I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 350 As long as we can’t fight, that’s fine
The Cossacks, known as the "Tsar's Whip", showed no mercy to the Russians when suppressing the uprising in Russia. In the Russian concession, they did not regard the Japanese as human beings at all.

The conflict in the Russian Concession resulted in a total of 11 Japanese deaths and 4 injuries.

From the ratio of deaths to injuries, it is not difficult to see how ruthless the Cossacks were.

The Japanese government responded quickly. It protested to St. Petersburg the day after the incident, demanding severe punishment for the parties involved and hoping to terminate the lease early.

St. Petersburg's reply was: We don't know much about this matter. We will decide how to deal with it after we find out the results of the investigation.

The Japanese government was very angry, so on April 4, several Japanese secretly crossed the border and tried to sneak into the Russian concession, but they were discovered by patrolling soldiers.

The patrolling soldiers immediately opened fire, and two more ronin were killed.

On the 28th, Ichiro Shiga came to Yuriev Palace again and asked to see George.

"I was just looking for you. If you don't restrain those ronin and let them invade the concession at will, all Japanese will be expelled from the concession and Japanese will not be allowed to enter."

George took the lead.

"If you don't fulfill your duties, don't blame me for being rude. Do you still have the spirit of the contract?"

"Your Highness, you can't do that -"

Shiga Ichiro's face turned red. It was indeed the Japanese who were at fault in this matter.

Shiga Ichiro believed that George could do it to expel the Japanese.

This is really not a prank by George, it is clearly stated in the laws of the Russian Empire.

The reason why those Japanese ronin dared to be so arrogant was that George did not believe that there was no support from the Japanese government behind them.

Japan is not targeting Russia, but wants to take back all the concessions of all countries in Japan.

No wonder the British like to point fingers so much.

If you don’t accept it, then let’s have a fight!

The Japanese government must also restrain the Japanese from entering the Russian concession at will to avoid conflicts.

Now that the Siberian Fleet has handed over the concession to the Amur Military District, if any Russians break the law in Japan, they will most likely be sent to Siberia according to the laws of the Russian Empire.

Shiga Ichiro did not expect that George would complain first.

Once George really does this, Japan will be embarrassed all over the world.

The concession of the Siberian Fleet in Nagasaki is equivalent to the territory of the Russian Empire. If anyone breaks in without the permission of the defenders, the defenders can shoot.

George finally realized the pleasure of blaming others from the moral high ground.

"You are like you, and you still want to be a member of the civilized world? If you want to join the civilized world, you must abide by the rules of the civilized world."

"This is their personal behavior -"

Therefore, George had the responsibility to restrain the Cossacks under his command and not to kill the Japanese at will.

George resolutely refused to comment on the matter. On this issue, the interests of George and all countries were consistent.

The Russian Empire has consular jurisdiction in Japan. Even if Russians break the law, Japanese law does not apply and should be punished in accordance with the laws of the Russian Empire.

Therefore, George can definitely unite Britain, France, the United States, and Germany to collectively exert pressure on the Japanese government.

Didn't "Fuji" and "Yashima" drive back? They were mules or horses coming out for a ride.

Shiga Ichiro was completely unable to withstand George's output. The next day, there were obviously more Japanese police patrolling outside the Russian Concession.

It was not that George didn't give any face at all. For those Japanese ronin who died, George still paid 20 rubles for the funeral expenses.

Later, George received a personal telegram from Nicholas.

Nikolai's telegram was concise and to the point, with only one word: Thank you!

George's reply was also concise: You're welcome!
Compared with the Russian Concession, what George valued most was the China-Eastern Railway.

In mid-May, before the construction of the Eastern Railway had officially started, Kotuno finally arrived in Vladivostok. Cotuno has two purposes, one is the third phase of reparations to Japan, and the other is the supply of timber for the Middle East Railway.

In fact, the Qing government had no money, so the reparations had to be raised externally. The first tranche of reparations to Japan was borrowed from Daosheng Bank, and the second tranche was raised from HSBC in the UK and Deutsche Bank in Germany.

Early next year, the Qing Empire will pay the third and final indemnity. Daosheng Bank wanted to borrow it, but had no money, so it had to come to George, hoping to jointly bear it with the Siberian Bank.

As for the supply of timber to the China Eastern Railway——

The first thing Cotunno did after arriving in the Far East was not to fight for the second installment of compensation, but to establish a timber company to prepare timber for the Middle East Railway.

This matter has long been concluded. The prerequisite for George to take over the Middle East Railway is that all the materials needed for the Middle East Railway must be purchased from Amur.

National projects like the Middle East Railway have always been extremely lucrative.

By doing this, Cotunno was taking money out of George's pocket.

Cotunno came prepared and first handed George a personal letter from Nicholas.

Nicholas was vague in the letter and did not explain the situation in detail. He only asked George to take appropriate care of Cotunno.

Cotuno made it clear and unmistakable that the lumber company had shares in several grand dukes.

"So what, Amur Timber Company still has to pay taxes to the empire——"

George thought Cotunno looked too ugly.

If Cotuno puts the company in Vladivostok, George might be able to transfer part of the business to Cotuno.

But Cotunno thought he was a thief and put the company in Dalini. George couldn't bear it anymore.

What's the matter, you want to eat meat but don't even give me a sip of soup?
Do you know what a local snake is?

"There are also shares in Gatchina Palace."

Cotuno finally showed his trump card.

Gatchina Palace refers to the Empress Dowager, Nicholas and Alex in the Winter Palace.

"Amur Timber Company has Nikki's shares, what do you want me to do?"

George passed the problem to Cotunno.

What's wrong with you having a queen mother?

I have a Czar!

Cotuno frowned, not expecting this matter to be so complicated.

George did not embarrass Cotunno. The Empress Dowager wanted to chop wood in the Qing Empire, but George did not fight for it.

But if you want to sell wood to the China Eastern Railway, no matter who it is, you have to look at George's face.

Cotuno failed to accomplish either of the two things, so Yangyang left.

Within a few days, George received a telegram from Elston, saying that there were rumors in St. Petersburg. There were rumors that George acted arbitrarily and did not take anyone seriously.

"Anyone" here includes the Tsar and the Empress Dowager.

Then George received another telegram from Vladimir.

Vladimir asked George to restrain himself and not stretch his hands so far.

George ignored Vladimir. Cotuno's company had Vladimir's shares.

Within two days, Alfred sent another telegram saying that Vladimir banged the table in the Winter Palace and had a big quarrel with Nicholas.

Okay, as long as there's no fight.

(End of this chapter)