Shipyard Site Selection

Upon seeing the manor with his own eyes, Arthur finally understood that what Butler Hunter had called a small manor wasn't small at all; it was quite large.

While it couldn't compare to the large estates and palaces of the British Royal Family, it covered an area of 3 hectares, or 30,000 square meters.

If this were judged by modern housing standards, a 30,000-square-meter area could accommodate at least a thousand people in a residential complex. But for Arthur, it was merely a manor for the four members of the Royal Family to live in.

The manor's main components included a residential area, gardens, a stream, lawns, an orchard, fountains, and a man-made lake.

The total built-up area of the manor wasn't very large, only less than 3,000 square meters, with pavilions and stables accounting for over 500 square meters of that.

The actual living space was less than 2,500 square meters. It was a small palace built in imitation of a British palace, shaped like the letter 'H'. The center was the highest point of the entire structure and the place where the Royal Family's flag would be flown.

Despite its modest footprint, this three-story small palace still boasted over fifty rooms. Excluding over a dozen small rooms for servants and staff, there were more than forty rooms available for allocation.

Among these, the conference room, dining room, reception room, broadcast room, office, and the rooms for Royal Family members took up twenty spots. The remaining twenty-odd rooms could be used as guest rooms or for storage.

The largest room in the manor was the communal conference room, spanning over 300 square meters. A giant oval conference table could seat more than fifty people.

Surrounding the oval conference table were circular tables pieced together.

These four rings of tables could accommodate over 300 officials for meetings, completely fulfilling Arthur's need for the Lower House to convene while he resided at the manor, and even accommodating a future expanded Lower House.

In the center of the innermost oval conference table was a raised platform, fifteen centimeters high.

A lectern would be placed on this platform, directly facing the head of the table.

This lectern was for representatives to speak from during meetings, and its position facing the head of the table would signify respect for Arthur.

After finally touring the entire manor, it was already one o'clock in the afternoon.

Even though Arthur and his party had a lavish breakfast before setting out, they were all feeling hungry after a morning of sightseeing.

"Your Highness, I've already had lunch prepared. The manor's dining room has also been tidied up. Shall we dine now?" Butler Hunter was very considerate, asking Arthur the moment he felt hungry.

Arthur nodded, looking at Marguerite and Patricia, who also looked expectant, and said with a smile, "Let's go eat then. After walking all morning, I'm sure you're both starving."

Unlike the temporarily modified top floor of the Government Building, the manor had five dining rooms of various sizes: a private dining room, which was where the Royal Family dined privately; a public dining room; a banquet hall; and a reception hall.

Among these, the banquet hall was the most formally and elegantly decorated, while the banquet hall was the largest dining room.

Arthur and his party's destination this time was the private dining room, located on the west side of the third floor of the manor.

The decoration of the private dining room was entirely based on the preferences of the Royal Family members. Because Butler Hunter knew Arthur disliked ostentation, the private dining room's decor was rather understated, with only a few oil paintings for decoration, appearing quite simple.

The lunch was authentic British cuisine, even though Britain isn't known for its culinary excellence.

The main course was sausages with mashed potatoes, drizzled with gravy, looking quite appetizing. The main dish was fish and chips, where the fish was deboned and deheaded, cut into strips, and deep-fried in a wet batter.

There was also a Beef Wellington made from Italian beef, its crust golden and crispy, and the beef inside still bloody when cut.

These dishes were among the better-tasting British foods and were also ones Arthur could accept.

After this rather hearty meal, Princess Louise took Marguerite and Patricia back to the Government Building.

Until the manor was completely renovated, they would have to temporarily reside in the Government Building.

Arthur, however, stayed behind briefly and headed to the next location with Butler Hunter.

South of Sydney Port, in a patch of wasteland.

It was not far from Sydney Port, but because the surrounding land had not been developed, it was currently a desolate area.

One had to admit, the sparseness of Australia's population was truly terrifying. This land was located on the plains of southeastern Australia, a fertile area.

However, due to the extremely low population of Australia, vast and fertile lands like this remained undeveloped.

Arthur walked around the area, observed the terrain, and then nodded with satisfaction, saying to Butler Hunter, "Butler Hunter, when will our shipyard be completed?"

This was actually the location Butler Hunter had chosen for the new shipyard, an area relatively close to the port.

The advantage here was its proximity to the port, making material transportation convenient. Based on the terrain survey, it was an excellent location for building a shipyard.

"Your Highness, our equipment and personnel have basically been transported to Australia. All that's needed now is time to construct the factory buildings and install the equipment. I estimate this won't take too long; our shipyard should be preliminarily operational in about three to four months," Butler Hunter replied.

This shipyard was one of the valuable assets Duke Arthur had left for Arthur, capable of propelling Australia, which lacked shipbuilding capabilities, a significant step forward in the shipbuilding industry.

This shipyard could independently design and produce small warships under 5,000 tons and had participated in the construction of 10,000-ton heavy cruisers.

This was why Arthur insisted on relocating the entire shipyard to Australia. A shipyard capable of independently developing and producing small warships was undoubtedly an invaluable resource for Australia.

The munitions factory and steel mill were similar. They could bring much knowledge and experience to Australia, which had a weak industrial base, and help it avoid many detours.

Thanks to Duke Arthur, Arthur possessed these crucial factories. And thanks to Duke Arthur, Arthur was able to move these factories in their entirety to Australia from afar.

Without these factories, it would likely take Australia at least ten years to master these technologies.

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