Ch.146Legal Slave

Unlike Anastasia’s concerns, her broadcast was positively received within Russia.

This was especially true among ordinary citizens.

It was a broadcast containing encouragement from none other than the United States’ national idol, Tsarina Anastasia—completely different from the Bolsheviks’ bald idol Lenin.

Unlike the Tsar of the past who suppressed protesters and rebels by claiming they weren’t subjects of the empire, this Tsar directly encouraged her people through radio broadcasts.

Unlike the period when public sentiment turned against the monarchy, when revolutionaries extended their clutches and Bolsheviks prepared for revolution, the Tsar’s encouragement—backed by victory in the civil war, welfare reforms for workers, and strong support bases across the country—greatly boosted national morale.

“The Tsarina is donating her cars!”

“Ohhh! The Holy Lady is giving up her own wealth for the people.”

“Her Majesty is right! Communist Germany, our main enemy, is watching us! Work for the strengthening of our nation!”

“I’ll participate in the road construction too!”

“Well, this is quite difficult work, so I was thinking of recruiting experienced workers. We need to be careful because of the rasputitsa.”

“Just show us how to do it and we can do anything!”

Even those who had never visited a construction site participated, especially White Army soldiers who had fought alongside Anastasia during the war.

However, there was a fundamental problem.

“What about the rasputitsa? Wouldn’t it be better to use tanks rather than cars?”

“Well, if the higher-ups say pave it, we pave it. We’ll just have to work hard on the roads. For less severe areas, we’ll do what we can. In the end, it’s a people problem.”

“This will cost too much money.”

With so many people, wages might become unmanageable.

The Ministry of Transportation was troubled by the labor issue.

While there were plenty of willing workers, paving roads to prepare for the rasputitsa was quite difficult work.

And naturally, it was physically demanding.

Of course, with nobles from the imperial era following Anastasia’s lead and spending their fortunes, money wasn’t really an issue. But at this point, they wanted the kind of gullible workers they could easily exploit.

“With the rasputitsa coming, we need labor we can use roughly.”

After all, if you have a choice between paid workers and slaves you can use without wages, the priority would be slaves, wouldn’t it?

Moreover, they couldn’t treat paid workers carelessly.

This wasn’t because they were falling back into the bad habit of exploiting subjects now that life had improved somewhat.

Surely the local governments (republics), mostly staffed with loyal officials who followed the Tsar’s will, wouldn’t behave in such an uncivilized manner.

But even in this changed Russia, there were practical “slaves” they could exploit, which is why they could think this way.

Who could be used as slaves in the United States without anyone pointing fingers?

“Why don’t we just use those Bolshevik bastards?”

Exactly. There were the Bolsheviks.

In the United States, which had grown up drinking Bolshevik blood, the Bolsheviks were the object of hatred and could be “legally” used as slaves.

“This is actually a good idea.”

Each city’s Duma made recommendations to the local government, which were then forwarded to the State Duma in Moscow, where they were positively approved.

“You reactionary bastards! Where are you taking us?”

“Let go of me!”

From that day, hundreds of thousands of Bolsheviks imprisoned in Siberian camps were all dragged out.

“How nice to see you like this after you talked behind my back.”

All except Stalin, who had attained the bizarre position of essentially being a eunuch priest in the camp.

The disheveled Bolsheviks who were dragged out resisted the White Army soldiers.

“Why should we work for you!”

“Weren’t you the ones who tried to overthrow the country for the workers? Then naturally you should help the workers, right? Or was it just about seizing power?”

The transportation officials and White Army soldiers who wanted to use the Bolsheviks turned their own justifications against them.

“What twisted logic!”

“If you truly rose up for the workers, shouldn’t you lend a hand?”

Many Bolsheviks who had been wasting away in Siberia were deployed to construction sites.

They had no choice.

They couldn’t resist when the Tsar’s officials invoked the workers.

If they refused to help the “workers,” it would prove that the Bolshevik revolution was truly motivated by power lust.

Even if this was the Tsar’s scheme, considering the revolutionary banner raised by the Bolsheviks and their justifications, they couldn’t refuse.

To prove that the Bolsheviks were right, they had to work for the struggling workers.

Even if they didn’t want to, they couldn’t avoid it since workers were brought to observe the Bolsheviks.

“By your own logic, we’re workers too! Recognize our rights!”

“Bolsheviks are on the same level as cockroaches. Since when do cockroaches talk back?”

Bang!

There was some resistance, but in the end, no one can fight against guns.

They fired shots in front of the resisting Bolsheviks as an example.

Most of those imprisoned in the camps would have committed suicide long ago if they could so easily throw away their lives, but they were still alive, weren’t they?

They feared death.

“Do we pay the Bolsheviks wages?”

“Why should we? This is actually perfect. We can make them work without pay.”

“Understood.”

The Bolsheviks received no wages.

From the Moscow central government to local governments across the country.

Officials were uniformly anti-Bolshevik and anti-communist, and while they kept the Bolsheviks under military surveillance, they had no intention of paying them.

Why would they pay people who would be sent back to camps when it was all over?

What would they need money for in the camps anyway?

They were already living off taxpayer money in the camps.

So the Bolsheviks were worked hard without pay.

“They’re treating the Bolsheviks harshly!”

“Comrade Secretary, shouldn’t we strongly protest this as revolutionary comrades?”

Communist Germany protested the exploitation of fellow communists by imperialists, but naturally, the Russian United States paid no attention.

Of course, there were some in America who talked about human rights.

“Communists are vermin. They should be grateful we’re keeping them alive at all.”

To Russians who had fought against the Bolsheviks, even if they were fellow Russians, those with the Bolshevik title were nothing more than vermin.

Moreover, since they were officially “employed” under the name of “Red Workers,” protests were meaningless.

When news spread that Bolsheviks were openly working, Russians either mocked them from afar or eagerly joined in, determined to work harder than them.

“For Mother Tsarina!”

“Let’s make the Tsarina happy!”

“All Russian citizens are children of Tsar! Let’s follow our mother!”

“We can’t lose to those reds!”

The Bolsheviks, forced to participate under the pretext of helping workers, were treated as competitors and cursed by Russian workers.

“Why should we work for that imperialist leader!”

“What kind of brainwashing made them like that?”

Thus, the Bolsheviks, forced to work, became unwilling participants in a red-white competition.

However, it was only natural that this situation appeared abnormal to foreign countries.

“Russia is trying to become stronger with a clear mind!”

Britain was wary of Russia growing stronger, but at the same time felt cognitive dissonance for having supported Communist Germany.

“Isn’t that a theocracy? It doesn’t seem any different from communists.”

France, troubled by internal communes after the Ruhr occupation, kept some distance from Russia, fearing their communes might be inspired by Russia.

“Imperial subjects! Let’s not fall behind Russia!”

Japan’s imperial subjects, who took great pride in being subjects of the Emperor, were also stimulated.

In reality, this was aimed at Korea, an underdeveloped outer territory unlike the prosperous mainland that was enjoying post-war prosperity.

“Just when things were getting quiet, the Japanese bastards are oppressing us again!”

“Those sons of bitches!”

Naturally, the reaction was not positive.

Time passed further.

It’s now approaching 1928.

It’s been 10 years since I possessed Anastasia.

My age here—or rather, Anastasia’s—is now approaching her late twenties, but there’s hardly any change in her appearance, perhaps due to her “holy” status.

Someone once said that Westerners are pretty but age quickly. Yet this face shows no signs of changing.

Of course, that’s a generalization, but there’s almost no change in appearance.

As if maintaining her prime, I don’t feel any particular changes in my body.

Even Maria, who is younger than me, now seems quite mature.

Tanghuru also seems to be recovering.

I have a theory based on my own speculation. What if I maintain this state until the time I originally lived in?

Immortality, in other words.

That strange old man might make it possible. It’s interesting to see how history has changed.

Since he possessed me as Anastasia and told me to change things, perhaps time must flow until the era when he sent me to the past.

“Russia’s modified capitalism was hastily created during the civil war to win over workers. Of course, even this is a tremendous development for Russia, but although I’m British, I’ll help add some flesh to Russia’s capitalism in ways my own country cannot.”

Recently, Keynes came and helped add some substance to our capitalism.

Of course, while we outwardly advocate modified capitalism, this country is actually following accelerationism, Anastasia-ism, and various other ideologies.

After making a big fuss, Keynes apparently got into it with Churchill in Britain.

“The road construction is progressing well.”

Road construction took longer than railway construction.

It’s a large-scale project spanning several years.

This makes sense because railway construction had German help and only required connecting rail lines, whereas roads needed to be paved to prepare for Russia’s tricky rasputitsa.

Fortunately, asphalt concrete was being used in the 1920s, so paving roads wasn’t too difficult.

It required a lot of concrete, but Britain provided support.

“Having supported Communist Germany, we must also help the Anti-Comintern Pact nations or we’ll only embarrass ourselves. Like it or not, we must help Russia!”

Even Churchill stepped forward.

At first glance, Churchill might seem pro-Russian, but with Britain in poor shape, he apparently judged that Russia needed to draw Communist Germany’s attention until he could take control of the cabinet.

Churchill would certainly make such a choice.

France wasn’t normal either, and Poland, unless they were fools, knew they were essentially Russia’s second battalion. Austria-Hungary was torn apart like puzzle pieces, so Russia was the only option.

There was no need to discuss America across the Atlantic. When Russia was the only choice, even Churchill had no option but to support them.

The problem was the labor aspect of road construction.

Of course, wages were being paid, and the Ministry of Transportation could reduce labor issues by working the cockroach-like Bolsheviks to death!

In the process, Bolsheviks died, but that wasn’t our concern.

The death of Bolsheviks was actually the wish of all Russians.

In such circumstances, dying while working was actually good for Russia.

Just for the sake of foreign opinion, the Bolsheviks dying from harsh labor were kept hidden externally.

Still, I was shocked at the use of these legal slaves.

“Wow, they’re really using them like this.”

I couldn’t help but be amazed.

White Russia clearly hasn’t changed its fundamental nature, exploiting Bolsheviks like this. Honestly, while I can’t help but be amazed, I think it’s a brilliant idea.

It would be a slap in the face to non-Bolshevik communists.

It’s great that they can justifiably make them work without wages.

The vermin-like Bolsheviks rose up for the workers, so they couldn’t argue against working for the workers.

The Bolsheviks being justifiably exploited often ended up half-dead from work.

According to reports, some Bolsheviks offered to convert midway through.

“I never expected them to convert because of this.”

Maria expressed amazement while reading reports from the State Duma.

“People tend to come to their senses when treated harshly.”

People’s long-held beliefs tend to crumble when they’re treated harshly.

Especially when those who claim to “liberate workers” are treated like vermin by those very workers.

It must feel like a hero of justice being criticized by people saying even villains deserve human rights.

Well, if they convert, they become paid workers from that point.

Among them, there were those who falsely claimed to convert, so they underwent ideological verification.

After all, what could they do in the United States where worker welfare and rights were recognized?

“Is that so?”

“People change in dramatic situations. They must have seen the Bolsheviks at construction sites too. Revolution in Russia would be difficult.”

With the changes in history, Lenin had acted like an authoritarian dictator, oppressing the people.

They couldn’t help but make comparisons.

After all, there was a big difference compared to Soviet Russia under Lenin.

Of course, the civil war had to be taken into account, but still.

The Bolsheviks in Siberian camps had maintained their revolutionary identity, thinking “I am a revolutionary!” But they had to acknowledge the changed reality of Russia.

They must have realized that revolution in Russia was meaningless.

“Do you think they still want revolution?”

Maria still doesn’t understand these reds.

That’s just how reds are.