But the cold was not dispelled by the sun, and the window was covered with a layer of mist, and although it was cold outside, it was very warm inside. The flames in that fireplace were blazing. It's very pleasant.

Maybe it's because the temperature is too high. Shi Zhaoji felt a little hot, so he put the book "Russian Poetry and Prose" in his hand on the coffee table next to him. He stood up, took off his tweed coat, walked to the fireplace, picked up the tongs and turned the fire to lower the temperature in the fireplace, before picking up the cup and pouring a little hot Javanese coffee from the pot.

Smelled the aroma coming from the coffee cup. Shi Zhaoji walked to the window with the coffee cup, raised his hand to pull the latch of the window, and gently pushed the window open. He put on a hook and looked out the window. The Neva River is on the front, and on the riverside is Nevsky Prospect. The streets are deserted now. One could only see some of the military police of the Russian Empire patrolling the streets. And blood stains could be seen on the wet ground.

This is Petrograd, the capital of the Russian Empire, and since the general strike in Degrad in March, the city has been completely panicked and helpless. And just yesterday, that is, Shuo. At noon, the military and police of the Russian Empire opened fire on the Nevsky Avenue at the Russian workers and their families who were marching, demonstrating, and demonstrating, creating a new "Bloody Sunday" Just like the "Bloody Sunday" of the fierce year, this bloody incident in Petrograd once again pushed the Russian Empire's total political, social, and economic crisis to the edge of the precipice.

As the Chinese ambassador to the Russian Empire, Shi Zhaoji witnessed the bloodshed on the banks of the Neva River, just like the envoys of other countries to Russia. Shi Zhaoji also believes that the Russian Imperial Government is obviously in a hurry to deal with the political and social crisis.

Although he has served as ambassador to Russia for less than a year, Shi Zhaoji is no stranger to the situation in the Russian Empire, and Shi Zhaoji also briefly served as a counselor at the Chinese Legation in Russia. Later, he was recommended by Tang Shaoyi, then minister to Russia, to go to the colony of the Dutch East Indies and serve as the Chinese consul in Batavia, and after spending two years on that tropical island, he was transferred back to China. After spending some time in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he was appointed Chinese ambassador to the Russian Empire, and during those years in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Shi Zhaoji did almost nothing else. It is to study Russian culture and history wholeheartedly in accordance with the request of Foreign Minister Tang Shaoyi. Therefore, for this strong neighbor in the north, Shi Zhaoji can be regarded as knowing the roots.

The revolution did not prompt the stubborn, mediocre Shaxian to change his ruling strategy. Although he did hold a meeting of the Duma under intense political pressure, it was not long afterward. When the flames of revolution were extinguished on the surface of the rotten wood of the Russian Empire, His Majesty the Tsar of the Russian Empire began to revert to his old ways, not only regarding the Duma as a rubber stamp, but also becoming more suspicious. No one trusted, His Majesty the Tsar did not trust the royal family. His Majesty the Tsar also did not trust the nobility, and as for the ordinary commoners of the Russian Empire, perhaps not a dog was more valuable in the eyes of His Majesty the Tsar. Against this backdrop of suspicion and extreme hatred of popular forces. It was only a matter of time before His Majesty the Tsar became a "puppet" of court politics.

In the eyes of the general public, His Majesty, the Tsar of the Junros Empire, seems to have a firm grip on the power of the entire empire, but this is only an illusion. In fact, in the eyes of the envoys of various countries in Russia, His Majesty the Tsar, who was so arrogant that he was now actually a puppet manipulated by the Empress of the Russian Empire, and Her Royal Highness the Empress of the Russian Empire was almost completely subordinate to the orders of a court lamp officer and charlatan. It would be surprising if the Russian Empire could maintain political and economic stability.

Although more than two months ago. Rasputin, the charlatan who manipulated the political direction of the Russian Imperial court, suddenly "disappeared" in a mysterious shootout. But the deterioration of the political and economic situation in the Russian Empire shows no signs of abating.

In Shi Zhaoji's opinion. This is called "The Russian Empire is somewhat similar to the Manchu Empire in the past, both of which are in turmoil in internal and external troubles, and the revolution is no longer the imagination of the radicals, but a real reality, as evidenced by the bloodstains on Nevsky Street."

Alas, in such a critical situation. His Majesty the Tsar of the Russian Empire, instead of seriously examining his serious mistakes in administration and employment, made up his mind to go all the way to the black, although it is said that the bloodshed on Nevsky Street yesterday was not something His Majesty the Tsar wanted to see, because it is said that the Tsar himself was not in Petrograd at that time, but commanded the Russian Imperial ** team to resist the attack of the German ** team at the front, but even with such justifications for the Tsar, it still could not calm down the soldiers and people of Petrograd, Hatred and anger have completely deprived all people, including nobles and military officers, and the only option seems to be to fight by force.

In fact, last night, the soldiers of the reserve battalion of the Pavlov Guards Regiment of the Russian army stationed in the suburbs of Petrograd mutinied because of the bloodshed on Nevsky Street, and gunshots rang out in the middle of the night, and the envoys of various countries in Russia were specially told to stay in the embassy. Don't go anywhere, lest you give birth to one."

Diplomats had expected the Russian Imperial Government to soon quell the mutiny completely, but they did not expect the situation to take a turn for the worse. The army of the Russian Empire, which had long since become exhausted and angry by the war with Germany, in which the authority of the officers had become worthless, had been replaced by a flood of anarchism and a frenzy of radical ideas of the left, so that in the early hours of this morning the gunfire on the outskirts had again intensified, and according to reliable information received from the British ambassador an hour earlier, the General Ordnance Factory, the Artillery Headquarters in Petrograd had now fallen into the hands of the revolutionaries. And it is said that the Peter and Paul fortress, which is very heavy, has also lost contact with the command system of the Russian empire, and whether it has fallen into the hands of the revolutionaries, it is not clear, although the city has not yet broken out into battle, but the situation is not optimistic, so. The British Ambassador advised diplomats to remain in the embassy in case of emergency. Ze Xun moved to the British Embassy in Russia, where there were enough guards.

Shi Zhaoji did not plan to hide in the British embassy, on the one hand, he did not think that the insurgents in Petrograd would poison the diplomats for no reason, and on the other hand, he also had a very important task, and until this task was completed, Shi Zhaoji could not go anywhere but stayed in this embassy.

"When one by one, one by one, when one by one.

The wall clock on the wall rang nine times, and it was nine o'clock in the morning, but the people who came to contact him were still nowhere to be seen, which made Shi Zhaoji very anxious, and he stood by the window and kept looking at the heavily guarded Nevsky Prospect.

It didn't take long for a lavishly decorated four-wheeled carriage to finally appear on Nevsky Prospect with a Chinese flag on it. It was the carriage of the Chinese Embassy in Russia, and since it was a diplomatic carriage, the military and police along the way would not stop it, so it smoothly drove into the Chinese Embassy in Russia, which was loose on the outside and tight on the inside.

When Shi Zhaoji saw the carriage, his hanging heart relaxed, so he put the coffee cup on the windowsill, hurried out of the room, and hurried downstairs.

By the time Shi Zhaoji walked downstairs, the passengers in the carriage had already gotten off. was looking upstairs when he saw Shi Zhaoji coming down the stairs and hurriedly took a few steps. Say hello to Shi Zhaoji.

"Mr. Shi, we've got it all right. Just wait to send people away. You see, send it away now. Or will you send it again in the evening?.

The man asked Shi Zhaoji while putting the bearskin hat he was holding on his head. "Now that the gunfire has become sparse, send the people out of Petrograd now, or else by night, the situation will not know how to unfold, and while the road is not completely sealed now, you should hurry out of the city and go to do your business.

Stizki urged the other man, but at the same time, he took the hand of the man in the bearskin hat, went upstairs with him, and then walked out of a nondescript room.

Shi Zhaoji knocked on the closed door a few times, long and short. It's a code, so. The door was quickly pulled open, and an embassy guard stood behind it.

"How's that guy doing?"

Shi Zhaoji pulled the man in the bearskin hat into the room, and then closed the door. And questioned the heavily armed guard.

"It's still like that, muttering all day long. It's like I'm going crazy. The guard said.

。 Go, follow me to meet the man. ”

Shi Zhaoji led the man wearing the Xiong An hat to the stairs and entered a secret room.

There is a single bed and an oak table in the secret room. and a very old chair, and in that chair sat a man now, dressed in a clergyman's robe. A messy long hair covers most of the face, and I can't see my appearance, nor my age, but the bandages on my neck and head are more conspicuous, but there is no blood on the bandages, obviously this is an old wound, maybe it has healed soon, and the reason why I continue to wrap the wound may be just out of prudence.

Before he could get close to the man, Shi Zhaoji had already heard the man's muttering, and although he knew some Russian, Shi Zhaoji couldn't hear what the man was saying.

"Hello, Mr. Rasputin, allow me to introduce you to a friend, a Chinese merchant named Zhang Zongchang, who was the one who rescued you at the palace of the Duke of Yusupov more than two months ago. It was he and a band of Russian warriors who burst into the ducal palace and engaged in a fierce exchange of fire with the conspirators that brought you back from the brink of death. You can call him Zhang, and now, he has come to visit you and intends to send you out of town. ”

Shi Zhaoji introduced the Chinese man wearing a bearskin hat to the man in Russian, who was not very proficient, and then he saw the Russian man sitting in the chair stand up, the man took a few steps forward, stared at Zhang Zongchang for a few seconds, and then hugged him and kissed the other party on the face a few times, and Zhang Zongchang, who was originally strong, looked thin under his embrace.

That's right, this strong Russian man in a clerical robe is the same charlatan and court lamp-bearer Rasputin who once manipulated Her Royal Highness the Empress of the Russian Empire, since he escaped from an assassination plot more than two months ago. He has been hiding in the Chinese embassy, and Shi Zhaoji is his protector.