Ch.348Let’s Use a Commie the Right Way (2)

# # #

“I don’t think that’s the issue. Wouldn’t it be better to provide the four major insurances in this situation?”

Medical insurance is already available in Britain, but Russia still has some shortcomings in that area.

The four major insurances for workers. Since becoming the United States, worker benefits have increased, but they’re still lacking.

“Let’s introduce the British social security system.”

“Our system isn’t that bad, so why specifically the British one?”

It’s not about being “not that bad.”

It’s certainly better than before, but right now the workers are working at almost a brainwashed level.

Some even want to take on night shift workers’ duties, and others want to work solely for me.

“Yes. Please prepare a plan to implement the British social security system within the Constantinople Treaty Organization. At this rate, they’ll all work themselves to death.”

This is probably largely my influence.

I pay proper wages, but the slogan “For Mother Tsarina and the workers!” is extremely prominent.

Unlike before, wages are being paid properly, but even so, I worry they’ll all work themselves to death at this rate.

We need to introduce a better social security system. If only the basics exist like now, problems could arise again anytime.

I need to take care of various things before something resembling communism emerges.

“Thanks to Your Majesty’s grace, workers will be more comfortable.”

“That’s the least I should do.”

Although worker issues were unexpectedly mentioned during the Paris reconstruction, I haven’t been doing what I fundamentally should.

Right. Japan.

There might be a lot of talk about Renya Mutaguchi now.

I should appropriately support Renya Mutaguchi and tell everyone it was the right choice.

Well then, now I’ll support Mutaguchi for Japan’s sake.

“Now, let’s give Renya Mutaguchi great praise.”

Since I can’t go there directly, I should praise him from afar.

Just trust me.

# # #

The world had developed to the point where televisions were being distributed to households.

Especially in the Constantinople Treaty Organization, televisions that started in Russia were distributed and sold to each country, so from far Vladivostok to Lisbon, each household had both television and radio.

“We really made the right choice joining Russia.”

“If we were under the Qing Dynasty or the Japanese, we probably wouldn’t enjoy such luxuries, right?”

The Manchus in Russian Northern Manchuria also enjoyed many benefits as members of the Third Rome, and while Israel was having friction with China in Shanghai, their homeland was experiencing a golden age under the support of the Constantinople Treaty that couldn’t even be compared to ancient Israel.

Not only that. Though not quite like the original history, the Balhae Federation had completed land reform by treating those who opposed it as Japanese collaborators and sweeping them away under Lee Beom-seok’s leadership. By connecting railways with the Constantinople Treaty and receiving massive support, they had emerged as a strong Asian nation within just 10 years of escaping colonial rule.

Western Japan, though lagging behind the Balhae Federation, was able to quickly rise from the ashes thanks to Renya Mutaguchi’s leadership, and naturally, Romanov Electronics’ televisions and radios were distributed to these Asian countries as well.

They were also distributed to the Islamic-Hellenistic Federation, Anastasia-supporting nations, and pro-Rome countries on the Indian subcontinent. As everything from Europe to Asia was connected, a global channel called the Rome Channel was created.

It was a channel that broadcast global news in various languages.

Of course, many countries outside the Constantinople Treaty usually don’t watch the Rome Channel, but today was different.

[“Ta-da! It’s Rome Time today. Today, we are honored by the presence of the great Russian Saint, the Tsar, the Great Khan of the steppes and Manchuria, the Ataman of the Cossacks, everyone’s Allah, and the Emperor of Byzantium.”]

The Russian Tsar’s appearance, no less.

Anastasia herself appeared on the channel.

[“I apologize to all citizens for taking even a moment of television program time, this unworthy Tsar.”]

[“How could Mother Tsar bow her head? As your children, it would not be enough to give you all television programs.”]

[“Thank you. Today, I would like to say a few words about hero Renya Mutaguchi’s bold choice and his decision.”]

[“Do you mean Renya Mutaguchi, the living legend of the Japanese archipelago?”]

[“Yes. Renya Mutaguchi is a figure who would have achieved great feats that might have unified East Asia if the Japanese Empire had functioned normally.”]

[“Since Your Majesty praises him so highly, I’m curious.”]

[“I, Anastasia, Tsar of Russia and Emperor of Rome, greatly admire Japanese Prime Minister Mutaguchi’s decision that contributed to world peace. If he had sought to unify Japan through military force for his great cause, the whole world would have fallen into the cauldron of war. Japan in particular, which would have been the main battlefield, would not have had a single blade of grass growing properly and would have become uninhabitable. Tens of millions would have died, and Japan would have struggled to function as a nation.”]

A story about Mutaguchi, no less.

Though seemingly random for the Constantinople Treaty, it quickly spread among the Japanese in the Far East through the Anadan, and they began to listen to the Tsar’s words.

Wondering what she would say.

[“The Constantinople Treaty might have split apart as well. There would be no winners or losers, just a terrible world. That’s the future I saw. Renya Mutaguchi, as a hero of Japan, must have predicted that future early on. His big-picture choice… How could his choice for the world be less significant than my achievement of bringing backward Russia into the Constantinople Treaty? Although he missed the opportunity for military unification, he has essentially saved the world.”]

The reason Anastasia appeared on television was very obvious.

An incredible boost.

She fearlessly uttered words that might have surprised the original history’s Motenko if he had heard them, and this was broadcast live and translated into various languages.

Of course, it was also published in newspapers for those who might have missed the broadcast.

“Ah, the Prime Minister’s judgment seems a bit regrettable this time.”

“I know, right? When will we unify if not now? If we unified in our generation, we could at least be ancestors our descendants wouldn’t be ashamed of.”

It was truly regrettable.

Older people couldn’t forget the past glory of Imperial Japan, the brilliant history of the empire that had risen to be equal with white civilization under the Meiji Restoration, despite its corruption.

“Huh? What newspaper is this?”

“It’s an article about our Prime Minister written by the Russian Empress today.”

Japanese people reading newspaper articles about the Russian Empress had different reactions at first.

“Hmph. I guess the Russian Empress is looking down on us too?”

“She greatly praises the Prime Minister’s choice.”

“Hey, you fools. The Russian Empress has always held our Prime Minister in high regard, what do you mean ‘looking down’?”

“That’s right. Has Russia, the world’s strongest country, ever praised a Far Eastern figure like this? They haven’t even mentioned anyone from Balhae, their ally!”

Of course, in Balhae’s case, Anastasia didn’t need to create unnecessary problems since they wouldn’t start a war anyway.

She was greatly praising their hero.

This was unprecedented.

No European leader had ever been boosted like this by the Tsar.

Naturally, the Japanese in the Japanese Federation couldn’t help but feel national pride.

“So our Prime Minister made this decision for the sake of the world!”

“They say Russia’s Saint can see the future. She probably saw a terrible world where Shinjuku was barely habitable.”

That was an understandable perspective.

And of course, it was the Anadan who led the positive response to Anastasia’s broadcast in the Russian Federation.

“Anachang! Daisuki!”

Surprisingly, seriously, those who would become memes or genuine otaku in the future shouted “Anachang daisuki” while showing pro-Anastasia behavior, expressing positive results.

And so, Renya Mutaguchi was recognized as the first case of an Eastern figure acknowledged by the Roman Emperor.

# # #

Paris, France

At this time, Paris was in a miserable state.

War broke out, nuclear weapons were dropped, and the city of culture and art was destroyed.

Afterward, due to radiation effects, the Constantinople Treaty abandoned Paris for a while.

Initially, French Commune survivors were isolated in the outskirts of Paris by soldiers, forming small villages essentially known as radiation-exposure villages, but naturally, as radiation treatment was impossible in that era, most died before long.

Of course, besides those who were openly exposed to radiation, there were also people who survived with less damage.

These were Commune remnants who would continue resistance in the catacombs.

The French catacombs were originally abandoned quarries from the Roman colonial period.

These abandoned quarries were transformed into catacombs when, under Louis XVI’s beautification policy, cemeteries were demolished and tunnels were created in these abandoned sites to bury the bones from those cemeteries.

It was a vast complex where 5-6 million people were buried, including those who died from the Black Death.

The Commune remnants tried to continue their resistance in these catacombs, but as the French Commune collapsed after being hit by nuclear weapons, they too had to be affected.

The Commune remnants who held out in the catacombs—the civilians who could barely survive—

The catacombs eventually collapsed from the nuclear explosion’s aftermath.

Crumbling sounds

The red weeds thus lost their last hideout, and most were buried among those skeletons, with only a very small number escaping.

The Constantinople Treaty Organization designated Paris as a city to be rebuilt, with the Vichy government taking charge of handling these catacombs, and many communists were mobilized.

“Is the Russian witch’s protection so good to you!”

“Damn bourgeois bastards!”

“You think we’ll listen to you?”

“If you don’t comply, your families will be sent to Siberia too. Oh, do families mean nothing to you reds?”

Of course, in the end, there was no choice but to comply.

After all, they had been holding out in camps because they wanted to live.

Those who wanted to die had already died in the previous war.

From the beginning, being dragged here and cursing about the Empress was just a minor form of resistance.

The massive catacombs created by Louis XVI’s beautification policy were thus processed by German, French, and Italian communists.

To be fair, other countries had catacombs too, but the already gloomy and scary atmosphere of the collapsed catacombs was quite disturbing.

Crumbling sounds

The Constantinople Treaty Paris officials frowned at the piles of bones flowing out like water as they processed the catacombs.

“What should we do with those?”

“I heard they’ll be ground into powder and buried elsewhere.”

“Isn’t that treating the dead’s remains too harshly?”

“They were already piled into mountains of bones before the collapse, isn’t that harsh treatment?”

They were processing a cemetery of skeletons approaching 300km in length.

Such harsh work was rightfully done by the reds.

# # #

Good news came from Japan.

Finally, the reds in East Japan had collapsed.

On the other hand, Beria said that Stalin had written a letter to Trotsky, encouraging him to return to Russia.

“The condition is freedom.”

“Yes. He says he would be grateful just to be able to live out his old age.”

I tapped the ash from the cigarette in my right hand into the ashtray in response to Beria’s answer.

“What did you think of Stalin?”

“He seemed to have no more lingering attachment to revolution.”

“I suppose that’s right.”

He had been in a camp for a long time and must have had a lot to think about.

And seeing Russia now, he must have realized that revolution was meaningless.

Like this cigarette disappearing with the satisfaction of having harmed someone’s lungs by burning it all.

He too is now as good as finished.

“What should we do?”

“Bring him in for now. I want to see him personally.”

I became curious to see Stalin in person.

Seeing is believing, after all. I want to see if this man truly simply wants to become a free person.

Does he still have communist ideology? If so, does he still think about revolution? And so on.

If he still thinks about revolution, I will kill him.

After all, a tiger is still a tiger even when old.

Considering Stalin’s original history, I can’t let my guard down even a little.

“I’ve already prepared him outside the Kremlin Palace, Your Majesty.”

“As expected of Beria. I appreciate your thoroughness. Send him in.”

So I saw him directly in the Kremlin Palace.

“To think the esteemed Roman Emperor would summon me. It’s been a long time. Huh?”

Stalin was shocked as soon as he saw me.

He has reason to be.

Stalin had seen me before when he was getting his “castration” at the hospital.

He didn’t show much change in his face then.

Of course, I’ve matured more as a woman since then, and my chest has grown, but it must be surprising that I’m still young despite 30 years having passed.

In contrast, Stalin has aged tremendously.