Chapter 331 Manchuria
George did not take the initiative to deliver it himself, but helped Nicholas deliver it.
Well, it’s hard to explain, because it involves Nikolai’s reputation, and George feels like betraying Nikolai.
But just this hesitation, in Anne's eyes, George must have done something to make him feel sorry for himself.
“It’s not me, it’s Nicky!”
George sold Nikolai immediately.
“Very good, I’ll call Nikki——”
Annie probably really regards Nikolai as her eldest nephew.
“Are you crazy?”
George never expected that a person as unique and independent as Anne could be just like those ordinary people.
"Either let me call, or I'll go to the Hermitage to find Alex."
George made a serious mistake, forgetting that Anne and Alex were both from Germany.
Before the call was made, Nana came to report that Nicholas and Alex came to visit.
Alex just arrived. In order to keep Alex from being bored, Nicholas tried his best to spend time with Alex every day. Today happened to be near Hua Village, so Nicholas did Got an uninvited guest.
"Sani, I was about to call you——"
Anne had no idea how horrible her belly was now.
"God, please go and lie down, don't scare me."
Alex was startled, she was also pregnant.
The two went to the bedroom hand in hand and made love, while Nicholas and George chatted in the living room.
"If Alex gets angry with you, please understand that I didn't betray you on purpose."
George stated in advance.
"What do you mean? Why is Sani angry at me?"
Nicola still doesn't know that George has sold him.
“Pregnant women are so scary——”
George answered the question incorrectly.
"Yeah——"
Nicholas felt the same way.
If life goes on like this, George would like it very much.
On April 18, news came from the Far East that the Qing Empire and Japan concluded a treaty and the war ended.
The contents of the treaty were subsequently exposed. The Qing Empire not only had to compensate Japan with 200 million taels of silver, but also ceded many coastal islands, including the Liaodong Peninsula, to Japan.
The news reached St. Petersburg, and everyone was shocked by the contents of the treaty.
In the two Opium Wars, the total compensation paid by the Qing Empire was only 21 million silver dollars, plus 18 million taels of silver.
Japan not only received compensation of 200 million taels of silver, but also plundered a large amount of loot from the Qing Empire during the war. Its total profit was about 280 million taels of silver. This amount of money is a huge sum for all countries. huge sum of money.
"Twenty million taels of silver is equivalent to 200 million rubles. It would be great if this money belonged to us——"
Witt looked like he had a heart attack, clutching his chest with an expression of pain.
"If this money is given to our navy, we can build 20 of the latest battleships!"
Alexei, who had just been appointed Minister of the Navy, was imagining things.
"Why should I give you the navy? The army must account for at least 80%——"
Alexey Kuropatkin, who has just been transferred from the Governor-General of Central Asia to the Minister of War, looks ugly. , he became Minister of War thanks to Sergei's disinterest in the position.
If Sergey wants to serve as Minister of War, he must resign from his posts as Governor of Moscow and Commander of the Moscow Military District.
After careful consideration, Sergey decided to stay on. George looked on coldly.
Fortunately the money belongs to the Japanese, otherwise these people would not have broken their heads.
But thinking about it this way, George also felt distressed. Ten tons of gold was indeed missing.
“The Liaodong Peninsula must not belong to the Japanese, otherwise the Japanese can encroach on the Qing Empire through the Liaodong Peninsula, and our interests will be greatly affected.”
George reminded Nicholas that the Japanese must not be allowed to succeed.
"Although Japan won the war, its own losses were extremely heavy. We can send troops to Liaodong and take Liaodong back from the Japanese!"
Kuropatkin did not correctly understand George's intention .
The Amur regular army only has two divisions at full strength, and it does not have a navy, so if it sends troops to Liaodong, it may not necessarily be able to defeat Japan.
“I have had a phone call with Prince Heinrich and informed the French government to jointly put pressure on Japan and force Japan to abandon the Liaodong Peninsula.”
George doesn't want to fall out with the Japanese yet.
The Trans-Siberian Railway has not yet been completed, and George still needs Japanese workers to work for him, so it is not in Amur's interests to turn against him now.
The reason why George was able to persuade Prince Heinrich was actually because everyone got what they wanted.
William II has always hoped to turn the entire Jiaodong Peninsula into a German colony.
George also hopes that the Liaodong Peninsula can become a plantation for the Amur Governorate.
So the two hit it off, and George supported Germany's acquisition of the Jiaodong Peninsula.
Prince Heinrich fully assisted George in obtaining the Liaodong Peninsula.
Busan is not suitable to be the home port of the Siberian Fleet because it is too close to Japan.
Although the Siberian Fleet has not yet been placed under the command of the Amur Military District, George believes that this day is not far away.
As long as the command of the Siberian Fleet can be obtained, George is even willing to give all the warships of the Siberian Fleet to the Japanese.
We will discuss the issue of warships later.
After the war, many companies under George's name filed claims against the Japanese army.
In addition to the sunk ships, George's business in Lushun and Weihaiwei was also affected. George remembered these accounts.
In the past, Nicholas was only worried that Japan would not have money to pay George.
Now Nicholas also dislikes George for asking for less.
George wanted a lot. Including the gold from the sunken ship, the companies under George's name asked the Japanese government to pay a total of 21 million rubles.
The Japanese army suffered approximately 6,445 deaths and 3,530 injuries during the Sino-Japanese War, and only extorted a total of 200 million taels of silver.
If George opens his mouth now, he will take away 21 million from the Japanese. This is really cruel.
In addition to compensation and the intervention of the Three Kingdoms to return Liao Dynasty, George was also actively operating, hoping to enhance the influence of the Russian Empire in the Qing Empire.
200 million taels of silver is not a small amount, and as rich as the Qing Empire, they can’t get it out for a while.
One of the contents of the "Chunfan Tower Treaty" is that the Japanese army will temporarily occupy Weihaiwei, and the Qing Empire will pay an annual occupation fee of 500,000 taels of Kuping silver. Japan will not withdraw the occupying troops until the final indemnity is paid.
This means that as long as the money is not given out, the Qing Empire will hire Japanese troops to station in Weihaiwei at the cost of 500,000 taels of silver.
So George's purpose was to obtain greater benefits from the Qing Empire by providing loans to the Qing Empire.
Since it is a loan, there must be other conditions besides interest.
Interest or something, George doesn’t care too much.
There are many articles that can be done under other conditions.
For example, the Middle Eastern Railway ran from Vladivostok across the northeastern part of the Qing Empire and directly to Chita.
Another example is the Manchuria Railway, which connects Korea and Vladivostok via land.
(End of this chapter)