I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 504 One word

Alexei alone is not enough to affect George's reputation.

With the addition of Vladimir, rumors about George grew in St. Petersburg.

The latest version of the rumor is that Alexei and Vladimir were both scared to death by George.

Alexei died of fear and guilt after George started checking the accounts after becoming the Minister of the Navy.

Vladimir had an old grudge against George. If he didn't die, as long as George was still in St. Petersburg, his descendants would never have a chance to succeed.

With the help of someone with ulterior motives, the rumor became more detailed and convincing.

As soon as Grand Prince Vladimir died, Kirill was summoned into the palace by Nicholas to inherit the title of Grand Prince Vladimir. He also made peace with George and would soon go to the Baltic Fleet to take up an important position.

Alexei was more miserable. He remained unmarried throughout his life and did not even have a child. His title of Grand Duke was directly taken back.

George ignored the rumors and the transfer of veterans around St. Petersburg was underway. In the first month, more than 10 veterans left St. Petersburg.

The efficiency would certainly not be so high if we only relied on the Trans-Siberian Railway.

George adopted a multi-pronged approach, not only using the Trans-Siberian Railway but also relying more on sea transportation to send veterans in batches to the Amur and East India.

St. Petersburg itself is a port, and you can board a ship from St. Petersburg and go directly to the Far East.

In addition to taking a ship or train from St. Petersburg to the Amur, some veterans also went to Odessa to board a ship, which took only one month to reach East India.

As the number of homeless people around St. Petersburg decreases, the public security in St. Petersburg becomes more stable. No senior official was assassinated around the New Year. Witte said it was a complete miracle.

George couldn't understand it.

According to Witte, it would be normal for the empire to have one or two senior officials assassinated every month, otherwise the KPI target would not be met.

Is the living environment for senior officials so harsh?

"Since your majesty ascended the throne, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has a statistical list of how many senior officials have been assassinated."

During the years that Witte served as prime minister, he encountered no less than ten assassination attempts, not much less than Stolypin.

Witte is now free from his official duties. When he left office, Nicholas said he would send him abroad as an ambassador, but then there was no further news, as if he had been forgotten.

George did not neglect Witt just because he was marginalized. George was still very capable, especially in economics.

George hoped that Witt could go to East India and be in charge of the economic development of East India.

Although the Qing Empire was in a weak position, it was still a potential threat to the Amurs.

There is absolutely no external threat in East India, and economic development is the main task. Kanunikov is already 70 years old and has been struggling to support the country.

Witt is not yet 60 years old, which is considered to be the prime of life for a politician. He can definitely work for George for another 20 years.

Not working for George, but working for the Empire.

"Have you not noticed that since our relationship with London eased, the conflicts within the empire have become increasingly relaxed?"

George never forgot his original intention and always firmly believed that Britain was the biggest threat to the Russian Empire.

To paraphrase Kissinger: It is dangerous to be Britain's enemy; it is deadly to be Britain's ally.

In fact, George has never been in favor of an alliance with Britain. From the perspective of the Russian Empire, the empire should ally with Germany.

In George's view, the conflict between the Russian Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire was not actually unsolvable.

The Russian Empire's only mortal enemy was the Ottoman Empire, and its conflict with the Austro-Hungarian Empire was mainly in the Balkan Peninsula.

All interests can be exchanged. As long as the Russian Empire offers enough chips, it can exchange them for the Austro-Hungarian Empire's abandonment of the Balkans.

Even if Austria never surrendered, the Russian Empire could still use that as a bargaining chip to gain Germany's support for the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

If George were Nicholas, he would go directly to William II and support William II in annexing the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Then Russia and Germany would join forces to defeat Britain and France and divide up their overseas colonies.

With the strength of the Russian Empire and Germany, even if they could not cross the English Channel, at least they would not be able to stop the Cossack and Junker Corps in Eurasia and Africa.

When the time comes, don’t worry about the Gallic Invincible Armada, just push forward all the way.

"Ahahahahaha, are you going to start touting the British threat theory because the Japanese threat theory has lost its popularity?"

Witt laughed, thinking he had seen through George's plan.

Before the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War, George had been advocating the Japanese threat theory. Although war eventually broke out between the Russian Empire and Japan as George wished, George made a lot of ridicule before the war broke out.

At that time, George was probably the only Russian who believed that Japan had the ability to pose a threat to the Russian Empire.

George smiled at Werther.

Witt's smile gradually disappeared, and his expression turned into helplessness.

"George, I understand your feelings, but the empire can no longer afford another large-scale war."

Witte's meaning was also very clear. He didn't want George to continue advocating war.

There is a conflict here between the civilian group and the military.

In peacetime, the focus will definitely be on economic development, and the military's voice will become smaller and smaller. All the generals of the empire have deeply experienced this during the more than ten years that Yasan has been in power.

Once a war breaks out, the empire will mobilize and enter a state of war. Everything will begin to serve the war, and the power of the military will expand rapidly.

As a civil servant, Witte certainly doesn't like war.

"If the Empire doesn't want to fight, will the war not break out?"

George's words successfully left Witt speechless.

Before the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War, everyone in St. Petersburg firmly believed that the empire only needed to make a symbolic mobilization to force Japan to make concessions, just as it had blackmailed the Qing Empire in previous times.

In the past decade or so, the Franco-Prussian War exposed the hollow nature of France, Britain was severely damaged in the Boer War, and the Russo-Japanese War made the Russian Empire a laughing stock of the world.

William II must be gearing up for action now.

"Even if there is, there will be no war between us and Britain."

Witte believed that the alliance between the Russian Empire and Britain was unbreakable.

Witte was responsible for the loans to Britain after the signing of the Treaty of Portsmouth. That was the last task given to Witte by Nicholas, after which Witte was forgotten by Nicholas.

This explains why Witt thought George was advocating the British threat theory.

From Witt's perspective, he could understand George.

Nicholas is such an ungrateful and heartless person. Even though he has entrusted George with important tasks now, it is because Alexei and little Nicholas Fila are not up to the task, so George has to take charge of the military reform.

Once the military reform is completed, given Nicholas's character, he will probably kick George back to Amur. So George wants to promote the British threat theory to consolidate his position.

But there is another BUG here. If George just wanted to monopolize power, then he should have advocated the Austro-Hungarian threat theory or the Ottoman threat theory.

"Britain is responsible for at least 50 percent of the empire's current predicament."

As for the other 50 percent, that was done by the Russians themselves.

George had to correct Witt's wrong ideas before he went to the East Indies, otherwise George would not dare to let Witt go to the East Indies.

If Witt went to East India with such naive ideas, East India would definitely be infiltrated by the British like a sieve, and George would never allow this to happen.

East India was George's last retreat. George would rather see East India develop more slowly than allow it to be disrupted by the British.

This is also the reason why Nikolai abandoned Witte and chose Stolypin.

Witte is capable but too naive. He is only suitable to be the chancellor of the exchequer, but not qualified to be the prime minister.

It was not so difficult for George to communicate with Stolypin.

"Whatever London does, it will be done from the perspective of the interests of the United Kingdom."

Witte acknowledged Britain's responsibility, but did not think there was anything wrong with it.

To put it bluntly, the pattern is still not enough.

Witte's layout is limited to Russia, and at most the surrounding areas. Any larger scale will be beyond Witte's capabilities.

George's pattern has always been: Russia will punish the whole world!
All Witt saw was George promoting the Japanese threat theory.

George's fight against Japan was to break the British blockade of the Russian Empire.

So Witt was just responding to each move, while George was the one who stayed true to his original aspiration and stood firm.

“So from the perspective of British interests, would Britain like to see a strong East India appear next to the Straits Settlements?”

George delivered the fatal blow.

"As long as Britain is given the opportunity, it will do everything it can to create chaos in East India, but this will not affect Britain's cooperation with the empire in Europe."

Witt frowned, feeling a little confused. Are all of you military gods so perverted?
George has only won the Russo-Japanese War once so far, and there is still a gap between him and the invincible Suvorov. It will take time to verify.

Suvorov was victorious in every battle, but he had serious political flaws and lived a life of ups and downs.

George has not met a wise leader.

If George had been born a few years earlier and Arjun had died a few years later, the Russian Empire would have probably already left Europe.

"You should know that the reason why Britain changed its policy and chose to reconcile with the Empire is because the Empire defeated Japan in the Far East and Britain has lost the possibility of containing the Empire in the Far East. At the same time, Germany is challenging Britain's maritime hegemony, and Britain has to rely on France and the Empire to balance the pressure from Germany. So don't have any illusions about Britain. Once the situation in Britain improves, Britain will return to the path of containing the Empire with all its strength. No matter which country it is, as long as it affects Britain's interests, it will be targeted by Britain with all its strength."

George knew Werther's weaknesses.

When Witte worked for the private railway, he was able to refuse the job offered by the Tsar for personal gain.

So George not only convinced Werther with his ideals, but also provided Werther with a generous income.

George gave Witt an annual salary of 15 rubles.

For reference, the current annual salary of the British Chancellor of the Exchequer is around 5000 pounds, equivalent to about rubles.

Here we can see how happy it was to be an official in the Russian Empire.

In 1888, when Witte served as the director of transportation in the southwest region, his annual salary had reached 5 rubles.

Witt had no complaints about the treatment George gave him.

But it is not easy to get this salary, at least now Witt does not fully meet George's requirements.

George was not in a hurry. Nothing could be accomplished overnight. He not only had to convince Witte, but also had to deal with the pressure from St. Petersburg and the military.

George's army has changed the interests of too many people. The mere disarmament has caused so much controversy. Next, George will have to assess officers, optimize the logistics system, and reform military production. The resistance he will encounter will become greater and greater.

George did not object to nobles joining the army, but the prerequisite for nobles to join the army was that they had to graduate from a military academy and undergo annual assessments. Only those who met the military's requirements could continue to serve in the army.

Those who do not meet the military's requirements should leave the army as soon as possible. The empire pays the grand dukes enough salaries. George's salary alone now reaches 80 rubles per year, which is almost the same as the total salary of all members of the British cabinet.

Suvorov's "The Science of Victory" is less than 100 pages long.

As far as George knows, many senior officers of the Guards have never even read "The Science of Victory". How can we expect them to win the battle?

George wanted to remove all unqualified officers from the army.

So Grand Duke Kirill, who had just returned to St. Petersburg, became George's target of purge.

George did not expel Kirill from the army, but did not appoint Kirill as deputy commander of the Baltic Fleet as Nicholas requested.

Kirill also received elite education since childhood. He mastered four languages ​​​​including Russian, English, French and German at an early age, and even attended a military academy for a year. Judging from his resume alone, Kirill meets the standards of an officer better than George.

But as deputy commander of the Baltic Fleet, Kirill is definitely unqualified.

George had no objection to letting Kirill go to the Baltic Fleet, but George and Nicholas had a conflict over the specific appointment.

George wanted Kirill to serve as an observer first, to inspect the British Navy and the German Navy, and then arrange a job for him.

The inspection is not a game. After it is over, a report needs to be written to George, the Secretary of the Admiralty.

Although Kirill performed poorly in the Russo-Japanese War, it was even a disgrace to the royal family.

But as long as Kirill's reports are meaningful, George doesn't mind giving Kirill more important tasks.

"George, the Baltic Fleet is responsible for the security of St. Petersburg. It is of great importance. We must have someone we can trust to lead the Baltic Fleet."

Nicholas was also helpless as there was really no one available in the royal family.

"Niki, although the Baltic Fleet suffered heavy losses in the Russo-Japanese War, the Empire still has many capable naval officers who are equally loyal to the Empire and equally capable of leading the Baltic Fleet."

George disagreed, saying loyalty alone was not enough to entrust someone with an important task.

George would have no objection if Nikolai appointed Kirill as military judge.

The position of deputy commander is too important, and the empire has suffered enough in this regard during the Russo-Japanese War.

But there's another problem here.

Now all the capable naval officers of the Empire are in the Siberian Fleet.

(End of this chapter)