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Pryushenko smiled, but the unspeakable secret in his heart was known only to himself.

The brutal Crimean War, after the warring sides lost a total of one million troops, the smoke gradually began to dissipate. As for Russia, the protracted "Crimean nightmare" still seems to have been hanging over it, and it is so overwhelming that Russia, which used to like to call itself a "European enforcer", is breathless and unable to straighten its back.

In this summer, leaving the Winter Palace on the banks of the Neva River and hiding in the dense forests on the southern shore of St. Petersburg, located on the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland, the luxurious and magnificent summer palace (Peter's Palace) known as the "Versailles of Russia" by the world, whether it is the large palace with two wings of gilded domes and extremely luxurious interior and exterior decorations, or the Chinese Hall now sitting in a completely authentic Chinese lacquer screen and furniture, which is fully furnished with oriental taste, Alexander II not only still does not feel the slightest refreshment, but is even more depressed and irritable.

In front of him were the terms of the armistice of the allied forces led by France and Britain at the forthcoming Paris Peace Conference, as well as several telegrams from his troops stationed in China, which were caught in the Chinese battlefield.

"The neutrality of the Black Sea prohibits all ** ships from passing through the two straits. Russia is prohibited from establishing or maintaining arsenals on the Black Sea coast. Freedom of navigation on the Danube. "Russia will henceforth lose the right to have a fleet in the Black Sea, and many years of unremitting efforts to expand the Black Sea will eventually be lost.

"In order to maintain stability in the Balkans and contain power, the Crimean Peninsula was set up as a military buffer zone, which was jointly garrisoned and managed by the coalition forces." At the same time, there was the need to "cede the mouth of the Danube and southern Bessarabia to Moldavia, return the Caucasus to Turkey, and give up the right to protect the Orthodox Church in Turkey." The suzerainty of Serbia, Wallachia and Moldavia remained with Turkey, jointly guaranteed by the Great Powers......"

In addition to the casualties of nearly 700,000 elite Tsarist soldiers, the Crimean War, which had been unbearable for nearly four years, now he was not only about to face the frustration of having nothing to gain and the humiliation of losing his homeland, but also the embarrassment and embarrassment of Russia's international standing.

Even more severely, this war, which miscalculated the shape and inflated oneself, and stole chickens could not be used to lose a handful of rice, almost drained the entire domestic economy. This not only brought about the surging serf riots, but also some bureaucrats and nobles who had been so vigorously advocating and even actively participated in the war in various ways began to doubt their loyalty to His Majesty the Tsar. The one who has "manly courage and womanish vanity", who everywhere claims to be the liberator of Europe, "is he a great and tough Russian fighter, or is he a traitor through and through"?

But what if you don't accept this qiē reality?

For the sake of the war, Alexander II can be said to have made due efforts, and also made full use of the "selfless assistance" to the Qing Dynasty, which stimulated the development of many industries such as domestic railways and locomotive manufacturing. It's a pity that he ran into a poor neighbor, and soon he couldn't get a little bit of cash, and he was a white wolf with empty gloves. In order to alleviate the crisis, he has already begun to consider whether he should ask the Qing Dynasty to give everything he has, and give them first, such as "mortgaging" some treasures, calligraphy and paintings, getting some silk, leather goods, and tea, even if it is to get tens of thousands of pigs, cows, sheep, or something.

Unfortunately, it didn't work. It's not that the Qing Dynasty didn't do it, but the war situation didn't give him so many opportunities. After the defense of the port of Sevastopol lasted for eleven months, and finally ended with the heavy loss of more than 100,000 soldiers of the Tsarist army, and the wolf bèi fled, in June of the previous year, a fierce battle broke out in the Caucasus.

His Tsarist army surrounded Kas, hoping to annihilate the hundreds of thousands of Turkish troops in the city, sweep away the bad luck that enveloped the Tsarist army, and also win a little pitiful face for himself, the tsar, and leave a way out. Who knew that the siege was frustrated in September, and then there was a stalemate for ten whole months. What I didn't expect was that the French, who had already stopped their troops, joined the war group at this critical moment.

"My Majesty, the war can no longer continue......" was the telegram sent to Prince Mikhail Gorchakov, the most trusted commander of Alexander II, after he had escaped from Cass, and he remembered again, "neither in morale nor in weapons, we are no match for the French army." In particular, the newly formed Guards Regiment of the French Army was more powerful than ever before. According to the British officers we captured in the defense of the port of Sevastopol, the French Guards Regiment was an excellent army equipped by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and the gunpowder, guns, and cannons used were unimaginably rare since ancient times. A corps of the Guards, less than 10,000 people, can easily tear apart and eat our army group of tens of thousands......"

If it weren't for the fact that the soldiers of the army at the front line had already been terrified and discouraged, and if it had not been for the loss of his 100,000 troops in the unfortunate place of Kas, where would Alexander II have accepted the mediation of the Ottoman Empire and began the arduous negotiations with the coalition forces?

Entering the stage of substantive negotiations, although the other side is a lion with a big mouth and frightening conditions, it seems that the affairs of the Near East can be put aside for the time being, and it seems that we should calm down, carefully examine and evaluate the chaotic situation in the country, and find a good way to improve our economic strength.

But at this time, the wall was really pushed by everyone, the drums were broken, and the problem of the Far East came to the door again. The garrison troops stationed in Weihai, Shandong, not only were all wiped out, but they did not escape even one person or one ship. Alexander II was shocked and stunned. Didn't Mikhail say that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom can be invincible when armed with one hand, not to mention their own army.

The two fronts suffered a brutal blow at the same time, and a good empire was full of holes, how to make up for it? Alas, no one can listen to the noise of those who are crow-like and indiscriminately calling below, and it seems that the "Paris Contract" cannot but be signed. There is no way to do it, and it is much better to lose a Crimea than to lose the East Palace.

So, how to deal with China's difficult situation? Is it possible that Prayatin and others seemed to want to take advantage of the gap between the Qing Dynasty and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to prepare for peace talks, step up the replenishment of the army in China, and ensure that the ideal plan of the Yellow River can be realized?

Faced with the extremely exquisite craftsmanship of Chinese furniture, and in the face of the vivid ink and blue on the screen, Alexander II sighed helplessly. Prayatin has really spent so many years in China in vain, and his thinking is too simple and naïve. War costs money, but the Tsar Ben is tight (money) before Luo Guozi goes up the mountain, and if he continues to toss like this, he is afraid that the throne of His Majesty the Tsar will be replaced. Alexander II's fears were not groundless, but he was well aware that until now, many people suspect that the sudden suicide of the former Tsar Nicholas I, the culprit who provoked the Crimean War, was related to him.

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