Three months have passed

July 21, 1880

Sydney

The 12,000-ton new ocean-going freighter "Tongbaishan" of the 19th Century United Shipping Company from North America docked at the 10,000-ton wharf of Beilun Port, and unloaded a full 1,000 brand-new walk-behind tractors from the ship, including various models of flat and high and low steeplechase plates, which looked spectacular.

Some of the tractors will be transported via the newly completed coastal railway to the northern town of Songjiang, where civil engineering is in full swing.

Songjiang's large-scale development has now become the hottest word.

Songjiang Town, once unknown, has now become a super town with a population of more than 36,000 people, and there are nearly 20,000 construction workers involved in the construction of Songjiang Reservoir, Hongshan Iron and Steel Plant Phase 2 Base, Wool Spinning Factory No. 4 and Woolen Spinning Factory No. 5, and the construction of a new plant of General Machinery Company.

The construction of the No. 6 Woolen Mill will begin in Beilun Port, which is also a super-large woolen mill with an estimated number of 10,000 workers, which will become a distribution center for wool from 200 miles of surrounding pastures, and will be exported to Europe and the United States after worsting.

The once deserted north shore is now lined with houses, warehouses and factories under construction, making it a bustling construction site.

The 10,000-ton wharf that has just been completed has ushered in the 10,000-ton freighter of the United Shipping Company in the 19th century, and the front of the wharf is still under construction, which is the No. 3 and No. 4 deep-water berths, and with the extension of the reinforced concrete trestle, more deep-water berths will be built in the future, forming a large port comparable to Jackson Harbor.

The branch line of the coastal railway is connected to the port side, and a large warehouse area has been built here to cope with the demand for large-scale overseas imports and exports.

The Earl of Queensland has built a new business on Sydney's North Shore with its strong economic strength, creating a production, processing and trading center that does not rely on Sydney at all.

With the massive industrial output of the Red River Valley, it can easily meet the operation needs of Beilun Port, which makes a group of people in Sydney regret it.

Because all the tax revenue from the Port of Beilun goes into the pockets of the Earl of Queensland, which also falls under the umbrella of the Red River Valley Ranche, which now stretches 670 miles from Brisbane to Sydney's North Shore.

Calculated according to the metric system; More than 2,000 miles from north to south are all covered, and more than 400 miles deep from east to west, covering an area of 220,000 square kilometers, almost occupying 2/5 of Australia's rich coastal areas.

South Wales consulted the London Colonial Office specifically on this matter, and the official answer was;

There is no doubt that the Red River Valley Ranch, owned by the Earl of Queensland, was granted to Her Majesty the Queen, and due to the lack of timely updating of the data, it was recently fixed at 220,000 square kilometres.

In other words, the Earl of Queensland's mining will not continue to expand, so please be calm.

What is this called?

The high-ranking officials in New South Wales almost had their noses crooked, but they were helpless against the bureaucracy in London, let alone overturn the official documents of the Colonial Office.

There is a duke in London, and he can do whatever he wants in Australia, and even the number of fiefdoms can be changed, so what else can't be done?

Stand on the pier

Li Fushou pinched his waist and looked at the city of Sydney across the bay, which looked extremely beautiful against the blue bay, and looked back at the Consby Plateau on the north shore where construction was being carried out.

"Hahaha...... Sydney's group of grandsons, when I came to visit them in person, Lord Earl, I pushed me one by one and played sloppy, now I'm afraid I'm stupid, right? ”

Wu Mozhou said with a smile; "Some time ago, the Premier of New South Wales, Morgan McLowry, approached me several times, wanting to follow the example of Queensland and upgrade the towns of Beilun, Songjiang, Wisconsin and Edinburgh to the city, but I flatly refused.

I told him;

There is no need to consult the Earl of Queensland on this matter, and it is possible to answer the South Wales side now.

Not now, not 20 years from now.

Morgan McLaughrie's men turned green at the time, and they snorted away with their sleeves, ignoring even the most basic gentlemanly demeanor. ”

"Hahaha...... The answer is good, and I am angry with these grandsons. Li Fushou laughed.

The situation in New South Wales is different from that of Queensland, where the British first landed in Botany Bay, near present-day Port Jackson, more than 100 years ago.

Of the more than 1.3 million people in South Wales, the oldest state of development, 7 and a half are white, 20 percent are Chinese, and the rest are immigrants from the East Indies and Oceania islands, less than half of the total.

New South Wales has the highest percentage of white Australians, and the Red River Valley cannot replicate its success in Queensland, and is certainly not keen to upgrade the towns in the territory to municipalities, and to hand over a large amount of taxes.

In South Wales, it is impossible to gain an overwhelming majority of voters, nor to have complete control over the election of state councillors, let alone infiltrate the Home Rule Office.

In the Red River Valley and the surrounding four cities, from the mayor to the ordinary RCMP and government employees below, they are either Li Fushou's carefully cultivated henchmen, or Hongmen backbones or Zhi Gong Party activists, which is tantamount to using government taxes to support their own people, and their influence has expanded instead of shrinking.

What's more, the Queensland Treasury is now helping Li Fushou maintain a small coast guard, and he can't even think about it anywhere else.

The situation in New South Wales is completely different, and isn't it the wrong medicine to take the tax money and then go to support white employees?

"Gentlemen, today is a good day for the official opening of the coastal railway, let's go and meet these gentlemen of Sydney's high society for a while, after all, many people here are shareholders of Red River Valley enterprises, look down and don't look up, the apparent harmony still has to be maintained." Li Fushou's words made everyone laugh.

Xin Changjun and Pan Shoudao, as today's important guests, followed Li Fushou and walked forward together, looking very relaxed.

Xin Changjun said; "Lord Yuan Ding, I think these guests from Sydney today may not be able to laugh, let's be forgiving and forgiving!"

"Mr. Changjun's words are wrong, I think the demeanor of British gentlemen is still very good, and there is a sense of knocking out teeth and swallowing blood." Pan Shoudao laughed twice, but the following words came out, making those white gentlemen almost vomit blood; "Isn't today's ceremony for the successful opening of the coastal railway a resounding slap in the face to those who are desperately trying to prevent the coastal railway from entering Sydney?"

"Hehehe...... Brother Changjun, Brother Shoudao, ginger is still old and spicy! That's true...... It's in place! Li Fushou couldn't hold back his laughter.

The two voices were very loud, and all the high-class gentlemen in Sydney not far away heard it, and many of them glared at them angrily.

Xin Changjun, Pan Shoudao, Wu Mozhou and the others glared back without showing weakness, with an expression of being afraid that you would bite me, which made the gentlemen on the opposite side turn blue with anger.

The Premier of New South Wales, Morgan McLowrie, showed a good demeanor and took the initiative to reach out and say; "Congratulations, Your Excellency, the opening of the coastal railway and the construction of the port of Beilun, oh...... We are delighted to see that the construction of Songjiang Town is in full swing, which will inject new economic vitality into New South Wales, and sincerely wish you more and more ...... in your career."

Morgan McLaughey glanced at Governor Frank with a defiant look in his eyes, and continued with the contempt in his eyes; "With almost 150,000 square kilometres of territory in New South Wales, the Red River Valley is your true home, and we welcome you, Your Excellency The Earl of Queensland."

"Thank you, Mr. Governor." Li Fushou shook hands politely, in this kind of victory moment of "bang" big slap photon slap on the other party, there is no need to be aggressive, more should show demeanor; "Thank you for the kindness shown by the NSW side, but unfortunately I am a nostalgic person, and I have a deep affection for Queensland under Premier Frank, after all, I am titled the Earl of Queensland, not the Earl of New South Wales, so Queensland will always be the home of the Red River Valley."

"Uh, that's a shame." Straight to the point, the smile on Morgan McClaurie's face stiffened a little.

Governor Frank said in surprise; "Wow, abandoned by mom, are our Morgan kids going to cry?"

"God, what crazy are you talking about?" Morgan McLaurie jumped to his feet angrily at this joke and said angrily; "My mother can only be the British Empire, the Honorable Queen, not a rancher with two stinky money."

When Frank heard this, he spread his hands helplessly and said; "I would like to have such a good mother, but unfortunately I am only one of the thousands of subjects of the British Empire, and I am far from qualified, but I am very strange, Morgan MacLaughie, from His Excellency Baron, your title seems too low! Moreover, there is ambiguity in your words, which are suspected of slandering Her Majesty the Honorable Queen, and I need you to explain it clearly in front of all the gentlemen present. ”

"Uh......" Morgan McClaurie said in a panic, and was caught by Frank, and his face suddenly turned blue and uncertain, and he couldn't speak.

Frank is an old bureaucrat who has been in politics for many years, and he still has the ability to beat the water dogs, he turned to face the high-class gentlemen and ladies present with a solemn expression, and said; "His Excellency Governor Morgan McClaurie declares in public that Mother is Her Majesty the Queen, and I have the right to ask him to explain the meaning of this sentence in public, and to report it truthfully to the Colonial Office, and as a subject of the British Empire, I will not allow anyone to tarnish the glory and dignity of Her Majesty, gentlemen, and I ask you to solemnly swear and testify."

"I swear that I will prove everything I hear and see." Someone began to chim.

"I swear to God that I will justly confirm everything I see." More people are involved.

"I swear ......" was already a chorus on the dock.

The problem was serious, and the gentlemen of Sydney's high society immediately began to stand in line, not daring to joke on this matter of Her Majesty's dignity, and solemnly swore one after another.

Witnessing the wall fall and everyone pushing it, Morgan McClaurie clearly knew that he was finished, his political career was over, and years of hard work were in vain.

The Imperial Colonial Office will not allow any official who dares to offend Her Majesty to remain in office, and the best thing to do is to resign and quietly leave the place where it has fought for decades.

If you say something imprudently in public, if you are caught by your political opponents, you will be chased and beaten fiercely, and the key is that it cannot be denied in public.

Oh my God, I'm so dizzy.

Morgan-McClaurie was disillusioned at the moment, and said with a dejected face; "For God's sake, I apologize for saying something very ambiguous, and it is unforgivable to be careless in my words, although I did not mean it that way, and as a responsible English gentleman, I will resign myself and kneel before the Holy Cross and ask for forgiveness."

With that said,

Morgan McClaurie left with a lonely expression, his distant back and figure were rickety, as if he had aged a lot all of a sudden.

Li Fushou witnessed this wonderful change with his own eyes, and he had a feeling of absurdity in his heart, and at the same time, he also felt the majesty of the British Empire's royal power, which was really everywhere.

Even if the hierarchy is as strict as that of the Qing Dynasty, and the emperor and queen mother are often bowed down, they will not cut off the flower feathers worn by the feudal officials with a single word.

It's normal to think about it;

The only Australian governor in the United Kingdom was appointed by Her Majesty the Queen, and the officials of these other autonomous states were all elected by the people, and they were elected every few years, and they would step down if they could not be elected.

Elected officials are of course easier to let go than the ministers of the larger Qing Dynasty's lifelong system, but the problem is that they are caught by political opponents, and they can't let go!

The opening ceremony of the entire coastal railway line began in an almost absurd atmosphere, with earth-shattering laughter announcing the completion of the new railway line, and the addition of an economic artery to the two neighbouring autonomous states of Queensland and South Wales.

The Earl of Queensland, as a major shareholder of the railway and owner of the Red River Valley ranch, is the largest beneficiary.

This coastal railway runs through the entire territory, connecting the towns dotted along the way, glittering like a string of pearls.

From now on

The sheep can be driven to the nearest coastal town to be sheared, and the sheared wool is transported by train to Songjiang Town or Suzaku City, where it is processed at the local wool mill and sold overseas.

In the future, it is also possible to develop a farm industry near the town, planting wheat, rice, soybeans, grapes, nuts, various fruit trees and economic plants, which can be easily exported by rail after primary processing, breaking through the bottleneck of transportation.