Dmitri fell into deep thought. He is a person who is good at thinking and will never follow others' opinions. If others followed others' opinions, he would have been led astray by Nikolay Milyutin. Why would he continue to have an affair with the reformists?
He will think clearly about any problem or decision. He will never act hastily if he doesn't want to know clearly. Once he thinks clearly, he will act decisively and never act sloppily!
After a while, he let out a long sigh: "Earl, what you said makes sense. Compared with some petty profiteers around us, it is more important to completely change the current system. If no changes are made, it will continue to be as hazy as it is now.
Our national strength and that of other great powers are getting bigger and bigger. Sooner or later, people will see through our lies and reality. At that time, we may not only lose some interests in Poland and the Black Sea coast! I am afraid that we may be worried about national subjugation!"
Count Rostovtsev smiled. He liked chatting with smart people like Dmitri. If it were his brother Nikolai, he would have been entangled in it, and in the end he would have been procrastinating and not making a decision.
You have to wait until the situation is irreversible before you have to take action.
From this perspective, Nikolai looks radical but is actually conservative, while Dmitri looks conservative but is extremely decisive in his heart.
"Yes," Count Rostovtsev nodded, "so I have been promoting this conflict for a while. Now the overall situation is basically established, and all aspects are slowly advancing according to my vision. According to my estimation
, it may take about five years or so before a full-scale conflict between us and Britain and France will break out!"
This conclusion surprised Dmitri, because he had been reviewing Count Rostovtsev's recent actions just now. According to his calculation, Count Rostovtsev should take the opportunity to send troops to Wallachia and Austria.
This opportunity will lead to a full-scale conflict with Britain and France, and the war should start within a year.
But just now Count Rostovtsev said that it will take another five years. What is going on?
Seeing Dmitri's doubts, Count Rostovtsev smiled and explained: "My friend, you have underestimated our Majesty. He is a cautious person at heart. He has not yet been desired.
He has gone to his head, so once Britain and France issue a comprehensive warning, he will definitely rein in the situation immediately, and now he will not go head-to-head with Britain and France!"
Dmitri groaned. This was something he didn't expect, because he felt that Nicholas I had become very powerful recently. He powerfully snatched Wallachia and Moldavia from Austria, and continued to attack the Holy Land.
Opening fire on France over the issue seems a bit devilish no matter how you look at it!
Count Rostovtsev shook his head and said: "This is not enough, or it is just His Majesty's test. He is testing the bottom line of Britain, France and Austria through a series of small adventurous moves.
Once he realizes that the situation is not good, he will immediately give up and retreat!"
Dmitri hummed, and he admitted that if there was anyone who knew Nicholas I best, then it was Count Rostovtsev. After spending more than twenty years together day and night, he must have known Nicholas I well.
To say that it is actually immature is definitely immature.
"So what do we need to do?" Dmitri asked.
"It's very simple, go to his head with one brilliant victory after another!"
Dmitri huffed again and blurted out: "So at the Imperial Council, you watched Chernyshev and Menshikov agree to General Lazarev's proposal to go on a new adventure, right?"
Count Rostovtsev chuckled: "Yes, it's not a big deal anyway. Even if the adventure fails, it will just damage our fleet. Anyway, we have never been a maritime country, even if we don't have a fleet,
No personal pain!"
Dmitri smiled bitterly. He finally understood how determined Count Rostovtsev was. The Baltic Fleet and the Black Sea Fleet were developed with great difficulty. They invested a huge amount of money, but they were able to give up even this.
This shows how determined he is!
However, Dmitri doesn’t think Count Rostovtsev said anything wrong. Russia has indeed never been a maritime country, and its desire for the ocean is not as great as that of Britain. Even without the navy, it still relies on its vast territory and abundant human resources.
It can deal with the great powers. What's more, the two fleets under Menshikov are really not enough. The old eunuch is really not a good navy minister, and he has misled the navy!
"Then what do you need me to do?" Dmitri asked bluntly.
Count Rostovtsev smiled again. It is easier to talk to smart people. He did not go around in circles and said directly: "I need your advice to Crown Prince Alexander to launch military operations in the Caucasus. I recommend Duke Baryatinsky to go there."
Destroy Shamir in one fell swoop!"
Dmitri was stunned. According to Count Rostovtsev's intention, this was to continue advancing in the direction of the Caucasus, which was tantamount to stabbing Turkey and the Qajar Dynasty in Persia in the back. To put it bluntly, this was an explicit provocation!
You know, although the Turks were forced to agree with Russia on the issues of Wallachia and Moldavia, they were full of vigilance and dissatisfaction. Now that Russia is suddenly taking action in the direction of the Caucasus, this is drunkenness no matter how you look at it.
Weng doesn't care about wine.
Don't underestimate the direction of the Caucasus. Its geopolitical significance is no less than that of the Balkans. Russia's expansion in this direction has also continued for hundreds of years. However, in recent decades, due to the strong resistance of the Persians, this process has been interrupted.
It was greatly delayed.
Moreover, Britain has also been keeping an eye on Persia, because the British are very worried that once the Qajar dynasty of Persia is destroyed by Russia, Russian power will touch the British and ban India! What's more, there have been rumors circulating in the UK that Russia is trying to get involved in India.
Tell me how they turned a blind eye to this?
Dmitri was sure that once they took action against Shamir, the British's nerves would be highly tense and they would definitely not stay out of it. By then, the situation that Count Rostovtsev wanted would basically be formed.
Thinking of this, Dmitri had to admire this count. He had figured out the fate of various countries and knew how to be a qualified troublemaker. But the only thing that puzzled him was why Rostov chose to do it just now.
What the Count said was to ask him to advise Crown Prince Alexander, rather than directly to Nicholas I?
In addition, there must be some explanation for why Duke Baryatinsky was recommended to lead the troops instead of letting him go out personally...