Chapter 738 William's Engagement Ceremony

Arthur found that almost all localized colonies have a common shortcoming, that is, they are backward in education and medical care.

But think about it carefully, this is also an inevitable problem in localization work.

You know, medical care and education are definitely not something that can be built in a short period of time. It requires the local government to spend a lot of money, manpower and material resources, and a lot of time.

At present, the areas with relatively good education and medical care in Australasia are basically Australia and New Zealand, and other areas can only be said to be average, or even slightly backward.

There is no way around it. There are only 50 universities in Australasia, and there are 43 universities in Australia and New Zealand.

The remaining colonies, including New Guinea, Timor, Sulawesi, Java, Sumatra and a large number of colonies composed of archipelagos and islands, have only 7 universities in total, which is enough to prove the huge gap between regions in education.

Such a huge gap cannot be made up in a short period of time unless Arthur is willing to use all his funds, manpower and material resources to fill it.

But the problem is that government development also requires a lot of energy and effort from Arthur, and it is naturally impossible for Arthur to focus all his attention on the education work in the colonies.

After all, the local area is the most important, which is also the premise of the great development of Australasia.

In view of this situation, Arthur can only say that he will try his best to consider the current situation of each colony in education work, and strive to get the royal government to provide certain support to the state governments.

More depends on the efforts of each state, such as the development plan formulated by Yuri.

In the education and medical development formulated by Governor Yuri for Java Island, the construction of universities and large hospitals is the most important subject.

Governor Yuri expects to build a total of three universities and two large hospitals in the next eight years, which will be comparable to Australia in scale.

It is very difficult to do so, but Governor Yuri is still very confident. It is nothing more than the consumption of some funds, but for Java Island, which has rubber and abundant food production, it may not be unaffordable.

In the Java State Government, Arthur expressed his affirmation of Governor Yuri's development plan, and said that he would let the government provide support and bear one-third of the total fiscal expenditure of the Java State Development Plan.

Don't underestimate this one-third. According to Governor Yuri's development plan, one-third of the total fiscal expenditure is at least more than 5 million Australian dollars, or even more.

Moreover, the support mentioned by Arthur also includes university faculty, teaching and research equipment, medical talents, and medical equipment, which are precious resources that the Java government cannot buy with money.

The remaining Sumatra and Java are not much different. Sumatra is larger and closer to the Strait of Malacca.

Compared with Java, which focuses on economic development, Sumatra is more like a bridgehead for the northern border defense for Australasia at present, and it is also the front line for controlling the Strait of Malacca.

Once Britain is in trouble, Arthur will try to accept Britain's Straits Settlements and completely control the Strait of Malacca.

But as far as the current situation is concerned, unless World War II breaks out, it is basically unlikely to put the powerful British into trouble.

Of course, civil unrest may also be considered. But if the British Empire today wants to be dragged down by civil unrest, in addition to the desperate resistance of the Indians, other colonies, including the Americans, must also find something to do.

For Arthur and Australasia now, the strength of the British is of certain benefit.

Of course, the premise is that the British cannot be too strong. A strong Britain is in the interests of Australasia, but if it is a powerful Britain that other countries cannot resist even if they unite, it may not be a good thing for Australasia.

After the tour, Arthur had a certain idea of ​​the progress of localization in various regions of Southeast Asia.

Although localization has achieved initial success, these localized colonies are still a long way from Australia and New Zealand.

Of course, a big reason is that the population of Australasia is relatively small, and it is difficult to fully develop these regions.

According to the current progress of localization, these localized colonies will not be well developed in 30 years, and can only be regarded as developing a small part of the region.

In order to fully develop these regions, the population of Australasia must be at least more than 200 million, which may not be seen in Arthur's reign.

However, Arthur has done what he should do by leaving such a large land for future monarchs.

Even if there will be no expansion in the future, the current land scale is enough for Australasia's development plan for the next 200 years.

Before the population reaches 500 million, Australasia has sufficient land area and does not need to worry about resource consumption and food supply.

Especially after acquiring the land in tropical Southeast Asia, the land with three crops a year is an excellent production area for food.

I left Fort Saint-Asser on August 1st and it was already mid-September when I came back again.

There is no other way. Australasia is too vast. Even if it is just to inspect individual areas, the time required will be calculated in months at least.

Although there is a faster way to fly, that is the airplane that has become popular among the top leaders of various countries.

But airplanes are not omnipotent. Moreover, for Arthur's safety, Arthur's main mode of travel in the short term will still be warships.

After returning to Fort St. Arthur, Arthur immediately started to busy himself with another matter, that is, the engagement of his eldest son William.

The engagement is related to the royal families of the two countries, one of which is Arthur's eldest son, which also means that the scale of the engagement must be quite grand.

The engagement is scheduled for October. The Danish fleet is already on the way and is expected to arrive in Australasia at the end of September.

William's engagement ceremony will be held at the Palais des Nations in Fort St. Arthur, hosted by Archbishop Steed himself, and representatives from other countries will be invited to participate.

Although it is just an engagement ceremony, the scale is not small at all. The engagement ceremony is expected to cost more than 2 million Australian dollars, and the navy, army and air force will be dispatched at that time.

Arthur certainly attaches great importance to his eldest son and the heir to the throne.

In addition to letting William appear in the public's field of vision, this engagement ceremony also has the purpose of building momentum for William.

After all, as the second king of Australasia after Arthur, William must also have his own outstanding features in order to be better accepted and recognized by the people.

If you want the kingdom to stand firm and the royal family to be the ruler of the kingdom forever, it is very important to cultivate the next king.

One of the reasons why Arthur asked William to get married early was to let William have children early and then give them to him to cultivate.

Arthur couldn't take care of the third-generation heir even if they were far away, but Arthur still wanted to cultivate them himself.

In this way, at least the royal power can be passed on for more than three generations, which is also Arthur's primary task as the monarch of Australasia and the helmsman of the royal family.

Although it was just an engagement ceremony for a prince, it still attracted many countries to participate.

After all, this prince is not ordinary. He has been determined to be the heir to the throne of Australasia and the next king of Australasia 100%.

Although Arthur's actions have weakened the royal power, it still cannot change the reality that Australasia is a de facto monarchy.

Facing the royal family of a powerful country that controls national power, few countries can do without making friends, unless it is a feud or hostile relationship.

Although Peter and George are still in Australasia, their countries, the Kingdom of California and the United Kingdom of the West Coast, also sent their blessings, and officials from the two kingdoms personally participated in the ceremony to express their importance to William.

In addition, the major powers also sent representatives to express their importance to Australasia and respect for the royal family.

And countries that have a marriage relationship with Australasia, including many with certain connections, have gathered together dozens of countries.

This also has to admit Arthur's high status in the European royal family. With the growth of Arthur's age, especially helping Greece to restore the throne, and helping Portugal to restore the throne, he has won the favor and admiration of many European royal families.

What does this mean? This means that their throne is guaranteed. For the royal family of a country, inheritance is more important than power.

If inheritance cannot be achieved, what is the use of holding power in your hands?

Although Arthur is not too old, he is indeed one of the decision-makers in the European royal family.

If we have to name a few people who can connect all the European royal families, then Arthur is definitely one of them.

The previous monarchs with such a status were Queen Victoria who had been in power for decades.

In fact, think about it, the current Australasia power is also huge.

The Philippines, Kalimantan, California, the United Kingdom of the West Coast, and El Salvador are equivalent to puppet states of Australasia.

Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and Tsarist Russia have very close in-laws with Australasia.

These combined forces are also considered to be a considerable force. Although it is not as large as the British, it is definitely among the top three in the world, which can be regarded as a large scale.

Speaking of engagement, it actually means that marriage is approaching.

According to the agreement between Arthur and the Danish royal family, after William and Princess Alexandrine are engaged in October this year, their wedding will be held in Australasia next winter (July), adding another member to the Australasia royal family.

Of course, as a betrothal gift, Arthur will present a battleship to the Danish royal family, as well as valuable materials and equipment.

This includes a large amount of funds, which will definitely not lag behind other countries in terms of appearance. This is also the confidence of Arthur as the controller of the royal consortium.

To be honest, it is just that the exchange and acquisition of information is not so convenient now. Through the consortiums controlled by Arthur, Arthur's status as the world's richest man can basically be determined.

Of course, the real richest people are hidden. The richest people that ordinary people can see are naturally representatives nominated by people like Arthur, not the real richest people in the world.

According to legal theory, Arthur's property also includes the entire Australasia. What kind of huge value is this?

Speaking of the battleship presented to Denmark, it is actually a St. Vincent-class battleship eliminated by Australasia.

This level of battleship is a dreadnought, which is out of date.

But for a country like Denmark, such a dreadnought can still serve for a while, and it is also the strongest firepower that Denmark can control.

As for the top battleships at present, even if Arthur gave them to Denmark, Denmark might not be able to afford the maintenance costs of the battleships.

After all, the size of the country is there. Having a powerful battleship is not a good thing, and it will also cause fear among the surrounding neighbors.

Of course, the technology of the St. Vincent-class battleships was also given together.

It also includes some aircraft technology and finished aircraft, etc. Although these technologies are also behind the times, they are relatively advanced technologies for Denmark.

Arthur's purpose is also very simple, to strengthen Denmark's strength as much as possible and cultivate Denmark into his firm ally.

Of course, this cannot be done by relying on a generation of in-laws. However, Denmark's special geographical location is also worth Arthur's time to do.

If Denmark and Finland can be controlled, it is actually equivalent to being able to blockade the entire Baltic Sea, which is a huge threat and deterrence to the Nordic countries.

At the same time, Denmark can also serve as a bridgehead for Australasia in World War II, and to a certain extent affect the European situation in World War II.

If missiles are deployed in Denmark, then the battles in World War II will be exciting.

In order to properly welcome the guests at the engagement ceremony, Arthur generously dispatched Air Australasia to pick up and drop off all guests coming to Australasia for free.

This may be a huge burden for other airlines, but for Australasia, the manufacturer of the most advanced aircraft, it is just an extra fuel and maintenance fee, which is not worth mentioning at all.

Of course, there are exceptions, that is, guests from island countries.

I don’t know if Arthur forgot or something else, anyway, there are no islanders in the list of all free guests received by the airline, and Air Australasia will not add them on its own initiative.

Before September arrived, Queen Mary returned from Europe with William and Anna to prepare for William’s engagement ceremony.

This visit to Europe was quite fruitful and facilitated the marriage between William and the Danish royal family.

As for Anna, who still hasn’t found her ideal partner, Queen Mary can only say that she will let it go.

Anyway, the Australasian royal family is rich and powerful, and doesn’t care about the impact of Princess Anna’s marriage with a nobleman.

If Princess Anna really likes it, it's not a bad idea to give her more titles.

I'll start updating twice a day tomorrow, and then I'll be busy with the last day tomorrow.