Rasputin of the East

37

British Empire.

A great country in many ways that the world would have been 10 times more peaceful than the one who had it.

They waged a war for the freedom to sell drugs to other countries.

I don’t know what the hell they’re going to do to get a meal plan for such a country, so my heart is really grand.

But even if you don’t want to get involved, it’s rude not to go when the other person is calling, and if you’re going to bump into it, it might be better to bump into it in advance and reduce the variables a little.

So here I am now.

“My name is George William Buchanan, Ambassador of the British Empire to the Russian Federation.”

“This is Mikhail Nikolaevich Kim, Count of Vostok and commander of the Interior Forces. Nice to meet you.”

“It is an honor to meet the great commander who defeated the German army.”

“It’s overrated.”

“It’s not like that. After a few decades, most people will forget me and I will be treated as if there was such a person, but won’t all cadets around the world learn the general’s tactics for hundreds of years from now on?”

“Thank you for those kind words.”

I smiled and took a bite of the beef stroganoff.

“Russian cuisine tastes good. In fact, objectively speaking, it seems to taste better than the cuisine of our country. haha!”

Compared to your dishes, what is not delicious? That’s what I thought, but I didn’t express it.

“England is a beautiful country. Of course, I’ve never been there, but I’m looking forward to the opportunity. Even when I went to Western Europe a long time ago, England didn’t have a chance.”

“Is that so? I’d like to invite you once the war is over. England is a shame to say, but I pride myself on being one of the most scientifically developed countries in Europe.”

“The war must end. It’s only been one year, but so much blood has shed in that one year. If I can finish it, I want to finish it now.”

“Hmm, the Count, even after winning a streak, do you want the war to end? If we can win one more victory, the field will not be too difficult.”

“I was initially opposed to war. It’s a war that has already happened, and it’s just the side that wants to win if at all possible. Peace is better than war, but isn’t it right to seek victory rather than defeat? Those bastards seem to have a different opinion.”

“Ah, rednecks, aren’t they really ungrateful? The country is in crisis, but they are calling for a reversal or sabotage. Of course, peace is better than war, but a just war is better than a bad peace.”

I couldn’t deny that either. Some argue that there is no such thing as a bad peace or a right war in the first place, but I can cite the Munich Agreement as a counter example.

If we had prepared ourselves for war, World War II could have been prevented in advance.

Of course, considering the anti-war opinion in Britain at the time, it is certainly a difficult choice to make, but considering the absurd Treaty of Versailles, if a war that is bound to erupt again someday, it could have been started in advance and ended much shorter and simpler.

“As long as everything gets involved in that righteous war and even what we have to protect with justice is not lost, I agree.”

“I’m telling you in case you misunderstand me, but I’m not a war fanatic. But the home country has to give the result. If you don’t want to see the red flags beating London, only victory can stop it.”

“It is against my opinion. On the contrary, I believe that the best time for the gangsters to rise up is when the people are so tired that they can no longer support the war because so much material and human life has been wasted in war.”

“In other words, does it sound like you can stop the war if you win the war before the citizens get too tired? Then I have a good opinion.”

“What is?”

“In the last battle, the Russian army mobilized new weapons. I heard that it was the Count’s work.”

What new weapon are you talking about? It wouldn’t be one or two.

“If that new weapon could also be used by our British Empire’s army, wouldn’t the end of the war be much shorter?”

“Are you talking about export, or are you asking for license production?”

For a moment, the expression of a slightly regretful expression passed over the construction worker’s face.

‘I’m sorry I did, is it difficult with just the name of an ally?’

‘Are all these thieves’ bastards? Do I need military money too? If not, even issue government bonds.’

Clearly, the rest of the time was not a very good mealtime.

***

Negotiations with the British Empire went well nonetheless.

To be sure, I cannot currently produce tanks with Russian technology alone. Although it can produce many parts alone, there was a problem that it was completely independent production, such as having to import many important parts including the engine from the United States.

Britain’s industrial power… It is difficult to compare directly with the US, but it is better than Russia’s, so it would not be difficult to produce all the parts of the tank itself.

After all, Britain was the first country to produce tanks in the original history. I had a hard time grasping the concept wrong, but I think the technology itself is there.

The problem was that someone came in when I heard that I was meeting with the British ambassador.

What if there was a country that, no matter how ally it was, would not see the UK doing well?

It wasn’t long before I was served French cuisine.

***

“I don’t have much, but eat a lot.”

A lot… not? this?

So, you need to know the French food culture. Is there a saying that you dig a grave with your teeth for nothing?

read at https://readwn.com

Maurice Paleologue, French ambassador to Russia, smiled kindly.

As I confronted it, I recalled Irina’s report on him.

Although he is over 60 years old, he is single, with a striking personality, lively, polite, imaginative, and a writer himself. An ardent anti-dogmatist, his imagination tends to bounce in fanciful and exaggerated directions, so the information he says – even if he has no intention of deceiving – needs to be tested before you can be sure you fully understand him.

As a diplomat, it is a harsh evaluation that is difficult to say with empty words. Maybe it’s this yangban’s personality that made World War I a World War one.

Still, it’s true that his personality loosened up the atmosphere a lot.

After a bit of drinking, the official said directly.

“Sir Count, first of all congratulations on your victory in the last battle.”

“thank you.”

“It is regrettable that the French Republic is not receiving much recognition for your work. If you wish, I will recommend the Legion d’Honneur to the Count by sending a telegram to his home country. And about the award the Count was unfairly taken away from.”

“Yes?”

“The Nobel Prize! The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, those Swedish racists trampled on the work of the Count who made a great contribution to human life!”

Seeing that your face is a little red, is it because you’re drunk?

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank you, one of my friends who also had typhoid and died thanks to the Count’s cure, and I have not been able to express my gratitude.”

“….. no.”

“I would like to put pressure on him to re-evaluate the Count’s achievements, but it is a pity that I cannot run to Sweden during this war.”

This yangban… has a good personality, but Irina’s assessment is definitely correct. I’m not a diplomat. He’ll be popular in the social circles, but he’s not the kind of person who’s going to let the country take care of something.

“By the way, Count, I have heard some rumors. I’ve heard that the pirates are co-producing the new weapon with the British. Is that correct?”

“It’s not about joint production, it’s about technical cooperation and license production.”

Licensed production is a tank. I supplement the information on the drive unit that we lack, the British can know the tank.

What Britain lacks in the first place is not the technology, but the concept.

There was also an agreement on submachine guns, but a joint company was established with the British Enfield Arsenal to supply submachine guns to the British Army.

But the money… I think it was a bit ripped off. Although the gun was cheap without measures, it was priced at 6 times the cost.

Well, the contract was passed without any problem thanks to the UK’s immediate consent, whether they thought it was not that expensive considering the performance even if the contract was 6 times, or whether they did not know the real cost.

“Honestly, Count, how much will those pirates use their new weapon? You don’t know what they fight on the ground? Count, you are a better fit for our great French army.”

“Well……”

“Those guys, I don’t know, must have listened to the Count’s weapons too.”

Isn’t it? Rather, you ripped it off on my side?

After all, they have never made submachine guns or tanks, so they do not know the proper price in the first place. Whether this is easy or difficult to make, what parts are needed, how long it takes to produce, what kind of equipment is needed to build a factory that mass-produces it, and what scale it needs to be built, etc.

read at https://readwn.com

Maybe later, you’ll find out that I ripped you off, but what do you do after signing the contract?

After all, they make their own submachine guns in a few years anyway, so you have to sell them when they are the most expensive, right?

“Hmm… Can I say that the French government is willing to do business with me?”

Oh, of course, the more people you can sell weapons to, the better. France is also an industrial country, so there is a lot of data to be extracted.

“This is the way to come by posting a request for positive review in my home country.”

“I also want to maintain good relations with France.”

Whether it’s England or France, I join hands with those who benefit me. That’s it.

And a few days later, the British ambassador came back.

“I came here because I wanted to make some changes to the last contract.”

“Hey, isn’t the contract already over? Would your parliament have agreed?”

I already knew this, so I used all sorts of disgraceful ways to get rid of the clause in the contract not to sign a contract with a country other than the UK, and gave me a rice cake instead.

“I heard that the outbreak of the Great War broke the British plans to replace their guns.”

“The number of new firearms already produced could not afford the firearms that would be consumed in war. Even if the line was laid, there was not enough time to supply and train the entire army.”

“But it seems that companies that have already installed production lines will not be at a loss?”

“That is… unavoidable.”

“That’s why I’m telling you, we want to buy the production line from our side.”

unlucky gun. P14.

It was originally adopted as a new firearm to replace Lee-Enfield, and hundreds of them had already been delivered to the British Army.

However, World War I broke out during that transition period, and the British Army had to urgently increase the size of the army, but when it was judged that it was impossible to meet the quantity and retrain the soldiers even if the production line was fully operated, Lee-Enfield, which was scheduled to be expelled, was brought. P14 was withdrawn from the diet.

In the original history, the U.S. entered World War I in a car that suffered huge losses as the companies that had already set up production lines in the process turned into duck eggs. Unable to do so, he changed the caliber of the P14 to match the Springfield rounds, and then employed it temporarily and used it as his main firearm in World War I.

At that time, half of the guns used by the US European Expeditionary Force were the P14 and the M1917 Enfield in the US military, so it was actually a main rifle more than Springfield.

However, the United States has not yet entered the war. So British companies are screaming at the nightmare of loss of principal.

So what if we cover the loss and buy the production line? Selling it to the Russian Army to fill the gun shortage, and to instill in Britain a more favorable view of ‘I’ and the Earl of Vostok.

Of course, it is unlikely that the aggressor will repay the favor, but it is worthwhile just to instill the perception that you can communicate with me.

Is it too sweet?