I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 113 The Sweetness of Power

George can identify problems, but he has no way to solve them, or in other words, he has no power to solve them.

George's mission during this trip to the Balkans was to observe and report what he saw and heard to the Tsar. It was the Tsar's business to deal with it in the future.

Of course, George was not in vain.

George sent a telegram to Julian and asked Julian to send someone to Bulgaria to purchase rose wine and rose oil for sale in Russia.

This business does not require Nicholas to come forward, George can do it himself.

Of course, dividends still have to be paid. Julian has registered a company called Yuriev in St. Petersburg, and both Nikolai and Georgi have shares.

Yuriev's company's current main product is champagne, and its customers are Russia's top aristocrats.

Rose wine and rose oil are new endeavors, both products aimed at Russia's wealthy.

Also for luxury goods, George also asked Ekaterina to send people to Cuba to find the best quality cigars as the next profit growth point for Yuriev Company.

Now that he is involved in the tobacco industry, George will not ignore the profits of cigarettes.

Expensive cigars are for the rich in Russia.

The number of rich people is limited, and they can smoke as much as they want without leaving their hands all day long. Although the profit of cigarettes is not as good as that of cigars, the advantage is that the market is broader, and quantity wins.

George has not forgotten which company is the most profitable in the world in the 21st century——

The best thing is that the most popular tobacco products on the market today are mainly pipe tobacco and snuff. Cigarettes have not yet become popular. This is a blank market with unlimited potential. Compared with this market, heavy machine guns are really just toys.

George's magic weapon is not only cigarettes, but also filters.

In 1925, the Hungarian Evas invented the filter and the machine to produce the filter.

George didn't know what the material of the filter was, nor how the filter was produced, but with the group of technology geeks from the Petersburg Academy of Sciences, George believed that these were not problems.

The combination of cigarettes and filters will allow Yuriev Company to monopolize the cigarette market for at least the next 30 years.

Miliugin met more than 20 people in one day. He was exhausted mentally and hobbled, wiping his eyes and rubbing his waist, and moved out of the study step by step.

"Send the telegram as soon as possible -" George ordered Mario to send a telegram to Mikhail, and the transformation of Vladivostok had begun.

After the beginning of spring, Mikhail followed George's instructions and carried out vigorous construction in Vladivostok.

In the winter that just passed, the sailors of the Siberian Fleet cut down more than 100,000 trees and obtained enough wood.

The wood also needs further processing before it can be used as a building material.

Including Siberian sailors, Mikhail could mobilize more than 10,000 people. He organized professors and students from the Academy of Sciences to form an exploration team to begin exploring the mineral deposits around Vladivostok, and at the same time demolished large areas of Vladivostok's buildings. , to transform Vladivostok according to George's will.

Vladivostok was established as a city in 1880 with almost no planning at all, which George could not accept.

The Siberian Fleet was also full of talents. Among them was an officer who had studied at Moscow University and was very knowledgeable in urban architecture. So this young man named Burak became the designer of the new Vladivostok.

Last night, George just received a telegram from Mikhail.

This telegram traveled many times, first from Vladivostok to St. Petersburg, then from St. Petersburg to Bucharest, and then from Bucharest to Sofia, traveling more than 1.5 kilometers.

Mikhail elaborated on the design ideas for New Vladivostok in his telegram.

George was not satisfied because Brack did not plan enough parks and green spaces, nor did he consider hospitals and schools. There were quite a few churches, 5 in an area of ​​about 17 square kilometers.

George did not object to building churches. The significance of churches to Russians was not only spiritual sustenance, but also an important way for the Czar to rule Russia.

When I was in St. Petersburg, almost everyone went to church on Sundays to attend services. There were religious-related festivals almost every month. There were churches in the Oak Regiment barracks and George's manor.

People have to donate one-tenth of their income to the church. Babies have to be baptized in the church when they are born. Weddings have to be blessed by the priest. Funerals are also held in the church. A person lives together until death, and the church takes care of everything.

Last winter, Ya San ordered that a church be built at the place where Ya Er was assassinated. This church is the famous Cathedral of Spilled Blood.

Vladivostok is Russian territory, and the Orthodox Church has a transcendent status, which George can accept.

But hospitals and schools are equally important, which is related to whether Vladivostok can retain people and the future of Vladivostok.

A large part of the reason why Russians are reluctant to go to Siberia is that Siberia's infrastructure is not perfect enough. If you have nothing to eat, you can grow it yourself, if you have nothing to wear, you can knit it yourself. If you are sick, you can only wait to die without medical treatment or medicine.

George does not require Vladivostok to reach the ideal level in a short period of time. At the very least, the foundation must be laid first to leave enough space for future upgrades of urban facilities.

Nothing works in Vladivostok. The only advantage is that the place is big enough and George's power is big enough.

The Tsar is the highest-ranking person in Russia, but the Tsar cannot do whatever he wants. His power is restricted by the Russian government and the entire aristocratic class of the empire.

Not only did George do whatever he wanted in Vladivostok, he was also lawless.

Because Vladivostok does not even have the most basic power structure, George's power is basically unrestrained.

As long as George does not rebel, his power in Vladivostok is nearly unlimited.

In his reply to Mikhail, George elaborated on his demands for a new Vladivostok.

George required that the street width of New Vladivostok should not be less than 20 meters, and the width of the main street must be more than 30 meters.

Each street must have enough reserved space. Schools and hospitals do not need too much, but the area must be large enough.

Citizens of Vladivostok must register in detail, especially immigrants from the three East Asian countries. They must clearly register their origins and make it clear who are Koreans, which are Japanese, and which are Chinese.

Immigrants from Europe will also be registered in detail, especially those criminals who are sent to Vladivostok. They will no longer have privileges and the hardest and most arduous work will be assigned to them. If they cannot bear the accidental death, it will be God the will of.

"Isn't this too cruel?" Milyugin was surprised. George was not a violent person.

"I just don't think it's enough." George was colder than Milyutin imagined.

Some of the criminals sent to Siberia were accomplices of the Tsarist assassins.

Are they all plotting to assassinate the Tsar, and they are only allowed to do hard labor? Is it too cruel to them?
  If you don't punish them, the nine tribes will already be merciful outside the law, right?

The Russian nobles never showed mercy to the lives of Russian soldiers when they went to war abroad.

The gray beasts that died fighting for the Empire were worth nothing.

Why are the rebels who oppose the Empire allowed to be tolerated simply because they are more educated?

Sorry, here in George, the higher the level of education, the less likely it is.

George wanted to populate Siberia, but not in this way.

"Who else is willing to go to Vladivostok if we do this?" Milyutin also knew it was wrong, but he had no choice. The empire has tried every means to develop Siberia, but the results have been extremely limited. So far, the entire population of Siberia does not exceed 300 million.

Without forced distribution, no one would be willing to go to Siberia. Russian farmers would rather be serfs in prosperous areas than be landlords in Siberia.

"The empire has been developing Siberia for 300 years. What is the effect?" George only asked about the result.

"Not very good -" Milyujing said politely.

More than just not very good.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that it was a complete failure.

What George couldn't figure out was that Russia was so stubborn on certain issues that it was incomprehensible.

Increasing the population of Siberia through rationing has been to no avail for 300 years. The Russians have not tried other methods. This is so abnormal. Could it be that the Siberian cold current also froze the heads of the Russians?
  "Do you have any good ideas?" Milyujing hoped to see new hope in George.

"I'm going to set up an agricultural company, hire workers from East Asia, and develop the land in Siberia." George broke through the business with business, and his main theme is that he is a rich and willful man.

Milyugin frowned, he had not fully understood George's thoughts.

"Mikhail told me that workers in East Asia are very cheap, and the hiring cost is only about one-tenth of that in St. Petersburg." George tried hard to look mercenary. Only in this way can George's motives be concealed.

Milyugin's brows did not relax: "Then -"

"The empire's "Immigration Order" stipulates that each household will be allocated 100 acres of land free of charge. The tax holiday was first 20 years and later increased to 30 years. Each acre of land can be purchased for 3 rubles, which is almost the same as free. "George is not very satisfied with the "Immigration Order", which is why Tian is not distressed.

Milyugin said nothing, only nodded.

"Do you know how much land is needed to feed a person?" George asked about Milyutin's knowledge blind spot.

Milyugin thought hard——

Milyutin gave up thinking.

"0.3~~" George's answer stunned Milyutin.

0.3 acres, equivalent to about 5 acres, and fertilizer factors are not considered here.

If properly fertilized, the output of 5 acres of land is enough to feed a family of five.

It’s just food. If you want to accumulate something, then you have to find a way to increase your income.

"There is enough labor in the Far East. We can definitely hire workers from the Far East to develop Siberia. Three rubles per acre of land, right? I bought it -" George put the words aside first. As for whether they will be paid at that time, and how much they will be given, Nicholas has the final say.

George didn’t know when Nicholas came to the throne. When World War I broke out, the Russian czar must have been Nicholas.

The year is now 1883, and World War I broke out in 1914——

Very good, if we go to Siberia to farm now, the empire will be able to collect taxes one year before the outbreak of the world war.

"Have you never considered the population structure?" Milyugin finally found the loophole in George's plan.

"What's the demographic structure?" George pretended to be stupid.

"Population! The population of the Far East. If you hire countless workers from the Far East to develop Siberia, will Siberia belong to our Russia or the Far East?" Milyutin was furious. You are the Bismarck of Russia in the future. How could you make such a mistake!
  "You said they were workers, hired workers. They are not Siberians at all. Who do you think Siberia belongs to?" George smiled. He had already considered this bug.

Milyugin was speechless.

Yes, those are not immigrants, but hired workers~~
  Even though he said this, Milyugin still felt that something was not right.

"It will take a long time to develop Siberia. It may last for decades or even hundreds of years. Who can say clearly what will happen in the future?" George did not lie. Until the 21st century, Siberia was still deserted.

In the 21st century, Vladivostok is the largest city and economic and cultural center in the Far East, with a population of only 60.

Russia's successive tsars desperately expanded, and finally Russia had the largest territory in the world.

But what's the use in the end? Without enough manpower to develop it, not only will Siberia's value not be fully reflected, but it will also become a burden to the empire.

Between 1891 and 1901 alone, Russia spent a full 14.6 billion rubles on building the Trans-Siberian Railway, far exceeding its military expenditure during the same period.

If these 14.6 billion rubles are spent on military expenditure, Russia will have a powerful army that can push Europe flatly.

Therefore, the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway is not only the need of the empire, but also what all European countries are happy to see.

Milyutin did not argue anymore. He needed time to think about this issue and was worried until he left Sofia.

Through contacts with different people in the past few days, Milyugin did learn about Sophia's true situation.

This not only did not make Milyugin relax, but made him even more worried.

A strong Bulgaria is bad for Russia.

But a divided Bulgaria is also not in Russia's interests.

Russia hopes that Bulgaria will have a certain degree of military strength, so it helps Bulgaria build a defense force.

But if Bulgaria's military strength is too strong, it will pose a threat to Russia's influence in the Balkans.

From top to bottom, Bulgaria is hungry for power.

The generals sent by the Tsar were so confused that they did not even know what they should do.

The British and Germans were all-pervasive in Sofia, and Russia's hold on Bulgaria was wavering.

The situation in Bulgaria was so serious that Milyutin canceled his upcoming trip and returned directly to St. Petersburg to report to the Tsar face to face.

Yasan has been having a headache recently. Russia's calls for the reopening of parliament are getting louder and louder. Yasan has dismissed Ignaev from his post for this reason, but it has not quelled the controversy.

This parliament is not a national parliament, but a local self-government parliament, which is part of the local self-government reforms implemented by Asia II in 1864.

After Asan ascended the throne, local self-government councils were replaced by local courts, and the judicial system acquired executive powers in addition to its original judicial powers, which triggered increasingly widespread concerns.

It is not impossible to reopen parliament.

What really worries Yasan is that even if they agree to reopen parliament, Russia's powerful people will not be satisfied. Next, they will demand the formulation of a constitution to further restrict the power of the tsar.

Parliament, constitution, restructuring——

This is how Ya Er walked towards death step by step.

(End of this chapter)