 Alexeyev reassured the Tsar that increased aggressive action in the region would not provoke a military response from Japan.On August 13, 1903, Tsar Nicolas II appointed Alexeyev as viceroy in charge of all civil and military authority over Russian possessions in the Far East, including Russian-occupied Manchuria, the Liaodong Peninsula, and Russia Amur Military District (present day Primorsky Krai).As viceroy, he was beyond the jurisdiction of any ministry and reported directly to the Tsar; however, his exact functions were poorly defined, and as stated by historian Ian Nish