The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 324: Chapter 284: Cultural Export Plan

On July 7, 9, Arthur ded his tour in Europe and boarded the Australasian Battleship to return to Australasia.

Wh he set off for Europe, in order to keep up with the funeral of Edward VII, Arthur managed to rush to London in just over 0 days, under the full escort of the Australasian Battleship.

This rush, however, left the remaining supply ships to trudge slowly to catch up, shielded by the Australia Battleship and the New Zealand battleship.

On the return, there was no rush, hce they could relax and slowly integrate both fleets into one, deliberatively heading towards Australasia.

In late August, after a month of chasing, Arthur finally arrived in Sydney Harbour.

Prime Minister Walter and Minister Andrew wt to prepare for official duties and work, while Arthur, who temporarily had nothing to take care of, returned to the Royal Palace to play with his childr.

William and Anna Miller are now nearly a year old and can crawl on their own. However, their mother, Princess Louise, and Que Mary, are deeply in love with these two youngsters. Besides letting them crawl a a bit daily for exercise, they carried the two little ones most of the time.

This prevted Arthur from being able to carry either of his childr himself since Princess Louise and Que Mary were extremely affectionate towards their grandchildr. Arthur felt a slight neglect.

But Arthur didn't mind these things and shook his head and plunged into his busy work.

After resting for a few days, Arthur summoned the head of the Royal Shipyard to inquire about the progress of the shipyard.

The news was couraging. The construction of two Unified-class battleships was more than half-complete, and they were expected to be fully finished by the d of the year and would th ter the sea-navigation testing stage.

If the test was successful, they should be able to officially join the navy's formation betwe the d of 9 and the beginning of 9 to strgth Australasia's naval forces.

As for Russia's order, it was also expected to begin construction by the d of the year or early next year, and it should have no problem completing the four warships for Russia by the d of 94.

Wh Arthur learned that the two Unified-class battleships still had no artillery installed, he had a sudd inspiration and immediately issued the command to the shipyard to suspd the installation of the main gun after the other construction of the ship was completed.

After all, they managed to acquire 305mm, 50-calibre artillery technology from the British. They might as well replace the guns of the two Unified-class battleships with 305mm 50-calibre guns and make the firepower of the battlecruiser ev more pott.

Without any unexpected evts, the aid from Britain, including the relevant experts, should arrive within a month.

Theoretically, there would be time for the gun replacemt, and it esstially won't delay the two battlecruisers' from being constructed by the d of this year.

After arranging the affairs of the shipyard, it wasn't many Days before, on August 4, Arthur welcomed guests from the Qing Empire who had travelled a great distance.

The external conditions for this Empire hadn't be very good in rect years, with all sorts of calamities coming one after another.

In early August, a number of regions were hit by a flood disaster, which affected several provinces. Although it was not as severe as previous national disasters, it still represted a significant loss for the country.

The fact that they came to visit Australasia was for two reasons. Firstly, they wanted to buy more food from Australasia to alleviate the famines caused by the flood disaster in their country.

Secondly, they asked for a visit from a represtative of Australasia, as the implemtation of constitutionalism has shown a certain amount of achievemt under the guidance of Australasian experts. Moreover, the Consultative Bureau, which took a great deal of money to construct, is also about to be established.

The Consultative Bureau was set up by the Qing Empire. It was a ctral consultation organ established in accordance with the legal system of Australasia to prepare for the Parliamt.

The Bureau was set up because the authorities felt that the Houses of Parliamt couldn't be established at the momt. The Bureau would lay the foundation for the establishmt of these Houses.

Nothing else to say, the construction of the Consultative Bureau, which is effectively the Congress of the Qing Empire, was extremely magnifict.

Continuing the consistt style of the Eastern Empire, the Bureau is luxurious and top-grade, impressive and profound. Besides the obvious disadvantage of extravagance and waste of money, it is undiable that the Consultative Bureau of the Qing Empire has surpassed the scale and construction of the Administrative Court of Australasia.

But this is normal. After all, one country has a population of only over 8 million, while the other has a population surpassing 40 million (according to the csus data issued by the Qing Empire last month). The income level and economic situation of the two countries are completely incomparable.

Hearing this news, Arthur shook his head. If they could use this money construct their Military and Navy, th they could at least build the top Navy and Army in Asia, couldn't they?

In the final analysis, the country had decayed to its core. Superficial reform could not change this situation.

As for Australasia's Administrative Court, Arthur has no plans to expand it in the short term. It is just ough to barely accommodate the Cabinet Governmt, departmts of the governmt and other departmts of the national governmt, it isn't very crowded.

At least until the overcrowding impacts the operation of the office, Arthur thinks the currt Administrative Court would suffice.

With the country's finances, save where it is possible to save. Couldn't the money be used for other constructions or expanding the Navy and Army?

As to the matter of dispatching an voy to attd the oping ceremony of the Consultative Bureau, Arthur resolutely handed it over to Foreign Minister Andrew.