"Your Highness, there is one more thing for you to decide..."

That afternoon, Deputy Prime Minister Volyntsov was making a separate report to Peter, when suddenly there was something unspeakable.

"Oh? What's going on? It's hard to do, isn't it? ”

Peter asked suspiciously, seeing the twinkle in his eyes.

"Oh no, no, it's not that hard, it's just... A bit of a small hassle, not a big deal"

"It's okay, let's talk about it, what kind of troublesome thing is it, even the duke, you don't think it's easy to handle?"

"Oh, that's it, Your Highness, didn't East Prussia take more than 10,000 prisoners, that... It's these captives, it's not easy to deal with, and every day to eat, drink, and live, including the guards and managers, it all adds up to a lot of money..."

These captives naturally referred to the Prussian soldiers under Lyvald, and Volyntsov was embarrassed to mention them for Peter's sake.

"Hey, there are a lot of people, it's hard to keep and let go, right?"

Peter nodded thoughtfully.

Oh Nima, oh, it would be nice if there were a collective labor camp in this era, so let me go down to the mine to dig stones, move bricks and cut down trees!

"So, Duke, what do you mean to do with this group of people?"

Peter did not directly mention his thoughts, but asked Volyntsov rhetorically.

"Well, there is now a lot of resistance in the front-line army to officers from the German region, and they are not directly incorporated as before. If we have good food, good drink, and good shelter, our soldiers will not be too happy, but if we treat them completely as prisoners of war, we will not be very good morally and in terms of reputation among the royal families and nobles of various countries..."

"Oh, I see, it's so troublesome..."

Peter understood that Volyntsov was deliberately currying favor with him, fearing that he would offend Frederick the Great of Prussia for his mistreatment of Prussian prisoners of war.

"Hehe, if not, all the captured noble officers will be brought to St. Petersburg, and they will be fed, drunk, and housed, of course, under supervision, but it should be noted that at the right time we can show the ministers of various countries the demeanor of our Great Russian Empire. Of the remaining captives, literate civilian officers remained in East Prussia to participate in policing and assisting in administration. As for the former East Prussian officials, those who could extort money stayed there, and those who did not have money settled in Karelia or Arkhangelsk and the like. These men were removed, and all the other captives were used to build bridges, roads, dig stones, and cut down trees, preferably to build a road from St. Petersburg to East Prussia before it snowed

Speaking of this, Peter suddenly laughed weirdly.

"Build roads... Your Highness, it's going to snow heavily, and I'm afraid it's too late to build the road now, right? Although the prisoners were enough, there were not so many materials and tools needed for construction in East Prussia? ”

Volyntsov said worriedly.

"Isn't it yet October, so let's set up camp with the captives, and at the same time tell the sappers to hurry up and find the most suitable route to build. As for the tools and materials, it would be nice to transport them directly from St. Petersburg, anyway, now that the entire Prussian coast is blocked by the Baltic Fleet, how long do you want to wait if you don't take advantage of the freezing time to transport supplies and supplies? ”

"Oh - I see"

Volyntsov's eyelids jumped slightly, but he immediately agreed.

"By the way, I attach great importance to this road, it is not the kind of dirt road where the trees are cut down and the grass is pulled out, but you have to dig three feet into the ground, first lay a large stone, first a layer of fine soil, then a layer of small stones, a layer of fine soil, then a layer of gravel, a layer of soot, then water with mud, and then lay a wooden plank to prevent uneven places, and then use a stone grinder to press it flat after it is almost solidified, and walking on it is the same as flat ground. Hey, it's best to dig a wooden stake every foot on both sides of the road for reinforcement, and the middle of the road is high and the sides are low for drainage. In addition, the road width had to be enough to drive two wagons and four adults side by side, so that it would be easy for the army to walk. Well, that's it, almost"

Peter said, knocking on the table.

"Your Highness, according to what you said, the amount of work is not small..."

Volyntsov began to sweat on his forehead.

"It's okay, fix it first, and we'll see when the time comes. In addition, quickly order the sappers to plan the route first, and when it is really urgent, those prisoners will have to be responsible for clearing the snow. You can't stop East Prussia and Russia from next to each other in winter, right? ”

"Uh, well, I see what His Highness means"

"Ah, that's good"

Volyntsov roughly understood that the person in front of him was only pretending to be merciful on the surface and showing it to the high-ranking officials and nobles of other countries, but in fact he still wanted to extort money and manpower. But, hehe, it's easy to do if he likes money, I'm really afraid that he likes some messy things, hehe.