The next day, December 25, 1876, Christmas.
Brisbane's streets are full of festive atmosphere. Every family's Christmas tree is covered with colorful balls, children's favorite gifts, and candies in socks, adding a festive atmosphere to the holiday.
There are not many people on Handel Street. In this most grand and warm holiday of the year, white Australians prefer to stay in a warm room to reunite with their families. Roasted turkey is a must-have dish for Christmas, as well as Christmas roasted ham and salmon. Add corn soup, it is a sumptuous family dinner.
An independent courtyard in the bay
This is the residence of Mr. Edward, the Speaker of the Queensland State. The well-maintained garden shows the noble taste of the upper class in England. The exquisite stone fountain is expensive and sets off the low-key luxurious aristocratic life.
The burning fireplace in the room brings a warm atmosphere, and the rhythm of the piano comes.
Yelina was sitting on the piano bench in full dress, her white and slender fingers were playing beautiful music, and the notes wandered like water.
A young officer in the uniform of the British Imperial Navy stood beside the elegant Beisendorfer piano, with one arm resting on the piano easily, and the other hand holding a crystal red wine glass, indulged in the beautiful music .
This person is Yelena's brother Edward Jr., serving in the South Pacific Task Force of the British Imperial Navy. He is the 2,000-ton steam-powered wooden shell battleship "Warrior" Captain Street Sailor Captain, a noble-born naval officer.
"Mr. Captain, how would you comment on this Mozart minuet, by the way; Merry Christmas."
The well-dressed Mr. Edward walked in with a red wine glass in his hand, and politely touched the glass with his son little Edward, and took a sip from the glass.
Mr. Edward's gray hair is combed without mess, and he still maintains the usual elegant demeanor at home, as if he was meeting the queen at Buckingham Palace and abide by the rigorous aristocratic etiquette.
"Mr. Navy Colonel, I have to say that this is a wonderful dance piece, but unfortunately no one dances with it." Little Edward stood up straight and replied, showing respect.
Speaker Edward has served in the British Imperial Navy for a long time. He retired from the rank of colonel and turned to politics. He prefers to be called Mr. Colonel rather than Speaker, to show that he has never forgotten the glory of the world.
"Tonight, your mother, Catherine, specially held a dance party, inviting all the upper class ladies of Queensland to participate. You can spend a wonderful evening."
Little Edward replied with regret; "Thank you, there are no more than 10 high-class ladies you mentioned. It is difficult for me to choose my favorite dance partner among them."
"This is the reality of Queensland, and we have to accept it."
Speaker Edward shrugged regretfully. He is now focusing on the major event of running for governor in August next year. He doesn't think much about his son's lifelong happiness.
"The ladies of the upper class in Queensland, each is like a proud peacock. I have to compete with my navy colleagues and other equally good young people. To be honest, Mr. Colonel, I am really tired of this. Why? We can't think about civilian women, because this choice will be much larger."
"No, I will not allow civilian women to tarnish the noble lineage of the Edwardian family. We are from the oldest Viscount family in Manchester. This will be laughed at by the upper class."
"Mr. Colonel, I have to remind you that it was my uncle who inherited the hereditary viscountry of the Edwardian family, and we are in Australia tens of thousands of miles away from the British Isles. No one in the Manchester aristocracy cares what we are thinking about. what…"
"Shut up, stop your irresponsible remarks."
Speaker Edward was finally irritated, and the red wine glass in his hand kept rippling, showing that his heart was far from the tranquility he had shown.
It's just that because of the good cultivation of the nobles, they have been trying their best to restrain.
At some point, Yelena stopped playing.
She saw her father and brother staring at each other and interjected at the right time; "Please let us calm down, gentlemen, the combativeness you showed makes me uneasy."
After finishing speaking, she stretched out her white arms, little Edward leaned very gentlemanly and took her hand, Yelena got up from the piano bench, and her slender waist was gripped.
"God, this fishbone skirt is suffocating me and I can't breathe. One day I will faint and die on the dance floor. It's really embarrassing."
"Yelena, you are such a naked person, which makes everyone feel heartbroken."
"Thank you for your compliment." After the success relieved the tension, Yelena said, holding the arm of her little brother Edward;
"Look... No one can deny that we have the noble blood of the Edwardian family flowing in our bodies. There are actually many solutions to the dilemma you are facing, but this does not include marrying a civilian woman, Mr. Captain of the Navy, and the beautiful Fiona will participate today. For the evening dance, I will create an opportunity for you to come into contact alone."
"Oh... Fiona, she is really beautiful." Little Edward knew that things were not that simple.
The South Pacific Task Force has only three old steam-powered wooden shell warships, but there are more than a thousand officers and soldiers, including nearly 100 officers.
Half of these people are young military officers without a family, and each of them is a young rooster in estrus, and is his own powerful challenger.
To be honest, under the stimulation of hormones, nothing can stop these young naval officers from pursuing beautiful noble women.
Especially in Australia, where there are many men and few women, white women are always a scarce species and need to be imported in large quantities from Ireland. Even so, they are far from being able to meet the demand.
Young and beautiful aristocratic women are even more rare species. There are no more than 10 women of the right age in Brisbane, all of them robbed their heads.
"Don't worry, my dear brother, I have everything arranged."
"Well, I hope so."
"Fiona's father, Sir Dennis, is the president of the Royal Gold Miners Association of the British Empire. He has a very influential figure in Queensland. If Mr. Navy colonel wants to run for governor successfully, he must get his full support." Yelena looked in admiration. He looked at his father Edward, and continued to speak with a more serious tone;
"Mr. Navy captain, this is not only related to your lifelong happiness, but also significant to your father's governorship race in August next year, so we can't let this opportunity pass."
Speaking of business affairs, little Edward's face also became serious, and he looked at his father with inquiring eyes.
Speaker Edward nodded solemnly. There is no need to hide this important decision from his children. This will be a bet on the road to politics.
The elected governor of the Queensland Autonomous State, under normal circumstances, will be named a lifelong baronial street by Queen Victoria of the British Empire, as a show of grace and honor.
Speaker Edward is a concubine born in a noble family, and he has no chance to inherit the family viscountry. If he can get the Queen's award, it might be the best way to make up for the regrets in life.
This is also the goal he is unswervingly pursuing, and there is no room for loss.
A family of three reached an agreement on this point, and the atmosphere became brisk again. Speaker Edward chatted casually about some impressive and interesting things in Queensland.
"...It was originally a well-planned hunting, but it turned into a **** massacre. That stupid German rancher Ludendorff died on the spot and became a joke for others to talk about after dinner. It is really ridiculous."
The hot news that Speaker Edward talked about aroused great interest from little Edward; "Gatling hand-cranked heavy machine gun is indeed a sharp weapon invented by the Americans. It can change local warfare on its own, but the price is too expensive. If it cannot be widely equipped in the army, that would bankrupt the British Empire's War Department."
"Exactly correct. This is the weapon equipped with the bulletproof carriage imported from the United States. It is a gadget for the rich."
"Oh, then, this Chinese named [Li] is very rich."
"More than money, even I can't help but be stunned." Speaker Edward's gray-blue eyes flashed with greed.
Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, is a small city with a population of less than 100,000. Nothing can be hidden from the actual ruler of the British. Not saying anything does not mean that you don't know.
"This [Li] is a bold and reckless young man from the East. I have never heard of the Chinese being so aggressive and aggressive, and they are always shooting at each other. This is very similar to a Russian bear.
According to the news from the Immigration Department;
[Lee]Together with Mr. Wexford, they reselled Australian citizenship certificates to Chinese gold prospectors at a high price, thus making a lot of money.
Preliminary estimates, the total amount is more than 100,000 pounds..."
"Oh Maiga, £100,000?" Little Edward couldn't help screaming.
In the age of steam ironclad ships, what is the concept of £100,000?
Germany's cutting-edge navy Canterbury-class ironclad battleship, worth 1.4 million taels of silver, which is approximately 130,000 pounds at the current exchange rate.
Some people may not know the Canterbury iron-clad battleship, but they will know that the Dingyuan and Zhenyuan ships ordered by the Manchu Empire in Germany are the same-level battleships as the Canterbury-class iron-clad battleships, with the same armament and displacement.
"Dingyuan" is a second-class battleship with a displacement of 7220 tons and a maximum speed of 14.5 knots. It has two twin-mounted 305mm main guns and two 150mm secondary guns. The maximum armor thickness is 305-355mm. The firepower is extremely fierce. .
"Of course, this 100,000 pounds is not taken up by two people alone, but includes the upper level of Queensland, and Governor Frank is no less than 10,000 pounds."
Edward saw his sons and daughters focus on him, spread his hands and said; "I have a share, of course I also took several thousand pounds, which is what I deserve."
"That said, this oriental man named [Li] is a man of influence. He not only bought the Red River Valley Ranch, but also used money to draw the entire upper level of Queensland into corruption. Isn't he afraid that he will be targeted?" Thoughts.
"It has been targeted. Even if the ranchers Smith and Ludendorff succeeded in an ambush, they would not enjoy the biggest cake. They were just the little pawns pushed to the front desk, but the eastern kid was very vigilant and has been developing himself. The armed forces of the United Kingdom, there is no suitable reason, we are not easy to start, and we must not affect the good reputation of the British Empire."
"It is true, and we should proceed with caution." Little Edward was convinced. The sense of honor of the Imperial Navy made him unable to ignore: "We must do something, not let the worms corrupt the healthy body of the empire."
Speaker Edward smiled slyly and said: "The Chinese gold prospectors in Queensland have sent a huge sum of more than 800,000 pounds to the East until October this year, but the numbers have declined sharply since October, and only a few thousand pounds in December. , Where is this huge wealth?"
"You mean to buy a certificate of naturalization at a high price?" Yelena responded quickly.
"Yes, the answer is correct."
"What is the countermeasure of the National Assembly?"
"It's very simple. It's far easier to get this money from a few people than from 36,000 Chinese gold diggers." Speaker Edward smiled happily, and it seemed that everything was in order.
Little Edward and Yelena's brothers and sisters suddenly realized, and let out a long sigh of relief, with a faint smile on their faces.
"The thing that bothers me the most is... they might hook up with Frank." Edward sighed faintly, his eyes gleaming inexplicably; "The Irishman Wexford tried his best to persuade Governor Frank, through the State Attorney's Office. The Ludendorff Ranch has been sealed, and a small-scale public auction is being prepared in the near future. I think...this may be part of the transaction."
"You mean...for [Li]'s sweetness." Yelena seemed to understand.
Speaker Edward nodded heavily; "Let's wait and see, the cunning fox will eventually show its tail."
"You said [Li] I may also know, I have seen a magical oriental technique at the freighter terminal." Yelena frowned and recalled that she did not expect the comet-like rise of this young oriental man, and it has grown to be able to The extent to which it affects the situation in Queensland as a whole, how unreasonable this is!
"Then what is your impression of this person?"
"I can only say... it's amazing."
is amazing?
Speaker Edward chewed these three words repeatedly, without any extra expression on his face, but his eyes became deeper.
(End of this chapter)