I am a literary giant in Russia

Chapter 168 A Glimpse into Russian Law

In order to graduate smoothly and complete his work "The Trial", Mikhail studied diligently at university, though there were some twists and turns along the way.

In short, it seems that one of their law professors was provoked by the article "The Man in the Case," and his attitude towards Mikhail, a student with a very good reputation, was indeed visibly unfriendly.

He might not be able to do much else, but when it came to academics, he could really give Mikhail a run for his money. So, in the first two days after Mikhail arrived at the school, the professor took the opportunity to directly ask Mikhail some complicated and uncommon legal questions, intending to dampen the spirit of this renowned writer.

After being out of school for so long, how much of those legal provisions can you still remember? Especially since I'm asking questions about things even veteran professors might not be able to recall completely. So even if you're a big shot in the literary world, what about at school? You'd better stand there obediently as punishment!

So, within the first two days of Mikhail's arrival at the school, the professor began asking Mikhail questions in a slightly sarcastic tone:

"Mr. Mikhail, I've heard you've achieved considerable success abroad, even writing a work as imaginative and unjust as 'The Man in a Case.' I suppose your studies haven't suffered either? Now, listen carefully: please tell me, from which article of Russian law does the case I'm about to describe come? That is..."

When the professor asked the question, some people watched coldly, even with a hint of sarcasm, while others spoke up for Mikhail. However, in Russia at that time, openly confronting a teacher could result in serious consequences, such as imprisonment or even exile. Therefore, some of them did not dare to say much.

Faced with such a gaze, Mikhail simply replied:

"Article 191 of the Self-Government Security Law."

"Hmm? What about this one?"

Article 318 of the Criminal Law.

After this happened seven or eight times, the professor on the stage looked as if he had seen a ghost, and even unconsciously made the sign of the cross on his chest. As for Mikhail's classmates, they all stared blankly, not knowing what to say.

Because they were in the same field, they understood even more just how absurdly accurate and fast Mikhail's answers were.

When the questioning reached its final point, even the professor couldn't help but ask, "Mr. Mikhail, how exactly do you know all this? As far as I know, some legal provisions aren't even in textbooks."

When asked about this, Mikhail replied succinctly: "Just memorize the entire 'Complete Laws of the Russian Empire'."

The professor and the students watching: "?"

You mean the complete set of laws of the Russian Empire, which has fifteen volumes and contains about 42,000 articles?
Are you kidding me? !

Upon hearing this, even the professor dared not continue to verify its veracity, and simply asked Mikhail to sit down, looking as if he had seen a ghost.

From then on, even though no one ever actually verified this, whenever a professor in class or any law student wanted to know a certain legal provision, they only needed to ask Mikhail, and they would always get the answer they wanted.
In short, Mikhail's current prestige and popularity at St. Petersburg University are not something he could achieve simply by boasting; there are quite a few rumors about him.

Of course, some of the rumors even Mikhail himself found outrageous.

When it comes to Russian legal provisions, Mikhail can only say that some of them are like bizarre legal tales.

Although Russia at this time seemed to legally acknowledge the sanctity of property rights, some provisions of the law are merely for show, purely for appearances. When it comes to putting them into practice, they are utterly useless. What? You still want to fight for it?
In Russia today, if the men are in a good mood, they'll just give you the runaround, tossing you around like a football. Once you're exhausted, the matter will be over.

If a man is in a bad mood, why would he bother talking to him?
Aside from the blatant injustice in sentencing between nobles and serfs, many other provisions can be said to precisely target various dissidents.

Anyone who publicly questions the doctrines of the Orthodox Church will be sentenced to life imprisonment and confiscation of property.

Those who do not attend Orthodox worship services on Sundays will be punished with one month of community service.

Using "witchcraft" to treat illnesses, such as treating farmers' injuries with herbs, was considered "heretical" and punishable by exile. For example, in 1850, a village doctor in the Olonetsky province was reported by a priest for "practicing witchcraft" for treating fever with traditional remedies and was eventually exiled to Arkhangelsk.

Another painter's sentence was even more abstract. Around 1849, the painter Ivan Sokolov was hired to repair church icons. He was accused of "deliberately damaging sacred objects" simply because the paint on the icons had come off. Therefore, according to Article 271 of the Code, he was sentenced to have his right hand cut off and to be exiled. Later, through the efforts of his relatives and friends, he was finally able to save his right hand and his sentence was changed to twenty years of hard labor.

In addition to these, another characteristic of the legal provisions during the reign of Nicholas I was that they essentially equated ideological dissent with violent rebellion. In Russia during this period, killing someone would usually result in a sentence of eight to ten years of hard labor, but if you dared to criticize the Tsar's policies, you would be charged with "endangering national stability," with a minimum sentence of ten years of exile in Siberia.

Herzen, who served as an official in charge of these matters for a time, later angrily denounced: "This code proves with legal provisions that despotism itself is the greatest absurdity."

From a purely legal perspective, one can roughly guess what the overall environment of Russia was like under Nicholas I's leadership, which explains why Russia suffered such a crushing defeat in the Crimean War.

In the early days, a country could rely on its vast territory and population as a facade, but once these resources couldn't keep up with the overall progress of other countries, many things became very clear.

In the process of learning these things, Mikhail undoubtedly gained a deeper understanding of some things, and naturally, the progress of the novel accelerated.

Today, after Mikhail sat in his familiar seat again, apart from occasionally listening to lectures, he spent most of his time thinking about things and occasionally scribbling on paper.

Although Mikhail didn't seem very focused, the law professors pretended not to notice and continued with their lectures.

Why bother with such a special student who is about to graduate?
If a conflict were to occur, the outcome would be uncertain. Moreover, some professors, to be honest, actually quite like this very talented and humble student.
As for Mikhail's classmates, most of them usually listened to the lectures normally, but today, some of them couldn't help but look at Mikhail and speculated with their companions:

"I bet Mr. Mikhail is thinking about some big plan again. I really want to get involved."

"Stop dreaming. Are there some things you can't control?"

"I don't know where he will go after graduation. If he is assigned to my province, I will definitely persuade my parents to let my sister marry him."

"Are you crazy? How is this possible?"

“Nothing is impossible, and can’t you see that Mr. Mikhail’s future is absolutely limitless.”

Mikhail was unaware of these discussions, but if he had heard them, he would have shrugged and said, "Okay, I'm not pretending anymore. The first part was indeed about thinking about some important matters and possibilities."

However, towards the end, Mikhail began to ponder what to write in his reply to Nadya.

Regarding this issue, Mikhail actually wrote a letter that very evening after Mrs. Rostopchina's literary salon, writing down all the things that might not have been appropriate to say at the salon.

After receiving many letters from noble ladies and young women, which was quite normal in those days, Mikhail thought about it for a while and wrote it in a letter. Before he could send it out, another letter from Nadya arrived first.

In this letter, after discussing a whole host of other things, she seemed to mention this matter somewhat casually:
“I talked to a lot of people that day, and many of them seemed to want to write to you to express their opinions on the poem. It is indeed a very good poem, and there is a lot to say about it, so you should receive quite a few letters.”

At this point, there were quite a few more doodles, and you could even see words like "not bad" and "good communication," but in the end, the girl still wrote this:

"Some of them are not good people; it's best not to have too much interaction with them. Some of them just want to take advantage of you."

Mikhail was well aware of this matter, after all, it was impossible to expect to encounter only good people, and he did indeed have value to be exploited now. However, seeing Nadya's description of what seemed like a long period of inner struggle, Mikhail's feelings must have been somewhat peculiar.

Mikhail, of course, quickly responded to this.

While Mikhail began his uneventful university life, Turgenev, far away in Paris, had essentially already begun planning his return to Russia. This time, however, he certainly wouldn't be as hasty as before, but would have made thorough preparations.
(End of this chapter)