I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 143 To find out who our enemy is

As a major producer and consumer of liquor, the liquor of the Qing Empire did not have much fame in the world, which was extremely inconsistent with its own strength.

This has a lot to do with the weakening of the Qing Empire's national power.

If the Qing Empire was as powerful as Britain, Qing liquor would have already gone global and become highly sought after, with demand exceeding supply.

George is willing to act as a promoter of Qingguo liquor. It doesn't matter whether Europeans buy it or not, as long as Russians like it.

What George gave Nicholas was not Mao Wujian, but Fenjiu Xinghua Village from Xishan.

There is no other reason for this, it is simply because Xishan is relatively close to Vladivostok, making it easier to purchase.

It takes nearly three months to ship from Dongshan to Odessa, and there will be no news about any progress until next year.

The news from Goryeo came quickly.

On December 12, at the inauguration ceremony of the Seoul Post Office, the Enlightenment Party colluded with the Japanese army to kidnap King Yi Xi of Goryeo and launch a coup.

At this time, there were 3 battalions of Qing troops in Goryeo with a total of 1500 people, while the Japanese army only had one squadron of more than 200 people.

The Qing army requested to enter the palace to protect him, but the enlightenment party members refused.

Most of the Qing generals advocated making a decision after consulting the country.

Datou believed that the situation was urgent and there was no time to deal with it, so he advocated entering the palace to quell the chaos.

In order to dispel everyone's doubts, Datou promised, "If I am convicted of provoking a dispute, I will bear the responsibility alone, and I will never implicate you."

Then he commanded a battalion of Qing troops and the left and right battalions of Goryeo troops entered the palace to escort him.

Under the leadership of Datou, the Qing army fought fiercely with the Japanese army and the escort of King Li Xi of Goryeo.

Li Xi's guards were originally trained by Datou. During the fierce battle, hundreds of guards defected and joined the Qing army. The Japanese army was defeated.

On December 12, the rebellion subsided. As the Japanese army played a disgraceful role in the rebellion, more than 7 Japanese were killed. The Japanese Embassy in Seoul was besieged by the Koreans. The Japanese Minister to North Korea, Shinichiro Takezoe, set himself on fire in the embassy. , fled to Incheon, Jin Yujun and other 40 civilized party members cut off their hair and changed their clothes and escaped from Korea.

This coup originally had nothing to do with Russia, but the Russian embassy in Goryeo was burned down during the fighting on the night of the 6th. The Russian minister in North Korea therefore requested compensation from Goryeo.

Russia does not need Korea to compensate the embassy, ​​but requires Korea to compensate Russia for a military port.

"Exchanging an embassy for a military port, whose idea was it?" George was eye-opening. He could only say that this method was very Russian.

The Japanese Embassy in Seoul was burned down by the Japanese Minister himself.

The Russian Embassy in Korea might have been burned down by Russia itself, because on the night of the 6th, the Russian Embassy was not besieged at all.

"You ask me, who should I ask?" Korff didn't know.

How the Russian embassy caught fire is no longer important.

The key is the choice of military port.

Although Goryeo has not yet agreed to Russia's request, the Siberian Fleet has already sent people to Goryeo to find a place suitable for building a military port.

It would be fine if the Koreans honestly agreed to compensate.

If you don't agree, there will be a bloody storm.

"Is Stark crazy? Who can beat the broken ships of the Siberian Fleet?" George was not used to the Russian military's operating methods, saying that the Japanese love taking risks, and the Russians seem to be more adventurous.

Stark has just been appointed as the commander of the Siberian Fleet. He may be the lowest-ranked fleet commander in the world, with the rank of major general.

This is in line with the strength of the Siberian fleet.

"No one can beat him, but no one dares to fight the Siberian Fleet." Korff said proudly. Russia has a rogue bachelor spirit from top to bottom.

We need money, but we also need a life. If we don’t give you a happy word today, one of us will die.

"George, do you want to meet that Japanese?" Mikhail didn't know what benefit he got from Ichiro Shiga, but he actually helped Ichiro congratulate him.

"No, no time." George didn't want to see him, and he had nothing to talk about.

"Let's meet, we need to know the attitude of the Japanese." Korff probably also took advantage of it.

Korff is the governor, so he still has to give him face, so let’s meet him.

Shiga Ichiro is dressed in a black tuxedo suit, a top hat, and actually holds a civilized staff in his hand, which is neither fish nor fowl.

The British are holding umbrellas, what the hell are you doing?

"Honorable Super Duke Yurievsky, I have admired you for a long time——" Shiga Ichiro's Russian is passable, but his pronunciation is not very standard. The tongue-licking sounds in Russian are really difficult for Japanese people.

"Why are you looking for me?" George refused to even sit down and had no good impression of the pretentious Japanese.

"Honorable Super Duke Yurievsky, I heard that Japanese immigrants were treated unfairly in Vladivostok. Our government sincerely hopes that the Duke can treat Japanese immigrants well——" Ichiro Shiga looked very well-educated, neither arrogant nor humble. .

You have to pretend to be civilized even if you don’t have any.

Even if Ichiro Shiga was dissatisfied, he would not dare to get angry with George. The Japanese government does not yet have the confidence to go to war with Russia.

The current Japanese government does not have much strength. It was beaten by the Qing army in Goryeo, and it did not dare to provoke Russia. It was only after the Sino-Japanese War that Japan was favored by the British, and then the Anglo-Japanese Alliance was formed.

On January 1902, 1, Britain and Japan signed an alliance in London. The alliance during this period was mainly aimed at Russia. Britain hoped to use Japan to curb Russia's expansion in the Far East.

With the support of Britain, Japan dared to go to war with Russia.

Without British support, Japan would not have been able to win the Russo-Japanese War.

In addition to loans, Britain also worked hard to create difficulties for Russia's fleet expansion and reduction. It did not allow the Russian fleet to pass through the Suez Canal. The Russian fleet had to bypass Cape Town and bypass Africa to go to East Asia.

Britain also does not allow Russian warships to dock in British ports for supplies, and the Russian Baltic Fleet has to use more space for loading coal and water.

So when the Russian reinforcement fleet arrived at the Tsushima Strait, the Japanese combined fleet was already ready.

This will definitely require British intelligence support.

"Is that so?" George asked the question to Mikhail.

Mikhail sighed, and it took him a long time to blush: "There is no such thing at all——"

"Well, I don't think so -" George didn't let Korff go: "What do you think?"

Korff's eyes dodge, but he can't withstand George's coercion after all: "I don't think so -"

Shiga Ichiro's face was full of disappointment, and he fed all the good things to the dog.

Might as well feed the dog.

Feed the dog so many good things, the dog can at least wag its tail.

The two of them turned against each other directly.

"Look, what you said didn't happen at all." George was satisfied. No one said that they must do something after receiving money.

"Duke, we have news——" Ichiro Shiga stood alone.

"Where did you get the news?" George blocked Shiga Ichiro with one sentence.

Shiga Ichiro was speechless.

"Can the source of the news be confirmed?" George hoped that Shiga Ichiro would be more stupid and it would be best to confess everyone.

"Of course -" Shiga Ichiro was actually sweating profusely in the middle of winter. It must be because the fire in the fireplace was too bright.

The importance of the fireplace to a Russian family is similar to that of a god in a Chinese family.

It’s not that the Chinese have no faith, but their faith is different from that of Europeans.

In the eyes of Europeans, this is heresy.

The gods worshiped by the Chinese, besides the Jade Emperor, the God of Wealth and the Kitchen God, are their ancestors.

The Jade Emperor, the God of Wealth, and the Kitchen God are all deities of traditional Chinese Taoism. They have nothing to do with Christ. Christ cannot understand what it means to be quiet and inactive. Compared with Taoism, the only advantage of believing in Christ is that the church distributes eggs.

Without the addition of eggs, then Christ is not even as good as the Lord of the Earth.

"I have a question. Since the Japanese people you mentioned have become Russian citizens, no matter what happens to them, it will be Russia's internal affairs. Are you sure you want to interfere in Russia's internal affairs?" George came up with a big hat.

"No, no, no, noble Yurievsky Super Duke, I have absolutely no intention of doing this." Shiga Ichiro denied flatly that the hat was too big for Shiga Ichiro to carry.

"Then what do you mean?" George pressed forward step by step.

"Although they have become Russian nationals, they still have relatives in Japan. If they do not live well in Russia, it will affect Russia's image in Japan." Ichiro Shiga hopes that George can take the overall situation into consideration.

At least some decency must remain.

"In this case, why don't you send all their relatives over, and I will take good care of them, reunite their relatives, and have a neat family -" George couldn't help but make jokes, but it was a pity that Shiga Ichiro couldn't understand. .

"Your Excellency, Duke, if Japanese immigrants are treated unfairly in Russia, then no Japanese will be willing to come to Vladivostok to work in the future." Ichiro Shiga was euphemistic. He knew that Vladivostok's population was a flaw.

"Oh, are you threatening me?" George sneered, and he would fall out when it was time to fall out.

"I didn't mean that." Shiga Ichiro regretted it. He should have known George better before coming to see George again.

"Shiga-kun, I hope you can understand one thing. The Russian Empire will never be threatened by anyone or in any form under any circumstances!" George was originally going to fall out, even if Shiga Ichiro didn't take the initiative to come to his door. , George will also take the initiative.

George's words were extremely strong, and Korff and Mikhail also stood up. They could accept bribes from Ichiro Shiga, but on the issue of stance, Korff and Mikhail could only unconditionally negotiate with George. We stand together and will never favor the Japanese.

After seeing off Ichiro Shiga, George was unhappy with Korff and Mikhail.

"Look what you've done!"

Korff and Mikhail looked at each other, their faces as red as a fire.

"The Qing Empire was overwhelmed, and Goryeo was too busy to take care of itself. Japan is our only opponent in East Asia. I hope you can pay more attention to Japan and don't make any mistakes on the Japanese issue. I can treat the previous things as if they never happened. If And next time, I will go to Gatchina." To unify his thoughts, George must first figure out who our enemy is.

　I came back a little late. My friend's daughter had a high fever at school. My friend was not at home. I took the child back and put the needle on it. I just got home now——

　　
  　
  (End of this chapter)