Although he is wearing light casual clothes, the strong aura exuding from the strong man standing in front of the window still makes people clearly aware that this man is more like a soldier, with bronze skin, white teeth, and slightly raised eyebrows. With his curly mustache and a sun-shading knight's rolled-up straw hat, he looks more like those wandering knights from the southern region of the Western Continent. However, Huo Congrong is a real Imperial Navy officer, but the job he is currently engaged in To a large extent, he has little connection with the authentic naval military affairs. As an officer of the Marine Corps, he assumed the task of being the highest commander of the Navy stationed in Sabana. A group of Marine Corps took on the responsibility of the entire Sabana. The defense and other tasks in the Bana area. In fact, the policy adopted by the imperial government in this area is more to support the exploration of private forces without too much intervention. "In the Protected Area", he is the highest military and political officer representing the empire.
The man sitting opposite Huo Congrong looked even more wild and uninhibited. He was wrapped in a fitted jungle adventure suit, with his legs crossed on the coffee table in front of him, and a pair of high-top breathable leather boots with shoelaces on them. A semi-loose, thick and thick belt is tied around the waist, and an extended dagger produced in Burma County hangs diagonally on the waist. Bundled with the belt is a bulging waist bag. I don’t know what the bulging bag contains. The same rolled-brimmed straw hat was placed beside the seat, and a sharp Kanshan knife was leaning on the side.
Next to this wild man was a middle-aged man holding a pipe in his mouth. The brown eyes in his deep-set eyes seemed to be of Caucasian origin. Some of his old sailor jackets were washed white and his lower body was tight. waterproof pants, looking more like a downcast boatswain.
"Master Huo, my expedition team has gone 160 kilometers westward and finally found the legendary Lake Tanganyika. It is said to be the largest freshwater lake discovered in this area so far. We looked at , the lake is endless as far as the eye can see, and the waterfall is something I have never seen before, but the dry season is coming to an end, and our team dare not go further in, so we can have a good time and relax again. The map has been drawn, Mr. Huo, this But my men have spent more than three months of energy. Hehe, what's the matter, what price do you think we can offer?" The wild man turned the string of beads made of crocodile teeth in his hand while smiling. asked.
"Hmph, Zhou Laoer, what energy have you spent? You are not responsible for reconnaissance and mapping for the empire. Do you think I don't know what job you have taken on this time? Your map is of little use to our navy. , is that Lake Tankanyika? I've always been confused? Is Lake Tankanyika only 160 kilometers away from Sabana? Can you find Lake Tankanyika within 200 kilometers? What a joke!" Huo Cong Rong sat down and arrived lukewarmly.
"Hehe, Mr. Huo, you can't say that. You don't care what job I took, but my people always found this road. I don't know if it is Lake Tanganyika, but after all, we One hundred and sixty kilometers westward, no one can do this this year, right? As for our map, although it is a bit rough, we dare not compare it with your professional surveying and mapping personnel. But with our map, you The professional surveying and mapping personnel no longer need to fumble around like blind men. They can just follow the path we have discovered. After all, it can help you a lot, right?" The man surnamed Zhou replied with a playful smile.
"Humph, one hundred and sixty kilometers, I'm afraid it's only one hundred and thirty kilometers. Do you still need to draw a map of the terrain within these thirty kilometers?" Huo Congrong retorted unceremoniously: "Zhou Laoer, I have to I remind you, don’t do anything too outrageous. Although the legal effect of the empire is not yet here, you can’t sleep well with too many debts on your back.”
"Haha, Mr. Huo, you are a soldier and I am a mercenary. Our paths are different and we naturally have different views. The life debts that fall into my hands are hundreds of lives. Aren't I living a good life? Drinking from a big bowl , eat meat in large quantities, what we eat is this bowl of rice with blood licked from the edge of the knife. I'm afraid these natives are lucky to fall into my hands. If they meet Lu Papi, Ma Erbangzi and the others, 70% of them will survive. When we landed, we were already reciting Amitabha." The man surnamed Zhou grinned and said, "But you really misunderstood me this time. I didn't work in the same way as before. Last time Didn’t I accept your teachings? We must try our best to become civilized people now, right? The more than a hundred slaves this time were not captured by me, but the prisoners I exchanged for things. Those in the west Aren’t the several tribes fighting hard during this time? I just got bolder and bought some on the spot.”
According to the laws prevailing in all countries, hunting slaves within a radius of ten kilometers declared as a colonial point is considered illegal, and Sabana is no exception. However, outside ten kilometers, whether it is hunting slaves or purchasing prisoners of war from indigenous tribes, , are no longer restricted, so both slave traders and mercenaries use colonial points as strongholds, but most of the actual slave hunting and slave trading activities are carried out within the territories of various indigenous tribes.
Huo Congrong also knew that his words did not have much binding force on these mercenaries and businessmen who only focused on gold coins. They would not violate the customary laws of the New World. Ten kilometers was nothing to them. There are many mercenaries here who can help you complete the escort work. These slaves can be transported to Sabana in a day or two. As long as they enter Sabana, these slaves will be legalized and become the legal property of the merchants. Although Huo Congrong was very disgusted with this, the slave trade was still legal even in the empire, and the power of slave merchants was still very large. Several proposals on the abolition of the slave trade in the Senate and the People's Chamber ended in vain. Not to mention the colonies in the New World.
"Okay, I don't want to talk to you about this issue anymore. Let's talk about it. How much does your map cost?" Huo Congrong frowned. Although the lake he found was not Lake Tanganyika, according to his men The news that came out in the bar is that the area is indeed very large, and there is a narrow waterway extending to the southwest hinterland. According to the rumors of the indigenous people here, Lake Tanganyika does seem to be connected to many surrounding lakes by waterways, no I don’t know if the lake they discovered is the lake around Lake Tanganyika. If so, then this discovery is really valuable. The surveying and mapping team only needs to follow the waterway and maybe they can find the legendary Tankanyika. Lake Kakar.
For this new continent, neither the countries nor the empire of the Western Continent have a clear geographical concept. How big is this continent, what is its shape, how many people live on this continent, and what is the terrain of each part? , no country can figure it out, and most countries are still limited to understanding within 30 kilometers of the colonial points they can control. Even when the Tang Empire paid so much attention to it, it could barely achieve it. To understand surveying and mapping within fifty kilometers of the stronghold, beyond fifty kilometers, we rely more on non-standard hand-drawn maps and memories from various expedition teams.
There are many reasons that restrict the expansion of the empire to the west and south. This has led to the slow advancement of the empire's power in the New World. It is especially difficult to go west deep into the interior. The complex and harsh natural environment is prohibitive. In addition to the hostility and threats of the indigenous residents, In addition, mosquitoes, beasts and various diseases are huge enemies. Although the empire has also established some small supply points along the southern coastline, it is still difficult to expand these small supply points into colonial points. It lacks proactive support from the private sector and only relies on the official and semi-official power of the empire. To maintain, this kind of colony will be difficult to maintain for a long time. Therefore, the empire has always hoped to develop by attracting immigrants and traders to these colonial points, and at the same time, it adopts some peaceful methods to attract local indigenous tribes to gradually naturalize into the imperial civilization system. When the number of people in the colonial points reaches a certain level, it will gradually provide supplies to those points. Diffusion, a method of penetration that may be gentler but more powerful.
This idea is good, but it also encounters some difficulties. Slave traders and mercenaries all hope to use some drastic and illegal methods to make more huge profits. This may make it difficult for the empire to gain the trust of the indigenous people on this issue. , so at this point the empire has been considering other means to restrain the behavior of these slave traders and mercenaries. However, half of the legitimate merchants are unwilling to open up business land in these supply points first because of the limited population and long distances. This also limits the population growth rate of these supply points to some extent.
"Well, Mr. Huo, let's settle the deal at a fixed price of five thousand gold coins. To be honest, this map can be regarded as one of our more successful ones. We have marked the situation one kilometer along the line. Of course, it is some important topography and landforms. , with this map, I believe you can easily find the lake." When the man surnamed Zhou heard that Huo Congrong finally spoke, his eyes lit up and he quickly asked for a price.
Although five thousand gold coins is not a sky-high asking price, it is still a bit too high for Huo Conrong, especially since this guy is just an accessory for their slave trade with the interior, but think about what if this time I am afraid that these guys will be more interested next time. For me now, it is a dream to have some capable people to help me complete the work that I should have done.