Struggle in Russia

According to Leo Tolstoy's original plan, he planned to travel abroad at the beginning of next year. The disastrous defeat in the Crimean War made many young people like him have a deep sense of crisis. In 1814, Britain and France left Russia far away, and they could beat Russia from all dimensions. This made the Russian youths who were intoxicated by the victory in 1814 feel deeply anxious.

For the first time, they realized that we were so backward and failed. For the first time, they discovered that Russia's greatness was ruthlessly crushed.

This makes more people want to go to foreign countries to see how big the gap is and how to catch up.

Tolstoy was no exception. After returning to St. Petersburg, he joined the literary world and began to have more contact with progressive scholars, making some preparations for going abroad in the future. Of course, his enthusiasm for literature was aroused more during the war. , hoping to awaken the great awakening of the Russian nation with his own brushwork.

It's just that these plans were disrupted by the Ukrainian rebellion. After hearing about the serf uprising, he was different from the ordinary nobles. He didn't think about how to suppress the rebellion, but "oh, finally the rebellion", he has a kind of boots that are bound to fall a feeling of.

The reason is also very simple. Whether in Wallachia or on the way back to St. Petersburg, he saw too much civil suffering, saw the starving Ukraine, and saw the greedy noble landlords.

To be honest, he was very conflicted and painful, because he sympathized with those unfortunate serfs, but at the same time he was a member of the noble class and enjoyed the privileges of the nobles all the time. Not to mention that there are tens of thousands of serfs in the manor under his name. Without the hard work of these poor people, let alone appearing in the upper class, he might have problems eating and dressing.

If the serfs were liberated, how would they maintain a decent life of nobility with what they ate and wore?

He is not lacking in compassion, but at the same time he is unwilling to reduce the quality of life, which is very contradictory and makes him a little bit at a loss. ..

After thinking for a long time, he decided to return to the army again and go to Ukraine to take a look. He wanted to know whether things had really gotten to that point, and whether it was really time to make a trade-off.

Tolstoy leaned lazily on the carriage, and his adjutant was directing several soldiers to repair the bearings. As an artillery officer, he was responsible for surveying and mapping for the first time. To be honest, this is a boring job. To be honest, it is really boring to measure and record data and then mark it a little bit.

Less than a day after leaving the headquarters, he was already bored, and he was too lazy to do it himself. After simply teaching a few literate soldiers, he spent most of his time thinking about his own novels.

He originally wanted to write some stories about wars and wars, he wanted to boost the low morale and remind everyone that they, too, had defeated a mighty enemy in extremely passive and difficult circumstances. Since they can do it once, why can't they create a second miracle?

It’s just that as he was writing, he found that there were too many things he wanted to express. Heroes naturally need to be praised, but do those ugly things in society need to be exposed and whipped?

To be honest, it takes courage, and he always feels that his brushstrokes are not deep enough to express exactly what he wants to express.

This made him very depressed and distressed, and the environment in front of him made him panic!

He was very worried because Ukraine was worse than what he saw on his return trip last year. There were almost no living people in a thousand miles away, which was worse than the situation in Crimea.

When they were besieged in Sevastopol, although the situation was desperate, they still had hope in their hearts at that time, knowing that as long as they continued to insist on relying on Ukraine and Russia, they still had a chance to come back.

But now, Ukraine, which has a large granary in the rear, is in this half-dead state. Where is the hope?

Tolstoy could not see hope, and what made him even more desperate was the attitude of the noble officers. These people were indifferent to the desolation and barrenness of Ukraine. Comfortable accommodation, no salon, no alcohol, no women, in short they complain about being treated to everything.

Objectively speaking, the treatment of military officers is really not good, not to mention comparing with the life in St. Petersburg, even the rural life in the suburbs of St. Petersburg is incomparable.

Tolstoy was not used to all this, but after seeing those serfs struggling in hell, he deeply felt that it was heaven to be fed and clothed. They had no right to complain, but should be grateful and imagine those serfs. Poor people who don't have enough to eat and don't wear warm clothes should have a heart of compassion and compassion.

But soon he discovered that he was an out-and-out outlier among noble officers, especially mid- and senior-level officers~www.readwn.com~ These people have no compassion at all, and they don't even consider how difficult the actual situation is. To complain is to be dissatisfied, as if one were born to feel favored.

This made Tolstoy feel depressed, and he quarreled with his colleagues several times because of this, but he soon discovered that it was meaningless, and those officers who were really in power still went their own way and even vaguely began to attack and exclude him.

He also fought for this, but soon found that it was useless, because these guys in power would mess around even if they couldn't argue, always trying to sophistry with tradition and other nonsense. In the end, he even used the authority of his superiors to force him to shut up.

Tolstoy knew that there was no point in arguing and arguing with these people, because they couldn't listen to anything, they refused to change, they refused to give in, they were as greedy as vampires.

So he simply hid and went out to do surveying and mapping with those low-level officers. Although these people might not agree with what he said, they still had a little compassion.

"The axle is broken, it seems that we can only spend the night in the village ahead!"

Tolstoy nodded. As the person with the highest military rank and title, he has the power to give orders. Although he himself feels that several other experienced veteran officers have done better than him, they can be in charge of the command.

But tradition is tradition. Although he has tried his best to resist this tradition, it is difficult to improve it in a short while.

"Okay, then you will command the camp and do a good job of security protection. According to the intelligence, there should be a large mob active nearby!"

The old officer nodded and left quickly after saluting. Under his command, the team performed their duties in an orderly manner. Tolstoy also changed horses and marched towards the village ahead...