September 26, 1881

An official notice from the British Colonial Office shocked the world, stating;

In January 1881, the Earl of Queensland announced the discovery and possession of Shangri-La Island, which, after a responsible and prudent investigation by the Colonial Department, had not been substantially occupied by the relevant countries and powers, and the Earl's claim to have discovered and possessed the island should be respected and recognized.

This represents the position of the London government, and the Colonial Department's circular was published on the front page of the British "Times", which aroused great concern from all relevant parties.

In addition to the front-page publication of the Colonial Office Circular, The Times published a feature article on the 2nd page with the headlines;

Shangri-La of dreams

Part 1 of the series: Hard work pays off...... The Earl of Queensland's new geographical discoveries in the South Pacific.

The article devotes a large number of chapters to the past and present life of Shangri-La Island, using many expert opinions, and is extremely detailed and reliable.

Such a blockbuster article is authoritative, and it is difficult to write without a lot of detailed information and repeated arguments.

The Times was quoted in the mainstream European newspapers, and public opinion was generally favourable to the Earl of Queensland's discovery of a new territory, but with a different emphasis.

The French press enthusiastically advocated the new geographical discoveries, but unfortunately the British took advantage of them again.

The German press was a bit sour, adding another 880,000 square kilometers to the British Empire's vast colony of 31 million square kilometers, approaching 32 million square kilometers, satirizing the British for indigestion.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman Empire and other public opinion newspapers only reprinted it, and basically did not make any comments, and there was no way to say anything about the affairs of the British Empire, and most of the other small and medium-sized European countries were similar.

The only two countries that expressed strong opposition were Spain and the Netherlands,

The Spanish press claimed to have discovered Irian Island in the 15th century and used it as a transit trade point for a century and a half, with de facto sovereignty over the island.

The Dutch press reacted even more violently, arguing that Ilian Island was an integral part of the East Indies, and that the Dutch had exercised de facto rule over the region since the mid-16th century.

It is unacceptable for the Earl of Queensland to act in violation of the territorial rights and interests of the Dutch East Indies.

And the island of Jayapura is home to more than 60 white Dutch settlers, whose fate is currently unknown.

The Kingdom expresses strong concern over this and reserves the right to take further measures.

The Kingdom of the Netherlands is a small country with little power, and its rhetoric cannot dominate public opinion in Europe, and is often ignored by the public.

And in Australia

The media quoted relevant commentary articles from The Times, one-sidedly touting the new geographical discoveries of the Earl of Queensland, and was praised as an enlightened aristocrat who was committed to philanthropy and respected science.

The Earl of Queensland's past dazzling experiences have also been revealed, taking the lead in building the world's first hydroelectric power station, rescuing tens of thousands of native Caucasian women from concentration camps through cooperation with international charitable organizations, establishing Renci Hospital, Renji Hospital, developing the wool industry and many industrial categories, investing heavily in the research and development of new series of diesel engines, which has become a model of cooperation between capital and science and technology, committed to fighting crime, and so on.

In particular, the battle to exterminate the "Wild Wolf Bilken" is worthy of special mention, which is the culmination of his glory as the Earl of Queensland, and is personally commended by Her Majesty the Queen.

"What a stupid and ridiculous comment, there is no doubt that these newspapers have taken the money of Mr. Earl of Queensland, and are a bunch of philistines who have no position in it."

The Governor-General, Lord John Lawrence Balder, threw away the newspaper in his hand with disdain, and said to the Governor of New South Wales, Ben Stevens; "My dear Ben, what do you think of our Lord Earl of Queensland, who has been very active during this time."

Ben-Stevens did not rush to answer, and took a calm puff of his pipe, the thick smoke surrounding his body, making his figure look a little hazy; "This is a noble lord who has unlimited possession of land**, and the deliberate restrictions of New South Wales and Victoria have inhibited the desire of the Earl of Queensland to expand his land, so ...... He found another outlet for himself. ”

"Do you think so, Mr. Governor?"

"That's right, Your Excellency the Governor, the Earl of Queensland is a very rich farmer, very, very rich." Ben-Stevenster deliberately accentuates the tone of the last paragraph.

Governor John Lawrence Bald apparently disagreed with the other party's point of view, and said in a pretending Oxford tone; "See, it won't be long before the greedy Lord Earl of Queensland will buy all of Australia and become the de facto ruler here. Now that more than 20 boatloads of migrants arrive in Australia every month, and these yellow torrents have changed the color of Australia, I can't help but feel deeply worried about this, dear Ben, what must we do about it? ”

"Your Excellency, immigration is a great threat, but it is important to see that Queensland's thriving economy now far exceeds that of New South Wales and Victoria combined, and occupies a significant position in the entire Australian Territory." Speaking of this, Ben Stevens shrugged his shoulders helplessly and continued; "From a purely economic point of view, we can't do without Queensland, from ocean shipping to banking and wool processing, and from a military point of view, we don't have the strength to knock down the table, which is where the difficulty lies."

"Ben, we can get London's support to reclaim everything that belonged to the whites, the factories, the gold mines, and the rich pastures, which we deserve." Governor John Lawrence Balder used elegant words to show a shameless bandit face.

"Huh...... Maybe. Ben-Stevens, who had no intention of refuting these meaningless words, took a deep puff of his pipe and said, "Your Excellency, have you ever thought about how much we have to sacrifice for this?" Do we have the ability? You must know that in the southern states, there are no more than 650,000 adult white males, and the maximum mobilization capacity is not higher than 60,000, and the other side can easily come up with several times this number, and almost half of the immigrants can pick up guns and fight. ”

Speaking of which

Ben Stevens shook his head with a heavy face; "A lot of cowboys don't know a single word, and they have been circling hundreds of miles around the neighborhood all their lives, and they don't resent the Earl of Queensland, which is too far away from the life of cowboys, and the southern cowboys hate the white wool buyers who join forces to lower prices, and if they want to kill anyone, it is undoubtedly those merchants."

Governor John Lawrence Balder's face was gloomy, and he was very disgusted by this defeatist statement, and said with a strong suppression of the emotions in his heart; "Please, dear Ben, numbers don't mean anything in this game, I think you've forgotten where they came from? During the Second Opium War, the British and French forces entered Beiping City all the way, and a fire burned down the Old Summer Palace, which these Orientals were proud of, what was the result? ”

He made an exaggerated groveling gesture and said with contempt in his eyes; "The emperor of the ancient empire of the East trembled with fear, and his subjects, hundreds of millions, could only watch all this happen, and could do nothing, how many years had passed since this glorious war? Please let me think about it, oh...... It's just that in 21 years, no society has been able to change in such a short period of time, and Oriental people are cowardly and obedient from the bottom of their hearts, and I firmly believe in this. ”

There was silence in the room

Ben Stevens asked silently as he smoked his pipe, a moment later; "Allow me to take the liberty of asking, Your Excellency, how did you know so much about this?"

"The reason is very simple, I was not born to be a governor, I was in that army 21 years ago, I was a lieutenant officer in the prime of life, leading my brave soldiers to the Forbidden City, we can do whatever we want in this ancient palace complex that symbolizes the imperial power of the East, this is the right of the victors."

Governor John Lawrence Balder smirked, walked over and patted Ben Stevens on the shoulder, and said; "Look, dear Ben, these Orientals are just used to bluffing, and they seem to be very powerful, but they are actually very cowardly inside, like balloons that burst with a single stab, and there is complete air inside."

Ben Stevens frowned, the stakes were too big for him to make any decisions about embarking on this dangerous path for the time being.

Divide Australia, and the southern states form separate coalition governments to fight against the northern immigration forces led by Queensland and Western Australia.

In a way, the current situation resembles the United States before the Civil War.

What a terrible toll that war took on the entire country?

The numbers are staggering, and Ben Stevens doesn't dare to make a decision lightly, no one likes war.

Except, of course, the war maniacs.

The rapid expansion of power in the Red River Valley touched the interests of the die-hard faction in the South, where white ranchers were at the core.

The white hardliners, with former New South Wales Governor Morgan McLowrie, current Governor Ben Stevens, Melbourne Mayor Jeff Bridges, and others as the core, have also gained a lot of benefits in the process of the rise of the Red River Valley, but it does not mean that they can accept the current situation and allow the immigrant forces to grow in the states step by step.

It's an extremely ambivalent mentality, wanting to make a lot of money from the booming economy of the Red River Valley, but also not wanting to see the power in its hands eroded step by step, and Australia reduced to a society dominated by immigrants.

"Mr. Governor, the Lord Earl of Queensland is a nobleman personally assigned by Her Majesty the Queen, and with the patronage of Lord Duke Victor behind him, and has an inextricable network of connections in the upper classes of Europe, this is ......," said Governor Ben Stevens, looking suspicious.

"Hahaha...... You've overdone it, dear Ben. "The Governor, John Lawrence Balde, was an aristocrat from the upper classes of London and knew a lot about it.

He spread his hands out indifferently and said; "Not to mention an earl, what if it's a duke? The British Empire has 28 Duke Gentlemen, who also have only one vote in the House of Lords, and the descendants of the Anglo-Saxons must be treated with special privilege, both in the home and in the colonies, and it is believed that Lord Duke Victor will make a wise choice in this matter. ”

Ben Stevens retorted; "Just hoping cannot be used as a basis for major decisions."

Governor John Lawrence Bald's gray-blue eyes were fixed on him, and he said word by word; "So what do you think I'm doing here? A mascot? I am the Governor of New South Wales appointed by Her Majesty the Queen, and I have the power to veto the gubernatorial elections and dissolve the state legislature, and the exercise of such power depends on the will of London, not a governor who will only serve for a few years. ”

There is a lot of content in these words, and it may contain the personal goods of the Governor, but on the whole it will not be too out of line.

In London

There are always some of the most powerful people who look at the Earl of Queensland unpleasantly, and even if the Earl of Queensland is rich, it is impossible to bribe all 28 dukes.

Young, rich and powerful, and in Australia, the wind and water are rising, this is the original sin of Lord Earl Queensland, which has aroused a large number of jealous eyes.

"You have convinced me, honorable Governor." Governor Ben-Stevens finally made up his mind, looked up at the Governor, and said; "New South Wales alone is not enough, we need the full support of Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania, and even more so from London, and now in order to get concessions from Queensland's base policy, we have approved the southern extension of the coastal railway, which will allow further immigration forces to invade NSW, which may become a big problem."

Seeing that the hesitant Governor of New South Wales had finally been convinced, Governor John Lawrence Balder snapped his fingers happily and said with a pretended humor;

"It's not difficult, you know that horse bandits are rampant in the southern states, and it's a pity that railroad construction sites are often attacked, but it's unavoidable, Mr. Governor, can you understand what I mean?"

Ben Stevens knew that this was a vicious and effective way to put any blame on the bandits.

When fear envelops the road-building army, there is no need to think much about what follows, and nature falls apart.

The two looked at each other and laughed, and today's secret conversation gave Governor Ben Stevens a great deal of confidence.

This far-reaching conspiracy seems to have spawned a poisonous sprout.

A small group of white hardliners, led by Governor John Lawrence Balder, took advantage of the fact that the Red River Valley was drawn a lot of attention from Shangri-La Island to plot the secession of southern Australia.

This turbulent era is destined not to be calm, wave after wave of flat wave after wave, staging a magnificent and magnificent tide of the times.