Struggle in Russia

Alexander II, who had been cheated by his descendants, was in a good mood. From the time he left St. Petersburg, he finally experienced the joy of being a tsar.

Looking at the vast land and countless nobles bowing at his feet, he finally felt a sense of accomplishment in controlling this empire.

Especially on the day when his special train arrived in Moscow, when the bells of all the churches in Moscow rang for him, and when countless salutes roared wildly, the atmosphere made him ecstatic.

After coming out of the train station, they took a carriage to Tverskaya Street. The whole street was crowded with people to welcome the Tsar to the capital. Bells and symphonies were played together. Alexander II rode on a white horse. The Queen sat in a golden carriage and inspected her subjects for the first time under the escort of the Preobrazhensky regiment.

There was so much noise along the way that tens of thousands of pigeons and sparrows were frightened and filled the sky.

For Alexander II, this will be a preview of the coronation ceremony. A few days later, he will be officially crowned on August 26. The scene on that day should be even grander and more lively than today.

Li Xiao and Alexei stood in front of the window and witnessed the arrival ceremony of Alexander II. To be honest, he was shocked. The textbooks of later generations would never tell him that Alexander II's accession to the throne was so popular and so popular.

On the contrary, textbooks will only mention his failed reforms and criticize him for giving up halfway.

But looking back at history is definitely different from looking at the same scene while standing in the trend of history. When you see hundreds of thousands of nobles and people in Moscow spontaneously taking to the streets just to see the face of Alexander II and his queen, and when you see them shouting from the bottom of their hearts that Long Live the Tsar and Long Live the Queen, you Only then can we know that it is not just the so-called conservatives who are blocking the progress of history, but the deep-rooted poisonous system and blind obedience and worship of superiors since human civilization.

These things are the stumbling blocks that prevent mankind from becoming more civilized and progressive.

Especially in a backward country like Russia, loyalty to the king and lord has become a gene in the blood of many people. They will think that the old system is natural and reasonable, and they will also think that being enslaved and exploited is destiny.

These things cover their eyes, make them insensible, make them content with the status quo, and make them blindly follow the fate of enslavement.

It is meaningless to talk about reforms without enlightening the people's wisdom and making the enslaved people realize that all this is not a matter of course. At least when Li Xiao saw those poor serfs with sallow faces and ragged clothes respectfully shouting "long live the emperor", he knew that there was a long way to go for both reform and revolution in Russia.

"What did you see?" he asked suddenly.

Alexey was obviously shocked and attracted by the grand scene in front of him, and did not hear Li Xiao's question at all.

It wasn't until Li Xiao asked again that he came back to his senses with a hiccup: "What did I see?"

Alexey took a deep breath and sighed: "I saw the greatness of Russia!"

Well, although Alexei can keep up with Li Xiao in many things, he is still a native of the mid-19th century, and some things cannot be seen in the long term for him. He could not imagine a forest by looking at just one leaf.

Li Xiao did not get the answer he wanted. Every time at this time, he would feel lonely, and he would feel that he was always just an outsider, and he would feel that he did not belong to this era at all.

Suddenly he sighed quietly and looked depressed. It's just that Alexei was completely attracted by the greatness of Russia and didn't notice. And just when he was most sad, Victoria Vladimirlovna, who was watching from another window, suddenly said:

"Sorry, Count, I didn't see the greatness of Russia. I only saw the endless extravagance and waste, and the painful wails of countless serfs..."

These words could not help but surprise Alexey and even shocked Li Xiao. To be honest, when old Igor forced Victoria over and asked him to bring her to watch the coronation ceremony, Li Xiao resisted.

He felt that this was very inappropriate. After all, although the princess was in decline and was not qualified to participate in the coronation ceremony, is it appropriate for you to force her to come over to others regardless of whether they are happy or not?

And these days, unlike later generations, girls will be criticized a lot if they live with others or get too close to others. Especially those like Victoria who are not married or engaged yet, so be careful.

It's just that Li Xiao couldn't refuse what old Igor decided, and he didn't know what kind of ecstasy the old man gave Victoria, but this lady actually agreed to come with him. To be honest, Li Xiao was caught off guard.

Fortunately, this princess has a good temper, and her family is of modest means and has almost no presence in the aristocratic circle. When she came to Moscow with Li Xiao, I didn't know she thought she was someone's personal maid or confidante, but I didn't expect it at all. This is a princess.

Alexey looked at Victoria in disbelief, because he would not be surprised if Li Xiao said the above words. Sometimes someone is so worried about the country and the people, but a princess can also say such things. That would be a bit powerful.

What's more, isn't it a bit too harsh to speak like this on such an occasion of universal celebration? Even if Alexander II had 10,000 bad things, would he still have to give him some face on an occasion like today?

"Telling the truth does not mean not giving him face," Li Xiao snorted contemptuously, "In my opinion, Miss Victoria is right. This kind of trick to whitewash peace is really eye-catching. The greatness of Russia is not achieved through such a ceremony. One who can lay the foundation!”

Alexey snorted and looked at Li Xiao, who looked serious, and then at Victoria, who looked sad. To be honest, he was confused by these two. Does such a small matter need to be put on the line?

Besides, wasn’t this the same routine used by previous czars to ascend the throne? It cannot be said that Peter the Great and Catherine the Great were great by doing this, while Nicholas I and Alexander II were wasting people and money by doing this, right?

"At this time and that time, Peter the Great and Catherine the Great wouldn't have just carried out such a big whitewashing project when they had just lost the war and the country was in ruins, right?" Li Xiao snorted and criticized: "But now that Is this the case?"

Alexey was speechless and said with a wry smile: "Okay, then what did you see?"

Li Xiao sighed: "What I see is that the prospects for reform are not optimistic!"