I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 256 Strong alliance

The Beiyang Navy of the Qing Empire had British instructors.

It is also normal for the Goryeo army to hire Russian instructors.

After the Franco-Prussian War, Germany prided itself on being the "first army in the world" and was arrogant.

The Russian Empire has no interest in the title "Number One in the World", but no one dares to deny the strength of the Russian Army.

The Goryeo army personally trained by Ye Luoxin was more outstanding than the Goryeo army trained by Datou. Therefore, the security work of the Goryeo Royal City was entirely handled by Russian-trained troops. The troops trained by Datou were only stationed near the royal city as a reserve force.

Nominally, the top commander of these two armies was Min Yongyi.

The instructor on the Russian side, Shemak, was a former member of the George Guards.

After the Gaishin coup, the Qing Empire and Japan withdrew their troops from Goryeo at the same time. The two countries agreed that if they sent troops to Goryeo in the future, they would need to notify each other.

Neither the Qing Empire nor Japan expected that the power vacuum left after the withdrawal of the two countries would be quickly filled by the Russian Empire.

This led to widespread rumors in Goryeo that Goryeo had been invaded by the Russian Empire, and that Gojong had been placed under house arrest by the Russian Empire and was even no longer alive.

This is obviously nonsense. The people of Gaozong lived well and were happier and freer than before.

Compared with the Qing Empire and Japan, the Russian Empire never had any say in Goryeo's domestic affairs, and was more helpful to Goryeo economically. Emperor Gaozong and Concubine Min were very grateful to Catherine and George.

There are still some good things in Korea, such as Korean ginseng, and -

Well, for Vladivostok, apart from humans and ginseng, there is nothing else that makes Vladivostok attractive.

When George was in St. Petersburg, he agreed with Yusupova to invest in Vladivostok.

On December 12, Felix and Yusupova arrived in Vladivostok for an inspection.

Yusupova's title is the same as that of a super duke like Catherine, and is only one level lower than a grand duke in the Russian Empire.

When a lady of this level came to Vladivostok, Catherine would naturally entertain her personally at the Yuriev Palace.

When Ya Er was alive, Ekaterina and Yusupova knew each other. Yusupova, who was still a girl at the time, was very yearning for Ekaterina's almost perfect manners and once asked Ekaterina for advice. Take care of your body.

So the secret of how Yusupova’s figure remained unchanged despite having four children in a row was finally solved.

Felix and George are old friends, so George and Anne naturally have to accompany them throughout the whole process.

Yusupova had not seen Catherine since she left St. Petersburg.

After six years of separation, Ekaterina is almost the same as she was six years ago, which makes Yusupova even more curious about Ekaterina.

George and Felix did not participate in the discussion about beauty and maintenance. Both he and Milyukyin welcomed Felix's arrival.

Felix expressed surprise at the development of Vladivostok, saying that Vladivostok was the most dynamic city in the Russian Empire.

George introduced the basic situation of Vladivostok to Felix, and Felix was very interested in George's AC system.

"Power station technology is actually not difficult at all. The lighting system of Yuriev Palace is provided by a hydroelectric power station. Now we only need to increase the scale of the hydropower station to provide power supply for the entire Vladivostok."

The Amur region has a well-developed water system and hydropower stations can be built in many places.

Siberia is not short of resources either. There is enough thermal coal for power generation. This is an excellent project. Felix is ​​still very visionary.

George expects more from Felix than AC.

Electricity was unfamiliar territory to the Yusupov family.

The Yusupov family itself owns steel plants and oil fields, so petrochemical industry is the Yusupov family's main business.

"Currently, the processing and utilization of petroleum is still in a relatively primitive stage. With the promotion of internal combustion engines, the world's demand for petroleum will become higher and higher. Why not conduct further research on petroleum processing technology?"

Russia is a major oil country after the United States, and oil processing technology is very important to the Russian Empire.

This is George's main dissatisfaction with Yusupova.

As the first noblewoman in Russia, Yusupova can take the initiative to conduct research on oil processing and improve the level of oil processing in the Russian Empire, just like George.

The Russian Imperial Academy of Sciences itself is good at chemistry and does not lack the foundation for research on petrochemical technology.

What is lacking is motivation and funding.

"If you invest, I will help you convince Zina."

Felix didn't let the hawk see the rabbit. If the prospect of oil processing was so good, why didn't George invest in it?

"This is easy to do. We jointly set up a research institute, jointly fund and share the results."

George wanted to recruit Yusupova not only because Yusupova was rich.

Just because he has money, he cannot become the richest man in Russia. He would have been wiped out by others long ago.

The influence of the Yusupov family in the Russian Empire is no less than that of the Romanov family.

There were many things that it was not convenient for George to come forward.

If it was Yusupova, there would be no problem.

Women, don't be like her.

For example, if you want to recruit academicians from the Academy of Sciences to work in Vladivostok, it would be more appropriate for Yusupova to come forward than for George to come forward.

"no problem!"

Felix was happy, it was a good start.

Ekaterina and Yusupova also made progress.

Yusupova, like Catherine, was very interested in cosmetics.

What little Nikolai failed to do with George's coercion and inducement, Yusupova easily did it.

I can't say it's easy.

Ekaterina and Yusupova believe that the development of cosmetics should be stepped up.

Therefore, Yusupova and Ekaterina are preparing to expand the scale of the Cosmetic Research Institute, and all the expenses will be borne by Yusupova.

Yusupova's request is just to get new products as soon as possible.

There is not even any requirement for profit.

George had nothing to say.

This is not Yusupova's lack of heart, but Yusupova's certificate of submission.

There is not much to say about the palace of the Yusupov family.

Ekaterina knew how to be a good person and gave a mountain near Yuriev Mountain directly to Yusupova, so the mountain got its name - Yusupov Mountain. The luncheon at noon was extremely sumptuous. Since precious medicinal materials were used as raw materials, every dish presented at the luncheon was medicinal.

"Is there really no problem if you eat like this?"

Yusupova was inexplicably frightened by Niu Ye.

"Try it, it tastes pretty good."

Ekaterina did not refuse any delicacy.

Next to him, George, Felix, Milyutin, and Mikhail, who came to have a meal temporarily, were already drinking.

Mikhail was so wild that he lined up more than ten kinds of liquor and challenged Felix.

"This is all alcohol!"

Felix exploded directly.

Compared with champagne, the alcohol content of white wine is indeed a bit higher.

"Just tell me whether you dare or not!"

Mikhail was proud of himself, which was a part of the Vladivostok tradition of entertaining guests.

Russians are known for their heavy drinking.

The Qing Empire had countless fine wines.

It was a match made in heaven.

There is no liquor in Europe because the grain output in Europe has not been high since ancient times. There is not enough food for people, and there is no surplus grain to brew liquor.

It was not until after the Industrial Revolution that Europeans' living standards gradually improved——

What a shit.

It is the nobles who are gradually getting better, but the common people are still struggling to survive.

In order to increase the centripetal force of Vladivostok citizens, the "Vladivostok Daily News" often publishes some of the dark sides of Europe in the newspaper to improve the happiness of Vladivostok people.

All school-age children in Vladivostok go to school. Parents send their children to school after getting up every day, and then go to work.

Parents in London send their children to factories first and then go to work.

It is not a factory-run kindergarten or elementary school, but a factory that employs a large number of child laborers.

So it was normal for George to join the army in his early years in Europe.

Most Europeans start working before they reach adulthood, and they are much worse off than George.

Compared with Europe, the liquors produced in the Qing Empire not only had a wide variety of varieties, but also had their own characteristics. There were more than ten kinds of aroma alone.

Felix still had a good drinking capacity, so he held his nose and picked up the first glass and drank it down in one gulp.

Milyutin and Mikhail both laughed.

"what happened?"

Felix didn't know what was going on.

“You have to smell it first, then look at it, taste it at the end, and then savor it after drinking it. This is the complete wine tasting process.”

George is friendly, but Felix feels like a country bumpkin who just arrived in town.

"The glass of wine you just drank has a history of at least 4000 years."

Milyujing knew the art of wine tasting and drank slowly while holding the cup.

"4000? Are you sure it's not 400?"

Felix was surprised.

What were Europeans doing 4000 years ago?

Oh oh oh, sorry, I’m playing in the mud with my bare butt——

You can't say that, it's too rude.

It’s hard to say whether there were Europeans 4000 years ago.

Because there is no evidence.

Even if there is, Felix doesn't know.

"I didn't say 5000, I was very restrained."

Milyutin lamented that he was not a historian and did not need to be responsible for his remarks.

“What kind of wine is 4000 years old?”

Yusupova was also attracted.

Anne looked at Yusupova with worried eyes.

"Do you want to try it? This wine has a high alcohol content."

Ekaterina introduced warmly.

"Let me try a little, it smells good."

Yusupova was brave and tasted it slowly according to the way Catherine taught her.

Then Yusupova fell in love with the taste of liquor.

"This is good, it tastes very fresh, with the smell of fruity wood——"

"Is this burnt?"

"This smells so good, I have to have another drink."

Yusupova was finally carried back to the room by two shrews called by Ekaterina.

Felix was not much better. Yusupova managed to survive until the end. Felix fell asleep after only drinking half of the drink, completely breaking the myth that Russians can drink.

But Russian women are really good at drinking.

Anne still has a long way to go to integrate into Russia.

(End of this chapter)