Australian Storm 1876

  Chapter 292 Southbound Train (6)

   "Master Earl, dinner is ready, Zhu Weiwei and Professor Allen Johnson, whom you invited to dinner, are already waiting in the restaurant."

   "Oh, got it."

Li Fushou's thoughts were interrupted by the report of the pretty slave girl. At this time, it was already dusk outside the window, the afterglow of the sun was about to converge to the last ray of light, and night came.

  The soft lights in the study were shining on the purple velvet curtains, and the monotonous "banging, banging" sound of the moving train was faintly audible.

  The luxurious car decorated with painstaking effort has excellent sound insulation function. Sitting in the car, you can feel the constant shaking and ups of the car, just like riding a boat.

  After a long time of use, the original train foundation has experienced varying amounts of settlement. If you observe the long railway line during the day, you will find that the rails are as uneven as a long and twisted dragon, and even one side is inclined.

  The geological conditions in the Australian coastal plains are softer than those in the arid Midwestern United States. After the railway line has been in operation for a period of time, dozens of large-scale continuous geological settlements have appeared on the entire railway line.

  This situation cannot be changed for the time being. Fortunately, in this era, the speed of steam trains is very slow, passenger trains are mostly about 20 to 30 kilometers per hour, and freight trains are slower, so the problem is not very big.

  The railway is uneven, just drive slowly.

Li Fushou stood up and strode out of the study to the dining car shop. From a distance, he saw the captain of the guard Fu Peng standing up to greet him and said casually; "Brother Fu, why are you still on your own? Brother will do."

   "Master, this is the duty of a humble job."

   "Okay...I can't blame you. Come over and have a meal together. Awei hasn't seen you for a long time. You are all old brothers back then, and they happen to have a chat together."

   "Hey, it's better to be respectful than fate."

Li Fushou brought Fu Peng to the dining car. Zhu Wei hurriedly got up to greet him. His **** had just left the seat, and his big hands were already on his shoulders; "Awei, you and my brother don’t need to be so polite in private. It's good to go down."

   Warm words flowed into his heart like a warm current, Zhu Wei's heart was hot, and his throat quietly nodded and sat down as if blocked by something.

  The pretty maids served exquisite food, fruit plates and drinks like water, and the dinner began.

  Today’s staple food is pan-fried Australian premium veal steak with French cheese cheese. Li Fushou had a very good appetite and killed two veal steaks. Fu Peng was even more powerful. He killed three veal steaks without raising his head.

  "Your Honorable Lord, is your guardian a kung fu master in the rumor? His appetite is really good." Professor Alan Johnson was enjoying the dessert, looking at Fu Peng and said.

   "Well, it can be understood that way."

   "Then... can you ask him to show his skills and open our eyes? I'm really curious."

"Ellen, Brother Fu is my brother, he is not one of the street performers." Li Fushou put down his knife and fork with an unhappy expression, took a white napkin, wiped his mouth, and picked up the wine glass next to the table. He took a sip and said slowly; "You have to be in awe of an expert like Brother Bo. His palms can break the iron pillar. You can consider whether your neck is harder than the iron pillar. I can't stop it."

These words made Alan Johnson change color when he heard it. At this time, Fu Peng was eating with a knife and fork in his hand. His figure was slightly eaten, and the warm current of the death of a confidant filled his body, forcibly suppressing the emotions in his heart. , Xuanji continued to eat again.

"Oh Mae... Please forgive my reckless behavior, heroic Mr. Knight... I am very sorry for what I just said." Professor Alan Johnson's apology came quickly, and he shrugged very British. ; "God testifies, this really doesn't mean the slightest teasing, but I am still willing to apologize for it and ask you not to break my neck. I still need it."

  Fu Peng raised his head and said two words briefly; "It's okay."

  With the light from the silver candlestick on the dining car, you could see Fu Peng's red eyes pretending to be indifferent, and he lowered his head and began to deal with the food seriously.

Li Fushou snapped his fingers; "Tell the kitchen, I would like to have an authentic braised lamb with skin on French buns, and one for Brother Fu. I know he likes this bite too. How about you two? ?"

   "I'm fine, thank you Lord Lord." Alan Johnson respected Bumin.

   "Master Earl, I am afraid I can't eat it anymore." Zhu Wei replied.

"Hey, it can only be considered that you have no good fortune." Li Fushou put down the wine glass unhurriedly, and the topic turned to business; "Recently, the Straits Governor's Office has urged the peace talks again. What do you think of this, Allen? "

  Speaking of business

  Professor Allen-Johnson also looked serious, and said after careful consideration; “I saw the diplomatic note sent by the Straits Governor’s Mansion and studied the wording carefully, but found nothing unusual.

  This is just a routine letter. I am not a professional politician in London. Based on the rich historical knowledge of historians and the political intuition of an Englishman, I feel that the Government of the Channel is not in a hurry to reach a peace agreement.

  You can understand it as the teacher assigns homework on time and students hand in homework on time.

  So, I think we should stick to the non-negotiable bottom line of Shangri-La Island and stick to it as a prerequisite for reopening negotiations. If the Dutch do not agree to it for a day, there will be no peace talks.

  All serious consequences arising from this are solely responsible for the Government of the Dutch East Indies.

  We should stick to our strong position and collect more information about London and the Kingdom of the Netherlands for decision-making, rather than just relying on guesswork.

  You know, sometimes intuition fails.

  It is reasonable to say that Shangri-La Island or Borneo has no attraction to the British Empire. It is a little unexpected that London is so enthusiastic about this matter. Is there any purpose hidden in it?

  Think about it

  Besides the thanks to the Earl of Queensland for the friendship with the Kingdom of the Netherlands, I really can’t think of any other benefits London can get from it? "

  Li Fushou and Zhu Wei thought carefully, but they did not notice anything after repeated deliberation.

Zhu Wei hesitated and said; "As far as I know, the British Empire has a wide range of resources, from human and material resources to all resources. There is almost no desire for such a shabby settlement in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Brothers such as Belgium, Norway, the Netherlands, Greece, and Bulgaria have waved their flags and used strong momentum to occupy the moral and fair commanding heights to implement the European balance strategy, attack and weaken the strong, and help the weak. In addition, I can't think of any other role. "

  "Will it be shot because of the intricate relationship of the European royal family?" Alan Johnson proposed a possibility.

   "It is indeed possible."

  Li Fushou knows a lot about the upper class in London. It is almost the center of the European royal family. Royal family members and top aristocrats from various European countries are in an endless stream, especially the annual spring royal jockey club, which is almost a big gathering of European royal family family portraits.

  I met an elegant lady casually, all of whom were duchess.

  The fame of Queen Victoria’s old European grandmother is alive. Through marriage, she has woven a huge European royal family pedigree, which includes almost all European powers, except France and the Ottoman Empire.

  France is because of the establishment of a democratic republic, the original feudal dynasty of the French Empire collapsed, and the Ottoman Empire was an alternative to Europe and an enemy of the Christian world.

"But... the Kingdom of the Netherlands has not been married to the British royal family for more than 60 years. The last time it should be traced back..." Professor Alan Johnson suddenly paused when he said this. He looked at Li Fushou and the two people had a clear heart, and blurted out almost at the same time; "Princess Wilhelmina..."

  The two are silent again at the same time

After careful consideration, Professor Allen Johnson said: "William III is very old, and Princess Wilhelmina is only two years old this year. She will rule this Nordic country as the sole heir to the Dutch kingdom. Her marriage relationship It is extremely important and will affect the policy direction of the kingdom in the next few decades. The British royal family, which has always been strong, will never be considered. I am very sure of this and can rule out accidents."

   "In other words, London will not be biased towards the Kingdom of the Netherlands."

   "Yes, those politicians in London are standard materialists. They are not willing to do things that are not good."

   "This is really good news." Li Fushou couldn't help but leave his mouth and smile.

This means that Borneo can put pressure on the Dutch side as much as possible, and the UK will abide by the transcendent status of mediator without actual intervention, which will help delay the negotiation until next year or even the year after, so that Queensland will have more bargaining chips to win. time.

   "Oh... by the way, how is the Borneo immigration plan going?" Li Fushou asked.

   "Lord Earl, I am planning to report to you specifically on this issue." Zhu Wei took the initiative.

   "Let's talk, I'm listening." Li Fushou nodded slightly, beckoning him to say everything.

  Professor Alan Johnson is a private policy adviser. Some public immigration policies do not need to be hidden from him. Of course, it does not involve secret content. After all, this old man is an Englishman, so he still has some reservations.

  Fu Peng is close to the body and mind, and the level of confidentiality that has the right to contact far exceeds that of Professor Alan Johnson, and of course it is no problem.

  Zhu Wei took out a document from his pocket and unfolded it, then unfolded it and said;

"The first area of ​​Borneo to emigrate is Samarinda. The number of immigrants reached 13,200 in July, and the planned number of immigrants was 22,000 in August. The immigrant population is mainly based on diligent and simple rural families, mostly from Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Fujian. Coastal provinces such as Guangdong will also stabilize between 22,000 and 25,000 per month in the next few months, subject to adjustments according to the resettlement situation.

  Due to the war

  Many local white Dutch plantation owners transferred a large number of plantations and took over the British consortium out of consideration of avoiding the war. Therefore, they welcome the arrival of large numbers of Chinese immigrants and they have a strong demand for investment and labor resources.

  Preliminary calculations indicate that the entire Samarinda region can accept about 120,000 to 150,000 Chinese immigrants. When the security situation in East Kalimantan is completely stable, it is expected that millions of people can be resettled to open up wasteland.

  It is expected that it will take two years to gradually realize the stable economic development of the region and the people's self-sufficiency.

As for the province of South Kalimantan that we currently control, the temporary migration is relatively small, mostly concentrated in towns and nearby areas, with about two to three thousand people per month, plus the early tens of thousands of Bornean Chinese immigrants, which can guarantee complete control. that area.

  From the current situation, it is roughly 37%.

  Thirty percent of migrants are concentrated in urban ports, and 70% of migrants enter rural plantations, and after being organized in an orderly manner, they receive militia training and teach basic self-defense skills after busy farming.

  The overall immigration plan for Borneo was to reach the target of 120,000 by the end of 1882 and 350,000 in 1883. The training rate of militias exceeded 20%, which initially consolidated the foundation for development in the region.

  Relying on the rich experience of the Red River Valley in immigration and township building, we transferred more than 300 young officials from Australia to various departments of Borneo city and township management, and cooperated with the military to jointly control the area and gradually achieve orderly and stable development.

The Shangri-La Island region’s immigration plan in 1882 was set at 63,000 people. In 1883, there will be a big leap forward on this basis. The number of immigrants throughout the year will reach 250,000 people. To accommodate the rapid influx of population.

  The target of Australia's native immigration plan was revised to 850,000 in 1882. Coupled with the independent implementation of young female immigrants by media companies, it is expected that it will exceed the million mark for the first time in the whole year, achieving a historic breakthrough.

  Immigration coupled with the growth of Australia’s native population will reach a population size of 495-5 million by the end of this year, and it is expected to exceed a population size of 6 million next year, with an annual compound growth rate of over 27%, still showing a high growth trend, which will strongly promote economic development.

As the main source of immigrants, Guangjitang generally has immigration counseling agencies in coastal cities and provinces on the mainland, especially the Fujian-Zhejiang-Jiangxi region with small land and large population and the Jinji-Luyu region in the north-central populous province, which is the most important source of immigrants. land.

  In recent years, there have been continuous disasters in the mainland. Droughts of varying scales have broken out almost every year in the north, floods in the south are frequent, and the people are not living. Among them, there are natural disasters and man-made disasters, but it has brought convenience to our timely encouragement of immigration policies.

  According to reports from immigration agencies in various regions, due to the continued fermentation of Australia’s fertile reputation and the continuous remittance of large amounts of remittances, it has further laid the foundation for extensive immigration, and spontaneous immigration outside the plan is increasing day by day.

In view of the uneven quality of spontaneous immigrants, they have not undergone preliminary screening and selection by immigration agencies, and considering the tolerance of Australia, it is not recommended to open the mouth and allow them to enter on a large scale, mainly through immigration policies to guide high-quality population with certain economic strength and foundation to enter , In order to achieve the goal of optimizing the quality of the population. "

"Well, Australia's current population capacity is limited, and you can't pick everything on the plate." Li Fushou agreed with Zhu Wei's point of view, just in time to see the maid bringing the steaming braised beef with skin and French buns together. When it came up, the trembling sauce of braised mutton with skin was rich and fragrant. The soft and mellow taste was filled with a piece of lamb, and I couldn't help but cheer loudly; "The taste is great, and Awei and Allen won't have a portion. What a pity, Brother Fu, let's let go of our belly and have a good time."

"Everything depends on the master, my master is okay." Fu Peng is a martial arts man, his plate is a lap bigger than Li Fushou, and the sauce-red meat piled high on the plate is steaming and fragrant. Come.

  The two gluttons picked up their glasses and touched them with smiles. They drank a big sip of French white wine, and then began to enjoy the delicious food.

  Looking at their food so sweet, Professor Alan Johnson couldn’t help but be a little bit greedy, and said grimly; “It’s just a plate of lamb, is it really that delicious.”

"Uh-huh……"

  The two gluttons ate heartily and didn’t have the time to answer his words.

  Looking at the way they enjoyed it, Professor Allen Johnson felt a trace of regret in his heart. He missed a good opportunity to taste delicious food, and suddenly felt a loss.

  (End of this chapter)