"How is that possible?" Jillins laughed: "Britain's hegemony was initially based on control of the ocean. We are an island country and we do not need to pay taxes to build a huge army. Therefore, we can defeat the enemies on the sea, gain hegemony, and conquer large areas of colonies. By controlling trade with the colonies, Great Britain became richer and stronger, and London became the center of the world. But now the situation has changed, and steel is the foundation of everything. With steel, there can be more merchant ships and warships, and coal and iron are everywhere. Railways will also reduce the importance of sea transportation. If the situation does not change, Great Britain will lose its hegemony one day, and naturally London is no longer the center of the world."

"Is that so? That's a bit regrettable!" Chen Zaixing replied absent-mindedly: "By the way, you just said there is a very interesting project, now you can talk about it!"

"Of course!" Jillins smiled: "But I want to ask you a question first, do you know why the Royal Navy can control the ocean?"

"Why?" Chen Zaixing was slightly stunned. He didn't know how to answer for a moment. In his more than 30 years of life, the British Empire had always controlled the ocean, and the Royal Navy had always been the master of the ocean. Great Britain was so powerful in the ocean that most people in the world even forgot how to challenge it.

"You have more warships and better equipment!"

"No, no, not just this!"

"Have your sailors been better trained?"

"Yes, but that's not enough, the French and Russians are also very strict in their sailor training!"

"You have enough bases all over the world?" Chen Zaixing asked with a tentative intention.

"Very right. In the age of sails, a large number of bases can repair damaged ships in the fleet, allowing sailors to get fresh food and fresh water, have a place to shelter when encountering bad weather, and hide in the base to avoid fighting when encountering superior enemies. It is even more important now. Without coal-gasing stations all over the world, enemies on the European continent of the British Empire could not attack imperial colonies all over the world. The reason is very simple. Once the war breaks out, their ocean-going attack fleets will not find a place to add coal, except for a few neutral ports. This is very deadly for a weak fleet, but all this is changing."

"Change?" Chen Zaixing was stunned and asked immediately: "Does this change have anything to do with what you are going to say?"

"Of course, this is the key!" Gillins' face showed a proud glow: "A revolution is about to rise in the Royal Navy, and people are about to drive warships with fuel instead of coal. Now warships are equipped with thicker armor and larger artillery, which makes them bigger and faster, and they need to run faster. This requires a more horsepower engine. On this issue, the advantages of liquid fuel are immeasurable. First of all, the speed. On the same ship, the speed given by oil is much greater than that of coal, and can greatly improve the

High acceleration process. It increases the fleet's radius of activity by 40% compared to the use of coal of the same weight. It makes the fleet extremely convenient to refuel at sea. A fleet of fuel, if necessary, can be arranged at sea in a stormless weather, without spending a quarter of its force to continuously sail into the harbor and refuel fuel on its journey back and out. The hardship of refueling coal for warships exhausts the energy of sailors on board. In wartime, refueling coal takes away their short rest time; it makes everyone extremely uncomfortable. Using oil,

Several pipes are connected to the shore or to the tanker. The warships suck fuel almost without a single finger. The number of furnace workers required to take care of and clean the oil furnace is less than half of the time when coal is burned. Fuel can be stored in places where warships are idle, and coal cannot be taken from those places. As coal-fired ships continue to consume coal, more and more manpower must be used. If necessary, soldiers on the turret must also be called to transport coal from inconvenient coal compartments in the distance to coal compartments close to the boiler, or to send coal into the boiler. Therefore, perhaps the most important thing in the battle

The battle efficiency of warships was weakened at the critical moment. For example, there were nearly 100 soldiers on the "Warrior Good" who were constantly engaged in shoveling coal from one steel cabin to another, without even seeing the light of daytime or fire. Using oil could allow various types of warships to obtain greater firepower and faster speeds with smaller ships or smaller expenses. Fuel alone could achieve high speeds for certain types of warships, which were crucial to their tactical purpose. All of these advantages were simply obtained from the fuel under the boiler instead of coal."

Chen Zaixing finally grabbed a gap in Jilins' endless speech and whispered: "Mr. Jilins, do you mean that all warships will be replaced with fuel in the future?"

"Yes, don't you understand yet. In the near future, oil fuel will become the blood of the navy. If there is not enough fuel, once the war breaks out, even if you have a successful battleship, you can only stay in the military port and rust. Don't you understand yet? Chen, the Ren'anqiang you control is the easiest oil field to exploit in the entire Southeast Asia region. As long as you can firmly control it, you can make a fortune!"

"Thank you for your reminder!" Chen Zaixing looked at Jilins cunningly. The endless speech just now made Jilins feel a little excited. He sorted out his loose bow tie and said, "This is the purpose of my visit this time. Chen, you now have a goose that can lay golden eggs. Protect it well so that it will not be stolen."

"Gillins, I'm curious why you told me this? Why don't you propose to buy part of the ownership of the oil field first? That way you can get considerable benefits from it."

"The reason is very simple, because you are not a person who is so easy to be coaxed. If I make this request, you will definitely guess the value of the oil field. What I just said is not difficult to find out." Jilins happily admitted his thoughts: "Chen, but I still recommend that you sell a small amount of shares in the Ren'anqiang Oilfield to Mr. Belfort's family business. Whether it is exploration or refining oil, it requires considerable equipment. You cannot do without Mr. Belfort's support. More importantly, cooperation with him will have long-term benefits for you."

Chen Zaixing thought for a moment and nodded. What else can be a more stable covenant than exchange of interests? In a sense, even in order to avoid the invasion of the British, he should look for a strong friend in the lower house. Compared to these, it is very cost-effective to pay a little share in the oil field.

"Gillins, you can tell Mr. Belfort that I will be happy to sell him the development rights of 50% of the two oil fields near Ren'anqiang for £5,000."

"Chan, you won't regret your decision!" Jillins said with a meaningful smile: "Soon, it won't take long to get a generous reward."

"What do you mean?"

"Don't you know? A large-scale war is about to break out between the Shun Empire and the Russian Empire. It's only a matter of time. What else can be better for money than war? Every drop of blood from the soldiers can turn black iron into gold!"

Chen Zaixing didn't say anything. Jilins' words touched somewhere deep in his heart. Jilins smiled and took a sip of coffee: "Chen, I have a small proposal. As far as I know, a factory in Mumbai has gone bankrupt and is waiting for liquidation. This factory can produce cotton and gauze. If you can help me open up the channels for the Chinese army, I can give you 15% of the shares."

"Fifteen percent of the shares?" Chen Zaixing laughed: "This is not possible. I also have a proposal to build a factory in Shanghai that produces degreased cotton, gauze and other supplies. The land and factory buildings are distributed by Shunhua Company, and the equipment, technicians and funds are distributed by you. I own 45 percent of the shares. What do you think?"

"Forty-five percent? That's a little too much, right?"

"Will I compensate you with a thousand pounds. As the cost of shipping the required equipment to Shanghai, the equity will be changed to 40%. How about it?"

"Okay!" Jillins thought for a moment and stretched out his right hand: "The deal has been completed, who told us that we are good friends for many years?"

In October 1894, Khabarovsk. This city named after the famous Russian adventurer, explorer and invader Khabarov was located on the east coast of the intersection of the Ussuri River and Heilongjiang River. The terrain was very important. It was around Khabarovsk, with a large number of military immigrants, weapons factories, mining areas, warehouses, and Amur Cossack cavalry and Far East garrison teams. It is the central city of the entire Far East of Russia and the location of the Governor's Office of the Border Region.

Governor's Office.

"His Admiral, I once again sincerely request you to speed up the construction of fortifications in Vladivostok and strengthen the possible sudden attacks on sea and on land!" Major General Kopetov, the commander of the garrison in Vladivostok, tried his best to suppress his excitement and loudly reported to Admiral Yevgeni Ivanovic Alexeyev, the supervisor of the Far East, who was sitting in a ring chair, that this person was already a little bloated and had a majestic beard.

The middle-aged man was the illegitimate son of Alexander II, the uncle of the current Tsar Nicholas II. He had great power in the palace and was deeply trusted by the current Tsar Nicholas II. In civil affairs, his power as the supreme civil affairs chief, and military commander of the border military region, commander of the Pacific Fleet and commander of the port. In a simple sentence, Admiral Yevgeni Ivanovic Alexeyev was the uncrowned king of the Far East of the Russian Empire.
Chapter completed!