The Kremlin Games(115)

“Zeppi?” Lufti Pasha asked.

“A member of our staff hired from, ah, central Germany,” Colonel Shuvalov said. The Ottoman sultan, Murad IV, insisted on maintaining the pretense that the Ring of Fire was a hoax and that up-timers didn’t exist—while he sent his agents everywhere to learn whatever they could from that nonexistent future lore.

“I understand.” Lufti Pasha smiled at Colonel Shuvalov. Clearly a man who knew how to play the game. “We will not be meeting him, I take it?”

“I am afraid not,” Colonel Shuvalov said. “He is supervising an installation in Dedovsk.”

The installation in question was a prototype telephone system, about which Bernie said he knew almost nothing and was skeptical it would succeed. He was not even there. The project was being carried out entirely by Russians working for Director Sheremetev, who was hoping to be able to dispense eventually with the up-time advisers; both of whom, for different reasons, were obstreperous.

But there was no reason to get into that with the Ottomans. Politely, the colonel gestured toward a corridor leading off from the salon. “Now, if you will come this way, we will show you the chemistry labs, where we make dyes and medicines—and if we can get better access to your naphtha, we will be making fuels and plastic materials.”

Shuvalov took the visiting Turks off with him, discussing Russia selling them manufactured goods and buying oil and gold. The Turks seemed rather more willing to part with oil than with gold. Natasha thought that would change over time.

* * *

“We have very little choice, Papa,” Pavel said. “A thousand AK3’s to the Turks, due very soon, with more to follow. From what they’re saying, a lot more.”

Boris nodded. He thought selling the new weapons to the Ottoman empire was probably short-sighted, but . . .

It was hard to say. The war raging between the USE and Poland could produce any number of outcomes. In some of those outcomes, having a well-armed Turkish neighbor could be to Russia’s advantage.

Besides, it was probably all a moot point. The AK3 was a simple weapon to make, when all was said and done. Selling one to the Ottoman Empire or the Poles or anyone else was not much different from selling a million of them since there was no way that they could keep the Ottoman Empire or the Poles—or the Swedes, for that matter—from getting hold of an example rifle. So they might as well sell as many as they could. At least they weren’t selling the Ottomans the breech-loading cannon. Yet, anyway.

And, otherwise, things were getting better . . . mostly. Not so much for the bureau men as for Russia in general. Oil and silver were arriving from the Ottoman Empire, even some food from their Balkan provinces. Wheat was expensive in Moscow, but not yet too expensive. Steam engines, rifles and other things were going south in exchange.

“And so, certain boyars gain more silver and gold from the, ah, southern trade,” Boris said. “But at least they haven’t shorted the grain supply . . . much.”

“And our people are prepared.” Pavel smiled. Potatoes had become incredibly popular among the peasants. You could hide a plot of potatoes from the taxman, or at least hide how many there were. There was considerable upset among the bureau men about the amount of farming equipment that was going south. But it was quiet, underground resentment. “Three of our people have paid off their debt and gone to work for the railroad.”

“Signing loan from the railroad?” Boris asked and Pavel nodded. Even with the economy expanding and with inflation, enough rubles for a peasant to pay his way out of debt were hard to come by. So companies that had the money had started using signing loans to clear the peasant’s debt, or, more accurately, transfer it to the company. Since the railroad was owned by the Sheremetev family, it had plenty of money for signing loans.

Except for its habit of nicking other peoples’ serfs, the railroad from Moscow to Smolensk was a project that Boris strongly approved of. It used wooden rails, which would require constant maintenance. But Russia was well-supplied with wood, whereas iron and steel were far too expensive for such a massive project.

Boris wondered about the railroad. Fedor Ivanovich Sheremetev was one of the leaders of the pro-Polish—it might be better to say, less-anti-Polish—faction in the Boyar Duma. The railroad could serve to facilitate trade with Poland, and through Poland with Austria-Hungary, but it could also be used as logistical support for an attack on Poland. Boris wondered which the director-general had in mind. Probably both.

Meanwhile the industrial base along the Volga was producing more and more goods. Mostly simple stuff. The stuff that didn’t need that much infrastructure. But it was surprising how much fell into that category, when it wasn’t competing with established products.