The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 961: Chapter 718: A Good Way to Solve the Age Issue

After determining their respective territories, the relationships among the Britain-France-Australia Three Nations also became harmonious.

Now, all three countries had the same goal, which was to establish new countries within their spheres of influence, and then to make these new countries bring in substantial benefits.

In the choice of political systems for the new countries, the United Kingdom and Australasia naturally opted for Monarchism, while the Frenchmen resolutely chose a Republic.

This was based on the respective political systems of the Britain-France-Australia Three Nations; it was unthinkable for any of them to choose a system opposite to their own — wasn’t that asking for trouble?

Since the French had already supported the establishment of the Lone Star Republic, this meant that the remaining territories of the French had to be split into two separate countries.

This was a condition set in exchange for dividing the British territory into two halves; the French naturally would not refuse.

After all, Texas had a population of over five million, and compared to the lands the Australasian Government obtained, though fewer in number, the population and economy were far superior.

The population scales of Texas and California State were not much different, but in the West, only the states of Washington, Nebraska, and Colorado had populations over a million; the rest were barren areas with populations in the hundreds of thousands.

Looking at the regions obtained by the French, each was an eastern developed area with a population of over a million, or even more than two million.

The least populated among them might be Arkansas, but even Arkansas had a population of 1.82 million, far surpassing the economic value of the areas obtained by Australasia when compared horizontally.

This was the real reason why Britain and France would not oppose Australasia gaining at least one-third of the United States.

After the negotiations, Prime Minister Raul quickly reported the areas obtained by Australasia to Arthur.

The government’s next most important task was to discuss how to handle so many territories.

Although many regions were acquired, aside from California, the rest of the native land of the United States could only be described as barren.

In areas covering hundreds of thousands of square kilometers, the population was only in the hundreds of thousands to one million, which was even more serious than the sparsely populated Australasia.

Arthur’s plan for these lands was for California to serve as the main body, establishing a kingdom either on its own or along with a few nearby states.

The remaining northwest states would merge together to form a kingdom that was vast in area but sparse in population.

Some central areas would be handed over to little George Smith Barton to establish his vision of the United States.

After all, Barton was the first American to defect to Australasia, and his preferential treatment was certainly deserved.

Of course, the country established by Barton could not, in name, inherit the original United States, as there should be no successors to the United States in any American regions.

This was the method of ruling over American territories agreed upon by the Britain-France-Australia alliance. For a country of immigrants like the United States, it was impossible to expect the American people to sing “Though the country is shattered, the mountains and rivers remain” after the fall of the United States.

For such an immigrant country, once the country was gone, it was truly gone; the people would quickly adapt to a new country unless the new country harmed their interests.

In other words, under the premise of aligned interests, the name of the country was actually not that important.

If they could accept migrating from their original countries to the United States, they could naturally accept joining a new country after the demise of the United States.

Of course, this was under the condition that the United States was completely obliterated.

If there were still a nation existing in the name of the United States, it could inevitably lead to dissenters who would disturb the order in American territories using that country’s name.

This was intolerable to Britain-France-Australia and had to be completely prevented.

With this approach, the division of these regions became somewhat simpler.

California itself had the largest population among the territories obtained by Australasia, and there was already a significant gap with other states.

To be fair to his two sons, the kingdom to be established in California would not cover an overly large area.

Among the many proposals, Arthur chose the plan to establish the Kingdom of California in conjunction with Nevada.

The new kingdom in the north would naturally be centered on the states of Washington and Oregon, along with Idaho, which was originally planned by Arthur as the extent of another kingdom.

But now, with the territories obtained by Australasia having increased significantly, it was natural that the remaining regions could not all be left to Barton.

It’s worth mentioning that the states known in later generations as grain-producing states were all located in the central part, especially the north-central region led by Montana and Wyoming.

After careful consideration, Arthur decided to also allocate Montana and Wyoming to another new kingdom, allowing this kingdom, which was at a disadvantage in terms of population, to have a certain edge in agriculture.

This was also Arthur’s painstaking effort. Being both his sons, Arthur did not wish to hear people gossiping about him showing favoritism.

It was better to even out the potential of both kingdoms as much as possible, to give the two young princes a future without any grievances.

With that, the population of the Kingdom of California maintained over five million, while another kingdom also had around three and a half million people.

Although there was still a significant gap in population, the size of the land and the potential for agriculture could compensate for that, marking it more or less even overall.

Consequently, the only regions left under Barton’s control were North Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado, and Utah.

If one had a map at hand, it would show that the territory controlled by Barton formed an inverted L, with the southeast corner of the new northwestern kingdom fitting precisely into this angle.

This was a contingency Arthur had reserved, ensuring that the areas controlled by Barton would remain within Australasia’s sphere of influence.

According to the agreement between Britain-France-Australia, the area under Barton’s control was also considered within Australasia’s sphere of influence.

Although Arthur had no plans to annex these regions, he would not allow them to fall into enemy hands either.

The best approach was indirect control, then make these regions generate sufficient benefits for him.

After deciding on the specific boundaries for the three new countries, the task of choosing appropriate national names and forming their governments was left to the Cabinet Government to ponder.

In theory, these should be settled within a month, and then the three countries could be established consecutively before the end of the year.

Now the most troubling issue for Arthur involved his three sons, as apart from William, who was already of age, the remaining Peter and George were still underage.

Since William was the heir to the throne and definitely couldn’t be moved, it was too early for the other two young lads to take on their own respective roles.

This made the establishment of the two imminent kingdoms very tricky, as Arthur didn’t want to benefit others unduly, and needed to devise a perfect solution to the problem of his two young son’s ages.

After much thought and still not finding a solution, Arthur simply handed this problem over to the Cabinet Government as well, seeking a collective wisdom to find an answer.

Since it was Arthur’s command, the Cabinet members took it rather seriously. After one Cabinet Meeting had passed, they came up with an initial solution.

The first method was for Arthur himself to take on the role of king for both countries until the two young lads were of age to be granted their fiefs.

The second method was to formally grant the young lads their fiefs as normal, but only have them bear the title of king in name.

They would continue to stay in Australasia for their growth and education until they were grown and could return to their native lands.

During their period of growth, the administrative powers of the two new kingdoms would temporarily be entrusted to their respective governments.

To prevent the developments of these two kingdoms from going off track, their governments needed to be strictly controlled by Australasia.

Put simply, the principle was similar in both cases, temporarily, the Australasian Government would manage these two countries for them, and only when they came of age would they take control of the powers themselves.

Nevertheless, this was indeed the best solution. Compared to a government made up of Americans that could not be controlled, an Australasian Government under Arthur’s supervision was undeniably more trustworthy.

After all, it was only a matter of a few years, during which the young lads could receive a more comprehensive education in Australasia, and with Arthur’s support, there would definitely be no major problems for them to take power in the future.

As for what they did after they took power, that was beyond what Arthur could concern himself with.

If under Arthur’s meticulous education, they were still unable to manage their own countries well, then it could only be said that they indeed lacked the capability to be monarchs, and perhaps settling down as nobility would be the best option for them.

Of course, Arthur believed such a situation was unlikely to occur. Not to mention the complexity of the education the young lads were receiving and the practical skills Arthur constantly emphasized, which ensured they would not face too many problems.

When they were nearing adulthood, Arthur planned to have them serve in the Guards. In the future, he would also give them a small contingent of the Guards Army to serve as their personal protection, so there would be no issue with their personal safety.

After a period of hesitation between the two methods, Arthur eventually decided on the second approach.

First, he would smoothly facilitate the inauguration of the two young lads to the throne, and then have their governments take charge of the administration for a while.

With Australasia’s help anyway, there was no need to worry about the young lads losing power in the future.

As for the Republic controlled by Barton, there was no need for Arthur to concern himself with it.

Barton had control of a battalion of the military, and Arthur planned to entrust Barton with the captured Seventh Division.

With this, Barton would have more than ten thousand soldiers at his disposal, certainly enough to manage his own territories.

Of course, for the safety of the two new kingdoms, as well as to deter Barton and some American forces, it was still necessary for the Australasian Army to be stationed in the United States for a short period.

At the very least, the necessary defensive forces had to be present around Los Angeles and San Francisco.

This was also why Arthur believed the two young lads wouldn’t lose their power: with the military present, which fool would dare to provoke the dignity of Australasia?