His Majesty the Tsar, who was watched by the two important ministers, was still silent, his face did not have any expression, so there was also a huge pressure, which made the hearts of the two important ministers shudder. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 The ministers all know that when His Majesty has this expression, it is when he is most angry.

If it weren't for the fact that the situation was already so corrupt, they would not have talked so eloquently on such an occasion to stimulate His Majesty's already overwhelmed nerves.

Time passed slowly, and the two ministers held their breath and waited for His Majesty's decision.

And as they expected, at this moment His Majesty Tsar Nicholas I, under the calm exterior, was indeed turbulent and angry in his heart. For he had already seen that the two diplomats on whom he relied were, though superficially disagreed, were in essence clearly in favour of peace with the French, and that what was at stake was only the pace and attitude to be adopted, and this made it clear that even his ministers had no confidence in the outcome of the war, and preferred to make peace and end it as soon as possible.

It is difficult for a king to accept the humiliation of defeat, let alone a Russian tsar? The successive emperors of the Romanov family, after hardships and do not know how much it cost, overcame obstacles and finally expanded a small Moscow into a super empire across the Eurasian continent.

His grandmother, Catherine the Great, fought in the east and west, defeated one enemy after another, and finally shocked Europe; His elder brother, Alexander I, succeeded his predecessors in defeating Napoleon's invasion in the most difficult of difficult situations, and eventually became the liberator of Europe...... And now, as a defeated Tsar, how will he face these emperors?

This was not just an ordinary defeat, it was one of the unprecedented defeats of the Russian Empire since its founding. Ignoring the prestige of the Russians, the Western European powers forcibly landed on Russian soil, attacked his army, besieged his fortresses, and defeated the Russian army along the way, which not only bullied Russia, but further pierced the self-esteem of the tsar himself.

At the moment, he felt that he had become the laughing stock of all Europe, unable to exonerate himself from the crushing defeat he faced, and because of this, His Majesty the Tsar was at the lowest and most angry moment of his life.

What made him even more angry was that in such a bad situation, the arrogant ministers he usually relied on had no idea one by one, and could only watch the empire retreat and be at a loss. They were treated so favorably by themselves, and received so many rewards, honors, and honors, but at such a critical moment, they were useless, and could only persuade the emperor to quickly sue for peace with the enemy!

However, in spite of the fury in his heart, His Majesty knew that venting would not solve anything, but would only make the situation worse and make people laugh at his panic, so he did his best to suppress the anger in his heart.

"If we are going to make peace with the French, then how can we guarantee their sincerity?" His Majesty the Tsar didn't want to go around in circles with these two ministers, so he said directly, "Also, what kind of bargain should we make on the terms that the French put forward before?" ”

As soon as His Majesty the Tsar said this, the two ministers breathed a sigh of relief, for His Majesty's opinions supported their arguments to varying degrees, and His Excellency the Foreign Secretary, Nesser Rodie, saw that His Majesty was concerned about the sincerity of the French, while Gorchakov noticed that His Majesty was finally considering the question of peace with the French.

"The French are arrogant and unreasonable, but they are still people to deal with, and they understand that if the war goes on, it will not do them much good." Ambassador Gorchakov immediately went on to explain to His Majesty, "In fact, it is the British who hate us the most, and who want to strike at us the most, because the British want to defend their India, and they want to defend the most important assets of the British Empire, and it is in their best interest to bring us down; But what about the French? What good is it for us to bring down France? The French could not snatch anything from the Russians, their efforts were only to consolidate the superiority of the British! If we do withdraw from Europe in its entirety, then the rest of Europe will become a playground for the British, and will the French be happy to see that? No, I believe that no sane French person would want to see this happen, because it would mean that France's own interests could not be served after the war. ”

Then, he suddenly lowered his voice, "Actually, the report from the front is worth noting, Charles de Treville made it very clear that they do not want to see a Europe dominated by the British, and they are absolutely not happy to be servants of the British. I think that although Louis Bonaparte and his favourites were a bunch of wicked bastards, their words make sense in this respect, for the more careerists and villains of this kind, the less willing they are to be subservient to others......"

"So, you mean, the sincerity of the French peace talks is very certain?" His Majesty listened in silence as he spoke, and it was only after he had finished speaking that His Majesty asked, "This time we can believe that they really don't want to be pawns of the British?" ”

"Louis Bonaparte wanted to gain prestige, to gain the allegiance and support of the army, and to break the shackles of the old system on France, and he had all these purposes, and I see no reason for him to continue the war." Gorchakov replied firmly, in order to give confidence to the king, "So, Your Majesty, the time has come, let us make peace with the French as soon as possible, as long as the French and we succeed in making peace, the British will certainly seek peace, and then this war will be over, and we can also relieve the crisis facing the empire now......"

His Majesty the Tsar lowered his gaze, apparently lost in thought.

"I have no objection to negotiating with the French, but can we really agree to their terms?" His Excellency The Foreign Secretary, Niechel Rodie, who had not spoken, suddenly interjected, "If we cannot agree to their terms, the peace talks will certainly be prolonged until one side has a greater advantage." ”

The Foreign Minister's words made Gorchakov, who was originally eager, difficult for a while.

Yes, Russia had already made initial diplomatic contacts with France to seek conditions for the cessation of the war, and then, having heard the terms put forward by the French, the Russian government quickly broke off the negotiations.

During that secret contact, the French government demanded that the Russian Empire cede the territories previously occupied by the Danube and southern Bessarabia to the Duchy of Moldavia, return the Kars region of the Caucasus to the Turkish Empire, and declare that the Russian Empire would completely renounce the protection rights of the Orthodox Christians in Turkey.

At the same time, the Russian Empire also needed to recognize that the suzerainty of the Slavic states of Serbia, Wallachia, and Moldavia remained with Turkey, and that the Great Powers would jointly guarantee that they would remain within the territory of Turkey; Moreover, France also demanded that Russia neutralize the Black Sea in its entirety, and demanded that Russia allow Turkey to prohibit warships from all countries from passing through the two straits that hold the Black Sea into the Mediterranean Sea (this country of course refers to Russia, that is, to prevent Russian warships from crossing the Mediterranean), and also demanded that Russia be prohibited from establishing or maintaining any arsenals, naval bases, and other facilities along the Black Sea coast......

The conditions were extremely harsh, and it could almost be called a loss of power and humiliation of the country, so the anger of the Russian monarch and ministers was ignited at the first time, and His Majesty the Tsar immediately broke off the negotiations, preferring to fight the British and French forces to the end.

However, after this period of fighting, the princes of the Russian Empire were helpless to find that they might face a terrible military defeat.

A military defeat would mean a political and diplomatic defeat, and furthermore, the empire would become less confident at the negotiating table, and would no longer have the ability to force the opponent to make concessions.

His Majesty the Tsar was reluctant to agree to these humiliating conditions; However, if the war continued, His Majesty the Tsar was not very optimistic about the prospects of the war, so he was in a very entangled mood at this time, and he was a little at a loss.

"If such conditions are agreed, the face of the tsarist government will be lost." Seeing that no one was refuting him, the Foreign Secretary, His Excellency Nischel Rodie, continued, his tone was very calm, but he was revealing an unacceptable fact, "How will the people see His Majesty and the government?" And what will you think of the unprecedented defeat suffered by the Empire? This would have a huge impact on the Imperial Government itself. ”

Gorchakov's face turned red instantly. "Isn't that the responsibility of those who hastily brought the Empire into war responsible? Your Excellency, if it were not for your strong advocacy at the time, the Empire would not have been so easily caught in the dilemma of fighting England and France, and if the defeat of the war would have damaged the prestige of the government, then Your Excellency, at least you would not have been wronged! ”

Such merciless words were very much in line with Gorchakov's outspoken personality, but this made Neschel Rodie's face instantly turn blue, and his whole body trembled, obviously, these words were tantamount to accusing the minister of misleading the country.

"Well, there is no need to talk about the previous things, and no one would want things to develop to the point where they are today." Before the quarrel between the two ministers, His Majesty the Tsar interrupted them. "We are now trying to solve the problems of reality, what's the point of dwelling on the past?"

The reason why he interrupted was not because he was still re-enacting Minister Nesser Rodie, but simply to relieve himself of responsibility, after all, if he looked into it, he must be the one who was most responsible for the rash involvement of Russia in the war - and this is something that His Majesty the Tsar could not face.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Ambassador Gorchakov nodded, knowing in his heart that he was oversaying.

All of a sudden, the atmosphere froze again.

The tsar looked at Gorchakov and found that he still looked like he wanted to speak and stopped, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

"Well, let's talk about anything else."

"Your Majesty, I know that the conditions of the French negotiations are very harsh, and can even be said to be humiliating, but haven't they always been like this since ancient times? The defeated will inevitably suffer humiliation, depending on the magnitude, and now that we are in a bad situation, we have to make some uncomfortable concessions so as not to exacerbate what is already a very difficult situation. After receiving permission, Gorchakov finally spoke, "If we make peace now, we will face humiliation, but if we keep fighting, what will we face?" You will surely receive many reports that the people are now united in their hatred and want to fight to defend you and the Empire, but do not be deceived by these officials, Your Majesty! Now that the war has caused too much inconvenience to the lives of the people, the defeat of the war is even more complaining, and if the situation continues, the situation will only get worse...... Think about it, what would happen if some careerist or insurgents took advantage of this time to commit some incitement? Compared with a few concessions, the domestic turmoil is the most terrible! ”

His speech was impassioned and full of enthusiasm, but it undoubtedly sounded like the most piercing roar to His Majesty the Tsar, for no emperor wanted to hear such things.

But now, what's the point of not acknowledging reality?

Of course, he had received numerous reports of the turmoil in the country, so he himself was worried, so he knew that Gorchakov's advice was perfectly correct.

However, being right doesn't mean it's likable.

Whether it is from the dignity of the emperor or from the point of view of personal prestige, he is unwilling to allow himself to bend the knee to Britain and France for peace, this humiliation is too uncomfortable, not to the point of despair, he simply cannot allow himself to make such a decision. Just like a gambler who has lost a lot of money, even if he knows in his heart that he may be more desperate if he continues to gamble, the luck in his heart still makes him expect some kind of miracle to happen.

"It's not as bad as you say, at least we can hold on for a while longer and see if the situation can change more." Finally, he hissed, "Maybe the French are too much to support now, and they will slowly lower their asking price." ”

Gorchakov was disappointed by these words, and just as he was about to say something more, His Majesty the Tsar spoke again.

"Alexander Mikhailovich, you go and take charge of negotiating with Trevier." His Majesty the Emperor raised his head and looked at Gorchakov with both helplessness and expectation, "The empire needs your enthusiasm and eloquence to fight for more interests for Russia." ”

Negotiate while procrastinating? Sure enough, he was still hesitant at the last moment...... Gorchakov sighed inwardly.

This appointment is very important, and in some cases it can be said to be a promotion, but he doesn't know whether he is sad or happy.

But he knows that he has a heavy responsibility on his shoulders now, and he must carry it, because Russia needs him.

"Yes, Your Majesty, may God let me live up to my mission."