Xiao Letian's analysis hit the nail on the head. The current financial crisis in Tsarist Russia is indeed very serious. Since Alexander II came to the throne in 1855, he has been planning the domestic abolition policy.
As we all know, although Russia is also one of the European countries, it still maintains a primitive and barbaric slavery system. At that time, 90% of the population in Russia were serfs of landlords and had no right to personal freedom. As we all know, slavery is the key to all societies. One of the least productive systems.
Alexander II was not a useless playboy raised in a deep palace. On the contrary, in his youth as a crown prince, he traveled to most areas of Russia and personally inspected the sufferings of the people.
Moreover, he spent a whole year traveling throughout Europe, seeing with his own eyes how powerful industrialized countries operate, and was envious of the powerful national strength of Britain, France and other countries.
In his youth, Alexander had made up his mind to follow the example of Britain and France in carrying out comprehensive reforms to backward Russia, and the first thing to be affected was the most backward and criticized serfdom.
In 1861, after six years of preparation, Alexander II finally issued an abolition order. It is worth mentioning that Russia's abolition order was two years earlier than the abolition order signed by US President Lincoln.
Alexander was a very smart and pragmatic king. He would not force the landlord class to give up their own interests. He knew that this would definitely plunge the country into turmoil and even lead to a civil war.
So he replaced radical revolution with moderate reform. There were two core points in his abolition order.
The first is to announce the abolition of serfdom, and all serfs will gain personal freedom, including migration, marriage, changing careers, owning property, entering into contracts, etc.
The second is to stipulate that all land is owned by landlords, and farmers redeem a small piece of land in accordance with regulations. The ransom amount is two or three times the actual price of the land. The farmers pay part of it, and the rest is paid by the government in the form of paid bonds. The farmers must repay it within 49 years. Clear principal and interest.
On the one hand, this system allowed the landlord class to receive two or three times the land premium, which greatly reduced their resistance. On the other hand, the state provided paid loans to the serfs, which also gave the extremely poor serfs a chance to change their destiny.
This is a condition acceptable to both parties, and the only disadvantage is that it puts too much financial pressure on the country. Although the landowners are paid in the form of paid bonds instead of cash, the entire Russian land area is so large that it is only covered by bonds. Interest is an astronomical sum for the country.
No one knows how high the debt ratio of the Russian treasury is, because it is Russia's top secret. Perhaps Alexander II was afraid that the true financial situation would frighten European bankers, so the fiscal deficit announced to the outside world was not high.
But anyone with a discerning eye can see clearly that now even the most important matter of Russia's military weapons replacement has come to a standstill. You can imagine how poor this empire is.
In order to resolve the immediate crisis, Alexander II chose the eastward strategy. He wanted to tear off the tender flesh from the weaker Qing Dynasty and the Central Asian Khanate to replenish himself.
The strategy of marching eastward can be divided into two sets of strategies: civil and military. The military aspect includes the wars that have continued over the years, including the pacification of the Caucasus region, the expansion of power in Central Asia, the cession of the Far East region of the Qing Dynasty, and the support of the Agube rebellion in Xinjiang.
In terms of literature, we have to look at the Trans-Siberian Railway that is under construction. In real history, the Trans-Siberian Railway that runs through Europe and Asia started construction in 1891. It seems that it is still very early, but Xiao Letian knows very well. , for such a grand project, it will take more than ten or twenty years just to prepare for the exploration in advance.
The finalization of the line, all stages go hand in hand, preparation of a large number of sleepers and stones, and the casting of the rails all need to be prepared in advance. In fact, in the mid-19th century, when Alexander's father was still alive, Russia had already begun to demonstrate and study this railway.
Xiao Letian himself did not know that it was precisely because of his sudden rise in Asia that Alexander II had a serious sense of crisis. In particular, the industrial zone plan promoted by Xiao Letian made Russia have trouble sleeping and eating.
If the Qing Dynasty continues to be weak as usual, then Russia can slowly advance the Siberian Railway construction plan. However, Xiao Letian's brilliant debut, especially his stunning performance in the Austro-Prussian War, made the Tsar feel the danger.
The intelligence collection work on the Ryukyu New Army and Tanggu Industrial Zone has always been the highlight of Ulan Geli's diplomatic work, especially after Xiao Letian designated the Kaiping area as an industrial zone at the beginning of the year and prepared to build the first railway in the Qing Dynasty. , Moscow can no longer sit still.
Why did the Qing Dynasty suddenly wake up? Once the coal and iron resources in the Kaiping area are connected to the special zone by railway, it will be equivalent to giving wings to the special zone.
Not only that, when the benefits of this railway in the special zone were discovered by the Qing Dynasty, once the Qing Dynasty vigorously carried out national railway construction, all the resources of the entire Qing Empire could be mobilized.
With the Qing Dynasty having railways, the resources and troops in the southeast, northwest and northwest can move quickly to fight. When the time comes, with China's huge population advantage, who can defeat them.
Alexander II obviously overestimated the IQ of the princes in the Manchu Qing court, but in any case, this possibility is worth worrying about for Russia.
The construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway is urgent because Moscow needs cheap resources from the Far East to make up for the empire's financial crisis. On the other hand, the European army also needs the railway to quickly move to the east.
In the eyes of the Tsar, time was running out, and the original strategic plan had to be changed.
Xiao Letian, who had figured everything out, took a deep breath and sighed, "Get ready for war! There will be a war next spring! The old man is determined to destroy the Volunteer Army, otherwise the railway construction work in Vladivostok will not be carried out... That is their country Grand strategy, he will definitely do whatever it takes!”
"Send a message to Mr. Long, don't let him die, let him support war with war, and use victory after victory to inspire the survivors of the Far East. Next spring, he must expand his army to more than 10,000!"
"Where is the Zhiyuan? How long does it take to get back? It's delayed my battle, and I'll beat that bastard Xiang Ying to death... Prepare for war! Everyone, prepare for war!"
"Issue a recruitment order to the shogunate and tell him that I will recruit another 10,000 wild warriors as mercenaries! Don't they want to get on my, Xiao Letian's chariot? Then use their blood and lives to prove their sincerity!"
Xiao Letian's roaring voice rang out from the Sunfu Castle Castle Tower! The roar of the hidden dragon shook East Asia!
