Chapter 135 An Unexpected Visitor (Happy New Year!)

On November 12, 1902, at the end of the whole year of 1902, Australia welcomed an unexpected guest.

At the beginning of this year, the island country signed an alliance treaty with the British Empire. The purpose of this alliance treaty is to curb the expansion of Tsarist Russia in East Asia and also to protect the interests of both countries.

In fact, this treaty will also lead to the Russo-Japanese War two years later. After defeating the Far East Army of Tsarist Russia, the island country will also be formally recognized by other powers, and will become one of the powers in terms of strength and status.

However, this has no effect on Arthur and Australia. Australia's current sphere of influence is only in Oceania, and it has not even set foot in Southeast Asia, let alone the more distant East Asia.

But Arthur did not expect that Australia would also welcome the visit of the island country.

This is a fleet from the island country. Most of the warships in the fleet are new warships produced in the UK, and even the naval soldiers are specially trained in the UK.

Because of the construction of the navy from top to bottom, the current scale of the island country's navy is still large, and it can even be compared with some powerful countries.

Arthur did not understand the purpose of the island country delegation, but he still asked Butler Hunter to welcome the delegation with a smile on his face.

At the same time, Arthur also ordered the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs to accompany him and find out the purpose of the island country delegation as soon as possible.

Therefore, a unique business negotiation began in the Australian government building.

The participants in the meeting were Australia's Deputy Foreign Minister, Royal Butler Hunter, and the head of the island country delegation Yukiichiro Yuzawa and the diplomatic envoy Hirano Toshisuke.

At the beginning, Yukiichiro Yuzawa was very respectful. Even though the island country was far more powerful than Australia, he still said respectfully: "Dear Australian Deputy Foreign Minister, Mr. Hunter, the royal butler, please allow me to express my high respect to Australia and His Royal Highness the Duke."

"Australia and the British Empire have a good relationship, and our island country has just signed an alliance treaty with the British Empire. As the saying goes, a friend of a friend is a friend. I think we can also establish a friendly treaty to strengthen our cooperation." Yukiichiro Yuzawa said straight to the point.

"Mr. Yukiichiro Yuzawa, we understand your request. I wonder what cooperation you are talking about?" Australia's Deputy Foreign Minister asked with a skilled smile.

"Australia is a prosperous and rich mining country, and many minerals are what we need now. I think we can establish a trade treaty to strengthen the relationship between our two countries and solve the problem of our mineral shortage." Yukiichiro Yuzawa said.

Although the island country has gone through decades of reform and has established a certain scale of industry, it has embarked on the road of westernization and rise.

However, because the island country has a small land area and is a long and narrow island country, the domestic mineral resources are not rich, which also restricts the development of industry in disguise.

Take the current steel production that can measure the industrial level. Although the annual output of the island country's steel mills can reach more than 50,000 tons, even if the production is increased, it can exceed 100,000 tons.

However, there are not so many iron ore and coal mines in the island country, which also leads to the current actual steel production of the island country. The amount of production depends entirely on the supply of coal and iron ore.

Australia seems much happier in this regard. After more than two years of development, although Australia's industry has only produced about 61,000 tons and 93,000 tons of steel, the supply of iron ore and coal is unlimited.

At present, Australia's steel production has even exceeded that of the island countries. Although it is still far behind the European powers, it has barely reached the level of ordinary European countries.

You know, Australia's industrial development has only been more than two years, and both the island countries and European countries have consumed decades.

This is Australia's innate advantage, which can be regarded as unique in terms of minerals.

Australia's Deputy Foreign Minister nodded calmly, but he was thinking about the problem in his heart.

Before this negotiation, Arthur had already specifically informed that the island country was a country from the country to the people, and Australia could not become an ally with it.

Although Arthur did not explicitly refuse the possible trade with the island country, it can be seen from Arthur's attitude that it is probably not so easy for the island country to obtain Australia's mineral resources for free.

"Mr. Yukiichiro Yuzawa, to be honest, Australia does have relatively rich mineral resources. But it is currently facing a more serious problem, that is, due to population reasons, the amount of mining in Australia is not enough. In addition to ensuring the supply of Australia's industry, I am afraid that there is not much that can be distributed to the island countries." After thinking for a while, the Deputy Foreign Minister smiled and said.

"If your country is short of manpower, we can send a group of miners to help Australia with production. Of course, the minerals produced still belong to Australia, and your country only needs to pay the wages of these miners." Yukiichiro Yuzawa proposed.

As the situation between the island countries and Russia becomes more and more intense, the possibility of war cannot be ruled out.

If a war breaks out, the storage and supply of various resources will be a big problem for resource-poor island countries.

After receiving a large amount of financial assistance from the United Kingdom and the United States, the island country is not actually short of funds at present. Instead, it lacks a short and very effective source of material supply.

Although the United States and the British Empire can provide corresponding materials, the prices charged by these two countries are relatively high, and the distance is relatively far, making transportation inconvenient.

The only country that is relatively close to the island country and has rich mineral resources is Australia.

In addition, Australia and the United Kingdom have a very good relationship, and the island country has just signed an alliance with the United Kingdom.

In the eyes of the island country, Australia is an excellent supplier of mineral resources, which is why this diplomatic mission came to Australia.

"That's not necessary, Mr. Yuzawa Yukiichiro. We will solve the production of mineral resources in Australia by ourselves, and we don't need your help for the time being. We are also happy to export some mineral resources to your country, and even let some factories give up some supply at any cost. But you know, those capitalists will not give in without interests, and the price of raw materials may rise. But please rest assured that no matter how high the price is, it will not exceed twice the original price, and we will organize people to expand the scale of production as soon as possible." The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs said with a smile.

Ask you two questions. One is that a book friend suggested changing the name of this book. The title is currently irrelevant to the content. I don't know what you think. I do have this plan, but I have to ask your opinions first. Second, I have also revised it. The marriage with the Queen of the Netherlands has been cancelled. I don't know if you have noticed it. Are there any other suitable candidates for marriage? I am currently looking at the female nobles in Tsarist Russia. You can also make suggestions.