Shadow of great britain

The spacious and elegant embassy conference room is located in the center of the main building of the embassy.

Stepping inside, the first thing that catches your eye is the high ceiling, decorated with exquisite reliefs, and several exquisite oil paintings hanging on the walls, which depict portraits of important British political figures in the past, including portraits of the kings of the Hanoverian Dynasty. The paintings also include military generals such as the Duke of Marlborough, the Duke of Wellington and Horatio Nelson who made great military exploits for Britain.

The interior decoration adopts a typical Russian style. The bright floor-to-ceiling windows are large and high, and the curtains are made of thick purple velvet. The cold air and snowflakes outside the window are reflected into the room through the window glass, lighting up the blazing furnace in the fireplace. fire.

The long conference table made of walnut has a smooth mirror-like surface, reflecting the paperwork and ink bottles displayed on the table.

There are more than a dozen soft seats on both sides of the table. Each chair is wrapped in fine leather, with exquisite metal decoration, and has a classic and practical shape.

Count Dalamo, the ambassador to Russia, who was dressed in a luxurious dress, sat at the head of the table. Looking forward from his perspective, he could have a panoramic view of the situation in the conference room.

The people sitting on his left and right were naturally the close people whom Daramo regarded as his right-hand man.

Seated on the left was the cultural counselor Sir Arthur Hastings, who was reading a report with a frown and smoking a pipe.

Sitting opposite the knight was Colonel Charles Stewart, the military attaché in Russia, who was wiping the medal on his chest with a handkerchief.

Under them, other important figures such as counselors and first secretaries took their seats in sequence. However, due to travel reasons, the consuls located in important Russian cities such as Moscow and Kiev were unable to arrive in time to attend the meeting.

When Count Daramo saw that everyone had arrived, he habitually tapped the table with his fingers: "Everyone must have known the news from London. The exposure of the secret treaty signed between Russia and the Ottomans attracted public opinion in London. There is an uproar, and according to the instructions of the Foreign Secretary, I will go to the Winter Palace at three o'clock this afternoon to make a serious protest to the Tsar's face."

Having said this, Count Dalamo paused. He took out his pocket watch and looked at the time: "Of course, the French are more active than us in this regard. The French Charge d'Affaires in Petersburg should be in the Winter Palace by now."

Arthur took out a copy of the documents before the case and handed it to Count Daramo: "Your Excellency, this is the content of the French protest. They just sent someone to send us a copy. Most of it is nonsense, and in the end it is nonsense. I’ve circled the important part with a pen.”

Count Daramo nodded slightly. He took the document, glanced at it, and read out the circled content in front of everyone: "The French government solemnly declares: Once Russia relies on this treaty to interfere within the Ottoman Empire, affairs, France will reserve the right to take any necessary measures based on the actual situation..."

Arthur asked: "Do you think the protest document we drafted should be tougher than the French, or should it be written more tactfully?"

Count Daramo rubbed his temples: "There is no need to write so bluntly, just be more tactful. The French charge d'affaires must have said the ugly things for us today. We just need to let the tsar understand that we are as dissatisfied as the French." That’s it.”

Colonel Stewart was obviously dissatisfied with such a weak statement: "The secret treaty signed between Ottoman and Russia is simply unreasonable! What does it mean that Russia can ask Ottoman to block the strait connecting the Black Sea and the Mediterranean at any time? The Russians can turn the Black Sea into their own inland sea To be honest, there is no need to be so sneaky, it is simply Fool us for fools. If this treaty is carried out, the Russians can sail from the Black Sea port of Sevastopol to the Bosporus and capture Constantinople in four days. The French navy had no time to stop it. The Ottoman Sultan was simply not clear-headed enough to sign this kind of treaty!"

Diplomatic Counselor Sir John Lipton shook his head and said: "This cannot be blamed on the Sudan. We should have intervened in the civil war in the Ottoman Empire earlier. If we could agree to Sultan Mahmud II's request for help when Syria was occupied by Egypt, he would We won’t be forced to go to the Russians for help.”

Colonel Stewart shrugged and said: "There is no regret medicine in the world. In my opinion, it is better to pray to God than to protest against the Russians. Any fool can see that the Russian government is implementing a strategy of expansion to the south. There are constant threats on land to penetrate the Caucasus. On the sea, it is committed to seizing the Bosporus Strait, the outlet of the Black Sea. This strategy has been implemented since the time of Catherine II, and has been an important part of Russia's foreign policy to this day. What’s the use of a paper protest?”

After saying this, Colonel Stewart stood up and asked Count Durham: "Your Excellency, hasn't the Ministry of Foreign Affairs done something practical?"

Count Daramo reassured: "The protest is just an expression of attitude. Naturally, the real aspects cannot be told to the Russians openly. Only by asking them to find out for themselves can they be convinced. Don't worry, Charles, Ponsonby has just been transferred back to the country. His lordship has returned to his post in Constantinople, and Viscount Palmerston has authorized Lord Ponsonby to act with ease: As long as Lord Ponsonby believes that Constantinople will be threatened by Russia, he can immediately summon the Royal Navy fleet in the Mediterranean and the Levant for defense without reporting it to the Cabinet and the Foreign Office. This news will soon be revealed. Before the Russian Embassy in Constantinople forwarded the case to the Tsar, he would naturally understand the seriousness of the situation. "

Stuart asked: "What about the Russian troops stationed in Wallachia and Moldavia? The Russians said that these troops entered the Danube region to help the Ottomans mediate the war, but now the war between the Ottomans and Egypt is over, and there is no sign that the Russian troops want to withdraw."

Earl Daramo turned around and ordered: "Arthur, write this down. I will have a good talk with His Majesty the Tsar about this matter in the Winter Palace today."

Arthur wrote down the request casually, then raised his hand and began to revise the protest statement that the embassy secretaries had just drafted: "I We believe that any country's blockade of the Bosphorus Strait or restriction of its freedom of navigation is a serious violation of the principle of free trade. The implementation of this clause will cause regional unrest, affect the independence of the Ottoman Empire, intensify the turbulent tension in the region, and trigger a series of diplomatic and military conflicts... How do you think it should be written like this? "

Earl Da Lamo pondered the statement: "Just write it like this. I believe the Russians will send people to investigate how to cause diplomatic and military conflicts."

Earl Da Lamo had just finished speaking when he heard a knock on the door outside the meeting room.

The young attendant pushed open the door of the conference room, took off his hat and saluted, then hurriedly said: "Sir, the Winter Palace has just sent someone over."

Count Daramo stood up, put on his hat, and straightened his clothes: "Is it time to enter the palace for an audience?"

"It's not about an audience." The young attendant was obviously confused by the news he just learned: "His Majesty the Tsar asked if you have free time after the audience today. He wants to keep you for dinner and then give you a medal. A brand new St. Alexander Nevsky medal with a dark blue ribbon."

"Award?" Count Daramo was stunned for a moment, then laughed and said: "St. Alexander Nevsky Medal, what level of medal is this?"

'Russia expert' Arthur answered his mentor next to him: "St. Alexander Nevsky Medal Nevsky was a Russian Grand Duke in the 13th century, famous for defeating the invading Mongols and the German Knights. This medal is an honorary medal second only to the Order of St. Andrew in Russia. Its status is equivalent to the Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in my country, and is usually awarded to senior military commanders or senior diplomats. "

Earl Daramo raised his eyebrows with a strange look on his face: "It seems that His Majesty the Tsar intends to use the medal to shut me up!"

As soon as the voice fell, the little attendant said again: "Not only you, the Winter Palace said: Sir Arthur Hastings, Sir John Lipton and Colonel Charles Stewart who met with the emperor today will also be awarded the third-class Order of St. Vladimir."

Not only did Earl Daramo change his face, but even the embassy members who were just criticizing Russia looked at each other.

You know, if Russian middle and low-level officers and civil servants want to obtain the third-class Order of St. Vladimir, they must serve the Russian government diligently for at least 20 years. But they just stayed in the embassy and did nothing, and medals began to fall from the sky.

What is the benefit of getting this medal? For the British, it is really useless except for honor.

However, if they join Russian citizenship, they can immediately obtain hereditary noble status with this medal alone.

Arthur has been working in the embassy for less than a month, and he has received a big gift package from the Tsar. This made him sigh-no wonder everyone wants to work in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Overseas allowances, food and housing subsidies, diplomatic immunity, superior status in the local area, attending salon banquets every day is still considered hard work, and you have to endure various tests of your "weaknesses" by the host country, including but not limited to honey traps, money bribes and medal bombing.

If you meet some guys who are not firm in their positions, such as Bismarck, an aspiring young man who is determined to test his "weaknesses" in the diplomatic world, it is really hard to guarantee that they will not be moved by such sincerity.

But unfortunately, the stance of most diplomats is not much firmer than that of ordinary people.

Perhaps because of this, countries always like to appoint those guys with prominent backgrounds as diplomats, but at least these people have been eaten and seen, and the price to pay for bribing them is much more expensive than bribing people from ordinary families.

For example, Earl Darramore, as the chairman and one of the founders of a New Zealand company, has been on the British rich list for many years. Earl Darramore's annual income is 100,000 pounds. It is basically impossible to impress him with money alone.

But the problem is that a traitor with impure blood has sneaked into the Russian embassy now!

Reading the error-free version! 6=9+Shu_bar first published this novel.

A dirty Yorkshire pig rolling in the mud!

A bastard who received diplomatic enlightenment from Talleyrand!

And during the entry process, he suffered huge economic losses because of Russian thieves, and he almost returned to the simple boy of poor and lower-middle peasants!

I don't know where this Tsar learned this from, he only does these empty things every day, don't you think it would be better if you give him some money?

Silver rubles would be best, but paper rubles would be barely acceptable.

"Okay!" Count Daramo spread his hands and said, "Everyone will get a share, and now no one can say anything unpleasant to him in front of him."

The embassy members were silent at this time. Although they might not like the Tsar very much, everyone liked the medal.

What should we do if we accidentally say the wrong thing today and the Tsar becomes angry and refuses to award them with honors?

As for the protest, there is no rush for this day.

Let’s talk about it in two days after today’s investiture ceremony is over.

Of course, these were just their thoughts, and no one put their little thoughts on the table.

After all, the protest was ordered by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the order was indeed justified. They also did not want to offend the Foreign Secretary, Viscount Palmerston, who was being criticized verbally and written by the Fleet Street media and was trapped in the vortex of collusion with Russia.

As the saying goes, gold is refined in fire, and true love is revealed in need.

For a guy like Arthur, it would be better if he didn't take action now.

It's not that the third-class Vladimir Medal is bad, but the future gained by using the medal can help him make better progress.

For the old York farmer, even one more medal cannot get rid of the fact that he does not have noble blue blood.

These short-sighted people just stare at this small favor.

As everyone knows, if you can become an ambassador in the future, what you will receive from the Tsar will not be the Order of Vladimir, but the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky like Count Dalamo!

Arthur stood up from his seat, put down the pen in his hand, cleared his throat, and glanced at everyone in the conference room.

He could feel the subtle changes in the atmosphere - everyone was waiting for him to speak, and everyone's eyes showed a hint of relief that they were saved.

"Your Excellency, if possible, I would like to put forward some of our country's views on Russia's strategic direction to the Tsar before the award. If the Tsar is willing to listen, we can take this opportunity to hint that he should not be too radical, especially when it comes to the Black Sea passage. The reaction of European countries must be taken into account.”

Count Daramo stared at Arthur. He was very grateful to his protégé for stepping forward at the critical moment: "You are indeed a far-sighted young man, Arthur. In addition, you are as always at the critical moment. OK! Now that you are ready, Then we will present our ideas to His Majesty the Tsar in person, but we must be careful in our tone. We must not let Russia think that we are openly confrontational. Although it is a protest, we must also be careful to maintain diplomacy. Prudence and flexibility.”