The Shadow of Great Britain

Capítulo 1415: Chapter 214: Russia’s Confucius

“Did you ask about Marshal Paskevich’s abilities?”

This question seemed to trouble Pushkin, and he rubbed his temples: “It seems you must have heard inconsistent evaluations from other nobility, which is why you’re so curious about him, right?”

Arthur spoke in a lighthearted tone, holding his teacup as he vividly described his experiences at other gatherings.

“A few days ago, at a ball hosted by the French envoy, I met Count Tolstoy. When we talked about Marshal Paskevich’s victories, his tone was somewhat sarcastic. Count Tolstoy said to me: Paskevich fought so brilliantly in the Persian expedition that if any clever person wanted to show they were different from him, they’d have to fight worse deliberately.”

Arthur joked: “I would have thought that a famous general like him would surely be highly praised in Russia. But after taking a tour around St. Petersburg, I discovered that there are far more people defaming him than praising him. If I didn’t see the Winter Palace outside my window every day when I wake up, I’d have thought I wasn’t in Russia but in Poland.”

“Indeed, there are many in the military who don’t like Paskevich. Count Tolstoy is one, and General Yermolov, residing in Oryol, is another.”

“Yermolov?”

Upon hearing the name, Arthur immediately remembered the book “The Russian Hercules Drives Out the French,” where Yermolov had quite a role.

Arthur asked: “Is it General Aleksey Yermolov? The one who boldly commanded the 1st Army Staff in a counter-attack against the French forces occupying the Rajevsky Redoubt during the Battle of Borodino?”

Pushkin didn’t expect Arthur to be so well-versed in the 1812 Patriotic War of Russia. He first nodded in surprise and then kindly explained to him.

“General Yermolov, like Marshal Paskevich, was a capable and battle-ready leader. I could even assert, he’s Russia’s best artillery officer, the true successor of Marshal Suvorov. However, he didn’t have the same fortunate career as Marshal Paskevich, largely due to the influence of the Decemberists. In theory, Paskevich’s successes in Persia and the Ottoman Empire should have belonged to General Yermolov, as until 1827 he was the commander of the Caucasus army and the governor of troops in Georgia. But because Yermolov sheltered the Decemberists exiled to the Caucasus, he received an imperial decree recalling him months before the war with Persia began, and he was relieved of all his military duties.”

“It sounds like he indeed has reason to resent Paskevich. What has he been researching all these years in his manor?”

“When I arrived in Oryol, the coachman told me that apart from visiting his father, General Yermolov hardly goes anywhere. Moreover, he typically doesn’t receive other people, especially bureaucrats from the city. But perhaps because of my background, he kindly received me. I remember him wearing a Chechnya coat that day, with the study’s walls adorned with sabers and daggers, souvenirs brought back from his time serving in the Caucasus.”

Seeing Arthur listening intently, Pushkin added a few more words: “Though he didn’t say it directly, I could tell that General Yermolov harbors resentment about his dismissal. While he doesn’t outright deny Paskevich’s achievements like Count Tolstoy, he believes fewer people could have died and less money spent. When he learned that I was going to join the military, he had an engaging conversation with me about Karamzin’s ‘Russian National History’. By the way, have you read that book?”

As a graduate of the University of London specializing in Russian history, and quite possibly the first Russian expert trained by the University of London, Arthur’s understanding of Karamzin’s works very likely surpasses most Russians.

To understand Russian history, Karamzin is an indispensable name.

The reason is simple: Karamzin was the first true historian of Russia, and his 12-volume ‘Russian National History’ is the first comprehensive account documenting the history of Russia from Ancient Rus to the late 18th century.

More importantly, although the book contains a lot of content, it’s far from boring. Perhaps it’s because Karamzin started as a novelist, that when depicting historical events, he focused heavily on the psychological motivations of the protagonists, making every plot both gripping and intriguing.

Thus, aside from its historic value, ‘Russian National History’ also holds significant literary value.

To make an analogy, in terms of its status and function, it’s essentially equivalent to China’s ‘Records of the Grand Historian’.

In fact, due to its rarity as a subject, at least at this point in time, saying ‘one cannot truly understand Russia without reading Karamzin’ is stating a fact.

And after coming to Russia, Arthur found that the value of Karamzin’s works continues to rise.

Although both the Slavist and Western School greatly recognize Karamzin’s status in Russian literature and history circles, their debates in the newspapers show that Karamzin is evidently more important to the Slavist camp.

No matter what arguments and perspectives the Slavists put forth, they cannot separate them from referencing Karamzin’s works.

Especially that sentence — we have become world citizens, but in some aspects, we have not become Russian citizens, and this fault lies with Peter.