I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 195 Year-end Welfare
  When Mikhail first arrived in Vladivostok, he was very fussy about doing things, trying to save George money at every turn.

The change occurred after the railway construction started this year. Seeing the rubles being spent like water every month, Mikhail's attitude towards money finally changed from being heartbroken at the beginning to being indifferent to life and death.

Spend it, spend it, as long as you can achieve your goal, it's worth it.

Through Mikhail's hand, millions of rubles were spent every month.

No matter how stingy a person is, if he is allowed to spend like this every month, his attitude towards money will change drastically.

George's attitude toward money was even more open-minded.

Money has to be flowing to be meaningful. No matter how despicable the Hebrews are, their attitude towards making money is worth learning from George.

In addition to money, the year-end bonus in Vladivostok also includes specialty products purchased from all over the world.

Tobacco from South America has not yet arrived, but a large number of cigars have been sent back.

George himself does not smoke, so the executives in Vladivostok are blessed. Although one box per person is not much, it is more or less a wish.

Executives here include government employees, factory managers, scientific researchers, teachers, doctors, military officers, etc.

There are benefits for ladies too.

Although the job of recruiting people did not go smoothly, Mu Linde bought a lot of things, so each person had one piece of Shu brocade, and the number of Su embroidery was a bit small, so Yekaterina decided to divide it up.

George took Mikhail and Yeluoxin and a group of people and hid in the study of Yuriev Palace for a small meeting.

"Sporadic purchasing cannot meet our needs. We need a stable supply of raw materials, so the best way is to buy local plantations, open factories, and organize production ourselves."

George changed his strategy and no longer insisted on poaching people.

Since the female workers from the Qing Empire were unwilling to come to work in Vladivostok, it was okay for George to send people to open factories in the Qing Empire and invite Qing female workers to work in the factories.

For the same reason, George also has to organize the supply of tobacco and natural rubber by himself and cannot rely entirely on external procurement. Otherwise, Vladivostok will be choked one day, and it will be too late to think of a solution by then.

"If we buy plantations and open factories locally, we must have armed forces, otherwise our interests will still not be fully protected."

Ye Luoxin does what he does best.

Vladivostok has begun training the new Korean army, with only 500 troops planned for the first batch.

500 people have been trained, and 1000 is actually not impossible. The extra 500 people will be sent to South America and Southeast Asia to take charge of security.

In fact, it doesn’t have to be so troublesome.

Tobacco was not only produced in South America, but also in the southern regions of the Qing Empire.

The British would not allow the Russians to build a military port in Jeju, so George could always send people to farm in the southern areas of the Qing Empire.

If the Qing Empire did not agree, they could still go to Annan or the Dutch East Indies.

George didn't believe that Holland dared to refuse George's request.

In a country with a big nose, buying a plantation from your country looks up to you. If you dare to refuse, just think that the sword of Super Duke Yurievsky cannot cut people, right?

"In this case, we will need to buy more ocean-going cargo ships."

Mikhail looked sad. The railway had not been repaired yet, which was another huge expense.

But just like the railway, this money cannot be saved. Vladivostok itself is a port. If it does not have ocean transportation capabilities, it will be equivalent to abolishing half of its martial arts.

"When will our shipyard be able to build ocean-going freighters?"

George's first reaction was to make it himself.

It would be okay if there were no shipyards in Vladivostok.

But even though he owns a shipyard, he still blindly purchases from outside, which seriously deviates from George's requirements.

"Our shipyard hasn't even figured out how to make a slightly larger fishing boat yet—"

Mikhail has tried very hard, but still can't keep up with George's requirements.

This spring, Vladivostok engineers tried to install the engine on a fishing boat. The results were good and work efficiency was greatly improved.

The fishing boats are all small wooden boats with dozens of tons, and the largest ones are tin boats with no more than 100 tons.

Ocean freighters often weigh thousands of tons, which is completely different from the same level.

"Then try to figure it out. If you really can't figure it out, go to the Ribknecht Shipyard to recruit people. The empire can even build armored cruisers of tens of thousands of tons. Why does it have to order a merchant ship of several thousand tons from abroad? ?”

George knows why, the key is efficiency.

At the Ribknecht Shipyard in St. Petersburg, the "Admiral Nassimov" armored cruiser launched last year has a full load displacement of 8500 tons and unprecedented firepower. It is not inferior to the most advanced armored cruisers in the UK.

The key is that the number is too small. Russia only builds one armored cruiser of the "Admiral Nassimov" level, but the empire has three fleets. Who should give an armored cruiser to?

No matter how we try, the Siberian Fleet won't be able to turn.

The construction of the "Admiral Nassimov" armored cruiser took four years at the Ribknecht Shipyard.

What George wants to build is a merchant ship, which is much less difficult than a warship.

The efficiency of the Vladivostok Shipyard is also much higher than that of the Ribknecht Shipyard. There is no reason why Buknekht Shipyard can do it but Vladivostok Shipyard cannot.

After sending Mikhail and Yeroshin away, Henry came to George to report on Yuriev's progress.

George attaches great importance to Yuriev's progress. Even in Bulgaria, George asked Mikhail to report Yuriev's progress to George every month.

Unlike Vladivostok, which is positioned as a cultural center, Yuriev is a purely industrial city.

The second cement plant and the second steel plant in the Amur region were built in Yuriev.

Although the first one is in Vladivostok, all the heavy industry in Vladivostok will be relocated sooner or later. Yuriev will be the future industrial center of the Amur region and even Siberia.

“The survey work of the railway has been basically completed. After the construction of the railway between Vladivostok and Khabarovka is completed next year, the railway between Khabarovka and Yuriev will start construction; The river was being dredged, and the reclamation work was also being carried out at the same time. Before winter, some Japanese workers fled Yuriev. We dispatched a pursuit team and killed them all——"

George was still very satisfied with Henry's work.

Henry's family has moved to Vladivostok and became Russian citizens. This spring, Henry married the daughter of a French engineer. Now Henry's wife is pregnant and is expecting to give birth in Vladivostok.

"Why are they running?"

George didn't want to waste human resources. Those Japanese workers were destined not to return to Japan. Yuriev's construction was based on a ten-year cycle.

"Who knows, the Japanese are narrow-minded, emotionally unstable, and don't work hard enough. They are far behind the Korean workers."

Henry doesn't like the Japanese.

The construction workers in Vladivostok are all Japanese and Chinese. The Chinese are either working in factories or on farms, which can be regarded as performing their own duties.

“Can the steel plant be put into operation next year?”

George's biggest concern was steel.

Even if the Vladivostok Shipyard can build ocean-going cargo ships, there is currently not enough steel for the shipyard to waste. At best, it can only build iron-hulled ships, also known as armored ships.

The Russian Empire currently does not have the luxury to build all-steel warships, and armored ships are the mainstream.

The lifespan of armored ships is definitely not as good as that of all-steel battleships.

Therefore, Russia almost only builds one armored ship of each level, and then improves it on the basis of this one, and then builds the next one.

For at least 20 years, the Vladivostok Shipyard will not be involved in the construction of warships, and commercial ships will be the mainstream.

“It won’t be until the end of next year at the earliest.”

Henry also wanted to build a steel plant overnight, but it was unrealistic.

After the steel plant is completed, the production process will not be restricted by seasons and can be produced all year round.

Construction work is subject to seasonal restrictions. Working outdoors in the current icy and snowy environment can be fatal.

"Very good. You have worked hard for a year. Go back and rest quickly. Ellie must be very anxious waiting for you."

When Henry left Yuriev Palace, two cars were waiting for him at the foot of the mountain, a passenger car and a truck.

Once cars enter the stage of large-scale production, their output will become larger and larger.

In August this year, the Vladivostok Machinery Plant developed a 8-liter engine with higher efficiency, more stable operation, and lower failure rate, so the truck was born.

Limited by the power of the engine, the truck's carrying capacity is only 1.5 tons, not much better than a horse-drawn carriage.

But this is a qualitative improvement for Vladivostok.

"Mr. Christopher, do you want to go home now?"

A Vladivostok Interior Ministry employee was waiting for Henry at the car.

"Are you waiting for me? Thank you——"

Henry was very happy. Although the subway was fast, it could not deliver Henry directly to his door.

"Of course, in the truck behind you are your year-end benefits. Do you want to check them out?"

The Ministry of Internal Affairs worker holds a list in his hand.

"What are they?"

Henry has been in Yuriev for the past few months. I really don’t know what benefits George and Ekaterina have prepared for them as senior executives.

“There are so many things, including white wine from the Qing Empire, rose wine from Romania, champagne from France, cigars and coffee from South America, caviar from St. Petersburg, beef and mutton from Central Asia—as well as silk from the Qing Empire, and some medicinal materials. And animal skins, you can give them to Madam to make clothes.”

The staff at the Ministry of Internal Affairs were full of envy. He also had year-end benefits, but they were not as generous.

“No St. Petersburg sunglasses?”

Henry was a little disappointed. Everything was good in the winter in Vladivostok, except that the snow was too heavy and everything was completely white. If you stay outdoors for a long time, you will really get snow blindness.

"It must be there. There are two of yours, one for you and your wife, and cosmetics from France. These are basic benefits and are not specifically marked on the list."

The staff member wore a pair of sunglasses on his face. Although Henry didn't know the official name of these sunglasses was toad glasses, he liked the style of the sunglasses very much.

(End of this chapter)