The Tsarist Government Gone Astray

Chapter 772: The Tsarist Government Gone Astray

The homeland could not be sold, but the colonies were still open to negotiation. Though the Tsarist Government appeared to administer everything as integral territory, many regions were in fact colonial in nature.

The tax farming system was a prime example. Even after Alexander II completed his tax reforms, many parts of the Russian Empire continued to use tax farming.

It was not that the Tsarist Government failed to see the dangers of tax farming. The Russian Empire was simply too vast, and in many remote regions, tax revenues were not even enough to pay the salaries of tax collectors.

To keep its already poor finances from collapsing, the Tsarist Government had no choice but to sell the right to collect taxes to capitalists.

In some regions, in order to cut costs, even administrative authority was handed directly down to local nobles.

Of course, these were special products of wartime and came with time limits. If finances improved, the Tsarist Government would still reclaim them once they expired.

Alexander III said nonchalantly, "Let them talk for now. No matter what the Austrians are planning, we only need to handle our own affairs well.

"This time, we must learn our lesson. We have to survey the resources in those regions beforehand so we can negotiate prices with the Austrians. We cannot let them pick up bargains again."

The Tsarist Government did not lack territory, and Alexander III was one of the most pacifist tsars. Among all the tsars throughout history, his desire to covet land was among the weakest.

Had Austria not dragged him along by force, he would never have launched the Russo-Turkish War at such a time.

Newly occupied territories could not create wealth in the short term. On the contrary, they