The next day, December 25, 1876, Christmas Day.

The streets of Brisbane are filled with festive spirits, with Christmas trees lined with colourful balls, children's favourite gifts, and candies in socks.

Handel Street is less crowded, and on the most solemn and warm holiday of the year, white Australians prefer to stay indoors to reunite with their families, and roast turkey is a must-have dish for Christmas, as well as Christmas roast ham and salmon, and corn bisque, which is a hearty family feast.

A separate courtyard on the bay

This is the residence of Mr. Edward, the Speaker of the Queensland Parliament, and the well-tended gardens reflect the noble taste of the British upper class, and the exquisite stone fountain is expensive, setting off the low-key luxury of aristocratic life.

The room is warmed by the roaring fireplace and the melodious sound of the piano.

Yelena sat on the piano bench in full costume, her long white and slender fingers playing a beautiful music, and the notes wandered like water.

A young officer in the uniform of the British Empire Navy stands next to an elegant Beesendorff piano, resting on the piano with one arm and a crystal wine glass in the other, indulging in the beautiful music.

This person is Edward Jr., the younger brother of Elena, who served in the British Imperial Navy's South Pacific Task Force, and was a 2,000-ton steam-powered wooden-hulled battleship "Warrior" Captain Street Boatswain, a naval officer born into a nobleman.

"Mr. Captain, what do you think of this minuet by Mozart, by the way; Merry Christmas. ”

Mr. Edward, who was well-dressed, walked in with a red wine glass in his hand, politely touched the glass with his son Edward Jr., and took a sip of the wine glass.

Mr. Edward's gray hair was combed in the slightest, and he still maintained his usual elegance at home, as if he were meeting the Queen at Buckingham Palace, and adhered to strict aristocratic etiquette.

"Mr. Captain, I have to say that it is a beautiful dance music, but unfortunately there is no one to dance with." Little Edward replied as a sign of respect.

Speaker Edward, who had served in the British Imperial Navy for a long time, retired with the rank of colonel and moved into politics, preferring to be called Mr. Colonel rather than Speaker, to show that he had never forgotten the glory of once crisscrossing the world.

"Tonight, your mother Catherine has specially put on a ball to which all the high ladies of Queensland are invited, and you can have a wonderful evening."

Little Edward replied not without regret; "Thank you, there are no more than 10 of all the high society ladies you mentioned, and it is difficult for me to choose my favorite dance partner among them."

"That's the reality in Queensland and we have to accept it."

Speaker Edward shrugged his shoulders regretfully, his mind was now focused on the important matter of running for governor in August next year, and he did not think much about his son's lifelong happiness.

"Miss Queensland high society, every one of them is like a proud peacock, I have to compete with my fellow naval officers and other equally good young men, and to be honest, Mr. Colonel, I'm really tired of this, why can't we think about civilian women, so the choice will be much larger."

"No, I will not allow a commoner woman to tarnish the noble blood of the Edwards, we are from the oldest Viscount family in Manchester, and this will be ridiculed by high society."

"Mr. Colonel, I have to remind you that it was my eldest uncle who inherited the hereditary viscount title of the Edwards, and we are in Australia, tens of thousands of miles from the British Isles, and no one in the Manchester aristocracy cares what we are thinking or doing......"

"Shut up, stop your irresponsible remarks."

Speaker Edward was finally enraged, and the red wine glass in his hand kept rippling, showing that his heart was far from the peace it had shown.

It's just that out of the good cultivation of the aristocracy, he has been trying his best to restrain himself.

At some point, Elena stopped playing.

She saw her father and brother staring at each other, and interjected at the right time; "Please calm us down, gentlemen, for I am disturbed by your aggressiveness."

After saying that, she stretched out her white arm, and little Edward took her hand very gentlemanly, and Yelena stood up from the piano bench, and shook her slender waist.

"Oh my God, this fishbone tunic is suffocating me, I can't breathe, and one day I'm going to faint on the dance floor, it's so embarrassing."

"Elena, you are such a light person, it breaks everyone's heart."

"Thank you for the compliment." Successfully calming the tension, Yelena took her brother Edward's arm and said;

"Look...... No one can deny that we have the noble blood of the Edward family in our veins, and there are many solutions to the dilemma you face, but this does not include marrying a civilian woman, Mr. Captain, the beautiful Fiona will attend tonight's ball, and I will create opportunities for you to meet alone. ”

"Oh...... Fiona, she's really beautiful. Little Edward knew it wasn't that simple.

The South Pacific Task Force has only three old steam-powered wooden-hulled warships, but it has more than 1,000 officers and men, including nearly 100 officers.

Half of these people are young officers who have not started a family, and each of them is a little rooster in heat, a strong challenger to himself.

Truth be told, under the stimulation of hormones, nothing can stop these young naval officers from pursuing beautiful aristocratic women.

Especially in Australia, where there are more men than women, Caucasian women will always be a scarce species, and they will need to be imported from Ireland in large quantities, and even then they are far from being able to meet the demand.

Young and beautiful aristocratic women are even more rare, and there are no more than 10 school-age women in the entire Brisbane city, all of whom are head-scratching.

"Don't worry, my dear brother, I've got everything in order."

"Well, I hope so."

"Fiona's father, Sir Dennis, was the president of the Royal Gold Miners Federation of the British Empire, and he was a very influential figure in Queensland, and Mr. Colonel Navy's strong support was necessary if he wanted to succeed in his candidacy for governorship." Yelena looked at her father Edward with reverence, and continued in an accentuated tone;

"Mr. Captain, this is not only about your lifelong happiness, but also for my father's gubernatorial race next August, so we can't let this opportunity go."

Speaking of business, little Edward's face also became serious, and he looked at his father with an inquiring gaze.

Speaker Edward nodded solemnly, there is no need to hide this important decision from his children, it will be a bet on the road to politics.

The elected governor of the Autonomous State of Queensland is generally crowned a baron for life by Queen Victoria of the British Empire as a sign of grace.

Speaker Edward is the concubine of a noble family, and has no chance to inherit the title of viscount of the family, if he can get the queen's reward, it is not the best way to make up for the regret in life.

This is also the goal he unswervingly pursues, and there is no room for error.

The family of three agreed on this, and the atmosphere became lighter again, with Speaker Edward casually chatting about some impressively interesting things about Queensland.

“……… What started as a well-planned hunt turned into a one-sided bloody massacre, and the stupid German rancher Ludendorff died on the spot, becoming the laughing stock of after-dinner conversations. ”

Speaker Edward's talk about this hot news aroused Edward Jr.'s strong interest; "The Gatling hand-cranked heavy machine gun, this is indeed a sharp weapon invented by the Americans, which can change the local war situation by itself, but it is too expensive to be universally equipped in the army, which will bankrupt the British Imperial War Office."

"Quite right, this is a weapon equipped with bulletproof wagons imported from the United States, a gadget of the rich."

"Oh, so this Chinese named [Li] is very rich."

"Not only is there money, even I can't help but be excited." Speaker Edward's gray-blue eyes flashed with greed.

Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, is a small city with a population of less than 100,000 people, and no disturbance can be hidden from the actual ruler, the British.

"This [Li] is a bold young man from the East, I have never heard of the Chinese being so ruthless and aggressive, and they often raise their guns at each other, which is very much like a Russian woolly bear.

According to the information from the Immigration Department;

[Lee] colluded with Mr. Wexford to resell Australian citizenship certificates to Chinese gold diggers at high prices, thus earning a lot of money.

Preliminary estimates put the total at more than £100,000......"

"Oh, £100,000?" Little Edward couldn't help but scream.

What was the concept of £100,000 in the days of steam ironclads?

The German navy's new Canterbury-class ironclad battleship is worth 1.4 million taels of silver, which is about 130,000 pounds at the current exchange rate.

Some people may not know the Canterbury ironclad battleships, but they must know that the Dingyuan and Zhenyuan ships ordered by the Manchu Empire in Germany are the same class of battleships as the Canterbury-class ironclad battleships, with the same armament and displacement.

"Dingyuan" is a second-class battleship with a displacement of 7,220 tons, a maximum speed of 14.5 knots, two twin 305 mm main guns, two 150 mm secondary guns, and a maximum armor thickness of 305-355 mm.

"Of course, the 100,000 pounds is not just two people, but includes the upper echelons of Queensland, and Governor Frank is not less than 10,000 pounds."

Edward saw that the eyes of his children were focused on himself, and he spread his hands and said; "Of course I took a few thousand pounds, and I deserved it."

"So, this Oriental man named [Li] is a man of the hour, not only bought the Red River Valley ranch, but also used money to corrupt the entire upper class of Queensland, isn't he afraid that he will be targeted?" Little Edward was thoughtful.

"It's been targeted, even if the rancher Smith and Ludendorff succeed in the ambush, the biggest cake won't be their turn to enjoy, and they are just pawns who have been pushed to the forefront, but this Oriental boy is very vigilant and has been developing his own armed forces, without a suitable reason, we can't do it easily, and we must not affect the good reputation of the British Empire."

"It is true, and it should be done with caution." Little Edward thought so, and the sense of honor of the Imperial Navy soldiers made him unable to turn a blind eye: "We must do something about it, and not let the moths corrode the healthy body of the Empire." ”

Speaker Edward smiled slyly and said; "The Chinese gold diggers in Queensland have sent more than £800,000 to the East until October, but the numbers have declined dramatically since October, to a few thousand pounds in December, where has this huge wealth gone?"

"You mean, to buy a certificate of naturalization at a high price?" Elena reacted quickly.

"Yes, that's correct."

"What is the countermeasure of the Council of the Continent?"

"Quite simply, it's far easier to get this money from a handful of people than it is from 36,000 Chinese gold diggers." Speaker Edward smiled, and seemed to have everything in his mind.

Little Edward and Elena suddenly realized that they breathed a long sigh of relief, and a faint smile appeared on their faces.

"What bothers me the most is...... It's possible that they've hooked up with Frank. Edward sighed faintly, his eyes twinkling with an inexplicable light; That Irishman, Wexford, strongly instigated Governor Frank to seize the Ludendorf Ranch through the state attorney's office, and is preparing for a small public auction in the near future, I think...... It is possible that this is part of the transaction. ”

"You mean...... A little sweetheart for [Lee]. Elena seemed to understand, too.

Speaker Edward nodded heavily; "Let's wait and see, no matter how cunning the fox is, it will show its tail after all."

"I may also know the [Li] you mentioned, and I once saw a magical oriental spell at the freighter terminal." Yelena frowned and recalled, she didn't expect that the comet-like rise of this young man from the East had grown to the point where he could affect the situation in the entire Queensland, how against the sky!

"And what is your impression of this person?"

"I can only say...... It's magical. ”

Amazing?

Speaker Edward chewed on these three words repeatedly, and there was no superfluous expression on his face, but his gaze became deeper.