shadow of britain

Chapter 665 My money!
The carriage rolled through Ilinka Street, and the icicles on the cast iron shafts were dripping melted snow like blood beads.

Arthur had a cigar in his mouth and his hands were constantly flipping through the summary of "History of Little Russia" that his secretary had compiled for him yesterday.

Yes, that’s right, although this British lord once praised this book to the sky in front of the Minister of Education, in fact he only read the preface and the first volume of the book.

However, this does not mean that Gogol's "History of Little Russia" is poorly written, but that Arthur was tripped up by the affairs of the Caucasus.

It was because the cunning Sir David Urquhart insisted on playing hide-and-seek with the British Embassy that Arthur was forced to delay in turning over the six-volume Ural Mountains of "History of Little Russia".

"What are you reading?" Baron Dantes, who was sitting opposite Arthur, patted his gloves. "Are you afraid that His Majesty will give you a difficult question? Do you want to review it temporarily? Don't worry, His Majesty is not the type to make things difficult for you. Besides, he is just in a bad mood today and wants to chat with you. It's okay for you, an Englishman, not to know Russian history, especially since this is the History of Little Russia, which many Russians may not be familiar with."

Arthur looked at the Tsar's attendant in front of him, closed the book, and joked about his identity: "If someone else said this to me, I might not believe it, but since it was you who said it, I will take it seriously. But I still don't understand why you, a Frenchman, would come to Russia and swear allegiance to the Tsar."

"Is there any need to ask?" Baron Dantes took a cigar from the cigar box handed to him by Arthur. "I simply don't want to work for Louis Philippe's new government."

Arthur laughed. "Well, there are many in France who don't want to work for the Orleanists, but I still can't understand how an Alsatian can be a Chouanist. It's like a Vendée saying he supports the Republican government. Both seem too weird."

"Ah!"

Baron Dantes commented unceremoniously: "You must have read a lot of perverted books written by the 'dwarf' Thiers and his ilk, so you only remember that the 'Marseillaise' was composed in Strasbourg, Alsace, and that famous generals in the Great Revolution, such as Kellermann and Kleber, were Alsatians. But what you don't know is that there were also many Alsatians who opposed the Jacobins and supported the orthodox Bourbon royal family. After the outbreak of the Great Revolution, tens of thousands of Alsatians fled eastward to Germany and Austria. After the hypocritical republican government allowed these people to return to their hometowns, they found that their land or homes had been confiscated. And since the National Assembly banned religion, many Alsatians have had to go to Swiss monasteries for 'pilgrimage' in order to be baptized and married. After so many of these perverse things were done, is it any wonder that some Alsatians became Chouans?"

Arthur felt quite regretful when he heard this, "But the Republicans are not in power now. I remember that you graduated from the Saint-Cyr Military Academy. You might have a good future if you stayed in France."

Baron Dantes shook his head slightly when he heard this, his golden hair trembling slightly in the cold wind. "In France, never take chances. Besides, I have sworn allegiance to Charles X, the representative of the Bourbon dynasty. In line with the principle that a loyal minister should not serve two masters, out of the integrity of a knight and the dignity of a noble, I cannot accept a usurper as the master of France."

Arthur asked, "Do you still have French nationality?"

"Yes." Baron Dantes took a puff of his cigarette and admired the scenery outside the window through the gray glass. "The July Monarchy government allowed me to serve abroad while retaining my nationality."

"Would you return to France if you had the chance?"

Baron Dantes joked: "If someone told me today that Louis Philippe and his doomed dynasty were dead, I would pack my bags and go back to Paris today."

"Isn't it going back to the Netherlands?" Arthur winked at Baron Dantes.

They had been on good terms in Petersburg, and Arthur's "Thiers's Secret Stories" always made the young French nobleman laugh.

Arthur joked, "Come on, don't hide it from me, man! I've heard it all. I thought everyone called you Baron Dantes because you have a baronship in France, but I didn't expect that your baronship comes from Baron Van Hekelen Toth Enhuizen, the court plenipotentiary of the Netherlands."

"You are well-informed, old man."

Baron Dantes admitted it openly: "Baron Enhuizen has always treated me well, but when I first heard that he planned to designate me as his heir, I was still quite surprised. I swear to God, I have never coveted his property and title, but he and I do get along very well. I am a young Russian who came to St. Petersburg alone, and he is a lonely old Dutch man, but we have the same hobbies and can always find common topics, whether it is hunting, military affairs, history or the study of heraldry. I have always regarded him as a respectable elder, but I really didn't expect that he planned to adopt me as his adoptive son."

Arthur said with half-serious envy, "Alas, the pie in the sky fell on your head. I heard that Baron Enhuizen took you to Alsace at the end of last year and talked to your father in person. So, is this matter completely settled?"

"I guess so." Baron Dantes said, "But it's not very accurate to call me Baron now, because theoretically I haven't inherited the title yet."

"Who cares? Everyone else calls me that, so I'll call me that too."

Arthur looked at the handsome and tall Dantes and said teasingly, "But it's no wonder that Baron Enhuizen chose you as his successor. You have noble blood, a dignified appearance, extensive knowledge, and eloquent speech. This is indeed in line with the expectations of an old nobleman for the next generation."

The two were chatting and joking when suddenly, through the misty car window, Arthur caught a glimpse of the square outside the red walls of the Kremlin. Hundreds of officials in sable cloaks were shivering like a flock of frozen crows in the minus 20-degree cold wind.

"These poor creatures have been standing here since dawn." The driver swung the reins and turned the corner. Dantes raised his silver cane and pointed to the official kneeling in the dark crowd. "The Tsar's carriage crushed three paving stones when it entered the city last night. You see, our director of public works was really scared."

Under the double-headed eagle statue in front of the palace gate, an official with a Tatar mustache suddenly collapsed to the ground, perhaps due to exhaustion or the cold weather.

Two guards wearing bear-skin hats immediately emerged from the shadows and dragged the unconscious man to a makeshift shed at the foot of the palace wall.

"They should be thankful that there is no wind today." Baron Dantes suddenly lowered his voice, with a hint of gloating in his words: "Do you know? In order to remove the ashes left by the fire on Arbat Street, Ziensky's men almost scraped off the wall of the entire street with iron brushes."

"Isn't that what he deserves?" Arthur suddenly remembered an interesting story he had heard from Herzen when he was 'interrogating' him two days ago: "I don't know what rules are used to detain suspects in St. Petersburg, but in Moscow, they ask suspects for food money every day, two rubles a day. If you can't pay the money, you have to go to jail."

Baron Dantes was not surprised by this: "You are talking about political prisoners, right? This is normal. After all, they are the richest among all the suspects. This is basically the rule in St. Petersburg. After all, many people rely on this money to generate income."

Originally, Arthur did not take this routine corruption seriously, but who made him see the group of trembling "quails" in front of the Kremlin? The Tsar was angry, so don't blame the British pranksters for deliberately making a fuss about this matter.

Arthur said seriously, "But this time it's different, isn't it? His Majesty the Tsar is in charge of this case personally."

"Your Majesty is in charge, but the two rubles per day for food is in accordance with regulations."

Arthur waved his hand gently and said, "That's not necessarily true. The one who provided food for the political prisoners was Colonel Semenov, but I heard from him that the city defense headquarters' quartermaster department only allocated one and a half rubles per person per day for the food of those political prisoners. The adjutants of the headquarters swallowed up the money, but they booked a few boxes in the theater and invited the officers of the gendarmerie regiment to watch a few wonderful premieres, and the matter was settled."

When Baron Dantes heard this, he froze while smoking.

He scratched the back of his head first, then frowned and thought for a while.

Judging from the way he was thinking, he seemed to be considering which was more important: the Tsar's trust or the favor of the gendarmerie and the Moscow Defense Command.

However, the correct answer to this multiple-choice question is actually not difficult to choose.

Baron Dantes was an officer of the Preobrazhensky Guards. He had never considered taking up a local post, and the Tsar was unlikely to allow a foreigner to become a civil servant in charge of a region, so even if he stayed in Russia for the rest of his life, his promotion would be limited to the military system.

In this case, what would happen if we offended the Third Bureau’s military police and the Moscow Defense Command?

Baron Dantes asked, "Are you serious about what you just said?"

"It's absolutely true." Arthur said confidently, "You can ask other people privately. I guarantee you won't hear the second version."

Baron Dantes pretended not to take Arthur's words seriously. He joked, "Come on, man, His Majesty the Tsar may not believe such gossip. At this critical moment, they dare to do such a thing. This is simply costing their lives!"

"You don't believe me?" Arthur pretended to be angry.

Baron Dantes deliberately changed the subject: "Not really. But what you just said reminded me of General Bolkhovskoy."

"What's up with him?"

"Nothing. At the last banquet, he was drunk or something, and he kept saying that he wanted to write a book."

Baron Dantes imitated the tone of both sides vividly: "Kiselev said to him: 'Come on! What can you write? What have you seen?' 'What have I seen?' Bolkhovskoy retorted unconvinced, 'I have seen things that no one has seen. I saw the empress naked! Although it was on the day she died. I will start from here!'"

When Arthur heard this, he couldn't help but slapped his face: "Did he really say that?"

"Don't you believe me?" Baron Dantes asked in the same tone as Arthur before, and then laughed: "Brother, now you know, don't you? It's not that I don't believe you, but sometimes things are so bizarre that you feel they are fake at first glance. To tell you the truth, General Bolhovskoy not only said that he saw the empress naked that day, he also shouted everywhere that he wanted to hire a painter to paint that scene!"

Arthur curled his lips: "When this drunkard wakes up, he will probably be shocked by what he said."

"Perhaps, but I don't think the Tsar will take his words to heart." Baron Dantes gave an example: "Before, someone offended the Tsar after drinking. Do you know what he said in front of everyone? If vodka can make you forget the winter in St. Petersburg, I would like to try your wine cellar."

Arthur raised his eyebrows and said, "It sounds like His Majesty the Tsar is quite humorous sometimes. I thought he always had a stern face."

Baron Dantes smiled and said, "So, that's because you don't understand him. I've heard the old servants joke more than once that the current Tsar is like a warrant officer in many ways, and at the same time, he also has the shadow of Peter the Great."

Arthur asked with great interest: "I have heard a lot about the Tsar being like a warrant officer, but where is the shadow of Peter the Great? Are you referring to..."

Arthur suddenly slapped his head and said, "Ah! I see. Are you talking about the Decembrist uprising and the Rebellion of the Riding Squadron during the reign of Peter the Great?"

"Yes, there are many similarities." Baron Dantes counted on his fingers and listed them for him: "Both the Decembrists and the Riding Corps were defeated. Peter the Great personally chopped off the heads of five Riding Corps officers afterwards, and our Tsar hanged eight Decembrist leaders. After the incident, Peter the Great disbanded the Riding Corps, and our Tsar disbanded the Semyonov Guards..."

Arthur saw the carriage driving into the Kremlin and pressed his palm down slightly, indicating that he should keep quiet: "We can continue to talk about these things at the dance later."

Baron Dantes glanced out the window, and continued with a hint of unsatisfied interest: "Did you meet any beautiful ladies in Moscow who are worth making friends with?"

"What do you ask for this?"

Perhaps it was his French nature that played tricks on him. Dantes pushed open the car door with a playful smile and whispered, "A piece of advice for you. Stay away from Princess Dolgorusky if you don't want to cause trouble."

(End of this chapter)