Not long after Empress Elizabeth had finished talking to the bishop, Peter was led out of the hall by the attendants.

He was told that the Empress had fainted in anger just now, so now his personal safety had become the second priority in the palace and was strictly protected.

"It shouldn't be that fast, right? The Seven Years' War hasn't started yet! There are still pools of rotten things in the country, I don't want to take over now, it's too special..."

Peter sat on the bed and muttered to himself.

"Let's wait and see... No, if the old fat woman wakes up this time, she will definitely force me to give birth to a son Nima again! Ahh This stupid comparison Peter, is there a problem with the little brother or what's the problem, fuck! Why Nima has not been in stock for half a year... Could it be that there is a problem with the quality of sperm? Damn, I don't study Chinese medicine, so I don't know how to improve... Is it really Peter's ultimate fate to be turned green by Saltykov? it, it's too cheating, isn't it!! ”

Peter angrily threw his pillow and became depressed.

The next morning, Peter managed to fall asleep, but was woken up by Mirkovsky's intrusion.

"Your Highness, please get up for the Cabinet meeting"

"Oh, yawn... Well? What's what? Cabinet meeting? What do you mean? Could it be..."

"Maybe you see something in your sleep, but it's not what you think!"

Mirkovsky replied very seriously.

"Alright, alright, got it! Auntie is just seriously ill, so I'll tell Bestuzhev to settle it themselves, and I don't want to get involved."

Peter put on the quilt and continued to pretend to be asleep.

"Your Highness, according to the laws of the Russian Empire, you are now a temporary regent, please get up and fulfill your obligations!"

"Ahh

"In that case, then it will be rude! A few of you, come and help Your Highness get up! ”

Mirkovsky beckoned several palace guards into Peter's bedroom.

"Hey, hey! Don't be so violent—"

"Yawn—I'm so sleepy..."

Peter slouched into the conference room.

"Your Highness..."

Prime Minister Estuzzev, who was talking to the mysterious clerk, saw Peter come in, his brow furrowed but he stopped talking.

Bestuzhev was a staunch Russian faction who had always opposed Peter's worship of Frederick the Great of Prussia.

"Auntie, what's going on now? Count Razumovsky? ”

Peter first looked at Empress Elizabeth's mistress.

"Your Majesty's gallstones have been displaced, and he is still unconscious, and the court doctor has diagnosed and treated him, saying that there is no danger to his life. Maybe tomorrow, but maybe a month before you wake up"

Razumovsky was slightly younger than the empress, but at this time he also looked tired and seemed to have not slept all night.

"Can you hire famous doctors from England and Austria at great expense? Are the current court doctors reliable? ”

"The doctor has prescribed several medicines for His Majesty, but the efficacy needs to be observed for some time. Of course, His Highness's proposal is also very good, one more doctor has one more chance."

Razumovsky's tone was grateful.

"By the way, the president of the Royal Academy of Sciences, Mikhail . Vasilyevich. Romanosov is a friend of mine, you can invite him to the palace as well."

"Your Highness, I think that at this time, the fewer people who know about this matter, the better."

Prime Minister Bestuzhev couldn't help but chimed in.

"Well, that's right... However, Mihai is not the kind of person who breaks his mouth, and it should be okay to call him to the palace in my own name, right? ”

Peter replied nonchalantly.

"It's not impossible for Your Highness to arrange it like this."

Bestuzhev sighed.

"Okay, what's on the agenda of today's meeting?"

Peter, as if he had prepared for the day, slumped over the chair where the Empress used to sit with some excitement.

"Your Highness, in view of the current situation, I think it is necessary to increase the number of spies to prevent rebellion in the country."

Mystery Scrivener Alexander. Ivanovich spoke first.

"It costs money to add spies, right?"

Without waiting for the others to speak, Peter spoke first.

"Yes, I need to advance some activity funds, but Your Highness..."

"I've actually always had a question that you need to answer, Count Shuvalov."

The head of the palace mystical office, the spokesman of horror Alexander. Ivanovich's noble title was Count Shuvalov.

"Your Highness, please say, you will answer any questions below"

The bald clerk's face changed slightly, but in an instant he returned to normal.

"It's not a difficult question to answer, is it Earl, can you be busy on weekdays? No matter how you say it, you have to have hundreds of secret messages passing through your hands every day, right? Do you feel stressed? ”

"Ahem... It is appropriate to be able to work hard for His Majesty, and I am used to it."

The mysterious clerk's heart was beating wildly, and his heart said that this meant to be 'retired'?

"Oh, I see"

Peter nodded.

"Actually, I think the most important thing at the moment is to guard against foreign threats, right?"

"No, no, His Highness sees it very accurately"

Duke Volyntsov, the deputy prime minister of the cabinet, hurriedly praised that this man had actually been secretly competing with Bestuzhev and wanted to replace him.

"Since that's the case, I think the focus of the mystery office should be on the collection of foreign information, and the focus on some major cities in China will be handed over, and the rest will be handled by the local sheriff, so that you can concentrate more and avoid mistakes in the chaos, what do you think?"

"Hmm... Your Highness has a point..."

The bald spy head responded noncommittally.

"Speaking of which, you're also a veteran, Earl, just install some people among the magistrates, and if you move too much, you might startle the snake, right?"

"Hmm... Well, I see"

The mysterious clerk tilted his head in response.

"Since we are talking about foreign countries, the focus is on the Ottomans and Prussia, but how many of them have already come to a conclusion?"

"Your Highness, I think that some troops should be transferred from the north to strengthen the deployment on the Ottoman border"

This was stated by Field Marshal Apleksin Jr.

"And what about Prussia? Is there a non-aggression sign with Frederick the Great? ”

"Your Highness, I don't think that with your relationship with the King of Prussia, Prussia will not take advantage of this time to attack our country."

Deputy Prime Minister Volyntsov hurriedly answered.

"What do you mean, Count Bestuzhev?"

Peter did not rush to make a statement, but calmly looked at the remaining two.

"I don't think Prussia will easily sign a non-aggression pact with our country."

is worthy of being an old politician who has been crawling in the court for many years, and Bestuzhev hit the nail on the head at once.

In most likelihood, Prussia would have made the annexation of Poland a condition, perhaps with the condition of neutrality in the war with Austria. If this is the case, Prussia will surely become the greatest obstacle to our westward expansion in the future! ”

"Well, it seems that it is impossible to transfer troops from the Prussian border"

Peter said with a smile upturned.

"Razumovsky, you have been silent, but now it's working time"

Peter took a sip of tea to refresh himself.

Russian tea was transported from the Qing Dynasty and had to travel a long distance by land, so it was transported in the form of tea bricks, that is, Pu'er tea that was fried at a high price in later generations.

"In my opinion, it is better not to fight, the current Russia is not ready for war, and the empty treasury does not allow it. However, if peace were to be made to Prussia and the Ottomans at the same time, it would also undermine the majesty of the empire, and the people would complain."

Razumovsky is neither humble nor arrogant.

"Okay, so what are we going to do now?"

Peter asked, spreading his hands.

"If we make peace with Prussia, we will definitely offend Austria, and although it is not a big deal, Austria may attack us in turn, right? In the event of peace with the Ottomans, Assyria, the only outlet to the Black Sea, would surely be gone, and Ukraine would be ravaged by the Crimean Tatars. However, if there is really going to be a war, you can't fight on two fronts at the same time, otherwise there will not be enough troops, and the state finances will not allow it ... Oh, that's a tough one—"

Peter actually scratched his head in frustration.

"Your Highness, I think that the remnants of His Majesty's visit to the southern border last year are still there, and if a certain number of troops are sent again, the Ottomans will not necessarily dare to attack our country."

The field marshal again proposed.

"But the increase in troops in Ukraine will lead to the emptiness of troops on the border with Prussia, and if there is peace with Prussia, won't it lose more?"

"Does Your Highness think that peace should be made with the Ottomans, and then the border with Prussia should be strengthened?"

Prime Minister Bystuzhev asked.

"Is there anything wrong with that?"

"Your Highness, I think it is necessary to remind you that the Ottomans should not only seek to recover Assyria, but also to annex the Crimea along with Zaporozhye. But in this case, all the achievements of the empire's expansion in the south over the past hundred years will be spit back, and the prestige that Peter the Great has won for Russia will probably be lost! ”

Bestuzhev said loudly with some excitement.

"Hehe, but the plan you put forward is difficult to achieve, isn't it? Or do you have a better idea, Earl? ”

"Your Highness, I do have a more feasible plan"

"Okay, you say"

Peter raised his hand.

"Yes, Your Highness, I think that all the other countries that have relations with Prussia and the Ottomans should be drawn to our side."

"Well, and then what?"

Peter said intently.

"With the Ottomans, for example, we can form a defensive alliance with the three Orthodox countries of Circassia, Imeretia and Georgia on the eastern shore of the Black Sea-Caucasus. In addition, although the Persian Empire had just lost the war with the Ottomans, Persia and the Ottomans had a feud and could also be used as a target for wooing. On the western shore of the Black Sea, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth has always been eager to recover the Duchy of Moldavia, and Austria wants to annex the Duchy of Wallachia, although our country also has interests in the Balkans, but these can be put aside for the time being, as long as it can form a de facto encirclement network against the Ottomans, there will be no major problems on the southern border"

"But the current king of Poland is also the ruler of the Duchy of Saxony, right?"

Deputy Prime Minister Volyntsov reminded.

"The Duchy of Saxony belongs to the Austrian camp, and co-opting Poland is likely to offend Prussia..."

"So in the north, we can also co-opt Sweden and Denmark"

Bestuzhev interrupted Volyntsov's interjection.

"Your Highness's uncle happens to be the King of Sweden, and this is an advantage, and I think it is possible to conclude a defense agreement with Sweden, since Prussia has always coveted Swedish possessions in Trans-Pomerania and Mecklenburg. As for Denmark, although it is an old enemy of Sweden, it is unlikely that it will join the Prussian side in wartime as long as our country expresses its neutrality towards both sides."

"In addition, with regard to France, which is allied with Prussia, our country can continue to strengthen its relations with Great Britain, and with the strength of the British navy, as long as the Prussian coast is blocked, the Swedish army can directly land at Greverswald and then take Berlin directly."

"Well, the Earl's words are quite reasonable."

Peter's fingers beat the table rhythmically like a piano.

"But if Prussia attacks Sweden, will we still have to go to war with Prussia in order to protect Sweden?"

"Uh, this... If a defense pact is signed, this is inevitable, right? ”

Bestuzhev replied with a head.

The other people also looked at each other and looked at each other.

"No, no, Count, you didn't understand what I meant."

Peter retorted.

"If we sign a defense agreement with Sweden, and I mean that we take the initiative to sign a defense agreement with Sweden, then if Prussia attacks Sweden, we will definitely enter the war, there is no doubt about that. But, but but, if Sweden takes the initiative to sign with our country, then the conditions will be different, aren't they? ”

Peter asked with a hippie smile.

"Your Highness means..."

Field Marshal Zhangji muttered confusedly.

"Oh, hehe, I understand His Highness's thoughts"

Bestuzhev also laughed.

"Your Highness was actually saying just now that if our country signs an agreement with Prussia first, whether it is a defense pact or a non-aggression pact, then Prussia's next step will be either to fight Saxony-Poland and Austria, or to fight Sweden. Obviously, Sweden is the best to fight, so Sweden needs to protect itself, most likely to join the Austrian camp, and at the same time expect to join forces with our country to defend Prussia. In other words, Sweden is likely to preemptively sign a defense pact with our country because it is afraid of our alliance with Prussia."

Although it sounds a little twisted, the few people here are also the elite of the imperial elite, and they understand the stakes involved.

"Haha, it seems that His Highness thinks more clearly than us"

Deputy Prime Minister Volyntsov hurriedly smiled and praised.

"So, you have already understood the focus of the next diplomatic work, right?"

Peter threw his head back and stretched.

"And one more thing, who should be sent to Berlin?"

Razumovsky sighed.

"Send Saltykov, he was in charge of diplomatic liaison in Vienna before, so he's quite suitable."

"But then, Vienna..."

Bestuzhev said worriedly.

"I agree with His Highness's idea, since Duke Saltykov has been on business in Vienna, he must be very familiar with the situation in Prussia, and if he does so, he will also be able to show Prussia our attitude, at least King Frederick II will think that our country attaches great importance to good relations with Prussia, so that he will not take the opportunity to do something against our country."

Deputy Prime Minister Volyntsov echoed.

"yes, that's what I meant"

Peter said with the corners of his mouth upturned.

"And then, apart from weaving a protective net diplomatically, well, I don't think it's a siege net."

Strike while the iron is hot, and Peter continues to preach.

"For the Ottomans, I felt the need to recruit a 20,000-strong 'militia' from the Don Cossacks to form a real threat to the Kuban region"

"Recruit 20,000 Cossacks?"

Field Marshal Apleksin Jr. exclaimed.

"But Your Highness, there shouldn't be any extra reserves for this expenditure now, right?"

"I said, Your Excellency, didn't you notice that I was talking about the militia?"

"Even if it's a militia, it costs money!"

"Hey, what are the Cossacks? To put it bluntly, it's just a group of robbers, as long as these guys give them a designated hunting ground, they don't care, they will go to forage like wolves."

"Oh, Your Highness wants to use these 20,000 Cossacks to 'counter-harass' the Ottomans, right?"

Bestuzhev glanced at the field marshal, and then spoke.

"That's pretty much what it means, but my idea is that the 20,000 Cossacks should be divided into detachments and placed in the entire eastern part of the Black Sea south of Assyria, as if they were patrols guarding the border, and if they encountered Tatars crossing the border and raiding, they would kill them back."

"However, if you do so, I am afraid that it will cause a violent backlash from the Ottomans, and it may be a reason for them to send troops."

Marshal Apleksin Jr. said worriedly.

"Then it depends on whether the Ottoman Sultan really dares to send troops, even if he really dares, it will have to be a matter of spring, and then it will be a big deal to ask those Cossacks to loot the entire Crimea first, if the Ottomans dare to land across the Black Sea, they will definitely lack supplies at the beginning, take advantage of this surprise attack on him, and kill him first Surprise and morale chaos"

Peter spoke like a strategizing field marshal.

"But the Ottoman army is almost ten times the number of our own, if France is behind it..."

"That's why I said last year that I wanted to reform the Army!"

Peter pouted at Marshal Aplekshin Jr.

"I've always said to strengthen the offensive capability of the army, you have to listen, the three-line formation is the best offensive formation, and the square formation is the most flexible form of formation, plus the extended range of artillery, and the carbine that can be easily loaded on the horse, it can definitely be invincible in terms of speed! Crimea is a steppe, the most suitable for cavalry and infantry artillery to fight together, the Ottomans can never imagine how terrible the combat capability of the new army is! ”

"But..."

The field marshal still wanted to refute, but was interrupted by Peter's raised hand.

"Nothing! If my aunt wakes up tomorrow, of course you can dismiss my thoughts, if you wake up next month, you can barely get rid of it, but if you wake up in three months, or even half a year, then you can't help it! ”

"Your Highness, I think this kind of combat training can be piloted in the Guards first, and then it can be extended to the whole army, so that it can also play an exemplary role"

Deputy Prime Minister Volyntsov stood up in support and said.

"Well, that's it."

“...”

Bestuzhev saw that Razumovsky looked aloof, and understood that it was impossible to get new support for another veto, so he did not speak again.