Chapter 810: Generous Rewards

If the focus of early January was the establishment of the Australasian Empire and Arthur's accession to the throne, then the focus of late January was Arthur's reward for all the heroes before the establishment of the empire.

Because there were many people involved, and some people were not convenient to show up, only a small number of representatives attended the on-site reward ceremony.

But the on-site ceremony was still grand. This reward gave Australasian several more earls and dozens more barons.

After the reward ceremony, the number of nobles in Australasian officially exceeded 500, with a specific number of 558.

Among them, the lowest level, also known as the honorary noble title of knight, has a total of 438 people.

The knight title occupies the majority of the noble titles, and also represents the difficulty of the nobles wanting to go further.

Except for the heroes who have truly made great contributions to the country, most of the others who want to accumulate merits by seniority can only get the lowest level of knight title.

The knight title cannot be inherited, which means that such a title is destined to be the lowest level and can only be responsible for the title of one's own generation.

This is also the reason why most people want to climb up and at least get a baron title.

Only by becoming a distinguished baron can one enter the real aristocratic system and make his family a member of the glorious aristocracy of Australasia.

To be more precise, above the baron, as long as they do not break the law and live an honest and decent life, they can make their titles as long-lived as the Australasia Empire.

It is under such circumstances that these nobles will try every means to extend the life of the empire, so that their noble titles can also extend their life.

This is also why Arthur said that the new nobility will exist by relying on the monarch. As long as the monarch of Australasia is still there, the new nobility of Australasia will be recognized.

But if the monarch of Australasia is gone, these nobles will naturally lose their status and will not be recognized by anyone.

Above the knight, the number of barons has also ushered in an increase, barely approaching 100, and the exact number is 98.

The number of viscounts above the baron has plummeted, with only 17 people.

The number of earls above is already very small, only 4 people.

Finally, Prince William, the Prince of New Zealand, is also counted in the aristocratic system and is a unique and distinguished prince.

It is worth mentioning that, so far, the duke in the aristocratic system is still a blank column with no data to fill.

No one has made great contributions to become the first duke of Australasia (only the highest title is counted), even the Prime Minister Kent, who has made great military achievements, is still only an earl.

However, including the next World War II, someone should have enough merit to accumulate a duke. This also means that after World War II, the aristocratic system of Australasia will usher in a booming development, and high-ranking nobles such as earls and dukes will no longer be rare.

The four earls of Australasia, in addition to the Earl of Kent, who has made great contributions and is deeply trusted by Arthur, there is also Roger, who is also very experienced, served as Deputy Prime Minister in World War I, and led the country out of the economic crisis as Prime Minister.

The remaining two candidates are Evan, the first prime minister in Australian history, who assisted Arthur in establishing the Principality of Australia; and the current prime minister Raul, who was loyal and served as Minister of Defense during World War I and made great contributions to the military construction of Australasia.

It can be said that except for the third prime minister Walter Black, all other prime ministers have now obtained the title of earl.

Prime Minister Walter Black is the second prime minister in Australasia's history and the leader of the third cabinet.

However, Prime Minister Walter, who was mediocre and conservative, did not get much trust from Arthur, and bid farewell to his political career after only one term as prime minister.

However, because Prime Minister Walter did not have too many faults, he still obtained the title of viscount and became one of the few senior nobles in Australasia.

In addition to rewarding these former senior politicians, Arthur also rewarded important leaders among scientists, such as Einstein, Diesel, Tsiolkovsky and other important figures.

A considerable number of knights and barons are scientists who have made considerable efforts and contributions to the country.

Arthur's reward expressed his respect for these scientists, which made them very satisfied and devoted themselves to scientific research with a better attitude.

At the same time, the people were also looking forward to becoming scientists. There are currently three ways to quickly obtain aristocratic titles. One is to become a politician and make your own political achievements; one is to become a soldier and shed blood and sweat for the country; the last is to become a scientist and dedicate your talents to the country.

It is not so easy to be a politician. Most people's choices and ideals are still to join the army and become scientists.

According to many media surveys, the two most favorite professions of the young generation in Australasia, that is, children in their teens, are scientists and soldiers.

Arthur also heard such reports and was quite satisfied.

This means that Arthur's education is very successful. Being a scientist and a soldier is much more noble than those so-called actors who are entertained to death.

In such an environment, the strength of Australasia becomes a matter of course. There are constantly new scientific workers entering the scientific community, allowing science in all walks of life in Australasia to develop rapidly.

The addition of some fresh blood is an unstoppable vitality, which makes the whole country full of motivation, just like the wave behind that is about to overthrow the previous wave.

The continuous expansion of the nobility has also increased the dividends distributed by the Nobles United Consortium to the nobility every year.

Because the value of the Australian dollar has depreciated too much compared to before, after the completion of this great reward, Arthur also convened a noble meeting to discuss the new ratio of nobility dividends.

In the previous nobility dividends, the knight could get 500 Australian dollars per year, which was a considerable income.

But now, although 500 Australian dollars is not a small amount, it is just an income that is not too much or too little for the nobility, and it is not so attractive.

At present, the per capita annual income in Australasia has reached 175 Australian dollars, and 500 Australian dollars is almost the annual income of three ordinary people, which does not match the rare number of knights and nobles.

According to the current number of Australasia nobles, if the original dividend method is still used, the Nobles United Consortium only needs to pay less than 650,000 Australian dollars per year to distribute dividends to every noble, including Crown Prince William.

The annual income of the Royal United Consortium has exceeded 7 million Australian dollars, and it is still increasing.

It is time to increase the dividend ratio of the nobles again. Anyway, this money is paid by the noble consortium, and Arthur does not need to bear the extra burden.

After two days of meetings, more than 500 nobles finally agreed to increase the dividend ratio of the new nobles.

The specific ratio is: the knight can get 750 Australian dollars per year, the baron can get 2250 Australian dollars per year, the viscount can get 7500 Australian dollars per year, the earl can get 15500 Australian dollars per year, and the duke can get 85000 Australian dollars per year.

As for the only prince title, that is, Prince William, he does not participate in the distribution of the nobles' dividends.

After all, Prince William has a fixed amount of royal annuity every year, so naturally he does not need to compete with these nobles for benefits.

Because the government's fiscal revenue has exceeded 400 million Australian dollars, the royal annuity paid to the government every year is as high as 4 million Australian dollars.

This fund is the daily expenses of the palace, including the expenses of all royal family members holding banquets and receiving foreign guests, etc.

Arthur also has certain restrictions and regulations on the proportion of expenses for all members of the royal family.

Arthur's children who are still in the palace can receive 50,000 Australian dollars each year. Princess Louisa and Queen Mary receive 50,000 Australian dollars each year, Arthur 50,000 Australian dollars, and the rest is reserved for palace expenses.

However, because the royal consortium is too rich, the little guys also have their own assets and are not too dependent on the annual annuity issued by the royal family.

Take Prince William for example. With the assets given to him by Arthur, Prince William's total assets have already exceeded 15 million Australian dollars, and his annual income is as high as hundreds of thousands of Australian dollars. He has long been a rich man.

This is also the reason why Arthur asked Prince William to give up the dividends of the nobles. Giving up dividends can not only gain the favor of these nobles, but also not lose much for himself. This is the first step for William to win people's hearts.

Even if the dividend ratio of the nobles is adjusted, the dividend funds that need to be distributed this year are only 850,000 Australian dollars.

In fact, it is because there are too few nobles in Australasia, and most of them are low-level nobles, so there is not much dividend.

After the great rewards, the noble consortium distributed this year's noble dividends to all nobles.

Arthur adheres to the principle of early money and early happiness. Dividends for nobles like these are basically distributed at the beginning of each year.

As Arthur expected, the new nobles who received dividends were all smiling and grateful to Arthur.

Even if it is just a lowest-level knight noble, you can get a dividend of 750 Australian dollars, which is equivalent to the annual income of at least four people, and you can only save it by not eating or drinking.

Even if it is just the lowest-level knight noble, you can barely support your family with this dividend income.

What's more, those who can become knight nobles have at least obtained 150 hectares of meritorious land.

These 150 hectares of land bring a lot of income, which can fully guarantee that the family who has obtained the title of knight will live a much richer life than ordinary people.

150 hectares is equivalent to 371 acres, 2,250 mu of land. Even with these lands alone, every knight can become a big landowner.

Moreover, if the nobles engage in agriculture and animal husbandry, there will be certain tax exemptions. This is also Arthur's goal, to let these nobles use the land reasonably and help the development of agriculture and animal husbandry in Australasia.

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