Struggle in Russia

Admiral Menshikov sat quietly behind the huge desk, leaning his gray-haired head on the tall French high-back chair, squinting heavily with swollen eyelids, his loose hands full of age spots Leaning on the armrest, he was already soundly asleep.

At this time, in this luxurious office, except for the beeping sound of the burning wood in the fireplace, everything is so quiet. The solid walls, thick carpets, and heavy curtains isolated the disturbance of the outside world like a city wall, allowing the elderly admiral and chief eunuch to take a nap comfortably.

Over the past few years, Menshikov has increasingly felt low on energy and wants to take a nap whenever he can. He would rather sit in his easy chair at home with a favorite color novel and a glass of Burgundy. Instead of sitting in the uninteresting Admiralty building and sorting out the hills of official papers.

When he was young, he liked these official duties, the sense of accomplishment when he was in control of the documents, and the sense of authority that decided everything with one word. Therefore, he created countless bureaucratic institutions and bureaucrats of all sizes in accordance with the instructions of Nicholas I, and concocted countless various documents and cumbersome systems.

But as he got older, he felt that these more and more boring and tedious jobs were extremely boring. Every day, every day, he can only sign, draw and seal in the vast ocean of documents, and he is so tired of it.

However, he was reluctant to let go of the power in his hands, just like a drug addict who is deeply addicted to DU. He knows that DU is harmful, but he just can't quit. Even letting him let go of even a little bit of power in his hands makes him feel uncomfortable and uncomfortable, and even goes back to seek more power whenever he has the opportunity.

So whenever he was tired and bored, Menshikov would lock himself in an office that was isolated from everything, and take a nap for a while, just to recharge his batteries and get some blood back. It's just that there are too few such opportunities, because the power in his hands will always create countless problems and troubles to harass him.

Like now.

The thick oak door that was isolated from the wind was slowly pushed open, and Colonel Pavel Nikolaevich Chernyshev, who was wearing a navy captain's military uniform, leaned forward slowly and entered. He had already knocked on the door for a long time just now, but the eunuch in charge of the house who was sleeping soundly inside the door did not respond, which made the young viscount quite speechless.

This is the fifth time in November that the elderly general has fallen asleep twice this week alone. Once he slept soundly for a whole day, and once he was woken up by them who broke into the door. Fortunately, the old man didn't lock the door after breaking the door, which saved him a lot of trouble.

To tell the truth, Viscount Chernyshev liked his job. The environment is elegant, the treatment is generous, there are countless opportunities to meet the rich and beautiful, and there are countless people who want to curry favor, so don't feel too comfortable going through the back door. But the viscount didn't like his boss, the chief eunuch.

It was not that he was prejudiced against eunuchs, but that this old man was slow to respond and had memory loss, and often forgot some key matters or meetings, which caught Chernyshev by surprise.

And Nicholas I and the crown prince will certainly not blame the highly respected and "greatly meritorious" old courtiers, they can only let his young adjutant take the blame. Although it was all mild reprimands and criticisms, Viscount Chernyshov was still quite upset, and sincerely hoped that he could quickly change to a reliable boss.

For example, now, the old eunuch, whose saliva dripped from his sleep and his large medal, obviously forgot the executive meeting of the Admiralty again. If the young and aggressive Grand Duke Constantine was made to wait for an hour like last time, I am afraid that the Grand Duke will get mad and make small reports again?

Viscount Chernyshev didn't want to take the blame anymore, so he wisely came to check his boss' status in advance and wake up the drowsy old man.

"Your Excellency, wake up! Wake up! The meeting is about to begin!"

Menshikov shuddered in his sleep,

It was not known whether it was because Chernyshov had disturbed his sweet dreams, or whether the cold air blowing in from the open door was overwhelming his old body.

In short, the old eunuch was very angry: "What's going on!"

The old eunuch asked angrily: "Didn't you see that I am dealing with official business!"

Chernyshov curled his lips in his heart: [Tch, I really didn’t see this, but I saw that you slept so soundly. Is this dealing with official business in a dream! 】

Chernyshov apologized submissively, and was extremely sorry for interfering with the Minister of the Navy's handling of official duties, but there was also a reason for this: "The executive meeting is about to start, and the generals are already in the big conference room."

The old eunuch was still a little annoyed, and murmured: "What's wrong with telling them to wait! As His Majesty's courtiers, we should first do our job well, and their job is to serve His Majesty and me. Serve me to deal with various matters. This kind of naval affairs, this is the first! Instead of harassing me to carry out normal work if I have nothing to do!"

Chernyshov was still very disdainful: [No one in the entire Admiralty is more idle than you, and you can't even do the work of human rubber stamps... Huh, it's obviously you who are holding back, okay? 】

With Chernyshov's support, the elderly eunuch struggled to stand up from the high-back chair. He seemed to have slept in a bad position, which caused his legs to be paralyzed and his hands to be unable to exert strength. He almost fell headfirst on the huge chair. on the desk.

"I don't need help!"

The old eunuch held Chernyshov's arm tightly, and reprimanded him bravely: "I'm not too old to walk. I think that when I faced the Turkish locusts, there were thousands of troops. I gallop..."

"You young people don't know what war is at all, and you can't compare with us at that time. Without our support, you can't do anything well! You must step up your training and work harder!"

Chernyshov: [Hehe...]

The old eunuch staggered into the dressing room next to the office. This was his unique habit. Whenever he appeared in public, before the State Council or the Imperial Council, he had to groom himself.

Standing in front of a dressing mirror that was as tall as a person and as wide as a wall, the old eunuch took off his wrinkled general uniform tremblingly, and carefully took out the most satisfactory spare from the rows of ironed military uniforms in the closet. Then he meticulously oiled and polished the leather shoes with his own hands.

The old eunuch nodded in satisfaction until everything became bright and energetic again, and the slightly crooked fake beard on his lips was slightly straightened.

At this time, he was like the kind of soldier Nicholas I liked, handsome in appearance, tall in stature, bright in uniform and empty-headed.

When Menshikov walked slowly into the large conference room, more than half an hour had passed since the scheduled meeting time, and Grand Duke Constantine was extremely impatient inside...