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Ling Tianfang also deliberately took the political axe into the army, and the price of spices in the empire has soared in the past year, which has made the people in the empire very dissatisfied, especially some wealthy strata, who originally thought that they could fully enjoy the benefits by controlling the Meili region, but they did not expect that the price of spices even increased a lot compared to before, the reason is that the demand in the western continent has soared, and the merchants are driven by interests, so they will naturally not take care of the domestic needs of the empire. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Xiao Tang and Su Qin were also annoyed, as the empire continued to expand its area, the number of people in the territory also increased sharply, and the empire's economy continued to grow rapidly in the past few years, and the number of emerging wealthy classes also increased significantly, on the one hand, they increased investment to expand reproduction, but on the other hand, they also began to pay attention to the quality of life, and constantly improve the taste and standard of life, which also caused a significant increase in the demand for various luxury goods. Spices are undoubtedly a necessity for the wealthy to improve their taste and quality of life, and the spices in the Meli region of the central and northern regions are obviously difficult to satisfy the huge wealthy people of the empire, and the number of such wealthy people is still growing rapidly, and the gap between demand and supply will become larger and wider. The discovery of Lilac Island undoubtedly pointed out a way for the needs of the middle and upper classes of the empire, and if Lilac Island could be developed, it would greatly reduce the pressure on the empire's demand for these spices, and at the same time create considerable wealth for the empire.

"How long will it take to sail from Lilac Island to Sikkim?" was sensitive to the question of whether it was Wufeng or some of the others in the temple, and it was the most important one, involving the cost of transporting spices.

"If you follow the current route, it will take at least a month and a half, and there can be no mistakes in between. Ling Tianfang replied: "The Naval Intelligence Bureau and the Surveying and Mapping Bureau are working hard to open up a direct route from Lilac Island to the Eastern Latin Ocean, and it is estimated that if this course can be opened, the sailing time from Lilac Island to Sikkim can be shortened to about twenty-five days, but this is only a preliminary idea, and everything needs to be determined after it is really opened up and made into a detailed and reliable chart." ”

Exhaled, Wu Feng fell into deep thought, Lilac Island is undoubtedly an important surname for the empire, even he felt the momentum of the price of spices rising again and again, and there were many representatives in the public house who questioned the empire after controlling the Meili region in the central and northern regions of the spice prices did not fall but rose, which made the Imperial Ministry of Commerce also a little passive, the demand for spices in the Western Continent continued to grow, whether from the perspective of psychological distance or actual distance, it is much more cost-effective to export spices to the Western Continent than to the Eastern Continent, boarding a ship from Luxor can go directly to the Baltic Sea and the Aegean coast, even if piracy is rampant, as long as the fee is paid, it can be safe, it is really not possible to go by land, through the Marina CountyIn transshipment to the countries of the Western Continent, the transportation cost is far more cost-effective than crossing the Middle Continent by land or from the Adriatic Gulf to the Latin Ocean through the Great South Sea and the Great Eastern Ocean to the Empire, which also leads to the rise in spice prices in disguise.

"Lord Ling, what are the natural conditions in the Great Lakes region?" Breaking the silence was the trust in the Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources Zhan Huacai, he was the only official in the central departments of the empire who was neither brought from the Western Xinjiang with Wufeng nor retained by the original Tang River Empire, he was originally just a senior scholar at the Imperial University, and was quite accomplished in agriculture and water conservancy.

"The Great Lakes area is a thousand miles in circumference, rich in water sources, very good hydrothermal conditions, half of the forest cover, extremely rich in timber resources, and the rest is a savannah area, if it can be reclaimed, it will definitely become fertile land, and according to the climate and environmental conditions of this area, gum trees, cocoa, palms, Sugarcane should be widely cultivated and irrigated well, but now the basic conditions in this area are poor, from Mountbatten to Lake Tanganyika, from Assab to Lake Malawi, now there are only some small roads that we have explored ourselves, and the logistics are very difficult, so the construction of the colony has been stagnant, and there are still a large number of indigenous blacks in the forest, most of them live by fishing, hunting and collecting plant fruits and seeds。 Because this area is located in the inland hinterland of the New World, whether it is the Leeds Kingdom or the Famini Empire and the Baroz Kingdom, their influence has not yet extended here, they are more focused on the coastal areas of the mainland, and our empire is only the expedition itself is exploring and mapping along the Great Lake, but according to my judgment, if we let it go, within ten years, the footsteps of the Leeds and Famini will set foot here, and it will be quite difficult for the empire to monopolize this fertile area at that time. Ling Tianfang licked his lips, obviously yearning for the fertility of the Great Lakes region, it was simply a crime that such a large piece of fertile land was left unattended.

Ling Tianfang's description made many people in the hall couldn't help but swallow a mouthful of saliva, fertile land is the best wealth for everyone, as long as there are people who can produce it, without any care, although it is far less profitable than the industrial and commercial industry, but it is the most stable income, which is also the reason why many imperial gentry and nobles still like to buy a large amount of land as a means of investment even if they have made a fortune in the industrial and commercial industry.

"Well, what are your plans for that day?" Wu Feng didn't give Xiao Tang and Su Qin a chance, and asked directly.

"Chen's idea is very simple, control this land in the shortest possible time, let the empire become the rightful owner here, and when the Leeds and others come here, this is already the actual control area of the empire, and they can only watch us, just like we can only watch them control the north and west of the new continent now, this is called preconceived. Ling Tianfang's words were crisp and neat.

"Lord Ling, are you thinking about the problem too simply, how much does the empire need to invest to control this area? Army, immigration, infrastructure, the opening of shipping routes, logistics support, you should know that the current recognition of international diplomacy is not that you send two teams of soldiers to build a few sentry posts, put up a few grass signs to prove that this land belongs to you, you want the other party to admit that this is your actual control area, then you have to prove to them that the inhabitants of this land are subject to your rule, and that the political axe is indeed implementing effective administration, I think we all need to understand this. Su Qin really couldn't hold back, although he was also very tempted by the prospect outlined by Ling Tianfang, but it was too unrealistic to hear that the other party could turn a huge piece of land into an empire-controlled area and let the powerhouses of the Western Continent admit it.

"Of course I know that the investment in this is certainly not small, and the difficulties are also great, but I think that it is a land worthy of our efforts, no matter how much we invest, it will produce ten times or even a hundred times the output, I know this better than anyone else!" In the face of the ridicule of his colleagues in the Government Council, Ling Tianfang was-for-tat and showed no mercy.

Choked by the other party's tough posture and speechless for a while, Su Qin realized for the first time that this No. 1 person in the Privy Council, who was usually not very open-minded, was not badly eloquent, but everyone was used to his silence and conciseness, and once it broke out at this time, everyone was immediately impressed.

With a dry cough, Wu Feng had to interrupt the quarrel that was about to break out, he didn't want to see this scene, he wanted everything to go according to the process he led, "Tianfang, so far, have you figured out the outline of the entire New World? How big is this continent, how many islands are around it, especially in the eastern and southern regions, do the natives who live in the New World know?

"Unfortunately, Your Majesty, our navy is also quite limited and has not been able to do this, the natives of the New World know nothing about it, their civilization is still in the primitive, but fortunately the Leeds and Barozians have not done it either, but we and they are still actively working on it. We have to be aware of our strengths and weaknesses, the advantage is that we control the whole eastern part of the New World, and the other countries are not able to intervene for the time being, and the disadvantage is that our power in the north and west is quite weak, and because we control the vast eastern region, the other countries are somewhat hostile to the Empire. ”

"We have established two small colonies on the western coast of the New World, all within a radius of thirty miles, which have been approved by the Leeds, the de facto controllers of this area, through diplomatic representations, and these two small colonies are two hundred and forty nautical miles apart, but all around them belong to the Leeds sphere of influence, and we hope that by establishing these two colonies, we will be able to complete the circumnavigation of the New World first in line with the work we are now trying to explore south along the east coast of the New World. Now that the naval power of the Leeds, Barozzians, and Famini in the New World was increasing, the Ministers felt that this had seriously endangered the interests of the Empire in the New World, and therefore asked His Majesty to agree to form a Latin Ocean Fleet to defend the Empire's rights and interests in the New World. Ling Tianfang glanced at Su and Qin, who were dumbfounded, and said in a righteous and stern manner.

(To be continued)