"Antiques, Comrade Antonov, are you talking about antiques" Alexandra Mikhailovna Koluntai's eyes widened, and she looked at the German spy in front of her, wearing a yellow and green military uniform and a red armband, living in the Smolny Palace, in order to facilitate Hersmann's participation in the revolutionary work, he was Lenin's military adviser, and Lenin included his pseudonym "Pyotr Andreyevich Antonov" in the list of members of the Military Revolutionary Committee, so he was really a real revolutionary leader.
If he had not been a German spy, such qualifications would definitely have been able to become a field marshal of the Red Army in the future.
And Madame Kollontai, the patriarch of the feminist movement, is now one of Lenin's most trusted people, and she lost Lenin's favor because she was too close to Trotsky.
But now she was not the backbone of the Trotskyists, but Lenin's most trusted partner.
So these days, the Bolshevik Central Committee and the People's Commissar of Social Welfare did not work for the welfare of the working people of Russia, nor did he have any welfare to give, but was responsible for communicating with Hersmann, in fact, establishing a secret channel for Russian-German exchanges.
On the surface, Trotsky and Yue Fei were in charge of the negotiations, and it was not the turn of the woman Kollontai to step out.
However, Russian-German negotiations will certainly not be able to rely on open channels, and there must be a channel for private exchanges.
Because the Bolsheviks did not really represent the whole of Russia at present, it was not a legitimate government, and the people did not have a mandate by the ballot, so it was very unreliable.
It cannot make too many superficial concessions, which could lead to the collapse of the regime.
For Germany, the fall of the Bolsheviks also meant that all previous efforts had been lost.
However, Kollentai did not expect that when he was about to leave Petrograd, Hermán cared about antiques and works of art "Antiques, and art, where there is a store that sells these things, I'm going to go to the most reputable antique store."
Hersmann was eating the breakfast prepared by the chef of the Smolny Palace, according to Korentai, who was a famous chef in Petrograd, named Spyridon Ivanovich Putin, while talking to the visiting Kollentai.
Chloe, on the other hand, was preparing for the day's outfit, Hersmann was still wearing a Russian uniform, a red armband, and an armed belt, with a well-loaded Nagan 1895 revolver inserted in the holster of the armed belt, and Chloe herself carrying a military pistol made by the Austrian company Steyr.
"In Petrograd, the best antique and art shops are on Nevasky Prospect.
That's it," Kollontai replied.
"Alright, let's go there today."
Hersman nodded.
After the August Revolution, Petrograd remained unsafe, although political protests were much reduced.
But robberies and killings continue to emerge one after another, after all, the revolution cannot be eaten.
You still have to be careful when you go out shopping with a lot of cash, so Hersman equips Chloe and herself with guns.
In addition, the Military Revolutionary Committee assigned "Commissar Antonov" a guard and a carriage.
The guard and driver was a young man named Efimov Petrovich Serov, with a broad, flat Slavic face, a nose like a garlic head, and a messy beard that made him look much older than his actual age.
After a few days of contact with him, Hersman felt that this guy was basically reliable, but after drinking, he always stared at Chloe's sexy figure The carriage left the heavily guarded Smolny Palace and rolled along the road along the Neva River, soon reaching Nevsky Prospect.
This is the best commercial street in St.
Petersburg and in the whole of Russia, the wide avenue is lined with very beautiful buildings, because the height is not allowed to exceed the Hermitage, so it is not tall, but the appearance is very gorgeous.
Through the glass windows of the carriage, Hersman admired the view of Nevsky Prospect, the wide street was a little depressed with not many vehicles.
But there were quite a few pedestrians, mostly well-dressed men and women, who were the bourgeoisie of Petersburg.
Although the revolution seized power and deprived them of control over the factories, it did not yet touch their property other than the means of production.
So they can still maintain a more decent life, but this life is already precarious.
As a result, the bourgeoisie in Petrograd is now mostly selling its property and preparing to flee, just as it was when the party-state of later generations ran away, and the prices of all inconvenient property plummeted There are also some unwilling capitalists, who are not very far from waiting for German soldiers like Hersmann to come in, and the vanguard of the German army has already arrived near the city of Pskov, and if they want to come, Wilhelm II will become the master of Petrograd in two weeks at most.
There are also some poor people on Nevsky Prospect, workers with red armbands and spears on their shoulders patrolling everywhere; The tattered "troubadour" resembles rappers and beggars playing and singing in the streets, in Hersman's view; There are also some young and beautiful girls, wearing heavy makeup, standing on the street corner, they may have been female students, and they may have a good family background, but in this rapidly changing era, they now have to sell their bodies in exchange for food and clothing.
Hersmann also encountered a procession, organized by the Bolsheviks, shouting the same slogans with anti-war and peace slogans, but the scene was not intense.
Unlike what later generations saw in documentaries and old films, Petersburg after the Second Revolution did not have a scene of jubilation and celebration.
At this time, even the Russian proletariat did not believe that the revolution had created a new and powerful red empire.
No one thought that the Bolsheviks would last decades or even longer.
In their view, the Bolsheviks were only the only option after the end of the war.
If the peace that the Bolsheviks received from the Germans did not satisfy them, they would soon be abandoned by the people, of course, with votes "Ludwig, we're here."
When Colontai's voice sounded, the carriage had stopped in front of a huge building with many large round columns.
"This is the best and oldest department store in Russia, called the Court Seat, built in 1785.
There are several shops selling antiques and works of art, and there is also a gallery in the basement of the house, which belongs to the Artists' Guild, which houses works by such great painters as Serov, Shihikin, Magrovsky and Repin.
Moreover, the businesses in the palace seat have a long history, to say the least 100 years, and they do not sell fakes. ” Madame Colontai gave a series of names to Russian painters, and she was clearly a connoisseur of the subject.
Hersmann had little interest in painting, and in this life, he was fond of beautifully crafted swords.
For now, though, all he cares about is the difference in the price of antiques between Petrograd and Zurich.
According to Hesman's history, the Russian Civil War would continue for many more years.
As an old friend of the Russian people, he must have had to go back and forth frequently between Russia and Germany, and the trade in antiquities seems to be doing well.
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Thinking of this, he turned his head and smiled at Chloe: "Honey, then let's start purchasing from the palace seat." ” "Huan, welcome sir, no, comrade, do you have any orders?"
In the basement of the palace seat department store, there is a separate shop lit with chandeliers.
Behind an old counter stood a pale-complexioned man with a doughy face.
He wore gold-rimmed glasses, his mouth with several gold teeth wide open, and looked in horror at the visitors, two men and a woman, one of whom and a middle-aged woman were both dressed in yellow-green military uniforms, and the other woman who looked very temperamental was wearing a well-cut dress, all three wore red armbands on their arms, and two men in military uniforms had guns on their belts.
In Petersburg after the August Revolution, it was not a good sign when three people dressed like this appeared in front of a boss The owner here, a sixty-something Jew named Lev Abramovich Gusinsky, struggles to recall his "crimes."
He is the owner of this antique and art shop called "Gusinski House", an inheritance passed down from his great-grandfather.
The Gusinsky family was a well-known dealer in antiques and art in St.
Petersburg, as well as jewelry, ornaments and watches.
And the customers of antiques and works of art are, of course, either rich or expensive.
And these patrons of the Gusinsky House were undoubtedly opposed to the Bolsheviks and the Soviets "Could it be that one of the patrons has implicated me," Gusinski thought in horror, but his face was still forced to composure.
"You are the boss here," Kollontai said coldly, she did not have a penny of affection for capitalists and aristocrats, although she herself was born into a family of first-class nobles in Russia, her ancestors were princes, and her father was a general.
"Yes, I am," Gusinski broke out in a cold sweat, having discovered that none of his customers were good people "This is Comrade Antonov, a member of the Military Revolutionary Committee," Kollontai said, pointing to Hersman.
However, she did not give her name.
"Oh God, member of the Military Revolutionary Committee" Gusinsky's heart trembled.
Do you have such a big sin, if you want a member of the Military Revolutionary Committee to arrest you, you won't be shot?
"You've got a lot of antiques and art here," Hersman said, taking Chloe's arm, as he wandered around the large stacked shop.
The shop was apparently a large business, with paintings, books, jewels, gold and silver glassware, gold and silver tableware, sculptures, antique furniture, very finely crafted swords and armor, and even fine porcelain and bronzes from China, which I don't know if they were looted by the Eight-Nation Alliance "Yes, it's a lot, but the business is very bad, it can't be sold, and it's all backlogged."
Gusinsky poured bitter water.
In this world, anyone who buys antiques and works of art is looking for ways to sell these things and exchange them for easy-to-carry cash or jewelry, so that they can escape when the signs are wrong "Business isn't good," Hersman smiled, "Then I'll take care of your business." ” Taking care of business is really not to arrest Gusinsky A little relieved: "Comrade Commissioner, in fact, the things I have here are not valuable, you can see it, just take it." ” "What," Hersman glared at the Jewish businessman with a flattering smile on his face, "you're bribing a Bolshevik, do you think I'm just like those corrupt tsarist officials, and I'm here to buy from you today as a customer, as a customer who really loves antiques and works of art."
By the way, you don't have any fakes here."
"No, absolutely not," Gusinsky said hurriedly, "I won't tell you, it's really worthless at the moment, who will go to fake" Hersman nodded, "Antiques and works of art fell fiercely" "It's fierce," Gusinsky replied, "so much so that I almost became a proletarian" "So what fell the hardest" Hersman thought, he bought the one that fell the hardest, this is called "buying the bottom", there is nothing wrong with it.
"The big ones are all falling hard, such as antique furniture, large pieces of glass and porcelain.
Oh, and the oil paintings fell very badly, too. ” "The painting has fallen too," Chloe interjected with interest.
"Yes, it fell badly, because oil paintings are not as easy to keep as jewelry, it is not easy to carry out of the country, and it is difficult to sell.
Moreover, some oil paintings have bad subject matter, and it is easy for people to be regarded as aristocrats."
Gusinsky said with a bitter face.
If it is Shishkin and Levitan's landscape paintings, Chagall's abstract paintings, if it is Kramskoy, Serov and Repin's figure paintings, and Surikov's large-scale paintings, some of the contents can easily be put on the reactionary side, such as painting a tsar, painting a Tsarist general, or painting a heroic Tsarist army, etc., it is difficult to explain clearly "Can I see the paintings?"
Chloe seems to be interested in oil paintings, "Do you have any works from the traveling school?"
"Yes, yes," Gusinsky breathed a sigh of relief.
The Itinerant Exhibition School is a group of Russian realist painters, including Kramskoy, Repin, Levitan, Shishkin and others.
There are some of their works in Gusinsky's store, and the most valuable of them is a Kramskoy work, which was collected at a low price before the February Revolution "Where I want to look."
Chloe Road.
Gusinsky did not dare to slack off, and hurriedly called a young man who looked very much like him, who was his son and the only guy in the store.
He asked his son to lead Chloe to a gallery where his paintings were displayed, while he continued to accompany Hersman.
"What's your name?"
Hersman said, pacing the storefront with his hands behind his back.
"Comrade Commissioner, my name is Lev Abramovich Gusinsky."
"It's been a long time since you've been here for a long time."
"It's been a long time, starting with my great-grandfather."
Hersman's gaze rested on the swords placed in the glass case, all of which were fine works of art, the scabbards were inlaid with precious stones and plated with gold, and the hilts were ivory, which were worth a lot of money when they looked at them.
"It's not a good time, isn't it?"
Hersman continued.
"Yes, the situation is too chaotic," Gusinsky quickly added, feeling that his words were inappropriate, "but now that the Soviets have come to power, I believe that under the wise leadership of Comrade Lenin, Russia will soon get better." ” Will it get better Hesman just sneered in his heart, In the original history, you old man didn't know if he was shot by the Cheka However, you are lucky to have met a nobleman.
Hersman pulled out a business card of his own, which read Antonov, a member of the Military Revolutionary Committee, and handed it to Gusinsky.
"Here's my business card with my office phone number, if you have something that can't be solved, you can call me."
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"This, that's so, thank you so much" Gusinski took the card with both hands, but there was an expression of disbelief on his face.
A member of the Military Council, at least the equivalent of the tsar's generals, almost a celestial figure, actually offered to be his "protector".
This was actually addressed to Kollontai, who knew that she would report her every move to Comrade Lenin.
Now Lenin and Trotsky still had access to Hersmann, and as long as they knew that Hersmann bought antiques and works of art from Gusinsky, the little shop would have been open and there would have been absolutely no fakes.
Moreover, this Gusinsky may be of great use in the future, and if he is really available, when Comrade Lenin will not be able to carry out the NEP, this will be the future comprador of the Hesman company in the Soviet Union The chapter of more than 4,000 words, presented at the end of Hirschman's trip to Russia, is actually a foreshadowing, and everyone who knows the history of the Soviet Union should know that the New Economic Policy is an era in which the Soviet Union "reopened" and made money very easily, and at the same time it is the first climax of Russian-German cooperation.
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