The Double 12 uprising was successful, and the real crisis of the tsarist government came. The internal enemy was far more formidable than the outside, and many chose neutrality because the revolutionaries had raised the banner of "Qing Jun's side".

It was not that they betrayed the tsar, the main thing was that everyone was dissatisfied with the current situation. Radical reformers resented the Tsar's suspension of reforms, and conservatives wanted to remove the unfavorable provisions of the reforms.

Most of these people have families and jobs, and naturally they cannot participate in such high-risk activities as rebellion.

St. Petersburg, this sudden bad news plunged the tsarist government into a panic, and the Russian Empire, which was troubled internally and externally, was ethereal in the storm.

Interior Minister Mikhail proposed: "Your Majesty, we can't go on like this, we must first suppress the rebellion in the country!" ”

There is nothing wrong with this proposal, the most that the external enemy is to tear off a piece of flesh from the Russian Empire, and it is not yet a threat to their survival, and it is the internal enemy who can really kill them.

"Qingjun side" knows from looking at this banner that it is destined to be a bloody storm. Once the rebel party gains power, these vested interests will be the target of purge.

If you don't kill a few filthy ministers, how can the people confess? Now the top echelons of the tsarist government are all so-called "dirty ministers", who are executed.

Alexander II was expressionless, as if he did not care at all. In fact, he was so angry that he vomited blood, and he never dreamed that the revolutionaries would make a fuss at this time.

Alexander II was very much in favor of the Minister of the Interior's proposal to suppress the internal rebellion first, but the matter of peace talks could not be brought up by him.

Now that the war is being armisted, the Russian Empire is bound to pay a terrible price, and this pot tsar cannot carry it.

War Minister Helamed echoed: "The rebels have taken over Moscow, and the threat to us is too great. Whether it is the Polish battlefield or the Central Asian theater, it is inseparable from the material support of the Moscow region.

According to the current situation, these two battlefields will last for a maximum of half a year. If we don't put down the rebellion within half a year and restore supplies, the situation will get completely out of control. ”

Half a year to suppress the rebellion and restore supplies looks like a joke. Destruction is better than construction, and after being plagued by the rebels, can local production be restored immediately?

Moreover, it is still winter, and fighting in this season is more logistically demanding.

The tsarist government did not have so many counterinsurgency troops and supplies at its disposal, and there was no other option in the short term than to draw them from the front.

In this way, it will inevitably affect the situation at the front. The consequences will be even more serious in the event that too many troops are withdrawn, leaving an opportunity for the enemy and leading to a major defeat at the front.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Cristanval said: "Prices have risen very badly lately, the cost of war is increasing, and if we don't end it soon, we will go bankrupt in a year at most." ”

Alexander II asked incredulously, "How is this possible, have we just made a fortune?" ”

In the anti-Semitic campaign, the tsarist government had gained so much that Alexander II could not believe that it had spent all its money so quickly.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Cristanval hurriedly explained: "Your Majesty, we do have a lot of assets in our hands, but these things will not be realized at all for a while.

Now that civil strife has broken out, many of these properties have fallen to the bottom, and even if they are sold, they will lose a lot of money.

All the government can use is confiscated cash and some marketable bonds. The money will also have to pay off the previous debts and support the expenses of the war.

Now the prices of strategic goods have almost doubled, the Moscow region is in chaos again, we have to increase overseas purchases, which in turn increases spending. ”

The immovable property confiscated by the tsarist government was actually realizable. It's just that there are too many powerful people in China, and as soon as these people intervene, it will become the price of cabbage.

The Ministry of Finance can't afford to sell so many assets cheaply, even if it embezzles state-owned assets, at least the accounts must be settled! To be on the safe side, naturally you have to take your time.

Otherwise, even if you use these assets for mortgages, you can mortgage hundreds of millions of rubles, so as not to go to famine in the mountains of gold.

Alexander II frowned, and said with some hesitation: "The Foreign Ministry negotiated with the Austrians to find a way to bring down prices. ”

There is nothing to be done about domestic prices, and changes in supply and demand have led to rising prices, so we can only pin our hopes on overseas.

Foreign Minister Clarence Ivanov said with a wry smile: "Your Majesty, I'm afraid this will be difficult to do. Now the trade tariffs between Russia and Austria have increased by 80 percent, and the Austrians' excuse for raising prices is that the tariffs have risen.

I am afraid that it is too difficult for us to raise tariffs on the one hand and ask people not to raise prices on the other. ”

Clarence Ivanov, who is on the spot, blindly raised the price of tariffs, which led to the deterioration of relations between the two countries and caused very big problems for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Don't look at the current cold situation between Russia and Austria, in fact, Russian-Austrian relations are still the first in the diplomacy of the tsarist government. If you can't make trouble in other departments, let the Ministry of Foreign Affairs deal with the aftermath!

The tsarist government also had factional power struggles, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was also the only department with real power over the Ministry of Finance, and the two sides have never been less struggling.

Alexander II's face was very ugly, he was not a fool, and he made up what happened in an instant.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Cristanval hastened to explain: "The main purpose of increasing customs duties is to increase fiscal revenues and protect national industry. You know, the tariffs between us and Austria are very low, even if they are increased by 80 percent, they are only on par with other countries. ”

Cristanval is not a fool, and there is some measure in this. Before raising tariffs in both countries, he had already done his homework.

The Russian-Austrian alliance has not yet broken down, and if tariffs are raised above other countries, then he will not be able to escape the charge of sabotaging the alliance.

The fact that the choice is on par with each country shows that this is a normal tax regulation and is not specific to Austria.

Alexander II glared at him fiercely, very angry in his heart, and secretly scolded the Ministry of Finance for being a rice bucket, even if it is to adjust tariffs, it will take time!

Now that the Russian-Austrian trade has almost monopolized the foreign trade of the Russian Empire, and the tsarist government is one of the main buyers, isn't it asking for trouble to raise tariffs?

Now the revenge is coming, the wool is out of the sheep, the tariffs are rising, and the prices are also rising, and they are rising even more excessively.

Monopoly operation, love to buy but not buy. Now they have to spend more money, and the increased spending is far from comparable to the increased tariffs.

To protect the national industry, such a nonsense reason dares to come up. Who doesn't know, now the Russian industry is just starting, and whoever uses a bunch of inferior goods is unlucky.

Civilian goods are just that, and military supplies are simply murder.

Alexander II had already made a decision to divest the Treasury of the right to set tax rates, and by the way, to find an opportunity to replace the fool in front of him.

Dissatisfied with Austria, Alexander II decisively pressed it in his heart. If you ask for help, no matter how big the dissatisfaction is, you have to endure it.

"Communicate with Austria and the issue of tariffs can be discussed. Based on the previous commercial trade treaty between the two countries, no one is allowed to change the tariff rate without permission. ”

As he said this, Alexander II's heart was dripping blood. This meant that the tsarist government would make significant concessions on the tariff issue in exchange for Austria's support.

This support is not limited to economics, but also to politics. Once the choice was made to end the war, then Austria's support was indispensable.

Without the support of a single power, even if it comes to the negotiating table, they will suffer a lot.

The current Russian Empire has lost its former glory, and if it is not operated well, it may usher in a catastrophe.

……

Just when Alexander II was hesitating to end the war, events at the front helped them make a decision.

On January 2, 1867, the Prussian army suddenly launched a winter offensive. This battle, which was supposed to be a tentative attack, achieved amazing results.

The Russian army, which was originally good at winter operations, has suddenly become a soft-footed shrimp. When the Prussian army won the victory, it became clear that the root of the matter was revealed.

The sequelae of inferior cotton clothes and quilts broke out, and the Russian soldiers were frozen into a ball and could only rely on fires to keep warm.

According to post-war statistics, on average, only one-third of the Russian soldiers on the Eastern Front received qualified cotton clothes, and many companies had to let the soldiers on duty wear qualified cotton clothes, and the rest were warmed around the fire.

In addition to clothing, poor quality food is also an important factor in the non-combat attrition of the Russian army, and food poisoning has become commonplace.

The Russian commanders are not ignorant of these problems, but they are too wide-ranging, and everyone has chosen to protect themselves. After taking a benefit, they all chose to pretend to be deaf and dumb.

Originally, the commanders of the Russian army thought that winter was coming, the Prussian army was not good at winter operations, and the two sides had their own truces, and these problems would not be exposed, and they would be over after a while.

However, plans don't always change as fast as they can. A tentative attack tore through the Russian defense line, hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers became prisoners, and the situation on the battlefield was completely out of control.

The lid was lifted, and now the Prussian army was expanding its gains. However, the Russian soldiers wearing inferior cotton clothes could not exert their combat effectiveness at all.

Many soldiers surrendered directly to the Prussian army, just to make ends meet. From the perspective of food, the standards of the two sides are very different.

The standard of food for the Prussian army fully reflected their position in the country, and it can be said that the European continent was ranked high during the same period.

Not only bread, potatoes, and soybeans, but also a certain amount of butter, cheese, meat or canned food, and occasionally some vegetables.

On the other hand, Russian soldiers, it would be good to be able to fill potatoes. If canned food is domestic, they may not dare to eat it. Cheese and crackers are present in recipes, and occasionally giving out a little is not guaranteed to be edible.

Bread can be used to move bricks, build fortifications, and block enemy bullets.

I finally ate meat once, and it was also jerky that I don't know what age it was. It is almost impossible to chew with your teeth, and it is better to boil it.

In this context, the Russian army usually has to find a way to get some food on the battlefield to improve their food, after all, their food standards are really unbearable.

In the sudden winter battle, the Russians lost not so much to the Prussian army as to logistics, or to the bureaucracy at home.