Reincarnated as Nikolai II

Chapter 45 Twisted Flow (1)

"Hahaha! Nikolai Bunge! You crazy bureaucrat!"

Is he an ill-fated reformer destined to fade into history, or a madman who postponed even death while harboring original sin and stubbornness?

It's too early for a posthumous evaluation since Bunge hasn't died yet, but he's certainly someone who will be recorded in detail by future generations.

"Ah... How long has it been since I laughed so heartily?"

At this point, with the Trans-Siberian Railway nearing completion this year, all I wanted from the Amur Governor-General's Office was just maintaining the status quo.

That meant I thought the Amur Governor-General's Office's work was done after just receiving reports on Roman's fortress construction.

However, Bunge apparently thought differently.

"Do you see? These numerous business plans and reports? The madness of a senile old man at eighty?"

"...Isn't this the harmful effect of excessive autonomy?"

"No, no, Count Dashkov, that's not it."

Looking at these plans set up by Nikolai Bunge, one country that benefited from last year's Boxer Rebellion comes to mind.

The Japanese Empire. That country that enjoyed war special demand when troops were sent to Qing during the Boxer Rebellion.

'Even though they only fought what amounted to a few months of playing house war, they say the economic effects were quite good.'

But Bunge wouldn't have made such a gambling move just looking at that.

"I'm dying to meet Professor Bunge right now."

How far did that undead specter look ahead?

The export to Qing that became a blue ocean after the import of modern weapons was banned with the signing of the Treaty of 1901?

The Russo-Japanese War that would break out soon and the hundreds of thousands of troops that would be stationed in Manchuria afterward?

Or Korea? Did he even consider the armament of Korea, positioned as a neutral country?

'If it was just at the level of stockpiling inventory, I wouldn't have thought he was looking so far ahead...'

"I remember that time. When I had just ascended to the throne and was overwhelmed, Professor Bunge came and asked to be sent to the Far East. I was dumbfounded. I thought what could he possibly do if he went there."

"Did you know the Far East would grow so rapidly even then?"

"I didn't expect it. Even appointing Roman as the next Governor-General was only hoping for solid defense, not growth."

Anyway, as long as I stay in St. Petersburg, I can't be closely involved in affairs at that Asian end. Nor is it worth it.

However, paradoxically, when I returned, this old bureaucrat who had left finally became tainted with madness.

Power? Wealth? Honor? No. Such shallow motivations couldn't produce such pure madness.

"Putting it nicely, he wants to prove something, and putting it harshly, he wants to mock everyone."

"That's a rough way to put it, but you seem somehow pleased."

"Of course I'm pleased! Who wouldn't applaud his passion?"

From the start, it's extraordinary that an old man who could die any time shows such boldness.

And above all.

"Moreover, he's acting according to what's close to a perfect answer."

Even I'm not confident I could submit a better answer than this.

No, probably none of the empire's 120 million citizens could attempt such an adventure as Bunge's.

Nikolai Christianovich Bunge, you madman who denies your own bureaucratic past and tries to make even my new era look shabby.

I think I somewhat understand why even death avoided him.

==

The 20th century began.

Despite the new year dawning, Britain is pouring massive budget into the Scorched Earth operation in South Africa that started last year.

The Scorched Earth operation involves destroying water, food, animals, plants, tools and all infrastructure - it shows how obsessed those pirate bastards are with colonial control.

Of course, this fact wasn't widely known externally, as Britain proper was preoccupied with Queen Victoria's death at age 81 in January and the ascension of a new king.