I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 480 The meat is rotten and all in the pot

The "Articles of Contract for the Jointly Organized Eastern Provincial Railway Company" clearly stipulates that the railway property rights built by the Russian Empire in Guandong will return to the Qing Empire after 80 years from the date of opening to traffic; after 36 years, the Qing Empire has the right to pay a price to take it back, " All principal silver and debts owed by the bank shall be repaid in full with interest.”

Both the Middle East Railway and the South Manchuria Railway were opened to traffic in 1903. According to the regulations, the Qing Empire had to wait until 1939 at the earliest if it wanted to redeem them.

But this is not George's problem, because the China Eastern Railway and the South Manchuria Railway are owned by the China Eastern Railway Company, a subsidiary of Daosheng Bank, and have nothing to do with George.

What makes George sick is that Dosheng Bank, which had no performance in the Russo-Japanese War, actually started a lawsuit with George.

In the Treaty of Portsmouth, the Russian Empire transferred the South Manchuria Railway and branches, rights, coal mines, etc. to Japan free of charge.

Japan later transferred the South Manchuria Railway to George for free in the Treaty of Vladivostok, so now the South Manchuria Railway, branches, rights, coal mines, etc. are privately owned by George.

Dowson Bank now hopes that George can return the jurisdiction of the South Manchuria Railway to the China Eastern Railway Company. For this reason, Dowson Bank is willing to pay George a sum of money as compensation.

Let’s not talk about the repayment yet. Daosheng Bank is only willing to give George 100 million rubles. This price is simply an insult to George.

The Qing Empire, which attacked George at the same time as Daosheng Bank, asked George to dismantle the Anfeng Railway.

Reality dealt a heavy blow to Cotunno. Compared with the British, French, American, and German consortiums, Daosheng Bank had no advantage in the competition in the Qing Empire. It was even inferior to the Belgian consortium, and its business made almost no progress.

Last year, the Bank of Siberia issued a series of East Indies bonds in the Qing Empire, which were warmly welcomed by the market and raised more than 2.2 million rubles.

It was George's cousin Mario who was in charge of negotiating with Cotuno, the general manager of Dowson Bank.

Mario gets straight to the point.

"The Grand Duke is never stingy with his friends. If you are not satisfied with the job at Daosheng Bank, you can come to work at the Siberian Bank. Now the Siberian Bank still lacks a deputy general manager; if the Middle Eastern Railway is not transferred to the Far Eastern Railway Company, Then you know the consequences very well. The Far East Governor's Office will not be able to guarantee the smooth operation of the China-Eastern Railway."

The South Manchuria Railway connects Bingcheng and Dalini, and it is even more impossible for George to return it to Daosheng Bank.

If China Eastern Railway is forcibly bought, then Cotuno, the general manager, can return to St. Petersburg.

Therefore, it was not that the Qing Empire had no money, but that all its wealth was in private hands and the state treasury was empty.

This ruble is a gold ruble, not the paper ruble issued by Werther.

Not only did George refuse to pay it back, he also made a request to Dowson Bank, hoping that Dowson Bank could transfer the jurisdiction of the China Eastern Railway to the Far Eastern Railway Company under George's name.

"No! Never!"

The Anfeng-Feng Railway was built by Japan after the Russo-Japanese War broke out in order to more conveniently transport troops and supplies to the Kanto region. This railway is 261 kilometers long and is a narrow-gauge and convenient military railway.

This railway was not authorized by the Qing Empire, so the Qing Empire asked George to dismantle the railway and transfer jurisdiction over the land along the railway to the Qing Empire.

Mario's current military rank is major general, so his negotiations with Cotunno were full of military style.

After Cotunno came to the Far East, he was full of confidence and hoped to do something big.

During the second phase of the Russo-Japanese War, Mario served as Chief Quartermaster and was awarded the Second Class Order of St. George for his perfect performance.

Cotuno was going crazy. After compensating the South Manchuria Railway to Japan, the Eastern Railway was the only property of Daosheng Bank.

Unlike Daosheng Bank, which focused on railways, the Bank of Siberia focused its main business on attracting deposits from the Qing Empire and achieved good results.

Mario used coercion and inducement, Daosheng Bank encountered obstacles everywhere in the Qing Empire, but Siberia Bank was invincible.

The Anfeng Railway runs from Andong to Sujiatun and is connected to the railways in Korea. It plays a very important role and cannot be demolished.

"Sell it or not?"

Most of the bonds issued by the Bank of Siberia were purchased by members of the Qing royal family, which is telling.

"No, I can't do this-"

Cotunno's resistance was visibly shaken, and he was well aware of George's capabilities in the Far East.

The two ends of the China Eastern Railway, one is Vladivostok and the other is Chita, both within the jurisdiction of George.

The Treaty of Portsmouth stipulated that the railway garrison strength of Japan and the Russian Empire should not exceed 15 people per kilometer.

After Japan's defeat, although this regulation was automatically abolished and lost its binding force, Dosho Bank did not want to increase the number of railway garrison troops.

If George wants to cause trouble, it will be useless even if the number of people per kilometer is increased to 100.

George doesn’t even need to sabotage it, but by reducing the number of trains from Chita and Vladivostok to Ice City, half of the China Eastern Railway will be scrapped.

The "Articles of Contract" signed by the Russian Empire and the Qing Empire stipulates that goods transported by the Russian Empire through the Middle East Railway do not need to pay taxes. If the goods enter the Kanto region, they must pay two-thirds of the relevant taxes.

This "Charter" does not stipulate whether goods transported through the Eastern Railway need to pay taxes when entering the Russian Empire.

George is now the Governor of the Far East. If the transit tax is raised, the other half of the Eastern Railway will be abolished.

"There is a bearer account in the Siberian Bank with 10 rubles in it. If you agree, this account will be yours."

Mario continues to increase the stakes.

"That's almost it. In the Far East, no one can refuse the Grand Duke's friendship."

Mario smiled but Cotunno finally surrendered.

Mario was right, no one in the Far East could refuse the friendship of Grand Duke Yuriev. This is not because I am disloyal to Daosheng Bank, but because Grand Duke Yuriev gave me too much.

Cotuno could only console himself in this way.

The money promised by Mario would not be given immediately. Cotuno could not get the money until the China Eastern Railway deal was completed.

The Eastern Railway is not privately owned by Cotunno, and any sale of the Eastern Railway must be approved by the headquarters of the St. Petersburg-based Bank Dossons.

Cotunno took the initiative to report to St. Petersburg that the China Eastern Railway was on the verge of bankruptcy due to poor management and difficulty in making ends meet.

This is not a lie. After the opening of the China-Eastern Railway, the Russo-Japanese War broke out and the railway was expropriated by the Russian Empire without compensation. It was true that no money was made.

The purpose of the Eastern Railway is to connect Chita and Vladivostok.

But there is also the Siberian Railway between Chita and Vladivostok.

After the war, George used the Siberian Railway to resettle immigrants along the railway. There were not many trains to the Eastern Railway.

After the South Manchuria Railway was compensated to Japan, Bingcheng's role as a transportation hub in Kanto was reduced by half, and its income was reduced day by day.

George must cooperate with Kotunno, so after the Far Eastern Railway Company made a purchase request, the goods exported from Vladivostok to St. Petersburg would rather take a long detour via the Siberian Railway than via the China Eastern Railway.

As the most important asset of Dowson Bank, after receiving Cotuno's report, the Board of Directors of Dowson Bank held a meeting to discuss how to solve the profitability problem of China Eastern Railway.

It's easy to make a profit.

But no matter what method is used, it is inseparable from the cooperation of the Far East Governor's Office.

The board of directors of Dowson Bank would not listen to Cotuno's side of the story. On June 6, João Lyon, director of Dowson Bank, and General Manager Rotstein arrived in the Far East to investigate the true situation of the China-Eastern Railway.

Chita is the transfer station of the Siberian Railway in the Far East. It runs directly to Vladivostok via the China Eastern Railway to the east, and connects Vladivostok and Yuriev via Khabarovsk to the north.

The economy of the Russian Empire, which was severely damaged in the Russo-Japanese War, has not yet recovered and is increasingly dependent on Amur goods.

When Asan first sealed Amur to George, Amur still needed to transport grain from Russia and Europe to meet Amur's needs.

Now St. Petersburg needs to transfer grain from Amur to solve supply shortages and other problems caused by poor logistics.

"Oh, Russia's national conditions——"

João Leon and Rotstein smiled knowingly, the empire has its own national conditions here.

There was no shortage of food in the Russian Empire. Even if it was affected to some extent by the Russo-Japanese War, the Russian Empire was still the country with the highest food production in the world.

Don't doubt it, it's true.

Stolypin's land reform will further increase the Russian Empire's food production.

At the end of Stolypin's reign, the Russian Empire's grain production was equivalent to the grain production of Argentina, Canada, and the United States combined.

Argentina during this period was a standard developed country.

Although the grain output of the Russian Empire is high, the heavy logistics costs prevent the food from the rural areas of the Russian Empire from being transported to the cities in a timely manner.

This is why Amur wants to transport grain to St. Petersburg.

In addition to food, St. Petersburg is also increasingly dependent on various Amur industrial products.

There's nothing we can do about it.

They are also Yuriev rifles, rifles produced by the Amur Arsenal. After being delivered to St. Petersburg, including shipping costs, the price is actually lower than that of the three major empires. This cannot be explained by logic.

While the key price is low, the rifles produced by Amul have better accuracy and are more durable.

Moreover, the bayonet equipped with the Amur rifle is not the traditional four-edged bayonet of the empire, but a more advanced dagger-type bayonet.

Alexei should be grateful for Nikolai's decision not to rebuild the navy.

Otherwise, I am afraid that all naval guns will have to be purchased from Amur.

At present, only Amur in the Russian Empire can produce 330 mm caliber 40 times caliber battleship main guns.

"So, why isn't this food sent to St. Petersburg via the China-Eastern Railway?"

Rotstein asked the most crucial question.

"Because Amur's goods pass through the Siberian Railway, no other charges will be incurred——"

Cotuno shrugged and spread his hands. If he were George, he would not take the Eastern Railway.

Amur goods passing through the Middle East Railway did not need to pay taxes to the Qing Empire.

But you have to pay taxes to the China Eastern Railway Company.

If you take the Siberian Railway, even if you incur expenses, the meat will rot in the pot.

(End of this chapter)