Holy Roman Empire

Chapter 416: Self-Destructive Actions Meets Pig Teammates

St. Petersburg, Randle Garment Factory. Inside the workshop, the workers were bustling with activity, rushing to complete a batch of military uniforms. Winter was approaching, and cotton coats were essential supplies.

However, upon closer inspection, one would notice that this batch of cotton coats was defective. The fluffy material was clearly not cotton, and pieces of scrap fabric were visible among it.

Nikolas Keĭdzh, the owner of Randle Garment Factory, had been troubled for quite some time after receiving a report about the shortage of raw materials.

Initially, Randle Garment Factory’s products were made of cotton, and their primary market was the civilian population. While they used the lowest quality cotton, their coats were still genuine cotton coats.

However, the situation changed with the outbreak of the war. After the sea routes were cut off, the supply of raw materials became their biggest problem.

The situation became even more dire after they received military orders. To make up for the shortage of raw materials, Randle Garment Factory resorted to using substitutes.

For instance, they shredded old clothes, repurchased and recycled used cotton coats, and even used gauze discarded by hospitals.

However, these efforts were like a drop in the bucket. But Nikolas Keĭdzh was not one to turn down a profit, no matter how meager.

“Yadir, send word down to increase the straw content. We must complete the order with the raw materials we have now.”

Adding straw to cotton coats is nothing strange, but with the current method, it’s not a cotton coat anymore, it’s a straw jacket.

Except for the outer layer of cloth, the inside is all shredded straw. It’s almost inevitable that it will be discovered.

Yadir can’t help but worry. This is a military uniform, and the winters in Russia are so cold. There will be big trouble if it’s found out.

Nikolas Keĭdzh nonchalantly replied, “Don’t worry, the battlefield is in Poland. It’s a mild winter there, and the soldiers’ bodies are strong enough to withstand the cold!”

Despite a tinge of uneasiness, he felt reassured when he thought about his connections. Producing substandard military uniforms? When had his military uniforms ever been up to par?

Fading, shrinking, and being easily damaged were all considered normal by Nikolas Keĭdzh. He was used to it. As long as he could deliver the goods, it didn’t matter if they were substandard or not.

This time, they were going too far. Nikolas said, pausing for a moment, “Make them thicker!”

There was no issue with this, straw can also keep you warm. After all, cannon fodders aren’t valued, so they should just make do with it!

…

Nikolas was not the only one making such decisions. Many suppliers opted to use inferior materials in their products.

High-quality goods? Don’t dream of it! Everyone needs to make a profit, right?

Russia’s industrial production costs were already high, and the bureaucrats were taking such a big cut. How could they make a profit without lowering production costs?

…

The change in suppliers had a direct impact on the battlefield. The first victims were the Russian army in the Baltic Sea, whose supplies were mainly provided by the St. Petersburg industrial zone.

Colonel Gerald was the quartermaster of the 8th Division of the Russian Baltic Navy Regiment, a lucrative position. He had also made a lot of money by taking advantage of his position.

However, Colonel Gerald was now scared. Before this, more than 70% of the supplies had come from Austria. There might have been some quality problems with these products, but they were still usable.

Now the situation had changed. In the past month, there had been a sharp increase in Russian-made goods received, accounting for more than half of the entire logistics supply.

It could be said that as long as it could be bought domestically, the Russian bureaucrats were prioritizing domestic products, which was giving the officers in the logistics department a headache.

If it’s only 20-30% of the materials that are substandard, they can still try to find a way. For example: they could directly report it as war losses, or blend it together and make do, after all the Russian troops are normally not getting proper supplies anyway.

They already took bribes so they should settle the matter, but now all they can see are junk products. What can they do?

Distribute them? The soldiers at the front line are already making a fuss. Who can take the responsibility? If something goes wrong, these quartermasters will be held accountable.

The Russian army also has rules against accepting substandard products. However, they can’t refuse them either. At this point, if they send them back, won’t it embarrass the bigwigs behind them?

Gerald barked orders, “Inspect everything thoroughly and report back on how much of it is still usable!”

For now, he could only hope that the bureaucrats back home had some sense of decency and that there would at least be some usable supplies.

As the minutes ticked by, the inspection results left Colonel Gerald horrified. The cotton coats and blankets filled with straw were bad enough, but at least they could provide some warmth.

Substandard weapons and ammunition were easier to deal with; they could simply be reported as battle losses. After all, there was no standard for the consumption of such items on the battlefield.

The most troubling issue was the food. The canned goods supplied to the lower-ranking officers were all moldy. Colonel Gerald opened one and was shocked to discover small animals moving around inside.

The food for the ordinary soldiers was even worse: rotten potatoes, discolored corn, and black bread that could be used to repair fortifications…

It seemed that nothing was too outrageous for these suppliers. The only thing that comforted Colonel Gerald was that three months’ worth of supplies had been delivered at once.

Apart from the substandard items, there were also some usable ones. The current supply calculations were based on full strength, but after prolonged battles, the actual number of men in the 8th Division was less than seven-tenths of that.

If more men were to die in battle, or if some supplies could be looted from the enemy and more battle losses were reported, then maybe they could just barely get through the winter.

…

For the Russians, the only thing that could bring them down was themselves. Even if they were surrounded by enemies, the Russian government had the strength to deal with it.

Unfortunately, Alexander II ignored the dangers of sending the wrong political signals. The deterioration of relations between Russia and Austria led to an increase in tariffs, partly due to the bureaucrats’ desire to curry favor with their superiors and partly due to their own self-interest.

Although there were also kickbacks to be had in the Russo-Austrian trade, the kickbacks offered by Russian capitalists were simply too high to resist!

For the same goods, Austrian capitalists would offer a maximum of 20-30% in kickbacks, but with Russian capitalists, the numbers could be reversed, with the bureaucrats taking the lion’s share.

As for the increased costs, they could simply be offset by cutting production costs. As long as they were willing to sacrifice product quality, wasn’t cost control a breeze?

Alexander II never dreamed that the reformist officials he had promoted would become so corrupt in such a short time.

The previous decision to purchase goods from Austria was partly due to the fact that the bureaucrats still had some sense of decency and understood the importance of logistical supplies for war. However, people are never satisfied. The more kickbacks they received, the greedier they became.

On the other hand, it was also because Russia’s domestic production capacity was insufficient. Even if the bureaucrats didn’t care about the lives of the soldiers at the front, they couldn’t reduce the quantity, so they could only buy from abroad.

As time went by, Russian capitalists also improved their production capacity. The current political changes presented an opportunity for bureaucrats and capitalists alike.

Previously, there were still a few principled officials who kept them in check, so they dared not act recklessly. However, the misinterpretation of Alexander II’s political signals led these officials to remain silent.

The consequences were naturally not as simple as the bureaucrats had imagined. Graft at all levels had become the norm in the Russian army, and those who could remain rational in the face of profit were always in the minority.

When the upper echelons were corrupt, could one still expect the lower-ranking officials to be honest and incorruptible?

This time, Franz did not remain a silent spectator but instead pushed the issue. He provided ample space for the bureaucrats of the Russian government to fully exploit the situation.

In his view, the Prussians sending out a trade caravan would be the most effective way to deal a blow to the Russian army. Simply waving around banknotes and telling the quartermasters to “Buy, buy, buy” would yield far greater benefits than engaging in a bloody battle on the battlefield.

With enough money, even enemies could become Russia’s honored guests. There are no enemies in the face of profit.

Franz acknowledged that the corruption of the Russian logistics system was also greatly facilitated by Austrian capitalists. In their pursuit of more orders, they employed all sorts of tricks.

However, this was merely the trigger; the fundamental problem was the long-standing decay of the Russian bureaucracy. Due to the lack of effective supervision, Russian bureaucrats had always led comfortable lives.

Initially, the Austrian government sent people to supervise the export of goods, concerned that their reputation would be tarnished and they would lose this large market.

Now it was no longer necessary; Franz chose to ignore the situation in order to retaliate against the Russians for raising tariffs.

His indifference went beyond simply relaxing controls on the export of his own country’s goods. He also allowed substandard products to enter the Russian military supply system.

In simpler terms, this meant that low-quality goods produced in Russia were labeled with trademarks and passed off as Austrian military products.

Prior to this, the Austrian government had cracked down severely on this practice, even sending special inspectors to oversee it. Whenever such cases were discovered, the Austrian government would take them up with the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Fearing diplomatic repercussions, the Russian bureaucrats dared not engage in such practices. After a few scapegoats were dealt with, the rest of them fell in line.

According to common practice, Austrian-made goods did not require inspection at all, as their defect rate was within the controllable range. However, locally produced military supplies needed to be screened to pick out qualified products from the defective ones.

It goes without saying that Austrian-exported military supplies were more expensive. Now that there were no constraints, the capitalists naturally didn’t mind passing their goods off as the original.

As long as they provided some qualified samples and a thick red envelope to the inspection officials, everything was settled.

This was definitely not Austria betraying its allies, but entirely the result of the Russian bureaucracy’s self-destruction. Franz had already sent people to gather evidence, just waiting for the incident to happen and expose it.