Chapter 328: Forced into the Palace
Ever since George rose to prominence, George has been regarded as a hopeless ultra-conservative by certain groups in Russia.
Compared with George, Ya San, who is known for reversing the course of history, can be regarded as a wise king through the ages. The specific evidence is as follows.
Assassinating Ya San in St. Petersburg, you can choose whether to plead guilty or not.
If you plead guilty, you will not be executed.
Even if you plead not guilty and are executed, you can still choose the method of execution.
In the past, many members of the Popular People's Party took advantage of this to achieve the five-year tour of Siberia.
After George went to Amur, the number of assassins who chose not to plead guilty suddenly increased.
Because compared to being executed, being sent to Amur is more terrifying.
Being executed in St. Petersburg, at least his family would have a body to collect.
If sent to Amur, the most common consequence is that the whereabouts are unknown.
This is not because Amur did nothing, but because Siberia is so big. The prisoner escaped during his labor service and disappeared.
This "missing place" is very spiritual.
Escaped back to St. Petersburg and disappeared without a trace.
Escaped to the wild, was eaten by wolves, and disappeared without a trace.
Maybe he became so disheartened that he settled down in a ravine and lived as a hermit.
Ten years ago, hundreds of people returned to St. Petersburg from Siberia every year to start a new life after completing their sentences.
Since Amur became George's fiefdom, fewer and fewer people have returned to St. Petersburg from Siberia.
In the past five years, there has been none.
This situation will definitely cause a huge disturbance in St. Petersburg.
However, the security situation in St. Petersburg is getting better and better visibly.
This weird situation leaves both those who support George and those who hate George speechless.
It is inappropriate to say anything without evidence.
Nicola probably said it unintentionally.
But in the minds of many people, George's position is very important.
"This is what I want to emphasize, as the makers of this rule, you and I are not conservatives or liberals, we are judges."
George does not take any side.
People's positions will change according to their interests.
So simply classifying people as conservatives or liberals is a joke in itself.
Then why does George do this?
If you don't do this, how will you roll it up?
“It’s like the company assessment, I seem to understand.”
Nicholas is still very spiritual.
Not exactly the same, but essentially similar, and George didn’t bother to correct it.
For this reason, if Pobedonostsev and Durnovo don’t know what to do yet, then they should beg for bones early and let young people like George take over.
George was too lazy to find anyone else.
Isn’t Ignaev clamoring for the reopening of local councils every day? Then Ignaev is the natural leader of the Liberal Party.
Pobedonostsev is known for his stubbornness and conservatism. He is an Orthodox priest. If he is not conservative, who will be?
For an organization as important as the State Duma, the speaker must appoint someone whom Nicholas can trust and who can keep the situation under control.
Who else can gain Nicholas's trust more than the Grand Dukes of St. Petersburg?
My uncle wouldn't have any bad intentions towards my nephew.
If you ask Nikolai to design such a complex structure, Nikolai can't figure it out even if he racks his brain.
If you want Nikolai to dig holes with George, Nikolai is too good at it.
So the position of Speaker belongs to none other than Grand Duke Vladimir.
Because the position of Speaker is so important, if Grand Duke Vladimir wants to serve as Speaker, he must first leave the military and no longer hold a military position.
When things have reached this point, it is okay for Grand Duke Vladimir to be the Speaker even if he does not want to.
There are more than thirty grand dukes in the empire, some of them hold important positions, and some of them are idle at home.
The most important positions are just those. Vladimir’s position, I don’t know how many people are thinking about it.
Those who are qualified to care about Vladimir's position are naturally all grand dukes, and their status is similar. They may be closer to Nicholas.
For example, little Nicholas who hangs out in the Guards.
The Guards sounds very impressive, but in fact there are only a few troops, and they are all under the Tsar's nose. Little Nicholas's power and wealth are limited.
The key point is that the Guards are a concentration camp for imperial nobles. When George and Nicholas were serving in the Guards, a mere captain might be the first heir to a certain Grand Duke. Are you afraid? Not afraid.
What a great navy.
A battleship with a budget of 6.5 million rubles has spent 8 million rubles and has not yet been launched. Where did the money go?
Vladimir’s wife Maria held a banquet and invited guests and friends. She was more famous in the aristocratic circle of St. Petersburg than the queen. With Vladimir’s little income, could he afford such a big occasion?
Vladimir is not a money-loving boy. His salary, position income, part-time income, and territory income can all be calculated.
I can only say that there are some things. If it is not weighed, it will not weigh four ounces, and if it is weighed, it will not weigh more than a thousand catties.
Vladivostok did not build warships before, and George did not know how much it would cost to build one.
I thought it was just like the St. Petersburg Shipyard, costing millions of rubles.
Now that the Vladivostok Shipyard has begun building warships, George knows how much the warships cost.
It’s hard to say about George from other countries. Just half of the 8 million rubles for the "Petopavlovsk" can actually be spent, even if some people have a conscience.
How lucrative the position of Lord of the Navy is, you can see from Vladimir’s reaction.
Nicholas respects the old and loves the young. If he wants Vladimir to leave the position of Minister of the Navy, he must first seek Vladimir's consent.
Nicholas was also smart. Instead of looking for Vladimir alone, he summoned members of the royal family and held an internal meeting.
No one else matters.
The most important thing is Alexey, who also serves in the Navy Ministry. After Vladimir steps down, he is most likely to succeed Vladimir as Minister of the Navy, and his brother-in-law and brother-in-law who are eager to contribute to the empire. Cousin Alexander.
Alexey is only 3 years younger than Vladimir. This will have to wait until Vladimir retires normally. I don’t know how long it will take.
Vladimir’s body is in great shape and he eats deliciously. Maybe Alexei died before Vladimir retired.
Alexander was even willing to go to the Siberian fleet in order to get a chance.
Alexander would not want to go to the Far East if he could enter the Admiralty.
"Nikki, it was your father's decision to cancel the Duma. Do you want to overturn your father's decision?"
Vladimir fundamentally vetoed Nikolai's appointment.
Nicholas was speechless for a moment.
The old tsar's body is still cold, and he is dead now. It is really not nice to say it.
George looked at Alexei.
Alexey looked down at the floor in deep thought. It was obvious that he didn’t want to offend anyone, but only wanted to take advantage.
Alexander was eager to give it a try, but others spoke softly. So many real uncles haven't spoken yet, so just play in the mud with your crooked neck.
It is not a big deal for Sergey and Little Nikolay to watch the excitement. This is the navy's business and has nothing to do with the army.
George had no choice but to charge into the battle.
"The eldest brother can overturn his father's decision, why can't Nikki overturn his eldest brother's decision?"
As soon as George spoke, Nikolai immediately felt confident.
The internal meeting was held in the small living room on the second floor of the Winter Palace. There were only six sofas in total. The only imperial grandfather Mikhail was on vacation in Crimea and did not attend. Nikolai and Five A close uncle occupies it.
There were quite a few chairs, but only George was sitting on the chair. The other Grand Dukes, including Alexander, were all standing. Even though the chair was right next to them, they seemed to have not seen it.
This power structure is clear enough.
Vladimir had a hot temper. When he heard George speak, he jumped up from the sofa, glared at George, and opened his mouth to curse.
George just smiled without even lowering his legs.
Vladimir suddenly shut up.
George was so disappointed.
Scold me, why don’t you scold me?
If you dare to curse today, you can go to the Chukotka Peninsula to dance with polar bears tomorrow.
Beside the Chukotka Peninsula is the Bering Strait.
George was not wrong either.
After Ya San ascended the throne, he directly overturned a series of reform measures of Ya Er. Why didn't anyone at that time cry out that the ancestral rule of law cannot be changed.
Because after the promulgation of the Constitution, many privileges belonging to the Grand Duke were cancelled.
After strengthening the role of the Duma, many powers belonging to the Grand Duke were taken away by the Duma.
That’s why Asan was praised by the princes as the light of the Tsar.
Vladimir was also very smart. He did not target Nicholas's appointment, but tried to arouse the collective concerns of the grand dukes and lead the contradiction to the dispersion and concentration of power.
But who is the fool in this room?
The new emperor ascended the throne with three fires. Whoever dares to stand up against Nicholas at this time will be in trouble.
Even if Nicholas doesn't have an attack now.
But who can guarantee that Nikolai will not keep any bad records?
That is to say, Ya San died early and Nicholas had no children.
If Nicholas had a bunch of children, and they were all grown up, all the uncles and brothers in this room would have to step aside.
Nicholas will always have children.
"The position of speaker is too important and requires a highly respected person to be qualified. I think Uncle Mikhail is more suitable."
Vladimir is quick to think.
There are rumors in St. Petersburg that among all the sons of Ya Er, Vladimir is the most talented, so Vladimir is more qualified to be the Tsar.
Never mind whether this is true or not.
The Russian Empire was a founding country, how could such rumors arise?
A little trivia, because Nicholas has no children now.
So Vladimir’s eldest son Kirill, although he does not have the name of crown prince, is the de facto first heir to the position of tsar.
"Uncle Mikhail has not held any public office for a long time. He is enjoying his current life. He has worked hard for the empire all his life. Let us not disturb Uncle Mikhail's purity——"
Halfway through George's words, his eyes passed over the faces of every Grand Duke and he concluded with a smile.
“What do you think?”
(End of this chapter)