The visit to St. Petersburg was a semi-official exchange, in which the military bloc led by Britain, France, and Russia co-opted other European countries to find a market for Tsarist Russia's grain exports.

Due to the deterioration of relations between Russia and Germany, Germany and Italy, the two major European grain importers, completely cut off the grain import trade from Tsarist Russia, which deprived Tsarist Russia of an important channel for obtaining funds.

Germany and Italy turned to imports from South America, and the actual beneficiaries were the vassal states and overseas provinces of the Tang Empire.

Richard is the special trade representative of the Tang Empire, except for attending two public meetings in St. Petersburg, the rest of the time is spent on sightseeing, which is equivalent to playing soy sauce.

From St. Petersburg to Minsk, to Moscow, to Kiev, to Odessa on the Black Sea coast, Richard and his entourage walked through many European cities in Tsarist Russia, and the feeling was very ordinary.

In his opinion

This is an extremely degenerate feudal dynasty full of corruption and accumulated evils, which only maintains the superficial brilliance, and the entire interior of the Tsarist Russian dynasty is completely rotten.

Corruption from top to bottom is the most serious crime, and this kind of behavior has penetrated deeply into the military, and the dirty hands of corrupt officials can be seen everywhere in all aspects of weaponry, equipment, and logistical supply.

The soldiers at the bottom did not have enough to eat, and the better soldiers could only eat two meals a day, except for the beetroot soup, which was a hard-to-swallow black bread, which was even filled with sawdust and earth.

Even then, this shoddy food is not enough.

Not to mention the weaponry, the old smoothbore guns can be traced back to the French Emperor Napoleon's invasion of Tsarist Russia, more than 100 years ago.

The fact that such a country and such an army can still maintain its rule stems from the continuous expansion of the Tsarist Russian Empire and the launching of foreign wars, which lead domestic contradictions abroad.

The brainless fanatical followers of the population, preferring to endure exploitation on a hungry stomach, look like the situation is terrible.

October

Odessa

The first snow of winter falls early here, turning the world into a snow-covered white, like a fairy tale world of ice and snow.

But this fairytale world is limited to the rich area, horse-drawn carriages drive through the snowy streets, and the frozen corpses of the poor can be seen on both sides of the road, which has been mostly covered with snow.

Richard withdrew his gaze, he was no longer surprised by this scene, and commanded;

"Jinxun, get ready to book a ticket back, the winter in Russia is too cold."

"Yes, sir." Xu Jinxun replied respectfully, he thought for a while, and then asked; "Did the beautiful Ukrainian girls sent by Lord Pavlovsky return to Germany with them?"

"It's all hard-working people, take it, remember to leave some money for their families."

"Understood, sir."

Richard was very disdainful of the rotten rule of Tsarist Russia, where the upper aristocracy did not treat the poor as human beings at all, but as a bunch of ignorant and lowly animals.

It is difficult to say that this is not infected by Mongolian genes.

It is hard to imagine that such a ruling class of the upper aristocracy of Tsarist Russia will put the people's livelihood first, and it will be even more difficult to reverse the status quo of corruption everywhere.

Tsarist Russia desperately wanted to export a large amount of grain in exchange for valuable foreign exchange, and it was not that there was too much grain at home to eat, but it was completely snatched from the mouths of the poor.

Ukraine, the largest and most fertile black soil in Europe, is home to a variety of grain crops, wheat, soybeans and rape.

But there is also a famine here every year, and the poor people at the bottom live in poverty, guarding the granary and begging for food.

Odessa is one of the main ports for the export of grain from Tsarist Russia, and there are also steel mills and shipyards built with franc loans, and it is one of the few industrial areas in Tsarist Russia.

After the collapse of the Pacific Fleet, Tsar Nicholas II once again spent a lot of money to build the Black Sea Fleet, whose main ports were in Odessa and Crimea.

And the vast Ukrainian plain, if a war breaks out in Europe, will surely be the frontier area of fierce competition between Germany and Russia.

4 months in Tsarist Russia

With the eyes of a military leader, Richard carefully surveyed a vast area from Warsaw to Minsk, from Kiev to Odessa.

The vast Eastern European Plain, from Ukraine to Poland, is an open terrain that is very suitable for large corps operations, and the German army can give full play to its superiority in weapons and combat effectiveness in this region.

If you want to stop the fierce attack of the German army, the only way is to continuously fill it with a large number of Russian soldiers, which is the only and correct way.

October 17th

Richard and his entourage left Odessa for Bordeaux, France, aboard the new cruise ship "Juliana" of the British White Star Cruise Company, ending a four-month trip to Russia.

Compared to the cold Odessa, Bordeaux, which borders the Mediterranean Sea in southwestern France, has a warm climate and a strong and charming French style.

In the small town of Sayler by the sea in Bordeaux

After returning from Tsarist Russia, Richard took Xu Jinxun and others to get rid of the large group of people and quietly lived in the small town of Sailer, living a leisurely seaside idyllic life.

Every day

He would walk to the town, sit in the little café in the town for a while, buy two newspapers and read them leisurely, and sometimes chat with the townspeople.

The townspeople would refer to Richard as "a big guy from North America" and "Your Excellency the Lord", and his words were full of respect and a touch of jealousy.

Even in Bordeaux, a remote seaside town, you can see traces of France's full preparations.

A company of the local French army was stationed in the small town of Sayle, and walking around the town, it was common to see French officers and soldiers on leave, which was a sight to see everywhere in France.

In a small café

Richard sat at the coffee table, with a cup of coffee and a plate of snacks on it, reading the newspaper in his hand, but his brow furrowed.

According to newspaper reports;

Archduke Franz-Ferdinand of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and his wife, Sofia, plan to visit Serbian regions at an appropriate time in June and address the public in Sarajevo.

This report caused a huge ripple in Richard's heart.

looks

The wheel of history is still moving according to the established trajectory, and it has not deviated too much from the original track because of the great changes in North America and the Southwest Pacific.

What should come will come, and all of Europe is preparing for a final showdown.

In just 4 years

The Balkans experienced two wars in a row, the Ottoman Empire lost most of its territory in Europe, and Serbia, Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Herzegovina won semi-independent autonomous status.

In the contest for the Balkan issue, Austria-Hungary won the coveted Serbia and Macedonia with the help of Germany, and became a big winner.

It is in this historical context

Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophia of the Austro-Hungarian Empire visited the Balkans as victors, examining their new spoils of war.

And all that

With the rise of nationalism in various parts of Europe, it was regarded as a great shame by Serbian nationalists.

They could not bear their troubled country, and they had just escaped from the tiger's den and entered the wolf's mouth.

Richard shook his head regretfully, folded the newspaper and put it on the table with an elegant expression, picked up the coffee cup and took a sip.

At this time

Mr. Francis, the mayor of Cylor Town, came over with a smile on his face and said politely; "Your Excellency, I don't know if you bother?"

"Please sit down, Mr. Mayor, there is no one here."

Although Richard tried his best to restrain himself, his invisible aura was still very strong, and he would feel great pressure when he sat in front of him.

Mr. Francis gave an apologetic breast touch, then dragged away his chair and sat down, and said to himself; "It's a great honor to be favored by your honorable lord, you're a big man from North America, are you satisfied with your life here?"

"It's very good, it's a place where you can forget a lot of your worries, calm and peaceful." Richard's evaluation is not low.

Mayor Francis rubbed his hands together and smiled, the big man opposite him spoke lightly, but his gestures brought him a lot of pressure.

So he only hesitated for a moment, and then said decisively; "Your Excellency, Your Excellency

You know, there are so many remote towns like ours in France that the bigwigs of high society in Paris don't pay attention to it at all.

For hundreds of years

The town of Sailor is like a lonely child who is cared for by no one, no one cares for it, and no one invests in it, and its economic development level has always been in the middle and lower reaches of the country.

Everyone who wants the town of Salee to develop better is anxious about it.

This includes me, who has lived in this town for almost 50 years since I was born, and who has a deep affection for this town.

The same ...... Hoping for change. ”

"Well, what kind of project do you want to develop? Is there a workable solution? Richard asked.

Speaking of which

Mayor Francis immediately came to his senses, and he began to wrench his fingers and say the benefits here, Dao;

"Oh, it's great you're interested.

We are close to the iron ore mines in the Le Mans region, and we are about to build a railway line that will allow us to build a large steel plant.

Not only would this bring in a lot of tax revenue, but it would also create thousands of jobs and bring the town's business to prosperity across the board.

All will benefit from this, and everyone will thank His Excellency Lord for his generosity and wealth......"

"I'm afraid not necessarily."

Richard looked at Mayor Francis, who was full of excitement, and had to interrupt his beautiful fantasy with a remark.

At this time

The topic they were talking about had already aroused the interest of the other guests in the café and the owner of the café, and they all leaned in.

Richard stretched out his hand and pointed at the people around him, and then continued;

"Mayor Francis, do you think that you only see the tax revenues and jobs that come from building a steel plant......

Maybe your rash decision will ruin this beautiful town.

Many people here know about it

The large chimneys of the steel mills, which emit black smoke around the clock, will turn this sunny seaside town into darkness, making it difficult for people to even get out.

Every day, the streets, houses and windows are covered with black soot, and everyone comes out with black ashes, never to breathe fresh and clean air.

There are many such industrial towns, and the environment is terrible.

And an out-of-towner like me will never come to the small town of Sayler for a leisurely holiday again.

Are you willing to pay such an environmental price? ”

"Oh God, of course it doesn't ......" the café owner was the first to jump out against it.

He waved his fist and said excitedly; "Let's not change the peaceful life, don't let this place become a dirty garbage heap. Whoever dares to do that, I'll screw his head off and kick it as a ball. ”

From the point of view of the café owner, he doesn't need any employment and taxes, and the environment has become bad, and the small café will be dealt a fatal blow, which is something he can't accept anyway.

Immediately afterwards, the guests of several cafes also expressed their opinions, with most of them opposing and few in favor.

As residents of the town, they all have their own livelihoods, and they are not interested in creating jobs and taxes, so what does it have to do with them?

Seeing that most people were opposed, Mayor Francis's face darkened visibly.

He really didn't expect that his dedication to building Saile Town would be strongly opposed by so many people.

This heart, wow cool, wow cool!

(End of chapter)