On December 18, 1900, the day after Arthur and others arrived in the German Empire.

After yesterday's sumptuous feast, Wilhelm II arranged for Arthur and others to live in the Berlin City Palace, and prepared excellent rooms and servants.

It was precisely because of this, after a night and a morning of rest, that Arthur finally recovered his spirits and began to plan negotiations with Germany.

Unlike the negotiations with the British, the plan for support with Germany was something that Arthur had already agreed with Wilhelm II.

All it takes is for the diplomatic mission and German officials to determine the details of the support and how Australia and Germany will work together, and the negotiations can be successfully concluded.

Lunch was delivered by the guards and prepared by the chefs of the German royal family, and included a variety of German and British snack staples.

After a brief lunch, Arthur went to find Wilhelm II and tried to bring forward the date of the talks.

Fortunately, Berlin City Palace is not only the royal palace of the German royal family, but also the core office of Wilhelm II.

In Wilhelm II's office, Arthur successfully met him and Bernhard von Bülow, the trusted Chancellor of the German Empire.

Bernhard was a well-known German politician and the current Chancellor of the German Empire and Chancellor of Prussia.

Bernhard is best known for his famous quote revealing Germany's new policy of expansion: "Let other peoples divide the continent and the sea, and the time when we in Germany were content with the blue sky is over, and we also demand territory under the sun." ”

Two months earlier, after the abdication of Prince Hohenlohe, Bernhard succeeded in taking over the post of chancellor, becoming Germany's second chancellor at the beginning of the twentieth century.

"Your Majesty, Prime Minister Bernhard, good afternoon." Arthur said hello.

Long before leaving for Germany, Arthur had done his homework with the officials of the diplomatic mission, and naturally knew about the important German officials and the new German chancellor.

"Hahaha, are you resting? Arthur. I was going to wait until the afternoon to look for you, but I didn't expect you to come first. Wilhelm II nodded and smiled at Arthur.

"Good afternoon, Your Highness the Duke." Prime Minister Bernhard followed.

"I've rested, Your Majesty. I think it would be nice to be able to start preparing for talks, and to be able to complete our agreement before Christmas. Arthur explained with a smile.

The end of the year and the beginning of the year are important times for any country, and Australia is no exception.

The Principality of Australia was actually established on 10 January 1900, the day Arthur changed his land.

Although Arthur will not be able to return to the anniversary of the founding of the country, it will be prepared, and there will be some small celebrations and gift distributions to increase the sense of identity of Australians.

More important is the annual meeting of the government. Although the government has not been formed for a year, there must still be an annual meeting and summary.

Whether it's a cabinet meeting or the government's annual report, Arthur needs to be present.

This also means that there is not much time left for the diplomatic mission, at least before Christmas, to negotiate with Germany, and after a simple Christmas in Germany, it will have to leave for Australia.

"I was talking to Prime Minister Bernhard about this, Arthur. You're here just in time, so let's sit down and talk. Wilhelm II smiled understandingly.

One similarity between the German Empire and Australia is that the monarchs of both sides had considerable rights.

Especially in the presence of Prime Minister Bernhard, the decision of the three is fully representative of Germany and Australia.

The three of them came to the conference hall next to the office and sat down one after another.

"Arthur, we are very optimistic about our relationship with Australia. Germany also genuinely wants to help Australia grow. After all three were seated, Wilhelm II opened the conversation.

"Australia also attaches great importance to its relations with Germany, Your Majesty." Arthur responded.

"In that case, I think we can talk about the general situation of the assistance, and as for the detailed needs, and the places where you need assistance in the future, we can leave it to those officials to discuss." Wilhelm II nodded and smiled at Arthur, suggesting.

"Gladly, Your Majesty." Arthur smiled and nodded, agreeing to William II's proposal.

If those officials are allowed to talk, it will inevitably delay the negotiation time because of various details.

For William II and Arthur, since they were both inclined to cooperate in nature, there was no need to waste more time.

Since Wilhelm II and Arthur were basically able to decide the affairs of the German Empire and the Duchy of Australia, it was better to finalize the treaty and leave the details to the officials.

"First of all, the sponsorship of 500 million marks and the low-interest loan of 1 billion marks, as previously agreed. I have already instructed the major German banks to raise this money as soon as the beginning of the year and hand it over to you. Wilhelm II said with a smile.

The sponsorship of DM 500 million was financed by the German government, while the loans of DM 1 billion were raised by major German banks.

This would reduce the financial burden on the German government, and at the same time generate income for the major German banks, so that Wilhelm II would not lose anything and would get the results he wanted.

"No problem, Your Majesty." Arthur nodded.

The share of funds was negotiated beforehand, and it would take time to raise funds, so Arthur naturally had no opinion.

"Then there's the issue of resources and industrial equipment assistance. I know about your mineral resources, and for your industrial development, there should be no need to import any mineral resources. Equipment issues will not be clear until our industrial experts arrive in Australia, so they are not on our radar for the time being. Wilhelm II continued.

Seeing Arthur continue to nod, Wilhelm II said, "Then it's about the dispatch of industrial experts." I drew on more than 100 experts from major German factories and the military industry. They will be stationed in Australia for at least five years and will provide assistance to Australia in any way they can during this time. ”

"However, Australia is responsible for all the expenses of this group of experts, Arthur, do you have any questions?" Wilhelm II asked with a smile.

"Not really, Your Majesty. The costs of the experts who are responsible for them are due, including their travel costs and various expenses, which Australia is willing to contract. Arthur shook his head and said.

Wilhelm II sent at least a higher level of industrial experts than Australia had drawn from Germany.

The effectiveness of attracting talent with a little bit of money, even if it's only for five years, is totally worth it for Arthur and Australia.