Ang Lee fell in love with the Sinai Peninsula not only because of its strategic location to build a canal connecting the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, but also because it has the mineral resources necessary to build various infrastructures.

Coal, clay, iron ore, gypsum, oil, these most basic resources, the Sinai Peninsula has all of them, and there is a lot of sand, and these resources are all necessary resources for infrastructure construction, which plays a very important role in the construction of the Datang Canal and the erection of bridges on the canal.

Most of the peninsula is desert, and the reserves of sand are the first, but in the mountains in the south, there are a lot of forest resources, and in the forest, in addition to a large amount of wood, there are also a large number of wild animals, such as goats, antelopes, sand foxes, leopards, wild cats, jackals, hares, hedgehogs, moles, falcons, eagles, mountain quails, grouse, etc.

Therefore, the Sinai Peninsula is very rich in various resources, not only the yellow sand in the sky, and it is not possible to think that the Sinai Peninsula has no resources except sand just because most of the Sinai Peninsula is a desert, this understanding is very wrong.

Since the Sinai Peninsula has so many resources, it is natural to exploit them, after all, the Tang Empire needs to operate here, and the exploitation of resources cannot be avoided.

For example, the construction of super-large bridges requires a lot of reinforced concrete materials, and they can't all be transported from other places! It is most cost-effective to mine it locally.

"How's it going, how many resources have the engineering team found?"

Li An looked at Li Feiyu and asked.

When the advance team set out, there were many exploration teams set off together, and their mission, in addition to exploring the direction of the canal, also needed to explore the resources around the peninsula to support the construction of the entire peninsula.

"Big brother, these brothers are really not bad, in just a few days, several minerals have been discovered, a large coal mine, two iron mines, as well as clay mines and gypsum mines, all have been discovered."

Li Feiyu said excitedly.

Li An was very happy when he heard this, and said happily: "It's so powerful, all these resources have been found, and where are they distributed." ”

Ang Lee is very happy that engineering talents have found a large number of resources, and with the support of these resources, the plan designed by Ang Lee can be implemented.

Li Feiyu took out a map and marked the locations of the basic resources clearly, for example, iron ore is represented by a solid triangle, oil is represented by a solid trapezoid, gypsum is a hollow triangle, and coal is represented by a solid square.

"Yes, it's really good, these resources are all concentrated in the southern region, so that a complete industrial zone can be formed, which is very powerful for us to dig the Datang Canal, great, God will help me!"

Li An said excitedly.

He did not expect that these people under his command would not only find a large number of resources in the Sinai Peninsula, but also the distance between these resources is not very far, which is very conducive to the optimal exploitation of resources and is very beneficial to promoting large-scale construction.

"Big brother, there are not many people on the peninsula, only some scattered towns, now all of them have been subdued by us, however, our strength is very limited, we can't garrison in all the towns, we can only pick up the most important position to garrison, along the line that needs to dig the canal, we have developed three towns, respectively two ends and the middle, the towns at both ends are ports by the sea, only the middle one is in the desert oasis, after the canal is dug in the future, the middle town can also become a port by the sea."

Li Feiyu said his deployment.

Li An nodded with great satisfaction: "Very good, in the case of insufficient troops, it is very good to be able to focus on garrisoning three towns, and the important thing we need to do now is to build these three towns well, and we must also increase the exploitation and manufacturing of resources, and reserve enough building materials first, and then we can start to build the canal and the bridge on the canal." ”

"Big brother, this is the first coastal town occupied by us, the population is not large, only more than a thousand households, the total population is less than 5,000, they are all honest people, among them, most of them are fishermen who make a living from fishing, there are many ordinary people in the nearby villages, they will often come to the town, with the game they catch and the grain they grow, in exchange for fish and whale oil in the hands of the port fishermen."

Li Feiyu said.

Li An nodded with great satisfaction: "This port is very good, big enough, but the number of docks is too small, and all these extra places should be built on the docks, so that more ships can dock." ”

"What the eldest brother said is that I have already asked people to prepare, and the data has been explored, but we lack materials now, and it will take some time to expand the dock."

Li Feiyu said.

Li An nodded, looking at the more than 1,000 small fishing boats in the port, because of the arrival of the Datang fleet, they could only choose to crowd together, so as to free up the bigger and better wharf for the use of the Datang warships, in this way, the travel of these fishermen became a little more difficult, after all, there are so many ships docked together, if the ships inside go out, the few boats outside must also travel together, otherwise they will not be able to move the place.

"Feiyu, this is the last stop of our trip, we must build the Sinai Peninsula well, especially the Grand Canal must be excavated, but the amount of work to excavate the canal and build bridges is very huge, not a short time can be completed, and we just need to open the head well."

Li An said.

As for the construction of the Datang Canal, Li Ang has long had a plan, and as long as it is strictly implemented in accordance with this plan, there will be no problems.

All kinds of construction require a considerable amount of human resources, which means that in order for the construction to go smoothly, it is necessary to recruit local people to join the ranks of workers.

This is indeed the case along the way, and a lot of surplus labor along the way has joined the construction, and they will agree to work anyway as long as they are paid a certain amount.

After the arrival of the advance team, the engineering team began to recruit workers, and now more than 1,000 workers have been recruited inside and outside the town, and even some fishermen have given up fishing, after all, fishing is not all profitable, some people are not good at technology, it is better to earn more from work.

This group of workers, consisting of hundreds of carpenters, was mainly responsible for cutting down trees in the mountains to provide enough timber for the construction of the Tang Dynasty, while others were responsible for mining gravel and sand, all of which were vital building materials needed to expand the port town.

Of course, these materials alone are not enough, but also lime and cement, as well as steel and other materials, and only when these materials are all ready, can a full-scale construction be carried out.

The current population is still a little too small, we need to attract more people to come, so that we can build the Datang Canal faster, this difficulty is not great, as long as there are enough interests here, the surrounding people will want to gather around the Grand Canal, and the population will naturally increase at that time.

Moreover, in order to let more people rush here as soon as possible, Li An had already released his words, pointing out that the Tang Empire was going to build the Tang Canal at the northernmost end of the Red Sea, so that people with brains would naturally be attracted to it, as long as the population was large enough, the port town would develop into a metropolis sooner or later.

The goal of several port towns is to develop into a large-scale port city, and the minimum goal of each port city must be more than 50,000 people, otherwise, how can it be called a city, a port of a few thousand people can only be called a town, and a village of three or five hundred people.

When Li An did not arrive, because of the lack of technical talents, there were still many minerals that had been discovered that had not been developed, and now there are more sufficient manpower, so that lime mines, as well as cement workshops made of lime ore as raw materials, can be built, and iron ore resources can also be mined.

Li An personally allocated a small number of technical personnel, let them be responsible for these important constructions, how many resources are needed can be directly proposed, and they can also be allocated troops and horses, after all, many of the locations of mining are in the forest, maybe they will encounter wild beasts, or they will infringe on the interests of the local people, and they will be opposed by the people, all of which need a strong army as a backing.

"Big brother, there is a village near the iron mine here, if the iron ore is mined here, it will definitely pollute the nearby land, and it is inevitable to destroy the world of the common people, I am afraid that it will be opposed by them, it is not easy to do!"

Li Feiyu said.

Li An thought for a moment and said: "It's a little difficult to do, 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 send an army to garrison here, with the deterrence of a strong army, and a few people who have opinions can only swallow this breath." ”

"How should the amount of compensation be determined? If we lose too much, we will suffer. ”

Li Feiyu said.

Li An smiled: "Don't be so stingy, as long as the iron mine can be produced smoothly, we can definitely get much more than what we lose, just give them ten years of crop harvest, in addition, let them come to work in the iron mine, pay a month's salary first, in order to gain their trust, and when their income increases in the future, they will naturally understand that they will not suffer, as for the environment to deteriorate a little, it is not a big deal, these places are poor, there is not so much leisure to care about the quality of the environment." ”

This is a very real problem, only people with certain material conditions, will pursue a good living environment, such as the snow scene in winter is very romantic, just like the scene in the fairy tale world, you can stand in the snow scene to enjoy the beautiful scenery, watch the snowflakes flying all over the sky, but if the body has no cotton clothes, cold shivering, then there must be no mood to appreciate the snow scene.

A wealthy person can calmly open the scenery in the snow, and feel that it is a kind of enjoyment to be able to see the beautiful scenery, while a poor person is not warm in winter, they care more about cotton clothes, they would rather wear cotton clothes to places with bad scenery, and they are not willing to wear single clothes in the picturesque snow.

The people near the iron mine are undoubtedly poor, and they care more about the material life, so as long as they meet this demand, they can successfully open the iron ore workshop.

Even in later generations, this kind of situation of having factories and mines at the doorstep is also very popular, after all, it is the greatest pursuit of every ordinary worker to get an income-paying job without leaving his hometown.

Compared with the common people of the later Chinese Empire, they need to leave their hometowns to work in distant cities, and in the current peninsula, ordinary people can have jobs as soon as they go out, so don't be too cool!

The main attraction is that when the miners earn a lot more than farming and hunting, this is the key to the problem, if the income is not as good as farming and hunting, these people are not stupid?

Just like the people of China in later generations, why did they all go to big cities far away to work, it is because the work income in these big cities is higher, and if you squat at home and farm, the income is too low, and the income from farming in one year is not enough to work for a month.

And if there is a company at the doorstep, and it also gives a salary similar to that of a big city, then these people will definitely choose to stay at their doorstep to work, so that they can not only take care of their families, but also earn a lot of money, which can be described as killing two birds with one stone, and everyone will be happy.

Li An wants such an effect, as long as the iron ore is on the right track, a virtuous circle can be formed, and the people will not object to having iron ore at their doorstep when they taste the sweetness, and the smelting methods of this era are not too polluting, after all, it is an iron ore mining workshop, not a chemical factory that makes people smell and change, and the pollution is still relatively limited, completely within the range of bearability.

"Next to this iron mine is the mountains and forests, there must be a lot of game in it!"

Ang Lee's hands itched and he wanted to go hunting.

"Yes, big brother, I heard that there are many in the wild in this forest? The local villagers can often hunt goats, foxes, hares, grouse, and sometimes even leopards, which is also one of the main incomes of the local villagers, what's the matter, the eldest brother also wants to hunt? ”

Li Feiyu asked.

Li An nodded and said, "Yes!" I haven't hunted for a long time, my hands are itchy, it's time to go for a walk, if only I could catch a leopard, hahaha! ”

"Haha! As soon as the eldest brother made a move, the leopard was not ready to be caught! I'll go with you. ”

Li Feiyu said.

Li An nodded and agreed: "Okay, you go and prepare, select a hundred cavalry casually, and don't need to bring too many people." ”