I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1158 The Tsar's New Deal

After Paul I came to power, the quality of life for Russian nobles began to decline sharply. Military officers were particularly hard hit, facing increased taxes while their incomes decreased significantly.

Just like the army that went on this expedition to India, because the officers could not embezzle military pay, they could only reduce the amount of logistical supplies purchased, the bulk of which was oats prepared for the warhorses.

After all, horses don't have guns, so no matter how hungry they are, they won't mutiny.

This supply shortage caused a mass die-off of the already weakened horses.

The Bakhoff Army is currently more than 40 kilometers from the Afghan border, and nearly 9,000 of its 15,000 horses have died.

The following morning, good news finally arrived in General Bakhov's tent, carried by the cold desert wind.

A major, his face and head covered in sand, reported to him: “Commander, we have brought water and flatbread.”

Bakhov rushed to the tent entrance and kicked him to the ground, yelling, "Damn it, these things should have arrived four days ago! I'll have the military police investigate how much you drank in Bukhara!"

The officer struggled to his feet, spat out the sand in his mouth, and loudly protested, "You've got it wrong, we came from Guryev!"

He pulled out his officer's badge and shook it vigorously: "Guriev Infantry Battalion! We met your communications officer and learned that supplies were cut off here, so we went to Mashhad to get this food."

Guryev is the southernmost city in Russia. On the orders of the Tsar, 1 infantrymen were transferred to join the Bakhov Army.

“Major Mitchkov?” Bakhov looked at the name on the badge and nodded awkwardly. “Uh, thank you for your trouble. Sorry! I mistook you for someone from the Bukhara Supply Regiment; they're four days late…”

Michkov shook the sand off his clothes and casually remarked, "We encountered a camel caravan yesterday. The people there said that bandits have been raiding the southern Karakum Desert lately. Could the supply corps have been slowed down by them?"

"Bandits?" Bakhoff sneered dismissively. "How dare those little rats rob an army?"

He had barely finished speaking when he saw Cossack cavalrymen rushing towards him in a panic, shouting in hoarse voices, "General, the supply convoy from Bukhara has been attacked! We've found a large number of wagon wrecks near Sherakhs..."

Bakhov was stunned.

His supply train had at least 400 Russian soldiers and more than 1500 Bukhara laborers. What kind of bandit gang could have robbed them of everything?
He could never have guessed that the troops that attacked the logistics convoy were sent by the Persian Shah, who had recently allied with Russia.

Because the Persians were fully aware of the Russian army's movements, these soldiers disguised as bandits were able to hide in advance on the Afghan border. They emerged at the most difficult moment for Bakhov's army as they crossed the desert, delivering a fatal blow to them.

If Mitchkov hadn't brought some supplies, most of Bakhov's men would have died of thirst in the southern Karakum Desert.

Yes, Fatah Ali Shah had already reached a secret agreement with the British government five months ago.

The British provided Persia with two thousand flintlock muskets and tens of thousands of pounds in aid, in return for a renewed offensive against Georgia—the capture of the South Caucasus had been the dream of countless Persian rulers, and British support only accelerated this process.

As for the attack on Bakhov's army, it was merely an added bonus by Alisha. Weakening Russia even slightly would lessen the pressure they would face in Georgia later.

In the shadow of a sand dune, Lieutenant Colonel Malaviev carefully swallowed his water as if savoring fine wine, while his attendant handed him a flatbread wrapped with cured meat.

The lieutenant colonel held up a large flatbread to Mitchkov and said, “Thank God for sending you. This bag of water contains more water than I’ve drunk in the past two days. You must come to Pokrovsk after the war is over, and I’ll treat you to the best vodka.”

“Then I’ll definitely go.” Mitchkov took a bite of his biscuit, then suddenly remembered something. “Your home is in Pokrovsk?”

“Ah, that’s right. I have an estate in Sanedik, filled with wheat and sunflowers…”

Mitchkov hesitated for a moment, then leaned closer and said, "Um... before I left, I heard that there was a serf rebellion in Pokrovsk. I hope your family wasn't affected."

Malawiev paused for a few seconds, then suddenly raised his whip and lashed it across the sand dune: "Damn it! These lowly creatures. When I get back, I'll whip them all to death!"

“Ahem,” Michkov coughed lightly, reminding him, “You can’t kill serfs now.”

Malawiev became even more enraged, wildly whipping his riding crop in the air: "Damn it! Damn it!"

According to Paul I's latest decree, nobles are not allowed to mistreat serfs or kill them; violators will have their land confiscated.

After the lieutenant colonel had vented his anger, he looked at Mitchkov again and asked, "By the way, why were those 'inhumans' causing trouble? Did the army go to suppress them?"

"Inhuman" was a derogatory term used by nobles to refer to serfs.

Major Mitchkov said, "It seems to be related to His Majesty the Emperor's 'Three-Day Labor Declaration'."

"As you know, everyone has to pay local administrative taxes now, and there's no extra money to hire people. Are we supposed to do things like carrying water and collecting cow dung ourselves?"
"As for those crops, they were never easy to manage to grow, and now they have to squeeze out time for the serfs to take care of their own land first!"
"Then some foolish liberals started doing some kind of 'overseeing the enforcement of laws' in the village. Those scoundrels thought they had someone backing them up, and they started causing trouble. I heard that two or three hundred people have died..."

As soon as he finished speaking, he noticed the lieutenant colonel's expression was off, and quickly added loudly, "However, the governor has already dispatched troops, and has also borrowed the Shebryakov Legion from Uralsk. The riots have most likely been quelled by now."

The so-called "Three-Day Labor Declaration" is a typical example of Paul I's many hastily made decrees.

The content stipulated that Russian landowners could only have serfs work for them for 4 days a week, and not on Sundays; the other 3 days were to be arranged by the serfs themselves.

This was a masterpiece he conceived when he was crown prince—it could alleviate the burden on serfs without having to divide up the land of nobles like in France; it was simply perfect!
He simply didn't consider that before the "cake" of Russia grew bigger, you would have to cut a piece off the plate of the nobility, and you wouldn't set up a strong department to supervise and implement it.

Which nobles would heed such a rule?
The serfs saw hope but could not realize it, and they would erupt if someone incited them.

In fact, after the issuance of Paul I's Three-Day Declaration, the number of serf uprisings in Russia increased dramatically from a dozen or so per year to more than sixty.

(End of this chapter)