Chapter 59 Treaty of the Isle of Wight

Outside the church, tens of thousands of people were waiting in the cold and wet weather.

In order not to miss the coronation of Edward VII, at least hundreds of people set up tents on the boulevard in front of Buckingham Palace the night before.

The ticket price for the seats in the simply built viewing platform was also hyped up to more than ten pounds. In the best location overlooking the road, the ticket price for a seat was even as high as hundreds of pounds.

After Edward VII delivered his coronation speech, the Archbishop of Canterbury raised the Crown of St. Edward high, then put it down and put it on the head of His Majesty, the undisputed King.

The Crown of St. Edward is mainly made of gold, surrounded by many diamonds as embellishments. It is the oldest and most valuable crown of the British royal family, and it is also the special crown for the coronation of monarchs of all generations.

There is also a crown similar to the Crown of St. Edward, which is the Crown of the British Empire, which is only used for daily wear and ceremonial purposes.

"Long live His Majesty!"

Led by Prime Minister Robert, the British people present began to cheer and shout for the new British monarch.

After the grand coronation ceremony, it was the first banquet held by Edward VII as king.

The scale of this banquet was quite large. Not only were the royal high-ranking officials from various countries who had attended the funeral and coronation ceremony present, but also the great nobles and high-ranking officials from the UK would be present one by one to offer blessings and celebrations to Edward VII.

The protagonist of this banquet was only Edward VII, so the main theme of the parliament was to congratulate Edward VII, which was very boring for Arthur.

After a few simple conversations with Edward VII and expressing his very "heartfelt" congratulations to him, Arthur found a slightly quiet corner and sat alone.

Perhaps he had already expected such a situation, or perhaps he simply disdained to congratulate Edward VII in person.

William II did not appear at the banquet, but asked his son, Crown Prince William, to attend on his behalf.

And William II had returned to Berlin after meeting Arthur that day.

Fortunately, the banquet was not long, from 8pm to 10pm, about two hours.

After barely enduring these two hours, as the banquet ended, Arthur quietly returned to his room.

Although he wanted to ask Edward VII about the specific time of the negotiation with the British government.

But seeing that Edward VII was surrounded by people congratulating him at the banquet, Arthur had no choice but to give up.

What Arthur didn't expect was that just the next afternoon, the guards conveyed a good news to Arthur. The British government decided to discuss and discuss the support plan with the Australian diplomatic delegation on December 10, two days later.

This was good news for Arthur. If he could deal with the British affairs earlier, he could also finalize the treaty with Germany earlier.

Staying in the UK all the time was not a solution. Australia was now in a state of disrepair and needed Arthur's personal presence.

Time passed quickly, and December 10 was also in a flash.

After two days of relatively thorough preparation, the Australian diplomatic delegation officially visited Whitehall in Westminster, London, which is a street where important government agencies such as the Prime Minister's Office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Defense, the Privy Council, and the Ministry of Finance are concentrated.

The place of negotiation was located in the conference hall of the Prime Minister's Office. The officials participating in the negotiation included a prime minister, six ministers, and more than 40 officials from important departments.

Because Edward VII handed over the decision-making power of the negotiation to the British government, Arthur could not come forward for such a large-scale negotiation, and could only let the diplomatic delegation handle it.

This was also a conspiracy of Edward VII. If the monarchs of both sides came forward together, then as Arthur's uncle, Edward VII would inevitably have to give in a little more.

But now, Edward actually handed over the right to negotiate to the British government. If Edward VII did not show up, Arthur's identity would not be good to appear in such diplomatic occasions.

After all, as a member of the royal family, he is still a distinguished duke. It would damage the dignity of a nobleman and a member of the royal family to come forward in such a fussy negotiation link.

But if they don't show up, Australia's diplomatic delegation is not proportional to the British officials in terms of position, status or number, and has some inherent disadvantages.

However, Arthur has already made arrangements in advance. What the negotiation will be like depends on the efforts of all members of the diplomatic delegation.

While Arthur was waiting anxiously, the discussion in the meeting room of the Prime Minister's Office was endless, and there were some arguments from time to time, but they finally disappeared.

At about eight o'clock in the evening, Arthur's door was knocked, and a familiar voice came in: "Your Highness, it's done!"

The three ministers of the diplomatic delegation knocked on the door. At this time, the faces of the three people were a little excited. It was obvious that the negotiation was going smoothly, and the agreement reached was also in line with the expectations of several people.

"Tell me, what is the result of the negotiation?" After sitting down in the office and asking the guards to serve a few cups of coffee, Arthur asked expressionlessly.

"Overall, it's going well, Your Highness." The leading Foreign Minister Andrew said excitedly.

Because various diplomatic means are needed, this diplomatic mission is actually led by Andrew, with Minister Pierre and Minister Kent as deputy heads.

"Have all our demands been met? Has the aid plan been officially signed?" Arthur nodded calmly and continued to ask.

"Basically, everything has been met, Your Highness. Today we have discussed all the details of the treaty with the British government and agreed to formally sign the treaty tomorrow, and it will be officially implemented after the Apocalypse for a period of ten years." Minister Andrew said with a smile.

The ten-year period was decided by Queen Victoria, and neither Britain nor Australia intended to change it.

For Britain, it is not willing to bear such unconditional support for a few more years. After all, even if the support is small, it is spending its own real money.

For Australia, ten years of support is completely acceptable. After all, people are greedy, and both Arthur and all officials are more satisfied with this period.

"How much money can the aid treaty support us every year? How much corresponding industrial equipment and talents can be supported? Has the issue of immigration been discussed?" Arthur continued to ask.

There are too many areas where Australia needs support, especially the issue of immigration, which is the biggest difficulty that Australia needs to solve before its rise.

Whether it is developing industry or building infrastructure, a large number of labor and population are needed.

For Australia, which has a population of less than 4 million, there is only one way to achieve adequate development, that is to attract a large number of immigrants from Europe and increase Australia's population size as much as possible.

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