Make the Empire Stronger

Among the people of the Tsarist Russian Empire, it had long been customary to call the tsar "Little Father," an expression of their love and respect for him.

Of course, this was not an official title, nor was every tsar addressed this way by the people.

This was different from the Soviet Compassionate Ancestor, who would later be called "Father of the People."

The title Soviet Compassionate Ancestor was already an official designation.

The people were simple and honest. Mikhail had ordered land distributed free of charge to peasants with little or none. At the same time, he had drastically reduced agricultural taxes and wiped out the peasants' debts. This had undoubtedly eased their burdens enormously!

It also gave these simple, honest peasants greater hope for their future.

It was understandable that they called His Majesty the Tsar "Little Father" to express their love and respect for him.

Of course, Mikhail's actions had also harmed the interests of quite a few people.

In particular, the great landowners, senior bureaucrats, high-ranking nobles, wealthy merchants, and others.

They controlled most of the land in the country.

Forcing them to sell this land at one-tenth of its market value was no different from outright robbery.

To that end, Mikhail had taken the lead by donating all the land at Tsarskoye Selo belonging to the imperial family to the imperial government, free of charge.

With Mikhail setting the example, the empire's senior cabinet ministers and military leaders followed suit.

Whether or not they did so willingly, if they wanted to hold on to their positions, or even climb higher, they naturally had to fall in line with His Majesty the Tsar.

Otherwise, did they still expect to get ahead?

As for the stubborn holdouts who resisted, Mikhail had plenty of ways to deal with them. He simply branded them members of the Bolshevik Party. That way, all their property would be confiscated.

There was no doubt that this was unfair to those people.

But under the present circumstances, Mikhail could no longer afford to worry about that.

Sacrificing the interests of a few to serve those of the overwhelming majority was undoubtedly a very worthwhile bargain.

If Mikhail wanted to secure his throne, he needed the support of the empire's people. And in future wars, he would need them to fight for him without regard for life or death, even to lay down their lives. So he had to give them enough benefits.

Surely that was better than what had happened in another timeline, where the Tsarist Russian Empire suffered defeat after defeat in the war and ultimately collapsed?

Better for one family to weep than for every family to weep—that was the principle!

Stolypin, the minister of the interior, gave Mikhail's decision his full support.

This allowed the Tsarist Russian Empire's agricultural reforms to be pushed through with force.

Though resistance was fierce, no one could challenge His Majesty the Tsar, who controlled a powerful army and had the support of the cabinet ministers. Their resistance was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.

A succession of great nobles, landowners, senior bureaucrats, and wealthy merchants were branded members of the Bolshevik Party and had all their property seized. Their entire families, young and old, were sent to construction sites to perform hard labor.

The others then understood that an arm could not wrestle a thigh.

If they resisted to the bitter end, they would only bring themselves down with them.

Rather than do that, they might as well cooperate with the empire's agricultural reforms.

That would not only satisfy the empire but also earn them a good reputation. Why would they not do it?

Besides, none of these people were poor; every one of them was already dripping with wealth.

Even after losing their land, they could still live in comfort.

Besides, they could make other investments. Mikhail, for example, hoped that this private capital would be invested in industry, providing further stimulus to industrial and economic development.

The Tsarist Russian Empire now had a population of nearly 130 million. Yet only two million workers were employed in manufacturing.

One could imagine how much room the Tsarist Russian Empire's industry and commerce still had to grow.

Once the peasants, who made up the overwhelming majority of the population, received land, they would have enough food to eat and clothes to keep them warm. This, in turn, could stimulate the growth of industry and commerce.

In particular, the abundant rural labor force could flow into industry and commerce, thereby solving the shortage of industrial labor.

It had to be admitted that Mikhail's reforms were somewhat radical.

But with the support of the overwhelming majority of the people, they could still be pushed through with force.

At the same time, they had not plunged the entire Tsarist Russian Empire into chaos.

Instead, they had accelerated the Tsarist Russian Empire's development and greatly increased its national strength.

Given some more time, it was not impossible for the entire Tsarist Russian Empire to undergo a transformation, shedding its old bones and taking on a new body.

Besides agricultural reform, Mikhail had also ordered increased investment in education, healthcare, and other areas.

In the Tsarist Russian Empire at present, the overwhelming majority of people were illiterate. The country's overall literacy rate was only around twenty percent.

Clearly, a powerful country could not be built with a mass of illiterate people.

The people's level of education had to be raised.

Within ten years, the Tsarist Russian Empire was to make primary education universal. After that, it would gradually make secondary education and so on universal as well.

This could be seen from the examples of the Germans and the Japanese.

In healthcare, not only did more hospitals have to be built, but more medical and healthcare personnel also had to be trained.

At present, life expectancy in the Tsarist Russian Empire was only thirty-two years.

At the same time, infant mortality was extremely high, reaching twenty-six percent. In other words, a quarter of all infants did not live to see their first birthday.

This not only severely lowered the empire's average life expectancy but also restricted population growth.

The Tsarist Russian Empire already had the largest total population in the entire Western world.

But to achieve Mikhail's goals, that population was still not enough.

If the infant survival rate could be raised, it would undoubtedly further accelerate population growth.

In particular, once the people had enough food and clothing and their living standards improved significantly, the population would grow even faster.

In this era, a population advantage was also a reflection of a country's strength.

In another timeline, the Russians' victory in the world war was inseparable from their enormous population.

Even though Russian casualties in the war reached tens of millions, they were still able to keep fighting.

The other Western powers, by contrast, had total populations of only a few tens of millions each.

If their casualties reached tens of millions, that would be tantamount to their entire populations dying. How could they win a war then?

Therefore, even though these areas required enormous expenditures, Mikhail still ordered the imperial government to increase investment in them.

At the same time, the imperial family's wealth would also be invested in these areas.

Even if it meant spending all the imperial family's wealth, he would not hesitate.

As long as it could make the Tsarist Russian Empire strong, Mikhail was willing to spend every bit of the wealth the imperial family had accumulated over hundreds of years!

After all, using this wealth to build the country was better than paying it to other countries as reparations after a defeat!