Struggle in Russia

What exactly does Prince Mikhail want from Menshikov?

At first, he actually planned to persuade Menshikov to go with him to persuade Nicholas I, but Li Xiao persuaded him and let Duke Mikhail know that Menshikov would never agree. Being difficult for the old eunuch made the old eunuch feel that he did not know the importance and had no benefit.

At that time, Li Xiao said to Duke Mikhail: "Now there are only three parties that can stop Paskovich. The first is himself, the second is His Majesty, and the last is the British, French and Turkish forces."

"Obviously Paskovich himself does not have this understanding for the time being, and His Majesty obviously has too many expectations and his head is still hot, and it is impossible to stop."

"At this time, it is impossible for the old eunuch to work with us to persuade those two people. That cunning old eunuch will never do it. If you force your request, it will only make him resent you, which is meaningless!"

Duke Mikhail asked very frustratedly: "You mean, now the only way is to let the British, French and Turkish forces teach Paskovich a lesson and make him understand what can't be done?"

Who would have thought that Li Xiao shook his head and denied it directly: "I didn't say that, because in my opinion, even if the British, French and Turkish coalition forces gave Paskovich a severe lesson, he probably wouldn't wake up and he wouldn't wake up at all. I’ll stop!”

"Think about it. After paying such a high price and drawing such a big pie for His Majesty, you got nothing in the end. Can Paskovich explain?"

"Whether it's to save face or to make an explanation, he will not stop. He will only further ask for reinforcements and continue to fight against the British, French and Turkish coalition forces!"

Duke Mikhail thought for a moment, and realized that this was indeed very similar to the Paskovich he knew. That old Qiu Ba, who was obsessed with face, would definitely be able to do such a thing. So shouldn’t we quickly find a way to get him to stop, but should we do Menshikov’s work and let the old eunuch help?

Li Xiao sighed again and said: "Duke, you haven't understood yet. You can't be persuaded! Neither His Majesty nor Paskovich can stop at this time. The only thing we can do is to persuade Menshikov , when Paskovich had his head smashed and was about to fight with the British, French and Turkish forces at Ineada, let him speak for us and dispel the idea of ​​His Majesty continuing to send reinforcements to refuel."

Duke Mikhail was stunned. Only then did he understand what Li Xiao meant, that it was useless to say anything now. Only when Paskovich touched the bag proved that his plan had completely failed, but he still did not When he was willing to let go, he united with Menshikov to prevent him from continuing to kill people.

After thinking for a while, Duke Mikhail admitted that Li Xiao's statement was reasonable. Only then could Nicholas I wake up and prevent Paskovich from continuing to kill people. By that time, the bad side had been fully exposed, and everyone could see that Paskovich's tactics were not going to work. If he spoke out again, it would be more convincing.

At that time, Menshikov would offend Nicholas I by speaking for him, and it would not affect his holy family. At that time, the old eunuch would naturally give him face.

It can be said that the pressure of doing this is the best, but Duke Mikhail is unwilling and unhappy to do this, because it means that the Russian army will pay a heavy price. Without these prices, Nicholas I would not be able to understand the situation. , but he still felt that these costs were too heavy!

After all, human life is not a number, at least for Duke Mikhail, those lives are not just a number. If unnecessary losses can be avoided, why not do it?

Li Xiao spoke slowly: "If possible, I also hope that no mother loses her son, and no child loses his father, but this is simply impossible, at least for Your Majesty and Prince Paskovich, these are completely insufficient. To convince them, the only thing we can do is to avoid greater losses within a reasonable range..."

Li Xiao finally convinced Duke Mikhail, or Duke Mikhail also knew that it was impossible to persuade those two people. All he could do was to be idealistic.

As expected, Menshikov did not resist such a request. As long as he was not allowed to persuade Nicholas I immediately, there would be no problem. He is easier to feel at ease than Li Xiao and Duke Mikhail, and it doesn't matter if he is like Paskovich when necessary.

The news reached St. Petersburg. As expected, Nicholas I had the same guess as Li Xiao. Although Duke Ordorf reminded him of the impact of the arrival of the British and French forces in Turkey, he still wanted to continue to take a gamble. He bet that it was just an Anglo-French expedition. The army is showing off, betting that the enemy is just a small force.

"The arrival of the British and French on the battlefield is worthy of attention," Nicholas I said thoughtfully, "but it is still very likely that they are pretentious, putting pressure on us on the one hand, and encouraging Turkey on the other hand. Only a small number of troops are needed. can achieve such an effect, but I will never be intimidated by them!"

Duke Oldorf was helpless against Nicholas I's stubbornness. In fact, the reason why he reminded him so much at the imperial meeting was because Duke Mikhail asked him to try and see if he could persuade Nicholas I.

Obviously not, Nicholas I was like a piece of granite, hopelessly hard.

"How is Ineada doing?"

Although Nicholas I didn't care about the British and French forces, he was obviously not satisfied with Paskovich's progress.

"Why has it been so long to march on Constantinople?"

Chernyshev smiled bitterly, and replied bravely: "The bad weather previously prevented the Black Sea Fleet from going to sea, and had to delay its action. This delayed a lot of time, allowing Turkey to mobilize its troops back to Constantinople. Rescue.”

He carefully observed Nicholas I's expression, and seeing that the Tsar's mood was beginning to become unstable, he quickly added: "According to Prince Paskovich, he will go all out to take action to eliminate this trend as soon as possible. Enemies, advance towards Constantinople as quickly as possible!"

In fact, Chernyshev did not have much confidence in Paskovich, and he was not stupid. He saw clearly the situation reported by Kornilov. There were already at least 100,000 Turkish troops besieging the landing force. Even if If Paskovich can push forward the main force as soon as possible, do you dare to say that he will be able to defeat these enemies?

What's more, the British and French expeditionary forces have also begun to arrive on the battlefield. It is unlikely that this landing operation will have a good outcome.

It's just that although he knew that the situation was not good, given Nicholas I's stubbornness, how could he dare to say that this was not possible? He could only pretend not to know and let Paskovich do whatever he wanted to see if there would be a miracle!