Chapter 103

This is what Uvarov and his like fear and frustrate the most. Everything they have comes from the tsar. If the tsar agrees with their ideas, there is nothing to say, but once there is a conflict of ideas, what they believe in It collapsed in minutes.

This is why Uvarov particularly dislikes Grand Duke Constantine. The reason why he is more inclined to Crown Prince Alexander is because Grand Duke Constantine is too escaped and has no interest in conservative theories.

If Grand Duke Constantine were to be the tsar, then reforms might be imperative, which was simply unacceptable to Uvarov. Once this worst-case scenario occurs, they, the conservatives, will be unable to get through their own interests if they honestly abide by the will of Grand Duke Constantine, but if they do not accept it, it will go against their own ideas. Anyway, it is blocked at both ends!

In order to avoid such a painful situation, Uvarov naturally supported Crown Prince Alexander. He thought that as long as Crown Prince Alexander succeeded to the throne in the future, Grand Duke Constantine would naturally have nothing to do. At that time, their conservatives were still popular. It's not easy to drink spicy food.

But what Uvarov didn't expect was that they would face a difficult test before Crown Prince Alexander succeeded to the throne-Nicolas I had a change of heart. From the good tsar who obeyed them at the beginning, he became an unstable factor who did not listen to his will.

Now Nicholas I personally gave the green light to the cable telegraph. With his authority, this matter must be done, and it must be done beautifully.

This is the philosophy of Russian officialdom, everything is for the tsar, as long as the tsar is happy, all the price is worth it.

But for Uvarov, this article is a bit unacceptable, because if it wants to make Nicholas I happy, then conservatives like them must have to cry. But he really didn't want to cry, so he wanted to make trouble.

"Order to go down, let the people below cause as much trouble as possible for the cable telegraph project, and be sure to mess it up for me!"

Uvarov got angry, but Chernyshov, old Adlerberg and others looked at each other in blank dismay. They didn't want to do this, thinking it was too risky.

Yes, there are actually different hilltops within the conservative faction. The old stubborn who really agrees with Uvarov’s political ideas from the bottom of his heart may only be himself. Others such as Chernyshov and old Adlerberg are conservative. But still time-conscious.

If it's an ordinary project, it's easy to cause some trouble and disturb him, and there will be no future troubles. But if Nicholas I paid special attention to the project, if he did this, it would be tantamount to singing against the Tsar-it would be tantamount to courting death!

For their particularly clever bureaucrats,

This kind of thing is reluctant to do, the risk is too great. But now Uvarov is forcing them to do it, tell me what it is called!

Old Adlerberg immediately persuaded in a low voice: "Count, I think this matter should be cautious, His Majesty is watching! What if..."

Before he finished speaking, Uvarov stared at him, and the anger in his eyes made him unable to speak at all.

"There is no chance!" Uvarov said with a sullen face. "As long as I am alive, I will not allow these damn new things to multiply on Russian soil!"

This remark made the old Adlerberg and others shudder. Uvarov seemed to be very satisfied with the effect he created. He glanced at everyone and said solemnly: "This is a war without gunpowder smoke. The contest! I just want to let those who have two hearts know that there is no luck in front of me!"

With Uvarov's final decision, the matter was settled in this way, and the next task of the conservatives was to make trouble as much as possible, whether it was a conspiracy or a conspiracy, they had to mess up the cable telegraph project.

Perhaps as Uvarov said, this is a life-and-death war, but he never thought that this war would be so unfavorable to him from the very beginning.

It’s not that they failed to find trouble. On the contrary, with the strength of Chernyshov, old Adlerberg and others, it’s really easy to make things happen. Let’s put it this way, the cable telegraph project encountered trouble from the very beginning .

The first is that the Ministry of Finance procrastinates in appropriating funds. The money is delayed as long as it can, and it tries to deduct harshly if it cannot be delayed. The second is that bureaucrats at all levels are not cooperative at all. One puts a red light on land acquisition, while another instigates local tyrants to deliberately find fault. Finally, and the most important thing is that Uvarov also led a group of younger brothers to constantly attack the Duke of Ordorf. The Duke of Aldorf was very annoyed.

Looks like it's going well?

Hey, it's just a look. Although the conservatives' tricks are very successful, the biggest hidden danger has gradually come to them.

About a month later, when Nicholas I asked the progress of the cable telegraph at the imperial meeting, especially when the first line from St. The counterattack came.

"...The local officials are extremely uncooperative, and the Ministry of Finance's appropriation is slow. As of yesterday, a total of 200,000 rubles have been allocated. This amount of money really can't do anything!"

"According to my personal estimation, according to this progress, it will take about five years to build this line..."

five years? !

Nicholas I was stunned. Let alone five years, he didn't want to wait for five months. Besides, how far is St. Petersburg from Kronstadt? It would take five years to build such a short distance. Then build a cable network covering the whole country Wouldn't it take a hundred years!

He can't wait a hundred years!

Immediately Nicholas I was angry: "Why didn't you allocate funds for so long? Didn't I already tell you that the cable and telegraph project has the highest priority? Didn't you, Earl, take my words as a deaf ear?!"

Paul Fedorovich Sheremetev's face was very calm. As the Minister of Finance, he was also an out-and-out conservative. Ever since he received Uvarov's instructions, he knew that this day would come sooner or later.

But he is really not particularly afraid, because he has already thought of a perfect plan, and he is confident that he can handle it.

He replied very calmly: "Your Majesty, of course I have not forgotten your will. However, finances are really tight now. In order to cope with the possible outbreak of a war with Turkey, most of the funds have been invested in war preparations. I can only find ways to I squeezed the two hundred thousand rubles out of my teeth to raise funds for the cable project, and I did my best!"