Chapter 776 Choose One of the Two Bottles of Poison

March 3, 1931, St. Petersburg, Russian Empire.

The famous Tsar Nicholas II was 63 years old at this time. His political career, like his age, had entered the twilight years.

Needless to say, the war was about to fail. The most fatal thing for Nicholas II was that the inheritance of the empire had been cut off from this moment.

As time came to March, Crown Prince Alexei announced that he was critically ill. After a long time, Crown Prince Alexei, who suffered from hemophilia, finally fell on the way to fight hemophilia.

This was the cruelest blow to Nicholas II. Even if he could win this war, his throne had actually been cut off.

Because Nicholas II's younger brother married an unruly widow, the position of the Tsar could only be passed on to Alexei.

But after Alexei was critically ill, the only hopeful heir was Alexei's only daughter, Princess Sheyanna.

If it was a peaceful period, it would not be a big deal for the Russian Empire to have one more empress. Isn't the famous Catherine the Great also a woman?

But the problem is that the current Tsarist Russia is not in a peaceful period. Moreover, Princess Seyanna is only two years old. Letting a two-year-old girl inherit the throne of Tsarist Russia is equivalent to pushing the inheritance of the Tsarist Russian Empire to extinction.

Although Princess Seyanna did not inherit the hemophilia of Crown Prince Alexei, she is healthy.

But a princess is of no help to the succession of the throne, which also means that the current Tsarist Russian Empire is in an unprecedented situation of internal and external troubles.

Thinking of this, Nicholas II couldn't help but envy Arthur. Although Arthur has few descendants, three sons and one daughter can be regarded as a branch.

Moreover, all members of the Australasian royal family are healthy and have not inherited the hemophilia gene of Queen Victoria.

In contrast, the Romanov family is currently considered to be sparsely populated. By the time of Nicholas II, the only direct descendants of the royal family were Nicholas II and his younger brother.

But it was also mentioned that the only ones who could truly inherit the throne and pass it on were Crown Prince Alexei and his daughter Princess Sheyanna.

Especially after Crown Prince Alexei was critically ill, the Romanov family was about to face extinction.

Nicholas II did not believe that Princess Sheyanna could smoothly inherit the throne and pass on the family.

According to the theory of bloodline believed by European aristocrats, even if Princess Sheyanna successfully gave birth to offspring, her offspring would no longer be members of the Romanov dynasty.

"Alas, how is the war on the front line?" Nicholas II did not look very good, and he was as tired as an old man in his seventies or eighties, frowning and asking.

"The First and Third Armies have been lost, and our front line has retreated 40 kilometers." The Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Army, Nicholas II's absolute confidant, stood up and said.

After experiencing the failure of World War I, Nicholas II made up his mind not to participate in the military anymore, but to hand over the military to his most trusted confidant.

But judging from the current results, the failure of the Russian army is not only the incompetence of the commander, but also the corruption within the empire.

Even though the previous capitalist government and the current Nicholas II have reformed the army, the fighting power of the Russian Empire army is still far behind that of the enemy.

The enemy's fearless attitude and the belief that they can do everything for their country are not what the current Tsarist Russia can have.

"Damn it! Are all the people on the front line a bunch of losers?" Nicholas II was a little angry when he heard the front-line battle report reported by the Chief of the General Staff, and angrily accused.

"Your Majesty! We are currently at a disadvantage in terms of equipment and number. We obviously cannot resist the enemy and Poland's attack together." The Chief of the General Staff hurriedly explained: "At present, there is a shortage of supplies on the front line. We can't even supply enough weapons and ammunition for the soldiers. We have fallen behind in this war."

In the final analysis, Russia's industry and economy are still too weak at this time. After the consumption of World War I and the civil war, Russia is no longer the once powerful European bulldozer.

The current industrial level of Tsarist Russia is only about a quarter of that before World War I, and the economic level is only half of that of Russia at that time.

You know, it has been nearly 20 years since the outbreak of World War I. In 20 years, Russia's industry and economy have not grown at all, but have regressed a lot, which is enough to prove how serious the damage to Russia in these two wars is.

Adding up all the territories separated from the complete Russia, the economy and industry are only about 60% of those before World War I.

If other countries had not recovered from their injuries for various reasons, I am afraid that Russia would have been cut off by other countries in several wars.

The words of the chief of staff made Nicholas II's face stiff. This is not wrong. In addition to the soldiers' desire to fight and recognition of the country, Tsarist Russia has also fallen behind in terms of weapons, ammunition and logistics supply.

Since last year, Nicholas II has not received support from Europe. One of the reasons is that the rise of new forces in Italy and Germany has made the European situation more chaotic, and European countries have begun to focus on their own military strength.

The second reason is that Nicholas II has been losing ground and basically has no hope of winning.

One of the main reasons why European countries supported Nicholas II was that they wanted to use it as an investment in exchange for the return from Nicholas II after unifying Russia.

The most vivid example is France. The French wanted to support Nicholas II in exchange for the ally who firmly supported France after unification.

When they saw that Nicholas II could no longer win, the French naturally gave up their support for Nicholas II and turned to look for other allies.

The French first set their sights on Poland. Although Poland is not a powerful country in Europe, its geographical location is also superior.

Moreover, compared with the weakened Russia, Poland is more likely to become the new overlord of Eastern Europe.

At this point, Poland is more attractive to France than Tsarist Russia of Nicholas II.

After all, one of the purposes of the French in looking for allies is to balance the growing Germany.

In addition to Poland, the French also set their sights on the Austrian Empire.

Although the Austrian Empire is not as strong as the former Austro-Hungarian Empire, it is at least one of the recognized powers, and it is still much stronger than Poland.

The Austrian Empire still has a certain level of industry, and even now the Austrian Empire's industrial level is stronger than that of Italy.

More importantly, the Austrian Empire has conflicts with Italy, and its policies in the Balkans have not been recognized by the British. It is considered a natural ally of France.

It is precisely because of this that the relationship between France and Russia has gradually become alienated, and it has turned to Poland and the Austrian Empire.

Nicholas II is not unaware of this, but he can do nothing about it.

The interests between countries are like this. When Nicholas II's Tsarist Russia lost its last value, it became inevitable to be abandoned.

Unless Nicholas II can regain the initiative in the war, or even take the opportunity to defeat Poland and the enemy and unify the entire Russia.

Otherwise, Nicholas II will not welcome any supporters, and the aid he once received will disappear.

"How long can our finances last?" Nicholas II rubbed his brows, and his face was almost exhausted.

"The treasury can hardly take out a ruble." The Minister of Finance looked solemn and gave an answer that made Nicholas II look desperate.

"Issue another batch of national debt, and at the same time, mortgage all the mineral resources that can be mortgaged." Nicholas II was silent for a long time before he spoke.

"Use all the funds that can be raised to buy weapons, ammunition and food supplies. I will fight the enemy to the death." Nicholas II closed his eyes and said it with a firm tone.

"Yes!" The entire cabinet had no objection, and they also understood that this might be the last resort.

Arthur was naturally clear about the situation in Russia. In fact, if Australasia chose to support Russia, Nicholas II might be able to hold on for a while.

But it is obvious that Arthur could not support Russia for no reason, and it is even more impossible to spend the taxes of the Australasia people to help the Russians.

However, for his own goals, it is still possible to make certain exchanges of interests.

On March 11, David, the chief steward of European royal affairs, went to St. Petersburg in person and had a secret conversation with Nicholas II's butler for more than two hours.

The next day, David was personally received by Nicholas II and discussed in Nicholas II's palace for more than three hours.

Finally, when Butler David left St. Petersburg, he was smiling and very satisfied.

Nicholas II in St. Petersburg also changed his previous fatigue and regained some spirit.

Butler David went to St. Petersburg to discuss many things, and basically reached a compromise with Nicholas II.

Although many of the contents of the discussion have not been made public, some of the contents that have been made public are still thought-provoking.

First of all, Princess Sheyanna, the only granddaughter of Nicholas II, has a godfather and godmother.

Her godfather is Arthur's eldest son, Crown Prince William of Australasia. Naturally, Princess Sheyanna's godmother is Crown Prince William's wife, Crown Princess Alexandrine.

It is worth mentioning that as a member of the Russian royal family, Princess Sheyanna's religion should have been Orthodox.

But before William and his wife became Princess Sheyanna's godfather and godmother, the Russian royal family publicly announced that Princess Sheyanna's religion would be changed to Australasian Protestantism.

Such a religious change is very meaningful. According to common sense, the Russian Empire is a pure Orthodox country, and the successor to the throne should naturally be Orthodox.

After Princess Sheyanna converted to Australasian Protestantism, did it mean that Princess Sheyanna lost the right to inherit the throne?

But if Princess Sheyanna lost the right to inherit the throne, then who would inherit the next Tsar's throne when Crown Prince Alexei was seriously ill?

The two consecutive problems turned the small matter of changing religion into a big matter, and even affected the stability of Tsarist Russia.

However, Nicholas II obviously couldn't take these into account at this time. In the exchange of conditions, Nicholas II received aid worth 20 million Australian dollars, most of which was weapons, ammunition and medical supplies.

Nicholas II planned to use this aid to make a final effort. If he failed, he would follow the agreement with General David.

If he succeeded, he might be able to restore the glory of the Russian Empire and avoid the extinction of the Romanov family.

After successfully reaching an agreement with Nicholas II, Steward David reported his actions to Arthur.

Arthur was very satisfied with the news from Steward David. If Nicholas II nodded in agreement, it would be very helpful for Australasia to inherit the legal principles of the Eastern Roman Empire in the future.

After all, the legal principles of the Russian Empire inheriting the Eastern Roman Empire have been recognized by various countries, so it is natural for Australasia to inherit the legal principles of the Eastern Roman Empire from the Russian Empire.

As for whether other countries including Britain and France will recognize it, Arthur is not worried about this issue.

After all, legal principles are only auxiliary, and what really matters is one's own strength.

In the case that Australasia is very important to Britain and France, even if Australasia has no legal principles, as long as the interests are sufficient, Britain and France will pinch their noses to recognize it.

Similarly, even if Australasia has legal and compliant legal principles, if the strength is not strong, Britain and France may still oppose it.

More importantly, what Arthur wants is only the imperial legal principles of the Eastern Roman Empire, not the imperial inheritance of the Russian Empire.

If Britain and France are really aggressive, Arthur would not mind inheriting the throne of Nicholas II and becoming the legitimate Russian emperor.

I believe that Britain and France are still very sensible in the face of the two choices. If it is just the legal theory of the Eastern Roman Empire, Arthur will only establish the Australasian Empire at most.

But if it is really urgent and Arthur is allowed to directly inherit the Russian Empire, then it is very likely that Arthur will create the Russian-Australasian United Empire.

Although the possibility of uniting Russia is only a little bit. But this little bit of possibility is a major crisis that Britain and France must avoid.

If Russia and Australasia are really combined, Britain and France may only be able to fight against it by reuniting.

Neither Britain nor France is stupid. They can't let such a huge empire unite. Naturally, they will choose the more acceptable one, that is, to let Arthur obtain the laws from the Eastern Roman Empire and establish the empire of all Australasia.

In fact, the compromise reached between Arthur and Nicholas II, in addition to giving Nicholas II 20 million Australian dollars in aid, also protected Nicholas II's family, that is, the personal safety of the remaining Russian royal family.

The reason why William and his wife became the godfather and godmother of Princess Xie Yianna was for this purpose.

Even if Tsarist Russia failed in the war, no one would dare to threaten the personal safety of Princess Xie Yianna for the sake of Australasia.

Arthur would also take the lead in ensuring the safety of Princess Xie Yianna, and even dispatch troops for this purpose.

This was also the request of Nicholas II. As long as the safety of Princess Xie Yianna could be guaranteed, Nicholas II was willing to leave a handwritten document after the fall of the Tsarist Russian Empire, announcing that the legal system of the Eastern Roman Empire would be transferred to Arthur, so that Arthur would have the right to inherit the Tsarist Russian Empire.

This was also the means left by Arthur. One is the legal system of the Eastern Roman Empire, and the other is the right to inherit the Tsarist Russian Empire. Either one can make Arthur the emperor, and it depends on how the British and French parliaments choose.

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