Chapter 402 Princess of the United States

   mid-May 1884

  Red River Valley

  Queensland Self-Government Office, Governor’s Office.

  As the governor, Li Fushou met here with members of the Australian Mediation Representative Team of the Colonial Department headed by the Marquis of Winchester. Both the host and the guest spoke in harmony, showing a good atmosphere.

  The Marquis of Winchester is a 34-year-old young aristocratic gentleman. He is personable and distinguished. His speech and behavior reveal that he has a good aristocratic education, and he is a standard English gentleman.

  From all aspects, it is perfect.

  The only shortcoming is poor, there is definite evidence to show that;

  In order to maintain a decent life in the upper class, Mr. Marquis of Winchester has sold valuable paintings, works of art and jewelry in the castle, and now it can be said that he is a family member.

  There are many, many more British aristocrats like him.

  "I have to be amazed that the wealth of Lord Queensland's territory is far beyond my imagination. If I am not mistaken, the population here even exceeds Belize or Manchester. Oh my God, it is really unimaginable!"

  "Thank you for your compliment, Honorable Mr. Winchester, I would rather own a castle in London than a city here. He is too remote, far away from the political and economic center of the world."

   "Hehe... you are right, I agree with you."

  "A few years ago, I was fortunate enough to visit London. The luxurious life of the upper class in London left a deep impression on me and was deeply fascinated by it."

  "If you can get such a high evaluation from you, there must be only London, the world's center city, and it really deserves it."

  Mr. Marquis of Winchester raised his head proudly. He was wearing a fitting expensive tuxedo. Next to the chair was a valuable walking stick worth more than 140 pounds. He was confident in his speech and could not see any trace of a pauper.

  This is the down-and-out British nobleman who wears almost half of his property on his body. If he falls outside, he can declare bankruptcy directly.

  The real billionaire Li Fushou has a decent smile on his face. He doesn't seem to know the details of the other party at all, and he has the right balance.

actually

  The foreign agencies in the United Kingdom have long since eliminated the investigation of the Marquis of Winchester. In addition to owning a large castle that has been in disrepair, he has almost nothing to do with his family.

  Furthermore, Mr. Winchester was only a small role in the British Overseas Colony Department, with a weekly salary of 13 pounds and 7 shillings.

  In theory

  A salary of more than 700 pounds a year is enough to maintain a decent life for the middle class or small nobles, but for Mr. Winchester Marquis, this is just a drop in the bucket.

Just to maintain the basic functions of the huge castle building requires the employment of no less than 60 servants (this is already the minimum), and the two sets of carriages required to attend valuable occasions and peacetime require no less than 5,000 pounds a year. He cannot afford to pay for money.

  The British Overseas Colony Department was originally established in 1768, mainly to deal with North American colonial affairs. After the North American War of Independence, the 13 North American states were separated from the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom and established an independent state, and the status of the Overseas Colony Department declined sharply.

  In 1801, it was merged into the Army and Colony Department.

  In 1854, with the rapid expansion of the British Empire colony during the Victorian period, in response to the heavy colonial affairs, the government split the army and the colony department into two departments, the War Department and the Colony Department.

  The Colonial Department is specifically responsible for handling colonial affairs and is in charge of the newly established colonial minister.

  The Colonial Department is not the department responsible for handling all British overseas territories. The Indian Department is responsible for the Indian affairs. The Governor of India is directly responsible for the affairs of the British protectorates, while the affairs of the British protectorates such as Egypt are handed over to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The three are clearly separated.

  The two sides said something ill-nourished for a while, and gradually got to the point.

  The Marquis of Winchester's slender white fingers rubbed on the jade carvings with the precious walking sticks, and said in a tone full of London flavor;

"Lord Gulliver, the Minister of the Colony Department, was deeply concerned about the situation in Australia that day. He entrusted us to investigate and mediate. He has been here for more than a month and a half and has conducted detailed visits in the southern states of New South Wales and Victoria. , What I heard and saw is not satisfactory..."

  He is well versed in the skills of conversation, but he talked about it in a misty manner, anyway, the listener knew it.

There are some situations that don’t need to be clear, let alone point out the problem by name and surname. Most of them are "deeply worried", "disturbing", "expecting a better solution", and "expecting both sides to put down their prejudices and start frankly and honestly." Sincere talks", such ambiguous words.

Li Fushou also responded with a serious look, saying "um", "ah", "I think so too", "looking forward to better results", "firmly maintaining Australia's unified market unshakable" and other formulaic language, and once again emphasized Uphold its solemn position.

  The meeting lasted for more than an hour and ended in formulaic rhetoric.

  In order to welcome the 7 people from the mediation team to arrive in Queensland, Governor Li Fushou hosted a grand dinner and dance party to entertain the group from London in the evening.

  The party did not end, and Li Fushou left.

  According to his words;

  It’s okay. I don’t have any more time to waste on this beggar from London. Just entertain him.

  In fact

  Full of enthusiasm for the nobles from London, the upper-class people of Red River Valley and Brisbane, luxurious dance parties and dinner parties one after another, it seems that there will never be an end.

Uh... the mediation team also entertains the same standard in Sydney and Melbourne. They dealt with proms and lavish dinners all day, and they did not go to the frontline countryside to understand the real situation. These old bureaucrats from London didn't bother to do so. , Too demeaning.

  Ten days passed in a flash

  Red Fort, Lingxiao Pavilion

  Li Fushou and Xin Changjun sat opposite each other on the sofa. In front of them was a pot of fragrant cloud tea. They drank and talked.

   "Yuan Ding, you can't be authentic to do this. These days, you have thrown all the mediation team to us, and you don't even see the shadow."

   "I know that Brother Changjun is a great talent, and he can deal with this group of beggars."

  "My Lord Yuanding, Mr. Marquis of Winchester is not a three-year-old child, he is not so foolish. He has expressed his dissatisfaction in various ways. Although he did not say it clearly, in fact his patience is almost dying."

   "Huh, I will let him die."

   "You can't say that. Although the Marquis of Winchester is a small and insignificant role in the colonial department, he may not have the ability to do things, but he must have the ability to do bad things."

   "So, this is his value, how much do you think it is worth?"

   "This...I can't be sure."

"Ha ha……"

Li Fushou smiled calmly, picked up the teacup and took a sip, letting the fragrant taste of tea linger in his mouth, and muttered and said; "The Colonial Minister Mr. Gulliver sent them to Australia, originally Did not expect to solve any problems.

  There are already policies on the situation in Australia. As we are about to face the 50th anniversary of Queen Victoria’s enthronment, it is better to do more than to do less. This time it is just to create an opportunity to give them the autumn wind and fill their exhausted pockets.

  In my opinion

  Giving money directly is too degrading, so let them buy shares, or the shares of Fulinmen Gas Cooker Company in a joint venture company in the United Kingdom, with an equity value of 40,000 pounds, and give Mr. Winchester a 20,000 pounds equity.

  In this case, you can get a stable income of more than 2,000 pounds a year.

  Of course, these shares are not given to them in vain. They are not worth my fight. If you want to buy real money, I just give them such a chance to buy shares. "

   "Bring out the real money? Ha ha ha... I don't think Mr. Winchester Marquis can take out 20,000 pounds, and it is not worth the money to sell him." Xin Changjun laughed at the words.

  "You are wrong. The Marquis of Winchester is not as downhearted as you think. This title alone is worth millions of pounds. There are countless American tycoons who are willing to pay for it."

   "Uh...what else?"

   "Of course, have you heard of American princesses?"

   "Yuanding, you mean..." Xin Changjun finally realized.

"Um!"

  Li Fushou nodded seriously, expressing his approval of the other party's guess.

   late 19th century

With the rapid economic take-off of the United States, a large number of factory owners and entrepreneurs have made great fortunes. These upstarts are rich and powerful but have no social status. They are simply looked down on in Europe and ridiculed as "American cowboys with black fingernails." ", "A group of rich and oily old hats."

at the same time

  In the prosperous and prosperous period of the Victorian era of the British Empire, London’s upper-class life is becoming more and more extravagant and desperate. It is more and more difficult to maintain a decent upper-class life.

  Many traditional aristocrats who lived only on land rent, out of stubborn and conservative concepts, failed to catch up with the wave of the industrial revolution and became demoralized.

  Handsome, decent and decent, status is precious, with good education and knowledge, and even more rare is the dazzling title of nobility on his head. The only drawback is poverty. This kind of down-and-out nobility is not uncommon in London.

Therefore, young British aristocrats advertised for marriage in New York, USA, which attracted wealthy American tycoons to chase, vying to marry their wealthy daughters into British aristocratic families, and at the same time bring a large sum of rich dowry. This is the so-called "US Princess".

  The down-and-out nobles fancy the money of the rich Americans, and the rich Americans fancy the status of the British aristocracy. The two seem to hit it off quickly.

  This was the case with Churchill’s mother, as was the case with the hostess of Downton Abbey. It was not uncommon at the end of the 19th century. Hundreds of American princesses married into English aristocratic families, and there was little real happiness.

  Mrs. Churchill gave birth to him within 7 months of marriage. It is said that she was born prematurely. I am afraid everyone knows the facts.

  On top of Mr. Winchester’s head is the title of Marquis aristocrat, with a long and glorious aristocratic heritage. Based on this alone, the value of millions of pounds is not excessive, and some American tycoons are willing to pay.

   Obediently gave her beautiful daughter, and offered a rich dowry of great value, at least millions of dollars.

   Coupled with the strong financial support after marriage, it is almost an investment that does not count the cost. It is possible that the million pounds is still less to say.

  (End of this chapter)