Li Xiao's series of questions left Anton stunned. It took him a while to figure out the logical relationship. To put it bluntly, it is actually simple. Someone thinks that the tsar is unreliable. If a major event like reform is completely pinned on the tsar, once he changes slightly,
, everything is in vain.
This kind of thinking is not just treasonous, but at least a bit shocking in this era, especially in backward and conservative Russia. Questioning the monarch is considered heresy, which is really very personal.
For the Russians of this era, to reach the top is to mention enlightened despotism. As long as the king can do this, it is a great blessing. As for sending the king to the guillotine and launching a democratic revolution like France,
It's really a bit scary, and can be classified as a devil.
In other words, it was Anton who was observing. If it had been anyone else, he would have immediately gone to the third department to report and expose.
Even Anton was stunned. If he hadn't been familiar with Li Xiao's character, he might have suspected that this old boss wanted to rebel and usurp the throne. After all, there were many clans in Russian history who rebelled under similar pretexts.
It's not surprising that someone has this intention.
After thinking for a while, Anton asked: "You mean, if His Majesty does not support the reform in the future, what should we do if we go back, right?"
Strictly speaking, Li Xiao didn't mean this, but it didn't matter if Anton understood it this way, and it would take too much time to explain this issue to Anton in detail, so it's better to follow this simple approach.
Li Xiao nodded, and Anton continued: "This possibility should be said to be possible, but I think that if Count Rostovtsev's plan succeeds, His Majesty will be able to see the benefits of reforming and abolishing the serfdom system immediately.
, in that case he probably won’t look back!”
Anton said this with a certain degree of certainty, which meant that although he had not seen it with his own eyes, he was sure that things would develop in this direction, or that he would rather believe that things would develop in this way.
But Li Xiao is not him, so Li Xiao is not as confident as him, not to mention that as a time traveler, he knows very well what history is about.
"Really? What if you're wrong?"
Anton was stunned again. He felt that Li Xiao was a little strange today, because the question was a bit like an argument. There was no reason, it was just a pure if. What was the meaning of this kind of question?
"Do you think I'm making excuses?" Li Xiao asked again expressionlessly.
Anton nodded and said: "This kind of hypothesis makes no sense!"
Li Xiao replied affirmatively: "It makes sense! On the contrary, your idea is very dangerous!"
Anton was stunned, because Li Xiao rarely talked to him like this, and he didn't understand why Li Xiao was so stubborn on this issue, even a little unreasonable.
Li Xiao glanced at him and said calmly: "I have told you before, no matter what you do, you must be fully prepared. You must not act blindly just seeing the huge gains of success. You must think about it.
What to do if it doesn’t succeed. Think about it for yourself, are you too blindly optimistic on this issue, or have you never considered what to do if it doesn’t succeed?”
Anton was stunned again. Li Xiao had indeed taught him that he must be thoughtful when doing things. He must think through all aspects of the situation and be prepared to deal with various emergencies before he can do it. Otherwise, he must be cautious.
On this issue, he really did not consider the possibility that Li Xiao mentioned, because he subconsciously rejected that possibility.
Anton's expression suddenly changed. He understood why Li Xiao said that hypothesis made sense. It did make sense. If Li Xiao's hypothesis appeared, would those who support the reform have any way to save the situation?
Anton sadly found that there was no way at all, because once the Tsar did not support the reform, or was ready to go back, they had no way to stop the Tsar from doing so. At most, they could only plead.
But is this useful?
If begging was helpful, Russia had completely abolished serfdom as early as the time of Alexander I. Why was it still standing still after so long?
Anton knew that pleading was useless, otherwise Count Rostovtsev would not have spent so much time and energy risking pushing Russia into an abyss of destruction to force the Tsar to nod and start reforms.
Obviously, once the tsar didn't want to do something, the opponents didn't have much recourse at all, unless you attempted a coup d'état and replaced the tsar like you did with Paul I.
It's just that that method requires a huge amount of opposition, and at least Russia's current reform supporters don't have this strength.
In other words, once the possibility mentioned by Li Xiao arises, the reformists will be at a loss and will have no solution at all. Isn't this dangerous?
Anton felt his mind was in chaos. He had been taught to be loyal and patriotic from a young age. Although it did not turn him into a die-hard royalist, it also made him subconsciously feel that having a king or emperor was normal.
What he has to do is to serve the king well and use his abilities to make the country better.
This idea is so simple and natural, so he has never thought about what to do if the ministers try their best to make the country better but the king does not cooperate. Even Anton, who had the jewels of the French Revolution, felt that France
What people are doing is too extreme. Even if Louis XVI has some tricks, he cannot overstep his duty as a courtier.
But now Li Xiao's question stumped him. What should he do if the tsar really did that?
In the past, he felt that this issue was meaningless and he could ignore it, but now Li Xiao told him that it was meaningful. If he really wanted to promote reform, he could not ignore it. If he ignored it, he would be irresponsible and not responsible for himself.
As a result, Anton couldn't avoid the problem even if he wanted to. He could only face it head-on-if the tsar did not support the reforms, or if the reforms were changed and then shrunk, what should they, the reformers, do?
Should we directly rise up and kill the tsar who does not support reform and replace him with a new enlightened tsar who supports reform, or should we sit back and do nothing and watch our previous efforts go to waste?
Anton's head was buzzing. From his expression, he was struggling. For a while, he gritted his teeth and seemed to have made up his mind, but after a while, he looked confused and entangled again. This change of expression was like a face change, which even Li Xiao felt a little bit.
This is too much trouble for this poor child.
It's just that the question he raised cannot be avoided, because one day they will have to face this problem. If they don't solve this problem, there will be no way to talk about the future...