Chapter 67 Minister's Route
March 2, 1867.
St. Petersburg.
Cross, a judge of the Hechingen Consortium, is bargaining with Count Sergei (a fictional character), a close confidant of Tsar Alexander II.
"Mr. Count Sergei, is the news about your country's intention to sell the Alaska region really reliable?"
Cross still cautiously asked Count Sergei for confirmation. After all, this was a big deal and he couldn't be careless at all.
"With my status and position, I don't have the intention to play tricks on you. In fact, before this, some ministers proposed to Your Majesty to sell the Alaska region. Some even wanted to contact the US government and let them take over the Alaska territory." Count Sergei said seriously.
"Alaska has become a burden to the empire and is also facing threats from the British, so there are voices calling for the sale of Alaska."
Hearing this, Cross knew that the news was almost over, so he asked, "Mr. Sergei, will your country no longer continue to expand into America?"
Cross's words were very rude, but Sergei, who had already taken the money, didn't care at all.
He explained: "Since the Crimean War, the Empire has embarked on the path of reform. Reform? That costs money, and now our focus is on Central Asia. We don't have the energy to develop the American colonies. In addition, in order to manage and develop the Alaska colony, we cannot make a profit, and we often lose money. The economic situation of the Empire has not been good in the past two years, and some people have long wanted to sell Alaska for cash."
Cross continued, "Yes, our Hexingen Group intends to purchase your country's Alaska colony."
"That's no problem, of course. But if you want me to act as a bridge, the fee for that... you know what I mean!" Sergei made a gesture of counting money with his fingers.
"Mr. Count Sergei, if you can make this deal for us, we will not forget the friendship of our friends." Cross said hurriedly.
Having said that, he calmly handed Sergei a check for 20,000 rubles.
"This is just a greeting gift, a small token of my appreciation, not a sign of respect!"
After looking at the check in his hand and counting the amount, Sergei was quite satisfied.
He asked: "What kind of effect do you want? I can find some friends to help, but the reward can't be low!"
Cross cautiously probed, "Mr. Count Sergei, do you think it is possible to buy Alaska with a few million rubles?"
"This is absolutely impossible! You have to know that the area of Alaska is more than one million square kilometers. Even if you are a wealthy American, you can't get Alaska without spending millions of dollars." Sergei said in a firm tone.
"So what are your country's psychological expectations?" Cross asked.
Sergei pondered for a moment and raised a finger.
"Ten million dollars!" Cross suppressed his shock. The Russians were really bold.
Cross also did some research. The so-called Alaska is actually just a vast snowfield. Although it is large in area, it cannot grow crops and has no minerals. The Russians only developed the fur business in Alaska.
I've heard from Russian fur traders in the past two years that the fur business in Alaska is not doing well anymore. What value is there in it?
If the company hadn't sent him here to discuss business, Cross himself would not want to buy this large piece of snow.
"Mr. Count Sergei, you and I both know that although Alaska is very large, it is actually just a piece of snow with no practical value. It is not worth 10 million US dollars at all." Cross said to Sergei.
"Also, our consortium does not have any urgent need to purchase this land, so the price cannot be too high."
Sergei asked curiously, "Then why did you buy such a large piece of vacant land with no economic value?"
Sergei also knew that the Alaska colony was now a completely rotten piece of land. Not only did it have no output, but the empire spent a lot of financial resources every year just to maintain its sovereignty over the Alaska region. Now Russia was busy looking for a sucker to acquire Alaska, but at present, only the Hexingen Group had taken the initiative to contact the empire.
Cross pretended to be helpless and explained to Sergey: "It's just the boss's own little idea. He once told us that if something cannot be done, there is no need to force it." Cross said calmly.
"Mr. Cross, I actually don't quite understand why anyone would buy such a piece of wasteland. Does your boss have any quirks?" Sergei asked curiously.
"I'm not satisfied with what you said, Mr. Sergei. Our boss does have a hobby. This is just our guess!"
Cross said mysteriously to Sergei, "It is said that he also acquired a piece of land in Africa for colonization. But Africa is a place! I believe you also know that in addition to tropical diseases, there is also a horrible natural environment. He actually had the crazy idea of engaging in planting there, and even recruiting immigrants from other places at a loss. To be honest, the local natives are the most suitable labor force. Isn't this putting the cart before the horse?"
"This doesn't look like something a savvy businessman would do," Cross said.
In a word, our boss is a weirdo and a sucker. If you miss this opportunity, you will miss this shop. If you don’t cherish us, we will not serve you.
"Mr. Cross, it's not that I don't want to help your company, but the price your country offers is indeed too low. So naturally we will choose Americans to purchase the Alaska region." Sergei and Cross said.
That's not what you said when you collected the money, Cross complained in his heart.
However, Ernst had anticipated this. If he wanted to get these Russians to contribute, he had to use benefits to entice them. Imagine that in the previous life, in order to get the money from the sale of Alaska, the greedy Russians had to bribe American officials to get the money back. (There are also versions that say that Russia did not get a penny, but the possibility is small.)
So this time Ernst chose to bribe the Russian ministers. I can't offer a better price than the Americans, but can I bribe the Russian ministers?
As for whether the United States has the same idea, it is probably not. After all, historically, the majority of Americans have been opposed to the purchase of Alaska, so they are unlikely to be so active.
So Ernst, Cross and others gave instructions: "This time when we go to Russia, we should not directly deal with the Alaska issue, but instead try to bribe those ministers indirectly to accomplish it."
So Cross said: "Mr. Count Sergei, as long as you can convince your government to sell the Alaska colony to us, we will provide you with a reward of 300,000 rubles, provided that it does not exceed 15 million rubles. On this basis, if you can reduce the purchase price for us by 1 million rubles, we are willing to pay an additional 100,000 rubles each time..."
Sergei's eyes lit up, and a greedy look involuntarily overflowed from his eyes.
"Mr. Cross, if you had stated the conditions earlier, there wouldn't be so much trouble. Don't worry! I will take care of the rest. I will definitely satisfy your company."
For Sergey this was no different from picking up money.
(End of this chapter)
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