I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 321 If you don’t take the blame, who will?
From the moment Yasan died, Nicholas automatically became the new Tsar of the Russian Empire.

When Nikolai's only grandfather, Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolayevich, announced the result on behalf of the Orthodox Council, the atmosphere in the Livadia Palace was extremely tense.

The cause of tension came from Queen Maria's relatives.

Just a few days before Yasan's death, the Queen's relatives arrived in Crimea one after another. They were the King of Denmark (the Queen's father), the British Crown Prince (brother-in-law), the King of Greece (second brother), the Crown Prince of Hanover (sister-in-law), and Grand Duke of Bulgaria (brother).

These kings and crown princes gathered in Crimea, and their bodyguards totaled thousands of people.

Sergey did not dare to neglect. Starting from October 10st, the Gusarsky Guards Corps, responsible for the safety of the Tsar, and the Gatchina Guards Corps, responsible for Nikolai's security, were stationed outside the Livadia Palace. .

In Yalta, 10 kilometers away from the Livadia Palace, Nicholas Jr. led the st Cavalry Division and the nd Cavalry Division to stand ready.

The Imperial Black Sea Fleet fully took over the port of Yalta and no ships were allowed to enter or exit.

The sentries outside the Livadia Palace were all composed of five people.

Wearing dark green uniforms are the Guards.

An open-air altar was built on the lawn in front of the Livadia Palace, where Nicholas would accept the allegiance of the princes and ministers as Tsar.

The main color of the navy honor guard dress is white, with rusty gold thread on the short coat.

The most eye-catching ones are the Hussars, who wear fur-edged Hungarian-style Hussars cloaks, and the fur caps on their heads are made of black bearskin.

"why?"

It is in sharp contrast to the white Amur Military District dress without any decoration.

The Greek Crown Prince George, who had accompanied Nicholas on his round-the-world trip, noticed this scene, as if he had not seen it before, and said nothing.

Nicholas is so miserable, all four of his biological uncles are still alive, plus George and those cousins, there are 16 in total.

George warned Mikhail.

"Now please all go out and leave this place to the doctors."

"From now on, you're going to stay by Nicky's side."

Sergei is arrogant. He is now the emperor's uncle and no longer the tsar's brother.

Sergei's guards came from the Moscow Military District and wore dark green tops and white trousers.

There was not much sadness on Mikhail's face. He had not yet realized the seriousness of the situation.

George quietly walked out and closed the door, and he and Yuri stood guard at the door.

This will last until dawn.

George accompanied Nikolai to find Alex. Alex's leg began to hurt after arriving in Crimea, but the doctor could not find out the cause.

"Don't ask why, just do whatever I ask you to do."

Grand Duke Nikolayevich expelled him, and the next step was to embalm Yasan's body.

Nicholas was in a very sad mood and burst into tears after seeing Alex.

Nikolai's brother Mikhail wanted to go with the queen, but George pulled him back.

Warships in the Yalta port fired salutes to bid farewell to the old tsar and pay tribute to the new tsar.

After Vladimir, Alexei and Sergei pledged their allegiance to Nikolai, they stood aside.

George was left by Nicholas.

After seeing this scene in everyone's eyes, the look in George's eyes was completely different from before.

In the afternoon, the princes and imperial ministers gathered in the conference room of the Livadia Palace to discuss the next process.

There are three processes in total. Ya San's funeral is definitely the most important, followed by Nicholas' wedding and enthronement ceremony.

Since November 11th, the Russian Empire will enter Lent, which will last until January next year.

So Nikolai’s wedding will be held before November 11th.

Nicholas is very eager and hopes to hold a wedding with Alex directly in Livadia.

This suggestion was collectively rejected. Ya San's funeral was to be held in St. Petersburg, so Nicholas and Alex had to return to St. Petersburg before their wedding could be held.

As for the coronation ceremony, it will not be held until at least 1896.

Although Nicholas had not yet ascended the throne, he had already begun to exercise the power of the Tsar.

The first decree issued by Nicholas was to appoint Ignaev to replace Pobedonostsev as governor of Amur.

The appointment was proposed by the Queen and approved by George.

During Ignaev's stay in the Balkans, the queen's brother Valdemar became the Grand Duke of Bulgaria, and the three-year Grand Duke controversy was finally settled.

Austria-Hungary was not satisfied with the result, but there was no better candidate.

Christian IX's third son-in-law, Crown Prince of Hanover, currently lives in Vienna.

From this point of view, it is actually not completely unacceptable.

Vladimir and Alexei returned to St. Petersburg after Yasan's death to prepare for Yasan's funeral.

George and Sergey did not escort Yasan's coffin back to St. Petersburg with Nikolai and Mikhail until November 11.

The coffin, which was temporarily parked in the church, first took a boat from Yalta to Sevastopol. Georgi did not return to St. Petersburg and stayed in Crimea to continue recovering from his illness.

On November 11, the coffin arrived in Moscow and was temporarily parked in Arkhangorsk Cathedral before heading to St. Petersburg the next day.

On November 11, the coffin arrived at Nikolaev Railway Station in St. Petersburg. It takes 13 hours from the train station to the Petropavlovsk Royal Cemetery. Asan's coffin was placed on an open-air carriage, and Nikolai and the Grand Dukes took separate cars, one for each person.

The road was crowded with people seeing off the Tsar. People wore black veils on their arms, and black flags decorated with white ribbons were everywhere on the buildings. The whole of St. Petersburg was immersed in great grief.

Before the Tsar's coffin arrived in St. Petersburg, the St. Petersburg secret police uncovered an assassination case. Someone was preparing to use a bomb to attack Nicholas at the Tsar's funeral.

General Danilov, who was in charge of the secret police, did not know whether to deal with it as usual and send the assassin to Siberia, or to lock him up and wait until after the funeral.

"All persons related to such cases will be executed for treason!"

George was decisive in his killing. If this kind of person is not hanged, why should he wait for Nicholas to issue an amnesty after he ascends the throne?

Asan was indeed a benevolent czar. During his reign, he actually gave the assassin a chance to choose. If the assassin confessed and showed repentance, he would not be sentenced to death.

Even if he does not plead guilty, only the assassin himself and the direct participants will be sentenced to death, and many people related to the case will be treated more leniently.

George has nothing to say here. As long as it is related to the case, everyone must die, no matter who is involved.

"This is not good-"

Danilov still wanted to ask Nikolay for instructions, and did not want to be known as a butcher and executioner.

"Are you sure you want His Majesty to worry about such a thing?"

George's eyes were cold. He wanted to enjoy the beauty of power but didn't want to take the blame. How could there be so many good things?

If this matter is reported to Nikolai, whether he is killed or released, it has nothing to do with Danilov.

If Nicholas were all executed, then through careful interpretation, Nicholas was the most violent and cruel czar in history, and he was not worthy of being the czar father of the Russians.

If Nicholas doesn't kill him, he will be interpreted as weak, incompetent, and indifferent to black and white——

In short, no matter what he did, Nicholas was not worthy of being a tsar.

Getting to George is easy.

As the head of the secret police, if you don't want to take the blame, just stay away. There are many people who are willing to take the blame.

Danilov looked at George's cold eyes and couldn't say a word.

George actually didn't want to go on a killing spree.

But in this troubled year, all hidden dangers must be completely eliminated.

Besides, this kind of thing is nothing at all.

Just now, after the Japanese captured Lushun, they carried out a massacre that lasted 4 days and 3 nights. At least 2 people were killed. Even the nursing children were not spared. Only 36 corpse buryers in the entire city were spared. kill.

When George sees Albert later, he will ask Albert what he thinks about this matter.

Is this what the British want?
Is this what Britain calls civilization?

If this is civilization, then George would rather be a savage.

The saddest person at the funeral was not Nicholas, but the empress - the empress dowager.

Maria suddenly broke down during the Metropolitan's speech and cried hysterically: "Enough, enough!"

The funeral ended hastily, Alex went to Sergei's house to be married, and Nikolai and Maria returned to Gatchina Palace.

George spent his first night back in St. Petersburg at Gatchina Palace.

For a whole day, Nicholas ate nothing and was on the verge of mental collapse.

George asked Mannerheim to get some pirozhiki (a semicircular pie, Russian dumplings) that Nikolai loved to eat, and Karachi (a kind of bread) to accompany Nikolai to eat.

"George, I can't eat-"

Nicholas's eyes were red and swollen, and his body smelled bad. He hadn't taken a shower or changed clothes in the past few days.

"Nikki, the deceased is gone, but life will go on. You are now the Tsar of the Russian Empire. For the sake of the empire, you must also take care of yourself."

George forced Nicholas to eat.

"Bring me some wine, I want to drink!"

Nicholas wanted to get drunk and relieve his worries.

This is not bad, at least you can have a good sleep after getting drunk.

George drank with Nicholas.

Nikolai had a very good capacity for drinking, and once set a record of drinking 125 bottles of champagne in one day. Although Nikolai did not drink the champagne alone, Nikolai himself also had a very good capacity for drinking.

George also has a good drinking capacity, and the two bottles of champagne were quickly consumed.

Nikolai was not drunk at all and let Mannerheim continue to get the wine.

"Stop drinking. Go to bed now. You will get up early tomorrow to preside over the imperial meeting."

George was a man of moderation, and no matter how good the wine was, he could not drink too much.

"George, I don't want to preside over the council, I miss Dad, I don't want to be the Tsar -"

Nikolay fell down on the sofa and soon began to snore.

George was beside Nicholas, lying fully clothed.

(End of this chapter)