The Shadow of Great Britain

Chapter 1458: Chapter 230: The Constitutional Soldiers’ Method of Judgment

After the Polish uprising was suppressed, that period quickly educated us. Nicholas’s throne was secure, and tyranny was increasing, but these weren’t the sole sources of our suffering. We began to see with anxiety that in Europe, especially in France, the place which ought to provide political signals and commands, things were amiss. The old world had been mocked by Voltaire and crushed by revolution, but the bourgeoisie had resurrected it, offering a transformed and idolized version for their own use. Hence, our old theories started to become doubtful in our hearts.

The New World sought to break in, our souls, our hearts opened to it. From then on, Saint-Simonianism became the foundation of our belief, and its significance remains unchanged to this day. Keenly perceptive, truly young, we were easily swept by its powerful waves. We had long since crossed that boundary, on which so many halted, lowered their hands, retreated, or searched for shallow waters surrounding them. But we were determined to cross the sea!

—— Alexander Herzen, ”Past and Memories”

Herzen boarded Arthur’s carriage, finding a stack of dusty files piled next to Arthur’s seat.

”You’ve just returned from the library?”

”Sort of.” Arthur didn’t shy away from his interests: ”Actually, compared to electromagnetism, I’m more fascinated by history. The archives of the Moscow Company hold many historical documents from the 16th and 17th centuries, so I arranged to borrow these treasures.”

While mentioning this, Arthur drew a thick diary from his briefcase, shaking it in front of Herzen: ”And this, do you see what it is? Pushkin’s travel diary from the Caucasus. It took a lot of effort to convince him to lend it to me.”

”Pushkin?” Herzen, hearing the name, instinctively wanted to see what was written in the diary but immediately remembered his purpose for meeting Arthur: ”Sir, now is not the time for diaries, even though the author is Pushkin.”

”Alright...” Arthur initially intended to persuade Herzen to forget about Ogarev, but seeing no success, he reluctantly said: ”Regarding the arrest of Ogarev, actually, I’ve known about it a bit earlier than you. Originally, I was supposed to have breakfast with Duke Dmitry Golitsyn this morning. However, last night the duke’s attendant came to inform me that today’s breakfast was canceled because a command came from St. Petersburg to interrogate a batch of new detainees.”

”New detainees, you mean Ogarev and the others?”

”Most likely them.”

”Do you know the reason?”

Arthur rubbed his chin reflectively: ”I asked the duke’s attendant, but that fellow didn’t know much either. He only said that the arrest order came directly from the Emperor, coupled with the ’Moscow Telecommunications’ matter, indicating dissatisfaction with Moscow’s performance from above. Therefore, this isn’t just a simple interrogation but calls for establishing a special interrogation committee, composed of figures like Governor Dmitry Golitsyn, Police Chief Zienski, Constitutional Soldier Commander Volkov, and even a commissioner from St. Petersburg will be dispatched to resolve the issue.”

Listening to these words, Herzen felt as if a cold water basin was poured over him, chilling him from head to toe.

”This...”

In fact, not only Herzen but even Arthur couldn’t understand why such a big fuss was being made this time.

The arrest order for Ogarev came from St. Petersburg, which indicated that their violations weren’t recent occurrences but had been ongoing for some time.

The fact that they dared to arrest people meant that there must be substantial evidence in their possession.

Out of goodwill and his professional ethics as a former police officer, Arthur advised: ”I suggest you carefully recall what you and Mr. Ogarev have been up to these past few months. I think, even though Russian constitutional soldiers and police might be unruly, they wouldn’t arrest people without any evidence.”

Arthur always felt that Herzen wasn’t telling him everything, yet Herzen felt he’d revealed all he could.

In his memories, these past few months were undoubtedly his most compliant period since arriving in Moscow.

Pressed down by the duties at the government department, he was almost daily dealing with tedious documents and affairs, leaving no time to partake in anything that might cause trouble.

Although he and Ogarev would occasionally gather to discuss societal reform and ideological enlightenment topics, they were just theoretical debates, never acted upon. As for other members of the Ogarev-Herzen group, some were not even in Moscow, making him frustrated at any conspiracy charges.

Arthur rubbed his temples, muttering: ”Fine, having nothing else to do, I’ll help you inquire with Mr. Zubkov.”

Immediately after Arthur finished speaking, the sound of galloping horses reached his ears. He opened the window to look outside and unexpectedly saw a familiar face on the back of a white horse—his old friend, Constitutional Soldier Colonel Sergei Shubinsky.

Arthur signaled to Herzen to hide in the carriage, then opened the door, waving his hat to greet Shubinsky: ”My dear Sergei, have you returned from St. Petersburg?”