Chapter 776 Choose one of two bottles of poison

March 3, 1931, St. Petersburg, Russian Empire.

The famous Tsar Nicholas II was already 63 years old at this time, and his political career, like his age, had entered his twilight years.

Needless to say, the war was about to fail. The most critical thing for Nicholas II was that the inheritance of the empire was cut off from this moment on.

As time came to March, Crown Prince Alexei announced that he was critically ill. After surviving a long period of time, Crown Prince Alexei, who suffered from hemophilia, finally died on the way to fight against hemophilia.

This was the cruelest blow to Nicholas II. Even if he can win this war, his throne has actually been passed down.

Because Nicholas II's brother married an unruly widow, the position of Tsar could only be passed on to Alexei.

But after Alexei became critically ill, the only remaining hopeful heir was Alexei's only daughter, Princess Seiana.

If it were peacetime, it wouldn't be a big deal for the Russian Empire to have an extra queen. Isn’t the famous Catherine the Great also a member of the female stream?

But the problem is that Tsarist Russia is not in peacetime now. Moreover, Princess Sheiana is only two years old. Letting a two-year-old girl inherit the throne of Tsarist Russia is equivalent to pushing the inheritance of the Tsarist Russian Empire to extinction.

Although Princess Scheiana did not inherit Crown Prince Alexei's hemophilia, she is in good health.

But a princess is of no help to the succession of the throne. This also means that the current Tsarist Russian Empire has fallen into an unprecedented situation of internal and external troubles.

Thinking of this, Nicholas II couldn't help but envy Arthur. Although Arthur didn't have many descendants, he had three sons and one daughter.

And the members of the Australasian royal family are all healthy and have not inherited any of Queen Victoria's hemophilia genes.

On the other hand, the Romanov family is currently considered to be sparsely populated. As for Nicholas II, the only direct royal family members left were Nicholas II and his younger brother.

But it was also mentioned that the only ones who can truly inherit the throne and pass it on are Crown Prince Alexei and his daughter Princess Sheiana.

Especially after Crown Prince Alexei became critically ill, the Romanov family was about to face extinction.

Nicholas II did not believe that Princess Scheiana could successfully inherit the throne and pass on the family.

According to the blood theory believed in by European aristocrats, even if Princess Seiana successfully gave birth to offspring, her offspring would no longer be members of the Romanov dynasty.

"Hey, how is the war on the front line?" Nicholas II looked not in good condition. He looked as tired as an old man in his seventies or eighties, and asked with a frown.

"The First and Third Armies have been lost, and our front line has retreated 40 kilometers." The Chief of General Staff of the Russian Army, Nicholas II's absolute confidant, stood up and said.

After experiencing the defeat in World War I, Nicholas II made up his mind to no longer participate in the military, but handed over the military to his most trusted confidants.

But judging from the results achieved so far, the failure of the Russian army is not just the incompetence of the commander, but also the corruption within the empire.

Even though the previous bourgeois government and the current Nicholas II had reformed the army, the combat effectiveness of the Tsarist Russian Empire's army was still far behind that of the enemy.

The enemy's fearless attitude and belief in doing everything for his country are something that the current Tsarist Russia cannot possess.

"Damn it! Are all the front lines a bunch of losers?" Nicholas II became a little angry when he heard the front line battle report reported by the Chief of General Staff, and angrily accused him.

"Your Majesty! We are currently at a disadvantage in terms of equipment and numbers. We are obviously unable to withstand the enemy's attack with Poland." The Chief of General Staff quickly explained: "Currently, the frontline is lacking in supplies. We cannot even adequately supply weapons and ammunition for our soldiers. This battle We are already at a disadvantage in the war."

In the final analysis, Russia's industry and economy were still too weak at this time. After experiencing the depletion of World War I and the Civil War, Russia is no longer the powerful European bulldozer it once was.

The current industrial level of Tsarist Russia is only about a quarter of what it was before World War I, and the economic level is only half of what Russia was at that time.

You know, nearly 20 years have passed since the outbreak of World War I. In 20 years, Russia's industry and economy have not grown at all, but have regressed a lot. This is enough to prove how serious Russia's damage was in these two wars.

Adding up all the territories separated by complete Russia, the economy and industry are only about 60% of what they were before World War I.

If it weren't for other countries recovering from their injuries for various reasons, Russia might have been cut off by other countries in several wars.

Nicholas II's face froze at the words of the chief of staff. This is not wrong. In addition to the soldiers' desire to fight and their recognition of the country, Tsarist Russia has also fallen behind in terms of weapons, ammunition and logistical supplies.

Since last year, Nicholas II has been unable to receive European support. One of the reasons is that the rise of new forces in Italy and Germany has made the situation in Europe more chaotic, and European countries have begun to focus on their own military strength.

The second reason is that Nicholas II has been retreating steadily, and there is basically no hope of winning.

One of the main reasons why European countries supported Nicholas II was actually to use it as an investment in exchange for returns to them after Nicholas II unified Russia.

The most striking example is France. The French wanted to support Nicholas II in exchange for an ally that would firmly support France after unification.

After seeing that Nicholas II could no longer win, the French naturally gave up their support for Nicholas II and turned to find other allies.

The French first set their sights on Poland. Although Poland is not a powerful country in Europe, its geographical location is considered superior.

Moreover, compared with a weakened Russia, Poland is more likely to become the new Eastern European hegemon.

At this point, Poland is now more attractive to France than Nicholas II's Tsarist Russia.

After all, one of the purposes of the French in finding allies is to check and balance Germany, which is growing stronger.

In addition to Poland, the French also set their sights on the Austrian Empire.

Although the Austrian Empire is not as powerful as the former Austro-Hungarian Empire, it is still recognized as one of the great powers, and it is still much stronger than Poland.

The industrial level of the Austrian Empire is still high, and even now the industrial level of the Austrian Empire is stronger than that of Italy.

More importantly, the Austrian Empire is in conflict with Italy, and its policies in the Balkans are not recognized by the British. It is considered a natural ally of France.

Because of this, the relationship between France and Russia has gradually become alienated, and has become closer to Poland and the Austrian Empire.

It was not that Nicholas II didn't understand this, but he was helpless about it.

Such are the interests between countries. When Nicholas II's Tsarist Russia lost its final value, its abandonment became inevitable.

Unless Nicholas II could regain the initiative in the war, and even take the opportunity to defeat Poland and its enemies, and unify the entire Russia.

Otherwise, Nicholas II would not have received any supporters, and the aid he had received would have evaporated.

"How long can our finances last?" Nicholas II rubbed his brows, the fatigue on his face almost overflowing.

"The state treasury can hardly produce a ruble." The finance minister looked solemn and gave an answer that made Nicholas II look desperate.

"Issue another batch of national bonds, and at the same time mortgage all the mineral resources that can be mortgaged." Nicholas II was silent for a while before speaking.

"I will use all the funds I can raise to purchase weapons, ammunition and food supplies. I will fight to the death with the enemy." Nicholas II closed his eyes and spoke with absolute certainty.

"Yes!" The entire cabinet had no objections, and they also understood that this might be the last resort.

Arthur naturally knew the situation in Russia. In fact, if Australasia had chosen to support Russia, Nicholas II might have been able to hold on for a while.

But it is obvious that Arthur cannot support Russia for no reason, let alone spend Australasian taxes to help the Russians.

However, it is still possible to exchange certain benefits for your own goals.

On March 11, David, the head of European royal affairs, personally went to St. Petersburg and had a secret conversation with Nicholas II's steward for more than two hours.

The next day, Steward David was personally received by Nicholas II and discussed for more than three hours in Nicholas II's palace.

In the end, Steward David left St. Petersburg smiling and very satisfied.

Nicholas II in St. Petersburg also changed his previous fatigue and regained some energy.

Steward David went to St. Petersburg to discuss many things, and basically reached a compromise with Nicholas II.

Although many of the contents of the discussions have not been released to the public, some of the released contents are still thought-provoking.

The first is that Nicholas II’s only granddaughter, Princess Scheiana, has a godfather and godmother.

Her godfather was Arthur's eldest son, Crown Prince William of Australasia. Naturally, Princess Scheiana’s godmother is Crown Prince William’s wife, Crown Princess Alexandrine.

It is worth mentioning that, as a member of the Russian royal family, Princess Scheiana’s religion was originally supposed to be Orthodox Christianity.

But before the William couple became Princess Scheiana's godfather and godmother, the Russian royal family publicly announced the change of Princess Scheiana's religion to Australasian Protestantism.

Such religious changes are very meaningful. According to common sense, as the Tsarist Russian Empire was a purely Orthodox Christian country, the successor to the throne should naturally be Orthodox.

After Princess Scheiana changed to Australasian Protestantism, does it mean that Princess Scheiana lost the right to inherit the throne?

But if Princess Seyanna loses her right to inherit the throne, who will inherit the throne of the next Tsar if Crown Prince Alexei is seriously ill?

Two consecutive problems turned a small matter of changing religion into a major event, and even affected the stability of Tsarist Russia.

However, Nicholas II obviously did not care about this at this time. In the exchange of conditions, Nicholas II received assistance worth 20 million Australian dollars, most of which was weapons, ammunition and medical supplies.

Nicholas II intended to use this aid to make a last ditch effort. If it fails, the agreement with Manager David will be followed.

If successful, he may be able to restore the glory of the Russian Empire and avoid the extinction of the Romanov family.

After successfully reaching an agreement with Nicholas II, Chief David reported what he had done to Arthur.

Arthur was very satisfied after receiving the news from Manager David. If Nicholas II nods and agrees, it will be very helpful for Australasia to inherit the legal principles of the Eastern Roman Empire in the future.

After all, the legal principles of the Tsarist Russian Empire's inheritance of the Eastern Roman Empire have been recognized by all countries, so it is natural for Australasia to inherit the legal principles of the Eastern Roman Empire from the Tsarist Russian Empire.

As for whether other countries, including Britain and France, will recognize it, Arthur is not worried about this issue.

After all, legal principles and so on are only auxiliary, what is really important is one's own strength.

As Australasia is important to both Britain and France, even if Australasia has no legal basis, as long as the benefits are sufficient, Britain and France will hold their noses and admit it.

In the same way, even if Australasia has legal and compliant legal principles, Britain and France may still object if it is not strong.

More importantly, what Arthur wanted was only the imperial jurisprudence of the Eastern Roman Empire, not the imperial inheritance of the Russian Empire.

If Britain and France were really aggressive, Arthur would not mind inheriting the throne of Nicholas II and becoming the legitimate emperor of Russia.

I believe that Britain and France are very knowledgeable when faced with the two choices. If it were just the legal principles of the Eastern Roman Empire, Arthur would only establish the Australasian Empire at best.

But if we are really desperate and let Arthur directly inherit the Russian Empire, then Arthur will most likely create the United Russian-Australasian Empire.

Although there is only a slight possibility of uniting Russia. But this slight possibility is a major crisis that must be avoided for Britain and France.

If Russia and Australasia are really brought together, Britain and France may only be able to fight against each other by reuniting.

Neither Britain nor France are stupid. They cannot allow such a huge empire to unite. Naturally, they will choose what is more acceptable, which is to let Arthur obtain the laws from the Eastern Roman Empire and establish an empire across Australasia.

In fact, the compromise reached by Arthur and Nicholas II, in addition to providing Nicholas II with 20 million Australian dollars in aid, also protected the personal safety of Nicholas II's family, that is, the remaining Russian royal family.

The reason why the William couple became the godparents of Princess Scheiana was precisely for this purpose.

Even if Tsarist Russia failed in the war, for the sake of Australasia, no one would dare threaten Princess Scheiana's personal safety.

Arthur will also take the lead in ensuring the safety of Princess Sheiana, and even dispatch the army for this purpose.

This was also the request of Nicholas II. As long as the safety of Princess Seiana can be guaranteed, Nicholas II is willing to leave a signed document after the fall of the Russian Empire, announcing that he will transfer the legal principles of the Eastern Roman Empire to Arthur, giving Arthur the right to inherit the Russian Empire. .

This is also Arthur's method to stay. One is the legal theory of the Eastern Roman Empire, and the other is the inheritance rights of the Tsarist Russian Empire. No matter which one can make Arthur the emperor, it depends on what the British and French will choose.

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