Chapter 680 Huge Concession
Russia has too many places to spend money, and George must use all available resources as much as possible.
Yusupova is very smart and joins forces with Anne to set up an investment company to invest in Russian Railways.
The company's name is named after the French initials of "Yuryev" and "Yusupov", written as YY and pronounced as UU. For the time being, it only invests in railways, and will also involve transportation, transportation, and logistics in the future. , port construction, mineral resource development and processing, foreign trade, etc.
George knew that Yusupova’s ambition was big, but he didn’t expect it to be so big.
In George's plan, the above-mentioned areas must be invested by the Russian state, and private individuals can participate, but cannot be in a dominant position.
Anne has the same worries as little Felix. If it is dominated by Russia, corruption will inevitably breed.
This is why George agreed to grant the railway operating rights to the Yusupov family.
The Yusupov family’s railway management rights are only for 20 years. If any problems occur during these 20 years, adjustments can be made at that time. The policy is not static.
Too much money is needed to build the railway. When the Russian Empire devoted all its efforts to building the Trans-Siberian Railway, it took 13 years. It will not be much easier now.
The technology is good, the raw materials are good, and there is even no shortage of workers.
The key is that there is no money.
The current financial situation is very difficult. We have to spend money everywhere, and we can't even come up with start-up funds. In the past few months, Werther's hair has turned gray at a rate that is visible to the naked eye, and he has to work hard to survive.
Amur's financial situation has always been very good. George has almost forgotten that the empire has relied on debt to survive a long time ago. The start-up funds for the Trans-Siberian Railway were borrowed from France.
George is not worried about financial problems. The difficulties are only temporary. There are people in Russia who have resources. That foreign debt is not a problem for Russia at all.
After the world war ends, all countries will begin reconstruction, and the demand for raw materials will increase rapidly.
Russia is a resource-rich country and has all the resources needed for reconstruction. After the war, George plans to throw all Russian troops into factories as workers, which will solve hidden dangers and save resettlement costs.
According to imperial regulations, the Russian army will receive a large pension when they retire.
George let the officers and soldiers choose whether to take money home or work.
Getting the money back home is easy. Although the resettlement fee is high, the rubles are printed by Russia itself, so it is not enough to print as many rubles as it wants.
If you want to work, Russia is full of waste and the more workers there are, the better.
Before the war broke out, there were 500,000 workers in St. Petersburg, who were either drafted into the army or taken to Moscow by the provisional government.
During the war, due to the heavy use of cars and airplanes, the oil and gas age was about to follow, which was Russia's golden age.
Oil in the Persian Peninsula has not yet been discovered.
Only Russia and Romania can provide oil and gas to Europe.
George had already discussed with Ferdinand to unite against Europe.
The price is just a little lower than that of American oil companies.
If that doesn't work, we might as well unite with American oil companies and set up an organization like OPEC, and everyone can happily rip off Europe.
Anne was confused. What does this have to do with absolute power leading to absolute corruption?
George was curious, wouldn’t cooking cause corruption?
Absolute power leads to absolute corruption comes from "Liberty and Power" written by Lord Acton in 1887.
This sentence seems a bit too absolute.
Based on the background of the time, George had reason to believe that Lord Acton’s purpose in writing this book was not simple. While selling melons, the queen also attacked European imperial countries.
The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy, and it does seem to be less sophisticated than empires like Russia and Germany.
But is there no corruption in Britain?
Why doesn't Acton write a book about the Royal Navy.
Probably because I was afraid of being hit by a destroyer after writing this.
George reminded Anne that when the water is clear, there will be no fish, and you should be confused when you should be confused.
The Yusupov family must make money by investing in the railway. As long as the tax they pay is not less, it is up to the Yusupov family how much money they make.
The Yusupov family not only provides tax revenue to Russia, but also provides countless jobs and convenient transportation for all Russians. Isn’t it right to make profits in the process?
To Anne, George was patient and could explain things slowly.
For other people, it would be a waste of emotion for George to even look at them.
The news that the Yusupov family will be responsible for the reconstruction of the railway has once again aroused heated discussions in society.
Edel once again made nonsense in the newspapers, saying that Werther's move was perverse.
In the Asia III era, the empire began to nationalize the railway system. This work was not completed until Nicholas succeeded to the throne.
Edel did not dare to point the finger directly at George, but at the talkative Werther. This was because he was sure that Werther would not be punished for his words.
Edel still doesn’t understand Werther.
When Werther was the Chancellor of Finance in St. Petersburg, Nicholas was known for his good temper, so what could Werther do.
The clay figurine still has a third nature of fire, let alone one with Werther's status.
Even if Werther did something wrong, it was not Edel's fault.
This matter is not Werther's decision yet.
So on the night the article appeared in the newspaper, Edel was arrested.
When the police came to the door with an arrest warrant, Edel was shocked: "Why should you arrest me?"
The leading police officer had no expression on his face and gave a classic reply: "What have you committed? You don’t know about it yourself?”
Edel really doesn’t know. During the St. Petersburg period, so-called "critics" like Edel were accustomed to criticizing imperial policies or officials. When they got angry, they even dared to scold the tsar and empress together, even the finance minister.
Witt's situation is quite special. His second wife was a Hebrew.
After the Russo-Japanese War, in order to divert social conflicts, the Russian Empire increased its efforts to drain oil. The Hebrews became like street rats, and everyone shouted for beatings.
Werther was criticized by critics as a vampire and a moth because his wife also suffered the same fate.
The chancellor and the Hebrew are a perfect match!
Eder insists he committed no crime and should not be arrested.
The police officer responsible for interrogating Edel, Alexander, once served in the 11th Army. During the Battle of Belgrade, three fingers were blown off by a shell. After retiring, he was assigned to work in the Constantinople Police Department.
If he does not choose to work, Alexander can also choose to take a sum of money to retire and go home.
“Isn’t it a crime for you to insult an earl in a newspaper?”
Alexander’s angle is tricky.
"The empire is gone, and the title system has been abolished long ago. Where is the earl?"
Edel was confident.
"Well, even if the aristocracy has been abolished, can you publicly insult an ordinary person in a newspaper?"
Alexander emphasized the tone of the ordinary person.
Edel was speechless, he had never thought about this problem.
Just insulting and slandering does not make Edel happy to ask for the death penalty, only a sentence of three to six months.
Eder's attorneys tried to get Edel a suspended sentence.
The judge who tried the case was a student of Guderian. He was upright and hated evil. He did not look at Edel in a different light because of his identity——
That was also wrong. He spoke unabashedly. Edel once scolded Guderian in the newspaper.
If it were anyone else, it would only be three months at most.
Edel was happy to mention it for six months and handled it with dignity.
In addition to Eder, the editor of the "Daily Constantinople" was also held accountable.
How can you be responsible for such an important job if you don’t even have this bit of news sensitivity?
Public publicity is a very important link here in George.
While George was rectifying the public opinion environment, fierce fighting was still taking place on the Western Front.
From August 28 to September 26, the British army suffered losses as high as 180,000 people.
26,000 U.S. troops were killed and 95,000 wounded.
The German losses were approximately 300,000, of which nearly half were captured.
This amount of casualties will not break the bones for the British and American troops, and they can still hold on.
The German army is on the verge of collapse.
On October 3, German Prime Minister Hetli resigned, and Prince Marcos of Baden, an outstanding royalist liberal backbone, succeeded Hetli as prime minister.
The first thing Marcos did after taking office was to send a telegram to Wilson, agreeing to a ceasefire on the basis of the "Fourteen Points".
Wilson called Marcos back, urging the German troops to withdraw immediately from occupied territory.
On October 12, a German submarine sank a passenger ship that regularly traveled between England and Ireland, killing 470 people, including 135 women and children.
Wilson once again informed Germany that unrestricted submarine warfare must immediately cease.
On October 17, the German War Council held a meeting in Berlin, chaired by Wilhelm II, and attended by Hindenburg and Ludendorff.
Before this meeting, the German defense line was once again broken through by the US military, and the US military commander was named MacArthur.
Ludendorff asked the troops to continue fighting at the meeting, otherwise he would resign.
What Ludendorff didn't know was that just before this meeting, Prince Marcos received a letter from the commander of the Northern Army, Crown Prince Presit of Bavaria.
Presit reminded Marcos that if there was no ceasefire, the enemy would invade Germany.
The news was a little delayed. The Russian Baltic Fleet raided the Rügen Island and successfully set foot on German territory.
The significance of this letter is that Presit, as the commander of the Northern Army Group, should report to Ludendorff, the German Chief of General Staff, and should not write to Marcos beyond his level.
This means that Ludendorff is losing control of the army.
Ludendorff did not think so. He still insisted that the German army had the possibility of victory.
If Britain and France were struck down by the cold.
Halfway through the meeting, the trusted commander of the High Seas Fleet, Franz von Hipper, received a telegram. An hour ago, the Russian army invaded the Jutland Peninsula.
"Your Majesty, we must make a decision as soon as possible, there is no time-"
Prince Marcos reminded William II that the situation was deteriorating.
"Send a telegram to George. If he withdraws his troops, I am willing to abrogate the Treaty of Brest-"
William II's huge concession made Marcos' eyes widen.
How long has it been and you are still thinking about this?
(End of this chapter)