Struggle in Russia

Count Rostovtsev was too familiar with these methods of Nicholas I. They were nothing more than a way of checks and balances. It was not uncommon to deliberately create conflicts and give both grace and power. He has seen it too many times during the twenty years with Nicholas I.

After seeing it a lot, I can tell what kind of medicine is sold in that gourd just by smelling it a little bit. Anyway, after listening to Dmitry's narration, Rostovtsev immediately knew what Crown Prince Alexander wanted to do.

It must be that this guy has come to his senses, knowing that Bariatinsky and Pobedonostsev have cheated him before, but these two are his most important courtiers, and no one can replace them for the time being . Teach him severely for fear of hurting the feelings of both parties, but if you don't teach him a lesson, he is worried that these two guys will become more and more unscrupulous. So he thought of using Dmitry to beat those two people.

I have to say that the emperor's family is different. This trick should be said to be too effective. Looking at the feelings of Bariatinsky and Pobedonostsev, they are obviously aware of Dmitry's threat , Knowing that Crown Prince Alexander didn't leave them, no one would be useless. Presumably, they should restrain themselves a lot in the future, and dare not let Crown Prince Alexander be taken advantage of again.

After listening to Count Rostovtsev's analysis, Dmitry couldn't help but feel a little dignified. Although he was aware of it before, he still felt a little sad after Count Rostovtsev made it clear.

As a true nobleman, as a nobleman who is full of affection for Russia and the Romanov family, although Dmitry is a reformer, he never thought of subverting the rule of the Romanov family. What he wants is a constitutional monarchy. Let the Romanov family become as respected and restrained as the British royal family.

So he is really willing to be loyal to the Romanov family and to serve Crown Prince Alexander, but after today's news, he can't help but start to doubt whether this family is really willing to be a constitutional monarchy and become an enlightened monarch.

You see, for such a simple matter, they all have to play tricks, lay an ambush, and divide and conquer. This fully shows that their desire for power has penetrated into their bones. Such a family is really willing to become an enlightened monarch. Limit your own privileges?

Obviously this is impossible, they will use all means for power, as long as they have the slightest chance to continue to hold power, they will not let go!

Thinking of this, Dmitry's mood was very low, and he felt that there was a huge gap between his ideal and reality.

Count Rostovtsev knew Dmitry too well, and he could tell what the kid was thinking by looking at his expression, but he didn't feel it, because it was Dmitri's ideal, not his.

Count Rostovtsev never wanted to make Russia a constitutional monarchy like England,

Make a hypocrite. He feels that such an approach is not suitable for Russia, and the result of doing this will be ugly, and it may even put Russia in a situation where it will never be restored.

Count Rostovtsev knew that although Russia has been learning from the West since Peter the Great, and tried hard to get closer to the West, this approach is very strange from the bottom of its heart, or that Russia has only learned the superficial aspects of the West, but in its bones, Russia It is still an oriental model country, advocating authority.

Count Rostovtsev knew that Russia's territory was too vast, and there were many ethnic groups in the territory, and all kinds of conflicts were very sharp. If there was no strong centralized government to govern everything, the country would fall apart in minutes.

Therefore, the existence of a strong tsar is very necessary. If there is no such a strong tsar, then the country will be in chaos. Look at those periods when Russia was powerful in history, which one of Peter the Great and Catherine the Great was not a powerful tsar. Even if we don't talk about them, let's talk about Nicholas I. Although the tsar has no vision, he can be regarded as a powerful tsar in terms of ruling strength.

Only under the rule of these powerful tsars can Russia be stable and stable, and once the tsars can't control the situation, look at the mess after the death of Peter the Great, and see why the incompetent Paul I was killed by his courtiers.

Therefore, to ensure the prosperity and stability of Russia, a strong ruling core is very important, but Count Rostovtsev believes that such a ruling core is not so good. After studying the historical documents of the era of Peter the Great, he concluded that I came to a conclusion that the ruling core must indeed be very powerful, but at the same time must be able to correctly accept the opinions of the courtiers, and cannot completely override the personal authority over the country. Look at the absurdity of Peter the Great in his later years. It is not surprising that almost without exception, every great tsar ended in absurdity, and every greatness was followed by a chicken feather.

After long-term research, Count Rostovtsev found that in order to keep Russia prosperous, there must be a strong tsar, but to maintain stability after the death of a powerful tsar, the tsar needs to be sensible enough.

To be honest, after these years of official career, Count Rostovtsev knew that this was simply contradictory. It was like requiring a person to be strong enough to be able to shock the world, but it was stipulated that he should not have a violent temper.

Count Rostovtsev once felt that this was almost impossible to achieve, until he read the biography of Frederick the Great, enlightened autocracy immediately attracted him, and he felt that there is no system more suitable for Russia's national conditions.

Enough autocracy and enough enlightenment will surely create a brilliant future for Russia. From that moment on he was constantly studying how to achieve enlightened despotism in Russia. Yes, Count Rostovtsev is not an idiot. He knows that the general enlightened autocracy is not suitable for Russia, such as Catherine the Great, is she considered an enlightened autocracy? But as soon as she died, Russia immediately fell into turmoil.

This shows that enlightened autocracy in the traditional sense is not suitable for Russia. Count Rostovtsev felt that the reason for this situation is that autocracy is guaranteed in Russia, and even the most stupid tsar has enough autocracy means, but enlightenment is not necessarily the case.

In his opinion, even Catherine the Great was not enlightened enough. If he could not find a way to ensure the enlightenment of the Tsar, so that enlightenment could compete with autocracy, then everything would be useless.

So how to ensure enlightenment?

This problem has troubled Count Rostovtsev for many years, and he has never had a good solution...