I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 491 seems to have changed, but seems not to have changed
The deputies who were arrested after the Second State Duma was dissolved were sent to Siberia, not Amur. George is determined not to bear the blame.

The people who detonated the bomb at Stolypin's banquet were members of the Social Democratic Labor Party. Although the Mensheviks insisted that the assassins were not sent by them and could not offend the entire Social Democratic Labor Party, Stolypin still killed them all without giving the Social Democratic Labor Party any chance.

This is not over yet.

Stolypin has been in power for less than a year and has been assassinated three times. This fully proves that it is not just the Social Democratic Labor Party who wants Stolypin dead.

There are many people in St. Petersburg who want to kill George, so when George returns to St. Petersburg this time, he will definitely go on a killing spree.

George's new home is about 5 kilometers away from the Hermitage, with the Baltic Sea in front, not only a beautiful beach, but also a private pier.

Little Nicholas sent George home before leaving. Nicholas prepared a dinner for George at the Winter Palace in the evening, and they would meet in the evening.

Nicholas missed George so much that he couldn't wait until the evening.

Before George had changed his clothes, Nicholas came directly to him.

After not seeing each other for several years, Nikolai's hair became thinner and his beard became thicker. When he smiled, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes and the tears in his eyes were obvious.

Nicholas's voice was trembling, and his arms hugged George hard.

"Really?"

Kuropatkin wanted to accumulate enough strength to deliver a fatal blow to the Japanese army.

If Kuropatkin was more active, the Russian army could also win, and George would have no chance to take over.

"Tell me, how did you fight the Japanese?"

George didn't believe it.

In the first stage of the Russo-Japanese War, Alexeyev and Kuropatkin were both fighting like that, but Nikolay still didn't replace them.

"I hope military reform will be as simple for you."

"What about changing to the Lord of the Admiralty -"

"It's absolutely true!"

"I give you all the power, you can do whatever you want!"

George's strategy was to capture Goryeo and cut off the connection between the Japanese army in Kwantung and the Japanese mainland. The Japanese army in Kwantung would collapse without attacking.

Nicola is full of expectations for George, hoping that George can give Nicola another surprise.

George really didn’t mean to laugh at Nicholas, but these words sounded particularly Versailles to Nicholas.

Nikolay employs people without question.

"Just push it flatly, it's very simple -"

When George didn't want to work, someone was chirping next to him.

Nicholas was determined.

"George, you are finally back!"

Nicholas has clearly understood the process of the Russo-Japanese War from the battle report, but the battle report is definitely not as detailed as George's personal account.

Looking at the strategy, George, like Kuropatkin, is on defense.

George's takeover of the Russo-Japanese War was a remarkable comeback.

Looking at the battle report, George did indeed do nothing. The United Fleet was annihilated by the Siberian fleet, and Korea was recovered by the Korean army. George has been in Siping and has not gone to Korea at all.

Even when the Japanese army in Kwantung was annihilated, George only counterattacked after the Japanese army collapsed.

St. Petersburg and Amur are two heavens of ice and fire.

It took a while for Nicholas to calm down. He slumped down on the chair in a very imageless posture, like a bow that had collapsed for a long time and finally relaxed.

George felt like he was a kid again, bragging and spanking with Nicholas.

This is not a matter of trust in employing people, it is simply stubbornness.

"Yes, many things are simple for you -"

George was still the same George, and he successfully silenced Nicholas with just one sentence.

Uncle Nikolai died after falling off his horse in his early years, Vladimir retired, Sergei was assassinated, and after the death of Paul’s wife Princess Alexandra, he hooked up with a married businesswoman, who later divorced and married Paul. As a result, he was expelled from St. Petersburg and lived with his wife in Livorno, Italy.

In the eyes of the staff, preparations were never adequate. Unless all the forces of the Russian Empire were drawn to the Far East, an overwhelming advantage could be achieved over the Japanese.

This is the difference between a staff officer and a general.

Nikolai has all the good cards but all the bad ones.

"It depends on how much power you can give me."

Nikolai has many shortcomings, and employing care is also a shortcoming in Nikolai.

Nicholas was full of emotions, people are indeed different.

George is not demanding, hoping that Nikolai can trust him as much as he trusts Alexeyev and Kurupatkin.

George clearly felt that Nicholas' body was thinner than before.

The difference is that George defended it and Kuropatkin did not.

"It's the same for everyone, except that some people always complicate simple things."

In order to cover up the scandal in the royal family, Nicholas pinched his nose and made Paul's wife a countess.

Nikolai's only remaining uncle was Alexey.

George is half.

This is the fundamental reason why the empire has to allocate funds to rebuild the navy despite extreme financial difficulties.

Although the cost of self-building four fully heavy artillery battleships is low, it still costs 100 million rubles.

Military reform also requires funding.

George still doesn’t know how much funding Nicholas has prepared for him. One of these four all-heavy artillery battleships will be built at the Vladivostok Shipyard.

This damn benefit is shared.

George didn't know whether to be happy or angry.

Alexey received the grant and did not eat alone. Alexey gave George the money he should have earned.

It would be somewhat unreasonable for George to attack Alexei as soon as he came back.

"The Navy is also within the scope of military reform——"

Nikolai explained the reason for Alexei's generous move.

George understood that the empire had its own national conditions.

Nicholas would indeed not be at ease with such an important position as Lord of the Navy if it were replaced by someone else.

Then try to limit the power of the Admiralty through military reforms.

But this raises a more serious problem.

George is now the most powerful feudal official in the empire. After Sergei's assassination, George is the only grand duke who is the governor and commander of a military region in the empire.

The purpose of military reforms was to strengthen the power of St. Petersburg and weaken the local areas.

But in this way, George would be cutting himself on the head.

Nicholas still trusts George and has already considered this issue.

"The situation in the Far East is special and is not within the scope of military reform."

George was speechless.

George not only wanted to weaken the power of local military district commanders, but also wanted to weaken the power of Nikolay and Alexei.

George was very grateful to Nicholas for taking care of George.

But if the military reform does not involve the Far East, what will the commanders of various military regions, Alexei, and Nicholas Jr. think?
Oh, everyone is part of the empire, but you, the Far East Military Region, are special.

Uncle Huang is just different.

The assassins liked to attack the emperor's uncle.

Compared with George, Alexey is a real royal uncle.

"No, the Far East Military Region is also within the scope of military reform."

George had no choice. As long as Nicholas could be like Ya San, George would not attack him.

Niyi committed suicide after defeat, which is rare in the world.

Ya Er was ordered to take action in the face of danger, and succeeded in revenge. It was another version of the Russian Empire's desperate attempt to endure hardships.

During Yasan's tenure, the empire was in trouble both internally and externally. Although Yasan was not as tough as Nigeria 1 and 2, the image of the tsar in the minds of the Russians did not change.

By the time Nicholas arrived, the foundations of the empire had begun to shake.

Therefore, Stolypin's reforms were limited to agriculture.

The same goes for George. He can only repair, but cannot tear down and start over.

If you want to overthrow it and start over, you have to do what Emperor Ye did and take action on the royal family first.

George had just tested Nikolai's bottom line through Alexei.

The status of the Military Council is above that of the Secretary of War and the Secretary of the Navy.

Nicholas trusted the most members of the royal family, so there were only three people on the committee, George, Alexei, and Nicholas Jr.

George did not find Alexey and Little Nikolay, but went to Stolypin first.

In the evening, Nicholas prepared a grand welcome dinner for George at the Winter Palace.

George had not attended a palace banquet for a long time.

Asan's living habits were considered simple among the czars, so when Asan was the czar, banquets were rarely held in Gatchina Palace, and even if they were, it was not an exaggeration.

George also often held banquets at Yuriev Palace, which were attended by many people, very lively, and the standards were not low.

The banquet at the Winter Palace opened George's eyes.

When Ya San was alive, the costumes of the Winter Palace guards and attendants were relatively simple, in line with Ya San's habits.

After Nicholas ascended the throne, the costumes of the guards and attendants gradually became more ornate. The costumes of the guards changed from relatively simple military uniforms to traditional armor, and the costumes of the attendants also changed from white velvet skirts to red velvet skirts with trains.

The invited guests set off early and arrived at the Winter Palace by sleigh. The marble floor could reflect the silhouette of people. The cloakroom was decorated with sparkling crystal stones. On both sides of the corridor were two rows of armored guards with swords on their waists. If not on their heads, The electric light made George feel as if he had returned to the 18th century.

George came to the Winter Palace early and first chatted with Stolypin.

When George was building the Trans-Siberian Railway, he dealt with Stolypin, who was serving in the Ministry of Interior at the time. At that time, Stolypin had already demonstrated outstanding work abilities.

During the Russo-Japanese War, Stolypin officially entered the center of imperial power with his tough tactics against strikes.

Stolypin has great expectations for George's military reform.

The core of the military reform is not how many troops to retain or how many tanks and artillery to add, but how to place as many as 100,000 veterans every year.

After the Russo-Japanese War, St. Petersburg saw a major disarmament, and the empire now has about 70 regular troops.

Milyutin's restructuring reduced the service time of Russian soldiers from 25 years to 9 years, and later to 7 years.

In George's opinion, 7 years is still too long. George hopes to reduce the service time of soldiers from 7 years to 3 years.

In 7 years, about 10 soldiers will retire every year.

If it is changed to three years, more than 3 people will retire every year. If these retired soldiers are not properly resettled, the problems will be more serious.

(End of this chapter)