Struggle in Russia

The residence of Mikhail Dmitrievich Gorchakov on Garden Street is a magnificent French-style manor.

Although Nicholas I hated France so much that he almost regarded it as his lifelong enemy. When Crown Prince Alexander was allowed to travel around the world, his hostility towards France could be seen only if he was not allowed to go to France.

However, French culture still infiltrated Russia's body from all aspects, at least thoroughly penetrated the Russian aristocratic circle. Elegant French, luxurious French clothing, perfume, romantic French salon.

Except for Nicholas I, the entire Russian aristocratic circle is a Russian-style, or mixed-style existence. After all, this Supreme has no interest in a purely Russian way of life. He prefers to mix and match, which is weird anyway.

It's just that this supreme subordinate doesn't like the mix-and-match style very much. They prefer extravagance and comfort, so they are all French in private.

The same is true for Mikhail. As the Imperial Artillery Admiral and the majestic Duke, his status may not be as good as Menshikov's or Paskovich's, but this definitely does not mean that he is a small person.

On the contrary, he is more famous in the army than the above two, because his ability is well known and much stronger than the above two. And this also determines that his income will not be less.

Every now and then, Mikhail would hold a grand ball. He liked the joyful atmosphere, and liked to play around with many young people, so that he felt that he was still alive.

For example, today is his routine dance time. Under the huge Bohemian crystal lamp, there are large plates of French delicacies and Burgundy red wine, all of which are original goods imported from France by sea, and they are by no means fake things that fool the layman.

The Duke himself was wearing a straight general uniform, holding a goblet in his right hand, gently swirling the red wine in the glass. Around him, the sons of the Duke's family gathered around him, listening to the veteran tell the story of 1812. From time to time, the young people exclaimed and exclaimed, as if they were in the middle of that unprecedented war.

This is Mikhail's favorite moment, and he loves to tell stories about 1812. Although he was only a mid-level junior officer at the age of eighteen or nineteen, and could only fill up with a few famous generals, that was the first high point of his military career, and he thought he was still very good.

"The French are great, but we are stronger... My cannon fires non-stop, solid shot, grape shot, the barrel is red hot... for a moment I doubt I'm going to die, but I survive , there are at least a thousand French devils falling in front of my position...you can see their faces if you look up, their eyes are wide open, as if they can't believe that they will die and fail..."

There was another burst of admiration, and the audience praised Mikhail's courage, calling him a fearless warrior. This greatly benefited the Duke. He picked up the wine glass and sniffed it elegantly, then swallowed a small sip. According to his arrangement, it was time to tell the story of how to deal with the Turkish barbarians.

"Sir. Mr. Leonid Alexandrovich is here and wants to see you."

Mikhail glanced slightly displeased at the butler who interrupted him. It's too unfortunate that he likes to tell stories about the Turks. These guys are like leeks, which can be harvested one by one. Most of the medals on his chest are contributed by these cute guys. So he is grateful to these good people. May God bless, let there be more fools in Turkey!

Mikhail ordered lightly: "Tell him to go to the study, I will be there later."

Yes, the duke decided to finish telling the story of the Turk before going to his nephew. He knew this nephew well, and he would never be dissatisfied with his cousin's little hobbies.

Ten minutes later, amidst the endless praises from the young people, Prince Mikhail gracefully apologized and left the stage. In fact, he also wanted to tell stories about Poland and Warsaw, where he also left good memories.

Although the foot wipers were dishonest and always made trouble for him as the governor, the Polish beauties were really nice, and he missed them very much.

Pushing open the door of the study, Prince Mikhail walked in and saw Leonid at first glance. He is neither satisfied nor satisfied with this young man. What he is satisfied with is that he did not become a diplomat like his old playboy father, but chose to become a real man.

In Mikhail's view, the boys of the Gorchakov family must be soldiers. What does a soft-mouthed gunner look like? It's so boring that a man has to speak with his fists and muscles, not his slippery tongue.

It's just that Mikhail was dissatisfied that this good nephew was a little too rigid. His character is impeccable, but being too straightforward is not a good thing. As the saying goes, when the water is clear, there will be no murlocs, and there will be no disciples when the water is clean. People with cleanliness cannot survive in this dung tank in Russia!

You have to learn to adapt and learn to enjoy these flavors!

It's a pity that Leonid was obviously not used to it before. This made Mikhail very worried. He feared that Leonid would follow the old path of the Decembrists. That was very bad, and he would never forget Prince Sergei Petrovich Trubetskoy and Prince Sergei Volkonsky.

Like him, these two were heroes of 1812 with a prominent background, but because they were too clean, they went on evil paths, and in the end their reputations were ruined and their families were hurt. Mikhail didn't want such a strange thing to appear in his family.

"Lonya, my dear nephew. How long has it been since you visited your old uncle!"

Mikhail embraced Leonid enthusiastically, thumped his chest, and patted his shoulder, expressing his enthusiasm for the junior like a traditional Russian.

"Uncle, I'm sorry, I've been too busy recently." Leonid showed an apologetic expression, "Actually, I haven't been back to St. Petersburg for two months! There are too many trivial matters in Sertorov town It's too busy..."

"I know, I know!" Duke Mikhail also sighed, patted Leonid's shoulder again, and sighed: "You went to the 748th regiment, I know that unlucky unit is completely Scum, rubbish! Honestly, I don't understand why you want to go there?"

Prince Mikhail looked into Leonid's eyes, and he guessed that this nephew probably couldn't stand the 748 regiment and was going to ask him to help him find another job. If it was, he would be happy to help, because he also knew how troublesome that hapless group was and what was involved.

"Fortunately, Uncle." Leonid said sincerely: "I have learned a lot in the past few months. The feeling of truly leading the troops is completely different from that in the Preobrazhensky Guards. I learned Knowing what's really going on and being in control, the grassroots units are nothing like what they're taught in school. I'm glad I took the step..."