Chapter 238 Pirates
As Christmas approaches, the festive atmosphere in Vladivostok becomes more intense.
The staff of Yuriev Palace changed all the street lights inside and outside Yuriev Palace into festive red lanterns overnight, and the guards also changed into palace dresses only worn on holidays.
On Christmas night, there will be a grand fireworks show at Yuriev Palace, which can be seen from half of Vladivostok.
As the end of the year approaches, George’s work is getting busier and busier.
The stalls in Vladivostok are getting bigger and bigger, and there are more and more people. This year, the population of Vladivostok officially exceeded 100,000, setting a new high.
George remembers that when the Tsar granted Amur to George, there were only 11,000 people in Vladivostok.
Five years have passed, and the population of Vladivostok has increased from 11,000 to 100,000. Compared with the scale, George is more satisfied with the quality.
Five years ago, Vladivostok was either a hodgepodge of deported criminals, refugees, or foreign workers, a concentration camp for problematic populations.
Now the number of Cossacks alone has exceeded 30,000, the number of workers has reached 20,000, the number of engineers has exceeded 3,000, and there are about 25,000 students in school. The situation is excellent.
In addition to the permanent population, there are approximately 100,000 foreign workers in Vladivostok.
Today’s foreign workers are different from before. Even if winter comes, they no longer leave Vladivostok because there is always unfinished work here.
After a busy year, the days from Christmas to New Year are a rare break.
In order to improve efficiency, the factory in Vladivostok has begun to implement an eight-hour work system, with six days off and one day off to provide workers with more rest time.
In order to allow the citizens of Vladivostok to have a happy holiday, the Vladivostok Municipal Government took early action and built two large material distribution centers in Vladivostok to ensure the supply of materials during the holiday.
"We have stockpiled one thousand tons of fish and pork, five thousand tons of potatoes, two thousand tons of cabbage and radishes, and ten thousand chickens——"
Mikhail took the initiative to provide supplies at the material distribution center near the port. George introduced.
It sounds like a lot. One thousand tons is one million kilograms. On average, it is ten kilograms per person. It must be enough for the festival.
But after the festival, there are still nearly four months of winter in Vladivostok. What should we do during this time?
“This is just part of it. Our strategic reserve warehouse in Bear Mountain also stores more than 10,000 tons of fish meat. The farms around Vladivostok can provide 10,000 eggs every day. Now each farm There are chicken farms and pig farms, and the number of cattle and sheep is growing every month.”
Mikhail is quite optimistic. Even if the eggs are not enough, at least there will be enough fish and meat.
In Vladivostok School, each student will be provided with one egg and 250 grams of milk to supplement nutrition.
This part is free.
On this basis, the farm can also provide 10,000 eggs to the urban area every day, which is not easy.
This year, the population of Vladivostok has almost doubled. The city government has underestimated the growth rate of the population, so supplies are a bit tight.
Next year, farms around Vladivostok will expand the scale of chicken and pig farms, and by then the material supply capacity will be further improved.
George could only be thankful that fortunately there was still a strategic material warehouse in Xiongshan.
There are more than 500 fishing boats in Vladivostok, and fishing boats with a tonnage of more than 100 tons account for about 10% of the total.
These fishing boats leave early and return late, making a huge contribution to the material supply in Vladivostok.
The output of the Vladivostok Shipyard will be further increased next year, and the supply of fish and meat will continue to increase. This is where Mikhail's confidence lies.
Even if there are no eggs to eat.
You can also eat fish, what’s not to like about that!
"What are those people at the Academy of Sciences doing? Let them start researching the preservation technology of vegetables and fruits to increase the supply of vegetables and fruits."
If George is not satisfied with the status quo, we will not Speaking of tomatoes and cucumbers, at least eggplants, beans, apples and bananas should be available in winter.
“Let the Academy of Sciences study preservation technology?”
Mikhail hesitated slightly, this seemed a bit wasteful.
"The Academy of Sciences not only serves the empire, but also serves the citizens of the empire."
George was not constrained by formalities.
Who said scientists must study aircraft and cannons?
In other words, who said that only those who study aircraft and cannons can become scientists?
George is concerned about grand narratives, but also about the dignity of ordinary people. How can he have the energy to study aircraft and cannons when his stomach is not full.
In fact, preservation technology is really not that complicated. It is a process of trial and error.
Every household in Vladivostok Farm has a vegetable cellar. If the vegetables in the vegetable cellar are stored properly, they can be stored for half a year.
It’s hard to say how long bananas can be stored.
If you put the apples in the cellar, they should be fine for half a year.
It's very simple this way.
Vladivostok has nothing but a big place.
If you need a cellar, dig it.
These things are not about whether they can be solved, but whether they are willing to be solved.
As long as you want to solve it, you can always find a way.
"But where can we get so many apples?"
Mikhail is worried that Vladivostok does not produce apples locally.
George did not mean to supply a specific group of people, but all Vladivostok people.
The current population of Vladivostok is one hundred thousand.
There will definitely be more next year.
Even if there is no increase, if one hundred thousand people each get an apple a day for half a year——
Mikhail felt a little dizzy.
“When we go to Jeju, we will spend our own money to plant as much as we want——”
George is not afraid of trouble.
The temperature in Jeju is very suitable for growing apples.
If apples were grown entirely in a small area of 2,000 square kilometers, there should be enough for the people of Vladivostok to eat. There should be no problem if the East Indian plantation model is transplanted to Jeju.
According to this idea, other fruits should also be grown.
If Jeju is not suitable, just continue to look for a place south.
The only regret is that even if we start planting next year, we will have to wait at least five years to eat Jeju apples.
That’s okay.
To put it another way, in fact, you will be able to eat Jeju apples in five years.
It really feels much better if you think about it this way.
While George was thinking about Jeju, someone was also thinking about Jeju.
Due to the breakdown of the icebreaker in Vladivostok this winter, transportation between Jeju and Vladivostok has been cut off, and there are a lot of immigrants stranded in Jeju.
By December, more than 10,000 immigrants were waiting for transfer in Jeju.
With so many people staying on the island, they can’t be idle every day, so Danila organized the immigrants to reclaim wasteland.
There is quite a lot of arable land on Jeju Island, certainly hundreds of thousands of acres. However, Jeju will definitely not regard agriculture as its main development direction. It will reclaim some wasteland and grow some food to meet daily consumption. That's enough.
“These Qing people are so pitiful. They are good at farming, but they have never owned land. The situation in the Qing Dynasty is similar to ours. Most of the land is concentrated in the hands of lords and landlords.”
Da Nila's deputy Akim is also a Cossack and just retired from the Odessa Military District last year.
Akmu served in the Guards for ten years and made meritorious service in the Tenth Russo-Turkish War. According to regulations, Akmu was eligible to become an officer.
As fate would have it, Akmu not only failed to become an officer, but was transferred to the Odessa Military District because he offended his superiors. Akmu retired angrily and immigrated to Vladivostok.
"Select some outstanding farmers and keep them here. Our land here also needs people to take care of it."
Danila Chicken Thief, screen the people in advance.
“This can’t be done, General Ye Luoxin hasn’t peeled off our skin yet——”
The relationship between Akmu and Ye Luoxin is far less close than that between Danila and Ye Luoxin.
“Don’t worry, the general will not come to Jeju at all——”
Before Danila finished speaking, Jin Solo hurried over.
“A ship has arrived from the outer port.”
“It’s coming soon——”
Danila didn't take it to heart. Jeju Port had begun to open, and occasionally civilian ships came into the port to add coal and water.
"This ship has been wandering around the outer port for an hour. There must be something wrong."
Kim Sora is a Korean and is responsible for the management of Koreans on Jeju Island.
Danila and Akim boarded the lighthouse and used telescopes to observe.
Something's really not right.
This is not an ordinary civilian ship. Judging from the appearance of the ship, it looks a bit like an armed merchant ship.
Nowadays, ocean-going merchants sometimes work part-time as pirates, which gives birth to such weirdos as armed merchant ships.
Many pirate ships are also armed merchant ships.
Danila noticed that someone on the bow of the ship was also looking here using a telescope.
And there are two ships in the distance heading towards Jeju.
"Ring the bell, assemble the guards!"
Danila's reaction was correct.
Before the guards had assembled, three armed merchant ships suddenly opened fire on Jeju Island.
"The opponent is a pirate, prepare to fight!"
Akmu and Jin Soluo went to assemble their troops respectively.
Boom——
A solid artillery shell fell on the roof of a house, and the whole house was smashed through. The sound was amazing.
Jeju Port has no artillery and can only be beaten passively.
Akmu and Jinsuoluo commanded the troops to enter the combat position and waited for the pirates to land in the port.
Danila led 150 Cossack riflemen as a reserve team, and a stretcher brigade of nearly 200 people was responsible for transporting the wounded.
"Send a telegram to the Siberian Fleet, we need support."
Danila can only be thankful that the Siberian Fleet is wintering in Nagasaki.
Although the broken ships of the Siberian Fleet cannot fight against the British Royal Navy, they can still deal with pirates.
Jeju is less than 300 kilometers away from Nagasaki, and it will take at least one day for the Siberian fleet to arrive.
Danila and the others can only rely on themselves during this period.
If it were just pirates, Danila wouldn't be too worried, because in addition to a battalion of troops, there are four heavy machine guns on the island. As long as the pirates dare to land, they will die as many as they come.
But if it is a pirate disguised as a regular army, it would be hard to say.
The pirates were not in a hurry and used artillery fire slowly away from the port. The houses near the dock suffered heavy losses, and several fishing boats docked in the port were also sunk.
This is obviously not a pirate style.
The purpose of pirates is to seek money and will basically not damage port facilities.
(End of this chapter)