Red Moscow

"If you want to see him," Yakov said, "I can ask him to come over. It's not far from us anyway."

Sokov thought for a while and felt that it was really unnecessary for him to meet this Belarusian. Yakov has a special status. No matter what he does, someone will tell him the truth; and if he does something, he may cause some unnecessary trouble. It was out of this consideration that he shook his head and said: "Forget it, Yasha, I won't meet him."

"Do you really don't want to see him?" Hearing what Sokov said, Yakov's face was full of disappointment: "I saw that when he got in the car, he carried two big boxes, and there should be a lot of good things in them. Something. If you want to see him, maybe he will bring us some gifts when he comes over."

Sokov thought to himself that even if this White Russian brought a large amount of gold, silver and jewelry with him when he fled Russia, but after staying in the Northeast for decades, he would have probably lost all his belongings. I am afraid it would be difficult to find something better than these snuff bottles. Gift: "Yasha, have you ever thought that this White Russian has been away from our country for decades. Even if he brought a lot of things here, after such a long time, I'm afraid he will have squandered them all."

"Misha, so you are worried about this." Yakov felt that he had guessed what Sokov was thinking, and quickly said to him: "Bashilashvili told me that after he came to the Northeast, he was really I made a living by selling the jewelry I brought. Later, after I started doing business with the Kwantung Army, the situation improved..."

"Wait a minute," Sokov interrupted Yakov: "Who is Bashilashvili?"

"That's the Belarusian I just mentioned." Yakov explained: "His surname is Bashilashvili."

"Yeah, yeah, keep talking." Sokov nodded: "Where did the snuff bottle he gave you come from."

"I asked about this specifically, and he said it was not from his family." Yakov said: "After he started doing business, he got it from several other White Russians. At that time, those White Russians had committed crimes. , was imprisoned in the Gendarmerie. The family members of those people knew that Bashilashvili had a good relationship with the Gendarmerie, so they took out these family heirlooms and gave them to him, hoping that he could help rescue his family. In this way, these valuable snuffs The pot was in his hand."

When Sokov heard this, he couldn't help but become curious about Bashilashvili: "It seems that he should be a very capable person. He can actually join the line of the Kwantung Army Gendarmerie. It must be because He must have reaped a lot of benefits from this small network of connections."

"That's for sure." Yakov nodded and continued: "During the time you were in Xinjing, he came to see me several times, saying that he stayed outside for too long and missed his hometown very much. , hoping that I could take him back to China. I originally didn't want to, but he sent me gifts several times in a row, so I agreed to his request out of shame."

"His backer is the Kwantung Army. Now that the Kwantung Army has surrendered to us, if he continues to stay in the Northeast, he may not end well. It is better to take the risk of returning to the country and try to see if he can settle down." Sokov said. He said thoughtfully: "It seems that this man is quite discerning. I would like to meet him."

"Misha, if you want to see Basilashvili, I will go to him immediately and ask him to come and see you."

"Okay." Sokov was thinking in his mind that since Bashilashvili was able to thrive in a strange country, he must be a very capable person. If he made friends with him, there would be nothing bad. He nodded and agreed to Yakov's proposal: "When you have time, you can arrange for us to meet."

"You don't have to wait until you have time," Yakov stood up and said excitedly, "I'll go over and call him over now."

After Yakov left, Sokov looked at the scenery passing by outside the window, and began to think in his mind: "Since Bashilashvili is so capable, when he and Yakov go to Siberia to manage the prisoner of war camp in the future, maybe You can bring him with you, and maybe he can show off his talents there.”

Ten minutes later, the closed box door was opened, and Yakov walked in first. He said with some excitement: "Misha, Bashilashvili is here!"

Sokov looked toward the door and saw a man in his fifties, wearing a suit and a cylindrical hat.

"Hello, Comrade General." The man took off his top hat, bowed slightly to Sokov, and said with a smile: "I am Bashilashvili, nice to meet you."

Sokov stood up, stretched out his hand to the other party, and said politely: "Hello, Mr. Bashilashvili, please sit down!"

After Bashilashvili sat down opposite Sokov, he took out a silk-covered box from his pocket and said with a smile: "General Sokov, this is our first meeting. I don't have anything good to give you. This is a small gift, please accept it!"

Sokov took the box and opened it in front of the gift-giver according to Russian tradition. He saw a pair of sky blue enamel bracelets inside. Although Sokov had no specific idea of ​​the value of jewelry and jade, he knew very well that the bracelet Bashilashvili gave him was definitely not a bargain.

He closed the lid of the box and handed it back to Bashilashvili: "I'm sorry, this thing is too valuable, I can't accept it!"

"Comrade General, look what you said, these are just a pair of ordinary bracelets, not worth much at all." After saying this, Bashilashvili turned to sit down in order to let Sokov accept his gift. Yakov who was beside him said: "General Yakov, do you think so?"

"That's right, it's just a pair of ordinary bracelets, not worth much." Yakov agreed: "Misha, just accept it."

Seeing that the other party was so kind, Sokov did not refuse. After thanking the other party, he put the bracelet away.

"Mr. Bashilashvili," Sokov put the bracelet away and looked at Bashilashvili and asked, "I wonder what your plans are after you return to the country?"

"I just want to go back and see if the relevant parties are willing to accept me." Bashilashvili said: "If they are willing to accept me, I will gradually transfer my family and my property back to the country."

"Mr. Bashilashvili, the defeat of the Kwantung Army has any impact on you?"

"Impact?!" Bashilashvili heard Sokov's question and replied with a wry smile: "Of course there are losses, and they are not small. I have several factories that were confiscated by your soldiers. Fortunately, Yako It was only after General Husband came forward that the factory was returned to me. However, all the military notes stored at home were turned into waste paper, which reduced my property by nearly half."

From Bashilashvili's words, Sokov realized that this man was richer than he thought. The value of several factories was actually not as valuable as the military notes stored in his home. He chuckled: "Mr. Bashilashvili, it seems that you are doing well in the Northeast. I wonder if you will regret the decision you made today when you return to China?"

"No, absolutely not." Bashilashvili shook his head and said, "I have spent a lot of time dealing with General Yakov. He should know that the reason why I am able to thrive in the Northeast is completely It's because I have a good relationship with the Kwantung Army. Now that the Kwantung Army has collapsed, I have no backer. It means nothing to me to continue to stay in the Northeast. Instead, it is better to return to the country and live in peace and contentment. A few years of peace.”

Sokov nodded slightly and continued to ask: "I wonder where your hometown is?"

"St. Petersburg!"

"Yes, it is a good place." Sokov said with a smile: "It is a place rich in nobles." When he said this, he remembered a piece of information that later generations learned. There was an old lady in St. Petersburg. It is said that her ancestors She is a marquis in Tsarist Russia. Her profession is to sell various titles. As long as you can afford it, you can choose from the titles from viscount to duke. It's a pity that I forgot her name, otherwise I could check with Bashilashvili to see if she is his descendant.

"Comrade General, today's noble status is not a good one." Bashilashvili expressed his attitude to Sokov: "After I return home this time, I will take the initiative to announce that I have given up the title I inherited, so as not to attract any unrest. Necessary trouble.”

"Your idea is correct." Yakov interrupted: "Now that all the nobles have been wiped out, if you still go back with the title of noble, there may be people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs who will come to trouble you."

After Yakov finished speaking, the box fell into silence.

After an unknown amount of time, Bashilashvili broke the silence first: "Two comrades, generals, have you ever heard of the Tsar's gold?"

"I've heard of it, but what I know is limited." Sokov looked at Bashilashvili and asked, "I think you should know more. Can you tell us about it?"

"Of course." Bashilashvili nodded and said: "It is said that the Tsar's gold was 1,600 tons, and later this batch of gold fell into the hands of Admiral Kolchak. Kolchak was one of the British aid After the war, he re-established power in Omsk and established an independent government, preparing to lead the remnants of the White Army of more than 150,000 people to confront the Red Army.

In November 1919, the Red Army captured Omsk. In order to preserve his remaining strength, Kolchak decided to move to the Pacific coast to avoid the war and wait for an opportunity to launch a counterattack.

The transferred team includes more than 500,000 troops, 750,000 refugees, and more than 200,000 women and children, totaling nearly 1.4 million people. In addition, this vast transfer team also included a batch of astonishingly valuable treasures, which were the 1,600 tons of gold left by the Tsar. The gold was scattered and stored in 28 armed escort train carriages.

As soon as the team set off, the temperature plummeted from 30 degrees Celsius to minus 60 degrees Celsius. This extreme cold lasted for nearly three months. To make matters worse, the train was traveling in extremely cold temperatures and quickly ran out of fuel, leaving the team stranded in Siberia under the snow.

Therefore, Kolchak had to order stronger soldiers to transport the gold carriages on human-pulled sleds, carefully walking on foot in the ice and snow.

However, this was obviously an almost impossible task, and the people responsible for transporting them soon became unable to hold on any longer and fell on the road one after another. This batch of gold was left alone on the ice of Lake Baikal. With the arrival of spring, the ice thawed, and 1,600 tons of gold disappeared into the bottomless Lake Baikal together with the carriage. "

Regarding what Bashilashvili said, Sokov had seen similar posts before. He needed to know more detailed information, so he asked tentatively: "Bashilashvili, everything you said is Really?"

"Of course it's true." Bashilashvili nodded and replied in a positive tone: "Although in many rumors, it is said that the people who fled with Kolchak all froze to death on the ice of Lake Baikal. But this is all nonsense. You must know that these are hundreds of thousands of people. There will always be some survivors who will survive and take the secrets about gold to start their new lives elsewhere."

When Sokov heard this, he immediately realized that there was something in Bashilashvili's words, and quickly asked: "So, you will also be one of the refugees by then?"

Bashilashvili had a bitter expression on his face when he heard what Sokov said: "Maybe our family is also one of the refugees. But it was really cold on Lake Baikal at that time, and we could often see people in front of us. He fell down while walking. When he went to check, he found that he had frozen to death. There were 35 people in my family, but in the end, only 4 people walked out of the ice of Lake Baikal, including me, and the rest Everyone froze to death. The reason why I survived was because my brother took off a fur coat from a woman who froze to death and put it on me, and I survived."

"On the battlefields of the Great Patriotic War," Yakov couldn't help but interrupt after hearing this: "The Germans would often take advantage of the breaks in the battle to take off the warm short fur coats from the remains of our soldiers. Wearing it on the body to prevent oneself from freezing to death. Under the special conditions at that time, it was a very common thing."

Bashilashvili originally thought that he would be criticized by Sokov and his wife for saying this. But when Yakov said this, he suddenly felt like he had found a confidant, "You are right, Comrade General. In order to survive in the severe cold, wearing a dead man's clothes is nothing. As long as you can survive, it is better than wearing a dead man's clothes." Strong in everything.”

"By the way, Bashilashvili, since you know where the gold sank, did you go there and try to salvage it later?" Yakov asked.

Unexpectedly, as soon as his words came out, Bashilashvili shook his head vigorously and said with a wry smile: "Comrade General, the area of ​​Lake Baikal is larger and deeper than we imagined. Not to mention that I only know the approximate location. Even if there is Specific coordinates, but without the help of professionals and professional salvage equipment, it is impossible to find the gold."