After announcing the death of the Tsar's family and Grand Duke Nicholas on 7 October, the leader of the revolutionary party, Lenin, announced that the Provisional Revolutionary Government under his leadership had replaced the Tsarist Government as the sole legitimate government of Russia, and urged the recalcitrant Russian troops everywhere to lay down their arms and submit to the leadership of the revolutionary government.

In the afternoon of the same day, Grand Duke Aglini, who occupied Belarus, announced that according to the succession to the throne of the Tsarist Empire, he officially ascended the throne as the new Tsar, and asked the old Tsarist Russian troops to unite under his leadership to resist the invading enemy, and announced that the Russian armed forces in Belarus under his leadership launched a counterattack against the German and Austrian troops invading Russia from October 4 to October 6, during the battle, a total of 800,000 German-Austrian troops were annihilated and captured, one Austro-Hungarian lieutenant general was killed, and three major generals were captured. The sacrosanct homeland of the Russian Empire was defended.

Aglini also declared that since the German-Austrian army was still eyeing Russian soil, his main force would take the security of the Belarusian region as the primary task, and he hoped to avoid a large-scale civil war with the Russian Revolutionary Party, so as not to take advantage of the strong enemy, and even called on the Russian Revolutionary Party to negotiate with the tsarist government he led from the overall situation, and he could consider accepting the revolutionary party into his government.

Agreni's move won the appreciation and support of many Russian civilians, and many young Belarusians even enthusiastically joined the National Defense Army he organized, and the call for peace talks in Russia has gradually increased.

For the countries of Europe, the Bolshevik regime was the last thing they wanted, so they sent special envoys to visit the new tsar, expressing their willingness to pay for guns and even armed intervention, lest the huge Russian Empire be replaced by the red regime; For Germany, what they needed was a Russian revolutionary force that could contain the Tsarist army, not a red government that overthrew the Tsarist regime and controlled the whole of Russia.

Despite Lenin's belief that the greedy nature of imperialism would not change, in view of the expectations of the general public for peace talks and the current international situation, he and the Party Central Committee decided to send a special delegation to Minsk for talks with the new tsarist government.

On the morning of October 10, the delegation appeared at the Moscow railway station, where they were to travel by train to Minsk.

On the platform, the familiar "Mediterranean" tightly held the hand of the person opposite him, "Comrade Stalin, we have already announced this peace negotiation to all countries, presumably those reactionaries will not dare to harm you!" Therefore, in the negotiation process, even if they make bluffs and threats, you must not be afraid and retreat! You must overwhelm them with the momentum of revolutionaries and victors! As for the content of the negotiations and the bottom line, I have already explained to you before, and if there are any special circumstances, I will report to the central government at any time! ”

The 35-year-old Stalin's face was still slightly thin, his eyes were small but very attentive, and his thick black hair was combed into two or eight points. In 1898 he joined the Tiflis organization of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party, in 1900 he began to participate in underground political activities, organized strikes and demonstrations in some industrial centers of the Caucasus, and joined the Bolshevik faction in 1903 after the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party split into two factions: Mensheviks and Bolsheviks. In December 1904, he led a general strike of workers in Baku. Between April 1902 and March 1913, he was arrested seven times for his revolutionary activities and repeatedly exiled and imprisoned. In February 1912 he was elected to the ********** of the Bolshevik Party and edited Pravda, the organ of the party. He actively assisted Lenin in organizing and leading the October Revolution of 1914, and was therefore regarded by Lenin as his right-hand man.

"Comrade Lenin, rest assured, I will certainly live up to the expectations of the Party and the people! Those reactionaries could not frighten me before, and now they cannot! However, I am afraid that I cannot guarantee that peace can be brought back......" Like most revolutionaries, Stalin was not optimistic about the prospects for this negotiation, and it was not easy for the two factions to come to power together, and it was even more unacceptable for the revolutionaries and the Russian people to divide the land. Thus, the conditions for peace of the revolutionary party were that the tsarist army lay down its arms and accept the reorganization, and on this premise it was possible to consider retaining some of the privileges of the tsar and the royal family, which was simply unacceptable to the new tsar with a heavy army. This negotiation looks more like going through the motions, getting those who fantasize about peace to give up such unrealistic hopes.

"It doesn't matter, Comrade Stalin, as long as you return safely! I am sure that we will soon be able to unify the country with our own strength! Lenin seemed to be in good spirits, but the long hours of hard work seemed to make his hair grayer and less frequent.

The other members of the delegation, having shook hands with Lenin one by one, boarded the armored train that escorted them to Minsk. The Minsk-Moscow railway was closed shortly after the outbreak of the revolution, but most of the facilities on the railway line were intact, but many sections were controlled by different forces, and the two railway stations, a dozen kilometers away, probably belonged to the revolutionary armed forces and the Tsarist army. After the Revolutionary Party demanded negotiations, the armies of the two sides had temporarily ceased fighting, the entire railway line was temporarily restored because of this train, and some of the damaged tracks were repaired by both sides overnight, especially Aglini's troops, who did not even carry weapons into the revolutionary party-controlled area to assist the other side in repairing the railway, perhaps only at this moment can people feel the taste of peace.

Along the way, Stalin carefully observed the situation along the way, especially in the areas occupied by the Russian army, and he drew up as many sketches as possible of the fortifications and troop deployment along the railway, and he was almost the busiest person in the whole carriage. However, to his surprise, there were not many Russian troops deployed along the railway. The only heavily guarded border between Belarus and Russia was the only place to enter the country, and it was difficult to see a large number of troops after entering Belarus, and the area from the Russian border to Minsk was not invaded by the war, and the people here were calm and serene, which seemed to Stalin as if they had entered a paradise.

Closer to Minsk, there was a group of fortresses built along the railway, and Stalin deliberately slowed down the train. The forts were clearly newly renovated, with guns lined with barrels, and the tight defenses here were very different from those elsewhere.

In fact, if he had gotten any closer, he would have noticed that many of the barrels were just blackened logs.

The train came to a slow halt at the Minsk railway station, the first train to leave Moscow since October 1, and the platform was filled with Russian guards with neat faces and serious expressions, and few civilians came to greet them.

Stalin and his entourage boarded the carriage arranged by the other side, and they were to cross the main streets of Minsk to the temporary palace of the new tsar. Along the way, many Austrian prisoners could be seen marching along the streets under the watchful eyes of Russian soldiers, and it is more appropriate to say that these Russian troops are showing their achievements. The soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian army walked down the street one by one with their faces disgraced and dejected, and the marching queue was so black and oppressive that there was no end in sight. The streets were lined with onlookers, who were happily talking about the captives in front of them, and some of the indignant people even threw stones at the failed invaders, and the Russian soldiers who escorted the captives did not stop the citizens from doing so, and most of them just laughed and stood by.

"It seems that the Russian army did win a great victory, but these Austrians were nothing compared to the Russian soldiers they lost in East Prussia and Poland!" Stalin said with some disdain that he was still a little unconvinced when the new tsar announced the results of the battle in Belarus, but according to the information provided by their "German allies", he already knew that the Austro-Hungarian army had indeed suffered heavy losses in Belarus. For the new tsarist regime, this victory was crucial, not only to drive out the Austro-Hungarian invading army, but also to a certain extent to restore the image of the Tsarist army as powerless in the eyes of the Russian people; For the Russian Revolutionary Party, it was a mixed bag, this victory prevented more Russian lands from falling into the hands of foreign enemies, and if the Austrian army drove in, the areas controlled by the revolutionary party would also be threatened by it, but this victory also presented a strong and advantageous enemy, Stalin even suggested using the opportunity of the peace talks to assassinate Agrini, Lenin and the Party Central Committee believed that Agrini must be heavily guarded by him, and second, he would put the label of provoking a civil war on his head, so they rejected this suggestion.

Stalin's eyes widened when the accompanying Tsarist military officer introduced the building in front of him as the new palace, which looked a bit like a Greek temple, tall and majestic, solemn and without any sense of splendor of the golden walls.

"That'...... It was a theater before! "It took Stalin a long time to come to his senses, only a large theater would have such a grand appearance.

"Mr. Special Envoy, you are right, this was the Bolshoi Theater in Minsk before, and now it is the new palace of His Majesty the Tsar!" The accompanying Tsarist military officer did not have any special expression on his face, and his tone was very calm, which made people feel natural and friendly.

When he approached the palace, Stalin discovered that there was a large lawn in front of it, which was now full of tens of thousands of Guards cavalry.

"Sure enough......" Stalin was a little unimpressed, he had long expected that the other side would use the military parade to create momentum.

"Your Majesty the Emperor wants to invite us to a military parade?"

"No, it's not for you! These are all soldiers who have contributed to the battle that inflicted heavy losses on the Austro-Hungarian army, and His Majesty the Emperor is personally awarding medals to each of them! The officer said with reverence, "Put on the medal for everyone with your own hands!" For the sake of this honor, I will definitely ask to be transferred to the front next time! ”

Stalin was a little flustered, and everything here seemed to be unexpected.

"The award ceremony began when we passed by in the morning, and it was almost over! His Majesty the Emperor will receive you later! The officer added, and Stalin raised his hand to look at his watch, and it was already 1 o'clock in the afternoon.

As he turned the corner of the lawn, Stalin could clearly see the resolute and proud expressions of the soldiers, some of whom were still red-eyed.

"This new tsar has done a really good job of superficial work!" Stalin muttered to himself.

Just as a special mission of the Revolutionary Party entered the palace, an earth-shattering shout suddenly erupted on the lawn behind him:

"Long live the Emperor!"

To Stalin's ears, this sound was even more shocking than attending the parade of one million people of the Tsarist army, because it was a cry from the bottom of those people's hearts, and it had an extremely powerful shocking power.

Although the time to convert it into a new palace is very short, everything is arranged in an orderly manner, the decorations are simple and decent, several huge flags are hung on the walls of the hall, and the huge space makes people feel very small.

Coming to receive Stalin and his entourage was the new Minister of War of the Tsarist government, Marshal Ivanov, who not only pressed the right bet, but also pressed a promising high-quality stock.

"Welcome, welcome!" Ivanov greeted him with a smile on his face, "Although we are now our lords, we are still compatriots of the same country, so His Majesty the Emperor did not send a foreign minister, but sent me to receive it, I think your embassy has no opinion!" ”

"Uh...... We belong to one country in the first place, so why oppose it? Stalin reluctantly laughed, what had been brewing in his mind for a long time had been messed up, and the wry smile was in line with his mood at the moment.

"Envoys and gentlemen, since His Majesty the Emperor will receive you in person in a moment, I beg your forgiveness, but we have to check whether you are armed first, so as to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings!" Ivanov was still smiling when he said this.

Stalin glanced at the others and nodded in agreement.

After a brief but careful examination, Admiral Ivanov led Stalin and his party to a large conference room converted from the lounge of the former theater.

About a quarter of an hour later, Agliini appeared at the door of the conference room, and everyone stood up in salute.

The new tsar walked across from Stalin with a serious face and took the lead in extending his right hand, "Welcome!" ”

Stalin was stunned again, the new tsar was only half a meter away from him, and at this distance, as long as he had a dagger, or even with his own fist, he could hurt his face full of leadership. The new tsar looked very young, with a very healthy complexion and somewhat rough skin, proving that he was a soldier who had experienced the wind and rain, and not the kind of gentlemanly aristocrats who wore ornate military uniforms but had not even touched a rifle.

Stalin stretched out his right hand, and suddenly felt the opponent's palm much more powerful than his own, and everything seemed to fall into the opponent's grasp in an instant.

Agrini sat down like a mountain, and Stalin's gaze was level with the other, but he couldn't see through the other's eyes, which seemed to have too much hidden in them.

"I suddenly felt what a funny scene, I am the emperor of this country, but you are not my subjects, and you will not kneel to me! Although we may not all belong to the same people, we all live under the same sky, under the Russian sky! ”

Aglini's opening remarks surprised everyone in the Special Mission, and their experience today could not be described simply as a surprise, and countless surprises converged into a thread in their brains, which could not be cut for a while.

"I am very pleased to see you come here with peaceful sincerity, however real it may be! You probably think that we and you are born enemies and that there is no way to govern this country together, and I have nothing to argue with! I think time will choose from among us someone who is fit to govern this country, but I don't think now is the time to make a choice! ”

Aglini suddenly stood up and walked to the back wall, where the guards opened a large curtain on the wall, which contained a large map of Russia, on which a large part of Poland was still within Russian territory.

"At present, if we engage in a civil war and fight to the death, then only those powerful foreign enemies will profit in the end! Now, here, in the Caucasus, my soldiers are trying to expel the Turkish troops who have entered our territory; Here, Warsaw, which belonged to us a month ago, is now occupied by German-Austrian troops; Here, Ukraine, is under the prying eye of the German-Austrian army at all times. As a Russian, I can't stand the division of this country! Would you like to see this situation? ”

Agrini looked directly into Stalin's eyes with angry eyes, and Stalin, who had been crawling for many years, was horrified to find himself suddenly trying to avoid the aggressive gaze of the other party.

The special legation of the Revolutionary Party was silent, and they had not spoken since Aglini had come in.

"Alright! Now I'm going to take my army and drive the invaders out of our land, and if you want to stab me in the back, then please! However, we will definitely get you here to the same fate as the Austro-Hungarian invaders! Aglini said, pointing to the map and pointing to the skisker.

"My army will leave tomorrow, and if you are still Russians, please keep your troops on the other side of the border while I fight the enemy! After the victory of the whole of Russia over the foreign enemy, let's divide the superiority! If I lose to you, I will willingly accept your leadership, and if I win, I will treat you as my own subjects! Everyone, you're out of company! ”

With that, Aglini left the conference room without looking back.

The envoys of the special delegation all watched in amazement as the new tsar departed, and many were still pondering his words.

At this time, Ivanov motioned to the guards to put documents in front of the envoys of the revolutionary party, and on the cover were written several huge words: Armistice agreement!