Wild North America 1846

Chapter 803 Vacation
This trip to St. Petersburg was a semi-official exchange. The military group headed by Britain, France and Russia attracted other European countries to find markets for Tsarist Russia's grain exports.

Due to the deterioration of relations between Russia and Germany, Germany and Italy, two major European food importing countries, completely cut off their food import trade from Tsarist Russia, which caused Tsarist Russia to lose an important channel for obtaining funds.

Germany and Italy turned to importing from South America, and the actual beneficiaries were the vassals and overseas provinces of the Tang Empire.

Li Chaming's official identity was the special trade representative of the Tang Empire. Apart from attending two public meetings in St. Petersburg, he spent the rest of his time traveling around, which was like making soy sauce.

From St. Petersburg to Minsk, to Moscow, to Kiev, to Odessa on the shores of the Black Sea, Richard and his party traveled through many European cities in Tsarist Russia and felt very ordinary.

In his opinion
This was an extremely degenerate feudal dynasty that was riddled with corruption and had long-standing abuses. It only maintained a bright appearance on the surface, but the entire Tsarist dynasty was completely rotten internally.

Corruption from top to bottom is the most serious crime. This kind of behavior has penetrated deeply into the military. The dirty hands of corrupt officials can be seen everywhere in all aspects of weapons, equipment and logistics.

The soldiers at the lowest level were starved of food, and the better troops could only eat two meals a day. In addition to red cabbage soup, it was unpalatable black bread. The black bread was even filled with sawdust and soil.

Even so, this poor food is not enough.

Not to mention weapons and equipment. The old-fashioned muskets can be traced back to the time when French Emperor Napoleon invaded Tsarist Russia, more than a hundred years ago.

Such a country and such an army can still maintain its rule because the Russian Empire continued to expand outwards and launched foreign wars, leading domestic conflicts abroad.

The people fanatically follow without thinking, and would rather go hungry and endure exploitation. The situation looks terrible.

October
Odessa

The first snow since winter fell here early, turning the sky and earth into a blanket of white, almost like a fairy tale world of ice and snow.

But this fairy tale world is limited to the rich area. The carriage drives through the snow-covered streets. From time to time, you can see the frozen corpses of poor people on both sides of the road, which are mostly covered by snow.

Richard looked away. He was already used to this situation and ordered;

"Jinxun, prepare to book a return boat ticket. The Russian winter is too cold."

"Yes, sir." Xu Jinxun replied respectfully. He thought for a moment and then asked, "Will those beautiful Ukrainian girls sent by Lord Pavlovsky be brought back to Germany together?"

"They are all poor people, take them with you, and remember to leave some money for their families."

"Understood, sir."

Richard looked down upon the decadent rule of Tsarist Russia. The upper-class nobles here did not treat the poor as human beings at all, but as a group of ignorant and lowly animals.

It's hard to say that this has not been infected by Mongolian genes.

Such an upper-class aristocratic ruling class in Tsarist Russia pretends to be noble. It is difficult to imagine that they would put people's livelihood first, and it is even more difficult to reverse the current situation of corruption everywhere.

Tsarist Russia is eager to export a large amount of grain in exchange for valuable foreign exchange. It is not that there is too much domestic grain to eat, but it is entirely snatched from the mouths of the poor.

The main grain-producing area of ​​Tsarist Russia is in Ukraine, which has the largest and most fertile black soil in Europe and is rich in various grain crops, including wheat, soybeans and rapeseed.

But famine also breaks out here every year, and the poor at the bottom live in poverty, guarding the granary and begging for food.

Odessa is one of Tsarist Russia's main ports for exporting grain. There are also steel plants and shipyards built with franc loans. It is one of the few industrial zones in Tsarist Russia.

After the destruction of the Pacific Fleet, Tsar Nicholas II once again spent huge sums of money to build the Black Sea Fleet, whose main ports were in Odessa and Crimea.

And the vast Ukrainian plain, if a European war breaks out, will definitely be the frontier area for fierce competition between Germany and Russia.

4 months in Tsarist Russia
With the perspective of a military leader, Richard carefully inspected the vast area from Warsaw to Minsk, and from Kiev to Odessa.

The vast plains of Eastern Europe from Ukraine to Poland, the open terrain here is very suitable for large group operations, and the German army can better exert its weapons and combat advantages in this area.

If you want to block the fierce German attack, the only way is to continuously fill in a large number of Russian soldiers. This is the only and correct way.

April 10

Richard and his party took the new cruise ship "Juliana" of British White Star Cruises and left Odessa for Bordeaux, France, ending their four-month trip to Russia.

Compared with the cold Odessa, Bordeaux, located in southwest France on the Mediterranean Sea, has a warm and suitable climate and a strong and charming French style.

The small town of Sailor on the seaside in Bordeaux

After returning from Tsarist Russia, Richard took Xu Jinxun and others away from the large group of people, quietly moved into the small town of Sailer, and lived a leisurely seaside pastoral life.

every day

He would take a walk to the town, sit for a while in a small cafe in the town, buy two newspapers and read leisurely, and sometimes chat with people in the town.

People in the town would refer to Richard as "the rich man from North America" ​​and "the noble lord", and his words were full of respect and a touch of jealousy.

Even in the remote seaside town of Bordeaux, traces of France's full preparation for war can be seen.

A company of the local French army is stationed in the town of Sailer. Walking in the town, you can often see French officers and soldiers on leave. This is a scene that can be seen everywhere in France.

In a small cafe

Richard was sitting at the coffee table. There was a cup of coffee and a plate of snacks on the table. He was reading the newspaper with his brows furrowed.

According to newspaper reports;
Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Crown Prince of Austria-Hungary, and his wife Sofia plan to visit various regions in Serbia at a suitable time in June and deliver a speech to the entire public in Sarajevo.

This report caused huge waves in Richard's heart.

Looks

The wheel of history is still moving forward on its established track, and has not deviated too much from its original track due to the huge changes in North America and the Southwest Pacific.What is coming will come, and all of Europe is preparing for the final showdown.

In just 4 years
The Balkans experienced two consecutive wars. The Ottoman Empire lost most of its territory in Europe. Serbia, Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Herzegovina successively won semi-independent autonomous status.

In the competition over the Balkans, the Austro-Hungarian Empire relied on Germany's power to win the coveted Serbia and Macedonia, becoming the big winner.

It is against this historical background that

Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sofia, Crown Prince of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, visited the Balkans as victors to inspect their new trophies.

And all this

With the rise of nationalism in various regions of Europe, it was regarded as a huge shame by Serbian nationalists.

They couldn't stand their troubled country. They had just escaped from the tiger's den and entered the wolf's mouth again.

Richard shook his head with regret, folded the newspaper and put it on the table elegantly, picked up the coffee cup and took a sip.

At this moment

Mr. Francis, the mayor of Sailer Town, walked over with a smile on his face and said politely, "Your Excellency, would you like to bother me?"

"Please take a seat, Mr. Mayor, there happens to be no one here."

Although Richard tried his best to restrain himself, his invisible aura was still very strong, and anyone sitting in front of him would feel great pressure.

Mr. Francis made an apologetic chest-stroking salute, then pulled away the chair and sat down. He asked for a topic and said, "Beizhen is very honored to be favored by the noble Lord. You are a big shot from North America. You are very interested in the life here." Are you still satisfied?"

"It's very good. This is a place where people can forget a lot of worries. It's calm and peaceful." Richard's evaluation was not low.

Mayor Francis rubbed his hands and laughed. The big man opposite spoke lightly, but his actions put a lot of pressure on him.

So he only hesitated briefly before speaking decisively: "Your Excellency, Your Excellency
You know, there are too many remote towns like ours in France, and the upper class people in Paris don't even pay attention to them.

for hundreds of years
Sailer Town is like an orphaned child that no one cares about. It gets no care and no one invests in it. Its economic development level is always in the middle and lower reaches of the country.

Everyone who hopes that Sailer Town will develop better is anxious about this.

This also includes me. I have lived in this town since I was born and have lived for nearly 50 years. I have extremely deep feelings for this town.

Same... looking forward to change. "

"Well, what project do you want to develop? Do you have a feasible plan?" Richard asked.

When it comes to this
Mayor Francis immediately became energetic and started pointing out the benefits of this place, saying;
“Oh, that’s great if you’re interested.

We are close to the iron ore mines in the Le Mans area, and a railway line is about to be built, which will allow us to build a large-scale steel plant.

This will not only bring a lot of tax revenue, but also create thousands of jobs and drive the town's business to flourish.

Everyone will benefit from it, and everyone will be grateful to his generous and wealthy Lord..."

"I'm afraid not necessarily."

Richard looked at the excited Mayor Francis and had to interrupt his beautiful fantasy.

At this moment

The topics they talked about had attracted strong interest from other customers and the owner of the cafe, and they all came over in unison.

Richard pointed at the people around him before continuing;

"Mayor Francis, you only see the tax revenue and jobs that building a steel plant will bring, have you ever thought...

Maybe your rash decision will ruin this beautiful town.

Many people here know
The large chimneys of the steel plant that emit black smoke day and night will turn this sunny seaside town into darkness, making it difficult for people to even go out.

Every day, drifting black soot covers the streets, houses and windows. Everyone comes back covered in black ash and can no longer breathe fresh and clean air.

There are many such industrial towns, and the environment is terrible.

And outsiders like me will never come to the small town of Sailer to spend a leisurely holiday again.

Are you willing to pay such an environmental price? "

"Oh, God, of course not..." The cafe owner was the first to object.

He waved his fists and said excitedly: "Let's not change our peaceful life, and don't let this place become a dirty garbage dump. Whoever dares to do this, I will twist off his head and kick it as a ball."

From the cafe owner's point of view, he doesn't need much employment and taxes. If the environment becomes bad, the small cafe will be fatally hit. This is something he cannot accept no matter what.

Immediately afterwards, several coffee shop guests also expressed their opinions. Most of them were opposed and only a few were in favor.

As residents of small towns, they all have their own livelihoods, and they are not interested in creating jobs and taxation. So what does it have to do with them?
Seeing that most people were opposed, Mayor Francis' face turned dark visibly.

He really didn't expect that he would face strong opposition from so many people after he worked hard to build Sailer Town.

My heart feels so cold!

(End of this chapter)