Chapter 472 Money and Conscience

"So, were those people really the National Defense Force?" Jon's father didn't recover for a long time. When little Jon reminded himself to go back to the house, he asked in disbelief.

"It should be no problem, Jon. We also went to the military parade, and I saw one of them. He was in the parade at that time." Although Jon's mother was also a little dazed, she quickly came to her senses and explained to Jon's father.

After all, there is no benefit in pretending to be a soldier, not to mention that these soldiers seem to distribute supplies to all the quarantined people. No one would do this without the support of the government.

"Oh my God, this is incredible. Little Jon, remember, you must not leave this house. Those soldiers fighting on the front line are transporting supplies for us, how can we not obey the government's orders?" Jon's father came to his senses and issued the most stringent requirements to little Jon and his wife.

Like Jon's family, such scenes still appear in many quarantine points. It's not just Sydney. Almost all four regular divisions were dispatched this time, and even two guard divisions were helping to transport supplies.

These soldiers can be seen at almost every quarantine point in every city in every state.

At first, people were surprised by the appearance of soldiers, and even more surprised that these soldiers delivered supplies for free without asking for anything in return.

But soon, people gradually began to adapt. After all, before the supplies were in short supply, these soldiers delivered a new round of supplies, which also made the quarantined people and the soldiers familiar with each other.

Unlike the imagined serious and distant army, the Australasian army spoke in a very gentle tone when transporting supplies to the people, and tried to consider the people as much as possible.

For some people with inconvenience in their legs and feet, or lack of labor at home, the soldiers would deliver supplies to the house for free, and even help with some small things within their ability.

This surprised and delighted the Australasians, and under all kinds of complicated emotions, they finally turned into a sentence: "Long live His Majesty!" and "Long live Australasia!"

At the beginning of this flu, Arthur did what he promised in his speeches on various occasions. The army was to protect the interests of the royal family and the people, as well as Arthur's promise at the coronation ceremony, that is, to always pay attention to the safety of people's lives and property.

If there is a more accurate support statistics agency at this time, it can be found that the public's support for Arthur has suddenly increased during this period.

Of course, this does not mean that the public did not support Arthur before. If you have to describe it specifically, the public loved Arthur before, and the public is fanatical about Arthur now.

With the army's involvement in the transportation of materials, the problem of insufficient personnel for material transportation in various places has finally been solved.

But at the same time, because of the wartime state and isolation system in Australasia, a large number of foreign immigrants and tourists were forced to be isolated in ports, which also caused a series of diplomatic disputes and problems.

On June 7, 1918, Foreign Minister Dize, looking worried, asked to see Arthur. As soon as they met, he began to complain: "Your Majesty, our major ports have now quarantined more than 100,000 immigrants and tourists. Some people are dissatisfied with our quarantine system, and even many European countries are asking about it."

These 100,000 immigrants and tourists come from all over the world, including Russians, British, French, Italians, Americans, etc.

Most of them are immigrants, but a considerable number are also tourists. After all, Australasia has a very beautiful natural environment and a large number of islands suitable for living and tourism.

Australasia occupies almost all of Oceania's land (except Hawaii and other US territories), and the entire South Pacific is dotted with a large number of islands and archipelagos in Australasia, which are also excellent tourist attractions.

Seeing that the economies of various countries are recovering after the war, it is also a year of explosive growth in Australasia's tourism.

But because of the quarantine system promulgated by Arthur, the number of tourists and immigrants may be greatly reduced, and there may even be protests and conflicts from other countries.

"Communicate with all foreign tourists and allow them to choose to stay in Australasia or return on the spot. If they want to leave, the government will provide them with travel expenses. As for all tourists who choose to stay in Australasia, tell them to wait quietly for a month. Australasia is doing this for their own good." Arthur immediately gave the solution without any hesitation.

People now don't know how serious this flu is, so they are naturally not satisfied with Australasia's quarantine system.

Arthur doesn't indulge them, and they are unwilling to accept the quarantine system and leave. It just happens to save Arthur some expenses to make more masks for distribution to Australasia people.

With Arthur's order, more than 70% of tourists chose to leave, but nearly 30% of tourists continued to stay in Australasia.

After all, Australasia has been so high-profile in isolating across the country, and these people also believe in the flu information disclosed by Australasia.

Australasia's free treatment policy for foreign immigrants and domestic citizens also makes these people envious. If there is really an outbreak of flu, then choosing to join Australasia immediately seems to be a good way out.

Since the Australasian government announced a national quarantine, the number of immigrants from Europe to Australasia has dropped by nearly half.

Although Australasia is indeed very attractive to immigrants, most immigrants are unwilling to accept Australasia's quarantine system, not to mention that nothing has happened.

Arthur doesn't care about this at all. When the flu breaks out, these people will know how valuable the quarantine system is.

In addition, Australasia's free treatment and free supplies for citizens will definitely attract more immigrants.

This flu first broke out in the Kansas military camp in the United States, which is also Arthur's way of sanctioning the United States.

As long as we wait until the flu is serious and publicize it, the attractiveness of immigrants in the United States will definitely plummet.

In this way, the impact on the attractiveness of immigrants will last at least 3 to 5 years. Within 3 to 5 years, the attractiveness of immigrants in the United States will be greatly reduced, and Australasia will be a direct beneficiary at that time.

Australasia, Australian Timor, Dili City.

The interior of a department store that should have been very inconspicuous is now crowded with people.

People are wearing masks and picking out the supplies they need in this seemingly small store.

Outside the store, a striking sign clearly reads: During the flu season, all commodities will remain unchanged in price, and people over 70 years old will enjoy a 30% discount.

When the view returns to the store, it is discovered that the figures in the store are basically hunched over, and at a glance, they are all elderly people over 70 years old.

If it were in normal times, I'm afraid the store owner would not look very happy. After all, everyone is over 70 years old, which also means that everyone will enjoy a 30% discount.

Although this is the largest city in Timor, the population of Timor is not too large, and it is separated from Australasia by the ocean, which has increased the shipping cost invisibly.

If it is the original price, the boss can still earn a little hard work fee. But if all are sold at a 30% discount, let alone hard work fees, I'm afraid even the cost will be lost.

After all, Australasia has had strict restrictions on commodity prices since the outbreak of the war. In addition, Australasia is rich in products, and the income level of residents has increased slightly, but the price has not increased too much.

It stands to reason that the boss will be in a bad mood if he loses money. But the owner of this store, watching everyone choosing supplies, had a smile on his face, and kindly helped some elderly people who couldn't carry the goods to the door.

Although the owner knew that there were young people waiting outside the door, he didn't care at all, as if the money lost due to the discount was not his own.

"Nick, is it necessary to continue the discount? All the elderly people in Dili are eager to go out, and our losses have exceeded 2,000 Australian dollars." Standing next to the boss, the middle-aged woman who was obviously very close to the boss asked with a worried look on her face.

"Of course it is necessary to continue, Alice. We are all Australasians. Isn't it meaningful to help each other in such a critical moment? Besides, His Majesty has paid much more than us, and even mobilized all the troops. If we are not willing to pay even this little bit, how can we have the face to call ourselves His Majesty's subjects?" The boss named Nick shook his head repeatedly, looked at his wife and comforted her: "Money can be earned again, but if the love and patriotism for His Majesty are gone, life will be meaningless."

With that, Nick stuffed two more apples into the basket of the old man beside him without any hesitation, and said with a smile: "Take it away, no money."

"You are really, whatever you say is reasonable." The woman named Alice shook her head, and her hands moved quickly, and she stuffed two pieces of bread into the old man's basket.

"Alas, I just hope this damn flu will pass quickly and not harm us, otherwise His Majesty will be so worried!" After finishing his work, Nick suddenly sighed, looked at the government building in the distance, and said.

"Nick! Nick!"

A sudden shout interrupted Nick's meditation. Nick looked into the distance and saw his good friend, Henry, a large farmer and rancher in Timor.

"Henry! Why are you here? Aren't you taking care of your cattle and sheep and farm?" Henk asked with surprise.

Henry is one of the large farmers and ranchers in Timor. He owns more than 2,000 cattle and sheep and hundreds of hectares of farms. He is a famous rich man in Timor.

Although he has a lot of assets, it is precisely because of such a large number of cattle, sheep and farms that Henry has almost no time to relax and play. After all, he still needs to take care of his own business.

"Look at what you said, Nick, can't I go out for a walk if I have nothing to do?" Henry asked with a smile.

"It's possible, but no normal person should go out when the flu is so serious!" Nick looked at his friend with disbelief and said with a little sarcasm.

"Okay, you, no more jokes. Australasia is facing a big crisis right now, and as an Australasian, I can't just sit there and watch. I've prepared 200 cattle and sheep, and thousands of tons of food, and I'll sell them here. The price is half of the market price, but it can only be sold to low-income people and the elderly, and each person must be limited. You can also use the money you earn to buy goods for your store. It's not easy to hold on for so many days." Henry patted Nick on the shoulder and smiled and told him the real purpose of his visit.

"You?" Nick was surprised by Henry's words, and didn't know what to say for a moment. There was only one word in his mind, and that was touched.

"Okay, Nick, you can't do something for His Majesty and the people of Australasia, why can't I? Remember, it can only be sold to the elderly and low-income people, and each person is limited. Don't embezzle it, but I prepared it for the low-income people in the flu." Henry put his arm around Nick's shoulders, looked at his friend, and said with a smile.

"Damn, I'm not that kind of person." Nick hurriedly explained, and the tears that had been brewing in his eyes disappeared instantly.

"Okay, okay, I have something else to do, so I won't bother you. Do a good job, brother, I'm proud of you." Henry patted Nick on the shoulder and asked his men to transport the beef, mutton and food that I had prepared and evenly stacked them in Nick's warehouse.

Fortunately, Timor's population is not too large, and the land is not that valuable. Nick's warehouse is not far from the department store, and it is large enough to hold all the supplies.

Although there are more than 200 beef and mutton in total, it is winter in Australasia after all, so it is no problem to store them for a few days.

Timor has a large population. If people know that there are half-price beef, mutton and grain, the meat will not be stored in the warehouse for too long.

Watching his friend leave, Nick stood blankly at the door of his store. After a while, he said with emotion: "I am proud of you, my brother."

Nick did not hide the news that there was a new batch of beef, mutton and grain in the store, and did not even hide the price.

Of course, it is necessary to limit the purchase of each person. After all, the total weight of 200 cattle and sheep is only more than 100,000 catties, which is only more than one catty per person in Timor.

If it is only sold to low-income people and the elderly, the group that can buy beef and mutton will also be reduced, but it will also exceed more than 10,000 people.

In order to ensure that everyone can buy enough beef and mutton, Nick stipulates that each person can buy a maximum of two catties at a time and can only buy it once a day.

Fortunately, Dili is not big, and Nick is still clear about the family situation of most people. For the real low-income people, Nick knows the approximate range and only allows these people to buy half-price beef and mutton.

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