Beilun Residence

In the past few days, even if he is as strong as Li Fushou, he is a little unbearable, and after returning to the official residence, he really has back pain and is exhausted.

Fortunately, the hard work was not in vain, and all the things in the south were properly arranged, and he could return to Honghe Valley City in the near future, and stop in Songjiang Town for a few days by the way, mainly to get close to the officers of the Tiger Cavalry Guard, and by the way to inspect the operation of various enterprises in the town.

The Guards Dragoon Division and the Guards Tiger Cavalry Division smoothly entered the army and took on the heavy task of defending the vast territory in the south.

As if they had negotiated between the New South Wales and Victorian Parliaments, they successively introduced the "National Guard" bill, openly began to organize militias into armed armies, and the intention of confrontation was obvious.

The repair of the southern extension of the coastal railway has been stopped again, and it has become a long-standing and difficult project.

In this regard, Li Fushou has no intention of continuing to promote, just do what it should be, the twisted melon is not sweet.

The Red River Valley's efforts to develop its industrial economy have so far been remarkable, leaving the still agrarian southern states far behind.

Not to mention anything else, just about wool spinning enterprises.

For several years

The southern state has also established several wool spinning enterprises, including three in Victoria and one in New South Wales, ranging from one or two thousand to two or three thousand people, but sitting on a huge wool raw material resources, these wool spinning enterprises are struggling to operate, far less prosperous than the development of the Honghe Woolen General Factory.

The biggest reason is, of course, the suppression and exclusion of the entire Red River Valley system, high transoceanic transportation costs, high bank exchange fees, crowding out and suppression of the European market, peer competition (mainly the Red River Woolen Factory), etc., which will not be mentioned for the time being.

As a light industry enterprise with concentrated manpower, the biggest problem of woolen enterprises in Nanfang Prefecture is the difficulty of recruiting workers, which is almost an unsolvable knot.

There are too few suitable white female workers, and Chinese women are in short supply in Queensland, let alone into the southern states, which leads to a huge gap between supply and demand.

The Southern State Woolen Mills had barely managed to solve the labor gap by using black female slaves and recruiting a large number of white male workers.

At first glance, this may seem good, but this is actually the beginning of a disaster.

In this day and age, workers work 12 to 13 hours a shift, and the simple and repetitive tedious work combined with the unpleasant smell of the woollen spinning industry drives the rude and grumpy Australian cowboy crazy.

They are accustomed to the clumsy fingers of the horsewhip that cannot catch the fine yarn and break it, and when they are impatient, they will tear more threads, and even vent their anger on the spinning machine, grabbing the heavy spindle and smashing the spinning machine.

And that's not all, the rough-line denim are not so careful, and the quality of the spun tops is uneven, and European customers are not willing to use them at all.

Inferior combed tops are a disaster for user enterprises, uneven yarn thickness, different shades of color, animal hair oil is not clean, how is it possible to weave high-quality woolen and blended fabrics?

If the above questions are hors d'oeuvres, the following questions are utter disaster.

Whenever night falls

It was the beginning of the nightmare of black slave women workers in the textile factory, and the perpetrators were the white cowboys in the same factory......

…………

"Sir, Lord Hugh-Howard wants to talk to you, would you like to see if you will receive it?"

"Alas, this annoying fellow, invite him to the living room to serve tea, and I'll be there at once."

"Understood, sir."

The secretary took the order and left, Li Fushou couldn't help pinching his eyebrows, it was not easy to deal with this top British aristocratic child, it really made people feel a little brain pain.

"It's so late, Chriss, wait a minute, I have an important guest to meet."

The original beautiful little black slave Chrissy is now Li Fushou's personal masseuse, with a graceful figure, and hurriedly replied; "It's okay, sir, Chrissy will always be here when you need it, you'd better take a Chinese medicine hot water bath, and then do a full-body relaxing massage massage, so that you can sleep well at night."

"Sounds good!"

"Then Chrissy began to prepare the hot water bath of Chinese medicine, and the master can enjoy it at any time after seeing the guests."

"Yes, you can."

Li Fushou nodded in agreement, and watched Chrissy happily stand up and prepare, her swaying posture had a unique style, and a trace of complexity flashed in her eyes.

in the living room

Lord Hugh Howard was sitting in a chair sipping coffee, he was a regular customer here, and he hadn't been here for a few days.

"Mr. Commodore Admiral, a cocktail party is being held in the official residence, as an important guest, why did you come to me to play the autumn breeze, is it that my coffee here is particularly delicious?" Li Fushou walked in from the outside as he spoke.

"I have good news for you, but it doesn't sound welcome, and it really makes me very disappointed."

"Come on, man." After Li Fushou sat down, he took a sip of fragrant tea to moisten his throat, glanced at each other and said; "What's the good news? It also makes me happy to say it. ”

Lord Hugh-Howard was not in a hurry to say the good news, but looked at Li Fushou carefully, as if trying to see something in his face.

Li Fushou immediately became vigilant; "See what?"

"Oh, nothing, I just think you're a little absent-minded, you know, I'm not bringing any ordinary good news, it must be treated with the highest respect that matches this news, and besides, we'd better open a bottle of red wine to celebrate."

"Okay, okay, you've managed to whet my appetite." Li Fushou made a gesture, and the secretary immediately turned around and left quietly, taking red wine for the good news.

The two chatted for a while

The secretary walked in with a tray containing two wine glasses and an open bottle of red wine from a French Bordeaux estate.

The secretary walked up and put down the tray, poured the red wine, and Li Fushou waved his hand and said; "I have something to talk about with Your Excellency, so you all go down."

"Understood, sir."

The secretary, the maids, and the guards in the shadows left one after another, and Li Fushou raised his red wine glass and saluted Lord Hugh Howard, and took a sip first.

The good news that Lord Hugh Howard said was not difficult to guess, it must have been about the garrison of the Imperial Navy in Borneo.

Li Fushou was shocked by the huge energy of the top nobles, and in just a few days, there was definite news, it was simply a hand-eye, and he was very interested in what the Duke of Norfolk's family could do?

"Let me guess, the Dutch royal family has once again rejected the request to marry Princess Wilhelmina, right?"

Lord Hugh Howard's brows furrowed visibly as he said what Li Fushou said, and he silently took another sip of red wine, and his performance set off earth-shattering waves in Li Fushou's heart;

Grandma's, that's true!

Li Fushou was in line with the attitude of playing two shots with dates and no dates, but he didn't expect to be hit all of a sudden, these Brits are really cunning, and they choose to bet on both sides in this matter, anyway, the final winner is always the British.

There was a moment of silence

Lord Hugh-Howard sighed faintly and said with a constipated expression; "Lee, I am very surprised by your wisdom, it makes me feel that every conversation with you is a war, which is really very tiring, can't we both open our hearts and relax and talk about something like close friends?"

"Well, Hugh, I don't know what makes you feel this way, but let's open up and talk about whether this thing will give you a title of nobility?"

"What?" Lord Hugh Howard was shocked at the moment, and he felt his whole body staring at Li Fushou with a creepy look, as if he was looking at a monster.

Li Fushou said in a mocking tone; "Is that hard to guess? I think for a top aristocratic kid who has no desires, this trip to Australia may be an insignificant trip in his boring life.

Visiting the beautiful scenery of the Red River Valley, Sydney and Melbourne may have made him feel better for a while, but compared to the extravagant balls in London, it is nothing compared to the extravagant balls in London.

What makes you ...... Venerable Lord Hugh Howard is so concerned that even if he works his own brother or even the venerable Duke, he must get the results he wants as soon as possible?

For the second son of the family who does not have the right to inherit, I think a noble title is enough, which is a very simple reasoning question. ”

"It's hard to believe, but ...... How did you know that the Duke of Norfolk also played an important role in this? Lord Hugh Howard's face had long since lost his usual calm and elegant look, but was full of shock.

"Is that hard to guess?" Li Fushou said the same thing a second time, he put down the wine glass in his hand, and explained to Lord Hugh Howard with a sincere expression; "Look...... Man, I've been in high society in London for a long time, and I'm not a country nobleman who doesn't know anything, so my eldest brother, Lord Philip Howard, is an assistant to the Secretary of the Admiralty, and with his energy he may be able to influence the Admiralty's decision-making, but it definitely can't affect Downing Street, and a Lord Duke of Norfolk who is sorry for his second son is different, and I think this conversation is enough to prove that I am opening my heart and being good friends with you, isn't it? ”

"Oh my God, it's better for us to keep our distance."

"Hugh, this will disappoint me very much."

"Lee, I had to cruelly refuse, I have few secrets to keep in front of you, but thankfully...... There is a major error in your guess. ”

"Oh, I'm listening."

Lord Hugh Howard said with a smug look on his face; "The idea of marriage with the Dutch royal family was not originally proposed by the Duke of Norfolk's family, but it was my father who led the matter again, and of course you fully expected the result, the Dutch did not know each other at all, which gave us a reason to give him a hard slap in the face."

"It's wonderful." Li Fushou couldn't help but praise it; "The noble Duke of Norfolk gave a gentle push, and the essence of the matter changed completely, Downing Street and the Imperial Admiralty must not mind a small punishment of the Dutch, and they can easily gain the respect of the Earl of Queensland and four 8,800-ton heavy cruisers, I think there is nothing more perfect than this."

"No, no, no...... With such a great sacrifice on our part, your contribution should be 4 battleships of the first rank, with a displacement of more than 10,000 tons, and 12,000 tons is a very appropriate number. ”

"Hugh, don't go too far, it's impossible."

"Dear Lee, I really need it very much, you know that I will not be willing to get only a low-ranking title, so I need your help very much, you can get my sincere friendship."

"I'm sorry, your friendship is too expensive for me to afford."