The noble officials in the colonies flocked to this gilded signboard all the more eagerly. After all, for these fallen nobles, it was practically the only asset they had worth boasting about.
Franz understood the underlying logic well enough: the colonial officials would benefit too. In addition, the Australian Company formed mine-protection squads, which could both maintain local order and deter petty troublemakers.
Some of these mine-protection squads were mercenaries from the Austrian Empire, while others were regular Southern Ming troops. Although there were quite a few criminal families in the area that even gave the British colonial government headaches, they still paled beside a real army.
Franz's goal was to relocate the entire Southern Ming to Australia, so mining alone was far from enough.
Agriculture and animal husbandry had to be developed as well. The local colonial government welcomed this enthusiastically; once it saw the increased tax revenue and population, it had even fewer objections. After all, those figures counted as political achievements.
The number of Southern Ming laborers in Australia had grown from the original twenty thousand to nearly one hundred thousand. Every year, an unceasing stream of gold flowed into the imperial treasury of the Austrian Empire, while countless quantities of grain and wool, bearing the banner of the British royal family, were sold across the world.
Franz gained gold and land for the Southern Ming; the Southern Ming gained a new world; and the British royal family grew wealthier still, while restoring its influence.
It truly was a fine deal in which all three sides won.
The British government, however, was having a miserable time of it.
London, the City.
During the week following the announcement, the British government and major banks had been quietly converting silver into gold.
But the game of passing the flower