He Became Napoleon’S Genius Son [EN]: Chapter 382

(382) Pavel’s Declaration of War Shakes Europe

For Crown Prince Alexander, he had never faced such a perplexing situation in his life.

“Your Highness, you must make a decision!”

The so-called Crown Prince’s inner circle, his close associates, surrounded Alexander with grave expressions.

This was the Crown Prince’s residence in the Peterhof Summer Palace.

Since the Emperor had become paranoid and confined himself to Mikhailovsky Castle, guarding the imperial palace and the State Council had fallen to Alexander.

Only Chancellor Kurakin and the commander of the Imperial Guard were allowed to see the Tsar, effectively leaving domestic affairs to the Crown Prince.

However, most of the officials were appointed by the Tsar and could not be considered the Crown Prince’s men.

Therefore, the Crown Prince had formed his own inner circle from nobles and royalty from vassal states who had been close to him since childhood.

It was the precursor to the unofficial advisory body that would later be known as the Privy Council [a body of advisors to the monarch] in the original timeline.

These were the men who had rushed to the Crown Prince to discuss countermeasures for the coup attempt by Zubov, Panin, and Pahlen, which had failed the previous night.

“What exactly happened, Stroganov?”

“This is no time for such questions! This is a crossroads where you must choose between becoming a traitor or a loyal son!”

“I know nothing. Pahlen acted on his own accord.”

Just as Alexander was trying to distance himself, Count Pavel Stroganov, his childhood friend, exclaimed.

“Your Highness! If this were a problem that could be solved by shifting responsibility to a subordinate, I would gladly die. But it is not, and that is why your decision is needed!”

In truth, Alexander was far more personable than his father, Pavel, but like any powerful figure, he had a strong tendency to avoid responsibility.

In that respect, he shared a similar trait with Napoleon, his historical rival in the original timeline.

In any case, Alexander knew that he was still young and that he could not avoid the situation.

He sighed deeply and looked around.

“Novosiltsev, Czartoryski, Kochubey. Do you all feel the same way?”

The cool-headed strategist Novosiltsev, Czartoryski from the Polish royalty, and the calculating bureaucrat Kochubey.

All of them were part of Alexander’s talent pool that would lead the Russian Empire in the original timeline.

However, they were still young and inexperienced, just like Alexander.

Novosiltsev retorted bluntly.

“Of course. Pahlen, Panin, and Zubov’s gamble failed.”

“That’s harsh, Novosiltsev.”

“There’s no need to dress it up as a noble act of saving the country or treason. What they did was a gamble. They failed, and so they died.”

Novosiltsev turned to Alexander and his friends and declared.

“But there’s no reason for Your Highness and us to die with them.”

If they had succeeded, the Crown Prince and his friends would have immediately started a power struggle.

There was no reason to follow the same path as the traitors in a failed situation.

Alexander covered his face with his hands in anguish for a moment before nodding.

“Alright. Then how should we deal with this? Should I go to His Majesty and beg for forgiveness?”

“Are you insane? Confess that you were involved with the traitors?”

“Then what do you want me to do, Novosiltsev! Give me a solution, if you are a friend of the Crown Prince!”

Once again, Novosiltsev replied concisely, as if he had already thought it through.

“Civil wars are always covered up by external enemies. It’s a tradition in the Russian Empire. Blame everything on England.”

Of course, a clear solution is always difficult.

It was true that England was behind the failed assassination attempt the previous night.

But would England remain silent?

They could expose that the Crown Prince knew about the plot in advance, or they could initiate a complete trade embargo, or even send the mighty Royal Navy to start a naval war.

Wasn’t it to avoid all those disasters that Alexander had reluctantly agreed to the coup?

“That’s absurd…!”

“Your Highness, he has a point. This is an opportunity.”

“Oh, Popo! Why are you doing this too!”

Popo was Count Pavel Stroganov’s nickname.

That’s how close Stroganov was to the Crown Prince.

But in fact, Stroganov was not from Russia, unlike the other friends here.

He was born in Paris, the capital of France, because his parents were Russian nobles residing in France.

Stroganov, Russia’s leading expert on France, exclaimed with shining eyes.

“Your Highness, you know that I was in Paris during the revolution, right? I know the dangers of revolution, but I have also seen it. The power of France! This could be a golden opportunity to ally with France, divide the world in half, and reform the empire with liberalism!”

In fact, Stroganov was a witness to the French Revolution, or rather, a sympathizer.

He had even joined the Jacobins [a radical political organization during the French Revolution] at one point.

He was one of the reformist nobles who believed in liberalism.

Of course, when Louis XVI was killed, Stroganov, like most liberal nobles, defected from the revolution.

But even now, after returning to Russia, Stroganov is a believer in the Enlightenment and liberalism.

In the Russian reality, where serfs [agricultural laborers bound under the feudal system to work on their lord’s estate] still make up the majority of the population, it is inevitable.

Without Enlightenment innovation, the medieval imperial system would have to be maintained.

The Crown Prince, who had received an Enlightenment education and sympathized with France, was also troubled.

But blaming England would have too much of a backlash.

Then Kochubey, who had been silent, spoke up.

“Your Highness, we can’t make the Tsar step down anyway.”

“Are you joining in too, Kochubey?”

“If so, it is right to turn England into an enemy, seize the opportunity to protect Your Highness’s position, and reform the empire.”

Alexander stared intently at Kochubey, who would later become the Imperial Chancellor in the original timeline, and then stood up abruptly.

“Alright. Is His Majesty in Mikhail’s Castle? Let’s go.”

In the end, Alexander decided to blame everything on England.

If only to avoid responsibility for participating in the assassination plot.

Alexander and his friends did not know that it would overturn the direction of history.

***

The Tsar’s hideout, Mikhailovsky Castle, was filled with Pavel’s wrath.

“Kill them all! Punish the traitors! Those who seek to usurp the throne given to me by God must be eliminated!”

All sorts of high nobles were dragged in by the Imperial Guard’s Gatchina Regiment.

Of course, some had actually participated in the rebellion, but many were dragged in on mere suspicion.

In fact, the Tsar had issued a ban on executions at the beginning of his reign, but treason was naturally an exception.

Moreover, the capricious Tsar often overturned his own decisions.

However, for foreigners, it was a situation that elicited a hollow laugh rather than tension.

Especially for French soldiers who had experienced the culmination of the Enlightenment, the French Revolution.

Joubert, who was yawning without being seen, asked Danton slyly.

“How long do we have to listen to this outdated divine right of kings, Ambassador?”

“As long as you stay in Russia, you’ll have to listen to it forever. By the way, you know that your official position is the French military attache to Russia, right?”

“If His Royal Highness, my father, finds out, he will laugh at me. Anyway.”

Joubert, who lightly turned his gaze, smirked, covering his mouth.

“Is Bennigsen getting away with that?”

On the other side, in the position where the military attaches were standing, the gaunt Bennigsen was praising the fat Kutuzov.

“Oh, the great one-eyed hero, General Kutuzov! Amazing. He repeatedly fails on the battlefield, but his loyalty is truly remarkable. The General has saved the country!”

Even at this moment, Bennigsen was deliberately bringing up Kutuzov’s defeat to the French.

Of course, he omitted the fact that the opponent was Eugene and that most of the soldiers he led were from Moldavia.

Even the easygoing Kutuzov seemed a little annoyed by the talk of defeat.

Kutuzov frowned and glared at Bennigsen with his one eye.

“General Levin August von Bennigsen.”

Bennigsen’s face turned pale.

In fact, as can be seen from the name Kutuzov mentioned, Bennigsen was from Germany.

Germany as a country or nation did not yet exist, but a loose ethnic structure had existed since the Middle Ages.

However, Russia was a backward country compared to the West, and even the Romanov dynasty had intermarried with German nobles, so they had favored German nobles.

Nevertheless, from the perspective of the Russian native nobles, they were just foreigners.

In particular, Bennigsen was not only of German descent but also came from a noble family in the Kingdom of Hanover.

Bennigsen, who had even changed his name to a Russian name to make up for that weakness, desperately protested.

“My name is Leonti Leontiyevich, General Kutuzov.”

“I know very well that you are from a noble family in Hanover [a region in Germany] and that you have no choice but to be pro-British.”

“S, slander. H, how can you say such a thing to me, who fought against the traitors!”

At that moment, Kutuzov brought his one eye close to Bennigsen and quietly pressed him.

“But you are an essential talent for our Russian Imperial Army. Unfortunately, our Russian army is poor in talent, and if we purge a general like you, there is no alternative.”

Bennigsen swallowed hard.

He had always thought that he was only lower in rank than Kutuzov because of the Emperor’s favor.

He was sure that if he showed his skills on the battlefield, he would be far superior to the one-eyed man.

But when you think about it, didn’t Bennigsen also fail in the operation at the Battle of Marengo, where Suvorov died?

Kutuzov smiled slyly and glanced at Tsar Pavel.

“That’s why Pavel turned a blind eye. That’s it.”

So Pavel knew that Bennigsen had joined the traitors but left him alone.

Of course, anyone who wasn’t a fool would know that Bennigsen had suddenly turned around.

Conversely, Pavel might question Bennigsen about the treason issue at any time because he was capricious.

Just as Bennigsen was trembling with anxiety, a herald entered the inner chamber of the palace where the traitors were being dragged in and shouted.

“The glorious Naslednik Tsesarevich! His Highness Alexander has arrived!”

At that moment, everyone held their breath.

From the lazy second son Constantine to the young third son Nikolai, to the Empress Maria Feodorovna, all the imperial family members were already in this room.

They were just holding their breath and keeping their mouths shut, watching the Emperor, who was jumping up and down.

Rumors that Alexander was involved in the incident that happened last night were already rampant in the palace.

But the Crown Prince came on his own, belatedly.

Indeed, how would the Tsar react?

When Pavel gestured his permission, Crown Prince Alexander rushed in and knelt down.

“I am relieved that you are safe and sound all night, Your Majesty!”

“You were worried about me? Heh heh heh! Yes, you are the Tsesarevich [the heir apparent to the Russian throne]. But I don’t know if you can continue to live as Naslednik. That outrageous Pahlen is dead, but Panin confessed something.”

“It must have been the work of England!”

At that moment, Alexander cried out as if spitting blood.

“Charles Whitworth, the British Ambassador, must be arrested immediately! He must be hiding among the British merchants, trying to escape. This is all a British plot!”

Pavel blinked.

Until now, the people Pavel naturally thought of as traitors were Zubov and his gang.

He also thought that the great nobles who had been deprived of their privileges and mistreated were behind it.

He thought that Alexander had only sympathized a little and was not an active participant, but he was still resentful.

Just as Pavel was pondering how to punish him, an unexpected mastermind was presented.

England, the leading economic and maritime power in Europe, and Russia’s top trading partner.

Pavel stared intently at his audacious son and turned to the right.

There stood an unexpected figure, not the commander of the Imperial Guard or the Chancellor.

“That’s what you say, Danton. My friend. What do you think?”

The French Ambassador Danton tapped his plump cheeks and nodded.

“Indeed, His Highness the Crown Prince’s insight is amazing. The plot to assassinate His Majesty could not have been carried out by anyone other than England. They have also been accused of assassinating the Crown Prince of Spain before!”

If any other French power figure or elite had been in this position, they would have been horrified.

After all, even the French Empire was reluctant to wage war with England.

But Danton was originally a gambler, and gamblers don’t miss an opportunity when it comes.

For example, an opportunity to protect their wealth, interests, and connections as they are.

Tsar Pavel smiled contentedly at Danton’s agreement and shouted.

“Indeed, that is right! Then I must punish England! In the name of God!”

It was a declaration that did not fit the 19th century, an era that began with revolution.

***

The Tsar stood in the Summer Garden of Saint Petersburg, in the vast Palace Square.

“Listen, vassals of the Council of Nobles and the State Council, and citizens of Saint Petersburg! Those who dared to harm His Majesty the Tsar, the Romanov Imperial Family, and the Empire were arrested last night!”

Of course, it was not Pavel who was shouting, but the herald.

In any case, Pavel was not particularly suited for public speaking because his body and voice were small.

However, the citizens of the capital were excited just by the fact that the Tsar had appeared in person before the people.

Especially if it was a failed rebellion.

Even those who had been praying for the capricious Tsar to disappear flashed ominous eyes at the word rebellion.

“But it has been revealed that England is behind these traitors!”

Soon, British merchants captured by the Imperial Guard were dragged in front of the platform.

“We don’t know anything!”

“Your Majesty, please have mercy!”

“S, s, save me! I’m a British citizen! Not Russian!”

However, Russia is strict in the Middle Ages, modern times, and even in the modern history of the original timeline.

The whip fell on the British merchants, and everyone screamed and fell silent as blood and flesh splattered.

Facing the silent people, Rostovchin, the herald and former Foreign Minister, shouted.

“In order to punish this outrageous act of betrayal, Tsar Pavel intends to make a momentous decision!”

Tsar Pavel himself stepped forward in front of the great nobles, the Imperial Guard, and the citizens.

“Soon, I declare war on England!”

It was a shrill voice, but the meaning contained in that voice was so significant that it shocked everyone.

Originally, in the year 1806, when the Continental System [Napoleon’s strategy to blockade Great Britain] was imposed by France.

The time when Russia had to resist with smuggling and eventually lead to war.

Tsar Pavel had unexpectedly decided to go to war with England.

Going one step further, Pavel turned to Danton and ordered.

“My friend, Danton. Convey this to your Emperor. Also, call the best generals and declare that we will fight together against the wicked England!”

Danton smirked and forced his fat waist to bend.

“I will gladly convey it, Your Majesty.”

Half a year since Eugene dispatched Joubert from the New World.

Pavel, who should have died, lived, and the Russian Empire declared war.

A war with England instead of the Continental System.