Su Shu experienced the prosperity of Cao Guolu Port.
As an important port in South America, Lugang accepts merchant ships from Nanyang provinces that come to South America along the equatorial ocean current.
These merchant ships run direct routes to South America and follow the ocean currents going back and forth. Their speed is 30% faster than before and they also save fuel.
They brought various industrial products from the Great China Empire and shipped back massive amounts of raw materials from Shandong Port.
Su Shu saw that Lu’s specialty salted fish and canned fish were selling very well, but they were not the most popular products.
The most popular commodities are always cotton, timber, and copper ore.
These are commodities that are extremely scarce in the Dahua Empire and are very expensive.
Su Shu also saw a conscious situation: all ocean-going ships are powered by steam.
A powerful chamber of commerce, they are 10,000-ton steel freighters.
The weaker chamber of commerce, they are thousands of tons of wooden-hulled freighters.
But these freighters have all had their sails removed and replaced with propellers.
With the maturity of alloy smelting technology, the durability problem of propeller bearings has been solved.
Steam engine propellers have completely replaced sails and become the most advanced power system for ships.
The only difference between the power system of a cargo ship and that of a warship is that it is not powerful enough and runs slowly, even slower than a sail freighter when the wind is downwind.
However, the steam-powered freighter's super carrying capacity made many businessmen ignore its shortcomings of slow speed.
The Imperial Royal Navy fleet is responsible for logistics cargo ships that can keep up with fleet operations.
The power system of their cargo ships is specially designed to use the power system of warships, which is still several generations behind civilian use.
Su Shu understood the situation in Lugang. He followed the fleet logistics officer to conduct large purchases in Lugang.
As a free port connecting various places, its supplies are even richer.
Except for weapons and ammunition, all civilian goods can be purchased here.
Su Shu learned from his followers the skills of military logistics procurement.
A large amount of silver coins were swayed, and the workers in Ma Tou completely transported boxes of supplies to the freighter docked at the dock.
Su Shu and his party boarded the freighter and left Lu Port. They met up with the fleet docked in the outer sea.
Looking back at Lu Port with his telescope, Su Shu saw a fleet of ships coming from the west. Under the guidance of the Lu Port reception ship, Su Shu drove the cargo ships into the port.
The busyness of Cao Guolu Port is already comparable to that of a medium-sized port in the empire.
Cao State, which implemented the farming and war system, developed the port to such a large scale in just two or three years.
Su Shuguan had a glimpse of the leopard, and he saw the power that strong centralized power could unleash.
He boarded the battleship Tarzan again and stood on the deck observing the vast sea.
From the densely populated Lugang to the cold battleship, Su Shu felt a little uncomfortable for a while.
Staff officer Lu Yuanqi took the chart and walked to Su Shu. He pointed to the next route and said:
"Xiao Su, look.
On the next route, on the west coast of America, except Qi State, there is a cargo terminal that sells saltpeter.
The rest of the country is desolate, and except for towns with large mineral deposits, there are not many people living there.
Only when we reach the east coast of America are there enough people.
But the east coast of America has always been an area prone to pirates. "
Su Shu just looked at the sea map. He had not seen the situation in Qi State.
He can guess the general situation of Qi State.
"King Qi Sushan, when he was assisting his father to conquer the world, he behaved very calmly among the generals in the army and never competed or competed.
His father sealed him in the mountains and grasslands at the southernmost tip of America.
Even if King Qi Sushan established a country, he acted very indifferently.
The Xiang Kingdom did not want to settle down in a corner, but it was very helpless. King Su Li of Xiang was seriously ill, and the prince was too young to convince the public.
Qi State really wanted to live a small life in its own country.
But I think Qi King Sushan is very smart. He maneuvers between Cao and Wei.
Only Cao State and Wei State did not fight for victory, and neither of these two countries would focus on the useless Qi State.
Coupled with the empire's mediation, as long as there is no civil strife in Qi State, their little life will be stable. "
Staff officer Lu Yuanqi also agreed: "Qi State's approach is very appropriate. There is no large-scale cultivated land in this area, only some mineral resources.
The population of Qi State is not bad, and it is not a soft persimmon.
It is difficult for Qi State to expand outwards, but it is very easy to defend itself.
He doesn't need to do anything else, he only needs to mine the saltpeter in the territory and sell it.
Then you can obtain a large amount of arms from the empire, and it will be easy to maintain your own security. "
The two of them were talking about the upcoming journey and the situation in Qi State.
The boiler of the battleship Tarzan was already running at high power, and he began to turn around and head south.
…………………………
Su Shu yawned, this journey was boring.
When he was sailing in the Pacific, he had just come into contact with the navy and was curious about everything about the navy.
Even in the navy's regular training, he could maintain a high level of interest.
Now the Imperial Royal Navy fleet has once again entered into a boring journey.
There were only a few cargo ships around, and they didn't dare to contact the army at all.
In order to prevent yaw, the military can make emergency repairs in time if there is an accident.
The fleet always sails near the coastline.
At the end of every day's training, Su Shu used binoculars to observe the villages on the shore and learn about the living conditions of these immigrant villages.
Within the radiation range of Golden City, Hongyan Port and Jing'an Port, there are a large number of villages living on the seaside.
The west coast of America is close to tall mountains and rivers. Except for some suitable places, large towns cannot be built anywhere else.
But there is no problem at all in building some small villages along the coast.
The west coast of Qi State is completely different. There is no human habitation here at all, and the coast is desolate.
Except for a few villages and towns where miners live, there is a vague population.
Otherwise, Su Shu would have thought that this was a desolate and undeveloped area.
When Su Shu was lamenting the desolation of the west coast of Qi State, he saw a prosperous port.
Several giant steel ships of 10,000 tons lined up to enter and exit a small port.
The steam crane on the port is stacking boxes of ore onto the freighter.
Su Shu looked at the flags on these freighters. There were only freighters owned by the Imperial Shaofu Ocean Shipping Company and the Qiguo Ocean Shipping Company.
When Staff Officer Lu Yuanqi saw this port, he said happily: "This is the largest cargo terminal in Qi State.
Its scale is actually not large, but it supplies nearly half of the empire's saltpeter.
Even for the sake of a stable supply of saltpeter, the empire would never let anything happen here. "
Su Shu also recognized this statement. The production of saltpeter is related to the production of gunpowder and chemical fertilizers.
These two industries are extremely important. If he were the emperor of the empire, he would never let anything happen here to affect these two major industries of the empire.
It is because saltpeter is so important that only state-run companies can monopolize the purchase of saltpeter.
Private businessmen were unable to participate in the saltpeter business, which was the most profitable, and the west coast of Qi State was underdeveloped.
This is the important reason why few caravan ships go here.
Businessmen are profit-seeking people and they are very shrewd.
It will cost a lot more time and fuel, and also cost the cargo ship damage.
But they can't buy rare goods at extremely high prices, so they don't want to do this business at all.
The Imperial Royal Navy fleet did not stop near the docks.
Apart from ore, there is no other cargo at all in the cargo port.
When the fleet was in Lugang, it had already purchased sufficient goods in advance.
The fleet is not short of goods, so it cannot go to the cargo terminal to buy ore.
The fleet continued to move south, and soon after, Su Shu saw a small island in front of it.
The fleet has arrived at the southernmost tip of America. After crossing the strait in front, it can head to the east coast of America.
This long route is not easy.
No wonder Cao Guo set his sights on Canal.
The distance between the west and the east of Cao State is not long, but they are not directly connected. They need to go around thousands of kilometers and walk more than ten times the distance to reach their destination.
This is an extremely troublesome matter for any country.
Su Shu looked at the fur coat on his body, and he looked at the ice floes appearing on the coast in front of him.
He knew that with the equator as the center, the seasons in the north and south were reversed.
In Zhao State, located in North America, there was heavy snowfall in the sky, and it was the middle of winter in the twelfth lunar month.
In Wei State, located in South America, it is raining heavily in the sky and it is the rainy season in midsummer.
But spread out the chart and look at the longitude and latitude lines on the chart. The higher the latitude, the colder the place.
Su Shu picked up the globe that only a few people in the Dahua Empire could see and was absolutely confidential.
He found the location of the fleet, which was very close to the cold and boundless Antarctic continent.
Now, even though he was wearing a woolen coat, he felt a constant stream of cold air pouring into his neck, and there was already a layer of frost on his eyebrows.
The difficulty of the journey is also the reason why many chambers of commerce are reluctant to take this road.
The sailors on the ship are already adapted to warm routes, and if they are suddenly traveling on a route with a huge temperature difference, they are prone to illness.
Su Shu heard Chief of Staff Cao Zhengyuan snort next to him.
“These soldiers are too delicate, and Imperial soldiers must be able to adapt to any environment.
Get all the irrelevant people out of the ship island.
You must stand on the deck to blow the cold wind and exercise your cold-resistant physique.
As the Imperial Navy, can we only fight in warm waters and surrender when we reach cold waters? "
Su Shu saw Chief of Staff Cao Zhengyuan angry.
When he saw the gentle Chief of Staff Cao Zhengyuan, he really got angry.
He could only accompany Chief of Staff Cao Zhengyuan on the deck, watching most of the navy officers standing on the deck training.
At this time, Su Shu was a little envious of the engine soldiers.
It must have been as warm as summer under the cabin.
While Su Shu was standing guard, he saw many flat-bottomed cargo ships mining on nearby islands.
He thought there were precious ores here, but when he looked carefully, he saw the struvite stones on Frog Island.
Struvite is a valuable fertilizer, and the empire is in short supply all year round.
Qi State is either a mountainous area or a grassland, and they have no need for struvite at all.
As expected, these struvite stones must have been sold to the empire at a high price.
Imperial farmers were also willing to buy struvite. These natural fertilizers were cheaper and more effective than factory-produced fertilizers.
Su Shu was tired from being on the plywood all day. After dinner, he returned to the warm bed.
In this kind of cold weather, you should cover yourself with a big quilt, hide in bed and read a book.
Su Shu had already fallen asleep, and there was a knock on the door of the dormitory.
Staff Officer Lu Yuanqi was outside the door and shouted in surprise: "Xiao Su, it's a wonder, come out and see the wonder."
Su Shu immediately stood up, quickly put on clothes and walked out of the room.
After he joined the Navy, he often encountered the Navy's night assault training, and it was common for him to be woken up in the middle of the night.
Staff Officer Lu Yuanqi pulled Su Shu toward the deck.
He pointed his hand high at the southern sky and said, "Look."
Su Shu looked up and saw rainbow lights of various colors appearing in the sky.
They reflected the southern sky with colorful colors. This spectacle is so amazing.
Su Shu said in surprise: "I have never seen this kind of spectacle.
I met a Mongolian friend when I met the Mongolians there in the North Sea and listened to them talk about the north there, which occasionally happens.
Father said he had read in a book that this was an aurora phenomenon.
This is a phenomenon that occurs when the earth is illuminated by sunlight.
I don’t know how there is sunlight in the dark night, but the aurora is so beautiful. "
Su Shu stood on the deck, looking at the aurora that many people would never see in their lifetime.
This spectacle was so beautiful that it shocked his soul.
Su Shu waited until he felt sleepy and couldn't bear it anymore before going back to his room to rest.
Early the next morning, many people were discussing the aurora phenomenon that occurred last night.
This spectacle makes people forget to leave. His camera can only leave black and white images, and cannot capture the wonderful aurora at all.
The fleet continued to sail, and there was a lighthouse built by Qi State on the shore.
These lighthouses will guide ships at night.
Su Shu looked towards the shore and found that there were many small black and white animals gathering together to rest.
These little beasts have very short necks and look like some kind of bird, but their wings are so short that they cannot fly at first glance. They look very cute.
If it were on their own ship, both Su and Shu would want to take it home and keep it in a zoo.
Staff Officer Lu Yuanqi followed Su Shu's gaze and saw the penguins resting on the shore.
He said: "I know this species. It is an Antarctic penguin, which lives in the cold Antarctic continent.
This is a fast-swimming but flightless bird.
Many scholars from Imperial University went abroad for inspections and brought back many unique local animals and plants. "
Su Shu said happily: "It turns out that these are Antarctic penguins. I have only heard about them before, but this is the first time I have seen them. They are really cute.
Studying the value of these exotic animals and plants has always been an important topic for domestic scholars. "
Su Shu saw the aurora of the Antarctic continent and the cute penguins of the Antarctic.
He also experienced staying on the deck to train in severe cold conditions and being a hard-working naval soldier.
After the fleet set off from Port Lu, it became boring and long, but he also learned a lot and experienced happiness that he had never experienced before.
The fleet soon passed through the strait between the American continent and the Antarctic continent.
They crossed the southernmost point of the American continent and the fleet began to sail north.
At the beginning of the route, South America is very narrow and long, so it is not obvious.
When the severe cold gradually subsided, Su Shu saw the huge difference between the west coast and the east coast of the American continent.
The west coast of the American continent is completely mountainous and is not suitable for large-scale living at all.
The east coast of the American continent is completely different, with large plains suitable for human habitation.
Su Shu saw endless towns appearing on the coast along the way.
The fleet occasionally approached the town to replenish some fresh water and food.
The fleet quickly passed through these same towns and completed the long route.
They came to the mouth of a large river, next to Shanjing, the capital of Qi State. (End of chapter)
