May is the most comfortable season in St. Petersburg. It is neither too cold nor too hot. Every evening in this season, there is always singing and dancing in the noble mansions. Salons and dances come one after another. If you like, you can keep having fun until dawn.
It's just this May, and although the singing and dancing are still the same, the atmosphere is a bit gloomy compared to previous years. The reason is naturally directly related to the Crimean War. Russia's disastrous defeat and sacrifices made the wealthy nobles a little unable to bear it.
, as the saying goes, a penny can stump a hero. Without money, it is impossible to get high.
In addition, the opening of the reform curtain has also dealt a heavy blow to many conservative nobles. But reform is no longer just empty talk on paper. When the reformists are no longer bugs they can easily manipulate, they will inevitably be worried.
I can't sleep or eat well, so naturally I can't get high.
Of course, Li Xiao also contributed a small part in it. Within a month, he dealt with five middle-level leaders of the Third Department of St. Petersburg with thunderous means. Two reprimanded and three lost their hats. This made many small and medium-sized bureaucrats very upset.
It's because I'm afraid that when I wake up, I'll either be invited to tea in the third part of St. Petersburg or be thrown directly into jail.
"You are very decisive, His Excellency the Grand Duke," Nikolay Milyutin looked at someone with interest and said with a hint of approval: "I heard that the staff of the Third Department in St. Petersburg have a completely new outlook on life and are very motivated to work.
A huge improvement?"
Li Xiao replied very humbly: "It's better than before. For the time being, we can completely implement the orders, and no one will violate them. As for the future, if we let it go, I'm afraid it will return to the original state."
Nikolai Milyutin nodded, expressing satisfaction with someone's frank attitude. He was not a naive person locked up in an ivory tower. He knew very well what Russian bureaucrats were like. It was absolutely impossible to solve the problem by trying to scare the monkeys.
At most, you can only make some people be honest for a day or two. As long as you take care of them a little, they will immediately return to their original behavior or even get worse.
Strictly speaking, Li Xiao's actions this time cannot even be said to be a huge shock. I think that when Peter the Great carried out reforms, his thunderous methods could not scare some people. Now he has just lost a few official hats.
The shock intensity is not even close to that of a spanking.
If someone was complacent just now and really thought he had done something great, then he would definitely look down on someone and feel that someone was exaggerating, but in fact it was nothing more than that...
Now someone's attitude is quite sincere, and considering that it is really difficult for someone to do something, it is really good to have such a performance, so he has a better sense of someone and feels that someone is quite capable.
He asked slowly: "What are you going to do next?"
Li Xiao responded naturally and quickly: "Continue to rectify the relevant departments, continue to remove those unqualified grassroots leaders, and conduct a major change of grassroots personnel when necessary!"
Nikolai Milyutin was surprised, because he might not be so eager. He would probably take a moment to let the middle-level leaders who had just been beaten badly take a breath, and even consider giving a few sweets.
Zao bribed and won over in exchange for their cooperation in the future.
But someone is obviously not this way. He is preparing to tighten the rope. Isn’t he afraid?
"Not afraid!" Li Xiao replied calmly and confidently, "The beating before should make them honest. Of course, if they are really that stupid, I don't mind killing one or two more chickens... My purpose is to use
Use the fastest and most rapid means to control the situation, not giving them any time to breathe or counterattack, and use the fastest speed to control the third part of St. Petersburg so that we can cooperate with you to carry out the rectification of the third part."
Nikolay Milutin was stunned. He frowned and thought carefully about Li Xiao's plan. After a while, he said, "Isn't it too impatient and might it be counterproductive?"
Li Xiao shook his head and said: "I don't think so. If you give them time to breathe, it will be more likely to cause problems. To deal with them, those old fools must hold on to the rope tightly and not give them a chance to struggle.
, control them tightly and maintain a high-pressure state so that they dare not have the slightest thought of resistance. Only in this way can they be obedient."
"If we give them a chance to breathe, and let them recover from this, I'm afraid they will have other ideas, and maybe they will collude to oppose me, which will not be beautiful!"
"The only way is to maintain high pressure so that they don't dare to make mistakes, and take this opportunity to completely reshuffle the cards and control the grassroots. Then even if they want to resist, it will be impossible!"
Nikolai Milyutin swallowed and looked at the person again. This was the first time he discovered that someone was a strong man with an iron fist. No wonder someone could quickly open the door to Wallachia, a place he was unfamiliar with.
situation.
However, this does not mean that Nikolai Milyuting appreciates Li Xiao's strength. He asked worriedly: "Will this arouse their resistance? What if..."
Li Xiao calmly replied: "Nothing goes wrong. I judge that they are unlikely to have any thoughts of resisting in the short term!"
Nikolai Milyutin frowned and asked: "What is the basis? You must know that they are not soft persimmons. These old fritters in the third part are more difficult to deal with each one. We cannot underestimate them!"
Li Xiao smiled and explained: "If it were normal times, I might not be as tough as you said, but the current situation is completely different, because you are exerting strong pressure on the third part, and even His Majesty was forced to agree.
Rectify the third part. Under your pressure, even if they are dissatisfied, they will not dare to jump over the wall. It is certain that they will resist, but there is no such thing as desperate resistance!"
Nikolai Milyutin snorted, and then he remembered what the current situation in the third part was facing. As someone said, under the pressure of the external environment, the will of resistance of those middle-level bureaucrats cannot be too strong. After all, they
Even their immediate bosses can't stand it, so how can they dare to stand up?
He glanced at Li Xiao in surprise, surprised by someone's ability to judge and grasp the overall situation so accurately, which is rare among young people.
But what surprised him even more was what happened later, because before Li Xiao finished speaking, he took a breath and continued to explain: "And considering that you are putting pressure on the third department, forcing them to make rectifications.
, if I don’t take this opportunity to control the third part of St. Petersburg as soon as possible, once you complete the rectification, it will be too late for me to take action!"
Nikolai Milyutin snorted again, and after a moment of thought, he recognized this truth, and suddenly felt more and more that someone was extraordinary...