Australian Storm 1876

  Chapter 300 Expensive Friendship

  Beilun Mansion

  Running around in the past few days, even if he was as strong as Li Fushou, he was a little overwhelmed. After returning to the mansion, he was really aching back and feeling exhausted.

Fortunately, all the hard work was not in vain, and everything in the south was arranged properly. In the near future, I can return to Red River Valley City and stay in Songjiang Town for a few days. The main reason is to get close to the Huqiwei and other officers. By the way, I inspected the operations of various enterprises in the town. Condition.

The Guards Dragoon Division and Guards Tiger Cavalry Division entered service smoothly and took on the heavy responsibility of defending the vast southern territories. No matter how much the southern state bounces, it is backed by such a strong military force and peace of mind.

  As if the councils of New South Wales and Victoria had negotiated, they successively introduced the "National Self-Defense Force" bill, and openly began to arrange militias into an army, with obvious intentions for confrontation.

  The repair and repair of the southern extension of the coastal railway has stopped again, becoming an old and difficult project.

  In this regard, Li Fushou also has no intention of continuing to push it.

  Red River Valley has made every effort to develop the industrial economy, and the achievements it has made so far have left the southern state, which is still in the agricultural economy, far behind and crushed to the slag.

  Don’t say anything else, only on wool spinning enterprises.

  In the past few years

Several wool spinning enterprises have also been established in the southern state. Among them, there are three in Victoria and one in New South Wales. The size ranges from one to two thousand to two to three thousand people. However, they are sitting on huge resources of wool raw materials. The operation situation is difficult, and it is far from the prosperity of Honghe Wool Spinning Plant.

The biggest reason is of course the suppression of the entire Red River Valley system, high transoceanic transportation fees, high bank exchange fees, crowding and suppression of the European market, peer competition (mainly Honghe Wool Spinning Plant), etc., this will not be for the time being. carry.

  As a manpower-intensive light industry enterprise, the biggest problem for wool spinning enterprises in Southern State is the difficulty of recruiting workers, which is almost an insoluble knot.

  There are too few suitable white female workers. The Queensland state of Chinese descent is in short supply, and it is even less likely to flow into the southern state. This has led to a huge gap in supply and demand.

  The solution of the Southern State Wool Spinning Factory was to use black female slaves and recruit a large number of white male workers at the same time, which barely solved the employment gap.

   looks good at first glance, but in fact this is the beginning of a disaster.

  In today's era, workers need to work from 12 to 13 hours per shift. The simple and repetitive tedious work and the unpleasant smell of wool spinning enterprises have made the rude and irritable Australian cowboys crazy.

They are used to the thick and clumsy fingers of the riding whip and can’t connect the thin yarn to break ends. They will break more threads if they are impatient, and even vent their anger on the spinning machine, grab the heavy spindle and smash the spinning machine. .

  This is nothing. The thick denims are not so careful. The quality of the spun tops is uneven, and European customers are not willing to use it at all.

  Poor quality combed tops are a disaster for user companies. The yarn thickness is uneven, the color is different, and the animal hair grease is not clean. How can it be possible to weave high-quality wool and blended fabrics?

  If the above question is an appetizer, then the following question is a complete disaster.

  Whenever night falls

   is the beginning of the nightmare of the black slave women workers in the textile factory. The perpetrators are the white cowboys in the same factory...

  …………

   "Master, Lord Hugh Howard wants to talk to you, would you like to meet?"

   "Oh, this annoying guy, please ask him to serve tea in the living room, and I will go right away."

   "Understood, sir."

  The secretary took the order, and Li Fushou could not help but pinch his eyebrows. It was not easy to deal with this British top noble child, and it really made people feel a bit brainstorming.

  "It’s so late, don’t stop, Kris, wait a moment, I have an important guest to see."

The original beautiful little black Nucleus is now Li Fushou’s personal masseuse. She has a graceful figure and quickly replied; “It’s okay, sir, when you need it, Chris will always be here. You’d better do it. Take a bath with Chinese medicine and hot water, and then do a relaxing massage and massage for the whole body, so that you will have a good night's sleep."

   "Sounds great!"

   "Nakris began to prepare the hot water bath with Chinese medicine, and the master can enjoy it anytime after seeing the guests."

   "Yes, yes."

  Li Fushou nodded and agreed, watching Chris stand up happily and get ready, her swaying posture has a unique style, and a complex color flashed in her eyes.

  In the living room

  Hugh-Lord Howard is sitting in a chair and tasting coffee. He is a regular customer here, and he has not been here for a few days.

  "Mr. Commodore, a reception is being held in the mansion. As an important guest, why did you come to me to catch the autumn breeze? Is it because the coffee here is so good?" Li Fushou walked in from the outside while speaking.

   "I bring you good news, but it sounds unwelcome. This really makes me very disappointed."

   "Come on, man." After Li Fushou sat down, he took a sip of fragrant tea to moisturize his throat, glanced at the other person and said; "What good news? It makes me happy to say it."

  Hugh-Lord Howard was not in a hurry to tell the good news, but looked at Li Fushou carefully, as if he wanted to see something on his face.

  Li Fushou immediately became vigilant; "What are you looking at?"

  "Oh, nothing, I just think you are a little absent-minded. You must know that the good news I brought is not ordinary good news. It must be highly respected in line with this news. In addition, we'd better open a bottle of red wine to celebrate."

   "Okay, okay, you successfully lifted my appetite." Li Fushou made a gesture, and the secretary immediately turned away quietly and took the red wine for the good news.

  The two chatted a few words

  The secretary came in with a tray. On the tray were two red wine glasses and an opened wine from Bordeaux Château in France.

  The secretary walked closer and put down the tray and poured the red wine. Li Fushou waved his hand and said; "My lord and I want to talk about something, you all go down."

   "Understood, sir."

  The secretary, the maid and the guards in the dark left one after another. Li Fushou took the red wine glass and bowed it to Lord Hugh Howard, taking a sip first.

  The good news that Lord Howard said is not hard to guess. It must be about the imperial navy’s garrison in Borneo.

  Li Fushou was shocked by the tremendous energy of the top aristocrats. In just a few days, there was certain news. It was almost full of hands and eyes. He was very interested in what step the Duke of Norfolk could do?

   "Let me guess, the Dutch royal family once again refused to marry Princess Wilhelmina, right?"

  What Li Fushou said made Hugh-Lord Howard's brows clearly raised, and he took another sip of red wine in silence. His performance made waves in Li Fushou's heart;

  Grandma's special, really!

  Li Fushou had the attitude of hitting two shots with dates and no dates. He didn't expect to get caught. These British guys are really cunning. In this case, he chose to bet on both sides. Anyway, the final winner is the British guy.

  A moment of silence

Lord Hugh Howard sighed faintly, and said with a constipated expression; "Lee, your wisdom has surprised me very much. It makes me feel that every conversation with you is a war. This is really very Tiring, can't the two of us open up like close friends, relax and talk about something?"

   "Well, Hugh, I don't know what makes you feel this way, but let's open our hearts and talk about it. Will this matter give you a noble title?"

   "What?" Lord Hugh Howard was shocked at the moment, feeling horribly staring at Li Fushou, his eyes as if he was looking at a monster.

  Li Fushou said in a joking tone; "Is it hard to guess? I think for a top noble child with no desires, this trip to Australia may be a trivial trip in his boring career.

  Perhaps visiting the beautiful scenery of the Red River Valley, Sydney and Melbourne will make him feel better in a short time, but compared with the extravagant prom in London, it is nothing worth mentioning.

  What makes you... Honorable Lord Hugh Howard is so concerned that even if you work with your brother or even the respectable Duke, you must get the result you want as soon as possible?

  For the second son of the family without inheritance rights, I think a noble title is enough. This is a very simple reasoning question. "

"It's really hard to believe, but... how do you know that Lord Duke of Norfolk also played an important role in this?" Lord Hugh Howard has long lost the usual calm and graceful look on his face, but is full of shock. The color.

"Is it hard to guess?" Li Fushou said the same thing for the second time. He put down the wine glass in his hand and explained sincerely to Lord Hugh Howard; "Look...man, I used to hang out in the upper class in London. After a long time, it was not a country nobleman who knew nothing. The eldest brother, Lord Philip Howard, was an assistant to the Secretary of the Admiralty. His energy might influence the decision-making of the Admiralty, but it would definitely not affect Downing Street. It’s different for a Duke of Norfolk who apologizes for his second son. I think this kind of conversation is enough to prove that I’m opening my heart to be good friends with you, isn’t it?"

   "God, it is better for us to keep a certain distance."

   "Hugh, this will disappoint me very much."

   "Lee, I have to refuse cruelly. I have almost no secrets to keep in front of you, but thankfully... there is a major mistake in your guess."

   "Oh, I am listening."

Lord Hugh Howard showed a complacent look on his face and said, "The idea of ​​marrying the Dutch royal family was not originally proposed by the Duke of Norfolk, but the matter was again promoted by the father himself. Of course, you I also fully expected that the Dutchman was completely ignorant, which gave us reason to slap him severely backhand."

"It's really wonderful." Li Fushou couldn't help but admired; "The distinguished Duke of Norfolk gently pushed the essence of the matter completely. Downing Street and the Imperial Admiralty must not mind the little ones. I would punish the Dutch and reap the respect of the Earl of Queensland and the four heavy cruisers of 8,800 tons. I think there is nothing more perfect than this."

  "No, no, no...Under the circumstances that we have made such a big sacrifice, your contribution should be 4 first-class battleships with a displacement of more than 10,000 tons, and 12,000 tons is a very suitable number."

   "Hugh, don't overdo it, this is absolutely impossible."

   "Dear Li, I really need it very much. You know I won't be willing to get only a low-ranking title, so I need your help very much. You can get my sincere friendship."

   "Sorry, your friendship is too expensive, I can't afford it."

There will be a chapter later, which will be sent out before 4 pm. For the sake of the code word of the grapes, please don’t be stingy to throw out the monthly ticket. The recommended ticket smashes me. If you can move your fingers to collect it, I am grateful for it, thank you Thanks a lot.

  (End of this chapter)