The Rise Of Australasia-Chapter 1009 - 757: The Two-Faced British

Chapter 1009: Chapter 757: The Two-Faced British

As the host and a ruler among the Powers, Arthur naturally received praise from numerous countries.

However, at this time, Arthur did not become conceited because of the flattery. To Arthur, verbal accolades were the least important, even lighter than a one Australian dollar bill.

Delegates who had the privilege to meet Arthur and engage in close communication were actually few and only included a handful of countries with good relations or the stronger Powers.

It’s worth mentioning that among the Powers, the Island Nation might be the only one Arthur did not meet in person.

In the Australasian Government, Arthur’s dislike for this country was no secret. Government officials tactfully intercepted the Island Nation’s representatives, assigning a Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs from Australasia to make conversation with them.

Actually, this arrangement was quite correct. The Island Nation is Australasia’s only competitor for power in the Pacific Ocean, and coupled with racial differences, a bit of discrimination by the European nations is understandable.

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In other words, which European country doesn’t discriminate against these Indigenous Peoples? Even if the Island Nation’s power had reached that of the Powers, in the eyes of many European nations, it was still nothing more than a recently civilized monkey.

Especially the Islanders’ stature, which to the tall Europeans, looked no different from that of the small monkeys.

The Islanders’ distinctive speech patterns made their efforts to speak English look like a grimacing act, which was regarded as both funny and contemptible.

Around 11 a.m., William arrived back at Saint Arthur Castle with his procession and Princess Alexandrine, and the most important ceremony of the wedding was about to commence.

Naturally, the wedding took place in the Albert Church within the Palace of Nations. The church was named after Arthur’s grandfather, the well-known Prince Albert, husband to Queen Victoria.

The location for the ceremony was in the Victoria Hall inside the church, symbolizing the completion of William and Princess Alexandrine’s wedding under the watchful gaze of Prince Albert and Queen Victoria.

The ceremony was presided over by Archbishop Steed, who is also the highest-ranking bishop in Australasian Protestantism.

After William and Princess Alexandrine recited their vows of ‘I do’, several fighter planes flew across the sky above Arthur Castle, trailing vibrant colored smoke as a celebration for the newlyweds.

The ceremony, which took several hours, was finally complete, signifying that the Australasian Royal Family had gained a new member.

It must be said that the Danish royal family took this wedding very seriously. Princess Alexandrine’s dowry from the Danish royal family included not only two huge castles in Denmark but also over a hundred servants forming a service team, a small-sized princess guard, dozens of boxes of gold and jewels, a crown made of gold and diamonds, and so forth.

Of course, Arthur’s betrothal gifts were even more generous. In addition to the nearly retired battleship mentioned earlier, Arthur’s reciprocation also included over a ton of gold and jewels, hundreds of sets of precious calligraphy and paintings, ancient porcelain from the East, blueprints for the second generation of airplanes, and a rubber production manor on Java Island, among others.

Not to mention, just the mid-sized rubber production manor alone had an annual net profit of more than 200,000 Australian dollars.

This chapter is updated by freēwēbnovel.com.

According to tradition, there shouldn’t be much dowry or betrothal gifts at weddings between two countries with European customs.

Even some family weddings are co-hosted by both parties, with just a symbolic betrothal gift being given.

But for the royal families of both countries, a simple arrangement was naturally impossible.

According to Butler Kent’s tally, just the costs of the wedding amounted to 6 million Australian dollars. With various additional expenses included, such as the gifts for the Danish royal family, the total cost of the wedding exceeded 10 million Australian dollars.

10 million Australian dollars might seem like a lot, but to Arthur, it was merely a fraction of his annual income.

Leaving other sources aside, just the income from the Medical Group Headquarters alone could fund several weddings.

Unfortunately, George and Peter are still too young for marriage.

Otherwise, Arthur really wished he could have arranged their weddings together, the faster and more grand the better.

Watching these little ones grow up and even reach the point of discussing marriage, Arthur couldn’t help but reflect on how quickly time passed.

It has been thirty years since Arthur arrived in Australia from 1900.

He’s gone from being just 18 years old upon arrival to 48 now, heading towards 50.

While such an age is just reaching maturity for a country’s ruler, it’s the golden period for ruling a country.

But for Arthur, dealing with state affairs can be overwhelming, and sometimes he also feels fatigued.

Governing a country is not as simple as one might imagine. Even though Arthur delegated many tasks to the Cabinet and other officials, he still had to monitor the progress of these tasks and constantly guard against unexpected developments.

Now that the little ones are slowly growing up, it is both a joy and a cause for reflection for Arthur.

He can only hope that they grow up to be as satisfactory as he desires, to govern the realm he has worked hard to provide for them well and to make the family stronger and stronger—this is Arthur’s ultimate hope.

A human life is actually very short, whether one comes from an ordinary family or is a noble, a member of a royal family—it’s the same.

Having lived in this world, if one can leave behind their own unique mark, so that later generations speak with admiration of oneself and the Australasia overseen by oneself, then the journey of life would not have been in vain.

How vast is history, for those who manage to leave behind even a fleeting splash of color in its lengthy passage are few and far between through the ages.

On the evening of the wedding day, the government even specially prepared a grand fireworks feast for William and Princess Alexandrine.

According to government statistics, this extravagant fireworks display cost 10,000 Australian dollars, lighting up Saint Arthur Castle so brightly that night, one might have mistaken it for war.

But don’t underestimate these 10,000 Australian dollars. Although the currency had significantly depreciated by then, the expense was still equivalent to millions of dollars in later generations, considering the price level.

Just imagine the effect of spending millions on fireworks, and its astonishing impact is self-evident.

To showcase the country’s might, there were indeed further proceedings on the day following the wedding.

William, together with his new bride, Princess Alexandrine, would lead an army on a tour around the entire Saint Arthur Castle, then take a fighter aircraft to Sydney. From Sydney, they would sail to Adelaide on a warship and ultimately return to Saint Arthur Castle under the army’s escort.

During the warship voyage, William would also inspect Melbourne, displaying the royal family’s majesty and might.

Setting foot in the four cities of Saint Arthur Castle, Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide essentially represented the entire Australian region.

The reason for William to do this was not only to exalt the royal dignity but also to heighten William’s fame and reputation.

After all, as the future ruler of the country, Arthur needed to pave the way for William’s eventual ascension to the throne.

Although 100% certain that World War II would occur during Arthur’s reign, this did not mean William’s rule would be any less significant.

Even contemplating the worst-case scenario, one cannot discount the possibility of another world war following the second.

Especially with the future development of technology facilitating rapid global communication and exchange, it would be impossible for Australasia to extricate itself from worldwide influences.

Only by ensuring that William could wield enough power and lead the country to greater strength could Arthur step down with peace of mind to enjoy his final blissful days.

With the world’s technology advancing even earlier than in history, perhaps Arthur will witness the birth of mobile phones, the internet, and computers in the far-flung future, countless years hence.

Of course, the next day’s events mostly concerned William and Princess Alexandrine and didn’t directly involve Arthur.

But that didn’t mean Arthur lacked duties. Taking advantage of the moment when representatives from many nations had gathered in Australasia, the major powers and smaller countries alike were executing their agendas.

The initiative came first from the United Kingdom.

Crown Prince Edward expressed the British royal family’s congratulations to the Australasian royal family. Then, seizing the opportunity provided by the felicitations, he revisited the ties between the two royal families, expressing hope to restore the amicable relations of the past and re-establish close cooperation.

Naturally, Arthur remained unmoved.

It was laughable, really—if intelligence hadn’t reported the previous night that British Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials had covertly approached an island nation’s representatives, Arthur might have placed some trust in the words of Crown Prince Edward.

As for the British tactic of courting allies while seeking a balance of power, Arthur naturally scoffed at it.

Whether the British government was truly oblivious or too preoccupied with the struggle against France, the shifts among Europe’s major powers symbolized the rise of a new force.

And what’s more fatal, this nascent force, not only more radical but also united by common goals and interests for various reasons.

In other words, Australasia, and even the British and French, were the enemies of this freshly emerged power.

The current struggle between Britain and France and the British’s behind-the-scenes moves were, in effect, funding these powers, giving them a chance to grow and eventually becoming a significant threat in the eyes of the British.

However, the naivety and complacency of the British at this time were, to some extent, understandable.

While the rulers of Germany and Italy both appeared aggressive, the problem was that both countries had too many limitations.

Italy’s position didn’t need elaborating. Before World War I, Italy’s army had shown a jaw-dropping level of combat ineptitude, becoming the laughingstock of all Europe.

The current conflict between Italy and the Abyssinian Empire was similarly doomed to repeat history. The performance of the Italian army wasn’t significantly improved from before World War I, with a supposedly advanced power locked in a stalemate against a native country, causing the British and French to lose all interest in intervening.

The Germans posed an even greater threat, but to the British, not by much.

The army was strictly restricted to a size of 150,000, and they were forbidden from having main battleships heavier than 10,000 tons.

They were also prohibited from developing heavy weapons, with airplanes, tanks, and cannons all off-limits, severely constraining the German army’s advancement.

For the British, they rather hoped for Germany to grow stronger, which would enable them to watch from the sidelines as Germany and France fought, using this to maintain stability in Europe and uphold their dominion in the region.