The Russians, or the Russian magnates, have a long history of corruption, and as early as the time of Ivan I, the "money bag Ivan" advocated that the Rus' nobles embezzle the Mongol taxes for personal gain.

On the other hand, there is the problem of the doctrine of the Orthodox Church itself, after the Orthodox Church entered Russia in the ninth century, the theology of the Orthodox Church rarely involves the content of human nature, unlike Catholicism or Protestantism, which emphasizes the theory of atonement.

From the perspective of the tsar's maintenance of his own rule, between the nobles being corrupt and the nobles making themselves against their own lives, of course, the nobles were chosen to be corrupt, after all, only the nobles in history took the lives of the tsars, and there was never a serf who killed the tsar......

Therefore, in the eyes of General Shuvalov, it became natural to seek personal benefits while obtaining benefits for the country.

The old prime minister had long been accustomed to the greed of the Russians, and Crown Prince Frederick was well aware of the faces of his relatives and nobles. Although Joey has some political habits, he also understands that the Russians of this era and the Russians he met in his previous life are essentially a family, and corruption is the most normal thing in Russian history, and it is inevitable that no matter that Russian era.

A Russia that is always greedy and corrupt is a good Russia, so since the Russians dare to ask for it, all three of them agree to give, so on the issue of giving, the three of them have the same opinion.

But on the question of how to give and what to give, on the night before the banquet of the Imperial Palace, in the study of Crown Prince Frederick, Joy and Prime Minister Bismarck, there was a difference of opinion between the two.

"Your Royal Highness, since the Russians are willing to accept our proposal on the Far East, we will put the plan of eastward expansion of the Qing Kingdom on hold and give priority to the overseas hegemony with the British, and we are willing to cooperate with the Reich on the issue of claims against the Qing at a later date, and let the Qing people spend this money in Germany, as Joy suggested at the beginning of the month. As has been the case, we need to pay a 5% commission to the client. ”

Since the night talk in early June, the old prime minister is now often going back and forth between Schlenberg and the Imperial Palace, and Joey is no longer called His Royal Highness Prince Waldemar, but is familiar with the crown prince and directly calls Joey.

"Since I agreed to pay the Russians commissions, I suggest that they should be transferred directly to him, as has been customary." The old prime minister suggested that the money be paid to General Shuvalov through the bank, as was customary in the past, to send money to the Russians.

"My lord, I don't recommend paying the money directly to General Shuvalov." Joy objected, "Bribing officials, even bribing officials from other countries, if it gets out, it will be an immoral thing, and seriously, it will be a scandal." ”

"Secondly, the Russians have a problem with the Qing people's offer. Russia demanded that the Qing cede land west of the Ili Khorgos River, the Turks River basin, and the east of Lake Zaisan in the Tarbagatai region. It seems to me that the Russians have too much appetite for the land, and I am afraid that the Qing people will not want to. ”

"In the end, the Russians demanded that the Qing pay compensation for the military expenses and pensions of 5 million rubles, about 1,120,000 gold marks, which is too small according to the size of the Qing state, and is not in our interests."

"Based on my understanding of the Qing people, on the two issues of land and money, the Qing people care more about land than about money." Joy looked at his father and the old prime minister, and said seriously, "My suggestion is that I hope that the Russians' land will be halved, but the compensation will be doubled." ”

"Of course, in order to get the most out of the Qing state, the greater and tougher the appetite of the Russians, in order to show the weight of the empire in mediating the conflict between the Qing and Russia, and we help the Qing to fight for less compensation, the more money the empire will demand from the Qing state. Of course, as long as General Shuvalov fully cooperates, the rebate ratio we give can also be appropriately increased. ”

"Qiaoqiao, although your idea is good, it is all based on the fact that the Qing State is willing for us to intervene in the Qing-Russia conflict, if the Qing State is unwilling." Crown Prince Frederick looked at Joey, who was a little proud, and couldn't help but remind.

"Father, one of the favorite words of the Qing people is that what can be solved with money will not be a big deal. Land and money, they must choose land. Joey replied confidently according to the opinion of his previous life.

Crown Prince Frederick and Lao Zai glanced at each other, knowing that the robbery in the Qing-Russian contradiction was a part of Joey's plan in German-Russian diplomatic relations, and he needed to show with an attitude that while the Germans were planning South American colonies for the Russians, they also had their own important interests.

It is true that Russians are greedy and corrupt, but that does not mean that Russians are stupid.

In Joey's South Pacific plan, starting from the purchase of Russian industrial products, to agreeing to act together to cheat France out of money, to promoting Russian-French contacts to fight against Britain, all this is taken advantage of by the Russians, if Germany does not ask the Russians for any benefits.....

Let's put it this way, any time a country's diplomacy wholeheartedly seeks the welfare of other countries, and does not benefit itself at all, it is either a trap with evil intentions, or it is pure diplomatic stupidity.

In the time of Bismarck, there was no diplomatic situation in the German Empire, and there was no diplomatic situation in which it was wholeheartedly engaged in the welfare of other countries.

In state-to-state diplomacy where interests are paramount, if the Germans do not mention any benefits, no matter how pro-German and capable General Shuvalov is, all this planned by the Germans will fall into the eyes of Alexander II, who is very capable of the old man, and he can only acquiesce in the Germans' ill intentions towards Russia.

The plans of the Germans, who do not seek the interests of their own country and think about Russia everywhere, Alexander II could not accept in any way.

Therefore, the exchange of interests proposed by Germany to Russia is in East Asian affairs, and Germany should be the mediator in the Russian-Qing conflict, and it must clearly tell the Russians that the Germans have taken a fancy to the Qing reparations to Russia, and the Qing land can be returned to Russia, but the Qing reparations must be taken away by the Germans.

It turns out that greedy people like greedy ideas, and Alexander II, after receiving the request of the Germans sent back by General Shuvalov, was greatly relieved in the face of this greedy idea.

In the opinion of Alexander II, the Qing Kingdom was very large and delicious, but on the issue of food, there are now deep contradictions between Russia and Britain. If the Germans were willing to intervene in the affairs of the Qing Dynasty, the result would only be to muddy the waters of East Asia and give the British one more spoiler in East Asia. The more chaos in East Asia is for the Russians, the more favorable it is for the Russians, so the Germans are willing to come in and stir up trouble, which is also in line with the old tsar's wishes.

In terms of land and money, the Russians actually like it, but if the Russians are forced to give up one point to save the other, then the Russians, who now have 2 billion francs in their hands, will no longer do the stupid thing of selling Alaska for money, so land is the priority of the Russians, and as for the small amount of 5 million rubles, it can be used as a reward for the Germans' plans for Russia's diplomatic undertakings and give them to the Germans.

This is the good thing that General Shuvalov has done while seeking the interests of the country, and at the same time confidently and boldly asking for personal benefits.

"Finally, based on my previous observations, my suggestion on how to give and what to give is to give commissions in a more subtle way."

"Joey, what's the more covert way?" The old prime minister couldn't help but ask.

"My lord, I can recommend several ways, for example, inviting General Shuvalov's children to study in Germany, my mother's foundation can provide a full scholarship for General Shuvalov's children, and I can also buy a house for General Shuvalov in the Wannsee area on the Havre River, so that General Shuvalov's wife can live in Germany in order to take care of her children."

"For example, if we invite General Shuvalov and his close female friends to travel around Germany, the costs of hotels, meals, shopping, etc., will be paid for by a German company with an interest."

"For example, we can hold an art auction with General Shuvalov or someone he arranged, and my mother's foundation or related German companies will come forward to collect General Shuvalov's collection at a high price."

"For example, we can organize a political, economic or military forum and invite General Shuvalov to the conference and give a speech at a high appearance fee."

"For example, we funded the publication of books such as memoirs, biographies, quotes from famous people, and we paid a lot of money for the authorship."

"Even in the worst-case scenario, if we really have to pay money, we can only send it to General Shuvalov's deposit account in Germany, not to his account in Moscow. The reason is that behind every gold mark is gold, and the outflow of a gram of gold is a disservice to the empire's economy. ”

Joey looked around at his stunned father and the old prime minister by his own tricks of bribery, and continued, "As for the excuse, it is very simple, tell General Shuvalov that the return of this money to Russia will damage his political reputation for incorruptibility, and that only in Germany will his Russian compatriots know that he is actually a multi-millionaire." ”

After listening to what Joey said and the commercial bribery methods that Joey was familiar with in his previous life, Crown Prince Frederick turned to the old prime minister and said, "Your Royal Highness, I propose that the government set up a commercial crime investigation agency to deal with the bribery tricks that Joey just mentioned. ”

"These things must not be allowed to corrode the bureaucracy of the Empire. The things Joey was talking about, even if they were to be overflowing, would have devastating consequences for the country. Your Royal Highness, we must have zero tolerance when it comes to corruption! Joey, your mind is horrible! In the end, Crown Prince Frederick couldn't help but complain.

"Ah...."Joey really didn't expect that the fire he lit would finally burn on himself, looking at his father and the old prime minister with a serious face, he couldn't help but explain, "Father, my lord, these commercial bribery methods are indeed wrong, but my original intention when I say this is to leave the kickbacks to General Shuvalov in the empire." ”

"To buy a house for General Shuvalov in Wannsee, in the end the money still fell into the hands of the imperial builders, and the support for the maintenance and maintenance of the house was also paid to the Germans, as for the issuance of scholarships to study abroad, you also understand the real purpose, to invite General Shuvalov and his lover to visit Germany, in the end, the money still fell into the hands of the imperial service industry."

"The only thing that seems to be losing money is the purchase of collectibles and the payment of remuneration, but as long as General Shuvalov's account is opened in Germany, then the money is still controlled by German banks, and now Mr. Merck's new banking law is about to be introduced, and after the decree comes into effect, foreign remittances will be controlled."

"If General Shuvalov really needs to be given up by the Reich, as long as he uses some means to prove that the money is coming from the wrong source, and let the prosecutors apply for an injunction from the court, I think the money will eventually remain in Germany." Joey explained anxiously.

Joey's method is not uncommon in the powerful countries of his previous life, especially in the application of superpowers, these powerful countries have adopted a zero-tolerance attitude towards corruption in their own countries, but they have all kinds of shelter for foreign embezzlers who have deposited money in their own countries, and the root cause is nothing more than that they spend the money on their own countries, and as long as the money is spent legally, the powerful countries do not care where the money comes from.

If it is proved that the source of the money violates the laws of the country and that there is money laundering, it is only necessary to confiscate a court document and return it to the national treasury. If the relevant countries want to recover, they should first discuss the distribution ratio of the stolen money. In short, there are ways to make money inside and out, and if Joey doesn't treat a moth like General Shuvalov in this way, he is really sorry for the experience of his previous life.

Looking at the cunning Joey, the old prime minister felt a toothache, took a breath of cold air, looked at the crown prince who also had a toothache, the two exchanged glances, and could only acquiesce that Joey's method was very cunning, while giving people money, he didn't forget to dig holes for people.