Struggle in Russia

The Knights of St. Andrew are really awesome. The history of this knight order is not long. It was only officially established in 1838, and it has only a history of eight or nine years.

Although the history is not long, but the members are very prominent. The head of the regiment is the current crown prince Alexander, and the deputy head of the regiment includes Alexander's younger brother, Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich, and the crown prince's aide, Duke Bariatinsky, and then Leonid. The other members are either rich or expensive, and they can basically wipe out the younger generation of Russian dignitaries.

The Knights of St. Andrew can be said to be the private team prepared by Nicholas I for Crown Prince Alexander. It recruited the entire generation of Russian elite nobles to cultivate feelings for the Crown Prince, laying a good foundation for the Crown Prince's future ascension to the throne.

Nicholas I believed that as long as the most elite young people of Russia in the future unite with the Crown Prince Alexander, the Crown Prince will no longer have to worry about the instability of the throne. If this fine tradition continues from generation to generation in the future, the autocratic monarchy of the Russian Empire will last forever. Prosperous.

Therefore, the social status of the members of the Knights of St. Andrew is quite high, and they enjoy all kinds of preferential treatment. The royal family provides subsidies and subsidies, and the promotion of officials and ranks is also a priority. Even walking on the road, they are superior to ordinary nobles.

The remuneration is good, and the threshold is naturally quite high. Only the best noble youths are admitted to join. The trial of membership is also known as the Devil's Journey. The elimination rate is quite high. After all, useless softies cannot help the crown prince and maintain the monarchy.

For example, Crown Prince Alexander has doubts about accepting Li Xiao as a member until now. He said to Leonid worriedly: "Lionia (Leonid's nickname), is it really good to do this? Andrei. Konstantinlovic has always been incompetent, a piece of crap, and allowing him to be part of our good group just... just brought our average down. He's been terrible all the time, no one likes him... …Before, Kostya (Konstantin’s nickname, here referring to his younger brother Grand Duke Constantine) strongly opposed his admission, thinking that his application should be rejected directly, and he should not even be given the opportunity to participate in the trial!”

"Your Highness," Leonid felt regretful in his heart, but the knight's creed told him that he should stick to his opinion: "The purpose of the Knights of St. Andrew is to absorb the best noble youths in Russia to safeguard the territory and sovereignty of the great Russia. Maintain the supreme monarchy and sacred religious beliefs. We have formulated the rules for recruiting new members. Any Russian aristocratic youth who is 15 years old and not higher than 35 years old and has service experience can apply for membership. After the regiment trial, he will automatically become a member of us. Although Grand Duke Andrei Constantine's previous performance was not outstanding, he met all the necessary conditions to join us. I don't see any reason to refuse him to join us. If we let our personal preferences override our purpose, then our sacred institutions will become empty talk and jokes! Who will respect the codes and oaths we have made in the future?"

Alexander was not completely convinced, he was still hesitant, or he was still very resistant, he didn't like Li Xiao very much, and he didn't want his good-for-nothing cousin to join his knight order at all.

Leonid also saw this, and he continued to persuade: "Your Highness, like you, I also dislike that Grand Duke. But we must maintain our sacred system. Compared with that Grand Duke, our The sacred system is more important. In addition, you also know that I have deliberately increased the difficulty of this test, but the Grand Duke was able to pass the test tenaciously with his own strength, which also proves that he does not seem to be so unbearable. If he can pass It is also a good thing that our efforts to turn a rotten tree like him into a pillar of the country."

Alexander curled his lips, as if saying this was a dream. But he saw from Leonid's resolute gaze that his adjutant would not give in. He had expectations and respect for this excellent friend. After hesitating for a while, he finally agreed:

"Lonia,

You convinced me. Our system is indeed the most important, of course, more importantly, I respect the friendship between us, I believe you will live up to my trust! "

Leonid immediately said: "Yes, Your Highness. I will personally be responsible for teaching that Grand Duke, and I will definitely not let you down!"

Alexander nodded slightly, and sighed: "Well, I hope so! But that guy, hey..."

Li Xiao didn't know about this conversation. Of course, even if he knew, he wouldn't pay much attention to it. To him, the Knights of St. Andrew was just a springboard. He had no interest in the so-called sacred system and great purpose. . For him, it was just a tool of Nicholas I to consolidate the rule of himself and his son Alexander. He is not interested in being a tool in the hands of that mean old naughty uncle, he just wants to use this to change his passive situation.

Therefore, Li Xiao didn't have much expectations for the upcoming ceremony, let alone excited, and even hoped to finish this scene as soon as possible.

Of course, there are not many people like Li Xiao. For the nobles of St. Petersburg, the New Year's Oath Ceremony of the Knights of St. Andrew is still very interesting. Nicholas I and Crown Prince Alexander and Kang Grand Duke Standing will come to watch the ceremony. This is a good opportunity to get close to the emperor. If he can be favored by the emperor and the crown prince, the man will rise to the top and the woman will become the royal pet. The rest of his life will be either rich or expensive. How could this be missed!

Therefore, the Senate Square is very lively on a new day. Since the afternoon, young noble men and women have been gathering here. Everyone pretends to be nonsense, but their eyes can't help but glance at the direction of the Winter Palace. According to the usual practice, the Tsar and Crown Prince Will come over there under the guard of the guards.

At 7:30 in the evening, the flow of people reached its peak, and the Nevsky Prospekt and Senate Square were shrouded in noise, entering the festive atmosphere ahead of schedule. Li Xiao was bored standing on the impromptu stage in front of the Bronze Horseman statue. He felt like a chimpanzee being visited in a zoo, while the young partner who took the oath was a tall and strong gorilla. What a shame.

Such a scene reminded him of Gogol's description in "Nevsky Prospekt": "Nevsky Prospekt is deceiving people every moment of every day, but the worst is at night, when the whole city turns into a ghost. Became a hodgepodge of noise and flickering lights... when the devil himself descended and lit every street lamp with one purpose: to make everything appear false..."