Chapter 233: Chapter 218: East Asian Famine and Overseas Students

At this time, Albert Einstein was still just a second-level technician at the Bern Patent Office in Switzerland. Although he had just won the Victoria Physics Prize, he was still only slightly famous in the field of physics in Europe because of his age, he was not highly valued in Switzerland.

At least with Einstein’s status as a second-level technician, some top laboratories were not accessible to him.

However, if he were to work for Australasia, not only would he automatically become the president of the Australian Physics Association, but he would also be able to use all the physics research laboratories in Australasia and hold positions such as Honorary Professor of Physics at Australasian National University. The level of attention he would receive would naturally be incomparable.

Albert Einstein was a German who had lived in Germany, Italy, and Switzerland, and did not have a strong allegiance to any one country.

His reason for choosing to become a Swiss citizen was mainly because he valued Switzerland’s neutral status and hoped to work in a peaceful home without the threat of war.

For this reason, when Einstein received Arthur’s invitation, he did not feel bound by any national obligation and instead seriously weighed the pros and cons of staying in Australia.

For a top scientist like Einstein, personal wealth was often not that important to him.

Moreover, just by winning the Victoria Prize, Einstein could receive a large amount of money and fame, so he naturally cared less about financial gain.

For Einstein, a good working environment and the satisfaction of his research needs were more important than anything else.

At present, perhaps Australasia’s academic community is not as developed as Switzerland’s, but at least the research facilities and funds are absolutely sufficient, and there is no need to worry about external disturbances.

Eventually, under Arthur’s persuasion and temptation, Einstein agreed to stay in Australasia as a temporary resident and serve as an Honorary Professor at the National University.

Although he did not directly become an Australasian citizen, it was only a matter of time.

Arthur generously promised to provide Einstein with at least 200,000 Australian dollars in research funds each year and offered to help him set up his own research team.

Except for some more important research, all of Einstein’s theoretical research belonged to him.

Einstein’s arrival not only added a physics heavyweight to Australasia but also brought a good mentor for Australasian physics talent.

It was believed that under the influence of Einstein, the Honorary Professor of Physics at the National University, more physics talent and experts would emerge from the Department of Physics at the National University, and Australasian research would also rank among the top in the world.

In February 1907, after the first funds from the Russian Empire arrived, construction began on the Russian orders at the Sydney Royal Shipyard.

The massive keels of two dreadnought battleships were laid, attracting a large number of domestic and foreign media observers, and Arthur also attended the opening ceremony of the two dreadnought battleships.

Although these two dreadnought battleships were built for Russia, they were entirely based on technology controlled by Australasia, and all the workers and experts involved in the construction were Australasians.

This was a memorable event in the naval history of Australasia because it brought the country to a world-class level in terms of dreadnought construction.

Accompanying Arthur at the opening ceremony was the Russian envoy to Australasia.

After the union between Russia and Australasia, the relationship between the two countries became even closer. Australasian products began to be sold to Russia, and Russia sent a large number of agricultural population to Australasia.

The two dreadnoughts were named Peter Pavlovskiy and Poltava by the Russians, coincidentally the same names as the first Gangut-class dreadnought battleships in Russian history. Now they were brought forward, which was also a coincidence.

Because their full load displacement reached 20,910 tons, the laying of the keel of these two battleships took a long time.

After the opening ceremony, all domestic and foreign media present were asked to leave, and the Royal Shipyard would become a military restricted area. Until the two battleships were launched, unrelated personnel were basically not allowed to approach.

In fact, the construction of dreadnoughts did not take a long time; the more time-consuming part was the sea trials and testing after they were launched.

The British Dreadnought-class battleship, which adopted many new technologies, was built in just four months, showcasing the British Empire’s industrial scale and efficiency.

Australasia’s construction time would be much slower. According to experts’ estimates, the Peter Pavlovskiy is expected to be launched for testing at the end of this year, and the Poltava is expected to be launched for testing in early next year.

If all goes well without any problems, the two battleships are expected to be delivered between the second half and the end of next year, around the end of 1908.

In mid-February, after more than a month of site selection, the location of the Australasian Royal Military Academy was finally determined to be in the western outskirts of the Capital Territory.

Of course, this is only the location of the Army and Aeronautical Colleges of the Military Academy. The Naval College would be located near Sydney Harbor, as naval training is inseparable from warships, which in turn require the ocean and harbor for training.

In order to make the Royal Military Academy bigger and more prestigious, Arthur went all out this time, extensively searching for military experts and professors in Europe and America to command the Royal Military Academy.

As the construction of the Royal Military Academy would take at least a year, the training facilities of the Aerospace Laboratory were not relocated temporarily but remained in the laboratory, carrying out pilot training programs.

So far, Arthur had several rounds of screening in the military, selecting hundreds of outstanding soldiers suitable to become pilots and assigning them a glorious and challenging task: mastering the aircraft driving techniques as soon as possible.

All those participating in pilot training summed up to about 800 people.

Once these individuals had thoroughly mastered driving techniques, Australasia would have its first batch of air force soldiers.

Also in February, the East Asian region suffered from severe famine due to natural disasters such as pests, malaria, and acid rain.

The major powers began to sell rice, flour, and grains at high prices in the affected areas, earning a large amount of ill-gotten wealth.

Arthur strongly condemned this behavior, so he ordered various grain depots in Australasia to transfer large quantities of grain to East Asia, joining the ranks of the powers.

Of course, on the surface, Arthur did take action, ostentatiously collecting 100 tons of grain and announcing that it would be given for free to the affected people.

However, he could not guarantee how much of this 100 tons of grain would ultimately reach the victims.

This act of Australasia instantly made the affected people grateful. After all, foreign sympathizers like Australasia were rare in the eyes of the afflicted who saw the foreigners as superior and lofty.

Years of oppression and the submissive mentality, coupled with the current extremely backward situation of their country, led to a severe admiration of foreign powers among some people.

Even those who were not inclined towards foreign powers had no choice but to bow their heads in humility before the foreigners.

What Arthur did not expect was that his superficial act of kindness inadvertently made many victims feel closer to Australasia.

They placed their hopes of changing the national situation on advanced countries like Australia, believing that only by learning advanced systems and technologies and using them to arm themselves could they change the crisis they and their nation currently faced.

It can only be said that these lower-class people were too easily deceived. If they knew that the amount of grain transported by Australasia to the disaster-stricken areas was as high as tens of thousands of tons, with all but the 100 tons of free grain being sold at several times the usual grain price, their feelings might be quite interesting.

The natural disasters and famine in East Asia from February to March, inadvertently became a good opportunity for powerful nations to exploit.

According to the business firms operating in East Asia, in just over a month, Australasia had made several times the usual profit on grain exports, while also winning the little goodwill of the affected people on the surface, thus achieving both fame and fortune.

Arthur thought the impact of the famine incident was limited to this, but in March, the government received unexpected visitors: a group of students from the Qing Empire, requesting that Australasia open its universities to allow some Qing Empire students to study at Australasian universities.

Because this involved the Qing Empire, where the interests of the powers were at stake, government officials did not dare to make decisions on their own, so they passed the buck to Arthur.

At this time, most of the Qing Empire’s study abroad students were wealthy landlords and gentry. As for the poor common people, even having enough food was a problem, let alone studying abroad.

Poor commoners were more likely to seek livelihoods abroad than enter university for study, enriching themselves to save their nation.

In fact, these people may be worried that Australasia would refuse, so they offered generous conditions.

In addition to their own expenses in Australasia, they would also pay a tuition fee of 1,000 Australian dollars per person per year.

If calculated at the current exchange rate, 1,000 Australian dollars is roughly equivalent to 3,500 silver taels, which is enough to show that the current study abroad students are officials, gentry, and merchants.

Arthur agreed to their request, but also made some corresponding demands. The most important one is that they must maintain Australasia’s rule and not engage in any illegal activities in Australasia.

Once these students were found to be engaged in any illegal activities, they would not only face heavy compensation but also possible accountability from the Australasian government.

The reason Arthur agreed to their request for study abroad was actually to cultivate talent close to Australasia.

If these people could rise to higher levels in their country or gain more power and status, wouldn’t they also be able to influence their country to get closer to Australasia and get more benefits for Australasia?