Chapter 277: Chapter 249: Bustling Sydney Streets
Time moved forward to January , 908, wh the National Day celebrations of Australasia officially kicked off.
Since the establishmt of the kingdom, the National Day festivities in Australasia had become more grand.
Although military parades were not held every year, the necessary celebrations were abundant, and a large number of common people would gather to commemorate the birth of the country at this time.
Thanks to Arthur's multiple propaganda efforts, the patriotism among the people of Australasia was strong, and they valued National Day and the festivities. Many people from across Australasia could oft be se at these celebrations.
In a sse, this also promoted Australasia's GDP, as people's income gradually increased, leading to an explosive growth in living standards.
Although it was not as wealthy as the United States in the eyes of Europeans, Australasia was no longer a poor place, and people's disposable income continued to rise.
As a result, travel expses increased, and every aspect of traveling, such as food, clothing, shelter, and transportation, contributed to the economic developmt.
Ev wh there was no military parade, National Day in Sydney would attract hundreds of thousands of tourists from outside the city, and this influx of visitors, coupled with Sydney's locals, made the city appear ev more prosperous during this time.
Previously, Australian cities were led by Melbourne, followed by Sydney, th the capitals of all states, and major cities such as Auckland and Wellington.
After eight years of developmt, all the cities in Australasia, whether from an economic, demographic, or importance standpoint, Sydney was definitely the most important city in Australasia, ev far surpassing the once largest city, Melbourne.
Up to now, Sydney had a population of more than 976,700 people, making it the city with the highest population and the most developed economy in Australasia.
Prest-day Sydney not only took on the role of the political cter of Australasia but also the economic, cultural, and industrial cter.
Arthur's plan to establish an integrated industrial base in the West Australia area was actually aimed at creating another industrial cter to reduce Sydney's urban functions.
With Sydney's currt population of less than a million, it was completely unqualified to be such a multi-ctered, diversified, comprehsive, and omnipott city.
The best approach was to relocate the industrial cter and the economic and cultural cters, and by at least moving two of them, Sydney would have better developmt prospects.
In Arthur's plan, apart from building an industrial cter in West Australia, he also aimed to cultivate Melbourne as the secondary economic cter of Australasia to relieve Sydney's burd.
As the most prosperous city in Australasia, Sydney's per capita income had already exceeded 47. Australian dollars, higher than Melbourne's 46.3 Australian dollars, making it the city with the highest per capita annual income and disposable income in Australasia.
Of course, the per capita annual income did not take into account the royal family's property, otherwise, Sydney's per capita annual income would be ev higher.
Note that the Australasian royal family now consisted of only four people, but their annual income was over million pounds, or more than 30 million Australian dollars.
If this income were included, Sydney's per capita annual income would directly exceed Australian dollars, on par with major power levels.
It was precisely because of Sydney's economic growth that the city showed a prosperous side, at least as Arthur saw wh he walked the streets of Sydney.
After the National Day festivities, Arthur, accompanied by the royal guards and Butler Kt, toured the suring areas of Sydney, also getting a firsthand experice of the developmts in Sydney.
At least from Arthur's point of view, the urban scale of Sydney had expanded more than twice since he first arrived, and the ctral streets of Sydney had grown ev more bustling.
Many shops and establishmts had emerged along the main road leading from Sydney city cter to the Administrative Court, and th to the Sydney Palace.
After all, this road was the main connection betwe the national governmt's core and the city cter of Sydney. Ev during regular times, it was busy with people and vehicles, let alone on a major national holiday like National Day.
Fortunately, there was a wide pedestrian walkway and an auxiliary road on both sides of this road, so there was no need to worry that the crowds and dse stalls would affect the traffic on the main road.
The changes that Arthur could feel firsthand could actually be expericed on King's Street, the busiest street in Sydney.
King's Street, as the name suggests, was a bustling street named after Arthur's title. Its predecessor was an ordinary street near New South Wales Parliamt (Colonial Governmt Building), which gained its name because Arthur tered the Governmt Building through this street wh he first arrived in Australia.
Over sev years of continuous developmt, this street had become one of the busiest streets in Sydney, with hundreds of businesses tering it and daily visitor traffic exceeding 0,000 people.
Since this street offered a clear view of the former Australian Governmt Building, in addition to those who came to shop and play, many people wanted to see the former Australian Governmt Building and express their gratitude to Arthur in person.
As Arthur walked, he came to this street. Although it had be less than eight years, the street had become unrecognizable to him.
If it wer't for his butler Kt explaining the origin of the street's name and its currt developmt, Arthur wouldn't know it was the street he oft visited.
But this was normal. As the core institutions of the country had moved to the suburbs of Sydney, Arthur's visits to the city cter had become increasingly infrequt, sometimes only once every one or two years.
His mother, Princess Louise, and Que Mary oft visited more oft, but their purpose was usually shopping and sightseeing, so they naturally wouldn't care about the name and history of a street.
This time, Arthur brought not only Que Mary but also Princess Louise and his younger sister Patricia.
Seeing their hopeful eyes, Arthur naturally wouldn't refuse, and he smiled, allowing them to take a look.
Although the life of the Australasian royal family was extremely extravagant, any royal family member's simple meal could cost as much as an Australasian family's annual income.
But this lifestyle also brought many troubles, such as not being able to travel freely like ordinary people and having to maintain a dignified demeanor.
Although Arthur was not so strict in his demands of Que Mary and his sisters, his well-educated mother, Princess Louise, had very high expectations for her two younger daughters.
Esstially, Margaret and Patricia had not had many opportunities to go out before, which explained why they were always so happy wh they did.
With the protection of royal guards and the watchful eye of their mother, Princess Louise, Arthur naturally didn't need to worry about their safety.
Ev if they were just traveling low-key today, thousands of security personnel were deployed wh the tire royal family wt out. In addition to the royal guards who protect the royal family members at close range, there were also disguised police and royal security bureau agts at a slightly greater distance.
They would carefully observe the every move of anyone approaching the royal family members, and act immediately if there was any abnormality.
At least for now in Australasia, there were no opponts or revolutionaries.
Arthur had achieved great successes in his various projects in Australasia, ev in New Zealand, which had rectly joined Australasia, had made considerable progress in the past two years.
This made the Australasians extremely satisfied with Arthur. As long as everyone could eat their fill and dress warmly and ev have ough reserves, no one would want to give up their currt prosperous life to oppose the country.
Not to mtion the pros and cons of doing so, just having such a thought would bring the disdainful eyes of family and frids.
After all, most people knew who had brought about such great changes in Australasia. Arthur had brought huge befits to the workers and people of Australasia, and people in all walks of life are joying the befits of the policies Arthur acted.
If anything happed to Arthur, wouldn't it mean that Australasia's welfare policies would also disappear?
Not to mtion the official citizs of Australasia, ev newly arrived immigrants who have not yet obtained citizship status would not allow anyone to do so.
After all, one of the main reasons they could come to Australasia was the welfare policies. If the policies were repealed, they would not only have come in vain but also couldn't afford the money to return.
Those who could afford to immigrate in this era were mostly people who couldn't survive in their original country.
These people could barely scrape together the money for their migration, and their hope was for a good life in their new homeland.
Walking on the street named after himself, Arthur was quickly recognized by a large number of Australasians.
Although the guards and police kept the crowd at bay, people were still fanatically and excitedly shouting, "Your Majesty!", "Long live Your Majesty!", "Thank you, Your Majesty!" and so on.
Arthur smiled and waved, but he also knew that his status meant he couldn't stay in the street for long, so he signaled butler Kt to leave first.
Kt immediately understood and walked to the d of the street with Arthur, where they both got into a car and left.
In the car, Arthur lightly shook his head with a smile, saying to Kt, "Sometimes being too popular is not a good thing; at least there's no personal space for shopping."
Kt also smiled, comforting him, "Your Majesty, it may not be a good thing for ordinary people, but for you, it's the best thing. After all, a ruler who is widely supported is always better than one who is not cared about, isn't it? Your high support in Australasia is beficial for both your own rule and the status of the royal family."