Framing the Bolshevik Party

May 17, Volgograd, the governor's residence.

Mikhail had shut himself in his office and did not want to see anyone.

He knew his men were carrying out the plan to blow Nicholas II to death, in accordance with his wishes.

The entire plan had been carried out with his permission.

But in his heart, he still felt somewhat uneasy about it.

No matter what, Nicholas II was his own elder brother, and the two were related by blood. Even though their relationship was terrible now, and had at one point deteriorated until they were as incompatible as fire and water, their blood ties could not be changed.

For the throne, the two had now been forced to the point of turning on their own flesh and blood.

My dear brother, forgive me. Perhaps going to meet God now is the best outcome! Grand Duke Mikhail told himself silently, as though trying to persuade himself with that reasoning.

If he could not kill Nicholas II, history would continue along its original course.

For Nicholas II, that might not be a good thing.

Not only would he suffer humiliation, he would also have to watch helplessly as the entire empire collapsed.

In the end, his whole family would be executed.

Rather than let that happen, it would be better to go and meet God sooner.

Perhaps it could also give the entire Tsarist Russian Empire a completely different path of development.

"Your Grace, General Vasily is here," Yakov, his secretary, said from outside the door.

Mikhail immediately realized that the assassination plan must have produced a result.

"Let General Vasily in," Mikhail ordered.

"Yes, Your Grace!" Yakov replied.

Soon, General Vasily pushed open the door and came in.

In his eyes, Mikhail could see a joy he could not conceal.

Mikhail knew that this time, the plan had probably succeeded.

"Your Grace, the plan succeeded. The entire operation went very smoothly, without any mishaps. Our men have confirmed that both the tsar and his wife were killed in the explosion on the spot," Major General Vasily reported.

After hearing this, a look of relief suddenly appeared on Grand Duke Mikhail's face.

He did not regret blowing Nicholas II to death, much less feel sad about it.

After all, in the Eastern world, cases of flesh and blood turning against one another for the throne could be found everywhere throughout the dynasties. Even in the Western world, the same was true.

Now that Nicholas II had been blown to death, the follow-up plan he had prepared for years could proceed.

"Are you certain everything was done cleanly, and that no evidence pointing to us was left behind?" Grand Duke Mikhail asked.

"Of course, Your Grace. The assassin was someone we specifically sought out who had a terminal illness. He did not have long to live anyway. We promised to take good care of his family, and everything he did was voluntary. His family knew nothing about it either. In addition, we left a Bolshevik Party pamphlet on him. So everything will point to the Bolshevik Party," Major General Vasily replied.

Dumping the chamber pot on the Bolshevik Party's head, then using this opportunity to hunt down its members throughout the Tsarist Russian Empire and utterly destroy them, was another important part of Grand Duke Mikhail's plan going forward.

Grand Duke Mikhail knew full well that if the Bolshevik Party were allowed to continue growing like this, it would soon shake the foundations of the Tsarist Russian Empire.

In another spacetime, the Tsarist Russian Empire had collapsed not only because its army had suffered crushing defeats and heavy casualties at the front, losing vast amounts of territory, but also because of the Bolshevik Party.

Using this opportunity to blow Nicholas II to death while pinning the blame on the Bolshevik Party would undoubtedly kill two birds with one stone.

Only after clearing away all the people and forces standing in his way could Mikhail make the entire Tsarist Russian Empire continue to develop according to his will!

"Very good! Then, next, it is time to let the people across the country know that His Majesty the tsar has been killed," Mikhail said.

"Yes, Your Grace. Our intelligence agents have already begun secretly notifying the various tabloids across the empire, letting them know that His Majesty the tsar was blown to death by the Bolshevik Party. Early tomorrow morning, the newspapers we control will follow up with reports. Soon, every newspaper in the empire will follow suit. All the people of the empire will know that the Bolshevik Party carried out this assassination!" Major General Vasily explained.

As the saying went, a chorus of voices could melt gold. With newspapers large and small throughout the Tsarist Russian Empire reporting on it at length, the vast majority of the empire's people would believe that their beloved tsar had been blown to death by the Bolshevik Party.

It was therefore foreseeable that the Bolshevik Party's support among the people of the Tsarist Russian Empire would soon plunge to freezing point.

After all, the tsar's influence among the people was enormous.

Many people affectionately called the tsar "little father," which showed their feelings toward him.

One could imagine how much the people would detest the Bolshevik Party for blowing the tsar to death.

When the time came for Grand Duke Mikhail to arrest Bolshevik Party members on a massive scale throughout the Tsarist Russian Empire, he would encounter little resistance, and everything would fall naturally into place.

That way, he would achieve his goal of inheriting the throne while also dealing the Bolshevik Party a heavy blow and consolidating his rule. It was truly killing two birds with one arrow!

In Mikhail's view, Nicholas II had been far too merciful toward the Bolshevik Party.

Bolshevik Party members captured in the past had, at most, been sent to Siberia to dig potatoes or expelled from the country; they had not been executed.

Perhaps it was precisely because of this that the Bolshevik Party had been able to grow stronger, with its members becoming increasingly numerous.

As for ordinary people, their lives had indeed been impoverished under the tsar's rule.

But at least they would not be killed at whim.

Under Bolshevik Party rule, everything was completely different.

Ordinary people executed for all sorts of reasons were an all-too-common sight.

On the Great Ukrainian Plain alone, quite a few Ukrainians had been executed as grain was collected for export in exchange for machinery and equipment.

On the Ukrainian Plain at the time, people even starved to death in years of plentiful harvests. Needless to say, whenever a bad year struck, even more people starved.

Perhaps this was also why Second Mao so deeply hated Big Mao in later generations.

"Very good. Now let us see what those cabinet ministers in Petersburg do next!" A faint smile appeared on Grand Duke Mikhail's face.

According to the Tsarist Russian Empire's "Heir to the Throne," Grand Duke Mikhail was first in line to inherit the throne.

Therefore, after Nicholas II's death, he should naturally succeed to the throne and become the new tsar.

In particular, since Nicholas II had no son and had not clearly established an heir apparent, the throne should, legally speaking, pass to Grand Duke Mikhail.

Even though Nicholas II had two daughters, that could not change this.

But Mikhail knew that the empire's high-ranking figures in Petersburg would never allow him to inherit the throne so easily.

If things went badly, he would ultimately have to resort to force.

In this era, it was the biggest fist that had the final say, after all.

As the people of the empire on which the sun never set said, truth lay within the range of cannon!