I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 127
  From Nicholas Jr. to Alfred, George brought in more and more stakeholders to build his business empire step by step.

You can't make enough money, you have to eat your food one bite at a time, eat your own meat, and don't even leave a mouthful of soup for others, it will only turn into soap in the end.

Nicholas's trust is George's greatest reliance.

But Nikolai's trust alone is not enough to allow George to travel unimpeded in Russia. Any feelings will change over time, and only interests are eternal.

"I just said abandoned, not given away." Werther was not even afraid of George, let alone Alfred, the captain of the Tsar's bodyguard.

"Even if it is given to Super Duke Yurievsky?" Alfred, the old silver coin, started to fan the flames again.

"Make a price--" George broke the situation with force.

Isn't it just a train station? Even if the lion opens its mouth, how much can it ask for?
  George also underestimated the greed of businessmen.

"10000 rubles." Werther is not a lion, but a hippopotamus.

"This guy is crazy!" Alfred laughed. He thought 100 rubles was too much.

"1000——" George counter-offered, the price of 1000 is neither more nor less.

A train station is worth some money, certainly more than 1000 rubles.

But it’s not as much as 10000 rubles.

The last time he came to Rivne, George had already given Witte a chance.

This is the second time.

Werther did not agree immediately. His pen turned wildly between his fingers and he looked at George with a slightly complicated look.

"Can I ask, why do you want to buy this train station?" Werther didn't know what George had in mind.

"I want to buy it!" George pointed out that a person is stupid and has too much money.

"Deal!" Werther did not hesitate. He felt that an unknown danger was approaching.

Werther was still very efficient in doing things. The Rovne train station was indeed almost abandoned, with less than ten staff members left. George stayed at the train station for a whole morning. Apart from a group of rats, George never saw any living things.

"Why did you buy the train station?" Alfred still doesn't know why George bought it.

If it is a big city like St. Petersburg, the train station is indeed very profitable.

There are no residents in Rivne now. Except for the annual drills, no one comes to Rivne at all. Why do they want to visit a ghost place?
  "I don't want to see him." George said casually. What do you mean by no rules?
  This means that the exercise has already begun from the moment the participating troops arrive in Rivne.

George wanted to make a very deep impression on the participating troops.

Moreover, it is a pity that Rivne is abandoned. It is one of the three largest black soil belts in the world. The land is extremely fertile. The food grown can be shipped from Odessa to Vladivostok in only 40 days.

The most important thing is that through his trip to Yekaterinburg, George has realized how high logistics costs are in Russia.

Since George wants to develop industry, George must have a certain degree of bargaining power.

So Rovno was just the beginning, and George would buy more train stations until George became one of Russia's railway tycoons.

The train station cannot be abandoned in George's hands and needs staff to maintain it. George called Yeluoxin and asked Yeluoxin to send a telegram to St. Petersburg and ask Ivan on Lake Ladoga if he would like to come to work at the Rovne train station.

Lake Ladoga was the first stop for George and Nicholas to recruit soldiers when the Oak Regiment was formed. George was deeply impressed by the poverty of that Cossack village and always wanted to do something for them.

The Cossacks were not engaged in production, but only in fighting. George had never found any opportunities.

Now the opportunity has finally come. Rivne is near the border, and the Cossacks are not useless. Hunting in Rivne is better than fishing in Lake Ladoga.

Ivan proved how willing he was with his actions.

The day after Yelokhin sent the telegram, Ivan arrived in Rivne with all the members of Volkovo village, a total of 407 men, women, and children.

When the villagers of Volkovo arrived in Rivne, they had only their last set of clothes left on them, and they pawned almost everything they owned to pay for their journey to Rivne.

Looking at the longing eyes, George felt like he was carrying more and more things.

Four hundred people is a bit too much, but it's not like there's no room to accommodate them.

Most of the time, Russians are a bit stubborn.

The Tsar ordered the area around Rivne to be cleared, and the Guards went out frantically to relocate all residents, including the small town of Rivne, creating a no-man's land of about 100 square kilometers.

George actually can't understand it.

Demolition is a very profitable thing no matter when it comes.

People can move away, but houses cannot.

So there are enough houses in Rivne now, which can accommodate another 400 people.

"This is the most fertile land in the world. You can grow anything you want and you won't starve to death. Do you know how to farm?" George still didn't understand the Cossacks well enough.

"Yes, yes -" Ivan burst into tears. It's not that the Cossacks don't farm, but that there is no land for them to farm.

The empire has been inherited for 300 years, and land annexation is very serious. George's manor in St. Petersburg has a lot of wasteland, but as long as George does not allow it, no one dares to open up wasteland in George's manor.

There is a lot of wasteland in Siberia, but it is sparsely populated and the protection provided by the empire is insufficient. Every Cossack household has no surplus food. Even if they can reclaim the wasteland in Siberia, they still have to survive the first coldest winter.

The plight of the Cossacks is really not caused by the lack of efforts of the Cossacks, but by the concerted efforts of the entire empire.

The tsar needed cheap soldiers, and factory owners needed cheap labor. The nobles who owned the most land would rather leave the land in waste without generating any profits, and would not take the initiative to develop it, euphemistically calling it pastoral scenery.

They never thought that the Cossacks, whose lives were not guaranteed, were the most unstable group in the empire, just like the workers.

In 1917, when workers in St. Petersburg revolted, the Guardsmen ordered to suppress them refused to fire, and the Tsar lost his last line of defense.

The vast majority of the Guardsmen, like the revolting workers, were Cossacks.

George hopes to find a way out for the Cossacks, let those who are willing to fight fight, those who are willing to farm farm, and let the rebels——

Let the rebels go to Siberia, George welcomes them.

"Then go, you can choose the house here at your leisure. I have only one request. No matter what, you must abide by the laws of the empire." George would not let it go. He brought these Cossacks from Lake Ladoga to Rivno, and they Be responsible.

It is also a duty to the empire. After Ivan left, George found that his personal guard Ivan was also in tears.

"What's wrong with you?" George, like Nicholas, cares about the people around him, and he doesn't want to be stabbed in his sleep.

"Duke, thank you -" Ivan shed more and more tears. In George's impression, he was a person who never shed tears.

"Ivan is my father." Ivan's words surprised George, who had not even greeted his father just now.

George didn't understand.

"I am no longer his son, but your guard." Ivan's words shocked George. Are all Cossacks so cold-blooded?

It's really not.

It's not that Cossacks don't value family ties, but in the traditional sense, joining the army means becoming a monk. Loyalty and filial piety cannot be both. Since you choose to be loyal to the Tsar, you must cut off the relationship with your original family.

This is why many veterans would rather wander in the city than return to their hometown.

"What crazy talk are you talking about? If you don't even want your father, how dare I keep you by my side?" George never violated the laws of nature and human ethics. Russia didn't know how harsh it was to the Cossacks to form such a twisted tradition.

The first batch of soldiers of the Oak Regiment came from the village of Volkovo, and these soldiers are now serving in the Oak Regiment. George approved a three-day family leave for these soldiers that day, and paid each of them 3 rubles, allowing them to go home to visit relatives.

After the order was issued, George had to accept the allegiance of Volkovo soldiers in formation at the door of the station commander's office.

The lives of the Cossacks were as cheap as ants, and no one had ever done this.

The Cossacks who died on the battlefield did not even have tombstones. They were buried wherever they died.

Seriously injured Cossacks could only receive pitiful pensions, unable to maintain their lives, and many had no choice but to commit suicide.

After all, there are only a few Cossacks like Ye Luoxin who have the ability to support Paoze.

One of the consequences of Milyutin's restructuring was that a large number of young and strong Cossacks were homeless in the city. They had nothing and no worries, like lonely ghosts, and only had hatred for the empire.

George could not just watch the situation continue to deteriorate. Before leaving St. Petersburg, George told the military that if possible, the soldiers who retired this year would be sent to Vladivostok. George promised to give them generous treatment and not let them live on the streets.

George's original intention was to reduce hidden dangers.

The military directly refused.

I don’t know how many people in Russia are staring at the veterans every year. They are the best workers. They have just left the army. They have simpler ideas, are easiest to manage, and are the easiest to be satisfied.

Some factories in St. Petersburg will even lay off some workers before the retirement season to prepare for welcoming veterans.

As for how those laid-off workers will live, it is not an issue they have to consider.

Ivan - Old Ivan was very efficient. On the second day after arriving in Rivne, he selected 50 young people for George to drive.

These 50 people were all 30 years old and half were men and women. The first task George gave them was to clean.

The foundation of Rivne Railway Station is quite good. The walls of the waiting hall are made of stone, the roof is made of glazed tiles, and the glass on the door is occasionally damaged. After replacement, it will not affect its continued use.

After the snow on the platform was cleared, George noticed that the platform was actually paved with stones. It was just because no one had cleaned it for a long time that it was muddy.

The young men are all hard-working, and this will be their future workplace. George offers them a salary of 10 rubles per person per month, which is higher than the salary of the Guards.

The girls' salary is 6 rubles. They are conductors and waiters, and they are responsible for the sanitation of the waiting hall and ticket hall.

Although the salaries were different, the girls didn't take it seriously. George prepared brand new uniforms for them. After the ticket hall and waiting hall were cleaned, the environment was clean and bright. Working in such an environment, you can work without getting paid. Very happy.

The young men are responsible for the work on the platform. They have all received military training and are all qualified security personnel. George asked them to be vigilant, especially to strangers.

Werther originally wanted to evacuate all the staff, but George asked Werther to leave at least one stationmaster, one telegraph operator, and one switchman to maintain the normal operation of the train station.

Werther did not deliberately seek trouble. He was a smart man and knew where George's bottom line was. If he continued to anger George, Werther would be in trouble.

The station manager left by Witte was named Nassimov, 49 years old, who had been working in the railway department since he was 14 years old.

Russia's railways have only started a few years ago. Calculating time, Nassimov was already working in the railway department almost when Russia began to build railways.

George offered Nassimov a salary that was twice that of the Southwestern Railway, and Nassimov happily jumped to George's railway company.

George's railway company was called Rovne Company.

After arranging the work at the train station, George and the Oak Group met and officially started training in Rivne.

The first training content is the confrontation between battalions.

Unfortunately, Ye Luoxin and Andre were drawn into the father-son game, and they had to decide the winner within half a month.

There are no rules for the exercise. The two participating parties compete within an area of ​​about 50 square kilometers. George serves as the commander-in-chief of the exercise, Alfred is the observer, and Demit and Vasily watch the entire process to prepare for the next exercise.

In order to avoid unnecessary casualties, Ye Luoxin and Andrei needed to report the combat plan to the headquarters two days in advance.

George got the first glimpse of both sides' plans and convened a team of officers for a war game.

Ye Luoxin is mature and prudent, and his plan is more traditional. He honestly advances from the starting point to the center, looking for Andre for a decisive battle.

Andrei's army was in danger. He sent a company as a scout on the first day to first determine Ye Luo Xin's position and prepare to set up an ambush against Ye Luo Xin.

"How are we going to fight? Are we really going to shoot?" Alfred was dumbfounded. He had never seen this kind of confrontation before.

"Dermit, tell him how to fight -" George did not answer such a simple question.

"There is no need to shoot. As long as Ye Luoxin's troops step into Andre's ambush circle, it can basically be determined that Ye Luoxin's entire army has been annihilated." Demit is familiar with the road. This is not the first time that the Oak Group has conducted such a confrontation exercise.

"How is this possible?" Alfred did not think that Ye Luoxin's troops were powerless to fight back.

"How is this impossible? If my troops are ambushed, my troops will be completely annihilated." Demeter suffered a loss. Now the Oak Group is really capable of wiping out the same number of enemies in a short period of time.

There is a saying in the art of war: if you are ten, you are to surround it, if you are five, you are to attack it, and if you are twice as many, you are fighting.

This is the experience of the Cold Weapons Era. If you don’t keep pace with the times in the Hot Weapons Era, you will die.

(End of this chapter)