Chapter 103 Military and Civilian Co-construction
The little money George and Nicholas invested in the transformation of military industry would not even make a splash.
The key is that kindness is rare. How many of the more than 300,000 hereditary nobles in the empire are willing to give up their own money and let Ya San spend it casually?
The Bible says: To everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.
This is the way Europeans think. From this perspective, is it reasonable to understand the way Europeans deal with problems?
Yasan did not ask for George and Nicholas' money. Several guns brought by George were bought by Yasan for ten thousand rubles each. Joseph was also re-appointed by Yasan as a senior engineer and went to work at the factory in St. Petersburg. , George lost a firearms designer, and the Empire got an opportunity.
George doesn't care, he is too busy with work during this period. There will be big events in Vladivostok after the spring. George and Mikhail communicate by telegram every other day, and the Oak Group has set up a telegraph room for this purpose.
This is not considered a public property for private use. George spent money to buy the telegraph room, and Nicholas also installed a telephone for Oak Group. Both of them have money and willfulness.
After Andre was decentralized, his eldest cousin Mario became George's adjutant, and Peter also came to the Oak Regiment to serve as George's messenger, starting his military career early.
It’s not too early. The youngest Cossack recruited by the Oak Group is only 16 years old. He has a full beard and looks like he is 30 years old.
This is normal. Russia promotes early marriage, and many people become fathers at the age of 15 or 6. In factories in St. Petersburg, workers aged 12 or 13 can be seen everywhere. In some restaurants, there are even child laborers as young as eight or nine.
Don’t apply the moral standards of the 21st century to the 19th century.
Mikhail is quite efficient. In the winter that just passed, Mikhail was not idle. He held banquets every now and then and became friends with many officers of the Siberian Fleet.
Being friends with officers has many benefits. In addition to being protected by the army, Mikhail also successfully obtained the management rights of Vladivostok, so the prisoners who were assigned to Vladivostok became Mikhail’s free labor force.
“The people here are very special, and some of them are very capable. I have met several professors from St. Petersburg and Moscow, including one from the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. Their current status is My lumberjacks——"
This is normal. Among the assassins who killed Ya Er were students from the Petersburg Academy of Sciences.
Many of the members of the Popular People's Party, which was uprooted after the assassination of Asia II, were students. They wanted to change the status quo of the empire, but they didn't know where to start, so the tsar became a thorn in their side.
They naively thought that as long as the Tsar was eliminated, the empire could be reborn from the ashes.
Mikhail will certainly not let the professor cut down trees. The real loggers are the sailors of the Siberian Fleet. This is allowed by the generals at the cost of one ruble per person per day.
The daily salary of skilled workers in St. Petersburg is only one ruble.
Under normal circumstances, the daily salary of skilled workers in Vladivostok is about 50 kopecks.
Mikhail is only responsible for paying. Mikhail has no control over how much the sailors can get.
This situation will not last long. When the foreign workers return after the spring, Mikhail can flex his muscles.
“The workers here are a great deal. In rubles, they only cost 10 kopecks per person per day. If we send these workers to St. Petersburg, we can make a lot of money,” General Stark reminded I can hire these Orientals with less money, I think it’s perfect No need at all, we are all generous people and should not worry about it.”
George expressed his appreciation for Mikhail’s decision. Lowering the salary seems to save money, but it is not wise in the long run. The only way is to let those foreigners. The more money workers make, the more foreign workers they can bring.
"There is very little land suitable for farming here. It is full of swamps and mountains. I think we need to change our plans. There is not much future for farming here. If we want to get food, we can completely replace it with fish. Unfortunately, we don't have fishing boats. "Mikhail was wrong. It's not that farming in Vladivostok has no future, it's just that he doesn't know how to do it.
George's call back to Mikhail is usually divided into two parts.
Part of it is sent directly from the telegraph room of the Oak Group, and this part is mainly for encouragement.
The other part was given to his second uncle Julian and sent through a secret channel from France, so that it could bypass Yasan's monitoring.
Mikhail was still too timid. He didn't have a ship, but the Siberian fleet did.
Of the three major Russian fleets, the Siberian Fleet was established the latest and is the weakest. It is said to be a fleet, but there are only a few real warships, and most of them are fishing boats.
Although Russia is strong, it is unable to maintain a large army and build a navy at the same time. The focus of naval construction is on the Baltic Fleet to defend St. Petersburg and the Black Sea Fleet in the Black Sea. The strength of the Siberian Fleet is not even as good as that of the Qing Empire. .
George did not encourage Mikhail to win over the generals who corrupted the Siberian fleet. This is the counter scale of Yasan and cannot be touched.
It's enough to have a good relationship with them. Is it called benefit transfer if Super Duke Yurievsky's uncle borrows a few fishing boats?
No, this is called military-civilian joint construction.
Vladivostok, where the Siberian Fleet is based, is also George's fiefdom. If George can make Vladivostok prosperous, the Siberian Fleet will also benefit, and the Tsar will be more happy to see it happen.
In early April, George sent master Igor and his apprentice and dozens of other skilled workers on the ship to Vladivostok.
It takes two months to arrive in Vladivostok by water from St. Petersburg. Within these two months, Mikhail must complete the preparations for the reception.
In the eyes of the nobles in St. Petersburg, these skilled workers are old bones on the verge of death.
In George's hands, it was a treasure. Vladivostok wanted to develop. These skilled workers were pioneers. George offered them a salary twice that of St. Petersburg and promised them freedom of movement. However, nearly half of the workers gave up this opportunity.
People from St. Petersburg don’t even go to Siberia, let alone Vladivostok, which is located in the easternmost part of Russia.
George doesn’t force things, sooner or later they will know what they missed.
While paying attention to Vladivostok, George did not let go of his work on the Oak Group.
Nicholas often returned to Gatchina to attend imperial meetings, and George was fully responsible for the work of the Rubber Group. During this time, George focused on the logistics of the Rubber Group, hoping to institutionalize and standardize it.
When he was in the general regiment, George discovered that there was no system at all in the general regiment's logistics. Officers could open small stoves, and soldiers could eat whatever they wanted for three meals a day. Although there was no shortage of big fish and meat, the quality was not guaranteed. Sometimes the meat They all stink and are unpalatable.
George gave this job to his eldest cousin Mario. This is also a business, and it is a business with extremely broad market prospects.
(End of this chapter)