On the docks of Batavia, two repainted and refitted Western sailing ships docked quietly, like two guards dressed in white.

The large-caliber guns with thick bowls in the bow of the ship were facing the street not far away like a demonstration, making people shudder to look at it.

The soldiers in charge of the shore defense will be amazed when they pass by, and if they are hit by such artillery, they may not even be able to find their bones.

"Mr. Ambassador, I'm curious, are these two warships really one of the ten we sold you, definitely not." Brown walked on the deck of the Shunfeng and couldn't believe the conversion of the unrecognizable Western-style ship, except that the exterior was the same as the Western-style ship, the interior construction and decoration had been completely changed, so he was a little unconvinced that this was the ship that the Australians had bought from the Netherlands

"Yes, Mr. Brown, it is, but after a remodeling of our shipyards, don't you really find out that it is? Just look at the planks and sails on the deck. ”

Zhang Wei explained with a smile that he specially asked for the consent of the people in the Navy Department to bring Brown on board for a visit today.

After making sure that military secrets would not be leaked, they agreed to Zhang Wei's request, after all, in the future, to escort Australian merchant ships to Batavia, it is indispensable to dock here for supplies, especially for coal supplies.

Coal is the largest energy consumed by a fully steam-powered ship, and the Navy has proposed to Congress a plan for energy storage and the establishment of coaling points on major shipping routes.

Of course, Batavia was also a major coaling point, but this required the consent of the Dutch, so the people in the naval department readily agreed to the other party's request, and even sent a soldier to be in charge of the introduction.

"It's amazing, Zhang, you tell me, how your shipyard did it, it's a historic progress, if the world's merchant ships were steam-powered, then shipping would not be affected by the wind season."

Brown was a good merchant and a wise man, and immediately thought of converting the power of all merchant ships to steam. But he doesn't seem to be considering whether the Australians will agree to sell the technology.

In a sense, Australia, which has mastered the technology of steam power, has opened an absolute advantage with the seafaring countries of this period, and if this technology flows out, this distance will be shortened, and the advantage will not exist.

The reason why Brown proposed to visit the ship was also because of the idea of buying a steam-powered engine from the Australians, and at the same time there was a way to see if the machine could be imitated.

But Brown could clearly see from the eyes of the two shipbuilders that they didn't seem to understand how it was made, even himself.

"Mr. Ambassador, I don't know if Australia intends to export this kind of converted ship, you know that the Netherlands has a huge annual volume of transportation at sea, and if there is such a merchant ship to transport goods, it will greatly increase the volume and time of transportation of goods between the East and the West."

Since he couldn't make it, Brown simply opened his mouth to buy it to see if the Australians were interested in exporting, and if there were flowers, it was worth it even if they spent a lot of money to buy them.

Zhang Wei didn't expect the other party to actually propose to buy it, which made him a little embarrassed, he was sure that the export of this modified steam-powered sailboat was not up to You Nanzhe's shipyard, and it also needed the signature and consent of the military, Congress and the president.

Because this already involves the range of advanced technology, the technology of the steam engine is not too difficult, and the Europeans will soon imitate it, it is only a matter of time.

"Mr. Brown, I'm afraid I can't give you an answer to this, this is beyond the scope of diplomatic authority, so you can only submit a letter of intent to purchase to our government, and they will answer whether you are or not."

"Oh, well, I will submit it to your government, and I also ask Ambassador Zhang to hand it over to the times, since Australia and the Netherlands are partners, I think we should deepen the scope of cooperation, such as shipbuilding and weapons."

This time Brown actually proposed the purchase of weapons, Zhang Wei smiled in his heart, cooperation, brother, are you dreaming, can this be given to you, at least it can't be sold to you now, except for those obsolete products.

"Yes, Mr. Brown said very much, that we should deepen our cooperation in many ways, and I do not know how you have consulted with Your Excellency the Governor on the seafarer training plan that I proposed to you last time." Zhang Wei smiled and asked about the plan proposed by the Dutch not long ago to send a group of trainees to their merchant ships for training.

The other party has not answered, and today Zhang Wei took this opportunity to ask again to see how the other party answered.

"I am still discussing this with His Excellency the Governor, and I will be able to reply to Mr. Ambassador shortly." What Brown said was the same as last time, after all, letting Australians get on Dutch merchant ships is not a joke, who knows what the other party has in mind, and must be treated with caution.

The topic of cooperation between the two finally stopped because of this matter, and Brown did not continue to put forward the purchase intention, but gradually led the topic to other places, such as where the two warships went, which is a very interesting question.

After all, the Australians have no base in Southeast Asia, so they may not be able to create a colony in some of the places occupied by the aborigines.

"You're talking about the battleships Shunfeng and Sortie, their purpose is to Ming Hong Kong, and they will be stationed there for a long time in the future, and the main task of sending them out in China is to escort merchant ships, you also know that there are many pirates now, and merchant ships without armed forces are easy to be attacked by pirates."

Stationed in Hong Kong, but also escorting, Brown's mind back and forth these words, although Hong Kong is far away from Batavia, but since the Australians are stationed here, it means that they are indeed involved in the maritime affairs of Southeast Asia, and I am afraid that the future will never be quiet.

Whether to cooperate or resist, according to the current situation, if the Netherlands cooperates with the Australians, it is possible that the benefits will be maximized or even greater than before.

It's just that the governor must be persuaded well, otherwise he will definitely not be able to cooperate. In addition to the Governor, the Australians also need to probe the wind here.

"Mr. Ambassador, I hope that in the future, we can jointly shoulder the responsibility of this sea area."

"Of course, this is to maintain the safety of passing merchant ships in this area, and several of us have this responsibility." Zhang Wei did not say that Australia had this responsibility, but moved out several other companies together, so as not to show too strong ambitions, but also to say that he would exist in this sea area.