At the beginning of February 1918, all the costs of the government war and the current state of affairs in the country were fully counted, and the final results were reported to Arthur's desk.

Compared to the last census, Australasia's population has grown to 18.678 million, which is infinitely close to the 20 million population mark.

Now that the war is over and countries' foreign migration policies have gradually resumed, the new year is likely to usher in more immigration growth, thus surpassing the 20 million mark.

Throughout 1917, Australasia's GDP reached $2.24 billion, equivalent to £448 million, or $896 million, with a growth rate of about 7%.

From this data, it can be seen that the impact of the war on the development of Australasia was negligible.

Even the war contributed to the development of various industries in Australasia, including the military industry, the clothing industry, and various light industries, all benefited from the war.

In 1917, the total revenue of the Australasian government was 166.1 million Australian dollars, and the growth rates in the past two years were 17% and 15% respectively, which are very gratifying.

In 1917, because the United States entered the war, it did steal part of the Australasian market, and also led to a slight decrease in the growth rate of Australasian government revenue, but the war was ended when the impact was not great.

By comparison, the government's total fiscal expenditure in the same year was $145.5 million, an increase of nearly half compared to before the war.

In 1917, the government's total fiscal surplus was as high as $20.6 million, which was equivalent to six super dreadnoughts, and the financial situation was still very good.

Equally exaggerated are the revenues of the royal consortium. It is no exaggeration to say that the expansion of the royal consortium during the war was no less than the growth rate of government revenues.

If the royal consortium before the war was famous for all kinds of heavy industries, then the royal consortium at this time also had many light industries, such as the royal garment factory, the royal military boot factory, the royal canned food factory, and so on.

According to the Crown Foundation, Australasia exported more than 5 million tons of canned products to Europe during the more than three years of the war.

Based on the adult weight of a hare ranging from 80 catties to 100 catties, these cans are equivalent to about 120 million hares, which is enough to see the number of wild animals killed in Australasia in recent years.

There is no way to do this, the ecological environment of Australasia is very fragile compared to European countries, after all, Australia is a completely independent continent, and the ecological environment is not the same as that of Europe and Asia.

In recent years, Australasia has implemented relatively strict environmental protection laws and animal and plant protection laws, and Australasian carnivores have been quite strictly protected, prohibiting random hunting.

In addition, the government encourages the hunting of wild animals such as kangaroos, hares, wild boars, and wild camels, which can be sold to canneries or consumed by themselves.

Basically, every other month, the government and the royal family organize a large-scale hunting event, and there will be certain rewards for those who have the best hunting results.

In addition to the official hunting operations of the government and the royal family, there are a number of hunting societies in Australasia that specialize in hunting wild animals and selling them to canneries for money.

Don't underestimate the income of these hunting associations and clubs, if they are more proficient in hunting, they can even earn more than farmers and herders.

Of course, there are risks associated with hunting in the wild, especially in the more dangerous wild environment of Australasia.

But as the so-called high risk, high reward, there are still a large number of people who are willing to participate in these hunting activities every year, one to relax, the other to earn extra income, and to be able to stand out in front of their family, friends, and even others.

In addition, the government has also promulgated relatively strict alien species laws to prevent alien species from damaging the ecological environment of Australasia as much as possible.

Creatures like hares, camels, etc., are all alien species. It is precisely because of the extreme reproduction of hares that a large amount of land has been eaten and even desertified.

Protecting the environment is one of the things Arthur can do for future monarchs, and it is an important way to protect the environment of Australasian land.

Regardless, environmental protection and wildlife hunting will continue, and there is an urgent need to clean up Australasia's ecological environment.

On February 5, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs suddenly reported that Grand Duke Paul of Russia had come to visit, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was already entertaining.

Arthur nodded, and immediately decided to meet with Archduke Paul immediately.

In any case, the Australasian royal family and the Russian royal family are both in-laws and natural allies.

Whatever the circumstances, it is necessary to see Archduke Paul. What's more, the Russian monarchy has not yet been overthrown, and both the aristocratic etiquette and Queen Mary's side make it necessary for Arthur to receive this Russian visitor.

In fact, the intention of Archduke Paul was already clear to Arthur. Although the Russian monarchy was retained, Nicholas II's power was severely limited compared to before the civil strife, and it can even be said that he had few rights and could only live in seclusion in the Winter Palace.

This state of affairs was very unhappy with the ambitious Nicholas II, who had been waiting for an opportunity to regain power.

Now that the war is over, the anti-war mentality of the Russian people has naturally come to an end. With the return of Russian troops one after another, Nicholas II also regained some royalist power, giving Nicholas II the hope of returning to power.

It was not enough to rely on the power of Nicholas II and the royalists, after all, in addition to the Provisional Government, Nicholas II had an even greater problem with him, and that was the Union of Workers.

Because of this, Nicholas II wanted to find more allies, such as several countries of the Entente.

In addition, he thought of the joint declaration of the European royal family proposed by Arthur before, so he first thought of Australasia, and sent Archduke Paul, who had the closest relationship with Australasia, as a representative.

Grand Duke Paul was the younger brother of Grand Duke Sergei and the youngest son of the late Tsar Alexander II.

In terms of blood relationship, Archduke Paul is Queen Mary's own uncle, and he is also the closest person to Queen Mary in addition to Archduke Sergei.

And, of course, Queen Mary's younger brother. But the young man was not very convincing after all, so Nicholas II decided to send Archduke Paul as a representative.

As for Queen Mary's adoptive father, Arthur's titular father-in-law, Grand Duke Sergei, who was killed by a bomb in an attack, has gone to heaven.

Arthur and Archduke Paul had only met each other a few times, and they were not very familiar with each other.

But Archduke Paul was instructed by Nicholas II to play the emotional card as soon as they met, asked Queen Mary about her condition many times, and expressed Nicholas II's concern for Arthur, Queen Mary, William, Anna, these princes and princesses.

"Your Majesty! Russia needs your help, and so does the Romanovs! After a chill of the commotion, Archduke Paul got down to business and mentioned his true intention of coming to Australasia.

Where does that begin? Archduke Paul. As far as I know, although the civil strife had some effect on the rule of the Romanovs, your royal family is still in a strong position and does not seem to need the help of Australasia. Arthur asked, raising an eyebrow, feigning surprise.

"Your Majesty, you know, Russia made a great contribution to the Entente in this war. But some of the damned rebels, taking advantage of the army's deployment on the front line, rashly launched a rebellion and captured government departments and the Winter Palace. Although His Majesty temporarily succumbed to these rebels, there was no moment when he did not want to restore the rule of the Romanovs. For the Russian people, the monarchy is bright, and only under the leadership of His Majesty the great Nikolai, under the rule of the Romanovs, can Russia shine again. "Archduke Paul knew that Arthur and Australasia were no longer what they used to be, and that they were countries that even pre-war Russia needed to pay attention to.

Not to mention anything else, the status of the four major powers of the Entente is enough to make any country in the world pay attention.

Although it is still behind Britain, France and Russia in strength, it is already on an equal footing with Britain, France and Russia, and can sit together at the same negotiating table to divide the interests of the allies, instead of waiting for the notice of the meeting like Italy.

Arthur nodded in understanding.

In fact, this was also the case, with millions of Russian troops on the front lines, which was why the rebels were able to quickly storm St. Petersburg and the Winter Palace.

But in fact, Nicholas II also made a lot of stupid moves, but if he did a few stupid things, not so many workers and civilians would join the previous rebellion.

Seeing Arthur nodded, Grand Duke Paul was overjoyed, and hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, for the sake of the face of the Russian-Australian Alliance, for the sake of the marriage between the royal families of the two countries, and for the sake of the face of the joint declaration of the European royal families, please support His Majesty Nicholas in regaining power, abolishing the provisional government, and eliminating the Moscow regime established by the Workers' Union without authorization, so that the great and glorious monarchy with a long history can return to the whole of Russia." ”

"Archduke Paul, just tell me straight, what kind of support do you need?" Arthur asked directly.

At least for Russia at the moment, the monarchy does not seem too bright. If the monarchy and Nicholas II had given hope to the people, there would not have been a rebellion of this magnitude in all parts of Russia.

In any case, with the relationship between the two countries, the joint declaration of the European royal families proposed by Arthur himself, and the interests of Australasia, it was necessary to maintain a monarchical Russia.

Monarchical Russia is an ally of Australasia, but republican Russia is uncontrollable.

When you look at it this way, it becomes clear how to choose. However, support is support, and it is limited to the provision of weapons and equipment, and the scope of support must also be within the scope of Arthur's acceptance.

After all, Arthur was not philanthropic, and he did not intend to spend a lot of money and Australasian development time to make wedding dresses for the Romanovs and Nicholas II.

If Nikolai could pull in both Britain and Italy, Arthur wouldn't mind helping Britain and Italy a little more.

But if it is only Australasia to help Russia, it can only be the help of friendship, and the amount depends on Arthur's mood.

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

Today, 10,000 days have been changed to 10,600/10,000, exceeding the task, asking for a monthly pass, asking for support!

(End of chapter)