I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 135 Belonging

When George walked onto the pier, Mikhail was waiting on the pier. Since receiving George's telegram, Mikhail has been looking forward to George's arrival every day.

"Gege, you are finally here, let me take a good look at you, damn, you seem to have grown taller again-" Mikhail was as jealous of George's height as Nicholas.

George's height has now reached 180 centimeters and is still growing.

"Where is my Vladivostok?" George's tone was as if Mikhail had hidden Vladivostok.

"The first thing you said when you saw me was not to greet me, but to care about your Vladivostok. God, I'm so sad. My wife doesn't love me -" Mikhail He is definitely a performer, which was not the case with Mikhail in St. Petersburg.

"I love you, I love you, and I love you the most. Why are you acting like an old woman now?" George's words made Mikhail even more sad.

Mikhail did not hide Vladivostok.

To be more precise, construction in Vladivostok has not yet started. Mikhail's focus in the past two years has been on the farm, and he cannot take care of Vladivostok for the time being.

Vladivostok was sparsely populated, with a total population of less than 40,000, including the employees of the Qing Empire. Mikhail could not take care of both and could only focus on farms.

However, this situation will improve next year. George's farm has begun to produce output, and next year he can shift his energy to urban construction.

"This year we have reclaimed more wasteland and hired more workers. This year we have harvested 70 poods of grain. Next year we can raise more livestock. We have also accumulated 100 million kilograms of dried fish. This thing is going to kill me. I vomited after eating——" Mikhail's results were gratifying, and George could proudly announce that Vladivostok has solved the food shortage and is completely self-sufficient.

70 poods is about 1.15 tons. Although this output is not high, considering that there are only 4 people in Vladivostok, it is enough for food.

Although dried fish is not delicious, it can supplement the necessary nutrients and salt for the human body. It is not yet at the stage of whether it can be eaten well. The problem of whether it can be eaten first must be solved.

"Did you see that mountain? I built a palace for you on the mountain, called Yuriev Palace." Mikhail motioned to George.

George looked in the direction indicated by Mikhail. On the mountain top shrouded in mist in the distance, a white house loomed.

"Let's go home, Katya is waiting for you -" Mikhail gave George a big surprise. Ekaterina had arrived in Vladivostok ahead of schedule.

Since leaving St. Petersburg, George has not seen Ekaterina for three full years. He has almost forgotten what Ekaterina looks like.

Although they have never met again, George and Ekaterina are no strangers.

In the past three years, there have been more than 1000 communications between George and Ekaterina, and there have also been communications between Ekaterina and Dalia. Ekaterina knows exactly what George has been through.

On the contrary, George didn't know much about Ekaterina. He only knew that Ekaterina was making money, making money, and making a lot of money every day.

George has arrived in his fiefdom, and Korv continues to travel. His destination is Khabarovsk (Burli).

George and Korf said goodbye politely, agreed to meet again after a while, and then got into the carriage with Mikhail and went home together.

No wonder Mikhail has not cared about Shanghai in the past two years. He probably spent all his energy on building Yuriev Palace.

Yuriev Palace is a huge palace complex, as grand as the Winter Palace.

The entire palace is constructed of granite. The project is still in progress and is expected to take at least 8 years to complete.

8——

Okay, eight years later, George will be an adult, and he will probably be able to catch up with George's wedding.

At the foot of the hill where Yuriev Palace is located, there is a manor. This is Mikhail's residence. Ekaterina is waiting for George at the door.

"Gege, my dear son, I think you are going crazy. Let me see you. Are you okay? Do you still remember me?" Yekaterina burst into tears and hugged George and kissed her crazily. , incoherent.

"I'm fine - I miss you too -" George also had red eyes, and he could feel Ekaterina's feelings for him.

George's two younger sisters, Olga and little Katya, were also there.

Olga, who was only one year younger than George, was now as graceful as Catherine.

Little Katya was only six years old. She stood next to Olga, holding Olga's hand, and looked at George with strange and curious eyes.

George held out his hand to Olga and little Katya.

Olga's gesture of hugging George was a little strange. Little Katya kissed George on the cheek and called George "brother" in French.

The group came to the living room. Aunt Mikhail was also very enthusiastic towards George, but a bit indifferent to Mikhail.

"Mikhail recently found a Japanese mistress, you must not imitate him." Ekaterina mocked mercilessly, making Mikhail blush.

"I've said it many times. It was just a show. I was with the generals of the Siberian Fleet. I couldn't refuse-" Mikhail tried to defend.

"Shut up! Dirty thing-" Aunt Mikhail didn't give Mikhail any face in front of George.

George was not surprised that the grand dukes of St. Petersburg were more outrageous and had more fun than Mikhail.

After dinner, the family chatted in the living room.

"Vladivostok is pretty good. At least it's far away from disputes and not as complicated as St. Petersburg. As long as we can run this place well, it can become our paradise." Mikhail still has a lot of business to do. reliable.

"The generals of the Siberian Fleet are not satisfied with Vladivostok. Icebreakers are needed here in winter to enter and exit smoothly. The generals of the Siberian Fleet prefer to get a military port in a warmer location. If the Siberian Fleet moves , Vladivostok will completely become our world." Mikhail is working hard to push the Siberian fleet south, which is in George's interest.

Vladivostok is the headquarters of the Siberian Fleet. The Siberian Fleet will, to a certain extent, restrict George's power. George has no jurisdiction over the Siberian Fleet, and conflicts will break out sooner or later.

If the Siberian fleet could better restrain the sailors, then George would not mind the Siberian fleet staying in Vladivostok.

In fact, it is obviously not possible. The discipline of the Siberian Fleet is very poor and the sailors lack restraint. Most of the violent incidents in Vladivostok are related to the Siberian Fleet.

"I have dispersed the Qing workers into four manors. The largest manor now has 10 people. Next year, the number of manors will increase to 6000. We also have nearly workers logging and mining. According to your plan I told you that all the people digging are Koreans and Japanese." Mikhail didn't quite understand why George did this.

"Sooner or later there will be a war between us and the Japanese. These Japanese now will be potential threats by then, so we must strengthen the management of the Japanese, minimize their contact with Japan, and completely block Japan from Message from Vladivostok." George knew how big of a threat the Japanese posed.

Before the Qing-Japanese War broke out, intelligence agents from Japan penetrated the Qing Empire into countless holes. Not only were they familiar with the Qing Empire's military strength, they even produced more detailed military maps than the Qing Empire's official ones.

On the eve of the Battle of the Yellow Sea, information from Japanese intelligence personnel allowed the Japanese army to accurately estimate the time when the Qing army arrived on the battlefield, laying the foundation for the Qing army's defeat.

Russia also noticed Japan's intelligence capabilities. On the eve of the Russo-Japanese War, in order to restrict the activities of Japanese intelligence personnel, Russia strengthened management of the East Asians in the Vladivostok area. The Qing people and the Koreans suffered a disaster and were eliminated together with the Japanese. .

This is the origin of Vladivostok’s anti-Chinese culture.

Before 1905, Russia not only did not restrict the activities of Chinese in the Vladivostok area, but also hired a large number of workers from the Qing Empire due to the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway. At that time, the number of Chinese in Vladivostok was several times that of Russians.

In the eyes of Russians, East Asians all look similar, and it is difficult to tell which ones are Chinese and which ones are Japanese.

George could tell the difference. From now on, the management of Japanese immigrants would be strengthened, so that they, like the prisoners sent to Siberia, would go to the most difficult areas, undertake the hardest work, do the most tiring work, and receive the most severe beatings.

We are still several decades away from 1905.

If the Japanese in Vladivostok want to send news to Japan, then please live until 1905.

"How are the Chinese workers?" George asked broadly.

"Chinese workers are simply the best workers in the world. They work hard and work hard. As long as their wages are paid on time, they never complain -" Mikhail gushed. Of the three major groups in East Asia, Mikhail was most fond of the Chinese workers. satisfy.

Unlike a certain ethnic group that advertises "the most hard-working" all over the world, the Chinese are the most hard-working nation in the world.

Diligence is secondary. The key is that the Chinese never complain and are not enthusiastic about political governance. They just quietly make money and send it back to their hometown. When they are old and frail and unable to work, they return to their roots. This is simply a model for workers.

"Are there many workers leaving Vladivostok this year?" George knew that many Chinese workers left Vladivostok every winter.

In the coming year, these workers will bring more Chinese workers to Vladivostok, just like migratory birds.

"There are many, but more people choose to stay. Some Chinese workers take the initiative to work in the mines just because the wages in the mines are relatively high." Mikhail lamented. Compared with making money, whether it is dangerous or not is no longer important.

"To find a way to get more workers to stay on their own initiative, it is best to let them immigrate with their families. Only in this way can the population of Vladivostok be effectively increased." George's fundamental purpose is still to immigrate, and those Chinese workers must be allowed to immigrate. Only when they have a sense of belonging to Vladivostok can they become true Vladivostok people.

"I am trying to think of ways to hire more girls from the Qing Empire and let them start families with Chinese workers, so that they will be willing to stay." Mikhail's method is correct, but the method is——

Hard to say.

(End of this chapter)