Chapter 462 Developments in the War and Russian Visitors

In early February 1918, the government conducted a complete statistics of all war expenses and the current situation in the country, and reported the final results to Arthur's desk.

Compared with the last population census, the population of Australasia has grown to 18.678 million, which is infinitely close to the 20 million mark.

Now that the war is over, the foreign immigration policies of various countries have gradually recovered. It is very likely that there will be more immigration growth in the new year, thus breaking the 20 million population mark.

Throughout 1917, Australasia's GDP reached US$2.24 billion, equivalent to 448 million pounds and 896 million Australian dollars, with a growth rate of about 7%.

From this data, it can be seen that the war has little impact on the development of Australasia.

The war even promoted the development of various industries in Australasia, including the military industry, clothing industry and various light industries, all of which benefited from the war.

In 1917, the total fiscal revenue of the Australasia government was 166.1 million Australian dollars, with growth rates of 17% and 15% in the past two years, both of which are very gratifying.

In 1917, because the United States joined the war, it did take away part of the Australasia market, which also led to a slight decrease in the growth rate of the Australasia government's fiscal revenue, but the war ended when the impact was not great.

In contrast, the government's total fiscal expenditure in the same year was as high as 145.5 million Australian dollars, which was nearly half the increase before the war.

In 1917, the government's total fiscal surplus was as high as 20.6 million Australian dollars, which was equivalent to six super dreadnoughts, and the fiscal situation was still very good.

The income of the royal consortium was also very exaggerated. It is no exaggeration to say that the expansion speed of the royal consortium during the war was not weaker than the growth rate of government fiscal revenue.

If the royal consortium before the war was famous for various heavy industries, then the royal consortium at this time also had many light industries, such as the Royal Clothing Factory, the Royal Military Boot Factory, the Royal Canned Food Factory, etc.

According to the statistics of the Royal Consortium, Australasia exported more than 5 million tons of canned products to Europe during the three years of the war.

According to the weight of an adult hare, which ranges from 80 to 100 kilograms, these cans are equivalent to about 120 million hares, which is enough to show the number of wild animals killed in Australasia in recent years.

There is no way around it. The ecological environment of Australasia is very fragile compared to European countries. After all, Australia is a completely independent continent, and its ecological environment is different from that of Europe and Asia.

In recent years, Australasia has implemented relatively strict environmental protection laws and animal and plant protection laws, and has carried out quite strict protection for Australasia's carnivores, prohibiting arbitrary hunting.

In addition, the government strongly encourages the public to hunt wild animals such as kangaroos, hares, wild boars, wild camels, etc. These wild animals can be sold to canneries or eaten by themselves.

Basically, every month, the government and the royal family will organize a large-scale hunting activity, and those who rank among the top in hunting results will also receive certain rewards.

In addition to official hunting operations by the government and the royal family, there are many hunting associations in Australasia that specialize in hunting wild animals and selling them to canneries to make money.

Don't underestimate the income of these hunting associations and clubs. If you are more skilled in hunting, your income can even exceed that of farmers and herdsmen.

Of course, hunting in the wild also has certain risks, especially in the more dangerous wild environment in Australasia.

But as the saying goes, high risk, high return, every year there are still a large number of people willing to participate in these hunting activities, one to relax, the other to earn extra income, and to show off in front of their family, friends, and even other people.

In addition, the government has also promulgated stricter laws on alien species to prevent alien species from damaging the ecological environment of Australasia as much as possible.

Creatures like hares and camels are all alien species. It is precisely because of the extreme reproduction of hares that a large amount of land has been eaten and even desertified.

Protecting the environment is one thing Arthur can do for future monarchs, and it is also an important way to protect the land environment of Australasia.

In any case, environmental protection and wildlife hunting will continue, and it is urgent to manage the ecological environment of Australasia.

On February 5, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs suddenly reported that Grand Duke Paul of Russia was visiting and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was already hosting him.

Arthur nodded and decided to meet Grand Duke Paul immediately.

In any case, the Australasian royal family and the Russian royal family are relatives and natural allies.

No matter what the environment, it is still necessary to meet Grand Duke Paul. What's more, the Russian monarchy has not been overthrown. Whether it is the etiquette of the nobility or Queen Mary, Arthur must meet this Russian visitor.

In fact, Arthur has long known the intention of Grand Duke Paul. Although the Russian monarchy has been retained, Nicholas II's power has been severely restricted compared to before the civil strife. It can even be said that he has little power and can only live in the Winter Palace.

This situation makes the ambitious Nicholas II very dissatisfied. Nicholas II has been waiting for an opportunity, an opportunity to regain power.

Now that the war is over, the anti-war thoughts of the Russian people naturally came to an end. As the Russian army returned home one after another, Nicholas II also regained some royalist forces, which gave Nicholas II hope of regaining power.

It was not enough to rely solely on the power of Nicholas II and the royalists. After all, in addition to the provisional government, Nicholas II had a bigger worry, that is, the Workers' Union.

Because of this, Nicholas II wanted to find more allies, such as several countries of the Allied Powers.

In addition, thinking of the European royal joint declaration proposed by Arthur before, Australasia was first thought of, and Grand Duke Paul, who had the closest relationship with Australasia, was sent as a representative.

Grand Duke Paul was the younger brother of Grand Duke Sergei and the youngest son of the late Tsar Alexander II.

In terms of blood relationship, Grand Duke Paul was the uncle of Queen Mary and the person with the closest blood relationship with Queen Mary besides Grand Duke Sergei.

Of course, there was also Queen Mary's younger brother. But the young man was not very convincing after all, so Nicholas II decided to send Grand Duke Paul as a representative.

As for Queen Mary's adoptive father, Arthur's nominal father-in-law, Grand Duke Sergei, he was killed by a bomb in an attack and has entered heaven.

Arthur and Grand Duke Paul have only met a few times and are not very familiar with each other.

But Grand Duke Paul, instructed by Nicholas II, played the emotional card as soon as they met, asked about Queen Mary's condition many times, and expressed Nicholas II's concern for Arthur, Queen Mary, and princes and princesses such as William and Anna.

"Your Majesty! Russia needs your help, and the Romanov family also needs your help!" After a round of greetings, Grand Duke Paul got back to the point and mentioned his real intention of coming to Australasia.

"What are you talking about, Grand Duke Paul. As far as I know, although the civil strife has a certain impact on the rule of the Romanov family, the status of your royal family is still stable, and it seems that you don't need the help of Australasia." Arthur raised his eyebrows, pretending to be surprised, and asked.

"Your Majesty, as you know, Russia has made great contributions to the Allies in this war. But some damn rebels, taking advantage of the troops deployed on the front line, rashly launched a rebellion and captured government departments and the Winter Palace. Although Your Majesty temporarily succumbed to these rebels, he always wanted to restore the rule of the Romanov family. For the Russian people, the monarchy is bright. Only under the leadership of the great Majesty Nicholas and the rule of the Romanov family can Russia shine again." Grand Duke Paul knew that Arthur and Australasia were no longer what they were before, and they were countries that even pre-war Russia needed to pay attention to.

Apart from anything else, the status of the four major powers of the Allied Powers alone was enough for any country in the world to pay attention to.

Although its strength was still behind that of Britain, France and Russia, it was on par with Britain, France and Russia in status, and could sit at a negotiating table together to divide the interests of the Allies, instead of waiting for the meeting notice like Italy.

Arthur nodded to show his understanding.

In fact, it was true. Russia had millions of troops on the front line, which was why the rebels were able to quickly break through St. Petersburg and the Winter Palace.

But in fact, Nicholas II also made many stupid moves. If he had done fewer stupid things, there would not be so many workers and civilians joining the previous rebellion.

Seeing Arthur nod, Grand Duke Paul was delighted and said quickly: "Your Majesty, for the sake of the Russian-Australian Alliance, the royal marriage between the two countries, and the joint declaration of the European royal families, please support His Majesty Nicholas to regain power, abolish the provisional government, and eliminate the Moscow regime established by the Workers' Union without authorization, so that the great, glorious and long-standing monarchy will return to the whole of Russia."

"Grand Duke Paul, just say it directly, what kind of support do you need?" Arthur asked directly.

At least for Russia at present, the monarchy does not seem to be very bright. If the monarchy and Nicholas II had given the people hope, such a large-scale rebellion would not have broken out in various parts of Russia.

But no matter what, with the marriage relationship between the two countries, the joint declaration of the European royal families proposed by Arthur himself, and the interests of Australasia, it is still necessary to maintain a monarchical Russia.

Monarchical Russia is an ally of Australasia, but republican Russia is uncontrollable.

So it becomes very clear how to choose. However, support is support, and it is limited to providing weapons and equipment and funds, and the scope of support must be within the range that Arthur can accept.

After all, Arthur is not a philanthropist. He does not intend to spend a lot of money and Australasia's development time to make wedding clothes for the Romanov family and Nicholas II.

If Nicholas can also pull Britain and Italy at the same time, Arthur does not mind helping Britain and Italy and contributing a little more.

But if only Australasia helps Russia, it can only be a friendly help, and the amount depends on Arthur's mood.

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