The Bobulinski family is probably synonymous with conservatism. At least in Muravyov's view, everyone in this family is a conservative, every one of them is an antique, and it is impossible to do their job.
So when he heard that Li Xiao was interested in finding a job with Ilya Bobulinski, he was the first to object, thinking that it was absolutely useless and self-defeating.
However, since Li Xiao had this idea, he was still certain. He slowly explained: "General, don't be anxious, listen to me and explain slowly!"
"I have been observing your deputy envoy for this period of time. Apart from the fact that he comes from the Bobulinski family, there are not many bad things about this person... You have also seen that he does things well.
He is serious and responsible, and his treatment of others does not have any of the arrogance of a noble child of St. Petersburg. What is more important is his attitude towards new things!"
This last point made Muravyov stunned, because he did not see any difference between Ilya's attitude towards new things and those of conservatives.
Li Xiao shook his head and said: "There is still a difference. It can be seen that he has a very detailed understanding of the detailed performance of trains, steam engines and other machinery, and he does not criticize them or find fault with them. That is completely different from those old antiques.
.”
Muravyov thought for a while, and he had to admit that this was indeed different from other conservatives. Those who insisted on conservatism could not tolerate the existence of any new things in their eyes, and when they saw so-called new things, they were like crazy mad dogs.
Same, barking and biting, no good words are of any use, even if they don't understand these new things at all, they are still talking about them.
To put it bluntly, these people's butts determine their heads. They don't care whether new things are good or bad, or whether they are beneficial to the country. As long as they are new, they will oppose them. They are simply stubborn.
But Ilya was different. He didn't pick his nose or raise his eyebrows, nor did he make any fuss. Even if he had opinions on some new things, he would do so on a case-by-case basis and focus on the shortcomings of these new things.
This kind of behavior is more like discussing the matter, rather than having the butt decide the head. It is precisely because of Ilya's performance that Li Xiao feels that this person may be a conservative, but he is not a conservative in the general sense. He can argue and fight for
of conservatives.
Muravyov thought for a while and shook his head: "Even if he is a little different, it is still too risky to do so. Even if he can realize the benefits of new things, it does not mean that he will cooperate with us to deal with Belkh."
!”
This is true, and Li Xiao also admitted this possibility. After all, liking new things does not mean liking the reformists, nor does it mean that you will help them. These are two completely different things.
Li Xiao smiled and said: "I didn't say I would have a showdown with that Ilya Bobulinski right now. It would be too reckless. What I meant was to test his true attitude a little bit and then decide based on the situation. Honestly.
If that doesn’t work, I’ll have to let you go into battle alone!”
Muravyov reluctantly nodded. Although the effect may not be particularly ideal, there is no risk. For reformists like them who are in a difficult situation, the most important thing is to ensure safety. Only first
Only when you are safe can you do other things, otherwise even if you have great talent, it will be in vain.
After the two people had discussed it, they naturally settled the matter. After inspecting Izmail and Nikolayev, Muravyov took Ilya directly to Sevastopol.
As Russia's most important strategic support point and military port on the Crimean Peninsula, Sevastopol is of particularly great significance to Russia. From the time Catherine the Great seized the peninsula, Russia began to fully operate the peninsula.
For example, Potemkin, the most important minister of the empire, was sent as governor of Crimea.
What Duke Potemkin did in Crimea at that time, although some things like Potemkin Village were a bit unsatisfactory, but overall, it was Potemkin's governance that made Crimea truly
integrated into Russia.
After Potemkin, although Russia has been developing Crimea, it always felt that it focused on offense rather than defense. The Black Sea Fleet became one of the two major fleets of the empire, and even surpassed the Baltic Fleet in importance at one time. But for Sevastro
Boer's construction always feels a bit perfunctory.
For example, take the city defense fortress. In fact, the city defense of Sevastopol during this period was not completely completed. The entire defense system was still relatively loose. Strictly speaking, this was not a fortress that people would notice.
The reason is very simple. Probably the Russians simply don’t believe that weak Turks can come to their doorstep.
Anyway, Li Xiao told Muravyov to focus on inspecting the defense facilities in Sevastopol, and there were a lot of mistakes there.
It should be said that Li Xiao's words were not wrong. When Muravyov really saw the city defense facilities of Sevastopol, his face was a bit ugly. He never expected that the military port, which was the key construction of the empire, would be the most important military port in the future.
The defense facilities of Sevastopol, an important fulcrum of strategic direction, were so careless.
"This... this... we are making improvements," Belcher quickly explained while wiping the cold sweat from his forehead: "But the funds are limited. After all, the fleet is more important, isn't it?"
This explanation certainly does not satisfy Muravyov. He admits that the Black Sea Fleet is indeed more important than defense facilities, but that does not mean that a key fulcrum military port can be so perfunctory. Although many fortresses have been built at the commanding heights around the entire military port
, but most of these forts are just fake, either of substandard quality, or empty, with not a single cannon inside.
It is simply a joke to rely on these things to prevent the enemy from landing a large group of troops, so he criticized rudely: "The fleet is indeed more important, but the defense facilities are too sloppy to make them like this. The entire fortress group has only a mere
There are more than a hundred artillery pieces, and most of them are small-caliber six-pounders. These things are not enough to tickle the enemy!"
Indeed, although the six-pounder cannon has a fast rate of fire, its power is really unsatisfactory. It is very difficult to deal with infantry. Generally, decent field artillerymen prefer the 12-pounder cannon, even if the latter is heavier.
As far as naval fortresses are concerned, 12-pound guns are actually rubbish. If you want to pose a certain threat to the battleships of this era, you need at least 18-pound guns. If you want to be more decent, you have to start with 24-pound guns. Like Sevastopol.
For a key fortress, the artillery group must have at least 36-pound guns or even 48-pound guns, so as to pose a sufficient threat to the enemy fleet!