"Lord Earl, dinner is ready, and the great man and Professor Alan Johnson, whom you invited to dinner, are already waiting in the dining room."

"Oh, got it."

Li Fushou's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the pretty slave's report, and at this time it was already dusk outside the window, and the afterglow of the sun was about to converge to the last rays of light, and night was coming.

The soft light in the study reflected the purple velvet curtains, and the monotonous sound of the moving train was faintly audible.

The luxurious carriage is decorated with great effort and has excellent sound insulation, and you can feel the constant rocking and undulation of the carriage when you sit on the car, as if you are riding a boat.

After a long period of use, the original train foundation has been subsided, and if you look at the long railway line during the day, you will find that the steel rails are uneven like a twisted dragon, and even one side is tilted.

The geological conditions in the coastal plain of Australia are softer than those in the arid Midwest of the United States, and after a period of operation of the railway line, there are dozens of large-scale continuous geological subsidence sites throughout the railway line.

This situation cannot be changed for the time being, but fortunately in this era, the speed of steam trains is very slow, passenger trains are mostly about twenty or thirty kilometers per hour, and freight trains are even slower, so the problem is not very big.

The railway is uneven, just drive slower.

Li Fushou stood up, strode out of the study and walked towards the dining car, and saw Fu Peng, the captain of the guard, standing up to greet him from a distance, and said casually; "Brother Fu, why are you still on duty in person, just arrange the brothers of the pro-guard team for these things."

"Master, this is the duty of a humble duty."

"Okay...... I can't beat you either, come and dine together, Ah Wei hasn't seen you for a long time, you are all old brothers at the beginning, just talk together. ”

"Hehe, it's better to be respectful than to obey."

Li Fushou took Fu Peng to the dining car, Zhu Wei saw this and hurriedly got up to greet him, his butt had just left the seat, and a pair of big hands had been pressed on his shoulders; "Ah Wei, you and my brother don't need to be so polite in private, just sit down."

The warm words flowed into his heart like a warm current, Zhu Wei's heart was hot, and his throat and eyes nodded silently as if he was blocked by something.

The pretty maidservants served exquisite food, fruit bowls and wine, and dinner began.

Today's staple food is pan-fried Australian veal steak with French cheese, Li Fushou has a very good appetite and kills two calf steaks, Fu Peng is even more powerful, and he kills three veal steaks without raising his head, and he is still unsatisfied.

"Your Excellency, is this Mr. Guardian of yours the rumored master of kung fu? His appetite is so good. Professor Alan Johnson was enjoying dessert when he looked at Fu Peng and said.

"Well, that's understandable."

"That'...... Can you ask him to show his skills and open our eyes? I'm really, really curious. ”

"Allen, Brother Fu is my brother, not a showman on the street." Li Fushou put down the knife and fork with a displeased face, picked up the white napkin and wiped his mouth, picked up the wine glass next to the table and took a sip, and said slowly; "You have to be in awe of a master like Brother Bo, his palms can break the iron pillar, you can consider whether your neck is harder than the iron pillar, I can't stop it if you really want to make a move."

These words made Alan Johnson change color, at this time, Fu Peng was eating with his head down with a knife and fork in his hand, his body was slightly stunned, and a warm current of the death of a confidant filled his body, forcibly suppressed the emotions in his heart, and continued to eat.

"Oh, sell ga...... Forgive me for my recklessness, Mr. Valliant Knight...... I am very sorry for what I just said. "Professor Alan Johnson's apology came quickly, and he said with a very British shrug;" God testifies, this is not a bit of a joke, but I am still willing to apologize for it, and ask you not to break my neck, I still need it. ”

Fu Peng raised his head and said two words briefly; "It's fine."

Through the light emitted by the silver candlesticks on the dining car, Fu Peng's tiger eyes were slightly red and pretended not to care, and he lowered his head and began to deal with the food seriously.

Li Fushou snapped his fingers; "Talk to the kitchen, I want to have an authentic braised lamb with skin with French buns, and a copy for Brother Fu, I know he likes to eat this bite too, what about the two of you?"

"I'm alright, thank you, Your Excellency." Alan Johnson is insensitive.

"Lord Earl, I'm afraid I won't be able to eat it either." Zhu Wei replied.

"Hehe, that's just a blessing for you." Li Fushou put down his wine glass unhurriedly, and the topic turned to business; "Recently, the Strait Governor's Office has once again urged the peace talks process, what do you think about this, Allen?"

Get down to business

Professor Alan Johnson also looked serious, and after careful consideration, he said; "I saw the diplomatic note from the Governor's Office of the Straits and carefully studied the wording, and found nothing out of the ordinary.

This is a letter of routine business, and I myself am not a professional politician in London, and on the basis of the rich historical knowledge of a historian and the political instincts of an Englishman, I do not think that the Governor's Office of the Channels is in no hurry to reach a peace agreement.

You can think of it as the teacher assigns homework on time and the students turn in their homework on time.

Therefore, I believe that Shangri-La should stick to the non-negotiable bottom line, and stick to it as a precondition for the resumption of negotiations.

The Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies is solely responsible for all serious consequences arising therefrom.

We should stick to our tough stance and gather more information about London and the Kingdom of the Netherlands for decision-making, rather than just speculation.

You know, sometimes your instincts fail.

It stands to reason that Shangri-La or Borneo had no appeal to the British Empire, and it was somewhat surprising that London was so enthusiastic about it, but was there a hidden purpose in this?

Think about it

I really can't think of anything else that London could get out of it other than the friendship with the Kingdom of the Netherlands thanks from the Earl of Queensland? ”

Li Fushou and Zhu Wei thought carefully, and they didn't notice anything after repeated scrutiny.

Zhu Wei hesitated for a moment and said; "As far as I know, the British Empire today has a wide range of seas, from manpower and material resources to all resources, there is almost no desire for such a broken settlement as the Kingdom of the Netherlands, at most in European affairs, it needs some little brothers such as Belgium, Norway, the Netherlands, Greece, Bulgaria, these little brothers to wave their flags and shout, in order to strengthen their momentum, so as to occupy the commanding heights of morality and justice to implement the European balance strategy, to attack and weaken the strong side, to help the weak side, in addition to I can not think of any other role."

"Will it be because of the intricacies of European royal families?" Alan Johnson presents a possibility.

"It's a real possibility."

Li Fushou knows a lot about London's high society, which is almost the center of European royal families, with royal family members and top nobles from European countries in an endless stream, especially the annual spring royal horse race, which is almost a family portrait gathering of European royal families.

Random encounter with an elegant lady, all duchesses.

Queen Victoria's fame as a European grandmother weaved a vast genealogy of European royal family relatives through marriage, encompassing almost every European power, except France and the Ottoman Empire.

Because of the establishment of a democratic republican system in France, the original feudal dynasty of the French Empire collapsed, and the Ottoman Empire was an alternative to Europe, the enemy of Christendom.

"But...... The Kingdom of the Netherlands has not had a British royal marriage for more than 60 years, and the last time should be traced back to ......" Professor Alan Johnson suddenly paused when he said this, looked at Li Fushou and the two of them had a clear heart, and blurted out almost at the same time; "Princess Wilhelmina......

The two were silent at the same time

After some careful consideration, Professor Alan Johnson said; "William III is dying, and Princess Wilhelmina is only two years old this year, and will rule the Nordic country as the sole heir to the throne of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and her marriage is extremely important, and will affect the direction of the kingdom's policy for decades to come, and will never consider the always powerful British royal family, I am very sure of this, and I can rule out accidents."

"That is, London will not be biased in favor of the Kingdom of the Netherlands."

"Yes, the politicians in London are standard utilitarians, and they don't want to do anything that doesn't benefit them."

"That's really good news." Li Fushou couldn't help but leave his mouth and smile.

This means that in Borneo there is as much pressure on the Dutch side as it pleases, and the UK will abide by the detached position of the mediator without actually intervening, which is conducive to delaying the negotiations until next year or even the year after, and buying time for Queensland to have more leverage.

"Oh...... By the way, how is the Borneo immigration program going? Li Fushou asked.

"Lord Earl, I am planning to report to you on this matter." Zhu Wei took the initiative to take over the conversation.

"Say, I'll listen." Li Fushou nodded slightly, signaling him to say that it was okay.

Professor Alan Johnson is a private policy adviser, and some public immigration policies do not need to be concealed from him, of course, it is not possible to involve hidden content, this old man is an English after all, and he still needs to be reserved.

Fu Peng is close to his body and mind, and the level of secrecy that he has access to is far greater than that of Professor Alan Johnson, and of course there is no problem.

Zhu Wei took out a document from his pocket and unfolded it, unfolded it and looked at it and said;

"Borneo is the first to migrate to the area of Sammarinda, the number of immigrants reached 13,200 in July, and the number of immigrants planned for August is 22,000, mainly from the industrious and simple rural families, mostly from coastal provinces such as Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong, and will stabilize between 22,000 and 25,000 per month in the next few months, depending on the resettlement situation.

Due to the war factor

Many local white Dutch plantation owners transferred a large number of plantations to escape the war, and the British consortium did not have enough manpower to operate, so they welcomed the arrival of a large number of Chinese immigrants, and there was a strong demand for investment and labor resources.

According to preliminary calculations, the entire Samarinda region can accept about 120,000 to 150,000 Chinese immigrants, and when the security situation in East Kalimantan province is completely stabilized, it is expected that one million people can be resettled to open up wasteland.

It is expected that in two years, the region will gradually achieve stable economic development and self-sufficiency.

As for the province of South Kalimantan, which we now control, the temporary migration is relatively small, mostly concentrated in towns and nearby areas, about 2 to 3,000 people per month, plus tens of thousands of Borneo Chinese immigrants in the early days, can ensure complete control of the region.

Judging from the current situation, it is roughly three or seven open.

Thirty percent of the immigrants are concentrated in urban ports, and seventy percent of the immigrants enter rural plantations, and after being organized in an orderly manner, they receive militia training in addition to farming and teach basic self-defense skills.

The overall resettlement plan for Borneo was to reach the target of 120,000 by the end of 1882 and 350,000 in 1883, and the militia training rate exceeded 20%, which initially consolidated the foundation for development in the region.

Drawing on the Red River Valley's rich experience in building towns and settlements, we have recruited more than 300 young officials from Australia to work with the military to control the area and gradually achieve orderly and stable development.

In 1883, Shangri-La had set a plan of 63,000 people to settle for the island, and in 1883 it would make a big leap forward, aiming for 250,000 people a year, and building 11 new towns in the southern arable areas to accommodate the rapid influx of people.

The target of Australia's local immigration program was revised to 850,000 in 1882, and with the young female immigrants independently implemented by media companies, it is expected to exceed the million mark for the first time in the whole year, achieving a historic breakthrough.

Immigrants coupled with the growth of Australia's local population, will reach a population of 495~5 million by the end of this year, and is expected to exceed 6 million next year, with a compound annual growth rate of more than 27%, still showing a high growth trend, which strongly boosts economic development.

As the main source of immigrants, Guangjitang has generally set up immigration counseling agencies in the coastal cities and provinces of the mainland, especially in Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangxi and Shanxi, which are small and populated, and Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong, and Henan, which are the most important sources of immigrants.

In recent years, there have been many disasters on the mainland, with droughts of varying scales breaking out almost every year in the north, frequent floods in the south, and people struggling to make a living.

According to the report of local immigration agencies, due to the continuous fermentation of Australia's rich reputation and the continuous large amount of overseas remittance income, which has further laid the foundation for extensive immigration, the phenomenon of unplanned spontaneous migration is increasing.

In view of the uneven quality of spontaneous immigrants, without preliminary screening and selection by immigration agencies, and taking into account the affordability of the Australian mainland, it is not recommended to let them enter on a large scale, and mainly guide the high-quality population with certain economic strength and foundation to enter through the immigration policy, so as to achieve the purpose of optimizing the quality of the population. ”

"Well, Australia's current population capacity is limited, and you can't pick and choose all the dishes on the plate." Li Fushou agreed with Zhu Wei's point of view, and just saw the maid bring up the steaming braised beef with skin and French buns, the braised lamb with skin trembled with a rich sauce and a fragrant taste, and the soft and glutinous and mellow taste that was put in the mouth was full of a piece, and he couldn't help but cheer loudly; "The taste is fantastic, it's a pity that Ah Wei and Alan don't have one, Brother Fu, let's let go of our bellies and have a good time."

"Everything is up to the master, my master is fine." Fu Peng is a martial arts man, his plate is bigger than Li Fushou, and the red pieces of meat piled high on the plate are steaming, and the fragrance is fragrant.

The two gourmets smiled and touched their glasses, took a large sip of French white wine, and then began to enjoy the delicious food.

Seeing that they ate so sweetly, Professor Alan Johnson couldn't help but be a little greedy, and said stupidly; "It's just a plate of mutton, is it really that delicious?"

"Uh-huh......"

The two gluttons ate heartily and didn't have the time to answer him.

Seeing the two of them enjoying themselves, Professor Alan Johnson felt a trace of regret in his heart, he missed a good opportunity to taste the deliciousness, and suddenly felt a sense of loss.