Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

Chapter 31 031 Fur traders of the Russian American Company

Soloviev had not paid much attention to the Russian American Company's office in St. Petersburg at 72 Moika Causeway before. The reason was very simple. This place was established not long ago according to the edict of Tsar Paul.

In the past, Russians went to North America to be fur traders, and they were all independent and operated in Russian America, which was demarcated west of Alaska and the Rocky Mountains. Although this area was vast and sparsely populated, with almost only Aleuts, Inuit and some indigenous peoples of the Northwest Tribe, the competition among several Russian fur traders in this area was still very fierce.

During the reign of Empress Catherine II, they had already explored the Yukon River area, and a small number of explorers even went deep into the Mackenzie River Basin. The Russian merchants' exploration road was still far away, but one thing was that even before signing the treaty with the British, they did not try to cross the Rocky Mountains.

The largest settlement in this area is Pavlovskaya Port on Kodiak Island, which is also the center of Russian activities in this area. It is convenient for ships from the Kamchatka Peninsula to supply and transport various goods. If you go further, you can even go directly to the rich west coast of North America from here. At this time, the Americans have not completed the exploration across the North American continent, and the Spanish Kingdom, which actually "claims" to control this area, has very limited control.

It can be said that it is a vast land, a treasure land that people in the old continent rarely explore, and more importantly, it is rich in resources.

How to control this area before the Americans crossed the Mississippi River and before the collapse of the Spanish colonial system in the Americas is a very worthy topic of study.

However, Solovyov's relationship with this company is nothing more than his father subscribing to the company's initial bonds on his own initiative. It must be said that this kind of risky investment is a typical feature of their family. The four Solovyov brothers did a lot of dangerous smuggling back then.

By the way, the name of the Russian American Company was abbreviated by the Americans when they were researching it, and the full name is "Russian American Company, under the Supreme Sponsorship of His Majesty the Empire". It was a joint company formed by several major fur merchants and trading companies after decades of vicious competition. However, compared with the East India Company of others, the profit and business scope are still relatively limited, but the main business is very clear, that is, to engage in fur business and fishing.

If we look at the future development of this company, it is too much of a waste. In fact, they have already arrived at the first coast of North America and Alaska. This first-mover advantage also made the Americans buy a piece of precious land at a cabbage price. At the same time, there is a small problem, that is, the cabbage price The money for buying cabbage has never been received.

Of course, because Russia's transportation in Siberia is really bad, if they really want to play the immigration game, the distance to North America is longer than the distance of the Second Pacific Labor Reform Fleet carrying inferior coal from Hokkaido, Japan to the Tsushima Strait to die.

Although the reasons for development are reasonable, the journey from St. Petersburg by boat may be faster than crossing Siberia.

As for the situation of the Second Exploration Expedition, in fact, for the Russians, there are indeed practical difficulties for them to immigrate there. You must know that the local food supply is very difficult, and they even have to seek food supply from the Spanish in California. Even in Fort Ross, which is suitable for farming, there are not many people, and rations have to be exchanged with local tribes, or supplied by the United States and Mexico.

Solovyov thought of Fort Ross. The Russians have already run to California to build a "hotel", but in the end they did not stay. This kind of thing is not the first time in Russia's weekly development.

They are not very good at "doing business". After merging the original companies, such as Shelikhov and Golikov's "Northeast American Company", "Northern Company", "Kuril Island Company" and Minikov's "Irkutsk Merchant Company", as well as the companies run by Baranov and others, these Russians seem to have lost their ability to do business.

The final outcome of the Russian American Company was its dissolution in 1881. It began to lose money during the reign of Alexander I. It is no wonder that Russia had to sell off all the precious land in North America. After all, the development was all "beastly development" by the Anton people. With this business model, it would be a problem if there were no problems.

Of course, this magnificent little building is now closed, and it has not yet been officially authorized by Tsar Paul. It just announced good news in St. Petersburg, and these companies in Irkutsk announced that they would reorganize and merge into a specialized company, and began to sell the company's corporate bonds in advance in St. Petersburg, Moscow and several major cities.

Compared with "Beastiality Development", their dividend and interest payment methods are very conscientious. Even though they were later disbanded, they insisted on paying out the interest and dividends of the last batch of company bonds in 1888.

Now Soloviev didn't care about this. He walked two steps forward and he would reach the laundry lane. He had to go home to sleep tonight. Tomorrow was also an official holiday for the army, so he didn't have to go to the barracks.

But when he got home, he lay on the bed, and his mind was full of "fur traders" and various furs. He was just short of having "mountain eagle" in his mind.

Solovyov is quite good at planning, including his career, company management planning, and military construction direction planning. In fact, he has his own ideas. What he needs to use first is Preparing a hygienic environment is actually a common sense. In 1797, people already had a certain understanding of microorganisms, and an explosive era of scientific research was about to come.

As for the Russians, it can be said that in addition to their artistic talents being activated by the French, in scientific fields such as mathematics, chemistry, physics, and exploration activities, they are actually no worse than Western Europeans. If you don’t believe it, just look at the coast of North America. There are still a number of place names left in the area, as well as how the main waterways were named.

Of course, Mr. Bering was a Dane, but he led the Russian expedition, which is not inconsistent. Moreover, Mr. Bering was emotionally stable at his tomb. He rested on the island he explored, and the island was named after him. of.

It doesn’t matter if the distance is long. It would be a good idea to kick the exiled prisoners from Siberia to North America. After Russia joins the anti-French alliance in the future, Spain’s Bourbon will always choose to fight with Louis XVI regardless of who stole his head. The French alliance ended up acting like a puppet state until it made Spain's situation extremely bad.

During this period, although the Spanish lands in the Americas could not be obtained by the several large viceroyalties in the core area, Russia could still fight for the land west of the Rocky Mountains.

For example, send all the exiled Poles to North America to stop them from thinking about returning to the country, or attract more immigrants from various countries to go there.

Anyway, although Russia does not traditionally look like a country of immigrants, there are a lot of foreigners seen on the streets in Petersburg and Moscow.

Solovyov's biggest shortcoming now is that he is only 16 years old. In the royal family, he may have to marry a wife, but in ordinary aristocratic and civilian families, he can hold the hand of a little girl at the dance a few times. , borrowing flowers and plants in the greenhouse Cover kiss. Well, he didn't take this script. Even the "little goblin" countess sometimes felt that he didn't understand the charm, and he didn't accept the "seduce" with such obvious signals. He only had gold in his mind. Rubles and guns.

Of course, it may have a lot to do with the fact that this girl is not his cup of tea.

When he got up the next morning, Solovyov turned back to the Moika embankment early. This time his route was more proficient. He used to pass by on horseback or in a carriage, but now he realized that some places were too close. , you can even reach it in just two steps if you have nothing to do.

For Solovyov, the business method of the Russian-American Company's office is very problematic. In fact, it can be displayed on the first floor, especially to show that the company's greatest advantage is the emperor's gift. , has obtained the monopoly right to operate north of 55° north latitude in North America, and what is even more advantageous is the vast investment space.

However, none of these were on display. He originally wanted to buy the "little fairy" a sea otter shawl as a thank you gift. The last duel broke the secretary's waist. If she hadn't entrusted her aunt, Mrs. Prince Yusupov, to run the operation, I'm afraid that He will also be targeted by Prince Kulagin.

However, that girl really likes to show her shoulders, because she and others think it looks good.

Now Solovyov still has some money of his own. In addition to the bonus, he also has the "Bobrik" company, which owns the "Little Bee" brand headed by Count Bobulinsky. In fact, this name, Solovyov Joseph wanted to complain, as if the earl insisted on letting people know where his last name came from - of course, Paul was very happy that his brother could have a serious career. You must know that this boy was a bit messy when the Queen was still there. Ridiculous, now that I have a wife, I am much more stable.

Of course, in this small company, Count Bobulinski took the reward given by the imperial brother and made additional investment, turning it into a joint-stock company in which he is now the major shareholder.

But for a few young people, this time they cooperated to start a business, and they all became small shareholders. This is a strange thing. Of course, the earl was also a hands-off shopkeeper. He saw old Solovyov coming to Peter After all, your family has been doing this since Menshikov became powerful.

In addition to the three-quarters of the company's shareholders, a quarter of the company's profits are to be presented to the emperor. Generally, only monopoly companies will appear, such as one-third of the Russian and American companies. One profit belongs to the Tsar.

This was Count Bobulinski's cleverness. Since the emperor's brother was very kind to him, he had to show something. The tsar himself was still the largest serf owner, and he was the one who paid the most filial piety.

As for buying sea otter skins, Solovyov actually has his own idea, that is, they are always wild and will be fished out sooner or later. Now, sea cows have been eaten by Russian expeditions when their populations were at a low point. Clean. Relatively speaking, sea otters, which are relatively close to relatives, may be more profitable in the future if they can be cultivated in a semi-domesticated state in the bay.

The more he thought about this kind of place, the more he felt that the Russians were honest-minded and never left their names behind when they did good deeds. Only the locals knew about them, and the whole village knew about their bad deeds. How did they do it?

As a captain of the grenadiers, he obviously had no chance to intervene in the management of North America and Siberia. Today, he was not happy because he did not see the sea otter cape at the Russian American Company, so he was going to find a cafe.

Unfortunately, the cafe he went to was already full of people. Diplomats and officers of all levels often come here to experience French life. Russians are so euphoric, so this is not surprising.

Of course, there are many people Solovyov does not know. He is always in the barracks or walking back and forth with his superiors. There are so many people in Petersburg that it is impossible for him to know them all.

However, there are still many people who know him.

"Monsieur, veuillez vous asseoir. Je pense que nous pouvons avoir une conversation agréable." (Sir, please sit down, we can have a good chat)

Soloviev did not know this young officer with glasses. He looked about the same age as him, but he was wearing the cavalry uniform of the Guards and was a major.

However, no matter how you look at it, the temperament of this young officer is too elegant, not like an officer.

"Merci.tes-vous un garde de cavalerie ?" (Thank you, are you a guard cavalry?)

"Oui, je suis Karl von Nesselrode." (Yes, I am Karl von Nesselrode)

This person is indeed a heavyweight, but it is Soloviev. He only knows a group of generals and is not very clear about the story of this German diplomat who later served as foreign minister for 40 years and chancellor of the empire for 14 years. He did not react for a while, but the other party may still recognize him. It is estimated that he is the adjutant of some nobleman.

In fact, he is the entourage of Tsar Paul himself. The Tsar himself likes him very much. Even though this gentleman is seasick, he has been awarded the title of naval adjutant. Now he has become a guard cavalry and became a guard colonel at the age of 20-but he really has no military talent at all, which is very suitable for diplomatic occasions.

Solovyov recalled that this Guards officer had stood in the line of Tsar Paul's entourage in Gatchina before. This pair of small glasses was so easy to recognize that it could almost be said to be the standard equipment of those diplomats.

But there was an embarrassing thing, that is, the other party could hardly speak Russian, and if they wanted to communicate, they could only use French or German.

No wonder, in the future he would move to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to display his talents.