Chapter 135 Sense of Belonging
When George walked onto the pier, Mikhail was waiting on the pier. Since receiving George's telegram, Mikhail has been looking forward to George's arrival every day.
"Gege, you are finally here, let me take a good look at you, damn, you seem to have grown taller again-" Mikhail was as jealous of George's height as Nicholas.
George's height has now reached 180 centimeters and is still growing.
“Where is my Vladivostok?” George’s tone was like Mikhail hiding Vladivostok.
"The first thing you said when you saw me was not to greet me, but to care about your Vladivostok. God, I'm so sad. My wife doesn't love me -" Mikhail He is definitely a performer, which was not the case with Mikhail in St. Petersburg.
"I love you, love you and love you the most. Why are you like this now, like an old woman." George's words made Mikhail even more sad.
Mikhail did not hide Vladivostok.
To be precise, construction in Vladivostok has not yet started. Mikhail’s focus in the past two years has been on the farm, and he cannot take care of Vladivostok for the time being.
Vladivostok has a sparse population, with a total population of less than 40,000 including employees of the Qing Empire. Mikhail could not take care of both and could only focus on farms.
However, this situation will improve next year. George's farm has begun to produce output, and next year he can shift his energy to urban construction.
“We have reclaimed more wasteland this year and hired more workers. This year we have harvested 700,000 poods of grain. Next year we can raise more livestock. We have also accumulated 1 million kilograms of dried fish. This thing is going to make me vomit-" Mikhail's results were gratifying, and George could proudly announce that Vladivostok has solved the food shortage and is completely self-sufficient.
700,000 poods is about 11,500 tons. Although this output is not high, considering that there are only 40,000 people in Vladivostok, it is enough for food.
Although dried fish is not delicious, it can supplement the necessary nutrients and salt for the human body. It is not yet at the stage of whether it can be eaten well. The problem of whether it can be eaten first must be solved.
"See that mountain? I built a palace for you on the mountain, called Yuriev Palace." Mikhail gestured to George.
George looked in the direction indicated by Mikhail. On the mountain top shrouded in mist in the distance, a white house loomed.
“Let’s go home, Katya is waiting for you—” Mikhail gave George a big surprise. Ekaterina had arrived in Vladivostok ahead of schedule.
Since leaving St. Petersburg, George has not seen Ekaterina for three full years. He has almost forgotten what Ekaterina looked like.
Although they have never met again, George and Ekaterina are no strangers.
In the past three years, there were more than 1,000 letters of communication between George and Ekaterina, and there were also letters between Ekaterina and Dalia. What happened to George, and what happened to Ekaterina. Clearly.
On the contrary, George didn't know much about Ekaterina. He only knew that Ekaterina was making money, making money, and making a lot of money every day.
George has arrived in his fiefdom, and Korff will continue to travel. His destination is Khabarovsk (Burli).
George and Korf said goodbye politely, agreed to meet again after a while, and then got into the carriage with Mikhail and went home together.
No wonder Mikhail has not cared about Shanghai in the past two years. He probably spent all his energy on building Yuriev Palace.
The Yuriev Palace is a huge palace complex, as grand as the Winter Palace.
The entire palace is constructed of granite. The project is still in progress and is expected to take at least 8 years to complete.
8 years——
Okay, eight years later, George will be an adult and will probably be able to catch up with George’s wedding.
At the foot of the hill where Yuriev Palace is located, there is a manor. This is Mikhail's residence. Ekaterina is waiting for George at the door.
"Gege, my dear son, I think you are going crazy. Let me see you. Are you okay? Do you still remember me?" Yekaterina burst into tears. , hugging George and kissing him wildly, speaking incoherently.
"I'm fine - I miss you too -" George also had red eyes, and he could feel Ekaterina's feelings for him.
George's two younger sisters, Olga and little Katya, were also there.
Oliga is only one year younger than George, and now she is as beautiful as Catherine.
Little Katya was only six years old. She stood next to Olga, holding Olga’s hand, and looked at George with strange and curious eyes.
George stretched out his hand to Olga and little Katya.
Olga's gesture of hugging George was a little strange. Little Katya kissed George on the cheek and called him "brother" in French.
The group came to the living room. Aunt Mikhail was also very enthusiastic towards George, but a little indifferent to Mikhail.
"Mikhail recently found a Japanese mistress, you must not imitate him." Ekaterina mocked mercilessly, making Mikhail blush.
"I have said it many times, it was just a show. I was with the generals of the Siberian Fleet, and I couldn't refuse-" Mikhail tried to defend.
"Shut up! Dirty thing-" Aunt Mikhail didn't give Mikhail any face in front of George.
George was not surprised at all. The grand dukes of St. Petersburg were more outrageous and had more fun than Mikhail.
After dinner, the family chatted in the living room.
“Vladivostok is pretty good. At least it is far away from disputes and not as complicated as St. Petersburg. As long as we can run this place well, it can become our paradise.” Mikhail It's still reliable when it comes to accounting for business matters.
“The generals of the Siberian Fleet are not satisfied with Vladivostok. Icebreakers are needed here in winter to enter and exit smoothly. The generals of the Siberian Fleet prefer to get a military port in a warmer location. "If the Siberian fleet moves away, Vladivostok will completely become our world." Mikhail is working hard to push the Siberian fleet south, which is in George's interest.
Vladivostok is the headquarters of the Siberian Fleet. The Siberian Fleet will, to a certain extent, restrict George's power. George has no jurisdiction over the Siberian Fleet, and conflicts will break out sooner or later.
If the Siberian Fleet could better restrain the sailors, then George would not mind if the Siberian Fleet stayed in Vladivostok.
In fact, it is obviously not possible. The discipline of the Siberian Fleet is very poor and the sailors lack restraint. Most of the violent incidents in Vladivostok are related to the Siberian Fleet.
“I have dispersed the Qing workers into four manors. The largest manor now has 4,000 people. Next year, the number of manors will increase to 10. We also have nearly 6,000 workers in logging and Mining, according to your instructions, the mining people are Koreans and Japanese. "Mikhail didn't quite understand why George did this.
“Sooner or later there will be a war between us and the Japanese. Now these Japanese will be potential threats by then, so we must strengthen the management of the Japanese and minimize their contact with Japan. , a complete blockade of information from Vladivostok to Japan. "George knew how big the threat from the Japanese was.
Before the Qing-Japanese War broke out, intelligence agents from Japan penetrated the Qing Empire into countless holes. Not only were they familiar with the Qing Empire's military strength, they even produced more detailed military maps than the Qing Empire's official ones.
On the eve of the Battle of the Yellow Sea, information from Japanese intelligence personnel allowed the Japanese army to accurately infer the time when the Qing army arrived on the battlefield, laying the foundation for the Qing army's defeat.
Russia also noticed Japan's intelligence capabilities. On the eve of the Russo-Japanese War, Russia strengthened management of East Asians in the Vladivostok area in order to restrict the activities of Japanese intelligence personnel. The Qing people and the Koreans suffered a disaster. were cleared together with the Japanese.
This is the origin of Vladivostok’s anti-Chinese culture.
Before 1905, Russia not only did not restrict the activities of Chinese in the Vladivostok area, but also hired a large number of workers from the Qing Empire due to the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway. At that time, the number of Chinese in Vladivostok was several times that of Russians. many.
In the eyes of Russians, East Asians all look similar, and it is difficult to tell which ones are Chinese and which ones are Japanese.
George can tell the difference. From now on, we will strengthen the management of Japanese immigrants and let them, like the prisoners sent to Siberia, go to the most difficult areas, undertake the hardest work, and do the most tiring work. Get the most severe beating.
We are still several decades away from 1905.
If the Japanese in Vladivostok want to send news to Japan, then please live until 1905.
"How are the Chinese workers?" George asked broadly.
"Chinese workers are simply the best workers in the world. They work hard and work hard. As long as their wages are paid on time, they never complain -" Mikhail gushed. Of the three major groups in East Asia, Mikhail was most fond of the Chinese workers. satisfy.
Unlike a certain ethnic group that advertises "the most hard-working" all over the world, the Chinese are the most hard-working nation in the world.
Diligence is secondary. The key point is that the Chinese never complain and are not enthusiastic about political governance. They just quietly make money and send it back to their hometown. When they are old and frail and unable to work, they return to their roots. This is simply a model for workers.
“Are many workers leaving Vladivostok this year?” George knew that many Chinese workers left Vladivostok every winter.
In the coming year, these workers will bring more Chinese workers to Vladivostok, just like migratory birds.
"There are many, but more people choose to stay. Some Chinese workers take the initiative to work in the mines just because the wages in the mines are relatively high." Mikhail lamented. Compared with making money, whether it is dangerous or not is no longer important.
“To find a way to get more workers to stay on their own initiative, it is best to let them immigrate and immigrate with their families, so that we can effectively increase the population of Vladivostok.” George’s fundamental purpose is still Immigration must make those Chinese workers feel a sense of belonging to Vladivostok, so that they can become true Vladivostok people.
"I am trying to think of ways to hire more girls from the Qing Empire and let them start families with Chinese workers, so that they will stay willingly." Mikhail's method is correct, but the method ——
Hard to say.
(End of this chapter)