Seeing Lee Cin Carbon Strip sketch a few simple outlines on the eastern edge of the map, Wallace's eyes radiated an uncanny and excited light, and nothing could be more alluring to him than gold and silver.

"Excuse me, Lord Marquis, is there really an inexhaustible supply of gold and silver here? Could it be a new continent that has never been discovered? ”

In fact, he wanted to ask why no one had ever mentioned it, if there really were so many treasures here.

Li Xin shook his head, "This is the American continent, a new continent that you Europeans have discovered more than a hundred years ago!" ”

However, this made Wallace even more puzzled, the New World has been discovered for more than 100 years, and colonists from England, France, and Spain have been diligently searching for gold and silver in this unexplored land, but there is no news of gold being found except for silver mines in Mexico.

And if they were to get to the west coast of the Americas, they couldn't make a detour halfway around the world, back to Europe, and then land on the east coast of Mexico and make a detour to the west coast. When Wallace proposed this plan, Li Xin looked at him in disbelief.

After a while, it suddenly became clear that in Li Xin's impression, the world is naturally integrated, but in the understanding of the people of the time, various regions are still fragmented. Although many years have passed since Magellan sailed around the world, it is still difficult to change people's stereotypes.

As if he were going to the Americas, Wallace's first instinct was to take a detour from the Atlantic. Did he forget that he could reach the west coast of America by crossing the vast Pacific Ocean?

"Can't you cross the Pacific Ocean and get straight to the Americas? In this way, I can land in the Americas in the shortest time! ”

Li Xin's words woke up the dreamer like a word, and Wallace rubbed his hands again and again, obviously he was a little tricky by Li Xin's statement.

"Does the Marquis think that you can reach the west coast of America by crossing the Pacific Ocean? So far, however, it is said that only the Spaniards have traveled this route a few times. With the current personnel of our army, they have never walked this road. ”

Li Xin absolutely did not approve of the idea of detouring, taking the Atlantic Ocean road for the Ming Dynasty did not make half a point, only by determining the route across the Pacific Ocean, could the Ming Dynasty have a place to compete with England, France, and Spain in the Americas.

In Leeshin's impression, the sea route from Asia to the Americas in the era of sailing was accompanied by the North Pacific Ocean along the Kamchatka Peninsula and around Alaska. The other is from the middle of the Pacific Ocean in the Philippines, through a series of archipelagos, to the west coast of Mexico.

Although Li Xin knew these two roads, they were not of much help to the actual navigation.

Seeing that Li Xin insisted on his own opinion, Wallace gave up the idea of taking the Atlantic and opened up a new route, although there were many dangers, but as long as the exploration was successful, the benefits would be endless. Often, when gold was discovered, the first patrons to arrive in the colonies would reap unimaginable benefits.

It is clear that the ambitions of this Marquis are not small.

It wasn't until Li Xin threw out the remuneration for each crew member to explore new routes that even Wallace couldn't help but smack his tongue, if it weren't for the Marquis's Excellency who needed him to stay, he really wanted to follow the fleet to America.

Li Xin drew a circle roughly at the outline of the carbon bar, "This area is in the hands of Spain, San Francisco, after arriving in the Americas, the first task is to seize this area, of course, if it can be bought with money, it will be the best!" ”

Li Xin's idea is that this area of the west coast of America is still a barren land, and it would be better if they could be obtained by peaceful means.

Wallace was convinced of Li Xin's idea, and although he was not afraid of war, if he could seize a land buried with countless amounts of gold at the lowest cost, then the deal would be too cost-effective. Even if the Spaniards regret it in the future, it will be because they have lost the initiative.

"But the news that there is gold in the Americas is now only known to you, and don't confide in anyone until you take the west coast of the Americas!"

Li Xin confessed that if the news spread, maybe the Spaniards would not be so easy to speak.

In the First World War in Taiwan, the Three Guards and the Spaniards had a fairly tacit cooperation, and now it is much easier to communicate than to be full of hostility, but after all, the Three Guards are going to take food from the tiger's mouth, in addition to subduing them by force, there is also a key point, that is, to give them enough money.

And the Three Guards were able to defeat the Dutch who Spain had not been able to do for many years, and this battle was enough for the Spaniards to recognize the strength of the Three Guards, as long as they could maintain enough deterrence, they would have enough capital to talk about buying the west coast of North America.

Wallace nodded, "Your Excellency the Marquis, the Spaniards have occupied San Francisco for hundreds of years, and they have been trying to find gold and silver, if there is really gold there, why haven't they found it?" ”

Wallace didn't disbelieve Li Xin's words, but after all, this was an Oriental who had never traveled far by boat, and he had inquired about Li Xin's details for more than a year, and before that he was just a thief entrenched in the deep mountains of the interior. How could he have known that there would be gold in the Americas, tens of thousands of miles away?

If, all of this was merely speculation, they had spent so much time on this voyage, and even risked war with Spain, Wallace thought that if there was too much uncertainty, it would be worth the cost.

Now Wallace has shaken off the initial anxiety of being a prisoner of war of the Three Guards, so he can confidently interpret Li Xin's words as before.

Faced with Wallace, who was inquisitive, Li Xin didn't know how to persuade him for a while, but he couldn't help but dispel his concerns. At the same time, I sighed in my heart, it seems that these foreign devils are not as easy to fool as they imagined, and if they don't come up with a suitable reason, it seems that there is no way to convince them.

"This matter is not chasing after the wind, I don't know if your Excellency has ever heard of Zheng He, a navigator in the country?"

Wallace shook his head, he had never heard of a navigator named Zheng He in China, and he didn't even care if there were navigators in China before, all he cared about was silver except gold.

"Zheng He had led a fleet of hundreds of ships to Africa, and one of his detachments had returned as far east as they reached the Americas, where they brought back gold. However, there was a rebellion within the Ming Dynasty, and the matter was put on hold. It wasn't until after the war that someone tried to revisit the matter, but the charts and the sailors of the original fleet had already died in the war, so the gold about the Americas could only exist in the palace archives. ”

Li Xin's lies are naturally full of mistakes and omissions, but for a Westerner who knows nothing about Chinese history, it is enough to make him dizzy. Hearing the palace secrets in Li Xin's mouth, Wallace couldn't help but be in awe.

The royal courts of the distant East had always been the most mysterious place to them, and if this news had come from a secret archive at the court, he thought that there would be great hope for the discovery of gold in the Americas.

At this point, Wallace no longer doubted Li Xin's statement about the gold of the Americas, as well as the two sea routes proposed by Li Xin, and he also analyzed them.

The northern sea route is a completely new sea area that is completely unknown, and the local currents seem to be more complicated, so it is advisable to choose the sea route closer to the south, although it is not possible to go along the mainland, but this sea route has been traversed by the Spaniards after all, and he believes that the probability of success will be greatly increased.

Although Li Xin thought that it might be safer to take the northern sea route along the mainland, he did not know anything about navigation after all, so he did not insist on arguing with Wallace in the dispute over the route, so he no longer insisted on his own opinion. Wallace, after all, had a lot of seafaring experience, and he thought that the southern sea route might be more successful, so he said so.

However, after Li Xin's careful consideration, two large ships were added to the exploration fleet, making a total of five large ships. In addition to the necessary sailors, he also equipped the entire fleet with an infantry battalion of more than 300 men, with enough artillery and ammunition. Although he did not go with the purpose of war, it was impossible to achieve his goal without sufficient force to deter him. After all, there were not only Spaniards but also indigenous Indians on the west coast of the Americas, and not everyone would have a friendly attitude towards strangers who suddenly intruded.

In the final analysis, Li Xin went away with the idea of plundering resources, so muskets and cannons were necessary weapons that could not be omitted.

Li Xin does not shy away from the tired words of aggression and plunder, he is not some pedantic and hypocritical promoter of peace, on this earth, what country's rise and wealth accumulation is not based on the blood and tears of foreign races and foreign people?

Just like in Li Xin's time, the great powers professed freedom and peace, and repeatedly waged wars, but what he did behind this was not the same as his current purpose? Nature is for wealth!

Li Xin was determined to win this voyage of exploration of the Americas, whether it was the Spaniards, the French, or the rising English, he did not hesitate to fight.

There is not much time left for China, seeing that half of the seventeenth century has passed, and most of the fertile land of the new world has been planted by colonizers from various countries, so he must take advantage of the European colonial wave before it reaches its peak, to seize enough land for China, even if China has a lot of land and resources, and cannot use it for a while, it cannot cheapen Westerners in vain.

What's more, Li Xinzi has more than 400 years of insight beyond his time, where there are rich mineral deposits and resources, he asked himself what he remembered, once this trip to the Americas is successful, he will continue to send a fleet to cross the equator to the south to explore distant Australia.

Of course, Australia is not called Australia at this time.

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