In terms of fiscal revenue, Australasia's annual fiscal revenue exceeded $100 million for the first time, reaching $101.5 million, an increase of about 5% on the previous year.

This year's growth has slowed down much compared to the previous year, but the pace of growth is not too slow.

If it weren't for the official start of production of the Leonora Industrial Base, I am afraid that it would be a question of whether the fiscal revenue could exceed 100 million this year.

Of course, high fiscal growth also means high fiscal spending. For the sake of the country's construction and development, the Australasian government has never been able to save money on it.

Throughout 1913, the Australasian government's total fiscal expenditure was $100.1 million, and spending grew much faster than revenues.

As a result, the 1913 fiscal surplus was only $1.4 million, compared to the millions or even tens of millions of fiscal surpluses in previous years, and this year's fiscal surplus makes Australasia look like one of the two major military blocs.

Of course, a large part of the high increase in fiscal spending is military growth.

In 1913, Australasia's military expenditure was as high as 47.06 million Australian dollars, which was already close to half of the government's annual revenue.

Although a large part of this was caused by the 300,000 colonial troops, it cannot be denied that because Australasia joined the Entente, Australasia's military spending in the next few years will only rise.

In fact, Australasia's fiscal situation is already good, and at least it can maintain a fiscal surplus.

At present, the financial situation of the major European powers is not very good, and many countries have fallen into debt crises and may even go bankrupt.

The current situation in which the arms race in Europe has developed has become an unaffordable expense for the major European powers.

If the arms race cannot be alleviated by some things, then the only thing that can be expected is to start a war to forcibly end the arms race.

On the industrial front, Australasia is also making rapid progress.

In terms of steel production, the growth rate has gradually slowed because the government's focus has been on other industrial directions besides steel production, such as the chemical industry and the machinery industry.

However, due to the unique mineral resource advantages of Australasia, Australasia's steel production is still growing.

By the end of 1913, Australasia's total steel production reached 1,863,900 tons and 3,076,200 tons, respectively, ranking seventh in the world.

In addition to total steel production, Australasia is also among the top eight in the world in terms of iron ore and coal mining.

At present, Australasia's industry accounts for 3.8% of the world's total industry, and is catching up with Austria-Hungary, a traditional industrial power in Europe.

And at the foot of Australasia is Italy, one of the European powers.

To put it mildly, Italy may only have a clear advantage over Australasia in terms of population.

This advantage is also being frantically pursued by Australasia. If Australasia's population continues to grow at a high rate, it is expected that in five years at most, Australasia will far surpass Italy in all aspects, and thus become the seventh largest power in the world.

Of course, if Austria-Hungary had been dismantled in World War I, as it had historically been, Australasia might have been able to leapfrog to become the Sixth Power.

Thanks to 300,000 colonial troops, Australasia's army has grown to 522,000, the seventh largest of all countries involved in European conflicts.

If Australasia's navy could be increased, Australasia would be able to shake off the title of the Eighth Power and seek an opportunity to overtake Italy and Austria-Hungary.

Australasia has also seen considerable growth in the production of food products, which is more important.

In 1913, Australasia's total arable land reached 27.41 million acres, and the per capita arable land area decreased to 1.98 acres.

This is actually quite normal, after all, the construction of a large number of infrastructure and industrial bases has attracted a large number of immigrants and rural people to become workers, and the population in agriculture has naturally decreased.

However, due to the massive population growth, the arable land area of Australasia has increased overall.

At present, Australasia's annual grain production has reached 12.79 million tons, making it a veritable grain producer.

Of course, most of the grain produced in Australasia is basically transported to the major granaries in the country for strategic reserves.

Of the 12.79 million tons of grain, less than one-tenth is exported, and the export is still to allies such as Britain, France and Russia.

How exaggerated is Australasia's food production? If you save a little food, 12.79 million tons of grain is enough to feed 50 million people for a year.

Coupled with Australasia's extremely developed animal husbandry, Australasia's annual grain production can feed the entire population of the country for three years, and it is still the kind that is rich in vegetables and meat.

Agriculture in Australasia alone is enough to feed the entire population of Australasia.

If you include the black soil leased from Argentina this time, after all these black soils are planted for agriculture, Australasia's grain production will increase a lot.

Considering the entire land area of Australasia, Arthur is confident of feeding 50 million people, even at the current level of agriculture.

Not to mention that with the development of population and science and technology, agricultural production will also undergo earth-shaking changes.

After listening to the reports of the Prime Minister and ministers on the current state of the country's development, Arthur was generally very satisfied.

According to this development trend, as long as the first war is won, Australasia can become the world's top five powers after the first war.

Even if Russia really changes in World War I, Australasia will directly become the fourth power in the world after Britain, France, and the United States.

At that time, Britain and France would need to recover from the colonies, and the responsibility of confronting the United States would fall to Australasia.

While this is a challenge, it would be good for Australasia to get more aid from Britain and France.

After all, Britain and France do not want the United States to stir up trouble at such a time. The weak Britain and France were not necessarily opponents of the United States, and whether Australasia could resist the United States became the most important topic after World War I.

After a brief annual debriefing, Arthur shifted the conversation to the newly accepted colonies, asking the Cabinet government about the policy of the new colonies.

"Your Majesty, if you want to control these colonies and territories in the long run, in addition to military control, you also need to make some changes in education. I believe that teaching English as an official language is mandatory throughout Australasia. In addition, increased supervision and restrictions on non-English schools can better bring people together if they speak English uniformly. Education Secretary Stefan was the first to stand up and propose.

As the saying goes, the book is the same text, and the car is the same track. If you want to better unify a region, the same language, the same system is necessary.

"Well, Minister Stefan's proposal is good. Do you have any other comments? Arthur nodded and said with a smile.

"Your Majesty, in addition to control in education, in religion should also send a large number of missionaries to convert the whole of Australasia to Protestantism, or at least Christianity. Only by throwing oneself into the arms of God can one become a faithful Australasian man. Archbishop Steed suggested.

The official religion of Australasia is Protestantism, Australian Protestantism to be exact.

The Australian Protestant Church has its own supreme archbishop, who is loyal to the king of Australasia.

Apart from a few minor differences, Australian Protestantism is no different from English Protestantism, except that Arthur made a more detailed division for the sake of his own rule.

Although the official religion of Australasia is Protestantism, Australasian people have different religions due to different immigrants from all over Europe.

Among them, the largest number of believers are naturally Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox Christians, which also belong to Christianity.

Both British and German immigrants were Protestant, while Russian immigrants were Orthodox. As for the rest of the European immigrants, there were Protestants, Orthodox Christians, and Catholics.

In any case, all three religions belong to Christianity and are within the acceptable limits of the Australasian government.

Apart from Christianity, Australasia is not popular and is mostly believed by indigenous and indigenous and immigrant descendants.

A united nation must have a unified language and a united faith, and Archbishop Stede is right when he says that at least the majority of Australasian people should be Christian.

The gap between beliefs is huge, and even in modern times, when religion has lost its power, there are many people who are obsessed with religious beliefs.

The Australasian authorities were all Protestant, which meant that Australasian people were also Protestant, or Catholic and Orthodox Christians close to it.

When there is a conflict between the top and the civilian population, it is often the civilian population that changes, not the high-level.

Of course, the current situation in Australasia is fine, except that a small number of colonies and regions need to send missionaries to preach.

Arthur also attached great importance to the question of religion. After Archbishop Steed's proposal, Arthur nodded and said, "The offer to send missionaries is necessary, Bishop Stede, and this matter will be left to you." The task of the Ministry of Education was to open a large number of English-only schools in the new colonies, and the task of the Church was to send a large number of missionaries to these areas. ”

After hearing Arthur's order, Archbishop Stede nodded solemnly and said, "Your Majesty, rest assured, the missionaries of the Church will be heading to the new colony within a few days to complete Your Majesty's mission. ”

Although Archbishop Stede came from the Church of England, in a political environment like Australasia, he already knew who he was really loyal to.

When the mystery of religion gradually recedes, religion has to bow its head in the face of secular power.

Archbishop Stede was clearly a wise man, and he understood that although his power came from the Church, the power of the Church was given by Arthur.

If Arthur is not satisfied, he can be removed at any time. Thus, after coming to Australasia, Archbishop Steed thoroughly saw himself as the bishop of the Australasian Church, not the bishop of the former Church of England.

3200 words for the third update, ask for a monthly pass, ask for support!

(End of chapter)