"This gold must find a way to get its hands on it!" William gritted his teeth and spoke, and there was a hint of urgency in his words. He paused, then added: "It is impossible to get those Bolsheviks to give way to them." The only way now is to use the Trans-Siberian Railway to complete the trade between arms and gold in Vladivostok. I need to deter the Russian bandits entrenched in Chita from intercepting the German-Siberian bargain: Ettel, you shouldn't be able to do that, right? ”

Hearing the last sentence, the muscles on Qingying's face couldn't help but twitch: he was not responsible for the transaction connection with Kolchak at all, but William pulled him into this tricky field. His thoughts raced in his head, and he finally said again: "We can build a Kolchak to postpone the planned offensive against Red Soviet Russia, and first concentrate on opening this railway." At present, the empire's arsenal is stockpiled with a large amount of ammunition, including 1.8 million Mosin-Nagan rifles and more than 2,200 Russian-made artillery pieces, and more than 1.2 million former military prisoners of war who have not yet been released; Whichever side this force is placed on, it can instantly change the balance of forces in Russia and give it a decisive advantage in the coming civil war. With such a strong potential help, Kolchak could not be unmoved, and in order to obtain such support, he would inevitably focus on opening up the Trans-Siberian railway line. ”

William chewed on Qingying's words carefully, and the eagerness on his face gradually relaxed. A large number of Russian-made weapons and former Tsarist Russian soldiers are incomparable innate advantages that Germany has in its dealings with the Kolchak group, and it is completely worth the other party's manpower and gold. And even other countries have received information that Kolchak has a lot of gold in his hands, and wants to get a piece of the pie. The weapons that they can provide that are not of Russian standard. It is also far from being able to compete with the hole cards in the hands of Germany!

"It is 12,000 nautical miles from Wilhelmshaven to Vladivostok in the east of Russia. A one-way voyage by a merchant ship takes two months; During this period, it was enough for Kolchak to adopt a strategy of coercion and softness against the Semenov bandit forces entrenched near Chita. Qing Ying silently estimated the route to the Far East in her heart, and then said, "We can let the convoy depart from Wilhelmshaven as soon as we make a deal with the other party, so that we can save as much time as possible on the voyage." ”

William nodded in satisfaction, as if he had seen a large golden patch in front of him. Currently, with the end of the war and the demobilization of the army. Germany's own weapons were all in surplus and redundant; And the Russian arms it captured in the war were completely reduced to chicken ribs, and even sealing them was too expensive. It would be a great situation to have a way to dump them in large quantities, especially if they were sold in exchange for the most valuable precious metal currency in the world today!

In addition to Kolchak, Germany is also on the verge of opening up a stable source of gold in the Transvaal in South Africa. At the end of the war, the Boers were grateful to Germany, which had helped them drive out the British butchers and regain their freedom, and they had promised to transfer a quarter of the shares of the Rand gold mines to Deutsche and to Germany as the first choice for the sale of gold, which would surely bring us extremely good profits. Qingying looked at William's face that showed surprise and said with a smile. Now that the seven veins of the Rand gold mine have been regained by the Boers, the first gold will soon be produced from them; And from the current rate of 100 tons of gold per year in this mine. Germany, which buys dividends and trades, will receive in less than ten years the same amount of gold as Kolchak's hands. ”

William said happily: "This is indeed a gratifying achievement for the Empire. Twelve years ago, the Transvaal's gold was violently and savagely stolen by the British, and the abundant output of this vein strengthened London's position as an international financial center. Now, it is expected to be surpassed by Germany's Eintracht Frankfurt. With Russia's home and this new source of gold, Germany's economy can guarantee at least twenty years of rapid leaps; By that time, no one in all of Europe would be able to rebel against Berlin's will! ”

However, in the future development of Germany, this gold can only play a role in laying the groundwork. What really requires our full attention is the digestion of the occupied territories and colonies of Eastern Europe. For more than 40 years, German rule in the Alsace occupation zone had been in a rather poor state: the Germanic people maintained severe racist oppression of the French inhabitants, and there were even cases where German soldiers stabbed lame French shoemakers with bayonets, which were rewarded in the general orders of the troops. ”

Seeing that William's eyes were about to bloom with golden brilliance, Qingying couldn't help but remind: "This mode of racial domination under the pressure of bayonets has undoubtedly hindered the economic development of the occupied areas, and it should be replaced by a more scientific strategy in the future governance of Poland, the Baltic states, and Ukraine." More than 40 million people live on these lands, accounting for more than 60% of the total population of Germany proper; Once the shape of these regions becomes unstable, our annexation of Eastern Europe loses its original meaning. ”

William frowned, turned his head abruptly, and Qingying also met his gaze without evading, his eyes full of seriousness and determination. Forty years have passed since Germany ceded Alsace in 1871, and yet the people of the land have contributed little to Germany's economic development; The only thing Germany had to gain was an abundance of coal and steel, and "delaying the French attack on Germany by dozens of kilometres", as Wilhelm I mentioned in his reply to Empress Napoleon III. This is undoubtedly an extremely low-end mode of domination in an era when economic activity has become inseparable from the world market, and in some ways, this occupation zone has the same ability to provide markets for the dumping of commodities like colonies, so how can it continue to rule in the same way?

"Whether it's Poland, the three Baltic states, or Ukraine, we should support nominal satellite governments on their soils, and give the local people some power that they did not get under the previous Tsarist rule, so as to calm the hearts of the natives of these lands. At the same time, the Reich should intensify its economic penetration into the occupied territories and encourage German citizens to venture and invest in Eastern Europe in order to achieve real control over these territories. Qingying sighed softly and said with some indignation, "Back then, the French kidnapped Russia through economic means, making this oriental giant their accomplice in the war. Now that the empire's industry and markets are nearing saturation, and there is no longer a need to keep as much money as possible in the country, it is time to consider developing outward. ”

Looking at Qingying's determined gaze, the discoloration in William's eyes gradually subsided. He was silent for a moment, and then said slowly: "I will carefully consider this matter with the state secretaries. ”

As the long night passed, a dazzling morning light announced the dawn of a new day. In the main hall of Charlottenburg Palace, William, who was at the peak of his life, was dressed in a costume and wore a crown; Under the accumulation of 26 years of Yuji, there is really the temperament of a great monarch in all directions. Looking at the emperor who deliberately dressed up like this, Qingying next to him couldn't help but pouted secretly: In the face of a young man who is in mourning for his family and country, William, as an elder, should show sympathy and compassion for the other party and hatred for the enemy. Now that he is showing his majesty as a king, he will only increase the distance between him and him in fear.

Qingying's prediction was soon confirmed. Alexei, who entered the main hall, had just spoken to William for a few words, and the whole scene became a stage for William to denounce the Bolsheviks alone, and there were many words of extreme contempt and insult: fortunately, this was only a private meeting, and William's words did not stir up the situation in Europe like the "hare plague" in history. Less than an hour later, William himself found it boring, and he immediately issued an expulsion order to Alexei on the Hohenzollern Royal Order of the Stars, citing his official duties.

Looking at Alexei's slender figure walking away quickly, William's eyes were complicated, as if he remembered something; After a while, he spoke softly, "Ettel, this kid of Nikki is really like you 20 years ago. I now understand why Rasputin, who cured him of his hemophilia, has the absolute trust of Nicky: even in the midst of public anger, his trust in Rasputin has not diminished in the slightest. ”

"Luckily, that charlatan, with his strange healing powers, entered the Russian court. Otherwise, we don't know how much energy we will need to spend to solve the Eastern problem. Qingying quietly avoided William's topic and replied with a smile, "Now, we can release the news to Kolchak, Denikin, Yudenich and other leaders of the White Army, saying that Alexei, the crown prince of Tsarist Russia, is now in Berlin, and ask them to send people to worship as soon as possible." ”

"But in this case, wouldn't we be in a hostile position with Soviet Russia immediately?" William said with some hesitation. Qingying smiled: "Alexei is my father's cousin, and the reason why he appeared in Berlin can be said to be a reunion with relatives. As long as there is such a relationship, we have not completely torn our faces with Soviet Russia. What's more, in the process of rescuing, my people pointed all the suspects at Denikin in the south; Even if the top leaders of Soviet Russia were well aware of this, I expect that under the current circumstances, they will only rely on this evidence to push the boat and continue to maintain relatively harmonious relations with us. After the news that Alexei is still alive spreads, it must be that White Russia is excited, and Red Russia is frightened, so let's wait to see the good show of the Russian Civil War. (To be continued......)

PS: For some reason, the author can't enter the book review area normally, so he can't add refinement and reward normally, and I hope you will forgive me for commenting