Chapter 421

Regardless of whether the mastermind could be found or not, life had to go on. After dealing with a few scapegoats, the "Hedeng Tragedy" came to an end on the surface.

The beatings of society could not only make people mature, but they could also make people paranoid. This was the case for Nicholas II. The "Hedeng Tragedy" had not been solved, which made him lose trust in government bureaucrats.

This was not a big deal. There were many emperors who did not trust bureaucrats. In a sense, not trusting the integrity of bureaucrats was also a necessary factor for a successful monarch.

The problem was that Nicholas II could not control his emotions and exposed his true thoughts before he could find enough replacements.

In this regard, Nicholas II was similar to Chong Zhen. When you trusted someone, you trusted them unconditionally. Once you found out that you were being deceived, you would go to the other extreme.

It turned out that bureaucrats were not to be trifled with. No one was willing to be the first to go against Tsar. However, everyone was familiar with making trouble for Tsar in other places.

In the following days, requests for autonomy, the opening of parliament, and elections … appeared on Nicholas II's desk like snowflakes.

…

Paris, Russian Army Headquarters in France.

General Ozienets frowned and hung up the phone. It was another request for supplies. Recently, he was almost driven crazy by the logistics.

As the person directly responsible for the Russian Army's looting, which caused the situation in France to go out of control, General Ozienets was now in the stage of redeeming himself.

In order to make up for his mistakes as soon as possible, General Ozienets worked particularly hard when suppressing France's resistance.

"Send a telegram to the country. When will our supplies arrive?"

This was also the tradition of the Russian Empire. The supplies would arrive if they were not rushed. Regardless of whether the frontline was fighting or not, the bureaucrats could not be affected.

In order to get as many supplies as possible, the logistics department of the Russian Army had always followed the principle of "saving as much as possible". In this regard, the bureaucrats showed unparalleled talent.

"Your Excellency, in the past week, we have sent seven telegrams to the logistics department and the Ministry of War.

Other than a reply from the Ministry of the Army asking him to wait, the rest of the telegrams were like stones sinking into the ocean, and there was no reply from them.

Combined with the previous news, I am afraid that something unforeseen has happened in the country. Before we figure out the specific situation, it is really not appropriate for us to get involved. "

The attendant reminded.

Under normal circumstances, no matter how long it took for the goods to arrive, the logistics department would always call back to ask for them.

There were only two explanations for why they were so passive and did not even reply to a telegram. Either the telegram was malfeasance, or there was an internal change in the government.

Admiral Auchinetz nodded and said helplessly, "Send another message to urge them. Be stricter with your words.

Tell them that if the supplies don't arrive in time, leading to the failure of the frontline military operation, they will have to take responsibility.

Also, inform the officers above the division to come for a meeting tonight.

The country was in political turmoil, and there were problems with the supply of supplies at the frontline. This was an unexpected disaster.

If he was a powerful general, he could argue with the bureaucrats in the country. If he couldn't solve the problem, he could complain to the Tsar.

If it was a strong general, he could still argue with the domestic bureaucrats. If he couldn't solve the problem, he could complain to the Tsar.

Unfortunately, General Ozienets was not strong enough to offend the bureaucrats of the logistics department. Fortunately, the Vienna government had sponsored enough potatoes. Otherwise, General Augeniuses wouldn't even have time to think about countermeasures.

Fortunately, the Government of Vienna sponsored enough potatoes. Otherwise, General Ozienets would not even have time to think about countermeasures. Although the Russian Army occupied the "rich" area of Paris, they did not have to worry about food and water.

Unlike Germany in the original timeline, after the European War, the anti-French alliance didn't ask the French government for industrial and commercial products to repay their debts, so they naturally wouldn't help them restore industrial production.

Unlike Germany in the original time and space, after the European War, the anti-French alliance did not ask the Government of France for industrial and commercial products to pay off the debt. Naturally, they would not help them restore industrial production.

There was no doubt that in 19th century Europe, there was no third option other than industry and agriculture that could accommodate a large number of people.

If the employment problem could not be solved, the economy naturally could not improve. What was once a rich district of Paris was now a huge slum.

Since the defeat of France, except for the temporary increase during the refugee wave, the rest of the time, the population in the Paris area continued to decrease.

After the Carlist government went on strike, the situation worsened. Almost every day, tens of thousands of people could be seen dragging their families and leaving this despairing land.

The local people could not survive and were forced to flee. It was impossible to gather hundreds of thousands of military supplies for the Russian Army.

"Yes, Commander."

With that, the attendant turned around and was about to leave. General Ozienets suddenly said, "Wait."

"No need to rush. There must be a major change in the country. I'm afraid they won't be able to take care of us for a while.

Send a message to the Allied Command and explain the situation we are facing in detail. Ask for material assistance. "

Frankly speaking, if there was any other choice, General Ozienets would not take this step.

Although the Allied Command was nominally the superior of the Russian Army in France, this organization had degenerated into a communication organization at the end of the anti-French war.

Although it still had nominal jurisdiction, it was only a political need. In fact, the actions of the Russian Army were no longer restricted by the Allied Command.

With this name, the Russian Army could indeed ask for help from the Allied Command. Out of the need to suppress France, the Government of Vienna would certainly not sit back and do nothing.

But there was no free lunch in this world. Once they took the money from the Allied Command, it would be impossible for the Russian Army in France to maintain its current independent status.

If it only involved the independent military command of the hundreds of thousands of Russian Army in the frontline, then the poor Tsarist government would probably have sold it to the Government of Vienna.

At most, they could become mercenaries. It was not like there was no precedent in history. As long as the price was right, the Tsarist government would not mind.

The problem was that once the Allied Command got involved, the problem became complicated. Since the Allied Command got the command of the Russian Army, then should the command of other countries' garrisons also be handed over?

Without a doubt, without the Russian Empire as the leader, the other members of the anti-French alliance would not be able to reject the will of Vienna.

Although General Ozienets was not a professional politician, since he was able to climb to his current position, he was certainly not a political novice.

Based on his personal political sense, he knew that once the Allied Command took control of the real power, the consequences would be very serious.

Russia and Austria were allies, but it did not mean that the Russian Empire was also an ally of the Holy Roman Empire.

In the eyes of ordinary people, the Government of Vienna was in charge anyway, so there was not much difference. However, General Ozienets knew that there was a fundamental difference.

Although the Austrian Empire was powerful in the past, the strength gap between it and the Russian Empire was not too big, and the two countries could naturally become good allies.

However, it was different now. Although he was unwilling to admit it, General Ozienets also knew that the strength gap between Russia and Shinra had been completely widened.

Was the difference "two times", "three times", or even more?

No one could give an answer to this question. In short, the Russian Empire was indeed lagging behind.

As an old-school empire, Russia naturally did not want to become the underling of Shinra. Based on what General Ozienets knew, in order to get rid of the economic control of Shinra, the Tsarist government secretly made a lot of efforts.

Now that he had given the command of the Russian Army stationed in France, it was definitely a big political failure, and in the future, there would be many problems.

Knowing was one thing, but General Auchinniecz still didn't have any other choice. The domestic bureaucrats were dragging him down. If he didn't find a backer, how could he fight the war in the future?

One had to know that he was trying to redeem himself. It would be fine if he won on the battlefield, but if he lost, he would definitely have to go to the military court.

General Ozienets's foundation in the country was not stable enough. Marshal Ivanov, who promoted him, had already seen God. There was no one in the upper echelons who spoke up for him. If he went to the military court, he would definitely die.

For Ozienets personally, it was obviously more secure to get close to the Allied Command. With the status of the Russian Empire in the Alliance, coupled with the political support this time, he could at least get the position of Deputy Allied Commander.

With this layer of protection, he would be the highest-ranking officer in the Russian Empire in the Allied Command. As long as the Tsarist government still wanted to maintain the right to speak in the Allied Command, they could only pinch their noses and accept it.

As for settling accounts after the fall, at most, he would be sitting on the bench after returning to China. It was impossible to be more than that. Otherwise, it would be the Tsarist government slapping their own face.

…

Nicholas II hadn't received the news from the front line. He was busy sorting out the internal problems.

In fact, the sudden intensification of the political struggle, "Tsar's distrust" was only a fuse. The deeper reason was still because of the "reform."

Since the end of the 19th century, the Russian industrial system gradually improved. The gap between the rich and the poor in the country further widened, and the internal contradictions intensified.

Especially after the outbreak of the European economic crisis, the Russian Empire, whose agricultural exports were hit hard, had a large number of farmers go bankrupt, and social contradictions intensified.

Faced with these situations, Alexander III began to carry out internal reforms in order to maintain his rule in his later years.

Unfortunately, before the results came out, Alexander III died, and Nicholas II, who had just succeeded the throne, was forced to take over the burden of continuing the reform.

No matter how the reform was carried out, it was inevitable that the interests of some people would be harmed. Nicholas II's reform was naturally no exception.

In a sense, Nicholas II's previous scheming was also one of the backfires brought about by the reform.

…

Nicholas II put down the document in his hand and asked with dissatisfaction, "Those guys in the local government, do they still not know how to be satisfied?"

After Nicholas II ascended the throne, the liberals in the local government, county, and state administrations hoped to obtain greater autonomy in order to ease the contradictions between the Tsar system and the people.

Obviously, easing the contradictions was fake. The fundamental goal of these political forces was to obtain greater autonomy.

Prime Minister Sergei Witte: "Yes, Your Majesty. The representatives of the local government insisted on full autonomy, including parliament, elections, and legislation … "

Before Sergei Witte finished speaking, Nicholas II couldn't help but reprimand him, "The people in the local government are imagining things again. They want to participate in the state administration. Why don't they ask God for the right to govern Heaven?

I want everyone to know that the autocratic system of the Tsarist government is unshakable, just like my unforgettable father!

Even if we want to learn from Europe's advanced system, we can just learn from Austria. There is no need to think about this all day.

If you want the right to govern, if you want freedom, why don't you open your eyes and look at how free France is now? "

Obviously, with the positive and negative examples in front of him, Nicholas II was more confident in saying no to the autonomous representatives.

Regardless of how the liberals tried to shift the blame, France before the defeat was indeed the freest country in Europe. The degree of public participation was also the highest. Many times, public opinion could influence government decisions.

However, it was precisely because of this freedom that the chariot of France was aimed at Central Europe. Finally, it ignited the European War and buried the powerful France Empire.

In contrast, the relatively conservative Austria became the final winner and established the Holy Roman Empire.

Of course, Nicholas II was absolutely unwilling to learn from the Holy Roman Empire. Austria and Shinra were two completely different concepts.

Although Shinra was also relatively conservative, its states, autonomous cities, and autonomous provinces all had complete independent autonomy.

The autonomy that the local government representatives were asking for was actually a copy of the states under Shinra, but without a monarch.

The states of the Holy Roman Empire were the main ethnic group. The language, history, politics, and culture were the same. Also, with nearly a thousand years of state system tradition, they had enough unity.

The Russian Empire was different. The main ethnic group only accounted for 40% of the population. Many ethnic minorities were cruelly oppressed and had no feelings for the country.

Playing with limitless autonomy was tantamount to splitting the country. If the central government was always strong, it would be fine. However, if one day it declined, it would immediately suffer a backlash.

Starting from Nicholas I Of Russia, Alexander II Of Russia and Alexander III did not accept the autonomy conditions. Nicholas II naturally would not accept it.

Persuasion?

No way. Some of the people present might have opinions about Tsar, but they definitely had no opinions about their own country.

…

Foreign Minister Mihailovich: "Your Majesty, the United States of America sent a diplomatic note, hoping to strengthen economic exchanges and cooperation with us.

The Americans proposed to build a railway from Central Asia to the Far East to promote trade between the two countries. "