The Rise of the European Emperor

It is not difficult to go to Perth to raise sheep. As long as dozens of honest shepherds are sent, they can easily graze in Perth's Swan River Basin. Moreover, sheep reproduce very quickly.

According to a piece of news that Marin read in his previous life, it was a pity that the fishermen of the Colon Islands (Galapagos Islands) in Ecuador saw that the dry Colon Islands, which were not suitable for agriculture, were so empty, so they released them on the island. 3 sheep. Then, it doesn't matter much.

Unexpectedly, the reproduction speed of these sheep is too scary. 14 years later, the three sheep gave birth to sheep, and the sheep gave birth to sheep...the number has grown to more than 30,000...

Later, the number of sheep grew to 250,000, which almost ate up the grass on the arid Galapagos Islands, causing the original "aboriginal" Galapagos tortoises on the islands to find nothing to eat. It was almost extinct because of hunger... Then, the Ecuadorian officials had to dispatch the army urgently and killed hundreds of thousands of sheep on the island...

At that time, it was a pity for sand sculpture netizens-hundreds of thousands of sheep, how many skewers can be rolled...It's a waste to kill like this...

The reproductive ability of Merino sheep is not too strong, but the Swan River Basin in Perth is dry and warm but not short of water (after all, there is a Swan River), which is very suitable for the survival of Merino sheep. Today, the merino population in Laayoune has reached its limit. Therefore, Marin plans to start a new stove by the Swan River in Perth to breed Merino sheep.

Moreover, this does not violate the original agreement with Spain. Because Marin just vowed not to bring Merino sheep back to Europe to raise them, but he didn't say that they couldn't be brought to the colonies to raise them. As for why Spain did not emphasize this point at that time, it was because the Spanish kings tried to raise merino sheep in the American colonies at that time, but they failed. To judge others by himself, the Spanish kings did not think that Marin could successfully raise merino sheep in the American colonies, so they did not impose restrictions.

As for the Laayoune colony, the Spaniards had sent people to visit it a long time ago. It was just a small oasis, and the number of sheep that could be raised was very limited, so they didn't care.

How did they know that in the southern hemisphere, there is an arid continent called Australia, which is super suitable for raising Merino sheep, even more suitable than Spain...

What? You ask why not go to Sydney? Sydney is on the east coast of Australia, farther from the mainland of the North Sea. But Perth is different. After sending a ship around the Cape of Good Hope, drifting along the westerly wind and the strong westerly wind, the ship can quickly reach Western Australia. As for the way home, sailing eastward along the westerly wind, arriving at the southernmost tip of South America and entering the Atlantic Ocean is...

These days, sailing is entirely dependent on the wind, and it is best to follow the current. The famous westerly wind drifting in the southern hemisphere, the sailboat can sail smoothly at this latitude, and it can sail at extreme speed...

Moreover, starting from the Port of Perth and heading north along the cold current of Western Australia, you can reach the island of Java. Going north from Java Island, you can go to Guangzhou, and you can also go to Taiwan Island...

Not to mention, there is a Christmas Island between Perth and Java Island, but it is a famous source of struvite in later generations, and it is also a famous Chinese-dominated island in later generations.

In this way, Perth can not only raise sheep, but also serve as a transit port for ships going to the East. At the same time, it can also be used as a colony springboard, which can further control Christmas Island. Then, they can send troops to invade Java Island and capture some Indonesian monkeys as slaves...

In addition to raising sheep, Marin can also raise horses locally. After all, Australia is also a very suitable region for raising horses. Especially Arabian horses, which like warm and dry climates, are very suitable for the local area. After all, in the Arabian Peninsula, where the Arabian horse originated, there are too many deserts and too little vegetation, which severely limits the growth of the Arabian horse...

Moreover, Sydney, located on the eastern coast of Australia, actually has a humid subtropical climate, similar to Jiangnan, with a humid climate that is not suitable for Merino sheep. Only Perth on the west coast has a dry climate and a Mediterranean climate similar to the interior of Spain, which is most suitable for raising Merino sheep.

...

In addition, there is another unknown reason why Marin chose Perth-Perth goes up the Swan River to the east and north for about 600 kilometers,

It is the famous Kalgoorlie gold mining area in Australia!

Although the gold reserves here are not as good as those in the Rand region of South Africa, it is also a world-renowned top gold mining area. It seems that later generations of Australia have been mining for more than a hundred years, and have mined hundreds of thousands of tons of gold, which is much more than the hundreds of tons of gold reserves in China...

Of course, Marin is not in a hurry to develop the Kalgoorlie gold mine. However, there is always nothing wrong with taking it first. If Western Australia is occupied by others in advance, then it will easily lead to war if they go to grab it again. Colonization is a thing that pays attention to first move. A small country like Portugal is living a very healthy life now because it took the lead. However, Marin is still afraid to move Portugal. After all, their colonization has been recognized by the Holy See. Therefore, Marin made a special effort to change the treaty last time, clarifying the scope of Portugal's colonization. In this way, there is a chance to occupy Australia first.

Anyway, it's not a problem to put some people in Perth now, and raise some sheep and horses. If the number of merino sheep increases, it will be able to provide a large amount of high-quality wool to the wool textile industry in Beihai!

In fact, after having America, Marin didn't even bother to ask for Australia. After all, he doesn't have that many people to develop Australia. In the original history, the British also began to colonize and develop Australia after they lost their thirteen-state colonies in North America and had no place to exile criminals. As for the reason, it is not because Australia is too far away. Moreover, after entering the 19th century, because of the Industrial Revolution, the colonial goals of European countries also shifted from seizing land to competing for markets. Therefore, the Qing Dynasty, with its large population, became the main target of European countries. After all, the British colonized India before and obtained a demographic dividend, which made European countries envious.

As for remote places like Australia with few populations, no one is interested. Unless, a gold mine is discovered or something. Historically, the rise of Melbourne was due to the discovery of gold mines in Melbourne, and it was also known as the "New Gold Mountain". If it weren't for the gold rush in Melbourne, it is estimated that no one would want to go to Australia.

Similarly, Marin has little interest in Australia, which is too far away from home. However, Australia has the world-class Kalgoorlie gold mining area, as well as the world's largest silver mine in later generations-the Cannington silver mine near Mount Isa!

In this era when gold and silver can be directly used as currency, Australia's gold and silver mines are probably the main object of Marin's concern. Of course, being able to raise Merino sheep is also an advantage of Australia. In the 19th century, the British even used clipper ships to transport Australia's merino wool back to the mainland. Marin can also consider learning this, and use the flying shears to transport the Australian merino wool back to the mainland and process it into high-grade wool...

In addition to the huge value of the Kalgoorlie gold mine, the phosphate rock (struvite) on Christmas Island between Perth and Java is also of great value. In this era of expensive agricultural products, phosphate, which can greatly increase agricultural production, is definitely a high-value commodity. In fact, struvite phosphate, which contains three elements of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, is a natural compound fertilizer.

In addition, Marin also plans to let the fleet exploring the Western Australia route look for the island of Mauritius. Then, catch some dodos on the island and come back. Marin is very curious about this famous species that became extinct in the 17th century, and at the same time, he is also very curious-what does the dodo taste like?

If possible, Marin plans to send someone to catch some dodos and roast them to see how they taste. If the taste is good, it is artificially raised. If the taste is not good, then bring out a batch and disperse them on multiple islands with good conditions to avoid their extinction.

Marin hoped that the dodo would be delicious. It is said that the dodo is huge, 1 meter high, and weighs 10 to 20 kilograms, which is tens of kilograms. A dodo feeds a lot of people, if the meat is good...

Moreover, this huge, clumsy but non-aggressive creature is a very interesting creature. If it is introduced back to Europe, it can be kept in a zoo and win the smiles of tourists. And with the feeding of the zoo, there is no need to worry that this silly creature will become extinct. After all, the zoo certainly wouldn't starve them or put them in danger.

In other words, the fleet Marin sent to explore Western Australia has a heavy responsibility. In addition to looking for Perth as a place to raise merino sheep, you have to find phosphates in Christmas Island and dodos in Mauritius Island, a bunch of things to do...