Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Although Trubetskoy was elected "dictator" in St. Petersburg, he stipulated that he would only lead the uprising when he was certain that he could gather a portion of the Guards in Senate Square.

In short, there was a lack of confidence in those below, and this operation was mainly planned by Reliev and his cronies.

Of course, he was not actually a republican.

Although he frequently mentioned "republic" in his correspondence with Griboyedov, it was a strange concept of a "scientific republic," not an advocacy of republicanism.

On the other hand, the Southern Association members would have taken even more radical measures if Trubetskoy hadn't pointed out, based on the actual situation in Russia, that Russia still needed a monarch to stabilize the situation.

The idea of ​​playing Candy Crush on the Russian royal family, including all the great-aunts abroad, sounds rather crazy.

It's worth noting that in Solovyov's version, Catherine was the Empress Dowager in France, and her son was still a few years away from ruling in his own right, yet he was the de facto ruler of France.

If anyone dared to cause her trouble, the British would probably allow Napoleon to return and organize a large army for another French invasion.

Moreover, this is clearly an unreliable idea; Pestor's group is probably a bunch of violent elements.

He recruited many people, but there were always some unreliable ones among them.

The military police were even taking preemptive action because they had received a tip that Pestor, a former adjutant to Prince Wittgenstein, was organizing a secret society with the intention of rebelling and overthrowing the Tsar's rule.

The General Staff had two chiefs of staff. Volkonsky was generally responsible to the Tsar himself, while General Dubich was generally responsible for administration at headquarters.

In terms of seniority, he and Solovyov are on par, but Solovyov had served as acting commander-in-chief and held real power in other regions, so he seemed to have an edge over him.

However, at this time, Dubich was clearly the highest-ranking officer in the command hierarchy, since he was in the central command and, as the Chief of the General Staff, he was in charge of mobilizing the troops. In some cases, he could even mobilize the military police.

The letter of denunciation was sent through Arkady Meloboda, a subordinate of Pestor, who was the grenadier company commander of the Vyatka Infantry Regiment under Pestor's command and had been admitted as a member of the Southern Society in 1824.

When he learned of the plans of the Southern and Northern Societies, he chose to report them to the highest authorities.

In these kinds of situations, there are always informants, and Solovyov even received orders to arrest people.

This Miloboda, he said, is the only member of the Southern Association who has no real power among the Crimean garrison. They can't even lead an infantry company. Instead, there are some adjutants. They know that most of the adjutants here in Solovyov are in relatively low-prospect positions.

In the Solovyov system, staff officers and communications officers were more likely to be promoted than "staff members," while adjutants were merely attendants and part of the Southern military reforms.

These people were usually resentful, and some even wanted to carry out a bombing plan against Solovyov.

However, given his high prestige in the military, the Southern Association leadership did not advocate this approach and preferred to win him over.

After all, among the generals who publicly expressed their support for the reforms, Solovyov was one who could genuinely influence the Tsar. Moreover, he had his own theoretical basis and even implemented reforms within his own jurisdiction. A person with a brain, even if swayed by such fanatical emotions, would not cause him any trouble.

Moreover, if an assassin really came, he would probably be torn to pieces by the onlookers. Solovyov was just a womanizer with many lovers, but he was a good man and a good officer.

He also opposed corporal punishment in the military, and he was also working on shortening the service period and establishing a reserve system. For soldiers, he was a commander who was truly good to them.

So when Solovyov saw the list of whistleblowers, he was both amused and exasperated.

Dibich's letter made it very clear that he wanted to arrest some key officers involved, including Solovyov's nephew Vinyamin, his friend Prince Sergei Volkonsky, and others.

However, there might not be enough time, because although Chernigov's regiment and some other officers were stationed in relatively remote areas, it still took time to relay orders.

Moreover, Solovyov and Dibic were also unable to confirm who among those other than Pestor were the conspirators and rebels.

"Any emperor would be shocked to see this. There are so many radicals in the army, and some of them are even brainless."

"Sir, what do you intend to do?"

“If any company commander dares to join a secret society, I’ll hang them on the walls of the Sevastopol fortress. Those people are heartless bastards. But adjutants, let’s follow procedure. Gather all these people in the Khan’s Palace in Bakhchisarai and send a regiment of soldiers to keep a close watch on them. All personnel should be transferred from the Black Sea Fleet. It’s not easy for the people on the ships and the army with their brains malfunctioning to coordinate with us here.”

Solovyov was well aware of the situation, while on Pestor's side, the military police who arrested him quickly arrived at the Vyatka Regiment, and the interrogation began.

However, doing so would inevitably alert the enemy.

Solovyov was very worried that something might happen in St. Petersburg. He was alone in Crimea at the time, while his children were in St. Petersburg. Would this lead to a hasty action and bring chaos to St. Petersburg?
He thought it was certain, after all, the Decembrists' actions were clearly a window of opportunity created by the sudden death of the Tsar and the power vacuum created by Constantine and Nicholas's mutual concessions.

On Trubetskoy's side, although he participated in Reliev's plans, he was more interested in discussing the future state structure with his friends than in taking action himself.

Ryliev summoned Kakhovsky and tasked him with assassinating Nicholas at the Winter Palace on the morning the operation was to begin.

Kakhovsky agreed and went back to prepare a pistol; to be on the safe side, he even prepared a revolver, which was quite useful.

The pistol, designed and improved by Solovyov and a group of gunsmiths, was very suitable for military and police use. Even if one shot misfired, the second shot could still be fired effectively as the cylinder turned.

If this gun fails to fire, it's either because it's poorly maintained, or because what they did might incur divine retribution.

Trubetskoy was unaware of this; his sister had married an Austrian diplomat, and he even had the leisure to visit a friend, which is how he met Gabriel Battenkov. Battenkov had been Speransky's secretary and important assistant, a key figure in the Arakcheyev Military Settlement Committee, holding the rank of lieutenant colonel, and had served in the road engineering corps. However, due to immense difficulties in his work, he had retired in 1824 and returned home to pursue literary creation. His greatest contribution was probably the document Battenkov drafted, which established the legal status and autonomy of the Siberian natives before the February Revolution. In this document, the settled natives were legally equivalent to the petty bourgeoisie and state serfs. Therefore, what Nicholas II did on the banks of the Amur River was itself illegal within Russia.

Hunting and fishing peoples and nomadic peoples also have their own committees and autonomy. In addition, there is religious tolerance. They can believe whatever they want. The Orthodox Church also cooperates. Their missionary work is not very effective in these places. In addition, Russian priests are more interested in alcohol than proselytizing, and women are more interested in young boys than young girls. It seems that Siberia and the Americas will usher in a highly autonomous environment.

The same benefits were found in the Americas, and Battenkov's contribution will continue to have an impact in Russia for nearly a century.

However, he had close ties with a group of hot-blooded individuals like Bestuzhev and Ryliev, and was also a secret member of the Northern Association. In fact, only a few people in the inner circle knew his true identity.

Trubetskoy was willing to speak with him to discuss the future of the country.

If the operation succeeds, their conversation might be useful.

"What do you think should be done? You used to be the secretary of two important figures, so you should know their thoughts very well."

“It is necessary to establish assemblies in each province, and the autocratic system should be suspended and replaced by a constitutional monarchy. The country should have local assemblies, provincial-level Dumas, and a State Duma, which should be divided into an upper house and a lower house.”

"Isn't that the same as the British?"

“Yes, you know, Prince Solovyov hates British politicians the most. He even has a pamphlet that satirizes them very well. But there is a fundamental difference. Our three estates of parliament represent two levels of the country, the nobility and the common people. Serfdom will be abolished. I think the House of Lords should be for life, but only nobles who actively participate in political life can be elected.”

"No, it should be through elections. Whether it's lifelong or hereditary, it will bring problems in the future. Moreover, our country's electoral system cannot be like that of Britain, which takes too much into account the interests of the nobility, leaving workers and peasants with no voice."

"Yes, the British electoral districts are indeed poorly set up. We should redistribute them, and the electoral districts should be adjusted in the future."

"So this point, along with our previous plan to end authoritarianism, can serve as a guiding principle. But how do we put it into action? Right now, it seems that some friends' actions are still too radical."

“You are still in active duty, while I am just living on my own estate.”

Incidentally, Battenkov's father had at least twenty children, and he was probably the last one. His father was 55 when he was born, and he was probably living a more leisurely life in the countryside of Kaluga.

"That's not the point. We need to start with the armies that are loyal to Grand Duke Constantine, and we need to concentrate our forces. If you'd like, you can draft a plan. I think the provincial-level Duma can have some legislative authority at the local level, and the military settlements should all be abolished and transformed into the National Guard."

This sounds a bit French.

"I agree with your point of view."

"So, what can we do next?"

Their plan was finalized, but within the Northern Association, well-informed individuals had already obtained information about the informants from the Southern Association.

The information was obtained through a friend who was not a formal member of the association but had close ties with its members.

Pestor's arrest meant that the operation had to proceed.

However, Trubetskoy believed that the action was too hasty, a point he had already raised at a previous meeting.

Although Battenkov himself was not the executor of the actions led by Ryliev, as the drafter of the political program, he gave the impression that he had a certain political theoretical foundation under the influence of Speransky, and was actually one of the pragmatists among these people.

Within the Northern Society, there is even a possibility that liberal officials like Speransky may have had contact with its members, just as Solovyov learned of their activities through his prospective son-in-law.

However, these officials would only appear as members of the provisional government after the revolution supporting the constitutional monarchy succeeded. In fact, many of the civil servants were unaware of this plan and were surprised to learn that such a thing had happened.

Trubetskoy and Battenkov ultimately decided that they preferred to support Grand Prince Alexander Nikolaevich as the new Tsar, and that after the army was assembled, the Guards would avoid bloodshed as much as possible.

Trubetskoy, being of noble birth, knew how the French had treated Louis XVI, and the final trial clearly showed signs of manipulation.

His idea was even just exile, so after Pestor was arrested, he advised Reliev to reconsider.

The latter argued that exiling members of the royal family to Rossburg in the Americas was also an option, as it was far from Europe and difficult to return to Russia, and was also a relatively better city on the west coast of the Americas.

Indeed, after 25 years of development, Roseburg has become a city on the west coast of North America, with a permanent population of over 10,000 Europeans alone, not counting the Spanish-born whites and local natives who have moved into the city.

He was a major shareholder of the Russian-American company and also served as its assistant general manager, so he was very knowledgeable about things in the Americas.

Moreover, just before the Baltic Sea froze, the latest news from the Americas was that the local natives had actually agreed to build a city near the trading post jointly used by the Hudson Bay Company and the Russian-American Company, in exchange for a chest of silver coins and the right of the natives to settle in the city, which was already a very good deal.

The ideas were all good, but it was a bit too early for them to start thinking about these things.

According to Solovyov, on July 720th, they sent a disabled person to drop a bomb and then concocted a book to destroy the German people.

What you should be doing now is to do more networking among the officers and soldiers who took their oaths in Senate Square, to get them all in high spirits. You can put off discussing political agendas until after you've seized power.

Then, a group of people who wanted to do great things discussed their political platform before the operation even began.

The one who truly had the ability to act did not participate in this military coup at all. (End of Chapter)