unclear

Chapter 1271 Russian Nobles 2
Unexpectedly, the emperor actually led the army in person. Although he did not come specifically to rescue himself, which seemed a bit like killing rabbits by shooting straw, he still came after all, and sent people to secretly rescue him before the army arrived in Damascus.

No matter how you measure it, this is a life-saving grace. How should I repay it? It seems that the emperor doesn't need anything else except working harder.

"Please help me find out if there is any information about the Golitsyn family." Laziness is also an integral part of human nature. Hong Tao has been very self-disciplined, but he still cannot escape his nature.

In the past two years, he has rarely read anything by himself. He basically asks Wang Chengen and Pingtou Ge to read it, or whoever reports to him reads it. This is more comfortable, and he can do his work while leaning on the recliner.

"…Found it. British merchants call them the Garrigins. They are descendants of the Grand Duke of Lithuania. They entered the Principality of Moscow in the 15th century and became nobles. But there is little information about this family. We only know that they are close to the Dolgoruky family, which is also descended from the Grand Duke of Lithuania.

The Dolgoruky family was very close to English merchants. When the Empire built a shipyard in Arkhangelsk, it was strongly opposed by Duke Dolgoruky. In the end, it was Cherkassky who bought the Dolgoruky family's land to prevent the project from being abandoned halfway.

Soon Wang Datou found the relevant content in the archives of the consultant's office, but it was seriously lacking in details. He had no choice but to supplement it with relevant information, which sounded dry and unconfident when he read it out.

"By the way, the Ministry of Rites said a few years ago that it would continue consultations with the Tsar's representatives on the construction of tracks. Is it Cherkassky who is coming this time?" Hong Tao also felt that the content of the intelligence was too simple, but he did not complain about the work of the Advisory Office because of it.

There were many ethnic groups within the Russian Empire, and the rules in all aspects were very confusing and complicated. There was also a lack of Latin documents. It took a long time to sort everything out. It was not because the work was not done well, but because it was too difficult.

But apart from the Advisory Office and the Ministry of Rites, it is not completely impossible to further understand the situation of the Russian Empire. For example, Cherkassky is a good person to chat with.

He was the chancellor of Mikhail I, in charge of diplomatic affairs. He was also one of the most prominent nobles and royal relatives in Moscow. His mother was the aunt of the Tsar, and he and the Tsar were cousins.

Similar to the composition structure of the political arena in various countries, the Tsar was surrounded by ministers and aristocratic forces with different political views, who had different opinions and interests on many national policies.

For example, in the Dutch Republic, there were Orangemen and Republicans. The former were basically royalists who recognized the traditional aristocratic system, while the latter were mainly composed of some new aristocrats and big businessmen who were unwilling to be bound by traditional royal power and wanted to gain more power.

Specifically in Russia, there are also two opposing political factions, but the core of the struggle is no longer whether the imperial power should be divided, but rather the issue of whether to go east or west.

Compared with traditional European countries, the Russian Empire was very different. First of all, religion. In the 17th century, all European countries believed in Catholicism, while Russia believed in Orthodoxy.

Although some countries have converted to Protestantism, it is also an evolution from Catholicism. Even so, Catholicism and Protestantism still fight over who is orthodox. If you want European countries to recognize the orthodoxy of Eastern Orthodoxy, you probably have to fight again.

Secondly, the race. Slavs have been regarded as barbarians since ancient times, and they are considered northern savages, which is a bit like the attitude of ancient Chinese towards northern nomads. They do not consider them as one ancestor from the bottom of their hearts, which is why there is a saying that those who are not of the same race must have different hearts. But as time went by, people like Normans, Vikings, and Germans gradually integrated into the mainstream European culture and were accepted from a cultural level. The most typical example is the Poles, who are also a branch of the Slavs, but they were naturalized earlier and were also recognized.

The East Slavic region where Russia is located was ruled by the Golden Horde for a long time. When the country was founded, it annexed dozens of Eastern tribes. Its race and culture were greatly influenced, making it a bit incompatible with traditional European countries and excluded in terms of blood.

Finally, the country was founded too late, and its culture and education were too backward. For a long time, it was regarded as a savage who ate raw meat and drank blood by European countries. They looked down on it in all aspects and were unwilling to play with it.

Under such circumstances, if the Tsar wanted Russia to develop, he had to find a way to integrate into Europe. Otherwise, he would always be alone and would be bullied or even annexed sooner or later.

As a result, many Russian nobles naturally chose to move westwards. They tried their best to imitate the European lifestyle and even language, and were proud of using European etiquette, living in the Parisian way, and speaking French.

But with the rapid rise of the Ming Empire, some Russian nobles saw another way. Since Europeans are unwilling to pay attention to them, why should they lick their faces and compromise all day long? Russia can still get better and better without playing with you. The big country in the east is a role model.

Ivan Cherkassky, the Foreign Minister of the Russian Empire, was a representative of the Eastern School. After he successfully negotiated with the Ming Empire and returned to Moscow with a large amount of aid, he was highly valued by the Tsar's cousin and quickly rose to prominence.

Over the years, he had become Mikhail I's right-hand man. Although he could not be said to have absolute power over the government, at least he had a great influence on the Tsar on diplomatic issues.

It was also with his strong promotion that the exchanges between the Russian Empire and the Ming Empire became closer year by year, and obvious results have been seen.

Thanks to the military assistance of the Ming Empire, the Russian Empire was no longer the weaker party in the war with the Polish-Lithuanian Federation and Sweden. It was able to fight back and forth and successfully forced the other side to sign an armistice agreement that was not too disadvantageous to the Russian Empire.

In addition to the traditional exports of furs and timber, the Russian Empire also exported more and more agricultural tools, matches, and soaps processed and produced using Ming Dynasty technology and equipment, and the Port of Arkhangelsk has become an important trading port in the north.

Domestically, factories built with the aid of the Ming Empire also sprang up everywhere, which greatly alleviated Russia's demand for daily necessities and no longer relied entirely on imports from European countries.

As an initiator and operator, Cherkassky not only gained power but also wealth. His family and allies made a lot of money in this wave of introducing foreign capital.

Just the fact that they were close to the water and got the moon first, and that they took advantage of their position to buy shares in the factory first, was enough for their family to collect rent from the land for more than ten years. They definitely gained both fame and fortune.

(End of this chapter)