There are always those called war heroes.
Those fairy tale-like warriors who bravely fought against external enemies of the state. Having achieved accomplishments and gained honor, they receive respect and legitimacy in all their actions.
If that's natural, then it's natural. Who else would you respect if not those who protected the internal from external enemies?
However, sadly, I see myself as exactly the opposite of this war hero position.
'I fight against internal enemies, not external ones.'
Politics, governance, rule.
However you express it, I'm an emperor who must focus on internal affairs rather than external affairs.
It's not exactly nonsense to say the position is too heavy to handle, but if I were to make a somewhat reasonable complaint, it's an unfair position.
While war heroes appear righteous in all their actions, I'm questioned for everything I do.
While war heroes have justice as the foundation for all their actions, power lust comes first for me.
But if I were to add one more thing here, I'm actually not even in a position where I should covet that power.
'I need to operate on the patient, but the pain is my responsibility too. In my hand is a rusty knife.'
If I don't swing it here, I'll just become the Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov of the original history.
But if I do swing it, I get cursed as a tyrant or an anachronistic absolute monarch practicing dictatorship.
Well, let's say getting cursed is unavoidable. The problem is that in this Russia, it doesn't end with just curses.
Bomb terrorism, protests, riots, and revolution.
This is the Russian way of expressing dissatisfaction.
They can't dare gather power to oppose the Tsar, so they protest in abnormal ways.
That's why I created the State Duma.
The effect was truly beyond expectations.
Giving up and acknowledging a bit of power, watching all those annoying fellows gather in the trash bin called the Duma and fight amongst themselves.
It was truly disgusting yet satisfying to watch.
Now I put the Duma at the forefront and prepare for surgery again from the back room.
With this enormous power given to me for being the eldest son of the Romanov family, I just need to wield it to cut off all the skin and remove all the rotten internal organs.
The one chance given in '97.
Believing there would be no chance for Russia to rise if I failed here, I didn't allow myself even a moment of carelessness.
"So, I only gave missions to officials without sharing the grand plan. It might sound like a ruler's common arrogance, but I am the driving force of reform itself. Was this wrong?"
"No, Your Majesty. No one blames you. Isn't it an honor for civil servants to be used as tools of the Tsar?"
"Then why does it seem to my eyes that my order to destroy the mir isn't being followed?"
My standards.
My tendencies.
My direction.
I've hidden everything so far.
Let me say it again, I'm not trying to protect power through mysticism or communication breakdown with such a shabby concept play.
I, the driving force of reform, am just a young emperor not even thirty. I only have historical knowledge as a compass, without the years of experience like Count Dashkov or the genius of Witte.
"Your Majesty. The officials have boarded the train without knowing the final destination. The Duma is rising, nobles are stirring, and Your Majesty keeps giving new orders. Yet they cannot step forward out of fear because they know nothing."
"Fear of the unknown. Is that all it is, Count?"
I promised clear rewards to those who reform with me. I am a superior who guarantees wealth and fame and ensures they remain stably in the ruling class.
Just look at Witte - didn't I mark him as the next Prime Minister and put him to work?
Yet they're still anxious? What more do they want? I don't understand.
"Should I go kneel before each of these competent officials with their own strong opinions and beg?"
"You know that's not it."
"Then?"
"You need to make them truly your allies. To the point where there's not even a moment's hesitation about priorities even if their thoughts clash with Your Majesty's will."
Power struggle. Though I thought I knew it well from studying so many cases in history, it's difficult once I'm actually in it.
It's been three months since I ordered the destruction of the mir from the west, but there's still no sign of the mir collapsing in the fertile Kuban province.
How absurd it was to hear that in the Don Voisko province under the War Ministry, the number of mirs actually increased.
"Even though Don Voisko wasn't included in the pilot provinces, they should have read the atmosphere... Yet the mir actually increased."
I didn't set an unreasonable goal. Converting 15% to independent farmers with 1.08 billion rubles.
15% of the entire empire might seem like a lot, but considering we haven't even touched the black earth or densely populated areas yet, this should proceed without obstacles.
"If anything goes wrong while destroying the mir, which was the foundation of the empire, the officials will bear that responsibility. So they become cautious."
"Haa..."
I didn't accept all of Count Dashkov's advice, but at least I understand that I was wrong.
Not all officials and lower administrators would stake their lives on reform like Witte.
"Not everyone can fully understand Your Majesty's will. Nevertheless, if you truly want to erase the mir so much..."
"If?"
"Stop hiding and step to the forefront."
The forefront. So he means don't just give orders but take action. Protecting from the front and pushing from behind.
However, if I step to the forefront, I might lose both the existing noble class and the rising force of the Duma.
It's not simply fear of losing power, but knowing there won't be another chance if I fail once makes me hesitate.
"Where is the fair and neutral monarch you spoke of?"
"Being just and fair is right, but at least showing clearly where the Tsar's will is heading should be fine."
It seems things don't progress just by pointing fingers, even though I'm an absolute monarch.
'If reform stops even after I step to the forefront... Then there really would be no other way.'
The only options left would be meaningless great purges and medieval reign of terror. It might become not just 'Bloody Sunday' but 'Bloody Every Day of the Week.'
That day, I issued my first official ukase.
Now the moment has truly come for the mir to die.
Or kill all those who oppose.
Whether someone dies, the reform will continue.
==
The late-learning emperor, Nikolai II.
People think he's busy receiving heir education, moving between the Summer Palace and Winter Palace.
They say all the changes during his three-year reign were led by the behind-the-scenes power Sergei Witte, and the State Duma checks and unites with him to lead the country.
If you had to find a similar case, it would be like the consul-style diarchy of the Roman Republic.
Like the double-headed eagle that symbolizes the empire, the bureaucratic system and parliamentary system check each other to fill the void left by the Tsar.
Everyone certainly thought so.
Until just recently.
"The Tsar's ukase! The five provinces mentioned below must dissolve their mir by next year, and farmers shall take loans to purchase the mir's assets!"
"What? Who decides the land prices and how much loan will be given?"
"Is this telling us to all get kicked out and go live as urban poor!"
"This is the Tsar's ukase. It must be followed unconditionally!"
The first ukase from the Tsar who was thought to be quietly receiving heir education for three years.
This was like an unexpected bomb to everyone.
"Is the Tsar's order certain? It's not that damned Finance Minister pulling strings behind again?"
"Do you think ukases come out so easily? This is practically a new law!"
An era where the Tsar's word becomes law.
Now that the quiet Tsar has finally opened his mouth, arguing about practicality or harmful effects is meaningless.
That day, the Duma realized once again.
"...We fight for months and years to pass a single bill."
"But it only takes one piece of paper in the Summer Palace?"
"Isn't it because we dragged things out too long? That's why I said we should have brought in the bourgeoisie earlier!"
Feelings of powerlessness and alienation. Though they couldn't openly show anger or opposition while maintaining outward loyalty, the Duma felt for the first time that they recognized who they needed to fight for power with.
Even without such disloyal people, it's clear that the reform entrusted to the Duma has been taken back. The Tsar has certainly withdrawn his favor from them.
The Duma members were confused but could only watch with folded arms for now.
On the other hand, the officials who had been at the forefront of reform:
"Damn, now we must succeed no matter what!"
"Overtime? Are you kidding? Move your residence to the western provinces first!"
"Destroy the mir by any means necessary!"
"Purge everything old! Ho-do-on! Destroy! Ru-"
"Shut up!"
The Tsar who took back the work given to the Duma and placed it entirely in the officials' hands.
The atmosphere changed overnight to the point where even Nikolai, who issued the ukase, felt bewildered.
"Tsk, this seems familiar. Book burning? Cultural Revolution? But has there ever been history of civil servants doing such things?"
Nikolai, who thinks whatever works is good.
Somehow it became a situation where the Tsar officially declared 'Hey, since the Duma is incompetent, you do it!'
Although Russia suffers from chronic manpower shortages due to its chaotic administrative system and outdated government structure, the absolute numbers aren't small.
All those people rush in to break down the mir to the molecular level.
"I-I'm a poor farmer who couldn't even be included in the annual redistribution in the mir-"
"How about a loan product that allows you to purchase up to 6.5 desyatinas with land as collateral?"
"I heard if you take that, you become a debtor for generations..."
"You used to pay 6% interest for 30 years? Now it's half the interest rate and no principal payments needed for the first five years."
"...How much did you say? Let me see it first."
Not long after the ukase was announced, even before the mir was dissolved, farmers began taking loans and considering which land to buy.
Though land tax was introduced, that's just tax paid by people with lots of land.
The poor farmers who were thoroughly weak even in the mir and tens of millions of farmers without an inch of land didn't need to know about such things.
Actually, using all the money accumulated in the Peasant Land Bank for just five provinces shouldn't be done, but when the condition "Tsar's ukase" is attached, things become a bit different.
Now that place has become land that must not fail.
More precisely:
"Isn't this giving loans to just anyone-"
"We've got the land as collateral anyway! If they starve to death after dissolving the mir there, you and I are both dead men!"
"What, reject? Are you crazy? Just do it first! When will we have time to check everything in detail before lending money? Damn it, even if they don't want the loan, at least go explain the product first!"
No one wanted to take responsibility for 'The Tsar's order wasn't followed because of you.'
In this country, the moment such a frame is put on you, you're not only buried but could die in an instant if they catch the wrong detail.
This is truly a method only possible in an absolute monarchy.
The first order of power without any lame duck period. An era where it becomes illegal and punishable if not implemented regardless of reality. And sufficient money to back it up.
With these three elements coming together in Nikolai's order, the mir began to be perceived as some outdated, sinful relic in the western regions.
While Stolypin's agricultural reform in the 1910s was achieved through the abolition of various restrictions on farmers and the expansion of independent farmers' rights, the 1897 agricultural reform was implemented very simply, just through power.
Those who feared that power.
Those who coveted that power.
Those who belonged to or wanted to belong to that power.
Everyone becomes another driving force.
It proves that reform is like a carriage wheel on a hill. Once it rolls, it accelerates.
"Hmm, still, it seems there might be rural conflicts with mutual jealousy between those who remain in the mir until the end and those who left..."
"Did you hear! The Tsar says to kick out everyone who wants to stay in the mir too!"
"Shut up and open your mouth! Additional loans coming in!"
"You folks will become wandering gypsies if you don't leave the mir now. Huh? Were there gypsies in this country? What are you saying. Our Russia is gypsy-free. They all died long ago."
A new order and the chaos that follows. And the entire empire watching this thunderbolt-like reform in real time.
Everyone held their breath and watched this thunderbolt-like reform.