Capítulo 7: Partition and Rescue
At the beginning of 1892, Nicholas faced some emotional issues. These issues weren't due to his own indiscretions but stemmed from the trouble planted by his ex-girlfriend two years prior. His ex had been pursuing Alexei, but neither the Tsar nor the Tsarina approved of her. General Cherevin, the Tsar's chief aide-de-camp, suggested a plan to the Tsar: to make a man change his mind, simply have him fall in love with someone else.
The Tsar agreed with the idea, so General Cherevin arranged for Matilda Kschessinska, a Polish ballet dancer, to be introduced. On March 23, 1890, the Tsar and Tsarina brought Nicholas to the graduation ceremony of the Imperial School of Theatre and Ballet. Matilda made her debut in a pas de deux from the ballet "The Unconquerable Daughter," and her stunning performance left a lasting impression.
At the informal dinner following the ceremony, Alexander III ordered Matilda to sit next to Nicholas, placing him between her and the Tsar. "Be careful!" the Tsar warned Nicholas, "Don't flirt too much." But it was clear that "the lovely Kschessinska" had truly captured Nicholas's heart...
"Nick, look, your little lover is on stage," said Uncle Alexei. In St. Petersburg's Mariinsky Theatre, Matilda might not have been the most technically skilled corps de ballet dancer, but her beauty and charm drew considerable attention.
Nicholas followed Uncle Alexei's pointed finger to spot his former lover. Alexei Alexandrovich, one of Alexander III's more handsome brothers, was a striking figure with golden hair, blue eyes, and a robust physique, considered an outstanding Russian beau. Self-indulgence and debauchery were common among the Romanov family, and Grand Duke Alexei was a leader in this regard.
Places frequented by Alexei were known as the "Grand Duke's circle," and their fashion was called the "Grand Duke style." He once had a banquet where a naked French actress, covered only in rose petals, was wheeled in on a silver platter.
"I guarantee that meeting her will feel like floating on air!" Alexei spoke enigmatically, making Nicholas's heart race. "But our affair won't have a happy ending." Fortunately, it was Nicholas's rational mind guiding him now, and he shook his head, much to Alexei's disappointment. "This is no fun!"
Grand Duke Alexei insisted that Nicholas learn to "make love, enjoy food, and drink," like him—indulging in "loose women and leisurely boats." Pushed by his uncle, Nicholas ended up in the theatre's second-floor corridor, where he coincidentally met Matilda, just off stage.
They were both stunned. In Nicholas's eyes, Matilda was a slender, fair-skinned, charming ballet girl with a captivating allure. In Matilda's eyes, Nicholas had velvet-like, bright blue eyes now fixed on her, his gaze melting away her previous grievances about his cold attitude.
"I... I'll try to come back here as soon as possible..." Nicholas's speech was slow as he attempted to explain why he hadn't contacted Matilda for so long. But Matilda just wiped away tears and closed the dressing room door, sobbing inside, leaving Nicholas at a loss.
"You should go comfort her!" Alexei urgently advised the slow-witted Nicholas. Nicholas felt a bit moved but knew he couldn't offer Matilda anything; this was a doomed romance. However, he couldn't bring himself to abandon a crying Matilda.
So, Nicholas opened the door, took a deep breath, and firmly held Matilda's hands. Once again, Matilda found herself staring into Nicholas's enchanting blue eyes. Nicholas's smile touched Matilda, and they kissed...
"I knew you could do it." Later, Grand Duke Alexei took Nicholas back to his mansion for the night, still advising his nephew on the nuances of romance. "That feeling is indeed..." It might not have been Nicholas's first kiss in that body, but it was his first kiss, leaving him, a previous life's virgin, feeling bewildered.
Nicholas was unsure if it was genuine affection or just physical attraction. "Let go of your old notions! Welcome to the new world!" Alexei's mansion was filled with high-end furniture handcrafted by Parisian artisans. Sitting on a soft leather sofa, Nicholas watched, amazed, as Alexei quickly found himself surrounded by sultry women.
Alexei's mistresses sang and performed exotic dances for his experienced uncle and his clueless nephew. This new experience was an eye-opener for Nicholas.
In the following days, Nicholas frequently visited the opera houses or dance halls of St. Petersburg with his Uncle Alexei, to the point where the Tsar complained to the Empress that his son had vanished: "Nicky is still in St. Petersburg. I don't know what he's doing! He doesn't send telegrams or write letters."
Traditionally, the Tsar's family would spend the beginning of each year in the Winter Palace, followed by grand parades, river blessings, and social season activities. Nicholas didn't return to his committee position until March.
Last year, Nicholas had a sense of urgency and impatience, feeling he needed to accomplish something. But this year, his mindset had changed. Firstly, after interacting with the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Transport, and various provincial officials, Nicholas realized the more he learned, the more he felt he didn't know.
Secondly, Nicholas knew he wasn't exceptionally talented, something he had long been aware of. Often, his job wasn't to provide solutions or complete tasks but to find the right people to handle and solve problems. However, Nicholas wasn't entirely useless; he had vision and unique knowledge, though he struggled to establish his foundation in this era, something that only time could build.
As Alexander III had advised Nicholas, don't forget your identity and don't get bogged down in bureaucratic trivialities. Nicholas was gradually learning to focus on the big picture. In the context of disaster relief measures, Nicholas proposed organizing public works and implementing relief through work, which gained the support of Interior Minister Durnovo.
Subsequently, at a meeting with provincial governors and representatives in late December 1891, Nicholas discussed issues related to public works construction. The representatives also considered it a "creative initiative," but added that the government's current task was to "immediately provide relief to those in need and create employment opportunities for farmers," rather than focusing on strategic projects requiring long-term preparation.
The representatives rejected Nicholas's proposal for large-scale projects like water conservancy hubs, suggesting that with only 10 million rubles in funds, forestry and road maintenance and construction were more practical.
This was a learning experience for Nicholas; his ideas were commendable, but implementation required real expertise. Many representatives recommended General Mikhail Nikolayevich Annenkov, responsible for the Trans-Caspian Railway construction, as the leader of the relief-through-work initiative, and Nicholas agreed.
Afterward, a special public works committee composed of Finance Minister Vyshnegradsky, Interior Minister Durnovo, and other relevant department officials held its first meeting. The committee considered road construction and maintenance excellent means to provide work and improve local transportation.
Nicholas agreed to allocate 1.45 million rubles from the Treasury, with project costs estimated at around 5,000 rubles per verst (1.0668 kilometers). The committee also reviewed other engineering projects, including building grain elevators, church schools, and grain lifts.
Subsequent meetings discussed the possibility of funding large-scale forestry projects. General Annenkov proposed allocating 3.175 million rubles from public works funds to cover the costs of felling state forest lands. He suggested selling this timber, estimating total revenue to exceed 6 million rubles, with the state earning a profit of 3 million rubles.
Additionally, officials suggested that if the project were contracted to private entrepreneurs, the government could create more jobs and earn more revenue. Annenkov believed the profits from the forestry project could be handed over to the Treasury for famine relief.
Subsequent meetings finalized the details of other projects. For example, Nicholas adopted provincial representatives' suggestions and decided to allocate 2.2 million rubles for building grain elevators in famine-stricken areas and 2 million rubles for constructing the Novorossiysk to Sukhumi railway along the Black Sea coast.
These decisions were made in December 1891, and though they seemed routine in retrospect, they left Nicholas physically and mentally exhausted from continuous marathon meetings. However, Nicholas didn't intend to lose himself in the debauchery of St. Petersburg with Grand Duke Alexei; it was more a backlash against the repressive, fast-paced work life. Of course, don't imagine the Russian government or civil servants of this era as selfless public servants. The government and officials also enjoyed the New Year and holidays.
"I heard the railway crisis has been resolved?" Most of the decision-making work was completed last year, and Nicholas's remaining task in the relief committee was to ensure officials completed their duties on time. Seeing Witte enter with a stack of reports, Nicholas wearily inquired.
"Yes, Your Highness, the situation has improved!"
The famine of 1891 was still spreading, and for St. Petersburg, far away, it seemed like another world.
This created a severe sense of disconnection for Nicholas, with the numbers, cases, and reports he read sharply contrasting with the daily scenes of revelry he witnessed.
He somewhat understood why those at the bottom felt unbearable while those at the top continued to sing and dance.
Russia was vast enough to accommodate two different worlds.
"I heard that recently some Americans have come to St. Petersburg to provide relief supplies, is that true?"
Interrupting Witte's lengthy report, Nicholas looked up from the piles of documents.
"Yes..." Witte was somewhat surprised by the interruption, not quite sure of the prince's line of thought. "Yes, Your Highness. An American named Edgar has donated one million pounds of flour free of charge."
Like other high-ranking Russian officials, Witte had a proud national sentiment and was somewhat wary of foreign aid, so he downplayed it, saying, "Thanks to the government's efforts, the situation is improving."
"If societal forces were also effective, why should everything burden the already overtaxed bureaucrats?"
Nicholas raised his slightly cooled coffee from the desk, stirred it with a silver spoon, and sipped while pondering.
Through his interactions with St. Petersburg's high-ranking officials, Nicholas had learned some inside information.
Firstly, these officials were all trying to centralize power in their own hands, almost universally. The Ministry of Finance wanted to take over and direct the Ministry of Transport's railway construction, even though the Finance Minister was busy dealing with fiscal deficits, he still wouldn't let go of economic management power; the Ministry of Internal Affairs managed the economy, judiciary, law enforcement, and taxation, but its directors rarely had the capability to manage these tasks.
Secondly, these officials were only accountable to their superiors: civil servants to the ministers, ministers to the Tsar, with the power of appointment held by Alexander III.
And how did the Tsar handle state affairs?
From Nicholas's observations, while Tsar Alexander III disliked bureaucrats, he still had to handle a large amount of state business due to being in a Western-modernized Russia in a period of transformation.
But he didn't want to do this, specifically: he spent almost half the year abroad, especially in Denmark at Queen Maria's family estate; in the remaining half-year, he moved between the country's palaces, hunting lodges, and estates; even when handling state affairs personally, it was only from 2 to 5 p.m.
Of course, the Tsar's neglect of state affairs didn't mean these issues disappeared; thus, as Nicholas remembered, the Tsar delegated work to his trusted aides, previously the Procurator General of the Holy Synod Pobedonostsev, General Cherevin, and Interior Minister Dmitry.
Dmitry Tolstoy died in 1889, succeeded by the competent but reactionary Durnovo.
Pobedonostsev, it's worth noting, was originally a reformer drafting judicial documents during Alexander II's reign but turned extremely conservative after Nicholas's grandfather Alexander II was assassinated and Russia plunged into revolutionary terror.
He was also the tutor of both Nicholas and his father, Alexander III.
"Your Highness, this isn't due to bureaucratic issues; we're just too constrained."
As a high-ranking bureaucrat, Witte also had an instinctive craving for power and defended himself and the bureaucratic system.
"Hmm..."
Nicholas neither agreed nor disagreed, recognizing that among bureaucrats were both well-educated, skilled experts and those who advanced purely through connections and flattery.
Later, Nicholas, incognito, visited the residence of Charles Emory Smith, the U.S. ambassador to St. Petersburg, to meet Edgar and his party, who had traveled from America for charity relief.
It was a three-story mansion, painted white, with a butler at the door waiting for the expected arrival of the prince's entourage.
Accompanying Nicholas was special envoy Bobrinsky from the Relief Committee.
Smith, in a crisp suit, round glasses, and brown-black parted hair, warmly shook hands with Nicholas, "It's an honor to welcome Your Highness, your visit strengthens the friendship between our nations."
After some pleasantries, Nicholas shook hands with Edgar.
"The Russian people appreciate your efforts."
"American grain is abundant, while Russia suffers famine. The more we learn, the more heart-wrenching it is. Only by putting aside prejudices and uniting globally to help Russia can we save the poor Russian peasants."
Edgar explained his philanthropic sentiment with simple compassion, earning Nicholas's praise.
Afterwards, Nicholas had a friendly conversation with Edgar, enhancing his impression of him.
William C. Edgar, the editor of a weekly magazine in Minneapolis, learned about the Russian famine through certain channels and initiated a telegraph to the Russian embassy in Washington, proposing to send a shipload of flour to relieve the disaster and asked for permission.
But there was no response. After the second telegram, the ambassador's slow report to the government finally led to the notification to Edgar that the Russian government would welcome American aid.
In contrast to Russian bureaucratic procedures, Edgar quickly drafted a list of potential donors in Minnesota, calling and writing to them one by one.
Through the magazine, Edgar continually published the progress of relief supplies, printed donors' names, and requested more donations, eventually contacting over 5,000 farmers, spreading the word nationwide.
The first shipment of Edgar's supplies arrived in Russia in March 1892, followed by Edgar and his team arriving in St. Petersburg.
"I never expected to meet the Crown Prince."
Edgar mentioned he had received a warm welcome in St. Petersburg, to which Nicholas nodded.
"Please accept this gift we prepared."
The thoughtfully prepared gift from the Relief Committee was a carved wooden plate with a loaf of bread, a glazed silver salt shaker, inscribed in Russian: "Adversity reveals true friendship."
"I heard you plan to travel to the disaster area?"
"Indeed," Edgar said, "I want to report the famine situation and relief progress to the generous donors."
"Hmm..." Nicholas had a sudden idea, "I must confess, I am also planning a rural inspection trip."
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