Chapter 113 The Sweetness of Power
George can find problems, but he has no way to solve them, or in other words, he has no power to solve them.
George's mission during this trip to the Balkans is to observe and report what he saw and heard to the Tsar. How to deal with it in the future is the Tsar's business.
Of course George didn’t gain anything.
George sent a telegram to Julian and asked Julian to send someone to Bulgaria to purchase rose wine and rose oil for sale in Russia.
This business does not require Nicholas to come forward, George can do it himself.
Of course dividends still have to be paid. Julian has registered a company called Yuriev in St. Petersburg, and both Nikolai and Georgi have shares.
The main product of Yuriev Company is champagne, and its customers are Russia's top nobles.
Rose wine and rose oil are new attempts, these two products are for the rich in Russia.
Both are luxury goods, George also asked Ekaterina to send people to Cuba to find the best quality cigars as the next profit growth point for Yuriev Company.
Now that he is involved in the tobacco industry, George will not ignore the profits of cigarettes.
Expensive cigars are for the rich in Russia.
The number of rich people is limited, and they can smoke as much as they want without leaving their hands all day long. Although the profit of cigarettes is not as good as that of cigars, the advantage is that the market is broader, and quantity wins.
George has not forgotten which company is the most profitable company in the world in the 21st century -
The best thing is that the tobacco currently popular on the market is mainly pipe tobacco and snuff, and cigarettes have not yet become popular. This is a blank market with unlimited potential. Compared with this market, heavy machine guns are really just toys.
George's magic weapon is not only cigarettes, but also filters.
In 1925, the Hungarian Evas invented the filter and the machine for producing the filter.
George didn’t know what the filter was made of, nor how the filter was produced, but with the group of technology geeks from the Petersburg Academy of Sciences here, George believed that none of this was a problem.
The combination of cigarettes and filters will allow Yuriev Company to monopolize the cigarette market for at least the next 30 years.
Mi Liujing met more than 20 people in one day. He was exhausted both mentally and physically. He staggered, wiping his eyes and rubbing his waist, and moved out of the study step by step.
"Send the telegram as soon as possible -" George ordered Mario to send a telegram to Mikhail, and the transformation of Vladivostok had begun.
After the beginning of spring, Mikhail followed George's instructions and carried out vigorous construction in Vladivostok.
In the winter that just passed, the sailors of the Siberian Fleet cut down more than 100,000 trees and obtained enough wood.
These woods require further processing before they can be used as building materials.
Including Siberian sailors, Mikhail could mobilize more than 10,000 people. He organized professors and students from the Academy of Sciences to form an exploration team and began to detect the mineral deposits around Vladivostok. Large areas of buildings were demolished and Vladivostok was transformed according to George's will.
Vladivostok was established as a city in 1880 with almost no planning at all, which George could not accept.
The Siberian Fleet is also full of talents. Among them is an officer who studied at Moscow University and is very knowledgeable in urban architecture. So this young man named Burak became the designer of the new Vladivostok.
Last night, George just received a telegram from Mikhail.
This telegram traveled many times, first from Vladivostok to St. Petersburg, then from St. Petersburg to Bucharest, and then from Bucharest to Sofia, traveling more than 15,000 kilometers.
Mikhail elaborated on the design ideas for New Vladivostok in the telegram.
George was not satisfied because Brack did not plan enough parks and green spaces, nor did he consider hospitals and schools. There were quite a few churches, 17 in an area of about 5 square kilometers.
George was not opposed to building churches. The significance of churches to Russians was not only spiritual sustenance, but also an important way for the Czar to rule Russia.
When I was in St. Petersburg, almost everyone went to church on Sundays to attend services. There were religious-related festivals almost every month. There were churches in the Oak Regiment barracks and George's manor.
People have to donate one tenth of their income to the church. Babies must be baptized in the church when they are born. Weddings must be blessed by the priest. Funerals are also held in the church. , the church takes care of the whole process.
Last winter Ya San ordered to build a church at the place where Ya Er was assassinated. This church is the famous Cathedral of Spilled Blood.
Vladivostok is Russian territory, and the Orthodox Church has a transcendent status, which George can accept.
But hospitals and schools are equally important, which is related to whether Vladivostok can retain people and the future of Vladivostok.
A large part of the reason why Russians are reluctant to go to Siberia is that the infrastructure in Siberia is not perfect enough. If you have nothing to eat, you can grow it yourself, if you have nothing to wear, you can knit it yourself. If you are sick, you can only wait without medical treatment or medicine. die.
George does not require Vladivostok to reach the ideal level in a short period of time. At the very least, the foundation must be laid first to leave enough space for future upgrades of urban facilities.
Nothing is good in Vladivostok. The only advantage is that the place is big enough and George's power is big enough.
The Tsar is the highest-ranking person in Russia, but the Tsar cannot do whatever he wants. His power is restricted by the Russian government and the entire aristocratic class of the empire.
Not only did George do whatever he wanted in Vladivostok, he was also lawless.
Because Vladivostok does not even have the most basic power structure, George's power is basically unrestrained.
As long as George does not rebel, his power in Vladivostok is nearly unlimited.
In his reply to Mikhail, George elaborated on his requirements for a new Vladivostok.
George required that the street width of New Vladivostok should not be less than 20 meters, and the width of the main street must be more than 30 meters.
Each street must have enough reserved space. Schools and hospitals do not need too much, but the area must be large enough.
Citizens of Vladivostok must register in detail, especially immigrants from the three East Asian countries. Their origin must be clearly registered, and it is necessary to understand who are Koreans, which are Japanese, and which are Chinese.
Immigration from Europe must also be registered in detail, especially those criminals who are sent to Vladivostok. They will no longer have privileges and the hardest and heaviest work will be assigned to them. If they cannot withstand the accident Death, that would be God's will.
“Isn’t this too cruel?” Milyutin was surprised, George was not a violent person.
"I just don't think it's enough." George was colder than Milyutin imagined.
Some of the criminals who were sent to Siberia were accomplices of the Tsarist assassins.
They are all plotting to assassinate the Tsar, and they are only allowed to do hard labor. Is it too cruel to them?
If we didn’t punish them, all the nine tribes would be free from the law, okay!
When the Russian nobles went to war abroad, they never showed mercy to the lives of Russian soldiers.
The gray beasts that died fighting for the Empire were worth nothing.
Why are the rebels who oppose the Empire allowed to escape, just because they have more education?
Sorry, here in George, the higher the level of education, the less likely it is.
George wanted to populate Siberia, but not in this way.
"Who else is willing to go to Vladivostok if we do this?" Milyutin also knew that it was wrong, but he had no choice. The empire has tried every means to develop Siberia, but the results have been extremely limited. So far, the entire population of Siberia does not exceed 3 million.
Without forced distribution, no one would be willing to go to Siberia. Russian farmers would rather be serfs in prosperous areas than be landlords in Siberia.
"The empire has developed Siberia for 300 years. What is the effect?" George only asked about the results.
“Not very good——” Mi Liujing was tactful.
It's more than just not good.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that it was a complete failure.
What George can't figure out is that Russia is so stubborn on certain issues that it is incomprehensible.
Increasing the population of Siberia through distribution has been to no avail for 300 years. The Russians have not tried other methods. This is too abnormal. Could it be that the Siberian cold current has also frozen the heads of the Russians?
"What good ideas do you have?" Milyutin hoped to see new hope in George.
"I am going to set up an agricultural company, hire workers from East Asia, and develop the land in Siberia." George broke through the situation with business, and his main theme is that he is a rich and willful person.
Milyugin frowned, he had not fully understood George's thoughts.
"Mikhail told me that workers in East Asia are very cheap, and the hiring cost is only about one-tenth of that in St. Petersburg." George tried hard to look mercenary. Only in this way can George's motives be concealed.
Mi Liujing's brows did not relax: "Then -"
"The empire's "Immigration Order" stipulates that each household will be allocated 100 acres of land free of charge, and the tax holiday will be 20 years first. , and later increased to 30 years, and each acre of land can be bought for 3 rubles, which is almost the same as free. "George is not satisfied with the "Immigration Order", which is why he doesn't feel bad about selling his land.
Milyugin did not speak, only nodded.
"Do you know how much land is needed to feed a person?" George asked about Milyutin's knowledge blind spots.
Milyugin thought hard——
Milyugin gave up thinking.
“0.3~~” George’s answer stunned Milyutin.
0.3 acres, which is equivalent to about 5 acres, and fertilizer factors are not considered here.
If properly fertilized, the output of 5 acres of land is enough to feed a family of five.
It’s just food. If you want to accumulate something, you have to find a way to increase your income.
"There is enough labor in the Far East. We can definitely hire workers from the Far East to develop Siberia. Is it 3 rubles per acre? I bought it-" George put the words away first. Nicholas has the final say whether to give or how much to give.
George didn’t know when Nicholas came to the throne. When World War I broke out, the Russian czar must have been Nicholas.
It is now 1883, and World War I broke out in 1914——
Very good, if we go to Siberia to farm now, the empire will be able to collect taxes one year before the outbreak of the world war.
“Have you not considered the population structure?” Milyutin finally found the loophole in George’s plan.
"What demographic structure?" George played dumb.
"Population! The population of the Far East. If you hire countless workers from the Far East to develop Siberia, will Siberia belong to our Russia or the Far East?" Milyutin was furious. You are not the Bismarck of Russia in the future. How can you do that? Make such a mistake!
"You have already said that they are workers, hired workers. They are not Siberians at all. Who do you think Siberia belongs to?" George smiled. He had already considered this bug.
Milyugin was speechless.
Yes, those are not immigrants, but hired workers~~
Despite saying this, Milyutin still felt that something was not right.
"It will take a long time to develop Siberia, which may last for decades or even hundreds of years. Who can say clearly what will happen in the future -" George did not lie. Until the 21st century, Siberia was still deserted.
In the 21st century, Vladivostok is the largest city and economic and cultural center in the Far East, with a population of only 600,000.
Russia's successive tsars desperately expanded, and finally Russia had the largest territory in the world.
But what's the use in the end? Without enough manpower to develop it, not only will Siberia's value not be fully reflected, but it will also become a burden to the empire.
Between 1891 and 1901 alone, Russia spent a full 1.46 billion rubles on building the Trans-Siberian Railway, far exceeding its military expenditure during the same period.
If these 1.46 billion rubles are spent on military expenditure, Russia will have a powerful army that can push Europe flatly.
So the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway is not only a demand of the empire, but also something that all European countries are happy to see.
Milyutin did not argue anymore. He needed time to think about this issue and was worried until he left Sofia.
Through contact with different people in the past few days, Milyutin did learn the true situation of Sophia.
This not only did not make Milyugin relax, but made him even more worried.
A strong Bulgaria is bad for Russia.
A divided Bulgaria is also not in Russia’s interests.
Russia hopes that Bulgaria will have a certain degree of military strength, so it helps Bulgaria build a defense force.
But if Bulgaria’s military strength is too strong, it will pose a threat to Russia’s influence in the Balkans.
Bulgaria is hungry for power from top to bottom.
The generals sent by the Tsar were so confused that they did not even know what they should do.
The British and Germans are pervasive in Sofia, and Russia's hold on Bulgaria is wavering.
The situation in Bulgaria was so serious that Milyutin canceled his upcoming trip and returned directly to St. Petersburg to report to the Tsar face to face.
Assam has been having a headache recently. Russia’s calls for the reopening of parliament are getting louder and louder. Asan has dismissed Ignaev from his post for this reason, but it has not calmed down the controversy.
This parliament is not a national parliament, but a local self-government parliament. It is part of the local self-government reform implemented by Asia II in 1864.
After Asan ascended the throne, the local self-government councils were replaced by local courts. In addition to the original judicial power, the judicial system also had executive power, which triggered increasingly widespread concerns.
It is not impossible to reopen the parliament.
What really worries Yasan is that even if they agree to reopen the parliament, Russia's powerful people will not be satisfied. Next, they will demand the formulation of a constitution to further restrict the power of the tsar.
Parliament, constitution, restructuring——
This is how Ya Er went to his death step by step.
(End of this chapter)