The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 839: How Did It Get to the Tripartite Pact?
Moscow, Kremlin.

This palace, which will be famous in later generations, is not actually a real palace, but rather the inner city of Moscow. This is because the Rus' people called all the inner cities with high walls and thick walls the Kremlin.

In order to deal with the conflict with the Seres Empire, or perhaps because of the great psychological pressure after tacitly admitting to patricide, Tsar Alexander I quickly moved from St. Petersburg to Moscow.

Looking at Lord Whitworth, the English envoy before him, Alexander I felt even more uneasy.

He knew very well that the Earl of Palen, Nicholas Zuboff, and General Jasherville dared to assassinate the king not only because of the loss of their interests, but also because Lord Whitworth's bounty of tens of thousands of pounds was a very important and crucial factor.

"Your Majesty Caesar, please forgive my bluntness, but you have few options. You either lose the land you have painstakingly carved out from Poland in the west, or even all the land west of Kiev, or you concede on the Astrakhan issue."

Lord Whitworth was not so easy to talk to when facing Tsar Alexander I.

To put it bluntly, at this time, Sharo was only a lower-middle-class strongman. Although his strength had exceeded that of others, he had not yet proven his resilience through Napoleon's invasion of Russia, so his status had not improved significantly.

In this world, apart from Mozibu, no one considers the Tsarist Russian Empire to be a major player.

Even the Rus' themselves thought so. They didn't even have a colony, yet they had more than a dozen battleships of the third tier or higher in the navy. Why should they be allowed to sit at the table?

Therefore, even after hearing Lord Whitworth's somewhat threatening words, Alexander I did not immediately become angry. Instead, he stared at Lord Whitworth for a long time before throwing out a single sentence.

"Your Excellency, do you regard the Third Rome as an English knight, just as Prussia once did?

Lord Whitworth put on his standard fake smile and replied without any politeness, "Your Majesty Caesar, if Frederick William III of Prussia had not been so foolish, you and your Empire might not have had this opportunity."

One sentence enraged Alexander I so much that he was furious, his face contorted with rage.

The newly enthroned Tsar took a deep breath, barely suppressing his anger, and said, word by word, "Your Excellency, the Third Rome has another option: to continue its alliance with the French Republic!"

Alexander I felt he was entitled to say this because the French envoy had already arrived before the English envoy.

Moreover, the French envoy conveyed to him that as long as Alexander I was willing to maintain the pro-French policy of Paul I, France was willing to provide the Third Rome with substantial loans and help them establish arsenals, etc.

The French envoy also hinted to Alexander I that they could make concessions to the Third Rome on the Roman question alone, such as transferring some of the Holy Roman Empire's territories in Italy to the Third Rome, while also supporting the Third Rome's continued southward offensive against the Ottoman Turks.

Hearing Alexander I say this, Lord Whitworth was not nervous at all. He stared at Alexander I's face with a bit of audacity and shook his head slightly.

"Your Majesty Caesar, you will not do that, because England has no need for the territory west of Kiev, and the Seres Empire has no desire to rule the area west of Kiev."

But France not only had a need for this vast and wealthy land, they also desperately desired it.

The vast majority of Polish rebels were deeply influenced by French culture, and many were even supported by the French government.

Upon hearing this, Alexander I's pleading demeanor vanished immediately, because he was well aware that this was precisely the reason why the Tsarist Rus' Empire could not form an alliance with France.

Despite the Tsarist Rus' Empire's claim to be the Third Rome after the Eastern and Western Roman Empires, and its apparent destiny of constantly advancing south to fight the Ottoman Empire in the Russo-Turkish Wars and recapture Constantinople, it was not a fact that could be ignored.

In reality, the Tsar was known domestically as Emperor of All Rus' and Absolute Monarch, which actually indicated that the Tsar preferred to be the emperor of the Rus' people rather than move south to the Balkans.

This was also determined by interests; the future of the Rus' Empire lay in annexing Poland, Poland, and Sweden.

If we could completely control the Baltic Sea and the Skagerrak Strait between Sweden and Denmark, we would be able to both attack and defend, and continuously absorb advanced science and technology from Western Europe.

So who would be willing to go south and compete with the Ottoman Empire for the powder keg of the Balkans and Asia Minor, unless the Tsarist Rus' Empire could gain the support of an extremely powerful force?

Clearly, France will not allow such a powerful empire to emerge on the European continent, one that could shake France's position as the strongest power on the continent.

Seeing that Tsar Alexander I had been completely swayed by him, Lord Whitworth maintained his stern expression, but he was still a little nervous inside.

His words were actually loaded with hidden meaning; now it remained to be seen whether Tsar Alexander I could understand them.

The territory west of Kyiv mainly refers to the former territory of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which was once able to easily defeat the Rurik dynasty and twice enter Moscow.

Poland and the Salvadoran people are, in fact, the curse that the Slavs bear.

This curse prevented the West Slavs and East Slavs from ever forming a unified political entity. They regarded each other as their most vicious enemies, needlessly wasting the strength of all the Slavs in this land.

In other words, if the Boli Federation and the Salo Empire could merge, there would immediately only be three players on the European continent: France, the merged Salo, and the merged Germany.

Even France needed to integrate the territories of Spain and Italy before it could compete with the latter two.

Now, France is England's enemy, and Prussia and Austria are destined to be unable to conquer each other.

The only land power that could rise and be utilized by England was the Tsarist Rus' Empire, which had annexed the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

England needed it to tie down France on the European continent, and even more so, it needed this great empire belonging to the East and West Slavs to become a powerful ally in resisting the Seres Empire.

This was the only way England could maintain its special status in the confrontation with the Seres Empire after former Prime Minister William Pitt Jr. was ousted and it proved that an Anglo-American alliance was impossible.

The English navy and the army of the Tsarist Rus' Empire, representing the West and Europe, confronted the political and military entities of the East, primarily Seres.

Of course, there are still many problems to be solved in this idea, but we must take this first step first. Once we have a framework, we can try and fail step by step.

Just as the atmosphere was becoming very tense, a Kremlin maid hurriedly came over to report.

"Your Majesty, your sister, Grand Duchess Maria, has come to bid you farewell and hopes that you can find some time to meet with her."

Alexander I was slightly taken aback. Grand Duchess Maria was her third sister, Maria Pavlovna.

The Grand Duchess, who suffered some disfigurement due to a smallpox vaccination as a child, is engaged to Karl Friedrich, the Crown Prince of the Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, and the wedding is scheduled for August.

Therefore, Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna had actually left Moscow long ago and was probably almost in Weimar by now.

At this moment, a palace maid came to report that the Grand Duchess was requesting an audience, clearly indicating that someone wanted him to temporarily end his meeting with Lord Whitworth, the English envoy.

"I'm so sorry, Lord, it seems I have to leave for a while. Please go to the hotel that has been arranged for you to rest. The next audience will begin soon."

The host gave the order to leave, and Lord Whitworth had no choice but to bow and end the audience.

Alexander I hurriedly left the small study used for receiving guests and immediately went into a large room behind the study.

Inside the room, his chief strategist, Speransky, was waiting for him with great excitement.

The conversation between the Tsar and his envoy, Lord Whitworth, could be heard perfectly from the large room. Therefore, Speransky immediately saw Alexander I arrive and said to him, "Your Majesty, we cannot refuse the English mediation."

"Why? They're treating us Rus' people like pawns. It's a blatant insult. Are we supposed to ally with someone who doesn't respect us at all?"

Alexander I gritted his teeth in anger at the thought of the statement, "If it weren't for Frederick William III's folly, Your Majesty wouldn't have had this opportunity." It was utterly insulting. "Your Majesty," Alexander said, "this is not an insult, but the truth. The Third Rome, so far, has only been able to obtain the status of a pawn, which is commensurate with our strength."

Unexpectedly, Speransky agreed with Lord Whitworth of England.

Alexander I was taken aback again, but he still trusted Speransky's judgment. Although he was extremely reluctant to accept the result, he accepted it in his heart.

"The most crucial issue is that France cannot solve our current problem, namely the threat from the Khitan Empire, but England can."

If we continue our alliance with France, we will inevitably continue to face attacks from the Khitan Empire, and even English warships may enter the Black Sea with the permission of the Ottoman Empire. At that time, we will be in danger.”

Tsar Alexander I sighed, “Yes, the Khitans absolutely do not want a leader-empire that can command everyone to emerge on the European continent.”

Therefore, he will inevitably ally with England to launch a major attack on France, thus depriving France of its right to mediate our conflict with the Khitan Empire.

“Moreover, Your Majesty Caesar,” Speransky’s face lit up with excitement again, “I believe Lord Whitworth just revealed something extremely important to us.”

"That means the Kingdom of England might support us in annexing all of Poland!"

Alexander's pupils dilated in shock, and he remained stunned for a good twenty seconds before recovering. His voice trembled as he said, "Is this possible? Will England really support me? Can I go from being the emperor of all Rus' to the emperor of all Rus' people?"

Alexander I posed three questions in succession, clearly indicating that he was very excited.

“Very likely!” Speransky was also very excited. If they could annex all of Poland’s territory, then the Tsarist Rus’ Empire could truly step onto the chessboard and become a player, instead of just being a pawn as it is now.

Moreover, the major problem that had long plagued the Tsarist Rus' Empire—serfdom—could be largely resolved.

Because the St. Petersburg court can make the serfs vote with their feet, all that is needed is to facilitate their westward movement, and a large number of serfs will leave the nobles they currently depend on.

Once the nobles no longer have enough serfs to cultivate the land for them, they will have to relinquish some of their extreme control and exploitation of the serfs and improve production relations to increase productivity.

This is a better solution to the serf problem than any other policy.

"Because I discovered that as long as the Kingdom of England did not want to be completely controlled by the Khitan Empire in the future, they needed a strong land ally."

On the European continent, the only powers qualified to be powerful allies of England were France, the Holy Roman Empire of the Germans, and the Third Rome after its annexation of Poland.

After listening to Speransky's analysis, Alexander I's eyes lit up and his back straightened. It seemed that he had seen through the fog of time and realized that he would become the greatest emperor of the Tsarist Rus' Empire, surpassing Peter the Great and his grandmother Catherine the Great.

“Very well, then I will summon the English envoy tomorrow, oh my…” But even in such an exciting moment, tempted by such a wonderful prospect, Alexander I hesitated.

“Astrakhan is too important. If we give up here now, it means that the Khitans have a sword to our throats. Whenever they are unhappy, they can stab us half to death with one sword.”

"Therefore we must hold the English firmly in our grasp and reach an agreement with them first. As long as they are willing to mediate, we will agree to any conditions they set."

Speransky gritted his teeth and said, "The biggest problem right now is that even the Khitans are holding on with gritted teeth, their logistics are always a big problem, but our problem is even bigger."

Even General Kutuzov could only hold Tsaritsyn from falling; it would have been even more impossible for anyone else.

In other words, if we lack the capability to retake Astrakhan, we cannot retain it through verbal negotiations.

Speransky, a lower-tier version of Wang Anshi, suffered almost identical setbacks during his reforms in history. However, his strategic vision and clear understanding of the current situation also bear some resemblance to Wang Anshi.

In his brutal account, Speransky conceived of what might be the only optimal solution for the Tsarist Rus' Empire, which was currently facing numerous crises.

“Let England guarantee this mediation, sign a tripartite agreement, and during the agreement period, the English will guarantee our safety,” Speransky said.

"What if we actually defeat France and the entente ends without us getting Polish land? We will still face huge security risks." Alexander I was still worried.

“Then we’ll forgo even the lower Ural River and the eastern Ural Mountains, and give away this land that currently belongs to us as a dowry.” Speransky had clearly already thought of what to do.

"A dowry?" Alexander I also considered this possibility, but was still very shocked.

“Let’s build this place into a grand duchy. The Khitans have been constantly enfeoffing people in Central Asia and the Caucasus, so let’s have a grand duke or a grand duke, that is, your son or daughter, and the Khitan Empire will have a prince or a princess.”

Let them marry and rule this newly established duchy, thus separating the Third Rome from the Khitan Empire and creating a buffer zone between them.

After listening, Alexander I sat down with a thud and pondered for a long time before slowly asking, "Would the Khitans agree to this solution?"

“They will agree,” Speransky replied. “If the Khitans do not agree, it proves that they do indeed intend to completely conquer us.”

Therefore, we can only lean towards the English to a limited extent, and continue to accumulate strength in the future to prepare for the great battle that may break out again at Tsaritsyn (Stalingrad) ten or twenty years from now!

However, for now, we must accept mediation and a peace treaty, because the Empire can no longer recapture Astrakhan, nor can it continue to drag this out.

Speransky's words were very bitter, and Alexander I also felt uneasy.

After a long silence, the Tsar, a legendary figure in history with many tales surrounding him, stood up and made his final decision.

"Have the English inform the Khitans that I wish to meet with the Khitan Crown Prince and receive a personal answer from them."

At the same time, the future of the Khitan Empire belonged to their crown prince, and the Khitan's power in Central Asia and the Caucasus was also established by the Khitan crown prince himself.

If a buffer duchy is to be established and a marriage alliance to be formed, I hope my children will marry not the children of the current Khitan Emperor, but the children of the Khitan Crown Prince.

“Yes, Your Majesty Caesar, yes.” Speransky’s eyes lit up. “From our Western perspective, the so-called Anxi Envoyage of the Khitan Empire was actually the fiefdom of the Khitan Crown Prince.”

This is something he worked hard to build, and he certainly doesn't want his other brothers to take a slice of his cake again.

Now that we have proposed such a plan, we are sure to receive the full support of the Khitan Crown Prince, because he will not share this benefit with his brothers, but will keep it exclusively for himself.”

"Let's postpone the summons to the English envoy for a day." Alexander I stood up and walked towards the harem. "I need to find some time to try and hopefully have two sons."

Well, the current Alexander I and his wife, Princess Louise of Baden, have only one daughter, who died four years ago. He also has an illegitimate son, Nikolai Lucas, but he is clearly not a suitable candidate for marriage.

What Alexander I didn't know was that his wife, Princess Louise of Baden, might have serious problems due to inbreeding, as she had given birth to two daughters for Alexander I who both died young.

Of Alexander I's three sons and one daughter with his mistress, only one died young, while the rest generally lived to a normal age.

One of his mistresses, Sofia Naryshkina, bore him an illegitimate son, Emmanuel Naryshkin, who lived into the 20th century and died at the age of 83.

The ominous aura continues to exert its influence in the mists of history. Alexander I is likely to be disappointed; at the very least, the fruits of his labor are highly unlikely to be reaped by him.

(End of this chapter)