Just because those at the top don’t care doesn’t mean those below don’t care either. Argenyev held a high-ranking position and was part of the elite class. Even if he offended others, there wasn’t much they could do to him. Those lower in the hierarchy didn’t have that kind of protection. Don’t think that only high-ranking officials take bribes. In fact, most of the gray area transactions were handled by people on the lower levels. As Minister of Logistics, Argenyev wouldn’t stoop so low as to personally act over a few train cars’ worth of freight fees. In any case, when the underlings received benefits, the higher-ups would also get their share. The reason these transactions continued was because everyone was in the same boat. … Britaniv Maklin had been feeling quite anxious recently. A shipment headed to Moscow had been offloaded in Samara. Sure, he admitted that delivering military supplies to the front line was important, and that the railway had long been requisitioned by the military. But that didn’t mean people had to stop making money. Time is money, and money is life. Even though commerce in the Russian Empire heavily depended on connections, Britaniv had plenty of those. But speaking from a business standpoint, if the goods were offloaded with no new train cars available and the delivery missed its deadline, he would have to pay penalties for breach of contract. “Director Ixia, I want a proper explanation. Why were my goods offloaded? Do you have any idea how much we lose every day this is delayed? Who’s going to cover this loss? Don’t forget, you’ve already taken our money. Now you suddenly break the agreement. Do you think I’m someone you can bully? Or do you think that just because Marquis Kristanval has stepped down, his influence has faded and you can do whatever you want?” Looking at the furious Britaniv, Director Ixia was also helpless. He hadn’t wanted to break the agreement, but there was no choice. The order from above was strict: front-line supplies had to be delivered on time. If he failed, it wasn’t just a matter of losing his job, he might even lose his head. “Mr. Britaniv, I’m very sorry. The top brass issued a strict order. We must ensure the timely delivery of front-line supplies. All transport has been diverted to that purpose. Your goods will have to wait another half month. At that time, I’ll make sure to prioritize your train cars.” This explanation clearly did not satisfy Britaniv. Delayed delivery and penalty payments were one thing. Samara might be a major transport hub, but that didn’t mean it had enough warehouses to store everything, let alone suitable conditions for all types of cargo. Left out in the open for half a month, and if the weather didn’t cooperate, this shipment of agricultural goods might as well be turned into fertilizer. Even if the weather held up, potatoes and corn would sprout after two weeks, and the only option would be to sell them at a loss to the lower class. “Director Ixia, you must be joking. You know exactly what this shipment is. If I could wait half a month, why would I even come to see you? It’s up to you now. If you think the Marquis Kristanval is someone you can push around, then go ahead and leave the goods.” Britaniv wasn’t looking for an explanation, he wanted the problem solved. He understood the Russian bureaucracy all too well. To get anything done, you either paymoney or apply pressure through connections. He had already paid up. Britaniv wasn’t a fool, he wasn’t going to pay twice and mess up the unspoken rules. So, the only choice left was to invoke his powerful backer. Ixia’s face changed dramatically. Even if he knew Britaniv was bluffing, just using the Marquis’s name was enough to rattle him. Right now, the odds of Kristanval being directly involved were low. But just because he wasn’t involved now didn’t mean he wouldn’t retaliate later. After all, this was about cutting off someone’s income stream. Yes, Kristanval had stepped down, but he was still a former Minister of Finance with deep connections in the government. The higher-ups might be able to withstand that pressure, but a small-time official like him couldn’t. “Mr. Britaniv, I’ll be honest with you. It doesn’t matter who steps in, no one can change this. General Onetz has already warned the logistics department. If we can’t guarantee delivery of military supplies, he’ll report us directly to the Tsar for misusing military trains. If this gets exposed, everyone from the logistics department to businessmen like you, even Marquis Kristanval, will be implicated. So weigh it yourself. What’s more important, money or your life? Out of respect for the Marquis, we’ll refund your shipping fee. But once that money is returned, we go our separate ways. The logistics department will no longer do business with you.” With the cards on the table, it was Britaniv’s turn to be troubled. The issue wasn’t that Ixia had taken money without acting, it was that he was too afraid to act. Britaniv knew Ixia well. This man was all about money. As long as the money was right, anything could be done. He originally thought Ixia was just trying to extort more money. He didn’t expect that the problem had escalated into a high-level political struggle. If he took back the money now, the relationship would be severed. No matter where you are, a private citizen can’t fight the government. Even with backing, Britaniv didn’t want to risk it. After a moment of hesitation, Britaniv said slowly, “Mr. Ixia, is there really no workaround? You need to guarantee military supply transport, sure, but it’s just a few train cars. If you’re short on time, you could recruit more laborers, use more draft animals. There’s always a way to get it done. You need to understand that this shipment really can’t be delayed. I’ll be honest with you, the agricultural goods are just a cover. There’s also a portion of…” The higher the value of the goods, the more troublesome the situation. Ixia was starting to get a headache. If it were just crops, even with some spoilage, the loss would be manageable. But with special “medicines” involved, things were different. Clearly, this kind of business wasn’t something Britaniv was doing on his own. There were certainly powerful figures waiting for their cut. Cutting off their profits would definitely bring revenge, and Ixia, as the middleman, would likely become the scapegoat. After a moment of contemplation, Ixia frowned and said, “Alright, Britaniv. Forget about the military trains. The army is watching closely. If anything goes wrong en route, we’re all done for, including the people behind you. If you really need to move this fast, I can assign you some laborers and horse-drawn carts. The rest is up to you. Oh, and we recently imported a batch of large trucks from Austria. If you want, I can lend them to you. But the costs for those will have to be calculated separately. After all, you didn’t inform us in advance. Shipping special goods is not the same as shipping crops.” Once he knew where the bottom line was, Britaniv gave up on using military trains. He didn’t want to get involved in the conflict between the logistics department and the military. One wrong move could cost him everything. “Fine, but you have to help coordinate with local officials to repair the roads. Otherwise, the trucks won’t be able to move.” Ixia nodded. “Don’t worry. We’ve already sent people to fix the roads. As long as you don’t take shortcuts, most segments are passable for vehicles.” Most roads being passable also meant some were not. But that wasn’t Ixia’s concern. Moving part of the way was better than not moving at all. Where trucks couldn’t go, they would use horse-drawn carts. Where carts couldn’t go, manpower would be used. That was how the Russian Empire’s logistics system operated. In fact, if senior officials in the Russian government hadn’t accidentally discovered the military value of trucks during a visit to Austria, the logistics department would never have purchased them. It wasn’t that the trucks were bad, but that they weren’t suited to Russia. The poor transportation network was just one issue. A bigger problem was maintenance. Spare parts had to be imported, and even repair workers had to be hired from abroad. Even if those issues could be managed, the brutal winters were the real killer. At temperatures several degrees below zero, the engine could barely be started with external heating. At minus 30 to 40 degrees, trucks had to be kept warm while parked or the engine could be permanently damaged. And that was the performance of the specially designed cold-resistant models Austria built for Russia. Standard trucks would be completely useless in a Russian winter.
*** https://postimg.cc/gallery/PwXsBkC (Maps of the current territories of the countries in this novel made by ScH)
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