Chapter 6: Raising an army
is not so much a belated birthday gift as it is a symbolic compensation to Arthur under the threat of Queen Victoria and the satisfaction of achieving his goal.
Arthur's 17th birthday was on January 13th. Although influenced by Duke Arthur, he and his family celebrated this birthday quietly without any celebration or party.
But this does not mean that the British royal family, headed by Queen Victoria and Crown Prince Edward, are unaware of the incident.
On the contrary, as the crown prince who was named Prince of Wales at a young age, Crown Prince Edward has cultivated a lot of power of his own over a long period of time. Although it is not worth mentioning to Queen Victoria, it is definitely not enough to miss Arthur's birthday. Know.
But no matter what, the fifty million pounds offered by Crown Prince Edward is real, and Arthur will naturally not refuse it.
Although 30 million pounds of this is a loan from the Bank of London, most of the shares of the Bank of London are in the hands of Crown Prince Edward, so the 30 million pounds is actually equivalent to a gift.
As a result, Arthur's capital will soon reach 137 million pounds. In terms of personal property, Arthur is confident that he can enter the top five in the world.
Not paying attention to Arthur's reaction, Crown Prince Edward finally breathed a sigh of relief after seeing Queen Victoria's satisfied expression.
The Crown Prince understands that although he seems to be the stable first heir to the throne, as long as Queen Victoria announces the abolition of her status as Crown Prince, the majority of the British people and political circles will definitely recognize this.
Don't underestimate Queen Victoria's status in the hearts of British civilians. For Britain to be able to integrate into a huge United Kingdom, Queen Victoria's supreme status in the hearts of various kingdoms is an indispensable condition.
"Arthur, you should have become the supreme Duke of the British Empire, but if you want to go to remote Australia, I will not stop you. As your grandmother, I have nothing to give you, so I will give you a compensation of 100 million pounds. And industrial equipment worth fifty million pounds." Queen Victoria touched Arthur's head and said.
"After all, Australia is a remote area. Let alone education and medical conditions, the infrastructure is very backward and very unstable." Queen Victoria said slowly: "The money I give you is not for you to have fun. It's for pleasure, but for you to use this money and these industrial equipment to develop Australia's infrastructure, medical care, education, and industry, not only for yourself, but also for all Australians, right?" "I understand
. , grandmother. Now that I have become the Duke of Australia, I will make the development of the entire Australia my lifelong goal." Arthur nodded and said solemnly.
"That's good. Although we are traveling together this time, you are going to Australia and I am going to New Zealand. Grandma cannot watch you and protect you all the time. You have to walk the road ahead on your own." Queen Victoria continued to ask. .
"On behalf of the British royal family, I present to you a Royal Guards force of two thousand people. Their families will also follow you to Australia. Arthur, if you can't stand it, go to New Zealand to find your grandmother. Don't force it. Stay."
Queen Victoria's seemingly nagging words were as warm as the warm sunshine of spring in Arthur's heart.
It has been more than five months since she came to this world, and Queen Victoria is one of the few people who treats herself sincerely.
March 4, 1900.
The fleet that had been prepared for more than half a month finally set off, but this time the scale of the fleet was greatly expanded again, and the accompanying Guards were as high as 4,000 people, half of which already belonged to Arthur personally.
Speaking of the Royal Guards, also called the Royal Guards Division, it is a private army belonging only to the British royal family. It has a history of hundreds of years.
Each Guardsman is an elite member carefully selected from the British army. In terms of daily training and discipline, they are far stronger than the ordinary British army. Although the Royal Navy of the British Empire is famous all over the world, the British Army is not famous.
But in fact, the combat effectiveness of the regular British army ranks among the top three in Europe. In addition to being slightly inferior to the German army and the French army, both the quality of the soldiers and the weapons and equipment are ahead of the armies of other European countries.
The combat effectiveness of the Royal Guards Division carefully selected from these British armies is already comparable to that of the elite German army.
The Royal Guards Division, composed of five infantry regiments, two cavalry regiments and one reserve regiment, is actually an important means for the British royal family to maintain its rule.
The departure of the fleet was welcomed by a large number of London citizens. Even after the fleet had completely departed, the fanatical crowd stayed at the port for a long time and refused to leave.
On March 14, after a ten-day voyage, the fleet arrived at the Suez Canal, which is now and will be the busiest waterway in the world.
The Suez Canal connects eastern Africa with India, Southeast Asia and other regions, and is regarded by the British as an important means of controlling India.
Because of this, since the British Empire took control of the Suez Canal, it has stationed heavy troops in the Suez Canal to protect this very important waterway.
The guards on the canal had learned of Queen Victoria's imminent arrival very early and had already formed a formation on the canal to welcome her.
Arthur also felt the admiration and respect that the British people of this era had for Queen Victoria. This was not only the pride and pride of all British people for the achievements of the British Empire, but also the recognition of the queen who had been in charge of the empire for decades.
Together with Queen Victoria, after reviewing the canal defenders, the fleet set off again, this time to India.
Queen Victoria's journey may not be as simple as recuperation. Although the purpose of the journey is very clear, it still has to stop at the Suez Canal, India and Australia before arriving at White Island in New Zealand.
The three docking places chosen by Queen Victoria all have special meanings. Needless to say, Australia will be Arthur's future territory. Queen Victoria's choice of docking in Australia is not without the intention of shocking the local forces.
The Suez Canal and India were strategic areas that could not be lost to the British Empire.
Britain's rise was partly due to the technological leadership brought by the Industrial Revolution, and partly to the large land population and cheap resources brought by external colonization.
India, in particular, not only has an inexhaustible labor force and a large number of excellent ports, but also has abundant crop output and is known as the crown jewel.
For the British Empire, the importance of British India was far greater than that of all other colonies.
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(End of chapter)