KEO.PLUS

In order to better attract talents, all members of the Royal Physics Research Association will receive a salary that exceeds those of renowned European university professors.

Moreover, each member of the Royal Physics Research Association can apply for at least fifty thousand Australian dollars in research funds each year, and also have the privilege to use all top-tier laboratories in Australasia.

With high salaries and abundant research funds, this is the most effective way and means to attract those scientists.

Subsequently, Arthur appointed Albert Einstein as the vice president of the Physics Research Association and assigned the recruitment work to Einstein.

These physicists all have their unique connections. Leveraging their networks to attract talents for Australasia also seems a good strategy.

After entering March of 1907, the famine in East Asia worsened and many regions have seen the frenzy of rice snatching.

Merchant ships traveling between East Asia and Australasia increased, bringing food from Australasia, profiting several to even over ten times of their previous earnings.

Some of these merchant ships were organized by the government, while some went voluntarily. Arthur didn’t hinder them. After all, the royal financial group has already had the lion’s share, letting others benefit somewhat didn’t matter.

But problems arose from this.

In early April, a piece of news from the Royal Security Intelligence Agency was presented to Arthur, completely changing the calm state of Australasia.

The root of the problem has to be traced back to the East Asian famine.

This famine in East Asia covered a wide area. Aside from the native land of the Qing Empire, it even affected areas such as Southeast Asia and the Philippines.

Given such wide impact and severity of the great famine, it unavoidably exposed some evil forces that were previously hidden in these areas.

In the South Ocean region, there once existed an infamous group of pirates, known as Morocco Pirates.

At their peak, they impacted the entire South Ocean and surrounding regions. They were one of the largest nuisances on the seas of Southeast Asia.

Even when the fleet of the British Empire was in its full glory, the Morocco Pirates dared to plunder British merchant ships.

Edward Jones, an English sailor, once discovered Morocco pirates near Malacca and wrote in terror as he sat in a bamboo cage, “Forty-five people were caught by them; some had their arms cut off, some had their legs severed, and I- my tongue was cut off.”

These desperate thieves who dared to attack merchant ships of the world’s strongest country, ran rampant in this area for over a hundred years.

These pirates did not have fixed plundering targets. Anything that could be exchanged for money would not be spared by them.

Be it sea cucumbers and bird nests destined for East Asia, pepper, and cloves going to India, silver coins to Batavia, or western weapons, all were within their grasp.

On top of that, their proclivity to kidnap people caused the Morocco pirates to become a widely resented nuisance in the South Ocean.

Since the 1840s, the British Empire and the Kingdom of Spain have launched various suppressions and eradication efforts against the pirates, but the activities of the Morocco pirates in the South Ocean never ceased.

It wasn’t until after the end of the Spanish-American War when the American people gained control over the Philippines, they deployed some armored fast ships and small patrol boats and established a regular patrol system that the pirate threat in the area was alleviated.

The Morocco pirates historically reemerged after World War II. Due to the deteriorating regional security situation at that time, piracy was showing signs of resurgence in these areas.

But what Arthur did not expect was that the East Asian famine this time forced these pirates to emerge and they chose to attack the merchant ships of Australasia delivering grain.

According to the intelligence held by the Royal Security Intelligence Agency, at least two merchant ships have been plundered and at least about ten Australasians have been captured.

Although it is unclear whether these pirates have attacked other countries, for Australasia, this is the biggest crisis since its founding, and Arthur must immediately make plans.

About ten minutes later, Arthur had already arrived at the meeting room of the Administrative Court, and the other cabinet officials also hurried over.

Without wasting many words, Arthur directly briefly explained the situation of the two Australasian merchant ships being plundered by pirates and asked for the opinions of the cabinet members.

Upon hearing the situation, the faces of most people turned somewhat pale.

This timing is not very friendly to all cabinet members as the election for the Australasian cabinet is only more than two months away.

If this matter cannot be properly resolved, I’m afraid many people would lose in this election.

“Your Majesty, no matter what, I believe we should protect our citizens and their properties. If necessary, we should deploy the military to protect our citizens.” Prime Minister Evan mused for a while before speaking.

“But the problem is we don’t know where these pirates are stationed. And even if we did know their location, could we launch an attack? What if those damned pirates disregarded everything and executed our citizens?” Minister of Defense Kent promptly raised an opposing view.

The situation at hand is indeed difficult, as they neither know the exact whereabouts of these pirates, nor could they recklessly deploy the military for fear that the pirates undeterred, would resort to a do-or-die mentality.

“Oh, shit! Those damn pirates, if we find them, we must flay and torture them, then chop them up and throw them to the sharks.” Security Minister Thomas cursed angrily.

The current situation puts the Cabinet Government in a predicament, as the election date is approaching, they must handle this matter as quickly as possible.

But the intelligence at the moment is scarce. In order to ensure the safety of the kidnapped Australasians, some brutal methods cannot be used just yet.

“Your Majesty, the most infamous pirates in this region are the Moro pirates west of the Philippines and east of Kalimantan Island. The United States has a good patrolling system along the coast near the Philippines, and the pirates near the Philippines have been basically eliminated. Therefore, I think the pirates’ base should be west of the Philippines, either within the Dutch East Indies or near Sulu in between area.” Minister of Defence Kent took out a map of Southeast Asia, carefully analyzed it for a while, and then respectfully addressed Arthur.

Arthur nodded. Minister Kent’s analysis was very reasonable.

After the United States carried out patrols along the coast of the Philippines, those pirates could only flee west and south, that is, to the western Sulu, Sultan Country, and further west to Kalimantan Island.

At this time, Kalimantan Island was ruled by two forces, Northern Borneo Protectorate belonging to the British Empire in the north, and Dutch East Indies Borneo in the south.

Among these two countries, the British Empire has always been severe in dealing with pirates, so the likelihood of pirates appearing in Northern Borneo Protectorate is slim..

However, the situation is different in the southern Dutch East Indies. The Netherlands was a secondary country in Europe, and its population has been overtaken by Australasia.

Add to that the expansive distance between the Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies, the Dutch rule there is not solid.

Were it not for the colonial powers’ agreement to Dutch rule in this region, particularly the British Empire’s agreement, the Dutch East Indies would have changed hands a long time ago.

At present, there are more than ten local indigenous forces within the entire Dutch East Indies.

Some of these indigenous forces openly submit to the rule of the Dutch East Indies, and naturally, there are some areas that the Dutch East Indies cannot govern..

The group of Moro pirates might also be hiding in areas out of Dutch East Indies’ jurisdiction, quietly developing there.

“Your Majesty, if these pirates are hiding in Borneo or other areas, I believe that the indigenous forces in these areas must know their whereabouts. Perhaps the best breakthrough lies with these indigenous forces. As long as we can ascertain the exact location of the pirates, we can deploy a large military force to quickly eliminate these pirates and save our captured citizens.” Minister Kent continued to suggest.

At the height of piracy in Southeast Asia, almost all of the local indigenous nobles were involved in piracy.

Whether it’s lack of manpower or lack of money and food, they were all one of their excuses to participate in piracy.

Minister Kent’s suggestion is also simple, to start with these local indigenous forces, questioning one after another about the whereabouts of the pirates.

If they won’t tell, it’s simple – If it turns out the pirates are near these indigenous forces, then there’s no need for that force to exist anymore.

As Election Day is fast approaching, and these pirates dared to face-off, they might have to forcefully eradicate them.

“It’s a good idea, Minister Kent. Does anyone else have anything to add?” Arthur nodded with satisfaction, fully endorsing Minister Kent’s suggestion.

This is a more comprehensive and reasonable solution in the absence of exact knowledge of the pirates’ whereabouts.

Next, Arthur and the officials discussed the detailed plan for action for quite a while. The meeting ended only on Arthur’s command.

This incident posed a crisis to the Cabinet Government, but it was also an opportunity for re-election.

If the Cabinet Government could resolve this crisis properly, they would win the people’s favor, and re-election won’t be so difficult.

But if they can’t handle it properly, not only could the re-election plan fail, even the continuation of their political career would be uncertain.

It’s important to know that ensuring the safety of citizens’ lives and property is a promise that Arthur maintains in every speech. If the government fails to solve this issue well, it would also affect Arthur’s reputation.

At that point, government officials would have to carry the burden and take the fall.