Chapter 766 The Scavenger
When Bismarck was still alive, he warned Germany: Try to avoid a two-front war at all times.
While Bismarck was still alive, although Germany and Russia had disputes, they still maintained friendly relations on the whole. Even though the conflicts between Russia and Austria-Hungary were irreconcilable, with Bismarck’s efforts, the Alliance of the Three Emperors was maintained for 15 years. .
In 1917, Hindenburg succeeded Falkenhayn as the commander-in-chief of the German army. When inspecting the Western Front, Hindenburg could not help but express his nostalgia for Bismarck to Ludendorff: It is a pity that Prime Minister Bismarck is no longer here .
At that time, Hindenburg had fully realized the importance of maintaining friendly relations with Russia for Germany.
Unfortunately it was too late.
Now Hindenburg has the opportunity to pick up Bismarck's "continental policy" again.
The core content of Bismarck's continental policy was to win over Britain and unite Austria-Hungary to isolate and weaken France and restrain Russia.
George still doesn’t know where Hindenburg will go, but as long as Hindenburg can continue President Albert’s policy towards Russia, George will continue to cooperate with Germany.
No matter how nice Hindenburg puts it, Germany and Russia will not be as close as Russia, Yugoslavia and the Grand Duchy of Yuriev.
Hindenburg hoped to achieve revival with Russian help.
George hopes to use Germany to completely subvert the world structure.
This is all a clear sign, tacitly understood.
Hindenburg stayed in Russia for a week and returned with a full load after signing a series of cooperation agreements with Felix.
Just after Hindenburg left, the leader of the British Conservative Party and former Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin arrived in Russia.
After the Labor Party came to power, Baldwin did not hold a position in Macdonald's cabinet, so Baldwin's visit this time was in a private capacity to inspect Russia's social security system.
The coming to power of the Labor Party sounded an alarm to the Conservative Party. After defeating the Liberal Party, its old opponent, the Labor Party posed an even greater threat to the Conservative Party.
In order to deal with the threat from the Labor Party, the Conservative Party must pay attention to the demands of the British people at the bottom, even if it is reluctant.
Baldwin did not enter from Constantinople, but arrived in St. Petersburg via the Baltic Sea.
What Baldwin didn't expect was that as soon as he walked to the gangway of the "Alexander" passenger ship, he saw little Fili waiting on the shore.
Baldwin currently has no official position and is only leader of the opposition party in the House of Commons.
Little Fili is the deputy speaker of the Russian Duma, and the two have matching identities.
“Can’t you just let me have a relaxing and pleasant journey like a regular old guy——”
Baldwin is currently on vacation, and politicians also have to go on vacation, working Live life in both directions.
“I don’t want to cause a diplomatic dispute between Britain and Russia because of some drunken daredevil.”
Little Feili, sweet-talking and sword-loving, are both foxes of thousands of years old, so they are not playing funny games.
British colonies are spread all over the world. If you really want to go on vacation, there are plenty of places, so why bother traveling to Russia.
The relationship between Russia and the United Kingdom, although officially they are allies, in fact everyone knows what is going on.
The two of them boarded the car hand in hand and headed along Neva Street to the St. Petersburg Grand Hotel, where Baldwin fell.
Since Baldwin was visiting in a private capacity, there was no traffic control on Neva Street, which gave Baldwin a clearer understanding of St. Petersburg.
Taking advantage of the reconstruction opportunity, the St. Petersburg city government widened Neva Street. The two-way eight-lane width is more than 50 meters. On one side are various buildings left over from the Imperial Russian era, and on the other side is a riverside park built along the Neva River.
Traffic in Russia drives on the right, and in the center of the road is an isolation zone composed of flower beds. Under the command of traffic police and traffic lights, everything is in order.
What Baldwin didn’t expect was that there would be a traffic jam on such a wide road!
St. Petersburg still has a lot of heritage. The number of cars exceeds 100,000, second only to Vladivostok and Constantinople in Russia.
Such a large number of cars cannot be toys of the powerful class, which fully proves that in Russia, cars, once a luxury product, have entered ordinary families in large numbers.
The colorful neon light boxes on the roadside made Baldwin frown even more.
After Baldwin became Prime Minister, he immediately established the Electricity Commission to promote the popularization of electricity in the UK.
This initiative has already seen some results. The number of households with electricity in the UK has increased from 100,000 at the time to 200,000.
This achievement that should have made Baldwin proud seems to be vulnerable in the face of the prosperity of St. Petersburg.
St. Petersburg already had street lights during the Russian Empire.
So who is the representative of backwardness and decadence?
“St. Petersburg’s infrastructure is still not good. There are no overpasses or pedestrian underpasses. I don’t know what the City Hall and the Duma are doing——”
Little Fili doesn’t seem to be too well. satisfy.
"If you say that, us old guys should be ashamed of themselves."
Baldwin disliked little Philly's Versailles very much.
"Sorry, no offense intended. If it were my father here, he would be even more angry."
There didn't seem to be much apology in Little Fili's "sorry".
Baldwin once again deeply felt the arrogance of the Russian aristocracy, which is not expensive.
Baldwin will shower and change clothes after arriving at the hotel, and then have dinner with Philly.
In order to better "accompany" Baldwin, little Felipe simply booked a room at the St. Petersburg Hotel. Baldwin stayed in the executive suite, and Philly stayed in the presidential suite.
Little Fili is just accompanying him. The person really responsible for security work is Sasonov, the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in St. Petersburg.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Internal Affairs are two different departments. The Ministry of Internal Affairs is responsible for government affairs, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs is responsible for security.
So the word "tidying up housekeeping" has a special meaning in Russia.
“We have replaced all the staff in the entire building with our people. There is a group of people who are professionally responsible for information collection. Medical personnel are also in place. If vultures travel, the same is true for drivers and security personnel. Our people——"
Sasonov's codename for Baldwin was "Vulture."
Can also be translated as "scavenger".
Information collection is a newly established business of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, mainly responsible for communications and room monitoring.
"Are the people from the embassy here?"
Little Fili wants to find out the true purpose of Baldwin's trip.
During the Russian Empire, the Russian Empire was penetrated by the British like a sieve and suffered greatly. It can be said that the British had a great responsibility for the demise of the Russian Empire.
Britain does not necessarily want to bring down the Russian Empire, but its purpose is to contain it, because the demise of the Russian Empire or forcing Russia to Germany will not do any good to Britain.
Britain just accidentally screwed it up.
“Here he comes, but the vulture doesn’t want to meet the people from the embassy.”
At least so far, Baldwin has not done anything untoward.
"Investigate everyone the Vulture meets in detail, record every word they say, and never miss a detail."
Little Fili hopes that the rebels will jump out on their own initiative.
Baldwin did not do anything untoward. He took a shower and changed clothes, and then appeared in the hotel restaurant with Little Philly.
Probably for the sake of his cousins, Baldwin took the initiative to dine in the restaurant hall instead of a more private private room.
Little Phil satisfied all of Baldwin's requirements, actively refused the waiter's service, and took the meal with the dinner plate together with Baldwin.
"Is the work of the Duma so idle?"
Baldwin took the initiative to tease, it is not that little Fili has no public office.
"In the London newspapers, we, the dandy children left over from the imperial era, are best at eating, drinking and having fun."
Little Fili didn't take it seriously.
“Hahahaha, yes, that’s it. I am often attacked by newspapers.”
Baldwin laughed at himself, and the British Prime Minister was scolded as much as the Russian nobles.
The food provided by the St. Petersburg Grand Hotel is still very rich, and compared to the services of the St. Petersburg Grand Hotel, the price is not expensive and is at a normal level.
The guests in the restaurant are all very polite, impeccable even from a British perspective. No one makes a loud noise, no one drinks too much, and no one goes crazy because of the many security personnel. Waiting around, expressing dissatisfaction with Baldwin and little Fili.
The dining experience was very enjoyable, and Baldwin even paid for the restaurant band to play British country music.
From the next day, Baldwin plunged into the streets and alleys of St. Petersburg to learn about the lives of ordinary St. Petersburgers.
At the end of the day, what impressed Baldwin most was that there were no vagrants or beggars in St. Petersburg, a city with a population of more than one million people.
"It is the government's dereliction of duty to let people who are able to work wander, and it is the government's dereliction of duty to let people who are unable to work wander."
Little Feili's face was written all over it. Proud, this is indeed an unattainable achievement.
Baldwin remained calm.
Although what Xiao Feili said sounds nice, the actual situation may be different from what Xiao Feili said.
St. Petersburg's winter temperatures can easily reach dozens of degrees below zero. Even homeless people would find it difficult to survive the St. Petersburg winter.
Baldwin was also deeply impressed by the abundance of supplies in St. Petersburg.
Britain has not completely escaped from the economic crisis. Prices in London are high. Although the Labor Party is in power, strikes still occur from time to time.
Prices in St. Petersburg have always been very stable, especially the price of food, which is low compared to the UK.
The wages of ordinary British workers make it difficult to support themselves.
Although the wages of ordinary workers in St. Petersburg are not high, they are still enough to support a family.
Baldwin did not waste time in St. Petersburg, and asked little Felix that night, hoping to meet Felix.
Felix is in Alexandria and will not come to St. Petersburg in person to meet Baldwin.
Then we can only condescend to Baldwin and go to Alexandria.
So Baldwin experienced Russian railway transportation again.
The experience this time was not comprehensive, because Baldwin and little Philip went to Alexandria on a special train belonging to the Yusupov family.
In order to keep the special train, the Yusupov family paid almost enough to support half of the railway bureau every year.
(End of this chapter)