Chapter 979: A Country Sitting on a Mine Cart

When the Black Shark surfaced like a giant monster in the deep sea, the Royal Fleet immediately became vigilant, and a series of cannons silently aimed at the Black Shark.

Whenever the Black Shark shows a hint of aggressiveness, it will be bombarded immediately.

The Lemurians in the command center were very calm. The Black Shark was covered with a thick layer of steel plates. The backward artillery alone was not enough to effectively kill the Black Shark.

The Black Shark submarine uses magic power, which is similar to real-life nuclear submarines and can submerge for a long time; unlike diesel-powered submarines, it needs to surface regularly to recharge its batteries.

Seeing General Xu Chu coming out from the back of the "monster", Gan Ning immediately lifted the alarm.

The next thing is simple. After Shenwuwei returned to the ground through the spiral steps and joined the fleet, the Royal Fleet set sail again.

The difference is that the Royal Fleet has a new member-the Black Shark.

Ouyang Shuo has ordered Gan Ning to put the Black Shark submarine into the battle order of the Royal Fleet, and at the same time arrange elite personnel to enter the Black Shark to learn submarine operation techniques from the Lemurian instructor.

When the royal fleet left, a white light flashed, and the sacred mountain disappeared into the sea again. Who knew that there was a powerful ancient civilization lurking in this unusual sea area? !

*************

November 28, Melbourne.

After a long wait, the Royal Fleet finally landed in Port Melbourne, Australia.

The original meaning of the word Australia is "the southern continent". When Europeans discovered this continent in the seventeenth century, they mistakenly thought that it was a piece of land leading directly to the Antarctic, so they named it "Australia".

Canberra, the royal city, is located on the southeast coast.

Surrounded by the sea on all sides, Australia is the only country in the world whose territory covers an entire continent. It is also known as "the country sitting on the mine cart" and "the country riding on the back of a sheep".

Seventy percent of Australia's land is arid or semi-arid, and most of the central part is not suitable for human habitation. The land that can be used for livestock and farming is only 260,000 square kilometers, mainly distributed in the southeastern coastal area.

In reality, only two cities, Melbourne and Sydney, bring together more than half of Australia's population.

Just like that, there is only one lord left in Australia in the game, Avera. The main city is located in Melbourne, which is the largest city outside the royal city of Canberra.

Australia is rich in mineral resources, with at least 70 kinds. The reserves of bauxite rank first in the world, and the output of gold, iron ore, coal, lithium, manganese ore, nickel, silver, uranium and zinc also ranks among the top in the world.

At the same time, Australia is the world's largest exporter of bituminous coal, bauxite, lead, diamonds, zinc and ore concentrates, the second largest exporter of alumina, iron ore and uranium, and the third largest exporter of aluminum and gold.

Australia's rich mineral resources are what attracts Ouyang Shuo the most.

The Daxia Royal Fleet was able to dock in Melbourne smoothly thanks to the envoys sent by Honglu Temple earlier.

In addition to mineral resources, Australia does not occupy any strategic position in global seas, but rather a remote place. That being the case, Ouyang Shuo naturally had no intention of brandishing the butcher knife and driving the Australians to the place of trial.

If you really want to do that, it will just make Daxia make enemies all over the world. In that case, it will be of no benefit to Ouyang Shuo himself or Da Xia when he arrives at the planet of hope.

"Exchange for the greatest strategic benefits with the least damage; use cooperation to achieve win-win results, continuously enhance Daxia's global influence, and expand the circle of friends." It has become the strategic core of Daxia.

Therefore, as early as two months ago, the envoys of Honglu Temple brought Ouyang Shuo's peace promise to Avila. For Avila, it would be great to be able to avoid the flames of war and trade ore with Daxia.

The game is no better than reality, and there is no developed global trade network.

Australia has an astonishing reserve of minerals, but it cannot be sold overseas in exchange for economic benefits. It can only treat a large amount of ore as scrap copper and rotten iron. It is really wasteful.

Opening up the trade route with Daxia is naturally a win-win situation.

That night, at the City Lord's Mansion in Melbourne, Avila prepared a grand welcome dinner.

Not only the core layer of Melbourne participated in the dinner, but also the elite adventure players from the royal city of Canberra, bringing together the elite of players from all over Australia.

For Australia, the arrival of the Great Xia Royal Fleet is really a historic event.

"Welcome our friend, King Xia!" Avila raised his glass high, looking extremely excited, "Cheers!"

Secretly, Avila was far less excited than he seemed. As early as when the Daxia envoys arrived in Melbourne, [Silver Hand] secretly warned Avila not to get too close to Daxia.

Until the Royal Fleet stayed in Xingzhou County, Avila was still hesitant.

But when the Padang Fleet of the Java State had the advantage and was still beaten by the Royal Fleet of Bactria and fled in embarrassment, Avila finally let go of all worries.

"[Silver Hand] can't save Melbourne, only Daxia can save Melbourne."

Of course, Avila is not an easy person to stand out in Australia. The ore trade with Daxia is by no means an exclusive trade. Avila has already expressed his favor to William of England, saying that he can start ore trade with Fort Avek at any time, and even the price can be more favorable than Daxia.

The premise is to open up the sea trade channel between the two.

After all, the two countries have a long history. The UK can be called the "clan" of Australia. Except for the indigenous Maori, the ancestors of most Australians are British immigrants in the 19th and 20th centuries.

"cheers!"

Ouyang Shuo lightly raised his wine glass, with a warm smile on his face, but his heart was extremely calm. It is unknown when, the reputation of the Great Xia Dynasty in the world has surpassed any feudal dynasty in history.

Such a global layout was originally something that the Western powers were good at.

If you are not Chinese, it is difficult to appreciate this sense of national pride.

"Let me make up for the unfinished achievements of the dynasties of the past dynasties!" Ouyang Shuo thought to himself, as if his inner goal had been sublimated again.

…………

In the evening, at the place where he was staying, Ouyang Shuo quietly saw a middle-aged man dressed strangely.

His name was Kupe, he was a representative of the Australian Maori, and he had contacted the Black Snake Guard's spies lurking in Australia before.

Although Ouyang Shuo has no intention of starting a war in Australia, it doesn't mean that Ouyang Shuo will trust Avila unconditionally. How could Ouyang Shuo not know about the relationship between Australia, England, and the western world.

Coupled with the all-pervasive [Silver Hand], Ouyang Shuo must take precautions.

The smart way is to quietly support a pro-Big Xia force in Australia under the premise of win-win cooperation, so as to avoid capsizing in the gutter.

The Maori who didn't have a good impression of Westerners naturally became Ouyang Shuo's best target.

The two talked for a full hour before Kupe quietly left in the dark.

Ouyang Shuo promised Kupe that in the future, under the cover of the ore trade, Daxia will quietly bring advanced weapons and equipment to the Maori, and even send generals to train troops for the Maori.

Australia is vast and vast, and Avila cannot be monitored. What's more, the Maori are the real natives of this land, and they are familiar with Australia's mountains, rivers, plants and trees.

Sending off Kupe, Ouyang Shuo was thoughtful.

In fact, there are many ethnic Chinese living in Australia, but Ouyang Shuo has no intention of getting in touch with these people. After several generations, even more than a dozen generations, these ethnic Chinese may have Chinese blood in them, but they may not all have a Chinese heart. Furthermore, the Chinese are generally more "cunning", not as real as the Maori.

…………

In the following week, accompanied by Avila, Ouyang Shuo personally inspected several large iron ore mines and coal mines in Australia, and enjoyed the scenery of Australia along the way.

On December 6th, in addition to including Australia in the scope of the "Trans-Pacific Trade Partnership Agreement", Ouyang Shuo also signed a separate mineral trade agreement with Melbourne on behalf of the Great Xia Dynasty.

The agreement specifies the type, quantity and price of ore delivery in detail.

When the agreement is actually implemented, the ore shortage problem faced by the Great Xia Dynasty will be basically resolved, and the industrialization of the Dynasty will be able to run at full speed, without any worries.

At the same time, Ouyang Shuo was also very interested in Australian wool.

Australia is known as "the country that rides on the back of sheep". The number of sheep is 20 times that of the population, and there are more real sheep than people. It is the largest wool exporter in the world.

Wool is a good thing, and it can completely become the third largest textile raw material in Daxia after silk and cotton cloth, which will greatly promote the textile industry of the dynasty.

In this regard, Avila is naturally happy to see the results.

Melbourne is also known as "New Gold Mountain" to distinguish it from "San Francisco" in the United States. Like San Francisco, Melbourne has rich gold mines, which once triggered a wave of gold rush in history.

Due to the gold rush, Melbourne's population grew rapidly and it gradually became a wealthy and large city.

It is not without reason that Avila built the main city of his territory on the original site of Melbourne, and did not even change the name. So even on a global scale, Avila is considered a relatively wealthy lord.

Even so, no one would think too much money.

According to preliminary estimates, when the two trade agreements are implemented, Melbourne will be able to obtain a trade volume of more than four million gold coins per year just by exporting ore and wool to the Great Xia Dynasty.

And with the intensification of Daxia's industrialization, this trade volume will continue to rise.

For this reason, Avila had to allocate more labor to the mining industry and animal husbandry in order to meet the huge procurement needs of Daxia.

During the cooperation, Avila expressed euphemistically that he hoped to purchase weapons and equipment and Z1 warships from Daxia, but Ouyang Shuo "tactfully" refused.

Are you kidding me, Ouyang Shuo doesn't want to raise an Australia with strong military power.

…………

Early the next morning, the Royal Fleet set off again for the last stop of the ocean voyage - New Zealand. There, there was a person who had been looking forward to the Royal Fleet for a long time.