Except for the four ships that remain in Hong Kong's overseas territory, the remaining 12 ships will be returned to China, and the Executive Committee has issued a document that these ships will be retrofitted after returning to China, directly loaded with steam turbines, and then repainted to become new Australian steamships. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

There is no problem in transforming into a steam ship, but the key problem is that the power of the steam ship comes from coal, and coal needs to be used as fuel to drive the steam engine to work and drive the runner to run, otherwise the ship is still an ordinary ship and will not have too many advantages.

In order to develop the premise of steam ships, it is necessary to get a qualified steam engine, this first step is to be solved, the second step is to establish some coaling stations, the more coal a ship loads, which means that the less cargo it carries.

The proportion of cargo is less than coal, so in terms of economic benefits, this steamship is not cost-effective, and there is a possibility that it will cause the transportation cost to rise, after all, the price of the goods will definitely be adjusted after the transportation cost rises.

In order to reduce costs and ensure the advantages of steam ships, it is to build a refueling point at every interval to ensure that the power of the ship will not be broken, and to ensure the advantages of steam ships.

Therefore, if you want to develop local shipping trade, in fact, the most critical problem is to solve the supply point of coal refueling on the way, from Chang'an Town to Batavia This sea distance is more than 2,000 kilometers, more than 2,000 kilometers is not complete, even if the perfect number is full of fuel, it will consume one-third.

Lin Wendong did a test, every 500 kilometers must be built a coaling point, so that there are certain benefits for the ship, not only to ensure the transportation volume, but also to ensure the transportation advantage of the steam ship.

But 500 kilometers to build a coal station is not so simple, some sea areas have no islands or only one reef, not suitable for human habitation at all, so this is only an ideal state of data, according to the normal situation, steam ships full of coal transportation, can run to 1,000 kilometers, but this is related to the captain's operational proficiency.

Energy adjustment in the case of tailwinds reduces the use of steam engines, which can reduce coal use to some extent.

Whether it is to save coal or use it skillfully, to use steam ships on a large scale, there must be a coal filling point, Chang'an Town and Hong Kong can definitely be established, in an area of the wharf to get a place to store coal, but it is a bit difficult to get coal in other places.

The Dutch in Batavia, whether they would agree to a coaling point here will need to be discussed.

However, establishing an ambassadorial relationship with them this time should give some response, after all, Van Diemenke is very keen to cooperate with the Australians, and Nick is very interested in Australian steamships, and he will definitely be very eager to see how steamships are run.

First of all, the first overseas coal station to be built was in Batavia, and the reason why it was placed here was also fully considered, there were enough resources here, the Dutch could provide coal, and the Australian ships only had to pay them when they arrived here.

For such an additional income, the Dutch are naturally willing, it is money delivered to the door, and the transaction does not require a large investment of money for them.

"Mr. Nick, do you have any other comments on establishing an ambassadorial relationship? As a negotiator, Mr. Wu met with Nick, which would focus on the establishment of ambassadorial-level relations and the establishment of a coaling station in Batavia. ”

With the operation of the steamer, the matter of the coaling station must be put on the agenda, otherwise once the steamship starts running, the lack of coal is also a very big problem, so the executive committee authorized Wu Zhengdao to discuss the matter of the coaling station with Nick, and this matter must be implemented as soon as possible.

"Minister Wu, we basically have no opinion, we support your proposal to establish an ambassadorial-level relationship, and at the same time we are also very willing to continue to deepen the cooperation between the two sides, in order to show our sincerity, we can agree to this coaling point."

Nick pointed to the contract in his hand and expressed his opinion, for the coaling point proposed by the Australians, they naturally have no opinion, coal has not been used on a large scale at present, mining to the extent that there is mining, but if the Australians buy it for many years, it will also be a lot of money.

"Very well, if you agree, we will send an ambassador and several staff members to accompany your ship to Batavia before you return to Batavia."

"No problem with this, Batavia welcomes you at any time." Nick was very enthusiastic to return.

"Wu, I would like to take the liberty of asking if you will also cooperate with the Spaniards."

This is a question that Nick has always wanted to ask, after all, the Australians themselves have worked with Spain in Manila, and it is not impossible to work together again.

Since there was cooperation before, then it can also be cooperated now, in Nick's opinion, this possibility is very large, after all, the Spaniards in Manila are not stupid, they will also do everything possible to cooperate with the Australians, it is said that when Yan Jianye launched an attack on Zheng Zhilong, the Spaniards asked if there were Australians involved, which fully illustrates a problem, they want to cooperate with the Australians.

"Well, Nick, we're friends, I won't hide it from you, we do work with the Spaniards, but it depends on their response, if they don't want to, it's just wishful thinking on our part, then we can only think about it."

Depending on the attitude of the Spaniards, this is probably not difficult, the Spaniards will definitely cooperate with the Australians, they are eager to cooperate with the Australians, how can they not be willing.

So that's the point, the Australians don't want to be at war with Spain, so it's basically impossible to invite them to participate in the attack on Manila, and since cooperation is impossible to go to war with the other side, that's their basic principle.

Nick finally got it, but that doesn't mean that the relationship between Australia and Manila will be very good, at least on the premise that the mutual trust between the two sides is very high.

Now the level of mutual trust between them is probably not as high as with Batavia, which is still a chance for Batavia, at least they established an ambassadorial relationship earlier than Manila, plus the cooperation of the coal station, will only make the relationship between the two sides closer and closer, and Manila wants to have these It will take a lot of effort and time.