＜ Episode 71 >
“No, what the hell is this?”
I had to flag up when I saw Stolipin, an old man in his eighties, in the brief moment I was away.
“Hey… no, did I go to any Avalon?”
“It’s not fun.”
“What the hell happened, why…”
“It seems that your Majesty the Emperor has decided to slay me. Now that I think about it, I wonder if he sent you to England to get things done while you were away.”
“What do you mean…?”
“Sazonov, do you remember? The foreign minister who was dismissed just before you boarded the ship for France and is confined to his own house.”
“of course.”
“You are my mother-in-law.”
“……That shouldn’t be a reason to dismiss Your Excellency.”
“Regardless of that, I’ve been a long-haired man in His Majesty, Sazonov’s downfall was just a cause. How much pressure I’ve been pressured to resign while you’re away, maybe the meeting didn’t stop and things went back to normal.” If it were, you would have known later that my desk was gone.”
“… I can’t know… No, if His Majesty had proactively blocked the information, it would have been natural for me to not receive the information. It wasn’t in Korea, it was overseas.”
“It’s a good thing though, since you’re here, your Majesty won’t be able to openly try to throw me away.”
“Can I help?”
“You tend to underestimate your worth.”
Stolipin grinned.
“Did you say you were going to resurrect Tsarina?”
“Your Majesty’s doctor. Did you know?”
“I don’t even have ears. If you are an aristocrat who lives with his ears open, no one will know. Even among the aristocrats, there is a fair amount of support, with Archduke Mikhail and most of the key officials in the cabinet in favor, among the nobles, some active supporters, and all the rest who are watching the trend. There is no one who explicitly opposes it.”
“Better than expected… is there any objection?”
“They are all silent when the tsar orders them, but when Tsarina takes the throne, there is one problem.
“Yes?”
“At present, do you know what the greatest threat to the Empire is from a very objective outside point of view?”
“Aren’t they communists?”
“No, they’re a huge threat, but there’s one thing you’re overlooking, warlord.”
“…….yes?”
“Europe, no, the world’s most powerful army, equipped with its own supply lines, from the outside, even a nominally superior, a force in a position where it is impossible to even appreciate it in a normal way. It’s a warlord that couldn’t have been, but it was created once.”
“Wait… are you talking to me now?”
“How would you describe yourself and your military force if not a warlord? In any case, the Internal Affairs Force has expanded to a level that no one can touch, and it is clear that those who have both intelligence and armed forces will come to power, and at the very least, within 20 years, you will have full control of the Russian Empire.”
“It’s a bit awkward to hear, though.”
“Can you honestly say that you weren’t aiming for power?”
“……”
authority.
Yes, I was looking for power. But that’s… just…
“Congratulations, you have achieved a position that no one can touch unless the tsar does as you wish. But the problem is that the position is so solid, whether religiously or militarily.”
“Religiously…”
“We recaptured three holy places, what more explanation is needed? In any case, you are bound to be quite unhappy if a monarch with even the slightest bit of enthusiasm takes the throne.”
“……”
“Of course, you have a close relationship not only with Princess Olga, but also with Crown Prince Alexey, and you get along well with Archduke Cyril, so you can get along well, but anyway, the position you have gained is a threat to the imperial family, no matter how much you Even if you don’t think so.”
Stolipin said seriously.
“But that relationship lasts for up to your generations. The friendship you’ve built with the imperial family is enough to make the two coexist, but what about your children? What about the later tsars?”
“dismissal.”
“In the end, the imperial family and you are bound to be destroyed by the other if not immediately, but the problem is that the empire cannot be maintained without your military power that can become a blade that threatens the imperial family. There’s only one way to do it, and by the way, you’re single, aren’t you?”
Stolipin looked at me.
“You have to become a public servant.”
“……”
“As I said before, this is just my opinion, and you are the first to tell anyone.”
“that………”
“But I’m pretty sure this is the best thing for the future of the Empire.”
***
Less than half an hour after I was mentally nuclear attacked by Stolipin, I was summoned before Nicholas II.
Of course, the yangban has no way of knowing what happened between me and Stolipin. Also, I’m not a yangban who thinks deeply enough to take such things seriously, but it makes me feel uncomfortable when I reflect on my position.
“The German Empire requested a ceasefire from all the negotiating countries, and at the same time requested military assistance from our Russian Empire.
“That’s how it happened.”
“This is a joint request between the Habsburgs and Hohenzollern, but the Habsburgs seem to have more urgent matters.”
In retrospect, this is natural. Hohenzollern has an army loyal to him, but the Habsburg dynasty has none, so he has no choice but to cling to it.
“What is the reaction of Britain and France?”
While we were coming, the British and French attempted offensives from the Alps and French fronts respectively.
Operation Hannibal, a joint British-Italian operation, and the Nibel Offensive by the French.
And both of them were robbed of their souls by the defenders, and Alexander Hague and Nibel were amicably sacked, and Germany requested an armistice, and if France agreed to a ceasefire, the Germans would withdraw completely from French territory and publicly offered to return Walloon and Lorraine. .
Thanks to this, there is a lot of debate in France. A truce with the German army would not be possible. That’s why you can’t even drive out the German army, etc.
In any case, the German army is currently fighting in France and there is no hope of expelling it, so it would be difficult for the French people to just cry for resistance, and besides, Lauren and Wallon would be delicious.
Oh, of course, none of the Belgian doctors asked.
“France seems to make a decision based on our reaction, and a French ambassador went there a little while ago. However, the current position of the government is that not only Lauren but also Alsace should be released.”
“How about England?”
“The British are on the refusal side, but the problem is that there is nothing they can do other than maintain a naval blockade.”
A reckless attempt to cross the Alps ended in disastrous failure, and The Hague followed in Churchill’s footsteps, being ridiculed as a recipient of the Iron Cross.
And it can be said that the British military has no offensive capability for the time being, to be precise, there will be a 99% chance that the situation will be over before the British regain offensive capability.
“Anyway, everything else is a minor matter, and you should know what I am going to order.”
“You mean to help restore the Hohenzollern imperial family?”
“I don’t need the Habsburgs. I’ve already made plans to divide the Austro-Hungarian Empire, so if Billy asks, I’ll leave the Austrian throne to him. And…before that, there’s something I need to make sure of, although the process isn’t over yet. Duke of Vostok.”
“Yes?”
“Peacock. It will be official in a few days. As a soldier, there is no more room left to climb, so shouldn’t it be appropriate to give him a win?”
Nicholas II smiled.
“I will try harder in the future.”
“All right. your majesty.”
After a while, I found out a little late that a job was added to me to live up to the word of effort.
“So what do you say?”
“That’s… Your Majesty’s Majesty has heard that you have made a good run of your fortune, and your Majesty has asked you to help run some of the imperial property as well.”
Dohaha is investment management?
So I looked at the list of imperial assets I received…
“Isn’t there a lot more than I thought?”
“The Emperor’s personal wealth is not really that great.”
This is really surprising. Of course, in terms of cultural properties, there are a lot of great things, but in terms of liquid cash right now, it doesn’t seem like a lot of money.
“Well, that’s not why I’m not telling you to use this, and what your Majesty wants is a stable investment, right?”
So what’s obvious, only Coca-Cola and Apple stock now… No Apple now? It’s too early for Microsoft to buy Coca-Cola stock or movie company stock in advance.
As I was dealing with such and such things, a few days passed, and the date of the event drew near.
***
Soldiers lined up on Red Square in Moscow.
With the participation of the tsar and high-ranking officials from all walks of life, applause erupted as I walked proudly in a uniform of the enemy.
Just as cheers rang out for the tsar announcing the official conferment of the title of duke to me, the tsar detonated a bombshell I had never heard before.
“When the war ends this year in Berlin, on the Rhine, the Imperial Family will see the sacrament in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, where he saved, and we will celebrate our victory on Golgotha Hill! He lacks nothing to be called the hero who led the great crusade to victory against the enemy of Christ! As Christ gave us eternal life in death, so the Empire will gladly save Christ’s Kingdom and others!”
excuse me? Your Majesty over there?
You are declaring that you will never withdraw from Jerusalem, right?
Oh, of course, in the negotiating stage, it is true that we were not able to withdraw from Jerusalem in the first place and insisted that demilitarization was the best thing we could concede… Are you aware that this is a British-wide provocation? No, it could be that you knew.
No, this is normal, did that person do it without thinking and I just go ahead and fix it? huh?
The thing that really helps me the most is to enjoy the retirement life as soon as possible for that yangban. I can’t remember what that yangban liked, but he’ll retire early, whether it’s hunting or reading.
Shortly after the speech was over and I was officially awarded the Duchy of Duchess, something strange happened.
Someone rushed through the line of the military police that was blocking the crowd from approaching more than a certain line.
Was it 10 years old? The security officer’s face died instantly when he saw the young girl running to the podium carrying a wreath that seemed to have been made by herself, but I wasn’t too concerned.
There’s no way a kid like that would have had a gun or a weapon. Even in the 21st century, human scum sometimes uses children for suicide bombing, but is there any space in those clothes to hide even a grenade?
Of course, it is true that the stop line has been breached, so it is certain that the military police will be dusted off on a rainy day.
I let the girl come right in front of me, seeing clearly the girls’ parents from beyond, completely frozen and frozen right in front of the line.
Seeing the girl jumping and jumping trying to put the wreath on me, I glanced at the tsar’s benevolent smile, and I bowed in response and made the girl hang the wreath for me.
A group of reporters frantically took pictures, and the scene of the girl putting a wreath on me was published in major Western newspapers, including the Washington Post and Times shortly after.
Exactly what I was hoping for.