Shadow of great britain

After bidding farewell to Arthur, Mrs. Levine stayed in the embassy hall, looking at the four tickets in her hand, as if she was worried about how to allocate the seats for the concert.

At this moment, there was suddenly a creaking sound of hard riding boots on the floor outside the living room.

Mrs. Levin looked up, and a smile suddenly appeared on her face: "Count Orlov."

The person who came was a man with a mustache and wearing a blue-green officer's uniform.

Speaking of the surname Orlov, it can be said to be a household name in Russia.

Among the right-hand men who succeeded Catherine II to the throne in a coup were the five brothers of the Orlov family.

Almost without exception, these five brothers later became important figures in the political and military circles of Tsarist Russia, and the second and third among them later became the lovers of Catherine II, and because of this layer of nepotism Climb a little faster than the other three brothers.

Although the father of Count Orlov in front of him was not the queen's lover, he was personally supervised and raised by Catherine II. Therefore, Count Orlov was almost the same as Catherine II. His two grandsons, the former Tsar Alexander I and his younger brother, the current Tsar Nicholas I, grew up playing together.

Based on this experience alone, no one in Russia dares to underestimate Count Orlov's energy. Especially after the current Tsar Nicholas I ascended the throne, the admiration and fear of Count Orlov in Russian political circles has steadily increased over time.

Because everyone knows that compared to Nicholas I’s indecisive and gentle brother, the former Tsar Alexander I, the current Tsar has a resolute personality, a single goal, an iron will, and a strong sense of responsibility and mission. Although these All descriptors can be counted as advantages, but if all these advantages are superimposed on a ruler, then the country in question will most likely mention a great dictator.

Nicholas I was such an energetic ruler with an almost pathological desire for power.

He was extremely concerned about everything in the Russian Empire, especially the military, to the extent that he personally ordered the number of buttons on the military uniforms to be modified.

As for the Decembrist uprising that rebelled against his rule, Nicholas I was of course extremely concerned about the arrest, investigation, interrogation and punishment of the Decembrists, and was involved in every detail.

The uprising also aggravated his suspicious character, making him tend to stay away from normal administrative institutions.

From the beginning of his rise to power, Nicholas I was particularly fond of using various committees to govern the country, which were independent of regular state institutions. These committees were generally composed of a small group of the Tsar's most trusted cronies.

But such cronies were few in number, so the many different committees in Russia were actually composed of different combinations of the same people.

The work of these committees, like the Imperial Office, was usually secret. However, apart from bringing a slight sense of security to the Tsar, it only made the already very complex imperial administration more confusing. The entire government apparatus was increasingly permeated by direct orders, absolute obedience, and a meticulous military style, and these characteristics became more and more obvious in official documents and appearance.

And Count Orlov, a talented person with both military and literary attributes, was certainly one of the few cronies of the Tsar. Or to put it more clearly, Count Orlov served on many committees directly under the Tsar's jurisdiction. Zhongdu holds important positions.

Naturally, the Tsarist Russian delegation at the London Conference was also led by Count Orlov.

However, perhaps other people will always appear trembling when facing the famous man in front of His Majesty the Tsar's throne.

But Mrs. Leven could chat with him in a stable mood, for no other reason than her father, Count Benkendorf, who was also the director of the Third Department of the Imperial Office who was deeply trusted by His Majesty the Tsar.

In Russia, it was known that His Majesty the Tsar spent more time with Benkendorf and Orlov, perhaps, than with the Empress.

Count Orlov looked at Mrs. Leven, who was holding the ticket with a sad look on her face, and couldn't help but ask: "Dorothea, are you in any trouble? If you need any help, just ask, I'm sure I’ll find a way to help you solve it.”

When Mrs. Levin heard this, she couldn't help but joked: "Alexei, this is not St. Petersburg. If you want to arrest someone, you still have to ask the Scotland Yard police officers if they agree. Oh, maybe you will go back now. It’s still too late to chase him, and to be honest, I’ve just met a young superintendent of Scotland Yard.”

When Count Orlov heard this, he couldn't help but look back: "Are you talking about the young man who just went out? He is a tall and strong young man. When I first saw him, I thought he looked With such a tall height, he was probably a Dutchman. It wasn't until he greeted me in English with a strong London accent that I realized that he was indeed an authentic British guy."

"Hush!" Mrs. Levin raised a hand to her lips and said: "Alexei, be careful what you say. Don't let the Duke of Wellington hear it, otherwise he will definitely not be done with you. He hates talking about height. ."

When Count Orlov heard this, he couldn't help laughing and said: "When you said that, I remembered that Duke Wellington seems to be shorter than Napoleon, right? Napoleon claimed to be 5 feet 6 inches tall, but everyone People say he is a short man, but most people don't know that the Duke of Wellington is only 5 feet 5 inches.

But with all due respect, height is actually not important to achieve the achievements of the two of them. During the Napoleonic Wars, groups of big men stood in front of them and did not dare to breathe. Even if they are actually dwarfs, it does not prevent them from becoming military giants. "

Mrs. Leven asked: "So, are you ready to confront the giant Duke of Wellington this time? Now it seems that the British attitude towards Belgian independence seems to be very ambiguous. They neither support nor oppose it. .For Russia, this is not a good thing.

His Majesty the Tsar should have given you a handwriting before you came, right? If I guess correctly, in accordance with our consistent policy, he must want you to seek support from the United Kingdom, continue to exert pressure on France, and return independent Belgium to the rule of the Netherlands. Only in this way will there be no gaps in the encirclement network surrounding France. If the Dutch lose Belgium, their existing strength alone will not be able to prevent the French from expanding their sphere of influence eastward. "

Count Orlov nodded and said: "The truth is this, but although the British are uncomfortable looking at the French, they may not feel comfortable looking at us now. Since the British Codrington was in Navarino After defeating the main naval force of the Ottoman Turks in the naval battle, all resistance to our entry from the Black Sea into the Mediterranean has been eliminated.

The British Admiralty and Foreign Office seemed very angry about this matter, so not long after the Battle of Navarino, Codrington was transferred to the Channel Fleet and benched. Didn't you also make a secret report on this to His Majesty the Tsar?

The British felt as uncomfortable as having sand in their eyes when they saw our Black Sea Fleet operating unimpeded in the Mediterranean. I guess this is an important reason why they have an ambiguous attitude on the issue of Belgian independence.

If possible, I hope you can clarify Britain's current diplomatic policy for me. I urgently need to know whether they still regard France as the number one threat to Europe. "

After hearing this, Mrs. Leven just replied with a smile: "If you had asked me for this request when the Tory Party was still in power a while ago, I would definitely refuse you directly. Because although the relationship between me and the Duke of Wellington We have a good relationship, but that old man’s tone of voice is not very strict, and it’s almost impossible to get any useful information out of him.”

"Dorothea, what do you mean by this..." Orlov grinned and said, "Now the situation has turned for the better?"

"There's definitely some improvement."

Mrs. Leven pushed her hair behind her ears, smiled and said: "The Whig Party's Foreign Secretary is now my dear Henry. In addition to Mrs. Cowper's relationship, he can't achieve this position without me. Strong advice to him. To be honest, that old playboy Henry wanted to go to the Treasury at first.

But I told him that the competition for the position in the Ministry of Finance was too fierce. Considering his position in the party, it would be better to seek another important position in the cabinet. Others may not be able to achieve great results in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but he still has me. I can share with him some insider information that is difficult for others to get through my network. "

Count Orlov heard this and said with a smile: "It sounds really sad! Dorothea, I thought you and Viscount Palmerston were together because of love."

Mrs. Levine twirled her hair with her fingers and winked playfully: "Well, there is more or less love. It's very happy to be with Henry. He knows how to get along with women. But, here, After all, this is Britain, and things done in Britain must be done the British way. Mutual benefit can be called love, and blindly asking for it is slavery. A decent Russian may not understand this, but the British call it free trade. commodity economy."

Count Orlov laughed loudly when he heard this: "It seems that His Majesty the Tsar was right. Put Dorothea in England, and her role is equivalent to half of the Third Hall. Your father should really send the Third Division to do it." All the foreign intelligence specialists have come here to learn from you. I recently looked through the documents from three places and my head was spinning. They wrote all mindless stuff, and the words they talked about were all ambiguous information. For this information that is of little use, if you grab two chickens, dip them in ink and step on them, the writing will be more insightful than them."

After Mrs. Levin heard this, she hesitated again and again, but she couldn't help but tactfully defended the Third Office. After all, the Third Office was also a subordinate department of her father, and some of the commissioners of the Third Office stayed in the Russian Embassy.

Mrs. Levin said: "Alexei, you should know that the three offices are also forced to do so. Intelligence is not easy to collect. Sometimes there is no such information, but His Majesty the Tsar said that there must be, so the report of the three offices There must be one. Even if you add a little bit of your own conjecture, you still have to make a report.

His Majesty the Tsar is such a man of action, so subordinate departments must also keep up with his ambitions. Because of this, he did not let the tragedy of the St. Petersburg Flood of 1824 happen again like the previous Tsar Majesty. The performance of His Majesty the Tsar during the cholera epidemic in Moscow in 1830 was simply admirable.

I bet if cholera happened in England they wouldn't do as well as Russia. "

When Orlov heard Mrs. Leven mention this matter, he couldn't help but think of something. He smiled and said: "Speaking of cholera, do you know about Duke Bergendorf?"

When Mrs. Levin heard the other party mentioning this name, she couldn't help but have a bit of a bad taste: "Is this old man making fun of His Majesty the Tsar again?"

Orlov pursed his lips: "After the cholera ended, he wrote a report and handed it in. It said - It seems that for everyone, in the face of His Majesty the Tsar's unlimited power, the disease itself has surrendered. . Of course, I tend to think that this passage is not ironic."

Mrs. Levin couldn't help but echoed: "Yes, it's just like the conversation the Tsar had with him last time when he wanted to fight corruption. His Majesty the Tsar said: 'I will use hot iron to eradicate bribery!'"

Count Orlov continued: "Prince Bergendorf replied: 'Your Majesty, who do you plan to stay with?'"

At this point, a burst of cheerful laughter suddenly erupted in the embassy living room. Even several Tsarist Russian military attaches standing at the door smoking could not help but look away, shaking their shoulders, obviously laughing. Not light.

However, amidst the laughter and laughter in the living room, no one noticed a dark shadow flashing in front of the door of the room where the blower was placed.

Little Pinkerton held a letter in his mouth and struggled to crawl out from the vent pipe. When he noticed a glimmer of light emerging from the dark hole, he instantly saw the person squatting on the wall. Arthur smoking while leaning on a big branch.

Arthur noticed the movement in the vent. He turned his head and looked. He was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said: "Boy, you can really surprise me. I just asked you to feel and drain the ventilation ducts." The terrain, so that you don’t find the wrong place next time you infiltrate. I didn’t expect that you brought me back some specialties from the embassy the first time you entered.”

He reached out and took Pinkerton out of the vent, and then flipped him out with great skill.

As the riding boots fell to the ground, the carriage parked on the roadside quickly opened the door. Elder, who was sitting inside, rushed to greet them: "Get in the car quickly. I've already calculated it. The embassy's guards will be around here for an average of three minutes." Patrol once, count the time, they will be here soon.”