Struggle in Russia

Vishnyak did not know that he was being targeted by Count Uvarov. He was not as busy as usual now. As the most unpopular deputy commander of the Preobrazhensky regiment, he received a A slightly bizarre mission - to lead a company to maintain order around St. Petersburg.

In fact, it is to deal with the so-called mobs that have risen up, to prevent them from continuing to "harm" the noble gentlemen, and to ensure the safety of the noble gentlemen's property and family members.

"What the hell kind of mission is this?" Vishnyak grabbed the reins and kept cursing and chattering. He hated this mission from the bottom of his heart because he sympathized with the hungry serfs, but he couldn't refuse the order from above. , so he could only keep complaining: "When will the Preobrazhensky regiment need to solve the problem of mud legs? What the hell!"

Of course, the Preobrazhensky regiment does not have to deal with the trouble caused by the mud-legged man, but who makes him the unpopular deputy commander? The superiors really felt that his stay in the Winter Palace was an eyesore, so they had no choice but to send him away with a mission that would drive him away.

"Actually, this is a good thing." Boris was in a good mood. As long as he could get away from the pile of unintelligible textbooks, he would do anything. "At least you know they are forced to have no choice, and at least you sympathize with them." , will not kill people indiscriminately like those barbarians."

Vishniak admits this. He has let many people go along the way. As long as they are so-called mobs who have not killed anyone, he has let them go. Ordinarily, he should be able to live with his conscience, but I don't know why he just can't. It's comfortable, but I always feel stuffy in my heart.

In fact, he knows the crux of the problem. It's just that his small favors can't solve the actual problem at all. Even if he lets those poor people go, they still don't have enough food to fill their stomachs, and they still face the problem of hunger.

So what if we let them go temporarily? Sooner or later they will be swayed by hunger and take risks again. Can he still be so arrogant at that time?

When he thought of this, he became upset and felt helpless. How much he wanted to let these poor people go, how much he hoped that these poor people's meager wishes could be realized, because it was really not worth mentioning, and logically the reason would be satisfied.

But in Russia, this has become very complicated and troublesome. The nobles tightly cover their wallets, preferring the grain to moldy and rot in the warehouse rather than give even a morsel to the serfs.

They even plausibly argued that private property was sacred and inviolable. At this time, they thought of human rights, but little did they know that they did not even protect the serfs' most basic right to survival.

This severe selective blindness made Vishnyak surprisingly angry. He really wanted to pick up a bayonet and bleed these misers one by one. It's a pity that this can only be thought about. In fact, he can't do anything but feel sad secretly.

Boris also sighed. Of course he knew what his good friends were struggling with. Although he was not a serf, he had no personal experience of their suffering. But as a fairly well-informed person, he felt that the Russian aristocrats and slave owners did go a bit too far. They completely passed on their huge burdens to those who were already impoverished, but they themselves maintained a luxurious life. , this is not a question of fairness or unfairness, but a question of darkened conscience.

He felt that the most appropriate approach was for the nobles to make certain concessions and make a little sacrifice. They had gained enough over the years, and it was time to make a small contribution.

But Boris also knows that it is absolutely impossible to persuade those greedy guys to give up the fat in their mouths, even if they know that things have developed for the worst, they still won’t shed tears until they see the coffin. ..

Boris sighed and comforted: "What can we do about this kind of thing? We can only do something within our ability, which is worthy of our conscience. At least I don't have to regret it when I die!"

Vishniak was indifferent to this, because he was not very interested in religion. He always felt that it was a trick. As long as he repented, he could go to heaven. Isn't the threshold too low? If you do this, it doesn't matter if you have done all kinds of evil while you are alive. If you confess to the priest before you die, it will be wiped out. Isn't this reasonable? Is it fair?

At least he felt it was unfair. According to this theory, those serfs who were driven to desperation by hunger did not have to go to hell. They could repent anyway! At worst, you can just repent when you go to the gallows!

Vishniak felt that this was not a solution to the problem, but a trick to deceive himself and others. Maybe he could not even deceive himself and others. At least those noble men did not worry about going to hell when they committed evil. On the contrary, the poor serfs who were fooled were put in shackles for this, and they would be intimidated by all kinds of threats if they exceeded the slightest.

In desperation, Boris could only suggest: "If you really can't figure it out, you might as well ask Andre. Although I don't think he has a good solution, it can at least make you feel better."

Vishniak had doubts about this, because he always felt that Li Xiao was still the prince of the empire and the ruling class, and he would not side with the serfs even if he was overflowing with sympathy.

"The ruling class?"

Li Xiao was a little shocked after hearing Vishnyak's troubles. He really didn't expect that this good friend would learn this vocabulary. It seems that he didn't teach it, right?

He quipped: “Have you ever seen a ruling class as down and out as I am?”

But Vishniak obviously didn't think this was very funny, so he could only laugh and continue: "Strictly speaking, we all belong to the ruling class, but the difference is that we belong to the small group who are aware of the problem... ...If we follow the methods of those...well, what you call the miserly people, this country will soon fall into turmoil, and perhaps a revolutionary movement like the one in France or not long ago in Austria will break out."

Li Xiao looked at Vishnyak and saw that he listened very seriously, so he had to explain carefully: "Strictly speaking, Russia's current problem is actually caused by the uneven distribution of production means. To put it simply, it is The serfs did not have their own fields and were exploited by the vast number of pampered misers. Now the social contradictions have been greatly amplified due to the defeat, and these problems that have existed for many years have been brought to the maximum."

"If this problem is not solved, the result will be revolution. The serfs will rise up and overthrow the so-called misers like the third estate in France, and use violence to solve the problem of survival..."