Chapter 256: House of Representatives Resolution to Increase Cabinet Seats

Although the first meeting ended with Arthur's sales promotion failure, Arthur knew that it was not because the warships he promoted were not attractive, but because the other party was in financial difficulties.

In addition, the envoy did not know much about warships, so it was a problem to sign a warship order for the first time.

In fact, even though the other party was already a backward and corrupt country, it had increased its fiscal revenue several times compared to decades ago by relying on some reforms and industrial construction in recent years.

If Arthur remembered correctly, the other party's fiscal revenue in 1908 exceeded 230 million taels of silver, which was a considerable figure.

Of course, such fiscal revenue is far less exaggerated than it seems.

If you convert it slightly, 230 million taels of silver is only equivalent to 32.85 million pounds and 65.71 million Australian dollars.

It is almost twice the fiscal revenue of Australasia last year. The total population of Australasia was only over 7 million last year, while the other party is a huge country with a population of nearly 400 million.

Moreover, due to various events that happened before, a considerable part of the fiscal revenue of 230 million taels of silver was used as compensation, and most of the rest was divided up by high-ranking officials and nobles, and not much could really be used by the government.

A considerable part of the credit for maintaining such high income is still the exploitation and oppression of the lower-class civilians.

It makes no sense for such a country not to perish, but a unified country is also good for Australasia. In addition, the interests of the major powers in this region are deeply intertwined. A unified country is good for all major countries, except for the island countries.

But who cares about the opinions of the island countries? Because the previous war did not achieve a complete victory, the international view of the island countries is now that they are a rising secondary power that can barely touch the threshold of the great powers.

But if you want first-class powers such as Britain, Germany, Russia and France to recognize the status of the island countries as great powers, I am afraid that the island countries still have a long way to go.

On May 17, the East Asian delegation once again asked to see Arthur.

In order to facilitate the negotiation between the two sides, the scale of this meeting was obviously much larger. The other party was a whole delegation, and Arthur also dispatched a team including several ministers and several deputy ministers.

The subsequent negotiations were mostly price wars, and Arthur's identity was no longer suitable for participation.

After all, it was completely unnecessary for Arthur to compete for that little profit. This kind of thing was more suitable for experienced politicians to do.

However, Arthur still gave specific goals and bottom lines. The first was battleships. If the other party really intended to buy battleships, the lowest price could be the same as that of Russia.

The prices of a series of industrial equipment and weapons and equipment were raised as much as possible. After all, this kind of money is worth making.

The reason for slightly lowering the price of battleships is that the price of battleships is often millions of pounds. If converted in silver, the price of a battleship is as high as more than 10 million taels of silver, which is not a small number.

But battleships are the most valuable industrial equipment that Australasia can currently manufacture. The cost of a battleship is enough to rival a large arms trade order.

The negotiation lasted for several days, during which the ministers also reported some matters that needed Arthur's decision.

For example, the other party wanted to send some students to study in various universities and military schools in Australasia.

Because the graduates of the Royal Military Academy of Australasia must serve in Australasia for two years, Arthur had to be consulted.

Arthur thought carefully for a while and finally decided on the other party's proposal to send students.

However, a fixed number was set for the cost of each student, that is, no less than 3,500 taels of silver per person per year, which is 1,000 Australian dollars.

For the students sent to the Royal Military Academy, Arthur also exempted them from the requirement to serve in the Australasia army for two years.

After all, these military students will become top students when they return to their countries, and they may even become independent warlords or talents valued by warlords.

This is still good for Australasia to seek more benefits. A country close to Australasia is better than a country close to other countries!

Of course, this request for students is different from the last one. Last time, there were more requests from private individuals to study abroad, but this time it was a request from the Qing government.

And most of the students who studied abroad last time went to universities in Australasia, but this time their main purpose was the newly built military academy in Australasia.

As for weapons and equipment, the orders from the other party this time were not small.

The Royal Intelligence Agency also has intelligence agencies in some parts of East Asia, so Australasia still knows some of the other party's intelligence.

For example, several uprisings that broke out not long ago, although they failed due to lack of support, did cause a great impact on this corrupt empire.

According to the tone of this mission, they plan to establish a division fully armed with foreign weapons and equipment, and set their sights on Australasia.

The reason is that Australia's arms trade has already enjoyed a great reputation in the Far East and East Asia, and they also saw the arms trade in the previous Russo-Japanese War.

Being able to gain the trust of the two powerful countries of Russia and the island country, I believe that Australasia's weapons and equipment are still of high quality.

More importantly, Britain is more inclined to export weapons to island countries, not to mention Russia, which lacks weapons.

Germany is a good choice, but in order to sign a neutrality treaty with Russia, Germany's interests in East Asia have been restrained.

In addition, the purchase of German weapons requires high transportation costs, so it is better to choose Australasia, which is closer.

Hearing the minister's report on the other party's proposal for the Australian Armed Division, Arthur's eyes were a little strange for a while, but he still approved the order.

According to the other party's plan, this time they will purchase at least 12,000 GewA-96 Maxim machine guns, 20 75mm artillery, and matching millions of rounds of bullets and thousands of artillery shells, to initially arm a division to see its strength.

If the armed division has good combat effectiveness, then they will consider arming more to strengthen their own defense.

For weapons orders, Arthur's attitude is naturally the more the better.

After all, the weapons orders not only strengthened the arms trade market in Australasia, but also most of the profits generated went into Arthur's own military factories, which was a win-win situation for Arthur and Australasia.

As for the battleships, which were more expensive, the other party's envoys had some changes, but they still said that they had to consult the government and the emperor before they could draw a conclusion.

Arthur was not surprised by this. After all, the other party seemed to have sought talents to help them reform at the beginning, and the arms trade seemed to be another thing.

Finally, it was about sending talents to help them reform. According to the friendly agreement between the two parties, Australasia needs to send 20 legal and administrative talents, five industrial experts, five economic experts and ten military experts to help the other party reform the government, economy, industry and military.

On the premise of protecting the personal safety and property safety of these 40 experts, the other party must pay Australasia 1.2 million taels of silver every year and sell various resources needed to Australasia at a low price.

The previous arms trade and study abroad plan required a one-time payment of 300,000 taels of silver to Australasia, plus at least 350,000 taels of silver per year.

Yes, according to the study abroad plan signed by both parties, the number of students sent by the other party each year is fixed at about 100, which is already a lot.

It seems that the other party does have the idea of ​​reform, but whether the reform can succeed depends on the attitude of the great powers and domestic forces.

With the signing of the treaty by the two parties responsible for the negotiations, this friendly exchange treaty between the two parties has officially come into effect.

At present, this treaty only brings income to Australasia, which is also the essential reason why Arthur agreed to sign the treaty.

I believe that no one will refuse the benefits that are delivered to the door. As for the personal safety of the experts sent out, Arthur believes that they will guarantee it.

Not to mention the fawning and fear of foreigners born in this country due to extreme backwardness, the friendly relations between Australasia and the major powers alone are enough to make the other party pay attention to these talents.

If someone really doesn't have eyes, even if Arthur risks the destruction of the world, he must let them taste the taste of a strong enemy.

The signing of this treaty is just a small event for Australasia and Arthur, and it is not so important for the development of Australasia.

The most important thing at present is still the election of the House of Representatives, but before the election, the House of Representatives had already made a proposal.

On May 29, 1908, when the June election month was approaching, the House of Representatives submitted several proposals to the Royal House, requesting the Royal House to review and inform Arthur.

This situation is also very common in Australasia. After all, the power of the Royal House of Representatives is relatively the greatest. If the House of Representatives has problems that cannot be solved, they will often report them to the Royal House of Representatives for review.

However, after receiving the proposal, the Royal House of Representatives immediately reported the proposal to Arthur and asked Arthur for his opinion on how to deal with it.

Generally, this situation also represents the importance of the proposal. When it involves more important national affairs, the members of the Royal House of Representatives will be undecided and wait for Arthur's final decision.

Arthur picked up several proposals on the table, and the big words that came into his eyes were about the resolution of the House of Representatives to vote to apply for the cabinet government to increase seats.

The first update of 3,000 words, asking for monthly tickets, asking for support!