Money was hard to come by, and finding a middleman was even harder. Whoever would take on this role had to meet three key requirements: first, they needed to have good relations with Russia; second, they needed sufficient financial strength; and third, they had to be free from the influence of both Russia and Austria. Without a solid relationship, persuasion would be impossible. Only when there was enough mutual trust could the story continue to unfold smoothly. In this world, no love or hatred exists without reason. Even if a pie really fell from the sky, one had to make sure it was not poisoned before taking a bite. That was why a convincing story was essential, one that could make the Russian government believe the middleman was helping with the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway purely for their own benefit. But a story alone was not enough. Capital was also required. The middleman did not need to provide much, just enough to cover part of the construction costs. Or they could follow the Austrian government’s example with the Central Asian Railway: find a railway company to undertake the Trans-Siberian project, and allow the Russians to delay payments for design, management, and equipment rentals. Russia was never short of manpower, and most raw materials could be supplied domestically. Apart from the rails that might need to be imported, everything else could be produced locally. In fact, the most expensive parts of railway construction were labor and materials. Solving those two major costs could reduce total expenses by seventy to eighty percent. There were no taxes, no bureaucratic fees. For a project of such strategic importance, anyone willing to build it would receive full approval from the Russian government. Even corrupt officials would think twice before interfering. To be fair, the officials who managed to build the main line of the Trans-Siberian Railway in the original timeline, with a budget of less than two billion rubles, had truly worked hard. Corruption might still have existed, but compared to the usual Russian standards, that project was relatively clean. If the bureaucrats had behaved as they normally did, the final cost would have been three to five times higher, and the railway would never have been completed. It could not be helped. Siberia’s conditions were brutal, and construction was extremely difficult. Given the limited technology of the time, keeping costs low was simply impossible. This was why financial strength was indispensable. When people said the middleman did not need “too much money,” that statement only applied to a wealthy empire like Britain. In truth, there were very few countries in the world that could raise several million pounds, even in installments. Even if the funds came secretly from Britain, the intermediary still needed to appear financially capable. If a poor country suddenly produced such an enormous sum, the Russians would immediately become suspicious. And if the Russian government ever found out that the money came from the British government, the plan would likely collapse before it even began. Beyond those two conditions, the most important trait was courage. Any nation daring to involve itself in the rivalry between the Holy Roman Empire and Britain would need to have nerves of steel. The European continent offered few choices. Among the countries with good relations with Russia, only Denmark stood out. But the problem was that the leader of the Nordic Federation was Sweden, and Sweden had been Russia’s old enemy for generations. Aside from having poor relations, the middleman also had to remain outside the sphere of Russian and Austrian influence to ensure its own safety. There was no way around it. The Nordic Federation was right under the watchful eyes of Russia and Austria. If the plan were ever exposed, everyone knew what fate awaited them. The immense risk meant that any country willing to take part had to possess at least some means of self-preservation. Even if the plan failed, it should not spell total disaster for them. If a nation could not guarantee its own safety, no amount of profit promised by Britain would convince it to get involved. A quick look at the map made things clear. Outside the spheres of Russian and Austrian influence, there were only two countries with both the wealth and military strength to resist retaliation afterward. And when factoring in good diplomatic relations with Russia, only one nation truly fit the bill, the United States of America. As for the other possible candidate, relations had been poor ever since the Civil War, when the Tsar supported the Union. Naturally, the postwar Confederacy’s successor state could never get along with Russia. The United States checked all the right boxes on paper. But in practice, it still lacked one key thing, courage. In the original timeline, Americans at this point were astonishingly timid. They had already set their sights on Cuba, yet they dared not make a move, intimidated by Spain’s supposed power. They busied themselves with small schemes in the shadows, probing Spain’s reaction without ever committing to action. The Spanish government, ever dependable in its incompetence, did not disappoint and promptly revealed its own weakness. Only after years of hesitation did the US government finally take the risk in 1898 and launch the Spanish-American War. Defeating Spain marked the first time the United States shed its deep-seated fear of the European great powers. But right now, before that awakening, it was a different story. After being repeatedly humbled by reality, America had grown even more cautious. If they did not even dare to take on a declining Spain, expecting them to plot against the Russian-Austrian alliance was simply asking too much. … While the British were still worrying about how to persuade the United States, the First Sino-Japanese War had already come to an end. The Japanese government, basking in its moment of triumph, could never have imagined that betrayal was just around the corner. Of course, calling it a betrayal was not entirely fair. From the start, Japan had been nothing more than a pawn. Until it could step off the chessboard, it would always be controlled by the one moving the pieces. The great powers never gave away their favors for free. Britain had invested so much in Japan, and naturally, it expected something in return. But the Japanese government, lost in the joy of victory and unable to sober up, failed to think that far ahead. It would not take long before their smiles faded. International intervention was already underway, and their ambitions were about to be crushed. Before one storm could settle, another began to rise. While fierce fighting still raged in Cuba and the Philippine rebels were hiding in the mountains, war in the Far East had only just quieted down when Europe started to boil again. The grand European Economic Revival Strategy had been designed to benefit everyone, except for one country: France. Although Spain had recruited a group of French mercenaries, which helped ease France’s domestic crisis to a certain degree, it was like pouring a cup of water on a burning house. Theory was one thing, but reality was merciless. Franz’s idea that “a single mercenary could support an entire family” now seemed more like a beautiful fairy tale. Not everyone possessed a strong sense of responsibility. Apart from setting aside a small portion of their initial signing bonus, most mercenaries, after leaving home, did not rush to send money back once they received their pay. One had to admit that their adaptability was remarkable. They quickly grew accustomed to the mercenary life. With money in their pockets, they began living for the moment, spending lavishly and drinking every night. Less than half were willing to send any money home at all, and among those who did, most only sent a small portion of their income. Anyone who sent even a third of his earnings could already be called a “family man.” Under these circumstances, the grand plan Franz had placed his hopes on, where mercenaries would earn money abroad to support their families back home, naturally fell apart. People still had to eat, and France’s economy had already collapsed during the war. While the European economic crisis was finally drawing to a close, France’s own crisis showed no sign of ending. The wounds left by war ran deep, and the waves of refugees expelled from other countries only made life harder for the French people. Although the French government did its best to resettle the refugees, develop the economy, and create jobs, there was only so much it could do with the heavy burden of war reparations pressing on its shoulders. The Austrian government might not have pressed for repayment, but that did not mean the other nations showed the same restraint. The Russian army stationed outside Paris was the first to move, completing its “collection” of reparations in its own way. Indeed, since the French government could not afford to pay, the Russians decided to help themselves. With the army involved, there was no question that the collection would go “smoothly.” There were no standards at all, just arbitrary extortion based on personal whim. Taking a little extra here and there was considered normal. The Russian officers and soldiers who joined these “tax raids” all made a fortune. But their enrichment came at a terrible cost to the French people. Unable to bear the humiliation any longer, King Carlos led his government in an open strike in protest. The enraged people of France had already taken up arms against the atrocities of the Russian army, and even parts of the government troops had joined in the attacks. While Franz had merely dozed off for a short while, France once again descended into chaos and smoke. Looking at the mess before him, Franz suddenly regretted leaving Russian troops stationed in Paris. True, the Russians were indeed skilled at suppressing revolutions, but their talent for causing trouble was even greater. Getting war reparations from France was one thing, but did they really have to push the country to the brink? Sending soldiers to “collect taxes”? Franz seriously wondered what kind of commander could have given such a brainless order. Anyone with a shred of self-awareness would know what kind of people the Russian army was. Even when garrisoned in peacetime, they were already making life miserable for the locals. Calling it “tax collection” was laughable. It was robbery, plain and simple. Such behavior might be tolerated during wartime, but to keep doing this after the war had ended—how could the French not explode in anger? Franz could tolerate their antics as long as the Russians cleaned up their own mess. But now that the problem had escalated all the way to his imperial desk, it was clear that the allied forces stationed in France could no longer contain it. After all, who in their right mind would bring trouble to their own superior if they could handle it themselves? Everyone knew that such foolish behavior could ruin one’s career prospects. Creating problems was always easy. Solving them was what took skill. And as the leader of the coalition forces, Franz’s position left no doubt about which side he had to stand on. His years as emperor had taught him one thing: never judge a situation just by appearances. One had to dig deeper to understand what was really happening. On the surface, it was the Russians who had caused this disaster, so the responsibility naturally fell on their garrison in Paris. But did that mean the French bore no blame at all? Now they were running to complain, but where had they been earlier? If the Carlos administration had filed a protest with the Allied Command the moment the problem began, someone would have intervened to stop the Russians. Even if they had failed to act early on, they could at least have reported the issue immediately when things started getting out of hand. There had been so many chances to stop the Russian “tax collection,” yet the French government had managed to miss every single one. When the situation finally blew up, they suddenly declared a government strike as a form of protest. Such a move could not be more deliberate. They had clearly let the situation spiral out of control on purpose, waiting for the right moment to play the victim and stir sympathy among the more soft-hearted members of the alliance. Franz had to admit, the French plan had worked. The chaos they stirred up was so great that the allied forces were indeed forced to give them some kind of explanation. But whether that explanation would be what the French wanted was another matter entirely. Now that Franz had seen through the French government’s intentions, his wariness toward them grew even deeper. With such cunning players involved, dealing with France’s current mess would require the utmost caution.
*** https://postimg.cc/gallery/PwXsBkC (Maps of the current territories of the countries in this novel made by ScH)
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