Chapter 275 The war is anxious
Later generations have mixed reviews of Stolypin. People who support Stolypin believe that Stolypin can be recorded in the annals of Russian history and changed the course of the history of the Russian Empire. The first reformer.
Those who opposed Stolypin believed that Stolypin was an executioner with blood on his hands, a gangster who won the trust of the tsar for his brutal persecution of opponents.
What’s interesting is that even those who hate Stolypin do not deny Stolypin’s contribution to the Russian Empire.
So George can think that it seems that Stolypin's reforms have offended the interests of some people, so they hate Stolypin.
What a coincidence.
In St. Petersburg, there are many people who hate George.
The distrust between the Tsar and George stemmed largely from the slander of George by the Grand Dukes of St. Petersburg.
Amazingly, the people who hate George the most in St. Petersburg are not those who are punished by George for their own mistakes.
But it comes from within the ruling class that George is committed to maintaining.
This is also normal.
For Werther and Stolypin, George and the Grand Dukes are all members of the royal family. As long as the fight between them does not harm the empire——
In other words, it will not shake the empire. The extent of the foundation of imperial rule is arbitrary.
For the grand dukes, George is the biggest obstacle to their benefit.
If the Tsar's will is firm and his trust in George is unshakable, it will be fine.
It happened that both the Tsar and Nicholas had soft ears, so the three of them became a tiger.
George didn’t care, even his disappointment was gone now.
George was indeed quite disappointed with the Czar last year.
After returning to Vladivostok, George gradually began to understand the Tsar.
The Grand Dukes were to the Tsar what Mikhail was to George.
As George's uncle, Mikhail's interests are highly bound to George's, so Mikhail may have many shortcomings, but on fundamental issues, Mikhail will not betray George.
Others are hard to say.
Milyugin has a good relationship with George. They are both teachers and friends, and they have helped George a lot.
But on many issues, Milyutin's attitude is still more biased towards St. Petersburg, rather than all based on the interests of Vladivostok.
For example, on the issue of artillery, Milyutin believed that George should hand over the technology of tube annealing artillery, or sell it to the empire, so that the military could replace the artillery at a lower cost.
Mikhail is very firm on this issue.
George did not ask for high prices. The price offered to the military department was to add a reasonable profit to the cost. The final price was lower than the price the military department ordered from the imperial arsenal.
So since the military can't even accept this price, even if George hands over the technology of tube-fired artillery to the empire, the military will not be able to use the most advanced artillery.
We cannot say who is right or wrong, Mikhail or Milyutin.
Although Mikhail also served in the Imperial Army.
But Milyutin has been the Minister of War for 20 years, and he must have more feelings for the Imperial Army than Mikhail.
But this does not become a reason for Amur to transfer its interests to the Imperial Army.
If this is the case, then who will take the initiative to invest in research and development technology?
In addition to the ownership of the Trans-Siberian Railway, Stolypin also had differences with George on many issues.
Stolypin’s family estate is located in Lithuania. This area has historically been dominated by the more advanced family private farm management method. Therefore, Stolypin believes that the family private farm management model, It has more advantages than the patriarchal village system currently prevalent in the Russian Empire, as well as the Amur large farm system.
"In terms of pure labor enthusiasm, the efficiency of family private farms is indeed higher than that of large farms -"
George did not involve the patriarchal village system, only talking about the large farms in Amur.
“But in terms of overall coordination, material mobilization, and resource allocation, large farms have unparalleled advantages.”
George and Nicholas laughed at the Japanese for grabbing rice in St. Petersburg.
The rice grabbing incident in the Russian Empire is no less than that in Japan.
Even more than Japan.
The industry of the Russian Empire was more developed than that of Japan, so the number of workers was far more than that of Japan.
Japan’s rice grabbing incident was triggered by last year’s agricultural harvest failure and Japanese rice merchants hoarding rice.
Are Russian grain merchants worried about the country and the people, not making money when there is a bumper harvest, collecting grain at a high price to ensure the interests of farmers; and then selling grain at a low price when grain prices are high to balance prices?
Stop it, those Hebrew merchants in the Russian Empire did more than the Japanese rice merchants.
The large farm in Vladivostok was merely George's stopgap measure for self-sufficiency.
When the rice from Siam arrives in Vladivostok and the food supply is basically guaranteed, George will change the large farm model, and it will not be too late to build a private family farm by then. Stolypin remained silent and did not argue with George.
This does not mean that Stolypin was persuaded by George. Stolypin is a very determined person and cannot be easily persuaded by George.
“The empire is too big. Whether it is a private family farm, a large farm, or even a patriarchal village system, it is all determined by the reality of the empire. Each system has its advantages and disadvantages. We should proceed from reality when choosing The most beneficial system ”
George's words not only made Stolypin nod repeatedly, but also Werther was pulled out of the document by George.
“After the Trans-Siberian Railway is completed, the connections between Amur and St. Petersburg will be more frequent and the travel will be more convenient. At that time, I hope you can go to Amur for a walk and take a look. After all, you have read thousands of books. It’s better to travel thousands of miles.”
George is still looking forward to Witte and Stolypin, the famous ministers of Nicholas II.
The power of George alone is not enough to change the status quo of the empire.
If George wants to have greater influence, he must find more partners, unite more people, and involve more people. Only then is this possible.
At present, the First Lady, Werther, Stolypin, and Ferdinand of the Kingdom of Romania are all good partners.
As for the others, they are just chickens and dogs.
George did not stay long in Chelyabinsk. After the ice and snow melted, George set out to continue eastward to Vladivostok.
Needless to mention the food and shelter along the way, George set out from Chelyabinsk at the end of April and arrived in Vladivostok at the end of July.
This is also thanks to the progress of the Trans-Siberian Railway. After arriving in Dolgolu, George can take the train.
During the three months along the way, George and Vladivostok had basically lost contact with each other, and they had no idea what was happening in the outside world.
There is bad news, but there is more good news.
The biggest bad news is that Mulind’s acquisition of farmland to grow rice in Siam is not going smoothly. Although Siam is not a colony of any company, it is obvious that Britain and France have also noticed Siam’s agricultural achievements. advantage, so the land in Siam was largely controlled by the British and French, and Mulind had no way to start.
This matter cannot be rushed, it needs to be considered in the long term. There are many places in the Qing Empire that have three crops a year. The same goes for growing rice in the Qing Empire.
“George, maybe there’s no need to go to such trouble at all——”
Mikhail coveted the land across the Amur River.
Rice can also be grown in Vladivostok, and the quality is not inferior to that of Siam. However, the yield is lower, which is not in line with Vladivostok’s current interests. Therefore, the farms in Vladivostok still focus on high-yielding crops.
In order to protect what they called the Land of Longxing, the Qing Empire prohibited Chinese immigration to the south bank of Amur.
So the southern coast of Amur is thousands of miles of fertile land but desolate, even more desolate than Siberia.
It is only separated by a river. There are countless fertile fields that can be cultivated across the river, which can fully meet Amur's needs. This temptation is indeed great for Mikhail.
"Don't even think about it, don't get me into trouble——"
George doesn't want to incur "heavenly punishment", so he should develop Vladivostok honestly.
Even if Siamese rice cannot be transported to Vladivostok for a while, Vladivostok can still import a large amount of grain from Europe and the United States, so this issue is not actually urgent.
"George, you are all in the wrong direction."
Milyugin is indeed more capable than Mikhail.
While George was still on the road, Idaho became the 43rd state of the United States on July 3.
On July 10, Wyoming became the 44th state of the United States.
So it doesn’t matter whether the rice from Siam can be transported to Vladivostok. If George is willing, there are countless lands in Idaho and Wyoming waiting for George to develop.
George can only say that empiricism kills people.
For a long time, George subconsciously believed that the United States was already the United States with 50 states. He was completely unaware that the United States was still expanding rapidly.
So now you know why the United States has taken no action in foreign colonization. Because there is a large amount of land next to the United States waiting for the United States to annex, and it is not in the mood to colonize foreign countries.
What else is there to say? George immediately sent a telegram to Thierry and asked Thierry to buy farms in Idaho and Wyoming.
Thierry called back quickly.
Purchasing a farm or something can be put aside first. The competition between Siberian Electric Company and Edison Electric Company regarding alternating current and direct current has reached its peak, and now Thierry has no time to spare.
George was very depressed.
The advantages of alternating current over direct current are very obvious. Edison is not yet the great inventor who will be mythologized by Americans in later generations.
Thierry is not without roots in the United States. He has now become an American citizen and has become a real American. Therefore, the competition between Thierry and Edison is completely based on the same level. This makes Edison could not use his dirty tricks with impunity.
After learning more about it, George knew why the war was so anxious.
When George was in St. Petersburg, he asked the Siberian Electric Company to voluntarily give up its alternating current patent to increase its leverage in competing with Edison.
Siberian Electric Company did not completely follow George's instructions, so it was difficult to determine the winner.
(End of this chapter)