William's engagement ceremony added a bit of color to the world, but the heat soon subsided.

People marvel at the extravagance and sheer size of the royal engagement, but life always has to pass, and no one thinks that the royal family shouldn't enjoy it all.

In November 1929, the world became turbulent again.

The outbreak took place in Portugal and was caused by a brutal dictatorship in Portugal.

Speaking of which, Arthur's participation and influence are also indispensable. William's engagement ceremony not only showcased the dignity of the Australasian royal family, but also demonstrated the size and splendor of the Saxe-Coburg Gotha family.

The royal families of both Britain and Australia came from this family, which made the House of Saxe-Coburg Gotha the greatest family of the early 20th century.

Such a name naturally affected Portugal and affected the more neutral forces in Portugal.

On the one hand, the greatest family in recent years, and on the other hand, the dictatorial ruler, who has become widely dissatisfied with the people, also divides Portugal into two distinct factions.

One faction is a dictatorship with vested interests, and the other is someone else who wants to overthrow the dictatorship.

And in this second faction, the royalists, who want to re-establish the monarchy and restore the Portuguese crown, are undoubtedly the most powerful.

When it comes to his own power, Antonio Carmona naturally won't back down easily.

After discovering that the Democratic Party in the country was in frequent contact with Manuel II's forces, Antonio Carmona was furious and directly launched the most brutal repression against the Democratic Party.

As the second largest party in Portugal, the Democratic Party is still quite large. The brutal repression cost the Democratic Party more than a third of its members, and directly ignited the war in Portugal.

Realizing that this was the best time, Manuel II immediately ordered the royalists in Portugal to start a war, starting a civil war in Portugal.

With the support of Australasia and the solidarity of the Saxe-Coburg Gotha family, Manuel II was so confident that he could win the war before Christmas.

In fact, the situation was not much different from what Manuel II had predicted. Of course, this is not the strength of the Portuguese royalists, but the anger and dissatisfaction of the Portuguese people with the dictatorship of Antonio Carmona.

If you had to choose between two bottles of poison, the Portuguese would naturally choose the less poisonous Manuel II.

Yes, in the eyes of the current Portuguese, Manuel II and Antonio Carmona are just two bottles of poison, neither of which is the best option for Portugal.

Speaking of Portugal's geographical location, it is located in the westernmost part of the European continent, and there is only one neighboring European country, Spain.

But after entering the maritime age, Portugal's position is still relatively important. First of all, Portugal can be used as a hub for communication with Africa, and it is also one of the important transit points on British routes.

Secondly, Portugal's geographical location can pose a great threat to France.

The British already took control of the Strait of Gibraltar, the main route from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic.

Coupled with the Suez Canal, it is equivalent to the British can blockade the entire Mediterranean, making the French Mediterranean fleet a turtle in the middle of the war.

But the French are not limited to the Mediterranean, they are close to the English Channel to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west.

If Portugal could be used to block the French path to the Atlantic, the impact on France would undoubtedly be enormous.

This is also the reason why the British government finally decided to support Portugal. George V used all his might to convince the government to support Manuel II in the civil war.

Of course, George V also gave up a lot of interests for this, which is equivalent to making a deal with the government.

With the support of the British and Australasian powers, Manuel II soon ascended to the throne of Portugal.

On December 21, 1929, after more than ten years, Manuel II announced the restoration, re-established the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha dynasty in Portugal, and announced the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Royal Government of Portugal and the United Kingdom and Australasia for the first time.

In exchange for the benefits, the Government of the Kingdom of Portugal announced the lease of the island of São Tomé and Príncipe to Australasia for a period of 20 years.

Smart people know that this is an exchange of interests between two countries, but no country can say anything about such an exchange of interests.

After all, this is a very normal thing in the world, everyone has their own needs, and the final result is what the two countries want to see.

The matter of Portugal was finally resolved, and Arthur was temporarily relieved.

The growing number of monarchies will also contribute to the stability of Australasia's monarchy in the future.

Although Arthur's prestige and status in Australasia were unprecedented, the former Queen Victoria also had a high status and prestige in the United Kingdom.

After several generations of the throne, hasn't George V's power been weakened a lot? If it weren't for George V's decisive abandonment of the Saxe-Coburg Gotha surname in World War I, I am afraid that it would be a question of whether the British royal family could be stabilized.

This also represents a simple truth, the throne can be inherited, but prestige and prestige cannot be inherited.

If you want the Australasian monarchy to survive, you have to let the monarchies of other countries sustain it, and you can't make the Australasian monarchy a global example.

Returning to Australasia, Arthur began to inspect projects already under construction in the eight-year plan.

First of all, Arthur's most important thing is definitely the Lake Eyre Canal project, which is related to the ecological environment of Central Australia.

This was a bold decision by Arthur, an unprecedented attempt. If successful, the entire Artesian Basin will be reactivated, and Australasia will have millions of square kilometres of fertile land.

But if it fails, such a project, which costs more than 100,000 manpower and a lot of financial resources, will also be a blow to Arthur's reputation.

Although the blow was not so significant, it also had a certain impact on Arthur's subsequent layout.

Ten months have passed since the launch of the Eyre Lake Canal project in February this year.

The canal, which connects the north and south of Lake Ayr in the canal plan, is less than 10 kilometers long and has been largely completed in the space of 10 months.

However, because the other two sections of the canal are relatively long, it is expected that the construction time will take at least five years, and more manpower and material resources will have to be dispatched to build them with all their might.

For this project, Arthur paid close attention and personally checked it. After the construction of the canal between the two lakes was completed, Arthur personally arrived around the canal to inspect it and make sure that everything was going according to plan.

The good news is that there is no shortage of manpower in the construction plan for the Eyre Lake Canal.

Because it was a project initiated by Arthur, and people understood that the purpose of the canal was to restore the ecological environment of central Australia, this also led to a large number of people actively participating in the construction of the Eyre Lake Canal, and the recruitment site was almost full, and a large number of people wanted to join the canal construction plan every day, even if it was for a small salary.

The original plan for the construction of the Eyre Lake Canal was intended to employ only 150,000 workers, almost all of whom were recruited from the United States.

But unexpectedly, the local people in Australasia were too enthusiastic, which also made the number of workers exceed expectations, and it is now close to 250,000.

Although the cost of building the canal has increased, the larger the number of people, the less time it will take to build the canal.

Because it is three canals, it also means that the three canals can be built together, and the total construction time of the canal can be shortened.

In addition to the canal connecting the two Eyre Lakes, more than a fifth of the canals between South Eyre and Torrens Lake, as well as between Torrens Lake and Spencer Bay, have been built.

It would be a good thing for Arthur to be able to complete the entire Eyre Lake Canal within five years, even if it would cost him some more.

In addition to the construction of the Eyre Lake Canal, another major project has already been completed, which is the construction of airports in key areas across the country.

In fact, the current airport is still very different from the market outlook. After all, 100 years have passed, and the two eras of airports are completely different concepts.

At present, the airport only needs a flat runway for aircraft to take off and land, and the rest of the facilities are rudimentary.

After all, an airplane can only accommodate more than ten passengers, so naturally there is no need for too wide passenger waiting area, and the area and construction difficulty of the airport will not be so large.

The first cities to build airports are, of course, key cities such as Fort St. Arthur, Sydney, and Melbourne, as well as state capitals and large cities with a population of more than 500,000.

In order to promote exchanges between Australia and New Zealand, there are airports in both the North and South New Zealand states, and there is more than one.

In addition, airports were also established in the colonies to facilitate communication between the mainland and the colonies.

In addition to these more common civilian airports, simpler military airports are already available throughout Australasia.

The construction of a military airfield requires much simpler, just flatten the road surface to ensure that the take-off and landing of aircraft will not be bumpy.

Compared with the comfort required by civilian airliners, the biggest requirement of military transport aircraft is transportation efficiency, followed by the speed of the aircraft.

As for the safe ones, it is enough at the passing level. Because the lifespan of most military aircraft will not be too long, the war will deal a huge blow to such a vulnerable high-tech product as the aircraft.

Instead of demanding the safety of a military aircraft, it is better to consider whether he will be able to carry more supplies and whether he will be able to escape enemy fire.

3000 words for the first update, ask for a monthly pass, ask for support!

(End of chapter)