I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 466 At least Vodka is innocent

As a diplomat, Witte was not qualified. The negotiation with Japan in Washington was a failure. If Witte could have persisted for a while, it would have been a completely different result.

As Chancellor of the Exchequer, Witte was very handy and quickly raised the funds needed to rebuild the empire's finances.

Then Werther was completely abandoned by Nicholas.

There are many reasons why Witte was abandoned, one of the most critical reasons is that the Russian Empire now needs a strong prime minister to maintain the stability of the Russian Empire.

The Vette wasn't quite up to the task.

Nicholas chose Stolypin, who had violently suppressed the peasant uprising in the Grodno region.

Half a month after Stolypin became prime minister, his residence was attacked by rebels. Three assassins carried handbags filled with explosives into Stolypin's banquet. After being discovered by guards, the assassins detonated the explosives. , resulting in 30 deaths and more than 20 injuries, including Stolypin's daughter and only son.

Stolypin himself was fine. On the night of the assassination, Stolypin presided over a meeting of ministers at the Winter Palace. At the meeting, Stolypin said that even if he was assassinated, he would unswervingly promote reforms.

Stolypin's first decree was to order the establishment of special courts in various places to replace the local courts with complicated judicial trial procedures.

George doesn't want to have too much involvement with St. Petersburg now. After the conflict in the Far East, the communication between Amur and St. Petersburg has almost stagnated. George can't even remember how long it has been since he received a telegram from Nikolai——

Since taking the throne, Nicholas and the Empress have always lived in the Winter Palace and rarely left.

Amur has intelligence agents in St. Petersburg, but the whereabouts of the Tsar and his wife are not within the detection range of Amur intelligence agents. This is treason.

A pistol speaks louder than any words!
Werther was a civilian and had never held a position in the army. As far as George knew, Werther had never been in the habit of carrying weapons.

Werther did not bring his Hebrew wife to the Yuriev Palace. Werther's wife was also one of the reasons why Werther was not liked by Nicholas.

George and Werther are also old friends. When an old friend comes, George naturally has to do his best to be a landlord.

Special courts are also called military courts. According to Article 179 of the Military Law, these military courts can sentence the death penalty and execute it within 24 hours.

Werther's words shocked George.

George still underestimated the extent of chaos in the Russian Empire during this period.

Peterhof Palace is the summer palace.

A month after Stolypin's assassination, Witte arrived in Vladivostok.

George also did not send a telegram to Nicholas.

Werther refused the banquet prepared by George on the grounds that it was an emergency and it was not appropriate to make a big show of it.

George felt that it was time to strengthen his intelligence work in St. Petersburg.

Werther's face was expressionless, and he lifted up his clothes, revealing the pistol under his arm.

Out of respect for Werther, George prepared a private dinner just for Werther.

After Witte was dismissed from his post, he had nothing to do and took the initiative to travel abroad. Unexpectedly, the first stop was Vladivostok.

"Since last summer, His Majesty has spent more time at the Alexander Palace in Peterhof."

“Has the situation in St. Petersburg become this dangerous?”

The day before Witte arrived in Vladivostok, General von der Ronitz, a high-ranking official in St. Petersburg, was assassinated.

A month ago, General Mien, commander of the Smirnovsky Corps who had suppressed the Moscow uprising, was assassinated.

During the Russo-Japanese War, whether out of hatred for the Hebrews or to divert social conflicts, the Hebrews were more widely targeted in the Russian Empire.

Werther opposed targeting the Hebrews and hoped to use a gentler way to resolve social conflicts, which would lessen the harm to the Russian Empire.

The tough Stolypin, and the gentle Werther.

We can't say who is right or wrong. They all proceed from the interests of the empire, and their purpose is not to subvert the empire.

The Yuriev Palace is not particular about eating, talking or sleeping. George and Werther chatted while eating.

"Your Majesty's reason for dissolving the Duma is that the Duma wants to abolish the death penalty and provide amnesty. The reason is that the prison is overcrowded and the deputies want to send the prisoners to Amur and leave it to you to solve -"

Werther knew more about the secret than George.

"what!"

George was so angry that he laughed, these congressmen were so innocent and cute.

Abolition of the death penalty will not only fail to alleviate social conflicts, but will instead allow criminals to have no scruples.

If the prisons are overcrowded, amnesty is needed——

What kind of logic is this!

As for the fake George's hand in solving those criminals, George didn't want to leave his name in history in a way that would be infamous for thousands of years.

"Nowadays, everyone in St. Petersburg is in danger. Officials are worried about being attacked even in their own homes. Assassins not only want to kill officials, but also police officers and ordinary staff are within the assassin's range."

The reason why Witt chose Amur as his first stop has a lot to do with Amur's calm situation.

Unlike St. Petersburg, which could explode at any time, there had never been any serious violence in Amur over the years, which made Witt curious.

Why did the rebellious Cossacks completely change their gender after arriving in Amur——

This is wrong. The Assassins in St. Petersburg are not mainly Cossacks.

Then students——

There are now several universities in Amur, and Siberia University is comparable in size to St. Petersburg University.

So why do students at Amur University keep to themselves?
Witt hopes to find out. George had nothing to say.

Nikolai is a good example of a good player who plays bad cards.

George did not arrange an escort for Werther, but only arranged Akim, the attendant officer of Yuriev Palace, as Werther's guide.

Akim brought a bulletproof car as Werther's means of transportation in Vladivostok.

When Werther saw the bulletproof car, Werther had a sudden realization.

Russians can be so cute sometimes.

George gave Sergey a bulletproof car a long time ago, but Sergey didn't like riding in bulletproof cars and thought that only cowards ride in bulletproof cars.

In order to prove his bravery, Sergei rode in an open carriage so that the assassin could accurately throw the bomb next to Sergei.

Amur's senior officials drove in and out in bulletproof vehicles, giving no chance to assassins.

Witte's first stop was the Amur Parliament.

While in charge of the Council of Ministers, Witte often faced questions from the State Duma.

The State Duma meets every day, with each meeting lasting 8 to 10 hours.

Many congressmen are old and frail and cannot bear such high-intensity work. Young congressmen use this method to force older congressmen to surrender.

The Amur Parliament only holds plenary sessions on Mondays, and daily work is handled by a committee composed of three people. The first committee member is 3-year-old Igor.

Igor is the patriarch of Amur Industry, and his disciples and disciples are all over the Amur Industrial System. He is also the honorary president of the Amur Engineers Association and the Amur Technical Association.

Witte and Igor were not familiar with each other, but Witte was deeply impressed by the inventor of the Yuriev rifle.

The Yuriev heavy machine gun was also nominally invented by Igor.

Igor never takes credit. Whenever someone asks, Igor always says: If those are really my inventions, they will be named after me.

The other two members of the committee are Yelokhin's wife Dalia, and Maslov, the former chief of general staff of the Amur Military District.

"Why are there only three people on the committee?"

Witte was surprised that the St. Petersburg State Duma, composed of 450 members, held plenary meetings every day, so how much time did they have for their own work?

The Amur Parliament has only 117 people and only meets once a week. Its daily work is handled by three retired old men and women. It sounds like a joke.

But it was this joke that fully guaranteed that George's decision would be resolutely implemented in Amur.

"Because two people vote, the result may be 1 to 1——"

Igor's explanation made Werther laugh. This was so true.

The office of the Amur Parliament is right next to the Siberia Shopping Plaza. The office is placed here so that the members can clearly hear the voices of the Amur people.

Maslov was dedicated to his duties, and even though he was retired, he still wore his military uniform every day and maintained a strict military demeanor.

Maslov is the president of the Veterans Association.

Dalia has been very angry these days. She demanded to increase the alcohol tax in Amur, but Igor and Maslov opposed it.

Russians love to drink, and alcohol tax is one of the important sources of tax revenue in the Amur region.

Many Russians also have a problem of beating their wives after drinking.

This is not embarrassing. Russians still like to drink until the 21st century, and they still like to beat their wives after drinking.

Dalia hopes to reduce alcohol consumption and address the root causes of the problem.

Igor and Maslov looked at each other and said in unison: "Let's vote by a show of hands!"

Werther rubbed his face and almost laughed.

It’s clear that 2:1 is not bullying.

"You two are still shameless! Does the Grand Duke ask you to sit here to protect those wimps who are angry outside and go home to vent on their wives and children? Do you know how many women and children are killed every year because of their families? If you were injured, go to the hospital for treatment——"

Dalia was angry, it wasn't the first time she'd asked the question.

"Dalia, has General Yelokhin ever beaten you?"

Igor told the truth.

"He dares!"

Daria seemed angrier.

"As far as I know, General Ye Luoxin also drinks alcohol - so domestic violence is not a problem caused by alcohol."

Maslov also disagrees with raising taxes. Men should be punished for beating their wives. Vodka is innocent.

Amur law stipulates that in domestic violence, no matter whether either spouse calls the police, the other party will be punished.

In order to reduce family conflicts, warnings and fines are generally given. In serious cases, the crime will be raised to a criminal level.

"So, whose problem is this?"

Dalia has no answer to this question.

(End of this chapter)