Chapter 135 Unexpected Visitor (Happy New Year!)
On November 12, 1902, at the end of the year 1902, Australia welcomed an unexpected guest.
At the beginning of this year, the island country signed an alliance treaty with the British Empire. The purpose of this alliance treaty was to curb the expansion of Tsarist Russia in East Asia and to protect the interests of both countries.
In fact, this treaty will also trigger the Russo-Japanese War two years later. After defeating Tsarist Russia's Far East Army, the island country will also be formally recognized by other powers, and will become one of the great powers in terms of strength and status.
However, this has no impact on Arthur and Australia. Australia's current sphere of influence is only in Oceania, and it has not even set foot in Southeast Asia, let alone the more distant East Asia.
But Arthur did not expect that Australia would also be able to welcome visits from island countries.
This is a fleet from an island country. Most of the warships in the fleet are new warships produced in the UK. Even the naval soldiers have gone to the UK specifically for training.
Because of the effort to build a navy from top to bottom, the current size of the island nation's navy is quite large, even comparable to that of some powerful countries.
Arthur didn't understand the purpose of this island country's mission, but he still let Butler Hunter greet the mission with a smile on his face.
At the same time, Arthur also ordered the deputy minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to accompany him and find out the purpose of this island country's mission as soon as possible.
As a result, a unique business negotiation began in Australia's government building.
Participating in the meeting were Australia's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, royal butler Hunter, head of the island country's mission Koichiro Yuzawa, and diplomatic envoy Hirano Toshiyo.
When he came up, Yuzawa Koichiro was very respectful. Even though the island country far surpassed Australia in terms of strength, he still said respectfully: "Dear Australian Deputy Foreign Minister, Mr. Hunter, the palace steward, please allow me to express my gratitude to Australia and the Duke. His Highness expressed his high respect."
"Australia has a good relationship with the British Empire, and our island country has just concluded an alliance treaty with the British Empire. As the saying goes, friends of friends are friends. I think we can also establish a treaty of friendship to strengthen the relationship between us. Cooperation." Yuzawa Koichiro said straight to the point.
"Mr. Yuzawa Koichiro, we understand your request. I wonder what cooperation you are talking about?" Australia's Deputy Foreign Minister asked with a skillful smile.
"Australia is a prosperous and rich mining country, and many minerals are what we need now. I think we can establish a trade treaty to strengthen the relationship between our two countries and at the same time solve the problem of our lack of minerals. " Yuzawa Koichiro said.
Although the island country has gone through decades of reform, it has established a certain scale of industry and embarked on the road to Westernization and rise.
However, because the island country has a small land area and is a long and narrow island country, the domestic mineral resources are not rich, which also limits the development of industry in disguise.
Take the current steel production that can measure the industrial level. Although the annual output of steel plants in the island country can reach more than 50,000 tons, it can even exceed 100,000 tons if production is increased.
However, there are not that many iron ore and coal mines in the island country, which has also led to the current actual steel production of the island country being erratic. How much it can produce depends entirely on the supply of coal and iron ore.
In this regard, Australia appears to be much happier. After more than two years of development in Australia's industry, although the steel output is only around 61,000 tons and 93,000 tons, the supply of iron ore and coal mines is unlimited. Australia's steel production has even surpassed that of island countries. Although it is still far behind the European powers, it can barely reach the level of ordinary European countries.
You know, Australia's industrial development has only taken more than two years, and both island countries and European countries have spent decades.
This is Australia's inherent advantage, and it is uniquely endowed in terms of minerals.
Australia's Deputy Foreign Minister nodded calmly, but he was thinking about the problem in his heart.
Before this discussion, Arthur had specifically informed that the island country is a beast from the country down to the people, and it is impossible for Australia to become an ally with it.
Although Arthur did not explicitly reject possible trade with the island country, it can be seen from Arthur's attitude that it may not be that simple for the island country to obtain Australia's mineral resources for free.
"Mr. Yuzawa Koichiro, to tell you the truth, Australia does have relatively rich mineral resources. But it is currently facing a more serious problem, that is, due to population reasons, the number of mining operations in Australia is insufficient. In order to ensure the growth of the Australian industry In terms of supply, I’m afraid not much can be distributed to the island countries.” After thinking for a while, the Vice Foreign Minister said with a smile.
"If your country is short of manpower, we can send a group of miners to help Australia produce. Of course, the minerals produced still belong to Australia, and your country only needs to pay the wages of these miners." Yuzawa Koichiro proposed to.
As the situation between the island nation and Russia becomes increasingly fierce, the possibility of war cannot be ruled out.
If a war breaks out, the reserves and supply of various resources will be a big problem for resource-poor island countries.
After receiving a large amount of financial assistance from the United Kingdom and the United States, the island country currently does not lack funds. What it lacks is short-distance and very effective sources of material supply.
Although the United States and the British Empire can provide corresponding supplies, the prices charged by these two countries are relatively high, and the distance is still relatively long, making transportation inconvenient.
Australia is the only country that is relatively close to the island country and has rich mineral resources.
Moreover, Australia and the United Kingdom have a very good relationship, and the island country has just signed an alliance with the United Kingdom.
From the perspective of island countries, Australia is an excellent supplier of mineral resources, which is why this diplomatic mission came to Australia.
"That's no need, Mr. Yuzawa Koichiro. We will handle the production of mineral resources in Australia ourselves, and we don't need help from your country for the time being. We are also happy to export some mineral resources to your country, and even give up some factories at any cost. Part of the supply. But you know, those capitalists have no interest and will not give in. Maybe the price of raw materials will increase. But please rest assured that no matter how high the price is, it will not be more than twice the original price, and we will do it as soon as possible Organize people to expand production scale," the Vice Foreign Minister said with a smile on his face.
I want to ask you two questions. One is that a book friend suggested changing the name of this book. The title currently has nothing to do with the content. I don’t know what everyone thinks. I do have this plan, but I have to ask everyone for their opinions first. Secondly, I have also modified it. The marriage with the Queen of the Netherlands has been cancelled. I don’t know if you have noticed it. Do you have any recommendations for suitable partners for marriage? I am currently looking at the female nobles from Tsarist Russia. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to give them.
(End of chapter)