Chapter 596 Bird in a Cage

There is only one place in Russia that is not oppressed, and that is in the grave.

—— Alexander Ivanovich Herzen

"Shubinsky?"

When the Russian students heard this name, the smiles on their faces disappeared immediately, and even their drunken heads became sober.

As for the German students, they obviously didn't understand why this name caused such a big reaction.

The kind of resentment with distortion, the gritting anger and the fear hidden in the feeling are something they have never experienced.

Herzen stared at Arthur's face seriously for a long time, and he suddenly found that the young professor in Göttingen seemed not as simple as she imagined.

"Sir, where did you hear this name? Is he your friend? Have you been to Russia before? Or Moscow?"

Arthur picked up the wine glass and said nonchalantly: "No, I have never been to Russia in my life. Shubinsky and I cannot be called friends, but we are acquaintances. A few years ago, when he was the assistant military attaché at the Russian Embassy in the UK, we had dinner together several times. If I hadn't seen him downstairs just now, I would have almost forgotten that I had such an acquaintance in Russia."

The Russian students behind Herzen heard this and hurriedly took off the various tricolor ornaments on their bodies that symbolized freedom and progress. They prayed in their hearts: I hope this British drunkard didn't find out that they had worn these things.

But this is obviously impossible. The British police have always been sharp-eyed, and he also intends to use this matter to build a good relationship with the students.

Arthur paced in the room: "At first I thought Shubinsky, like you, admired Mendelssohn's musical talent, so he traveled all the way to Leipzig to watch the premiere of Turandot. But later I found that things were not as simple as I thought. Because Shubinsky boasted to me that he was promoted after leaving England, and his jurisdiction was located at Moscow University."

The silent Ogarev suddenly stood up at this time. Although he didn't say much, he always showed more courage than other students at such critical moments. Perhaps this was the key to his becoming the leader of the Herzen-Ogarev group.

"Mr. Hastings." Ogarev said, "I think you have guessed the truth of the matter. I'm sorry to tell you: your idea is right. Shubinsky is definitely coming for us."

The young Russians didn't know that the British in front of them had already set them as research targets in their hearts. They believed that this British professor respected by Heinrich Heine was a liberal like them.

He deliberately risked his life to reveal the news of Shubinsky's visit to the theater to everyone, driven entirely by the common ideal of freedom.

The young man made a naive mistake, but Dumas knew Arthur's identity. Although he believed in Arthur, he didn't know whether Arthur believed in the young people in front of him.

So, once these silly guys were marked as enemies by Arthur, they might have to spend the rest of their lives in the freezing cold of Siberia.

Out of humanitarian spirit, Dumas immediately stood up and tried to stop Arthur from asking questions.

But Arthur seemed to have predicted Dumas's behavior in advance, and easily pushed the fat man who had just stood up back on the sofa.

He did not choose to ask questions directly, but chose to repeat the trick he had played in front of Shubinsky.

People are always reluctant to share information about themselves, but they are always happy to gossip about others behind their backs.

Using this simple psychological law, he could ask Shubinsky about the students' stories while digging out Shubinsky's secrets from the students, and then classify the information and find an opportunity to sell it to people who can afford it.

Arthur asked worriedly: "I know he came for you, I'm just curious about what he does now. Did he capture the Polish student Klitsky and the exiled Sungurov you mentioned?"

"I don't know who captured them. But I'm sure Shubinsky must have contributed." Ogarev was in a bad mood, but he still maintained his composure: "Do you know that there is an organization called the Gendarmerie in our country? Shubinsky is an important member of the Gendarmerie."

"Gendarmerie?" Arthur asked in confusion.

Although Arthur pretended to be confused most of the time, he was really confused this time. Because although he knew the existence of the Third Bureau and its subordinate gendarmerie, he did not understand the administrative structure and communication methods between the two. If Ogarev was willing to introduce it in detail for him, Arthur would certainly be happy to listen.

In this way, before he officially takes office as the Cultural Counselor in Russia, he can write the diplomatic work report for the first quarter of next year in advance.

"Research Report on the Third Bureau of the Imperial Office of the Russian Empire (Secret Police Agency) and the Gendarmerie"

Look at this title. For the Privy Council and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, this title is more attractive than the cute ladies.

As for the diplomatic report for the second quarter, you can write an article "Taking Moscow University as an Example: On the Significant Influence of Liberal Thought on Russian Youth"

Ogarev revealed everything he knew about the Gendarmerie.

"Although the Russian Gendarmerie Regiment belongs to the army, it is a very special unit in our country's military system. This regiment was adapted from a dragoon unit in 1815. At that time, Russia had just captured Paris, so Alexander I The task assigned to them is to serve as military police in the French and Russian troops. But after Nicholas I came to the throne, this force was placed under the management of the Third Bureau. The reason why the Third Bureau was able to stay outside the law was largely because there were military police regiments and a group of secret police who acted as thugs for them. . These military police are completely independent of local government, are not subject to local control, and maintain a single line of communication with the third bureau.

If you go to Russia, you will definitely find a strange phenomenon, that is, there is always a gendarme standing next to every local governor and high-ranking official. You must not think that because these military police officers are of low rank, they are followers of the governor and senior officials. The actual situation is exactly the opposite. These military policemen watched everything that happened in front of them and wrote down many details in their diaries that even local officials may not know. This information about local conditions and evaluations of local officials will be sent directly to St. Petersburg through secret channels. Headquarters of the Third Bureau and forwarded to the Tsar for approval. As for Shubinsky, he was one of these military policemen, and he was a very high-ranking military police officer in the Second District. "

"Second District?" Arthur frowned: "Is there a grading system among the military police? Are the military police in the first district more powerful than those in the second district?"

"No, no, you misunderstood."

Herzen on the side helped explain: "The Gendarmerie Regiment is divided into six gendarmerie districts, each district is responsible for 8 to 11 provinces. For example, the first district is responsible for covering the Grand Duchy of Finland, Al Hangelsk, Smolensk, Novgorod and Li The newly established sixth district is responsible for the management of the Kingdom of Poland, and the second district where Shubinski is located includes Moscow, Yaroslavl, and Vladimir. , Tula, Ryazan, Orel and Kaluga and other 11 provinces.

The gendarmerie regiment is divided into a three-level structure, with the headquarters at the highest level, the regional bureau at the second level, and the provincial bureau at the third level. The current commander-in-chief of the military police is concurrently served by Count Benkendorf, the director of the third bureau. The commander of the regional bureau is usually an army lieutenant general or major general, and the provincial bureau commander is a major general or colonel. Shubinsky is a military police colonel. If he was not assigned to the second district where Moscow is located, but went to the fourth and fifth districts, he would inevitably become the military police commander in charge of a province. But that guy didn't like the bitter cold land, and would rather stay in Moscow and suffer the consequences than be transferred out of this colorful world. "

Herzen was showing off his knowledge of the Military Police, but the young man's unintentional behavior attracted the attention of the official circles.

Herzen seemed to know Shubinsky very well, at least better than Arthur. Otherwise, why would things like Shubinski being bullied in the workplace reach his ears?

In Ogarev's description, the military police were so high that even high-ranking officials and the governor had to give them three cents.

But Herzen seemed to look down on the military police, and his ridicule of Shubinsky was everywhere in his words.

Arthur pretended not to find any doubts and dug out important information in a more tactful way: "Shubinsky and his boss won't deal with it?"

"Not only did he not deal with it, he was so jealous of Volkov that he went crazy." Herzen said: "He went crazy and collected evidence of the students' crimes everywhere, just to use it to step on the students' backs and put them on the spot. We became his stepping stone. He saw that Volkov was promoted because of the Klitsky incident, so he wanted to recreate it in other students."

"How do you know this?"

Arthur wanted to continue asking, but Alexandre Dumas stood up first. The fat man pretended to be drunk, hugged his police friend, and pushed him out of the door with his weight.

The Alexandre Dumas fan stared: "Okay, Arthur, the show is about to start, you have to go backstage with me."

Arthur understood the fat man's intentions, but he could not expose him directly, because exposing Dumas would also expose his own intentions.

In desperation, Arthur had to bury the problem in his heart and said with a helpless smile: "Boys, it seems we can only talk next time. But listen to me, you can drink wine and sing songs. But if you don’t want to lower your voice, you should at least change the song. Even though this is Germany, as you said, there are people downstairs who are still thinking about climbing on your back.”

After saying this, Arthur put Alexandre Dumas's arm on his shoulder, and while struggling to lift the fat man pretending to be drunk and walking out, he cursed in a low voice: "Alexander, you damn fat man, you have to thank "Touran" The premiere of "Duo" is not in Petersburg or Moscow, otherwise, I will definitely throw you into the alley outside the theater and you will definitely freeze into an ice sculpture."

Alexandre Dumas counterattacked in a low voice without giving up: "Humph! Arthur, you damn British swindler, even if you are frozen into an ice sculpture, my talent will shine through and melt the ice and snow in Petersburg and Moscow! And! , I warn you, don’t drag me like a bag of potatoes. I am the pride of France, and many people are not lucky enough to support me!”

"Alexander, you really disappoint me. After all I have done for Italy's freedom, do you still think of me as an absolutist?"

"No, Arthur, it's worse than that. You are more difficult to deal with than a real authoritarian, because I find that it is completely uncertain which side you stand on. Although I don't understand how you stand, but I Guess, it probably depends on whether you get up today and put on your absolutist boots or your liberal boots first. Arthur, my good brother, I'm willing to share everything with you except my girlfriend. But in politics. "Your uncertainty is too great!"

Arthur supported the crooked Alexandre Dumas all the way downstairs, but as soon as he stood on the ground on the first floor, he met Shubinski who had been waiting there for a long time.

When Shubinski saw the drunk Dumas, he quickly stepped forward to share the burden for Arthur: "Oh my God! Mr. Dumas, I didn't expect you to be here. Are you drunk?"

Alexandre Dumas couldn't remember who the gentleman in front of him was. When he was in London, there were many people who wanted to make friends with him, but except for the more beautiful ladies, none of them left a deep impression on him.

In order to avoid embarrassment, he could only continue to pretend to be drunk: "Oh, sir, it turns out to be you!"

Shubinsky knew that Alexandre Dumas was a republican, but it was still a great honor to be friends with this great French playwright.

How many French playwrights, musicians, and painters are not republicans?

But the identity of the republicans does not affect the pursuit of them by the Russian upper class. Anyway, as long as they are not Russian republicans.

The purpose of arresting republicans and liberals in Russia was to gain promotion, while associating with people like Alexandre Dumas was to pave the way for entering the social circle of upper class society. Being able to have a relationship with the French literary and artistic circles can arouse the admiration of countless Russian nobles and ladies.

"Did you know? I hired a French tutor for my son to teach him Latin and French. I don't expect him to be as talented as you in the future, but if he can learn a little bit, then, There should be no problem in fulfilling his father's wish and becoming a competent imperial civil servant. Although some people may disagree with me, I have always believed that French dramas are the best in Europe. The theme of the play must also be sung in French to have the most charm."

Shubinsky was flattered and supported Dumas, and muttered a bunch of flattering words. At the end, he did not forget to ask Arthur: "Where are we going to send Mr. Dumas?"

Arthur looked back at the second floor. Although he had warned the students, it was best to take Shubinski away just in case.

Moreover, as things stand, he seems to be more interested in Alexandre Dumas than in his students.

Arresting students, Arthur was helpless in this regard, after all, he did not want to break with Alexandre Dumas.

But when he gets involved in the literary and artistic circles, Arthur can still help fulfill this small wish.

Arthur said: "Let's go, Sergey, I will take you backstage to meet a few friends from the literary and art circles. It seems that several of them will go to Russia to perform in the near future. Remember to bring your wife and Come with the kids.”