Struggle in Russia

Fontana's estimate was correct. For an old nobleman like Earl Adrian Petrescu, the land is the lifeblood, and taking his land is tantamount to taking his life.

Moreover, the old earl had always thought highly of himself, looked down on the nouveau riche and looked down on the little nobles with insufficient family background. For him, tradition was everything, and he would never allow anyone to get involved or blaspheme, not even the French!

"What about the French!" The old earl slapped the table angrily. "After they sent the king to the guillotine fifty years ago, it meant that the real nobles were extinct in France. Where would there be nobles who murdered their own monarchs? I have forgotten the honor and sacred mission of the nobility, and I have fallen to the same lowliness as those lowly pariahs!"

"These shameless and despicable Frenchmen have made a mess of their own country, and they still have the face to come to Wallachia! They just want to bring the plague to us and destroy us. The most precious thing!"

"My old friends, the situation has become dire, and these damned Frenchmen are planning to play tricks on our industry, and they are planning to destroy our richest farmland for those smoky industries. We must react, we must be strong We must let them know who is in charge of Wallachia!"

Adrian Petrescu's old friends are naturally old antiques like him. This group of people includes the most conservative and most landed old nobles in Prahova County. They rely on land to survive and firmly Controlling the most extensive and lush land in this county.

For example, most of the land in the Prahova Valley is in their hands. Without their nods, Li Xiao's desire to develop oil fields or refineries is almost a dream.

Of course, not everyone in this group of people is as tough as Adrian Petrescu, because with the rise of the new nobles, these parasites that depend on the land for survival are not as good as the next generation.

Especially with the establishment of the Provisional Republic of Wallachia, these conservatives are basically too conservative and unwilling to participate in the action against Russia, so now their voice in the government is quite low. The reason why they are ready to give the Prahova Valley to Li Xiao without any psychological burden: After all, they don’t feel sorry for things that are not theirs.

"Count, what you said is true, but you must also see that now the French are coming in menacingly, and the bastards of the provisional government don't pay attention to us at all, they only want to please them... Those bastards were originally I’m full of resentment towards us who watched us coldly, if I go against them again, I’m worried..."

Adrian Petrescu didn't like to hear these words, and he immediately said angrily: "What's there to be afraid of! You are afraid of those little bastards, but I am not afraid! My ancestors earned their land through meritorious service Yes, there is no reason to give your hands to others."

"That's not what you said! Earl, calm down, the current situation is still unclear, and they didn't say they would rob them by force, did they? They only said that they were going to open an oil field in the Prahova Valley, and they didn't do anything else. It's easy for you to yell, fight, and kill..."

Adrian Petrescu frowned and asked, "What's easy?"

"It's easy to mess things up. What if someone buys it with money? Even if you want to get mad, you have to wait for someone to make an offer before you refuse, right?"

Adrian Petrescu was furious and said: "Stupid! Even if he wants to buy it, he has to see if I want to sell it or not! My land is determined not to be sold, no matter how much money I give! Gentlemen, the money has You can spend as much as you want, but land is different. Land is an inheritance for generations to come. With land, our children and grandchildren will be guaranteed. How long can we squander the money without land? Once the money is squandered, what should we do?"

These words hit the depths of the soul,

In a sense, Adrian Petrescu is very reasonable. The money can be spent, but as long as the land is still in his own hands, there will be more or less income every year. It is Jinshan that also has a time when it is empty, and the other, although it seems that the income is not much every year, as long as the earth is still there, there will be a harvest, right?

For the traditional old landowners, the latter is more marketable. Although they also like money, they prefer land. After getting rich, their first choice is not to consume but to try to get more land.

To put it bluntly, it is really a parasite, which is of no benefit to the enhancement of social wealth, but will only limit the progress of productivity. After all, their land needs a large number of hired labor or serfs. And in order to guarantee their own income, they will do everything possible to desperately exploit those poor people who depend on them for survival.

Of course, for Adrian Petrescu, this is justified. He is not ashamed, and even plausibly taught those who opposed him:

"Besides, it will be too late for us to resist when people start to do something, because the signs are already obvious. Don't you see that people have already started to do things behind their backs!"

"What are you doing?"

"What did the Frenchman do?"

"Count, tell me quickly, don't be a secret!"

Facing the "old friends" who gathered around and looked at him anxiously, Adrian Petrescu was a little proud and happy. There hasn't been such a feeling of attention for many years.

The last time seemed to be 40 years ago when his grandfather led his whole family to support the anti-Turkish movement.

Sadly, nothing like that has happened since. Turkey was beaten away, the Russians came, and then life became the same. With the passing of grandfather and father, Wallachia and Prahova have forgotten the great contribution of the Petrescu family.

"The provisional government and the city of Bucharest have already negotiated, and they are going to force us to sell the land at a low price or even for free... The assistant to the mayor, Baron Kosoy, is running around, plundering and plundering, and many small nobles can't bear it. Threatened to hand over the land!"

"This is just the first step. When they finish cleaning up those little nobles and landlords, the next step will definitely be our turn! We must unite and resolutely resist these bastards' misconduct! Otherwise, our land and our family will be ruined! "

Adrian Petrescu caused a sensation. The nobles were panicked, fearing that their property would be taken by force. In order to protect their own interests, they twisted into a ball.

"Count, you speak! What are you going to do, what do you want us to do? Let's advance and retreat together!"