I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 271 Siberian Travel Agency

George and Nicholas set out from Vladivostok in early July and drove slowly and hurriedly. It was already mid-November when they arrived in St. Petersburg. By this time, it had been snowing in St. Petersburg for more than a month.

George has spent the winter in Vladivostok in recent years and has not been to the Yekaterin Palace for several years.

From 1881 to this era, nine years have passed.

George was only 9 years old when Ya Er was assassinated, and now George is truly an adult.

Nicholas originally wanted to prepare a coming-of-age ceremony for George, but George refused.

There were enough banquets in St. Petersburg, and George was bored every day by being surrounded by all kinds of banquets that were basically meaningless.

Compared with nine years ago, there are almost no changes in St. Petersburg. The princes are still jealous in the theater, the nobles are drunk and dreaming, and the imperial council has been discussing whether to reopen the parliament for several years, but there is still no conclusion.

George now finally has the qualifications to participate in the Royal Council.

However, after George only went once, he never attended the imperial meeting again.

When he had time to gossip with the imperial ministers, George might as well go to the Imperial Academy of Sciences to chat with Butrelov.

Butrelov has been having a hard time recently and has deep resentment towards George.

When George was in St. Petersburg, he cooperated frequently with the Academy of Sciences, and the Academy of Sciences also made headlines many times and made huge profits.

Since George shifted his focus from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok, cooperation with the Academy of Sciences has become increasingly rare.

The limelight of the Russian Empire in recent years is almost all related to Vladivostok.

At the World Expo, Vladivostok's automobiles became a blockbuster, winning a large number of domestic and foreign orders and becoming the "industrial pearl" of the Russian Empire.

There are more and more products produced in Vladivostok in the St. Petersburg market. Almost everyone in St. Petersburg has a pair of sunglasses. All the telescopes purchased by the empire last year were produced in Vladivostok.

Vladivostok even started producing microscopes.

Gatchina Palace already uses AC lighting systems produced in Vladivostok.

Although the artillery pieces from the Vladivostok Arsenal were not purchased by the military, they caused criticism to the Academy of Sciences.

Let’s not talk about health products, cosmetics, etc. Others don’t know what’s going on, but the Tsar must know that these things are used by George to make money.

Cars and artillery, alternating current, an absolute surprise for the Empire.

Then the problem arises.

Only a few years after the Tsar granted Amur to George, George gave the Tsar so many surprises.

So what has the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences been doing all these years?

It is a joke to ask academicians of the Academy of Sciences to study postpartum care of sows.

But why was the artillery retreat technology not born in the Academy of Sciences, but in the Vladivostok Arsenal, which didn’t even have a single serious scientific researcher?

"The Vladivostok Arsenal has more advanced artillery, but it has also not received orders from the military ministry, so what is the use of developing those technologies?"

Butrelov complained to George.

George just smiled.

No matter how useless technology is, it is more useful than studying the relationship between the soul and God.

It's not that the military doesn't want to buy it, but it has spent all its military expenditures on replacing new rifles in recent years.

When the rifles were replaced, the Tsar would force the military department to replace the artillery without George having to ask.

"If you want the Academy of Sciences to conduct research in this area, you have to provide financial support. If you can't even afford the materials, can't you just do theoretical research?"

Butrelov had no choice. The situation at the Academy of Sciences was too complicated.

The Academy of Sciences has a strict process for project approval, and Butrelov cannot bypass it.

George had cooperated with the Academy of Sciences many times and knew what the problem was, but George could not solve it.

Take smokeless gunpowder, for example. Without George's investment, there is a high probability that the project would not be approved at all.

To establish a project, you need to invest money.

If you invest money, you will see results.

Most scientific research is fruitless. Unless someone like George is convinced that smokeless gunpowder can be successful and is willing to personally fund it, academicians will have the motivation to conduct research.

Otherwise, it’s all research, so why not research the field that interests you?

The problem lies here.

Even the president of the Academy of Sciences was obsessed with studying the relationship between the soul and God.

It is difficult for you to ask academicians to do something serious.

"I am planning to set up a research institute in Vladivostok. Is there any suitable person you can recommend to me?"

George came to Butrelov not to listen to his complaints, but to poach him.

"What do you want to do? Are you not satisfied if the Academy of Sciences is not emptied?"

Butrelov was vigilant, and George had poached many people from the Academy of Sciences in recent years.

Like all academic institutions, seniority in the Academy of Sciences of the Russian Empire was extremely serious.

It’s not that academicians are incompetent.

Rather, it is a carrot and a pit, with key positions controlled either by academicians or officials. Some young people who have little talent will never get ahead.

Officials at the Academy of Sciences may be dawdling.

Students who can become academicians have a lot of skills, so George will target these people, poaching every one he can. Compared with St. Petersburg, Vladivostok is so good. It needs projects, resources, and support. The key is to have food, shelter, and basic necessities. You don’t have to worry about children’s education or the medical care of the elderly. And You don’t have to worry about your own retirement.

For most scientific researchers, Yuriev's model is paradise.

This situation must have been noticed by the Academy of Sciences. Even Butrelov had two highly regarded students poached by Vladivostok.

"So your so-called attention is to give them a salary that is not much more than that of porters, let them live in a pigeon house with cold winters and hot summers, and work in the laboratory all day without even a hot meal. This kind of thing Do you want to pay attention to you?"

George's taunt made Butrelov blush.

George worked as a worker in his last life and knows the needs of ordinary people very well.

If you can't even guarantee a basic life, what qualifications do you have to talk about dedication?

Is it okay to dedicate the boss to heaven?

"When we were young, which of us didn't come here like this?"

Butrelov was confident.

"So you are going to let the pain you have experienced reappear in those young people one by one. Then what is the point of building an empire?"

Let George do research, and George will definitely not be as good as Butrelov.

But if it's a debate, George can turn Butrelov into a scumbag in seconds.

"Is Amur part of the Empire?"

"Is working for Amur working for the Empire?"

"In that case, what's the difference between going to Amur or staying in St. Petersburg?"

George came prepared and beat Butrelov to pieces.

George didn't just talk, he made tricks one after another.

Vladivostok initially invited technicians or scholars from European countries to travel to Vladivostok in the name of tourism, and then found ways to keep them here.

The Russian Empire has been promoting the development of Siberia for many years.

But for most Russians, Siberia is extremely unfamiliar.

There is a saying that seeing is better than hearing. Whether Vladivostok is as good as what is advertised in the newspapers can only be determined by seeing it in person.

It doesn’t cost any money anyway.

There is not much to do in St. Petersburg during the winter.

Therefore, Siberia tour groups in autumn and winter every year are particularly popular in St. Petersburg.

Siberia sightseeing tour is a tourism project launched by Siberia Travel Agency.

The headquarters of Siberia Travel Agency in St. Petersburg is directly opposite St. Petersburg University.

The head of the travel agency, Borni, is a very smart young man. He originally graduated from St. Petersburg University and knows St. Petersburg University very well.

In order to save money, the Siberian Travel Agency hired a large number of students from St. Petersburg University. They would go to St. Petersburg University, the Academy of Sciences, the Academy of Engineering, the Obukhov Steel Plant and other places to distribute leaflets and do publicity.

As students work part-time, the salary is definitely not too high. 50 kopecks a day is enough for many students.

In addition to salary, Siberia Travel Agency will also prepare some small gifts for part-time students, such as chocolate, coffee, candies and other small things produced in Vladivostok.

Therefore, almost all students who work part-time in Siberian travel agencies will become voluntary publicists in Vladivostok. After graduation, whether they are willing to work in Vladivostok or not, they are at least willing to travel to Vladivostok.

As I said before, traveling to Vladivostok is free.

There is no need to emphasize the attraction of travel to young people.

Since the beginning of winter, almost every month, at least two cruise ships have sailed from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok.

Many students from St. Petersburg University went to Vladivostok in this way, and then worked, settled, and settled in Vladivostok.

Nicholas knew that George was poaching St. Petersburg.

However, Nicholas did not stop George, and also reminded George to pay attention to the thoughts of these young students.

Of all the Assassins in the Russian Empire, they had the highest proportion of students.

In particular, St. Petersburg University has become the hardest hit area for the proliferation of the Volya Volya Party.

After Asan ascended the throne, in order to change this situation, he took back the autonomy of the Russian Empire's higher education institutions.

not effectively.

"Nikki, it's better to clear things up than to block them. The key is to guide, not control."

George had been young and knew how passionate young people are.

It was not out of hatred for the Tsar that the students of St. Petersburg University threw bombs at the Tsar's carriage.

But he didn't know how to change the country, so he was deceived by others, and one-sidedly believed that as long as he killed the Tsar, he could intimidate the entire aristocracy and make the Russian Empire better.

Childish is indeed a bit childish.

But their enthusiasm for the empire is much better than that of the aristocratic class who only know how to eat, drink, have fun and suck blood from the empire all day long.

(End of this chapter)