Hidden Dragon in Qing Dynasty

If it was said that the silver rights to trade was the appetizer, then the meal after that would be enough for the Queen to have a good meal.

Under the Princess Cissie's depiction, the development of that island in Mauritius was truly a difficult journey.

Mauritius Island could be said to be a free time for Xiao Letian to think of something, and did not seem to be of much use to the Chinese people on the chess board.

The Ryukyu was simply too far away from the Mauritius. They were separated by a huge distance between Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean all the way until they reached a point 20 ° south of the equator.

It could be said that this place was a foreign land to the Chinese. What was the use of Xiao Letian spending money to buy this land? Is it really just for a reunion with the Princess Cissie?

The Head of the Guards was not so boring or superficial. Many schemes would take many years to see the results, and many times, it was very hard to predict what would happen.

Just like this time when he was bargaining with the Queen, Xiao Letian suddenly thought of this chess game.

"Your Majesty, from the distant East Asia to the Mauritius, the fleet is not travelling to the Malacca Strait, but to a foreign sea …"

In 1871, although humans had started to use steam power ships on a large scale, the sails and ships of the past did not leave the stage of history.

Because the sail power of the ship is still saving money, do not need to replenish the coal cruise distance is also far away!

Although the Chinese were rich, there were plenty of places to spend money. officials definitely would not use new technology in a non-urgent mission like developing the Mauritius.

The sail ship set sail from Ryukyu, heading towards the ten million Mauritius s in the south. One must remember that this route does not go through Malacca Strait, but south of Sunda Strait.

This was because Mauritius Island was south of the equator and Malacca Strait was north of the equator.

A sea ship can enter the Wharton Basin west of Australia by going to the Sunda Strait or the Java Islands.

From here, they could travel westwards, and after passing through a few scattered islands, they would be able to reach the Mauritius!

This route was not only a short cut, but more importantly, there was a warm equatorial current in the area, where the water of the Indian Ocean formed a continuous current from east to west.

From the Wharton Basin to Madagascar and the coasts of Africa!

This route was really convenient and fast for a sail powered ship. Even if there was no wind, there was no need to worry. The warm currents at the equator could push you forward.

Everything looked fine, but the sea was fickle. Although the warm current was very stable, the Indian Ocean was a stormy sea.

The other huge problem with this route was the emptiness. There were few islands without land, and once they encountered a storm, they would have to gamble their lives!

"Your benevolent Majesty, you should know how terrifying the storms in the Indian Ocean are. Too many ships were buried in the sea, and too many Chinese immigrants died in the storm …"

"It's not only these immigrants who are heading for the Mauritius, but also the growing Chinese marine fishing industry, which has also received the threat of the storm …"

"So …" I humbly request the Queen, can you sell us some islands and lands to serve as a safe haven for Chinese seafarers? "

"You don't have to worry, the land that the Chinese want to buy is not near the golden channel. It's all barren land that has not been developed in the empire …"

The atmosphere in the palace became tense, and the Queen's expression became slightly solemn. If silver was just an ordinary metal, then the symbolism of the land was much greater.

"Buy land?" The Queen thought for a long time. "Can you tell me where you want it?"

Princess Cissie quickly smiled and said, "Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, Chagos Islands..." including the coasts of western Australia... "

Seeing this, Xiao Letian's conspiracy finally reached the core of the plan, Sword Finger Australia!

The future development of the Chinese industry would not be without resources. Petroleum, coal and metal minerals in the Second Industrial Revolution … These raw materials could not be missing!

However, Xiao Letian was also very clear that he had to control the resource lifeline in his own hands to be safe.

Coal is not a problem. A province of Shanxi has enough coal for China!

Oil was not a big problem, the Brunei Oilfield was already controlled by the Chinese!

Gold, silver, and colourful metals were not easy to deal with. They were considered rare metals in the world, but the overall amount used was still not that high. He believed that the Chinese would be able to solve this problem in the future.

But iron ore! This was a pinch on the neck!

iron ore were the most basic and important type of metal resources. If they did not start considering the layout now, it would be too late when they were on fire.

Western Australia, the future most important iron ore base, China and Australia have been fighting diplomatic cases over the iron ore trade for many years.

But in 1871, in the middle of the nineteenth century, Western Australia was still a wasteland!

Right now, there was not even a single white city in Western Australia. It was a desert and a highland wilderness that even the aboriginals did not want to live in.

Only a portion of the indigenous towns and cities on the coast lived by fishing!

Why, because the Australian land is so strange, all the lakes and rivers are concentrated in the east, and in the west there are only a few Season Rivers.

The Sand Desert, the Gibson Desert, the Victoria Desert, the Darling Mountains, the Kimberly Plateau... Together they made up the barren West Australia.

Drought. The only thing humans knew about drought was that there were rivers and lakes in the desert and highlands, but all of them were seasonal.

During the short rainy season, you can see precious water flow. After the rainy season, everything will dry up!

Agriculture could not be developed here at all, and people could not even survive, so no white people lived here, and they were all concentrated in Sydney.

Of course, it was not like there were no explorer or geologists wanting to find mines in the desert.

But thanks to the level of technology at that time, the British never found a valuable vein!

Western Australia was only developed after the end of the nineteenth century, which was 20 years later when the geologists discovered the gold mine in the Western Australia.

Western Australia's iron ore development was even further away, and that would happen after 1952, when the Korean War would break out!

One of the world's three giants, Australia's BHP Billiton, started his career after that!

Xiao Letian only dared to make this request because he wanted to bet on the position of the Western Australia in the eyes of the British!