Chapter 617

In St. Peter's Castle, bad news came one after another. Alexander II Of Russia couldn't take it anymore. The Russian Empire's decadence was evident, and the prestige built up in the Near East War was being eroded.

The international situation was only a small problem, and the biggest trouble was still within the country. From the beginning, Alexander II Of Russia had been using the war to transfer internal conflicts, attempting to plunder benefits through military expansion and quell domestic disputes.

As the situation on the battlefield worsened, the domestic situation was also deteriorating. This time, it wasn't a battle between conservatives and reformists, but the people at the bottom of the social hierarchy couldn't take it anymore.

With the blockade of the sea passage, St. Peter's Castle was severely short of supplies, and prices continued to rise. If the capital was like this, there was no need to mention the surrounding cities.

In the Winter Palace, Alexander II Of Russia said with a murderous look, "I don't care what you do, you must calm the prices as soon as possible and ensure the supply of supplies to St. Peter's Castle. If you can't do it, I'll find someone who can do it.

This is a critical period for the Russian Empire. Any individual or interest group, as long as they stand against the Empire, will be severely punished! "

Alexander II Of Russia wasn't easy to fool. It was a fact that there was a shortage of supplies, but the rising prices were definitely not normal.

At least the price of food couldn't be so abnormal. As the capital of the Russian Empire, how could St. Peter's Castle not have food reserves?

The capitalists were smart. As early as the outbreak of the Polish Uprising, everyone tacitly began to hoard food.

The Tsarist government wasn't completely unprepared. There was more than two months between the Prussian War and the Prussian War, and they had also stored a lot of supplies during this time.

Coupled with the original food reserves in the capital, it was impossible to run out so quickly. Moreover, St. Peter's Castle itself was one of Russia's food production areas, and its self-sufficiency rate was already very high.

If no one stirred up trouble, St. Peter's Castle wouldn't be short of food. As long as the food supply was guaranteed, other problems were easy to solve.

For example, coal could be found around St. Peter's Castle.

In this era, the Russian Empire was basically self-sufficient, except for some imported machinery. The trade surplus was proof.

Interior Minister Mikhail braced himself and said, "Your Majesty, many areas have melted and the roads are muddy, seriously affecting traffic. There's a shortage of supplies in a short period, but it will be fine in a month or two. "

Mikhail was very clear about the reason for the skyrocketing prices. However, the interests involved were too powerful, and it wasn't easy to break it.

"If that is the case, the government will provide the supplies. Since that's the case, let's have the government provide the supplies. I'm sure any patriot would support this! "

"How?" This was like cutting off everyone's flesh. Countless people wanted to earn a sum of money from this. Now, if the government took over and coordinated the supply, what else could they earn?

The Minister of Internal Affairs, Mikhail, said fearfully, "Your Majesty, this involves too many people. I'm afraid there will be a big mess when the government coordinates the supply of supplies."

"".

"This is our last resort. If prices can't be stabilized, this is the only way out for us," Alexander II Of Russia said with a laugh.

Alexander II laughed and said, "This is our last resort. If the prices of goods can't be stabilized, this is our only option.

"If anyone dares to make trouble, we'll see if our knives are sharp enough.

The Fourth and Seventh Divisions will arrive at St. Peter's Castle in three days. If prices don't stabilize in three days, the army will be responsible for coordinating the supplies. "

Obviously, Alexander II Of Russia was smart enough not to count on the city defense army of St. Peter's Castle. He directly transferred back the troops that had just withdrawn from the battlefield to rest.

These border troops were obviously not something that the capitalists and bureaucrats of St. Peter's Castle could influence. They only listened to Tsar's orders.

If the capitalists knew how to adapt to circumstances, Alexander II Of Russia was not willing to break the rules of the game.

Otherwise, he would be sorry. The Tsarist government could not solve the problem of skyrocketing prices, so it could only start at the source and eliminate the people who were driving up prices.

Confiscating property was a compulsory course for almost every ruler. Throughout history, there had been many famous sovereigns who had raided their properties.

Usually, such emperors also killed more people. Usually, the people who created the problem would be eliminated, and the world would be ruled.

The situation in Europe was special. Under normal circumstances, the nobles were not killed, but this did not mean that they could not be killed.

Alexander II Of Russia was not a person who could be bullied easily. If reason didn't work, he would use his fists. Once he shed all pretense of cordiality, he did not mind killing.

To some extent, this was started by Franz. Reform had never been bloodless. The Austrian reform was also watered by mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

It was only with the cover of the Great Revolution that many die-hards were eliminated in the revolution, and the subsequent reform was carried out smoothly.

Alexander II Of Russia was also aware of this. The reform he promoted in Russia was resisted by interest groups, and the progress was not smooth. Now Alexander II Of Russia needed to kill the chicken to warn the monkey, and it was up to who would be the chicken.

Mikhail's expression changed drastically. His political mind was still very sharp, and he knew that the Tsar was dissatisfied with his work. He hurriedly replied, "Yes, Your Majesty!"

The Minister of Internal Affairs, Mikhail, decided to sacrifice his friends over himself. Within the scope of the rules of the game, the capitalists did not seem to have a big problem. With the cover of the aristocrats and bureaucrats, it was even safer.

However, when Tsar wanted to flip the table, the problem would change. Would a bureaucrat like Mikhail go against Tsar for a bribe?

Obviously, this was not possible. Their power came from Tsar. As long as they were still in their positions, they could slowly earn money. Why take the risk?

Perhaps many people had the triple identity of aristocrats, bureaucrats, and capitalists at the same time, but for them, the most important thing was to maintain their positions.

Money could be earned slowly, but they only had one life! Tsar, who had raised the butcher's knife, must not be provoked. One wrong move and he would be chopped off.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Clarence Ivanov, opened his mouth and said, "Your Majesty, the Fao conflict has ended. Currently, the two countries are conducting secret negotiations.

According to the intelligence, the preliminary analysis shows that this negotiation may involve the in-depth strategy of the two countries, and may even affect the war between us and the Kingdom of Prussia.

The Austrian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Wesenberg, has arrived in Milan. It is said that he is strengthening communication with the Kingdom of Lombardy. This should be a smokescreen.

At the same time, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abraham, also arrived in the Kingdom of Sardinia. The official statement was that he was on vacation.

Yesterday, Wesenberg and Abraham met once at the border of Sardinia and Lombardy. The two had a five-hour meeting.

The content of their conversation was highly confidential, and all the attendants were sent away. Only the two parties involved knew about it. "

This information was obtained by Clarence Ivanov at a great cost, mainly to prove that the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs was not really incompetent.

Recently, the Tsarist government had suffered frequent diplomatic failures. Although there were special reasons that could not be blamed on them, the voices of criticism within the Tsarist government were getting louder and louder.

Clarence Ivanov naturally wanted to achieve results, and the conflict with the Fao was an opportunity in his eyes. The two countries did not really fight, which made him disappointed and surprised at the same time.

This complicated feeling was not only felt by Clarence Ivanov, but also by most people in the Tsarist government.

On the one hand, they wanted a war with the Fao to consume each other's strength in order to protect the Russian Empire's position as the overlord of Europe.

On the other hand, they did not want to see a war with the Fao. Once Austria was involved in the war, their logistical supply system would collapse.

If the Fao war broke out, Austria naturally would not be able to continue to export strategic supplies to them. This gap needed to be filled.

Unfortunately, this gap could not be filled at all. There were only a few industrial powers in the world, and if the Fao war started, only the British would be able to fill the gap.

This kind of unrealistic fantasy was something the Tsarist government did not even dare to dream about. Expecting the British to provide them with logistical support, wasn't that just daydreaming?

Alexander II Of Russia thought about it and said, "First contact the Austrians and test if their position has changed. If necessary, we can make appropriate concessions.

We can promise that we will not plot the land of the German Region, and the division of the Kingdom of Prussia will be limited to the Polish region. "

Although his heart was bleeding, Alexander II Of Russia gritted his teeth and made this decision. At this point in the war, it was no longer appropriate to think about expanding into Central Europe.

In this world, strength spoke. The more strength one had, the more cake one could get. If one ate too much, they would choke to death.

"Strength" referred to comprehensive strength, not just military strength. Regardless of whether they admitted it or not, the current comprehensive strength of the Russian Empire was already at the bottom of the four major powers.

Foreign Minister Clarence Ivanov replied, "Yes, Your Majesty!"

After a pause, he added, "Now the people of Prussia and the British are trying to rope in Sweden. In order to avoid the worst situation, the Foreign Ministry suggests making appropriate concessions to Sweden.

We can support Carr XV's plan to unify the three Nordic countries. Once Denmark, Sweden, and Norway merge, they will be dragged into the Pudan War. "

This was a very clever way to break out of the situation. The Kingdom of Denmark could support the unification of the three Nordic countries in exchange for Sweden sending troops.

As early as before the war broke out, the three countries had been negotiating for the unification of the three Nordic countries. Sweden and Norway were now co-monarchs, and the two countries basically reached an agreement, but the Kingdom of Denmark did not make up its mind.

This hesitation caused the Pudan War to break out. It was not without reason that the Juncker nobles wanted to start this war last year.

If the three Nordic countries really merged, it would be difficult to take back the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein.

Alexander II Of Russia hesitated. Unifying the three Nordic countries was indeed beneficial to the Russian Empire in a short period of time, but the emergence of a unified Nordic country would also be a threat to the Russian Empire in the future.

Denmark, Norway, and Sweden added together, it would be another Kingdom of Prussia. Perhaps the Nordic region was limited by climate conditions, and the population growth rate was too slow, so it would be inferior to the Kingdom of Prussia, but the gap would definitely not be too big.

Ambition was always stimulated by strength. After the three Nordic countries were unified, would they still be so obedient? For example, Finland or the three countries of the Baltic Sea.

There was no doubt that this situation was very likely to happen. The Nordic barbarians were also very powerful in history. Once the great power was stimulated, the northern border of the Russian Empire would be lively in the future.

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