Rise of Australia

Chapter 255
The time has entered May, and Australasia has also ushered in late autumn.

Because the election day is approaching, public speeches in Australasia can be seen everywhere, and even the two colonies with small populations can often see the speeches of politicians.

This is actually not surprising. In order to take care of the wishes of the colonial population, even Portuguese Timor, with a population of only 9000, has one seat in the House of Representatives, and New Guinea, with a population of less than 4, even has two seats. This is why politicians Reasons for traveling to these areas.

After all, no matter how small a mosquito is, it is still meat. Although there are only one or two seats, the politicians in these colonies are destined to be few, and their competitiveness will be relatively low.

The most competitive city in the election should be the capital Sydney, or the Capital Territory.

The ACT has a population of one million but only 40 seats in the House of Representatives.

The intensity of Sydney's election competition is not as simple as the numbers on the surface.As the capital and political center of the kingdom, as well as the seat of the royal family and government, a considerable number of politicians will definitely choose to come to Sydney to speak during the election period.

If you have to explain it, it is most appropriate to use the feet of the emperor.

As the capital and the seat of the royal family, the importance of Sydney is self-evident.It would also be good for a race in the House of Representatives if a party wins a majority of Sydney seats.

Thanks to the supervision of the Election Commission, even if some members of a political party have obtained high positions as ministers, they are prohibited from using illegal means to help their own political party.

And public opinion in Australasia is controlled by Arthur and the Propaganda Department. Therefore, the only way for major political parties to seek seats in the House of Representatives is to impress the crowd with their own ideas and speeches.

However, Arthur's attention at this time was not on the public speech outside, but on a group of guests from afar.

To be precise, these are guests from the Qing Dynasty in East Asia, and the purpose of their visit is to learn the ideas and systems of Australasia.

Yes, Arthur was a little surprised that some country would take the initiative to learn from the Australasian system.

Although Australasia has always been a parliamentary monarchy in publicity and impressions, in fact, high-level officials in various countries know that Australasia is an out-and-out absolute monarchy.

The degree of absolute monarchy in Australasia even surpassed that of Russian tsarism.When the tsar promulgated policies and changes, there would be opposition from deep-rooted interest classes. Australasia was a scattered colony before unification, which also created a good foundation for Arthur's real power and dictatorship.

To sum up, on the basis of autocratic monarchy, Australasia has no large-scale opposition and forces. This is simply the plus version of autocratic monarchy.

In theory, the Qing Dynasty is also an autocratic monarchy. If they want to change, the goal should be the world's top powers like Britain and Germany. Why would they target Australasia?

After the explanation by Foreign Minister Andrew, Arthur finally understood the reason.

To put it bluntly, it is still about power.Although the Qing Dynasty already had reform ideas, it did not mean that they could accept becoming a complete constitutional monarchy.

On the other hand, Australasia has achieved a constitutional monarchy on the surface, and has won the recognition and love of the majority of the people. In fact, it still maintains a complete autocratic monarchy, which also makes some people feel excited.

Not only can one's own power not be too restricted, but also can promote the realization of reform, why not do it?

This is why this diplomatic mission came to Australasia. To put it bluntly, the top rulers are still greedy for power.

But there are other factors too.Australasia was just a British colony just a few years ago. Although the economy is relatively developed compared to East Asia, it is not much better, at least from the top level.

But at present, Australasia has mastered the most advanced army and navy equipment and warship manufacturing technology, and its industrial scale has reached the world's first-class level. This has given some high-level officials in the Qing Dynasty the hope of imitating it.

As long as it can follow the trajectory of Australasia, it may also be able to achieve its own revival.

If you can master the manufacturing technology of advanced ironclad ships from Australasia, and then hire relevant experts to train your own army, wouldn't this be a new way to achieve the revival of the country?
Although Arthur was not optimistic about this view, he still received the mission.

There is no other reason. If Australasia can participate in this reform, then it can also install forces close to Australasia in this country.

Australasia can also divide up the benefits logically, and at the same time, it is shaping an opponent for the island country.

It doesn't need to be too powerful, as long as the island country can continue to be limited to East Asia.

When Australasia gradually begins to expand from Oceania, the island country will naturally no longer be Australasia's opponent.

In the banquet hall of the Sydney Palace, Arthur successfully approached the mission from afar.

Arthur did not know everyone in the mission, but this did not prevent Arthur from seeking more benefits for Australasia.

"Respected King of Australasia, on behalf of our emperor and the [-] people of the country, we would like to extend our sincere greetings to His Majesty the King." The person in charge of the mission greeted Arthur respectfully after seeing Arthur. (It’s better to write less about the name of the country, after all, you know it all, so write it here casually)
After a while of seemingly unnecessary pleasantries from Arthur, the conversation finally got to the point.

"Your Majesty, I have been walking all the way from the port and found that your country is changing with each passing day. It is now comparable to the major powers in Europe. We are very interested in your country's advanced technology and system. Communication?" the messenger asked.

Arthur was not curious about the envoy's relatively fluent English, after all, the sphere of influence of the British Empire was spread all over the world.

However, Arthur will not easily agree to other people's requests until he has enough interests.

"Of course there is no problem with mutual communication. But Mr. Messenger, all the technologies and systems in Australasia basically come from Europe, and we have paid a considerable price for these. Even if I personally want to communicate with your country, I'm afraid Government officials and the public also didn't agree." Arthur responded with a light smile.

The envoy was not a fool, and quickly replied: "Naturally, Your Majesty the King. If your country can send experts to assist us in reforming the system, we are willing to pay each expert 1 taels of silver per year."

Arthur calculated in his mind that 1 taels of silver was more than 400 pounds, which was less than 850 Australian dollars.

This amount of money is too childish, and Arthur immediately responded: "Australasia can help your country carry out reforms in terms of system, industry, economy, and military, but the salary of 1 taels of silver per person per year is too little. It’s not enough for us to pay these experts. So, if your country can rise to 5 taels of silver per person per year, then Australasia will send experts to your country until the completion of your country’s reform.”

Now that the other party is asking for something, Arthur is naturally not polite, but he doesn't open his mouth like a lion.

After all, Australasia can send dozens of experts at most, and it is only a matter of a few million silver.

The envoy felt a little pained, but for the sake of the subsequent request, he nodded in agreement.

"Your Majesty, I wonder how much your country's ironclad ships cost? Our country also wants to buy a few ships to fill the vacancy in sea power." The envoy continued to ask.

Want to buy a battleship?Arthur suddenly became interested.

The profit of a battleship is at least hundreds of thousands of pounds. Is this much better than sending experts to make money?
Although dispatching experts seeks political benefits, who doesn't like the real financial benefits of selling warships?
"I don't know what warships your country is talking about? Our country currently has Sovereign-class battleships, unified battlecruisers, Nassau-class battleships, Brunswick-class battleships, Duke-class armored cruisers, etc. What is your country's intention?" Ah Ser asked with a smile.

No matter what the other party's intention of ordering warships is, Arthur hopes that they will order more warships and send more funds to and from Australasia's naval expansion.

According to the construction cost of warships, only two battleships need to be exported, and the profits obtained can build a battleship.

"This..." The envoy was a little embarrassed. He was not an official of the navy, and his knowledge of the navy was very limited.

This time the mission had officials from the navy, but they were not qualified to be interviewed by Arthur in person.

Seeing that the envoy was silent, Arthur continued to sell: "The envoy may not know something. We currently have one of the most advanced and powerful battleships in the world, the Sovereign-class battleship. We also have Nassau, a powerful warship developed by the German Empire. In addition, the Braunschweig-class battleship is also one of the powerful battleships developed by the German Empire. Mr. German Fame Envoy should have heard of it? Naturally, the power of German warships goes without saying. Equipment envoys can rest assured."

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(End of this chapter)