"Anyone who had regular contact with Tsar Nicholas II was amazed at his poise, and in moments of frustration and horror to those around him, such as the defeat in the Russo-Japanese war in 1905, the assassination of Stolypin in 1911, the great retreat of Galicia in 1915, and the great turmoil of the days before his abdication, he remained calm, never broke his habits, chatted peacefully with his close ministers, gave official instructions as usual, and insisted on keeping his daily diary like a running account." What's going on? An officer of the Tsar's Guards asked himself, "Is this great, almost unbelievable self-sustaining power the result of upbringing, or the belief that all things are predetermined by God, or is it due to lack of awareness?" ”……”

Diplomatic Archives of the Chinese Empire

Until about ten o'clock in the evening, a locomotive with a red ribbon on both sides and a small red flag on it, with two carriages hanging behind it, drove into the Pskov railway station and stopped not far from the Tsar special train No. 1.

The sentinels, guards, and attendant officers standing beside the Tsar's special train took advantage of the lights of the station to see several soldiers with red flowers on their chests jumping out of the official carriages, and were immediately stunned by their appearance. The soldiers dragged their rifles very casually, and at a glance they knew that they would not carry guns at all, such a scene in revolutionary Petrograd was commonplace, but in their eyes, it was a very shocking thing.

The two new carriages were crowded on the adjacent platform, slightly inclined to the Tsar's carriage, and a young citizen, also wearing a red flower, saw the station attendants and the occasional passers-by, and handed them leaflets from the platform of the second carriage.

And General Rusky had already made up his mind that he would intercept the two parliamentarians, bypass the Tsar, and invite them to his headquarters. He gave the order, and did not return to the city himself, but waited in the carriage. Danilov forwarded to him the documents from the city, including the telegrams from Sakharov and Nepenin and the appointment of Kolmudov, followed by the draft of the Tsar's abdication edict that had been studied at the base camp, and Rusky forwarded all these documents to the Tsar. He avoided meeting with him as much as possible, and kept the manuscript of the Tsar's abdication, which he never handed over, despite repeated requests from the Tsar.

The reason for this was simply because Rusky feared that the Tsar would repent. He needed to make it clear to the two parliamentarians with this telegram that they did not dare to put pressure on him, that they had promised to abdicate, that they did not dare to put pressure on him, so that he needed to be the first to see the parliamentarians, and that Shuligin had also arrived, and the arrival of this monarchist made him quite uneasy. However, Shuligin is also a progressive and intelligent member. The situation in Petrograd was mysteriously turbulent, changing, and it was expected that there would be more big changes, when news came that some military vehicles were coming from Luga to Pskov, and there were not only large trucks carrying soldiers. There are also a couple of equipment vehicles, which ...... And how to deal with it? What to do?

Rusky did not dare to confront the troops of the new government in any way. But it is also not possible to put a group of agitated thugs in the garrison of the headquarters of the Hundred Front Army.

Both Guchkov and Shulygin also wanted to meet Rusky first. In order to be prepared to know all the situation and avoid doing anything unsafe, but before they could get out of the carriage and hear the report of the commander of the military movement, the Tsar's attendants, who were secretly guarding them, approached and invited them to meet the Tsar, which could not refuse, not only to conform to the long-held notions, but also to look like a lack of self-confidence, and to undermine their own mission. …,

So the two got off the train and entered another platform, and walked towards the Tsar's carriage, as if they were about to start like this, Guchkov was fat and short, and wore a rich fur coat, and Shuligin was tall and thin, dressed as a young man, and wore a fur sealskin hat.

Halfway through, the squire's military attache Moldvilov tentatively asked Shulygin, the famous monarchist.

"What is happening in Petrograd?"

"Everything there is conceivable, we are completely controlled by the Soviets of Workers' Deputies, we came out secretly, and when we go back, we may be arrested!"

"Is there any hope for that?". Mordvilov asked in surprise.

"No, we are here in the hope that the Tsar can help us!"

Shuligin did not conceal anything, nor did he exaggerate, perhaps precisely because he was too young.

They entered the compartment of the car, and the servants helped the two deputies to take off their coats, and through a few doors, they turned into the living room, which was full of sunlight, the windows were covered with roller blinds, and the walls were covered with pale green leather, and the whole room looked very beautiful, and the two councillors had long been a stranger to this kind of cleaning in Petrograd these days, and the thugs even defecated in the living room. There is also a piano in the living room, and OnePlus's small artistic wall clock.

They were received here by the veteran general, the court minister, Count Frederick, the old man's gray beard turned upward, his hair white and yellow, and his shoulders were full of ribbons, and he had maintained a figure that was neither fat nor thin for many years, but the hunchback had caused him to bend off his original straight body, but his dress was still impeccable, and the portraits of three generations of emperors set in diamond flowers in blue knots reminded the two councillors of where they had come.

At this time, Guchkov took a powerful stride, like a winner, while Shulygin felt embarrassed, feeling that he had not at all come to meet the emperor, that he had not washed his face properly, that he had not shaved properly, and that he was wearing the tunic that had been worn for four days in the palace of Tavrida, and only now he could imagine how out of appearance was for the great moment of Russia.

At this time, the Tsar's eyes, which had been in the carriage, came over, and his steps were not as brisk as those of a young man, and he was wearing a Circassian gray garden collar robe with a bullet clip on his chest, and a commander's epaulette on his shoulder, and at this time Nicholas II's face was full of clouds, covered with deep wrinkles that had suddenly appeared in recent times, and he did not wait for the two men to come to him according to etiquette, but walked forward in person, greeted him very casually, and his hand seemed very strong when he shook hands.

The tsar actually fell to such a point!

He took his family and personal enemies as his saviors, and in the terrible seven hours between the signing of the abdication and the arrival of the two councillors. He was anxious to meet them, and he patiently spent the seven hours drinking tea and dining with his attendants, and reading Sakharov's telegram to cheer him up. Nepenin's desperate telegram.

"If the abdication message is not sent out in the last few hours, a catastrophe will befall Russia," Alekseev relayed in the telegram the statement of Rodsenko on the formation of a self-appointed government and how this government had chosen a general to the Petrograd Military District on its own initiative, so he read the abdication edict prepared by the diplomatic office of the base camp several times. This edict is written above board.

This time, Nikolai's eyes did not hide his trepidation and hope, and he looked at the two parliamentarians. What kind of reprieve might they have brought him? For a moment, Nikolai was anxious to find out what they had brought. He was ready to admit responsibility to the cabinet, and he was ready to make his enemy prime minister, as long as the feud with Petrograd was ended, and as for himself, as long as he could go to Tsarskoye unhindered and return to his family. …,

Nikolai is very familiar with these people, and because of this. He did not ask them for a letter of authorization from the State Duma for this business trip and negotiations. In fact, the two parliamentarians, neither in Petrograd nor on the way, did not even think for a minute about the issue of authorization.

Nikolai sat at a small square table against the wall, the first side of which could accommodate two people, and he leaned lightly against the pale green leather, while Guchkov and Shuligin sat opposite him on the other side. Fredericks sat in a solitary chair in the middle of the room, and in a small corner of the room sat the director. Guards General Naryshkin, who took a pencil to take notes.

Nikolai knew. Of the two who came, Guchkov was the main character, so he nodded to him and motioned for him to speak.

At this time, in the face of the Tsar's permission, Guchkov's heart was full of excitement, how many reports were exchanged between them in 1905 and 1906, and these reports were all accepted with trust, so it aroused his enthusiasm and hope, after which he became the chairman of the Duma of the Third Congress, but this was a Duma that no one understood, and in addition, at that time he wrote many thoughtful reports to Shama at different times, confessing his heart and exposing other people's letters! None of the scars of the past ten years have been smoothed or forgotten, and this prevaricating emperor has avoided all inner confessions, and now that time has passed, it is too late to rehash the old things and accuse him, it is nothing more than a pleasure to take revenge, and besides, Guchkov saw in the eyes of the tsar at this time that there was no hostility and lack of confidence.

In this way, it is time to directly defeat this supreme conversation opponent, who never completely submits, so he simply does not beat around the bush and tells the truth.

"Your Majesty, we are here to report what has happened in Petrograd these days, and at the same time...... Discuss, what can be done to save the situation! ”

These words he expressed very successfully, if he did not try his best to pursue something, it was the brevity of the conversation, he was very clear about the desired result and the way to the destination, but he could not say it without going through a preparatory process, especially the tsar needed to prepare, it was with a long time, thoughtful words and persuasiveness that Guchkov could better push the tsar over the vacillation and doubt in his heart, so he recounted in detail how it all began: at first people smashed bread shops, workers went on strike, All kinds of incidents in the police, all of this in turn in the army, many disasters, all of which are really happening right in front of your eyes, fires, cars full of soldiers in the streets, delegations flocking to the Tavrida Palace, paralyzing the regime, the Olympic Laniyanbaum teams braving the snow to advance towards Petrograd...... Later, even Moscow surrendered without a struggle, and the two did not resist in the first place, which is particularly important for his argument, and there is also ...... This is most surprising - the regime no longer exists.

"You see, Your Majesty, these things are not due to some conspiracy or a premeditated coup d'état......"

He didn't want to say this, but he couldn't help but say it, and instead he brought it to the point of committing a crime.

"But this is the popular movement, which has emerged from its own soil, and which immediately bears traces of anarchism, and it is this anarchist nature of the movement that is terrible to us, the social activists, who, in order not to let the unrest turn into anarchy, we have formed a provisional member of the State Duma, and will begin to take measures to give the army a congratulatory command of its subordinates. I personally toured many of the units and persuaded the junior soldiers to stay in the same building. In addition to us, there is another committee, the Committee of Workers' Deputies, and we regret being under their influence and even under their supervision. Their slogan was the republic and the land belonged to the peasants, which completely appealed to the soldiers. There is also a danger that we moderates will be abandoned, and their movement will sweep us over, and Petrograd will fall into their hands! ”…,

In the face of the real situation being so exposed, there may also be a miscalculation of Guchkov. You know, their provisional committee is seen here as a government with full powers, and it is because of them that they are negotiating, otherwise what are they? Why should we talk about it?

Occasionally meeting the undisguised sincere eyes of the Tsar, Guchkov sensed that the faint spark of hope was being extinguished, which presumably had been there at first, and that it was evident that this reality was more influential to him, and that both men who came were moderate. And not the enemies of the tsar.

From time to time, Guchkov glanced at the Tsar's face. But most of the time he didn't even look at it, just lowered his head slightly, and looked at the table to talk, was this to better concentrate, or was he embarrassed to show his pride to the Tsar in the past? For some reason, he always avoided direct contact with the Tsar's gaze.

When talking about those things. He seemed a little agitated, and his speech was intermittent. The preamble does not match the afterword. Nikolai, on the other hand, leaned halfway against the wall of the carriage and bowed his head. Without looking at Guchkov, the two talked, as if it was not this small table that divided them, but a telephone line of hundreds of versts.

The great change is undoubted, and it is deeply popular, and the people here should feel it most clearly, but what if the riot spreads to the front? You must know that everywhere there are "flammable", a little spark can lead everything, and any unit that falls into the environment of movement will immediately become infected, so there is no hope of sending troops to Petrograd, and these troops will turn to the side as soon as they come into contact with the Petrograd garrison.

"Your Majesty, all the struggle for your sake is futile, and the suppression of this movement is beyond your power!"

It was not clear whether it was appropriate to say this, whether it would make the Tsar stop holding out any hope, and at the same time hide everything that had caused the two parliamentarians to be uneasy, but Nikolai did not refute it or argue. With his head bowed and his facial expression unpredictable, he sat motionless, looking the calmest of all of them.

He was always like this, calm at first, anxious at the decisive moment, and at the moment, the new news did not bring him any lightness, but it calmed him completely, and he listened with indifference.

Still, he was secretly surprised that Guchkov had shown such politeness without any rudeness, and he thought that perhaps there might be insulting words and deeds.

At this time, there was a commotion outside the door, and it was Rusky who was violently scolding someone outside the door.

"Why don't you bring the representative to me first?"

Then, without courtesy, Rusky entered, and without asking for Artemisia, even if he nodded, or asked to sit at their little table for a fourth, he sat down diagonally opposite Shuligin, and then fiddled with the tassels on the ribbon of his uniform, not without annoyance.

At this time, in Guchkov's calm voice, a tone that seemed to be somewhat stirring began to emerge, as if he wanted to confirm whether he had impressed the Tsar or not, and he told the Tsar without mercy how the people had come to welcome the Duma and how they had recognized its power, including representatives of the Tsar's personal guard, representatives of the exclusive railway corps, representatives of the mixed regiment of the Guards, and even representatives of the palace police station, all of whom were connected with the defense of the Tsar, all of whom Nicholas II trusted.

“……”

All this finally moved Nikolai, who felt only a pang of grief at the betrayal of his trusted troops, his brows twitched slightly, and his shoulders trembled. Other than that, he was still incredibly calm, which was consistent with what was known to him, that Guchkov himself could never forget the surprising calm shown by the Tsar when he received him in 1906, with the revolting Kronstadt on the side, but he was not at all surprised, and Guchkov deduced from his indifference at the time that all people were dead, and the Russian Empire would also perish, and now, he also believed, A normal person would not be indifferent to listen to something so terrible to him, and the Tsar was in a hurry at an inconsequential moment, and if it hadn't been for the mutiny of the Guards, would he have understood that he was already on the edge of the abyss? ……，