Arthur had a headache for Manuel II's request.

It's not that Arthur still has a grudge against the war with Portugal. The result of this war was a complete victory for Australasia, and even if there was a mustard, it should be that the Portuguese had a mustard.

The main reason was that Arthur was not sure that Manuel had the means and ability to rule Portugal.

It would be fun to put Manuel back on the throne and then he be overthrown by the angry Portuguese.

It's like a political investment, winning for both sides, and losing for Arthur.

After all, although the government will firmly carry out its own orders, this kind of behavior is obviously a bit too selfish to restore the royal families of other countries.

Arthur wouldn't do it if he didn't get enough benefit from the country, even if it was just an idea of his own.

But then again, as countries that have signed the Joint Declaration of European Royals, other monarchies do have reasons to help the Portuguese royal family.

But whether Arthur can get enough motivation to support Manuel's restoration of the throne may depend on the price that Manuel can pay.

Although he is also a member of the family, Arthur is definitely not able to help Manuel without taking any benefits.

After all, the force used is Australasia's military strength and international influence, and Arthur still needs to be cautious in this regard.

Of course, Arthur also used Manuel's request as an exam question to test the three little ones, William, Peter, and George.

The three of them had different ideas.

As the youngest brother, George's thoughts are still relatively simple. George thought that as long as he helped Manuel ascend to the throne of Australasia, he would get enough pay, and the deal would be a good deal.

William and Peter had more to think about. Peter said that if Manuel could pay enough to help him restore the throne.

William's thinking was even more far-reaching, focusing on whether the restored Kingdom of Portugal would become an ally of Australasia and the possibility of defecting to the British.

After all, the relationship between Portugal and Britain is still very good, and it is difficult not to guarantee that the Kingdom of Portugal will not fall into the arms of the British Empire.

As one of the first countries to join the GBP-AUD system, the UK's influence on Portugal is needless to say.

If Arthur had worked so hard to get Manuel back to the throne, but brought Portugal closer to the British, it would have been more than worth the loss for Australasia.

Although the opinions of the three little ones are different, it is not easy to put forward their own opinions with their own insights.

After all, their political methods are still very immature, and it is good to think of so many.

Of course, after all, they are all going to be kings in the future, and yes or reiterates to them the importance of the relationship between the king and the government.

First of all, the interests of the royal family and the interests of the government are different. The interests of the government cannot be jeopardized for the sake of the royal family, nor can the interests of the royal family be jeopardized for the sake of the government.

How to control the two is very important for a king. The absolute monarchy was destined to be unsustainable, which meant that sooner or later the royal family and the government would have to be separated.

Whether it is California, the United Kingdom of the West Coast, or the current Australasia, the royal power must not be too unscrupulous, and must carefully consider the views of the country and the people.

If you want to secure your throne, you must understand that the opinion of the people is the most important thing.

Sometimes some interests can be sacrificed for the sake of the people, after all, small interests are not as important as their own rule.

If the trust of the people is lost, it cannot be made up for by using the benefits.

The support of a European kingdom was still very important to Arthur, which also strengthened Arthur's determination to support Manuel's restoration.

Of course, Arthur knew that an incompetent Manuel could not be relied upon. If you want to stabilize Portuguese rule and make Portugal work, you have to find another person you can work with.

Thinking about it, the only faction worth winning over in Portugal at present is the Portuguese Democratic Party, which has been frantically suppressed and has little left.

The leader of the Portuguese Democratic Party is Morini Antonio Salazar, a poor guy who was more popular with the Portuguese people, but was quickly overthrown after less than 200 days in power.

Of course, it's no wonder that Morini is not to blame. The Portuguese regime was so chaotic that it would be difficult to maintain its rule if it did not have enough military power, even if it was popular with the people.

In stark contrast to Morini, it is naturally the unpopular Antonio Carmona.

But precisely because Antonio has a lot of military power in his hands, he is still irreplaceable President of the Portuguese Republic, even if he is not popular with the people.

So why did Arthur choose to work with Morini?

First of all, Morini has a certain ability, and it is no problem to stabilize the situation in Portugal with the support of Arthur.

Of course, this consideration is also to prevent Manuel II from making frequent tricks and wasting the throne that he has so hard to restore.

Moreover, Morini can also be used as a link to Manuel to prevent the Kingdom of Portugal, which Arthur had so hard to support, from falling to other countries, especially the United Kingdom, which has always been friendly with Portugal.

Why? Because Morini's son was pro-German, he joined the German army while studying in Germany, and then unfortunately died in battle against the British army.

This was a heavy blow to Molini, who had only one son, and it was doomed to ease in terms of relations between Morini and the British in the short term.

Of course, since he decided to support Manuel back to the throne, Arthur must also have to grasp a part of Portugal's interests in exchange.

Arthur certainly couldn't have helped Manuel and Portugal for nothing, and a proper exchange of benefits was what motivated Arthur to make such a decision.

To be honest, Portugal was able to attract Arthur only a few colonies in Africa, in addition to its status as a European monarchy.

This was once a superpower with an area of tens of millions of square kilometers, and at this time the colonies were only a pitiful few pieces.

In addition to the taboo in Asia, Portugal's colonies were generally concentrated in Africa, the two largest being Angola and Mozambique.

The size of these two colonies seems to be large, but the population of later generations is only a little over 30 million, which is enough to prove the wealth of these two colonies.

As we all know, in addition to the reserves of mineral resources, the greatest dependence of the colony's recovery is the colony's population.

After all, if the population is small, the value that can be exploited is also very small, and the income of the colony is destined to be beyond its means.

This was actually a major reason why Portugal was still able to maintain these two colonies.

Arthur was also uninterested in these two large colonies. If I remember correctly, when these two colonies became independent more than 30 years later, the population was only about five or six million.

It is not clear what Arthur's current population is, but the two colonies are a chicken rib for Australasia, and there is no need to annex them.

What Arthur was really interested in was Portugal's large archipelago.

From Portugal to Africa, the islands of Madeira, Azores, Cape Verde, and Sao Tome and Principe are of greater interest to Arthur.

The islands, which are located on the eastern coast of the Atlantic Ocean, would have a significant impact on Western Europe and Africa if deployed.

As missile technology is further strengthened, Australasia's influence on Europe will also increase.

What's more, these islands only need to build naval bases and missile bases, and they don't need much development to be able to hold them firmly in their hands.

After all, the population on the island is not large, and together with the garrison and the permanent population on the base, it can account for most of the permanent population of the island.

Of course, it is still quite difficult to get the islands from Portugal now. Even if Arthur expressed his idea, Manuel II was only willing to lend São Tomé and Principe to Australasia on loan for twenty years.

Where is this area located? If Africa is compared to a 7, then Sao Tome and Principe is at the corner of this period, an archipelago more than 200 kilometers from the African continent.

The archipelago has little merit other than its geographical location.

Even nearly 100 years later, Sao Tome and Principe is a poor country with an area of just over 1,000 square kilometres and a population of barely over 170,000.

Even compared to other African countries, the Republic of Sao Tome and Principe remains one of the few least developed countries.

If it's just a loan, Arthur is not very satisfied. After all, the lease period is only 20 years, and 20 years can't change people's memories.

But if you think about it, World War II will definitely break out in 20 years, and the world situation is destined to undergo some huge changes.

As long as Australasia develops the island, it is guaranteed that the majority of the island's population will be Australasian in 20 years' time.

At that time, the ownership of the archipelago will not be up to Portugal.

With the missile technology of that time, as long as missiles were deployed in Sao Tome and Principe, most of Africa would be within range of Australasia.

Of course, there will also be an air and naval base here, taking Australasia's global naval base strategy a step further.

Although the geographical advantage here is not as good as that of the other islands, it is better than nothing, and Arthur agrees to Manuel's proposal.

Arthur's demands go far beyond this small archipelago.

There are many more benefits that Portugal can tap into, but Arthur also needs to wait for a more opportune moment.

Although he was determined to help Manuel II restore the throne, Arthur did not intend to do it alone.

As the most powerful family at present, Arthur would simply disgrace his reputation as a member of the Gotha family if he didn't make good use of it.

What's more, Arthur's prestige and reputation among the Gotha family are still very high. In such a situation, if you can mobilize the entire Gotha family to help you, the success rate will be a little higher.

So what is the use of other royal families and members of the Gotha family to go out together?

The best way to do this is Arthur's unwavering attitude towards the protection of the thrones.

As we all know, the thrones are not so stable either. In the face of the current world situation, if you want to keep your throne, it is important to have the support of other royal families and the same family.

At present, it seems that the royal families of other countries have also helped, but doesn't this also mean that Arthur will also support their restoration when their throne is at risk?

This way of giving themselves an extra layer of security to the throne is not an option for the royal families of other countries.

What's more, the target of this operation was only a small Portugal, not a large power country like the United States.

If nothing else, even without the support of the British, Arthur only needs to call the other royal families of the Gotha family to still be able to promote the restoration of Manuel's throne.

Don't underestimate the influence of a great power on an ordinary country, not to mention that there are many European countries that follow.

As for whether Portugal will disobey Arthur's will, it depends on whether Antonio's rule over Portugal is so stable.

It can be seen from the boiling discontent of the Portuguese people that it seems that Antonio's dictatorship is not so popular.

Aside from Antonio's henchmen, there are not many people in favor of Antonio's rule, and it can even be said that there are very few.

It turns out that with the tandem of a powerful family, multiple countries can easily have a huge impact on a small country.

On July 27, 1929, the Portuguese government convened a very special and secret meeting.

The meeting was attended by a large number of participants, in addition to diplomatic representatives from the Australasian side, the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Principality of Saxony Coburg Gotha, Bulgaria and other countries, as well as several officials of the Portuguese government and the Portuguese Democratic Party.

These officials were dissatisfied with Antonio's rule, but had to submit to the officials of Antonio's dictatorship.

With Australasian intelligence, Arthur quickly found them and promised to give them high-ranking positions in the new government.

Such a promise naturally led them to quickly agree to support Manuel's restoration. After all, for them, their official position is the most important thing.

It doesn't matter who the rulers above their heads really are, because they only care about their own interests.

Another major partner Arthur chose was the Portuguese Democratic Party, which was still popular with the people.

It's something that can't be helped. With the British unable to be the main force, Arthur also had to take into account the opinions of the Portuguese state.

If Manuel continues to come to power as a dictatorship, the Portuguese will definitely be dissatisfied, because this is equivalent to another Antonio, or a more legitimate dictatorship.

It's 4,000 words a day these days, and I'll talk about it after I'm busy (I may ask for leave halfway, please understand.) ）

(End of chapter)