To be honest, South America has no shortage of resources, just coal. Especially Uruguay, there is almost no, at least the time travelers don’t know where they are.

"The coal problem has to be faced with it now." Ma Ganzu sighed and said, "Everyone discusses how to solve this problem. Should I purchase it from outside, or mine it yourself?"

The current executive committee meeting room is no longer as smoky as before. This is not because these old smokers have quit smoking collectively, but because all the cigarettes brought from the old time and space have been smoked. Now when the executive committee meeting is held, the members keep drinking water.

"I personally think this method of outsourcing is not very reliable." Ma Vest said, "First of all, this will increase expenditure, secondly, the source and quality will not be very stable. We cannot make plans when we produce it, so I do not recommend outsourcing."

"What should I do if I don't buy it? Do you know where there are coal mines nearby?" Shao Shude asked.

"According to what I understand, there are basically no small coal mines in Uruguay. Even if there are, there are small coal mines with very limited output. They were not famous in their previous life, and it is difficult for locals to know, so I don't know." Gaomo said, "The nearest coal storage area to us should be Rio Grande, Sul, Brazil. The specific location may be south of the Parana Plateau and near Port Alegre. However, the coal here is basically inferior coal, high sulfur, high ash, low calorie, and the reserves are OK."

"How far is it from us? Which country is under the jurisdiction of the local government?" Peng Zhicheng asked.

"It's about two or three hundred kilometers away from us, and at this time there is still a borderless place. There may be some indigenous residents in the area, and I'm not very clear about the specific situation." Gao Mo said with his hands.

When the members of the Executive Committee heard that they were two or three hundred kilometers away, they suddenly lost interest. With the current ability of traveling through the crowd, they organized a large amount of manpower and material resources. In the absence of sufficient logistics supplies, they traveled through a large barren land full of unknown dangers to another strange place to mine, and then transported it back. This is basically a fantasy.

"Port Alegre? Is this a harbour?" Wang Qinian asked.

"It cannot be said that, in fact, Port Alegre is an inner lake port located at the northern end of the Patus Lagoon. However, Patus Lagoon is connected to the Atlantic Ocean and can be directly navigated. The only thing that is, the water depth of Patus Lagoon is not enough, but it should be no problem to navigate some small tonnage puddles. We can try to build some of these types of ships, and then land on a boat in Port Alegre to establish settlements and mining sites." Gaomo introduced.

"It's about the ship again." Shao Shude said with a wry smile: "I remember that we were discussing how to increase steel production at first, and then involved the coal problem. Now it has developed into shipbuilding. This crooked building is too crooked. But by the way, we don't have many such talents and are not skilled in sailors, right?"

"Well, Lao Gao's suggestion is actually good," Ma Ganzu said, "The conditions are not mature at this stage, but we can start preparing from now on. Aren't there some shipbuilders on the shipyard? You can first let them build a trainer and then cultivate a group of talents. You can't build some small inland wooden boats with no technical content all day long, as the craftsmanship will be abandoned."

"How to deal with the coal problem? Purchase from abroad?" asked Tangyuan.

"Purchase it first. Next time, you can negotiate with the captains who come to trade. As long as the price is given, they can satisfy them, I think someone will be willing to transport coal." Ma Ganzu said and sighed: "It costs money everywhere, and it is really not easy to take this company."

******************************

Captain John Ston staggered up from the ground, and his men were all the same, all beating up. A group of Dutch people sat in front of them with contempt, whispering while eating the potatoes they had stolen.

John Ston felt a burst of darkness in front of him. He knew that he had not had enough food and hunger for a long time. Since he was assigned to work in the No. 2 mining area with a group of Dutchmen, he and his old brothers had fallen into a nightmare. Perhaps these Dutchmen had long been disgusted with the British. They relied on their large crowds and tortured John Ston and his gang in various ways. Not only did they bear the high-risk work, but they even had food and drinking water they gave away were often snatched.

Captain John Ston sat on the stone wall, gasping violently. Yesterday, Johnson fell from the mountainside due to exhaustion while quarrying, and died on the spot. Maybe this happened sooner or later.

These Dutch people were not much better. I heard that a large-scale fight occurred in the No. 1 mining area yesterday. A Dutch was killed on the spot by the brutal Chalua, and then a melee between the two sides. Stones, wooden sticks, iron pickaxes, and everything that could be used as weapons came in handy. The Tatans' mine police blew the whistle, muskets and sabers all together, and finally calmed the matter down. According to rumors circulating in the mining area, the Tatans carried no less than 10 bodies from the No. 1 mining area.

Just as Captain John Ston sighed for his hopeless life, he did not know that the turning point in his life was coming. Navy Commissioner Wang Qinian and Interior Commissioner Jiao Tang brought a group of Interior Ministry police to the miners' lounge in Mine Area 2.

"Is this the British pirate captain?" Wang Qinian looked at John Ston with a disheveled face and a bruised face, feeling speechless.

Jiao Tang signaled with his eyes. Liu Yun, the director of the Prison Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, who was standing behind him, stepped forward and grabbed John Ston's collar of the prison clothes and said, "Mr. John Ston from Dover, now there is a chance to get you and your loyal subordinates out of this dirty and deceitful place. I think you'd better seize this opportunity, you know what I mean!"

"Yes, sir!" John Ston nodded weakly, glanced at the Dutch people who were cringing aside, and said, "No matter what you ask me to do, now I just want to leave this damn place."

"Very good." Liu Yun nodded and said, "Now take your men to the bathroom of the mining police lounge to take a shower, clean the damn smell on your body. Then change into the clothes we prepared for you and wait there. Someone will come to find you later. Do your business in the future. I don't want to see you back here again."

John Ston and his five subordinates took a comfortable hot shower in the bathroom. After taking a shower, they found that there were suddenly a few more people in the mine police rest room. One of them was a Tatan officer, and the other several were old acquaintances.

"Mr. John Ston, Mr. Ruben Demer, Mr. Julian de Ebrol, and all the gentlemen..." Lu Ming stood up from his chair and said, "I am Lu Ming, a lieutenant of the East Coast Company. Can you understand English? It doesn't matter if you don't understand. You can find someone to convey my words."

Julien de Ebrol and John Ston nodded.

"I hate irrelevant nonsense, so I will tell you the key points." Lu Ming continued, "We are planning to establish a new navigation school to teach various navigation knowledge. I don't hide it. Our East Coast Company has indeed not accumulated in this regard. You either have systematic naval theory education or have rich navigation experience and maritime knowledge. This is the talent we need. Now you have two choices: first, to be a teacher in the newly established navigation school, with a monthly allowance of two yuan; your subordinates can also serve as navigation practice instructors, with a monthly allowance of one yuan; after five years of teaching, you will be free. Second, you can choose to continue to return to the dark and desperate mine after eating this dinner to report to Director Liu Yunliu. Then, gentlemen, tell me your choice, don't let me wait too long."

As long as you are not a fool, anyone knows how to choose. So, after a low voice, everyone chose the first plan.

"Very good." Lu Ming smiled. Then he shouted outside the door. Several naval soldiers walked in with some clothes. This was made of wool cloth imported from Europe, which was many times stronger than the torn linen prison uniforms on them. A group of people quickly changed their clothes, and then Lu Ming brought these people to the newly established Navigation School.

The Navigation School is located on the south bank of Dayu River, opposite the No. 3 Fortress, with a beautiful environment. This time, Wang Qinian took advantage of the east wind of the Executive Committee's intention to develop the shipbuilding industry and moved everywhere. He was so sad that he made him build a navigation school. This made Peng Zhicheng very jealous. Recently, he was also yelling to ask the Executive Committee to approve the establishment of an Army Officer School in Dingyuan Fort to train grassroots officers.

The first phase of the Navigation School recruited 60 students, all of whom were half a year old, and now they were sitting on two long dining tables in a regular manner. The table in front of everyone was filled with fragrant food. Although these children couldn't help swallowing, everyone held their knees with their hands, looked ahead, and sat upright on the chair.

"Standing at attention!" After entering the cafeteria, Lu Ming shouted loudly. All the children stood up at the same time in an instant. Lu Ming signaled Yu Lian and others to sit at the officer's dining table next to him. Then he walked to the children and patted their shoulders affectionately. He asked him to sit down for each pat on the last person's shoulders until he finished patting the last person's shoulders.

"Dinner!" Lu Ming ordered. As his words fell, a group of students and children immediately picked up wooden bowls and started eating.

The dinner was very rich. There were wheat cakes, salted fish, prawns, clams and tofu soup, vegetables, and even eggs that travelers rarely enjoyed. The students ate quietly, and no one whispered to each other during the meal. After the meal, most of the students returned to the brick dormitory opposite the canteen to rest. A small number of students stayed to clean the table and clean it.
Chapter completed!