Chapter 341 Blooming Everywhere
George only learned of this tragedy before the celebratory ball held by the French Embassy for Nicholas.
After the tragedy, Nikolai's first reaction was to stop the celebrations and go to the church to pray for the victims.
Empress Maria advised Nicholas not to do this.
Vladimir and Sergei also believe that the celebrations should not be affected, as this is related to the dignity of the royal family.
George reminded Nicholas that even if the celebration is not canceled, the families of the victims must be compensated in time.
Nicola decided to pay a pension of 1,000 rubles to each victim's family, and went to the French Embassy that night to attend a celebratory ball held by the French Ambassador to Russia, the Marquis de Montebello.
The ball was not open to the public. The only people invited were senior officials and diplomatic officials from various countries stationed in St. Petersburg. No one discussed this matter at the ball.
In fact, at this time, the impact of this incident was not great, including the celebrations in Cordan Square.
However, the next day, some situations related to the French Embassy Ball began to circulate in Moscow. Some people claimed that Nicholas and the Queen were "particularly energetic when dancing, indifferent to the tragedy that had just happened, and felt at ease."< br>
Due to the persistence of the Empress Dowager and Sergei, a series of subsequent celebrations were not affected.
On June 4, Nicholas held a banquet in the Kremlin to thank guests from various countries who came to the ceremony.
On the 5th, Sergey’s house held a large reception.
No. 6 is a reception at the British Embassy in Moscow.
No. 7 is at Vladimir’s house.
On the 9th, when Nicholas was driving to the German Embassy to attend Prince Ladolin's banquet, someone shouted on the roadside: "Don't go to the ball, go to the funeral, and find the murderer!"
Tragedy After the incident, relevant investigations have actually begun.
Since the coronation ceremony was held in Moscow, there is no doubt that the person most responsible for the accident is Sergei.
Nikolai did not want to punish Sergey.
Vladimir, Alexei, Paul, Nicholas the Younger and other grand dukes claimed that if Sergei was punished, they would resign from all positions.
George didn't know what Nicholas thought.
To be honest, when George learned about this situation, George was quite excited.
In the end, Nicholas chose to make peace and did not punish Sergey in any way. He only punished a few insignificant officials to deal with public opinion.
Public opinion has not calmed down. Many people pointed the finger at Queen Alex, thinking that she was the "disaster star". "Wherever she goes, disaster will follow."
George reminded Danilov to be more vigilant and to investigate these rumors and find out who was behind it.
Danilov had no time to worry about anything else. All his elites were in Poland, suppressing the Polish uprising.
These things did not affect Nikolai's mood. On the 15th, Nikolai took the "Polaris" to visit Britain, France and Germany, and George also left to return to Amur.
George did not take a boat this time, but took a train to travel along the Trans-Siberian Railway.
As for the efficiency of St. Petersburg, George really had nothing to say. The railway on the Amur side was almost built to reach Lake Baikal, while the railway on the St. Petersburg side had only been built to Altai, and the project progress was seriously lagging behind.
George once had an exchange with Witte about railway bridges. All the bridges on the Amur side are iron bridges, but the St. Petersburg side is still a wooden bridge without any improvement.
In terms of line selection, St. Petersburg can also save as much as possible and reduce the amount of work as much as possible. In order to accommodate the terrain, many places have to make sharp turns. This is fine in the short term, but it will cause serious consequences for future railway speed increases. Influence.
George no longer has any extravagant hopes. As long as the railway is still being built, even if it is only built one kilometer a day, it will be opened to traffic one day.
The good news is that with the extension of the railway, some scattered villages have appeared along the line. It is hoped that more and more people will settle in Siberia in the future and participate in the development of Siberia.
With the railway, the speed is really fast. It used to take at least half a year to travel between Vladivostok and St. Petersburg, but now it only takes 3 months.
George received the bad news in Chita that the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prince Lobanov Rostovsky, had suddenly passed away due to illness.
While in St. Petersburg, George also participated in negotiations with the Qing Empire with Lobanov. At that time, there was no abnormality in Lobanov's body.
Lobanov’s death did not affect the development of the Middle East Railway.
While the Georges were still in St. Petersburg, Mikhail couldn't wait to send people to explore along the Middle East Railway, and formulated a grand cross plan from Vladivostok to Chita, and from Khabarovsk to Dalini.
The intersection of these two railway lines is Ice City.
Mikhail was ambitious and made Ice City the center of Amur's southern expansion. He planned to build Ice City into the second Vladivostok according to Vladivostok's drawings.
This plan was opposed by Alberman, general manager of the Far East Branch of Dowson Bank.
Albermann, like Rothstein, the general manager of Dowson Bank, are both German-Hebrews.
Although the construction of the China Eastern Railway was determined to be undertaken by the China Eastern Railway Company, the management of the China Eastern Railway belonged to Dowson Bank. Elberman refused the China Eastern Railway Company's involvement in Ice City.
Mikhail was very angry, had a big quarrel with Alberman, and broke up.
George is not angry. Witte and Li Zhangtong determined that the China Eastern Railway will start construction within 12 months after the agreement is reached, and the entire project will be completed within six years.
There are still some details about the China-Eastern Railway that have not been completed and require further discussion. For example, there is huge controversy over whether to use Qing-style narrow gauge or Russian-style broad gauge.
The railway between Khabarovsk and Dalini has not yet been built. It is too early to build an ice city now.
There is also some controversy about the cost of the Middle East Railway.
Referring to the cost of the Trans-Siberian Railway, Witte and Li Zhangtong ruled that the cost of the Eastern Railway was 60 million rubles.
But when it came time to pay, Daosheng Bank began to refer to Amur's cost and was unwilling to pay according to the standard of 60 million rubles.
“If you don’t pay, don’t start the work, it’s that simple.”
George is not in a hurry, what is anxious now is the Grand Dukes of St. Petersburg.
After the signing of the "Qing-Russia Mutual Assistance Treaty to Defend Enemies", the whole city of St. Petersburg was in an uproar. Some people compared the "Qing-Russia Mutual Assistance Treaty to Defend Enemies" with the "Aihun Treaty" and divided the entire northeastern region of the Qing Empire. Within the sphere of influence of the Russian Empire.
It is actually correct to think so. Once the Middle East Railway is completed, the entire area north of the Middle East Railway will become the sphere of influence of the Russian Empire.
Although Li Zhangtong and Witte agreed that only the land along the Middle East Railway was eligible for Russian development.
But this clause was obviously ignored. The Grand Dukes of St. Petersburg will certainly not be bound by the treaty. When George was still in St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg established a large number of companies related to Kanto, preparing to participate in the Kanto region. Under development.
St. Petersburg has now begun to use "Kandong Prefecture" to refer to the northeastern region of the Qing Empire.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Empire has directly applied the Russian Empire's immigration policy to develop Siberia to the areas along the Middle East Railway. If any Russians are willing to immigrate to the areas along the Middle East Railway, each person can be granted 100 acres of land. .
100 dessiatines is equivalent to 1635 acres.
The news reached Vladivostok, and within just one day, more than 2,000 people signed up to immigrate to areas along the China-Eastern Railway.
The people of Vladivostok are also Russians and can also enjoy the imperial immigration policy.
Only some early immigrants in Amur obtained land. Now immigrants in Amur cannot obtain land. If they want to obtain land, they have to go to Central Siberia.
If George doesn't stop him, he can go ahead and open up wasteland if he wants. One person has more than a thousand acres of land, and even if he has agricultural machinery, he will be exhausted if he wants to develop it.
On August 20, Anne successfully gave birth to a baby boy, whom Ekaterina named Alexander.
Nicholas immediately sent a telegram to George to express his congratulations. He, Alex, and the eldest princess Olga, who had just turned one year old, were still traveling in France.
Olga's body is very healthy, which does not get rid of the shadow of hemophilia, unless Alex gives birth to a healthy baby boy.
But this possibility is very small.
There is no threat of hemophilia on George's side, and the three children are all healthy. After Alexander was born, Catherine took Alexander to her side, together with Alexandra and Boris Together, give George and Anne plenty of personal space.
Although Anne felt relaxed without her children around, she also had problems with her mother-in-law.
Seeing what Yekaterina meant, she wished that Anne would have one child a year, preferably twins.
George and Anne agree on this matter.
Jiang Xi has reminded George and Anne that frequent childbirth will have a great impact on Anne's health. Anne must rest for at least two years before considering pregnancy.
George doesn’t care, three children are enough. The task of spreading the branches of the Yuriev family will be left to Boris and Alexander in the future.
“When Alexandra and Boris are older, we’ll have to take them over and raise them ourselves.”
Anne did not want Catherine to work too hard.
Ekaterina really had nothing to say about her child. She changed diapers 24 hours a day without any help. She wanted to be with her child every second and never let her child out of her sight.
Now Anne is even beginning to worry that Ekaterina's doting on her children will affect her future education.
“The distance is so close, you can go and see the child if you want, and it’s not like I’m not allowed to see the child.”
George didn’t think that Ekaterina doted on the child.
Ekaterina was very strict with George and the others when they were young.
But this is not certain, after all, we are still relatives from another generation.
"It's still different."
Anne doesn't want to miss out on the joy and sense of accomplishment of being a mother.
Raising children is like living life. They grow up accidentally. The cutest years are only in the few years when they are young. When they are older and have their own thoughts, all kinds of problems will come one after another. When the time comes, a bad one will , the number will be useless.
With Catherine and Anne around, George was not worried about his children's education, but he was a little worried about the Vladivostok Parliament.
Like St. Petersburg, after Amur implemented the local self-government parliamentary system, various factions sprang up overnight, and George attached great importance to this area.
(End of this chapter)