Chapter 800 Preparation for War

After Britain and Australasia agreed to Russia's request, the operation to rescue the Russian royal family was actually successful.

As long as Russia no longer takes action against Nicholas II, Nicholas II will have no problem reaching the Far East with his loyal army.

Since the lives of Nicholas II and his family are no longer in danger, what Arthur is concerned about at this time is naturally the subsequent issue of the establishment of the Australasian Empire.

Arthur still had some hesitations about whether to establish it before the war or after the war.

If the empire is established before the war, the new empire will become more stable after the war is successfully passed.

But if the empire is established after the war, no country will oppose it, and the new empire will become the leader of all monarchies.

In general, there are benefits to both establishing an empire before the war and after the war.

Moreover, the longer the empire was established, the deeper the people's recognition of the empire became. When the throne is passed to William in the future, no one will oppose William's throne, and both the royal family and the country will exist in the long run.

Thinking of this, Arthur decided to prepare as early as possible and try to establish an empire across Australasia before the war.

Although it is just a change of status and title, this is definitely a big event for the entire Australasia.

The same goes for Arthur. Whether it is the corresponding ceremony or clothing, careful preparation is required to be worthy of Arthur's hard work.

For this reason, Arthur decided to reorganize all of Australasia and wait in the best condition for Arthur's most glorious moment, which is the moment when he becomes the emperor of Australasia.

After it was determined that Nicholas II and his family were not in danger, Arthur was no longer interested in when Nicholas II and his family would come to Australasia.

After all, Nicholas II at this time had no other way to ensure the survival and prosperity of the Romanov family besides fulfilling his agreement with Arthur.

Arthur, who was really free, decided to conduct a detailed nationwide population survey to determine the real population of Australasia.

If we only discuss population figures, the population of Australasia has exceeded 40 million.

However, because statistics in various places are not so detailed, the proportion of each ethnic group in the total population, as well as the specific population figures, are still approximate.

In order to better understand the entire country, it is necessary to conduct a large-scale census.

In addition to determining the specific population figures of the country, it is more important to exclude spies from other countries in the country as much as possible.

If Australasia has a war with the island countries in the future, then it is necessary to completely eliminate the island countries' population now for the stability of the country in the future.

"Minister Hunter, how is the country's fiscal revenue and economic situation this year?" Arthur looked at the son of the old Kent housekeeper and the younger brother of former Prime Minister Kent, Finance Minister Hunter, and asked with a serious face.

"Your Majesty, in 1931, our economy still maintained rapid growth. Our annual GDP reached 7.831 billion Australian dollars, and our annual fiscal revenue exceeded 437 million Australian dollars." Minister Hunter said with excitement: "

Our total fiscal expenditure was only A$403.5 million, and our fiscal surplus reached A$33.5 million. "

After hearing the economic and financial news reported by Minister Hunter, Arthur nodded with satisfaction and quite recognized the work of Minister Hunter.

Since the end of the economic crisis, Australasia's economy has begun to take off again.

Especially after the demise of the United States, with the arrival of a large amount of American capital and European immigrants, Australasia took off much faster than before, and has become the country with the fastest economic and industrial development.

Although it is not as terrifying as the industry and economy of the United States in its heyday, Australasia's current real industrial and economic data can be said to be second only to the powerful British Empire.

If Arthur had not deliberately concealed some external data, I am afraid that the now recognized second power would have been Australasia, not France.

The reason why Arthur was relieved to let France stay on the throne of the second great power was that in addition to the fact that France was really needed to attract the hatred of the British, Arthur was also very relieved about the French.

Although France is also developing, there are still too many problems within France. France was not even growing as fast as Britain and was not even a competitor for Arthur.

As long as Britain was weakened in future wars, Australasia would become the most powerful nation in the world.

Except for Russia, the country with the greatest potential to become a powerful enemy, the remaining countries will not have any resistance to the hegemony of Arthur and Australasia in a short period of time.

"How much budget does the Ministry of Finance currently have available? If a super war of the same scale as the previous European war occurs in the next few years, can our economic situation last for at least 3 to 4 years?" Arthur continued to ask .

Although we don’t know when the next World War II will occur, it is necessary to be fully prepared.

Although in theory Australasia could obtain sufficient income by selling large quantities of resources and supplies during World War II, Australasia also faced a relatively powerful enemy, the island nation.

As soon as the war starts, the expenses will continue to come. If we can't take early response measures and prepare various materials and equipment until war arrives, it will be too late.

Only by being prepared in advance and ready to deal with a super war like the previous European War can Australasia respond calmly and calmly in the next World War II.

"Your Majesty, the current funds available for deployment by the Treasury are approximately A$257 million." Minister Hunter quickly replied: "

Considering our good domestic economic development, I think our economy can support at least five years of war.

As long as we can protect our maritime trade routes, we can hold out longer. "

The war will certainly not be financed solely by the money in the treasury. Once a war breaks out, the government will issue various national bonds to try to raise more funds from the private sector for military expenses.

Secondly, after the war broke out, both state-owned and civilian factories were obliged to obey the state's dispatch and produce various materials and equipment needed by the country.

Coupled with two medium-sized markets like Kalimantan in the Philippines, and the large market of Europe, Australasia will have no problem supporting the war for at least five years.

"What's the current situation in the Ministry of Industry? Do we have sufficient reserves of food, weapons and equipment?" Arthur continued to look at the Minister of Industry and the Minister of Agriculture, and asked questions that he was more concerned about.

In order to cope with war, the reserves of various industrial products, including weapons, equipment and food, are actually very important.

Before the outbreak of World War I, Arthur had various factories mass-produce a lot of weapons, equipment and supplies, and successfully made a fortune in World War I.

This is also the reason why the Royal Family Consortium has quickly become the largest capital in Australasia, and its annual income is not much different from that of the government.

In fact, World War II was not much different from World War I. Arthur also planned to follow the methods of World War I and prepare a large number of weapons and equipment and food supplies that were in short supply during the war in advance, and then sell them to Europe at a higher price when the war broke out.

Anyway, after the war breaks out, the prices of various materials will skyrocket. If these materials are produced at low cost now, the profit in the future will be at least several times, or even ten times.

The money earned from these weapons, equipment and food supplies can be used for Australasia's military expenditure. This is equivalent to using money from Europe and other countries to support Australasia's army. Australasia only needs to act as an intermediary. The merchant can just make the difference.

“Your Majesty, our total steel production reached 14.552 million tons last year, second only to the United Kingdom, the Great Lakes Industrial Area and France, and slightly ahead of Germany.

Because of your order to restrict industrial development, we have not significantly increased the total production of steel in recent years, but have focused on the development of the chemical industry and other industries.

If necessary, we can expand total steel production to 20 million tons at any time, and expand total steel production to 25 million tons within three years. ” replied Industry Secretary Joy.

Arthur nodded, not dissatisfied with the fact that the total steel production dropped to the fourth place in the world.

The previous economic crisis has made the world see the harm caused by barbaric development. The current market in Australasia is not big. Apart from the mainland, there are only two pretty good markets in Kalimantan and the Philippines.

But these two markets can only be said to be good, and they are still far from excellent. The ability of these two markets to digest industrial products is not strong, which also means that Australasia's industrial development will not see a huge improvement in the short term.

Although it seems to only be ranked fourth in the world, Australasia's industrial strength is definitely not weak at this time.

As Minister Joy said, if Arthur is willing, Australasia's industrial scale can expand to the top three in the world at any time, easily knocking France out of the top three industries.

But the problem is, this is somewhat unnecessary. After all, France has vast colonies that can be used to dump various industrial products, but Australasia does not.

Once the industry expands blindly, it is likely to face another economic crisis, which is obviously not in line with Arthur's plan.

It is worth mentioning that the current industrial strength of Australasia’s largest rival, the island country, has not seen much development.

In 1931, the island country's steel production was only about 650,000 tons, and its total steel production was only 1.5 million tons, which is almost one-tenth of that of Australasia.

With such a huge lead in industry, it is already destined that in future wars, the island country will definitely be the first country to be unable to support itself.

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