Chapter 1417: guard

Chapter 1417: guard

  Chapter 1417 Guardian

With such conditions, Wang Xuance really respects himself, and Qin Lang is also very satisfied, "I will choose a group of capable people to go to Arakan. The construction of this seaport along the coast of the Tibetan River Estuary will be very important to us. It is our Lu It is an excellent opportunity for Song to cross the South China Sea and extend to the Tianzhu Sea to strengthen his influence, which cannot be missed."

   Funded and borrowed money from Wang Xuance to help build this Chittagong port. Even if the back city is built on the Tang Zangnan Road, the Qin family must have a place in this new port.

"The people who went to Arakan also wrote a letter saying that after they left the South China Sea, they were attacked by a group of pirates on the sea between the Puyue Sea and the South Zang Bay, trying to rob their ships. After they defeated the pirates, Chased after the escaping ships, and finally followed to the Loren Kingdom in the sea."

   "Yantuo Man?" Qin Lang asked.

   "That's right, it's the Yantaman Islands."

Yantman and Loren Kingdom both refer to the same place, which is the Andaman Coniba Islands between the Bay of Bengal and the Burmese Sea. Previous maritime merchants have discovered that if the sea wind is not smooth, sometimes ships will deviate from the course. It is possible to go to the Yantuoman Islands.

The merchants found that there are many indigenous people on the archipelago in the deep sea. They are black, thin and short, and don't wear clothes. They live in caves and don't know how to farm. They only know how to eat wild yams, jackfruits, and plantains. Or prey on fish and shrimp.

   But there are legends that several islands in the archipelago produce gold.

   There were also some sailors who drifted away on the islands due to storms, and later stayed on the islands to live and established some villages, but most of them were dark and short natives.

"Since we established the Nanyang Spice Alliance, many businessmen from Tianzhu, Dashi, and Persia cannot directly purchase cheap spices from Nanyang, and they are unwilling to buy at high prices from the alliance's Hong Kong Hong Kong, so now many Dashi, Tianzhu Waiting for the merchants, they pretended to be pirates on the sea, trying to rob the merchant ships of the alliance, and many of them used the Yantaman Islands as their base."

The location of the Andaman Islands is called the Andaman Sea. It is actually not far from Michen Port in the south of the Pyu Kingdom occupied by the Qin family, and it is less than a thousand miles away. On the other hand, it is almost such a distance.

There are three main large islands in the archipelago, which are almost connected by a north-south line, like a long snake in the sea. From the northern tip of North Andaman Island to the southern tip of South Andaman Island, it is 800 miles long, but the width from east to west is generally only a few dozen Li wide.

Although the archipelago has a land area of ​​more than 6,000 square kilometers, the conditions are not good. South Andaman Island is more suitable for development. There are few rivers with water all year round. Most of the places are hills and mountains covered by forests. plain.

There are mahogany specialties, and there are many other high-quality woods such as oak and walnut. This place has no civilization until now, and it is all a group of real savages. Only some ships that deviate from the course may stay there temporarily, or some pirates put There as a temporary base.

   "Could it be that they occupied the Yantaman Islands?"

   "That's not true. They chased the pirates to the east of Yantaman's South Island, where there is a natural and excellent harbor. After killing the pirates, they accidentally found gold sand in a river near the harbor."

  The presence of gold sand means that there may be gold mines upstream.

Sure enough, Wei Chang told Qin Lang that those people found a gold mine upstream, and it was a good gold mine after initial exploration, so they left two boats and some people in the original pirate stronghold, And build the stronghold with the captured captives, prepare to repair the stronghold so that they can start gold panning there and continue to explore the gold mines, while the rest continue to go west to Arakan.

Now they have sent a letter, reporting that they have occupied several places in the Yantaman Islands, and established a colonial stronghold there, and are still panning for gold, asking Luzon to send more people to expand the stronghold, and also requesting more gold mines The skilled artisans of the past.

  Qin Lang was very surprised.

  In places like the Andaman Islands, seven or eight hundred years later, after the British colonists conquered India and other places, they still only regarded them as places where criminals were exiled, and they were treated the same as Australia.

   It was an accident to chase the pirates to the broken island. After destroying the temporary stronghold of the pirates on the island, it was even more surprising to find a river with gold sand by accident.

  If there were only mahogany and oak on the island, plus a group of naked savages, no one would be interested in it at all.

   No matter how big the place is, it is just a deserted island off the sea route.

   But with gold mines it's different.

Especially since this gold mine was discovered near an excellent natural harbor, Qin Lang had to consider whether it is really necessary to send more people there to formally establish a colony there, pan for gold and mine there, or even cut down trees. , and then set up a wharf port, which can also be used as a supply point for merchant ships in the future.

   Or as a supply point for a combined fleet of the Nanyang Alliance to fight against pirates?

With the strengthening of the Nanyang Alliance's control over spices, Western merchant ships such as Tianzhu, Persia, and Dashi are unable to directly buy cheap spices in Nanyang. A thief wants to do business without money.

  The Andaman Islands are located outside the Strait of Malacca. This location, just close to the route to Tianzhu, has indeed become a hiding place for many pirates.

  Especially the Nicobar Islands to the south near the west of Sumatra Island, which is only a few hundred miles away from the port of Banda Aceh.

   These two islands are like a giant snake, blocking the west of the Strait of Malacca.

  If the Qin family can occupy this place, it can not only attack those who threaten the Spice Alliance, but also add a supply point and insurance for the Qin family's ocean trade.

  Even in the future, ocean-going ships can sail directly from Lion Harbor to Andaman, and then directly to Gabura, the monk of the Lion Kingdom.

   "According to their request, send a boat and send people there, and build the stronghold first."

   "Then Saburo, give me a name. You can't call it Luren Port or Yan Tuo Man Port. The names are too ugly. You have to choose a Chinese-style elegant name."

  Qin Lang thought for a while, "Let's call it Anlan Port."

   "Then do you want to set up a state, appoint a governor, and then station troops and send a township envoy?"

Qin Lang shook his head with a smile, "This kind of remote island is hard to develop. Even if gold is discovered now, it's still the same. Before it develops, it's meaningless to set up prefectures and counties. I think it's better to just call Anlan Islands Both Anlan Port and Anlan Port have been handed over to Shigang for escrow."

Wei Chang said with a smirk, "There is a good port and gold mines, so it's not difficult to develop. Aren't there many wild blacks on the island? Just send people to catch them, and they will be used as slaves to mine gold, open up wasteland and farm land." Self-sufficiency in food is no problem, right? You won’t lose money if you mine gold, and you can also cut down high-quality trees such as mahogany and oak. Sell ​​some of the nearby land, recruit people to cultivate and manage it, and even hire people to log, mine, ship repair and so on. Once the population increases, it will become lively and popular.”

"It's not that easy, take your time, as long as you don't lose money and can make some money, you can sustain it, and it can develop slowly. With one stronghold and two strongholds, maybe Anlan Port will become a lively place in the future." What about overseas ports?"

After all, it is still close to the east-west trade route. No matter what, it is better than Australia, which was named by Qin Lang as the southern province of Australia. Although the place is big, the essence of it is all along the southeast coast, and there is It is completely deviated from the trade route, even a ghost ship will not go there, and no matter how it is deviated from the route by the storm, it is impossible to drift to that place.

  So before, Qin Jun would rather choose the New Guinea Islands in Dongsheng Shenzhou, after all, it is closer to Luzon.

   These days, if there is no trade route, it is a dead land. In the deep sea, it is the same as the extremely remote Jiannan Xichuan in the inland of the Central Plains.

   Unless you have enough population and enough high-quality resources.

  For example, Luzon used to belong to the kind of deep-sea wild land that deviated from trade routes, so only a group of Malays driving Barangay ran there to occupy land and build villages, living a chic and free life.

But ever since Qin Lang brought his retainers there, things have changed a lot now. It is an interdimensional change, not only the farming technology, water conservancy technology, etc. brought from the Central Plains, but also many of the world trade that the Qin family brought over these years. something to chase.

  Sugar, glass, perfume, sea boats, etc., some things are even only available in Luzon. No matter how remote it is, profit-seeking businessmen will flock to it.

Just like the Silk Road in the Western Regions, it has to zigzag between those treacherous snow mountains, Gobi, and deserts, and sometimes even give up the flatter and safer grasslands or plains. The biggest reason is that the attribute of the Silk Road is trade. Connecting more cities along the way is the best route.

  Because the Silk Road trade is not a trade between two points from the east to the west, but a continuous in and out trade along the way. The more places you pass, the greater the demand can be found and the more benefits can be exchanged.

Therefore, the Pamirs, the Gobi of Afghanistan, and even the desert in the river, the desert of Khorasan, are all places where the Silk Road passes, instead of choosing to go straight to the hinterland of the two rivers of Persia along the lowland plains on the south bank of the Caspian Sea, or to reach the mediterranean.

  It is because although the south bank of the Caspian Sea is easy to travel, but the population is too small, and passing through the Pamirs through the middle of the river, the Afghan region, and the desert region of the Khorasan Plateau in northeastern Iran, one settlement after another can be connected. This is a business opportunity.

  After Wei Chang left, Qin Lang was no longer interested in focusing on the Andaman Islands. He began to think about the current situation in the court.

The daughter is revered as the Queen of Heaven, and now that the second sage is in court, she may soon have to listen to the government behind the curtain after Li Zhao's death. For a daughter who is only in her early twenties, she may be under a lot of pressure now, can she bear it? ?

After thinking about it, Qin Lang still planned to write a few letters to Luoyang, a long letter to the queen's daughter Roujia, a letter to the queen mother's younger sister Qin Shu, and also to brother-in-law Laiji and his buddy Cheng Chumo. Going to the letter, no matter what, Qin Lang also did not want any more accidents in the court.

Although Li Hong is also his nephew, as long as Li Zhao has a son, Li Hong has no right to get involved in the throne. Once the queen mother and Li Hong have such thoughts, it will inevitably lead to division and internal strife within the Qin family, and it will also lead to court affairs. of turmoil.

  Qin Lang hoped that after receiving his letter, Qin Shu would think carefully about it, and be able to support and help each other with the queen, and protect the Tang Dynasty together.

  (end of this chapter)