Chapter 1397: The Great King's Sister-in-Law (Please Subscribe)

This is a rich and fertile land!

Any explorer who set foot on the southeastern coast of the Southern Continent would probably reach the same conclusion within a few days!

After landing at the mouth of a great river that flowed from east to west into the Indian Ocean, Major General Blake, Chief Merchant Worcester, and Chiliarch Yang Yandi quickly reached a consensus — they had not only discovered the western coast of the Southern Continent, but also a land of considerable richness.

The land here was very flat and open, covered with abundant vegetation, with large expanses of lush green grassland and dense forests.

In addition, they had discovered many animals that could only be called marvelous.

One of these was the large black bird they had occasionally spotted at sea that day. Their shape somewhat resembled swans, but no one in any other part of the world had ever seen black swans... and who knew whether they might be poisonous?

There was also a strange animal with short forelimbs, thick powerful hind legs, and a long, thick, heavy tail — the strangeness of this animal lay not in its limbs or tail, but in the fact that a pouch had been discovered on the upper belly of one of the hunted "exotic beasts."

This was truly bizarre. Why would this exotic beast have a pouch? What was it for carrying? Was it for carrying snacks? How about we just call it the "snack monster" for now?

Yang Yandi, Worcester, and Blake also gathered around the carcass of a hunted "snack monster" and studied it for quite a while, finally reaching a conclusion — it had to be stewed until thoroughly tender, with extra spices added, before it would taste good...

In the officers' mess of the Oliver Cromwell, a black swan roasted to a gleaming shine and "snack monster" meat that had been stewed for several hours had already been set on the table.

Of course, before any person ate it, the ship's cat had been arranged to taste-test it first. The cat was still alive and well, showing no abnormalities, so it seemed safe to eat.

Yang Yandi and the Great Ming naval officers under his command were not on board; they had taken their weapons and a company of Annamese mercenaries and were rowing east along the Swan River to search for local people with whom they could trade.

Since the Chinese officers were gone, Blake, Worcester, and the other English officers on the exploration fleet could now speak freely and properly discuss how to make a fortune on the Southern Continent, and by the way give the Great Ming a good stirring-up... They had to stir the Southern Continent into a piece of territory that would give the Great Ming a headache! Otherwise, how could they live up to England's nickname as the world's shit-stirrer?

"It seems this Southern Continent is the new world God has reserved for the people of the East!" Major General Blake remarked in a tone of regret as he cut into a large, juice-dripping chunk of "snack monster" meat with his knife and fork. "Open, fertile, abundant in food, comfortable in climate... very suitable for developing agriculture, and probably without any strong native peoples. Perhaps even better than New England!"

As a rear admiral of an old colonial power, Blake naturally had a good eye for colonies.

Just a cursory glance was enough for him to grasp the general picture.

Flat land, rich vegetation, suitable climate, and a river system nearby — on the surface, this land was especially suited to farming or grazing.

And since no traces of civilized human activity had been found near the mouth of the Swan River, this area was unclaimed wilderness, at least with no settled humans who had mastered farming or herding techniques.

This meant that the southwestern part of the Southern Continent was very easy land to conquer!

"It is indeed a fine place, just not easy to reach." Worcester added, "If one sailed directly south from Java to get here, it should be against the wind the whole way. Otherwise civilized people would have crossed the sea long ago."

"But taking the Indian Ocean route isn't too difficult either," Blake said thoughtfully. "A migrant fleet could depart from Java, make a loop through the south-central Indian Ocean, and arrive in at most two months... There's no need to use our soft-sailed ships either; the Chinese Pacific hard-sailed ships would do."

"Perhaps we could transport some Indians or black slaves over." an English officer suggested. "And send some settlers from the homeland as well. That way we could turn this place into an English colony!"

Blake glanced at Worcester. The East India Company chief merchant considered for a moment, then shook his head and said: "General, the capabilities of our East India Company are limited. We cannot handle everything... Normally, we are only responsible for establishing colonial and commercial outposts, opening shipping routes, recruiting settlers, contracting out land and mines, and at most operating a few workshops and shipyards ourselves."

He paused, then continued: "Based on what we currently know, the most valuable asset of the Southern Continent should be its land suitable for farming.

And the only way to make the land of the Southern Continent yield profit is to contract out, lease, or sell the land to private farm owners. As for what kind of people are used to work it, that should be decided by the farm owners."

Indeed, one couldn't just think about stirring shit — one also had to think about profit! Otherwise, if the company went bankrupt, how could the shit-stirring be sustained?

And to be profitable, the East India Company had to consider operating costs and management capacity. So it couldn't spread itself too thin and do everything itself. That would mean too much investment and too much difficulty in management.

Worcester continued: "Moreover, judging by the land and climate here, it is not suitable for using black slave labor. This is a good place for growing wheat and raising sheep... We could recruit some bankrupt English ranchers to come raise sheep, but the numbers would ultimately be limited, since the Southern Continent is too far from England itself.

As for Indians... perhaps some merchants and artisans would come, but attracting Indian farmers over would be more troublesome."

In the 17th century, black slaves were typically used on sugarcane plantations and other plantations in tropical regions. The climate around the Swan River on the Southern Continent was relatively cold, not very suitable for black people to live.

And this southwestern corner of the Southern Continent lay in the middle of the south temperate zone, with vast plains and forests — at a glance, a fine place for growing wheat and raising sheep. England itself was now in the great age of sheep eating men, so finding ranchers who had gone broke raising sheep would not be hard, but England was so terribly far from the Southern Continent that large-scale migration was impossible.

"What is the trouble with Indian farmers?" Major General Blake asked.

"Caste," said Worcester, who had once served in India. "It is an extremely complex system that ties a person's bloodline to their occupation... People of a certain caste may only engage in certain specific occupations. Moreover, marriages between castes of different ranks are subject to very strict regulations. Unless we can move an entire community pieced together from various castes over here and establish a Hindu society on the Southern Continent, it will be very difficult for us to attract large numbers of Indian immigrants."

In fact, the most suitable immigrants to attract to the Southern Continent are still the Chinese!"

"The Chinese again? Why?" Blake asked with a frown.

Worcester said: "Because their social hierarchy is not rigidly defined... There are no layers upon layers of feudal lords controlling the peasants at the bottom, so peasants can move freely. Moreover, beginning more than twenty years ago, the countryside in most of China's provinces underwent a reform of great significance, which made it possible for land to be bought and sold relatively freely.

Therefore, China's countryside, like the countryside of England and Holland, contains large numbers of farms operated on a commercial model... And of course, there are also large numbers of bankrupt farm owners who understand something of management, some of whom still have a bit of capital and can share some of the costs of developing a colony."

Blake's frown deepened. "Are we to just stand by and watch the son of the Chinese Emperor come to the Southern Continent and become a ready-made king?"

Worcester glanced at Blake, the fervent Puritan and republican, and thought for a moment before saying: "General, if we wish to use the Southern Continent colony established by the East India Company to struggle against the Chinese Emperor, the best method is still to open schools and spread the ideas of Puritanism and republicanism!

In fact, within the Chinese people's own political philosophy, there is also republican thought. The Chinese Book of Rites once said: 'When the Great Way prevails, the world is held in common; choose the worthy and capable, speak truth and cultivate harmony...'"