When the Black Shark emerged from the sea like a deep-sea behemoth, the Royal Fleet was on high alert. Cannons were silently aimed at the Black Shark.
If the Black Shark showed any signs of aggression, it would be immediately bombarded.
The Lemurians in the command center were very calm. The Black Shark was covered in a thick layer of steel, and the outdated cannons were not enough to deal any damage to it.
The Black Shark was powered by magic, similar to nuclear submarines in reality. It could stay submerged for long periods of time, unlike diesel-powered submarines that needed to resurface to recharge their batteries.
Gan Ning immediately dismissed the alarm when he saw General Xu Chu emerge from the back of the 'monster'.
What happened next was simple. When the Divine Guards returned to the surface through the spiral staircase and met up with the fleet, the Royal Fleet set sail again.
The only difference was that the Royal Fleet had a new member — the Black Shark.
Ouyang Shuo had already instructed Gan Ning to incorporate the Black Shark into the Royal Fleet's battle formation. At the same time, he arranged for elite personnel to enter the Black Shark and learn submarine operation from Lemurian instructors.
When the Royal Fleet left, the divine mountain disappeared from the sea in a flash of white light. Who would have known that a powerful ancient civilization was hiding in such ordinary waters?!
November 28th, Melbourne.
After a long detour, the Royal Fleet finally docked at Melbourne, Australia.
Australia originally meant 'the continent of the south'. When the Europeans discovered the continent in the seventeenth century, they mistook it for a continent that led straight to the South Pole, hence the name Australia.
The capital, Canberra, was located along the southeastern coast.
Surrounded by the sea, Australia was the only country in the world that covered an entire continent. It was also known as' the country sitting on the mining cart 'or' the country riding on the back of sheep '.
Seventy percent of Australia's land was arid or semi-arid. Most of the central region was unsuitable for human habitation, and only 260,000 square kilometers of land could be used for livestock and farming, mainly along the southeastern coast.
In reality, Melbourne and Sydney alone were home to more than half of Australia's population.
Because of this, there was only one lord left in Australia in the game, Avera. The main city was located in Melbourne, and it was the largest city other than the capital, Canberra.
Australia was rich in mineral resources, with at least 70 types. Bauxite reserves were the largest in the world, and the output of gold, iron ore, coal, lithium, manganese ore, nickel, silver, uranium, zinc, and other minerals was also among the top in the world.
At the same time, Australia was also the world's largest exporter of bituminous coal, bauxite, lead, diamonds, zinc, and 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 were what attracted Ouyang Shuo the most.
The Great Xia Royal Fleet was able to successfully dock in Melbourne thanks to the diplomatic mission sent by the Office of the Grand Herald.
Apart from its mineral resources, Australia did not occupy any strategic position in the world's oceans. It was more like a remote place. Since that was the case, Ouyang Shuo naturally had no intention to wield the butcher's knife and chase the Australians to the trial grounds.
If they really did that, it would only make Great Xia enemies all over the world. If that was the case, it wouldn't be beneficial to Ouyang Shuo or Great Xia when they arrived at Hope Planet.
"Using the least amount of damage in exchange for the greatest strategic benefits. Using cooperation to achieve a win-win situation, continuously increasing Great Xia's global influence and expanding their circle of friends." This had already become the core of Great Xia's strategy.
Therefore, two months ago, the diplomatic mission from the Office of the Grand Herald brought Ouyang Shuo's promise of peace to Avila. To Avila, it was best to avoid the flames of war and open a war with Great Xia to trade ores.
The game was not like reality. There was no developed global trade network.
Australia had an astonishing amount of mineral reserves, but they could not sell them overseas in exchange for economic benefits. They could only treat the huge amount of mineral ores as scrap metal. It was a reckless waste of natural resources.
Opening up a trade route with Great Xia was naturally a win-win situation.
That night, Avila prepared a grand welcome banquet at the Melbourne City Lord's Residence.
Melbourne's core members were not the only ones attending the banquet. There were also elite adventurers from the capital city of Canberra. The elites of all the players in Australia had gathered.
To Australia, the arrival of the Great Xia Royal Fleet was a historic event.
"Welcome our friend, Emperor Xia!" Avila raised his wine glass high, looking unusually excited. "Cheers!"
Secretly, Avila was not as excited as he looked. As early as when the Great Xia diplomatic mission arrived in Melbourne, the Silver Hands had secretly warned Avila not to get too close to the Great Xia Empire.
Avila was still hesitant even when the Great Xia Royal Fleet stayed in Star State County.
However, when the Java Kingdom's Padang Fleet was still defeated by the Great Xia Royal Fleet and fled, Avila finally let go of all his concerns.
"The Silver Hand can't save Melbourne. Only Great Xia can save Melbourne."
Of course, to be able to stand out in Australia, Avila was not a simple person. The ore trade with Great Xia was not exclusive. Avila had already expressed goodwill to William of England, indicating that he could carry out ore trade with Castle Avic at any time. He could even offer a more favorable price than Great Xia.
The premise was to open up a sea trade route between the two countries.
After all, the two countries had a long history. England could be called Australia's "ancestral home." Other than the indigenous Maori, most Australians' ancestors were English immigrants in the 19th and 20th centuries.
"Cheers!"
Ouyang Shuo gently raised his glass with a warm smile on his face, but his heart was extremely calm. It was unknown when the Great Xia Dynasty had enjoyed a global reputation that surpassed that of any other feudal dynasty in history.
This kind of global planning was originally something that the Western powers were good at.
It was difficult for people who were not Chinese to understand this kind of national pride.
"Let me make up for the unfinished business of the previous dynasties!" Ouyang Shuo thought to himself. The goal in his heart seemed to have been sublimated once again.
…
At night, Ouyang Shuo quietly met a middle-aged man who was dressed strangely at the place where he was staying.
This person was called Cooper, and he was the representative of the Maori people in Australia. He had already been in contact with the Blacksnake Guard's spy in Australia.
Although Ouyang Shuo had no intention of starting a war in Australia, it did not mean that he would trust Avila unconditionally. How could Ouyang Shuo not know the relationship between Australia, England, and the Western world?
Coupled with the pervasive Silver Hand, Ouyang Shuo had to be on guard.
The smart thing to do was to secretly support a force that was close to the Great Xia in Australia under the premise of a win-win cooperation, so that they would not fail miserably.
The Maori people, who did not have a good impression of the Westerners, naturally became Ouyang Shuo's best target.
The two talked for a full hour before Cooper left under the cover of the night.
Ouyang Shuo promised Cooper that the Great Xia would use the ore trade as a cover to secretly transport advanced weapons and equipment to the Maori people. They would even send generals to train troops for the Maori people.
Australia was vast and boundless, and Avila could not monitor it all. Moreover, the Maori people were the true natives of this land, and they were familiar with the mountains, rivers, grass, and trees of Australia.
After sending Cooper away, Ouyang Shuo was deep in thought.
In fact, there were many Chinese people living in Australia, but Ouyang Shuo had no intention of interacting with them. After several or even dozens of generations, although these Chinese people had the blood of China in them, they might not have the heart of China. Moreover, the Chinese were generally more "cunning," and were not as practical as the Maori people.
…
In the following week, Ouyang Shuo, accompanied by Avila, personally inspected a few large iron mines and coal mines in Australia, and took the opportunity to enjoy the scenery of Australia.
On the 6th of December, in addition to bringing Australia into the scope of the Trans-Pacific Trade Partnership Agreement, Ouyang Shuo also represented the Great Xia Dynasty and signed a separate mineral trade agreement with Melbourne.
The agreement specified in detail the types, quantities, and prices of the ores to be delivered.
When the agreement was truly implemented, the problem of the Great Xia Dynasty's ore shortage would basically be solved, and the dynasty's industrialization would be at full speed without any worries.
At the same time, Ouyang Shuo was also very interested in Australia's wool.
Australia was known as "the country that rides on the backs of sheep." The number of sheep was 20 times the number of people. In fact, there were more sheep than people, and it was the world's largest wool exporter.
Wool was good stuff, and it could become the third largest textile material in the Great Xia Dynasty after silk and cotton, greatly boosting the dynasty's textile industry.
In this regard, Avila was naturally happy to see this happen.
Melbourne was also known as the "New Gold Mountain" to distinguish it from the "San Francisco" of the United States. This was because Melbourne, like San Francisco, was rich in gold mines, and there had once been a gold rush in history.
Due to the gold rush, Melbourne's population grew rapidly, and it gradually became a wealthy city.
There was a reason why Avila built the main city of his territory on the original site of Melbourne, and he didn't even change the name. Therefore, even on a global scale, Avila was considered one of the wealthiest feudal lords.
Even so, no one would complain about having too much money.
According to preliminary estimates, when the two trade agreements were implemented, Melbourne could earn more than four million gold coins a year just by exporting ores and wool to the Great Xia Dynasty.
As the industrialization of the Great Xia Dynasty intensified, this trade volume would continue to increase.
For this reason, Avila had no choice but to allocate more manpower to the mining and animal husbandry industries in order to meet the huge procurement needs of the Great Xia Dynasty.
During the cooperation period, Avila tactfully expressed his hope to purchase weapons, equipment, and Z1 warships from the Great Xia Dynasty, but was "tactfully" rejected by Ouyang Shuo.
What a joke. Ouyang Shuo didn't want to nurture a strong military force in Australia.
…
The next morning, the royal fleet set off again for the last stop of this voyage — New Zealand. There was someone there who had been waiting for the royal fleet for a long time.
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