I have tried my best to choose when it is late at night, and there are few people watching it at this time. At the fastest, it usually takes at least half an hour to modify it to the correct content. It is okay to read it on a computer, and it is also okay to use the mobile app to automatically subscribe. As long as I don’t click on the chapter when I haven’t modified it yet. Once I click on it, the wrong chapter content will be downloaded and entered into the mobile phone cache. At this time, even if I modify the mobile client, it is still the wrong content and will never change.

At this time, you can only download this chapter again. If it doesn’t work, you can only delete the book and remove it, and then add it again and put it on the shelves.

There are few people reading niche books and are rampant. There is no way to do so. If you don’t do this, you can’t make it. I’m sorry.

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The two expedition ships, "Zhunbo" and "Borang", closed the steam main engine along the ocean currents from west to east and southwest wind, and sailed eastward at a speed that was neither fast nor slow. The reason for shutting down the steam main engine was mainly to reduce coal consumption and mechanical wear. Although the two ships currently consume less than 100 tons of coal (80 kilograms of Tacheng coal per hour), and also brought a lot of mechanical spare parts, it is better to save a little bit of it for long-distance travel at sea. Sometimes they approach the coast and inspect the terrain and vegetation along the coast; sometimes they stay away from the coast and accelerate their sailing to the strong wind and wave area in the south.

On April 26, 1642, the East Coast Expedition fleet sailing along the south coast of Australia arrived at the Bass Strait between the Australian continent and Tasmania. After spending a little time confirming their location, the two ships turned north under the order of Li Yi and sailed into a bay on the Australian continent. The bay was enclosed by two headlands only two or three kilometers apart, forming a natural shelter bay. The two ships carefully sailed in the waterway marked by the sailors, and then anchored in the bay.

"Johnson, bring fifty sailors to the shore to watch. There may be indigenous people here." Li Yi stood on the bridge and observed the situation on the shore with a telescope. This is Melbourne. The coast is full of plain grasslands and forests, and there are some low-high mountains in the distance. Deep in the bay, there are also rivers, forests and rich plains on the land. The geographical location is so good. It is really an excellent land given to the people of the East Coast by God.

"As for the order, sir." Johnson saluted, and went to the deck to select sailors. The selected sailors were distributed one rifle and then rowed ashore in several small boats. Fifty musketeers were enough to deal with some unopposed natives. For those Australian natives who were still in the Stone Age and had a lower level of civilization than those black people in Bantu, neither Li Yi nor Sergeant Johnson cared too much. He sent fifty musketeers to the ashore just to prevent it.

"Mo Dayong, bring all your movable men, bring your tools immediately, and go ashore to the designated area to dig. Remember, the digging depth must not be less than four meters. If one place does not work, change to another place immediately until you dig out coal for me! Go quickly!" Li Yi said to the tall Eight Banners Warrior standing respectfully in front of him.

Mo Dayong whispered, and then quickly walked out. Although Chief Li's order was a bit stupid, such as how did he know where there would be coal? Did his ancestors have ever come to explore this place? However, he dare not disobey the order of Shangfeng, so he quickly summoned his subordinates, brought shovels, pickaxes, sacks and other tools, and took small boats to the designated areas on the shore in batches. The area designated by Li Yi for them was located in the Altona district of Melbourne in later generations, where there was extremely shallow coal buried - most of them were lignite and a small part was black coal. Similarly, there was such a coal field in the Anglesea area outside the bay.

Neither of these two coal fields are large coal fields with abundant reserves, but as the saying goes, in the 17th century, such coal fields were no longer small, especially for people from the East Coast who had never thought about the large-scale industry here, the lignite here only provides some fuel to passing ships. How much energy does it consume?

Although the combustion calorific value of lignite is not high, it can also provide these ships with a small amount of black coal produced locally. In Li Yi's idea, the most ideal thing is to mine the Hunter Valley coal mine belt in the inland Newcastle on the east coast. Most of them are high-quality black coal buried in the open air. However, in the current view, it is only a thought. The local area does not provide a large number of technicians and materials. Li Yi alone can't imagine mining coal from deep inland areas, and it is difficult to transport it even if it is mined. Therefore, after thinking about it, let's make do with this coal mine near Melbourne, which mainly produces lignite. It is better to burn charcoal when there is no coal.

"Send a signal to the Second Lieutenant of the 'Polang', and ask him to bring a group of people ashore to set up tents and set up a temporary camp." Li Yi put down the telescope hanging on his chest and continued to order: "After the camp is built, go to the forest there to log and build a house!"

Soon, a large number of traffic boats were placed on the "Polang" who received the order, and then a group of sailors began to land with a large amount of supplies. At the same time, the bored Li Yi began to organize the sailors to use the fishing nets on the boat to fish in the bay. Although he had been sailing in high-latitude areas and the temperature was not very high (more than 10 degrees), the cured meat and bacon in the wooden barrels in the food storage room still emitted an indescribable smell. Therefore, the fishing activities during the sailing have always been loved by sailors, especially the "Zhunbo" and "Polang" multi-functional expedition ship equipped with large trawls. During the sailing, they often went down the net to catch fish, providing everyone with valuable protein supplements.

In the evening, the Second Lieutenant An, who had finished setting up a temporary camp on ashore, took a traffic boat to the "Zhenbo" that was quietly anchored in the harbor. "I didn't find any natives coming to harass us all day long." Second Lieutenant An, said easily, "The temporary camp has been built, and two barbed wire mesh were drawn. At night, Mo Dayong took two hundred people to guard the tools, food and weapons we brought ashore. However, it seems that they have not found the location of the coalfield, and they have to continue digging next. God knows how much time they will take."

"Well." Captain Li Yi nodded thoughtfully, and then said firmly: "No matter how many days we look for, we will find this coalfield. This is the easiest place among the Australian coalfields we know. Could it be that we are going to the inland areas of the Hunter Valley, or deep in the Taima River in Tasmania to dig coal? That's not realistic, and it's the most reliable here! We can wait here for a week. If we can't find it within a week, then I have nothing to say. Just pack the boat and go to the Hunter Valley near Newcastle to find mines."

"What if the mine is found?" asked Second Lieutenant An, "How do you plan to arrange it after finding the mine? It's like in Albany... Well, are you going to arrange people to stay and set up some places in Gushan Port?"

"Of course, this is an important coal-adding and water replenishment point in the middle, and of course some people need to be left here." Li Yi said naturally, "I plan to keep a hundred Eight Banners Warriors here, build a primary stronghold first, and find a way to expand it later. What do you think?"

"As the easiest open-pit coal field here, we naturally need to set up points." An Chu looked at Li Yi and asked in confusion: "But don't you think this place overlaps with Gushan Port? Gushan Port is only about ten days away from here. If you use the sails together, it will not take ten days. I think only one of these two points needs to exist. I tend to be Melbourne because there is coal here."

"You can't think like this. I set two points here, so naturally I have my own considerations." Li Yi waved his hand and said: "From Melbourne along the east coast of Australia, going north through New Guinea Island to the waters near Jeju Island, the ocean currents along the way, the wind direction is changing, the climate and hydrological conditions along the way are extremely complicated. When everything goes well, I estimate that it will take about a month to sail to get there."

Director An nodded, expressing his agreement with Li Yi's judgment.

"This is the departure. Although the return journey can be faster, it will take more than twenty days." Li Yi continued to explain, "When our ship is full of the population and heading south from the coast of Ming Dynasty to the east of the Philippines, as far as the current international situation is concerned, the only thing we can walk is to continue to go south along the east coast of Australia to Melbourne. The population obtained from Ming Dynasty will be in Melbourne for some time, and then take a boat to the west to Gushan Port. This journey is quite difficult. Don't look at it. It only took 10 days when we came. If the sails were used together, it would be against the wind and water. We may have to walk for about twenty days before we could reach Gushan Port from Melbourne."

"After the immigrants arrive at Gushan Port, they will continue to recuperate for a while. After resting, they will take a boat along the west coast of Australia, and then follow the counterclockwise circulation of the South Indian Ocean all year round to Xinhua Fort in Xinhua," Li Yi said while drawing a route map on paper with a pencil. "This journey is also quite difficult. He spent most of his time sailing in the area near the equator. Food and drinking water are prone to rot and deterioration. Moreover, we cannot forget that the hot weather can easily deteriorate the health of the immigrants quickly and even outbreaks of infectious diseases. But now we can only go like this, which is the best choice. After all, we cannot touch the route on the north coast of Australia for the time being; and we can't continue to sail east from Melbourne to do global travel. That would be too long, and the voyage might take nearly two months, just to be dying."

"Actually, there is another option. We can follow the Black Tide to take the North Pacific route, then land on the west coast of North America, and finally head south along the entire west coast of South America, bypass Cape Horn, arrive at the Baleen Port, and return to the local area. Of course, this route is too long and can only be used as an alternative route." An Chu said with a smile, "Okay, it seems you are right. Albany and Melbourne are both strongholds. The last question is, why didn't you choose Perth as the stronghold to the west?"

"Who told my boat to pass, and then the first one was Albany?" Li Yi said with an innocent look. "After the immigrants arrived at Gushan Port, they will continue to recuperate for a while. After resting, they took a boat along the west coast of Australia, and then followed the counterclockwise circulation of the South Indian Ocean all year round to Xinhua Fort in Xinhua, New China." Li Yi said while drawing a route map on paper with a pencil, "This journey is also relatively difficult. He spent most of his time sailing in the area near the equator.

, Food and drinking water are prone to rot and deterioration. Moreover, we cannot forget that the hot weather can easily deteriorate the health of immigrants quickly, and even infectious diseases have occurred. But now we can only go like this, which is the best choice. After all, we cannot touch the route on the North Coast of Australia for the time being; and we cannot continue to sail east from Melbourne for global travel, that would be too long, and the voyage might take nearly two months, just to die.”

"Actually, there is another option. We can follow the Black Tide to take the North Pacific route, then land on the west coast of North America, and finally head south along the entire west coast of South America, bypass Cape Horn, arrive at the Baleen Port, and return to the local area. Of course, this route is too long and can only be used as an alternative route." An Chu said with a smile, "Okay, it seems you are right. Albany and Melbourne are both strongholds. The last question is, why didn't you choose Perth as the stronghold to the west?"
Chapter completed!