"Australia is very desolate, even more desolate than we previously expected. I led the Jinyuan and walked along the coast of Australia for more than half a month, traveling thousands of miles, but all I saw was desolation.
!" Wang Shanxi was explaining to Li Xuan what he had seen in Australia.
desolate?
Li Xuan was not surprised by this, and he even knew what Australia was like better than Wang Shanxi.
In such a huge place like Australia, although it is very rich in various mineral resources, the only places with fertile land suitable for human habitation are the southeastern region. As for other places, it is a wilderness.
Of course, although most of these wilderness areas are not suitable for humans to settle down, there are still a few places that are suitable for settling down. For example, the place in the northwest corner of Australia that Wang Shanxi and the others found is where they found the gold mine.
The place.
After comparing the map, Li Xuan guessed that this place should be Darwin in later generations.
It is said that Darwin was just a small port at the beginning with not many immigrants. Later, after the discovery of gold mines, it developed rapidly and became an important city in northern Australia.
Geographically, this city is closer to the Indonesian archipelago and the Chinese mainland, making it extremely suitable to serve as an outpost for Chinese colonization of Australia.
Of course, the Java Islands and New Guinea Islands actually have the same effect, but there are too many indigenous people on these islands, and some of the indigenous people are cannibals.
At the same time, there are many rainforests in these areas, and they are also tropical areas. It is too difficult to colonize. It is estimated that more than 100 immigrants will die of illness within a year and a half.
Not to mention these places, even Luzon is not friendly to the immigrants of the Tang Dynasty. The indigenous people there still often harass the trading stations on Mindao Island. The immigrants who immigrated in the early period,
Even when working outside the castle, you need to carry guns and swords with you so that you can effectively resist when the natives attack.
Even the more than a thousand company armed forces from the Tang Dynasty Western Company in Luzon have organized three large-scale raids. They basically fought in a circle around Mindao Island and defeated many indigenous troops.
, but still cannot completely eliminate them all.
On the one hand, there is too little time. It is difficult to completely defeat the local indigenous people by relying on a few simple military strikes.
In addition, another more important reason is that the Tang Dynasty Western Company is not interested in large-scale colonization and armed operations in Southeast Asia.
These military operations were carried out at the request of the land and sea parties.
Although Datang Western Company established a colony on Mindao Island, according to the Western trade license obtained by Datang Western Company, although Datang Western Company was allowed to own the company's territory, at the end of last year, the cabinet and the military
After a liaison meeting there, the license of Datang Western Company was updated.
The license still allows Datang Western Company to own the company's territory and have the power to assist in administrative management and conduct armed operations on some of the company's territory, but this authority is limited to the area west of Malacca and does not include the Americas.
In the Nanyang region, although Datang Xiyang Company can still own company territories, these territories are simply company properties. Datang Xiyang Company does not have the authority to directly set up officials here to assist the official in administrative rule, or to use armed forces privately.
.
To put it bluntly, Datang Western Company only has land property rights in its territory in Nanyang, just like a big landowner.
The reason why these restrictions are established is to prevent the Datang Western Company from focusing its main energy on Nanyang or Australia. The mission of the Datang Western Company is to colonize India, West Asia, Africa, and Europe, and carry out operations in the above areas.
Monopoly trade!
In the Nanyang region, the military will be personally responsible for colonization, while private merchants will participate in various trades. At the same time, the Tang Dynasty Nanyang Company will also be officially involved.
As a result, the Tang Dynasty Western Company was not so enthusiastic about colonial construction in the Nanyang region. As long as it could ensure the safety of the shipping routes, supply trade supplies, and at the same time be able to do business, other Datang Western Companies did not care so much.
After the Mindao Island Trading Station and Banten Trading Station were established, and Ying Zihua's exploration fleet also established several small supply stations in the northern waters of Myanmar, the strategic focus of Datang Western Company has begun to move westward.
In the next few years, the focus of operations will be on India!
Of course, before the military officially takes over the colonial affairs of Nanyang from Datang Xiyang Company, Datang Xiyang Company will continue to be responsible for the maintenance and expansion of multiple Nanyang colonies, but it is impossible to say how dedicated it is.
Now the Tang Dynasty Western Company is organizing a large-scale fleet, preparing to sail southward in winter, and then all the way to India. They are not very concerned about Nanyang affairs.
At the same time, the army and navy are also negotiating to prepare for the deployment of troops, which is to take over the garrison of several colonies in Southeast Asia from the Tang Dynasty Western Company.
When the army and navy of the Tang Dynasty moved south in a large scale, it was the official beginning of the wave of colonization in Southeast Asia!
Wang Shanxi doesn't know this, nor does he need to know it, and this is not the reason why Li Xuan asked him to come.
Li Xuan asked him to come because he felt that this man's sailing ability was really good, and it would not be easy to lead the Jinyuan to find Australia.
Later, Li Xuan plans to give him a more important task!
On the one hand, we will continue to explore Australia, and on the other hand, we will explore safe routes to America.
Although the navy can also do things like exploring routes, to be honest, the fleet operations that the navy is good at, such as exploring routes, still require professional navigators.
In addition to Wang Shanxi, Li Xuan also asked the navy to find several experienced captains to prepare for the next round of large-scale route exploration.
Among them, America is the top priority!
The meeting with Wang Shanxi lasted for about half an hour. After half an hour, Wang Shanxi resigned, but Li Xuan was still busy, and another naval colonel walked in behind him.
This man is about forty years old and is wearing a naval officer's uniform. His name is Su Jiade. He is the most experienced navigation expert selected by the navy. At the same time, this man also has rich experience in sea combat and land combat.
Before he came, Li Xuan looked through this person's resume and found that this person had really rich experience in all aspects. In his early years, he was the captain of a merchant ship, and then he was the leader of pirates. Later, he joined the big army early.
At first, Tang Haijun was only a civilian captain and applied to become the captain of a naval transport ship. However, he was soon promoted as an exception. At the age of thirty-six, he enrolled in the first phase of the Navy Sea School and became the earliest captain of the Tang Navy.
One of the students of Hai Xuetang.
After graduation, he was awarded the title of captain. He first served as captain of an offshore patrol ship, and then was quickly transferred to a frigate as captain. He experienced many naval battles since the formation of the Tang Navy.
Then he was promoted to cruiser captain!
He once personally led the Marines ashore to fight in Ryukyu!
This man is an all-rounder who can fight at sea and lead marines in combat, and his navigation skills are even more outstanding.
Under such circumstances, it is not surprising that the Navy recommended him to Li Xuan.
After this person came in, Li Xuan chatted with him for a while and then quickly got to the point!
"I heard from Lieutenant General Bao that among the many captains in the Navy, Su Aiqing has the richest sailing experience. Su Aiqing must also know what your next mission is. So tell me, how do you plan to explore the route to America?" Li Xuan said directly.
ask.
Su Jiade said: "Your Majesty, I have studied many nautical charts recently. In addition, I also collected some information from some Spaniards and made a plan based on this!"
"I plan to start along the north first, then pass through Fuso, and then cross the Pacific Ocean to the western coast of North America!"
The existence of the Americas, or even rough maps, is no longer a problem. Europeans have long explored the Americas. Of course, detailed maps are still not accurate enough.
The map currently used by the Tang Dynasty was made by Li Xuan by comparing it with the European maps of this era, and then modified it based on his own memory. I cannot say that it is 100% accurate, but it is close to ten, and the approximate direction is still accurate.
.
When traveling to America, the biggest obstacle is the Pacific Ocean!
There are few islands in the deep Pacific Ocean, and there are often windless zones. If you enter the windless zone and there are no islands nearby, you will die in the sea.
At this time, Su Jiade showed his route on the map and continued: "According to the information we have received so far, although there are few islands in the Pacific, there are still some. We plan to go here and look for some islands first, especially
It’s the Hawaiian Islands on the chart!”
The map in Sujiade's hand is also a top-secret map. It marks many areas that have not been discovered by Europeans of this era, such as Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand, etc.
But although Li Xuan can remember the approximate locations of these places, he doesn't know the detailed coordinates!
At the same time, the sea is vast, and even if you know the approximate location, it is very difficult to find it accurately. If the route is slightly off, you may miss it.
Especially those small and medium-sized islands, in fact, they are just small black dots in the huge Pacific Ocean.
But looking at Su Jiade's confidence, Li Xuan was not prepared to say too much. Su Jiade was just one of the many captains exploring new routes. He wanted to go to Hawaii first, and then use Hawaii as a transit point to go further.
Establish routes to America and let them do it!
Su Jiade left, and then several people came one after another. Without exception, they were all from the shipyard. Some were naval generals, and a few were simply civilian captains, all of whom were found by the navy to explore new routes.
Captains.
Without exception, Li Xuan gave them generous treatment and support!
Every captain can get a merchant ship with the most advanced performance in this era as an exploration ship. This is the 680 merchant ship. The sailors let them choose by themselves and promise them any trophies they get during the exploration process.
You can allocate it yourself, no need to turn it over!
At the same time, during exploration at sea, the salary is several times that of ordinary sailors, and there will be corresponding rewards for every island successfully found. If a safe route can be explored, the rewards will be even greater!
Li Xuan even took out the title of nobility on the spot. If the captains exploring the route can successfully explore the route, they will get a title of nobility!
All this is to explore the routes. Only with routes can there be colonization, maritime trade, and a future!
Compared with the new route, a few ships, gold and silver rewards, and even titles are nothing to mention!