Chapter 141 The Small Covers the Big

Ilya was keenly aware of what seemed to be between Muraviyov, Alexei, and Li Xiao. He could feel the tacit understanding between these three people. Naturally sensitive.

However, he did not immediately express this guess. As an excellent third military policeman, waiting and observation are necessary skills, so he decided to take a look first.

Ilya didn't ask any more questions about the steam ship, which made Alexei and Muraviev heave a sigh of relief. Because the cost of this thing is really astonishing, if Nicholas I knows that they spent so much money to make this flashy "waste", he will be blown up on the spot!

So some things can only be sneaked into the village, and shooting is absolutely unnecessary.

After inspecting several new steam ships in turn, even Ilya must admit that the Wallachia inland river fleet at least looks like that, at least the weapons and equipment and spirit are very good. As for whether it can really fight, who can tell? Are you sure? No one can tell without actually fighting. After all, there are not a few people in history who seem to be very powerful, but in fact they can't help but fight.

In the evening, when Ilya returned to the hotel in Giurgiu, he was more vigilant, because Muraviyov had frightened him before. Although he took a breath under the guise of being sick, who can guarantee that the old man will persevere How about sticking to it?

Naturally, Ilya was highly vigilant, and his mind was running wildly, thinking about some excuses to evade and how he would protect himself if the old guy was going to come to him.

I have to say that Ilya really thought too much, and Muraviyov didn't have such a heavy taste and had no interest in his body at all. After Li Xiao and Alexei's persuasion, the old man also knew that there are some tricks that can be used in one way or another, just like empty city tricks, if you come here every time, you will be ruined sooner or later.

Moreover, Alexei and Li Xiao also told him that Wallachia can still stand the investigation. Although there must be some secrets in it that cannot be known by conservatives, these secrets are covered up very cleverly. People can see through it at a glance.

For example, Wallachia's financial accounts, which are fake accounts carefully fabricated by combining the financial wisdom of Li Xiao's later generations and the traditional skills of Jewish profiteers. With the financial review level of this era, it is not that it cannot be found out at all, but it must be Not one or two people can see the problem within a day or two.

In short, Wallachia was exposed casually, but the big and terrible problems were covered up skillfully. Even if the small problems were caught, the big thing is to criticize education, and it is unlikely to be the evidence to bring down Alexei .

In fact, if Li Xiao is willing, he can even clean up those small problems, without letting flies get through. But he knows the truth that when the water is clear, there will be no fish.

Sometimes doing too clean can be problematic.

After all, Nicholas I was not a fool. After being the tsar all these years, what was it like in the officialdom? If a place is clean and there is no problem at all, then there is a big problem, and it must be fake!

Therefore, Li Xiao deliberately left some small and big problems for the special envoy sent by Nicholas I. To put it bluntly, this is a strategy of using small problems to cover up big problems, catching the big and letting go of the small.

This trick worked, because even the envoys and imperial envoys sent by the conservatives to do things were deceived, although they tried to list more minor problems in Wallachia and Alexei in their reports, or deliberately Exaggerate these little problems. However, Nicholas I always criticized Alexei a few words casually, and the matter was over. The reason was that the tsar also followed suit, thinking that as long as Alexei had no principled problems and had enough It was a small problem, but it made him feel at ease.

What Nicholas I was most afraid of was that Alexei was as perfect as a saint in Wallachia, so he would take Alexei even if he didn't want Wallachia, because as a conservative tsar, he The last thing needed is a reformed saint!

The reason is very simple. If Alexei becomes a reformist saint, it means that the set he created is better and more promising than the set that Nicholas I abides by now, which naturally means how conservative he is. ignorance and backwardness.

For Nicholas I, Russia's necessary ignorance and backwardness are beneficial to him. If Russia is as advanced as Britain or France, then maybe the grave of his tsar will grow grass, but he will never Can't forget the impact of the French Revolution on the Bourbon family, he doesn't want to be the next Louis XVI!

So Alexei is capable, but not too capable. If he is capable enough, he is still a capable minister that Nicholas I can use, but if he is too capable, he becomes the gravedigger of the Romanov family.

It has to be said that Nicholas I's imperial mind is quite good, and he is indeed much better than his brother and father in this respect. Alexander I had to be at his level back then, and the old Speranski's reforms may have better results.

Closer to home, let’s continue to talk about Ilya and Muraviyov’s side. After inspecting the river army, the two did not return to Bucharest, but took a boat all the way east to Izmail.

After learning about the strength of the Wallachia Inland River Fleet, they thought it was necessary to look at the actual effect. If the Wallachia Inland River Fleet can prove that its capabilities are not just on paper, then it is absolutely necessary to report this to Nicholas I. This is important for the future The possible armed conflict or even war with Turkey is of great significance.

And Ilya felt that it was necessary to inspect the port of Izmail and the shipyard. As an important base and shipyard for the Black Sea Fleet on the Danube, this factory was of great significance to Wallachia.

If Izmail has enough throughput capacity, then Russia can send food from Odessa or Nikolayev directly to the front line of the war against Turkey, helping the Russian army to quickly capture the surrounding areas of Constanta.

Once Constanta is in hand, the Russian army's logistics supply line will be more stable. One way can use materials from the Danube and Wallachia, and the other way can use the materials transported from Ukraine to Constanta by the Black Sea Fleet. This has crucial significance for the "liberation" of Bulgaria.

Ilya wants to see Izmail, Alexei and Li Xiao will naturally not stop him, because Izmail belongs to Ukraine and has little to do with Wallachia, even if he can find any problems in Izmail Wallachia cannot be implicated. The two brothers wished he could hang around in Izmail!