Struggle in Russia

The Admiralty Building is located on the northeast side of the Privy Council Square, on the other side of the Bronze Horseman, and is closer to the Winter Palace than the State Council Building. From this perspective, it can also be seen that the status of the Ministry of the Navy in Tsarist Russia is much higher than that of the State Council.

The Admiralty is not only higher in status than the State Council, but also richer than the State Council. This can also be deeply appreciated from the decoration of the Admiralty Building. The Admiralty is completely French-style luxury, with various famous paintings, various works of art, various gold and silver ornaments, and various antique swords and armors.

This makes the Admiralty more like a large museum than a naval administration. When he was still guarding the gate of the Winter Palace, Li Xiao often passed by the Admiralty Building, but he didn't have many chances to go in.

It's not that the guards are strict. In fact, the guards of the Ministry of the Navy are basically regarded as fake, and the ceremonial guards are completely ostentatious.

Li Xiao mainly had no time to play. He was bullied like a dog by Nicholas I's family all day long. He was either on guard or on the way to guard. He had almost no private time to speak of.

But today is different, Li Xiao was invited into the Admiralty Building. Uh, let's just ask. Accepting questions is also a kind of invitation, isn't it?

"It looks like today's scene is not small!"

As soon as he walked into the Admiralty Building, Li Xiao noticed that there were people pointing and talking at him from time to time. It seemed that the news that he was being interrogated was deliberately leaked. It is estimated that he is preparing to spread public opinion to see his jokes.

You can guess who did it with your butt. It seems that the Grand Duke Constantine is no longer satisfied with the previous small actions and harassment, and is ready to play big things.

"It's not right!"

Leonid frowned too. Unlike Li Xiao, he knew more about domestic military technical experts, and he saw several shipbuilding technical experts just now. Without exception, these people are all supporters of the old-style sailboats, no matter how you look at them, they are all bad comers.

"The old gentlemen over there all support pure sailing." Leonid reminded in a low voice, "They are also the ones who scolded you the most!"

However, Li Xiao still didn't care much. Before he came, he knew that this question was not a good feast, it must be a Hongmen banquet, and the current situation was completely in his expectation.

"Naturally, my cousin is eager to see me make a fool of myself!"

Looking at Li Xiao who was calm and calm, Leonid sighed a little. The more he knew about Li Xiao and the grievances between him and Nicholas I's family, the more he felt that he was not easy and simple.

Even Leonid, who has always supported the royal family, had to admit that Nicholas I's family was a bit too much. Even if there is a problem with Li Xiao's bloodline, he is still the biological son of your brother and your uncle. As for such a petty tit-for-tat confrontation?

What's more, Li Xiao hasn't done anything wrong all this time, so targeting him like this is even more lacking in mind and capacity.

Leonid felt that whether he was a Russian did not depend solely on his blood. As long as he supported Russia and safeguarded Russia's national interests, even if he had Polish blood, he was one of his own. There is no need to be so repulsive.

On the contrary, some pure Russians now shout that I love the motherland, but what they are doing is digging their own roots. What is the use of such a bastard even if his blood is pure?

Anyway, Leonid looked down on those blood-only idiots and moths, and he accompanied Li Xiao to participate in the questioning is just to show his attitude - I am on Li Xiao's side!

The questioning took place in the largest conference room in the Admiralty,

No way, Grand Duke Constantine invited too many "experts" and "journalists". The general meeting room really can't accommodate these people.

But as soon as he reached the door, Leonid was stopped.

"Lieutenant Colonel, this questioning is conducted behind closed doors. Please wait outside the door!"

Now Leonid became very angry, and he questioned the reporters behind closed doors. If they asked them behind closed doors, how did they get in?

The guard replied solemnly: "This meeting is held behind closed doors, and non-invited people are not allowed to enter!"

Leonid said angrily: "I am the commander of the 748 regiment. The Admiralty wants to question my subordinates, so I should be there!"

"Uninvited people are not allowed to enter, Lieutenant Colonel, please go back!"

Leonid suddenly lost his temper, grabbed Li Xiao and said with a sneer, "Then we refuse to participate in this interrogation. Andrei, let's go! Let's go back!"

Now it was the turn of the guards to be dumbfounded. They really didn't expect that the other party would dare to call the Ministry of the Navy, and immediately stopped them: "Lieutenant Colonel, please don't make trouble for no reason! This is an inquiry initiated by the Ministry of the Navy..."

Leonid gave them a blank look and said: "So what? Which military regulations and laws stipulate that you must respond to inquiries? Grand Duke Andrei Konstantinovich has the right to refuse to respond to rude interrogation requests. You If you are not satisfied, just issue a subpoena."

The guard was speechless for a moment. The most speechless thing about Li Xiao was his Grand Duke title. Although this title didn't have any real benefits, the benefits of his status were great. As the grand duke of the empire, unless he really broke the law and committed a crime, the Ministry of the Navy really has nothing to do with him.

For similar questions, if Li Xiao wants to be silent, he can be honest. At most, it's just an excuse to disrespect the Admiralty, but so what? Anyway, with Nicholas I in someone's career, don't even think about it. It doesn't matter whether you respect the Admiralty or not.

What's more, the inquiry initiated by Grand Duke Constantine is really not mandatory, it is at most a research and discussion nature.

After all, Li Xiao is not a designer of the naval shipbuilding department, and there is no real specific design case that caused the problem. People just express their opinions and opinions in the publications, and they can be regarded as keyboard designers.

The problem is that keyboard designers do not commit crimes. At most, you can only say that their idea is bad and unreasonable, but you can’t say that they have to be imprisoned and cry behind bars after designing their keyboards, right?

Therefore, the inquiry initiated by the Ministry of the Navy is actually untenable. What are you asking Li Xiao? Ask him to publish the keyboard design? Isn't this funny!

None of Li Xiao's opinions have caused any substantial harm. What do you ask him? What else is there to ask? It can't be said that there is something wrong with him expressing his views and opinions, can he?

Although Russia is closed and conservative, it is not to the point that even technical issues are not allowed to be discussed, right? What is not allowed is politics, not technology. Talking about technology means openly cursing in the newspapers, no problem! Indecent at best, but not criminal.

So if Li Xiao really didn't show face, he could ignore the inquiry from the Ministry of the Navy. But now if Li Xiao turned around and left, the guards would be really scared. After all, according to Grand Duke Constantine, Li Xiao had to appear in this questioning, otherwise such a big stage would be useless!