Chapter 255: Visitors From East Asia

It is May, and Australasia has also ushered in late autumn.

Because it is close to the election day, public speeches can be seen everywhere in Australasia, even in the two colonies with a small population, politicians can often see speeches.

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 9,000, has a seat in the House of Representatives, and New Guinea, with a population of less than 40,000, has two seats. This is why politicians go to these areas.

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

The city with the greatest electoral competitiveness should be the capital Sydney, or the Capital Territory.

The Capital Territory has a population of up to one million, but there are 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, during the election period, a considerable number of politicians will definitely choose to come to Sydney to give speeches.

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

As the capital and the seat of the royal family, Sydney's importance is self-evident. If a party can win most of the seats in Sydney, it will also be good for the competition in the House of Representatives.

Thanks to the supervision of the Electoral Commission, even if some party members have obtained the high position of minister, they are prohibited from using illegal means to help their own parties.

And the public opinion in Australasia is controlled by Arthur and the Propaganda Department. Therefore, the only way for major 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 speeches outside, but on a group of guests from afar.

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

Yes, Arthur was a little surprised that there would be a country that took the initiative to learn the system of Australasia.

Although Australasia's external propaganda and impression has always been a parliamentary monarchy, in fact, the top leaders of various countries know that Australasia is an absolute monarchy.

The degree of monarchy in Australasia even exceeds the Russian Tsar's autocracy. When the Tsar promulgated policies and reforms, there would be opposition from deep-rooted interest groups. Australasia was a scattered colony before unification, which also created a good foundation for Arthur's real power autocracy.

In a word, on the basis of monarchy, Australasia has not had a large-scale opposition and force, which is simply a plus version of monarchy.

In theory, the Qing Dynasty is also a monarchy. If they want to change, the goal should be the world's top powers such as Britain and Germany. How could they set their goals on Australasia?

After the explanation of Foreign Minister Andrew, Arthur finally understood a little bit of the reason.

To put it bluntly, it is still the reason of power. Although the Qing Dynasty has the idea of ​​reform, it does not mean that they can accept becoming a thorough constitutional monarchy.

Australasia has realized constitutional monarchy on the surface and has won the recognition and love of the majority of people. In fact, it still maintains a complete monarchy, which also makes some people feel moved.

It can not only prevent their power from being too restricted, but also promote the realization of reforms. Why not do it?

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

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

But now Australasia has mastered the most advanced land and naval equipment and warship manufacturing technology, and its industrial scale has reached the world's first-class level, which has given some high-level officials in the Qing Dynasty hope of imitation.

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

If it can master the manufacturing technology of advanced ironclad ships from Australasia, and then hire relevant experts to train its own army, isn't this a new way to achieve the revival of the country?

Although Arthur was not optimistic about this view, he still received this mission.

The reason is that if Australasia can participate in this reform, it can also place forces close to Australasia in this country.

Australasia can also divide the benefits naturally, and at the same time, create an opponent for the island country.

It doesn't need to be too powerful, as long as the island country can continue to be restricted 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 Sydney Palace, Arthur successfully approached the delegation from afar.

Arthur didn't know anyone in the delegation, but this did not prevent Arthur from seeking more benefits for Australasia.

"Dear King of Australasia, on behalf of our emperor and 400 million people, we extend our sincere greetings to His Majesty the King." The head of the delegation greeted Arthur with respect after seeing him. (It's better to write less about the country name, after all, we all know it, so just write it here)

After a round of greetings that seemed unnecessary to Arthur, the conversation finally got to the point.

"Your Majesty, we have come all the way from the port and found that your country is changing with each passing day. It is now comparable to the major European powers. We are very interested in your advanced technology and system. I wonder if we can have a chance to communicate with you in depth?" the envoy asked.

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

However, Arthur would not easily agree to other people's requests before there is enough benefit.

"There is naturally no problem with mutual communication. But Mr. Envoy, all the technology and system of 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 am afraid that government officials and people will not agree." Arthur responded with a faint smile.

The envoy was not a fool, and quickly replied: "Of course, Your Majesty. If your country can send experts to assist us in reforming the system, we are willing to pay each expert 10,000 taels of silver per year."

Arthur calculated in his mind that 10,000 taels of silver is about more than 1,400 pounds, which is less than 2,850 Australian dollars.

This amount of money was too little, so Arthur responded immediately: "Australasia can help your country reform in terms of system, industry, economy, and military, but the salary of 10,000 taels of silver per person per year is too little, and it is not enough for us to pay these experts. Let's put it this way, if your country can increase to 50,000 taels of silver per person per year, then Australasia will send experts to your country until we help your country complete the reform."

Since the other party is asking for help, Arthur is naturally not polite, but he did not ask for too much.

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

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

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

Want to buy battleships? Arthur immediately became interested.

The profit of a battleship is at least hundreds of thousands of pounds, which is much more profitable than sending experts, right?

Although sending 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 Monarch-class battleships, Unified battlecruisers, Nassau-class battleships, Brunswick-class battleships, Duke-class armored cruisers, etc. What is your intention?" Arthur asked with a smile.

Regardless of the other party's intention to order warships, Arthur hopes that they will order more warships and give more funds to the naval expansion of Australasia.

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 a naval official and his understanding of the navy was very limited.

There were naval officials in the delegation this time, but they were not qualified to be received by Arthur in person.

Seeing that the envoy was silent, Arthur continued to promote: "The envoy may not know that we currently have one of the most advanced and powerful battleships in the world, the Monarch-class battleship. We also have the powerful warship Nassau-class battleship developed by the German Empire. In addition, the Brunswick-class battleship is also one of the powerful battleships developed by the German Empire. Mr. Envoy should have heard of Germany's reputation? Needless to say, the German warships are powerful, and the envoy can rest assured of the performance and equipment of the warships."

Second update, please vote for the monthly ticket, please support!