Chapter 383 What do you really want
Not long after Nicholas ascended the throne, he almost launched a war against the Ottoman Empire due to the Ottoman Empire’s massacre of Armenians, but it was eventually canceled due to opposition from many parties.
What surprised George was that St. Petersburg did not seem to take the Anglo-Japanese alliance to heart.
This is simply unreasonable.
In the past five years, Japan has added 5 battleships and 6 heavy cruisers, and also built one battleship and two heavy cruisers.
After the Tenth Russo-Turkish War, the Ottoman Empire fell into disrepair. It was troubled internally and externally, and its national power continued to weaken. It was no longer able to pose a threat to the Russian Empire.
After the stabilization of smokeless gunpowder, the Ottoman Empire also began to replace magazine-type rifles based on smokeless gunpowder.
However, this work has not been completed yet.
The Ottoman Empire was so weak that it even absented itself from the Eight-Power Allied Forces.
You must know that even the Netherlands, Belgium, and Spain, three countries that also sent troops, were qualified to blackmail the Qing Empire after the war.
Under this situation, St. Petersburg left the Anglo-Japanese alliance alone and instead made a big show of its support for the Ottoman Empire. George really couldn't understand it.
"The Empress Dowager——"
Milyugin hit the nail on the head.
Yes, George had almost forgotten that after Edward VII ascended the throne, the Queen Mother’s sister officially became the Queen of England. What ill intentions could his uncle have towards his great nephew in St. Petersburg——
But according to George As far as I know, not to mention the British uncle, the German cousin also has ill intentions towards Nikolai.
William II made a big joke some time ago, encouraging soldiers who went out to conquer the Qing Empire to fight like the Huns.
The war was over before the German expeditionary force sent from home reached the Qing Empire.
Reminiscent of William II's proposal to establish an alliance between Germany, France, and Russia some time ago, William II was also worried about the relationship between Nicholas and Edward VII.
In his letter to Nicholas, William II called Nicholas the "Emperor of the Pacific."
In return, Wilhelm II asked Nicholas to call him "Emperor of the Atlantic".
This guy is either crazy or out of his mind.
Or both.
“Our governor of Kwantung publicly claimed in the newspaper that the Japanese can be defeated by throwing a hat; what do you think St. Petersburg will think?”
Milyugin to Alek Sheyev had a strong opinion.
The South Manchuria Railway has not yet been completely completed. Only the Fengtian-Darini section has been built, and it is a single track. The private train Alexeev ordered from France has already arrived in Fengtian.
George had never seen a private train.
It is said that there are bedrooms, restaurants, conference rooms, and entertainment rooms, and the level of luxury is no less than that of a royal train.
Alekseyev also has a problem. His special train can only run during the day and cannot move at night, because Alexeyev does not want to be disturbed by noise to sleep.
It is known that the railway between Fengtian and Dalini is a single track, so as long as Alexeyev's special train is on the road, the entire railway will be paralyzed.
“It seems that I really need to go back to St. Petersburg.”
George left as soon as he said so.
Just experience the Trans-Siberian Railway in winter.
In December, Siberia has already closed its mountains with heavy snow, and special locomotives must be dispatched to clear the snow in order to ensure the passage of the railway.
Through the railway between Vladivostok and Khabarovsk, Amur has accumulated rich experience and planted a large number of birch trees on both sides of the railway, effectively reducing the impact of snow on the railway.
The journey from Vladivostok to Lake Baikal is smooth.
The Lake Baikal section is still under construction. The construction of this section is very difficult. Almost all of it is excavated along the cliffs. There are more than 30 tunnels alone.
The advantage of tunneling is that it is not affected by the weather and construction can continue in winter.
It is understandable that the progress of the project is slow. After crossing Lake Baikal, the double track changes to single track, and the efficiency and speed are seriously affected. The speed of some sections is less than 20 kilometers per hour.
It's not bad, at least the railway is not interrupted.
The train arrived at the Yenisei River shortly after passing Irkutsk, and the train had to take a ferry.
The ferry that transports the train is a huge flat ship with a deck covered with rails. The train cars are dragged onto the deck one by one by steam engines, and then driven to the other side under the escort of an icebreaker. The whole process takes about 4 hours.
George is asking people to find a way to build a bridge across the Yenisei River.
This is definitely a big project that cannot be completed with the current technology in St. Petersburg.
But for Amur, this is not a big problem.
This year, the Amur Engineering Bureau built a total of four bridges on the Amur River. The project volume of these four bridges is not much smaller than that of the Yenisey River.
About 150 kilometers after crossing the Yenisei River, the train was finally forced to stop. The railway ahead was crushed by snow, and relevant departments were making repairs.
The snow is just an excuse, the railway was blown up.
The ones who blew up the railway were two students who were expelled from the Imperial University. The reason for their expulsion was very strange. They actually opposed the empire's exile of criminals to Siberia.
Last year, the empire no longer exiled criminals to Siberia, but instead detained them on-site in various places, and the punishment of criminals became stricter.
In the past, criminals in St. Petersburg, even those who assassinated the Tsar, as long as they admitted their crimes and were willing to repent, would receive a lighter sentence and a five-year trip to Siberia.
Although the Trans-Siberian Railway has not been fully connected, it has received more than 400,000 passengers last year, most of whom were new immigrants who took the initiative to go to Siberia.
Since the empire wants to develop Siberia, it can no longer use Siberia as a place of exile. Otherwise, who would be willing to take the initiative to immigrate to Siberia.
Canceling the Siberian exile would have been a good thing.
Unexpectedly, it was opposed by many Russians.
Especially these so-called cultural people in St. Petersburg.
"What to do with these two people?"
George is only responsible for repairing the railway, not criminal matters.
“I heard that it will be handed over to the local court for trial——”
De Young is preparing dinner for George.
"Tell Ludakovsky not to forget to ask them for compensation."
George really doesn't want to waste legal resources on this kind of person.
Since there must be waste, it is best to serve as a sufficient warning.
“How much money can poor students have——”
De Yang does not think he can get compensation.
"If you don't have money, go build roads and pay off debts."
It's just a dream to cheat with George.
De Yang turned around and went out, and came back to report after a while.
“Those two committed suicide out of fear of crime last night——”
It’s okay to commit suicide out of fear of crime. Such a big thing is really unavoidable.
Interior Minister Sipiakin has a good temper, but Justice Minister Plekhva is notoriously ruthless. Criminals who fall into Plekhva's hands will suffer a fate worse than death.
However, it is not only the Grand Duke who seeks death in St. Petersburg, but the so-called liberals who oppose the Tsar are also seeking death every day.
Before the Georges arrived in St. Petersburg, news came from St. Petersburg that Sipiagin was shot to death by an assassin with a pistol.
(End of this chapter)