The Knights of St. Andre are really awesome. The history of this Knights is not long. It was only officially founded in 1838, and it has only been around for eighty-nine years.
Although it has a short history, its members are very prominent. The leader of the group is the current Crown Prince Alexander, and the deputy leaders include Alexander's younger brother, Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich, and the Crown Prince's aide-de-camp, Duke Baryatinsky.
Then there is Leonid. The other members are either rich or noble, and they can basically kill all the young Russian dignitaries in one fell swoop.
The Knights of St. Andrew can be said to be the personal team prepared by Nicholas I for Crown Prince Alexander. They gathered a generation of Russian elite nobles around the Crown Prince to cultivate their relationship and lay a good foundation for the Crown Prince to ascend the throne in the future.
Nicholas I believed that as long as the most elite young people in Russia in the future unite around Crown Prince Alexander, the Crown Prince will no longer have to worry about the instability of the throne. This fine tradition will be continued from generation to generation in the future, and the monarchy of the Russian Empire will last forever.
Prosperity never fades.
Therefore, the members of the Knights of St. Andrew have a very high social status and enjoy various preferential treatments. The royal family provides subsidies and subsidies, and priority is given to promotion and promotion. Even when walking on the road, they are superior to ordinary nobles.
The treatment is generous, and the threshold is naturally quite high. Only the best young nobles are recruited to join. The entrance trial is also known as the Devil's Journey, and the elimination rate is quite high. After all, useless cowards cannot help the crown prince and maintain the monarchy system.
For example, until now Crown Prince Alexander has doubts about recruiting Li Xiao as a member. He worriedly said to Leonid: "Lyoya (Leonid's nickname), is this really good? Andrei.
Konstantinlovic has always been ineffective, a waste at all. Allowing him to join our excellent group simply... has lowered our average level. His performance has always been terrible, and no one likes him...
…Before, Kostya (Konstantin’s nickname, here referring to his brother Grand Duke Constantine) was strongly opposed to absorbing him, and believed that his application should be rejected directly, and he should not even be given the opportunity to participate in the trial!”
"Your Highness," Leonid felt regretful in his heart, but the knight's creed told him that he should stick to his opinion: "The purpose of the Knights of St. Andrew is to recruit the best noble youths in Russia to safeguard the territory and sovereignty of the great Russia.
Maintain the supreme monarchy and sacred religious beliefs. We have formulated rules for recruiting new members. Any Russian aristocratic youth who is over 15 years old and not over 35 years old and has military service experience can apply to join. As long as they pass the admission
He will automatically become one of us after the regimental trial. Although Grand Duke Andrei Constantine's previous performance was not outstanding, he met all the necessary conditions to join us. I don't see any reason to refuse him to join us.
If we allow personal preference to override our purpose, then our sacred institutions will become empty words and a joke! Who will respect the rules and oaths we have made in the future?”
Alexander was not completely convinced. He was still hesitant, or in other words, he was still very resistant. He disliked Li Xiao very much and did not want his good-for-nothing cousin to join his knights at all.
Leonid also saw this, and he continued to persuade: "Your Highness, like you, I also dislike the Grand Duke. But we must maintain our sacred system. Compared with that Grand Duke, ours is
The sacred system is more important. In addition, you also know that I deliberately increased the difficulty of this trial, but the archduke was able to pass the test tenaciously on his own strength, which also proves that he does not seem to be that unbearable. If he can pass
Our efforts to turn a rotten tree like him into a pillar of the country is also a good thing."
Alexander curled his lips, as if he was talking in his sleep. But he saw from Leonid's resolute eyes that his adjutant would not give in. He had expectations and respect for this outstanding friend. He hesitated for a moment.
Afterwards, he finally agreed:
"Liao Niya, you have convinced me. Our system is indeed the most important. Of course, what is more important is that I respect our friendship. I believe you will not betray my trust!"
Leonid suddenly said: "Yes, Your Highness. I will personally be responsible for teaching the Grand Duke, and I will definitely not let you down!"
Alexander nodded slightly and sighed: "Well, I hope so! But that guy, hey..."
Li Xiao didn't know about this conversation, and of course even if he knew it, he wouldn't care much about it. For him, the Knights of St. Andrew are just a springboard. He has no interest in the so-called sacred system and great purpose.
.For him, it was just a tool used by Nicholas I to consolidate the rule of himself and his son Alexander. He was not interested in being a tool in the hands of that mean old uncle, he just wanted to use it to change his passive situation.
.
Therefore, Li Xiao did not have much expectations for the upcoming joining ceremony, let alone excitement. He even hoped to complete the ceremony as soon as possible.
Of course, there are not many people like Li Xiao. For the nobles of St. Petersburg, the oath-taking ceremony of the Knights of St. Andrew in the new year is still very interesting. Nicholas I and Crown Prince Alexander and Kang
Grand Duke Standing will come to watch the ceremony. This is a good opportunity to get close to the Holy Master. If he can be favored by the emperor or the crown prince, the man will become a prosperous person, and the woman will also become the royal favorite. She will be rich or noble in the rest of her life.
How could you miss this!
Therefore, the Senate Square is very lively on a new day. Since the afternoon, young aristocratic men and women have been gathering here. Everyone is pretending to talk nonsense, but their eyes can't help but glance in the direction of the Winter Palace. As usual, the Tsar and Crown Prince
Will come from there under the escort of guards.
At 7:30 in the evening, the flow of people reached its peak, and Nevsky Prospekt and Senate Square were shrouded in noise, entering a festive atmosphere early. Li Xiao stood on the makeshift podium in front of the Bronze Horseman Statue and was bored. He felt that he
Just like the chimpanzees being visited in the zoo, and the little friend next to me who is swearing the oath is a tall and strong gorilla, it is really shameful.
Such a scene reminded him of Gogol's description in "Nevsky Prospect": "Nevsky Prospekt is a lie every moment of every day, but the worst thing is at night, when the whole city becomes...
It became a hodgepodge of noise and flashing lights... Then the devil himself came and lit up every street lamp, with only one purpose: to make everything appear false..."