Rasputin of the East

Episode 16

As I walked down the corridors of the Winter Palace, I was in trouble.

‘How many people are in my network.’

When I realized that my relationship had become so narrow that no one was close enough to ask for such a thing, I felt a sense of skepticism, but I can’t even settle the loan for that.

In Armenia, etc., both godfathers and godmothers are raised, but in Russia men only raise godfathers and women only raise godmothers.

In other words, I need a godfather…. Actually, in the Orthodox Church, a godfather does not have to be older than me, but among those close to me in the first place, the only person who is younger than me and a man is the Crown Prince.

“Ah, Count.”

“Princess?”

Anastasia, who had been wearing a string of attendants, saw me and waved her hand.

“My father invited me to dinner tonight.”

“You mean the Tsar?”

“Yes, do you know the time? I’ll see you then.”

“Did you come all the way here to tell me that?”

“no? It was during riding class, and I didn’t expect to see you, Count, but Count, I want to ask you something… Oh, no.”

“…… it’s okay. Do you have any questions?”

“Ah, the Count was going to ask if he was good at riding, but he thought he was asking something natural.”

“…….. yes?”

What is normal?

“The Count is a Tatar, so aren’t you good at riding horses?”

oh shit

“I am not Tatar. Princess.”

“yes? Everyone says they are Tatars, right?”

“I am from Korea. Didn’t the Tsar tell you?”

Damn, if Anastasia knows that, what the hell do other people think of me?

Of course, when talking about Tatar in Eastern Europe, it is not a Turkic tribe that was annihilated by Genghis Khan, which is academically called, but a Turkic, Mongol, and Tungusic Muslim living in Mongolia and Central Asia as well as Central Asian nomads.

The Manchus, that is, the Jurchens and the Mongols, were also called Buddhist Tatars, and even the Mughal Empire called them Indian Tatars.

‘But anchovy is correct.’

It is in the same vein as the Mongols were called daldans in China.

“Then don’t you know how to ride a horse?”

“I know how to ride.”

If I had the opportunity to learn in the 21st century, I am someone who even ran a horse in Mongolia in the 21st century. I learned horseback riding in Jeju Island.

“Good for you! Aren’t you working right now?”

Work? Too many to die on.

But I can’t say I’m busy because I think I know what Anastasia will say. What regrets are you trying to get?

In the end, I was taken to Anastasia, observing her horseback riding class, giving a few words of advice, and having to deal with Irina’s resentful eyes for having to deal with the paperwork alone in the meantime.

Currently, most of my plans are geared towards preparing for war.

At the same time, it was also preparing for a revolution.

There is no other reason why I have established a major base in Primorsky Krai.

‘Because communism is the last place to reach out.’

During the Red and White Civil War, the main base of the Red Army was in Europe, Russia, and the headquarters of the White Army was in Siberia.

Vladivostok is the only region in Siberia that can be called a port. Then, of course, shouldn’t we preempt the Primorsky region?

Of course, it would be best not to use this arrangement. If he loses World War I and a civil war breaks out, he packs up his belongings and flies to Siberia, then seizes the command of the White Army.

‘The problem of the White Army was the central point, that is, the absence of the supreme commander was the first problem, the second problem was the lack of troops, and the third problem was the mistrust of the leadership.’

Except for the fact that the White Army was hostile to the enemy, it was a group of other groups from head to toe.

Of course, even if the equipment was good, there was no choice but to look like the Chinese army during the Sino-Japanese War.

This has to be dealt with then. It would be best if I could create a focal point by safely escaping the tsar or his kin.

And the second problem, lack of troops… This is not something I can do.

Even in its heyday, the White Army never operated more than 700,000 troops at the same time. Who the hell puts 700,000 on the nose in that vast expanse of Russia? 330,000 soldiers died in Stalingrad alone.

Lastly, distrust of the leadership, many of the White Army leaders are from the former ruling class such as nobles, landowners, and capitalists, and their purpose is not too far from the restoration of the pre-revolutionary system.

The soldiers did not respond to them, and the White Army leaders were treated like patriots.

Thanks to this, the military standards were relaxed, and the killing of superiors and desertion were rampant.

This is not a problem, at least within the military.

Why? At least, most of the soldiers of the Interior Army have no one to rely on except me. Of course, there are those who have been conscripted, but in principle, the Interior Army is a volunteer system.

In addition, the treatment was incomparably good compared to other armies, and it was an environment where loyalty could not be low.

In other words, even if a revolution breaks out, the probability of a traitor coming out of the Interior Army is very low.

Especially since the rednecks were filtered out with 21st century-style ideological education.

The gist of my basic plan to prepare for the Red and White Civil War is to raise an army based on the industrial facilities moved to the Far East and counterattack while supplying technology, weapons, and equipment through exchanges with the Western Allies.

In preparation for this, the work of moving various assets to the Far East is in full swing.

‘It would be nice to be able to bury the royal assets in the Far East so that they can be used for military funds in case of emergency, but that would be difficult.’

it’s nonsensical It would be best if the revolution itself could not be established by overwhelmingly winning World War I. If that’s difficult, shouldn’t you make sure there is a corner to escape to?

‘And according to my expectations, there will be little chance that the Home Affairs Army will be mobilized for war anyway.’

In some games, the Home Affairs Army even crosses over to India and fights, but in the first place, the Home Affairs Army is a unit that literally handles domestic affairs.

Of course, they could be deployed as a reserve force, but would those high-profile soldiers really do that? There is a high possibility that I will save it unless I really have to cry and eat mustard to keep me in check.

‘And that means that when a civil war breaks out, it is highly likely that I will become the force that has preserved the most power.’

It’s a prediction anyway.

Of course, apart from that, if you have a reason to go to Spetsnaz, whether it is Ukraine, Hungary, Estonia or Berlin, you must carry it with you, so ammunition and weapons are essential. It’s not like I’m going to do 100,000 special forces recruits, I just need to bring the weapons that I can give to hundreds or thousands of people on the Trans-Siberian Railway.

Or just dictate to the regular army. I left the tank factory and the automatic machine factory there anyway, and although I didn’t build it in other areas, there were gun factories and ammunition factories.

As I was diligently breaking down the documents while thinking about it, the sun began to set before I knew it.

“Is the time already like this? I need to get ready to go to dinner… Are you here?”

“……”

Irina, who was lying on the paper as if protesting, did not answer.

“I’m sorry… the tsar ordered it, but you can’t go without it, can you? yes?”

“…………”

“shall we go together?”

“It’s done.”

Irina’s response like the Siberian air mass came back just then.

“The tsar called the count, not me. I will finish the business here.”

“…….. sorry.”

“If you have pity on me, please come back. And I know you like Tony Pot, but if you drink too much, you’re going to get seriously hurt one day.”

I’ve been working with him for years and I’ve never seen him so blunt. After all, he suffered from hard labor, so there was a time when even a gentleman would soon find a limit to his patience.

“……I’ll bring you something to drink.”

He’s not even Russian, so he never declines to drink. I don’t drink vodka, I seem to enjoy wine, but I’ve never seen a bottle of sherry drunk even after being bottled…. What the hell is that?

Thinking about it, I didn’t know anything about Irina, other than that Stolipin had given me the secretary and her paperwork ability was insane.

In hindsight, the fact that I can faithfully carry out the plan is also a great virtue. Of course, information that only I know is not passed on to Irina, but Irina does almost all of the accounting work.

I see a lot of good deeds, but I can provide snacks… Come to think of it, I don’t really know what he likes. No, I know very little.

Except for what I said above, the only thing I know is nicknames and information that I naturally learned while bumping into each other’s faces.

“I like ruby pots.”

Still, I take care of it, so I don’t ask for it again. Oh yeah.

I smiled and left the room.

***

It wasn’t until the banquet. My invitation was more of a modest dinner.

But that is ‘relatively’ rustic, and in the 21st century, dinner at a five-star restaurant or a meal at a hotel that costs several million won a night is a rating that will slap you on both sides.

‘This is why I can’t bring myself down.’

It is a tremendous privilege to be invited to the tsar’s meal.

To give a similar example, in the case of Louis XIV, nobles from all over the provinces resided at the Palace of Versailles and had to be content with a small room instead of a mansion, but even that was an honor.

The success of the nobles depended entirely on how well they looked to the king, and in Russia, it is an ongoing process.

In addition, the nobles who can dine with the king are guaranteed to have enormous wealth, high-ranking offices, and elite courses, and a stranger was invited ‘alone’.

Of course, the stranger is an excellent doctor and the prince’s doctor, and he has a close relationship with the imperial family, but when did people get jealous of that?

Without realizing it, I glanced at Olga’s eyes. Fortunately, it didn’t show any signs of what happened last time. It seemed like no one knew.

‘thank god.’

Of course, as there is a saying that walls have ears in palaces, you do not know when and where they will leak again, so you have to be careful, but at least it was unlikely that the Tsar would hit you with a shotgun.

‘If the tsar came with a shotgun, would he bring something like a Winchester 1887? Or a hunting gun? In this era, the only town that makes famous shotguns is the United States.’

I almost fell into a useless delusion, and I drank a sip of Raktima Christie that came with dessert.

“count.”

And just before passing it around his neck, the tsar talked to him and almost spit it out.

After barely passing the wine, I answered coughing.

“Eh, Your Majesty.”

“I heard that you are going to be baptized soon. It’s wonderful that you have decided to abandon your original beliefs and follow the correct ones.”

“I have decided to follow the right faith, but it is also the right way, and before that, I want to give my allegiance to Your Majesty.”

Nicholas II was obsessed with the value of loyalty throughout his life, and at the same time was deeply religious.

If you lip service that a pagan chose to convert to be loyal to him, he’d be very happy.

“But who will become the godfather?”

“I was still looking for someone to help.”

“How is your luggage?”

“… Your Majesty?”

Seeing my startled eyes, Nicholas II smiled contentedly.

“Yes.”

“Hah… it’s an undeserved honor.”

“Count of Vostok, do you know who the owner of this portrait is?”

Tsar raised his hand and pointed to the wall.

The owner of the portrait was someone I could never have known.

“Aren’t you Peter the Great?”

“Yes. The 4th tsar of the Romanov dynasty and the first imperator, he was also the man who made Russia proud as a great power by winning the Great Northern War and being nothing more than a frontier of Europe. It would not be wrong to say that Russia before the Great Emperor was a different country from Russia after the Great Emperor. Then I ask, do you know Gannibal?”

Gannibal, Abram Pedrovic Gannibal. The great-grandfather of Alexander Pushkin.

“Pyotor the Great appointed Gannibal to be his godfather when he converted, and later, when his daughter Elisabeth ascended the throne, he became governor of Rebal (today’s Estonia) and remained loyal to the imperial family until the moment of his death.”

I was speechless.

The son of Peter the Great and the crown prince’s name was Alexei. Oddly enough, the name of the Crown Prince I am attending is also Alexe.

He is the second Crown Prince Alexei after Peter the Great. The reason, of course, is that Prince Alexei was executed for treason by his father.

“I want you to be my gannibal. So I want you to be loyal to me and my descendants. Because you have shown enough loyalty and ability.”

I laughed.

Obviously, Nicholas II was not Peter the Great. He’s too incompetent and kind.

And I’m not a gannibal either.

However, I had no intention of betraying the imperial family in the first place. Rather, I was the one who wanted to maintain the empire.

And I’m not ignorant either. I was also very affectionate with the imperial family, and I didn’t want them to die as miserably as in the original history.

That’s why I was able to genuinely laugh. Of course, I’m worried about the checks that will come after this, and I’m afraid of the storm of the 20th century…

At least, I realized that the future I saw and the future the Tsar saw were not completely identical, but at least they were looking in the same direction.

Then I didn’t have to hesitate any longer.

“I am willing to sacrifice this body to protect the imperial family. your majesty.”