Ch.78Fyodorov Arsenal (2)

* * *

“Do you think you haven’t been discovered? Or are you just playing reporter?”

I see. Perhaps the Tsar also works a lot, so this is his way of relaxing.

While he’s relaxing, it would be rather immature of me to selfishly say, “Ah, I wish the meals could be improved.”

Other than that, he was satisfied.

Honestly speaking, there wasn’t anything to complain about anyway.

So Sergei just answered honestly.

“Um, well. I have no complaints.”

“Is that so? You can speak frankly. I’ll make sure it doesn’t reach the ears of those high-ranking officials.”

Well. Even if I had complaints, I should probably be speaking to this Fyodorov person, the invisible factory owner who’s supposedly developing weapons.

Having lived in abject poverty since childhood and then being tossed around in Bolshevik-controlled Moscow, Sergei was old enough to know certain things.

Perhaps the Tsar came out to check if his subjects were working or just playing around?

Looking at it this way, the answer becomes clear.

The so-called Anastasia Reforms, the Five-Year Plan, were constantly mentioned by older men who said the country was becoming more like a proper nation.

Yes, that’s it. These days, there’s talk in the factory that those who don’t work shouldn’t eat either.

The Tsar has come to seriously observe whether workers are just playing around while still receiving their wages.

How could citizens of the United States, subjects of the Tsar, possibly be idle!

Contrary to Anastasia’s intentions, Sergei had made a grand misunderstanding.

“What are you saying? We have no complaints whatsoever. We just finished lunch and were about to get back to work! Isn’t that right, everyone?”

“Y-yes. That’s right.”

“Compared to the times under the Bolsheviks or the previous Tsar, the current era is tremendously better.”

The factory workers all answered Sergei’s question in unison, as if they had rehearsed it.

Anastasia didn’t realize.

As reforms progressed and Russia grew stronger, the standard of living for citizens had risen so much that it was no longer an era where people begged for reduced working hours or more bread—rather, it had become an era where not working for one’s wages was considered strange.

Anastasia didn’t realize.

These factory employees were people who had been conscripted into the Red Army, people who had seen the Tsarina leading the White Army when Moscow was recaptured.

The factory employees and Sergei, with one heart and mind, understood the Tsar’s profound intentions.

Anastasia responded with a saintly smile.

“I’m glad! Let’s continue working hard for Russia’s development!”

That gentle smile was more beautiful than anything to Sergei.

‘She truly is beautiful.’

Russia, led by her, would surely stand tall above the world.

They decided to keep the Tsar’s disguise as a reporter a secret among the employees.

* * *

Back in the office, I sat down comfortably.

Wow, disguising myself as a reporter was fun.

It was amusing how they spoke freely, not knowing I was the Tsar.

Though it was shocking that they had no complaints.

I wonder if only the most brainwashed corporate workers remained after the Bolsheviks were suppressed?

People who would say “Tsar!” even with their heads cracked open.

I suppose those with complaints probably died at the hands of the White Army during the Civil War.

“Um, Your Majesty.”

“What is it?”

The ministers looked like they had a lot they wanted to say.

Right. My disguise as a reporter must have seemed a bit much.

“It’s nothing. Anyway, let’s leave well enough alone. The citizens of the United States have no complaints yet. The fact that there are no protests like before tells us everything, doesn’t it?”

Ah, yes. That’s one way to look at it.

I was so excited touring the factory that I forgot.

“Hmm. So that’s how it is.”

I had forgotten.

There were incidents like Bloody Sunday.

Right. The absence of such protests is remarkable in itself—I was being too critical.

“Yes.”

“That employee, Sergei was it? He seemed like a hardworking young man.”

I really liked him.

A young man devoted to the Tsar in this era. I don’t dislike that type.

Someone like him would surely step up and take the lead when the country is in crisis.

Or else he’d work diligently to produce firearms to arm our White Army.

I like him.

Are all the remaining workers like that?

That would explain it.

Thanks to the Red Civil War weeding out the reds, only the true loyalists remain.

Perhaps we should give them a special wage increase.

“Yes.”

“Wouldn’t it be good to give some rewards to that young man and the factory employees for cooperating with the interview?”

It’s customary to reward those who know how to speak well.

I understand now why monarchs often listen to flatterers.

“We will do so, Your Majesty. It would be best to silence them that way.”

“Pardon?”

“Nothing.”

I’m not sure what he means. But yes, one receives rewards according to how much they work, and bonuses according to how well they listen.

The Fyodorov Arsenal had helped ease my tension about the American newspaper.

“By the way, the Fyodorov Arsenal is producing more firearms than other factories.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Perhaps being located in Moscow makes them work harder.”

I suppose that’s because it’s the city where the Tsarina resides.

Fyodorov must be paying special attention.

“I wish other sectors would produce as much.”

“There are reports that socialists are already encouraging workers to increase coal production.”

So socialists can be helpful in these situations.

“That’s fortunate.”

Russia is a resource-rich country, including coal.

We should diligently extract our resources and use them to our advantage.

Come to think of it, I remember the Stakhanov movement.

During Stalin’s second Five-Year Plan, a miner in Kadievka extracted 14 times the standard amount of coal and became a symbolic figure for propaganda.

I’m not sure if it will be the same in this timeline.

If Communist Germany is our opponent, we need to hurry.

“What if we propagandize like the reds? We could promote the idea that weapons flowing from factories are the military power that will protect Russia.”

“Wouldn’t that appear as if we’re preparing for war?”

We should always prepare for war.

Our Communist German friends could turn their People’s Self-Defense Force into a People’s Army at any moment and boldly attack Poland with some red version of “grandmother has passed away.”

Besides, I don’t think we’ll be seen as preparing for war.

The weapons currently coming from our factories are being sold to the Zhili Clique in China after arming our Far Eastern forces, including the Asiatic Cavalry Division.

The funny thing is that the Japanese have opened up Southern Manchuria wide, making it easy for us to sell weapons to the Zhili Clique.

“Since we’re making money by selling weapons to China, it shouldn’t matter.”

From what I understand, our Japanese friends are selling weapons to the Beiyang government.

So we’re selling to Zhili, and Japan is selling to Beiyang.

It’s essentially like we’re both testing our weapons.

They probably figure they might as well sell more weapons since they can’t extract anything else from the Beiyang warlords right now.

So they’ve actually helped us sell our weapons.

It’s not like we have volunteer forces in the Zhili army anyway.

Something suddenly occurred to me, and I wiggled my finger.

“Ah, Poland. Make sure Poland has plenty of Russian weapons—enough to arm their entire military. We can’t give them away for free, but sell them cheaply. After all, aren’t they part of the Anti-Comintern Pact?”

This way, we’ll look like we’re preparing defenses against communism rather than being a war-loving nation.

“They could turn those armed forces against us.”

“That’s why we should do it. If they only use Russian weapons, how could they attack us?”

It’s about preparing for contingencies.

On the surface, it looks like we’re generously supporting them with weapons while fighting well, but we’re actually just giving them a taste of our weapons.

Isn’t it cognitive dissonance to attack Russia with weapons received from Russia?

“Ah, I see.”

“This way, they might even ask for more weapons later to attack Germany.”

The point is that if they become too dependent on Russian weapons, that’s what will happen.

No matter how anger-management challenged they are, they’ll use their expansion against Communist Germany, which can be legitimately identified as an enemy rather than the country that generously provided weapons. Inevitably, they’ll have to take down Communist Germany.

As I’ve said several times, Germany is easier to defeat than Russia.

At least geographically speaking.

Russia, which requires crossing the Urals, versus Germany, isolated from all sides—Poland will be forced to make a choice.

And both Poland and China, which are currently killing each other, are markets where we can diligently produce and sell weapons.

At first glance, it feels like being a merchant of death.

But it’s better than waging war with those weapons, isn’t it?

“Is there any news regarding the Anti-Comintern Pact?”

“Everyone has responded positively.”

“Really?”

That’s fortunate. I was a bit worried about Romania.

But ultimately, it’s about choosing sides, and how many countries would side with an isolated Germany in the world?

Especially when they’re reds, not even a monarchy.

We must never let our guard down, but the options for those Balkan nations are limited.

Romania and Bulgaria are monarchies, after all.

Look at the communist countries: the Bolsheviks, who lost the Civil War, killed the Tsar’s family; Communist Germany chased after the Kaiser and eventually killed his family.

In Italy, Mussolini didn’t kill the royal family but, with German support, overthrew Italy and placed the royal family under house arrest, from what I’ve heard.

The Kingdom of Romania and the Tsardom of Bulgaria would be wary.

They might fear that being friendly with Germany could lead to communist revolutions in their own countries.

They’ll keep their distance from Germany for that reason. Come to think of it, there are quite a few monarchies.

“The Kaiser from Austria and the Tsar from Bulgaria have said they will come personally.”

“Is that so? That’s not bad.”

Bulgaria at this time would be under Boris III, right?

I believe he died after meeting with Adolf Hitler during World War II. In this timeline, is Boris III aligning with Russia?

Wasn’t he the one who established an autocracy and expanded territory by siding with Germany during World War II?

If Yugoslavia becomes communist, he could expand his territory as in the original history.

But I’m a bit uneasy.

Rosa Luxemburg and Karl whatever—both originally died after failed revolutions.

Even if we preemptively divide sides through agreements like this, variables must always be considered.

When Wilhelm deployed Lenin to Russia, did he really think Russia would be overturned and become communist?

He probably only expected Russia to withdraw from the war.

“While we’re on the subject of anti-communist propaganda, what about sending our anti-communist propagandists to various countries?”

“Anti-communist propaganda?”

That’s an intriguing suggestion.

I’ve seen Communist Party members diligently promoting communism and revolution, but Russian anti-communist propagandists are new to me.

Well, we’ve done it domestically, but not sent them abroad.

I wonder if sending them to Austria would be interesting.

“Communist Germany is quietly pushing Communist Party members into Austria and Hungary for underground propaganda. There’s no rule saying only they can propagandize, is there?”

Oh, yes. That makes sense.

That’s the right mindset.

After all, the only good red is a dead red.