I am a literary giant in Russia

Chapter 1 College Students

On January 21, 1844, the harsh and long winter had arrived in St. Petersburg. Tsar Nicholas I, together with a group of nobles, was about to begin painful reflections on the fate of Tsarist Russia in the splendid, bright and warm Winter Palace.

And also in St. Petersburg, at the docks, in the streets, in the taverns, and in the brothels, workers continued to toss plaster, scaffolding, and bricks, and ragged beggars would curl up in a ball, challenging the entire Russian winter with rags.

Drunkards who numb their lives with alcohol pollute the streets of St. Petersburg with their disgusting stench, but prostitutes' bodies still carry warmth, trying to warm their families and their gradually decaying lives.

They had no awareness of the fate of Tsarist Russia and were only concerned with clinging to every little bit around them.

Mikhail Romanovich Raskolnikov is not one of them, but he may face a more difficult situation than them at any time.

After all, he is a college student.

Or a college student who is about to be kicked out of his house because he can't pay the rent and is driven into the winter of Tsarist Russia.

I'm going to work early!

Early that morning, Mikhail slipped out of his pigeon cage, which he could hit his head on if he wasn't careful. Before coming out, he carefully observed his surroundings and successfully avoided his female landlord, whom he could easily bump into if he wasn't careful.

The small room Mikhail was in was on the top floor of a very tall five-story apartment, just under the roof. It looked more like a cupboard than a room. The landlady lived in a separate suite downstairs. Every time he went out, he had to pass through the landlady's kitchen, which was open and faced the stairs. If he was not careful, he would bump into her.

Mikhail was not very afraid of the landlord, but he did owe the landlord a lot of debt. Once the landlord started to seriously consider whether it was still necessary for him to continue living there, it would be only a matter of time before Mikhail was kicked out.

It can be said that Mikhail had reached the end of his rope. Otherwise, this unfortunate man would not have died quietly in his coffin-like room due to a fever, and then a soul from the afterlife would have started a new life.

Frankly speaking, if he had a choice, he would be very willing to let Mikhail be born into a wealthy family and be handsome, talented and versatile.

Unfortunately, there are very few good things like this in the world, but bad things are endless.

The bad things that happen to the poor are even more numerous.

Wrapping his tattered clothes tightly, Mikhail walked towards the place where he had an appointment with his classmates.

Although he was also an unlucky guy, he later became a master's degree student specializing in Russian literature, and his memory seemed to have been improved. Therefore, although his current situation was difficult, he was not without a chance of turning things around.

Thinking of this, Mikhail couldn't help but touch the manuscript in his arms, fearing that any accident would destroy his last hope.

Just a week ago, after a brief moment of shock, Mikhail had to consider the issue of survival.

In 1844, in St. Petersburg in winter, if Mikhail didn't have a place to stay, he would easily be frozen to death, and then dragged away in disgust, waiting to be processed in a centralized manner.

The good news is that life is more civilized these days and there is no organ trade.

Bad news can easily be burned like garbage, and then float in the sewers of St. Petersburg, or mix in the air, passing through the lungs of some unlucky people and aggravating tuberculosis that is already quite serious due to the severe cold.

Mikhail didn't want to be treated like this, so he could only find a way to save himself. After some thought and observation, Mikhail could only write the novel based on the memories in his mind.

Frankly speaking, if Mikhail had any other choice, he would never have chosen to become a writer.

As for how writers and intellectuals are treated, it really depends on the era. Most of the time, so-called writers and intellectuals are thorns in the eyes of the ruling class and parasites in the eyes of the lower classes.

The upper classes sometimes annoyed their inability to control their mouths, so they used sticks to physically silence them. The lower classes often saw no point in these people speaking or writing, and when the time came, they would surely want to teach them a lesson. Unfortunately, during the reign of Tsar Nicholas I, Russia was experiencing a period of rapid growth, with the development of capitalist factors of production masking the already intense contradictions of the autocratic and serfdom systems.

From Nicholas I's perspective, can't you see that our Tsarist Russia is thriving and moving forward?

With such brilliant achievements, why do people still have to gossip about it, chatter endlessly, and even launch an armed uprising?
Troublemakers! They are all troublemakers!

They simply cannot see how hard the Tsar worked for the empire!

In short, since the bloody suppression of the armed uprising of a group of progressive officers in 1825, the situation in Russia has been very tense. If Mikhail remembers correctly, during this period, in terms of diplomacy, Nicholas I intensified the suppression of the European revolutionary movement, and Russia therefore earned the reputation of "European Gendarme". After the outbreak of the European Revolution in 1848, Russia immediately promulgated a strict press censorship decree, which was known as the "cast iron press censorship system" by the world.

Under this severe situation, a large number of writers and scholars were persecuted. Some writers who participated excessively, such as Dostoevsky, who joined the Petrashevsky group in 1847, were arrested in 1849 on charges of "anti-government activities" and sentenced to death precisely because they discussed social reforms in the group.

Although he was pardoned by Tsar Nicholas I at the last moment of execution, and Tsar Nicholas I may not have really intended to kill him, most likely just to scare him, any normal person who encountered such a thing would most likely be scared to death and would never dare to stir up any trouble again.

Dostoevsky may not be an ordinary person, but Mikhail is absolutely normal.

In short, starting to write in this period is basically equivalent to joining the National Army in 49, and the work you did was life-threatening.

But if Mikhail were really asked to flatter those noble gentlemen, he would probably never be able to do it.

I am the people!
I won’t think too much about what will happen next for now. Let’s just talk about now. I still have to write something to earn some royalties to deal with emergencies.

So, based on his memory, Mikhail endured hunger and spent almost a week to finally complete the work in his arms.

In order to complete this novel quietly, Mikhail almost spent the last kopeck in his pocket.

At this point, all his hopes rested on this novel.

Now that the writing is done, how to submit it is a big problem. Fortunately, although the original owner was an unlucky guy, as a college student of that period, the value of the work is still not low. He received higher education and was exposed to the latest ideas. Even the classmates around him might be related to some big shot.

As it happened, one of Mikhail's friends knew a poet who seemed to be quite famous and could make an introduction for him.

So Mikhail walked through this dirty neighborhood, smelling the disgusting stench coming from the numerous taverns, bumping into one drunkard after another, and occasionally seeing one or two prostitutes flirting listlessly.

Mikhail felt the Tsarist Russia of 1844 and the harsh winter that had only existed in books before.

He is considered a growing protagonist. Under the high-pressure policy, he is timid in the early stage, but strikes hard in the later stage.

In addition, there is very little information about Russia during this period. I have tried my best to collect and restore the basic social outlook of this period.

However, it is more of a glimpse into Russian literature, and this novel uses some of the backgrounds and characters in "Crime and Punishment", but they are definitely not exactly the same.

As for Russia during this period, I must have already understood the basic context and traces in advance.

But if you have any knowledge about Russia during this period, you are welcome to add to it.

Thank you very much.

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(End of this chapter)