The first thousand six hundred and sixty-two chapters
At the same time, in the port of Ceuta, a group of Moroccan officials and generals looked helplessly at the Tang fleet outside the port.
One of the officials looked unwilling and said: "Are we going to give it to Ceuta for nothing?"
As soon as he finished speaking, someone retorted: "Is it possible that you still want to go to war with Datang?"
"It doesn't matter if we fight. This is Morocco, not the Tang Dynasty. As long as we are united, it doesn't matter if we are the Tang people."
The other person did not answer, but gave him an eye-rolling look, which seemed to say to him: Idiot!
A general next to him said: "If we want to fight, we have no confidence, and the most important thing is that this will bring disaster to the kingdom!"
"Most of you may not know how terrifying the Tang people are, but I saw their exercises in Cadiz with my own eyes. When their warships were bombarded, I will never forget that scene in my life!"
"And their fleet and soldiers in Cadiz are only a small part. They have a much larger fleet in South Africa, and I heard there are behemoths with thousands of tons. Not only the navy, their army is also powerful. We in Morocco Once a war breaks out with the Tang Dynasty, there will be no other option except destroying the country!"
"We must not anger these Tang people or bring disaster to the kingdom!"
When the others heard these words, they also looked helpless.
But there are also some who are more optimistic!
"Actually, it's not a bad thing that we gave Ceuta to them. Look at Cadiz in the past few years. Although it was considered prosperous before, Cadiz has become even more prosperous since the Tang Dynasty people went there. Yes, the Tang Dynasty not only transported a large amount of goods, but also purchased countless supplies."
"Just the daily necessities consumed by the people of the Tang Dynasty are enough to feed tens of thousands of people around Cadiz!"
"That's true. I've also heard that these people in the Tang Dynasty are very luxurious. They eat three meals a day, and they must be white bread. Moreover, they are very rich. When purchasing these daily necessities, they never bargain!"
"If the Tang Dynasty came to Ceuta, although we lost Ceuta, we could re-establish a city next to Ceuta and then sell a large amount of materials to them, which would be enough to feed tens of thousands or even more people. .”
"And after they come to Ceuta, it is very likely that Ceuta will become their base camp in Europe. Countless merchant ships will come to Ceuta. After the merchant ships of the Tang Dynasty come, merchant ships from other countries will also come to Ceuta. Da, when the time comes, we will definitely be able to obtain greater benefits from the water tower!"
"That's what I said, but I still feel unwilling to give Ceuta to them. You must know that we killed and injured at least a thousand soldiers in order to capture Ceuta three years ago!"
"Okay, what's the use of saying this now? These Tang people are already preparing to land. Let's get ready to go out to greet them. Everyone knows the rules of the Tang people. Everyone should take a shower before going to the port to greet them!"
"You know, people in the Tang Dynasty love to be clean, so you must take a shower before meeting them!"
While these Moroccan officials and generals were preparing, Rear Admiral Ren Zian was also arranging the fleet to prepare to enter the port of Ceuta.
But not all the ships. The fleet he brought was very large, with two cruisers, four frigates, and eight offshore patrol ships of two to three hundred tons. If this kind of offshore patrol ship
It is impossible to sail far in the Atlantic Ocean, but sailing on the coast and in the Mediterranean is not a big problem.
In addition, there are more than twenty various transport ships, merchant ships and the like carrying soldiers, ordnance, various supplies and even building materials.
There are even some steel bars and cement transported from China inside.
These things are not rare in China and are not expensive. However, in overseas territories, especially in places like Europe, they are extremely expensive. Generally, only the military will go to great lengths to transport them from China.
, used for building fortifications.
Because the people of Morocco agreed too readily, and Rear Admiral Ren Zian was a little worried about the sanitary conditions of Ceuta Port, they would not directly carry out large-scale landings in a short period of time.
This reckless landing would be difficult if the Moroccans resisted.
Even if the Moroccans do not resist, the poor sanitary conditions can easily make the landing personnel infected with diseases.
The Tang Empire had been expanding overseas for many years, and its biggest enemies were not the indigenous people or European countries, but the local climate, environment and diseases.
Therefore, whenever they visited an indigenous place, the Tang people were always cautious and never easily landed directly.
Otherwise, it would be easy to defeat the natives, but the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty would be knocked down by the disease.
So he just sent a warship to anchor at the dock first, and then sent people ashore to make preliminary contacts.
Not long after, officials and generals in the city of Ceuta, Morocco, met with the captain of a frigate of the Datang Navy that landed first. However, the frigate captain, who was afraid of death, was directly across the river when the two sides met.
More than ten meters.
I'm just afraid that the other party may have some infectious disease or something.
After a brief negotiation, the captain and the soldiers quickly returned to the ship. Before boarding the ship, several soldiers who had relieved the Moroccans in order to carry out any tasks took off their military uniforms and took the uniforms directly.
After the fire burns it, rinse it with water and scrub it while it's still smooth.
The Moroccans on the opposite side looked puzzled.
Today's Europeans basically have no concept of hygiene and epidemic prevention, and North Africans are no exception. People in the Tang Dynasty are generally very careful when coming into contact with them.
If it is not necessary, they will often not contact the local indigenous people, nor will they go to the indigenous cities.
Generally speaking, diplomats and soldiers stationed in Europe stay in walled embassy areas and will not easily come into contact with local indigenous people.
Even necessary diplomatic exchanges were mainly through letters. Unless there was urgent matter or necessity, the diplomats and soldiers of the Tang Dynasty would never leave the embassy area.
They still want to return to their homeland alive!
Soon, the vanguard frigate's negotiation information also had nothing to say, except how to hand over Ceuta.
Originally, these Moroccans wanted to hold a handover ceremony to prove the good relationship between them and Datang, but they were rejected.
People from the Tang Dynasty said that you can just leave on your own, and you can leave with anything you can take away.
As for things that cannot be taken away, such as fixed real estate and the like, Datang will provide certain compensation out of humanitarianism and to reward the Moroccans for their sensibility.
After three days, everyone within five kilometers must evacuate completely!
Because then the Tang Dynasty people will come to burn Ceuta!
The Moroccans were speechless when they heard this. This port city is in good condition. You can accept it directly after our personnel evacuate. Why do you still burn the city directly?
The frigate captain at the time replied expressionlessly: Disinfection!
What disinfection is, these Ceuta people don't understand, but it has nothing to do with them.
Anyway, the entire Ceuta port and several kilometers nearby were given to the Tang Dynasty. The Moroccans didn't care what the Tang Dynasty wanted to do.
In addition, the two sides also talked about Morocco providing free manpower and material resources to help repair the port forts. Datang said that Datang is so awesome that it does not need help from you Moroccans.
However, our Datang will hire a group of young men locally to build city walls and forts. As for how to hire them, this is our Datang's business, so don't ask.
However, the Moroccans were unwilling to give in. They sent Ceuta away. Although they felt humiliated, they still wanted to recover some of their losses.
How to recover the losses, naturally we want to take advantage of the Tang Dynasty people here, and then develop trade and so on. Even if it doesn't work, we can export some materials to the Tang Dynasty people.
Datang is very easy to talk about in this regard. It just said that as long as you bring out the materials, we will buy them all.
Moreover, Ren Zian also gave them an extra benefit, saying that he could dispatch a fleet to help them destroy a nearby small port occupied by pirates.
After the two sides finished talking, the Moroccans began to retreat, but they did not go far. In fact, they were retreating to the area of Fort Segil, more than ten kilometers away, and also to the edge of Ceuta, which was the boundary drawn by the two parties.
There were people left behind outside the line, saying that they wanted to build a town here and station people there to facilitate contact with the Tang Dynasty.
Rear Admiral Ren Zian watched them start to retreat, feeling strange.
This went very smoothly. Ceuta was captured without firing a single shot.
But thinking about it carefully, it seems that these Moroccans have been compensated for their real estate. In addition, they seem to be planning to do business with Datang nearby.
He also asked himself to help them destroy a group of pirates nearby, and also promised to hire local Moroccans to help build cities, forts, ports, etc.
Thinking of this, Ren Zian felt that he was at a disadvantage. If he bombarded Ceuta directly, there would be no compensation, let alone spending money to hire natives to build the city.
In the past, the Tang Dynasty often bombarded the city directly, then drove away all the natives, and then captured the natives to build the city for free.
They didn't have to spend a penny except shells and bullets.
But now, the shells and bullets are useless, but a lot of money has been spent.
The mighty Imperial Navy, when has it ever done such a disastrous thing?
Rear Admiral Ren Zian, who became more and more unhappy the more he thought about it, temporarily raised his demands. Datang wanted more than just the port city of Ceuta.
All land within ten kilometers around the port of Ceuta is also required to serve as a military defense zone.