shadow of britain

Chapter 609: Hastingoff's Way of Being an Official
If one had to answer the question "What is happening in Russia?" in one word, it would be "theft."

—Nikolay Karamzin
Before I came to Russia to experience the customs and practices of this vast country, I had read about the corruption and arrogance of the country's government agencies and bureaucrats in literature more than once. However, for such a large country, simply distinguishing the conduct and character of officials as good officials and bad officials will inevitably lead to generalizations.

According to my observation, in terms of personality and temperament, Russian officials are not much different from those in other countries. Among them, there are those who are kind-hearted and gentle, as well as those who are brutal, rude, cruel and violent.

But it is worth noting that no matter what the temperament of an official is, they all live on corruption and bribery, as if they were conquerors from a foreign race and the Russian people were the conquered. The Russian bureaucratic society is a highly closed system. They tend to cooperate with people of the same kind, flatter their superiors and bully their subordinates. They love the official hierarchy system and automatic promotion mechanism because they are part of it.

Everything outside their system is seen by them as a frenzy of anarchy, and they instinctively reject the overzealous and the overly cautious, because the system requires everyone to participate in bribery in order to establish a bond of common responsibility. Just as a drunkard does not like sober companions, a thief will feel uncomfortable in front of honest people.

Corruption is common in all countries, but there is a special phenomenon in the Russian officialdom that I have never seen in other countries.

Russian officials naturally divide corruption proceeds into "innocent proceeds" and "guilty proceeds", and the identity of the victim becomes an important criterion for distinguishing the two.

"Guilty revenues" are those that were obtained at the expense of the royal family, such as by misappropriating government funds or deliberately falsifying certain data required by the government.

"Innocent income" refers to income obtained at the expense of social welfare, including money extorted from the people and bribes collected in judicial trials to favor the briber in the trial of the case. This money usually appears in the form of expedited fees, that is, tips collected to speed up the handling of affairs between citizens and the government.

Ironically, it is not uncommon for officials to follow unwritten fee schedules and give change when accepting “guilty” bribes.

According to my personal experience, government inspectors will ruthlessly investigate and severely punish officials who damage national interests, that is, those who obtain "guilty income". However, if the victim is a civilian, they will rarely come forward to seek justice unless it causes a major social impact. This has almost become a routine in Russia.

—Arthur Hastings, Routine Diplomatic Reports for 1834

In the study of the mayor's mansion, the bookshelves were filled with all kinds of insignificant documents, and candlelight flickered by the stove.

In the center of the study, there is an oak card table decorated with red paint and green cloth.

Seven or eight Tsarist Russian officials in black evening gowns sat around a card table with a deck of cards spread out on the table.

The officials were either sitting or standing, their faces full of vigilance and expectation.

After all, everyone knows that today is not a simple gambling entertainment, it is more like a silent political battlefield, a contest of endurance and scheming.

The most relaxed of the group was Colonel Hastingoff, who had a convincing aristocratic demeanor.

He was holding a cigar, his fingertips occasionally sliding over the cards in his hand, and from time to time he uttered a sentence or two of contemptuous French. His tone was steady and clear, with distinct syllable endings. If you listened carefully, you could tell that it was definitely the most authentic Parisian accent.

Mayor Bakalkin would occasionally fiddle with the ashes on the table. When it was his turn to play, his fingertips paused slightly on the cards. He thought for a moment, then hesitantly pulled out a card and slowly pushed it onto the table.

"Mr. Mayor, you have bad luck today." Arthur spread out his cards and threw them on the table: "I win again."

The mayor sighed, holding his forehead in his hand in mock distress. He took out his wallet from his pocket, took out three rubles and put them on the table: "Oh! My bad luck! Colonel, you play cards really well."

Arthur snapped his fingers, and the inspector who was acting as his assistant behind him hurriedly put away the rubles for him.

Finally, Arthur did not forget to order: "Alexey Portonovich, you lent me the gambling money. According to our agreement, I will take two-thirds and you will take one-third."

How could the inspector dare to accept the money? He bowed and smiled and declined, saying, "You are the one who wins the money. How can I take one-third of your money?"

Unexpectedly, Arthur said without hesitation: "Just accept it if I ask you to. I always keep my word. By the way, if any of you are tired of playing, Alexey Portonovich can take over. I see he is getting anxious sitting next to me."

Arthur finished speaking, but no one left the table for a long time.

The mayor took the lead and said, "How can this be possible? I haven't had enough fun yet. Colonel, you told me before that you can't play Talbot. Now it seems that you must have been lying to me. Even in St. Petersburg, you must be a well-known card player!"

Arthur took a puff of his cigarette and said, "I'm not kidding you. In Petersburg, we play more Keld, Hunter and Paris. How about we try something else?"

Arthur was not really saying this to bluff these officials. His card skills had been strictly trained by Talleyrand, the French ambassador to the UK. If it weren't for that old man who frequently attended diplomatic occasions in various countries, Arthur would not have been able to learn so many ways to play cards.

But when Arthur suggested changing the game, the mayor and others seemed hesitant.

This is not because they don't know how to play Keld, Hunter and Paris, but because Keld is a game where the player's hand determines the winner, Hunter is similar to 21 points, and Paris is similar to Texas Hold'em. If they play these three games, the mayor and others will have a hard time controlling the winners and losers, and they can't guarantee that the imperial envoy will feel a sense of accomplishment when he wins.

The gameplay of Talbo is relatively complicated, involving skills, strategies, sociality and psychology. As the best Talbo players of Druidsk, they can lose however they want, and they can lose in different ways to make the imperial envoy have fun.

Arthur naturally understood what they were thinking, so he stopped talking about it and gathered the cards together and began to shuffle them: "Actually, it's your blessing that I'm in Druisk."

When the officials heard this, they cursed in their hearts, but on the surface they had to flatter him hypocritically: "You are right. People like you who are upright, just, and fair are rare nowadays."

Arthur raised his eyebrows and stared at them one by one until everyone was sweating. Then he chuckled and said, "Don't disbelieve me. I'm not a perfect person, but at least you can deal with me because I understand things. If there are cases that I'm not sure about, I will tell you directly. However, the annoying thing is that some people look very upright and good, but they don't have the ability to do things at all. If things fall into their hands, they will definitely be helpless.

If you give him a reasonable suggestion, he will not only not thank you, but will get angry like a calf kicking its four hooves. He will say: "You beasts know nothing! You don't know how to be a human being, then look at me, have you ever seen a good person like me? "This kind of person thinks he is upright and educated, and thinks that based on these virtues, he should be treated as a god, and everyone else is a group of chickens, only he is a phoenix among the chickens.

If you really believe his lies and regard him as a savior, then you will see what will happen! These people can talk to you in a very reasonable way and boast to you about what tricks they can play to make a bunch of losers run around in circles. But when it comes to the action, their faces turn red and white, and they are confused and have no idea what to do. They either stammer and say "this" or "that", or just say "hmm" to agree with you. "

At this point, Arthur gave them an example: "We have such a person. He knows how to quote classics and likes to make comments. This is his specialty. But once he gets down to business, look! His calves become stiff. When he was sent down, he was quite angry at first and shouted and yelled, but later, he was silent and gave up. But he kept complaining, saying that people didn't know the value of things and drove a talented person like him like a horse to pull soil. He also said that this was a job for coolies and small clerks. And he should sit on it and oil the wheels of the whole machine. He never thought that if everyone had such thoughts in their minds, if at a certain time, everyone became an educated person. Then who would do the hard work?"

The officials of Druidsk were also shrewd people. No matter whether the examples Arthur gave them were true or false, they intended to continue with the conversation.

Mayor Bakalkin coughed, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and smiled as he continued, "You are absolutely right. It is indeed true. Every place is bound to have some officials who are not worthy of their reputation. They keep talking about integrity and virtue, but in fact they lack the ability to do their job. They can only talk about profound theories all day long, but in the end they can't do anything practical."

He glanced at his colleagues sitting next to him, with a barely perceptible cunning in his eyes.

Arthur tapped the card table with his fingertips. "No, I tell you, it's not because of incompetence or stupidity, but because of lack of initiative, impatience and lack of diligence! He always thinks that doing things is a child's play, that fried grouse will fly into his mouth by itself, and always likes to see the world with his own eyes. This is really nonsense! When you go to a new place, you must first watch and learn. When you enter a place, you should do as the local customs do. Then you can master these customs and people. Once you have mastered them, they can't escape and are under your control!

If he were sent down to investigate a case again, do you think he would be willing to go? No! Even if you used five donkeys, he couldn't pull him over hundreds of miles! He was willing to go for the first time because he didn't know what it was like to be in the local area. He thought that when he got there, he could give full play to his imagination, and the local people would definitely listen to him respectfully.

How could he know that sincerity alone is not enough to accomplish anything. Diligence and insight are also needed. Don't think the mud is dirty. You have to break it apart first and look at it carefully before you put your nose in. But if you have fair hands, wear gloves, and have a high nose. Well, wear your gloves, but you can't accomplish anything. "

The officials were a little hesitant at first, but after hearing this, even the dumbest ones understood what the colonel meant.

The mayor could not help smiling; he knew that the colonel had only been acting for fun in the tavern.

The inspection is still the same as before. As long as the fact that the construction of the Charity Hospital Church has been delayed is not leaked, everything else is considered minor issues and will be criticized and educated at most.

Oops!

In my opinion, the tunnels in St. Petersburg are cleaner than the streets in Druisk!

The judge who had been transferred to Druisk three years ago spoke in agreement.

"You're right! When I was working in Slonim, I met such a man. Once he came to Slonim to inspect the work of the city council, so he summoned all the local leaders from all walks of life and lectured them at the meeting for a long time, saying that everything here was terrible and despicable! He wanted to inspect the business, so he went to all the shops and even checked the hawkers on the street, and said that everything was wrong.

That day he went to the market and pointed fingers, saying that this person should sell needles and thread, that person should sell perfume, and he arbitrarily assigned everyone a job. He also went to various factories, checking the number of workers and counting the number of dye barrels. Everywhere he went, he found fault with everyone and scolded them. He pointed out a factory owner and said to him: "You are a citizen, so you should reduce the number of people in the factory." The owner tried to persuade him earnestly: "Maybe it should be so, but if you reduce the number of workers, you can't start the work!"

But he didn't care about that. He didn't have the right to argue, so he just put on a stern face and kept saying that it had nothing to do with him and that if he was dissatisfied, he could go to the Tsar. He did this, so naturally, he couldn't let others talk about him behind his back. But I have also seen good inspectors, those who are really wise, just like you, who see that local businesses are really in trouble, and find a loophole in the terms so that everything can be done as usual.

But that person, I don't know whether he is blind or deaf, he can't see what is right in front of him, and he won't listen to the truth! Besides, they all behave in the same way. They are always bossy and meddling, telling you to go this way or that way. Or, they just say: Nonsense, don't go, sit down. Or: Nonsense, get up, you are not allowed to sit down. Just a few words completely confuse us.

Slonin had some of the best pastures, but he gave an order to take them away and make them public. If you want them, you can, just bid for them. The pastures that were allocated to the people below for grazing were replaced by a scorched wasteland, as bare as a bald man's head, leaving no one's livestock with anything to eat. There was a grove of trees, but they wouldn't let anyone go in to chop wood, not even a piece of wood. In order to show his achievements to the higher-ups and the results of his inspections, he even asked if he could drink water and charge for it! This is not working for the government, it's just asking for God's forgiveness, it's just nonsense!"

At this point, the judge opened his mouth and spat, and it was obvious that he had been fed up with this situation for a long time.

After he finished speaking, the judge realized that this might be considered as overstepping his authority, so he hurriedly changed his words and said, "Of course, I just mentioned it casually. If Petersburg really orders to charge for water, then we will strictly enforce it if you give the order."

However, to the judge's surprise, Arthur not only did not reprimand him, but listened to his complaints with great interest and asked emphatically: "What is your name?"

(End of this chapter)