Li An asked his officers and men to do ideological work for the captured pirates, let them join the forward battalion of the Tang Army, fight on the battlefield, and offset their mistakes through meritorious service. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

As for the soldiers of the Forward Battalion who died in battle, they were given generous pensions, which were paid to their families as soon as possible, and if there were no pirates with their families, they were buried in a generous manner.

With such generous conditions, the pirates are naturally a little tempted, besides, they are all guilty of crimes, and they can't accept such conditions, otherwise, the lightest punishment they face will be imprisonment, and even beheading.

Although, there is no beheading in the main criminal law of Datang, and the general offenses are spanking, and the more serious ones are exile, and there is rarely the death penalty, but to deal with the most heinous pirates, it is still necessary to behead them to deterrence, after all, the place where the pirates live is already very remote, even the most serious exile is cheap for them.

The pirates scrambled to join the Don Army's forward battalion and receive weapons and armor to prepare for drills in the future.

In order to prevent these pirates from defecting, in addition to the brainwashing method of ideological education for them, Li An also equipped them with the most ordinary weapons, which are worse than the weapons of the ordinary Tang Army, but more advanced than the weapons used by the pirates.

"Big brother, the forward battalion has been reorganized, there are a total of 2,000 soldiers and horses, and they are all willing to make meritorious contributions and use military merits to atone for their sins."

Li Feiyu walked into the big tent and said happily.

"Okay, very good, with this 2,000 forward battalion soldiers, the next battle will be easy to fight, I don't have to worry about paying too many casualties, when encountering dangerous tasks, just let the forward battalion come out."

Li An smiled happily.

In Ang Lee's mind, the pirates of the forward battalion are all affiliated armies, just like the puppet army in later generations, it doesn't matter how many they die, their lives are not worth anything anyway, and it is the most cost-effective deal to let these pirates rush to the forefront of the fight against pirates, and these pirates are willing to sacrifice their lives in order to clear their names

Of course, Ang Lee will not go too far, it is impossible to really let these forward battalion soldiers die in vain, but he is more willing to let them perform the most dangerous tasks to protect the elite people.

"Big brother, we have been on this island for seven or eight days, the dredgers and some of the officers and troops of Yazhou have arrived here, and the remnants of the pirates in Zhancheng and Yazhou have basically been cleared, and we can set off and continue south."

Li Feiyu suggested.

Li An waved his hand and said, "Don't worry, it's still early?" This seemingly small island is very important for me in Datang, we will soon set up a county here, of course, we can't be sloppy, we have to guide more work, and then continue to go south. ”

In fact, in addition to guiding the construction of the county seat, Li An also had to receive all kinds of intelligence from the direction of Guangzhou here, so that he could have a better understanding of the pirates behind.

"Big brother, the port is being expanded, and the five dredgers transferred from Guangzhou are working day and night, and I believe that a larger wharf will soon be built, enough to berth more than 100 large ships."

Li Feiyu said.

At this moment, because the area of the wharf is too small, not all the ships led by Ang Lee are docked, and more than half of the ships are floating in the nearby sea, taking turns to enter the port to rest, which is also the only way to solve the problem.

Li An nodded and said: "You are right, if you want to set up a county in the archipelago here, the first thing to do is to build a good port, without a large enough port, it will not be possible to berth a sufficient number of sea ships, and this will seriously affect the progress of the county, and it will also affect the role that the county can play on the Maritime Silk Road, let's go to the new port to see." ”

Under the leadership of a group of guards, Li An and others came to the coral reef not far from the wharf, where a large-scale harbor will be built, and it is also the most powerful deep-water port, where tens of thousands of large ships can be berthed freely, so that the passing merchants and fishermen will be blessed.

"Big brother, look at it, five dredgers are here, they have been digging sand all the time since they first arrived, filling the dug sand and soil in the required places, according to the current progress, it may take several months to dig a satisfactory port!"

Li Feiyu pointed to the dredger that was working and said.

Li An nodded and said: "What I said is that it is not easy to dig a large port, and it may take many years to be completely satisfied!" However, the port can take its time step by step, gradually expand the area of the port, and you can't eat it in one bite. ”

"What the eldest brother said is that I asked them to concentrate on digging sand in one location first, build a port that can berth big ships as soon as possible, and then expand the area of this port step by step."

Li Feiyu said.

Looking at the five dredgers on the water that are working hard to dig sand, Ang Lee's mood is wonderful, these large machinery will make outstanding contributions to the Maritime Silk Road of the Tang Dynasty, will greatly improve the convenience of the Maritime Silk Road of the Tang Dynasty, and serve the loyalty of the Tang Empire.

"Li Shilang, there is news from Guangzhou, Zhang Batian, the old fox, has not made any changes, and he looks like a legitimate businessman."

A subordinate ran over to report.

When Li An heard this, he frowned, and said lightly: "It's really an old fox, he does things without leakage, and he actually looks like a nobody, and sooner or later he will let Lao Tzu catch him." ”

"Big brother, we have some pirate confessions in our hands, which can completely prove that Zhang Batian colluded with pirates, and we are not afraid that he will not admit it."

Li Feiyu said.

Li An shook his head and said: "It's useless, this old fox can completely say that these pirates have teamed up to frame him, and there is no way for him to refuse to admit it." ”

"In that case, we'll have to find another way!"

Li An nodded and said: "Ignore Zhang Batian and them for now, these merchants are just a little minions, and after the pirates are destroyed in the future, these guys will lose their support and will no longer be arrogant." ”

"Big brother, look here, these are the soldiers of the forward battalion, there are 1,000 soldiers and horses training, and the other 1,000 men and horses are building houses to prepare for the county in the future."

Li Feiyu pointed to a large open space in the distance and opened his mouth to introduce.

Li An glanced at the 1,000 forward battalion soldiers who were being trained, divided into ten groups and trained, each group was a hundred people, and the soldiers of the Longwu Army were responsible for training.

The other 1,000 soldiers of the Forward Battalion were fully engaged in the role of coolies, and they were responsible for the construction of the buildings needed by the county.

This is a very dirty and hard job, in addition to the 1,000 forward battalion soldiers, there are more than 500 civilians from Yazhou, let these pirate-born forward battalions do coolies, they naturally have grievances in their hearts, but they are guilty of crimes, and their status is much worse than that of ordinary Tang army soldiers, and they can only endure complaints in their hearts, who let them do bad things?

"Feiyu, when these guys are working, do they make trouble?"

Ang Lee asked with a smile.

Li Feiyu said with a smile: "At the beginning, there were indeed a lot of thorns making trouble, and there were many people who were lazy and unwilling to work, but there were still many ways to deal with these thorns, and they were all done, and after that, no one dared to make trouble and be lazy, you see, they work hard!" ”

Indeed, Li An saw very clearly that more than 1,000 soldiers of the forward battalion worked more diligently than the hired people, and almost all of them worked with brute force, and this was obviously the result of training, otherwise, with the virtue of these pirates, it would be impossible to work so hard in this regard.

"Let's talk about it! How did you rectify these disobedient guys, and you were able to make them so obedient. ”

Li An asked curiously.

"This is not easy, it is to remember the merits, the merits of hard work, the demerits of being lazy and not working well, the merits can offset the mistakes made when they were pirates before, and the demerits will be added to the crime, so that these guys naturally have to work honestly to atone for their sins as soon as possible, this method is very powerful!"

Li Feiyu explained proudly.

Li An smiled: "It's a good way, it's really a good way!" Rewards and punishments are always the most appropriate, and they are applicable at all times, let these guys do a good job, the quality of the meals must be guaranteed, and these guys must be fed all of them, and they can't starve a single person. ”

Since these guys are willing to work hard, in terms of living treatment, it is natural to improve some, only when the treatment is good, they are full of food and drink, in order to work better, if they are hungry, it will definitely seriously affect the progress of the work.

"Don't worry, big brother! These guys are slowly getting rid of the habit of pirates, and they are becoming more and more like Tang soldiers, they are all obedient to our governance, and the eldest brother doesn't have to worry about it at all. ”

Li Feiyu said proudly.

Li An nodded: "This is very good, but in order to improve the enthusiasm of these guys, I still have to talk to them personally, let them be full of enthusiasm for work, and finish the buildings they need as soon as possible, after all, we will soon go south." ”

"Yes, big brother, I'll arrange it."

Li Feiyu said.

At dinner in the evening, Li An personally went to the location of the forward camp to see what the quality of the meals these guys ate and whether anyone was dissatisfied.

"Li Shilang."

The petty pirate leaders who were pardoned were now low-ranking officers of the Tang Army, and when they saw Li An personally coming to inspect, they hurriedly got up and saluted.

"You don't have to be polite, sit down and eat."

Ang Lee waved his hand and asked everyone to sit down.

"Big brother, look, there are vegetables and meat, white rice is enough, and the soldiers eat very well."

Li Feiyu pointed to the meal that the forward battalion would be and introduced.

Li An nodded with satisfaction, looked at these guys who were eating, and greeted, "Have you eaten enough?" Are you satisfied with your meals? ”

"Well fed, the meals were delicious."

"It's even better than what we used to eat, and I'm very satisfied."

"Thank you Li Shilang, we will definitely work more seriously and build the house as soon as possible."

Everyone knew that they were guilty, and in addition, Li Ang treated them quite well, so they didn't dare to have the slightest complaint, even if they were a little unhappy in their hearts, they didn't dare to show it casually, so as not to leave a bad impression on Li An and affect their meritorious atonement.

Li An knew that these were polite words, paused, and said: "It's good that you are satisfied, this official knows that you are all people who are used to being free, and you will be a little uncomfortable at the beginning of your work, and some people's hearts will not be very comfortable, but after all, you have done the business of robbing merchant ships, if you are not allowed to work to forgive your sins, it will be difficult for this official to let the court forgive you for the sins you have committed, so you have to work hard, work a lot, and complete the work as soon as possible, as long as you do a good job, this official will definitely respond to the court truthfully, According to your performance, you will be credited with meritorious service, and your past sins will be reversed, and you will also be enthusiastic in your efforts to fight pirates in the future, and the reward will certainly not be less. ”

Although it was just an understatement of empty checks, the soldiers of the forward battalion on the spot still listened to the enthusiasm, everyone wanted to make meritorious contributions, in the past, they were pirates to rob merchant ships, but also to make a fortune, and now, for the imperial court, they can also get military merits, they can get, it is very likely that more than before, so, they are naturally very happy.

Moreover, being a pirate is a thief, and the reputation is very bad, but being an official and fighting pirates, the reputation is much better, so after they have this opportunity, they are all willing to seize this opportunity tightly, thinking that they are seeking a considerable future.

Ang Lee came from later generations, and he still had a set of brainwashing education, so he couldn't hide it at this time, so he took it all out, and forcefully instilled these former pirates through brainwashing language, forcing these pirates to agree with his views, and swearing aloud to further strengthen their identification with this thought.

After brainwashing the two thousand men and horses of the forward battalion, Li An felt quite tired, how many of these guys were really brainwashed, and how many were fake, these are not easy to determine, in short, it is still necessary to closely monitor these guys to prevent uncontrollable things.

A few days later, five dredgers and a large number of supply ships were sent from the direction of Guangzhou, and all the county officials were sent from the Yazhou direction, which was regarded as officially establishing a county seat on this small island.

This good news made Ang Lee quite happy, but specific things are handled by subordinates, and Ang Lee only needs to grasp the overall situation.

One morning, Ang Lee took Yun'er and Beauty, two young women, and a dozen guards, to catch fish on the coral reef next to the island.

At high tide, the reef is completely submerged by the sea, but at low tide, a large number of coral reef rocks will be exposed, and there will be shallow pits between the coral reef rocks, which contain all kinds of fish, crabs and shrimp.