After the competition ended, King Mobi also stepped forward with great interest and began to observe the weapons and equipment of the other Han soldiers.
Zhang Liang followed behind him, continuously giving introductions.
Throughout the conversation, King Mobi has not mentioned the Han army's desire to lease land to build a port.
However, Zhang Liang was not in a hurry. In his view, this King Mabi just wanted to confirm whether the Han army had enough strength.
After observing the situation, King Mobi ultimately agreed to allow the Han army to lease land and build a port.
At the same time, King Mobi also signed a military cooperation agreement with Zhang Liang.
According to the agreement, the Han army would provide them with a batch of weapons and equipment and help them train an army.
At the same time, King Mobi also agreed to Zhang Liang's request and released those people from the South Seas islands who were staying in Mobi.
This agreement immediately alerted the Brahmin high priest and the military generals of the Maha kingdom.
In their view, King Mobi's actions were clearly an attempt to cultivate his own army through the Han army, so as to break free from their control.
However, with the Han Dynasty's 30,000-strong navy currently docked at Mona Port, neither the high priest of Brahmanism nor the military generals of the Mobi Kingdom dared to take any other action.
On the contrary, Mosin-Nagant, who was stationed at Mona Port, was getting closer and closer to the Han army.
After all the agreements were signed, Zhang Liang led the more than 3,000 South Sea slaves released from King Mobi back to the fleet.
Subsequently, the fleet set sail again and arrived at a sea area three days later.
This coastline, located in the northwest of the Kingdom of Mapi, lies in the southern and western parts of the kingdoms of Canaan and Lorim. It was originally a no-man's-land, but was later occupied by the Kingdom of Mapi.
However, because this sea area was very suitable for building a port, neither Canaan nor Lorin was willing to give it up easily and often sent troops to harass it, so Mopi was never able to build a port there.
Therefore, King Mobi agreed to lease this sea area, along with nearly 1.5 million mu of land behind it, to the Han army for 5,000 gold coins per year.
Of course, according to the lease agreement, apart from that sea area and land, all the people living on that land, whether it is their lives, taxes, labor, or other matters, are also under the jurisdiction of the Han army, and the Kingdom of Mopi has no right to interfere.
King Mahava believed that since he couldn't hold onto the place anyway, he might as well use the Han army to take it back. This would not only allow him to see the strength of the Han army, but also allow him to use the rent from the Han army to train his own army, which would be a win-win situation.
This sea area was renamed Hannan Port by Ling Cao and Zhang Liang.
As the Han fleet approached the shore, the fishermen living nearby crawled on the beach in panic.
In their view, this enormous fleet, which appeared out of nowhere, must have been sent by the sea god to punish them.
Nevertheless, not a single person chose to flee or resist. Years of religious oppression by the Brahmins had turned these fishermen into domesticated animals.
Thus, the power of religion was demonstrated once again.
Zhang Liang, dressed in a Taoist robe, was the first to step off the boat and approach the group of fishermen, where he began to proclaim the glory of the Taiyi God.
Although they didn't know what kind of god Taiyi was, the fishermen were quickly calmed down after hearing that these ships belonged to Taiyi.
Subsequently, nearly 30,000 Han soldiers disembarked and settled in several fishing villages.
During their stay, these Han soldiers not only paid for the fishermen's lodging but also shared their own food and supplies with them.
The Han soldiers' excellent discipline and friendly attitude also gave these Shudra fishermen a different feeling.
In their eyes, these soldiers under the command of the One God seemed far more powerful than the Kshatriyas who often bullied them.
Therefore, many fishermen unknowingly began to develop a liking for Taiyi, whom Zhang Liang had mentioned.
After establishing a foothold there, the Han army recruited a group of fishermen and began to build a port.
During the construction of the port, the Han army not only provided food to these fishermen free of charge, but also adopted a daily payment system, converting their due wages into money and grain and distributing it to them after the end of each day's work.
This action by the Han army further garnered the support of the surrounding fishermen.
As the news spread, more and more people came to vote.
Within just a few days, nearly 20,000 people from a surrounding area of 100 miles came upon hearing the news.
In addition to the several thousand Southeast Asians stranded in Mopi, and nearly 30,000 naval soldiers, a total of 55,000 people were put into the construction of the port.
During the bustling construction period, Zhang Liang also took the opportunity to gather these people together and began to spread the doctrines of the Taiping Sect.
Compared to the Brahmanical doctrine that the greater the suffering in this life, the greater the blessings in the next, the Taiping Religion's teachings of respecting heaven and earth, self-reliance, and enjoying blessings for generations felt more real and reliable to them.
After all, they did gain real benefits from their work, and their lives improved.
In the past, the Shudras, who were despised by the Kshatriyas and could be killed at will, enjoyed fair treatment under the Han army.
This combination of tangible benefits and fair treatment quickly led the people of this land to abandon their former Brahmanism and turn to the banner of the One God, becoming his most steadfast followers.
After a month of construction, a port capable of accommodating 30,000 naval soldiers was finally completed. Behind the port, a new city also began construction.
Using infrastructure development to boost the local economy, benefit the people, and win their hearts and minds is the quickest and most effective approach.
On this day, just as the people were busily engaged in the construction of the new city, a scout on horseback galloped from north to south.
Ling Cao stopped what he was doing and went to greet him.
"Reporting to the general, a force of five thousand men is approaching from seventy miles away!"
"Oh? They really don't know what's good for them, daring to come to our doorstep like this?" Ling Cao sneered upon hearing the scout's report.
A lieutenant stepped forward and said, "General, judging from their appearance, they probably don't know that this land already belongs to us. Do you think we should go and warn them to withdraw their troops?"
Ling Cao waved his hand: "No need. Send five thousand soldiers with me to wipe them out, and let the surrounding people see the strength of our Han army..."
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