"If one day the empire you defended becomes weak, then please don't be sad for its disintegration and complain about it! Because according to your words, this is legal and it is natural! I will
I have spent the rest of my life waiting for this day."
Facing Chopin's angry gaze, a nameless anger suddenly surged in Pushkin's heart.
He thought that he had been "tolerant" enough to the Polish exile. He had been complimenting him from the beginning of the meeting and "reasoning" with him in a nice manner, but what did he get in exchange?
In exchange for more and more aggressive questions, and almost rude curses.
What makes him even more angry is that this curse is not directed at him personally, but at his motherland - this can touch the nerves of a patriot more than being directed at an individual.
In a rage, he almost put down his pretense as a poet and let the thin musician in front of him have a taste of what real "Russian power" is.
Fortunately, in the end, he still had some sense left. He remembered that he had promised his friend that he would never cause trouble on this occasion. He did not want to embarrass his friend.
Moreover, his original intention of agreeing to this meeting was also to show the style of a Russian cultured person in a polite and polite manner and to defend the motherland within an acceptable range. If now he takes action in anger or even proposes a duel, what will happen?
Doesn’t it actually deepen the world’s “stereotype” of Russia? This is absolutely undesirable.
Therefore, he, who has always had a violent temper and had fought many duels, rarely restrained his temper this time.
Let's fight with words, not with force... at least that should be the case today.
Since he decided to limit the conflict to verbal arguments, he had to use his brain to find a way to refute Chopin's curse - or at least regain some face for his motherland.
However, he had to admit that he was now at a disadvantage in the debate.
This is actually self-defeating - since he based the legitimacy of the Tsar's occupation of Poland on the arrangements of the Vienna Peace Conference, then Chopin could of course retort that the Vienna Peace Conference did not give the Polish nation the qualification to express its own will - carve out the fate of Poland
The three major powers of Russia, Prussia, and Austria were originally the leading parties at the Vienna Peace Conference. In addition, Poland had the "stain" of siding with Napoleon. How could they give Poland any say?
If he were a complete imperialist, it would be easier for Pushkin to deal with it now. He could simply admit openly and openly, "Yes, I am justified if I have a knife in my hand." But he is not such a person. After all, he is a
Cultural people are not willing to use the law of the jungle to defend themselves.
So he fell into a dilemma where reality could not bridge the gap between theory. Poland's current situation made outsiders sympathize, and naturally not many people would appreciate Russia's "legitimate rights" to Poland.
In addition, although Chopin’s curse is unpleasant to hear, it seems difficult to refute it.
There are too many examples of the rise and decline of powerful countries on the European continent - not to mention that Sweden previously claimed to be the hegemon in the Baltic Sea, had armed intervention in the Thirty Years' War, and had repeatedly defeated Poland and Russia in battles for hegemony.
Russia is now completely in decline. Starting from Peter the Great, Russia has continuously plundered land from areas controlled by Sweden. While defeating Napoleon, it also conquered the Baltic Sea coast and large areas of Finland. Sweden's former hegemony has been wiped out.
It will definitely not become a first-class European power in the foreseeable future.
So, will the same fate befall Russia in the near future?
Of course he was unwilling to admit such a possibility emotionally, but based on history, it seemed difficult for him to completely deny it. At least he did not have the confidence to say "Russia will always be strong" in front of Chopin.
In this way, Pushkin was caught in a dilemma. He was at a loss for a while. Although he didn't want to appear guilty in front of the Pole, he didn't know how to refute the other party.
Fortunately, he is a smart man after all, and he also has the eloquence of a poet. After mobilizing his talents and racking his brains, he finally found a way to solve his disadvantaged situation.
"Mr. Chopin, your words are unpleasant and very disrespectful. They are not what a gentleman should say to his friends. But even so, I am still willing to tolerate your offense and respond to you solemnly." Then he also raised his eyebrows.
At the beginning, he spoke with a high-spirited attitude, "You are right, there is no country in this world that will always be prosperous. Even if it is as great as Rome, it will inevitably decline after hundreds of years of prosperity.
Now there is no trace of it - so I cannot utter wild words and believe that my motherland will definitely remain in the sun.
But do you think this is a good thing? Although you are not a historian, you should be able to see how much suffering the Slavic nation has suffered over thousands of years. Its history of being invaded and massacred is far greater than the history of Russia's existence.
It will last longer, of course you know, it even suffered the Crusades! In the face of these thousands of years of suffering, the pain caused by Russia is simply not worth mentioning. Even until now, in the Balkans, in the Caucasus, in many
In many places, the Slavs still suffered from the horrors of plunder and massacre.
Only after the rise of the Russian Empire did this long suffering finally see the end. The Slavs scattered in villages finally no longer had to fear the sudden disaster of weapons, and finally no longer had to fear death from the Varyags, Mongolia
Or the hands of the Germans... The existence of the Russian Empire finally kept the horrific looting and massacre away from them, and history also proved that only by uniting around a great country can the Slavs get rid of the terror that lasted for thousands of years.
...If the Russian Empire is destroyed, it will be another disaster for all Slavs. Therefore, I, all my friends, and my descendants will use all our strength to prevent such a disaster from happening.
, never let the same terror happen again.”
Although it was just for defense at the beginning, Pushkin's mood gradually increased with his words, and his voice even became hoarse when he talked about emotional points.
"In addition to being the Slavs, the Russian Empire is also the protector of Orthodox Christians. Because of its existence, all Orthodox Christians are now free to preserve their valuable beliefs without fear of being expelled and dismissed as heretics or heretics.
Massacre...Aren't you willing to admit it? If the empire did not exist, or if the empire declined, what methods would the Sudan use to deal with the Orthodox Christians in its territory? And what vicious and despicable methods it would use to destroy us
Of course you can see the consequences of this, so you should also admit that without our existence, the Slavic peoples and Orthodox Christians will have to endure their historical disasters again. The Russian Empire must stand there to avoid all destruction.
!”
Pushkin racked his brains to conceive a reply that cleverly avoided the separate conflicts between Russia and Poland, but defended the existence and growth of the empire itself.
Of course he knew that there were too many stains on what the empire had done (many stains that even he himself could not understand), so he decided to go beyond the topic itself and demonstrate the rationality and necessity of the existence of the Russian Empire from the perspective of ethnicity and religion.
.
And the defense he conceived would eventually become the main reason for the Russian Empire's official defense.
In the middle and late 19th century, with the deepening of the Western Industrial Revolution and the leap-forward development of science and technology and culture, the development gap between Western Europe and Russia once widened. At this time, the aura of "defeating Napoleon" surrounding Russia
It has already faded, and people in Western Europe have gradually developed an indelible contempt for it.
The Russians themselves also know that the image is too ugly. In the eyes of Western Europeans, this country is authoritarian, cruel, barbaric and vulgar. It also prevails the evil serfdom that has long been abolished in Western Europe. In order to defend itself, it finally found two ways to justify the existence of the empire.
The most powerful defense - that is "Slavic" and "Christian".
In this context, no matter how bad the empire is, it is at least the last stronghold and solid support of the Slavic peoples and Orthodox Christians. If the empire declines or even dies, then the most terrifying disaster awaits them. Therefore, anyone who wants to
Patriots who want to protect the Slavs and Orthodox Christians, no matter how dissatisfied they are with the empire, should unite around the Romanov royal family and work hard to avoid all these disasters.
Although this kind of defense does not seem very reliable, judging from the various historical events that occurred later, it is actually accurate.
After the collapse of the Russian Empire, the Great Famine and Massacre suffered by the Slavs also followed one after another, even more than once or twice. The Orthodox Christians also suffered from forced migration and ethnic massacre and other atrocities. Because of this, it has already entered history.
The "Empire" in the garbage dump has regained its vitality in the spirit of the Russian people. Many people suddenly became supporters of the Empire, the so-called Imperial Russia.
In essence, they are not facing the future, but chasing the phantom of the past, chasing the phantom that the whole world fears the Slavs because they fear the Russian Empire - although this is actually just a desperate attempt to find a sword. The decline of the Slavs has been hard to reverse.
Repeated killings of each other made it impossible to return to the past of the golden age.
Of course, Pushkin did not know that the defense he conceived in a hurry would have such a long historical vitality, but at least at this moment, he was very satisfied with his defense and comforted himself with peace of mind.
The current situation of the empire is indeed not good, but the empire itself has extremely precious existence value - therefore, he must do his best to maintain the existence of the empire, and pin his hopes on the future for the bad things. This makes sense, and at least he can convince himself.
Of course, he could not convince the resentful Chopin, nor could he convince the Poles.
Although the Poles are Slavs like the Russians, they have never regarded themselves as members of the Slavic family with Russia because of historical grievances. The reason why the Poles adhere to the Catholic faith is precisely to maintain their own "difference."
characteristics of Russia.
Therefore, no matter whether it shouts for Slavic interests or Christian interests, the Russian Empire will never be able to win over the Poles (but it has successfully won over the Slavs in the Caucasus and Balkans).
As a result, as Pushkin raised the topic and defended the empire from a historical perspective, the debate between the two people completely reduced to a chicken-and-duck talk.
But this is normal. Whenever there is a political debate between two opposing parties, it will eventually turn into a chicken-and-duck argument - both parties will often insist on their own opinions. This kind of debate is not to convince the other party, but to show their own
"Correct", therefore, each side will loudly shout its own justice and ignore the other's rebuttal.
Chopin certainly knew this.
Of course, he is not so naive that he can convince the great Russian poet to agree with his point of view by relying on words. He only needs to shout the voice of the Poles in front of him. This kind of spiritual resistance is what he is doing now.
The only thing the exiles can do.
"Mr. Pushkin, you are indeed very eloquent, but no matter how you use rhetoric to whiten your motherland, you can't cover up the blood stains on it at this moment! Maybe at this moment, my motherland is destined to fall under the iron heel of the Russian Empire.
But as long as the Poles still exist on Polish soil, our resistance will never end and Poland will never perish!"
After shouting this slogan, he calmed down again, then bowed to Pushkin with cold etiquette, and then turned around and left without waiting for the other party to respond.
His body is thin and frail, but at least at this moment, his back looks decisive and powerful, with unwavering determination.
"Although he is rude, he is a respectable person after all! If it were another time, I might make friends with him." Looking at his retreating back, Pushkin thought to himself.
Although he felt that he had not lost the debate, and although he felt that he had protected the dignity of Russia with his wisdom, when he thought of the blood shed, he felt no joy in his heart, only helpless sadness.
I hope that my motherland can cross the river paved with blood and walk to the other side of freedom and prosperity... Only in this way will all the bloodshed be meaningful.
After the debate ended, Aigron and Teresa also looked at each other.
They also listened to the entire argument between the two people just now - although the atmosphere was tense and the scene was confrontational, no catastrophic incident occurred after all.
"Your Highness, thank God... it's finally solved. I was shocked just now..." Teresa, who had always been nervous, let out a long sigh of relief and seemed a little lucky.
Then, she asked Aiglon curiously, "Who do you think is right and who is wrong between them?"
"There is no right or wrong in this kind of issue, only positions. They all stuck to their positions, that's all." Aigron spread his hands.
Then, he sighed softly, "Besides, they will all be warmly applauded by people on their respective sides... That's enough, isn't it?"