The International Security Zone, even in the history of the world, is an extremely new term, but in February 1917 this term and its corresponding institutions appeared in Petrograd, the capital of the Russian Empire, and this institution appeared as a refugee zone established by "States" in view of the chaotic situation in Russia and the inability to guarantee the safety of embassies and nationals of various countries, managed by the Petrograd Committee of the International Security Zone, composed of embassies of various countries. Nearly 1,000 Russian policemen, non-commissioned officers, and 1,500 guards from the Expeditionary Force Command are responsible for the security of the area, which spans six blocks from the East Asian Expeditionary Force Command to the embassy district.

In normal times, there may be some Russians who accuse this kind of behavior of "violating" Russia's state rights, but in the face of the chaos in the capital, especially after the capital fell into anarchy, those revolutionaries who took advantage of the fire and looted everywhere burned, killed and looted, even those State Duma deputies who were regarded as "part of the people" sent their families to the international security zone for protection, and to some extent, when the whole of Petrograd fell into turmoil, the international security zone was affected by the presence of expeditionary forces, And there is a hint of quiet.

Of course, this tranquility and security are only relative, and the people who launched the "revolution" outside the security zone have repeatedly blocked and robbed vehicles transporting supplies like the security zone, but even so, perhaps because they are afraid that this squadron, which has not been affected by any "revolutionary ideology", will become "imperial accomplices", people have always been able to maintain a trace of sanity in addition to fanaticism.

But even so, protests and demonstrations. Naturally, the front door of the Chinese embassy is located outside the security zone, so it is the center of the protests in the first place. So much so that in the face of stones, bricks, and inkwells thrown into the embassy, the embassy had to close the main entrance, and at the same time nail the front windows with wooden planks, in addition to this, that is, machine guns and warning wires at the gates.

In the midst of this turmoil, as more and more Russians flock to the international security zone to seek refuge, the Chinese embassy, as an advocate of the security zone, has naturally become the center of consultation and action among countries. And for Liu Jingren, in addition to coordinating with the countries to ensure China, um. In addition to Russia's interests, the most important thing for all countries is to consult with all sides of Russia and at least obtain accurate information, at this time. He had to rely on the support of the intelligence agencies, which he considered to be "somewhat annoying".

“…… After the chaos, Luo Jiangke and others proposed the formation of a provisional committee of the State Duma. The aim was to restore order and rebuild state institutions and social relations, a proposal that was unanimously endorsed by the other groups in the State Duma. After all, now the chaos in Petrograd. Their interests have been compromised, and even some of the leaders of the revolution have been forced to send their families to safety zones for protection. With the public statement of the State Duma, it was caught up in this revolutionary tide by the people......"

Although he wanted to use the riots to describe the events that took place here, he ended up using the word "revolution", which seemed to him to be a more appropriate term.

"At midnight yesterday, the deputies of the State Duma and various groups elected the Provisional Committee of the State Duma, whose members were: Colonels Rodchenko, Kerensky, Tsykhze, Shulykin, Milyukov, Karaulov, Konovalov, Dmitryukov, Rzhevsky, Sdlovsky, Nekrasov, Lvov, Engelhardt. And on the recommendation of the Provisional Committee of the State Duma, Colonel Engelhardt of the General Staff, a deputy of the State Duma, was appointed commander of the Petrograd garrison of the uprising......"

As soon as the words fell, Liu Jingren asked excitedly. …,

"Can we contact the Provisional Committee, then?"

If it is said that the reason for the establishment of the security zone at the beginning was because he saw an unprecedented opportunity, now Liu Jingren undoubtedly regrets this move a little, the ambassadors of various countries do not oppose the establishment of an international security zone, but they are unwilling to get too involved in it, and all the things in the entire security zone have been pressed on his head, and even the ambassadors of various countries have sent people to tell him today that the embassies and their expatriates need food, and this problem naturally needs to be solved by him, the chairman of the International Security Zone Committee.

And the anarchy in Petrograd made him not know who to contact and who to consult, and the emergence of the Provisional Committee still gave him a glimmer of hope in the dark.

"Your Excellency, things are not as simple as we thought!"

Glancing at the ambassador, who looked a little excited, he continued.

"The leader of the Menshevik caucus, Tsyhze, unequivocally rejected his election to the Provisional Committee of the State Duma, while the leader of the Socialist-Revolutionary caucus Kerensky hesitated, they ......"

Before he finished speaking, Liu Jingren said angrily.

"These damn politicians, sooner or later, will have to destroy the country!"

In his heart, although Liu Jingren, a career diplomat, is barely a political figure, he does not have any good feelings for those so-called "parliamentarians and politicians", whether it is Chinese or Russian, in his opinion, they have no other advantages at all except for being keen on debating and personal interests, except for adding to chaos, they have no ability, and if Russia is destroyed one day, it must be inseparable from them.

"Your Excellency, now we have to face the fact that the death knell of the Russian Empire, with which we deal, has sounded!"

"Ah......h

The intelligence officer's words only made Liu Jingren slightly stunned, and after a moment of silence, Liu Jingren leaned on the desk a little lazily, and finally squeaked.

"Oh, history always goes on like this, it's really ...... There is no way! ”

On the evening of March 12, soldiers, workers, students and citizens poured into the Tavlida Palace, and as they poured into the Tavlida Palace, large quantities of munitions were brought into the palace from all directions, and then stored in a room where the Mensheviks and Bolsheviks had been released from prison two days earlier. In the Tavlida Palace came the leaders of the trade union movement and the cooperative movement, the leaders of the right, and the Menshevik parliamentarians, such as Tsikhze, Skobelev, Kerensky, Bogdanov, Gvozdev, Sokolov, Volkov, etc., who, as in the case of the 1905 revolution, spontaneously organized the Provisional Executive Committee of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' Deputies. For a time, the Tavlida Palace became the center of the uprising and the headquarters of the revolution.

The revolutionary situation brought the two major parties, the Socialist-Revolutionary Party and the Social-Labor Party, to the political forefront, and although they had different understandings of the role of the Soviets, there was little dispute about their organizational form. At nine o'clock in the evening of the same day, at the request of the Provisional Executive Committee of the Soviets, the first meeting of the Petrograd Soviets of Workers' Deputies was held, which was attended by representatives of workers, citizens, students, and soldiers who behaved very roughly. Despite the intensity of the meeting, it ended up with high prestige in the Duma. Tsikhze, leader of the Menshevik caucus, was elected chairman of the Soviet, and the Socialist-Revolutionaries Kerensky and Menshevik Kobelev were elected deputy chairmen, and of the 11 members of the Soviet Executive Committee were elected, six were Mensheviks, three were Bolsheviks, and two were Socialist-Revolutionaries.

And the most surprising thing is that the composition of the Executive Committee of the Soviets has a striking feature. Non-Russians are the majority, including Jews, Georgians, Latvians, Poles, Lithuanians, etc. It was decided to invite and have the right to vote in the Executive Committee of the Soviets the representatives of the parties, namely the Mensheviks and Bolsheviks of the Socialist Labour Party, the Socialist-Revolutionary, the People's Socialist Party, the District Union, the Latvian Socialist Party, the Bundists, etc., to the Executive Committee of the Soviets. …,

The Petrograd Soviet Executive Committee was a hastily established body, which dominated the situation mainly among the moderate factions of the political parties. At this time, the Bolshevik faction had a small number of party members and had little influence within the Soviets. During the meeting, people came in at any time to congratulate them, and the meeting was often interrupted. There is no protocol. Each speaker spoke in a rambling and casual manner, while others interjected at will. The first topic is the study of the food problem. The establishment of the Food Council is different from the Provisional Committee of the State Duma, which is concerned with the law. This meeting, which was composed mostly of the lower classes of the population and the rough and uneducated soldiers, authorized the committee to confiscate all flour from official and public reserves, to arrange the supply of bread and other food for the garrison and the inhabitants of the capital, and it was decided to unite the garrison with the workers in the Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies. On the advice of the Bolsheviks, the Soviets took measures to arm the workers, instructing them to organize a tenth of the workers in the enterprises to join the Workers' Red Guards, which were voluntarily formed armed troops, and any citizen, regardless of political and revolutionary beliefs, sex, or nationality, could become a Red Guard, regardless of remuneration, in short, an armed contingent of workers who obeyed the orders of the Soviets, but in fact only a very small number of people knew to whom this contingent belonged and by no means to the so-called moderates who dominated the Soviets.

While the two newly formed organizations in the Tavlida Palace were also in a state of chaos trying to seize state power and restore order in the capital, the masses stormed the Maria Palace, the seat of the tsarist government, and arrested all the ministers who were in session, and the revolutionary command center accepted Kerensky's slogan - the State Duma without bloodshed.

As a result, groups of arrested princes, ministers, and generals were escorted to the Tavlida Palace, and several rooms became exhibition rooms and shelters for the arrested. The once splendid halls, filled with the chatter and laughter of these men, were now heard only sobs and sighs, and a captured general sat limply in a nearby chair. Several Duma deputies graciously poured a cup of tea for a countess.

The other general, looking at the arrested colleagues around him, shouted with some excitement:

"We are witnessing the death of an empire!"

But no one heeded his words, and the most important thing for the Duma deputies now was to prevent their former friends from falling victim to revolutionary sentiments, so they took full advantage of the trust of the people in him, kept abreast of the situation of those who were constantly being escorted in, temporarily placed most of those who could be released in the office of Rodchenko, and then began to coordinate the preparation of the documents for their release. They usually sit here for hours before the release documents are ready.

"My friend, as soon as you get out of here. You immediately flee to the safe zone, where you go to China's Ambassador Liu, or the British ......" Whenever a release document is delivered to the releaser, the parliamentarian whispers to his former friend in French or even German. Having learned from literature how the French Revolution was "revolutionized", they naturally knew what would happen here when they could no longer restrain these mobs, perhaps these newly released people would be thrown into prison again, and at that time, the guillotine would await them.

"Don't worry. My friend, you will be treated well there......"

In the midst of the confusion, while seeing off a vice admiral, Roshoko found soldiers escorting the Cabinet Minister Sheklovitov to him. Sheklovitov, who was also a friend of his, immediately invited the captured Sheklovitov to his office, but the soldiers categorically refused to hand over the "hateful" minister to him. …,

"Soldier, I am the chairman of the Interim Committee of the State Duma, this is my order"

When Rodenc tried to show a little authority. He was surprised to see that the soldiers first looked at him stunned, and then surrounded the captive, and when they looked at Luo Jiangke, not only did they not have a trace of respect. Instead, they had a provocative and rude expression, and even pointed their rifles at Rodencke. Just when he was forced into a cold sweat by the bayonet and didn't know what to do, Sheklovitov didn't know where to go. ”

"They're just a bunch of poppers......"

Just as those soldiers laughed and left with their rifles on their backs. As Luo Jiangke cursed them in his heart, he heard a message coming.

"Interior Minister Protov could not bear the fear and walked into the Tavlida Palace himself,"

What the?

Protov himself sent to the door?

This idiot! Didn't he know that the whole of Petrograd was arresting him?

He said to the first student he met: "I am Plotov...... "......"

While hurrying towards the outside of the palace, Kerensky ate the reports of the college students around him, which made Kerensky have no other thoughts at all except lament in his heart about Protov's stupidity, and when he rushed outside the palace, the "important criminal of the revolution" Protov was surrounded by an angry crowd.

"Kill him, kill this butcher......"

Listening to that shout, Kerensky's heart panicked, and he hurriedly quickened his pace, as a lawyer, he had never approved of any punishment without trial.

"Don't touch this guy!"

He shouted and squeezed into the crowd, and the people were stunned, thinking that he had come to take this prisoner to be executed, and the crowd dodged a way, and he immediately pulled Protov towards the palace, and every time he walked, the people would recognize this "revolutionary criminal", and the scolding was incessant, and saliva was spit on his body from time to time, and even the soldiers loaded their weapons, ready to kill this man at any time.

However, compared with everyone's contempt for Rodencko, they have great respect for Kerensky, the "righteous lawyer" who was exiled for the revolutionaries twelve years ago, and he is also the first person in the State Duma to stand in the ranks of the people, so they will not speak with a sneer and a rifle bayonet as they did with Rodenko, although they are scolding, but they still take the initiative to give way to it.

"Don't touch this guy!"

And just like that, Kerensky shouted all the way, taking Protov to the "Chancellor's Showroom".

Finally, after entering Rodencko's office, Kerensky, who was also scared out of a cold sweat, sat down on the sofa, then looked at the pale Protov and said:

"May you be seated, Alexander? Dmitrievich. ”

Although he did not have much affection for Protov, Kerensky was still annoyed that he had thrown himself into the net, and in his opinion, if these people were guilty, they should be tried by the courts, not handed over to the mob to be executed, and such executions would only encourage the mob to ignore the law.

"Alexander? Dmitrievich, tell me, why did you come here on your own, don't you know that in the whole of Petrograd, almost everyone wants to kill you? ”

Watching Kerensky take another look at his former companions in the room, a wry smile erupted into Protov's pale face, and he said in a self-deprecating tone as he watched the crowd.

"Originally, I had been hiding in the British Embassy, and I knew that after the Provisional Committee was formed. Thought...... Thought everything was back to normal, as a Russian ......"

His answer was met with silence from everyone, especially Krens and Rocyanco. The two of them were even more silent, speechless for a while, has order really been restored? At this time, Kerensky did not want to face their gaze again, and after leaving the room, he still rescued some other ministers who were besieged by the masses, and even some of the officials of the tsarist government whom he once hated the most. He knew that if there was murder, maybe the palace would be dyed red immediately, but reason told him. You can't do that. …,

"Any bloodshed, it is possible to destroy the whole of Russia!"

Like Kerensky, most of the free-for-fair, constitutional Duma deputies had the same ambivalent attitude toward the revolution, and their hearts were gnawed away by the desire to accept the revolution and the fear of social chaos. For the deputies of the Duma, accustomed to parliamentary struggles, they celebrated the revolution, praised it, and shouted "long live" to it. He also wore a red ribbon and marched with the masses with the red flag.

Meantime. Unlike the masses who do not think about the future, as the elite of this country. They were also thinking about the order and future of the country, and in order to restore order in the capital and in Russia, the Provisional Council of the Duma immediately appointed 24 members of the State Duma as deputies to take over the administration of the country.

Subsequently, accompanied and protected by representatives of the Petrograd Soviet, the Duma sent representatives to the Petrograd garrison, Tsarskoye Village, Kronstadt and the Peter and Paul fortresses to prevent the rebellious soldiers from continuing to issue weapons to the workers and at the same time quell the clashes in the main areas of the capital.

And in the Tavlida Palace, Luo Jiangko, Miliukov and others made a speech to the Petrograd garrison, calling on the soldiers to return to the barracks, return their weapons, and restore order in the capital as soon as possible.

"Orthodox soldiers, listen to my advice. I am an old man, and I will not deceive you, - you have to listen to the superiors, they will not teach you to do bad things, they will do exactly what the Duma advises. Long live Holy Russia! ”

Some soldiers heeded his advice, and some responded directly to the advice that they dragged the officers who were imprisoned in the barracks to the river and then stabbed them to death with bayonets, while the Bolshevik-dominated Red Guards continued to compete with other parties for de facto control of the capital, while at the same time fighting for as much strength as possible.

Faced with the chaotic situation, the anxious Luo Jiangke called the Empress Alexandra to explain to her that the situation was at stake, urging the Empress to leave as soon as possible with her children, who believed that if the Empress did not leave the Royal Village, sooner or later they would fall victim to the revolution.

However, the queen calmly told him that the children were suffering from measles, and that she had to take care of the patients herself, refusing to leave the royal village. One night later, after the chaos of the capital, people finally thought of Tsarskohko, and several trucks drove into Tsarskoye with a large group of soldiers from the motley army, who declared that they were going to seize the "German woman" and her son and escort them back to Petrograd.

But when the gang entered the royal village, they were stunned by the opulence of the royal village, and the "staunch revolutionary soldiers" immediately became obsessed with money, and they plundered the palace property on a large scale, and after discovering the wine cellar, they immediately got carried away with alcoholism, and when they were drunk, they raped the court ladies one after another, just when the situation in the royal village became more and more chaotic.

Benkendorf, the chief minister of the palace, came to the royal village, and in the face of the chaos in the royal village, he immediately transferred a battalion of marines who were still loyal to the royal family and two battalions of palace guards, a total of about 1,500 men, to be stationed around the palace to ensure the safety of the royal family, but not long after, news came from the phone that the rebels had rushed over. And the queen walked among the soldiers guarding them, saying that she trusted them to the fullest, claiming that the life of the crown prince was also in their hands.

"It's all my own people here."

The queen repeatedly said this to her children to convince them that the soldiers would protect them, but the rebels who arrived heard that the palace was defended by a large number of men and horses, and immediately withdrew.

But the soldiers guarding the palace did not rest on their laurels, and although there was no threat from the rebels, they slipped away from the village in groups, and when she saw this, Alexandra said with great sorrow:

"What, are these our sailors? Our own sailors are like this, I can't believe it......" (to be continued......