Chapter 248 A Difficult Start
The two Opium Wars were just the prelude to carving up the Qing Empire, and the suffering of the Qing Empire had just begun.
George does not need to target the Qing Empire, he can just follow other imperialist countries and take advantage. Those Europeans do not understand Eastern culture at all, and George has many opportunities.
After a hundred years of humiliation, the Qing Empire lost countless things.
At least before the 21st century, artworks from the East were very cheap and of low value in the Western market.
Last year, George bought a set of sabers and long swords from the Qing Empire in Paris. It is said that they were leaked from the Qing royal family and were once used by the Qing emperor.
A set of 12 knives and swords cost George less than 1,000 rubles.
George and Anne spent a pleasant week in Sigmaringen, and George did not return to St. Petersburg until Amy arrived at Sigmaringen with a group of Cossack female escorts.
These Cossack female escorts were sent by Catherine, and a dozen Korean maids arrived with the female escorts.
Anne did not object to Catherine's arrangement. After getting engaged to George, Anne was no longer the helpless orphan.
While George was in Germany, he still maintained contact with Vladivostok.
After the beginning of spring, the Trans-Siberian Railway was officially launched, with construction starting from Khabarovsk and Chelyabinsk at the same time.
Nicholas served as head of the Trans-Siberian Railway Commission, an appointment suggested by Witte.
Nicholas, who was born in 1868, has just turned 20 this year. It is said that he cannot hold such an important position. Ya San also expressed doubts about whether Nikolai is qualified.
Witt's attitude is very firm. He believes that age is not a problem. If Nikola is not given a chance to exercise, Nikola will never mature.
Asan adopted Werther's suggestion and appointed George as Nikolai's deputy.
Nicholas had no idea how to build a railway.
George, however, had rich experience in railway construction because of the construction of Amur.
Vladivostok is well prepared. Last winter, Fu Tuan sent engineers to explore the terrain and clear obstacles for the construction of the railway.
After the spring of this year, Vladivostok employed 50,000 workers and the project progressed rapidly.
The progress in Chelyabinsk was not smooth enough, and construction was not able to start until July.
After the project started, the progress was not smooth enough, and more and more problems were exposed.
“The biggest problem is that the supply of rails is seriously insufficient, there are also problems in the allocation of human resources, the logistics supply is chaotic, and funds are tight——”
Witt is a member of the Trans-Siberian Railway Committee and is responsible for actual Execute the work.
While George and Nikolai were in Germany, food poisoning broke out in Chelyabinsk, killing more than a dozen workers.
Chelyabinsk employs just over 20,000 workers.
However, unlike Vladivostok where a large number of Qing and Korean people were used, most of the workers used in Chelyabinsk were Cossacks.
Cossacks are the best cavalry, but they are not even qualified workers. After food poisoning occurred in Chelyabinsk, Cossack workers went on strike, and the progress of the project was seriously affected.
“Wait, why are funds tight?”
Nicholas is very angry. The project has just started and funds are starting to be tight. What will happen next?
The construction period of the Trans-Siberian Railway is 10 years.
"The Grand Duke used part of the funds used to build the Trans-Siberian Railway to repair the Crimean railway——"
Witt was helpless, the Russian Empire had its own national conditions here.
Building the Trans-Siberian Railway is a major event, and it certainly cannot be done by just two young people, Nikolai and George.
So George’s uncle Mikhail Nikolayevich is also one of the committee members.
After the Asia 3 special train derailed last year, the Russian Empire accelerated its efforts to nationalize its railways.
The retrieval is just the beginning, how to maintain the operation of the railway is more important.
In an era when private railway tycoons controlled the railways, in order to make a profit, the railways would not be repaired unless absolutely necessary.
So after the empire nationalized the railways, it faced a huge mess, and almost all railways needed repairs.
Some even need to be demolished and rebuilt.
Otherwise, a train derailment may happen at any time.
Building the Trans-Siberian Railway is important, but maintaining the operation of the existing railway network is even more important.
So it can be explained that Mikhail diverted the special funds used to build the Trans-Siberian Railway to repair the Crimean Railway.
“How can special funds be misappropriated casually!”
Nikolai was extremely indignant. The Trans-Siberian Railway was his first real job and there was no room for error.
"Your Majesty agreed -"
Witt's arm couldn't twist his thigh.
Nicola was speechless.
Since the Tsar agrees, it is useless to complain to the Tsar.
"George, what should we do?"
Nikolai was still the same as when he was a child, asking George if he had any questions.
As long as it is not a cure, George can solve the problem most of the time.
"Find bank loans, issue bonds, raise funds, no matter what, the railway cannot be stopped."
George does not spend his energy on arguing with Mikhail, and has no money to think of ways to get money. That’s it.
Of course we can’t just let this matter go. George can solve it once or twice, but it’s impossible to get money every time.
"Great, I'll go back to Gatchina and you go get the money."
Nicola and George have a clear division of labor.
The richest person in Russia is not George, but the most noble daughter. So George went directly to Yusupov Palace.
The First Lady and Felix were not at Yusupov Palace, but went to Crimea for summer vacation.
George didn't even know what to avoid from the heat in St. Petersburg.
The Tsar regularly returned to the Empress’s natal home for summer vacation every year, which can be explained by allowing the Empress to visit relatives by the way.
Felix and Yusupova went to Crimea purely to enjoy life and had nothing to do with the weather in St. Petersburg.
Okay, who asked George to ask for help, so George chased him to Crimea.
The railway in Crimea really needs to be repaired, especially in the territory recovered through the 10th Russo-Turkish War. The width of the rails is different from the width in the Russian Empire. It cannot be used without repair.
The manor of the First Lady in Crimea can also be described as a palace. It covers an extremely large area, is perfectly decorated, and is full of exotic style. During the rule of the Ottoman Empire, this palace was once the residence of the Ottoman Sultan.
After George asked Felix, he learned that this palace was originally the property of the Yusupov family, and now it is just returned to the original owner.
The marriage of Felix and Yusupova was unfortunate. The first two children died in infancy. Fortunately, the third son Nikolay and the fourth son little Felix grew up vigorously, allowing Felix and Yusupova felt slightly comforted.
George wants Felix to buy some bonds.
Felix said that he had no say in the matter and asked George to find Yusupova.
"You are a husband, you can't have no power at all."
George felt very sad for Felix's situation, and the life of his first son-in-law was not easy.
"What do I need power for? Zina has done a great job. I am happy and free."
Felix's logic is impeccable, and he describes eating soft rice as so justified.
"Okay, as long as you are happy——"
George stopped talking nonsense to Felix, the man was completely depraved.
Yusupova has very strict requirements for herself. She and Felix gave birth to four sons in a row after marriage, but her figure was not seriously out of shape like other Russian aunts. It is really amazing.
Yusupova is also very familiar with George, and she congratulated George on his engagement as soon as they met.
"Thank you, Anne is a good girl, I will cherish it."
A smile appeared on George's face unconsciously, it was the sweetness that belongs only to a lover.
"It's really enviable. If you were older, nothing would happen to Anne -"
Women who have given birth to children are different.
The First Lady's boldness surprised George. Your husband is here, can you be more restrained?
Felix acted as if he hadn’t heard anything and drank tea as if nothing had happened.
George is not here to flirt with the No. 1 Noble Lady, but to ask the No. 1 Noble Girl for help.
Yusupova seemed less interested in railroad bonds.
“You have so much money that you can’t spend it all. Instead of putting it in the bank, it’s better to use it to buy bonds.”
George’s talent in selling bonds is far less than Schiff’s.
As I said, people are the ones who specialize in the art.
“If the bank doesn’t pay me interest, I can sue the bank – if you and Nikolay don’t pay me interest, can I sue you and Nikolai?”
What Yusupova is worried about is not the interest, but losing all her money.
When dealing with the Russian royal family, you must be careful and careful. These people are all cannibals.
"I swear on the honor of the name Yuriev that this kind of thing will never happen."
George bet his own name.
Some people always tell me that if I do something, I will take your last name.
For a nobleman of George's level, such words are absolutely unacceptable.
Even the oath of family honor is strictly prohibited, because everything is possible.
The status of the first noble son-in-law is not as insignificant as he said.
George keenly noticed that Yusupova and Felix exchanged a quick look. After Felix nodded slightly, Yusupova looked at George.
“Your Vladivostok has developed rapidly in the past two years——”
Vladivostok really stole the show at last year's World Expo.
The Yusupov family’s oil company also participated in last year’s World Expo.
Compared with the enterprises under George's name, the harvest is naturally much less.
“You only see that Vladivostok is developing very fast, but you don’t know how difficult it is.”
George complained and did not mind going further with the Yusupov family cooperate.
No matter what the Yusupov family does, they are always more reliable than the Americans.
Like George, the Yusupov family is also deeply bound to the Russian Empire.
“Sell me the Vladivostok Automobile Plant and I will agree to buy your bonds——”
Yusupova is beautiful and thinks even more beautifully. .
"Zina, be realistic, you know this is impossible."
The Trans-Siberian Railway is not George's private property, and George will not sell the car factory.
(End of this chapter)