Struggle in Russia

Alexei took a deep breath, and said to Leonid very solemnly: "I don't deny what you said, but no matter what you do, you can't do anything recklessly. If you are reckless, you will not only fail to achieve your goal, but will lose more. many."

"As the Governor of Wallachia, and a subject of the Russian Empire, I must first ensure that the interests of Wallachia and Russia are not harmed. My duty is to defend the motherland and defend Wallachia, among other things , I will only do it when I have the ability. And now I think it is too premature to do those things, too risky! So I don’t support it!”

Leonid never expected Alexei to answer him like this, because he always thought that Alexei was his kind, with pious faith and abundant patriotism, and people like them would definitely agree .

But when Alexei clearly told him that he opposed it, Leonid's illusion was shattered, and the Alexei he had imagined was instantly shattered. This gap made him really unacceptable.

"You have changed!" Leonid condemned angrily with red eyes, "You have become so philistine and so ugly that you have even forgotten your ideals. You have let me down so much!"

But Alexei replied very calmly: "I haven't changed, and I haven't forgotten my ideals. It was you who became paranoid and unreasonable, and it was you who changed!"

"Why am I paranoid!" Leonid roared again, "It's because you can't see the surging wave of Slavic national liberation, you only know to hide in that luxurious governor's mansion and enjoy flattery and flattery, you How can you understand the sufferings of those people, how can you know the painful cry of those Slavic brothers, no! You don’t understand, you don’t care at all!”

Leonid's emotions exploded all of a sudden, the expression on his face was distorted, and it could be seen that he was extremely angry.

This startled the onlookers Boris and Vishniak, for fear that the two young friends would fight. But before they stepped forward to dissuade him, Alexei took a firm step forward and retorted without hesitation:

"Aren't you paranoid? Look at how distorted and ugly you look now. Is this still the gentle and gentle Leonid who allowed others to comment? You said that I only know how to hide in the Governor's Palace and enjoy sensuality. That's it. Pure conjecture!"

After a short pause, Alexei said excitedly: "Do you know how many departments I have to visit every day, how many officials I have to meet, and how many documents I have to review? You don't know! You just stay in your own ivory tower, Cong You don’t hear what’s going on outside the window, you concentrate on building a car behind closed doors, dreaming about the so-called ideals, but you don’t know that everything you look forward to has long been outdated, and it’s completely out of date!”

Alexey emphasized: "You don't even know that you are completely out of touch with this era, and you don't even know what those so-called oppressed and enslaved Bulgarian Orthodox brothers think. Because you don't care about them at all." thoughts,

All you care about is whether you can make contributions, whether you can realize your dream like a castle in the air! "

"It's you, not me, who need to wake up. It's because I know all of this, and I know the seriousness of it, that I will proceed with caution, so that I won't be as hot-headed as you and like a bull chasing everything I see. !"

Alexei spoke these words freely, and did not give Leonid a chance to interrupt him at all. It could be seen that he had held these words in his heart for a long time, and finally uttered them all at once today.

There was no sound in the study for a while, no matter whether it was the furious Leonid, Alexei who made a generous statement, or Li Xiao who was watching the play, none of them intended to break the silence on their own initiative.

After a long time, Alexei sighed and said emotionally to Leonid: "Wake up, my friend, how can you not see all this clearly with your wisdom? Don't let those illusory things Interfering with your judgment, those are all fake and deceiving, get rid of these interferences, and let the real you come back!"

Alexei looked at Leonid affectionately. The latter had a very rich expression at this time, and he could see confusion, resistance and reluctance.

Obviously, the big pie painted by Nicholas I was too attractive to people like him, and it was simply an inescapable temptation. Even if it was Alexey who moved with reason and emotion, it could only move him a little bit.

Sure enough, Leonid suddenly sighed, and said leisurely: "Alexey, I always believe that what I see and what I insist on are correct. My lifelong ideal is to fight for this, so I will never give up. Take this chance!"

In an instant, Leonid's expression became firm again, obviously Alexei's persuasion did not work. In this regard, Alexei can only sigh: "Well, you have your choice and persistence, I can understand!"

While speaking, Alexei suddenly raised his head and said firmly: "But I also have my choice and persistence!"

Leonid took a deep breath. He probably guessed what Alexei was going to say next. Sure enough, Alexei immediately said decisively: "Major General Leonid, I am now in the name of the Governor of Wallachia. I formally inform you that in view of your refusal to carry out the orders of your superiors and openly humiliating and confronting your superiors, I officially announce that you will be relieved of your post as brigade commander, please hand over your duties immediately after receiving the order, and then report to the Military Law Office!"

Leonid seemed to appreciate Alexei's resoluteness, and although he was fired, he was glad that his friend had finally learned to stick to his principles.

So he replied very calmly: "I will hand over my duties as soon as possible, but I will also report to my superiors the real situation of your preparations for war, and condemn your bad behavior of fearing the enemy and avoiding war!"

"That's your freedom!" Alexei replied indifferently, "In addition, those subordinates of yours have also been dismissed from their posts. In view of their bad behavior, they will be demoted!"

Leonid was finally a little moved. He originally thought that Alexei would dismiss him at most, and then stop there. Who would have thought that Alexei would pursue it to the end. people.

"They are all excellent officers, and the big battle is coming..."

Leonid was about to say good things for his subordinates, but Alexei interrupted him without hesitation: "No matter how good an officer is, he must obey orders! Those who don't obey orders are not worthy of staying in Wallachia. I will never allow this kind of incident to happen again, and I must serve as an example to others!"