Struggle in Russia

Count Uvarov vomited blood. He did not get any benefits from this round of confrontation. Instead, rumors and rumors about him were flying all over the sky. He also experienced what it was like to spread rumors and break his legs by opening his mouth to refute them.

The question is, when has he ever suffered such a loss? He has always been the only one who has had people run away and break their legs, but now that he has been beaten to a pulp, how can he endure this tone?

"We can't just let it go!" he said angrily, "This is not the first time. If I choose to swallow my anger, I'm afraid that bastard will get even more aggressive!"

The bastard in his mouth naturally refers to Count Rostovtsev. He has fought with Count Rostovtsev several times in the past few months, but each time the result was that he was disgraced or suffered a loss.

Now the new and old hatreds were added together, but he was furious and wanted to do anything to make Count Rostovtsev look good.

"What's your reaction to the rumors I asked you to spread?"

Chernyshev was afraid that Count Uvarov would ask this, so he answered hesitantly: "That...that what...it's okay...many people...are talking about it..."

Well, such nonsense cannot be hidden from Count Uvarov. He snorted coldly: "Tell the truth, don't hesitate!"

Chernyshev immediately replied with a grimace: "Count, no one is interested in whether Count Rostovtsev has been corrupted or bribed. The focus now is the purchase of Alaska, and they are very interested in it!"

Count Uvarov's face became a little more ugly. This was what he was most afraid of hearing. He just couldn't understand why there were so many fools flocking to it when it was obviously a loss-making transaction.

He couldn't figure this out simply because of asymmetric information. The news that there were gold mines in Alaska was not widely spread. Only a few noble circles who were close to Count Rostovtsev or Li Xiao knew about it.

However, there is never a shortage of smart people in this world. When bigwigs such as Duke Ordorf, Duke Gorchakov and Duke Vorontsov all showed extraordinary interest, anyone with a little bit of brain would realize that this was not normal.

These top tycoons may have extraordinary patriotic sentiments, but this patriotic sentiment is not enough to make them spend a lot of money and drain their wealth, right?

Anyway, normal people would not be so reckless, so there must be something wrong with it. As for any questions, you have to use your skills to find out slowly.

It's just that not everyone can find out the truth. The few smart people who have found out the news about the gold mine have spent a lot of money to join the patriotic action of purchasing Alaska for their own benefit. On the other hand, they have also tried every means to block the news. , after all, there are only so many gold mines. If one more person joins, they will earn one less point. That is not cost-effective!

After three weeks of struggling like this, the craze reached its peak when Nicholas I finally determined the sale price of Alaska and allowed all nobles in Russia to purchase it voluntarily.

Count Rostovtsev and others immediately took action and jointly purchased 70% of the land in Alaska for 15 million rubles. Other nobles who followed the trend also pooled nearly 5 million rubles to buy nearly 25% of the land, which meant that Alaska was sold out in the blink of an eye.

When things got to this point, it was too late for Count Uvarov to stop it. Although twenty million rubles is only over ten million US dollars, this price is much more sincere than when the finance minister negotiated with the Americans. What's more, this is a sale to his own people. Alaska still belongs to Russia, and there is no reputation of betrayal at all.

In this way, Nicholas I gained both face and dignity. Why do you think he would be unhappy?

Of course, he was happy that Nicholas I also noticed another problem, that is, most of the people who were eager to buy Alaska were neutral or liberal nobles, while the conservative nobles did not say that there was no money in their pockets, but the money they spent was really It's a drop in the bucket and completely inconsistent with their net worth.

Especially when Nicholas I noticed that Count Uvarov had no money, would you say that he had no opinions or ideas? Is that possible?

So the question is, doesn’t a smart man like Count Uvarov realize that this is dangerous?

With his sophistication, he wouldn't make such a stupid mistake, right?

Count Uvarov was naturally aware of this, but his actions were too slow. He originally planned to spend 100,000 rubles to buy a piece of land as a token of his wealth and avoid disaster.

But by the time he rushed to the Treasury Department to buy the land, Alaska had almost been purchased. The remaining 5% of the land is either full of frozen soil near the Arctic Circle, or it is a barren mountain with nothing.

Although one hundred thousand rubles is not much to him, his money does not come from the strong wind. Why should he spend a piece of worthless garbage?

Moreover, Count Uvarov was still lucky. He felt that since Alaska sold so well, Nicholas I must be ecstatic! At this time, he probably wouldn't care who paid for it, and he would forget about it after the gust of wind passed.

It can only be said that Count Uvarov underestimated Count Rostovtsev. Nicholas I was indeed like Count Uvarov imagined. He was just happy with the money and had no intention to care about it for the time being. Who paid and who didn’t.

But the problem is that Nicholas I may forget, but Count Rostovtsev and his colluded friends such as Duke Ordov and Duke Gorchakov will not forget.

They had more or less conflicts with Count Uvarov before. How could they let go of such a good opportunity for revenge?

Soon Nicholas I heard some unharmonious rumors. It was said that Count Uvarov was very dissatisfied with Count Rostovtsev and thought that selling Alaska to the country's nobles was a terrible idea. It was better to sell it to Americans also say that Count Rostovtsev is a man who uses his reputation to win people's hearts.

In short, Count Uvarov was dissatisfied with Count Rostovtsev in various ways.

If it were normal times, Nicholas I would actually like his ministers to fight. Especially for ministers of the rank of Count Uvarov and Count Rostovtsev, it is best if they dislike each other, so that he can feel at ease.

But the situation is different now. Count Rostovtsev has just come up with such a great idea to solve his urgent need, and he has also generously spent a lot of money. This is a model!

If you slap the model in the face now, then who will work for him in the future?