Chapter 497 Congestion
St. Petersburg is very cold in winter, with the lowest temperature at night exceeding minus 30 degrees, so there are almost no homeless people in St. Petersburg in winter.
Tsarskoe Selo is located in the suburbs of St. Petersburg. It has beautiful scenery and is inaccessible. There are no buildings around it. The gathering of tens of thousands of people is an incredible thing in itself.
Danila and Mannerheim investigated around Tsarskoe Selo for a week and reported their findings to George.
The veterans gathered together because there were rumors that the Guards were about to expand.
George is indeed planning to expand the army.
However, George has only returned to St. Petersburg a few days ago. Veterans have been gathering around Tsarskoe Selo for more than half a year, so this rumor has nothing to do with George. Someone deliberately spread it among veterans before George returned to St. Petersburg. .
Another important reason for veterans to gather together is that someone is providing them with food, clothing and fuel necessary to keep out the cold.
Around Tsarskoye Selo, there are many food distribution points set up by so-called "philanthropists" in St. Petersburg. Most of them are related to members of the royal family.
This is interesting.
George is now not sure which came first, the food distribution site or the veterans.
It would be okay if veterans spontaneously gathered around Tsarskoe Selo.
If someone deliberately set up food distribution points around Tsarskoye Selo to attract veterans, then this is human manipulation.
"George, you are too sensitive. In Vladivostok, duchess and princesses often do this too."
The duchess Milyutin mentioned refers to Yeka Telina, the princess is Anne.
Ekaterina and Anne did often distribute food to the poor in Vladivostok, but the targets of the distribution were new immigrants who had just arrived in Vladivostok and whose lives had not yet settled down.
The "charity" of Tsarskoye Selo gave George a smell of conspiracy.
George hoped it was just an illusion.
But that is Imperial Village after all.
After Nicholas's marriage, due to the bad relationship between Queen Alex and Queen Mother Maria, Maria spent most of her time in Denmark or London, or Crimea, and rarely returned. St. Petersburg.
Nicholas's family spent most of their time in the Winter Palace, and occasionally went to the palace in Petrograd or Tsarskoe Selo.
The palace in Petrograd is a large palace-style fortress complex, next to the Guards camp, so there is no need to worry about safety.
This side of Tsarskoye Selo is more than 10 kilometers away from the nearest Guards camp.
Whether it is a conspiracy or not, you will know after giving it a try.
Because Alexandra was feeling a little unwell before George set off, Anne and the children did not go back to St. Petersburg with George and had just arrived a few days ago.
Anne and Alex are both from Germany and are still relatives. When Alex and Nicolas first got married, Anne accompanied Alex through the most difficult stage. After Anne returned to Amur with George , Annie and Alex still have frequent contact.
After Anne returned to St. Petersburg, she immediately took the children to visit Alex at the Winter Palace.
Alex appeared very happy, but Anne noticed the sadness behind Alex's smile, as well as a hint of jealousy.
"Don't blame her, you have too many things that she doesn't have."
George can understand.
When the ladies of St. Petersburg talk about the Queen, they mostly think of her as cold, selfish, old-fashioned, unkind -
and ridiculous.
The absurdity is mostly about the two Grand Duchess, and Rasputin.
Old-fashioned and unkindness is due to Alex's harsh attitude towards the outrageous behavior of some Grand Dukes of St. Petersburg.
After the marriage of Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich and Countess Hohenfersen, Alex expelled Paul and the countess from Russia. Not only did he suspend Paul from all his duties, but she also stopped paying Paul Disburse salary.
Also receiving the same treatment as Paul were Kirill, the son of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, and Mikhail, Nikolai's biological brother.
Kiril married the queen's sister-in-law.
Mikhail was in a passionate relationship with a married woman, and it was said that the two even had children.
For Russian Grand Dukes, mistresses and illegitimate children are nothing unusual, and people are accustomed to them.
Alex firmly follows the Orthodox tradition and will never tolerate this kind of thing.
As for jealousy -
George and Anne's children were in good health.
This sentence can make Alex crazy with jealousy.
As for the harmonious and happy mother-in-law-daughter-in-law relationship between Anne and Ekaterina, compared with these things, it is not worth mentioning at all.
"Sani is so unfortunate, fate is so cruel to her."
Annie laments the fate of Alex.
But this is somewhat ridiculous.
Alex is the queen.
The Empress of the Russian Empire, the word "unfortunate" should not be associated with Alex in any case.
"Dad, Dad, Olga and I have made an appointment to go skating together in Tsarskoe Selo——"
Alexandra was very excited. She gained a lot from this trip and got a complete set of jewelry. One of the bracelets was taken off by the Queen from her wrist.
Skating - George has a complicated mood. Since Georgi's death, skating has become taboo for the Russian royal family. If you want to skate, you need the guards to pour water on the lawn and create an artificial ice rink. Let the princes and princesses have fun.
Princesses only, Alexei was prohibited from participating in any strenuous exercise.
Every morning, Alexei walks Nikolai’s Scottish shepherd dog in the garden for about half an hour. This is Alexi’s only exercise of the day. .
This is called misfortune.
The Tsar's visit to Tsarskoe Selo was a major event, and the palace guards were responsible for security.
The Palace Guard consists of three parts, namely guards, cavalry, and a mixed regiment composed of the best Cossacks. These guards are under the jurisdiction of the Guard Commander Voyeikov, with a total strength of approximately About 1,000 people.
Every morning, Nicholas prays first after getting up. After praying, he takes a cold shower, and then eats breakfast alone. Alex is usually sleeping in at this time.
The Tsar's breakfast was very simple, only milk tea, buns, and rusks.
After breakfast, Nikolai will listen to reports from Count Benkendorf and General Voyekov respectively. Count Benkendorf is responsible for Nikolai's schedule.
Normally, Nikolai’s schedule is determined three days in advance and rarely changes.
If there are changes, General Voyeikov will be very busy.
There are two palaces in Tsarskoe Selo. Catalina Palace was completed earlier and is usually used for banquets and receptions.
Nicholas' family lived in the Alexandria Palace, a new palace built in the Asia III era. The facilities here were more advanced, equipped with electric lights and elevators, and an independent telegraph room.
According to regulations, Voyeikov went to Tsarskoye Selo in advance to arrange security work.
There were more retired soldiers gathered around Tsarskoye Selo than before, but Demeter did nothing.
Voyeikov didn't take it to heart. Everyone in St. Petersburg seemed to be frozen in winter, and their efficiency was extremely low.
Even if Nicholas does not go to Tsarskoye Selo, there are guards in Tsarskoye Selo responsible for security work.
The person in charge of Tsarskoye Selo reported to Voyekov that everything was normal.
Nicholas and his family settled in Tsarskoye Selo that night.
On the night that Nicholas and his family settled in Tsarskoye Selo, the veterans gathered around Tsarskoye Selo began to become restless.
“No one will bring us food tomorrow——”
In a cellar not far from Tsarskoye Selo, a dozen people sat around a brazier, sharing what they had just received information.
“Why?”
Over the past few months, all the veterans' meager retirement allowances have been spent. Since the beginning of winter, it is only thanks to donations from "caring people" that these veterans have not starved to death.
“Our respected queen thinks that we have disturbed the scenery of Tsarskoye Selo and affected her mood, so not only will no one bring us food anymore, but the Guards will be dispatched tomorrow to kill everyone around Tsarskoye Selo Drive them all away—"
"Where can we go?"
A confused Cossack muttered to himself.
“Do you think that woman from Germany will care about our fate?”
Someone immediately yelled, and sure enough, women from Germany were traitors to the Russian Empire.
"Your Majesty will not do this to us, he will not abandon us!"
"Don't be stupid, your Majesty is no longer our czar father. Since your Majesty married that German woman After that, he has become the stepfather of all Russians!"
"What should we do?"
"Unless we get rid of the German woman, we will be the ones who die!"
>
"Ivan, we can't do this, this is rebellion-"
Despite the difficulties in life, the vast majority of Cossacks are still loyal to the Tsar.
“No, letting your majesty recognize the true face of that German woman is the greatest loyalty to your majesty and the empire!”
“Tsarskoe Selo is guarded by guards, we are unarmed——”
The guards at Tsarskoe Selo are not only well-trained, but also well-equipped.
"Yesterday Yuri and I went fishing. Guess what we found by the river?"
Yuri laughed and took out a No. 3 pistol from his arms.
After the popularization of smokeless gunpowder, the standard pistol of the Russian Empire has developed from No. 3 to No. 4, which is more sophisticated, smaller in appearance, lighter in weight and more powerful.
However, due to the huge number of No. 3 pistols, they are still used on a large scale.
The bullets currently used in the No. 3 pistol have also been replaced by smokeless gunpowder. Since the caliber of the No. 3 pistol is larger, after using the smokeless gunpowder bullets, the power of the No. 3 pistol has doubled and won many Russians. Some Cossack hunters in remote areas even use No. 3 pistols to hunt bears.
"Let's go, brothers, it's time to use our bravery and loyalty to expose the true colors of the villains around His Majesty. I will use this gun to personally kill that Rasputin who is messing with the palace!"
Ivan brandished his pistol, picked up a torch and lit it in the brazier, and took out a cowhide wine bag from his arms.
“Take a sip, take a sip, and it will ignite our confidence. No matter what we do, we will do it for His Majesty and the Empire!”
Just the words of the Queen, and the Cossacks present can Stay sane.
Mentioning Rasputin, everyone's eyes began to become bloodshot.
(End of this chapter)