Struggle in Russia

Little Adlerberg originally planned to come to the play early. After all, his father was the initiator of this good show. He really wanted to see how the main and supporting actors performed on the stage, especially the real result. After coming out, the expression of Grand Duke Constantine.

It's just that old Adlerberg didn't allow him to come so early, and he wasn't even allowed to come to the theater for a while. Later, I heard that Lazarev appeared suddenly, and this allowed Adlerberg Jr. to take control of the overall situation.

At the same time that Alexei saw him, little Adlerberg also saw him. They are all members of the high aristocratic circle of St. Petersburg, who doesn't know who? Especially since the other party was the son of the famous Speranski, little Adlerberg suddenly narrowed his eyes:

【Why is he here too? 】

Little Adlerberg knew that Alexei was a good friend of Leonid, and he used to go to the 748 regiment every now and then. But appearing openly on this kind of occasion and having a good friendship in private are completely two concepts.

[Don't he know that this is standing in line? 】

In his later years, Speranski strongly rejected standing in line, and basically did not express his opinion on everything, just being a silent and dumb consultant. How come little Speranski is so careless?

Little Adlerberg was a little suspicious, and even more worried that the appearance of Alexei would further affect the balance of power.

According to old Adlerberg's calculations, Grand Duke Constantine would definitely not be allowed to slap Li Xiao wantonly as he wished. If he was allowed to do it, wouldn't it make Nicholas I more satisfied with him.

That's why old Adlerberg arranged a lot of rebellious boys in the questioning meeting. These people apparently spoke for Grand Duke Constantine, but in fact they all accepted the bribes and threats of the old fox, and they had to fight when necessary. Put water to send people's heads. He even did not hesitate to turn back and beat Duke Constantine by surprise.

In addition, not all of these journalists who watched the excitement were serving the Grand Duke Constantine, and quite a few of them were also the gunmen arranged by the old Adlerberg. In the following reports, the news that is beneficial to Li Xiao will be exaggerated, while the news that is not good for Li Xiao will be ignored.

All in all, everything is arranged, just waiting for Grand Duke Constantine to fall into the pit.

But the appearance of Lazarev caught old Adlerberg a little by surprise. The influence of this veteran is not small, it can be regarded as pivotal, and he openly sided with Li Xiao, which immediately affected the balance of power.

According to the old Adlerberg's arrangement, Li Xiao could at most win a miserable victory or a small loss in the end. But once Lazarev came, it was impossible for Grand Duke Constantine's lackeys to try to bully others.

The old man could kill a group of them by himself, not to mention the older Bellingshausen beside him.

With these two old men in charge, not to mention the running dogs of Grand Duke Constantine, even Grand Duke Constantine was a little restless.

Therefore, the old Adlerberg was afraid that the arrangement would go wrong, so he allowed the younger Adlerberg to go to watch the game, keep an eye on the development of the situation, and fine-tune the details in real time to avoid acting too much and not ending well.

Little Adlerberg felt fortunate that he came to the scene to direct, because there was another little Speranski on Li Xiao's side. Although his father was dead, his influence was still there. In addition to the exiled Decembrists, there are still a large number of disciples of the old Speransky who are still active in the political arena, and there are countless people who support and escort the younger Speranski. It is really not to be underestimated.

"Let them pay attention, keep it close, and don't go too far!"

Little Adlerberg whispered a few words to his entourage, and then locked his eyes firmly on Alexei, for fear that the other party would disrupt the situation as soon as he came up.

Is Alexei trying to disrupt the situation?

It's a little bit, but he is a more cautious spoiler, and he won't be a shit stick when he comes up. Previously, his idea was to intervene at a critical moment, to share the pressure on Li Xiao and Leonid, so that the enemy would not dare to go too rampant.

But after seeing little Adlerberg, Alexei's thoughts also changed a little. The old Earl Speranski had told him long ago that there were several poisonous snakes around Nicholas I that needed special attention, and old Adlerberg was among them.

According to the old Speranski: [There is no good person in the Adlerberg family. They are all cunning, cunning and scheming conspirators. Be careful! 】

At this time, Alexei's thought was: [Why is the little fox here? Isn't he the Crown Prince's man? Why come here? Judging by his surreptitious posture of ordering left and right, there must be something wrong! 】

Immediately, Alexei paid close attention to little Adlerberg's every move, for fear that this little fox was also coming for Li Xiao. If so, then both Leonid and Li Xiao are in danger!

At this time, the questioning meeting finally started.

In fact, it should have started a long time ago, but with Leonid's strong intervention, especially the arrival of Lazarev and Bellingshausen, Grand Duke Constantine was caught off guard. The grand duke had to restrain himself a little.

And as more and more reporters came to hear the news, the small conference room arranged before had to be changed into a large auditorium. At this time, in addition to senior military officers and naval technical experts sitting around watching the battle in the auditorium, there are dignitaries and reporters with various purposes in mind.

Grand Duke Constantine asked his confidants with a dark face, "Why are there so many people?"

According to his original intention, the scale must be controlled. After all, Li Xiao also supported the steamship, so he was barely in the same camp as him. It is necessary to attack Li Xiao, but we must control the scale and pay attention to the method. Don't let those who oppose the steamship and its innovations take advantage of it, or they will shoot themselves in the foot, really stupid.

But the current scale is too big. The momentum is too great!

The confidant replied with a bitter face: "There is no way. The senior generals and the dignitaries of St. Petersburg all rushed over to ask to participate. They can't all be driven away!"

Grand Duke Constantine really wanted to smoke someone, and said in his heart: 【Of course we have to drive away! Otherwise, what is the use of you? 】But now that it's done, he can't even regret it, so he can only bite the bullet and sit down. However, he was already uneasy in his heart, and vaguely felt that today's questioning meeting might not end well.

On the podium, the person who presided over the questioning was the Second Minister of the Navy Rumyantsev Jr., this greasy-faced, powder-faced mustache with a strong cologne smell sat calmly with no expression on his face, looking absent-minded.

However, Grand Duke Constantine in the audience felt that there seemed to be a cold light hidden in the lowered eyes of this guy who had been making frequent movements recently. Immediately, he became even more uneasy, feeling that he should not give up the power to preside over the inquiry meeting, which made him feel powerless as everything was out of control...