Chapter 287: Chapter 255: The House of Representatives’ Resolution to Increase Cabinet Seats

Although the first meeting ended with Arthur failing to make a sale, Arthur knew that it was not because the warships he was promoting were unattractive, but rather that the other party’s finances were somewhat strained.

Moreover, the emissary did not know much about warships, and it would have been problematic to sign a warship order for the first time.

In fact, even though the other party was a backward and decaying country, some reforms and industrial construction in recent years have increased their financial revenue several times compared to decades ago.

If Arthur remembered correctly, in 1908, the other party’s financial income reached 230 million taels of silver, which was not a small amount.

Of course, this level of financial income was nowhere near as exaggerated as it seemed on the surface.

If converted slightly, 230 million taels of silver would only be equivalent to 32.85 million pounds and 65.71 million Australian dollars.

This was almost equivalent to twice the financial income of Australasia last year. Australasia’s total population last year was just over 7 million, while the other party was a huge country with a population of nearly 400 million.

Furthermore, due to a series of previous events, a significant portion of the 230 million taels of silver in financial income was used as compensation, while most of the remaining funds were divided among the high-ranking nobility. Not much was actually available for the government’s use.

Maintaining such high revenues was largely due to the exploitation and oppression of the lower-class citizens.

It would make no sense for a country like this not to perish. However, a unified country also has benefits for Australasia, and the interests of the major powers in the region are deeply entangled. A unified country is beneficial for all the major countries, except for the island nation.

But who cares about the island nation’s opinion? Due to the incomplete victory in previous wars, the international community now perceives the island nation as an emerging secondary power, barely able to touch the threshold of the major powers.

But if the island nation wants to be recognized as a major power by first-class powers like Britain, Germany, Russia, and France, it probably has a long way to go.

On May 17th, the East Asia delegation sought to meet with Arthur again.

To make discussions more convenient for both parties, the scale of this meeting was significantly larger. The other party had an entire delegation, and Arthur also brought a lineup that included several ministers and deputy ministers.

The subsequent negotiations were mostly about price wars, and Arthur’s position was no longer suitable for involvement.

After all, there was no need for someone of Arthur’s status to compete for those minor profits. Such matters were better suited to seasoned politicians.

However, Arthur still set specific targets and bottom lines. Firstly, for battleships, if the other party really had intentions of purchasing battleships, the lowest price could be offered at the same level as Russia’s selling price.

For industrial equipment and weapons, the price should be higher, as this kind of money should not be wasted.

The reason for slightly lowering the battleship’s price was that battleships were the most valuable items that could currently be manufactured by Australasia’s industry. The cost of a battleship was comparable to a large-scale armaments trade order.

The negotiation lasted for several days, during which some ministers reported matters that needed Arthur’s judgment.

For example, the other party wanted to send some students to study at universities and military academies in Australasia.

Because graduates of the Australasia Royal Military Academy had to serve in the Australasia Army for two years, Arthur had to make a decision on the matter.

After careful consideration, Arthur finally decided on the other party’s proposal to send students.

However, he set a fixed amount for the expenses of each student, which was no less than 3,500 taels of silver per person per year, or 1,000 Australian dollars.

For students sent to the Royal Military Academy, Arthur also waived the requirement of serving in the Australasia Army for two years.

After all, these military students would become outstanding talents when they returned to their country, and they might even become independent warlords or trusted talents of warlords.

This would be beneficial for Australasia’s pursuit of more interests, as a country close to Australasia is always better than a country close to other nations!

Of course, this request for students was different from the previous one. The last request was mainly for civilian students, while this time it was from the government of the Qing Empire.

Moreover, the students from the previous request mostly went to universities in Australasia, while this time, their main goal was the newly built military academies in Australasia.

As for weapons and equipment, the other party’s order this time was not small.

The Royal Intelligence Bureau had an intelligence agency in some parts of East Asia, so Australasia was aware of some of the other party’s information.

For example, the recent uprisings, although failed due to lack of support, have indeed caused considerable impact on this decaying empire.

According to the tone of this delegation, they intend to establish a division armed entirely with foreign weapons and equipment, and they have set their sights on Australasia.

The reason for this is Australia’s arms trade has gained some popularity in the Far East and East Asia, and they also had their eye on the Russo-Japanese War arms trade.

To win the trust of both Russia and the island nation, Australasian weapons and equipment are believed to be of good quality.

More importantly, the British are more inclined to support the island nation when it comes to exporting weapons, while Russia, needless to say, is short on weapons itself.

Germany would be a good choice, but in order to sign a neutrality treaty with Russia, Germany has been scaling back its interests in East Asia.

Additionally, purchasing German weapons would involve high transportation costs, so it is better to choose closer Australasia instead.

Hearing the Minister’s report on the opponent’s proposal regarding the Australian armed division, Arthur’s gaze was momentarily strange, but he still approved this order.

According to their plan, at least 12,000 Gew98 rifles, ten MA-96 Maxim machine guns, twenty 75mm artillery pieces, and millions of matching bullets and thousands of shells will be purchased to arm a division to test their strength.

If the armed division proves to have good combat effectiveness, they will consider arming more divisions to strengthen their defensive forces.

As for the weapons orders, Arthur’s attitude is naturally that the more, the better.

After all, not only can weapon orders strengthen Australasia’s arms trade market, but most of the profits would go directly into Arthur’s own military factory, for both him and Australasia, it’s a win-win situation.

As for the more expensive battleships, although the envoys seemed to be interested, they still claimed that they needed to consult the government and emperor for a decision.

Arthur was not surprised by this, as it seemed that their primary purpose in coming was to seek talent to help them reform, with the arms trade as an added bonus.

Finally, it was the matter of sending talent to help them reform. According to the friendly agreements between both parties, Australasia needs to send 20 legal and administrative talents, 5 industry experts, 5 economic experts, and 10 military experts to help the other party reform their government, economy, industry, and military.

Under the premise of protecting the personal safety and property security of these 40 experts, the other party must pay 1.2 million taels of silver to Australasia annually, and provide various necessary resources at a low price.

The previously mentioned arms trade and study abroad plans will require a one-time payment of 300,000 taels of silver to Australasia, plus an annual minimum of 350,000 taels of silver.

Yes, according to the study abroad plan signed by both parties, the number of students sent by the other party is fixed at around 100 per year, which is not a small figure.

It seems that the other party does indeed have the intention to reform, but whether the reform can succeed will ultimately depend on the attitudes of the major powers and domestic forces.

With both parties responsible for the negotiations signing the treaty, this friendly exchange treaty between both parties has officially come into effect and is being implemented.

As of now, this treaty has only brought income to Australasia, which is the fundamental reason why Arthur agreed to sign it.

No one would refuse the benefits brought to their doorstep, and as for the personal safety of the experts sent out, Arthur believed that they would be guaranteed.

Not to mention the extreme backwardness born within this country due to its admiration and fear of foreigners, the friendly relations between Australasia and the major powers alone would be enough to make the other party attach importance to these talents.

If there are really people who are blind to this, even at the risk of world destruction, Arthur will let them taste the pressure of a powerful enemy.

The signing of this treaty is just a minor event for Australasia and Arthur and is not so important for the development of Australasia.

The most important thing at the moment is still the House of Representatives elections, but before the elections, there were already proposals in the House of Representatives.

On May 29, 1908, shortly before the June election month, the House of Representatives submitted several proposals to the Royal Parliament, requesting the Royal Parliament to review and notify Arthur.

This situation is also quite common for Australasia, as the power of the Royal Parliament is relatively the greatest, and the House of Representatives often reports to the Royal Parliament for review when it encounters problems it cannot solve.

However, once the Royal Parliament received the proposal, they immediately reported it to Arthur, asking for his opinion on how to handle it.

Generally, this situation signifies the importance of a proposal and involves relatively significant national issues; it is only when the members of the Royal Parliament cannot make up their minds that they wait for Arthur’s final decision.

Arthur picked up the several proposals on the table, and the prominent words that caught his eye were the resolutions regarding the House of Representatives voting to request additional seats in the Cabinet Government.