Translator: ryangohsff Editor: Nora
Chapter 977 – Country That Sits on the Mine Cart
When The Black Shark appeared like a giant ocean beast on the surface, the Emperor Squadron was instantly alerted, and they aimed their cannons at it.
If The Black Shark showed any sign of hostility, they would immediately fire at it.
The Lemurians in the command center were really calm. The Black Shark was covered with layers of steel. With just these backward cannons, they could not cause effective damage to the submarine.
The Black Shark used magic. It was similar to the nuclear powered submarines of real life, as it could stay underwater for long periods of time. It was unlike fuel powered submarines that needed to float to the surface to recharge.
Seeing General Xu Chu appear from the back of the beast, Gan Ning immediately removed the alarm.
The following matters were simple. Once the Divine Martial Guards returned to the surface and met with the squadron, the Emperor Squadron set sail once more.
The only difference was that they had one new member – The Black Shark.
Ouyang Shuo had already instructed Gan Ning to add The Black Shark into the Emperor Squadron. At the same time, they would arrange elite members into The Black Shark to learn from the Lemurians about how to pilot the submarine.
Once the Emperor Squadron left, a white light shone across, and the mountain disappeared from the ocean surface once more. Who knew that there was actually such a strong and powerful civilization hidden in the ocean?
************
11th month, 28th day, Melbourne.
After making a huge circle, the Emperor Squadron finally arrived in Australia’s Melbourne Port.
Australia was named as the continent in the south. When Europeans found this continent in the 17th century, they thought that this was a continent that was going straight toward the Artic. As a result, they named it Australia.
The imperial city of Canberra was located at the southeast.
Australia was surrounded by water on all four sides and was the only country that covered an entire continent. At the same time, it was termed as the country that sat on mine carts and rode on sheep back.
70% of Australia belonged to the desert or partial desert variety, and the middle region was not suitable for humans to live. As a result, there were only 260 thousand square kilometers that were suitable for farming and animal husbandry. People mainly settled along the southeast.
In reality, just Melbourne and Sydney alone accounted for more than half of the population of Australia.
As a result, the Australia in game was only left with only one in Lord Avera, and its main city was in Melbourne. It was the biggest city apart from the imperial city of Canberra.
Australia was filled with many mining resources, and they had a total of 70. Bauxite, gold, iron ore, coal, lithium, manganese, silver, and the like were all the top few storages in the world.
At the same time, Australia was the biggest exporter in the world of coal, bauxite, lead, diamond, and zinc. It was second biggest aluminum, iron ore, and uranium ore exporter, and the third largest gold exporter.
The rich resources of Australia were the part that attracted Ouyang Shuo.
The Emperor Squadron being able to dock at Melbourne so smoothly was due to the efforts of the envoy sent by Honglu Temple beforehand.
Apart from ore resources, Australia did not hold any strategic location on Earth, and it was just a secluded land. Since that was the case, Ouyang Shuo naturally did not intend to attack them and send them to the land of trials.
If he really did that, he would just make Great Xia the enemy of the entire world.
If that really happened, it would not be a good thing for Ouyang Shuo or for Great Xia when they arrived on Planet Hope.
‘To obtain the greatest benefits with the smallest sacrifice and use cooperation to create a win-win situation. Raise the influence of Great Xia in the world, expanding their friend circle.’ This had become the core of Great Xia.
Hence, two months ago, Honglu Temple had brought with them the peace promise from Ouyang Shuo. Not having a war and being able to trade was the best scenario for Avera.
The game was not like real life, the global trade network was not advanced yet.
Even if they had shocking resources they could not sell them to far regions in exchange for profits. They could only make them into useless copper and iron, a waste of a treasure.
To open up a trade route with Great Xia was naturally a win-win situation.
That night, in the Melbourne City Lord’s Manor, Avera held a welcome feast for them.
It was not just the core Melbourne players attending the feast, but even the adventure gamemode elites from Canberra were present. Most of the elites of the Australia player base had gathered.
The arrival of the Emperor Squadron was a historic matter to them.
“Welcome my friend, Great Xia!” Avera raised his wine glass, “Cheers!”
In the dark, Avera was not as excited as he appeared. Long before Great Xia arrived here, Silver Hand had warned him to not walk too close to Great Xia.
When the Emperor Squadron stopped in Xingzhou Prefecture, Avera was still uncertain.
However, when the Badong Squadron was crushed by the Emperor Squadron despite having an advantage, Avera finally put away all his worries.
“Silver Hand cannot save Melbourne. Only Great Xia can.”
Of course, to be able to stand out in Australia proved that Avera was not a simple person. Trading with Great Xia was not a solo deal. He had already spoken to William and expressed that he could start trade with Avic Fort with prices that were even better than the one he had with Great Xia.
The prerequisite would be to open up the trade route between the two.
After all, the historical pasts of the two were closely linked. England could be said to be Australia’s suzerain. Apart from the native Maori people, most of the Australians were 19th and 20th century English immigrants.
“Cheers!”
Ouyang Shuo raised his cup. His face was covered with a smile, but his heart was really calm. Who knows when it began, but the Great Xia Dynasty’s reputation in the world had exceeded any other Chinese Dynasty in history.
If one was not Chinese, it would be difficult to understand such racial pride.
‘Let me complete the unfinished work of our past dynasties!’ Ouyang Shuo thought to himself. The goal in his heart had reached another level.
…
At night, Ouyang Shuo sneakily met a weirdly dressed middle aged man at the man’s home.
This man was known as Kupe, and he was the representative of the Australian Maori people. Before which, he had come into contact with the Black Snake Guards hiding in Australia.
Although Ouyang Shuo had no intentions of starting a war in Australia, this did not mean he would trust Avera unconditionally. Ouyang Shuo obviously learned about the deep relationship between Australia and the west.
Along with Silver Hand, which infiltrated everything, Ouyang Shuo needed to have some defenses.
The best way would be under the circumstances of a win-win situation, they would plant some people who supported Great Xia to prevent them from crashing and burning.
The Maori who hated the westerners naturally became the best choice for Ouyang Shuo.
The two of them talked for an hour before Kupe left under the cover of the night sky.
Ouyang Shuo promised Kupe that Great Xia would use ore trading as a cover to send advanced equipment and even generals to help the Maori train in the future.
Australia had a vast amount of land, and Avera would not be able to monitor everything. Furthermore, the Maori were the true natives, and they were familiar with every mountain and river.
After sending Kupe away, Ouyang Shuo was deep in thought.
In truth, there were many Chinese born people in Australia. However, Ouyang Shuo did not have the time to meet them. After many generations, although they had Chinese blood, they did not have a Chinese heart. Furthermore, Chinese people were craftier, and they were not as carefree as the Maori.
…
In the next week, Ouyang Shuo personally visited the few large scale iron ore mines and coal mines. At the same time, he went sightseeing.
12th month, 6th day, apart from including Australia in the Atlantic trading partner agreement, Ouyang Shuo also represented Great Xia Dynasty to sign a separate iron trading deal with Melbourne.
The agreement specified the ore types, numbers, and prices.
When the agreement got settled, Great Xia’s ore shortage would be solved, and the dynasty industrialization could move on at full speed.
At the same time, Ouyang Shuo was also interested in Australian sheep wool.
The number of sheep here were 20 times the population, and they were the greatest wool exporter in the world.
Wool was a great thing, and it could become the third biggest material apart from silk and cotton to develop the garment industry.
Avera was naturally delighted to oblige.
Melbourne was also known as the new gold mountain, and it had huge gold mines. In history, it had undergone a gold rush before.
Due to the rush for gold, their population grew and the place instantly became a really rich city.
Avera built his main city in Melbourne, and he did not even change the name. As such, even in the world scale, Avera could be said to be a rich Lord.
Even so, no one would complain about having too much money.
Preliminary calculations had it that once these two agreements were settled, just exporting ores and wool to Great Xia would earn Melbourne four million gold a year.
Along with Great Xia’s industrialization increasing, this trading amount would continue to rise.
For this, Avera had no choice but to arrange more manpower into the mining and animal husbandry industries to fulfil the needs of Great Xia.
Whilst cooperation, Avera also expressed his desire to purchase weapons and Z1 Type Warships. However, Ouyang Shuo rejected him.
What a joke. Ouyang Shuo did not want to develop an Australia with a strong military.
…
The next morning, the Emperor Squadron set off once more to the final stop of the voyage – New Zealand. There, there was one person waiting for the Emperor Squadron.