Struggle in Russia

Before I knew it, the ninth Russo-Turkish War had been going on for more than half a year. Nicholas I's vision of resolving the war in the first few months was ruthlessly shattered.

Now let alone a few months, I'm afraid it will take twice as long. This is undoubtedly a heavy burden on Russia's fragile economy.

As the most backward power in Europe, Russia's industrial capabilities are completely worth mentioning. Even in fifty years, Russia's industrial capabilities can only be described as scum. That’s why at the beginning of the 20th century, we were pinned to the ground and rubbed by another weaker power until our noses and faces were swollen.

Russia really looked like a powerful country when it had a loving father of steel. Without this loving father, there would indeed be no Soviet Union that was in full swing, and it would be impossible to fight against the entire Western world on its own for decades.

It's just that obviously not everyone in Russia realizes the value of a loving father, and not everyone realizes the value of comprehensive industrialization. No matter before or after, Russia resisted industrialization in a very ridiculous way, trying to focus exclusively on farming.

To put it simply, as the country with the largest land area in the world, the Russians do have unique advantages in farming. If they take advantage of it, they may not be inferior to beautiful animals.

It's just that the Russians' method of utilization is too unique. For example, in this era, they tried every means to exploit serfs. Nobles from all walks of life were happy to be comfortable serf owners.

The benefits of this approach are indeed high, mainly because the cost is low. You don’t have to think about anything at all and you can make money just by lying down.

But there is also a problem, because it is so easy to make money, it is easy for people to become discouraged and just want to be a serf owner forever. Moreover, this kind of risk-free business is far less troublesome and labor-intensive than running a factory. Naturally, no one is willing to set up a factory.

Developed agriculture has the benefits of developed agriculture, but Russia’s agriculture is far from developed. It can only be said that agriculture accounts for a high proportion of the national economy and there are many people engaged in agriculture, but the efficiency is really not very high.

Especially after the major capitalist powers completed industrialization, but after agriculture increasingly required agricultural machinery and chemical fertilizers, even the lowest cost of using serfs could no longer keep up.

Moreover, agricultural countries currently have a natural disadvantage over industrial countries, that is, once they are blocked, they will really be blinded.

Of course Türkiye cannot block Russia, but Britain can. I think back then, if Napoleon was good enough, it wasn’t because the British had blocked us so much that we couldn’t take care of ourselves.

For a backward country like Russia that needs to export agricultural products in exchange for industrial products, it will be really miserable once it is blocked. Especially since they have to maintain a cruel war. If they can't purchase scarce supplies from abroad, it will really kill them!

In fact, the war had only been going on for more than half a year, and many places in Russia had already begun to become unstable. The serf uprising, the national liberation struggle in Poland, and all the messy things came together, making Nicholas I very anxious.

"The British army has begun to invade the Far East, which is likely to have a major impact on our country's control in the Far East. Gentlemen, can you tell us how to solve this problem?"

glutinous rice

In fact, the ministers participating in the Imperial Council were not particularly concerned about the issues in the Far East. To most Russian aristocrats, the barren lands in the Far East were worthless and had no use at all except for the exile of those pesky liberals.

So what if it was snatched away by the British? It won't cost them a dime.

To be honest, they are more concerned about how to end the war decently than the instability in the Far East. This war has had a major impact on their lives, and as Britain and France continued to increase their troops, almost no one except Nicholas I believed that Russia could win this war.

"Your Majesty, we really have to guard against this," Old Adlerberg was the first to speak for the first time. "In view of the fact that we are currently dealing with Britain, France and Turkey with all our strength, and there is no extra force to provide support to the Far East. Once Britain and France invade in full, In the Far East of our country, we may not be able to defend it because of the lack of troops there!"

Nicholas I just looked at old Adlerberg, because he knew all these truths. What he wanted to do when raising this issue was a solution, rather than letting his ministers continue to increase his worries.

Fortunately, old Adlerberg also understood this truth, and he immediately gave his own solution: "I heard that the United States is interested in Alaska. It is a completely uncivilized and barren land for us, and we We don’t have enough troops to garrison it, so we might as well sell Alaska to the Americans and earn money to ease our urgent financial pressure.”

Naturally, this method was not thought up by old Adlerberg. He just expressed the wishes of many people. Anyway, if Alaska is deserted, it is still deserted. It is better to sell it for money. Even if the money is a little small, mosquito meat is still meat. It can alleviate the financial pressure to some extent and allow Nicholas I to collect less war taxes!

As soon as old Adlerberg finished speaking, Count Uvarov and other nobles immediately began to agree. Conservative forces like them live their lives guarding the land. The tax imposed by Nicholas I had already caused them a lot of pain. They don't know how long this war will last. Maybe the second and third rounds of war are already on the way.

We must quickly find a way to help the tsar get some money. The key is to reduce taxes for him!

It’s just that those who agreed were naturally opposed to it. The first one to oppose was Alexander I. This is easy to understand. His opposition actually represented Nicholas I. For the Russian tsar, ceding territory was simply cutting off their flesh. .

The land they had spent so much money to get back was sold for just three melons and two dates, and they would never accept it!

That is to say, the finances are really tight now and there are really not that many troops to defend such a large land. Otherwise, the first person to jump out to oppose would be Nicholas I himself.

"For such a small amount of money, we were asked to cede the entire Alaska. This is a blatant humiliation to us. Although Russia is large, not an inch is redundant! I firmly oppose the selling of land!"

The reaction of everyone was actually a bit embarrassing, not because they were embarrassed but because it embarrassed Nicholas I and Crown Prince Alexander. Because everyone had almost no reaction to these words, not even symbolic shame.

It's obvious that everyone has seen through Nicholas I's trick. The face-conscious Tsar deliberately asked Crown Prince Alexander to come forward to oppose him just to maintain his face and dignity...