Chapter 189 I, Russia, will never do business at a loss (Second update, please subscribe)
Loss-making business?
If it wasn't a losing business, I would have come to you!
You know, we in Russia have never done business at a loss!
Although he thought so in his heart, Count Philip von Bruno still spoke with a smile on his face.
"Mr. Brino, you know that in Alaska, whether your company is engaged in whaling or fur, you can get extremely rich returns. As long as you buy Alaska, you can monopolize the local whaling and fur industry."
Buy Alaska!
This is the "good deal" that Count Philip von Bruno brought to his doorstep.
Is this a “good deal”?
For Russia, it certainly is.
In 1854, after the outbreak of the Crimean War, Russia was defeated by the British and French forces and suffered heavy losses. After the old Tsar died of a stroke, the newly crowned Alexander II was still worried about the strength of Britain and France, and he had the idea of giving up Alaska. Alaska happened to be next to Canada, a British colony, and it would be difficult to defend it if a war broke out.
Although it is extremely difficult to reach Alaska from Canada by land, as long as the British are willing, they can occupy Alaska by sending a warship. After all, there are only more than 500 Russians there, including the mixed-race ones.
Even the fur industry that once supported the Russian American Company is now suffering from losses due to the sharp decline in fur production caused by a hundred years of hunting. Without subsidies from St. Petersburg, they cannot even survive for a day.
In other words, the profits in Alaska have long been insufficient to cover the costs.
Considering that the British could sweep through the Russian settlements in Alaska at any time, it would be better to sell the place while it was still in their hands. Not only could the money be used to alleviate the empty treasury, but it could also get rid of this burden.
But it was not easy to find a buyer. The Tsar spent a long time looking for a buyer but to no avail.
We need a rich man here!
But in this world, there are very few people who can afford to pay the money, let alone "take over" negative assets.
This is not a wealthy person.
What a fool, a big fool!
It is really difficult to find such a big fool in the world.
Why?
Even during the Crimean War, the British did not invade Alaska. It's not that they couldn't, but they just didn't want to bear the burden.
No country wants to bear such a burden.
Knowing that the Tsar wanted to deal with the "negative assets", Count Philip von Bruno suddenly had an idea after discovering this wealthy company.
Trick this company into taking over.
It’s him!
They are the ones who are definitely taking over. How can they not cheat when they are stupid and have a lot of money?
"Sir, expensive whale oil is doomed to be phased out, and as far as I can tell, the Russian American Company seems to be losing money."
Buffett pointed out the guy's lies bluntly, but he ignored the thickness of the earl's skin, and the other party said indifferently.
"You know, it's an official company, so it's inevitable that there will be corruption, so losses are inevitable. Sir, you are a commercial company, don't you want to expand the company's territory?"
In response to the Earl's question, Buffett asked back.
"The company's territory? What's the point of having a large cold storage? Instead of spending money on that barren piece of ice and snow, we might as well go to Antarctica!"
As he spoke, Buffett stood up, and Count Philip von Bruno was about to stand up as well. Just as he was about to put it on again like a dog-skin plaster, Buffett said.
"Mr. Count, I'm going to the bathroom. Do you want to come with me?"
It turns out that the only option is to pee in the face of a dog-skin plaster. After Buffett escaped by urinating, Count Philipp von Bruno, who had been waiting for him to come back, was not discouraged when he learned that he had been stood up.
"Let's go back to the room first, he will definitely come back!"
"Sir, it seems that Mr. Brino has no interest in Alaska at all."
Sergey Witte said.
"It seems there is no point in waiting any longer."
"Witt, the Duke asked you to come to London not just to attend the Expo, but also to learn what diplomacy is!"
Count Philip von Bruno glanced at Sergei Witte and said.
“The most wonderful thing about negotiation is that you never know where the turning point will come from, and sometimes the chips you can choose are not just the chips in front of you, but also the chips in the future.”
Witte was recommended by the Minister of Transport, Duke Bobrinsky, to attend the exposition. Although he was only fourteen years old, he was deeply appreciated by the count and was even selected as an attendant by the count. Of course, they never thought that this fourteen-year-old boy would become the most powerful minister of the Russian Empire in the late nineteenth century. He not only promoted the Franco-Russian alliance, but also promoted the reform of the empire and even successfully extended the life of the empire. However, now he is just a student who has just considered attending the Department of Mathematics and Physics of Novorossiysk University.
"A chip for the future?"
Witt looked at the Count in confusion.
"Witt, do you know why we're selling the old Alaska?"
Count Bruno asked, sitting on the sofa.
"Because it has no value?"
"For Russia, any land has its value!"
Count Bruno said, lighting his cigar.
"But as we all know, after the Crimean War, we not only faced a serious financial crisis, but also an extremely weak national defense situation. Not to mention Alaska, even the defense of Europe is very tight. Britain only needs to launch a small expedition to wipe out several Russian settlements in Alaska. Now we are already in a state of confrontation with Britain and France. There is no chance of winning and no value in confronting Alaska, which is out of reach. Moreover, it is also a burden on the empire economically."
Maintaining the empire's territory costs money, and Alaska... has been losing money for decades. It used to rely on subsidies from St. Petersburg, but now Russia really can't afford the subsidies!
“So there’s a tendency in St. Petersburg to subsidize other regions rather than continue to subsidize Alaska, which has no value.”
"Sir, are you talking about the Amur River (Heilongjiang River) basin?"
Witt asked,
Perhaps Russia was defeated in the Crimean War, but it seized the opportunity of Britain and France's invasion of China, took advantage of the Qing government's incompetence, and swallowed up the vast land north of the Heilongjiang River and east of the Ussuri River without firing a single shot.
"That's right. With the Amur River Basin in our hands, we can establish agricultural reclamation areas in the Far East. This means that we may be able to fundamentally change our disadvantages and truly become a Pacific country. The problem is that we are currently seriously insufficient in both human and financial resources! The country has just suffered a major defeat, and the defense of the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea is still tight. How can we raise enough financial resources to develop the distant Far East? In this case, we should focus on developing the Amur River Valley and infiltrating China's Manchuria region..."
(End of this chapter)
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