In Saint Petersburg, even after receiving a clear affirmation from the Austrian government, Alexander III could not bring himself to be pleased. “Franz’s usual approach is to not act until he sees the rabbit, but this time he agreed so readily without mentioning any conditions. Do you think there’s some kind of conspiracy involved?” It was hard to blame Alexander III for being suspicious. After all, in the past few decades, the Russian Empire had suffered too many silent losses, leaving him with deep psychological scars. Foreign Minister Nikolay Girs replied, “Your Majesty, you are overthinking it. On the surface, the Austrian government is helping us, but in reality, they are helping themselves as well. It was Britain who wanted this arms race in the first place, and their main targets were France and Austria. Now that Britain, France, and Austria are all riding the tiger, none of them can dismount until a victor emerges. Whether or not the Afghan issue exists, the Austrian government is being dragged into this arms race regardless. By supporting us now, they not only create trouble for their competitors but also earn some goodwill from us.” There was nothing wrong with this reasoning. It was true that Austria had agreed to help by keeping Britain occupied, but in practice, beyond a few vocal statements, they did not need to do anything more. The arms race was already underway, with many warships already under construction. It was not as if those projects could simply be halted and shelved. Even if Britain’s strength was diverted because of the Central Asian issue and they wanted to pause the contest, France and Austria, already deeply involved, would never agree to stop. The competition among Britain, France, and Austria had been going on for several decades, and none of them believed themselves inferior to the others. You cannot simply say “let’s stop” and expect it to end. By then, where would everyone’s face be? The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Although this saying does not apply perfectly here, when it came to countering Britain, there was no obstacle to a Russo-Austrian alliance. Hearing this reasonable explanation, Alexander III’s unease eased slightly, but he soon found himself troubled again. “Sigh! Even with Austria’s support, we are still at a disadvantage in our competition with Britain in Central Asia. Afghanistan has been cut off from us by the Central Asian khanates, and because of the wars in continental Europe, we have reduced our attention toward Afghanistan in recent years. The only reason Afghanistan has not turned toward the British is because of the lingering hatred from the last Anglo-Afghan war. If the British adopt a conciliatory approach, the Afghan government might not resist strongly, especially since we can offer them so little support.” Hearing the Tsar’s complaint, Nikolay Girs secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It was good that the Tsar could still think rationally. If he had recklessly insisted on confrontation, things would have become far more troublesome. At this moment, the Russian Empire truly did not have the capability to fight Britain in Afghanistan. Seeking Austrian support was, in essence, still about trying to resolve the matter through diplomacy. “Your Majesty, please rest assured. The Foreign Ministry is already conducting diplomatic efforts. If we can also gain the support of France, maintaining stability in Central Asia should not be too difficult. What we need now is time. As long as we can drag things out for a few more years, the situation will be entirely different.” Several years had passed since the end of the Russo-Prussian War, and the Russian Empire had recovered some of its strength. The most dangerous period was already over. The current issue was not that Russia couldn’t fight, but rather that it didn’t want to fight. Perhaps Russia was no match for Britain in the Afghan region, but it was still capable of dealing with several of the smaller allies Britain had propped up. The main reason no military action had been taken was simply because there wasn’t enough money. Alexander III was a rational leader, and naturally he wouldn’t blindly confront Britain before he was fully prepared. … Amid the mechanical whirring and rising clouds of dust, a group of listless laborers began yet another day of work under the lash of overseers’ whips. Suddenly, a large contingent of guards appeared. After a brief exchange with the supervisors, they benevolently ordered the laborers to take a temporary rest. The guards dutifully inspected the worksite, confiscating potential weapons including shovels and drove the laborers to an open clearing. Without a doubt, an important figure was arriving, and any possible risk had to be eliminated. Even the swirling dust was considered a risk. It might dirty the clothes of the distinguished visitors, so it had to be allowed to settle first. Time passed quickly, and before long it was midday. The sound of galloping horses thundered in the distance. Faintly, one could see the rising dust stirred up by a cavalry unit charging toward the site. As they approached, the official in charge, Lindgren, grew visibly excited. Pointing ahead with his finger, he quietly asked the captain of the guards, “Has His Majesty come in person?” The only response he received was a cold, indifferent three words: “I don’t know.” And indeed, they truly did not know. The exact timing of the emperor’s movements was not something people at their level were privy to. Especially for inspections like this, many details were decided and announced at the last minute, and even then, whether the emperor would actually come was still uncertain. Seeing the large approaching contingent, Lindgren let out a breath of relief. Judging by the scale of the escort, even if the emperor himself had not arrived, it was certainly a high-ranking figure from his entourage. … A blond-haired man in his fifties pointed toward the construction site and said, “Your Majesty, this is the Chelif River Dam currently under construction. Once completed, over 150,000 hectares of downstream land will be effectively irrigated, freeing them from the hardship of relying solely on rainfall. At the same time, it will protect downstream towns and farmlands from the threat of flooding. It is one of the key projects in our agricultural plan.” Napoleon IV gave a slight nod. He gazed at the great river rushing endlessly toward the sea, then turned his eyes to a distant group of laborers, who were in ragged clothes but still barely formed a passable line. Frowning, he asked, “What’s going on here? Why has the work suddenly stopped? Has a strike broken out?” Seeing the emperor’s expression darken, the man responsible for the briefing quickly explained, “No, there’s no strike here, Your Majesty. They should just be taking a midday break. Your Majesty, you can see that the soil here is freshly dug. Just a moment ago, they were all still working. If you wish, I can call the project leader over…” Napoleon IV waved his hand, cutting him off: “I’ve said it before, don’t bother with all these pointless formalities. The farm project concerns the future of France. If my inspection ends up delaying the work, that would be counterproductive. The site is right here, I can see the progress at a glance. I don’t understand the technicalities of engineering, so I won’t get in their way. Have them resume work immediately. We’ll move on to the next site.” With that, Napoleon IV turned, mounted his horse, and departed, leaving Lindgren disappointed after all his waiting. The chance to have close contact with the emperor had just slipped away. Once the guards withdrew, Lindgren immediately raised his whip, walked into the middle of the workers, and barked harshly, “You wretches, get up and get back to work right now!” As if to vent his frustration, Lindgren lashed out hard with the whip at a few laborers who reacted a step too slowly. Seeing the foreman take action, the surrounding supervisors quickly joined in. In no time, the construction site was bustling with noise again. The inspection of Algeria had been entirely on the whim of Napoleon IV. The main reason was his distrust of his own bureaucrats. He feared some might embezzle project funds, leading to the failure of the large-scale agricultural development plan. As it turned out, his concerns were justified. The actual progress of the large-scale agricultural development plan was far behind the numbers reported by the officials. Take the construction of the Chelif River Dam for example. In reality, the project had only just begun, but the reports claimed it was nearing completion. There were many similar cases. On paper, by 1887, the state-owned farms were supposed to supply 1.2 million tons of wheat and 580,000 tons of corn to the homeland… Once these agricultural products arrived, France’s grain shortfall would be reduced by one third, greatly cutting the country’s foreign exchange expenditures. The reality was that the grain from the state-owned farms did arrive, and even slightly exceeded expectations, reportedly due to a bumper harvest this year. Yet the country’s foreign exchange expenditures barely decreased. In fact, they even slightly increased. It was obvious where the problem lay. Grain was being smuggled into the country from abroad and then sold in the domestic market under the guise of being produced by state-owned farms. Because of tariff barriers, this process of importing and rebranding allowed the officials involved to make huge profits. It was far more lucrative than honestly operating the farms. Driven by profit, similar incidents kept increasing. Almost every project linked to the farms showed astonishing speed on paper. The most outrageous example was a farm named Thalès. From the time it was approved to the time it supposedly produced a harvest, less than six months had passed. In that period, they supposedly cleared 50,000 hectares of land and even achieved a bumper yield of one thousand catties per mu within the same year. Greed is a devil. To gain even greater benefits, the bureaucrats involved did not even bother to falsify the data convincingly. It was probably because they believed that as long as the money kept flowing, the people at the top would turn a blind eye along with them. Naturally, these project reports, full of glaring loopholes and treating the higher-ups as fools, were quickly exposed by the French government. Napoleon IV had always despised actions that undermined the foundations of the state. The state-owned farms, which had been built at great expense, were primarily intended to achieve self-sufficiency in food, reduce the outflow of foreign exchange, and balance the trade deficit. Now they had somehow become money-making machines for the bureaucrats. In a fit of rage, Napoleon IV personally traveled to Algeria. No matter how they tried to falsify reports, there was no way to magically conjure up that much progress overnight. Then, projects with falsely reported progress, like the Cherif River Dam, one after another crashed and burned before Napoleon IV’s very eyes. As each lie was exposed, Napoleon IV’s patience was pushed to the brink. The fact that he managed to restrain himself and not immediately arrest these bureaucrats was already a sign of his self-control. However, a pleasant expression was out of the question. *** https://postimg.cc/gallery/PwXsBkC (Maps of the current territories of the countries in this novel made by ScH)
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