Just as Napoleon IV and Mathilde were crowned Augustus and Caesar in Rome, a grand celebration was taking place at the Hermitage in Petersburg, thousands of miles away. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

"His Majesty the Tsar has arrived!"

With the snort of the attendants, His Majesty Nicholas II, Tsar and Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire of present-day Russia, walked forward with slow steps, step by step, step by step on the carpet, and beside him, Empress Maria? With a newborn baby girl in her arms, Feodorovna followed her king forward under the watchful eye of her courtiers.

"Sick man Nikolai" is still sick, and his tuberculosis is getting worse. Due to the drug resistance caused by long-term use, berberine is no longer enough to inhibit the destruction of his lungs by tuberculosis bacteria, and penicillin, which was originally pinned on by the medical community, has been proven to be ineffective against tuberculosis bacteria after testing, and now only a large amount of H heroin can relieve his pain. But life was still passing fast, and he could already sense that death was approaching.

But something that made him feel relieved came up. After more than a decade of marriage, his wife, Maria? Feodorovna finally bore her a child, a daughter, named Alexandra. Today's celebration is dedicated to the birth of the Grand Duchess.

But Alexandra. The birth of Grand Duchess Nikolaevna was not good news for the stormy Russia-Eastern Roman Empire. Because the Russian tradition allowed women to inherit the throne, it was not a long history of the Romanov dynasty. Already appeared Catherine I, Anna. Ivanovna, Elizabeth. Petrovna, Catherine II and other four female tsars. And now this Alexandra. Grand Duchess Nikolaevna, since she is the only child of Nicholas II at the moment, she is naturally the first heir to the Tsar's throne!

Taking into account the health of Nicholas II, the high-ranking officials and dignitaries of the Russian-Eastern Roman Empire. They all felt a thick atmosphere of despair. After the "sick man Nikolai", is there still a "beautiful girl tsar"? It was not a peaceful time, the whole empire was facing the greatest crisis in its history, and the war with the Germans was far from over, and the French had changed the sign of the Roman Empire and began to covet the territory around Constantinople.

At this time, the empire had to have at least an adult and wise tsar, even if not a Peter the Great. For example, Alexander with a long beard. Grand Duke Alexandrovich like that. The younger brother of Nicholas II was originally the first heir to the throne, and the ministers were ready to pledge their allegiance to him after Nicholas II's death. But now God is playing a big joke with Russia. Let the "sick man Nikolai", who has not impregnated his wife for more than ten years, successfully sow seeds nine months ago.

Of course, there are also bad rumors, and there are people in civil and aristocratic circles who doubt this Alexandra. Grand Duchess Nikolaevna was a wild breed of the empress and a certain court attendant, and was not qualified for the throne at all......

Surrounded by attendants. His Majesty and the Empress went to the hall and sat down gently on the throne at the top of the long dining table, where only the Tsar could sit. After him, the empress, the grand dukes, dukes, and ministers of the empire also rushed in one after another, and sat down according to the etiquette of the empire. The little archduchess, who showed her face in front of everyone, was carried out of the hall by the nurse who took care of her full-time. Thus, the dinner party celebrating the birth of the first heir to the throne of the Russian-Eastern Roman Empire officially began.

"Gentlemen, in addition to Alexandra's birth, I have one more piece of good news to announce to you." The banquet has just begun. The Tsar, who had no appetite for food, weakly announced another happy event, which was a real happy event.

"Duke Gorchakov sent a telegram from Helsinki that he had just agreed with Count Andráhi on an armistice. I think we owe a debt of gratitude to Napoleon IV for his stupidity. If it weren't for the fact that he raised the banner of the Roman Empire and called himself Augustus, the Russian Empire would have had a rather difficult time. ”

Yes, the situation in Russia is quite bad right now. Nicholas II had long regretted going to war with Germany and Austria. Except for some victories for Russia at the beginning of the war because of Germany's passive sabotage, the Russian army has lost one battle after another on the battlefield. Later, Britain and Sweden inexplicably joined, which made Russia fully anxious on various battlefields, even if there was a steady stream of medium fire. It also brought Russia to the brink of defeat.

It is clear that the Russians overestimated their own combat effectiveness before the war - this has something to do with the fact that Russia did not perform too badly in the last war besieged by the Great Powers. If it weren't for the defeat of China on the Eastern Front. Russia can almost support under the siege of Britain, France, Turkey and Austria, and it also fights Austria all over the place!

This time France did not enter the war, China is still on the side of Russia, but Germany and Austria should be able to easily cope with it, right? Who knew that the Germans would be so difficult to deal with once they got serious. Even when the weapons were not at a disadvantage, the Russian army was losing ground and losing all of Lithuania, most of Latvia, half of Belarus and half of Ukraine. Now the Germans are almost under the cities of Minsk and Kiev! And Britain and Sweden took advantage of the fire to rob, which made Russia even worse. Just when everyone thought that the Russians would be about to run out of support, Napoleon IV suddenly jumped out to be the savior!

In fact, after the news of the naval battle in the South China Sea and the battle of Bengal and the serious illness of Zhu Jishi reached Russia, the entire upper echelons of Petersburg seemed to have fallen into an ice hole -- although the outcome of the naval battle was uncertain, China's defeat from India was undoubted! This means that Britain can devote more of its forces to Europe. In case Zhu Jishi really dies in the near future, leaving behind a very unstable structure of the Great Chinese Empire. It is even possible that Russia will have to face the attack of the entire Western world alone!

But after Napoleon IV raised the banner of the Roman Empire, half of Russia's catastrophe had passed. Because there was not a single great power in the whole of Europe that wanted to see the Roman Empire really resurrected. Compared with the complete defeat of Russia, which colluded with the Yellow Empire, preventing the Roman Empire from unifying Europe was obviously a more urgent task.

"Your Majesty, our greatest enemy in this war has always been the German Empire, which, according to reliable sources, has now gone to ......Berlin by the female Caesar of the Roman Empire," said Minister of State and uncle of Nicholas II, Constantine. In a deep voice, Grand Duke Nikolayevich reminded the Tsar that "if Rome and Germany unite against us, our situation will be even more critical, and the only way forward may be to compromise with the Roman Empire." ”

"Compromise with the Roman Empire?" The Tsar's previous slight smile faded away, and he nodded and then turned his head to look at the Minister of War Muravyovsky next to him.

"As long as Constantinople is not abandoned, Russia might as well ally with the Roman Empire." Muravyov was clearly prepared for this issue. "Our defense in Constantinople is very strong and not afraid of any attack! And we've invested so much in the city that it would be a shame to give it up. ”

Just not to abandon Constantinople, the Roman Empire is willing to enter into an alliance with Russia? Constantine. Grand Duke Nikolaevich sighed heavily in his heart.

"But we are already very difficult to sustain the war, and the military spending is so great that it is completely beyond the limits of what the finances can afford. Moreover, too many young and middle-aged people went to war, leaving the land barren, and the grain production in 1876 was probably more than 30% less than before the war. To make matters worse, the activities of the Narodnik are becoming more and more rampant! They are not only demagogic to the peasants, but also infiltrating the army! ”

Having heard his reasoning, the Tsar and the Minister of War looked at each other again, and Muravyov shook his head, clearly disagreeing with the Grand Duke.

"The withdrawal of Great Britain, Sweden and Austria has eased the pressure on the Army, and the activity of the Narodnaya Narodya in the Army has not reached the point where it is difficult to suppress." "There is no need to abandon Constantinople, and we still have China as an ally, and now is the time to ask China for more support!" ”

"What kind of support?" The Grand Duke asked.

"Make sure that the Roman Empire will not go to war against us, and if Rome declares war on us, China must declare war on Rome." "If the Chinese refuse, we will form an alliance with the Roman Empire!" In this way, Rome will become the leader of all of Europe, and the Chinese will not want to see this day. ”

"Count, do you mean that if the Chinese refuse our demands, cede Constantinople to Napoleon III?" The Russian Tsar's tone was a little gloomy, and he had in his heart one hundred and twenty people who were unwilling to give up Constantinople.

"No, Constantinople still can't be handed over...... Unless adequate compensation can be obtained. Muravyov took a step back, "If this is not possible, we should also take back all the lands occupied by Germany, acquire Moravia and Wallachia belonging to Austria, and then recover Armenia from the Turks." ”

"That's too much to ask, Count!" Constantine. Grand Duke Nikolaevich looked at Muravyov, who was old and probably a little confused, with some pain.

"That's the asking price!" "It's not a non-negotiable bottom line. ”

"Then our bottom line is ......"

"Take back all the lands occupied by Germany!" Muravyov said.

"The Roman Empire will not agree, Germany is their most important ally!" Constantine. Grand Duke Nikolaevich reminded.

Muravyov glanced at Konstantin. Grand Duke Nikolaevich smiled faintly, "Then we must insist on this request, because we must find a way to break the alliance between Rome and Germany!" (To be continued)

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