Zhou Guan had already gone to Australia last year to establish a second colony.

The first colony was a colony located in the northwest of Australia, which was formulated by Zhou Lang, who knew that place was the largest iron ore mining area in Australia, but it did not have the conditions for development in the short term, and it was just occupied first. But I didn't expect that the arid environment made it difficult for immigrants to gain a foothold. Therefore, at the request of Zhou Guan, it was agreed to establish a second colony in Australia close to the British power, and to test the British attitude towards Australia.

A year passed, the British did not react, Zhou Lang thought that because Australia was too big, the British control here was too weak, and they might not have discovered that the Chinese had built a colonial base thousands of miles away from their stronghold.

In fact, it was Zhou Lang who focused on the Spaniards in the past two years, and ignored the colonial development of Australia, in fact, the British have known for a long time.

It was not because the British had strong control, but Zhou Guan took the initiative to find it. Zhou Guan was a merchant, after the establishment of a second colony on the Murray River, he needed to constantly send ships, he would not waste resources, so after sending supplies to the colony, he went to the British colonies to trade, and even planned to open up trade between the Chinese colonies and the British colonies, so that the British knew the situation.

But the local governor believes that the arrival of the Chinese has greatly improved their material supply, at this time Australia still has only two colonial strongholds, one is Sydney, called New South Wales at this time, the other is Tasmania, all residents, except for the army is prisoners, Britain is using Australia as a prison, the first stronghold is also because of the independence of the United States, so that Britain lost the best base for exile prisoners, only began to establish the first stronghold in Australia, exiled more than 700 people.

By now, Australia's population is just over 1,000 prisoners, and development is not going well. The prisoners not only have to fight against the climate, the soil and the indigenous people, but also develop production, this is a group of prisoners, where is it so easy to manage. Because of the need to protect the security of the British, the navy could not stay for a long time, and the British sent a security team to replace the navy soldiers. They were asked to assist the Governor in maintaining law and order in the colony, but they had a power struggle with the Governor.

In 1808, officers of the New South Wales Security Service deposed the Governor on the grounds that he opposed the ban on the rum trade. Bligh, called the rum riot.

Chaotic management and poor development came to be known as Australia's Dark Ages. Even food is not self-sufficient, and needs to be shipped from the United Kingdom, Batavia (Jakarta), etc.

The situation was greatly improved by the Chinese, Chinese because they had to send supplies to their colonies, they came by to do business, and the goods they brought were much cheaper than if the colonies had to go to Batavia specifically to buy them.

Moreover, the agricultural development of the Chinese is much smoother than that of the British, and they open up the land in the first year, and they have grain output in the second year, and can even sell some to the Australians, which surprises the British. However, the British pastures developed better, and their cattle and sheep were already self-sufficient, and they could exchange cattle and sheep with the Chinese for food and daily necessities.

This is probably due to the talent of different races, the Chinese are more skilled in farming, and the British are better at herding cattle and sheep.

The British government knew that the Chinese had established a colony on their claimed land, and that there were many complex and complex reasons for not protesting, in addition to the governor's report.

First of all, Britain wants to wage war with Napoleon, so Australia's defense is empty, even the navy is gone, only the miscellaneous army of the security team, if it is at odds with the Chinese, if there is a colonial war between the two sides, it will be extremely unfavorable to Britain at this time; Second, Napoleon began to implement the policy of continental blockade, Britain's foreign trade was greatly restricted, financial pressure was tight, and trade with China continued to expand, so that the British did not want to make enemies with China at this time; Third, the Australian colonies are now almost out of control, the security forces have expelled the governor, and now the British administration in Australia is not functioning, and there is no basis for conflict with the Chinese.

So the British remained silent, acquiescing to the Chinese opening up and trading with the British colonies.

But the British government has authorized the British consul to negotiate with the Chinese at the right time, after all, it is the Chinese who occupy the territory they declare, and Britain cannot remain silent.

The bottom line given by the British government to consuls was that the Chinese could be allowed to establish a colony in Australia at most, with the coastal stronghold as the center, and could not exceed a hundred miles; At the same time, it is hoped that this will be exchanged for some trade privileges, such as reducing import duties on British goods.

Soon after, the British government informed the consul that it hoped to secure Macao as a base for the British, and at the same time to guard against the expansion of French interests in China. The British have long formed a set of policies for the struggle for colonies, that is, to pressure the strong and help the weak.

Throughout Britain's colonial wars with European countries, there are few examples of Britain seizing Spanish and Portuguese colonies, and more often fighting with the Netherlands and France. Some people say that this is because the colonies of Spain and Portugal are located in the south, where the climate is suitable for the Spanish and Portuguese countries in southern Europe and not suitable for the British, so the British have no interest in the Spanish Portuguese colonies. However, the British repeatedly fought with the Dutch for control of Malacca, and the logic that the British would not occupy it because of the warm climate did not make sense, because India was the largest tropical colony.

The main reason why Britain is keen to compete with the Netherlands and France is that the Netherlands and France have always been strong, at least before the independence of the United States, the Netherlands is still a first-class power in Europe, so the purpose of seizing the Dutch colony of New York is not only New York itself, but more importantly, to drive the Dutch out of North America, they are worried that the Dutch will establish themselves near their colony and pose a threat to themselves. The competition with France was even more fierce, Canada was snatched from the French, and before Britain established India's dominant position, France once occupied more strongholds in India, and every time the two countries fought in Europe, the British East India Company fought against the French in India.

During the Seven Years' War (1756-1763), the British occupied Manila outright, and more recently signed a treaty with Sulu recognizing the independence of Sulu. But after the war, the British returned the colonies one after another. The reason for this was that the British believed that "Spain had become a minor power, and that Britain in general had no need to worry about its existence, and that it was worth maintaining friendship with it in Europe". So after the Seven Years' War, the British returned Manila, and after the Napoleonic Wars, the British recognized the Philippine Islands as a Spanish sphere of influence.

After the Napoleonic Wars, the British also saw the Netherlands as a minor power and returned the occupied Dutch colonies of Java and Malacca to the Netherlands, despite the opposition of colonial officials such as Raffles. As a result, Raffles went to Singapore in a fit of rage to establish a new base.

In short, this is a continuation of Britain's policy in Europe, that is, to support the weak and beat the strongest. This set of policies has been extended to the whole world.

Therefore, he wanted to restrict France's foothold in Macao and prevent France from expanding its interests in China.

The British consul understood the spirit of the government and proposed to the Chinese Imperial Court that China be allowed to establish a colony in Australia in exchange for British control of Macao.

However, Macau involves relations with the Portuguese, and in Zhou Lang's eyes, Brazil is as important as Australia, and even more important than Australia, because Australia is close to China and far from Europe.

Therefore, he said that he could not hand over Macao to Britain, and refused to threaten Macao by any European power, telling the British that Macao was Chinese land and was only leased to Portugal, and that China continued to have a duty to defend Macao, and that any encroachment on Macao would be regarded as an encroachment on China.

The British consul then proposed that he would like to follow the example of Macao and lease an island in the Chinese Zhoushan archipelago as a British commercial base in China.

Zhou Lang did not know whether this was the British consul's own assertion or whether he had received an order from within the United Kingdom.

He sighed a little, the British are really stubborn, and they still don't give up on Zhoushan. An important task of Magalny's visit to China was to establish a base in the Zhoushan Islands, but the Qing Dynasty did not agree to Qianlong's request to "cede an island in Zhoushan to the British". Later, during the Opium War, the British still remembered Zhoushan, but they were not interested in Hong Kong. British Foreign Secretary Palmerston clearly stated in Secret Admiralty Document No. 2: "The central location of the Zhoushan Islands, in the middle of Canton and Peking, near the mouths of several navigable rivers, can in many respects provide a suitable location for the establishment of the headquarters of the expeditionary force." "This advantageous location in central China, close to navigable rivers, is also important for business, so the place where Britain is most interested in China is definitely not Macau, but here.

But the Zhou Lang regime was completely different from the Manchu regime, he advocated free trade, because free trade was the most beneficial to China, a large handicraft country, so a large number of ports were opened, and there were basically no restrictions on trade, and the British could even enter Jiangning (Nanjing) to live in the Great Zhou Dynasty, but they still stubbornly demanded that Zhoushan be used as a base.

Promise them, this is really a traitor, allowing the Portuguese to continue to stay in Macao, that is for historical reasons, it is a bad debt left by the Ming and Qing dynasties, and the British can be allowed to open up Zhoushan newly, this is Zhou Lang's responsibility, how future generations will comment on him, he dare not think.

In fact, if you dare to sell, the benefits are also huge.

Zhou Lang is a businessman, he thought about it and thought about nothing that cannot be sold, the problem is that the price he pays may be very large, so he needs to sell it at a good price, he told the British that he can give them Zhoushan, but he wants the whole of Australia!