Chapter 219 East Asian Famine and Foreign Students
At this time, Einstein was only a second-level technician at the Patent Office in Bern, Switzerland. Although he had just won the Victoria Prize for Physics, he was somewhat famous in the field of European physics. But because of his age, he is not taken so seriously in Switzerland.
At least with Einstein's Level 2 status, some of the top labs are not available.
But if you play for Australasia, you can not only become the president of the Australian Physical Society instantly, but also have access to all physics laboratories in Australasia, and also have positions such as honorary professor of physics at the National University of Australasia. The degree of attention received is naturally different.
Albert Einstein was a German who lived in Germany, Italy and Switzerland. His recognition of a certain country was not that high.
The reason why he chose to become a citizen of Switzerland was simply because he valued Switzerland's status as a neutral country and hoped to work in a peaceful homeland without war.
Because of this, after Einstein accepted Arthur's invitation, he was not bound and burdened by national justice, but was seriously considering the pros and cons of staying in Australia.
For top scientists like Einstein, their own money is often not that important.
Besides, just by virtue of the Victoria Award, Einstein was able to obtain a large amount of bonuses and reputation, and naturally he did not value money even more.
For Einstein, the working environment and the satisfaction of scientific research needs were more important than other things.
At the moment, it seems that the academic community in Australasia is not as developed as Switzerland, but at least the research space and funds are absolutely sufficient, and there is no need to worry about external troubles.
Finally, under Arthur's persuasion and temptation, Einstein agreed to stay in Australasia, temporarily serving as an honorary professor at the National University as a temporary resident of Australasia.
Although he did not directly become a citizen of Australasia, it was only a matter of time.
Arthur very generously promised to provide Einstein with at least 200,000 Australian dollars in research funding every year, and was willing to set up Einstein's own scientific research team.
Except for some of the more important research, all of Einstein's theoretical research is his own.
The arrival of Einstein not only added a master of physics to Australasia, but also added a mentor to Australasia's physics talents.
I believe that under the influence of Einstein, the honorary professor of physics at the National University, the physics department of the National University can also produce more physics talents and experts, and Australasia's scientific research field is also at the forefront of the world.
In February 1907, with the arrival of the first funds from the Russian Empire, the Royal Dockyard in Sydney Harbor also began construction of Russian orders.
The huge keels of the two dreadnoughts began to be laid, attracting a large number of domestic and foreign media to watch. Arthur also attended the groundbreaking ceremony of the two dreadnoughts.
Although these two dreadnoughts were built for Russia, they all used technologies mastered by Australasia, and the workers and experts who built them were all Australasians.
This is also a memorable event in the naval history of Australasia. At least in the construction of dreadnoughts, Australasia has truly become world-class.
Accompanying Arthur at the groundbreaking ceremony was the Russian diplomatic ambassador to Australasia.
After the marriage between Russia and Australia, the ties between the two countries have become closer. Various products from Australasia began to be dumped to Russia, and Russia also began to send a large number of agricultural people to Australasia.
These two dreadnoughts were named Petropavlovsk and Poltava by the Russians. These two warship names happen to be the names of the first batch of dreadnoughts in Russian history, the Gangut-class battleships. They are now released in advance. It's a coincidence.
Because the full load displacement reaches 20,910 tons, the keel laying of these two battleships will take a long time.
After the groundbreaking ceremony, all domestic and foreign media present were also asked to leave. The Royal Dockyard will then become a military restricted area. Until the two battleships are launched, irrelevant personnel are basically not allowed to approach.
In fact, the construction of the dreadnought did not take long. What took a long time was the navigation and testing after launching.
The British Empire's Dreadnaught battleship was built in just four months under the premise of adopting a variety of new technologies, which is enough to show the industrial scale and efficiency of the British Empire.
Construction times in Australasia are much slower. According to experts' estimates, the Petropavlovsk is expected to be launched for testing at the end of this year, and the Poltava is expected to be launched for testing at the beginning of next year.
If everything goes well and there are no problems, the two battleships are expected to be delivered from the second half to the end of next year, that is, around the end of 1908.
In mid-February, after more than a month of site selection, the Royal Military College of Australasia finally determined its location in the western suburbs of the Capital Territory.
Of course, this is only the location of the Army Academy and Aviation Academy of the Military Academy. The Naval Academy will be close to Sydney Port. After all, naval training cannot be separated from warships, and warship training cannot be separated from the ocean and ports.
In order to make the Royal Military Academy have a greater scale and reputation, Arthur went all out this time and searched extensively for military experts and professors in Europe and the United States to sit at the Royal Military Academy. Because the construction of the Royal Military Academy will take at least more than a year, the training institution of the Aviation Laboratory has not been relocated for the time being. Instead, it continues to stay in the Aviation Laboratory and conducts pilot training programs.
So far, Arthur has conducted multiple screenings in the army, selected hundreds of outstanding soldiers who are suitable to become pilots, and given them a glorious and arduous task, which is to master the flying skills of airplanes as soon as possible .
All the people involved in pilot training add up to more than 800 people.
After these people completely mastered the driving skills, Australasia could be regarded as mastering the first batch of air force soldiers.
Also in February, a severe famine occurred in East Asia due to natural disasters such as insect pests, malaria, and acid rain.
The major powers began to sell rice and flour at high prices in these disaster-stricken areas, making a lot of ill-gotten gains.
Arthur condemned this behavior very much, so he ordered granaries across Australasia to mobilize large amounts of grain to East Asia and join the ranks of the great powers.
Of course, Arthur still took action on the surface. He collected one hundred tons of grain in a very high-profile manner and announced that it would be given to the people affected by the disaster for free.
However, Arthur could not guarantee how much of the one hundred tons of food would eventually reach the hands of the disaster-stricken people.
This act of Australasia immediately made the people affected by the disaster feel grateful. After all, in the eyes of these people, foreigners are superior, and there are not many foreigners who pity them like Australasia.
The servile mentality of the people who have been oppressed, coupled with the current extremely backward situation of the country, has given rise to a very serious mentality of worshiping foreigners and favoring foreigners.
Even if the remaining people do not worship foreigners, they still have to lower their humble heads in front of foreign adults.
What Arthur didn't expect was that Arthur's apparent kindness would actually make many disaster-stricken people want to get closer to Australasia.
They place their hope of changing the country's situation in advanced countries like Australia, believing that only by learning advanced systems and technologies and arming themselves with these can they change the crisis they and their nation are currently facing.
It can only be said that these people at the bottom are still too easy to deceive. If they knew that the grain shipped to the disaster-stricken areas in Australasia amounted to tens of thousands of tons, except for the one hundred tons given away for free, all of them were several times the normal price of grain. Selling it at a price that is twice or even several times higher, I'm afraid their mood will become very strange.
The natural disasters and famine in East Asia from February to March turned into a good opportunity for exploitation by the great powers.
According to the trading houses opened in East Asia, in just over a month, Australasia has earned several times the profit of its usual grain exports, and on the surface, it has also gained some favor from the people affected by the disaster. It can be said that Gain fame and fortune.
Arthur thought that this was the impact of the famine. Unexpectedly, in March, the government welcomed unexpected guests, a group of students from the Qing Dynasty, requesting the Australasian Open University to allow some Qing students were able to study in Australasian universities.
Because the interests of the Qing Dynasty, a great power, were involved, government officials did not dare to make rash decisions, so they kicked the ball to Arthur's side.
At this time, most of the students studying abroad in the Qing Dynasty were relatively wealthy landowners, officials and gentry. As for the poor people who have no money, it is difficult for them to even have enough food to eat, let alone go to study abroad.
More poor people go abroad to seek livelihood instead of going to university to study and enrich themselves to save the nation.
In fact, these people may be the reason why they are worried that Australasia will refuse, and the conditions offered are also very generous.
In addition to all their own expenses while in Australasia, each student will pay tuition fees of AUD 1,000 per year.
If calculated according to the current exchange rate, one thousand Australian dollars is almost equivalent to three thousand five hundred taels of silver, which is enough to show that the people currently studying abroad are all dignitaries, merchants and gentry.
Arthur agreed to their request, but also made some corresponding demands. The most important thing is to maintain the rule of Australasia and not engage in any illegal or criminal activities in Australasia.
Once these international students are found to have engaged in any illegal or criminal behavior, they will not only face large compensation, but may also be held accountable by the Australasian government.
The reason why Arthur agreed to their request to study abroad was actually to cultivate talents who were close to Australasia.
If these people could move to a higher level in their country, or gain more rights and status, wouldn't they also be able to influence their country to get closer to Australasia, and Australasia gain more benefits?
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(End of chapter)