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* * *

Maybe that’s why American cars are so popular.

But still, isn’t it essential to support domestic cars?

“Did Your Majesty notice something?”

“Uh, um… that.”

I fiddled with my hair, hesitating to speak.

I really didn’t know much.

No, wait. Since the Russian car companies have all gone belly up, isn’t it only natural that I wouldn’t know anything?

So here’s what I want to say.

If the Russian automotive industry is in shambles, we have to import foreign cars.

Yeah, for instance, like Lorin & Clement.

They are a luxury car company from Czechia. We could acquire them.

“Acquiring Lorin & Clement?”

“Are you not aware?”

“I’m not saying I haven’t looked into foreign companies.”

The fact that they looked into foreign companies means they have some knowledge.

“Yes, haven’t you touched some money? Why not try acquiring them?”

“Uh, well, I’ll look into it. However, there are other companies interested in acquiring them.”

See? This person is such a character.

Since they have a bit of leeway, they are exploring other options. With such vast knowledge, they must have survived till now.

Certainly, cars are what’s currently lacking in Russia.

That’s the honest truth, looking at reality right now. If they’ve messed up this badly, isn’t it tough to even promote domestic cars?

“Is there a company trying to approach Lorin & Clement?”

“Skoda might be one.”

Skoda. Is that the right timing now?

Hmm, I’m not sure when, but at least if Skoda hasn’t taken any action yet, we should snag Lorin & Clement.

“Then, go acquire that company. If you can, do it. If not, then just leave it.”

I don’t plan to overextend myself.

If it doesn’t work out, we can always think of Russo-Balt, or whatever, right?

“Since they can’t properly produce cars due to defects, it doesn’t seem impossible for Skoda to consider it, but is that important?”

“Well, still, if they’re provided adequate funding, they’ll perform well.”

That funding would come from us.

Isn’t this a good plan? I think Duke Yusupov would make quite a profit too.

That guy already made a ton of money from radio.

In fact, I heard that after Yusupov gave a radio to the broadcast station, the sales spiked quite a bit.

I personally did some advertising in this era.

Isn’t this enough of a contribution?

Yusupov must pour all his wealth for my sake.

Of course, when you think about it, it is still my money.

Thanks to me, both Tesla and Duke Yusupov’s names have been prominently featured.

What this means is, since he holds the title, it serves as promotion in other fields too.

Moreover, chocolate pies and lunchboxes are starting to come out.

Yusupov is likely to rain down money.

“If Your Majesty says so, um… well, it’s not absolutely impossible.”

Duke Yusupov is subtly observing me.

I don’t understand why he’s looking at me that way, but if I said it, can’t we just elevate the conversation a bit?

I clapped my hands and boldly opened my mouth.

“Of course that company would be mine, right?”

“Uh? It’s still a bit.”

Oh come on, who’s making money thanks to who? A car here or there is perfectly fine.

Even Branobel is making some profit.

“Thanks to me, you’re raking in money.”

“Uh, no. Your Majesty. I misthought things.”

There we go, that’s how it should be.

In the first place, I never intended to profit from that at all.

I already get a lot of money from the radio business.

If I play the brain role moderately, Yusupov can run the business and hand me money.

I have a significant stake in radio and Branobel.

A car or two is fine for Yusupov to keep.

“Just joking. If Duke holds the car company, that’s perfectly fine. But you said you were looking into cars, right?”

If he’s already looking into it, explaining it all to him shouldn’t be too cumbersome.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

I can’t help but wonder, though. Is it alright if I ask this?

With a slight hesitation and trembling lips, he carefully opened his mouth.

“Do you happen to know Volkswagen? The car company?”

It doesn’t exist now, but just in case, I wanted to ask.

“No, I’ve never heard of such a car company.”

Yusupov lightly shook his head at my inquiry.

Good, that’s a relief.

I was a bit worried that Hitler might be trying to meddle in that one.

Originally, Volkswagen was established more than a decade later, so unless I’m gaslighting Hitler into thinking he’s a king of car design, even with historical discrepancies, it wouldn’t have been established by now.

I can’t tell if the Austrian Hitler might create something either.

For now, if I say I’m acquiring Lorin & Clement to become Skoda Auto, even if Austria takes Czechia, it’s still possible that Hitler might come up with something new.

“Then, try to approach Lorin & Clement and see if you can get a technical partnership with Hispano-Suiza of Spain.”

They actually started producing cars after receiving technology partnerships from that side.

I’ll do my best to maintain historical accuracy.

“From the way Your Majesty speaks, it seems like there’s something there.”

No, no. If you look at me with such trusting eyes, I might…

Please don’t look at me that way.

So far, everything has fallen into place, but Skoda might suddenly go bankrupt.

Car experts might die or things like that.

I mean, if the money is there, it won’t be impossible though.

“There’s nothing concrete; I just think it’ll be fine.”

So, I just let my words trail off.

Don’t trust me too much. I’m not sure about that either.

“Understood. After all, my wealth has grown significantly thanks to Your Majesty’s grace, right? I shall follow Your Majesty’s wishes. But what if acquisition isn’t possible?”

Then… what can we do?

In the first place, it’s Skoda’s odds, so I don’t see much potential here.

“In that case, we’ll have to go with Russo-Balt. Ah, that wouldn’t be bad either. Let’s approach them too. To produce cars, domestic ones are essential.”

“So far, Your Majesty’s brow has bestowed us with plenty of wealth. I will earnestly follow Your Majesty’s command this time too.”

I have made a lot of profit following your words up until now.

So yeah. I believe this time I’ll be able to earn lots of money too.

What I’m hearing now is probably just my imagination, right?

* * *

Efforts began for infrastructure expansion focusing on road development.

Primarily, Europe, Russia had a significant impact from the civil war.

Of course, this area has already expanded infrastructure while settling the civil war. But considering the vast Russian land, there was still much lacking.

During the previous reconstruction of Moscow, Nikita Khrushchev, who assisted Hitler, had an experience where, unlike actual history, he graduated from Moscow Technical University through the National Duma’s educational support system post-civil war, and he applied for work in road construction supervision while participating as a laborer in the Moscow New City Project.

However, looking at the scale of the map where the roads were drawn, it was quite something.

“Isn’t this an enormous project?”

“I heard they’re making an automotive road.”

“Oh, really?”

They couldn’t really choose to not do it. Finding interest in a new field, Khrushchev joined the road paving work.

Naturally, officials ordered by the Moscow Central National Duma and city Duma felt their heads throbbing.

The scale of the road construction exceeded expectations.

As Anastasia declared her ambition to acquire car companies, the National Duma initiated the creation of roads allowing cars to pass.

Of course, since foreign cars were already flooding in, one could laugh this off and say it’s not that urgent, but still, the intentions of the war hero, Saint, and former Russian Tsar as Emperor of Eastern Rome were sufficient to rally the nation’s majority behind them.

“Let our Tsarina do whatever she wants!”

“The Tsarina plans to make domestic cars; we must support her!”

“Workers of Russia! All roads must lead to Russia! Pave the way!”

“Isn’t there a lot of road construction happening at once?”

“It’s infrastructure; with this size, the City Duma and the officials will be dropping like flies.”

That’s right. It’s a large-scale construction.

But it’s also something that must be done.

Russia needs numerous roads all over, but there are indeed still areas lacking roads.

Of course, it’s a massive financial burden, but with discoveries through reform and oil, the budget has swelled, so it must be done now.

“Still, it must be done. Especially since our Tsarina has declared that every citizen will get to ride in a car and is personally acquiring a car company. We must also respond to her profound wishes, don’t you think?”

“You’re saying the Tsarina will allow all citizens to ride in cars?”

Is it true that the Tsarina is providing for all citizens to ride in cars?

Everyone was utterly taken aback.

Would the Tsarina be making cars while having no roads?

“If His Majesty said so, there might be a bit of an exaggeration, but the fact remains, the Tsarina will be acquiring a car company, and we cannot be unprepared here.”

“Oh, I understand!”

“If His Majesty has such intentions, we should surely work!”

His Majesty is preparing cars for the citizens.

The Tsarina, of all people.

Right now, as the Tsarina prepares cars, should there be no roads?

Everyone must work diligently like machines to pave the road.

“Of course, we must maintain an 8-hour workday, so we should also recruit people for night shifts. Let’s prepare.”

Currently, the citizens of the Russian Republic believe that the Tsarina has transferred power to the Duma.

The Tsar symbolizes and reigns above after transferring power to the National Duma.

Funny enough, the support for that Tsar has a bizarre structure you might usually see in an absolute monarchy, but regardless.

At least this somewhat difficult road construction initiative caught fire with the news that the Tsarina was acquiring the automotive business for the citizens’ sake.

“Um, but then, will there be medals as well?”

“Oh, a medal is something we can’t resist.”

The workers mentioned medals as something they absolutely can’t resist.

“Isn’t it only natural? Of course, there are many recipients, so it will be hard for Your Majesty to give them all directly, and they will be presented via the city Duma.”

Unless the Tsarina hands them out directly, which would be a shame. After all, even the Tsarina can’t be in multiple places.

But still, isn’t that medal with the noble face of Tsarina Anastasia imprinted on it?

This is something that must be received without question.

As the Bolsheviks pushed us out and we got rid of the Bolsheviks again, most of the new officials are White Russians, so we had no choice but to put our lives on the line for this.

“Are the Romanovs going to assist us?”

“Yes. The current state of Russian automotive companies is dire. Poor Russo-Balt suffered immensely due to the Great War and the revolution.”

“It’s not bad for us, though.”

After all, we’re facing a management crisis.

Moreover, Austria is currently under threat from the Communist Party. Although Skoda recently threw out feelers, it’s been somewhat postponed due to the military industry issues regarding Germany.

Well, it’s not like we can keep waiting like sages.

Lorin & Clement was thus acquired through Duke Yusupov.

* * *

The large-scale road construction continued.

And I was dumbfounded.

Look at the map showing all of Russia, with roads sprawling out from Moscow like a spider’s web.

It’s as if they regarded Yekaterinburg as a railroad hub, but they’re pulling off a stunt like this!?

No, it seems they are already doing so.

Not just simple technicians; they also massively recruited workers to pave roads.

Watching the members of the National Duma, busy with the road construction discussions, made me wonder.

Is this alright?

Such large-scale projects typically draw the ire of the public, right?

Particularly for the United States, which is the successor of the imperial Russia that experienced a revolution; they should be sensitive to this.

Therefore, I can’t just let this slide.

“Can we really handle this road construction?”

Judging by scale, this seems like a task made for a highway like in the Korean Peninsula. Of course, it could be manageable.

I’m not such a fool, am I?

Didn’t I order this? The Duma instructed it.

Surely the workers won’t harbor resentment for me.

The Duma members all wore rather indifferent expressions.

Faces that seemed to say, “What are you questioning, it’s obvious.”

Uh, um. Is it really alright?

The one who spoke up was the Minister of Finance.

“Yes, due to the initial reforms starting from the civil war and the recent second reforms, our Russian budget has increased significantly. Additionally, the revenue from selling resources is also considerable, so we can manage.”

If the Finance Ministry is saying that, it must mean they’re overflowing with money.

No, even so, shouldn’t we at least suggest saving a bit?

I’ve been fidgeting, tapping my fingers on the edge of the desk.

That’s definitely not what I wanted to say. This isn’t what I meant!

“No. No, that’s not it. Let’s address the fundamental issue. Even if there’s plenty of money, it’s people who do the work.”

People do the work, right?

In this day and age, robots aren’t the ones paving roads.

This is all done by humans.

Does Russia really have that many workers? I wouldn’t be surprised if the population exceeded 100 million, though.

“If you look at this map, you can see we aren’t just simply drawing lines. For now, we plan to prioritize major cities around Moscow and gradually expand from there. So, while it costs a lot, it’s manageable.”

Certainly, the map itself is well-planned for layout.

No, why is he answering my questions inappropriately?

What I want to say is not this!

“I’m not talking about overall costs. Aren’t the workers going to die from overwork? Looking at this situation, I think the laborers could voice their displeasure just like during the imperial era.”

“What we’re doing in this road construction is treating the volunteer workers like machines—”

“Excuse me?”

Did I just hear the word ‘machines’?

I’m pretty sure I heard correctly.

 

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