shadow of britain

Chapter 596 The Caged Bird
There is only one place in Russia where there is no oppression: in the graves.

——Alexander Ivanovich Herzen

"Shubinsky?"

When the Russian students heard this name, the smiles on their faces disappeared immediately, and even their drunken heads became sober.

As for the German students, they obviously didn't understand why the name caused such a big reaction.

The hatred was twisted, the rage was filled with fear, and it was something they had never experienced before.

Herzen stared at Arthur's face seriously for a long time, and suddenly he realized that the young professor from Göttingen seemed not as simple as she had imagined.

"Where did you hear that name, sir? Is he a friend of yours? Have you ever been to Russia before? Or to Moscow?"

Arthur picked up the glass and said nonchalantly, "No, I have never been to Russia in my life. Shubinsky and I cannot be called friends, but we are acquaintances. We had dinner together several times when he was the assistant military attaché at the Russian Embassy in the UK a few years ago. If I hadn't seen him downstairs just now, I would have almost forgotten that I had such an acquaintance in Russia."

When the Russian students behind Herzen heard this, they secretly took off the various tricolor ornaments on their bodies that symbolized freedom and progress. They prayed in their hearts: I hope this British drunkard has not discovered that they have worn these things.

But this is obviously impossible. The British police have always been sharp-eyed, and he also intends to use this matter to build good relations with the students.

Arthur paced the room. "At first I thought Shubinsky, like you, admired Mendelssohn's musical talent, so he traveled all the way to Leipzig to watch the premiere of Turandot. But later I found that things were not as simple as I thought. Because Shubinsky boasted to me that he was promoted after leaving England, and his jurisdiction was located at Moscow University."

The silent Ogarev suddenly stood up at this time. Although he didn't say much, he always showed more courage than other students at such critical moments. Perhaps this was the key to his becoming the leader of the Herzen-Ogarev group.

"Mr. Hastings," Ogarev said, "I think you have guessed the truth of the matter. I regret to tell you that you are right. Shubinsky is definitely coming for us."

This group of young Russians did not know that the British man in front of them had already set them as research targets in their minds. They believed that this British professor respected by Heinrich Heine was a liberal like them.

He deliberately took the risk of revealing the news of Shubinsky's visit to the theater to everyone, entirely driven by the common ideal of freedom.

The young man made a naive mistake, but Dumas knew Arthur's identity. Although he believed in Arthur, he didn't know whether Arthur believed in the young people in front of him.

Therefore, once these silly guys were marked as enemies by Arthur, they might have to spend the rest of their lives in the freezing cold of Siberia.

Out of humanitarian spirit, Dumas immediately stood up and tried to stop Arthur from asking questions.

But Arthur seemed to have predicted Dumas' behavior in advance, and easily pushed the fat man who had just stood up back onto the sofa.

Instead of asking questions directly, he chose to repeat the trick he had used in front of Shubinsky.

People are always reluctant to share information about themselves, but are always happy to gossip about others behind their backs.

Using this simple psychological law, he could ask Shubinsky about his students' stories while digging out Shubinsky's secrets from the students. Then he could classify the information and find an opportunity to package it and sell it to someone who could afford the price.

Arthur asked worriedly, "I know he came for you. I'm just curious about what he does now. Were the Polish student Klitsky and the exiled Sungurov arrested by him?"

"I don't know who arrested them. But I'm sure Shubinsky helped." Ogarev was in a bad mood, but he remained calm: "Do you know that there is an organization called the Military Police Regiment in our country? Shubinsky is an important member of the Military Police Regiment."

"Military Police?" Arthur asked doubtfully.

Although Arthur pretended to be confused most of the time, he was really confused this time. Although he knew the existence of the Third Bureau and its subordinate military police, he did not understand the administrative structure and communication methods between the two. If Ogarev was willing to explain it in detail, Arthur would certainly be happy to listen.

In this way, before he officially takes office as Cultural Counselor to Russia, he can write the diplomatic work report for the first quarter of next year in advance.

"Report on the Investigation and Research of the Third Department of the Imperial Secretariat (Secret Police Agency) and the Military Police of the Russian Empire"

Look at this title. It is more attractive to the Privy Council and the Foreign Office than to the pretty ladies.

As for the second quarter's diplomatic report, you can read the previous article "Taking Moscow University as an example: On the significant influence of liberal thought on Russian youth"

Ogarev told him everything he knew about the gendarmerie.

"Although the Russian gendarmerie is part of the military system, it is a very special unit in our military system. This regiment was reorganized from a dragoon unit in 1815. At that time, Russia had just captured Paris, so Alexander I assigned them the task of serving as military police in the Russian army stationed in France. However, after Nicholas I ascended the throne, this unit was placed under the management of the Third Bureau. The reason why the Third Bureau was able to stay out of the law was largely because the gendarmerie and a group of secret police acted as thugs for them. These gendarmes are completely independent of local governments, not subject to local control, and maintain a single line of contact with the Third Bureau.

If you go to Russia, you will definitely find a strange phenomenon, that is, there is always a gendarme standing next to each local governor and senior official. You must not think that these gendarmes are the followers of the governor and senior officials just because they are of low rank. The actual situation is just the opposite. These gendarmes watch everything that happens in front of them with cold eyes, and write many details that even local officials may not know in their diaries. These information about local conditions and evaluations of local officials will be directly sent to the Third Bureau headquarters in St. Petersburg through secret channels, and then forwarded to the Tsar for review. And Shubinsky is one of these gendarmes, and he is a high-ranking officer of the Second District Gendarmerie. "

"Second District?" Arthur frowned. "Is there a grading system among the military police? Are the military police in the first district more powerful than those in the second district?" "No, no, you misunderstood."

Herzen on the side helped explain: "The gendarmerie is divided into six gendarmerie districts, each of which is responsible for 8 to 11 provinces. For example, the first district is responsible for a large area centered on St. Petersburg, covering the Grand Duchy of Finland, Arkhangelsk, Smolensk, Novgorod and Livonia. The newly established sixth district is responsible for managing the Kingdom of Poland. The second district where Shubinsky is located governs 11 provinces including Moscow, Yaroslavl, Vladimir, Tula, Ryazan, Oryol and Kaluga.

The gendarmerie is divided into three levels, with the headquarters at the top, the regional bureau at the second, and the provincial bureau at the third. The current gendarmerie commander-in-chief is concurrently held by Count Benkendorf, the director of the third bureau, while the commanders of the regional bureaus are generally lieutenant generals or major generals in the army, and the commanders of the provincial bureaus are major generals or colonels. Shubinsky is a gendarmerie colonel. If he had not been assigned to the second district where Moscow is located, but to the fourth or fifth district, he would have become the gendarmerie commander in charge of a province. But that guy doesn't like the bitter cold, and would rather stay in Moscow and suffer than be transferred out of this glamorous world. "

Herzen showed off his knowledge of the gendarmerie, but the young man's unintentional behavior attracted the attention of the old official.

Herzen seemed to know Shubinsky very well, at least better than Arthur. Otherwise, why would he know about Shubinsky being bullied at work?

According to Ogarev's description, the gendarmes were so powerful that even high-ranking officials and the governor had to give them some respect.

But Herzen seemed to look down on the gendarmes, and his words were full of ridicule for Shubinsky.

Arthur pretended not to notice anything suspicious and used a more tactful way to dig for important information: "Is Shubinsky having problems with his boss?"

"More than just being hostile, he was jealous of Volkov to the point of madness." Herzen said, "He went crazy looking for evidence of students' crimes, just to use them as a stepping stone for his promotion. He saw that Volkov was promoted because of the Kritsky incident, so he wanted to create another one with other students."

"How do you know this?"

Arthur wanted to continue asking questions, but Dumas stood up first. The fat man pretended to be drunk, hugged his policeman friend, and pushed him out of the door with his weight.

Dumas stared blankly: "Okay, Arthur, the show is about to start, you have to go backstage with me."

Arthur understood the fat man's intentions, but he couldn't expose him directly, because exposing Dumas would be equivalent to exposing his own intentions.

Helplessly, Arthur had to bury the problem in his heart and said with a helpless smile: "Boys, it seems that we can only talk about it next time. But listen to me, you can drink and sing, but if you are not willing to lower your voice, you should at least change the song. Although this is in Germany, as you said, there are people downstairs who are still thinking about stepping on your backs to climb up."

After that, Arthur put Dumas's arm on his shoulder, and while struggling to lift the drunk fat man out, he cursed in a low voice: "Alexander, you damn fat man, you should be thankful that the premiere of Turandot was not held in St. Petersburg or Moscow. Otherwise, I would definitely throw you into the alley outside the theater. If you stayed there for one night, you would definitely be frozen into an ice sculpture."

Dumas refused to give in and whispered back, "Humph! Arthur, you damned Englishman! Even if I were frozen into an ice sculpture, my talent would still shine and melt the ice and snow in St. Petersburg and Moscow! And I warn you, don't drag me like you're carrying a sack of potatoes. I am the pride of France, and no matter how many people want to help me, they don't have the blessing!"

"Alexander, you disappoint me greatly. After all I have done for the freedom of Italy, do you still consider me a despot?"

"No, Arthur, it's worse than that. You are more difficult to deal with than the real authoritarians, because I find that you are completely uncertain about which side you stand on. Although I don't understand exactly how you stand, I guess it probably depends on whether you put on authoritarian boots or liberal boots first when you got up today. Arthur, my good brother, I am willing to share everything with you, except my girlfriend. But in politics, your uncertainty is too great!"

Arthur helped the staggering Dumas down the stairs, but as soon as he stood on the ground, he ran into Shubinski who had been waiting there for a long time.

Shubinsky saw the drunk Dumas and took the initiative to share the burden with Arthur: "My God! Mr. Dumas, I didn't expect you to be here. Are you drunk?"

Dumas could not remember who the gentleman in front of him was. When he was in London, many people wanted to make friends with him, but except for the prettier ladies, he was not impressed by any of them.

In order to avoid embarrassment, he could only continue to pretend to be drunk: "Oh, sir, it's you!"

Shubinsky knew that Dumas was a republican, but it was still a great honor to be able to make friends with this great French playwright.

How many French playwrights, musicians, and painters are not republicans?
But their identity as republicans did not affect their admiration by the Russian upper class, as long as they were not Russian republicans.

In Russia, arresting republicans and liberals was for promotion, while making friends with people like Alexandre Dumas was to pave the way for entering the social circle of the upper class. Being able to connect with the French literary and artistic circles would attract the admiration of countless Russian nobles and ladies.

"You know what? I hired a French tutor for my son to teach him Latin and French. I don't expect him to be as talented as you in the future, but if he can learn a little bit, then he should have no problem fulfilling his father's wish and becoming a competent imperial civil servant. Although some people may not agree with my point of view, I have always believed that French drama is the best in Europe. And dramas like operas must be sung in French to be the most charming."

Shubinsky was flattered and supported Dumas, muttering a lot of flattering words, and finally asked Arthur: "Where are we going to send Mr. Dumas?"

Arthur looked back at the second floor. Although he had already warned the students, it would be better to take Shubinsky away from them just in case.

Moreover, as things stand, he seems to be more interested in Dumas than in his students.

As for arresting the students, Arthur could do nothing to help, after all, he did not want to break with Dumas.

But by being in touch with the literary and artistic circles, Arthur can still help fulfill this small wish.

Arthur said, "Come on, Sergei, I'll take you backstage to meet some friends in the arts community. Some of them will be going to Russia to perform soon, so remember to bring your wife and children along."

(End of this chapter)