The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 869 - 648: The Madness Before Collapse

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Although London’s smog was an inescapable blemish, from an absolutely fair and just perspective, the British Empire still remained the world’s most powerful, advanced, developed, and prosperous nation.

Many urban cities of later generations lacked an extensive subway system, yet London had already pioneered such construction over 100 years ago, and many Londoners were now enjoying the convenience of this mode of transportation.

Since Australasia also had plans to build a subway, William made a special trip to London’s subway stations to experience the earliest subway construction in human history—the Metropolitan railway line.

The development of various technologies in human history had been accompanied by all sorts of accidents, and it was only by solving these problems that technology evolved into the safe and advanced forms seen by later generations.

The subway was not so safe at the beginning, either. Because of the use of steam power, the subway lines were filled with large amounts of dust and steam, the air quality was not too good, and it was easy for bacteria to breed.

It was not until the widespread use of electrification, with electrical brakes outnumbering steam brakes, that the subway environment improved, making the subway more civilized and safe.

Though called a subway, most of the Metropolitan railway’s territory was still above ground. Only some areas in central London were underground, as every inch of land in the city was exceedingly valuable and there was not much space to construct subway routes and stations.

All told, the British had decades of experience in subways, and this was precisely what Australasia needed to learn from.

The populations of Sydney and Melbourne had respectively broken the 3 million and 2 million marks. To improve the transportation in these two cities, constructing subways was also very necessary.

Of course, there was also a plan for subway construction in the capital, Saint Arthur Castle, to enhance the circulation of the populace and the flow of economy within the city.

Underground subway stations also had another use: they served as air-raid shelters during wars, allowing more civilians to avoid enemy air force bombings.

However, in Australasia, such a situation was unlikely to occur. The closest power to Australasia was probably the Island Nation, and the shortest distance between the two countries was nearly 3,000 kilometers. The current range of airplanes was not that far.

No need to even consider aircraft carriers; with the protection of the Philippines, Kalimantan Island, and the entire defense chain, hostile forces’ warships could not approach Australasia’s Native Land.

Later, with improved radars deployed along all coastlines, it became even more impossible for enemy warships to approach the coast.

This was the confidence that technological superiority gave to Arthur, as well as the security guarantee provided by Australasia’s geographical environment.

Beyond the subway, the British Empire also had many technologies that led the world by a great margin.

One had to admit, although many countries criticized the United Kingdom for its colonial invasions of other nations, the British Empire’s advanced technology really was the most powerful in the world.

Although many latecomers were competing with Britain, a Britain unweakened by war could certainly stand at the pinnacle of technology.

And it was precisely because of the immense progress brought by the Industrial Revolution in industry and technology that the British Empire had invaded over 90% of the countries in the world and successfully established colonies in them.

The number of Commonwealth nations in later generations was still very high, which constantly spoke of the splendor of the British Empire during the Colonial Era.

Adding to the more than 500,000 Australian Dollars he had saved, William’s net worth had officially surpassed 10 million Australian Dollars, which was definitely ranked among the top in the world.

Even more exaggerated was the asset sale of the Royal financial group. Although the Royals’ investment assets in London (excluding the Benz Car Factory) totaled only around 15 million pounds, the recent fever in the stock market had generally doubled or tripled the value of these assets.

Although the sale was not yet complete, over 20 million pounds had already been received, and it was expected that at least another 10 to 15 million pounds could be collected, which was definitely a huge profit.

And this was far from the end. After The Great Depression, most of the superpowers would face an economic downturn.

Most enterprises in these countries would be at their lowest stock prices. A company with a market value of millions of pounds, after The Great Depression, could possibly be bought for less than 100,000 pounds at the bottom.

The tens of millions of pounds from asset sales, when reinvested in the British Stock Market at the bottom, would easily purchase enterprises equivalent to a current market value of over £100 million, presenting another opportunity for huge profits.

William naturally understood this principle; he would not invest in any enterprise in the British Stock Market for the time being, everything would have to wait until the crisis Arthur mentioned exploded.

Of course, even if the crisis did not erupt, William would not be in a hurry. Tens of millions of Australian dollars were enough to invest in many industries in Australasia, and as long as the money was used wisely, it would just be money making more money, with a very low chance of problems arising.

After all, William had the background and the funds, and could be considered one of the biggest capitals in Australasia.

With Arthur’s immense prestige boosting him, the enterprises that William invested in were bound to receive substantial government support, making losses even less likely than profits.

In order not to arouse suspicion among the British, and to minimize the losses of Britain during The Great Depression, William also explained to the British Royal Family during his withdrawal of funds.

However, William was not certain of the economic crisis occurring; he only used rather ambiguous language to express his doubts about the crazy rise of the British Stock Market, explaining that the actions of Australasia were merely a conservative risk aversion.

The British Royal Family isn’t without its wise members; they wouldn’t stubbornly stick to the London stock market just because they are the royal family, regardless of their own interests.

In fact, a significant part of the British Royal Family’s industries were also exiting the London Stock Market, albeit at a slower pace and as quietly as possible.

This was actually normal; the data from the British stock market showed problems at a glance, it’s just that common people didn’t have access to the real data. Explore more stories with novelhall.Côm

As for the British Royal Family, they were clear about the existence of a problem in the stock market, although they did not know the extent of the problem, nor the severity of the harm it could bring to Britain.

While the capital flowing into the London Stock Market was increasing, the funds leaving the market were also growing.

After this wave of real estate excitement, whether the funds entering the market can surpass those leaving is problematic; the period where the two nearly cross and ultimately invert is also the time predicted by the Australasian side for the crash of the London Stock Market.

In theory, The royal family and the government would certainly have some rescue measures for the stock market; they wouldn’t let it crash or at least not let it crash too severely.

No one could predict how things would unfold; there might be an immediate economic crisis, or there might not be one at all.

But regardless, the current British Stock Market did indeed have issues, and Australasia’s withdrawal of capital was justifiable.

Arthur was even looking forward to the plans to invest globally at the bottom after the outbreak of the economic crisis. Nowadays, both Britain and the United States have numerous companies that are undoubtedly famous among the World Top 500 in later generations. During The Great Depression, only a minuscule price was needed to acquire them, and Arthur would not miss this chance for huge profits.