Chapter 208 Representative of Tsarist Russia (4K)

After bidding farewell to Arthur, Mrs. Levine stayed in the embassy hall, looking at the four tickets in her hand, as if she was worried about how to allocate the seats for the concert.

At this moment, there was suddenly a creaking sound of hard riding boots on the floor outside the living room.

Mrs. Levin looked up, and a smile suddenly appeared on her face: "Count Orlov."

The person who came was a man with a mustache and wearing a blue officer's uniform.

Speaking of the surname Orlov, it can be said to be a household name in Russia.

Among the right-hand men who succeeded Catherine II to the throne in a coup were the five brothers of the Orlov family.

Almost without exception, these five brothers later became important figures in the political and military circles of Tsarist Russia, and the second and third among them later became the lovers of Catherine II, and because of this layer of nepotism Climb a little faster than the other three brothers.

Although the father of Count Orlov in front of him was not the queen's lover, he was personally supervised and raised by Catherine II. Therefore, Count Orlov was almost the same as Catherine II. His two grandsons, the former Tsar Alexander I and his younger brother, the current Tsar Nicholas I, grew up playing together.

Based on this experience alone, no one in Russia dares to underestimate Count Orlov's energy. Especially after the current Tsar Nicholas I ascended the throne, the admiration and fear of Count Orlov in Russian political circles has steadily increased over time.

Because everyone knows that compared to Nicholas I’s indecisive and gentle brother, the former Tsar Alexander I, the current Tsar has a resolute personality, a single goal, an iron will, and a strong sense of responsibility and mission. Although these All descriptors can be counted as advantages, but if all these advantages are superimposed on a ruler, then the country concerned will most likely mention a great dictator.

Nicholas I was such an energetic ruler with an almost pathological desire for power.

He was extremely concerned about everything in the Russian Empire, especially the military, to the extent that he personally ordered the number of buttons on the military uniforms to be modified.

As for the Decembrist uprising against his rule, Nicholas I was of course extremely concerned about the arrest, investigation, interrogation and punishment of the Decembrists, and was involved in every detail.

The uprising also aggravated his suspicious character, making him tend to stay away from normal administrative institutions.

From the beginning of taking power, Nicholas I was particularly fond of using various committees to govern the country, which were independent of regular state institutions. These committees were generally composed of a small group of the tsar's most trusted cronies.

But the number of such cronies is so small that the numerous and different committees in Russia are actually composed of different combinations of the same people.

The work of these committees, like the imperial office, was usually secret. However, apart from bringing a slight sense of security to the tsar, it only made the already very complex imperial administration more confusing. The entire government apparatus was increasingly permeated by direct orders, absolute obedience, and a meticulous military style, and these characteristics became more and more obvious in official documents and appearance.

And Count Orlov, a talented person with both military and literary attributes, was certainly one of the few cronies of the Tsar. Or to put it more clearly, Count Orlov served on many committees directly under the Tsar's jurisdiction. Zhongdu holds important positions.

Naturally, the Tsarist Russian delegation at the London Conference was also led by Count Orlov.

However, perhaps other people will always appear trembling when facing the famous man in front of His Majesty the Tsar's throne.

But Mrs. Leven could chat with him in a stable mood, for no other reason than that her father, Count Benkendorf, was also the director of the Third Department of the Imperial Office who was deeply trusted by His Majesty the Tsar.

In Russia, it was known that His Majesty the Tsar spent more time with Benkendorf and Orlov, perhaps, than with the Empress.

Count Orlov looked at Mrs. Leven, who was holding the ticket with a sad look on her face, and couldn't help but ask: "Dorothea, are you in any trouble? If you need any help, just ask, I'm sure Find a way to help you solve it.”

When Mrs. Levin heard this, she couldn't help but joked: "Alexei, this is not St. Petersburg. If you want to arrest someone, you still have to ask the Scotland Yard police officers if they agree. Oh, maybe you go back now It’s still too late to chase him, and to be honest, I just met a young superintendent of Scotland Yard.”

When Count Orlov heard this, he couldn't help but look back: "Are you talking about the young man who just went out? He is a tall and strong young man. When I first saw him, I thought he looked With such a tall height, he was probably a Dutchman. It wasn’t until he greeted me with a strong London accent that I realized that he was indeed a genuine British guy.”

"Hush!" Mrs. Levin raised a hand to her lips and said: "Alexei, be careful what you say. Don't let the Duke of Wellington hear it, otherwise he will definitely not be done with you. He hates talking about height. ”

When Count Orlov heard this, he couldn't help laughing and said: "When you said that, I remembered that Duke Wellington seems to be shorter than Napoleon, right? Napoleon claimed to be 5 feet 6 inches tall, but everyone People say he is a short man, but most people don't know that the Duke of Wellington is only 5 feet 5 inches.

But with all due respect, height is not important for their achievements. During the Napoleonic Wars, groups of big men stood in front of them and dared not breathe. Even if they are actually short men, it does not affect their military giants. "

Mrs. Leven asked: "So, are you ready to fight with the giant Duke of Wellington this time? Now, the British attitude towards Belgian independence seems to be very ambiguous. They neither support nor oppose it. This is not a good thing for Russia.

His Majesty the Tsar should have given you a handwritten note before you came? If I am not mistaken, according to our consistent policy, he must have asked you to seek support from Britain, continue to put pressure on France, and let the independent Belgium return to the rule of the Netherlands. Only in this way will there be no gap in the encirclement of France. If the Dutch lose Belgium, then their existing strength alone will not be able to stop the French from expanding their sphere of influence eastward. ”

Count Orlov nodded and said, “That’s true, but although the British are uncomfortable with the French, they may not be that comfortable with us now. Ever since Britain’s Codrington defeated the main naval force of the Ottoman Turks in the Battle of Navarino, all the obstacles to our entry into the Mediterranean from the Black Sea have been removed.

The British Admiralty and the Foreign Office seemed very angry about this matter, so not long after the Battle of Navarino, Codrington was transferred to the Channel Fleet to sit on the bench. Didn’t you also make a secret report on this to His Majesty the Tsar?

The British saw that our Black Sea Fleet was unimpeded in the Mediterranean, and it was as uncomfortable as sand in their eyes. I guess this is an important reason for their ambiguous attitude on the issue of Belgian independence.

If possible, I hope you can help me understand Britain’s current diplomatic policy. I urgently need to know whether they still regard France as the number one threat in Europe. "

After hearing this, Mrs. Leven just smiled and replied: "If you had asked me this request when the Tories were still in power a while ago, I would definitely have rejected you directly. Because although I have a good relationship with the Duke of Wellington, the old man is very tight-lipped. It is almost impossible to get any useful information from him."

"Dorothea, from what you said..." Orlov grinned and said, "Is the situation turning around now?"

"Indeed, there is some turning around."

Mrs. Leven put her hair behind her ears and smiled, "The current Foreign Minister of the Whig Party is my dear Henry. In addition to Mrs. Cowper's relationship, he can sit in this position. It is also inseparable from my strong advice to him. To be honest, Henry, the old playboy, wanted to go to the Treasury at first.

But I told him that the competition for the position in the Ministry of Finance was too fierce. With his position in the party, he might as well seek another important position in the cabinet. Others might not be able to achieve much in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but he still has me. I can share some inside information that others can hardly get through my network of connections. "

Count Orlov laughed and said, "It sounds so sad! Dorothea, I thought you were with Viscount Palmerston because of love."

Mrs. Leven twisted her hair with her fingers and blinked playfully, "As for love, there is more or less. It's quite fun to be with Henry. He knows how to get along with women. But this is Britain after all. In Britain, things must be done in the British way. Mutual benefit can be called love. Blindly asking for things is slavery. A decent Russian may not understand this, but the British call it free trade and commodity economy. "

Count Orlov laughed and said, "It seems that His Majesty the Tsar is right. If Dorothea is placed in Britain, her role is equivalent to half of the third hall. Your father should really send all the foreign intelligence specialists of the Third Department to learn from you. I've been reading the documents of the Third Department recently and I'm so confused. What they wrote are all brainless things, and the information is ambiguous. For these useless intelligence, you can write more insightfully than them by just grabbing two chickens, dipping them in ink and stepping on them. "

After hearing this, Mrs. Levin hesitated again and again, but couldn't help but tactfully defend the Third Department. After all, the Third Department is also a subordinate department of her father, and some of the specialists of the Third Department are staying in the Russian Embassy.

Mrs. Levin said: "Alexei, you should know that the Third Department is also forced to do so. Intelligence is not so easy to collect. Sometimes there is no information in this regard, but His Majesty the Tsar said that there must be, so the report of the Third Department must have it. Even if you add a little of your own conjecture, you have to make a report.

His Majesty the Tsar is such a man of action, so the subordinate departments must also keep up with his ambitions. Because of this, he did not let the tragedy of the St. Petersburg flood in 1824 happen again like the previous Tsar. His Majesty's performance in the Moscow cholera epidemic in 1830, which just ended, was simply admirable.

I bet that if cholera occurred in Britain, their performance would definitely not be as good as Russia's. "

When Orlov heard Mrs. Lieven mention this, he couldn't help but think of something, and he smiled and said, "Speaking of cholera, do you know about the Duke of Bergendorff?"

Mrs. Leven couldn't help but feel a little funny when she heard the name mentioned by the other party: "Is he making fun of His Majesty the Tsar again?"

Orlov pursed his lips: "After the cholera ended, he wrote a report and handed it in, saying that it seemed that for everyone, the disease itself had already surrendered to the unlimited power of His Majesty the Tsar. Of course, I tend to think that this passage is not ironic."

Mrs. Leven couldn't help but echoed: "Yes, just like the conversation between His Majesty the Tsar and him last time when he wanted to fight corruption. His Majesty the Tsar said: 'I will use hot iron to eradicate bribery!'"

Count Orlov continued: "Duke Bergendorf replied: 'Your Majesty, then who are you going to stay with?'"

At this point, a burst of cheerful laughter suddenly broke out in the reception room of the embassy, ​​and even several Tsarist military attachés standing at the door smoking couldn't help but turn their heads away, their shoulders shaking, obviously laughing hard.

However, in the midst of laughter and joy in the reception room, no one noticed a shadow flashing in front of the door of the room where the blower was placed.

Little Pinkerton, holding a piece of letter in his mouth, struggled to move his body out of the vent duct little by little. When he noticed a ray of light appearing in the dark hole, he saw Arthur squatting on the wall and leaning against a branch of a big tree smoking.

Arthur noticed the movement in the vent. He turned his head and was stunned at first, then smiled and said, "Boy, you really can surprise me. I just asked you to survey the terrain in the ventilation duct so that you don't find the wrong place when you sneak in next time. I didn't expect that you brought me some special products from the embassy the first time you went in."

He reached out and took Pinkerton out of the vent, and then flipped out nimbly.

As the boots landed on the ground, the carriage parked on the side of the road quickly opened its door. Elder, who was sitting inside, waved at them and said, "Hurry up and get in the car. I've calculated that the embassy guards patrol around here every three minutes on average. If you calculate the time, they will be here soon."