's not enough, I can continue to recruit more. The canal of the Tang dynasty can better benefit the people in the world and allow merchants to do better trade. It's a great thing."
Seeing Osman's loyalty, Ang Lee said happily, "The Sultan is a friend of the Tang dynasty.......................................
"Haha! Assistant Minister Li, don't worry. Leave this matter to me. Who asked us to be friends? How can I watch Assistant Minister Li bear so much pressure? Besides, Assistant Minister Li is also benefiting the people in the world. I should also do my part. "
Osman was very upright and said seriously.
If Ang Lee forced Osman to stop the expedition and save labor to support the canal project of the Tang dynasty, Osman would definitely be unhappy and feel that he had lost face, especially in front of his subordinates. It was intolerable for a ruler of a country.
Ang Lee's strategy of intimidating Osman from the side and showing weakness in front of him could completely satisfy Osman's need for face. In this way, it would be easier to succeed.
Since Osman was so supportive, Ang Lee also had to return the favor. After getting Osman's promise, he immediately listed out the assistance plan he had designed. This so-called assistance plan was to provide Osman with many basic facilities so that Osman and the merchants and people of Egypt could have a share of the profits. Of course, their imperial court was the same.
This assistance was not material assistance, but technical assistance. The technologies that were not core to the Tang dynasty would be provided to Osman's Egypt for free or for a fee.
The technologies that could be provided were not core technologies, but they were technologies that required a lot of resources, such as concrete technology, brick baking technology, and many basic smelting technologies. These could be provided to Egypt for free or for a fee.
To build a canal, the Great Tang needed to build bridges and dams, so it had an enormous demand for concrete, steel, and other materials. If the technology to manufacture these materials was not given out, the Great Tang would have to produce all these materials themselves, which would put a great deal of pressure on the Great Tang. But as long as the technology to manufacture these materials was promoted, there would inevitably be many merchants producing them. As long as the output was high enough, it would be able to support the construction of the canal.
Ang Lee naturally hoped to complete the construction of the canal of the Tang dynasty with the least amount of funds. The premise was that the wages of the labor force were low, and the materials were cheap. The two conditions could not be satisfied without one. They must be met at the same time.
The cost of labor force was naturally very low. After all, the labor force was recruited from nearby areas. The level of wealth in this area was not high, so the price of labor force naturally could not rise.
As for the price of the construction materials, it depended on the supply. If the demand was high and the supply was not enough, the price of the materials would be very high. If the demand was high and the supply was high, the price would be relatively low. Therefore, in order to reduce the price of the materials as much as possible, Ang Lee had to give up some low-level technologies and let many people participate in the production of the materials.
Osman was very excited to receive so many technologies at once. These technologies were all low-level technologies that Ang Lee did not care for, but in Osman's eyes, these technologies were very good and were what he wanted very much.
For the technologies that required the most resources, Osman also supported the disclosure of the technical information so that everyone who wanted to compete for it could compete together. For some technologies, Osman proposed to buy them himself and make them his own industry to obtain a larger source of income.
Of course, Ang Lee agreed to all of them. After all, these were second-class technologies that had been eliminated. They were technologies that Ang Lee did not care for. As long as Osman was happy, he would agree.
Because Osman was interested in some of the technologies, after Ang Lee left, he quickly sent the detailed information of these technologies to Osman, which made Osman very excited for a while.
Osman looked at the technical information and was very excited. There were a lot of words and pictures in the information, which allowed people to directly see what was going on with these technologies.
"Assistant Minister Li is really generous. He is actually willing to sell us the wonderful method of making iron from the Tang dynasty. With such a brilliant method of making iron, we can smelt the steel we need faster and better. It is really important for us."
Osman looked at his subordinates and said.
His subordinates also came forward and curiously looked at the technical information sent by Ang Lee. They praised this method of making iron and thought that it was worth the money to buy such technology.
"Sudan, land is illusory. These technologies and money are the real benefits. There is a large desert in the southwest. It is all ownerless land. Even if we occupy it, it is meaningless. After all, the desert cannot provide us with real benefits. As long as we remain friendly with the Tang dynasty, we can get real benefits."
One of the subordinates said after looking at the technical information.
Osman nodded and said, "After reading this information, we understand how big the gap is between us and the Tang Dynasty. There is no way to make up for such a big gap. It seems that we can only submit to the Tang dynasty for the time being. The northern expedition to Spain has to be abandoned. However, we can't show weakness. We have to deploy troops on the western border to guard against Spain's attack at any time. If they attack us, our army will attack to defend against the enemy. The Tang dynasty can't say anything."
"You are right, Sudan. It is better to let the troops in the south return. In this way, we can have more troops for defense and recruit more labor. Also, our financial burden will be reduced a lot."
His subordinate suggested.
Osman nodded and said, "It seems that this is the only way. Withdraw the troops in the southwest as well! There is not much profit to be gained in the desert. It is better to stay in Egypt and maintain a good relationship with the Tang dynasty. We can master more technology and earn more money. "
Without realizing it, Osman began to understand what he should pursue and what he shouldn't pursue. He had originally harbored a sliver of ambition to conquer more territory, but after Li An's attack, he suddenly understood that he was far too weak to contend against the Great Tang Empire. Moreover, the Great Tang's army was near Egypt. If he insisted on pursuing his own course, there was a high chance that he would meet a tragic end.
Unless he had the strength to defeat the Tang dynasty's troops, he could only obey. This was the truth in front of him. He had to admit it.
His subordinates were not very supportive of going on expeditions. Except for a few generals, all the civil officials who supported Osman did not support him. After all, most of the new land that could be obtained from the expeditions would be distributed to the soldiers who had performed meritorious deeds. The civil officials would not get anything. They had to prepare the army's provisions and pay, and even recruit the labor force that was not very abundant to begin with. It was simply too difficult for them.
Now, there was no need to fight. In this way, it was time for the civil officials to make contributions. They could show their talents to promote the prosperity of the whole of Egypt.
Ang Lee was very happy that he had easily dealt with Osman in Egypt. Next, he would go to Spain as a tour. His purpose was the same. He wanted to warn the arrogant guy in Spain not to try to provoke Osman. Otherwise, even the Tang Empire could not protect them.
If the guy in Spain was not obedient, Ang Lee would use force to force him to obey. In short, he must not let Spain and Osman attack each other. In this way, the waste of manpower would affect the Tang dynasty's canal plan.
Under the premise that ships could not enter the Mediterranean Sea, Ang Lee had to rent Osman's fleet. He needed to rent at least dozens of ships, and all of them had to be the best and most advanced ships to meet Ang Lee's requirements.
Soon, Ang Lee proposed that he would go to Spain and ask Osman to give him all the best warships. Of course, he would pay them some rental fees.
However, when Osman heard that Ang Lee wanted to rent military ships, he did not ask for a rental fee. He felt that Ang Lee had already paid for the modification of some of the ships, so there was no need to pay at all.
Since Osman was sincere, Ang Lee did not pay. He directly bought dozens of warships. These ships were much smaller than Ang Lee's ships. Many of them could not dock the armored vehicles of the Tang dynasty. For this reason, Ang Lee had to spend some time to modify these ships. The modification of the ships was completely for comfort, and some of the warships were modified to accommodate various advanced equipment of the Tang dynasty.
Although the task of going to Spain was not very important, it was necessary to deter the army. Otherwise, if Ang Lee went alone, once the other side turned hostile, Ang Lee would be finished.
Therefore, in any case, the combat power of dozens of armored vehicles was very necessary. These forces must follow Ang Lee to Spain to ensure Ang Lee's absolute safety.
It took time to modify the ships, prepare fresh water and food, and everything needed time. Therefore, Ang Lee had to stay in the capital of Egypt for a few more days to give his subordinates enough time to prepare.
Fortunately, the scenery of the capital of Egypt was not bad. Next to it was the wide Nile River. When he was bored, Ang Lee would take Li Xiaolu to the bank of the Nile to catch small fish. It was a kind of leisure.
Ang Lee would even go further and play directly by the sea, which was the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north. There was a fleet of Osman's ships there. The best ships were rented by Ang Lee, and now they were in the process of modifying the ships.
Because Ang Lee would be living on the ships for many days and nights, Ang Lee was very concerned about the modification of the ships. Only when the modifications were good could Ang Lee live comfortably in the days to come.
"How is it? How is the modification?"
Ang Lee led Li Xiaolu to the largest ship and asked his subordinates who ran over to greet him.
The subordinate quickly replied, "Assistant Minister Li, it's already half done. It will take at most three more days to finish all the modifications."
Ang Lee nodded and stepped into the bedroom he was going to live in. After taking a closer look, he felt that it was not bad, and it looked like a place where people lived.
"Assistant Minister Li, it's so beautiful inside! Wow! And such a big mirror. I've never seen such a big mirror before. It's so beautiful. I can do my makeup properly while sitting on it. "
Li Xiaolu said with a smile.
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