Tsar of the Sphinx

Chapter 7 Reform will start
Ekaterina waited for Paul to finish speaking and said: Alright, let's improve your reform plan.

The next day, St. Petersburg, the Winter Palace, inside the Senate.

Many Russian nobles and foreign nobles in the imperial government sat on chairs in the Senate, waiting for the arrival of the emperor, crown prince and Grand Duke Vladimir.

Your Excellency Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin, do you know why Your Majesty called the Senate?The elders will very much want to know His Majesty's intentions in order to support His Majesty.Ekaterina's new lover.Alexander Ermolov was coaxed to ask Potemkin after receiving praise from many supporters of the Council of Elders.

And Potemkin looked at the chaos in front of him, glanced at the group of opponents, and said: Your Excellency Alexander Ermolov, you are just a count, you should call me Duke Tavria .Understand?

Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin received the title after returning to St. Petersburg from the Crimea in 1783, while Alexander Ermolov was recommended by Potemkin to Catherine in 1785 After II, after being tested by Anna Protasova to become the lover of Catherine II, he was made a count.After becoming Ekaterina's lover, Alexander Yermolov cooperated with many Potemkin opponents in the country, trying to replace Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin's position.

Alexander Yermolov said with a sullen face: Dear Duke Taglia, do you know why His Majesty convened the Senate?The Senate and I very much need to know His Majesty's will in order to support His Majesty in the next meeting.

Potemkin replied in a very official tone: I don't know, but I will obey Her Majesty's will.So you and the many members of the Council of Elders behind you wait for a while.Her Majesty the Empress, Her Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and His Excellency Grand Duke Vladimir will be visiting the Senate soon.

Alexander Ermolov was rejected by Potemkin, and immediately turned back to the group of MPs waiting for him to bring back the news and said: One day, I will send Gregory Alex The old man Sandrovich Potemkin died without a place to die.

After saying that, the members of parliament next to him began to brag about Alexander Ermolov one by one.

After a long time, the voices of Ekaterina II, the crown prince and Grand Duke Vladimir finally came from outside the door.

Before the sound fell, the gate of the Senate was pushed open from the outside.

Ekaterina was wearing a full set of tsar's royal clothes, holding Grand Duke Vladimir Alexander with her right hand, and Crown Prince Paul with her left hand.Alexander and his father did not wear crowns, and Paul wore the same Prussian military uniform as the former King Frederick II of Prussia.This military uniform was a gift from the current king of Prussia, Frederick William II, to Paul when he was traveling in Europe.Alexander, on the other hand, wore a Russian version of the hussar uniform made by his own mother.

When the grandparents and grandchildren met, Catherine II said why the father and son had to wear military uniforms.Paul smiled and didn't speak.Ekaterina II said that she was no longer surprised, but she couldn't understand why Alexander came here in military uniform.

Alexander said bluntly: Today we are here to defeat this group of nobles, not to negotiate with them.After finishing speaking, he learned that Paul was not talking.

When Yekaterina heard this, she took Alexander's hand and walked towards the Senate without saying a word.Paul quickly followed.In this way, the three grandparents and grandchildren came to the Senate in different costumes.

Everyone in the Senate had mixed reactions to this.Potemkin and his own supporters chose to ignore this, but Potemkin still smiled at the empress. Catherine II's supporters did not respond. Alexander Ermolov and his Supporters continued to stare at Potemkin.

Catherine II took Alexander and Paul to the innermost part of the Senate and sat in their seats.

The Speaker of the Senate emerged from the crowd of supporters of Catherine II in the Senate.

He led all the nobles and members of the Senate to greet Ekaterina first, and then greet Paul and Alexander respectively.

Then I asked Catherine II: Your Majesty the Emperor, do you have anything to announce when you convened the Senate today?
Ekaterina nodded and said: I have called the nobles and members of the Senate to hold a meeting of the Senate in accordance with the tradition of the empire. Here, Grand Duke Vladimir will describe to you the upcoming reform bill of the royal family's territorial rule and the proposals made by Grand Duke Vladimir. Form your own legions and implement reforms for the Crown Prince's legions.Please keep quiet with the nobles and parliamentarians in the following time. Grand Duke Vladimir will accept your consultation after his speech.

The Speaker bowed and said: Yes, Your Majesty, you will hold a meeting of the Senate according to the tradition, and the nobles and parliamentarians will also follow the tradition to keep quiet and consult after Grand Duke Vladimir finished his speech.

Ekaterina pulled Grand Duke Vladimir to her ear and said: Alexander, go, your father and I are right behind you.

Alexander nodded, then walked to the podium of the Senate and said: Members of the Senate and loyal nobles of the empire, here I will be the head of the princes, the leader of the nobles, Grand Duke Vladimir, the prince of the empire speaking in his capacity.For a long time, serfs have been oppressed and exploited in the country, and the serf system has taken root in Russia for hundreds of years. In this regard, His Majesty the Tsar, Your Excellency the Crown Prince and I, Grand Duke Vladimir, hereby appeal, Reducing the oppression and exploitation of serfs, based on the status of serfdom in Russia, the royal family will liberate the serfdom in the royal territory, and the noble territories outside the royal family will restore serfs. Serfs in possession could apply to return to freedom, while non-noble landowners were not allowed to possess serfs, and serfs who had already been freed could not be reduced to serfs again.The Emancipation of Serfs Act will not be implemented in the territories of the nobles.

As soon as the nobles in the Senate heard the Serf Emancipation Act, they started to discuss loudly. When they heard the restoration of the old regulations, their voices quieted down, and they began to cheer when they heard that the Emancipation Act would not be implemented in the noble territories. stand up. (Here to explain, after the All-Russia Conference of Gentlemen sent Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov of the Romanov family to the Russian throne, the tsarist royal family is actually the largest noble, and the nobles separately own domestic land , but Romanov has the status and title of tsar. After the reform of Peter I, the power of the royal family began to develop, and slowly overwhelmed the nobility. After Peter the Great ascended the throne, with the establishment of the absolute monarchy, all of Russia The Council of Gentlemen was replaced by the Russian Senate, but neither the All-Russian Council of Gentlemen nor the Senate could interfere in the tsar's own territory. Therefore, after Alexander said in the text that it would not be implemented in the noble territories, the nobles would not object, because in They thought that emancipating the serfs would allow them to benefit from the commotion that would follow, so they cheered.)
After the nobles in the Senate finished cheering, Alexander continued to speak: We once accepted the rule of the Tatars, and were also occupied by the Poles, but we still stand tall in the world now, and the Poles have become what we say is about to come. Bitten food, and the Tatars have long been expelled from Russia by us forever.How did we accomplish this, how did we defeat the Turks, yes, Russia's great and powerful army, but now there is rot in the army, not proud of fighting bravely, but proud of corruption , the empire cannot and will not let it go, so the empire will carry out the transformation and expansion of the imperial army in the next time.

The reform of the imperial army will include the following additions, first, change the existing establishment, second, increase the construction of artillery and infantry and reduce the investment in cavalry, and third, reform the conscription system and standardize the training methods and discipline of the entire army , the fourth establishment of the military region system.

Let me talk about the first point to change the existing organization. At present, the traditional organization in China, Europe and even the New World is based on the battalion as the basic tactical unit.Each battalion has six to eight companies and 1000 to 1000 people; two to three battalions form a regiment; two regiments form a brigade; two brigades form a division.I have divided the domestic army. There are currently three regiment divisions, the border guards, the guards, and the guards. There are eight companies, and the number of battalions reaches 5000; the regiment maintains five battalions, with a full strength of 5000; three regiments form a brigade, with a full strength of 3;The size of the border guards is two regiments. Whether it is the current royal army or the army that the nobles will change in the future, they will have this organization. During combat, joint operations can be carried out. My new regiment will be formed according to the establishment of the Guards, with a scale of two brigades and a full establishment of 9 people.The Tsar will personally form the Imperial Guard, and the establishment of the Imperial Guard will rise to a division with a full staff of [-] people.In peacetime operations, the border guards are dispatched. In large-scale operations, there will be an army-level organization, and the army-level organization will be four divisions.

Second, increase the construction of artillery and infantry and reduce the investment in cavalry. Since artillery was used in Europe, artillery has become the darling on the battlefield. Especially in the nearly 40 years of war, artillery has become the most important part of the army Weapons are needed, so we need artillery to do the most damage on the battlefield, there must be a battalion of artillery in a regiment, this battalion will carry six-pounders, twelve-pounders, 150mm mortars, and the new weapon Greek guns .The cavalry will have only one battalion, the infantry will have three battalions, and the three infantry battalions will have half a battalion of engineers.

Third, the reform of the conscription system and standardize the training methods and discipline of the entire army.The country will advocate universal military service after the meeting, and require all physically fit men to serve for 5 years, including serfs.The army should give good treatment to grassroots soldiers, and will not rely on family background to make decisions when promoting officers.And we will implement this in the royal territory first, and if it is implemented well, it will be implemented nationwide.After the completion of the first reform, a new training and discipline method will be introduced. Every month, the artillery of each regiment will fire [-] shells, the infantry will fire [-] shells, and the cavalry needs to be trained every day. In terms of discipline There are ten regulations as follows:

First, the army is subordinate to the tsar, and the tsar has all the rights to command, command, and train the entire army.

Second, it is forbidden to disobey any order, and offenders will be shot or beheaded.

Third, it is forbidden to escape privately before the battle, and offenders will be shot or beheaded.

Fourth, it is forbidden to falsely report military information, and those who violate it must be publicly shot.

Fifth, embezzlement, deficit, and sale of military supplies are prohibited, and offenders must be publicly shot.

Sixth, it is forbidden to disclose military secrets, spread rumors in the army, destroy military equipment and other things that disturb the order of the army. Violators shall be publicly shot or whipped according to the situation. During war, they may be exonerated according to the situation.

Seventh, prostitution, drinking, gambling, fraud, murder, beating, stealing and other things that disrupt social order are prohibited. Violators shall be publicly shot or whipped according to the situation.

Eighth, military officers are prohibited from falsely accusing each other, evading responsibility, and blaming subordinates.

Ninth, it is forbidden to be absent from drills, to be late for calls, to lose military flags and equipment, and offenders can be whipped [-] times.

Tenth, under other circumstances, whoever causes chaos in the army and accidental casualties of soldiers for whatever reason shall be sentenced to death immediately; those who cause losses in the army or disturb order in other cases shall be publicly shot or whipped according to the circumstances; Those who cause any loss in the army but violate the rules will be whipped or exonerated according to the situation.

Fourth, establish a military region system.The empire will set up military districts in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Smolensk, Tsaritsyn, Crimea, the Baltic Sea region, the Caucasus region, the Ural region, and the Far East.Among them, the Moscow Military District and the St. Petersburg Military District will be collectively called the Central Military District.At the same time, the four major fleets of the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea, the Far East, and the White Sea will be established.

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The Senate or Senate (Russian: Правительствующий сенат) is the legislative, judicial and administrative body of the Tsar of Russia, established by Peter the Great in 1711, with the Prosecutor General (Russian: Генерал-прокурор) as the chairman and leading body, which has continued to the disintegration of the Russian Empire.All the members of the Senate were appointed by Tsar Peter I. The appointment and dismissal of the elders must be ordered by the emperor to take effect, and the Senate cannot suspend its operation in any way.

The All-Russian Council of Gentlemen (Russian: земскийсобор, literally translated as "Land Council") was a parliament of various fields in the Russian Tsarist Kingdom in the 16th and 17th centuries, representing the three feudal classes in Russia: nobles and bureaucrats, priests and civilians.Ivan IV convened the first meeting of the gentry in 1549. During the chaotic period of Russia, the meeting of the gentry elected Godunov as the tsar. During the Russian Civil War in 1922, Mikhail Konstantinovich Diterikhs convened a meeting of the gentry of the Provisional Government along the Amur River in Vladivostok and elected Nikolai Nikolaie Grand Duke Vichi was Tsar.

The power of the tsar was almost unlimited before capitalist reforms were carried out. It can be said that many departments in tsarist Russia had no real power and only had a title, especially the Senate.

(End of this chapter)