Eagle’s Glory

Twenty-five kilometers south of St. Petersburg, there is a residence that has been opened up as the largest palace for the Tsars of the Russian Empire.

Although it is called Huangcun, it is not shabby at all. Under the management of successive Russian monarchs for many years, the ostentation of the Russian Empire has been fully reflected in these palaces.

In 1717, Peter I the Great built a summer villa for his wife, Empress Ekaterina. Seven years later, in 1824, the mansion and garden were completed and opened. In 1741, after Peter the Great's daughter, Empress Elizabeth-Petrovna, ascended the throne, she also took a fancy to this quiet place, and then allocated funds to the emperor. The village is being expanded.

Subsequent generations of tsars settled here. Around the huge palace complex, carefully designed by designers of all generations, the gardens and trees are lush with foliage. Clusters of trees and lush and open lawns hide everything in this greenery. , the previously white snow has gradually turned into a trickle due to the arrival of early spring. This beautiful scenery can almost make all visitors unable to help but immerse themselves in it.

However, no matter how beautiful it is, it will always welcome some visitors who have no intention of admiring it. These visitors, together with the palace guards who kept patrolling everywhere, made it clear to everyone that this was, after all, the residence of His Majesty the Tsar, and one of the nerve centers of the largest empire in human history.

With the development of several generations of tsars, this place has become one of the main gathering places for the upper class of the empire. It has become the Versailles of the Russian Empire. In addition to the royal family, many noble families also lived and socialized here. And left their mark on this place.

For example, Pushkin, the founder of Russian literature and the best poet in the empire, spent his unforgettable boyhood here, grew up in an aristocratic school here, and often lived in Tsarskoe Selo with the court as an adult.

Later, after the October Revolution, the rule of the Romanov family in Russia completely ended, and Tsarskoye Selo could no longer be Tsarskoe Selo. The revolutionary government renamed it "Pushkin City" in memory of this great poet.

The royal family and the court have turned to dust, but the poet's name shines brightly and becomes the eternal memory of the Russian nation.

Of course, at this moment, no one could have imagined that history would take such a wonderful and amazing turn. In everyone's eyes, the Russian Empire was now in the ascendant, and the Tsar and his courtiers ruled absolutely with a ruthless iron fist. This vast empire covers thousands of miles, and there are hundreds of ethnic groups, large and small, on the territory of the empire.

Wherever the imperial army's bayonets were directed, the imperial power of the empire also spread to both ends of the Eurasian continent. No one could withstand such a huge force.

Under the leadership of the court attendant,

Along the garden path built during the reign of Catherine II, several middle-aged people in formal dresses walked forward with a respectful attitude. And in the corner of their sight, the five onion-shaped spiers of the Royal Palace Church shined goldenly under the blue sky, like the light of power itself.

The two leaders were Mr. Victor Kochubei, Chairman of the Imperial Council of Ministers, and Mr. Karl Neserrodie, Minister of Foreign Affairs.

[Viktor Kochubey (1768-1834), diplomat and politician, born in Ukraine, was the great-grandson of the Cossack leader Vasily Kochubey. He became a favorite of the Tsar during the era of Alexander I and became powerful. He served successively as Minister of the Interior and Minister of Foreign Affairs. After Alexander's death in 1825 and Nicholas I's accession to the throne, he was still reused by the new emperor and was appointed chairman of the Council of Ministers. 】

[Karl-Robert-nesselrode, karl-robert-nesselrode (1780-1862), diplomat. He was of Germanic origin and later served Russia. During the period of Tsar Nicholas I, he was appointed Russian Foreign Minister (1822-1856) and was later made a count. 】

These two people are currently the most important ministers of the empire, and they are also the chief assistants to assist His Majesty the Tsar in formulating various internal and external policies. Now their faces are quite dignified, and it is obvious that they have their own thoughts at the moment.

Tsar Nicholas I urgently summoned his Chairman of the Council of Ministers, Victor Kochubey, and Foreign Minister Karl Nesselrode to the Imperial Village. In the eyes of the people in the court, this was by no means an unusual move. It soon aroused whispers from all sides - of course, there are no secrets in Tsarskoye Selo, and they would soon know why.

Led by the attendants, the two ministers came to the famous Amber Hall to meet with His Majesty the Tsar.

The room itself is a rare treasure-reflected by more than 6 tons of amber and precious jewels inlaid on the wall, the whole room is shining from lemon yellow to golden red, so brilliant that it can almost be It was breathtaking, and this was exactly the effect that the Tsarists liked to show.

In order to form an alliance with the mighty Russia, King William I of Prussia, who was so successful and extravagant, groveled and gave this treasure that he spent countless efforts to build to Peter the Great. He won the favor of the Russians. . It also set the precedent for the Kingdom of Prussia to desperately befriend Russia.

In this resplendent place, the current ruler of the Russian Empire. His Majesty Tsar Nicholas I was sitting in his seat, looking indifferently at the people who came in.

His Majesty the Tsar is very young now, only in his early 30s. He is tall, with an oval face and menacing brown eyes. He exudes endless energy and ruthless courage. It is precisely with this ruthlessness that he The courage to start his own rule.

In 1825, his brother, Tsar Alexander I, died suddenly. Due to the dispute over the succession of his two younger brothers, Constantine and Nicholas, the empire temporarily fell into chaos in the succession of the throne. The Decembrists took the opportunity to revolt, and Nicholas took advantage of it. The tsar's will finally ascended to the throne and severely suppressed the rebellion, finally allowing the tsar's power to survive the crisis and continue.

After eliminating the domestic crisis, the Tsar naturally turned his attention abroad. He needed to use the reputation of external victory to eliminate the criticism and dissatisfaction caused when he ascended the throne, and his ministers naturally knew how to cater to their superiors. .

During the brief silence, the Tsar took the initiative to speak.

"You must already know that there is news from Greece that Napoleon's son, the Duke of Lechstadt, is trying to participate in their liberation cause and is willing to provide a lot of assistance. So, my Ministers, what do you think of this?"

After contacting Prince Louis, the Greek government immediately sent people to report the news to the Russian Empire. After a period of time, the news finally reached Petersburg. It was precisely because of this incident that these big shots came to the Russian Empire. Village, to seek the will of His Majesty the Tsar.

"Your Majesty, I think the long-standing Greek problem should indeed be settled." Foreign Minister Karl Nesserrodie replied, "If we eliminate this problem, we will not create trouble for others. space."

He is indeed a Turkey hardliner.

Although after experiencing the plague storm of the French Revolution, the Russian Empire instinctively hated revolution and rebellion and believed that the existing order should not be easily changed, the Russians were still full of sympathy for Greece, an Orthodox Christian region.

After several years of hesitation and weighing, the Imperial Center has finally decided to help Greece's independent cause recently.

Under the leadership of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Russian Empire has begun to approach Britain and France to discuss how to properly resolve the Greek issue.

Unexpectedly, just when they started to act, such unexpected news suddenly came.

However, Karl-Nesselrode believes that this is irrelevant, and there is no need to change the existing plans.

"So what do you think should be done?" demanded the Tsar.

"We should inform the Greek government as soon as possible and strictly order them to end all contacts with the Bonapartists and wait patiently. We will soon reach an agreement with other major powers to help them." The Foreign Secretary immediately replied, "If necessary, they should use Expel that boy and his supporters by force, and there should be no room for the Bonaparte family in continental Europe."

The Tsar looked at the Chairman of the Council of Ministers, Viktor Kochubei, who only nodded silently in support of the Foreign Minister.

It seems that the two ministers have communicated with each other and reached a consensus before coming here.

Under the watchful eyes of the ministers, the Tsar was silent for a moment, as if he was thinking about something.

"Do as you say in Greece." After a while, he said leisurely. "However, compared to those Greeks, I think that little guy is quite interesting. Of course he and his father are not the same. His father dared to land in France directly, but he only dared to test the edges of the continent... But He is kind and worthy of doing great things, if I can have such a son, I will be very pleased."

The two ministers looked at each other, wondering why the tsar suddenly said such words.

"The Greeks are in dire straits now. Even if we can restrain the Greek government, there is no guarantee that no other group of people will come to cooperate with that little guy. If he forces his way in, I think it will be difficult for the Greeks alone to stop him." The Tsar continued, "So unless we use more forceful means, it will be difficult to ensure the silence of the Bonaparte family."

"Your Majesty, what do you mean?" The Foreign Minister asked quickly.

"We use severe diplomacy to stop them, but if we fail to stop them, then we will use our own power to solve all this, march into Turkey, and eliminate him by the way." The Tsar replied.

"Enter Turkey..." The Foreign Minister and the Chairman of the Council of Ministers looked at each other.

Although they were a little surprised, none of them felt shocked.

After all, war against the Turks has always been the traditional national policy of the Russian Empire, and it is not surprising that His Majesty the Tsar made this judgment.

His Majesty the Tsar's tone became stern, "Karl, I need this honor. If the people see that even down-and-out ghosts like the Bonaparte family dare to fight for the freedom of the Orthodox Christians, while our Romanov family stands By doing nothing on the side, we'll look pretty bad in public opinion - and those who oppose me will attack me even more for it."

The Foreign Secretary understood that the bloody turmoil when he ascended the throne two years ago has always been a hidden pain in the heart of His Majesty the Tsar. Therefore, he paid more attention to safeguarding his reputation and tried to restore his people's support through external expansion. However, the changes in the Bonaparte family seemed to It further stimulated his determination to make contributions.

However, in the eyes of the foreign minister, it may not be unreasonable to hit the Turks with such a chaotic situation.

"Your Majesty, I don't object to your idea, but I think we need time to make preparations and necessary diplomatic coordination." After thinking for a moment, the Foreign Secretary replied. "The Turks are certainly no match for us now. They are already extremely weak, but we must pay attention to the attitudes of others. If Britain strongly opposes it, we will be quite passive in diplomacy."

"And that is exactly your job, my Lord Minister." His Majesty the Tsar immediately emphasized, "Karl, I have made up my mind on this matter, and then you can focus on this to carry out coordination work - if Britain and France It would be best to agree with Austria. If they don't agree, I will also let my sword strike at Constantinople. The Russian people are calling me, and I must take strong actions to answer their call. .”

Seeing that His Majesty had already made up his mind and his will was so firm, the two ministers naturally would not say anything more to anger the Tsar.

"Yes, Your Majesty." The Foreign Minister nodded and agreed, "I will send a note to the ambassadors of various countries to explain the situation."

Seeing that his will was implemented by the ministers, the Tsar's mood became much better.

He looked around with interest, admiring the art on the amber panels.

"It has to be said that although the Bonaparte family is a headache for everyone, objectively it has also contributed to our country's current status... The father asked us to march to Paris, then the son will help us march to Constantinople." The Tsar His Majesty suddenly smiled and said, "I am quite interested in this kid from the Bonaparte family. If I have the opportunity one day, I would be happy to receive him here and see what he looks like. It is said that he looks very good. , and is he a very good poet? We happen to have a poet here, and maybe he will be happy to meet him... A poet should just do his job well, and don't cause trouble for other people."

"I think he would rather be an emperor than a poet," the Foreign Secretary joked with a smile. "Metternich had a huge headache with him. The ambassador in Vienna reported to me that he had never seen Metternich so angry before. He cursed Duke Lechstadt for being ungrateful..."

"Whatever he wants to be, that's up to him." The Tsar replied with a smile.