I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 766 Scavengers

When Bismarck was alive, he warned Germany that it should always try to avoid fighting on two fronts.

When Bismarck was alive, although Germany and Russia had disputes, they still maintained friendly relations overall. Even though the contradictions between Russia and Austria-Hungary were irreconcilable, the Three Emperors' Alliance was maintained for 15 years thanks to Bismarck's efforts.

In 1917, Hindenburg succeeded Falkenhayn as the commander-in-chief of the German army. While inspecting the Western Front, Hindenburg could not help expressing his nostalgia for Bismarck to Ludendorff: It's a pity that Chancellor Bismarck is no longer here.

At that time, Hindenburg had fully realized the importance of maintaining friendly relations with Russia for Germany.

Unfortunately it was too late.

Now Hindenburg had the opportunity to pick up Bismarck's "Continental Policy" again.

The core of Bismarck's continental policy was to win over Britain and unite with Austria-Hungary in order to isolate and weaken France and suppress Russia.

George doesn't know how far Hindenburg will go, but as long as Hindenburg can continue President Albert's policy toward Russia, George will continue to cooperate with Germany.

No matter how nice Hindenburg said, the relationship between Germany and Russia would never be as close as that between Russia and Yugoslavia and the Grand Duchy of Yuriev.

Hindenburg hoped to achieve revival with the help of Russia.

George hopes to use Germany to completely subvert the world order.

These are all obvious and everyone knows it.

Hindenburg spent a week in Russia and returned with great success after signing a series of cooperation agreements with Felix.

Just after Hindenburg left, the leader of the British Conservative Party and former Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin arrived in Russia.

After the Labour Party came to power, Baldwin did not hold a position in MacDonald's cabinet, so Baldwin's visit this time was in a private capacity to inspect Russia's social security system.

The Labour Party's coming to power sounded the alarm for the Conservative Party. After defeating its old rival, the Liberal Party, the Labour Party posed a greater threat to the Conservative Party.

In order to deal with the threat from the Labour Party, the Conservative Party must pay attention to the demands of the lower classes of the British people, even if it is reluctant.

Baldwin did not enter from Constantinople, but arrived in St. Petersburg via the Baltic Sea.

What Baldwin didn't expect was that as soon as he walked to the gangway of the "Alexander" passenger ship, he saw little Fili waiting on the shore.

Baldwin currently holds no office but is the leader of the opposition in the House of Commons.

Little Fili is the Deputy Speaker of the Russian Duma, and their identities match.

"Can't you just let me have a relaxing and enjoyable journey like an ordinary old guy--"

Baldwin is currently on vacation. Politicians also need to take vacations so that they can balance work and life.

"I don't want a diplomatic row to break out between Britain and Russia because of some drunken daredevil."

Little Fili is sweet-mouthed but has a hidden agenda. He is a thousand-year-old fox. What's the point of playing Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio?

British colonies are spread all over the world. If you really want to go on vacation, there are plenty of places to go. Why bother going all the way to Russia?

Although Russia and the United Kingdom are allies at the official level, everyone knows what is actually going on.

The two got into the car hand in hand and drove along Neva Avenue to Baldwin's stay, the St. Petersburg Hotel.

Since Baldwin was visiting in a private capacity, there was no traffic control on Neva Avenue, which gave Baldwin a clearer understanding of St. Petersburg.

Taking advantage of the reconstruction opportunity, the St. Petersburg municipal government widened Neva Avenue. The width of the eight-lane bidirectional road is more than 50 meters. On one side are various buildings left over from the Imperial Russian era, and on the other side is a riverside park built along the Neva River.

Traffic in Russia is driven on the right, with a separation zone consisting of flower beds in the middle of the road. Under the command of traffic police and traffic lights, everything is in good order.

What Baldwin didn't expect was that there was a traffic jam on such a wide road!

St. Petersburg has a lot of cultural heritage, with a car ownership of over 10, second only to Vladivostok and Constantinople in Russia.

It is impossible that so many cars are all toys of the powerful and wealthy. This fully proves that in Russia, cars, once a luxury, have entered ordinary families in large numbers.

The colorful neon light boxes on the roadside made Baldwin frown.

After Baldwin became prime minister, he immediately set up the Electricity Committee and worked hard to promote the popularization of electricity in the UK.

This move has already yielded some results. The number of households in the UK with access to electricity has increased from 10 at the time to 20.

This achievement, which should have made Baldwin proud, seemed vulnerable in the face of the prosperity of St. Petersburg.

St. Petersburg already had street lights during the Imperial Russian era.

So who is the representative of backwardness and corruption?

"The infrastructure in St. Petersburg is still not good. There are no overpasses or pedestrian underpasses. I don't know what the City Hall and the Duma are doing—"

Little Fili seemed not quite satisfied.

"If you say that, we old guys should be ashamed."

Baldwin disliked little Philip's Versailles.

"Sorry, no offense, if my father was here he would be even angrier."

There didn't seem to be much apology in little Fili's "apology".

Baldwin once again deeply felt the arrogance of the Russian nobility, which was not expensive at all.

After arriving at the hotel, Baldwin will shower and change clothes, and then have dinner with little Philip.

In order to better accompany Baldwin, Fili checked into the St. Petersburg Hotel. Baldwin stayed in the executive suite, while Fili stayed in the presidential suite.

Little Fili was just there to keep him company. The person who was truly responsible for security work was Sazonov, the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in St. Petersburg.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Interior are two different departments. The Ministry of Internal Affairs is responsible for government affairs, while the Ministry of Internal Affairs is responsible for security.

So the term "housekeeping" has a special meaning in Russia.

"We have replaced all the staff in the building with our people. There is a group of people specializing in information collection. Medical personnel are also in place. If Vulture travels, the driver and security personnel are also our people—"

Sazonov's code name for Baldwin was "Vulture".

Can also be translated as "scavenger".

Information collection is a newly established business of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which is mainly responsible for communications and room monitoring.

"Have the embassy people arrived?"

Little Fili wants to find out the real purpose of Baldwin's trip.

During the Russian Empire era, the Russian Empire was infiltrated by Britain like a sieve and suffered greatly. It can be said that Britain was largely responsible for the demise of the Russian Empire.

Britain did not necessarily want to bring down the Russian Empire, but its goal was to contain it, because the demise of the Russian Empire or forcing Russia to side with Germany would not be of any benefit to Britain.

The UK just screwed up accidentally.

"I am here, but Vulture doesn't want to meet with the embassy staff."

At least so far, Baldwin has not done anything wrong.

"Investigate every person the vulture sees in detail, record every word they say, and don't miss any details."

Little Fili hopes that the rebels will jump out on their own initiative.

Baldwin did not do anything wrong. He took a shower, changed his clothes, and appeared in the hotel restaurant with little Philip.

Perhaps to show his friendliness, Baldwin took the initiative to request to dine in the restaurant hall rather than in a more private room.

Little Fili met all of Baldwin's requests, actively refused the waiter's service, and carried the tray to get the food with Baldwin.

"Is the Duma's work so easy?"

Baldwin took the initiative to tease that little Fili is not without a public office.

"In London's newspapers, we, the dandies left over from the Russian Empire era, are best at eating, drinking and having fun."

Little Fili didn't care.

"Hahahaha, yes, that's right. I'm often attacked by newspapers as well."

Baldwin joked that the British Prime Minister was criticized as much as the Russian aristocrats.

The food provided by the St. Petersburg Grand Hotel is quite rich, and compared with the service provided by the St. Petersburg Grand Hotel, the price is not expensive and is at a normal level.

The guests in the restaurant were all very well behaved, impeccable even from a British perspective. No one was making loud noises, no one was drunk and acted crazy, and no one expressed dissatisfaction with Baldwin and Little Philip because of the numerous security guards surrounding them.

The meal was very pleasant and Baldwin even paid for the restaurant band to play British country music.

Starting from the next day, Baldwin plunged into the streets and alleys of St. Petersburg to learn about the lives of ordinary St. Petersburg residents.

At the end of the day, what impressed Baldwin most was that there were no homeless people or beggars in St. Petersburg, a city with a population of over one million.

"It is a dereliction of duty for the government to allow people who are able to work to wander; it is a malfeasance for the government to allow people who are unable to work to wander."

Little Fili's face was filled with pride; this was indeed an unattainable achievement.

Baldwin remained calm.

Although what Little Fili said sounds nice, the actual situation may be different from what Little Fili said.

The temperature in St. Petersburg can easily drop to dozens of degrees below zero in winter. Even if there are homeless people, it is difficult to survive the winter in St. Petersburg.

Baldwin was also deeply impressed by the abundance of supplies in St. Petersburg.

Britain has not yet completely escaped the economic crisis. Prices in London are high, and although the Labour Party is in power, strikes still occur from time to time.

Prices in St. Petersburg have remained stable, especially food prices, which are very low compared to the UK.

The wages of ordinary workers in the UK are barely enough to support themselves.

Although the wages of ordinary workers in St. Petersburg are not high, it is still enough to support a family.

Baldwin did not waste time in St. Petersburg. That evening he asked little Fili to meet Felix.

Felix was in Alexandria and would not come to St. Petersburg in person to meet Baldwin.

Then Baldwin had no choice but to go to Alexandria.

So Baldwin experienced Russia's railway transportation again.

This time the feeling is not comprehensive, because Baldwin and little Fili went to Alexandria on the Yusupov family's special train.

In order to keep the special train, the Yusupov family paid enough money every year to support almost half of the railway bureau.

(End of this chapter)