Chapter 649 A Different December
In order not to disappoint these curious guests, Arthur had to bite the bullet and talk to them about the court ball held in the Winter Palace after the investiture ceremony that day.
It must be said that although more than half a month has passed, Arthur still remembers what he saw and heard that day.
The entrance of Nicholas I was particularly impressive.
When the ruler of the world's largest country entered the hall accompanied by the queen, followed by their family and court officials, all the guests stood up in unison.
That day Nicholas I wore a particularly gorgeous red military uniform.
Although the Cossack military uniform is usually only suitable for young people: the emperor's uniform is more suitable for his age and can better highlight his facial features and tall stature.
Before taking his seat, he first greeted the entire audience with his unique politeness and solemn gesture, and the queen who accompanied him did the same.
Although this is very likely to be seen as an act of disrespect to the public in Western European countries, in fact, at the ball that day, even the emperor and empress's entourage followed suit.
The guests in the entire banquet hall responded to the royal family with bows and bows, and further welcomed them with warm applause and cheers.
If these actions were sincere, they would undoubtedly illustrate the high status of the Romanov dynasty in the minds of the Russians, but because these performances were official in nature, their value was greatly reduced.
This also triggered a whisper from Arthur's Austrian envoy, Count Fickelmont - It's amazing that an emperor would be cheered by a dance floor full of nobles!
Although Austria also has an emperor, the Austrian emperor cannot be as prestigious as the tsar, and he can get flattery from the nobles wherever he goes.
After all, according to historical sources, before the Napoleonic Wars, the Austrian emperor was actually the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, and how low the "gold content" of the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire is is indeed a question worth discussing.
As for Arthur, an Englishman, he could completely empathize with Earl Fickelmont's words.
Because the relationship between the British nobles and the king was not very harmonious, this tradition of nobles opposing the king had a long history in Britain, so that the nobles even formed a party in a serious manner, called the Whig Party.
Even if the Whig Party was excluded and only the members of the British royalist "Tory Party" were looked at, Arthur had never seen the Duke of Wellington and Sir Robert Peel behave like Russian nobles.
In Britain, the way the Tories please the king is usually indirect and implicit, not as uniform as in Russia.
And witnessing such a scene made Arthur more curious about the situation on the day of the Decembrist uprising. Such a person who could make people stand up, sit down, and applaud with just a raise of his hand, and who showed the majesty of the emperor in every move, could actually become a coward in the mouth of Moscow university student Herzen.
Arthur could not imagine the Tsar being scared to death.
But Arthur felt that Herzen was not a liar.
Herzen once swore to Arthur that he had heard from General Chechinsky that on December 14, the emperor was very pale from beginning to end and was frightened. When the Haymarket rebellion broke out, the emperor stayed in Peterhof, standing on the mound in the garden, listening for any artillery fire from Petersburg. It was not until the next day when everything was calm that the emperor took a carriage to the crowded square and shouted to everyone: "Kneel down!" People quickly knelt down in obedience. At this time, he saw several people in civilian clothes (who followed his carriage to the square), and thought they were suspicious. He immediately ordered the arrest of these unfortunate people, and then shouted to the crowd: "These are all despicable Poles, you are incited by them! '
These inappropriate and absurd behaviors naturally caused a very bad impact.
Because Arthur had heard many complaints from officers who had experienced the Decembrist uprising at some private gatherings in Petersburg.
This group of Russian generals agreed that what the emperor should do is not to listen to the sound of artillery in the garden with fear, not to send messengers to St. Petersburg to inquire about the news, but to rush there in person. This is the most basic requirement for the supreme ruler, and every man with a little courage should do this!
If all this is true, then Arthur feels that Nicholas I's performance as emperor is even worse than the current French King Louis Philippe.
Although the French people like to mock their "duck pear king", when the uprising broke out in Paris on June 5, 1832, Louis Philippe was also frightened, but this French big duck pear not only did not choose to flee, but instead bid farewell to the Belgian King Leopold I who was on a state visit to France, and led the accompanying light cavalry to return to Paris urgently.
Although Louis Philippe did not help much in suppressing the uprising, the news that the king rushed back to Paris overnight and personally sat in the Tuileries Palace to command the overall situation obviously boosted the morale of the Orleans faction.
Louis Philippe's subsequent act of openly reviewing the troops in the square at great risk not only earned him thunderous cheers of "Long live the King" from the soldiers, but also quickly stabilized the morale of the Greater Paris Police, the National Guard and the French Army, and ultimately became the last straw that broke the camel's back for the republican rebels.
As the saying goes, people are dead than people, and goods have to be thrown than goods.
Although it was also the King of Bao, at least the king of France made a progress with his throne and proved that they did not follow the wrong person to the Orleans of France.
But the tsar either ...
The contrast between Nicholas I and Louis Philip is too sharp, so that Arthur feels that even if Dazhong Ma, a guy who has private grievances and serious political differences with Louis Philip, the French fat man who has always valued the spirit of the Cavaliers said that No Nicholas one is stronger than Louis Philip's remarks.
After all, the biggest reason why Dazhima and Arthur can reconcile are because Arthur always insisted on standing on the front line of chaos in the London riots that night. bullet.
Although this is not a glorious behavior, this can at least show that Arthur Hessinus is an excellent police officer who has fulfilled his duties. Even most of the time, he looks very decent, and he does not lack calmness, courage and courage.
It is never Arthur's personality issue, but a position problem.
If Arthur is willing to stand at a republican camp, Dazhong Ma will not doubt that his friend will become a legendary hero.
In the final analysis, the black fat man is a romanticist. He advocates heroes and is obsessed with epic scenes.
Even if he didn't say it, he always felt that Arthur Hessinus was worthy of the title of Knight.
In the evaluation system of Dazhima, the heroes in the reactionaries are at least a hero, and they must always be better than the courageous ghosts in the republican elements.
As for Nicholas I, this is a courageous ghost in the reactionary, so naturally there is no way to compare it with the "Weixin" of the Scottish field.
And whether the performance of Nicholas I in the December Party Uprising is true, Arthur tends to think that the probability is true.
On the day of the awarding ceremony, the Tsar did not know what the wind was drawn, and actually took the initiative to set up a few words with him.
Nicholas I criticized Arthur with a slightly blame tone: "You have to know that as a young man, especially young people who are not prominent in status, your words today are a bit progressive."
Arthur, who had just received the San Anna Medal, naturally did not choose to hardly top with the Tsar, and he had no reason to do that.
Arthur's tone sounds sincere: "I can say sincerely, His Majesty, one of the main motivations for visiting Russia is to want to approach the prince who can exert such power to people like you."
The Tsar's compliment to Arthur was very useful. A glass of red wine was under his belly. His serious face smiled: "The Russians are very good, but if you want to control such a nation, you must make yourself worthy."
Arthur naturally climbed the roller to the root stick: "Your Majesty has better understanding the needs and status quo of this country than any of your predecessors."
"Authorities still exist in Russia: this is the essence of my rule, but it is in line with the talent of the nation."
There is no mistake, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one 619, one book, one, one, one, one, one, one, a book!
"I know, you are restored to herself by stopping Russia's imitation of the culture of other countries."
Perhaps it is associated with the problem of the Ottoman Empire. The Tsar has not forgotten to appease the young diplomat who had hit him: "I love my country, and I believe I understand it. I promise you that when I really get tired of this era When all the sufferings, I will try to forget Europe by returning to Russia.
"Is this to get fresh from the source of Russian culture?"
"That's it. No one is a Russian than me. I want to say something to you and I won't say something to others, but I think you will understand me."
Here, the Tsar paused and looked at Arthur focusing on: "I can understand the republic: it is a simple and direct government form, or at least it should be. I am the head of this system. "
Arthur did not understand why Tsar suddenly criticized the political system of Britain, but in fact he didn't particularly care, but out of the dignity of the maintenance of the British envoy, he fought a little bit here: "His Majesty, I always think that the agency system The government is an inevitable transaction in some communities in some periods.
The emperor supported the glass, and the attitude seemed to be talking -continue.
Arthur continued: "This is a system between democracy and the monarchy, and it is a stop war agreement signed under the shelter of two despicable tyrants 'fear and interests'. The intelligence self -esteem of giving, and the kind of public vanity that satisfies his own public in words.
"Sir Arthur, you are right."
Nicholas I held Arthur's hand and said: "I was a representative monarch in Poland, and the world knows how much I paid for not succumbing to the demands of this shameful government. Bribing votes, corrupting consciences, and deceiving some to deceive others. I despise these means because they not only degrade the obedient, but also the commander. I paid a heavy price for my frankness. But, thank God, now I have been rid of this hateful political machine forever, and I will never be a constitutional king again. I need to express everything I think, and I will never agree to rule any people through tricks and conspiracies, whether in Poland, Russia, Finland, Lithuania or anywhere else."
At this point, Nicholas I also mentioned the Decembrist uprising in due time: "A few years ago, when I just inherited the throne, a group of conspirators used absurd lies as a tool to incite the army to revolt. They spread rumors that I had seized the crown of my brother Constantine. , who was heading to Petersburg to defend his rights by force. The scum induced the ignorant soldiers to shout in support of the constitution outside the palace windows because they deceived the soldiers and told them that the word "constitution" was the name of Constantine's wife, my sister-in-law. As you said, the scum tried to use lies to make me a constitutional tsar and make Russia a representative monarchy. The reason that inspired the soldiers to besiege me was not that they supported the constitution, but on the contrary, the soldiers thought they were showing their loyalty to the legitimate emperor. In fact, I did not usurp the throne. I succeeded to the throne because my brother Constantine Pavlovich was not strong enough. He was afraid of becoming the ruler of Russia and was worried that he would be poisoned as soon as he succeeded to the throne. Not everyone can bear the pressure of becoming a tsar. I heard that you know a lot about Russian history, so I believe you can definitely find clues from history. "
For the above two paragraphs, Arthur believed that the tsar should be sincere.
Although he didn't understand why the tsar was so close to him and even willing to talk to him about his inner thoughts.
However, being a tsar in Russia is indeed a high-risk job. Looking back at the history of the Romanov dynasty, a considerable proportion of tsars' rise to power and death seem unusual.
The nobles' infinite loyalty to the tsar comes at a price. Therefore, whenever there is a big problem and someone needs to take overall responsibility, the tsar needs to bear all the faults for major decision-making errors.
Therefore, if it is just about chopping off the emperor's head, the Russians did it earlier and more than the British and French.
But the purpose of the Russians chopping heads is just to change the tsar, and there is no other request.
When Arthur talked to the guests about the details of the Decembrists that the tsar told him, he clearly saw a subtle disdain on the faces of several guests.
"His Majesty the Tsar is very modest. He told me that he did not do anything special at that time. He just said to the soldiers: 'Return to your team!' When he came to the square to review the Guards Cavalry who suppressed the rebellion, he shouted loudly: 'Kneel!' Then the soldiers obeyed together. His Majesty said that he had made up his mind at that time - either die or win. However, although he was grateful for his success, he was not proud, because it was not his own credit. The main credit for suppressing the rebellion should be attributed to the repeated persistence of Count Benckendorff, Count Alexei Orlov and others."
As soon as Arthur finished speaking, he saw that everyone's eyes turned to a middle-aged man who was drinking alone in the corner of the hall.
Arthur asked in surprise: "What's wrong?"
The kind-hearted Miss Helena raised her fan to cover her mouth and reminded: "You just read the name of that gentleman's brother. By the way, that gentleman was at the scene on the day of the Decembrist uprising, but he stood on the side of the rebels..."
Arthur thought about it and immediately guessed the identity of the man: "You mean, Count Alexei Orlov's brother? Is he General Mikhail Orlov of the Orlov family?"
Miss Helena was surprised and said: "Why do you know him?"
Arthur smiled softly: "Unfortunately, Mr. Zubkov just mentioned this gentleman to me this morning."