Expedition to Europe

In April, Perth is warm and cool...

Well, April in Perth is autumn, which should be described as fruitful and fragrant.

Located in the southern hemisphere, Perth is the capital of Western Australia. It is known as the "City of Black Swan". There are four distinct seasons here, with summer from December to February, autumn from March to May, winter from June to August, and spring from September to November.

Perth has a typical Mediterranean climate, with hot and dry summers and mild and rainy winters. Overall, it is a good place to live.

Western Australia is the largest state in Australia. It can be said that it is sparsely populated. It has a land area of ​​2.52 million square kilometers, which is about the same size as the entire Western Europe, but there are less than 500,000 people, and most of them are concentrated in Perth.

It is conceivable that in the entire Western Australia, except for Perth, the situation in other places can be described as uninhabited and barren.

Western Australia is rich in natural resources and has a unique geographical location, which gives people living here almost unlimited living space.

The living environment without too much pressure also creates the kindness of the Pers people, and their kindness to others is well known.

In other words, the Pers people are famous for their good temper.

But in 1919, when the World War had just ended, even good tempers could be made angry, so Timothy and Charles looked particularly angry in the Swan River Cafe opposite the Perth City Hall.

"I really don't understand why we have to be exploited by those damn London gentlemen and those Irish in Melbourne. Look, wool tax, inheritance tax, income tax, wartime profit tax, entertainment donation, land tax, tax tax tax... all taxes, those damn guys want to squeeze every shilling out of us, I'm really fed up..." The obese Charles complained as soon as he sat down, and his fingers impatiently knocked on the counter, urging the waiter to bring him a cup quickly.

"Charles, you have to know how to control your emotions, otherwise it will only add to your troubles. It's not just us, the whole British Empire is like this, so you shouldn't complain, just do what you have to do." The tall and thin Timothy was not impatient, smiled at the waiter who brought the rum, and then pinched the cup with two fingers.

"Ha... You are not in charge of the Economic Committee, of course you don't have to worry, but do you know how worried I am now? I tell you, if this continues, I won't be able to keep my poor hair." Charles raised his head and drank a glass, and then urged the waiter to bring another glass.

"That's great, you can save the cost of a haircut..." Timothy chuckled, raised the glass and took a sip.

"Damn it, your mouth is still so bad, you should use your mouth to debate with the Labour Party, not to attack a poor man like me." Charles was dissatisfied, his mouth was like a bottomless pit, and he raised his head and drank another glass.

"Sir, the last glass..." The waiter was not impatient and brought the rum that had been prepared long ago.

"Hey, Tim, you're making trouble for me too. You don't know how to respect your elders. I say, how about a deal? Timothy can't finish it anyway, so give me his share..." Charles clenched his fist and pounded the counter, making a loud bang, and the various cups under the counter jingled.

Compared to Western Europe, Perth is really too small, so small that many people are already very familiar with it, even bartenders and congressmen are familiar with it.

"Aunt Betty won't agree with you doing this." Tim ignored the unsatisfied Charles and picked up a towel to wipe the cup.

"Calm down, Charles, anger can't solve the problem." Timothy sighed faintly, and he had just drunk about a quarter of his wine.

"How can you ask me to calm down? During the World War, we had to serve the British Empire, so we sent almost all the boys, and we had no complaints. But now that the World War is over, it seems that we have not gained any benefits, and we have to pay for the boys' pensions ourselves, which is unreasonable! The masters in London are only concerned with blackmailing the Germans, and have thrown us into the basement dungeon where there is no light all year round!" Charles was relentless, but he did not drink the glass in one gulp, but put it under his nose, letting the mellow aroma of wine linger in his nose, enjoying the happiness of this moment.

Charles knew that since Tim said this was the last glass, then this was the last glass, so if he wanted to keep the feeling of happiness longer, Charles had to delay the process of enjoying it.

"It can't be said that we got nothing, at least we got Guinea Island and the Solomon Islands, um, although those guys in Melbourne sold them again." Timothy also shook his head slightly, not because the federal government sold Guinea Island and the Solomon Islands, but because Western Australia did not have any share of those benefits.

Relatively speaking, Australia is too big, especially Western Australia, where less than 1% of the land has been developed and utilized.

So land is the least valuable in Western Australia.

For example, Charles and Timothy, the ranches under their names are measured in hundreds of square kilometers, but less than one-tenth of them are actually used.

"Ha, what's the use of selling it? Can we get even one pound from Perth?" Charles was even more dissatisfied.

The current common currency in Australia is the Australian pound, which is equivalent to the pound sterling, but Charles is still accustomed to using pounds sterling.

"The federal government also has their difficulties, Charles, you have to understand." Timothy continued to persuade, but his words seemed to have no strength, and even he himself was wavering.

"It seems you all need help from Angel Jack." Tim rarely interrupted.

"Angel Jack? What the hell is that?" Charles was confused.

"Hahaha, Charles, you are behind the times. You don't even know about Angel Jack." Timothy mocked unceremoniously.

"What's the use of knowing who he is? Is he George's illegitimate son?" Charles retorted unceremoniously.

The "George" that Charles refers to is not King George V of England, but another George, British Prime Minister Lloyd George.

In fact, Westerners don't care much about status, so Charles and Timothy can make jokes about George V without restraint, and Tim, a bartender, dares to restrict Charles, a member of Parliament, from being too drunk.

This is also an advantage of the democratically elected government. For the sake of votes, all elected officials should not object to this kind of "no top, no bottom". Instead, they should actively participate in it and laugh at themselves with ordinary people to show their magnanimity.

Otherwise, it will be very dangerous. Once a politician is labeled as "narrow-minded", he will definitely not be able to do well in the next election.

Of course, to a certain extent, this can be regarded as the tragedy of the democratically elected government, because officials have no "official authority" at all. In order to please voters, officials cannot focus on long-term construction, but will focus on immediate interests. In the long run, for There is no benefit to local economic development.

Read the original article in Liu#9@书/吧!

"Hahaha, Charles, that angel Jack may not be George's illegitimate son, but he must be God's illegitimate son." Perhaps with a little emotion and envy, Timothy also drank the wine in the glass: "Charles, you may I don’t know, this Jack from the North African colony was just a farmer half a year ago, but that damn United Oil Company somehow took a fancy to him. He bought Jack's farm from Jack for a large price, but Jack knew nothing but growing grapes, so he bought a large farm in another place, and then joined the oil industry. What followed was another astronomical sum of money. Now, Jack no longer had to grow grapes, because the money Union Oil paid him would never be spent in two lifetimes..."

Ah, what a legend of getting rich overnight. No wonder people call him "Angel Jack". With such good luck, he is indeed the illegitimate son of God.

"It's unbelievable. What's under the ground? Is it gold?" Charles was dumbfounded.

"Gold? No, it's more valuable than gold. Underneath the land Jack bought twice are oil fields, and they are oil fields with huge reserves. It is said that any of them can be comparable to New Baku. Think of United Oil Company New Baku, it’s a super oil field that claims to have ten times more underground reserves than Romania’s combined.” Timothy explained clearly, showing no trace of envy in his words.

Charles's expression twitched a little, and he couldn't help but pick up the cup and drink it all: "Where is this lucky guy? I'm going to buy land in partnership with him... Oh, God, there's not a drop left, my God... "

The Swan River Cafe suddenly heard howls like ghosts and wolves, followed by Charles's request and Tim's rejection.

"It's not a good idea to partner with him now. Some people have already done it, but they lost everything, so this Angel Jack can't survive in Europe now. I heard that he went to Sydney last month." Timothy shook his head and sighed, not knowing. Is it Jack who laments the loss of his lucky aura, or is it for those unlucky guys who have lost everything.

"No, no, no, that guy is in Pas now. He was here yesterday." Tim said, giving Charles another glass: "I swear, this is definitely the last glass."

"Okay, okay, okay, one last drink, uh huh..." Charles moaned intoxicated, with a lustful expression on his face.

"That guy is in Pas? What is he doing here?" Timothy was curious.

"Who knows? That guy is a rich man now, so it's understandable that he behaves weirdly. He negotiated a deal with Fred here yesterday and bought Fred's ranch for about 100,000 pounds. ." Tim broke the news mysteriously.

The Coffee Hanging is indeed a good place to inquire about information. Many gossips spread from here, and they are extremely credible.

Of course, Charles and Timothy wanted to know more, and that would cost a little extra.

"One hundred thousand pounds? It's unbelievable. For Fred's ranch, even fifty thousand pounds would be ridiculed as a lunatic!" Timothy mocked without any scruples.

There were flames dancing in Timothy's eyes. His ranch was ten times larger than Fred's. If you calculate it this way, wouldn't it be a million pounds!

hiss……

Timothy felt that his heart couldn't bear it, so he raised his head and drank it all.