Chapter 176 The Suitcase and Edward VII

If some newspapers' predictions about New Zealand's economy in the next few years have made New Zealanders feel uneasy and frightened, then Arthur and the Australia behind him are the last straw in New Zealanders' hearts.

The official who gave the speech also seized on this point and boldly compared the British Empire and Australia. Finally, he came to an unsettling conclusion that New Zealand joining Australia was better than staying in the United Kingdom. It is more promising, or more suitable, under the rule of the empire.

What is disturbing is not this conclusion, but its impact on the situation in New Zealand.

After all, New Zealand is still under the rule of the British Empire. Although the Governor-General is Arthur, the Duke of Australia, this only brings unlimited imagination to New Zealanders.

It has to be said that getting rid of the rule of the British Empire and joining the embrace of Australia is not something that many rational New Zealanders have not seriously thought about.

It’s not that they have no expectations for Australia, it’s just that the British Empire’s reputation as the first great power still exists, and New Zealand is still an autonomous colony of the British Empire.

Isn't this equivalent to New Zealand being the concubine of the British Empire and stealing the man Australia, the son of the British Empire, behind his back?

Of course, there is also the background of New Zealand being independent from Australia and being regarded as the children of Australia. . .

Um? Why is it a bit messy?

In any case, this is indeed the current situation. If New Zealand wants to join Australia, it must first pass the British Empire.

But it happens that if there are rational people, there must also be extreme people, or people who have more extreme ideas and are not so rational.

This speech caused a great sensation in the hometown of the Alliance Party member. In addition, this member has considerable influence in his hometown, which led to many people expressing support for such a speech and the number of people supporting this conclusion also expanded.

Like a prairie fire, in less than a week, this conclusion has spread widely throughout the North Island of New Zealand, and its influence has even radiated to the northern parts of the South Island, and is still spreading crazily.

After all, rationalists are still in the minority, especially in this era of ignorance where people are easily influenced.

Starting on December 25, demonstrations broke out in major cities in New Zealand, demanding that New Zealand hold a referendum and let all New Zealanders decide the fate of New Zealand.

The fire of the parade spread from Auckland, the northernmost city in New Zealand, to Christchurch in the South Island, which is also the most developed and elite area of ​​New Zealand including the North Island.

There are more and more people marching, and even some workers who are doing reconstruction work on the west coast of New Zealand have gradually begun to rebuild New Zealand during the day and join the parade at night.

The attitude of the New Zealand colonial government and the House of Lords and the House of Lords towards this New Zealand-wide march was very ambiguous. They did not have any intention of approving it, but correspondingly, they did not have any intention of opposing it.

In fact, this is no wonder the New Zealand colonial government. As the governor, Arthur did not speak. What rights do ordinary officials like them have to stop this parade?

So will Arthur stop it?

The answer is no. Although the march was earlier than Arthur expected, it did not mean that Arthur would miss such a good opportunity to merge New Zealand.

However, in order to keep a low profile, and also to prevent the British from thinking that he was related to the demonstration, Arthur announced that he would not participate in the turmoil in New Zealand and let the House of Commons and the New Zealand colonial government elected by all New Zealanders to resolve this crisis.

On December 29, 1903, just as 1903 was coming to an end, the incident in New Zealand also caused quite a stir in Europe.

After all, one of the protagonists of this incident is the British Empire, the most powerful country in the world today. The whole incident seems to be a civil strife in the British Empire. All European countries are watching the British Empire laugh and are also waiting for the British Empire to respond to this incident. reaction.

At the same time, David Martins Simon, the head of European affairs of the Australian royal family, successively went to the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Tsarist Russian Empire. Although the purpose of David’s trip to these three countries is unknown, from David Judging from the performance of the general manager leaving these three countries, it seems that he has achieved his goal.

On January 1, 1904, Controller David went to the British Empire and met with one of the protagonists of the New Zealand incident, Edward VII, the current monarch of the British Empire.

Edward VII's face was not very good at first. After all, the British Empire was the criticized party in this incident. Even though New Zealand's departure from the British Empire was something Edward VII had long expected, leaving in such a way , all in all not very decent.

Manager David had also expected it. He respectfully presented three handwritten letters and a new-style suitcase that looked very tight.

Steward David's itinerary was no secret in Europe, and Edward VII naturally understood where these three autographed letters came from and what they said.

Therefore, the only thing Edward was curious about was the suitcase, but after he opened the suitcase, or after seeing the contents inside the suitcase, he regretted it.

"How did you get this thing?" Edward VII's face kept changing, sometimes gloomy, sometimes shocked, and mixed with suspected fear and regret.

"Your Highness gave this to me, Your Majesty. Your Highness told me that when Your Majesty sees the contents of the suitcase with your own eyes, you will understand how important it is to maintain friendship with Australia." Manager David said calmly.

Edward VII's reaction proved how important the contents of the suitcase were, but as a loyal servant and subordinate, Chief David also knew very well that curiosity can really kill a person.

Don’t ask what you shouldn’t ask, and don’t do what you shouldn’t do. This is the truth that Chief David has summed up over decades of dealing with people, and he has been practicing it throughout his life.

"Humph! Very good! What else did Arthur ask you to bring?" Edward VII nodded vigorously, his face ashen.

"His Royal Highness said that the current situation in New Zealand is actually inevitable, but the typhoon caused it to happen more than ten years earlier. His Highness hopes that the British Empire can support New Zealand's referendum. No matter what the result is, this is an opportunity for New Zealand to A result that satisfies the people of Zealand." Manager David said.

Edward VII stared at Chief David for a long time. Chief David still looked calm, as if there was nothing in front of him.

In the end, Edward VII was defeated and slammed the document in his hand on the table, saying: "Tell Arthur that he won. The British Empire will support the decision of the New Zealand people. But also tell me something. I hope this document is the only one in the world. He is also a member of the royal family of the British Empire, and he should also know the importance of royal prestige."

This document was the last trump card left by Queen Victoria to Arthur, and it was also the biggest evidence of guilt for Edward VII.

If this document is made public, it will cause irreparable damage to Edward VII personally and the royal family of the British Empire, and may even cause the weakening of the British monarchy.

This was something neither Edward VII nor Arthur wanted to see, and it was one of the reasons why Arthur did not make the document public.

Now this document has finally been put to use, and it can be regarded as worthy of Queen Victoria's good intentions in collecting these documents and giving them to Arthur.

After receiving the promise from Edward VII, Steward David wisely left the British Empire.

Although people don’t know exactly what Edward VII and Butler David talked about, judging from the relaxed look on David’s face when he left and the large number of ornaments and fragments discarded by Buckingham Palace, after Butler David left, Edward VII There was some demolition happening at Shi's office.

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