Chapter 638: Marriage Considerations, University Construction
Bang! Bang!
With three consecutive gunshots, the two hares fell down, and the guards and servants watching on the side couldn't help but cheer loudly.
Well, the two prey were killed by Arthur and William. Although Peter's shooting skills are good, he is still helpless in the face of such fast-running creatures.
Looking at the somewhat frustrated Peter, William couldn't help but comfort him: "You have done very well, Peter. I couldn't hit the prey when I hunted for the first time. As long as you practice hard, I believe you will be able to hit your prey next time you hunt."
Hearing his brother's encouragement, Peter's mood improved a little, and he nodded heavily.
Looking at William who took the initiative to comfort Peter, Arthur nodded with satisfaction and said happily: "Add another roasted hare for lunch, and you can share the other one."
The two hares caught were not too big, but they were definitely not something that Arthur's family could finish.
Distributing the prey to servants and guards can also win people's hearts, which has become the first thing that Arthur, who attaches great importance to people's hearts, thinks of.
Taking the two little guys back to the resting place, several chefs have almost prepared a sumptuous lunch.
Looking at the little guys eating their food quietly, Arthur suddenly smiled, looked at Queen Mary, and asked: "There should be a lot more European royal families contacting you in recent years, right?"
Queen Mary was stunned at first, then followed Arthur's gaze to look at William and Anna, and then nodded as if she suddenly realized it, and said with a smile: "There are a lot more, Arthur. Do you have any favorite choices?"
After all, William and Anna are both over 16 years old, and it's time to find a more suitable marriage partner for them.
The European royal family pays attention to the distinction between nobles and commoners and the equality of status. No matter how bad their marriage partners are, they must be royal families, and they must be the direct descendants of the king or emperor.
This also means that worldwide, only the European royal family is suitable for marriage with these two little guys.
Whether it is William or Anna, their identities have determined that they will not have their own love, and they can only try their best to maintain their own marriage partners.
As Arthur's eldest son, William is the first heir to the throne of Australia according to the Australasian succession law.
This also means that William's wife is likely to become the next Queen of Australia, and the choice of candidates becomes very important.
Although Anna will not inherit the throne, she is Arthur's only daughter and is also very important.
Arthur is still quite fond of his only daughter. Under the basic conditions of being well-matched and generally suitable, Arthur is also willing to listen to Anna's own opinions and let Anna choose her favorite marriage partner as much as possible.
This is also the confidence that the strength of Australia brings to Arthur. At present, Australia no longer needs marriage to create reliable allies for itself, and the basic foundation of Anglo-Australian relations has doomed the stability of Australia.
Arthur understands that it is rare and precious to have a marriage of his own love in such a royal family, and this is also the most precious thing Arthur can give Anna.
Hearing what Arthur and Queen Mary said, William and Anna naturally understood what they were about to face.
William, who seemed calm, swallowed lightly, proving that his heart was not as calm as it seemed.
"Anna, what do you think of those European princes at the National Day ceremony some time ago?" The servants had left after serving the food, and there was no need to worry about people eavesdropping nearby, so Queen Mary asked her question directly.
Many countries participated in the previous National Day ceremony, and many European royal family members also came to Australasia.
As early as when William and Anna were getting older, many European royal families found Queen Mary and expressed their desire to marry.
However, Queen Mary declined at the time. First, the two little guys were still young, and second, the impact at the national level had to be considered, so Arthur had to make the decision.
After Arthur took the initiative to propose this time, Queen Mary naturally wanted to set up a marriage contract for William and Anna as soon as possible, so that the royal family could flourish.
"I haven't had much contact, so I don't have much impression." Anna answered honestly.
At that time, the National Day ceremony was mainly about state affairs, and there were not many banquets for royal family members afterwards, and Anna attended even fewer.
Under such circumstances, it is completely normal that there is not much impression of those European royal family members and princes.
Nodding, Queen Mary looked at William again and asked with a smile: "Little William, are you interested in any princess?"
Although William's marriage must be based on interest marriage, it is also important to know William's thoughts.
William also shook his head and said embarrassedly: "At that time, I was studying politics with Mr. Larry and didn't pay much attention to these."
Seeing that the two little guys had no preparation for their marriage, Queen Mary had no choice but to nod helplessly and prepare to slowly choose.
Anyway, they were only in their early 16s, so they were not in a hurry.
In the conversation between several people, time passed quickly. After lunch, Arthur returned to the kingdom not long after and urged the little guys to focus on their studies.
William, in particular, had to complete all his schooling before he came of age, then spend a few years in the army before going to university.
Politics, history, psychology, economics, management, culture, language, mathematics and other subjects are what William must understand and learn.
Coupled with aristocratic etiquette, riding, shooting, speech and debate, etc., William's traditional aristocratic courses were formed.
Of course, this is far from over. Before he reaches adulthood, he will have to be exposed to some sports, including some musical instruments and painting, etc., in order to complete his studies.
After spending several years of his military career in the army, William will continue to study at university for a period of time. At that time, he can choose his own interests and hobbies, further study politics, economics and management, and at the same time learn about some of his interests, such as biology, Physics, chemistry, etc.
This kind of schoolwork is not unbusy, but Arthur is quite satisfied with the learning attitude of little guys like William Peter and even George.
Arthur has also been instilling in them the responsibilities of nobles, especially members of the royal family, which also makes them not repelled by learning, and even take the initiative to learn, trying to share some responsibilities with Arthur.
After deciding to move the capital, the government moved relatively quickly.
On February 7, the framework of various government departments has been completed at the Government Office in St. Arthur's Castle, and work is only waiting for the personnel to move in.
The House of Representatives and the National Court have all been transferred to St. Arthur's Castle, and the National Court in Sydney has been officially renamed the Sydney Territory Court as the highest legal institution in the Sydney Territory.
The only one who has not moved is Archbishop Steed, who will remain in Sydney Cathedral, and the religious center of Australasia will remain in Sydney.
Of course, the Protestant and Religious Societies still moved to St. Arthur's Castle, and the president of these two societies remained Archbishop Steed.
The construction of St. Arthur's Castle has just begun. Sydney Cathedral is currently the largest church in Australasia and the most representative of the Australasian state religion.
On February 11, 1926, along with a large number of documents and materials transported to St. Arthur's Castle, almost all cabinet officials officially moved to the new capital and officially settled in the larger Government Affairs Council.
After moving to the new location, the cabinet government began to operate, and on February 15, the day Sydney's capital status was officially abolished, the cabinet also officially declared St. Arthur's Castle as the new capital of Australasia.
On February 16, the day after the capital was moved, Arthur held a meeting to discuss the aftermath of the capital move and the government's next actions.
At the meeting, Arthur first praised the rapid relocation of the government, and then turned his attention to the cabinet members, asking about the difficulties the cabinet encountered in the relocation and its key work plans in the new year.
"Your Majesty." Secretary of Education Kylo Jefferson stood up first and said with a respectful but solemn expression: "I think the first thing we need to do is to start building a university in St. Arthur's Castle."
Minister Keiro explained: “Saint-Arthur has officially become our capital, and with a population of over 250,000, it is necessary to have at least one university.
If there is no university in our capital, this will greatly reduce the impression of our education in the minds of people in other countries, and will also increase the pressure on people in the capital area to study.
My plan is to establish a branch of the National University of St. Arthur and build an agricultural school in St. Arthur.
The area near the capital is very suitable for the development of agriculture, and building an agricultural school will also help promote agricultural development in the capital area. "
Although St. Arthur's Castle is only a small city with a population of just over 250,000, because it is the capital of Australasia, it means that St. Arthur's Castle must have 1 or 2 universities to show off its appearance.
But building a university from scratch would take too much time, which is why Minister Kellow proposed building the Australasian National University, St. Atherburgh.
The Australasian National University is the first university funded and built by the cabinet government, and its implications for Australasia are significant.
Although St. Arthur's Castle has become the new capital of the country, it is unrealistic to establish the main campus of the national university in St. Arthur's Castle.
After all, the National University in Sydney has developed deeply. Not only is the school very large, it is also one of the universities with the largest number of students currently on campus.
Relying on Sydney's superior geographical location, Australasian National University can attract hundreds of foreign students every year. Coupled with its own thousands of new students every year, the total number of students at Australasian National University has exceeded tens of thousands.
It is unrealistic for such a large-scale school to move to St. Arthur's Castle. It is better to rely on the hugeness of the national university to separate some teachers and equipment and establish a new branch in St. Arthur's Castle.
First of all, the reputation and status of the national university determines that the level of the branch campus will not be too low, and it can fully meet the expectations of the people in the capital area for the university.
Secondly, with the help of the National University of Sydney, the establishment of the St. Arthur's Castle campus will be smoother and the progress will be much faster than building a university from scratch.
With the precedent of the St. Arthur's Fort branch, National University will be able to build branch campuses in more cities in the future, completely building up the reputation of National University.
Hearing Minister Kailuo's proposal, Arthur nodded and said seriously: "Building universities is inevitable, and education is the key to a strong country. Minister Kailuo, how many universities do we have in our country?"
"Your Majesty, the number of universities has reached 47, which can train more than 45,000 college students for us every year." Minister Kelo replied quickly.
As the economy of Australasia develops rapidly, the number of universities is also growing.
But such a number of universities and the number of college students trained each year still do not meet Arthur's requirements. Compared with those old powers, the popularization of higher education in Australasia is still too poor.
However, considering that Australasia has a population of less than 30 million, the number of college graduates each year is 45,000, which is beyond expectations.
At least in Australasia at present, although college students' academic qualifications are valuable, they are not so precious.
College students in many positions can also be seen everywhere. At present, the number of college students in Australasia is at least 700,000. Together with all college students in school, the proportion of college students accounts for at least 2.8% of the total population of the country.
"What do you think of the proposal to build the National University of Saint Arthur and the Saint Arthur Agricultural School?" Arthur looked at other members of the cabinet and asked with a smile.
Under Arthur's insistence, Australasia still attaches great importance to education, and the annual education expenditure accounts for about 18% to 19% of the total fiscal expenditure.
According to the total fiscal expenditure of 200 million last year, the fiscal expenditure on education is as high as 37 million Australian dollars.
It is also under this premise that no one expressed opposition to Arthur's proposal to build two universities, and all supported it.
Arthur nodded and announced immediately: "Minister Kello, the task of building the National University of Fort St. Arthur and the Fort St. Arthur Agricultural School is handed over to you. As our capital, the construction of these two universities in Fort St. Arthur is very important. The source of teachers must also be strictly controlled, and more famous teachers and experts from Europe and the United States must be hired to work in the school.
The Royal Academy of Sciences will assist you in the construction of laboratories for these two schools. The principal of the National University of Fort St. Arthur can be selected from the Royal Academy of Sciences. For the agricultural school, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Agriculture will negotiate."
The majors of the National University are relatively comprehensive, but they are mainly good at physical chemistry, which is also related to the lack of physical and chemical talents in Australasia at that time.
Because of this, the president of the National University can be selected from the Royal Academy of Sciences. Those experts are fully sufficient in terms of level and ability.
As for the candidates for the president of the agricultural school, we can only see if the Ministry of Agriculture has relevant talents.
At present, there are still relatively few agricultural schools in Australasia. If Arthur remembers correctly, among the 47 universities, the relatively small proportion should be agriculture, art and language, right?
There seem to be only two or three agricultural universities. Art schools are better, but the number should not exceed four. Language schools are the most among these three types of schools because of the unified language plan, but there are only five.
Compared with the number of physical and chemical schools, which are often more than a dozen, the number of these types of schools is indeed a bit small.
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