Eight hundred and sixtieth chapters conjuring the soul
Alexander II didn't know what his ministers were busy with, but he could probably guess it, but he didn't have much interest in caring about it. Because for the time being, he felt that he could breathe a sigh of relief and felt that the situation was gradually under control.
Now he is not so anxious, and feels that being a tsar is not that difficult, because the power of the tsar is too great, and he can do it regardless of necessity when necessary. It seems that no one can bear it yet.
So he decided to do something he likes to do, such as arranging his own coronation ceremony. According to Alexander II's plan, he will hold a coronation ceremony in Moscow on August 26. At that time, all nobles of the highest rank in the country will have their own coronation ceremony.
People will gather in Moscow to celebrate this great moment.
It's just that Alexander II wanted his coronation ceremony to be slightly different. For example, he planned to have the royal family and nobles arrive by train instead of arriving in carriages as traditional.
The reason is very simple. In order to please the reformists, he feels that when he breaks the old tradition in a high-profile manner and appears on the stage, the reformists will be satisfied and then make more concessions.
In other words, he wants to use some flashy and nihilistic means in exchange for the reformists to give up actual benefits. Judging from his recent dealings with several major reformists, he feels that this trick should be effective.
The only thing that Alexander II didn't expect was that when he proposed this novel and fashionable idea, he would cause new troubles. Not only were conservatives opposed, but also people within the royal family, especially his mother, were strongly opposed.
But before he let the news out, at least the reformists thought he would really do it, so the reformists had great expectations for it. Now it has made him unable to do anything.
Alexander II wanted to express his attitude forcefully, but what caught him off guard was that before he could give the order, a new trick was made in the palace. Kostya was the wife of Grand Duke Constantine, Alexandra.
.Grand Duchess Yusifovna suddenly gave an idea:
"Since some people say that this is a change of tradition, the late emperor will be unhappy, so why not ask the late emperor to show his spirit and express his feelings? What if he does not object?"
Okay, this idea sounds unreliable. After all, Nicholas I did not abdicate but really went to heaven. There is no communication between there and the human world. How can you ask?
Don't worry, there were many people who could solve this problem in that era of the 19th century. In that era when metaphysics was popular, the more dignitaries and royal families were, the more superstitious they were.
Let’s put it this way, the entire Romanov family was a firm believer in spiritualism. More than one person had seen the spirits of the dead and murdered tsar wandering around the Winter Palace.
Normally, a tsar like Alexander II who had a complete and orthodox education should not follow superstitions, but the strange thing is that when Grand Duchess Alexandra Yusifovna made this suggestion, he actually received a positive response.
Soon he invited a famous spiritualist from Paris.
The evocation ceremony was held in the hall of Peterhof Palace. Present were Alexander II, his queen, the empress dowager, Grand Duke Konstantin and his wife, as well as Grand Duchess Irina Pavlovna's brother Witten.
Prince Berg, Alexandra Dolgorukaya and Anna Tyucheva.
A lot of things can actually be seen from this. Grand Duke Constantine, a pioneer of reform who advocated science and freedom, actually fell into the trap of superstition. And his aunt was Grand Duchess Irina Pavlovna.
But she didn't accept this trick at all. She sneered at tricks such as summoning spirits and simply refused to participate.
From this point, we can also see that the Grand Duke Constantine, the reform pioneer, is somewhat unworthy of his name, but the Grand Duchess is more than worthy of his name. From the beginning to the end, she insisted on science, advocated science, and tried to use scientific methods to solve real problems.
For example, when the reform measures could not be implemented later, she was the first to take the lead in freeing the more than 20,000 serfs she owned.
Obviously Grand Duke Constantine is far inferior to this Grand Duchess.
The spiritualism ceremony began quickly. Everyone sat around the round table with their hands on the table. The spiritualist sat between the queen and Grand Duke Constantine... The ceremony began quickly, and everyone was
The spiritualist looked startled.
Before, he looked unattractive and even a little stupid, but after the ceremony began, his body seemed to be radiating dazzling flames, and his face became paler than a dead person. His eyes were wide open and he kept staring at one place without moving... Then his
The hair suddenly stood up slowly, and then there was a crackling sound in the whole hall.
If it was just these, Alexander II and others would not be too panicked, but what happened next was beyond their knowledge and imagination.
The round table in front of them rose half a foot out of thin air and just floated in the air. The Empress Dowager felt a hand touch her cuff and then grabbed her hand and took away the precious gemstone ring on her finger. Then that hand
The hand grabbed, shook and twisted everyone present... it even snatched a bell from Alexander II's hand!
Then came the main event, when Alexander II began to ask questions, and the alleged spirit of Nicholas I responded by tapping the letters of the alphabet on the table.
"Father, do you think it's okay to take the train to Moscow for the coronation ceremony?"
Dong dong da… dong dong da… snap…
It means yes, which naturally made Alexander II overjoyed, and then he gave the opportunity to ask questions to his mother. The empress dowager, who missed her husband and became ill, asked a long series of questions, but the soul did not wait for the soul to answer all the questions.
The master was so tired that he fainted, and the first soul-calling ceremony came to a successful conclusion.
To be honest, many people in later generations were fooled by this set of tricks. In fact, you can just treat it as a magic trick. However, it was still very effective at bluffing people back then. At least after the news spread, the opposition from conservatives became smaller.
More than half.
In order to completely silence the conservatives, Alexander II invited famous conservatives including Count Uvarov to participate in the second spiritual evocation half a month later.
This time, in front of Count Uvarov and other conservatives, the same trick was performed again. Count Uvarov and others, who could not see any flaws, could only reluctantly admit that maybe Nicholas I was not opposed to the train, so they took the train.
Taking the train to Moscow should be no problem.
Of course, some people watched this farce with a playful attitude from beginning to end, such as Count Rostovtsev...