Georgiana believed that Nick's choice to cross Siberia and return to Europe from Russia was a terrible idea. Complete mammoths that had lived through the Ice Age had been excavated from Siberia's permafrost. Though the Earth was much warmer now than it had been during the Ice Age, so he probably would not freeze into a specimen, he was a Frenchman. Napoleon's army had encountered blizzards sweeping in from Siberia after attacking Moscow, and many had frozen to death during the retreat.
Hypothermia would slow a person's movements. Maintaining physical strength required consuming vast amounts of high-calorie food. The fermented cornmeal sour soup eaten by the Jurchen was well suited to that sort of climate.
A great deal of alcohol was also needed. Russians drank vodka as if it were water; vodka meant "water" in Russian. Actual water froze at zero degrees, while vodka's freezing point was minus twenty-seven degrees Celsius. Besides, drinking made one feel warmer.
After landing at Alexandria, the expedition from France to Egypt crossed the desert on foot and still had the strength to fight the Mamluks in the Battle of the Pyramids. Judging by that, his heat resistance exceeded his cold resistance. The desert might actually have offered him better odds of survival.
Peter the Great had studied Western Europe and carried out reforms in the hope that his people would become prosperous and educated. He opened access to the Baltic Sea coast, hoping to bring in technology and cultural resources, use knowledge to improve the people's productivity, and give the people of this country better lives.
Yet he had not made the people prosperous; he had merely made the country powerful. Only three percent of the entire population—the urban population—could pay taxes, and serfdom still existed. Unless serfdom was abolished and the people were