After entering 1885

The days passed with singing and dancing, and they were thriving.

At the end of February, various national economic statistics and industrial, agricultural, animal husbandry and mining data for 1884 were released one after another, showing that this year showed that great achievements had been made in this year, and the economic growth rate reached an astonishing figure of 33.7%.

There are several key factors that cannot be replicated in order to achieve this brilliant economic achievement.

First, the liberalization of wool prices, which has been artificially suppressed for several years, represents the failure of the southern state's power containment policy, resulting in a retaliatory increase in wool prices, which in turn brings huge profits to the Red River Valley pastures.

After a loss of £170,000 in 1883, the Red River Valley ranches rebounded strongly in wool prices, bringing in a net profit of nearly £10 million in 1884, which extended to thousands of private farms, large and small, throughout Queensland.

Reflected in the economic data, there is a sharp curve that rises straight up.

Second, the newly conquered territories of Shangri-La, Sulawesi and Borneo are included in the statistics, especially the two major projects of the Koi copper-gold mine and the development of the Qingshui River basin, which contribute greatly to the total economic output.

Third, this year's immigrant population has reached the million level, especially more than 400,000 couples to get married, start a family, and start a business, which has brought a large number of rigid demand, while creating more employment opportunities, the wedding, medical care, clothing, education, and non-staple food industries are thriving in an all-round way, ushering in an opportunity for explosive growth.

Fourth, the victory of the war was like a shot in the arm and a great tonic, adding another fire to the thriving Queensland economy.

Together, these irreproducible factors have created the most prosperous economic situation in Queensland's history, and the society has not only rapidly absorbed a million immigrants in the rapid development, but also obtained a large number of cheap labor due to the factors of war dividends, creating more demand, and promoting a large burst of economic development.

In fact, what is bothering Li Fushou now is not only the north-south issue, but also the chaos in the administrative system and the chaos in management, and the contradictions have become more and more acute with the passage of time.

From the point of view of the administrative framework

Both the Red River Valley and Queensland are no longer able to fully encompass the existing political map and territory, and the chaotic framework from the military to the administrative structure is everywhere, which is a major obstacle to future development.

The headache is...... This contradiction cannot be resolved in a short period of time.

If the name is not right, it is not good.

Li Fushou's public position is the Lord Mayor of Queensland, so according to his authority, he can manage the political, economic and military affairs of the whole of Queensland, but at the same time it is limited to Queensland.

The title of nobility is the earl, and the fiefs recognized by the British Colonial Office are the Red River Valley plus Shangri-La Island, and there is no clear statement about the territorial rights and interests of Borneo and Sulawesi, after all, the bureaucratic efficiency in London cannot be counted on, and it takes a certain amount of time.

For nearly 300 years, the British royal family has been strengthening the royal power, gradually weakening the power of the great nobles, taking back the power to establish aristocratic courts in the hands of dukes, marquises, and earls, recovering the power of the great nobles to divide their vassals, and reducing their armies and forces, so as to prevent these great nobles from being difficult to control and even subvert the royal court.

Compared to the great nobles, who were prone to rebellion in anger, the parliament seemed to be better controlled.

so far

The expansion of Li Fushou's power touched the invisible glass ceiling, and then touched the strict royal power, which was definitely an untouchable high-voltage line.

As a result, traces of compromise can be seen throughout the Red River Valley, with the Army known as the National Guard, the Navy known as the Coast Guard, and the highest political body governing the entire territory known as the "Red Fort", a name with a strong symbolic symbol.

The Earl of Queensland does not have a court, the core institution is the secretariat, and then there are a series of compromise products such as the pro-guard, the leopard guard, the wolf guard, the black guard, the security department, the agriculture and animal husbandry industry and commerce office, the audit and investigation office, the inner treasury, etc., and there is always a sense of plausibility.

The highest administrative title in charge of Shangri-La is called Governor-General, as is the case in Borneo, and in the military field is called Commander-in-Chief, all of which are ironic terms of compromise.

All this is a compromise that has to be taken as a last resort to avoid a showdown when the strength is weak.

After the power of a place slowly develops and expands, as long as it does not take the initiative to provoke the central authority and does not take the initiative to pull the flag and rebel, even the most powerful dynasty has a high tolerance for this.

Covered with a fig leaf, although it is the king and hegemon in its own small world, the central dynasty only pretends not to see and hear.

There are too many such cases throughout the ages, and the major empires of the world have encountered similar situations, and the methods adopted are similar, as long as you don't completely tear your face, let you mess around, and it won't affect the overall situation anyway.

This is exactly the case in the Red River Valley, in this era of underdeveloped transportation, far away, the situation in the Australian colonies is rarely cared for, and even if a few do, it is not at a level that can influence policy.

There's a well-known saying in London; The dignity of the British Empire is not to be offended.

This is not just a rhetoric, for at least half of all wars have been fought in the past 200 years.

The First Anglo-Boer War would not have broken out if the Boers had not been openly established, and now after the war, the countries established by the Boers, the Transvaal Republic and the Free State of Orange, nominally under Her Majesty Queen Victoria's domain, adopted a policy of suppression and exclusion of British merchants in South Africa, which is a horizontal jump on the edge of the cliff, which belongs to the category of great death, and London's dissatisfaction with the Boer country continues to brew......

As far as Li Fushou knows;

On more than one occasion, the Earl of Carnarvon, who was active in South Africa, wrote to London asking for the destruction of these two small Boer states by force and the full occupation of the world's top gold and diamond mines in the region, which was an offence to the majesty of the British Empire.

The Governor of New South Wales, Lord John Lawrence Balder, also wrote to London several times, deploring the dangers of the rapid expansion of Chinese power, and asking London to take drastic measures to curb it, including the means of war.

These two thick official letters are now lying on Li Fushou's desk, there is no need to ask why this is so, and there is no need to be surprised, there are at least two duke-level forces behind Li Fushou who are supporting, is it difficult to block the channel of a small earl's speech?

In the outrageously inefficient bureaucracy of London, not to mention the Earl's letter, even the Prince's letter can be obtained.

The British Empire was a society where royal power and parliament coexisted, and it tended to be enlightened rather than conservative, and in London's high society, scandals from the royal family were like wings, and within 12 hours they could spread throughout London and 24 hours throughout the British Isles.

Therefore, the Governor of New South Wales, Lord John Lawrence Bald, is the uncrowned king of Australia, and in London he is a clown ridiculed by high society, an incompetent person who has been sent to a remote place of exile, and his influence is infinitely close to nothing.