Although the first meeting ended in Arthur's failed sales pitch, Arthur knew that it was not that the warships he was selling were unattractive, but that the other party was financially constrained.

In addition, the envoy didn't know much about warships, so it was a problem to be able to sign a warship order for the first time.

In fact, even though the other side is already a backward and decadent country, it has also relied on some reforms and industrial construction in recent years to increase its fiscal revenue several times compared with a few decades ago.

If Arthur remembers correctly, in 1908, the other party's financial income exceeded 230 million taels of silver, which is a large amount.

Of course, such revenues are far from being as exaggerated as they seem.

If you convert it a little, 230 million taels of silver is only equivalent to 32.85 million pounds, 65.71 million Australian dollars.

That's almost double the revenue of Australasia last year, and Australasia's total population was just over 7 million last year, compared to a huge country with a population of nearly 400 million.

And because of the various events that happened before, a considerable part of the 230 million taels of silver revenue was used as compensation, and most of the remaining half was also divided among high-ranking officials and nobles, and not much could really be used by the government.

To be able to maintain such a high income, a considerable part of the credit is due to the exploitation and oppression of the low-level civilians.

There is no reason why such a country should not perish, but a unified country is also good for Australasia, and the interests of the major powers in this region are deeply intertwined, and a unified country is good for all major countries, except for island countries.

But who cares about the opinion of the island nation? Because of the fact that the previous wars were not completely won, the international perception of the island nation is that of a rising sub-power, barely able to touch the threshold of the great powers.

But if we want first-class powers such as Britain, Germany, Russia, and France to recognize the status of island countries as great powers, I am afraid that island countries still have a long way to go.

On 17 May, the East Asian Mission again asked to see Arthur.

In order to facilitate the negotiation between the two sides, the scale of this meeting was significantly larger, the other side was a whole team of missions, and Arthur also dispatched a lineup of several ministers and several deputy ministers.

Most of the ensuing negotiations were price wars, and Arthur's status was no longer suitable for participation.

After all, Arthur's identity is completely unnecessary to compete for that small profit, and this kind of thing is more suitable for experienced politicians to do.

However, Arthur still gave specific goals and bottom lines, first of all, battleships, if the other party really intends to buy battleships, the lowest price can be the same level as Russia.

And the price of a series of industrial equipment and weapons and equipment is raised as much as possible, after all, this kind of money is not earned in vain.

The reason why the price of battleships was slightly lowered was because the price of battleships was often millions of pounds, and if you converted it into silver, the price of a battleship was as high as more than 10 million taels of silver, which is not a small number.

But the battleship was the most valuable thing in the industrial equipment that Australasia could manufacture at the moment, and the cost of a battleship was comparable to that of a large arms trade order.

The negotiations lasted for several days, during which the ministers reported on matters that required Arthur's decision.

For example, the other party wants to send some international students to study in major schools and military schools in Australasia.

Because graduates of the Royal Military College of Australasia are required to serve two years in Australasia, Arthur is therefore required.

Arthur thought carefully for a while, and finally decided on the other party's proposal to send students.

It's just that there is also a fixed figure for the cost of each international student, that is, no less than 3,500 taels of silver per person per year, that is, 1,000 Australian dollars.

For international students sent to the Royal Military College, Arthur is additionally exempt from the requirement to serve in the Australasian Army for two years.

After all, these military students will also become high-achieving students when they return to their countries, and maybe they can also become independent warlords or valued talents of warlords.

This is still good for Australasia to seek more interests, a country close to Australasia is better than a country close to other countries!

Of course, this request for international students is not the same as the last one. Last time, it was more of a private request to study abroad, but this time it was a request from the Qing government.

And most of the last time the international students went to the universities of Australasia, this time their main purpose was the newly built military academy in Australasia.

In terms of weapons and equipment, the other party's order this time is not small.

The Royal Intelligence Service also has intelligence agencies in parts of East Asia, so some of the other party's intelligence is still known in Australasia.

For example, the few uprisings that broke out not long ago, although they failed due to lack of support, did have a great impact on this decaying empire.

Judging from the tone of the mission, they intended to form a division armed with foreign weapons and equipment, and they aimed at Australasia.

For no other reason, Australia's arms trade has become well-known in the Far East and East Asia, and they also saw the arms trade in the Russo-Japanese War before.

To be able to gain the trust of the two powerful countries, Russia and the island countries, I believe that Australasia's weapons and equipment are still at a high level.

More importantly, Britain's attitude towards island countries is more biased towards those who can export weapons to them, and Russia, needless to say, lacks weapons itself.

Germany was a good choice, but in order to sign a neutrality pact with Russia, Germany's interests in East Asia had been somewhat curtailed.

In addition, the purchase of German weapons required high transportation costs, so it is better to choose Australasia, which is relatively close.

Hearing the minister's report on the other party's proposal for the Australian mechanic, Arthur's eyes were a little strange for a while, but he still approved the order.

According to the other side's plan, this time it will purchase at least 12,000 Gew98 rifles, 10 MA-96 Maxim machine guns, 20 75-mm guns, and a matching million rounds of ammunition and thousands of artillery shells, and initially arm a division to see its strength.

If the armed division has good combat effectiveness, then they will consider arming more to strengthen their own defenses.

When it comes to weapons orders, Arthur's attitude is naturally that the more the merrier.

After all, the arms order not only strengthens Australasia's arms trade market, but also goes to Arthur's own arms factory, which is a win-win for Arthur and Australasia.

As for the more expensive battleships, although the envoys of the other side made some changes, they still said that they had to consult the government and the emperor before they could draw conclusions.

Arthur was not surprised by this, after all, the other party seemed to be looking for talents to help them carry out reforms, and the arms trade seemed to be brought separately.

Finally, it's about sending people to help them carry out reforms. According to the friendly agreement between the two sides, Australasia is required to send twenty legal and administrative personnel, five industrial experts, five economic experts and ten military experts to help each other carry out governmental, economic, industrial and military reforms.

On the premise of protecting the personal safety and property safety of these 40 experts, the other party must pay 1.2 million taels of silver to Australasia every year, and sell all kinds of resources needed to Australasia at a low price.

In the past, the arms trade and study abroad program required a one-time payment of 300,000 taels of silver to Australasia, plus at least 350,000 taels of silver per year.

Yes, according to the study abroad plan signed by both parties, the number of students sent by the other party every year is fixed at about 100, which is quite a lot.

It seems that the other side does want to reform, but whether the reform can succeed depends on the attitude of the great powers and domestic forces.

With the signing of the treaty by the two parties responsible for the negotiations, this treaty of friendly exchanges between the two sides officially came into force.

At present, the treaty brings only income to Australasia, which is the essential reason why Arthur agreed to sign the treaty.

I believe that no one will refuse the benefits of being sent to the door, and as for the personal safety of those experts sent out, Arthur believes that they will guarantee it.

Not to mention the flattery and fear of foreigners born in this country because of extreme backwardness, the friendly relations between Australasia and the major powers alone are enough to make the other side pay attention to these talents.

If there are really people who don't have long eyes, even if Arthur risks the destruction of the world, he must let them taste the taste of a strong enemy pressing the realm.

The signing of this treaty was only a small event for Australasia and Arthur, and it was not so important for the development of Australasia.

At present, the most important thing is still the election of the House of Representatives, but before the election, the House of Representatives has already made proposals.

On 29 May 1908, just before the June election month, the House of Representatives submitted several proposals to the Royal House for review and notification to Arthur.

This situation is also very common for Australasia, after all, the power of the Royal House is relatively large, and if the House of Representatives has problems that cannot be resolved, it will often be reported to the Royal House for review.

However, after receiving the proposal, the Royal House immediately reported the proposal to Arthur and asked Arthur for his opinion.

Generally, this situation also represents the importance of the proposal, which involves more important matters of the country, and the members of the Royal House will not be able to make up their minds and wait for Arthur's final decision.

Arthur picked up a few proposals on the table, and the few big words that caught his eye were the resolution on the House of Representatives voting for an increase in the cabinet government.

The first update of 3,000 words, ask for a monthly pass, ask for support!

(End of chapter)