The War Court and Lap Pillow, Austria's Mandate of Heaven

Chapter 1512 Rebellion
Paskevich had suppressed the Polish, Chechen and Cossack uprisings, and could be considered an expert in this field.

Although he made countless contributions to Russia, his mistake in Poland disappointed Nicholas I. If he wanted to gain the Tsar's appreciation again, he had to make some achievements.

In addition to Paskevich, there were many Russian generals who had similar ideas. They all felt that this was a good opportunity to achieve success.

After all, Russia had won many battles against the Ottomans before, so going to the Balkans was simply a free reward. The extent of Russia's achievements at this time depended largely on the importance attached to them by the Tsar.

The rebellion in the Balkans undoubtedly attracted the Tsar's great attention. This was undoubtedly the best opportunity for him to rise to prominence.

But there were also voices of opposition within Russia. The Great Slavophiles were actually very opposed to revenge through massacres.

"Your Majesty, the Slavs in the Balkans are also your people. They have just returned to Russia. Can you forgive their sins this time?"

This statement immediately aroused dissatisfaction among the entire Russian high-level officials, not only the military attachés who wanted to make achievements, but also the civil servants headed by Prime Minister Alexander Ivanovich Chernyshev were very dissatisfied.

"Ponekin, what nonsense are you talking about? His Majesty the Tsar is the master of all Russia. If he pardons the Balkans, is that fair to the Russians in other regions?
If they can tolerate rebellion, then will they establish new territories next? "

At this time, the Pan-Slavophiles in Russia usually did not hold high positions. Even the opinion leader Ponekin was only a fourth-class civil servant. He was fine for shouting slogans at ordinary times, but he would instantly lose his confidence when facing those high-ranking officials.

Faced with the questioning of Prime Minister Chernyshev, Ponekin was not sure how to answer, but was also afraid of offending the Prime Minister, so he could only step back.

At this time, Prince Uvarov stood up and said.

“Mr. Prime Minister, the Balkans have just been annexed by our country, and the United Kingdom, Greece, and the Ottoman Empire are eyeing them covetously.

By suppressing the rebellion with such fanfare, aren't we telling those wolves and tigers that Russia's rule in the Balkans is unstable?"

Russia did not have a firm foothold in the Balkans, and its enemies were real.

Duke Uvarov deliberately did not mention the Austrian Empire, but Prime Minister Chernyshev knew very well that the Austrian Empire posed the greatest threat to Russia in the entire Balkan region.

However, as the head of the civil servants, Chernyshev cannot give up easily, he must save his own face.

"Your Excellency the Duke, we are allies with Greece, and we have armistice agreements with Britain and the Ottoman Empire. They dare not."

Prince Uvarov snorted coldly.

"Prime Minister, as long as the benefits are big enough, there is nothing those pirates and bandits dare not do. Should I say you are old-fashioned or innocent to reason with them?"

The word "innocent" deeply hurt Chernyshev's heart, but because the other party was a favorite of Nicholas I, he could only snort coldly and not bother with him.

"Do you want us to give up the Balkans, which were won with the blood of countless soldiers? Give up our sacred Russian territory?"

The civil service group will not give up easily. In fact, Duke Uvarov should also be considered a civil servant, but in Russia, civil servants with military origins are not always in agreement with the orthodox civil service group.

The reason why the civil service group wanted to fight so much at this time was because they discovered the benefits of war. Once the war started, many things would cease to exist, and they would be able to do more things without these constraints. In the past, the civil service group opposed the war because they were afraid of the military officers' monopoly of power, but now they found that after the war started, the power in their hands became greater.

Wartime supplies such as military uniforms, food, weapons, and alcohol can bring huge profits. At this time, many Russian bureaucrats were imitating the British in doing business. They all had their own industries. Even if they did not rely on corruption, just holding the purchasing rights in their own hands was enough for them to make a fortune.

"We will not give up the Balkans, but we will deal with each case individually. The Balkans have just been annexed, and we have not yet established a firm foothold. Moreover, we are surrounded by fierce enemies, so we can adopt the approach of punishing the main culprits and not punishing the accomplices.

There is no need for retaliatory killings and destruction, as it will take a lot of work for us to rebuild afterwards."

"Are we just going to kill a few of the leaders and let them go?"

At this time, Prince Menshikov took over the conversation. He could not accept this approach. Russia's enemies should be wiped out.

Prince Uvarov had worked with Prince Menshikov before, so he naturally knew what the other was thinking.

"We will certainly not let go of those who betrayed us, but we need to gain a firm foothold during this special period. When we gain control of these areas in a few years, those guys will be our meat on the chopping board.

We can only take whatever we want.”

Duke Uvarov's words temporarily unified the opinions of the Russian high-level officials, but Nicholas I himself still hoped to cut the Gordian knot. This had nothing to do with his character or whether he was bloodthirsty. The information he knew and the education he received limited the options he could choose.

Nicholas I was not a person who was completely unwilling to listen to advice. Moreover, he admired the young man he had promoted very much.

However, Duke Uvarov still underestimated the Balkans, a poor place. The seemingly perfect plan failed before even the first step could be completed.

People in the Balkans have extremely little trust in their governments, and the so-called ringleaders are all local leaders who have strong control over the local area.

It is somewhat wishful thinking to ask these people to surrender. They have been fighting guerrilla warfare for hundreds of years and have rich experience in dealing with such practices.

First, they would go and get a disfigured corpse to take the blame. If the Russians took it, they could get away with it and get a reward at the same time.

If the Russians refuse to accept, they will simply tell their subordinates that the Russians are deceiving them and maintain the status quo.

If the Russians refuse to accept and become angry and want to destroy them, then they will still have to use the old method and continue to hide in the mountains.

In addition to the internal factor that the people in the Balkans have rich experience in struggle, the style of the Russian bureaucracy is also a big problem.

Russian bureaucrats took the opportunity to blackmail local rebel groups, threatening them that if they did not pay a certain amount of money and property, it would be useless even if they handed over their leaders.

These bureaucrats not only threatened the rebels but also threatened the good citizens who did not participate in the rebellion, requiring them to purchase certificates of good citizenship, otherwise they would be classified as rebels.

In addition, in order to win credit, these people not only killed innocent people to claim credit, but also deliberately exaggerated the matter, describing those farmers who could not survive as unforgivable criminals.

During this period, there were endless dirty things happening, such as the fire dragon burning the warehouse, and those rebels all became the great saints of settling accounts. For a time, the Balkan region was in turmoil.