The 12 dragon boat teams on the lake competed for each other, galloping forward all the way through the waves, and the paddlers half-knelt on the boat, rowing vigorously with the swarthy arms of the drum, showing the sports charm of the combination of wild strength and wonderful tacit understanding, and the blood was pumping in the sound of "hey, hey......".

The crowd of onlookers were all shouting hoarsely, desperately cheering for the dragon boat team they supported, what could not be heard in the noisy shouting, the enthusiastic competitive atmosphere had infected everyone, they just wanted to shout loudly, vent, it didn't matter what they shouted.

The splashing water wets the paddler's strong back, glistening in the reflection of the sun's rays.

Qinglong Lake is boiling at the moment, reaching a fever pitch when the winning dragon boat finally hits the line......

And this ...... It was only the first game of the group qualifiers.

The charm of the sport was on full display at this moment, the high-pitched hustle and bustle was thinned out, and the onlookers were chattering and commenting on the performance of the rowing, some regretted, some disappointed, some excited, and everyone was full of interest and gushed their opinions to their peers.

Leisure time

Sitting on the grass by the lake, taking out soft and delicious zongzi, dipping it in white sugar and eating it with dried meat, it is very comfortable, and I feel the beauty of life.

Social cohesion comes together in this little bit, and whoever wants to disrupt the peace and quiet of Queensland must bear the wrath of the masses.

Except for a handful of Manchu merchants with braids, the vast majority of the men wore sturdy short hair, and many wore wide-brimmed cowboy hats typical of Australia to shield them from the dazzling sun.

Cutting off the braids, as if removing the rotten shackles on the body, let the general public show positive vitality and glow with a different style, which is the biggest difference between the Chinese in Queensland and the mainland of China.

Women's clothing is varied, there are cheongsams full of old-time style, outlining a woman's beautiful figure, and Western-style dresses competing for beauty, which looks pleasing to the eye, which just shows that Queensland is a society where Chinese and Western cultures blend, open and confident.

Li Fushou put his hands on the railing of the viewing platform, saw the scene in front of him, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but hook up slightly to show a satisfied smile.

The Home Rule of Queensland does not impose a dress code, a religion, or a building pattern, it is up to people to decide freely.

It is the freedom of the masses to follow any religion they want, and the official does not hold any opinion on this, without any bias (absolute fairness is of course impossible, and the popularity of Buddhist temples and Taoist temples is the most obvious example). No matter what kind of religious place you want, you can build it as long as you want to, provided you have money.

Any wear is fine, as long as it does not obstruct the view and is not excessively exposed and immoral and cause visual pollution.

You can build as many mansions as you want, but in the Earldom of Queensland, the price of a house over 1 acre doubles, and the price of an ordinary villa is only a few hundred pounds depending on the type, and if you want to build a luxury estate with an area of more than 10 acres, the cost is astronomical, and the cost of buying land alone can be as high as tens of thousands of pounds, and you have to pay a high luxury tax.

Therefore, the bigger the mansion in Queensland, the more financial resources it is, and the more exquisite the building, after all, so much price has been paid, and it is too much to lose if the house is not repaired.

"Master, is it really okay to treat southerners like this?" Gu Liuyan came to Li Fushou's side, and her eyebrows were slightly furrowed with a worried look.

"Earl John Lawrence Bald is a mad dog who has been jumping up and down in the Southern states for the past two years, uniting with some far-right white conservative forces to seek secession, pushing for discriminatory bills against the Chinese, and doing a lot of bad things.

"After all, he is the Governor of New South Wales appointed by Her Majesty, sir, you should bear with me."

"Hmph, you can't deal with him, but you can still deal with a few dogs under him."

Li Fushou sneered, and his gaze crossed the nearby crowd to the lake in the distance.

Over there

There was a small wooden boat on the shore, and several drenched men lying on the ground, and the Earl of John Lawrence Bald was dancing wildly and shouting something, presumably spitting fragrant mouths, and nothing good to say.

Then

Lei Xiaohu, the personal guard officer, walked over quietly and replied in a low voice; "Lord Qiqi, a few of the retinue of Earl John Lawrence Bald, for some unknown reason, suddenly rowed a boat to the lake, but the small wooden boat capsized, and no one can do it after scooping it up."

"Why was it so careless?"

"Sir, we don't know why they rowed around the lake, probably want to watch the dragon boat race up close."

"It's a pity, leave plenty of time for Mr. Governor's body to say goodbye, and then cremate as soon as possible, this weather has been stinky for a long time."

"Yes, sir."

"Uh...... In addition, help me greet Mr. Governor, and tell him to come safely, and to leave peacefully, don't be too willful, by the way, and ask him what about the duel? Is it just such an escape from dishonor? ”

"I understand, sir, I'll do it."

Lei Xiaohu quickly turned around and left, Li Fushou looked into the distance with regretful eyes, and quickly retracted his gaze to look at his wife Gu Liuyan, and saw that her beautiful face was full of disgust, so he smiled and said; "Madam, you see that these southern Yankees are frizzy and irritable and have to do some troubles for their husbands, how can this really be true!"

"Hey, anyway, your old man is doing things, and our women don't understand it, so we won't make trouble for the master."

"It's just a trivial matter, let's watch the dragon boat race." Li Fushou stretched out his hand to hold Gu Liuyan's fair-skinned jade hand, at this moment it was the beauty of a young woman in her twenties, and the youthfulness of the girl faded and she looked more plump and round, not a little young woman's style.

"Hmm!"

Gu Liuyan's voice was low like a mosquito buzzing, she was ashamed to show intimate actions in public, Qianqianyu's hand struggled for a while and did not escape, and a red cloud immediately flew up to her white cheeks, so she stopped struggling, and put her little hand in her thick palm to enjoy her husband's pampering.

The three rounds of group stage were held in one morning, and each competition group selected 4 winning teams to enter the finals, and by noon 12 dragon boat teams had been decided.

The finals are scheduled to start at 3:00 p.m. sharp, and there is still a lot of preparation to be done before that.

On the viewing platform

Under the white European-style pergola on one side of the viewing platform, there is a long table covered with white brocade cloth, and large silver plates and glass plates are displayed with exquisite food, a dazzling array of fresh fruits and vegetables and wine, for guests to take at will.

Guards officers dressed in white waiter uniforms held silver plates with a glass of champagne poured on them, and shuttled among the guests to serve attentively.

Li Fu was chatting with a champagne in his hand, and where his tall figure was standing, where was the focus of attention.

Those who feel that their identity is not enough, can only pay attention from afar.

"How's that...... My Fleet Commander, it feels good to sail the seas on the heavy cruiser Blue Dragon, right? ”

"It's not bad, Yuan Ding, if I had such a powerful heavy cruiser three years ago, I would have piloted it and directly smashed and sunk the Dutchman's "Seven Provinces" cruiser, as simple as crushing an ant, and there would be no land war at all. ”

"Hahaha...... This is going to be heard by the Chief of Staff Conrad Adenauer, and it will cause a lot of trouble. ”

"Yuan Ding, I'm telling the truth, the Dutch can't do anything and won't force a landing on Shangri-La Island, that's really stupid."

"This is the confidence that the heavy cruiser Blue Dragon brings you?"

"Yes, this is a powerful warship born to fight the storms of the ocean, and after the completion of the four ships of this class, we will proudly rank among the regional naval powers, and it will be difficult to meet opponents in the Asia-Pacific region, even compared with those monsters in the hell of Europe, we can rank eighth, or even seventh."

"So high?" Li Fushou was really a little surprised.

"Of course, this is an epoch-making new type of battleship, and its combat effectiveness has made a huge leap, and it can be considered a battle cruiser, which is a new term in the world." He Fang's expression was extremely proud, he was a true scholar of the East and West, the undoubted naval authority of Queensland, and a military figure with great influence.

His assertion is quite authoritative.

This aroused Li Fushou's strong interest, and he said with a smile; "Brother Fang, Yuan Ding would like to hear about it."

He Fangluo groaned and said with a serious expression;

"Today's world

The strongest navy is none other than England, and secondly, the powers of France, Germany, Italy and the United States, especially the United States' 10-year shipbuilding plan has entered its fifth year, and the number of newly built ironclad battleships has surpassed that of Italy, a traditional Mediterranean power, but it is lacking in naval heritage and heat, and it temporarily ranks fifth.

The sixth in terms of naval strength was the Ottoman Empire, and the name of the sultan who reigned from 1860 to 1871 was Abdul Aziz, who was an avid naval enthusiast who raised the power of the whole country to develop the navy in order to curb Russia's continuous swallowing.

By the time it was forced to abdicate in 1871, the Ottoman Empire had 16 medium and large ironclad ships, with a displacement ranging from more than 3,000 tons to tens of thousands of tons, while at that time, the world's most powerful British Imperial Navy only had more than 40 ironclad ships, which shows the strength of the Ottoman Empire's naval fleet.

However, from 1871 onwards, the development of the Ottoman navy came to a standstill or even weakened, and the powerful ironclad warships were anchored in the harbor for many years due to lack of funds, becoming a paper fleet.

Needless to say

Today's Ottoman navy is still formidable, but it is likely to be overtaken by his old rival, Tsarist Russia.

With the help of France, Tsarist Russia is developing two powerful battleships at the same time in the shipyards on the Black Sea coast, and the slipways are full of cutting-edge ironclad ships under construction, and it is expected to receive up to three powerful ironclad battleships this year, and next year's number will be higher than this year's.

As a result, Tsarist Russia can be ranked 7th, and the momentum of catching up is very strong, and it is expected to overtake the Ottoman Empire by the end of this year, overtake Italy by the end of next year, and closely follow the United States.

If Queensland were to be considered as a country on its own, then our navy would be ranked 8th in terms of strength, because we have proven that we are strong enough to fight and that all we lack is our main warships.

This shortcoming has been quickly made up for by the Qinglong-class heavy cruisers, so for Queensland, this class of ships is particularly significant. ”

Listened to this long discussion

Li Fushou did not express his position immediately, but pondered for a while and asked with some doubts; "Didn't I hear in your discourse about the mighty Austro-Hungarian Empire, the traditional naval power Spain, or the traditional South American triumvirate, Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, who were not very strong?"