"Nicky! Alix!"
"Welcome, Heinrich! Helene!"
As soon as they arrived at the Winter Palace, Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra greeted the group with bright smiles.
The winter sun shone through the thick clouds, casting a layer of golden light on the buildings of the Winter Palace.
Hans' first impression of Nicholas II was more ordinary than he had imagined.
He was not like Wilhelm II, who pretended to be imposing, nor was he like Edward VII, who was slippery.
Instead, he was more like a friendly neighbor uncle with a gentle smile.
"Hello! Uncle Heinrich, Aunt Helene."
"Olga, Tatiana, long time no see!"
Two girls, who looked three or four years younger than Hans, came bouncing up from behind Nicholas II and greeted Prince Heinrich and Princess Helene with clear voices, bowing respectfully. Their laughter was like the clear ringing of silver bells.
Olga and Tatiana.
These are names that anyone with even a slight knowledge of the Russian Empire would not be unfamiliar with.
Their full names are Olga Nikolaevna Romanova (Ольга Николаевна Романова) and Tatiana Nikolaevna Romanova (Татьяна Николаевна Романова).
They are the eldest and second daughters of Nicholas II, known as "OTMA".
Of course, among these sisters, the most famous one is undoubtedly the fourth daughter, Anastasia, who is the protagonist of all kinds of conspiracy theories.
However, at this time, Princess Anastasia was not yet one year old and was still a baby, so she did not attend.
The third daughter, Princess Maria, was also absent.
Hans thought that the cold winter wind in Russia was indeed not very suitable for a baby.
"Heinrich, who is this yellow-skinned child?"
Nicholas II pointed at Hans and asked, and all eyes immediately turned to him.
This reminded Hans of the first time he stepped into the New Palace.
It was the same then, the eyes of the royal family all turned towards him.
Although that had already become a memory.
Anyway, Hans bowed deeply to Nicholas II and his wife as respectfully as possible.
"Nice to meet you, Your Majesty. I am Baron Hans von Qiao. It is my honor to meet His Majesty Nicholas II, Emperor of Russia, and Her Imperial Highness Empress Alexandra Feodorovna."
"Oh, what a polite child."
"Hans von Qiao... Ah! You are that little Oriental boy who saved Willy!"
Empress Alexandra seemed very satisfied with Hans' polite attitude, and a kind smile appeared on her face. And Nicholas II clapped his hands as if suddenly realizing something.
"That's exactly it, Your Majesty."
"Haha! I had heard that Willy brought a yellow-skinned child into the palace. I was really curious about what kind of child it was, and I didn't expect to see you in person today!"
"Brother, are you a famous person?"
Seeing her father's enthusiastic reaction, Princess Olga tilted her head in confusion and looked at Hans.
"I'm just a bit well-known, Your Highness."
Hans replied with a smile.
After all, it was always a bit embarrassing to say that one was a famous person oneself.
"Although he is still young, he is smart and capable, especially articulate. I brought him here this time hoping he can be of some help."
"Oh, really?"
Prince Heinrich's words of praise made Nicholas II look at Hans with curious eyes.
It seemed that the Tsar had a good impression of Hans.
"Hmm..."
While Prince Heinrich was chatting with Nicholas II about the recent situation, Princess Helene covered her head and groaned softly, seemingly feeling a bit unwell.
"Sister?"
"Sorry, Alix. I'm not feeling well. Can I take a little rest?"
"Of course, but what happened?"
"Well, it's like this..."
"We encountered demonstrators on our way to the Winter Palace. She seemed to be a bit frightened by the sight of the army suppressing them."
"What?"
After Prince Heinrich answered on her behalf, Nicholas II's face immediately darkened.
"It seems I need to have a talk with the Minister of the Interior. I'm sorry, Helene, for you having to see such a scene. There have been frequent riots in St. Petersburg recently."
"...Riots?"
"Yes, there will always be people in the world who are dissatisfied with the current situation."
Nicholas II replied in a calm tone, and Hans had to reluctantly nod in response.
It seemed that this Tsar simply regarded those workers who couldn't bear it any longer and rose up to protest as mobs with ulterior motives.
"He's really tightening the noose around his own neck."
No wonder the Bloody Sunday incident happened.
Nicholas II's thinking was completely that of a backward autocratic monarch.
And the world no longer needed a leader like Nicholas II.
"Even Wilhelm II is at least a constitutional monarch."
Nicholas II was walking step by step towards destruction.
Along with the Russian Empire founded by his ancestors.
...
A week later.
In the Winter Palace, the formal negotiations on the Russian side began.
The reason why the discussions did not start directly but were postponed for a full week was that Nicholas II said that they should first relieve the fatigue of the journey before starting the discussions. So, he took Prince Heinrich and Hans on a tour around.
"I've experienced hunting and balls here in Russia, which I didn't even experience in Germany."
For Hans, who was not very good at outdoor sports, this week was really too difficult.
Moreover, having conversations with those Russian nobles who seemed to have stepped out of a novel about corrupt and dissolute nobles into reality was really a tiring thing.
Of course, during this period of time, Hans also had the opportunity to get in touch with nobles like Bezobrazov who supported their plan.
But when some Russian noble ladies stared at him with strange eyes... To be honest, Hans had never thought that one day he would miss Waldersee.
In short, Hans couldn't wait to start working, and Russian officials like Sergei Witte, who were in charge of the specific affairs, seemed to be of the same mind.
"I am Sergei Yulievich Witte, Minister of Finance of the Russian Empire."
"Nice to meet you, Minister. I'm Baron Hans von Qiao, the assistant of Prince Heinrich."
"Ah, you are that..."
Sergei Witte, who finally met him, nodded slightly, as if he had already heard of Hans' name.
I hope he won't say again that I'm the boy who saved the Emperor or something like that.
I've heard it too many times and I'm already used to it.
"I have read your 'The Great Ming Sea King', Baron."
"Hmm?"
So it's about that aspect?
"Ah, thank you."
"I hope our two countries can conduct practical discussions."
"I couldn't agree more."
Hans and Witte shook hands and smiled at each other.
But there was a sharp sense of vigilance hidden behind this smile.
Before long, everyone was present, and Nicholas II spoke first.
"Heinrich, I heard that the German Empire hopes to carry out military cooperation with our Russian Empire."
"Hmm."
"However, I'm still not sure what this'military cooperation' exactly means. Can you tell us now?"
Prince Heinrich nodded and looked at Hans.
"Hans."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Hans stood up and cleared his throat.
He could feel that the eyes of the Russian side, including Nicholas II and Witte, were all focused on him.
There were quite a few eyes filled with doubt or even dissatisfaction, as if asking why an Oriental child was here.
"I'm used to it."
Hans didn't care about these and slowly began to speak in French.
Since entering the New Palace, he had the opportunity to learn a lot from the tutors in charge of the royal family's education.
Most of them were the cultivation and knowledge that nobles needed to master, such as Latin.
"It's not the Roman era anymore. Where can we actually use Latin?"
But there were also some things worth learning among them.
Hans studied French the hardest.
French, together with English, is a common language in the diplomatic field. In this era, especially in a society where there are still nobles, the influence of French is even more significant.
Especially the Russian nobles, they don't use Russian in their daily life, but French. This allows Hans to communicate with them easily.
"As everyone here knows, not long ago, the Anglo-Japanese Alliance was officially concluded in London, with the aim of curbing the expansion of the Russian Empire in East Asia."
"Hmm..."
After the mention of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, officials including Count Vladimir Lamsdorf, the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, all murmured in low voices.
After all, since it directly hit the sore spot from the very beginning, their reactions were quite natural.
"Damn islanders..."
"Do they really look down on our Russian Empire so much!"
Of course, the reaction of the Russian military was even more intense.
"But Baron, what does the German Empire have to do with this?"
Nicholas II asked.
On the surface, the Anglo-Japanese Alliance really had nothing to do with the German Empire.
The parties involved in the Anglo-Japanese Alliance were only Britain, Japan, and Russia.
Even if the scope was expanded, it would only include Russia's ally France and the United States, which had interests in the Pacific Ocean.
"But in fact, it's not the case."
"The government and the military of our German Empire believe that, due to this Anglo-Japanese Alliance, Japan is highly likely to launch a war against Russia."
"What, what? War, war?!"
"Japan will attack our Russia?"
"Ridiculous! Those monkeys in the Far East must be crazy to do such a thing!"
"But the German war machine has made the assertion."
"Baron, can you take responsibility for your words?"
Amid the hubbub of the crowd, Witte asked in a colder voice than before.
"Japan has already started large-scale military expansion, and its arms imports have doubled. And now with the signing of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, it has even gained the support of Britain."
This was the intelligence secretly transmitted through the German Embassy in Japan.
Japan had blatantly accelerated its pace of war preparations.
After listening to Hans' words, it seemed that he was touched. Count Vladimir Lamsdorf, Witte's confidant and Minister of Foreign Affairs, whispered:
"Indeed, there have been reports recently that the activities of Japanese spies in places such as the Far East and Central Asia have been more frequent than ever."
"Hah...! The Japanese are simply overestimating themselves!"
Nicholas II said in a low voice with an angry look on his face.
If one didn't get angry at a small country in the Far East daring to attempt to attack his empire, then one would not be a human being but a fool.
What's more, Nicholas II had once narrowly escaped an assassination attempt in Japan, which made his anger reach its peak.
"Your Majesty, there is no need to worry. A small country like Japan can be easily crushed at any time!"
"We are the Russian Empire. We must let those monkeys on the islands know what real war is!"
Several Russian generals, in order to please the Tsar, vied with each other to show their fighting spirit against Japan.
No one else raised any objections either. It seemed that the Russians simply didn't think they would lose to Japan.
"I'm sorry, but we in Germany have a different view."
However, this was just their self-righteous optimistic fantasy.
From now on, I'm going to shatter this fantasy.
"According to the current situation, Russia will be defeated by Japan."
In an instant, a heavy silence filled the room.
The expressions of the Russians were as if they had just been hit by a cannonball, completely losing their color.
"...What did you just say?"
After a few seconds that were both short and long, Nicholas II managed to speak.
"We, our Russian Empire will lose to Japan?"
Then, the anger of the Russian bear erupted.
"Stop joking! Are you looking down on us, Russia?!"
"Our Russian Empire will lose to Japan? How could you say such ridiculous words!"
"Your Majesty! This is an insult to Russia! We must protest to Germany..."
Bang!
"All of you, be quiet!"
Sergei Witte slammed his fist on the table and shouted loudly.
Unlike those Russian people whose faces were red with anger, his face looked calmer and more composed than ever.
"Baron, you should have some basis, right?"
"The Far East."
"!"
"If a war breaks out between Russia and Japan, the main battlefield will be in 'the Far East'."
There are many reasons, but this is the most important one.
The geographical isolation between European Russia and Siberia, and the geographical characteristics of the Russian Far East.
For the Russian Empire, whose Trans-Siberian Railway has not been fully completed yet, this is an absolutely insurmountable problem.
"..."
After listening to Hans' words, Witte fell into deep thought.
"Ебать..."
Then, he muttered a swear word in a low voice.
He had already realized it.
How the Russo-Japanese War would go.
Witte looked straight into Hans' eyes and said:
"What is Germany's proposal?"