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Keynes is a famous economist who worked in the Ministry of Finance during World War II and was said to have some stake in creating the Bretton Woods system.

I also understand that he was involved with the reserve currency issue.

To be precise, he didn’t advocate for the dollar as the reserve currency; instead, he tried to create an international currency called Bancor to serve as the reserve currency and establish an international monetary system, but it seems that the proposal to make the dollar the reserve currency passed.

I heard that Bancor was quite a good proposal, as the International Monetary Fund borrowed some ideas from it to create Special Drawing Rights (SDRs).

So, how about inviting such a person to Moscow to explore some ideas?

This would allow us to establish a connection and later try to create the Bancor he mentioned.

Of course, I don’t know if he would say the same thing in this history, but at least I don’t think it’s a bad idea.

I smiled and snapped my fingers.

“How about inviting him to Moscow?”

“Are you talking about that British scholar?”

“He seems confident in what he said, so why not have him research modified capitalism with our economists?”

I mean, I slapped on the term modified capitalism, but it’s not like there haven’t been discussions in the National Duma about needing a bit of a tweak on it.

Then, that guy would fit perfectly.

“But whether he accepts or not is another matter.”

“If we suggest that he’d be able to test what he wants in Russia, he might accept.”

It doesn’t matter if he declines.

Having him around would be nice, but the Russian Republic can manage one way or another.

Since we’re on friendly terms with Britain, it’s not a bad idea either.

We’re officially presenting a modified capitalism plan in Russia, while we use it to strengthen our connections.

“Then, I’ll let the Okhrana know.”

Right. Speaking of the Okhrana.

Isn’t Beria currently in London?

He’s been kept there for contact with Churchill, but still.

“Come to think of it, Beria is at the British branch in London?”

“Yes, he’s in charge of the Okhrana’s British branch.”

“He’s managed not to get caught by British intelligence.”

Considering how long he’s gone unnoticed, that’s impressive.

I could certainly give our Beria a round of applause.

“His actions are quite capable, but isn’t it also because Churchill is keeping his mouth shut?”

“Well, if we’ve extended our hand in friendship, we’ll need a contact person.”

At least we’re not Reds, so we might not be seen as bad partners in Churchill’s eyes.

From his perspective, our cabinet, which is lowering its head to the Communist Party, might appear to be traitors.

But putting that aside, the reason I brought up Beria is one thing.

The jet engine.

That suddenly came to mind.

I can’t predict Germany putting a jet engine on their aircraft in the same way, but I decided to define Communist Germany as being on the same level as Nazi Germany just in case.

Ridiculous, you say?

Considering Russia’s position facing Germany, it can’t be helped.

Originally, Germany was in disarray, and Austria is so wary of German communism that they wouldn’t want to unify with Germany like in history.

While their military might is certainly greater than that of Nazi Germany, being cautious can’t hurt.

There’s a chance that a Red version of the Luftwaffe might pop up and fight our air force.

Technologically, Russia lags behind other countries.

Especially when it comes to aircraft technology.

Up until World War II, they had somewhat caught up in terms of aviation technology, but still. At any rate, what I need to do is seize control of jet engines.

“The British Royal Air Force Academy? Royal Air Force College? Anyway, there’s a guy named Frank Whittle.”

“What’s he got to do with this?”

I can’t quite call it a jet engine yet.

Even if I mention jet engines, I have to explain how they work.

I remember the talent line to some extent, but I don’t know the details about jet engines.

If I did, I would have made one myself. So I should just say it’s suitable for development.

“His developments could benefit Russia in the future.”

“Are his developments related to weaponry?”

Should I consider a jet engine a weapon?

It’s a bit ambiguous to label it as a weapon, but technically it would be used in weaponry.

Since it’s involved in weaponry, let’s treat it as such.

“Yes. Contact him, become friendly, and if there’s anything needed, arrange support.”

“Understood.”

Huh? Shouldn’t we discuss this in detail?

This seems too vague.

“Aren’t you curious why I’m trying to sponsor him?”

“Your Majesty, you are the Tsar of All Russia. There must be a reason.”

It’s somewhat problematic that he took this so for granted. Hmm, I shouldn’t have done this during Vladimir’s reign.

Right. Usually, one would ask, ‘Why?’ When in Joseon, if the king does something, they make a protest letter and gather together to voice their disagreement.

It’s a bit scary how blindly the Esmen believe everything I say.

Especially now, it’s almost like I’m telling someone to mind control a British lad.

“Then the issue lies elsewhere. What is this?”

I tilted my head at the new document that had come up before me.

“This is a report from the Ministry of Transport regarding the expansion of Russia’s infrastructure. It should essentially be seen as the general opinion of the National Duma, as all members agree.”

“Expansion of infrastructure? What is the greatest need?”

“Roads need to be built, don’t you think?”

“Roads, huh. I also think roads are necessary. What use is it to have just railroads? The more roads, the better. But what’s the point of many roads if we don’t have traffic lights?”

Sure, I can see that.

We can’t just install roads. We must put in traffic lights as well.

Modern traffic lights aren’t present in this era, but that’s not a bad thing.

“Traffic lights? Understood.”

“And if we make roads, we need cars, right? Don’t you think?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Recently, we’ve been importing cars from various automobile companies, including Ford from America.”

That’s true.

I’ve received various gifts and cars from foreign automobile companies.

I haven’t driven that many, but nonetheless, it means there are foreign cars.

There isn’t currently a well-known automobile company in Russia.

They established a tram design bureau in Yekaterinburg, thinking they could build trams, but they’re still clueless when it comes to cars.

“It seems challenging for us at this point.”

“We recently received a significant number of trucks from the Austrian company Lorin & Clement.”

“Lorin & Clement?”

Sounds familiar.

“That’s the automobile company that suffered from faults in the trucks they produced after the Great War, causing management complications.”

Did they offload trucks to us?

Is the reason why they’re trying hard to get us to invest in them?

Wait, Lorin & Clement… I feel like I should know that name.

“Lorin Clement. Lorin Clement. Ah.”

It’s Škoda.

That’s a premium automobile company from Czechoslovakia.

I heard Škoda Vicks acquired it and it became known as Škoda Auto. Their cars are quite famous.

They probably produced light tanks and developed main guns for tanks during World War II.

So it seems that they haven’t yet been acquired by Škoda, considering the mention of Lorin & Clement.

“Aren’t there any problems with the trucks that came over catching fire?”

If there are problems with it catching fire, isn’t that dangerous?

Thinking about it, I’d rather not use that.

“And if needed, they’ve offered to provide them for military truck use.”

So, does that mean they won’t be used in civilian roles?

“Hmm, let’s try acquiring them.”

“That company?”

In the original history, it fell under the Nazi German munitions industry during World War II, and later was nationalized when the communist regime came to power in Czechoslovakia. If it’s being held by Austria here, history might change.

Separately, due to historical irony, if it’s still not acquired by Škoda, Lorin & Clement could be worth considering.

Škoda is quite a good automobile company, after all.

Later on, they grew significantly due to Volkswagen’s investment. I think it could work out.

“Let’s set a direction for a separate acquisition.”

“You mean, Your Majesty?”

“Why not buy a failing automobile company at a low price and have them produce in Russia? We just need to lighten Duke Yusupov’s wallet a bit. This is just my personal opinion, so please focus on infrastructure in the Duma.”

“Yes, understood.”

After all, it’s something that can be handled here when it comes to automobiles.

I may not know everything about national car initiatives, but we need to get the cars rolling once we put down roads.

I called for Duke Yusupov right away.

When he returned from the civil war and came to reclaim his fortune, he had a lean face, but recently he seems to have gained a bit of weight, looking more plump.

Just by looking at his appearance, one can tell how well life is treating him.

The well-fed and plump Yusupov must have gathered every bit of money available.

I can tell that the recipes and business strategies I handed over worked well.

So, now can the Tsar borrow some money?

“Your Majesty, what brings you here today?”

Perhaps my sardonic smile made our Duke swallow hard.

If I called, doesn’t he sense something is up?

I simply smiled, propping my chin with one hand.

“Um, Your Majesty, what brought you to call for me?”

Right. Should I start to reveal it slowly?

“You’ve got shares in the radio and oil businesses, and you’ve been making a lot of money recently, right? Of course, that’s all yours, but I hear the ramen and Choco Pie businesses are also progressing.”

“Y-yes, that’s right.”

Well, it’s the same thing I said before.

But why do I say it again? It’s simple.

By throwing out this bait, our plump Duke will surely lay a golden egg.

“I want to dip my hands into the automobile sector. Yes, haven’t you got some money to play with?”

“Umm, I’ve been looking into the automobile sector as I heard we’re planning large-scale road constructions.”

“Oh really? What’s it like?”

Yusupov seemed to know exactly what I wanted to know.

If that’s the case, then I’m grateful.

“Well, our Russian Preze company was sold to the Russo-Baltic automobile factory, and G.A. Leicester has exited the automobile industry.”

That’s right. Considering how few companies survived the civil war, it would be odd to have automobile companies.

From their response, it seems already ruined.

I know for a fact that their dependence on automobiles was quite high.

“Are there no famous companies left?”

“There are not none. As I mentioned, Russo-Baltic is still viable, unlike other companies, they’ve held on quite a bit.”

“What about that one?”

Should we invest there?

No, considering they’ve lasted this long, maybe they’re barely hanging on.

Maybe their business vision wasn’t good.

“Actually, they did produce some vehicles up until two years ago, but from what I know, they’re on the verge of closing.”

“What a shame.”

So that means they went under, huh?

Thinking about it, they went through the revolution during World War I, so it’s understandable it wouldn’t be easy.

The Baltics are likely where their main base is located. The Germans invaded that area, so there must have been some damage.

“Surprisingly, they actually did okay in production. They even produced Ilya Muromets.”

“Ilya Muromets?”

“Yes. They made as many as 80 units, and at their peak, they produced up to 1,000 vehicles including passenger cars, trucks, and buses.”

That’s quite unexpected.

An automobile company making bombers means they were doing well.

Currently, Ilya Muromets is being reproduced at Igor Sikorsky’s design bureau.

Does that mean that cars are nearly entirely dependent on foreign sources?

“Hmm, that means we’re practically relying on foreign sources now?”

“Yes, we are currently realistically dependent on foreign cars. Especially, there’s a high preference for Ford, which aided us during the civil war.”

“I see.”

After all, if you ask Russians about countries they like, the United States would probably top the list.

Even though the negotiating nations provided support to the Black Sea, the country that heavily supported the Siberian White Army, the main forces in the early days of the civil war, was indeed America.

There wasn’t much military support, but it’s not uncommon for White army generals to praise Patton.

Simply put, it’s like having a fondness for the country that assisted them during the Korean War, right?

In any case, except for Ungern, Patton rampaged throughout the crucial battles, buying time for Anton Denikin to launch his offensive upward.

A pro-American Russia. It’s all so confusing.

 

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