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Text Chapter 446 The Beginning of Australia¡¯s Development

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    Australia is the world's largest continent in terms of exports of various minerals. It is also the world's fourth largest agricultural exporter. Especially in the livestock industry, it is extremely developed. Among them, wool production ranks first in the world. If it can occupy this place,  , then it is undoubtedly a huge driving force for Li Min, especially the wool textile industry in his hands.

    ?Compared to the distant North and South America, Australia is undoubtedly closer to the Tang Dynasty, and there are many islands all along the way from Taiwan Island. As long as you don't lose your way, even if you go from island to island, you will definitely reach Australia in the end.  When Li Min heard that Yanbei sent people to explore the route south, he had thought that Lu Wan and the others might reach Australia. However, when he actually saw Australia marked on the fleet chart, he couldn't help but be excited.  extremely.

    "Australia? Isn't Australia your son?" Yan Bei asked in confusion when he heard Li Min's question to Lu Wan.  It was a big deal for Li Min to give birth to a son. As his good friend and old subordinate, Yan Bei naturally gave him a big gift. In addition, he also knew Li Qi's situation very well and even knew Li Qi's nickname.

    "Tch~, Australia is not only my son's nickname, but also the name of a continent. Although the area of ??that continent is not as large as ours, it is almost the same as the land of our Tang Dynasty.  Jinzhou and Borneo in Nanyang, combined, cannot compare with Australia!" Li Min said with a look of contempt.

    When Li Min decided that Li Qi's baby name would be Australia, he naturally had his own plans. He even considered naming all his sons born in the future after places, such as Nanyang, North America, and South America. These would be Li Min's backup names for his sons.  name.  Of course, this is also Li Min's lazy approach.  At least he doesn't have to worry about naming it anymore, and he also has a deeper meaning.  But he was the only one who knew this meaning.

    "His Highness is indeed knowledgeable. He actually knew about this continent. When we first discovered it, because it was too large and our fleet had reached its limit, we only walked along a section of its coastline and did not come at all.  After completing the journey, I didn¡¯t expect His Highness to have known about its existence, and there is also a name called Australia, so I will mark its name on it!" At this time, Lu Wan was also very surprised and said, and finally did not lose the opportunity.  Give Australia the name.

    Li Min was also very happy about this.  At the same time, I drank a few more drinks and started talking to Lu Wan about the animals, plants and humanistic customs in Australia.  Although Li Min did not go to Australia in later generations, he knew enough about Australia from all aspects. Even people like Lu Wan who had been to Australia personally could not match him in this regard.

    Li Min's knowledge of Australia had already surprised Lu Wan and the others, but what they didn't expect was that His Highness King Qi, who was known for his intelligence and erudition, was far more knowledgeable than they imagined.  They all know the animals very well, such as the animal with a bag on its body that looks like a mouse, and the animal named Gray Crane by Lu Wan.  There are also large lobsters they caught in the coral reefs in eastern Australia and so on.

    Especially when talking about the big lobster, Li Min drooled in a very incomprehensible manner, and regretted that this kind of lobster could not be transported over long distances, at least not yet.  If you want to eat, you can only go to Australia. Unfortunately, given his status, he may not be able to travel as far as Australia in recent years.

    Li Min took the initiative to talk about various customs in Australia.  This makes Lu Wan and the others feel like they have found a confidant, after all, for Australia.  Except for the people in their fleet, only Li Min could talk happily with them.  Moreover, they also learned many things from Li Min that they did not know in Australia.  For example, there are a lot of deserts in Australia, most of which are not suitable for human habitation. Only the coastal areas are more suitable for farming, especially the east and west coasts that they almost reached. That is the essence of Australia. It is not only suitable for farming, but also  Very suitable for grazing.  It's just that there are no sheep there. If the sheep from the Central Plains are brought there, the wool output alone will be extremely amazing.

    With Australia as the topic, Lu Wan and the others slowly relaxed and talked about all the experiences they encountered along the way. Because their main purpose was to catch slaves, they were not interested in the things they saw along the way.  Natives pay special attention.  From their mouths, Li Min, Yan Bei and others also learned about an overseas world with completely different customs, which was a great gain.

    In addition, Li Min was also very excited about the copper and gold mines discovered by Lu Wan and others in Australia. Australia could not only be used as an agricultural product base, but also a mineral base for Li Min. The iron, coal, gold and other minerals there were very abundant.  It is rich in aluminum. In later generations, it was the world's largest mineral exporter. In addition, Australia also has huge reserves of bauxite. Unfortunately, there is no electricity now, and there is no way to extract aluminum through electrolysis, so it is not used for the time being and can only be kept.  To future generations.

    It is precisely because he knows this that in Li Min¡¯s heart, he has already? He brought Australia under his own control. However, if he wanted to rule Australia, he still had two difficulties to solve. The first was the transportation problem. Australia was not close to Taiwan. If he took a boat, it would take at least more than a month.  However, this problem is not impossible to solve. Now Yifan's steamship has been put into use. As long as he establishes a few supply points along the way, he can open up the route from Taiwan to Australia, and then he can travel between the two places quickly.

    However, after solving the problem of transportation links between the two places, there is another problem that is population. If you want to rule Australia, you cannot do it without a sufficient population base. Of course, this population refers to the Han people, while the native Australians are  Not counted.  If we only relied on natural immigration, it would be difficult to establish a sufficient population base within a hundred years. But now that there are gold mines, it is different. As long as the news is announced, Li Min will formulate some measures to encourage gold mining.  The policy will definitely attract many people to go gold mining. When the number of people increases, the city will slowly be established. San Francisco in later generations is a good example.

    Thinking of the next development of Australia, Li Min felt excited, but he also knew that Australia was quite far away from Taiwan, so even if he wanted to develop it, he had to do it step by step and never rush it.  In addition, there are places such as Jinzhou and Borneo in Southeast Asia. These places are closer to Taiwan, and the products on the islands are also very rich. Unfortunately, they are still in the hands of the natives. Next, my focus will shift to  These Southeast Asian islands are on the way, and as for Australia, it can only be used as a secondary target.

    After the reception banquet, Li Min arranged for Lu Wan and the others to rest, and began to publicize the new route they had explored through newspapers. However, in order to obtain detailed information about this new route, the Slave Catchers Association needed to pay an information fee.  , after all, they paid a lot of money to explore this route.  In addition, people who are not members of the slave-catching association are not allowed to engage in slave-catching activities after entering this route. Otherwise, if discovered, they will be severely punished.

    In addition, regarding the discovery of Australia, Li Min did not hide it from the adults. Although he will not focus on Australia as a development focus for the time being, he will not prevent the free development of the private sector, so the news about Australia is also released together.  In addition, news that Australia is rich in gold and gemstones has also been spread, in order to stimulate people's yearning for Australia.

    In fact, for the maritime merchants of the Tang Dynasty, Lu Wan's greatest contribution was not the discovery of Australia, but the discovery of the Spice Islands, which are rich in various spices. Spices are extremely scarce goods in both the East and the West.  , for example, incense was very popular in the Tang Dynasty, and in the West, spices were regarded as a necessity for cooking.  Now that Lu Wan and the others have explored this route, the islands they pass along the way are rich in various spices, which undoubtedly opens up a huge treasure house for maritime merchants.

    It is precisely because of this that when Lu Wan and the others came back, the maritime merchants who got the news immediately gathered from all directions towards Taiwan. Then they paid the fees to the Slave Catcher Association, and after getting the detailed charts, they immediately organized the fleet to go south.  , hoping to get ahead of other merchants and purchase the spices that are still very cheap on the islands.

    However, not everyone wants to make money from sea trade. For example, a considerable number of people have set their sights on Australia, where there is a gold mine of unknown size and a copper mine that has not yet been determined.  No matter which kind of these two precious metals they are, they are very valuable. As long as they can get a part of the profits from them, it will be quite amazing.

    It is with this idea in mind that many people contact the Slave Catchers Association, hoping to get the locations of the gold and copper mines. However, this matter is not something Yan Bei can make the decision because he has already transferred the two mines.  The ownership of the two mines was handed over to Li Min, and Li Min needed to give 20% of the income from the two mines to the association as compensation.

    Regarding the gold and copper mines that Lu Wan and the others found, Li Min looked at the places they marked and found that they were in the area of ??Darwin in later generations. If he remembered correctly, it seemed that Darwin began to develop thanks to the gold mines.  , so the gold reserves there must be quite large.  It was precisely in this way that he made great efforts to develop the gold mine.

    For those who applied to mine gold and copper mines, Li Min decided to adopt a method of official and private cooperation. Li Min agreed to these people to mine, but half of the mined gold had to be handed over to the official, and the remaining half belonged to  personal.  Of course Li Min wanted to set up a settlement there and send officials to monitor the matter.

    Gold mining is inherently a hugely profitable industry, so although Li Min's request to hand over half of his income seemed a bit heavy, it was actually acceptable to the gold diggers, so they quickly reached an agreement with the officials and then took advantage of the situation.  The officially organized fleet followed Lu Wan's footsteps and headed south again to begin their gold mining journey.
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