Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

Chapter 159 016 Petersburg’s Tower of Bitterness (Part 2)

Paul did hear the noise outside. Regardless of other people's feelings, he also knew that this should be a real coup.

He knew right away that he had underestimated the venomous snake, and that the one he raised was not a dog, but might be worse than a beast.

The secret passage leading to the queen's palace was sealed, and he ran towards Prince Gagarina's wife's room. When he came to the secret staircase, he heard a voice coming from the other side.

In this way, Paul also knew that he was now a turtle in a urn, and could only sit and wait for death.

Bennigsen and the Zubov brothers were still searching for him, and Paul could only hide in the closet. Only by luck, he was able to escape without searching the closet.

If these people leave the room, he may still have a chance to escape. As long as he can reach the corridor, the Guards soldiers still love him, and he may have a chance to make a comeback.

At this time, he regretted sending Solovyov to Alexander. If he was still in the 1st Battalion of the General Regiment, it was unlikely that he would let such a group of people in during night duty.

Bennigsen saw what was going on in the closet. He walked over and didn't pay much attention, but Count Zubov behind him saw something was wrong.

The officers opened the cupboard door and took out Paul, who was wearing pajamas.

The Tsar himself was of short stature, and he would definitely not be able to defeat these tall officers.

"What's this?"

"Your Majesty, please abdicate! Just sign it."

Count Zubov stood in front of Paul expressionlessly and took out the drafted abdication edict.

"No, I won't sign it!"

This is Paul's attitude now.

But these drunken officers had already entered the emperor's palace, making the place full of alcohol, and everyone had weapons in their hands. At first, Paul mistakenly thought that Constantine was also there. There was a young officer wearing the uniform of the Ismailov regiment mixed in. He even said "Et tu", Caesar's famous saying, but he blinked and looked at it. , it's not Constantine, so I feel confident that my son didn't come here directly to rebel.

Bennigsen, who always had a cavalry sword in his hand, raised his sword and said to Paul: "Monsieur, vousêtes mon prisonnier, et votre règne est terminé. Renoncer au trne et signer immédiatement un acte d' Abdication en faveur du grand-duc Alexandre." (Sir, you are my prisoner and your reign has ended. Relinquish the throne and sign the act of abdication immediately to give way to Grand Duke Alexander.)

"Abdicate? Sign this edict? Who gave you the power?"

"In the name of the country and the people, Your Majesty, everyone has been fed up with what you have done in the past few years."

Count Platon Zubov said this, which made Paul's attitude toward him even more contemptuous.

"Hmph! No one has ever achieved the benefits I have brought to the people in the past. I issued the "Three Days of Labor Declaration" to the serfs, prohibited the separation of families when buying and selling serfs, abolished the poll tax, reformed the tax system, and also Destroyed our country's unpayable bonds and banknotes, which no one could really do in the past. The Russian army achieved brilliant victories in Italy, the Georgian princes also asked for surrender, and our country has never been more stable and prosperous than it is today, without serfs and citizens rising up."

The more Paul spoke, the louder and louder he became, and the more powerful he became, forcing Count Platon to retreat step by step.

"As for you, you just relied on your mother's favor to get into the center of the palace. Although I don't like Prince Potemkin, he did much better than you. Among the four of you brothers, Nikolai and Val I know everything about Lerian, but I still have some courage. You sold yourself to seek refuge with your mother when she was dying. Giving me the imperial edict in advance is cowardly and betrayal. My name is already written on the edict, but what have you done to take advantage of my mother's trust? You villain, you raise a vicious dog that you don’t know well. The dog still sheds tears when its owner is about to die!”

When Paul said this, he thought of his father, Peter III, who died early, and then of his empress mother. In the end, they were both betrayed by their favorites, and tears flowed out.

"I will never sign this bullshit abdication decree! You guys, the grooms of Courland, the salted fish in the Baltic Sea, the stupid donkeys on the Gulf of Riga, if you really think that you are asking me to abdicate for the sake of the country and the people, , fart! Do the 36 million people really support you as you say? Do you want to come and see the soldiers in the palace, the citizens of Petersburg, Moscow and major cities, the free people in the countryside and the manors? Serfs to evaluate?”

Count Zubov realized a problem at this time, that is, if Paul continued to speak like this, although the little tsar usually did not speak very well, when he was angry, the more he spoke like this, the more the officers who were involved in the coup would feel This matter needs to be blown.

And at this time, Paul began to feel compassion for them again.

"It's too late for you to step back from the brink. I will forgive you. How pitiful, you want to depose me in the name of my son? I think this is impossible! My son Alexander, he was born to be my heir, this is After the royal succession law is promulgated, there will be no more changes. No matter how much I hate my son, I can't change the laws of the country! It's not too late for you to put down your weapons and return your allegiance to me. I won't treat you as such. You are traitors."

His evasiveness really made the officers involved a little shaken. Bennigsen was very calm at the moment. He knew that the worst outcome for him would be to be deprived of all the honors he had received in Russia and be deported—— After all, he is still a citizen of Hanover.

It was extremely dark in the palace at this moment, and he was going to go out to find a candlestick and check the situation again.

As for the two Zubov brothers, in terms of talking heads, they are actually not as good as Paul. Paul looks so short and inconspicuous, but he studies very hard. He is familiar with law, science, history, and has also learned many foreign languages. Although he has never been on the battlefield, he has his own way of training, organizing logistics, and researching military equipment.

Really full power output, Count Platon Zubov is not necessarily Paul's opponent, his level is far behind Potemkin.

Although Paul had strong objections to Potemkin and even prepared to raise his coffin, he took great care of his relatives.

He was somewhat dismissive of Platon Zubov, and the current situation was even more unfavorable to the count.

Count von Palen was outside. He arrested Count Kutaisov and found a note in his hand that said, "Someone is making trouble tonight. It may be the Count from Courland." The note looks like The handwriting is still very new.

"snort!"

As soon as he hummed, he saw an officer from Zubov's team coming over.

"Earl, we have taken control of the palace, but..."

"Has the edict of abdication been signed?"

"No, Your Majesty, he doesn't want to."

Seeing that the young officer was a little shaken, von Palen's face was also very ferocious.

"I think at this time, we should take the last resort. What should we do? You can tell them and implement it according to the plan!"

As for the "plan", it was what Count von Palen had been planning all along, to complete the regicide at this time and physically end Paul's rule.

However, he did not control any of the royal family members.

Mrs. Leven, who heard the commotion upstairs, came to the children's bedroom, called Maria, Ekaterina, Anna, Nikolai and Mikhail, changed their clothes, and then let the eldest children She led the child, followed by the nanny and maid, and ran from the secret staircase to the stables.

"Your Highness Maria, just go to the stables and let the groom take you to the Winter Palace!"

While Mrs. Levin herself was making a fuss in the palace, she took this opportunity to try to go to the queen's bedroom, but when she turned to the stairs, she saw several officers at the door.

She was also afraid of getting into trouble, so she went back to her room. Now she could only wait for an opportunity.

The officers who had received instructions from von Palen had been listening to Paul use words as weapons to push Count Platon into the corner.

Seeing this situation, Nicholas couldn't bear to hear his brother being unilaterally attacked by the monarch, so he hit Paul with the snuff box in his hand.

Although he was extremely powerful, he still had some sense of measure when hitting people, and he wouldn't kill them all at once.

But after the officers who came over saw Count Nicholas beating the Tsar, they emboldened themselves to attack Paul.

The most ruthless striker was Prince Yashvili of Georgia. He rushed forward, first knocked Paul down, and then punched him.

Paul was still struggling to resist, and he kicked the Georgian in the crotch, causing him to scream in pain. Then the other officers rushed forward, using sword hilts, fists, and anything they could to pick up. Stuff beat the Tsar himself.

The Zubov brothers looked on in shock. This group of drunkards were trying to destroy this plan. By this time, Count Platon's drunkenness had completely passed. What he saw was the ultimate uncontrollable situation.

Paul's face was now covered in blood, and he was lying on his simple royal bed. He was not breathing, and there was a scarf around his neck. It was obvious that these officers had strangled him.

None of those beatings were immediately fatal, but the interruption of breathing was certainly fatal.

When Bennigsen came back with the candlestick, he saw this scene, and he could hear it clearly at the door.

"What the hell have you done?"

These three leaders knew the current situation, so they went to find Count von Palen.

"It's good now. These guys are going to kill the king directly. I think what you said about breaking eggs is for this purpose, right?"

Although Count Zubov and his brothers had a good relationship with Paul, they were not willing to directly become regicides, especially since Nicholas really gave Paul a try.

"Now that things have come to this point, we can't stop doing anything. The only way to solve the problem is to meet His Highness and support him on the throne!"

Count von Paalen completed his vicious plan to kill the king, but his back-up plan was ruined. Alexander and Constantine were not in the palace. Only Queen Maria and her five children were there. However, looking at the royal carriage running out of the yard, the count knew that someone might have already run away.

"What's going on over there?"

"Sir, several little princes took a carriage to the Champ de Mars."

"What?"

These conspirators and murderers all left Paul's bedroom. Discussing the next countermeasures in the stairs, Count von Paalen advocated mobilizing the Guards. After all, the commanders of the two Guards were here and they could still mobilize troops.

It was late at night, and Count von Paalen was still preparing to use his power as the military governor of Petersburg to mobilize troops other than the Guards. Under the premise that there was no plan, he was ready to go all out and force Alexander to succeed to the throne, exempt them from their guilt, and control the government.

But no one knew whether it would succeed.

Agapeyev woke up at this moment. He had just had his head broken and fainted for a while. Now he was still dizzy when he sat up.

He saw that the doors of the bedroom were all open, so he knew something was wrong. Thinking back, someone must have attacked just now.

Then he saw that Kirillov was also lying there with blood all over his face.

"Brother, wake up."

He confirmed that the hussar was not dead, so he wanted to see the situation inside the bedroom, and then he saw a scene that shocked him.

"Your Majesty, what happened to you?"

Agapeyev remembered Paul's kindness and gave him a medal.

Paul was indeed dead. The loyal guard remembered that he had sworn to protect the Tsar himself, but now this was the result, so he burst into tears. He also found Paul's military coat and hat and covered his body first.

Then he thought calmly that if someone attacked him, it must be a rebellion. At this time, he had only one way, which was to sneak out and report the death to the Winter Palace or the Marble Palace, at least to let one of the two princes know.

The Mars Square was in chaos again, so he crossed the moat and went to Nevsky Avenue.

He made a big circle so that he could still touch the gate of the Winter Palace on the other side of the palace embankment. Agapeyev tore a shirt to bandage his head. He didn't want to faint again before seeing the crown prince.

He was also lucky. Count von Palen's attention was all on Mars Square at the moment. He could run out to Nevsky Avenue, but he didn't dare to talk to the guards cavalry officers on the street.

But among the officers patrolling the streets at night, there was Davydov. The young hussar saw Agapeyev and grabbed him to ask questions.

"You are a soldier from the 1st Battalion of the Putin Regiment, what happened? Were you attacked?"

"Second Lieutenant, something bad has happened. Take me to the Winter Palace. I need to report to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and the general on duty!"

Davydov looked rough, but very smart. He knew that something must have happened in the Mikhailovsky Palace.

"Can you ride a horse? Come with me. I'll take you to the Winter Palace!"