I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 103 Military-civilian joint construction
  The little money George and Nicholas invested in military industrial transformation would not even make a splash.

The key is that kindness is rare. How many of the more than 30 hereditary nobles in the empire are willing to give up their own money and let Ya San spend it casually?
  The Bible says: To everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.

This is the way Europeans think. From this perspective, is it reasonable to understand the way Europeans deal with problems?

Yasan did not ask for George and Nicholas' money. Several guns brought by George were bought by Yasan for ten thousand rubles each. Joseph was also re-appointed by Yasan as a senior engineer and went to work at the factory in St. Petersburg. , George lost a firearms designer, and the Empire got an opportunity.

George didn't care. He was too busy with work during this period. There would be big events in Vladivostok after the spring. George and Mikhail communicated by telegram every other day, and the Oak Group set up a telegraph room for this purpose.

This is not considered a public property for private use. George spent money to buy the telegraph room, and Nicholas also installed a telephone for the rubber group. Both of them have money and willfulness.

After Andre was decentralized, his eldest cousin Mario became George's adjutant, and Peter also came to the Oak Regiment to serve as George's messenger, starting his military career early.

It's not too early. The youngest Cossack recruited by the Oak Group is only 16 years old. He has a full beard and looks as if he is 30 years old.

This is normal. Russia promotes early marriage, and many people become fathers at the age of 15 or 6. In factories in St. Petersburg, workers aged or can be seen everywhere. In some restaurants, there are even child laborers as young as eight or nine.

Don’t apply 21st century moral standards to the 19th century.

Mikhail is quite efficient. In the winter that just passed, Mikhail was not idle. He held banquets every now and then and became friends with many officers of the Siberian Fleet.

There are many benefits to making friends with officers. In addition to being protected by the army, Mikhail also successfully obtained the management rights of Vladivostok, so the prisoners who were assigned to Vladivostok became Mikhail's free labor force.

"The people here are very special, and some of them are very capable. I have met several professors from St. Petersburg and Moscow, including one from the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. Their current status is that they are all lumberjacks under me - —”

This is normal. Among the assassins who killed Ya Er were students from the Petersburg Academy of Sciences.

Many of the members of the Popular People's Party, which was uprooted after the assassination of Ya Er, were students. They wanted to change the status quo of the empire, but they didn't know where to start, so the tsar became a thorn in their side.

They naively thought that as long as the Tsar was eliminated, the empire could rise from the ashes.

Mikhail would certainly not let the professor cut down the trees. The real cutters were the sailors of the Siberian fleet, which the generals allowed at the cost of one ruble per person per day.

The daily salary of a skilled worker in St. Petersburg is only one ruble.

Under normal circumstances, the daily salary of skilled workers in Vladivostok is about 50 kopecks.

Mikhail is only responsible for paying. Mikhail has no control over how much the sailors can get.

This situation will not last long. When foreign workers return after the spring, Mikhail can flex his muscles.

"The workers here are a great deal. In rubles, they only cost 10 kopecks per person per day. If we send these workers to St. Petersburg, we can make a lot of money. General Stark reminded me that we can do it for less." I don’t think it’s necessary to use money to hire these Orientals. We are all generous people and shouldn’t worry about it.”

George expressed appreciation for Mikhail's decision. Lowering wages seems to save money, but it is not wise in the long run. Only by allowing those foreign workers to earn more money can they bring in more foreign workers.

"There is very little land suitable for farming here. It is full of swamps and mountains. I think we need to change our plans. There is not much future for farming here. If we want to get food, we can completely replace it with fish. Unfortunately, we don't have fishing boats. ." Mikhail was wrong. It's not that farming in Vladivostok has no future, but that he doesn't know how to do it.

George's call back to Mikhail is usually divided into two parts.

Part of it was sent directly from the telegraph room of the Oak Group, and this part was mainly for encouragement.

The other part was given to his second uncle Julian, who sent it out through a secret channel from France, so that it could bypass Yasan's surveillance.

Mikhail was still too timid. He didn't have a ship, but the Siberian fleet did.

Of the three major fleets in Russia, the Siberian Fleet was established the latest and is the weakest. It is said to be a fleet, but there are only a few real warships, and most of them are fishing boats.

Although Russia is strong, it is unable to maintain a large army while building a navy. The focus of naval construction is on the Baltic Fleet that guards St. Petersburg and the Black Sea Fleet in the Black Sea. The Siberian Fleet is not even as powerful as the Qing Empire.

George did not encourage Mikhail to win over the generals who corrupted the Siberian fleet. This is the counter scale of Yasan and cannot be touched.

It's enough to have a good relationship with them. Is it called benefit transfer if Super Duke Yurievsky's uncle borrows a few fishing boats?

No, this is called military-civilian joint construction.

Vladivostok, where the Siberian Fleet is based, is also George's fiefdom. If George can make Vladivostok prosperous, the Siberian Fleet will also benefit, and the Tsar will be more happy to see it happen.

In early April, George sent Igor's master and apprentice and dozens of other skilled workers on the ship to Vladivostok.

Starting from St. Petersburg, it takes two months to reach Vladivostok by water. Within these two months, Mikhail must complete the preparations for the reception.

In the eyes of the nobles in St. Petersburg, these skilled workers are all old bones on the verge of death.

In George's hands, it was a treasure. Vladivostok wanted to develop. These skilled workers were pioneers. George offered them a salary twice that of St. Petersburg and promised them freedom of movement. However, nearly half of the workers gave up this opportunity.

St. Petersburgers don’t even go to Siberia, let alone Vladivostok, located in the easternmost part of Russia.

George doesn't push things, and sooner or later they'll know what they're missing.

While paying attention to Vladivostok, George did not give up his work on the Oak Group.

Nicholas often returned to Gatchina to attend royal meetings, and George was fully responsible for the work of the Oak Corps. During this time, George focused on the logistics of the Oak Corps, hoping to institutionalize and standardize it.

When he was in the general regiment, George discovered that there was no system at all in the general regiment's logistics. Officers could open small stoves, and soldiers could eat whatever they wanted for three meals a day. Although there was no shortage of big fish and meat, the quality was not guaranteed. Sometimes the meat They all stink and are unpalatable.

George handed over this job to his eldest cousin Mario. This is also a business, and it is a business with extremely broad market prospects.

(End of this chapter)