"By the way, what did my aunt talk to the bishop about yesterday? It doesn't seem to have been negotiated, right? ”

"It is so, Your Majesty demands that we seize all the property of the Church and call for the payment of all the taxes owed"

Razumovsky replied.

"Does Your Highness think that these two orders should be continued?"

Bestuzhev smiled and asked.

"The seizure of all the property of the church is interesting and interesting"

Because Peter was from Germany, Lutheran, and he openly criticized the Orthodox Church, the state religion of the Russian Empire, and was very immodest in the course of church services, he was just as disgusted by the church as his aunt.

"Go ahead, but add one more"

Peter said with some amusement.

"If the Church thinks it is at a loss, it can apply for the acquisition and reclamation of land east of the Ural Mountains. I don't care how many people there are now, my request is that within five years, at least 500,000 people will be emigrated."

"Your Highness... Can I ask what the reason for this is? ”

Bestuzhev looked up at the ceiling before turning to Peter.

"Hehe, then I'd like to ask, what does the Count think I'm doing this?"

"Hehe, in my opinion, His Highness wants to use the hand of the Church to open up Siberia, and get involved in the luxury trade in the East, and increase the revenue of the treasury"

"Well, anything else?"

"And there's... Expulsion of ecclesiastical forces to Siberia? I'm afraid that can't be done, right? ”

Bestuzhev pondered for a while, frowned and asked.

"Let's look at the map."

Peter walked around the table to the large map board.

"On the map alone, the Russian Empire stretched from east to west, reaching as far east as the Sea of Okhotsk"

He pointed to a small stretch of ocean at the easternmost point of the map.

"However, the reality is that there is only a small part of the Russian territory that is really valuable, that is, the St. Petersburg-Moscow-Kursk line, and the rest is either a vast steppe or a dense forest. Isn't it a waste to have such a vast amount of land and not get its due value? ”

"If you want to develop this part of the land, you just need to move the Cossacks and other nomadic tribes there, and the church tribes ... It doesn't seem to work, does it? ”

Bestuzhev questioned.

"No, the Cossacks passed, and these places were still steppes, and the steppes had no barriers. But what I have to do is that settlements must be planted in these places like nails, so that the grasslands and forests can be connected, and then the roads connecting the settlements can be built. Only when all this is done will Russia really get its hands on the East, whether it be trade or whatever! ”

"But His Highness doesn't want to spend money"

Bestuzhev smiled.

"Of course, how uncomfortable it is to spend your own money!"

Peter smiled with the corners of his mouth upturned.

"If you can ask someone else to do it, you should never do it yourself, hahaha!"

"Your Highness, this is a little..."

"It's a bit tricky, isn't it? I said, Prime Minister, did you know that there are always two solutions? One is to reward the expected results, and whoever can do it and do it well will be rewarded; The other is to punish those who fail to achieve the expected results, and whoever fails to do so will be punished. So, which way do you think is better? ”

"Hmm... In the current financial situation of our country, there is no monetary reward, but if it is imposed entirely in the form of punishment, it is likely to be subject to a strong backlash and have a destructive effect on the situation in the country."

Bestuzhev did not directly say against it.

For example, if the church completely loses all the land and serfs, it can only be funded by donations, but if it is allowed to land elsewhere, at least it is not so bad, right? In addition, it is possible to return a part of the confiscated church property by the church in any area that implements it first, or if it completes the specified goal first, so that it is easy to manipulate it artificially and serve as an example."

"It's too..."

Bestuzhev was a little shocked, and a little wanted to laugh.

"I think it's possible, Your Highness, please leave it to me!"

Deputy Prime Minister Volyntsov said sonorously.

"Okay, that's it."

“... Alas"

Bestuzhev let out a long sigh.

"Why does the Count sigh like this? Oh yes, I just remembered again, before the Baltic thaw, I wanted to order 10 sail warships from the British"

"Battleship? Does Your Highness want to expand the Baltic Fleet? ”

Everyone was shocked.

"My plan was to order a double-groomed fast battleship with 58 main guns, which Britain was a fourth-class battleship by the standards of the British Navy. The first batch of 6 ships and the second batch of 4 ships were delivered in the form of a five-year loan, and it is hoped that Piaget can assist in the successful completion of this matter"

Peter did not answer, but continued.

"Dare to ask Your Highness, what is the purpose of ordering these warships? If it was only 10 medium warships, it would not have played much role in the war against the Ottomans, and if it was against Prussia, it would be better to order 6 larger warships actually"

Bestuzhev asked rhetorically.

"First of all, large warships are slow and have a deep draft, and although they have strong firepower, they are not suitable for inshore combat; Secondly, these warships are mainly used for near-shore operations, but their tasks are not limited to port closures and landing operations; Thirdly, I also need the assistance of the mysterious clerk to send a group of young mechanics with bright brains and loyal and reliable skills to England to steal the art of shipbuilding; Fourth, similar to Article 3, I hope to discover and buy a few powerful warship designers and shipbuilding supervisors to enhance the level of shipbuilding technology in our country; Fifth, the order of warships to Britain will help deepen relations between the two countries; Sixth, I want to slow down the expansion of the British Navy."

When Peter finished speaking, he glanced around the crowd.

"Your Highness, I don't have a big opinion on the others, but only the sixth, which is really some... Some"

Razumovsky said helplessly.

"Well, I know that Article 6 is indeed a bit ridiculous, but even if it only occupies one dock, it can slow down the expansion of the British navy, and when the British navy and the French navy go to war in the future, the balance of power will be affected."

"Your Highness, do you want England to lose to France?"

The pro-British Bestuzhev asked in surprise.

"Of course not! How could Britain have lost to France in a naval battle! But if Britain wins too well, it won't do us any good, right? ”

"Uh..."

"Hmm..."

"Ahem..."

"I've always admired the strong, but I also believe that more rats can kill elephants. If the strong man is defeated, then he is no longer the strong, but will be replaced by a new strong man. If the strong cannot be strong forever, it means that the strong actually have weaknesses, and then the problem becomes how to find the weaknesses of the strong. It's so simple."

"That being said, but..."

Bestuzhev was disgusted by such far-fetched reasons.

"I read the newspaper a few days ago that Britain and France have already fought in the East Indies, and if there is a real fire, Britain will surely ask for our country, and this point must be used well. Does the Earl think that since we have signed an alliance with Great Britain, we should support Britain completely and desperately? Ten years ago, Austria and France were having a good time, but now they are joining forces? Allies are just using each other, and if they do, they will suffer a lot."

"Hehe, the old man is worried that these ships ordered by His Highness may be requisitioned by the British."

"It doesn't matter, anyway, I will wait until the ship is handed over to pay off the debt, and even if the British requisition, it will delay their time to build a larger battleship, so that when Britain and France go to war, the losses of the two countries will be closer and closer, and the more unlikely it will be for Britain to give up Russia as an ally, hehe"

“... How is this possible! ”

"Anyway, if nothing else, I'll go first. Anyway, the important things have already been decided, and then either when my aunt wakes up, or unless there is a major event such as a rebellion in the country and a border war, don't ask me for sure, you can just make an internal decision."

With that, Peter turned to leave.

"Your Highness, is it a matter of battleships, do you want to confirm it again? If Your Majesty wakes up and learns about it..."

Seeing that the prime minister and the field marshal were staring at him, Razumovsky finally asked helplessly.

"I still say the same thing, if my aunt wakes up in the next two days, then let her veto. If you wake up in a month or two, let's talk about it."

“... Well, you just know the consequences yourself."