Chapter 434: Muravyov

Like Menshikov, a favorite of Nicholas I, Muravyov was born in a top-ranking aristocratic family of the Tsarist Russia in St. Petersburg.

His father served as a high-ranking official in the Novgorod Province, a minister in front of the emperor, a privy councilor and other important positions.

According to the Qing Dynasty, Muravyov was a Beijing gentleman with a yellow banner on his forehead.

In his early years, except for being a court teenager for Princess Pavlovna at the age of 14, Muravyov's resume was mainly concentrated in the military field: he joined the army at the age of 18, participated in the Second Russo-Turkish War at the age of 19, and left the army at the age of 24 to return home to inherit the inheritance.

After five years of boring and dissolute life and travel adventure life, the 29-year-old Muravyov returned to the army again and became a major general of the Russian army three years later.

However, Muravyov did not serve as a general for long before he began to serve as the governor of Irkutsk and Siberia.

It was during this period that Muravyov began to conduct military adventures in the Heilongjiang River Basin in Northeast China to spy on the strength of the Qing Dynasty in the Outer Northeast.

However, the outbreak of the Crimean War disrupted Muravyov's plan.

The Allied Navy not only fought with the Russian Navy in the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea, but also had a naval battle in the Pacific.

Although the Russian military power in the Pacific was very weak, the navy had only four or five old sailing warships that could barely fight, and the land force had only more than a thousand people, which posed no threat to the Allied Forces.

However, the Allied Forces did not intend to let go of the Russian military power in the Far East.

Tromeran led his ship to Borneo, in addition to requesting medical assistance from Liang Yao and negotiating a new batch of arms orders, there was another purpose.

That was to destroy the Russian port of Petropavlovsk on the Kamchatka Peninsula together with the British Navy, and deal a heavy blow to the Russian military power in the Far East to support the Allied Forces in the Near East battlefield.

Muravyov knew that he was weak, so after the war broke out, he either led his fleet to hide in the port of Petropavlovsk or played hide-and-seek with the coalition forces in the Pacific Ocean to delay time.

Petropavlovsk, with a latitude of 53°, is not an ice-free port. As long as General Dong arrives and the port is frozen, everything will be fine.

Since Muravyov blocked Liang Yao on the street, Liang Yao and Muravyov had to have tea and talk.

Although Liang Yao hated these greedy Russian nobles from the bottom of his heart, he had to admit that Muravyov was a courageous man.

Of course, Muravyov felt that Xiangshan came to him in person, and Liang Yao was not very surprised.

If Muravyov was not brave enough, he would not dare to boldly provoke the Qing Dynasty militarily and invade the south repeatedly in the Far East, far away from the core area of ​​the Russian Empire, when the attitude of the Russian Central Government towards the Qing Dynasty was wavering.

After the Second Opium War, Muravyov's greatest contribution to Tsarist Russia was not to seize millions of square kilometers of land in the Outer Northeast of the Qing Dynasty through the Treaty of Aihui.

Muravyov's greatest contribution to Tsarist Russia was to expose the essence of the Qing Dynasty as a paper tiger, allowing the Tsarist Russia, which had just been defeated in Crimea and had suffered great damage to its national strength, to still dare to invade the Qing Dynasty unscrupulously and repeatedly demanded that the Qing Dynasty cede land for peace.

"To be honest, Governor Muravyov, I admire your courage and courage to come to Xiangshan to find me at this time." Liang Yao said leisurely.

"Xiangshan is very close to Hong Kong Island. Aren't you afraid that I will give you to the British as a gift?"

"Haha, based on my understanding of you, you won't do this. I heard that you just occupied Borneo Island, and the British also provoked you in the coastal areas of California. I think your interests may not be consistent with those of Britain and France."

Speaking of Borneo Island, Muravyov's eyes flashed with jealousy. This tropical island has the ice-free port that their Russian Empire has always dreamed of.

But soon, Muravyov adjusted his state and continued.

"I am a Russian nobleman. Even if I fall into the hands of the British, I will not worry about my life. They will not abuse me, nor will they kill me. Instead, they will let me eat and drink well to show their gentlemanly demeanor.

After the war, I, the Governor-General of Siberia, who has defended the Far East for more than a year with more than a thousand remnants, will return home as a Russian hero. The Russian people will build a statue for me and the Tsar will award me a medal.

And your reputation will probably be stinking in the aristocratic circles of the European continent. I heard that you are a businessman. A qualified businessman knows how to calculate gains and losses, not to mention an outstanding businessman like you."

Muravyov has a good eloquence. In fact, the governors of the Tsarist Russia's border areas are not bad at eloquence. They are all excellent and eloquent debaters, even diplomats.

The Russian Empire has a vast territory, and its capital is located in St. Petersburg in the far west. Before the popularization of telegraphs, the communication efficiency between the border areas and the capital was extremely low.

Therefore, the Tsarist governor of the border areas not only requires certain administrative management skills and military experience, but also a certain level of diplomacy.

Although the Governor of Siberia is not a very popular position in Russia, it is still a governor after all.

If Muravyov is a poor speaker, he will not be able to hold the position of Governor of Siberia.

Now Alaska is still in the hands of the Tsarist Russia. Russia sounds far away from California, but in fact it is just that California is far away from the core area of ​​Russia.

The northern part of Oregon is only a few hundred kilometers away from the southernmost tip of Alaska.

Since Liang Yao came to Japan, Muravyov has been paying close attention to this neighbor who is also in the Pacific region.

Muravyov thinks he has a certain understanding of Liang Yao.

Liang Yao and the British in the Crown of Columbia have conflicts. The British specially sent Elliot to serve as the governor of the Crown of Columbia. The two sides have clashed in the coastal areas of California.

If the contradiction between Liang Yao and the British can be used well, perhaps his goal can be achieved.

This is what Muravyov is thinking now.

"Tell me, why did you come to Xiangshan to find me this time?"

Liang Yao gestured to Carnegie to pour tea for Muravyov.

Muravyov's intention is not difficult to guess, but since Muravyov took the initiative to come to the door, it is more appropriate for Muravyov to say the purpose.

The border areas of the Far East are not only the bitter cold land of the Russian Empire, but also the farthest area from the core area of ​​Russia, without a doubt.

There was no Siberian Railway in those days, and the Russian troops stationed in the Far East had three ways to get supplies.

The first was to collect grain locally, but the Far East was vast and sparsely populated, and the economy was backward, so it couldn't even be self-sufficient, let alone supply thousands of Russian troops. Therefore, collecting grain locally could not solve the problem.

The second way was to transport it to the Far East by land. But the road from Eastern Europe to the Far East was not easy to travel, and the journey was long, so this pitiful transportation capacity could not meet the needs of the Russian troops in the Far East.

The third way was to transport supplies from St. Petersburg to the Far East by sea, which was the main way to transport military supplies for the Russian troops in the Far East.

After Britain and France joined the war, the Russian army lost its control of the sea.

Not only could supplies from Eastern Europe not be transported to the Far East, but even Petropavlovsk on the Kamchatka Peninsula was surrounded and blockaded by the Allied Navy for more than a year.

It was difficult for large ships in the port to leave the port to purchase supplies.

Although Muravyov managed to defend Petropavlovsk with great difficulty, the Russian army in the Far East had already been exhausted.

Muravyov needed supplies, a lot of supplies, and in the entire Pacific Rim region, only Liang Yao had the ability to provide him with military supplies.