Chapter 68 Alaska
St. Petersburg.
Sergei, who took on the task, found his accomplices and told them about the situation.
"Look, this time, as long as we can convince the Empire to sell the Alaska colony to the Black Xingen Consortium, we can get some money. If we can help them pay less, we will get more. Here is an initial deposit of 20,000. As long as we complete the task, we can get 100,000 rubles. For every million we save, we can earn an extra 10,000."
Sergei said as he held up the check for 20,000 rubles that the Hexingen Consortium had sent him earlier.
"Your Excellency, the Black Xingen Group is too stingy. They only want to pay such a small amount of money for such a large piece of land?" said a minister.
"What do you know? You should know what Alaska is. It's a barren place with no value. How can you expect someone to be so lucky as to take it over? It must be because the boss of the Heixingen Group has a unique hobby that he is willing to spend money to take it over." Sergei said.
"Your Excellency the Count, isn't the Empire contacting the Americans to purchase the Alaskan colony? The Americans should be able to offer a higher price!" someone asked.
Sergei said viciously: "Even if the Americans want to buy this land, they are not willing to do so. If we had not supported the Americans when the United States gained independence, they would not want to bother with us at all."
"So even if the Americans took over the Alaska colony out of friendship, what does this have to do with us? The Americans won't pay us separately."
"Now, if we convince the Empire to sell the Alaska colony to the Black Xingen Consortium, not only can the Empire get rid of the burden of Alaska, but we can also collect an additional fee. Why not do such a win-win situation?"
…
Winter Palace.
Sergei and others are proposing the sale of Alaska to Tsar Alexander II.
Alexander II looked at Sergei and others curiously and said, "Count Sergei, the sale of Alaska has always been known to only a few people. Where did the Hexingen Consortium get the information from?"
"Your Majesty, this is actually normal. After all, we have discussed this matter with several royal families in Europe. Behind the Hechingen Consortium is the Prussian Prince Ernst of Hechingen. It is not difficult for him to obtain this information with his identity." Sergei replied calmly.
Alexander II agreed with this reason and nodded, saying, "Well, that's true." Then he said, "What price are they going to offer?"
"Five million rubles."
"What? Five million rubles. Did I hear it right? This is absolutely impossible. It's wishful thinking." Alexander II said in disbelief.
Seeing this, Sergei hurriedly explained.
"Your Majesty, don't be impatient. In fact, the Black Xingen Consortium is not going to buy the entire Alaska colony, but the part north of the 56th parallel north. As for the land south of the 56th parallel north, it is still part of the empire."
After hearing this, Alexander II immediately became interested. You know, Alaska is in the frigid zone, and the further south you go, the more suitable it is for human habitation.
Previously, in order to develop Alaska, Russia tried to immigrate to the Alaska region, but the harsh weather made it basically impossible to live in the north, so most of these immigrants used the archipelago with a more oceanic climate and the relatively warm land in the south as their base.
However, the Hexingen Group actually gave up the warm south and chose the vast snowfields in the north, which made Alexander II confused.
"Why did they give up the Alaskan territory south of 56 degrees? And instead choose the north with a harsh climate?" Alexander II asked curiously.
"Your Majesty, this is because the Hexingen Group has the same embarrassment as us, that is, there are two overly powerful potential opponents on the North American continent, one is British and the other is American." Sergei explained.
"The Black Xingen Consortium just wanted to find a region to engage in the fur business, so the Black Xingen Consortium did not really need the relatively warm south, but chose the barren north with a harsh climate. This way, they could avoid the greed of the British."
Alexander II was very happy when he heard someone say that the British were greedy for the first time. After all, in the international community, it has always been Britain, France and Austria that said that the Russians were greedy.
"You mean this Black Xinggen Consortium is using the Empire as a shield!"
"Your Majesty, in my opinion, this is a mutually beneficial matter. There is no such thing as one taking advantage of the other. Think about what our purpose was in colonizing Alaska and selling Alaska now?" Sergei asked in return.
"Back then, Alaska was colonized for the purpose of development and expansion in North America. But selling Alaska now means that this land has become a complete burden, and the British are eyeing it covetously," said Alexander II.
"That's right, Your Majesty. If we really sell Alaska to the Americans, we will lose our foothold in America forever in the future. By selling Alaska to the Hexingen Consortium, we not only retain the relatively habitable areas in Alaska, but also the Empire will be able to recover its strength in the future and continue to expand southward with South Alaska as its base. As for the British threat, after we sell most of Alaska, we can migrate the population in Alaska to South Alaska south of 56 degrees north latitude controlled by the Empire. With a certain population, even if the British want to swallow up South Alaska of the Empire with their strength in North America, they will have to lose a mouthful of tiger teeth."
Alexander II agreed with this point very much. In fact, the British imposed very strict restrictions on Russia. Since the Crimean War, Russia was temporarily unable to fight against the British.
That's why the idea of selling Alaska, the bridgehead in America, came into being. In fact, given the Russians' character, the bad climate is nothing. There are so many places with harsh environments in Siberia, but they were swallowed up by Russia anyway.
"In short, Your Majesty, we will benefit from selling North Alaska to the Hexingen Consortium. It doesn't matter if the price is lower. After all, compared to losing the bridgehead in America, making less money now is nothing."
Other ministers who benefited also echoed Sergei's statement, which further shook Alexander II's mind.
After all, the wealth of North America is visible to the Russians, especially the rapid development of the United States in recent years, which demonstrates the fertility of the American land.
If Russia had not experienced the defeat in Crimea, it would never have given up the opportunity to expand into North America, even if it had suffered losses year after year.
Now that someone is willing to buy the northern Alaska region, the pressure on the Russians in America will be greatly reduced.
The Alaska region south of 56 degrees north latitude is located in the southeast corner of the Alaska colony. It is mainly composed of islands and mountainous terrain, with an area of approximately 20,000 square kilometers. It is indeed easy to defend for Russia.
Moreover, this location is closer to the core of Canada and the United States. After all, the entire northern part of North America is covered with vast areas of snowfields, tundras, and forests. Thousands of miles of uninhabited land is a true portrayal of the northern part of North America.
The place that Ernst specifically left for the Russians was very particular. Not only was it located at the southernmost tip of the Alaskan colony, but also the Alaska warm current passed through it. The climatic conditions were the best in Alaska. At the same time, this place had no important resources.
Compared with Juneau, the gold-producing land in Alaska in his previous life, and some nearby oil-producing areas, if they were not in the southeast corner of Alaska, Ernst would have wanted to leave the entire southeastern Alaska to the Russians so that he could fight with Canada and the United States in the future.
(End of this chapter)
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