shadow of britain

Chapter 602 Imperial Envoy
There are reasons for everything, but no concrete evidence can be found.

——Artur Agaresovich Hestingov

"The Imperial Commissioner?"

"Imperial envoy!"

"The Imperial Commissioner will come to inspect in person!"

The mayor paused for a moment, then continued, "Not only is he an imperial envoy, but he is also from Petersburg. He has concealed his name and is carrying the emperor's secret decree!"

The news spread quickly in the warm reception room of the town hall like a thunder, breaking even the bitter snowstorm, and shaking the muddy alleys and dilapidated wooden houses along the streets.

The officials ran around like a swarm of scattered bees, their eyes filled with unspeakable shock and panic.

The postmaster was a fat middle-aged man. He sat next to the mayor, with one hand on his red vest that was almost bursting from his big belly, breathing heavily, and the other hand holding a shiny copper pipe.

The postmaster's eyes widened as if he had seen a ghost. He raised his hand and slapped the table in a bluffing manner, but he accidentally shook the cigarette ash onto the back of his hand, which burned him so much that he jumped up with a grin on his face, and couldn't help shouting, "The Imperial Envoy! The Imperial Envoy! He is not an ordinary person! Even the place where he rests must be a sofa made of the finest British velvet cloth!"

The inspector next to him, a middle-aged man who always wore a strange tall hat, hurriedly stuffed a few pages of documents into his waist pocket, and then took out a piece of cloth to wipe his glasses. He was trembling all over and kept muttering: "The imperial envoy is coming, the imperial envoy is coming... I am a nobody, what should I do? I have to prepare something for him, at least a better reception - maybe tea, or the best in Russia... Oh, nothing!"

The officials were all in a panic, and even the two policemen guarding the gate were thrown into disarray.

These two little-known Druidsk figures saw that even the big guys who usually showed off their power and domineering were at a loss and in a state of panic. They couldn't help but feel fear for the imperial envoy, whom they had never met, who had come from St. Petersburg with the imperial edict.

They murmured among themselves.

"Should we also take out that old patrol car that three donkeys can't pull and redecorate it?"

"And those rusty spears need to be taken out and cleaned thoroughly. I don't ask them to make any sound, but at least they need to look as good as new."

One of the policemen frowned and complained in a low voice: "The imperial envoy is not joking. If he sees these tools we have installed, he will definitely fine us thirty rubles."

The older policeman at the side was so scared that his face turned pale and his whole body was trembling. "If it's just a fine, it's already considered lenient. Didn't you see the look on the mayor's face? I'm afraid he will send us all into exile and banish us to Siberia, never to return! I...we have to give him some face, otherwise...I'm really afraid this town will be destroyed overnight."

The mayor heard the conversation between the two policemen, glared at them fiercely, and asked: "Why are you two here to represent the police department at the meeting today! Where is your chief? Where is Mr. Ivan Mikhailovich Skolnikov, the chief of police in Druisk!"

The young policeman quickly stood at attention and reported in a panic: "Report! The chief is on duty today, so he sent the two of us here!"

"On duty? Ha, the sun hasn't even risen from the north yet, how come he suddenly has such a strong sense of responsibility? Did the vodka last night remind him that there is such a thing as work in the world? He's really good at pretending not to come to the meeting, and he's talking about being on duty!"

The mayor was so angry that he slammed the table and cursed: "Call Ivan Mihaylovich to me immediately! Tell him that if he is so good at making up stories, he will not need to be the police chief in the future. He can go back to St. Petersburg with the imperial envoy and find a job in the theater or circus!"

An old country gentleman heard the mayor getting angry, slammed his cane on the floor twice, and said slowly: "Mr. Mayor, I don't think this is the time to be angry. We have to consider the overall situation now."

The old country gentleman was wearing a slightly old high-end dress coat, made of dark blue or black woolen material, the style was outdated, and the cloth on the shoulders was worn to a shiny finish. Although the metal buttons on the coat had lost a lot of luster due to its age, if you look closely, you can still see the delicate carvings on it. Although several buttons were missing, he still insisted on patching them with needle and thread.

Why does this old man love this coat so much?

If you catch a glimpse of the slightly oxidized eighth-rank civil servant badge on his chest, everything becomes clear.

That’s right, this is a retired Russian eighth-rank civil servant and the most respected person in the entire Druisk.

You know, even Mayor Bakalkin is just a ninth-rank civil servant.

Although the mayor of Druisk, the mayor of St. Petersburg and the mayor of Moscow are all mayors in terms of title, but the mayors of those two places are invariably senior civil servants of the third rank or above, and sometimes even first or second rank officials concurrently serve as mayors.

This old country gentleman had served in the Caucasus since his youth, and when he was about to retire, he finally got the rank of an eighth-rank civil servant. Then he got lucky again and was transferred to Petersburg to do a few months' work a year before his retirement.

However, it was this brief experience that the old man often boasted about for years - I was a person who wrote memorials in an office near the Winter Palace!

However, even though everyone knew in their hearts that the old man was flattering himself, they still had to smile and agree with him.

The reason is simple, it's just that this old guy has connections in the provincial capital!

I heard that the secretary of the provincial police chief once worked with him in the Caucasus, and the two of them are old friends who have gone through life and death together.

At that time, the secretary was almost captured by Caucasian mountain people while hunting outside. If the old squire had not carried the old friend with an injured thigh and ran for more than ten miles on the mountain road in the heavy snow, the secretary would not have such a good future now.

Mayor Bakalkin had to swallow his anger when he heard the old squire's words. He only dared to complain in his heart: "What a bullshit overall situation! To put it bluntly, you just want to protect your son-in-law who is the police chief! You dare not come to the meeting for such a big matter as the imperial envoy's incognito visit. I think you are really making a fuss!"

However, even though he cursed in his heart, the mayor still had to explain to the old squire with a smile on his face.

To show respect, he deliberately called the other party by his full name in a hypocritical manner: "Grigory Nikiforovich Zakharov, forgive my impatience. You know, I am not such a rude person normally, but this matter is serious. We are all working for His Majesty the Tsar, and the imperial envoy carries the emperor's will. If you neglect him, it will be a crime of deceiving the emperor! Everyone knows that you wrote the edict for Emperor Alexander, but now is the era of Emperor Nicholas. He is not as gentle as his brother. The emperor can't tolerate people who pretend to obey his will but actually disobey it."

The mayor's words were full of sarcasm, and he was ready to accuse the old squire of deceiving the emperor. But the old squire had also been in the Russian officialdom for decades, so how could he be frightened by the mayor's accusation like an ordinary peasant?
He did not mention his son-in-law's mistakes, but instead began to talk about his son-in-law's merits: "The emperor cannot tolerate any sand in his eyes, of course I know this. But Ivan Mihaylovich failed to arrive in time for the meeting today because he was doing things for His Majesty the Emperor! He went to the countryside in the snow yesterday, wasn't it to collect taxes for His Majesty the Emperor? In such bad weather, the snow on the road was a foot high, but he still went in the wind and rain without a word of complaint, and said that he was doing things for the country, and he should suffer a little hardship and fatigue. My son-in-law is a little stupid, but when it comes to loyalty to His Majesty the Tsar, even a hound may not be able to catch up with him."

The city judge on the side just didn't buy the old squire's account. He started to make fun of him, saying, "Yes! If it was a good day, our master Ivan Mihaylovich would not be so diligent! Usually, when he was asked to go to the countryside to collect taxes, he would only shout: 'You are a bunch of poor civil servants who don't know how to save money and only know how to drink and gamble!' But when he drank and lost money, he would shout: 'Okay, there is no other way, go to the countryside to collect poll taxes today.'

When he really arrived in the village, he probably couldn't collect the poll tax, but he could pay off his gambling debts and provide food for his family. He put on his impressive police uniform, stood at the entrance of the village, and called the villagers together. Then he announced in a pretentious manner: "Fellow villagers, the emperor is in urgent need of money, so everyone should gather together and pay the poll tax quickly."

After saying this, he turned around and hid in the small wooden house at the entrance of the village. From time to time, he looked out the window and saw the peasants standing there scratching their heads. After a while, he could see them making a lot of noise. Suddenly, everyone started talking at the same time, waving their arms while talking, and they were making a lot of noise for an hour. And where is our master Ivan Mihaylovich?
He, of course, sat quietly in the house, smoking his pipe and drinking his wine, laughing to himself, and then sent a policeman to tell them: You have said enough, the master is angry! Now the peasants quarreled again, even more than before. Then they saw them drawing lots, and the tax collection began to take shape. Finally, they decided to ask the jury if they could, for God's sake, wait until they could earn money from odd jobs.

Our Ivan Mikhailovich would have to pretend to be compassionate and say: "Of course, there is no problem with the leniency, but, hey... fellow villagers, how do you want me to reply to the emperor? You know, he is in urgent need of money. You can at least be considerate of me and your own superiors."

The peasants were easily persuaded. They begged for a three-week grace period and bowed to him several times. Ivan Mihaylovitch saw that this was going to happen, so he began to talk about his difficulties again, saying something like: "It's just a grace period. Why can't we give it a grace period? It's all up to us to decide. But you can think about how much responsibility I have to bear in front of the superiors, what kind of punishment I will have to face, and what kind of punishment I will have to endure."

So the peasants gathered together to discuss for a long time, and finally went home. After waiting for an hour or two, Ivan Mihaylovich finally got the reward he had bargained for, ten kopecks per person. There were a total of 300 people in our village, which was equivalent to rubles. If he was lucky, he might be able to collect more, and the reward for this trip to the countryside was more than his annual salary. I remember that his police chief only got rubles a year, right? "

When the old squire heard the judge exposing his son-in-law's shortcomings, he blushed and rebuked: "Nicholas Stepanovich! You say we are corrupt and accept bribes. It is true that we have accepted bribes, but who is innocent before God and has done nothing wrong before the emperor? Does it mean that it is better not to take money but also not to do anything? In fact, accepting money from others is to help them get rid of disasters. I think people nowadays are just talking nonsense, and they are increasingly singing the high-sounding tune of being impartial and selfless, but they have not seen any actions. As for the farmers, I have not heard that their lives have improved. Instead, they sigh and groan, and the suffering they suffer is even greater than before.

In our time, there were no shameful things, and it was not like today. Everything was smooth and peaceful. I have never heard of anyone being dragged into court or being interrogated! You young people may think that you are doing better than before, the people suffer less, there is more justice, and the officials begin to fear God... But I tell you, this is all wishful thinking! You are still the same in private, but you have become more obedient and cunning. When I hear you new officials talk about self-denial and dedication to the public, and benefiting the public, I get angry! "

After saying this, the old country gentleman waved his hands angrily, stood up with his cane and walked out the door: "I don't care! I don't care! Now Druisk is the territory of you young people. If Emperor Alexander, Catherine the Great, Peter the Great and Ivan the Terrible, if the ancestors of Russia knew that you have made Russia into this state, I wonder what they would think! I think that only when the imperial envoy catches all of you and takes you to St. Petersburg for interrogation, you will realize your mistakes!"

With a bang, the old country gentleman put on a bear-skin hat and a fox-skin coat, slammed the door and left angrily.

Mayor Balkakin saw him walking away and couldn't help but curse in a low voice: "Old immortal."

The inspector, who had been in a state of panic since the beginning, asked softly, "Why did the imperial envoy suddenly come here? Didn't he usually come to inspect other cities in the past? Do you think there is anything in Druisk that is worthy of the imperial envoy's attention?"

The postmaster wondered, "Is there going to be a war? Are the Poles rebelling again?"

The judge who had driven the old squire away seemed to be a man of insight. He said confidently, "It must have been instigated by the French. The French have never had good intentions!"

The hospital director muttered, "It might have something to do with the Persians or the Ottomans."

The mayor heard their wild speculations and rapped the table with his knuckles: "Everyone! Stop fooling around! How could you think that! In a small place like ours where there are not even many trees and living people, how could there be any spies or rebels hiding?"

The judge retorted, "You can't think that way. The higher-ups must have their own considerations. The senior officials in St. Petersburg must have information that we can't see. Those who can sit in their positions are all smart people, and every move they make is meaningful."

The inspector nodded and said, "Instead of taking the main road, they chose to take the small road to come here. It doesn't look like they are just passing by."

The mayor said seriously, "Whether the imperial envoy did it intentionally or unintentionally, I have already told you what I should inform you. I have already made thorough preparations for the arrangements and things that should be made for the city hall that I am responsible for. I hope that you will also make thorough arrangements in your respective areas of responsibility to prevent the imperial envoy from making a surprise visit and catching you off guard. For example, all the patients in the hospital should be washed, so that they are not so dirty that they look like beggars on the street. Also, there should not be too many patients in the ward. They should look energetic, otherwise the imperial envoy will think that our doctors are not very skilled."

The hospital director patted his chest and assured: "Don't worry, thank God, in this snowstorm, the patients with poor mental health have frozen to death, and the patients who are still alive are full of energy!"

Mayor Bakalkin nodded slightly, and walked to the judge again. "And the Municipal Court, you must pay special attention to it. The court cannot be crowded with people who come to petition and complain. That will easily make the imperial envoy think that our place is not well governed. Your office must also be tidy, the case files must be placed neatly, there must not be a speck of dust on the table, and it must not look like there has been a thief. It is not a good reputation for the court to have a thief."

The judge replied: "Don't worry, thieves are too lazy to come to our place. The lines of letters are arranged on it, just like earthworms covered with dust. Only chickens and ducks are interested in it."

"Oh, chickens and ducks!"

The mayor slapped his head and shouted, "Everyone, all departments, remember to get rid of the poultry and livestock raised in the yard! Dmitri Akimovich, the last time I went to school to accompany the provincial inspector on an inspection, I stepped on a pile of dog shit when I walked in. I am a rough man, and if I stepped on a pile of dog shit, I would just endure the stench and quietly wipe it on the ground. But what if it was the inspector who stepped on it? What if it was the imperial envoy who stepped on it? In this damn weather, we can't let him skate with us!"

Just as the mayor said this, the hospital director suddenly raised his hand and asked, "Mr. Mayor, did you forget something?"

"What did you forget?" The mayor returned to the table, picked up a pen and paper and urged: "Oh! Vasily Ignatievich, I know you are a slow person! But now is not the time for you to lose your temper. If you have anything to say, just say it quickly. If I make a mistake, what good can you get?"

The hospital director trembled as he spoke: "It's about that incident at the Charity Hospital Church."

Charity Hospital Church!

The mayor immediately remembered what was going on, and he quickly ordered: "If the imperial envoy asks: Five years ago, the government allocated funds to build a church in the charity hospital, why hasn't it been built yet? You must say that it was built a long time ago, but it was accidentally burned down. I will submit a special report on this matter. I am here to remind everyone, otherwise, if some bastard among us forgets and foolishly answers that it has not been started yet, then things will be bad.

Also, one of you should tell Ivan Mihajlovich not to punch people at will during this period. Of course, I know the police department does this to maintain order, but we can't just beat people up regardless of whether they are right or wrong. Also, send someone from the garrison to inform Captain Potemkin to control his soldiers! Soldiers are not allowed to go out on the street without clothes. These uncultured people are really outrageous. They often just wear a uniform over their shirts and nothing underneath, and then they just walk out. If the imperial envoy sees us, how can we explain it to him!"

……

In the small hotel, the pervasive cold wind penetrated through the gaps in the wardrobe and flowed along Arthur's collar into his back.

The icy touch froze Arthur so much that he felt like he was going to die.

Boom boom boom!
The hotel clerk knocked on the door and asked, "Mr. Hastingoff, it's time for dinner!"

(End of this chapter)