Newspaper Release

September 27, 1900, on the streets of Sydney.

That day, David Collis was walking home from work as usual. As an ordinary man of little ability, David Collis had been fortunate enough to pass the Sydney police selection process and even be hired.

Although he was currently only in the training phase, he still earned more than two pounds a month to support his family.

David Collis was very satisfied to have obtained this job. As a result, he was full of energy every day and threw himself into his training with enthusiasm.

As he passed a newsstand, David Collis instinctively glanced toward it. It had been nothing more than an absentminded look, but to his surprise, the entire stand was covered with copies of the same newspaper. Beside it, someone had thoughtfully placed a sign that read: His Highness has issued another new policy.

Wait, His Highness?

Full of questions, David Collis backed up and grabbed a newspaper. Under the newsstand owner's watchful gaze, he took out a penny and handed it over.

Holding the newspaper, David Collis no longer looked as though nothing had happened. Although he continued walking down the street, his eyes remained fixed on the newspaper, as if he wanted to pry into every word it contained.

At last, after enduring more than ten minutes on the road, David Collis finally made it home.

It was a house in the outskirts of Sydney. Although it looked somewhat dilapidated, David Collis's family had decorated it with simple flowers and plants, giving it a few touches of warmth.

"David!" After hearing the sound, David Collis's wife came out first and smilingly handed him a cup of water before asking, "How was training today? Your commander didn't make things difficult for you, did he?"

"Hahaha, of course not. Training went very smoothly today, and the boss also gave me this month's wages. Look—two whole pounds, five shillings, and three pence!" David Collis said with a laugh as he handed his wages to his wife.

"Oh! Thank God. You have such a good job now, and with all the grain we received, that's more than enough for us to have a comfortable New Year." David Collis's wife took his wages with delighted surprise and spoke gratefully.

"You should be thanking His Highness, Emily. If not for His Highness, you couldn't have received so much free grain, and I couldn't have found a job with such high wages." David Collis promptly interrupted his wife's mistaken words and corrected her.

"Oh, yes. Please forgive me." Emily immediately corrected herself as well and apologized to her husband.

"All right, Emily. Go prepare dinner. I want to read this newspaper carefully. I hear His Highness has issued another new policy." David Collis picked up the newspaper he had been thinking about all this time and instructed his wife.

After Arthur consolidated the newspapers from all the states into a single organization, Australia's originally chaotic and fragmented newspaper industry had essentially fallen under his control.

At present, Australia had two major newspapers: Australia Daily, which primarily covered lifestyle and entertainment, and Victoria News, which focused mainly on political affairs and current events.

Although the two newspapers usually handled their own respective fields, whenever the government or the royal family issued an important policy or announcement, they would print the major news together.

The newspaper David Collis had obtained today was Victoria News. However, because it was a special day, the content printed by both newspapers was identical.

When he picked up the newspaper, an extremely conspicuous headline leaped out from the front page: His Highness Arthur's Education Policy.

At the mention of education, David Collis's already considerable concern grew even stronger. He hurriedly focused his attention and began reading the news without missing a single word.

The news itself was actually very simple. In broad terms, it covered several of Arthur's reforms to education and the corresponding welfare policies.

In addition to the university admissions that had been discussed earlier, Arthur would invest at least two million pounds every year for ten years to improve Australia's basic educational environment, encouraging every Australian family to send school-age children to school.

To that end, the royal family would pay at least forty percent of every child's tuition. Children who performed exceptionally well could have all tuition and miscellaneous fees waived.

To care for poorer families, Arthur promised to provide loans to students from impoverished households in the form of interest-free loans, meeting their educational needs.

Scholarships would also be established in every school nationwide, with slots amounting to roughly ten percent of each school's total enrollment.

Under all these policies, students pursuing both basic and advanced education would receive substantial benefits, essentially eliminating the problem of people wanting to attend school but being unable to afford it.

It was easy to imagine that the next round of school admissions in Australia would be packed, especially in basic education, which cost very little. There would certainly be a large influx of students.

Although most Australians belonged to the impoverished classes, they had at least immigrated from Europe and understood the importance of education, especially basic education.

Once given a choice, these people would choose to give their descendants a good education. At the very least, they would not let them fall a step behind others at the starting line.

"Oh! Emily! Emily! Come here!" When he reached this point, David Collis grew agitated and hurriedly called for his wife.

"What is it? What happened?" Emily quickly came over and asked her flustered husband in confusion.

"Damn it, look at this, Emily. His Highness is going to invest money to improve education. Our child can attend school now!" David Collis said excitedly.

"Where? Where?" Emily crowded over as well, searching in every direction.

"The royal family promises to pay seventy percent of the tuition, and the remaining thirty percent can also be paid on our behalf, to be repaid after graduation?" Emily read word by word, her eyes filled with disbelief.

"Scholarships will be established at the Australian National University, with at least two hundred students of outstanding character selected every year and awarded scholarships of at least ten pounds?" Emily became flustered as she read this far and asked incredulously, "Good heavens,

David, the scholarship for these students is almost half your annual income. Doesn't that mean going to university won't just cost nothing—it could actually earn money?"

"Yes, dear. Not only does Rick now have a chance at university, but we might not even have to spend any money!" David Collis nodded heavily and spoke to his wife.

Rick Collis was the only son of David Collis and his wife Emily, as well as their pride and joy.

At only nineteen years old, Rick Collis was already a high school graduate whom everyone envied. However, because his family simply could not afford the expensive university fees, he had been forced to give up.

But now, it seemed that Rick still had hope of attending university—and perhaps without spending any money at all.

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