Cutting over the end of the Ming Dynasty: a dog-leg knife at the beginning

Chapter 739 Brave New World 4
Yao Chonggu did not tell the Dutch about the discovery of high-quality iron ore. It would be good if a gold ingot fell from the sky and hit him on his head. A businessman can't be too real.After staying in this area for a few days and replenishing a lot of fresh meat and fruits, the expedition fleet set sail and headed towards the unknown world under the guidance of a group of indigenous guides.

It was the first time for the natives to take such a big ship, and they were all very excited. They were confused by the Chinese, and the Europeans enthusiastically pointed out the way when they listened to the headache language. As for where they would lead the fleet, it was just Only the devil knows.When they got to the sea, everyone discovered that these aborigines were not as isolated as they imagined. They seemed to be very familiar with the sea situation, where there was delicious seafood, where the waterways were wide open, and where the sea area was extremely dangerous, they were all familiar with it. However, they proudly declared that their ancestors sailed around the whole of Australia in independent boats very early, long ago, and some tribes also crossed the sea and immigrated to islands such as New Zealand and New Guinea, where colonial!After finally figuring out what they meant, everyone couldn’t help admiring these aborigines: they didn’t even have a single chart, traveled around Australia in a canoe, and even crossed the sea to colonize islands hundreds of kilometers away. amazing!

It seems unbelievable, but when passing through some sea areas, I did see many aboriginal people driving canoes to fish and even hunt seals at sea.Seeing those skinny guys leaning out of the boat with half their bodies out of the boat, holding up stone spears and throwing at the seals, Yao Chonggu sweated for them... These canoes are so thin, and the seals are so light. Knock it over with just a swipe!In order to eat delicious seal meat, these guys are really desperate!He himself saw with his own eyes that three canoes were overturned by waves or by seals. It was too dangerous. However, for thousands of years, Australian coastal aborigines have been relying on these simple tools for fishing and hunting to survive. For them, this is life and they are used to it.

The arrival of the expedition fleet caused a sensation. The natives stared dumbfounded at these huge and beautiful sailing ships, and were too shocked to speak... Not to mention them, even their grandpa's grandpa's had never seen such a huge and beautiful sailboat. Beautiful, big boat that goes so fast.The expedition fleet let the native guides act as intermediaries to build relationships with them. No matter what happens in the future, there is nothing wrong with making more friends first.Of course, they didn't have such white sugar, refined salt, and flour, and there were too many indigenous people holding coconuts and seafood to ask for exchange, and they couldn't handle it.Fortunately, Yao Chonggu had collected as much as a thousand catties of iron ore samples these days. Seeing that the situation was not good, he asked people to take out some relatively small ore as a gift.He fully expected that the iron ore would be very popular—the iron ore was ground into a spearhead, which was much more powerful and durable than other stone spears.Unexpectedly, however, the natives showed no interest in these stones and kept shaking their heads. The guide explained with gestures: "This kind of stone is too hard to be broken, ground or processed! "

Now Yao Chonggu finally knows the reason why Australia is still in the stone age while guarding the iron mine with the highest quality in the world... In the eyes of these aborigines, these iron ores are a pile of useless stones, and no one has ever studied them How to develop and use it!Yao Chonggu said that he was powerless to complain about this. God is really fair enough to put the world's best iron ore and the oldest ethnic group in this land, so that they can live in peace!He had no choice but to let the fleet dock and set fire to a forest. He collected a lot of charcoal in this way, and the blacksmiths on board lit a charcoal fire and threw some iron ore into the fire.After the ore was burnt red, they tore out the ore, picked up the hammer and repeatedly folded and calcined it, in this way the impurities in the ore were separated out.After two or three days of tinkling forging, the ore was forcibly beaten into sharp and unusually sharp iron spearheads, and then these spearheads were presented to the indigenous people as gifts.After witnessing the terrifying lethality of the iron spear, the aborigines fell into a collective madness, and they flocked to take all the most precious things in their tribe, and wanted to exchange for a few more iron spears.There was a Maori chief who was the best. He brought eight charming Maori girls, pushed them in front of Yao Chonggu, and said with gestures: "They, change two spears! I want..." The one in his hand was already broken. The iron spear, determined to be a family heirloom, knocked loudly, "This one! No wood, no stone!"

Eight girls in exchange for two iron spears... Who said that human trafficking is huge profits?It's obviously a loss to grandma's house, okay!

Yao Chonggu also asked craftsmen to make a short knife for him. He used this short knife to chop some hard objects, and it broke without a sound.He exclaimed: "The purity of these iron ores is really too high. It is obviously a piece of unscreened ore. Once it is forged, it becomes a knife. You can't see any impurities! I really can't imagine it. What kind of steel will be smelted when the steelmaking blast furnace is moved here!"

Huang Dong said: "If the steel-making blast furnace is really moved here, the precious knife that cuts iron like mud will no longer be worth any money!" Touching the bayonet pinned to his waist, he added: "But then again, there is no need to wait The blast furnace for steelmaking has been moved here, and now the precious sword that cuts iron like mud is worthless!"

This is the truth. The great development of Wuyang Iron Mine has flooded the market with high-quality steel products. Even an ordinary farmer can own farm tools and kitchen knives made of steel. The gimmick of "cutting iron like mud" really can't fool people. up.

With the deepening of exploration, the expedition team discovered several large open-pit iron mines.Just like the first iron ore, the ore of these iron ores is simply a piece of natural iron. It does not need to be sieved, and it can be turned into a metal weapon or tool after being forged several times... Of course, the quality is incomparable with the steel smelted at high temperature , but for Australian aborigines, this is already a magical weapon.A metallurgist in the expedition team exclaimed: "I have dealt with iron ore all my life, and this is the first time I have seen such a good iron ore! If anyone dared to tell me that iron ore can be directly made into weapons, I would I will definitely spray him in the face, but now, I can't believe it!"

————As we all know, China's iron ore is almost the worst in the world, most of which are lean ore and associated ore, not to mention, the sulfur content is extremely high!The world's best iron ore is distributed in Brazil, India and Australia, and China's carefully screened ore is not as good as their ore.Indian iron ore was developed very early, and flowed into the Middle East, where it was forged into the famous full-moon scimitar. In the Middle Ages, many Europeans were chopped off by Arab warriors wielding Damascus scimitars. It was India The excellent iron ore made the Damascus scimitar famous, which made the Europeans turn pale when they talked about it.However, the iron mines in Australia and Brazil have not yet been developed, and these two places are still in the Stone Age. Before the arrival of European colonists, they had never seen tools and weapons made of steel.

Then the aborigines in Australia and South America were almost wiped out... You will be beaten if you lag behind, that's right.

In addition to iron ore, there are some more exciting discoveries.After arriving in the eastern part of Australia, Yao Chonggu discovered that this area is flat, fertile, and rich in water resources. It is a good place for farming.Looking at the endless plain, everyone cheered loudly.In the eyes of the Chinese, the land that can be cultivated is the most precious. They have suffered so much all the way, just to find a piece of land suitable for cultivation!If the land cannot grow crops, then it will be difficult for them to gain a foothold in Australia!
When I went ashore to investigate, I found some open-pit coal seedlings, and the ore prospector said excitedly: "This piece of land must have very rich coal resources, there is no doubt about it, the problem now is how to find them! "

Yao Chonggu laughed heartily: "Okay, great! Land suitable for farming, rich coal and iron resources, everything we need is here. As long as there are enough manpower, it will not be a problem to establish a country here!" "

Australia’s animals are also an eye-opener for everyone.Kangaroos are no longer a rare thing. When everyone sees kangaroos in groups, their first reaction is that the meat looks like it has been soaked in urine, which makes them feel a little nauseous.However, the thylacine with weird striped fur, the koala that hangs on the eucalyptus tree all day long and slowly eats young leaves, and the bandicoot with a pair of huge rabbit ears that looks like a mouse, all surprised the expedition team. It was quite a surprise and an eye-opener.Someone went to the river to get water and found a group of furry little beasts with duckbills looking at him innocently. They were so frightened that they screamed and ran away... This frightened man was lucky enough to become The first Asian to discover the platypus.

Everyone also found that Australian animals, apart from the evolution of a pouch for a single disagreement, are docile and easy to bully... For example, the thylacine is very thin, and it is very mature to be able to beat hunting dogs in China. question.There are also koalas, who hang themselves on the tree all day long, and are not afraid of seeing someone approaching. They just stare at the visitor with wide-eyed eyes full of curiosity. They are so cute.More than one expedition member wanted to take two back, but the indigenous people said that this koala only eats eucalyptus leaves and will never leave the eucalyptus in its life, and it will die if it leaves the eucalyptus. Under their dissuasion, the expedition team gave up. After realizing this idea, I just hugged or put the koala on my shoulders, and asked someone with great painting skills to help draw it as a souvenir.

The Dutch are also very interested in these animals, and the expression of their interest is to hunt and kill them in every possible way, and then make specimens of the corpses and bring them back, even the cute koalas are no exception.This barbaric behavior made the Chinese expedition team very angry. A quarrel broke out between the two sides. The Dutch said that they wanted to take these specimens back for research. It was all for science. The Chinese team said that if you want to study, you can stay in Australia and study slowly. , why must kill them?No one could convince anyone, and the relationship suddenly became tense.This is also caused by the differences in traditional concepts between China and Europe. In the Chinese concept, the dead are the most important. For things you like, even if it is a cat or a dog, you should retire to the end of life, let it rest in the ground, and put the corpse Stuffed is unbearable, even eaten is better than this.After the European Renaissance, the atmosphere of scientific research became stronger and stronger, and the unknown world was eagerly explored. It is a common practice to make specimens of novel species and bring them back to the native land. Will make a fortune.The conflict of ideas makes both parties think that the other is unreasonable, and the quarrel is extremely fierce.

In the end, the Dutch sailors stopped hunting animals for taxidermy, but the relationship between the two parties had cracked.

This is a matter of time. After seeing the abundance of the Australian continent, it is impossible for the Dutch to have strange thoughts, but no one thought that the seeds of disharmony would start to germinate so early.

(End of this chapter)