Struggle in Russia

"What do you think Grand Duke Constantine is trying to do?"

After discussing for a while, Alexey suddenly asked this very crucial question. That guy must have some agenda when he jumps up and down like this. With his character of being uninterested and unable to get up early, how could he work in vain.

"It's hard to say," Apraxin thought for a moment and replied, "But he must be trying to do something, and the target is most likely His Majesty!"

This conclusion is very surprising. After all, Alexander II and Grand Duke Constantine behaved harmoniously to outsiders as brothers, friends and brothers.

This confused many onlookers who did not know the truth, thinking that the two brothers were working together to cut through gold. Who would have thought that it was actually brothers fighting against each other?

"If I had known, I would have stayed a little longer to see what tricks he would do!" Alexei sighed.

However, Li Xiao said: "Do you think that if you stay with him, you will be allowed to watch his tricks? The greater possibility is that you will be left alone and can't see anything!"

With the character of Grand Duke Constantine and the methods of Viscount Prozolov, this possibility is very high. So Alexei immediately felt no regrets. He smiled and said: "That's right, let him go. Anyway, his fox tail will be exposed sooner or later!"

Apraksin nodded in agreement. He sighed and said, "Having said that, I get very anxious just thinking about that guy being the Acting Minister of the Navy! With his character, I'm not sure how he can mess with the navy. Our fleet is already there. I was severely injured in the last war, and coupled with his interference, the progress is simply dark..."

Aprakshin has revealed the biggest concern of the naval reformists' supporters. Indeed, the Russian navy is not advanced and powerful to begin with. After the Crimean War, everyone finally understood how empty the Russian Navy, the so-called third in the world, is.

Those old-fashioned sailing battleships were no match for the advanced British and French steam-powered battleships. They were outclassed in terms of speed, maneuverability, and firepower tonnage.

If we don't try to catch up quickly, as the British and French industrial revolutions continue to progress, the gap will become wider and wider. Even considering that Britain and France may export their industrial technology products to other parts of the world, the Russian Navy may not be ranked third in the world. Maybe the fourth or fifth place can’t be saved!

To change this situation, the comprehensive introduction of new technologies is inevitable, but according to Apraksin, what Grand Duke Constantine wanted more was not the introduction of technology but the introduction of finished products.

In short, this man wants to directly order advanced warships from Britain and France to solve his urgent needs, rather than introducing technology and slowly developing his own industry.

He also found a high-sounding excuse for this, which is: "I cannot tolerate the navy's lagging behind, not even for a day! We urgently need to strengthen our strength, and the best way is to order advanced warships in France, which will be done in the shortest time Improve the navy’s combat effectiveness within a short period of time!”

That's true. Directly introducing finished products can indeed quickly improve your strength. But the problem is that such an increase in strength is very weak. Not to mention that the purchased warships have sunk one less ship, but once a major event like the Crimean War is encountered, will foreigners get stuck?

By then, the Russian Navy, which is heavily dependent on foreign countries, will probably have a problem maintaining its existing warships, not to mention continuing to increase its strength.

To put it simply, it is possible to improve your strength by purchasing in a short period of time, but the consequences will be very serious. The most appropriate way is to improve your own industrial capabilities. It is better to make something than to buy something if you are forced to do so. What you have is worse than anything else!

It's a pity that Grand Duke Constantine does not have such foresight, or that he does not consider such far-term matters for the time being. His strategy is very simple, which is to produce the most beautiful report card in the shortest time. He wants to use this to show all Russia how powerful and capable he is.

Eager for quick success and quick profit is the biggest problem of Grand Duke Constantine. In order to fight for power and profit, he cannot think so long-term, so he has to spend money where it can make the biggest noise, even if other places actually need these funds more, he will pretend not to see it.

For someone like Apraksin, who truly wants to make the Navy a better place, this behavior is completely unacceptable. He is not opposed to the introduction of some advanced foreign warships, but the number does not need to be that large at all. The bulk of the funds should be spent on developing the country's shipbuilding industry.

Naturally, this was definitely not in line with Grand Duke Constantine's taste. The two quarreled frequently over this, and almost broke up as soon as they met.

It's just that after all, Grand Duke Constantine is the Acting Minister of the Navy and the head of the Navy Department. He has much more power than Aprakhin. No matter how hard Aprakhin tries to argue, he will never be his opponent.

Anyway, Apraksin was very depressed, otherwise he wouldn’t have gored the bull with the Archduke Constantine in public today.

"Hey, although I scolded quite happily, what's the point?" Apraxin sighed: "The fundamental problem has not been solved, so what's the use of me being happy?"

Alexei nodded in agreement. He had served as governor in Wallachia and had personally experienced the Crimean War. Naturally, he knew the disadvantages of relying entirely on foreign countries for national defense. Needless to say, once someone embargoes the goods, you will be blinded.

It's just that he knew it was useless. There were a lot of people in Russia who couldn't even think of going that far. What's more, some were just like Grand Duke Constantine. They knew there were problems and didn't care about it for their own selfish interests. many.

Thinking of this, Alexey couldn't help but feel a little depressed. He understood Apkrashin's pain very well. So what if he defeated Grand Duke Constantine in a quarrel? The fool will suffer even more!

"I don't think the Admiralty is the sole authority of Grand Duke Constantine. After all, he is just the acting Lord of the Admiralty and cannot cover the sky with just one hand!"

Aprak smiled hard and said: "That being said, he is the head of the Admiralty Department after all. Who can stop him?"

Li Xiao shook his head and said: "No, he is the acting Lord of the Navy, but he took office too soon and could not control the situation. I believe there must be many people in the Navy who are dissatisfied with him. Now he is using his name as Lord of the Navy to temporarily suppress him. I’m sorry to you, as long as one of you takes the lead in opposing him, I believe those who don’t agree with his actions will definitely target him unanimously!”

Apraxin blinked. He really hadn't expected this. He was about to ask if this was okay? Who would have thought that Li Xiao said again: "What's more, His Majesty may not like his measures, and if things get serious, Your Majesty may not be on his side, so it is not difficult at all to disrupt his plans, but the difficulty is... "