Rise of Australia

Chapter 256 Resolution of the House of Representatives to Increase Cabinet Seats
Although the first meeting ended with the failure of Arthur's sales promotion, Arthur knew that it was not that the warships he promoted were not attractive, but that the other party was in financial difficulties.

In addition, the envoy didn't know much about warships, so it was a problem to be able to sign a warship order for the first time.

In fact, even if the other party is already a backward and decadent country, with some reforms and industrial construction in recent years, it has doubled its fiscal revenue several times compared to decades ago.

If Arthur remembered correctly, in 1908, the financial revenue of the other party exceeded 2.3 million taels of silver, which was a considerable sum.

Of course, such financial income is far from being as exaggerated as it seems literally.

If you do a little conversion, 2.3 million taels of silver is only equivalent to 3000 million pounds, or 85 Australian dollars.

It is almost equivalent to twice the fiscal revenue of Australasia last year. The total population of Australasia was only just over 700 million last year, while the other party was a huge country with a population of nearly [-] million.

And because of the various events that happened before, a considerable part of the fiscal revenue of 2.3 million taels of silver was used as compensation, and most of the rest was divided among high-ranking officials and nobles. Not many people could really use it for the government.

A considerable part of the credit for being able to maintain such a high income is the exploitation and oppression of the lower class civilians.

It is unreasonable for such a country not to perish, but a unified country is also good for Australasia. In addition, the interests of the major powers in this region are deeply involved, and a unified country is for the major countries. Both are good, except for island nations.

But who cares about the opinions of island nations?Because the previous war did not achieve a complete victory, the international view of the island country is now a rising second-power country, barely able to touch the threshold of the great powers.

But if the first-class powers such as Britain, Germany, Russia and France recognize the status of the island country as a great power, I am afraid that the island country still has a long way to go.

On May 5, the East Asian mission asked Arthur again.

In order to facilitate the negotiation between the two sides, the scale of the meeting this time was significantly larger. The other party was a whole mission team, and Arthur also dispatched a lineup including several ministers and several deputy ministers.

Most of the subsequent negotiations were price wars, and Arthur's identity was no longer suitable for participation.

After all, Arthur's identity is completely unnecessary to fight for that small profit. This kind of thing is more suitable for experienced politicians to do.

However, Arthur still gave specific goals and bottom lines. The first is the battleship. If the other party really intends to buy a battleship, the lowest price can be the same as that of Russia.

And the prices of a series of industrial equipment and weapons and equipment should be raised as much as possible. After all, this kind of money is not profitable.

The reason why the price of the battleship is slightly lowered is because the price of the battleship is easily in the millions of pounds. If converted in silver, the price of a battleship is as high as more than 1000 million taels of silver, which is not a small number.

However, battleships are currently the most valuable industrial equipment that Australasia can manufacture. The cost of a battleship is comparable to a large-scale arms trade order.

The negotiation lasted for several days, during which the ministers also reported some things that Arthur needed to make a decision on.

For example, the other party wants to send some international students to study in various schools and military schools in Australasia.

Because graduates of the Royal Military Academy of Australasia must serve in Australasia for two years, Arthur needs to be consulted.

Arthur thought carefully for a while, and finally decided on the other party's proposal to send overseas students.

It's just that there is a fixed figure for the cost of each international student, that is, no less than 500 taels of silver per person per year, which is [-] Australian dollars.

For international students sent to the Royal Military Academy, Arthur also exempted from the requirement to serve in the Australasian Army for two years.

After all, these military students returning to their countries will also become high-achieving students, and they may even become independent warlords or valued talents of warlords.

This is still good for Australasia to seek more interests. A country close to Australasia is better than a country close to other countries!
Of course, the international student request this time is different from the previous one.Last time, there were more requests from the people to study abroad, but this time it was a request from the Qing government.

And last time most of the international students went to universities in Australasia, but this time their main purpose was the newly built military academy in Australasia.

In terms of weapons and equipment, the other party's order this time is not small.

The Royal Intelligence Service also has intelligence agencies in parts of East Asia, so Australasia still knows some of the other party's intelligence.

For example, the several uprisings that broke out not long ago, although they failed due to lack of backup, did have a considerable impact on this decadent empire.

Judging from the tone of the mission this time, they have plans to set up a division fully equipped with foreign weapons and equipment, and set their target on Australasia.

There is no other reason. Australia's arms trade has already gained a lot of fame in the Far East and East Asia. They also saw the arms trade in the Russo-Japanese War before.

Being able to gain the trust of Russia and the island countries, I believe that Australasia's weapons and equipment are still of a high level.

More importantly, Britain's attitude is more in favor of island countries that can export weapons to them, and Russia, needless to say, lacks weapons itself.

Germany is a good choice, but in order to sign a neutrality treaty with Russia, Germany's interests in East Asia have been somewhat restrained.

In addition, the purchase of German weapons requires high transportation costs, so it is better to choose Australasia, which is relatively close.

Hearing the minister's report about the Australian Machinist's proposal, Arthur looked a little weird for a while, but he still approved the order.

According to the plan of the other party, at least 1 Gew98 rifles, ten MA-96 Maxim machine guns, twenty 75mm artillery pieces, and matching millions of bullets and thousands of shells will be purchased this time. , Initially arm a division to see its strength.

If the armed division has good combat effectiveness, then they will consider arming more to strengthen their own defense forces.

As for arms orders, Arthur's attitude is naturally that the more the better.

After all, arms orders can not only strengthen the arms trade market in Australasia, but most of the profits generated also go to Arthur's own military factory, which is a win-win situation for Arthur and Australasia.

As for the more expensive battleships, although the other party's envoy had some changes, he still said that he had to consult the government and the emperor before he could draw a conclusion.

Arthur wasn't surprised by this either. After all, it seemed that the other party's purpose at the beginning was to seek talents to help them carry out reforms, and the arms trade seemed to be brought separately.

In the end it's about sending talent to help them reform.According to the friendly agreement between the two parties, Australasia needs to send [-] legal and administrative talents, five industrial experts, five economic experts and ten military experts to help the other party carry out government, economic, industrial and military reforms.

On the premise of protecting the personal safety and property safety of these forty experts, the other party must pay Australasia 120 million taels of silver every year, and sell various needed resources to Australasia at low prices.

The previous arms trade and study abroad plan required a one-time payment of 30 taels of silver to Australasia, plus at least 35 taels of silver per year.

Yes, according to the study abroad plan signed by the two parties, the number of immigrants sent by the other party is fixed at around [-] each year, which is quite a number.

It seems that the other party also has the idea of ​​reform, but whether the reform can be successful depends on the attitude of the great powers and domestic forces.

With the signing of the treaty by the two parties in charge of the negotiation, this treaty of friendly exchanges between the two parties has officially come into effect.

At present, this treaty brings only income to Australasia, which is the essential reason why Arthur agreed to sign the treaty.

I believe that no one would refuse the benefit of being delivered to the door. As for the personal safety of the experts sent out, Arthur believed that they would guarantee it.

Leaving aside the xenophobic and xenophobic psychology born of extreme backwardness in this country, the friendly relationship between Australasia and the major powers alone is enough to make the other side attach importance to these talents.

If there were people who really didn't have eyes, even if Arthur risked the destruction of the world, he would have to let them taste what it was like to be under pressure from a powerful enemy.

The signing of the treaty this time is just a small event for Australasia and Arthur, and it is not that important for the development of Australasia.

The most important thing at present is still the election of the House of Representatives, but before the election, the House of Representatives already has a proposal.

On May 1908, 29, shortly before the June election month, the House of Representatives submitted several proposals to the Royal House of Commons, asking the Royal House of Commons to review and inform Arthur.

This situation is also very common in Australasia. After all, the Royal House of Representatives has the greatest power relatively. If the House of Representatives has problems that cannot be resolved, it will often be reported to the Royal House of Representatives for review.

However, after the Royal House received the proposal, it immediately reported the proposal to Arthur and asked Arthur for his opinion on how to deal with it.

Generally, this kind of situation also represents the importance of the proposal. When it comes to important matters of the country, the members of the Royal House of Representatives are undecided, waiting for Arthur's final decision.

Arthur picked up several proposals on the table, and the big characters that came into view were the resolution on the House of Representatives voting to apply for the cabinet government to increase seats.

　The first update of [-] words, ask for a monthly ticket, ask for support!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)