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Chapter 1272 Russian Nobles 3
In order to strike while the iron is hot and continue to consolidate his position, Cherkassky also strongly supported the construction of the northern trade route.

As long as this trade route is opened, his family will no longer be the largest landowner in Russia, but will also have the title of transportation tycoon. No one needs to remind him how much profit can be obtained by controlling a trade route between countries.

"Your Majesty, it is Cherkasky himself! He is still living in the Nanhuitong Hall and has not left yet. I will immediately send someone to secretly invite him to the palace to answer your questions!"

As soon as he heard the name, Wang Datou knew he had neglected it. No matter how hard the spies from the Advisory Office tried to find out the details of the Russian nobles, they could not explain it as clearly as another Russian noble.

"No, this matter cannot be handled by me, and it is best not to be handled by a Ming official. That would arouse vigilance and the answer we get would not be credible. Think carefully, is there a more suitable candidate who is familiar with Cherkassky?"

But Hong Tao raised his hand to stop Wang Datou's action. As a man who was full of lies, he knew best how to get the truth out of others.

This kind of thing is difficult to verify. If you want to make the other party suspicious, you only need to mix one or two lies among ten truths, and no one can find out. But the consequences may be very serious, such as making your own judgment wrong. In that case, it is better not to ask.

"…Minister Xiong has a lot of interactions with him. They both love drinking. Whenever they meet, they will definitely go to the wine shop on Qipan Street to have a drink. They will never leave until they are drunk. Can I get the answer from Minister Xiong during the drinking?"

The emperor's request really made Wang Datou embarrassed. The Advisory Office had the privilege of eavesdropping on foreign envoys, but they could only listen passively and could not control what they said. If they wanted to hear the designated answer, someone had to mention it in a very relaxed state, and the person who inadvertently asked the question was the key.

Fortunately, the Advisory Office has been monitoring foreign envoys for a long time, and all the people who have interacted with them are recorded. After much thought, they finally found a suitable candidate. However, Xiong Sanba was an official of the Ming Dynasty, and if he wanted to monitor, he had to be authorized by the emperor himself.

"... Go ahead and tell them that the General Staff has received accurate information that the Golitsyn family is very likely to raise objections to the Tsar regarding the construction of the Northern Railroad. We must find out the whole story before we can act accordingly."

Hong Tao was not very satisfied with this candidate. Xiong Sanba was an official of the imperial court after all, and letting him participate in such an ignoble action would damage the reputation of the imperial court. But he could not find another candidate for a while, so he could only reluctantly agree. But he had to make up a story to get rid of the emperor, and let the General Staff take the blame this time.

Wang Datou's work efficiency was always high. As soon as he got up the next day, Wang Chengen reminded him mysteriously that someone was waiting outside the palace. In fact, he could have come earlier, but he felt that this kind of information was not urgent, so he waited all night and did not disturb the emperor's sleep.

"Alas... It seems that bribery is unlikely. Eight out of ten things in the world are not as we wish!" After hastily reading through the surveillance reports of more than ten pages, Hong Tao couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

When he heard that Xiong Sanba was worried that someone would whisper in the Tsar's ear and block the construction of the northern track, Cherkassky, who was already drunk, had to tell the truth. It was not groundless, and the Western nobles in Moscow did have different opinions on this issue.

The Rigolitsyn family, the representative of the Western aristocracy, is a heavyweight, but it is not taken seriously by the Ministry of Rites and the Advisory Office of the Ming Empire because it has never been in the forefront. However, it is well-known among the Russian high-level officials.

After that, Cherkassky continued to talk about the Golitsyn family and several representatives of the Western faction. Then he asked Xiong Sanba to mention it from the side if he had the chance to meet the emperor, and see if he could use diplomatic means to increase some pressure on the Tsar and try to promote the construction of this track. "Your Highness, the Advisory Office has trained several Cossacks in Moscow who specialize in doing dirty work. If they refuse to accept the toast, they might as well die suddenly."

Hearing the emperor's lament, Wang Datou immediately realized that the Golitsyn family was a bit tricky. Now it was time for the advisor to show his skills. It takes a thousand days to raise an army and only one day to use it. As long as the emperor needs it, he must go through fire and water!

"No, there are many things that cannot be solved by killing a few people. This matter ends here, and all the materials are archived and sealed. By the way, send a message to the astronauts and Tan Mingming, asking them to bring the military materials related to Russia to the palace."

Hong Tao expressed his recognition of Wang Datou's loyalty and believed that the Advisory Office had the ability to assassinate any local person in a foreign country, including the king, but this could not solve the problem.

Russia's Eastern and Western factions are like the Zhejiang Party and the Donglin Party in the Ming Dynasty. They are two political and interest factions in full confrontation. They will not change their stance just because a leader is missing. There is no absolute leader. If Zhang San dies, Li Si will immediately take his place, and he may even become more stubborn.

Could diplomatic pressure be used to prevent the Tsar from going back on his word? The answer is also slim. The Tsar is a bit like the Wanli Emperor, who was limited by his own strength and could not make his own decisions. He could only jump back and forth between the two factions to seek a relative balance.

In addition, the Tsar did not necessarily want to lean towards the East. After all, Moscow was closer to Europe. If it completely leaned towards the East, Moscow might become the front line of the conflict, which was not cost-effective.

If we cannot look at the problem from a God's perspective, the Ming Empire is in danger. It is about to face a coalition attack from European countries. Even if it is strong, it is hard to defeat four people. The possibility of failure is relatively high.

As the saying goes, a gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall. As long as European countries can offer suitable conditions, the Tsar will most likely lean towards the more advantageous side. This is the relationship between countries. There is no friendship, only interests.

Under such circumstances, it would seem a bit untenable to expect to exert pressure through diplomatic means. Not only would it fail to gain allies, it would also push the Tsar to the side of Europe even faster.

At this point, all calculations were already pale and powerless, and only strength could speak for itself. Originally, Hong Tao did not want to fight a big battle with Europe. Even if he could win, it would affect domestic development. He would rather show his strength to make the European monarchs retreat.

Unfortunately, this trick doesn't seem to be very effective. Sometimes people fall into a vicious circle of thinking. No matter how conclusive the evidence in front of them is, they still turn a blind eye and stubbornly stick to their own opinions.

This is the case today. Almost no one among the monarchs of European countries, including their ministers and generals, has seriously understood Asia and the Ming Empire. However, they are mysteriously confident that as long as they form an alliance, they will be able to crush the enemy with ease, just like the Spaniards defeated the Inca Empire in the New World.

Since war is inevitable, we should not avoid it deliberately. We cannot fight passively. We must take the initiative on the battlefield, or at least take the initiative to defend. We cannot let the other side lead us by the nose. When and where to fight, the European countries have no say, we must listen to the Ming Empire!
(End of this chapter)