Eight hundred and fiftieth eight chapters endless harm
This is what Count Rostovtsev despises most about Nikolai Milyutin. He always cares about Alexander II's senses. The problem is that you are obviously a reformist who does not like him. Even if you put yourself in that person's shoes
For the sake of the Tsar, do you think he will appreciate it? Do you think he will like you?
In Count Rostovtsev's view, since you are a reformist, and since no matter how the reformers reconcile and compromise, Alexander II or other tsars will not look at you differently, why do you still have so many scruples?
Let it go and do your own thing, check and balance the Tsar as much as possible, and force the Tsar to reform. Isn't it much better than being cautious and being a good gentleman?
Yes, Count Rostovtsev thinks that Nikolai Milyutin is a good gentleman, and the last thing that reforms need is a good gentleman. After all, the most important thing to change the old political structure and touch the interests of the conservatives is peace and harmony.
Mud, once you are soft, the enemy will be hard. The reform plan you came up with at that time was just a bucket of mud, and in the end it was of no benefit at all.
Count Rostovtsev believes that what the reformists need most now is persistence and a bottom line, but at the same time they must have means.
The problem with Nikolai Milyutin was that he had no bottom line. Alexander II was always a little unhappy, and he was uneasy, wondering whether he should make some concessions to make Alexander II happy.
How can we do this?
If Alexander II is still unhappy, do you still want to reform?
So this is also the reason why Count Rostovtsev keeps beating him. If he doesn't beat him, he might just become a capitulationist and carry out nonsense reforms!
"What influence are you concerned about?" Count Rostovtsev reprimanded with dissatisfaction. "Is there something wrong with Grand Duke Andrei's ability? Is he not qualified for the work of the Ministry of Internal Affairs or other key departments?"
Nikolai Milyutin was about to say that this was not a question of ability, but a question of influence, but Count Rostovtsev lectured him unhappily: "Nikolai, you must first make your position clear.
Do you support reform, or do you just want to make His Majesty happy? If you want reform, the most critical point now is to get more people who support reform to occupy key positions. Otherwise, who are you going to rely on to promote and implement reform measures?"
Nikolay Milyutin stopped talking, not because he was convinced, but because he still believed that letting the reformists occupy more important positions and letting Li Xiao return to St. Petersburg were not the same thing. He was not opposed to letting his friends
To occupy a good position, what he objected to was for Li Xiao to come back and occupy a good position.
"It makes no difference!" Count Rostovtsev pointedly pointed out: "Your opposition to letting the Grand Duke come back is nothing more than bullshit. His Majesty may not be happy, but let me ask you, your Majesty does not like those who support reform.
If there are too many, won’t those people be able to come back?”
Nikolay Milyutin suddenly stopped talking, because there had been calls recently for the reformists who had been implicated in the reform or the Decembrist issue to return to the center, and he clearly opposed this proposal. The reason
Naturally, he is too sensitive now and should not anger Alexander II.
But now Count Rostovtsev directly used this reason as a target, pointing out that he was just a compromiser who was afraid of this and that.
"If these people who have sweated and shed blood for reform issues cannot get the respect and status they deserve, then who will support us in the future?"
Count Rostovtsev said emotionally: "If they can't come back, what's the point of all our hard work over the years? Without the care and support of these friends, how could we hear today. You are better now
, just let people forget about it. This is typical ingratitude. If we do this, who will support us in the future? Are you going to rely on those old fritters and old diehards to carry out reforms?"
Nikolay Milyutin was trained so hard that he couldn't hold his head up. He felt a lot of pressure. When the faction had private discussions on this topic before, he could still speak out and advocate for opposition. But in the face of Count Rostovtsev's sharp offensive
, but he couldn't even parry.
He wanted to defend himself and show that he was not ungrateful, but just wanted to better promote reform. What was wrong with making the resistance to reform smaller?
But Count Rostovtsev categorically criticized: "You are not trying to reduce resistance, but you are indifferent between right and wrong! The reason why we can carry out reforms is due to our persistent efforts, not a gift from the Tsar, let alone a gift from heaven."
It’s a pie! This is what we fought for!”
"No matter who opposes it, we will continue to fight. This is the key reason why we are where we are today. But you are always unfirm in your stance. You always think that if you want to reform, you can only try to please His Majesty and those old diehards so that they will not cause trouble."
"But the question is, is this realistic? Our reforms will inevitably touch their cake and touch their interests. Do you think you and Xini can get their concessions by making a little concession?"
"You are just dreaming! They will never give in. On the contrary, the more you give in, the more they will think you are weak and can be bullied, and they will create more obstacles. Only we are tough and tell them with an iron fist that they have to choose reform or death."
One, so that they will be honest!"
Nikolai Milyutin had beads of sweat all over his head. He was very conflicted in his heart. He was very reluctant to admit that Count Rostovtsev's words were reasonable, but the ironclad facts were there. Look at this for more than a month.
Since then, he has been running around for reforms, convincing old die-hards here, and trying every means to make suggestions for Alexander II, but what happened in the end?
In the end, although everyone knows that reform is inevitable, there is still no accurate information on how to reform and when exactly the reform will start. Even Alexander II's attitude has become increasingly ambiguous. Today he has made a decision
A little concession, and in the blink of an eye Alexander II asked him to make new concessions.
There is no end in sight at all if this continues, and he is also worried that if it continues like this, how many reform provisions will be left that can be truly implemented in the end. However, he has been using various reasons to convince himself, telling himself that maybe soon
Alexander II would agree to start reforms.
But now Count Rostovtsev forcefully popped the soap bubble, telling him that if this continues, it will be a bottomless pit. If you want to reform, you can only stick to the principles and never give in. You must not mess with the mud.