I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 115 Rakshasa Ghost

The body of a Chinese laborer was buried under every tie on the Pacific Railway.

When Russia was building the Trans-Siberian Railway, it also hired a large number of Chinese workers from the Qing Empire. Otherwise, it would have been impossible to complete the Trans-Siberian Railway within ten years.

George's development of Vladivostok required a large number of workers. Natural attraction alone could not achieve George's goals. Only through the Qing imperial officials could sufficient workers be obtained as quickly as possible.

Zeng Jize was born in 1839 and is 44 years old this year. He is the most outstanding diplomat in the Qing Empire. Together with Guo Songtao, he is also known as "Guo Zeng". He is the second minister to foreign countries in the history of the Qing Dynasty.

George sent someone to invite Zeng Jize to the Yekaterin Palace and hosted a banquet in honor of him.

Zeng Jize didn’t know why George invited him. When he came to Yekaterin Palace, Zeng Jize felt quite uneasy.

This is normal. Russia was called the Rakshasa Kingdom in the Qing Empire. Rakshasa means evil ghost in Buddhism.

Russia is the country that occupied the most territory of the Qing Empire in modern history. How could Zeng Ji Ze have a good impression of the Russians?

As the Qing Empire's ambassador to Russia, Zeng Jize also knew the Russian princes and nobles very well.

Although George, the Yurievsky super duke, currently does not hold any position other than military duties.

But because of the relationship between George and Nicholas, everyone knew that the day Nicholas ascended the throne was the day when George became famous.

Zeng Jize was the first Chinese that George met after coming to this era.

George was polite and greeted Zeng Jize at the door of Yekaterin Palace.

"Good day, Marquis Zeng -" George almost frightened Zeng Jize and the translator.

This person actually knows Chinese, and he does it so well, so fluently, this, this, this is so damn damn good!
  Rakshasa ghosts, aren’t they just seeing ghosts?

Zeng Ji Ze knew English and was quite proud of his English proficiency. When dealing with Westerners, his favorite thing to do was to translate his own poems into English and write them on fans to give to Westerners.

After serving as the minister to Russia, Zeng Jize also began to learn Russian. However, his Russian level was not high enough to communicate freely with Russians, so Zeng Jize brought a translator.

"Honorable - Yuriev - Ski -" Zeng Jize's Russian was even worse than Ferdinand's.

"Just speak Chinese, or English, French, or German." George inadvertently made Zeng Ji Ze blush in Versailles.

Nowadays, not many people in the Qing Empire can speak English. Zeng Jize is self-taught in English, which is what he is most proud of.

Now Zeng Jize has finally met a real language genius. Knowing English is not a skill. George's Chinese is worse than Zeng Jize's.

"You actually speak Chinese -" Zeng Jize was shocked. George was the first Russian Grand Duke he met who could speak Chinese.

"When I'm learning French, I just pick it up when I have nothing to do. It's easy, isn't it?" George attributed the reason to his versatility.

"You're still so fluent -" Zeng Jize's shock has not disappeared. Chinese is recognized as the most difficult language to learn. Of all the Westerners Zeng Jize knows, almost no one knows Chinese.

Not to mention a super duke like George.

Are all Russian super dukes so idle?
  George's understanding of Eastern culture even surprised Zhao Jize.

The two of them sat down in the living room. The maid served Zeng Jize tea in a blue and white tea cup. When George drank tea, like Zeng Jize, he used the tea lid to spread the tea leaves in the cup very skillfully. .

So when the braised shark fin appeared on the dinner table, everyone in Zeng Ji Ze went numb.

The dining table is not a Western-style long table, but a round table more common in the East.

Braised shark's fin is a must-have dish at Tsang's house when entertaining guests.

When dealing with Easterners, you should be more reserved.

George didn't get straight to the point right away.

Since Zeng Jize likes to write poetry, George looks for topics from poetry.

George recited "Will Enter the Wine" eloquently.

Zeng Jize stuffed the "Chinese and Western Poems" he was going to give to George back into his sleeve.

Zeng Ji Ze could write poetry, but his poetry level was still far behind that of famous writers like Li Bai.

Since George understands Eastern culture so well, Zeng Jize will not show off his shame.

"The reason why I asked your Majesty to make Vladivostok my fiefdom is because of my love for Eastern culture -" George naturally led the topic to Vladivostok.

Zeng Ji Ze didn’t say anything, Vladivostok was once my territory of the Qing Dynasty.

For a diplomat, it was rude for George to directly mention Vladivostok in front of Zeng Jize.

But considering George's identity, Zeng Jize decided to forgive George.

So what if you don't forgive.

Zeng Ji Ze was a scholar. Judging from George's strong body, there was a high probability that he would not be able to defeat George.

The Qing Empire could not defeat Russia.

Seeing that Zeng Jize didn't take the bait, George finally couldn't help it.

"Vladivostok is located in a remote area and has few products. Your Majesty has granted Vladivostok to me. He hopes that I can turn Vladivostok into a prosperous city. I hope to hire some workers from the Qing Empire, and I will pay for this." George felt The conditions you offer yourself are still tempting.

Siberia is vast and sparsely populated, while the Qing Empire has more people and less land. Land annexation is extremely serious. One side is suffering from drought and the other is suffering from waterlogging.

If the surplus labor force of the Qing Empire can be hired to Vladivostok, then Vladivostok can get labor force, workers can get income, and the Qing Empire can get tax revenue, and internal conflicts can be alleviated, perfect.

George didn't mind bringing more benefits to the Qing Empire through this matter.

In 1894, the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War would break out between the Qing Empire and Japan.

If the Qing Empire is willing to cooperate, George would not mind helping the Qing Empire improve its industrial capabilities, and by the way, sell to the Qing Empire some modern weapons that have been eliminated by the Russian military.

Although the Bodin II rifle is about to be eliminated in Russia, in the Qing Empire, the Bodin rifle can continue to be used.

Like Russia, the Qing Empire also had a large standing army.

The industrial capabilities of the Qing Empire were inferior to those of Russia. One of the most important tasks of diplomats like Zeng Jize was to purchase weapons and equipment for the Qing Empire in Europe.

Zeng Jize pondered for a long time and then spoke carefully: "Although our country has a large population, the people are not enlightened, ignorant and ignorant, and they cannot understand the Rakshasa language. It would be bad if we miss the Duke's important event."

Zeng Jize was not used to communicating with foreigners in Chinese, and what he said was half-written, and he didn’t know if George could understand it.

George understood that Zeng Jize meant not to give it.

"You don't have to worry about this. I will provide them with interpreters and take good care of their lives. If they have an accident while working, I will provide them with financial compensation. The abuse that Chinese workers suffered in the United States will never happen in Vladivostok." ." George made a mistake. The better the conditions he gave, the more worried Zeng Jize became. Nothing is attentive, or stolen.

From the standpoint of the Qing Empire, the emergence of a prosperous city in the Far East was not in the interests of the Qing Empire.

Russia has never concealed its territorial ambitions for the Qing Empire. As long as there is an opportunity, Russia will tear off a piece of flesh from the Qing Empire.

Siberia is uninhabited and cannot generate benefits without development.

Russia is still talking about dominating the East every day. If Vladivostok turns into a prosperous metropolis, that will be great!

Vladivostok is tens of thousands of kilometers away from St. Petersburg. Russia's delivery capabilities are seriously insufficient and it has no ability to go south and invade more territory of the Qing Empire.

Even if Vladivostok becomes a prosperous metropolis, even if it becomes Russia's forward base, Russia can accumulate more military power in the Far East.

Thinking about it this way, George was indeed a hateful Rakshasa ghost with ulterior motives. It was strange that Zeng Jize would agree.

"Why?" George didn't understand the twists and turns.

Even if Vladivostok had strong military capabilities, George would not invade the Qing Empire. George went to Vladivostok to fight the Japanese.

It is already 1883, with 11 years left before the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War, and there is not much time left for George.

George doesn't just ask but doesn't give. If there are any conditions he can offer, aren't you a diplomat? Show your diplomat's courage and kill me.

Zeng Jize didn’t want to kill George, he didn’t want to do business with George at all.

Russia is a very conservative country.

The Qing Empire was more conservative.

Traditionally, the Chinese have settled down and relocated, leaving their hometowns only when they have no choice but to do so.

Vladivostok is not a good place either. People can really freeze to death in winter. The salary offered by George to the Chinese workers is not high, only 10 kopecks per month. It is really not worth risking one's life in Vladivostok.

Another more serious problem is that the Qing Empire has always regarded the northeastern region of the Qing Dynasty, which is only separated from Vladivostok by a river, as a land of dragon prosperity, and strictly prohibits Han people from moving in. It was not until 1905 that the Qing Empire gradually relaxed its control of the northeastern region. prohibition order.

This was not because the Qing Empire was thinking too hard, but because Japan won the Russo-Japanese War in 1905 and began to immigrate to the Qing Dynasty in large numbers, which caused a serious sense of crisis in the Qing Dynasty, so the Qing Dynasty was forced to open its border restrictions.

So there was the idea of ​​walking through the west exit and crossing the east side of Guandong.

As for the lack of wisdom among the people, it was just Zeng Jize's excuse.

The United States built the Pacific Railway and hired 1.4 Chinese workers from the Qing Empire.

After the black slave trade in the West was gradually abolished, Chinese workers became substitutes for black slaves. In the 1876 years from 1898 to 22 alone, there were Chinese workers from Shantou who were sold as "piglets" to the Dutch East Indies and British Malaya. 151 million people.

George just didn't want to illegally introduce Chinese workers from the Qing Empire.

Otherwise, George asked Mikhail to go to the southeast coast to find human traffickers, which could easily solve the labor shortage in Vladivostok.

"Your Majesty the Duke, please forgive me for not agreeing to your request. I am a subject of the Qing Empire. I cannot just watch my brothers and sisters being enslaved——" Zeng Jize is not a weakling whose legs weaken when he is frightened.

"You mean, your brothers and sisters were not enslaved in the Qing Empire?" Now that he had broken his face, George didn't mind exposing the scars.

Zeng Jize suddenly changed his color, stood up and said goodbye.

George really had a headache.

I originally wanted to be a good person, but this damn era forced me to become a criminal.

If you don't agree, just don't agree. Buying people from human traffickers, even though it doesn't sound good, George doesn't care so much. He doesn't have time to slowly grind it out with Zeng Ji Ze.

Vladivostok can’t afford it.

Ridiculous, without Butcher Zhang, would we still have to eat pigs with hair on them?
  George sent a telegram to Mikhail and asked him to implement Plan B. In any case, Vladivostok must get enough labor.

George rarely invited guests, and banquets at the Yekaterin Palace were unprecedented.

Zeng Jize attracted much attention in St. Petersburg. The Qing Empire was a sick man of Asia who could be bullied by everyone. Everyone wanted to take advantage of the Qing Empire.

Zeng Jize walked out of Yekaterin Palace angrily, which was watched by many people. The next day, rumors spread in St. Petersburg: Super Duke Yurievsky, who was friends with the crown prince, was eating people from the Qing Dynasty. Deflated.

Others mentioned this matter only as a topic of conversation after dinner.

Nicholas felt the same and offered to help George vent his anger.

"That damn Qing people actually dare to reject you. It seems that we haven't taught the Qing people enough lessons. I will send a telegram to the Siberian fleet and bombard the Qing people's capital." Nicholas's fierce look is the real Luo Luo. Sha ghost.

In fact, Yasan is not a warlike person. He has not provoked foreign wars during his tenure. The situation in Russia is generally stable. Therefore, Yasan is called the "peacemaker".

Nikolai is a little devil, and the Russo-Japanese War was the biggest failure. If Russia had not lost this war and been forced to abandon the Yellow Russia Plan, Russia's expansion in the Far East would have intensified.

Nikolai's performance in the World War was even more disastrous. Every time he had to choose, Nikolai miraculously chose the worst option, and the empire died in a muddle.

"Are you crazy? We are in the Far East and are no match for the Qing Empire." George was sober and knew his position very clearly.

"You are crazy. How can we not be the opponent of the Qing Empire?" Nicholas was shocked and angry. He really didn't know how powerful Russia was in the Far East.

In May 1858, Russia forced the Qing Empire to sign the Treaty of Aihun and ceded more than 5 square kilometers from the Qing Empire.

In the next seven years, Russia did not send a single soldier, and only relied on threats to seize 144 million square kilometers from the Qing Empire.

So far, the only war that has broken out between Russia and the Qing Empire was Nerchinsk.

In the Battle of Nerchinsk, the Russian side dispatched only 450 people.

This would also explain why Nicholas was so angry.

In the eyes of the vast majority of Russians, the Qing Empire was inferior to even the Ottoman Empire.

The Ottoman Empire at least had a back-and-forth fight with Russia. The Qing Empire only needed to be intimidated and it would obediently agree to all Russia's demands.

"Nikki, let's find out how many troops we have deployed in the Far East. You can be high-profile, but I have to be low-key, because you are in St. Petersburg and I am in Vladivostok." George didn't like the impulsive and bellicose Nikolai, who did business easily. Isn’t it good to make money?

Nicholas could still listen to what George said.

He was silent for a while and then resolutely said: "Tomorrow's State Council meeting, I will solemnly propose the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway. Whoever dares to oppose me, I will send him to Siberia!"

George was greatly relieved, this was the Nicholas he wanted to see.

(End of this chapter)