Chapter 1627: Watching and Waiting

At this time, Australia.

"Earl Howard, please consider this carefully; I shall take my leave."

Delu put on his top hat, just about to leave Howard Manor.

He saw that Howard was still very hesitant, so he did not continue to offer advice; he believed Earl Howard would make the right choice.

Just at the moment Delu boarded the Horse Carriage, Earl Howard's voice chased after him.

"Please wait a moment, my friend."

Delu stopped his footsteps, a smile appearing on his face; he turned his head to see the Duke Howard who had chased after him, and smiled faintly.

"May I ask what else there is, Earl Howard?"

Earl Howard looked at Delu solemnly and said: "My respected friend Delu, if you have need of it, I will provide you with help."

Hearing this sentence, Delu nodded.

He understood Earl Howard's meaning; this was an agreement.

He muttered to himself, "Old fox."

This fellow was still prepared to continue watching from the sidelines; Delu understood Earl Howard's behavior, and now that he had his promise, what needed to be done next was to wait quietly.

"Thank you." Delu nodded slightly.

He boarded the Horse Carriage and left Howard's manor.

Earl Howard had been settled, which was undoubtedly good news for him.

The vast plantations and other industries that Howard possessed had provided countless funds for the government of Xie Fang.

To Xie Fang, Howard was a very important source of tax revenue.

If Earl Howard were to stop paying taxes, it would inevitably cause no small amount of trouble for Xie Fang.

This would cause the Xie Fang government to lose a large sum of wealth.

However, this would not shake the foundation of the Xie Fang government.

The loss of wealth would not cause the combat effectiveness of the Dragon Flame Army to drop by much; those Arsenal and those mineral deposits would already allow the Dragon Flame Army to obtain extremely excellent equipment.

Howard's non-payment of taxes would only make the Xie Fang government miserable for a period of time.

The fiscal loopholes would not be revealed immediately; they would need a period of brewing and fermentation.

Regarding their French Army's subsequent operation to occupy Australia, it did not provide any direct main force.

Delu rubbed the corners of his eyes; he had to find a talent who could cause direct and heavy damage to Xie Fang and the Dragon Flame Army.

Delu pondered for a moment, and a name surfaced in his mind.

But upon thinking of him, his own face turned complex.

"Fujiwara Sazuko..."

If there were any other choice, Delu would absolutely not want to go to that madman Fujiwara Sazuko; to him, Fujiwara Sazuko was a complete and utter madman.

This person who came from the Wa country might just be a bastard.

He was famous for being aggressive and fierce.

The Tokugawa Shogunate of the Wa country was right; if Delu were the Shogun, he would also definitely exile the Fujiwara Family completely.

This group of people were a scourge wherever they went.

Ever since Xie Fang promulgated the military lease contract, Fujiwara Sazuko had utilized the Dragon Flame Army to rapidly expand his influence and form gangs.

Most of the docks in Australia belonged to the Fujiwara Family.

They collected protection fees at the docks, and the so-called Commercial Shipping Union they established was a Chamber of Commerce in name.

In reality, it was an organization used to rake in money.

Regarding Fujiwara Sazuko's family, which disrupted the market economy in such a way, Xie Fang not only failed to deal with them, but instead let them go from bad to worse.

The Fujiwara Family had not just once, both openly and secretly, violated the decrees promulgated by Xie Fang.

But Xie Fang's attitude toward this was simply to issue a fine and be done with it.

Delu naturally understood why the Fujiwara Family, despite being Wa people, could receive the support of Xie Fang and its government.

The reason was that every time the Fujiwara Family paid a fine, they were actually handing over a large sum of money to cover up their crimes.

Xie

Fang, after receiving the money, naturally turned a blind eye to these matters.

On the Australian continent, there was no oil or water to be squeezed from the hands of those indigenous people.

The reason everyone was so disgusted with the Fujiwara Family was not because of their base methods, nor was it because of the dark dealings they engaged in.

It was because these fellows set their sights on them as targets for making money.

Delu's Merchant Ship had once docked at this fellow's port, and for this, he had paid a large sum of fees.

Therefore, Delu was extremely disgusted with this fellow.

However, he controlled most of the docks in Australia, and even possessed the ownership of an island outside the Australian continent.

If he could be swayed.

Then their French Army would gain a huge advantage and could even land in Australia directly under the nose of Xie Fang.

For this reason, no matter how much unwillingness Delu had in his heart, he had to go and negotiate with Fujiwara Sazuko.

Everything was for France.

And at this time, regarding Delu's movements, Xie Fang was completely unaware.

After returning from Longyan, he had suffered a heavy blow.

After deep contemplation, Xie Fang did not choose to be depressed, but instead wanted to make Australia glorious once again.

The development of Longyan had stirred up Xie Fang's fighting spirit.

After Xie Fang told the Prime Minister his thoughts, the Prime Minister was so moved that tears streamed down his old face.

"Your Majesty, you have finally pulled yourself together."

Xie Fang sighed and said in a deep voice, "Australia has accumulated too many problems, but now is a time of rapid development; we must seize this opportunity and absolutely cannot let it slip through our fingers."

The Prime Minister nodded; it was indeed so.

Since the Industrial Revolution began, only a few years had passed, yet the world had already undergone earth-shaking changes.

Xie Fang had never imagined that those Barbarians in Europe would become so powerful in such a short time.

If not for Liu Zheng, Longyan would likely still be in a very backward state.

As the Longyan Crown Prince, Xie Fang felt ashamed of his own inferiority.

However, he wanted to prove his talent.

Xie Fang rekindled his fighting spirit; since that was the case, Australia would be the stage for him to realize his ambitions.

The land area of Australia was not small, and it possessed very rich mineral resources.

Furthermore, Australia had now gathered a group of international exiles, among whom were many geniuses in various fields.

As long as he made good use of them, Xie Fang believed he had the ability to build a nation no weaker than Longyan.

"Prime Minister, our officials are currently all people brought from Longyan; I think we should recruit some from those forces coming from overseas and establish special official positions to manage them."

"After all, they are not Longyan, nor are they native-born Australians; these people who have fled from overseas only feel that our Australian policies make it convenient for them to stay here."

"If the time is ripe, they could leave with a vast amount of wealth at any moment."

"I do not want such a thing to happen," Xie Fang said in a deep voice.

The Prime Minister was taken aback, not expecting Xie Fang to have such insight; these outsiders who could not integrate into Australia were indeed a major problem.

However, Australia was too open in its free trade policy, which resulted in many of Australia's pillar industries currently relying entirely on these people to sustain them.