The first update

The accident occurred near the hotel where French Foreign Minister Dekaz was staying, which made Gochakov very nervous and even a little apprehensive. If the thug who grabbed the gun at that time aimed the muzzle of the gun at Dekaz, or was unfortunately hit by a stray bullet during the battle. Then hundreds of billions of francs of loans will be completely wasted. Fortunately, however, the French delegation did not take it seriously and did not take this scene seriously.

No one expected that there was another witness to the incident. The thirteen-year-old boy named Ulyanov witnessed the tragedy and saw his teacher of enlightenment forced to commit suicide in the street by the Tsar's secret police. The tragedy was deeply engraved in his mind, and it also strengthened his desire for revenge on the Tsar and the Russian Empire.

All this is still slowly fermenting, and the real outbreak will not be until seven years later.

After a period of danger in St. Petersburg, order and calm were finally restored. Those who tried to assassinate the Tsar were all caught, and with the exception of a few who had escaped from Russia, the rest were under Gochakov's control.

But for the revolutionaries, it was only a short-lived defeat, and they made a comeback, forming a prairie fire.

At this time, Alexander III's health was also slightly better, and he was able to meet with Foreign Minister Dekaz in the Winter Palace and discuss the loan between the two countries.

For the assassination in front of the French delegation, Alexander III was the first to apologize to Dekaz as soon as he entered the conference room.

"This operation was indeed an oversight on our part of St. Petersburg, because we did not notice that there were still fish that slipped through the net and committed murders in full view, but fortunately Foreign Minister Dekaz was fine. Here, on behalf of the Russian government, I apologize for our negligence. ”

Dekaz waved his hand, indicating that he was fine.

The Tsar, however, insisted on obtaining the forgiveness of the French Foreign Minister before proceeding with the next visit and negotiations.

There was no choice but to accede to the tsar's request and say that he forgave the dereliction of duty on the part of St. Petersburg.

Then the two sides officially began talks.

And then he did not rush to discuss the loan with Alexander III, but took the lead in making another request. France would politically support Russia's expansion in Central Asia, including the seizure of Afghanistan from the British, and the expansion of its influence in Iran, in order to form a close match with the British, who also wanted to encircle Russia in Central Asia.

"The Russian Empire is now in a period of expansion, and I know what you want to do. Head south to open access to the ports of the Indian Ocean, and then occupy the busiest part of the Indian Ocean, where the shipping lanes are busiest, and whoever controls that area will be the winner on the continent. And now the masters of the seas are the British, a bunch of nasty hypocrites. ”

To underscore his dislike of Great Britain, he repeated, "It is our common enemy, the murderer behind the murder of the heir to the French throne." ”

In the presence of the Tsar, Foreign Minister Dekaz made no secret of his dislike for Prime Minister Gladstone and portrayed Great Britain as an evil imperialist image.

In all fairness, in fact, European countries are all half-hearted.

Dekaz gushed, "France has united with Germany to try to put pressure on Great Britain in the North Sea region, and we are ready to build a powerful fleet to threaten the British mainland, so as to limit the strategic expansion of the British." The increasingly frequent conflicts in the colonies also make us prepare in advance, although the British mainland is not large, but they have many colonies, if they want to deal with Great Britain, they must peel off the cocoon and slowly encroach. ”

"So you're willing to put aside your feud and unite with the Germans?"

Alexander III had been separated from European affairs for so long that he was even surprised to hear that France and Germany put aside their feuds and united together. By what means did Napoleon get the most rigid prime minister in Europe and put his will on Berlin?

"Yes, it took a lot of thought and we finally came to a compromise. By now, Britain has become the common enemy of the great European powers, and we must limit this evil expansive empire, and even shrink its sphere of influence. You can see our actions in the Transvaal, uniting to seize the colonies of Great Britain and challenge his order first. ”

Dekaz's description reminds Alexander III of the Russian Empire before the Crimean War, whose unbridled expansion on the Black Sea coast knocked the declining Ottoman Turkey back and forth, and if it weren't for the intervention of Napoleon III and the British, perhaps today's Black Sea would be the backyard swimming pool of the Russian Empire.

It is not easy for France and Russia, once sworn enemies, to come together now, and everyone is warming up under the instigation of Paris and the political coercion of London.

A loose coalition of Paris-centric anti-British Empire was forming, with leaders of all countries coming together for the sake of interests, also trying to get a piece of the pie from Britain.

"It is also in your interest to expand in Central Asia, and you are already agitating the Afghans to resist the British invasion without the support of other countries."

Napoleon was very keen to trap part of the British energy in Central Asia and exhaust them. So everything Dekaz said, Alexander III wanted to hear.

He already had a delicate plan in mind, and now, under the hint of the French foreign minister, he strengthened the Tsar's determination to expand in Central Asia.

"We will carefully consider the suggestions made by the French side. Oh yes, please ask Foreign Minister Dekaz to help convey that the Russian side is very grateful to President Napoleon for his proposal. That's why I was able to quickly catch these thugs who were trying to plot my life. ”

Alexander III stepped forward, he took Foreign Minister Dekaz's hand, the corners of his mouth outlined the arc of a smile, and said slowly, "Tonight we are going to execute the masterminds of those bombing attacks, and I want Foreign Minister Dekaz to see for himself the death of these people." “

Dekaz didn't know why the tsar suddenly made such a strange request, but thinking that the brain circuits of the Slavs were different from ordinary people, he had to agree to the other party's request.

"Since it was the Tsar's personal invitation, then I have no reason to refuse. Of course I will. ”

After the meeting, it was the usual time for the state dinner. At this time, the Winter Palace was resplendent and brightly lit. However, the "ingenious" Alexander III prepared a surprise gift for Foreign Minister Dekaz.

Those who had tried to plot the Tsar's murder were secretly transferred from the suburban prison to the interrogation room near the Winter Palace in the city of St. Petersburg.

With the exception of Foreign Minister Dekaz, who secretly participated in this execution, the others were familiar political faces of the Russian Empire. They were also greatly surprised by the Tsar's invitation, but none of them dared to disobey the order.

Gochakov followed behind Alexander III like a loyal dog.

But in Dekaz's view, after the prime minister has experienced this turmoil, I am afraid that his ruling career is almost coming to an end.

A total of seven people were detained by the secret police and brought to the gallows, and the secret protagonists were adopted for fear that public executions would make the rioters less than all the attacks on the execution grounds.

The hoods of the seven men were lifted, and looking at their looks, Dekaz was a little surprised. The oldest of the group was not more than thirty years old, and the youngest had no childish faces, but when they saw Alexander III, without exception, they all gritted their teeth, but only whimpered.

"The secret police sewed up their mouths two days ago, which is a punishment for disrespect to the Romanov dynasty."

After hearing the tsar's dictation, the dukes around them all subconsciously took a deep breath of cold air. Seeing the twinkling eyes of the ministers, princes, and dukes, Dekaz finally understood what was going on.

I am afraid that this execution was deliberately made for those ministers to see, in order to make the other party realize the fate and price of betrayal.

The gallows were put around their necks one by one, and the next moment the switch was turned, and the men were hanged directly in this secret prison, and even their families would not know where the betrayers would be buried.

After previous assassinations and attacks, Alexander III was a completely different person. Cruel and unsmiling.

"Before you die, I just want to ask one thing."

"Do you regret carrying out your plan to assassinate me?"

The Tsar, however, received a resolute reply, and everyone's eyes widened, and they stiffened their necks and shook their heads.

No one regrets it.

"What a bunch of hopeless idiots."

The tsar waved his hand, the secret police pulled the switch and lowered the pedals under their feet, and their whole bodies fell suddenly, and suddenly they were hung directly on the gallows, and the impact of the fall directly broke their necks, and the sudden movement made the nobles involuntarily startled.

"My God!"

The others touched their chests, frightened by the sudden situation. Only Alexander III looked at the seven corpses with a calm expression, and there was no expression on his face.

"Everyone has seen it, this is the end of the opposition to the Romanov dynasty."

The Tsar slowly turned his head and said to the crowd behind him, "No matter who you are, don't think about being lucky, the Tsar's Guards are everywhere." ”

The last sentence accentuated the tone and lingered in the minds of the various nobles, becoming a lingering nightmare.

"They're everywhere."