The Prime Minister of Kent had intended to prepare a welcome banquet for Minister Gray and the British visiting team, but Minister Gray refused on the grounds that he had been travelling too much.

In fact, it is. Even though the British visiting team was on the most luxurious cruise ship in the United Kingdom, escorted by British warships, it still took more than a month or so to arrive in Australasia.

During this period, the team also stopped in the Suez Canal and India, which indirectly extended the time on the road.

Staying on the cruise ship for more than a month in a row, such bumps even Minister Gray, who had thought he was used to it, couldn't help but feel tired and tired.

After a brief command to his subordinates, Minister Gray lay down on the large bed of the Victoria Royal Hotel and fell asleep with a comfortable face.

On 22 February 1913, the day after the British delegation arrived at Sydney Harbour, Arthur received the British delegation at Sydney Palace, accompanied by the Cabinet Government headed by Prime Minister Kent.

After greeting the British delegation, Arthur smiled, looked at Minister Gray, and said, "Minister Gray, how was your rest yesterday?" ”

"Very well, Your Majesty. Sydney doesn't have the bad environment of London, and the air is much better than London. Minister Gray smiled and nodded, and replied respectfully.

The name of British Foreign Minister Gray is now well-known in Europe.

Of course, all depends on the series of diplomatic attitudes that Minister Gray has adopted towards European countries during his tenure.

Minister Gray was one of the most stalwart candidates in the British Empire's cabinet government who was a strong advocate of a tough stance on Germany and hostile to Germany.

If one were to choose one of the most hostile to Germany in the British cabinet, then Minister Gray deserved it.

During Minister Gray's tenure, Britain signed treaties with France and Russia, which single-handedly contributed to the real confrontation between the two major military blocs in Europe.

Such a person with a clear attitude came to Australasia, in addition to winning over Australasia, but also releasing a message to the outside world, that is, Australasia and Britain are getting closer.

This actually tied Australasia to the British chariot in disguise. After all, after receiving Minister Gray with a very high standard, even if Australasia does not show its attitude to the outside world and does not release any news of entering the UK, it will naturally be classified as close to the UK by the outside world.

In this way, Australasia's previously strict neutrality will also be broken.

Unless Australasia can immediately reaffirm its neutrality and reiterate its decision not to join any faction.

But in doing so, it is clear that relations with the British will be damaged. After all, judging by the special relationship between Australasia and the United Kingdom, it is not a good alliance, but it is already a diluted relationship.

Now that the decision has been made between Britain and Germany, Arthur will not hesitate.

Although he joined the Entente, he became an enemy of Germany, which obviously hurt the feelings between Kaiser Wilhelm II and the Germans.

But what can personal emotions be for the interests of the state?

No matter how bad it was, Arthur tried his best to ensure the safety of Wilhelm II's family and the German imperial family in the war, which could be regarded as compensation for Wilhelm II.

It is hoped that Wilhelm II will be able to escape the fate of history and not lose the German throne and let the Hohenzollern family decline because of the dethronement of power in the late war.

In fact, the classes that suffered the most from the First World War were the monarchs and nobles who were now entrenched and very powerful.

The royal families of the great powers that directly lost their thrones after World War I included the Russian royal family, the German royal family and the Austro-Hungarian imperial family.

In countries where the monarch has lost some or even most of his power, it is even more.

The weakening of the monarchy worldwide was not a good thing for Arthur either. As one of the monarchs of the European faction, the stronger the European royal family, Arthur can also enjoy some benefits.

Therefore, preserving the royal families of as many countries as possible in the war is also one of Arthur's goals.

"Your Majesty, on behalf of the British Government and the Royal Family, I wish to greet Your Majesty and the Australasian Royal Family, as well as the Government and all Australasian people. We look forward to further exchanges with Australasia, where we are natural allies and closer blood relatives. As a seasoned foreign minister, Gray played the emotional card as soon as he came up, telling the good relationship between Australasia and the United Kingdom.

In fact, the relationship between Australasia and Britain alone could not have been on the opposite side of the United Kingdom.

More than half of Australasia's population of more than 12 million, nearly 8 million, are British immigrants.

This also means that British immigrants are fundamental to Australasia. In Australasia, the government and the royal family also had to take into account the views of immigrants of British origin.

Perhaps Arthur was able to rely on his great prestige and popular support to take refuge in Germany against the will of the people.

But it would also hurt the feelings of British immigrants and have a negative impact on Australasian rule.

Under all circumstances, Minister Gray believed that Australasia would be strictly neutral at worst, and that there was no possibility of joining Germany, that is, on the side of the Allies.

Although Australasia's geographical location was very important, it could pose a threat to the British Empire's Indian and African colonies.

But Minister Gray confidently stated that Australasia would only be its own and that India and Africa would remain safe.

"Of course, although Australasia is very far from the British Empire, the blood ties between our two countries will never change." Arthur nodded as a matter of course and replied.

The reason why the British gave Australasia a lot of aid was, in Arthur's view, the closeness between the two countries had a very important impact.

Moreover, Australasia is far from Europe and will not affect the position of the British Empire in Europe. Even if it is only to take care of the mood of the people at home, it is impossible to directly join the camp against Britain.

This also means that Australasia is unlikely to be on the opposite side of the British Empire, as the proximity between the two sides has long been determined.

Unless there is a change in the structure of migration in Australasia, British immigrants go from being the majority to a minority, if not a minority.

Such a situation would change the policy of Australasia, and before that, even if it was only for the sake of Queen Victoria's face, Australasia would not be hostile to Britain at all.

"Your Majesty, I have come to consult with your country on the orders of His Majesty the King and the Cabinet of Ministers a plan to bring the two countries closer together. To tell you the truth, in addition to Germany, I think there is a common enemy between the British Empire and your country, and that is the United States on the other side of the Pacific Ocean. Minister Gray said with a smile.

"Although Germany is the main enemy at the moment, the growth of the Americans should not be underestimated. Because of the unique geographical location of the United States, perhaps this is our worst enemy. Although the United States is located on the other side of the Atlantic in the British Empire, it is also located on the other side of the Pacific Ocean in your country. Now that Europe is so powerful, if the United States wants to expand, it can only start from the Pacific direction. In fact, they did. If your country wants to continue its expansion in the north, sooner or later it will run into a direct encounter with the Americans. ”

From Minister Gray's words, Arthur analysed the news that the British government was not opposed to Australasia's continued northward expansion.

In fact, this also means that, to a certain extent, in order to win over Australasia, the Dutch East Indies is an area that the British think they can give up.

It wasn't the British's own colony anyway, and using the Dutch land to win over their allies was not a loss for Minister Gray.

Seeing that Arthur nodded, and seemed to agree with what he said, Minister Gray struck while the iron was hot, and continued: "Your Majesty, if you agree, on behalf of the British Government, I am willing to sign an entente with your government, an entente for the joint defense of the United States Government. If you agree, the British Empire supports your country's expansion in the Dutch East Indies. And, if a conflict breaks out between your country and the United States in Southeast Asia, the British Empire is ready to lend a helping hand at the first moment and stand firmly behind Australasia. ”

For an ally like Australasia, the British government still attaches great importance to it. Especially after formulating the policy of supporting Australia and resisting the United States, for the British Empire, Australasia was the third most important ally of the British Empire after France and Russia.

Ranking third does not mean that Australasia is not important, but firstly, France and Russia, as the top powers, are too strong militarily, and Britain also relies on these two countries to defeat Germany.

Second, although Australasia's own military strength is enough to be the position of a great power, it is only the lowest power.

In addition, Germany is still Britain's most important enemy at the moment, and the United States is only the potential worst enemy.

In this way, the importance of Australasia naturally falls behind France and Russia, ranking only third.

"Of course, if Your Majesty wishes, we are more than happy to see Australasia join the Entente. If Australasia can join the Entente, then we will have the four great powers of Britain, France, Russia, and Australia, both of which are far superior to the three major powers of Germany, Austria, and Italy, both in terms of military strength and heritage. In order to win over Australasia, Minister Gray directly and openly stated the rumors circulating among European people and some governments about the position of Australasia's Eighth Power.

Minister Grey believed that the position of an Eighth Power, personally recognized by the British Empire, would definitely appeal enough to the Australasian Government and Crown.

After all, after becoming a great power, it can be regarded as truly reaching the top position in the world.

There are ants under the powers, this sentence is not just a talk in this era. For the eight great powers, these eight countries control almost the vast majority of the world's regions and wealth, and they also have enough say in whatever breaks out in the world.

The power of one great power may not be strong enough, but if several great powers negotiate with each other, then even if the remaining countries oppose it, it will definitely not help.

"We understand what Minister Gray said, and in fact, we are looking forward to working with the British Empire. Unfortunately, given our current level of development and military preparations, it is difficult to help the British Empire. Arthur did not speak, but glanced at Prime Minister Kent. Prime Minister Kent smiled when he received Arthur's signal.

Although the cooperation between Australasia and Britain is a foregone conclusion, it is Arthur's job to obtain more benefits for Australasia and more British assistance.

It's just that such a thing naturally doesn't need Arthur to speak in person, and his subordinates will do it very well.

"It's natural, Prime Minister of Kent, Your Majesty. In addition to the United States, a potential common enemy, Germany was currently the British Empire's greatest enemy. If Australasia can join the Allied organization and make some contribution to the future resistance to the Germans, we are willing to provide more support to Australasia and help Australasia have more strength. Minister Gray smiled and nodded, as a matter of course.

Now that the British government has decided to win over Australasia and support Australasia against the United States.

Then support for Australasia is inevitable, after all, the United States is now a top power in industry and economy.

Coupled with the natural disadvantage of Australasia's population, if Australasia wants to resist the expansion of the United States in Asia, or even directly become the first front line of confrontation with the United States, it is necessary to make Australasia have a stronger force, at least a smaller gap with the United States.

After hearing Minister Gray say this, the members of the Australasian Cabinet government present were obviously interested, and they couldn't wait to put forward their own conditions one by one.

Although Australasia can develop on its own, with the help of the British Empire, the world's largest power, it can take fewer detours and develop more rapidly.

For ministers in these sectors, it is vital for the development of their departments if they can have the help of British talent and technology.

In just a few minutes, the ministers of various departments put forward the needs of talents, technology, equipment, etc., and the scale of the demand was very exaggerated, which even surprised Minister Gray.

In the description of these cabinet ministers, Australasia is like a baby waiting to be fed, and all aspects need a lot of talent, technology and equipment.

But this is clearly not the same as what Minister Gray knows. According to Minister Gray's knowledge, although Australasia is still deficient in some aspects, some advanced technology and industry are fully capable of matching the last powers such as Italy.

Because the stakes are high, the negotiations between the two sides have also been locked in a tug-of-war. Arthur is happy to do the same, and if he can get more aid for Australasia, it will be important for the country's development.

Ask for support!

(End of chapter)