After Zhao Xin talked with Xu Dayong, he chatted with Liu Sheng and Chen Qingsong for a long time in the evening.
"I think the biggest problem now is not buying ships and weapons, but oil." Liu Sheng hit the nail on the head and pointed out the problem that Zhao Xin has been reluctant to face.
Taking generators as an example, Zhao Xin bought six 1-megawatt diesel silent generators; the fuel consumption of these generators is 30 liters per hour, and the daily diesel consumption is more than 2,000 liters.
Apart from this, the Thor is the most fuel-intensive. The fuel consumption of ocean-going ships increases exponentially with the increase of ship speed. Among the fuel consumed, in addition to heavy oil, there is also light oil. As long as the Thor goes out to sea to perform missions, in order to meet the deadline, it often increases its speed to 20 knots or even higher, which results in a daily fuel consumption of about 30 to 40 tons.
Of course this would be very simple in modern times, as you can refuel every time you enter port. But what about ancient times? The transportation of the future is very enjoyable to use, but the large amount of energy consumption that comes with it gives Zhao Xin and others a real headache.
With the proliferation of new tools, fuel has become an extremely pressing issue. Unless Zhao Xin wants to return to the state of ancient society that relied on the sky and abandon a large number of modern tools, he must pay attention to the energy issue.
The three of them discussed for more than two hours, and the final topic became whether Beihai Town needs to expand westward or northward. If you go west, you have to start a fight with the Manchus, and you have to defend it after the fight; if you go north, you have to occupy Kuye Island. Apart from this, there is no other way to solve the oil problem.
The argument lasted until midnight, and the three finally reached an agreement to go north and occupy Bitter Leaf Island. Compared with the vast territory of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, an island can still be defended. And it is not that they want to occupy the entire island, but they are bound to capture the oil-producing area in the northeast of the island.
So according to this plan, Zhao Xin does not need to rush to buy a ship. Exploration and oil extraction equipment become the first priority; then there is oil refining equipment. Zhao Xin doesn't care about environmental protection anymore. The large-scale oil refining equipment can't be used, so let's use some backward production capacity!
Mentioning the matter of local oil refining, Chen Qingsong suddenly said: "Zhang Bo has done this before in his hometown. I heard him mention it."
When Zhao Xin heard this, he was overjoyed. He immediately went out to Zhang Bo's dormitory, pulled him over from the bed, and asked him to tell him about the local oil refining.
Zhang Bo, who was still feeling dizzy and hadn't woken up yet, heard this and gave a rough summary. The principle of indigenous oil refining is very simple, which is to heat crude oil and let the processed oil enter the container through pipelines. The first thing to be discharged is gas. After the gas evaporates, gasoline will be obtained first, and then diesel oil will come out. Then the final oil residue is heavy oil.
As for the equipment, it's even simpler. Zhang Bo explained while drawing on the paper: "In the past, when I was in my hometown in Shandong, the oil refining workshops in the village would first build a waste oil collection pool or a raw oil tank, and then connect it to the combustion earth kiln through an oil pump. After The calcined waste oil passes through the iron pipe on the top of the kiln, is cooled by a large water tank, and then enters the sedimentation filter tank. The filtered oil is then pumped into the oil storage tank through an oil pump.
This thing is very simple to make, but if it is not operated properly, it will explode and cause serious pollution. In the past, those oil refining workshops dumped the last oil residue directly to the right place, which caused great damage to the soil. Moreover, no grass grew in areas polluted by dust and wastewater. "
Chen Qingsong asked: "Based on your diagram, how much oil can be produced in a day?"
Zhang Bo scratched his head and recalled: "Seven to eight tons a day. But the best is to use crude oil bags, the oil yield rate can be about 55%. If there is another 'oil washing', the quality of the diesel will be the same as refueling There is no difference between the stations. At that time, the diesel produced in the village was bought by the transport drivers passing by, and it was also purchased at the gas station."
The so-called "oil washing" is to separate and precipitate most of the impurities in the waste oil through the action of acid; then through "alkali neutralization" to neutralize the oil after pickling to remove the acid residue; and finally through "alkali neutralization" "Washed". Wash away the acid, alkali and other water-soluble impurities in the oil; just filter it again.
"Okay! This matter is settled." Zhao Xin carefully went over what Zhang Bo said, and then made the decision that Zhang Bo would be responsible for the entire Kuye Island oil industry. After the location of the oil well is determined, construction of a dozen or twenty sets of oil refining workshops will be started to fully produce oil.
So one day later, Zhao Xin, who returned to another time and space, went directly north to Kuye Island. It took him nearly a week to bribe an oil field manager in the northeastern oil mining center city and obtain the detailed location and depth data of each oil well. He also purchased three sets of oil pumping units and corresponding drilling equipment locally. Zhao Xin will not take these equipment away, but rents a local warehouse to store them.
No matter which time and space it is, the winter weather on Bitterleaf Island is always the same. Strong hurricanes from the ocean will bring violent storms. Therefore, even if Zhao Xin makes all preparations, he will not be able to take action until the beginning of next spring.
After that, he flew to Europe, preparing to meet with Andrew and finalize a batch of equipment.
As soon as the two met, Andrew smiled, shook hands and hugged Zhao Xin. Zhao Xin has purchased a large amount of arms supplies from Andrew in the past year. And Andrew also earned a lot of commissions from Zhao Xin. He has left Daniel and is preparing to go it alone.
This time, the person who came to greet Zhao Xin was no longer Andrew alone, but a small fleet of four luxury off-road vehicles and ten subordinates. Looking at this formation, Zhao Xin shook his head and smiled bitterly. This was too ostentatious.
During dinner, after Andrew and Zhao Xin chatted about business for a while, the topic changed and he said: "Dear Zhao, I have a friend who wants to meet you."
Zhao Xin looked at the other party expressionlessly, but his heart skipped a beat. He took a sip of water and asked calmly: "Oh. Who is it?"
When Andrew whispered a name and told Zhao Xin the identity of the other party, Zhao Xin's pupils suddenly dilated.
A few days later.
"You mean you're being targeted by the FSB?"
As soon as Zhao Xin came back, he immediately went to the military camp to find Liu Sheng, and the two began to whisper in Liu Sheng's room.
Zhao Xin didn't speak, just nodded. The transactions with Andrew in recent months have all been in gold. If such a large amount of gold suddenly appears on the market, people who are interested will definitely notice it. Every time he thought about this, Zhao Xin wanted to hit Andrew with a hammer and rub him on the ground. This grandson was too flamboyant!
"I'll go! My previous worries have indeed come true." Liu Sheng sighed helplessly, thought for a while and then asked: "What do they want to do when they see you?"
"Said he wanted to get a share of the arms business."
"You agreed?"
"Brother, do you think I dare to disagree?"
Zhao Xin thought of the person he met under Andrew's introduction. He is in his fifties, affable, and wears glasses. He looks like a university professor.
"Mr. Zhao, Andrew's uncle and I are old friends. I have known Andrew for many years." When the other party said this, Zhao Xin noticed that a trace of embarrassment flashed across Andrew's smiling face.
"Sir, what can I do for you?" Zhao Xin asked tentatively.
"I heard from Andrew's uncle that there is some business cooperation between you. We don't care who you provide the goods to. What I want to tell you is that for the same goods, the varieties I can provide are richer and more diverse. "
Zhao Xin noticed that the other party said "we don't care." Depend on! He felt that the other party must have checked him.
Seeing that Zhao Xin remained silent, the other party smiled softly and said, "Mr. Zhao, what goods do you want?"
Zhao Xin fiddled with the silver spoon on the dining table, felt nervous, and pretended to be casual and said his request.
When Liu Sheng heard this, he asked eagerly: "Did he agree?"
"I agree, but I think I bought too little."
"What do you want from him?"
"Thirty thousand SKS, 20 million rounds of 7.62 bullets, one bullet production line. 20 D30s, 10,000 rounds of 122 high-explosive armor-piercing bullets."
Liu Sheng uttered a national curse, and then said: "Why the hell do you still call me Young Master?!"
"Brother, this is not much for such a predator. Let's take a look. Come here a few more times and see if you can buy a warship."
"Buy a warship? If you buy a warship, you will really be blacklisted! Not to mention the FSB, you won't be able to go back home!"
"It seems I can't go back easily." Zhao Xin was a little lucky that he had bought oil-related equipment this time. Now I can't go to the other side of the ocean, and the country in the north can't show up easily in the future. From now on, I can only spend most of my time in the eighteenth century.
"Oh~~ It seems that you can only go home from the Qing Dynasty in the future." Liu Sheng patted Zhao Xin on the shoulder with some sympathy. He has enough food for himself and the whole family is not hungry. Zhao Xin’s parents are still in another time and space.
Twenty days later, the Thor set off again.
Zhao Xin only brought Sheng Haizhou's company this time. He felt that he was not going to "Urupu" Island to fight and kill, so he could just let Tuka be responsible for the action.
Because the weather has turned cold, Denzo Katsuyama and his colleagues have temporarily suspended coal mining in Ezochi; most of them have withdrawn to Sendai Domain, leaving only a few guys guarding the warehouse.
This time Zhao Xin brought another batch of winter grain and high-quality wine to the Shachuan people. Tuka took out the best bear skins and deer skins as thanks.
During his stay, Zhao Xin asked Tuka about the cooperation with Beihai Company. Tuka said that everything was going well. The Beihai Company never withheld payment from the Ainu people; from Sachuan to Quanzhou Town, many Ainu people helped build roads and dig coal.
The two agreed that after the spring of next year, Zhao Xin would send troops to help Tuka unify the entire Ezo Territory, completely expel the Matsumae Clan, and make Tuka the first king of the Ezo Territory.
"King?" Tuka didn't quite understand the word. But when Zhao Xin explained that the king was the chief of the entire Ezo land, Tuka became overjoyed.
Afterwards, Zhao Xin mentioned the purpose of his visit, and Tuka didn't say anything. He quickly arranged for fifty of his men to go north with Zhao Xin. The leader's Ainu name is very difficult to pronounce, and it translates to "sea dog".
Sea Dog knows Zhao Xin. This guy and Tuka were tortured by Matsumae Fan before, and Zhao Xin once treated him. When this guy saw Zhao Xin, he grinned and came up to hug him.
"I'll go! It's been how many days since this guy took a shower."
Zhao Xin smelled a strange smell from the seals when he was two meters away. He resisted and hugged the other party, and decided that the first thing he should do when he got back to the ship was to take a shower, and he had to take a shower three times in a row.
Three days later, the Thor arrived at Urupu Island, northeast of Ezo. But the first thing that caught Zhao Xin's eyes was the wooden church on the coast with a cross on top.
Zhao Xin stared at the church on the island dumbfounded, and then he realized that the Tsarist Russians were already here!
When the Western European countries along the Atlantic coast sent fleets all the way to East Asia in search of spices, silk, tea and even endless wealth, the rising star of the Tsarist Empire also began to make preparations.
For most Cossacks of the same generation, their journey to the Pacific seemed more straightforward. They only had to go all the way east on their own land, over the Ural Mountains, across Lake Baikal, and through the long forests of Siberia, looking everywhere. There are forests and plains at your fingertips.
In 1696, a man named Denbei from Jotani Town in Osaka encountered a storm on his way to Edo by boat, and ended up drifting to the Kamchatka Peninsula. Three years later, Cossacks who came to Kamchatka to explore the peninsula discovered him.
Two years later, Chuanbingwei was brought back to Moscow to meet with Peter the Great. Peter the Great ordered people to teach him Russian, and opened a language learning institute in St. Petersburg in 1705 to begin cultivating language talents; Chuanbei became the starting point for Tsarist Russia to understand the island country.
In 1711, the Russians began to officially explore the Kuril Islands. The so-called "Thousand Islands" actually have a total of fifty-six islands. In 1733, Bering, the Danish explorer who discovered the Bering Strait, organized another expedition to collect information about the island country.
In 1719, Peter the Great ordered the "explorers" to carefully survey the Thousand Islands and find a waterway to the island country.
In 1721, an expedition led by geologist Yefremov surveyed 14 islands, including Shezhigudan Island, and included the northern part of the archipelago into Tsarist Russian territory.
In 1738, the fleet led by Lieutenant Colonel Spanberg went all the way south to Shikotan Island. They surveyed 29 islands in the Kuril Islands and named them in Russian.
In 1739, Tsarist Russian fleets docked at various shores on the east coast of the island country one after another and conducted transactions with local people. This was the "Yuanwen Black Ship Riot" in the history of the island country. Although the shogunate was a closed system, the Eighth Generation Shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune adopted a more tolerant policy. Later, the shogunate learned through the Dutch that this empire called Tsarist Russia was not far to the northwest of itself.
Since then, Tsarist Russia has continued to expand its influence in Kamchatka and the Kuril Islands.
After 1760, the frequency of visits by Tsarist Russian fleets to the Kuril Islands increased significantly. They erected crosses on the island, built immigrant settlements, and tricked the local Ainu into being baptized and naturalized. Many Ainu people were naturalized in this way and were forced to bear the heavy "fur tax".
In 1771, the Ainu people on Defu Island and Ergu Island launched a riot to resist Russian oppression. 21 Russian tax collectors were killed in this conflict.
In 1779, out of the need to stabilize her rule, Catherine II issued an edict declaring that all taxes in kind on the Kuril Islands without permission from St. Petersburg would be abolished.
On Urupu Island, two Orthodox priests were called out of the church by the panicked Ainu people and looked at the blue and white giant boat anchored on the sea not far away.
Pastor Macarius made the sign of the cross on his chest with both hands (the posture of the Orthodox Church before the reform, after the reform it was up, down, right, left.) and prayed: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us sinners!"
At the same time, the whistle of the Thor startled the seabirds.
(End of chapter)
