Chapter 278 Unexpected Harvest
Although the possibility of war breaking out in Europe at this time is very small, neither the cabinet government nor Arthur dare to bet on that slight possibility.
Judging the current situation and preparing in advance is the first thing Australasia needs to do.
However, from the perspective of national interests, Arthur does not want to start a war now.
After all, if World War I breaks out, countries will naturally impose certain restrictions on the outbound population. When the time comes, it may not be easy for Australasia to absorb more immigrants.
In other words, the number of immigrants from Australasia must have been significantly reduced before and during the war.
There is no way around this. After all, there are many civilians who do not want war. If it were during a war, there would definitely be many immigrants choosing to go abroad.
But if these immigrants are allowed to leave the country, it may lead to more population loss. This is very detrimental to a country that is at war, so it must be eliminated from the source.
As the king of the most powerful country in the world today, the grand scale of Edward VII's funeral is absolutely unimaginable.
In fact, this is indeed the case. If Arthur remembers correctly, the funeral of Edward VII in history was attended by nine European emperors, five crown princes, more than 40 royal nobles, seven queens and many nobles. It was the largest royal gathering in history.
This was almost the peak of the gathering of nobles. After the First World War, the monarchy had been greatly weakened. The power and status of nobles in various countries were also gradually weakened. The monarchy and the nobles gradually left the political stage of most countries.
Arthur must attend such a grand gathering of nobles. Of course, as a member of the British royal family, Arthur had to participate in Edward VII's funeral.
After all, in terms of blood relationship, Arthur is the nephew of Edward VII and the direct grandson of Queen Victoria.
After the royal affairs were arranged and the government was subsequently informed, Arthur took Prime Minister Walter, Foreign Secretary Andrew and a group of diplomatic visiting teams and set off for London on the battleship Australasia.
Of course, these are not the only accompanying warships. The other two battleships all followed, as well as more than a dozen frigates and a large supply fleet.
Although doing so would leave the coast of Australasia empty, Arthur believed that no country would land on the coast of Australasia at this time.
The only neighboring countries that are capable are island countries and the United States. But both countries are quite far away, and neither has the courage to provoke the major European powers.
This time I brought three battleships. Firstly, I wanted to show the outside world the current naval strength of Australasia. Secondly, I wanted to show my own shipbuilding capabilities and see if I could get some battleships from the major European powers and monarchies. of orders.
You know, one battleship can bring Arthur nearly 1.4 million Australian dollars in net profit. The order for two foreign battleships is enough for Arthur to build another battleship.
Even Arthur, who has no shortage of funds now, thinks it is necessary to fight for such a good deal.
At present, the competition in shipbuilding among European countries is relatively fierce. Many countries want to own dreadnoughts, but they do not have the ability to build them themselves.
European countries with construction capabilities are basically busy building their own dreadnoughts.
This also leads to Australasia currently hoping to get some orders for dreadnoughts from Europe, which is why Arthur brought the Minister of Foreign Affairs with him this time.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is very talkative. Maybe they can get orders for a few more dreadnought ships, which will be good for the royal family and the government.
You know, the only countries that currently have dreadnoughts are the British Empire, the German Empire, the Russian Empire and the Kingdom of Australasia.
Italy and the United States can also be added to those that are under construction or have construction plans.
At present, the only countries that are truly capable of exporting dreadnoughts are the British Empire, the German Empire and Australasia.
However, the naval competition between the British Empire and the German Empire was very fierce, and neither side had time to build dreadnoughts for themselves, let alone find time to build them for other countries.
Although a dreadnought can also make them hundreds of thousands or even millions of pounds in profits, these profits are somewhat negligible in the face of national competition.
While Arthur was on his way to London, the British government had officially notified countries around the world, and the political arena must have reached initial stability.
Of course, although Edward VII died on May 6, his funeral was arranged in mid-June in order to give major countries enough time to prepare for the funeral in London.
Especially for a country like Australasia, which is far enough away from the United Kingdom, Arthur's identity is still very important, so the funeral can only be postponed for a few days.
Fortunately, we were traveling on the fastest dreadnought, and it only took over twenty days to travel from Australasia to London.
If it were an old-fashioned battleship or warship, it would probably be impossible to reach London in less than a month.
Of course, if you are riding a battlecruiser currently under construction, I am afraid this time can be advanced a few days.
It's a pity that the construction of battlecruisers will still take a long time, and the truly equipped navy may have to wait until the end of next year.
In early June, the Australasian fleet officially arrived in the port of London.
At this time, the atmosphere in London was already very solemn, and the laughter of the British street people was much less, which was enough to show that Edward VII was still quite recognized by the British.
Those who are farther away like Arthur are almost the last to arrive. Portugal, Norway, Denmark, Spain, Belgium, etc., which are relatively close, basically arrive in May.
However, King Carlos I of Portugal did not look so friendly towards Arthur. After all, Australasia had just occupied Portuguese Timor from Portugal and made it its new colony.
Of course, national interests are not what makes Carlos truly hostile to Arthur. Mainly because Arthur controlled public opinion throughout Europe at the time, making Carlos a clown in Europe and even ridiculed by many European nobles.
The status and majesty of a country's monarch have been seriously shaken. No wonder Carlos hates Arthur so much.
Arthur couldn't help but find it a little funny. Carlos I didn't care about his hatred of Arthur. After all, Portugal was only a third-rate country in Europe, and its influence was not even comparable to that of Australasia.
What's more, without Arthur's influence on the situation in Portugal, perhaps Carlos I would have been assassinated together with his crown prince as in history. The current King of Portugal might have become Manuel II, and the Portuguese royal family might have It is also close to destruction.
Queen Victoria is known as the grandmother of the European royal family, and as Queen Victoria's eldest son, Edward, naturally became the eldest uncle of the European royal family.
Of course, this is not just talk. Edward VII's prestige in the European royal family is still quite high, and his funeral also attracted the participation of most European monarchies and royal families.
Although Carlos I was relatively hostile to Arthur, on British soil, Manuel could only pretend to be a grandson.
What's more, on Arthur's side, William II and Arthur were talking and laughing, which was enough to show the relationship between William II and Arthur.
After all, there were so many European royal nobles present, and William II chose to stay by Arthur's side, which shows that he and Arthur have the best relationship.
At this juncture, if Carlos I came to look for trouble, I am afraid that he is really out of his mind.
It is worth mentioning that Nicholas II did not attend the funeral. It's not that Nicholas II had any objections to Edward VII. Russia and Britain had already reached a compromise and formed the Three Kingdoms Entente with France. Naturally, it was impossible not to give Britain face at such a juncture.
It's just that Nicholas II's son, Crown Prince Alexei, suffered from hemophilia and had an attack some time ago, so Nicholas II had to stay with his son and could not attend the funeral. .
Hemophilia is a taboo that even European royal families talk about. Many European people even call it a royal disease. After all, many European royal family members suffer from this disease.
In fact, the birth of hemophilia should theoretically be attributed to the tradition of incest in European royal families.
The current source of hemophilia in the European royal family should be Queen Victoria.
A considerable number of Queen Victoria's children suffered from hemophilia, and along with marriages with other countries, they entered the royal families of other countries.
But the good news is that neither Arthur nor old Duke Arthur has hemophilia. This is also the reason why old Duke Arthur lived a long life in history.
The Russian Crown Prince Alexei's hemophilia seemed to have been cured by a pseudo-mystic.
However, Arthur didn't know the details. Anyway, Arthur couldn't do anything for the time being, so he might as well care about the immediate interests and things.
In mid-June, Edward VII's farewell ceremony officially began.
The scale, quality and number of participants of the farewell ceremony set a new world record.
Of course, there is no such thing as a world record in this era, but various news and various records all remember this event.
A total of ten kings rode along with the hearse, and hundreds of thousands of British people saw off King Edward VII.
Arthur is also among these ten people, and he is still in a relatively front position.
Although the strength of Australasia is not enough to allow him to enter the forefront of the ten emperors, Arthur is from the British royal family, and his relationship is naturally closer, so he has gained the power to be in the forefront.
On the surface, Arthur was very sad about the death of Edward VII. After all, the relationship with the British government and British people still needs to be maintained. Anyway, as a qualified monarch, the pretense is essential.
Judging from the reaction of the British people, Arthur's disguise was still very successful. Many British people also remembered Queen Victoria's instructions to Arthur when she died. A large number of British media praised Arthur as a great monarch who valued blood relationships, loved relatives, loved family, and cared for the charity of his people.
Various words of praise were used by these British media in reporting on Arthur, and were then printed and sold throughout the British Empire.
There is no way, praising Arthur at this time has become a kind of political correctness. After all, the British people are very satisfied with Arthur. If newspapers and media sing the opposite, then do they need market and sales?
It is precisely because more media and newspapers have exaggerated praise for Arthur that many British people who do not know the reason love Arthur even more.
This actually increased Arthur's support and favor in the UK, allowing Arthur to show his face in front of the British people again.
Arthur was originally worried that with the end of the Victorian era, the British people might gradually forget about him.
Unexpectedly, with this accident, the British people became more fond of him. Many British people even spontaneously went to the grave of old Duke Arthur and the place where he was assassinated to remember this beloved son of Queen Victoria and the benevolent Duke of the British Empire. .
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(End of chapter)