I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 512 Qingjun’s Side

Although the Russian Empire was a feudal state, its control over public opinion was relatively loose, which was one of the important reasons for the empire's unrest in recent years.

In St. Petersburg, which has a total population of only one million, there are nearly a hundred newspapers of all sizes. The circulation of many newspapers is less than a thousand copies. George doesn't know how they manage.

When Witte was in power, George reminded Witte many times to pay attention to the control of public opinion.

Witt is a person who is quite careful about his reputation. If he strengthens his control over public opinion, he will definitely be backlashed by public opinion. So although Witt has also introduced some control policies, in fact the effect is not good and there is still chaos.

After George took over as Minister of the Navy, some newspapers in St. Petersburg directed their criticism at George, believing that a cavalry admiral was not suitable to be Minister of the Navy.

Fortunately, I’m just not suitable, not unqualified.

Some newspapers also believed that the empire should follow the advice of Grand Duke Yuriev, disband the navy and concentrate on developing the army.

If the previous one was just a rational person, then cutting the Navy would be a deliberate attempt to discredit George.

George did not really say that he wanted to cut the navy, but to change the navy's function from offense to defense, so as not to fall into the arms race trap that George himself had instigated.

Because Anne was German, after Anne returned to St. Petersburg, some people lamented that German influence in St. Petersburg had been strengthened again, and some even linked Anne to Rasputin.

George can just laugh it off when someone slanders him.

George certainly couldn't tolerate anyone slandering Anne.

"What are you going to do?"

Little Nicholas was terrified, feeling that someone was going to be in trouble.

"Ah--"

George needs to keep some people's mouths shut.

If they couldn't manage it themselves, George would help them.

St. Petersburg's long-standing relaxed public opinion environment has indeed made many people complacent. After George was assassinated, some media in St. Petersburg have a new topic.

When George's convoy was retreating, it did run over people, but they were not innocent passers-by, but assassins who tried to stop the convoy's retreat.

The day after George was assassinated, the Baltic News published supplements for three consecutive days.

Baltic News is not a daily newspaper and is not published regularly. The published newspapers are not sold but given away directly.

George was very curious, where did you get the funding?

When the St. Petersburg police department targeted the Baltic Izvestia, the editor-in-chief of the Baltic Izvestia, Alexander, was preparing to attack the State Duma members.

Alexander was born into a ruined aristocratic family in St. Petersburg. His father died in the Tenth Russo-Turkish War, so Alexander was able to study at St. Petersburg University.

While at St. Petersburg University, Alexander actively participated in social activities. After graduation, he worked for the Iskra newspaper founded by the Social Democratic Labor Party.

Iskra was not published in Russia but in Germany, then moved to Britain, and then to Geneva, Switzerland in 1903, and ceased publication in 1905.

After the closure of Iskra, Alexander returned to St. Petersburg and founded the Baltic News.

The funding of the Baltic Newspaper came entirely from social donations, and most of the donations came from foreign businessmen doing business in St. Petersburg. After the Second Duma was dissolved, Alexander began to target the State Duma deputies and expressed his views on the current affairs of the empire, gaining a certain influence in the St. Petersburg publishing industry.

The Baltic News brought together a group of young people who were deeply influenced by Britain and France. They hoped to transform the Russian Empire into a democratic country like France, or at the very least imitate Britain and implement a constitutional monarchy.

The most incisive writer of Baltic News is Alexei, who once studied in France.

Alexei's latest report for the Baltic News was criticized by Alexander.

"Amusha, your writing is very good, but it is not suitable for publication."

"Why? Isn't this the truth?"

In his report, Alexei described the evacuation of George's convoy as a "shameful escape" and launched a massive attack on those who were run over by George's convoy, describing George as a "cold-blooded tyrant."

"This is true. I also believe that the actions of these damned archdukes will be punished, but not now. We are not able to withstand the revenge from these bastards yet."

"Are we just going to do nothing?"

Alexei was disappointed. He regarded Alexander as his idol, but he didn't expect his idol to be so weak.

"Of course not. Although we cannot directly expose the true face of these bastards in the newspapers, we can guide people and make them completely disappointed in this country, so that they will take the initiative to stand up against the entire ruling class. We are loyal to Russia, not the Tsar and his cronies."

Alexander knows how to guide, and his words are very inspiring.

This is the latest rhetoric launched by members of the Social Democratic Labour Party in exile.

The Social Democratic Labor Party was so powerful at the beginning, but it was completely strangled by a document from Stolypin. This fully proves that the royalist party is still powerful and there will be no good end if it confronts them head-on.

Therefore, separating the Tsar and the Empire became the Social Democratic Party’s top priority.

Russians are not stupid, on the contrary they are very smart. Their achievements in science, literature and art are enough to prove this.

All the tsars, including Nicholas, were tied to the empire. Being loyal to the empire meant being loyal to the tsar, which was impeccable.

As long as the Tsar and the empire are separated, the Tsar's "divinity" can be reduced to the lowest level, and the goal of overthrowing the Tsar can be achieved.

However, the Tsar's "divine attributes" could not be reduced without directly targeting the Tsar, so people trusted by the Tsar became the targets of the Social Democratic Labor Party, or the opposition.

The purpose of the opposition was to alienate Nicholas from his friends.

"This is too slow. I really want to take a gun to the Admiralty Building and shoot that tyrant dead!"

Alexei sighed and lamented that he couldn't even enter the Admiralty building.

"Tyrant! This is the key. Grand Duke Yuriev is too powerful and has threatened the Tsar's position and the interests of other grand dukes. We must seize this opportunity, stand on the side of the Tsar and other grand dukes, and target Grand Duke Yuriev."

Alexander has a new trick up his sleeve, thinking he has found George's weak spot.

George had no right of inheritance and could not threaten Nicholas' position unless he rebelled.

As for affecting the interests of other grand dukes, this is not something that happened today. In Kanto, George and the Grand Duke of St. Petersburg have fought many times. The final result is that the Grand Duke of St. Petersburg not only did not get involved in Kanto, but was beaten back to St. Petersburg by George, and even lost his base.

(End of this chapter)