Chapter 256 House of Representatives resolution to increase cabinet seats

Although the first meeting ended with Arthur's sales failure, Arthur knew that it was not that the warships he promoted were unattractive, but rather that the other party's finances were somewhat tight. new igh.𝑐𝑜𝑚

In addition, the envoy didn't know much about warships, so signing a warship order for the first time was a problem.

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

If Arthur remembers correctly, 1's income exceeded 230 million taels of silver, which is a huge amount.

Of course, such financial revenue is far from being as exaggerated as it appears on paper.

If you do a little conversion, 230 million taels of silver are only equivalent to 32.85 million pounds and 65.71 million Australian dollars.

It is almost twice the fiscal revenue of Australasia last year. The total population of Australasia was only just over seven million last year, while the other party is a huge country with a population of nearly 400 million.

And because of various events that happened before, a considerable part of the 230 million taels of fiscal revenue was used as compensation, and most of the rest was divided up by high-ranking officials and nobles. Not many can really be used by the government.

Being able to maintain such a high income is largely due to the exploitation and oppression of the lower class civilians.

There is no reason why such a country should not perish. However, a unified country is also good for Australasia. In addition, the interests of the major powers in this region are deeply entangled. A unified country is good for all major countries. There are benefits to all, except for island countries.

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

But in order for first-class powers such as Britain, Germany, Russia and France to recognize the status of island countries as great powers, I am afraid that island countries still have a long way to go. new

On May 17, the East Asian mission once again asked to see Arthur.

In order to facilitate the negotiation between the two parties, the scale of the meeting this time was obviously much larger. The other party was an entire envoy 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 status was no longer suitable for participation.

After all, there is no need for Arthur to compete for small profits. This kind of thing is more suitable for experienced politicians to do.

However, Arthur still gave specific goals and bottom lines. The first is battleships. If the other party is really interested in purchasing battleships, the price can be as low as the same level as Russia.

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

The reason why the price of a battleship is slightly lowered is because the price of a battleship can easily reach millions of pounds. If converted into silver, the price of a battleship is as high as more than 10 million taels of silver, which is not a small number.

But battleships are the most valuable industrial equipment currently manufactured in Australasia. The cost of a battleship is comparable to a large arms trade order.

The negotiations lasted for several days, during which the ministers also reported some things that required Arthur's decision-making.

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

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

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

However, a fixed number is set for the cost of each international student, which is no less than 3,500 taels of silver per person per year, which is 1,000 Australian dollars. New 𝟲𝟵Book Bar→𝟲𝟵𝘀𝗵𝘂𝘅.𝗰𝗼𝗺

For international students sent to the Royal Military College, Arthur also exempted them from the two-year requirement to serve in the Australasian Army.

After all, these military students will become top students when they return to their countries, and they may even become independent warlords or valued talents of warlords.

This is still good for Australasia to seek more interests. A country that is close to Australasia is better than a country that is close to other countries!

Of course, this request for international students is different from the last one. The last time it was more of a private request 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, this time their main purpose was the newly built military academy in Australasia.

As for 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, several uprisings that broke out not long ago, although they failed due to lack of support, did have a big impact on this decadent empire.

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Judging from the tone of this mission, they plan to establish a division armed with foreign weapons and equipment, and have set their sights on Australasia.

There is no other reason. Australia's arms trade already has a good reputation in the Far East and East Asia. They also took a look at the arms trade in the previous Russo-Japanese War.

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

What's more important is that Britain's attitude is more biased towards island countries that can export weapons to them. Needless to say, Russia lacks weapons of its own.

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, purchasing German weapons requires high transportation costs, so it is better to choose Australasia, which is relatively close.

After hearing the minister's report on the other party's proposal for the Australian mechanic, Arthur's eyes looked a little strange for a moment, but he still approved the order.

According to the opponent's plan, at least 12,000 GewA 75mm artillery pieces, as well as millions of matching bullets and thousands of artillery shells, will be purchased this time to initially equip a division to see its strength.

If the armed divisions have good combat effectiveness, then they will consider arming more to strengthen their defense capabilities.

Regarding weapons orders, Arthur's attitude is naturally the more the better.

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

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

Arthur was not surprised by this. After all, the other party's initial purpose seemed to be to seek talents to help them carry out reforms, and the arms trade seemed to be brought in separately.

Finally, it’s about sending talents to help them carry out reforms. According to the friendly agreement between the two parties, Australasia needs to send twenty 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 and property safety of these forty experts, the other party must pay Australasia 1.2 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 300,000 taels of silver to Australasia, plus at least 350,000 taels of silver per year.

Yes, according to the study abroad plan signed by both parties, the number of students sent by the other party every year is fixed at about one hundred, which is already a lot.

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

As the two parties responsible for the negotiation signed the treaty, the friendly exchange treaty between the two parties also officially came 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 no one will refuse the benefits delivered to their door. As for the personal safety of the experts sent out, Arthur believes they will ensure it.

Not to mention the xenophobia and xenophobia within this country that were born due to extreme backwardness, the friendly relations between Australasia and the major powers are enough for the other side to pay attention to these talents.

If there are really people who are short-sighted, even if Arthur risks the destruction of the world, he has to let them taste the feeling of being overwhelmed by a powerful enemy.

The signing of this treaty is only 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 proposals.

1. As the June election month approaches, the House of Representatives submitted several proposals to the Royal House of Representatives, requesting the Royal House of Representatives to review and notify Arthur.

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

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

Generally, this situation means that the proposal is important and involves relatively important matters in the country, so the members of the Royal House of Representatives will be undecided and wait for Arthur's final decision.

Arthur picked up several proposals on the table, and the big words that caught his eye were the resolution on the House of Representatives voting to apply for additional seats for the cabinet government.

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