Asking for a monthly pass, asking for a monthly pass

Russian Crown Prince Alexander. Nikolaevich was called to the tsar's study.

The Tsar looked at his son, who was 31 years old and a fairly handsome German, with his blond hair combed and his gray-blue eyes revealing reason and wisdom. Years of painstaking education have given him the calmness, courage and ingenuity that a king should have. He looked at his father thoughtfully, but he didn't say a word, just quietly waited for his father's question.

"Alexander, what do you think of the current situation?" The Tsar asked.

"Father, it's very bad that the interests of the empire, both in the West and in the East, are being challenged." Alexander paused for a moment, then added, "However, I think the main danger comes from the East...... The empire went too far in the East. And the communication between the eastern territories of the empire and the European part was too difficult. ”

"I found the crux of the problem, but unfortunately I didn't come up with a solution." Nicholas I smiled bitterly helplessly, shrugged his shoulders and said, "We can't just give up the wealth left to us by our predecessors for no reason, right?" Russia is big, but not an inch of territory is superfluous! ”

Alexander. Nikolayevich looked at the tsar seriously: "Father, I think you already have a solution!" ”

"Yes, there is already a solution!" The tsar nodded emphatically, "We are Russians, and the Russians do not have a tradition of giving up territory in vain, and we cannot do the same." ”

"Otherwise, our rule will be shaky." Alexander. Nikolayevich continued his father's words, "So, in the East we have only one choice. Support the Tatar dynasty. Against Zhu Jishi. ”

"Yes." The Tsar nodded, "We must support the Tatar dynasty...... At least for now, there is another policy that must be followed, which is to prevent China's reunification. If this is not the case with the Tatar dynasty, the Christian heretics of Christianity can also be considered, and many European revolutionaries now publish articles in the newspapers praising them. ”

Now the chaos in Western Europe was nearing its end, in March 1849. King Frederick of Prussia. Wilhelm IV refused to be emperor of a united German Empire, and the monarchs of the Prussian and Austrian states did not accept the constitution adopted by the National Assembly. In May, the people of the southwestern states of Germany staged an uprising to preserve the constitution of the Reich, with the result that most of the uprisings have now failed. The political situation in Britain and France also stabilized, and the French elected Charles Brown, the nephew of the Emperor Napoleon. When Bonaparte became president, the Chartist movement in Britain did not turn into a revolution at the very least, and most of the Chartist leaders chose to retreat before the British government's threat of repression, and did not dare to mobilize the people to launch an uprising.

Thus the politicians of Europe now have time to consider the question of the Chinese revolution. For the Chinese Revolution. Two diametrically opposed views have emerged in Europe. The politicians in power were almost one-sided optimistic about Zhu Ming's bourgeois constitutional revolution. It was believed that Zhu Ming's revolution was quite successful, not only retaining most of China's vitality, but also succeeding in establishing a new system on the basis of the old state that was in line with the development trend of the world—a parliament, a constitution, a civil code that conformed to the interests of the bourgeoisie, a completely Westernized army, a central bank, universities, middle schools, military academies and normal schools that employed Western teachers, and a relatively liberal press and publication system. Such a change, not to mention the reform of Turkey, even the reform of Peter the Great cannot be compared.

However, some utopian socialists and anarchists in the opposition were mostly optimistic about the "more revolutionary" Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. He trumpeted that this was a great revolution that completely cleansed the old China, fundamentally overthrew the outdated and conservative old ideas, replaced them with a relatively progressive and improved Christianity, and also proposed a "Heavenly Dynasty Tianmu System" with the goal of overthrowing the feudal land ownership system. Although the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement had a great impact on the political economy of Northern China, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, after destroying the old ideas and old systems, certainly had a greater forward momentum than Zhu Ming, who inherited most of the old ideas and systems. Although the latter is large and wealthy, it is burdened with too much historical baggage, and its potential is quite limited.

Heard Daddy mention the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Alexander. Nikolaevich frowned: "Support...... These heresies are also a solution. However, father, our resources in the East are very limited, how can we support the Qing Dynasty and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom at the same time? And between the two are enemies. ”

Nicholas I laughed: "Alexander, you are indeed very thoughtful...... I think the biggest problem we are facing now is not who to support against the Ming Dynasty, but our ignorance of China's affairs. Our judgments and decisions are based on imperfect and incomplete information. I think we need more and more timely news, and we need to know more about our allies and adversaries. ”

Alexander. Nikolayevich seemed to understand something, raised his eyebrows and said: "Father, let me go to Irkutsk, Governor Muravyov is an expert on Oriental issues. ”

"Irkutsk? Why is it not Shengjing, Beijing and Nanjing? The tsar laughed, "My son, go to the East for a visit, as the crown prince and envoy of the Russian Empire." I think Prime Minister Daming is very willing to invite you to visit. ”

At the same time, in the endless Polish fields, a convoy of horse-drawn carriages was slowly moving forward, and I did not know how long the road had been walking, let alone how long it would be gone. Through the glass window stained with dust and mud, one could see that inside one of the carriages with a small sun, moon and bright flag, a man with an oriental face was talking enthusiastically with a fat man with a big beard.

"Your Excellency, your visit to Russia has certainly been in vain." The fat man who spoke was none other than Zhu Jishi's old friend Robert. Viscount Churchill, because of his outstanding contributions to diplomacy with China, Churchill has been made a viscount by Queen Victoria, and he is also the next British ambassador to Daming.

"Mr. Ambassador, the Duchess's opinion is the same as yours, the Russians will never give in to the Ming on the territorial issue, but I am still ready to go to Russia." The person who spoke to Qiu Fatzi was none other than Liu Peng, the right prime minister of the Ming Dynasty, and his trip to Europe was extremely successful, but he still needs to continue to work hard to achieve more diplomatic achievements.

"Well, knowing that there will be no results in the Dao, you still have to work hard, this is the way of thinking of you Orientals?" Fat Qiu shrugged his shoulders and smiled. Personally, he doesn't mind a trip to Warsaw, where there are a lot of big-breasted and big-ass Polish girls waiting for him.

"I know I can't do it......" Liu Peng said Chinese, and then said to Churchill in English, "Mr. Ambassador, I don't think this trip must have been in vain. Because I don't see that Russia has the strength to intervene in the Ming and Qing wars. They would soon send troops to intervene in the Hungarian Revolution. This should have strengthened diplomatic relations between Russia and Austria, and thus removed the threat to the west of Russia, and I think Prussia would not dare to go to war alone with such a behemoth as the Russian Empire, which had already suffered enough from the Seven Years' War. After removing the threat on the Western Front, Russia will definitely expand southward, taking advantage of the fact that Turkey's reforms have not yet achieved great success, defeating the old enemy of the Russian Empire in one fell swoop, seizing Istanbul, and opening up the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea routes.

In such a general situation, Nicholas I definitely needed absolute stability in the East, didn't he? ”

"Hahaha, this is what you Orientals think, not the temper of the Russians." Fat Qiu smiled and waved his fat hand. "The Russians are not going to give their backs to a treaty that can be torn up at any time, especially since they are likely to be enemies of England and France because of the war against Turkey. I think...... The Russians will take a preemptive approach against the Ming. ”

The fat man touched his beard, which had just grown: "Mr. Prime Minister, if you don't believe my judgment, let's make a bet, how about a £100 bet?" (To be continued......)