I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 161 Demolition of the Duke
  Japan was resource-poor and had to import basically everything except raw silk and women.

Relying solely on Japan's own words, even food cannot be guaranteed. The Chinese describe their hard life and like to use the term "eating chaff and swallowing vegetables." However, in Japan there is not even vegetables, and the common people at the bottom can only eat chaff.

It's true. One of the important reasons why Japanese people like to serve as soldiers is that they can eat well.

And the so-called full meal for soldiers is only brown rice and pickles, not meat.

Before 1872, eating meat was illegal in Japan.

Nobles could only eat meat when they were sick.

Moreover, the purpose of eating meat is not to supplement nutrition, but to use meat as medicine.

If nutrition keeps up, the body's resistance will naturally increase, but it's not just medicine.

Japan's coal imports mainly relied on the Qing Empire.

Mikhail had already competed with the Japanese for coal, so the Japanese went to Vladivostok to buy high-priced coal, hoping that Mikhail would show his favor.

Now that George has decided to monopolize the coal exports of the Qing Empire, the price of coal in Vladivostok will be as high as he wants.

"What if Japan goes to other countries to buy coal?" Mikhail was worried that George would be self-defeating.

The Qing Empire and Vladivostok are not the only countries and regions that produce coal in the world. Even if George monopolizes the coal exports of the Qing Empire, Japan can buy coal from other countries.

"Do you think businessmen from other countries are philanthropists?" George was confident.

This year is not the 21st century, and ocean-going trade is not that easy.

Coal is consumed in large quantities. Even if the price of coal from other countries and regions is low, plus the freight to East Asia, it will still be too high for Japan to afford.

The key point is that businessmen in other countries are not stupid. Who doesn’t make money if they have money?

Shiga Ichiro never expected that his mere mention of trade would cause such big trouble for Japan's future coal imports.

The power of the coal monopoly cannot yet be seen because the Japanese combined fleet has not yet emerged.

The only way Japan can earn foreign exchange now, besides exporting raw silk, is by organizing Japanese women to work overseas.

Don't even think about relying on these two ways to make money to buy warships.

Japan only had the money to purchase warships after it formed an alliance with Britain and received British support.

The money was borrowed from Britain, and warships could only be purchased from Britain.

Therefore, if Japan could not win the Sino-Japanese War and receive reparations from the Qing Empire, then forget about universal education and basic industrialization, and even organizing all Japanese women to work abroad would not be enough to repay the interest.

Compared with last year, Vladivostok has changed a lot. Shiga Ichiro returned to the Japanese office in Vladivostok and called Ueyama Shimoyoshi and wanted to go out for a walk.

Yamashita Ryo didn't really want to go out. Going out in the winter was not a good idea.

Although George is not satisfied with the development of Vladivostok, one thing is that compared with last year, Vladivostok has changed quite a lot.

The biggest change must be the port. Last year, the fort group outside Vladivostok had not yet formed a large scale. This year, it has been connected into a cluster. Ichiro Shiga hopes to gain more understanding, because Nagasaki also has shore defense needs.

It is not necessary to start a war. Currently, Japan does not dare to start a war with Russia. Even the threats are very vague, so that people feel that the meaning of prayer is greater.

Only a sensitive guy like George would think that Shiga Ichiro was threatening.

"No, we can't get close. There are military restricted areas around the fort, and no one is allowed to get close." Yamashita Ryo's answer disappointed Shiga Ichiro.

Shiga Ichiro frowned, the Russian Empire was indeed different from the Qing Empire.

The military facilities of the Qing Empire were not so tightly guarded. If Shiga Ichiro was willing to spend money, he could even visit the military facilities of the Qing Empire.

Now you know why the Qing Empire performed so poorly in the Sino-Japanese War. They even know the blind spots of your fort, so how can you fight this battle?

"But there is nothing interesting to visit in these forts, because there are no artillery at all." Yamashita Ryo didn't care about the forts at all.

So what if we understand it? Does Japan still dare to challenge the Russian Empire?
  Wake up, stop dreaming!

"It doesn't matter whether there are artillery or not, these forts are not used at all." Shiga Ichiro did not think that these forts could play any role.

In the Far East, no country dares to challenge Russia, and the forts in Vladivostok are just decorations.

"Shall we go to the factory in Vladivostok?" Shiga Ichiro was equally envious of Vladivostok's industrial capabilities.

Shotguns produced in Vladivostok have begun to be sold externally.

Just three years ago there was no industry to speak of in Vladivostok, no manufacturing capacity at all.

In just three years, Vladivostok not only began to export timber and coal, but also had military industry capabilities. This speed of development astonished Ichiro Shiga.

Japan's industrialization has also been going on for many years.

But it was just shouting, and it achieved nothing and ended up in privatization.

A better word is privatization.

To put it bluntly, it means that it is unsustainable and has to be sold out.

Moreover, this "sale" is forced. Under normal circumstances, no one is willing to take over the Japanese government's so-called property. Compared with Japan’s industrialization process, Vladivostok is at the Zenith level.

“I can’t go—” Yamashita Ryo spread his hands, looking very Western-style helpless.

"Why?" Shiga Ichiro was curious.

"Because the factory is not in Vladivostok. To be precise, I don't even know where the factory in Vladivostok is." Yamashita Ryo's answer surprised Ichiro Shiga.

"Super Duke's uncle believed that placing factories in the city would pollute the city's environment, which is why Vladivostok is so desolate."

"Damn Rakshasa ghost!" Shiga Ichiro couldn't help but curse.

If Japan had a factory that could make guns, it would be ready to be displayed in Kyoto for people to visit every day, letting others know how powerful Japan's national power is.

The factory in Vladivostok is actually not allowed to be built in the urban area because of concerns about environmental pollution. Doesn’t Super Duke’s uncle know how much more costs this will increase?

Of course, in the eyes of Ichiro Shiga, the current Vladivostok has absolutely nothing to do with desolation.

When Ichiro Shiga came to Vladivostok last year, Vladivostok was still completely white.

This year, contiguous residential and commercial areas have begun to appear around the port area and military area.

Ichiro Shiga also hated the waste of land in Vladivostok.

Japan has a small land area and a large population, so the urban residential area in Japan is even smaller. You can only build a house, not even a yard.

The residences in Vladivostok often have large yards of one and a half acres, and the land is free and can be used as you like.

Since he couldn't enter the fort and didn't know where the factory was, Ichiro Shiga lost interest and returned disappointed.

Later, the trip report about Shiga Ichiro and Yamashita Ryo was placed on George's desk.

George felt a little annoyed, like a toad on his feet. Although it didn't bite, it was disgusting.

"Find a reason to drive the Japanese away, don't let them hang around here all day." George will never cause further trouble.

"Isn't this bad?" Korff was startled. Are you going to break off diplomatic relations with Japan?

"What's wrong? We can set up an office in Kyoto. If anything happens, let the Japanese go directly to the office." George was not in the mood to play espionage with the Japanese, so just break off diplomatic relations. Anyway, it's not Vladivostok that needs Japan. , but Japan needs Vladivostok.

Japan established an office in Vladivostok simply to facilitate contact and protect Japanese expatriates.

If you want to contact me, you can still contact us if we set up an office in Vladivostok in Kyoto.

Words from expats——

Sorry, there are no Japanese expats in Vladivostok now.

"This-" Korff felt that it was not appropriate, but could not find a reason to persuade George.

Canceling the office is inconsistent with international diplomatic rules, but it is consistent with Russia's way of doing things.

Do Russians need rules to do things?

No need, in the land of Vladivostok, George's words are the rules.

Mikhail was not as domineering as George. On the grounds of taking back the land of the Japanese office, he asked the Japanese staff to temporarily leave Vladivostok and come back after the new office was built.

"Why take it back?" Yamashita Ryo still didn't know that he had no chance to return to Vladivostok.

Even if Ryo Yamashita can come to Vladivostok in the future, he will not be in the capacity of director of the office in Vladivostok.

Even this institution will cease to exist in the future.

"The Duke is not satisfied with the design of this street, so he wants to demolish it and rebuild it--" Bychkov, director of the Vladivostok Foreign Affairs Office, casually told them to just leave. There is so much trouble.

"This street has just been built two years ago, and it needs to be demolished and rebuilt just because the Duke is dissatisfied?" Yamashita Ryo couldn't believe it. The Duke was too willful.

"Yes, the Duke promised His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to build Vladivostok into the St. Petersburg of the East, so all these wooden houses must be demolished and rebuilt." Bychkov's description is in line with the outside world's view of the Russian Grand Duke. understanding.

Yamashita Ryo and Shiga Ichiro looked at each other.

St. Petersburg is a super city with a population of one million and the capital of the Russian Empire.

What would it mean if a big city like St. Petersburg appeared in the Far East?
  This means that Russia's strength in the Far East will expand rapidly, and the Russians will definitely go south by then.

Once the Russians go south, it will not only be the Qing Empire that will be beaten, but Korea and Japan will also be within the Russian Empire's attack range.

"That doesn't require us to return to Japan. We can go to the hotel to work." Yamashita Ryo didn't want to leave Vladivostok just like that.

"The hotel will also be demolished -" Bychkov said in a capricious way.

"Then we can rent another house, right?" Yamashita Ryo also had a temper.

"You seem to have misunderstood me. What I mean is that all these buildings in Vladivostok must be demolished now." Bychkov was shocked.

"All?" Yamashita Ryo wanted to ask, will the fort be demolished too?
  "Yes, all of them." Bychkov said seriously. Anyway, what he said didn't count.

(End of this chapter)