I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 373 No matter how good the system is, it’s useless
Twenty-two years have passed since the Tenth Russo-Turkish War. The Russian Empire has enjoyed peace for a long time. People of George's generation have no idea how tragic the war was.

The Sino-Japanese War set a very bad example for the Russian Empire. Seeing that the Japanese received hundreds of millions of rubles in compensation at a meager price, the Grand Dukes of St. Petersburg were completely red-eyed.

George does not envy the Japanese.

The Sing-Japanese War also greatly stimulated Japan and caused Japan to completely embark on the path of militarism. George knew what the end of this road was.

So George is very honest now. Since St. Petersburg does not want George to interfere in Guandong, George will guard Amur honestly. Anyway, George has already received the benefits he deserves.

The logistics of the Russian army are handled by the Amur Military District.

On June 6, joint operations plans were approved by governments of various countries, and war was about to break out.

Nicholas Jr. commanded Russian troops stationed in Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, Chita and other places. Once the war broke out, he would send his troops to invade the Qing Empire.

Nicholas was not idle either. In order to avoid causing trouble, Nicholas summoned George back to St. Petersburg to resume his duties.

Instead of taking a boat, George took a train from Vladivostok directly to Lake Baikal.

After the launch of the Great Navy Project, orders at the St. Petersburg shipyard were fully booked, and workers worked in shifts day and night, but there was no increase in wages.

Compared with three years ago, the urban appearance of St. Petersburg has hardly changed, but the contradictions have become more acute. When George arrived in St. Petersburg, workers at the St. Petersburg Shipyard were on strike.

In another time and space, the Trans-Siberian Railway had not yet been fully opened to traffic, and the Russo-Japanese War broke out, so the trains had to be transported across the lake by ferry and the railway was repaired at the same time.

After crossing Lake Baikal, I started riding horses and walked for another week before taking the train again.

"George, this is still the problem you gave me."

The railway bridge in Vladivostok is made of prefabricated parts in the factory and transported to the site for direct assembly, which greatly saves time.

Meanwhile, prices in St. Petersburg have been slowly rising.

George suddenly realized, no wonder it takes seven or eight years to build a battleship.

Ordinarily, since Vladivostok is so much better than St. Petersburg, you might as well immigrate to Vladivostok.

Now there is plenty of time for George to repair slowly.

After three years of not seeing each other, Nikolai's beard is already as big as Yasan's.

Although it was a toss-up along the way, it was still much faster than taking a boat. George arrived in St. Petersburg in only 25 days.

Nicholas left George to dine in the Winter Palace, and the two chatted while eating.

On strike every day, there is no time to work.

Workers here in St. Petersburg often go on strike.

Strikes have become more frequent and longer in recent years.

The Labor Party of the Russian Empire was also very smart. Although they never went to Vladivostok for development, they continued to widely publicize the situation in Vladivostok among the workers in St. Petersburg, which had a great impact.

However, this section is indeed very difficult. There are more than ten bridges alone, and it will take at least a year to bypass the railway around Lake Baikal.

Two months ago, workers at the St. Petersburg shipyard went on strike.

For the same job, the salary in Vladivostok is at least twice that in St. Petersburg.

Prices in Vladivostok are cheaper than St. Petersburg, and the products are richer and of better quality.

The Russian Labor Party cannot. They demand that the capitalists in St. Petersburg provide workers with the same treatment as in Vladivostok.

How is this possible?

Vladivostok is George's fiefdom, but St. Petersburg is the capital of the Russian Empire. It doesn't matter if the battleship is built slowly, as it can be used as an opportunity to apply for additional funds.

“Didn’t we establish the St. Petersburg Labor Party?”

George remembered that this was still his concern, to follow the path of the Labor Party and leave the Labor Party with nowhere to go.

"Someone set up a workers' association in Switzerland to remotely control the workers in St. Petersburg." Nicholas' eyes were strange to George. This kind of malicious look rarely appeared on Nicholas.

"What is Gorodekov doing?"

George was not satisfied with the work of the secret police.

"Gorodykov has not yet completely gained control of the secret police—"

Last winter, General Danilov, the commander of the secret police, was killed by an assassin. It had been less than half a year since Gorodekov took over the secret police.

George felt that the secret police organization was cursed. Several secret police commanders in succession, from Sudeykin to Danilov, were assassinated by assassins.

George really couldn't figure it out. With so much funding for the secret police, would it be so difficult to buy a bulletproof car produced in Vladivostok?

But this has nothing to do with funding.

Almost all government agencies in St. Petersburg have ordered bulletproof cars from Vladivostok. Not only that everyone has one, at least ministerial officials are equipped with them.

So there is a rumor in St. Petersburg that only cowards and cowards ride in bulletproof cars.

Compared with the risk of assassination, being ridiculed was not unacceptable to George.

St. Petersburg officials don't think so. Many people would rather leave their bulletproof cars than sit in them rather than be cowards and cowards.

Fortunately, Nikola has bulletproof cars going in and out.

So does George.

“It’s not a big deal to go on strike like this all the time——”

George hoped that Nicholas could come up with practical policies to alleviate class conflicts, otherwise the empire would be increasingly affected.

"The Council and the Duma have discussed it many times. Some people are in favor of raising wages and improving benefits, while others are worried that this will encourage workers' ambitions and lead them to make demands that are more difficult for us to accept."

This is the consequence of democracy. We discuss and discuss, but the problem remains unresolved.

"We have to find a way to let them roll up on their own initiative -"

George was obliged to help Nicholas solve problems.

"What can you do?"

Nicholas is full of expectations for George.

"Full introduction of competition mechanism, more work, more reward."

George wants to break the big pot of food in St. Petersburg. He wants to make money easily. The more he does, the more he earns. In theory, there is no upper limit.

The situation in a shipyard is more complicated than that of a processing plant. If it is a processing plant, it will be done by piece counting.

The Vladivostok Shipyard has both a competition mechanism and an incentive system. If a cruiser is launched based on 6 months, it will receive corresponding rewards for every day it is launched in advance.

The Vladivostok shipyard usually builds two ships at the same time, so it is obvious who is slacking off.

"It's useless. The St. Petersburg Shipyard also has an incentive system, but the effect is not very good."

Nikola doesn't think it works.

George knew why the incentive system at the St. Petersburg shipyard was ineffective.

The distribution of bonuses is key.

Only workers and technicians involved in construction are eligible to receive bonuses from the Vladivostok Shipyard, not managers.

At the St. Petersburg Shipyard, the managers have divided the bonuses into seven, seven, eight, eight, and eight, and when it comes to the workers, there is not much left, but it is not ineffective.

(End of this chapter)