Speaking of Alexander Gorchakov, the Duke has been enjoying himself quite a bit lately.
After he returned to St. Petersburg and took over the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from his mortal enemy Neserroddie, he ushered in the second spring of his life.
There are no fools in St. Petersburg. Everyone knows that his taking over the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the most conspicuous signal, which means that this liberal-leaning Duke has officially become an important member at the pinnacle of imperial power.
If nothing else goes wrong, the position of prime minister in the future will definitely belong to him, and a new super giant who is both prime minister and foreign minister is about to arrive.
How could anyone miss such a good opportunity to flatter and build relationships? For a time, the threshold of Prince Alexander's house was completely stepped down, and there was an endless flow of people, from morning until late at night.
This does not include various invitations, such as balls, salons, and hunting trips. Anyway, as long as there is a slightly respectable party, the Duke must not be missing. Otherwise, it can only be said that either you have been marginalized, or your weight is too light and insufficient.
qualifications.
All in all, Duke Alexander is very comfortable every day. Compared with the "downfall" he felt when he was forced to leave St. Petersburg, this can be regarded as a bad mood after returning home in fine clothes.
But he didn't raise his tail, because he had experienced the feeling of being marginalized and knew that it could all end at any time. As the saying goes, it's always cold at high places. The higher you stand, the more you have to worry about falling!
Otherwise, look at Neserrode and Uvarov, how famous these two counts were in the past, but what about now? They are almost like trees falling down, and the hozens are scattered, but there are only a few birds left behind!
"Most of these people are not worth mentioning, let alone trustworthy!" Duke Alexander looked at the various nobles dancing on the dance floor and raising glasses to him from time to time, and said with contempt: "When you don't need them, they
They try their best to get in front of you, but when you really need them, they run away cleanly one by one! They are just a bunch of villains sitting on the wall!"
Duke Mikhail smiled bitterly and said: "You'd better keep your voice down. Although what you said is generally correct, it's not good for them to hear it!"
Duke Alexander snorted disdainfully again: "So what if you heard it? Do you believe that even if they heard it, they would just pretend not to hear it, and then they would continue to flatter and cultivate relations with a shameless face..."
Duke Mikhail shook his head. He could understand Duke Alexander's mood at this moment, but he felt that there was no need to be so mean to these people. Essentially, most people in Russia and even Europe were like this - with Red Top
Bai, it's just human nature. To put it mildly, everyone has no choice but to go out and make a living, so why should we be so harsh?
Duke Alexander shook his head and said: "I'm not being harsh, I've seen through them. I'm also reminding myself, telling myself that none of these people are trustworthy. When it comes time to do something, we can only trust those who are closely related to our interests and are reliable enough."
people!"
Prince Mikhail smiled and said, "Who are these people?"
Duke Alexander glanced at him and said slowly: "You, Duke Ordorf, Count Negrov, Count Sarkin...well, there are also Archduke Andrei and Count Speransky..."
Prince Mikhail widened his eyes and asked in disbelief: "You actually added that grand duke and that count... To be honest, this is beyond my expectation! Do you think they are better than those who are very close to us?
Do friends still need to be reliable?”
Duke Alexander nodded slowly and said decisively: "Although the interests of those two are not completely consistent with ours, after observing them for so long, I can find that they still do things in a systematic way and are more reliable than those you call close friends.
Much more... The only thing that makes me feel regretful is that some of their ideas are still too naive... The reality in Russia is much crueler than they imagined..." m..
Prince Mikhail fell silent. He carefully listened to his brother's words, which he deeply believed.
After a while, he sighed: "I hope they can slowly understand the cruelty of reality... But what do you think about the reform? What Count Uvarov did today has made the situation worse.
It’s more complicated!”
But Duke Alexander smiled contemptuously: "What's complicated? I don't think it's complicated at all... The scene the count did can only make our Majesty... This kind of trick is not clever at all, but we
His Majesty has so many thoughts in his mind that he cannot see through them now!"
As he spoke, he became more and more contemptuous: "The situation is actually very simple. The earl wants to fish in troubled waters and try to maintain his precarious position, while our majesty is unwilling to have the reformist family dominate, and is trying every means to support the new conservatives.
The forces are fighting against them, but the people he supports are really weak and are no match for them at all!"
He snorted coldly: "So our Majesty can only delay, but he doesn't think about how the reformists are not fools, so why would they let him delay casually? That is to say, Nikolai Milyutin is too slow and too old-fashioned.
, I would have had a showdown with His Majesty long ago and forced him to make concessions!"
This speech made Duke Mikhail feel frightened. Not only did Duke Alexander have no respect for Alexander II and others, but his final conclusion was that if he was really the leader of the reformists, then the Gorchakov family would probably
It’s a bit dangerous!
Duke Mikhail has seen the ending of too many prominent and powerful families. They are like the epidemic that breaks through the night sky, looking dazzling but ending bleakly. What the Gorchakov family needs is not temporary prominence.
But long-term prosperity.
He absolutely does not support this kind of seeking death. Fighting against the imperial power? Isn't this seeking death?
But before he could admonish Duke Alexander, he smiled and said: "But I am obviously not Nikolai Milyutin, so naturally I cannot follow their path... Although I don't like some Russian traditions, I know that I want to change them overnight.
It is absolutely impossible... I admire freedom with rules and hate unrestrained randomness!"
Duke Mikhail immediately breathed a sigh of relief, secretly thinking that he had really thought too much. This brother of his was not a young boy or an angry young man like Li Xiao and Alexey. He had been tempered by so many years of officialdom.
Come out. He knows what can and cannot be done, and will never do dangerous things like a moth to a flame.
He was about to ask what Duke Alexander was going to do about the current stalemate and whether he could try to get more capital and benefits when he heard the butler announce: "Count Adlerberg is visiting!"