I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 680 Huge Concession
Russia has so many places to spend money, and George wants to make use of all available resources as much as possible.

Yusupova was very smart. She joined forces with Anne to set up an investment company to invest in Russian railways.

The company's name is taken from the French initials of "Yuriev" and "Yusupov", written as YY and pronounced as UU. For the time being, it only invests in railways, and will later involve transportation, transportation, logistics, port construction, mineral resource development and processing, foreign trade, etc.

George knew that Yusupova had big ambitions, but he didn't expect them to be so big.

In George's plan, the above-mentioned areas must be developed by Russian state investment, and private individuals can participate but cannot take a dominant position.

Anne has the same concerns as little Felix: if Russia takes the lead, corruption will inevitably breed.

That is why George agreed to grant the railway operation rights to the Yusupov family.

The Yusupov family only has 20 years to operate the railway. If any problems arise during these 20 years, adjustments can be made at that time. Policies are not static.

Building railways requires a huge amount of money. Back then, the Russian Empire used all its national strength to build the Trans-Siberian Railway, and it still took 13 years. It won't be much easier now.

The technology is easy to obtain, the raw materials are easy to obtain, and there is no shortage of even workers.

The key is that there is no money.

The current financial situation is very difficult. Money needs to be spent everywhere, and even the start-up capital cannot be obtained. Witt's hair has turned white visibly in the past few months, and he has to live beyond his means.

Amur's financial situation has always been good. George almost forgot that the empire had been living on debt for a long time. The starting capital for the Trans-Siberian Railway was borrowed from France.

George is not worried about the financial problems. The difficulties are only temporary. Russia has people and resources, and that foreign debt is not a problem for Russia at all.

After the end of the world war, all countries will start rebuilding and the demand for raw materials will increase rapidly.

Russia is a country rich in resources and has all the resources needed for reconstruction. After the war, George planned to throw all the Russian troops into factories as workers. This would not only solve the hidden dangers but also save resettlement costs.

According to imperial regulations, Russian soldiers will receive a large amount of pension when they retire.

George let the officers and soldiers choose for themselves, to take the money and go home, or to work.

It is easy to get the money back home. Although the resettlement fee is high, the ruble is printed by Russia itself, so they can print as much as they want.

If you want to work, there is a lot of work to be done in Russia right now, and the more workers the better.

Before the war broke out, there were 50 workers in St. Petersburg, most of whom were either drafted into the army or taken to Moscow by the Provisional Government. Only one in ten survived.

During the war, due to the extensive use of automobiles and aircraft, the oil and gas era was about to begin, which was Russia's golden age.

Oil has not yet been discovered in the Persian Peninsula.

Only Russia and Romania can provide Europe with oil and gas.

George has already discussed with Ferdinand that they should unite to fight against Europe.

As for the price, it just needs to be slightly lower than that of American oil companies.

If it really doesn't work, we can just join forces with American oil companies and set up an organization like OECD, and everyone can happily blackmail Europe together.

Anne was confused. What did this have to do with absolute power leading to absolute corruption?

George was curious, wouldn't cooking in a dish breed corruption?
Absolute power tends to corrupt absolutely. This quote comes from Liberty and Power, written by Lord Acton of England in 1887.

This sentence seems a bit too absolute.

Considering the general background at that time, George had reason to believe that Lord Acton's purpose in writing this book was not simple. While promoting his own melons, he also attacked the European imperial countries.

Britain is a constitutional monarchy, and it does seem to be more democratic than empires like Russia and Germany.

But is there no corruption in the UK?

Why didn't Acton write a book about the Royal Navy.

Maybe he was afraid that he would be hit by a destroyer after writing it.

George reminded Anne that if the water is too clear, there will be no fish, so she should be confused when necessary.

The Yusupov family must have made money by investing in the railway. As long as they paid all the taxes they owed, it would be up to the Yusupov family to make as much money as possible.

The Yusupov family not only provides taxes for Russia, but also provides countless jobs and convenient transportation for all Russians. Shouldn't they be entitled to profit in the process?

George was patient with Anne and could explain things slowly.

For others, George would have wasted his emotions to even glance at them.

The news that the Yusupov family will be responsible for the reconstruction of the railway has once again sparked heated discussions in society.

Edel once again made a big fuss in the newspaper, saying that Witt's move was a retrograde act.

During the reign of Athens, the empire began to nationalize the railway system, a task that was not completed until Nicholas ascended the throne.

Edel did not dare to point the finger directly at George, but at the easy-going Witt, for he was sure that Witt would not be convicted for his words.

Edel still didn't understand Witt.

When Witte was the Minister of Finance in St. Petersburg, Nicholas was known for his good temper, so what could Witte do?

Even a clay figure can have some temper, let alone someone of Werther's status.

Even if Witt did something wrong, it's not Edel's place to say anything.

This matter is not yet Witt's decision.

So Edel was arrested the night the article was published.

When the police came to his door with an arrest warrant, Edel was shocked: "Why are you arresting me?"

The leading police officer had a blank expression on his face and gave a classic answer: "Don't you know what you have done wrong?"

Edel really didn't know. During the St. Petersburg period, Edel and other so-called "critics" were accustomed to pointing fingers at the imperial policies or officials. When they got angry, they even dared to scold the Tsar and the Queen. What a nobody, the Chancellor of Finance.

Witt's case is rather special, as his second wife is a Hebrew.

After the Russo-Japanese War, the Russian Empire increased its oil emissions in order to divert social conflicts, and the Hebrews became the rats crossing the street, and everyone wanted to kill them.

Because his wife was also implicated, Werther was called a vampire and a parasite by critics.

The Chancellor and the Hebrews, what a perfect match!

Edel insisted he had committed no crime and should not have been arrested.

Alexander, the police officer in charge of interrogating Edel, had served in the 11th Army. He had three fingers blown off by a shell during the Battle of Belgrade. After retiring, he was assigned to work in the Constantinople Police Department.

If he did not choose to work, Alexander could also choose to retire and go home with some money.

"You insulted a count in the newspaper. Isn't that a crime?"

Alexander has a tricky angle.

"The empire no longer exists, and the title system has long been abolished. How can there be any earls?"

Edel was confident.

"Well, even if the aristocracy has been abolished, can you publicly insult an ordinary person in a newspaper?"

Alexander puts emphasis on ordinary people.

Edel was speechless. He had never thought about this question before.

Just insulting and slandering others will not result in Edel being sentenced to death, but only three to six months in prison.

Edel's attorney tried to get probation for Edel.

The judge who tried the case was a student of Guderian. He was upright and hated evil. He did not look at Edel differently because of his identity.

That's not true either. The outspoken Edel once cursed Guderian in the newspaper.

If it were someone else, it would only take three months at most.

Edel was sentenced to six months and received the maximum penalty.

In addition to Eder, the editor of the Constantinople Daily was also held accountable.

How can you be responsible for such an important job if you don't even have this little bit of news sensitivity?

Public opinion is a very important link for George.

While George was regulating the public opinion environment, there was still fierce fighting on the Western Front.

从8月28号到9月26号，英军损失高达18万人。

2.6 American soldiers were killed and 9.5 were wounded.

The German losses were around 30 men, nearly half of whom were captured.

This amount of casualties is not a serious blow to either the British or American troops, and they can still hold on.

The German army was on the verge of collapse.

On October 10, German Chancellor Hertling resigned and was replaced by Prince Marcos of Baden, an outstanding royalist liberal stalwart, as Prime Minister.

The first thing Marcos did after taking office was to send a telegram to Wilson, agreeing to a ceasefire based on the "Fourteen Points".

Wilson called Marcos back, urging the Germans to withdraw immediately from the occupied territory.

On October 10, a German submarine sank a passenger ship that regularly traveled between England and Ireland, killing 12 people, including 470 women and children.

Wilson again notified Germany that unrestricted submarine warfare must be stopped immediately.

On October 10, the German War Council held a meeting in Berlin, chaired by Wilhelm II, with Hindenburg and Ludendorff attending.

Before this meeting was held, the German defense line was once again broken through by the US military, whose commander was named MacArthur.

At the meeting, Ludendorff demanded that the troops continue to fight, otherwise he would resign.

What Ludendorff didn't know was that just before this meeting, Prince Max received a letter from the commander of the Northern Army Group, Crown Prince Precht of Bavaria.

Presette reminded Marcos that if the war was not stopped, the enemy would invade Germany.

This news was a bit delayed, as the Russian Baltic Fleet raided the Island of Rugen and had successfully set foot on German territory.

The significance of this letter is that as the commander of the Northern Army Group, Presit should report to the German Chief of General Staff Ludendorff and should not write to Marcos over his head.

This meant that Ludendorff was losing control of the army.

Ludendorff did not think so and still insisted that the German army had a chance of winning.

If Britain and France were struck down by a cold.

Halfway through the meeting, Franz von Hipper, the trusted commander of the High Seas Fleet, received a telegram saying that Russian troops had invaded the Jutland Peninsula an hour ago.

"Your Majesty, we must make a decision quickly. There is no time—"

Prince Marcos warned William II that the situation was deteriorating.

"Telegram George. If he withdraws his troops, I will abolish the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk."

Marcos' eyes widened at William II's huge concession.

It's already this late and you're still thinking about this!
(End of this chapter)