Chapter 169 Unbelievable

The Bobulinski family is probably synonymous with conservatism. At least in Muraviyov's view, all members of this family are conservatives, all of them are old antiques, and it is impossible to do work at all.

So when he heard that Li Xiao wanted to find Ilya Bobulinski for a job, he was the first to object, thinking that it was absolutely useless work and self-inflicted humiliation.

It's just that since Li Xiao has this kind of thinking, he is still sure, he explained slowly: "General, don't worry, just listen to me to explain slowly!"

"For a while, I have been observing your deputy envoy. Apart from the fact that he is from the Bobulinski family, there is not much bad about him... You have also seen that he does things. He is conscientious and responsible, and he does not have the slightest arrogance of the noble children of St. Petersburg, and more importantly, his attitude towards new things!"

This last point stunned Muraviev, because he did not see any difference between Ilya's attitude towards new things and those conservatives.

Li Xiao shook his head and said: "There is still a difference. It can be seen that he has a very detailed understanding of the detailed performance of trains, steam engines, and other machinery, and he has not criticized them or picked bones. It is completely different from those old antiques. .”

Muraviyov thought for a while, and he had to admit that this was indeed different from other conservatives. Those guys who insist on conservatism can't tolerate a little bit of new things in their eyes. When they see so-called new things, they are like mad dogs, barking and biting. It's useless to say anything good, even if they don't understand it at all. These new things are also true.

To put it bluntly, this group of people decides their brains by their ass. They don't care whether new things are good or bad, or whether they are beneficial to the country. As long as they are new things, they oppose them. They are simply extremely stubborn.

But Ilya was different, he didn't pick his nose or eyes, and he didn't make a fuss, even if he had an opinion on some new things, he was just discussing the facts, aiming at the shortcomings of these new things.

This kind of behavior is more like discussing the facts, rather than the ass deciding the head. It is precisely because of these performances of Elijah that Li Xiao thinks that this person may be a conservative, but he is not a conservative in the general sense, but a conservative who can be argued and fought for.

Muraviyov thought for a while and shook his head: "Even if he is a little different, it's still too risky to do so. Even if he can realize the benefits of new things, it doesn't mean that he will cooperate with us to deal with Berge. !"

This point is not wrong, and Li Xiao also admitted that there is such a possibility. After all, liking new things does not mean liking reformers, nor does it mean helping them. These are two completely different things.

Li Xiao smiled and said, "I didn't say I'm going to have a showdown with that Ilya Bobulinski right now,

It's too reckless to do so. I mean to test his true attitude a little bit, and we'll see the situation. If it doesn't work, I can only let you fight alone! "

Muraviyov nodded reluctantly. Although the effect of doing so may not be particularly ideal, there is no risk. For reformers like them who are in a difficult situation, the most important thing is to ensure safety. Only by ensuring safety first can you do other things, otherwise, even if you have the talents of the world, it will be useless.

After the two discussed it properly, it was natural to deal with it. After inspecting Izmail and Nikolayev, Muraviev took Ilya directly to Sevastopol.

As Russia's most important strategic support point and military port on the Crimean Peninsula, Sevastopol is of great significance to Russia. From the beginning when Catherine the Great seized the peninsula, Russia began to fully manage the peninsula. For example, Potemkin, the most important minister of the empire, was sent as the governor of Crimea.

What Duke Potemkin did in Crimea back then, although some things like Potemkin Village were a bit of a thing, but in general, it was Potemkin’s governance that made Crimea truly integrated into Russia.

After Potemkin, although Russia has been developing Crimea, it always feels more offensive than defensive. The Black Sea Fleet has become one of the two major fleets of the empire, and even surpassed the Baltic Fleet in importance at one point. But the construction of Sevastopol always feels a bit perfunctory.

For example, the city defense fortress. In fact, the city defense of Sevastopol in this period was not completely completed, and the entire defense system was still relatively loose. Strictly speaking, this is not a fortress that people have heard of.

The reason is very simple. Probably for the Russians, they don't believe that the weak Turks can come to the door.

Anyway, Li Xiao told Muraviyov to focus on inspecting the defense facilities of Sevastopol, where there are a lot of mistakes.

It should be said that what Li Xiao said was not wrong. When Muraviev really saw the city defense facilities of Sevastopol, his expression was a bit ugly. He couldn't have imagined that, as the military port that the empire focused on, and as the fulcrum of the most important strategic direction in the future, Sevastopol's defense facilities would be so sloppy.

"This... this... we are improving," Berge quickly explained while wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, "but the funds are limited. After all, the fleet is more important, isn't it?"

Of course, this explanation does not satisfy Muraviyov. He admits that the Black Sea Fleet is indeed more important than defensive facilities, but that does not mean that a key fulcrum military port can be so perfunctory. Although many fortresses were built on the commanding heights around the entire military port, most of these fortresses were fake, either of substandard quality, or empty, without a single artillery inside.

Relying on these things to prevent the enemy's heavy army from landing is simply a joke, so he criticized very bluntly: "The fleet is indeed more important, but the defense facilities are too sloppy to make it like this. The entire fortress group is actually only a mere There are more than a hundred artillery pieces, and most of them are small-caliber six-pound guns, these things are not enough to tickle the enemy!"

Indeed, although the six-pound gun has a fast rate of fire, its power is really unsatisfactory, and it is seriously difficult to deal with infantry. Generally, decent field artillery prefers the 12-pound gun, even if the latter is heavier.

As far as the naval fortress is concerned, the 12-pound guns are actually rubbish. If you want to pose a certain threat to the battleships of this era, you need at least an 18-pound gun, and you need a 24-pound gun to start with a decent one. For a key fortress like Sevastopol, the artillery group must have at least 36-pound guns or even 48-pound guns, so as to pose enough threats to the enemy fleet!