Chapter 7: Someone Is Fighting for You!

When Nekrasov received Mikhail's manuscript, it was already the next morning.

Although he had been busy with some affairs for nearly an entire night, after hearing the name of the person who sent the letter from the maid, Nekrasov still gathered all his energy, solemnly accepted the manuscript, and then began to read it with ravenous hunger.

Only God knows how sorrowful, how excited, and how sincerely joyful for the future of Russian literature he truly felt upon seeing that story "Vanka".

If not for this, he would not have gone to Mikhail's home at such a time as four in the morning.

And after reflecting on his own words and actions afterward, Nekrasov felt somewhat regretful, more or less.

After all, this young man had merely completed a short story of a few thousand words; even if this story was good enough and stunning enough, to simply show up at his door, grab his hand, and shout: "A new Gogol has been born!"

While bringing honor and recognition to a young man, it perhaps also brought him a great deal of pressure, unconsciously.

What worried Nekrasov even more was that he was unclear whether this young man would be swept off his feet by the sudden surprise, so that all the articles he wrote afterward would become distorted, turning into a means to seek recognition and fame.

Precisely because of this, while full of expectation for this new novel, Nekrasov was also equally worried.

But this worry did not last long; very soon, Nekrasov was sitting at his desk, immersed in this novel.

When he came to his senses, Nekrasov first felt a strong sense of bitterness, then inevitably became excited.

So much so that he could no longer sit still; he suddenly stood up from his chair and began to pace back and forth in the room.

"God, my God! No, no, no, where is God? He might go even further than Gogol! No, no, no, it is too early to say that now, but who can say what the future holds?"

"What should I do now? Belinsky! Yes, I must go find Belinsky!"

After muttering to himself excitedly for a moment, Nekrasov, barely recovering from his excitement, hurriedly took both of Mikhail's manuscripts and then walked out without stopping; many people greeted Nekrasov along the way, but Nekrasov was clearly distracted, merely responding in a rush.

After reaching the street, Nekrasov quickly hailed a carriage driver; after stating the destination clearly and the driver began to drive, Nekrasov finally calmed his excited mood.

Looking at the carriage driver in front of him, whose clothes were thin, and thinking of the novel just now, Nekrasov suddenly felt his heart become infinitely soft, so he finally could not help but speak:

"Good morning, Mr.! How are you feeling today?"

"It's a bit terrible, Mr." Although surprised that a customer had initiated conversation with him, the carriage driver still replied loudly:

"St. Petersburg's winter has gotten a bit colder. It is just this kind of weather; after finishing my work as a carriage driver, I still have a huge pile of chores waiting for me when I return."

Before the abolition of serfdom, many carriage drivers in Russian cities were serfs from landlord families, after all; so-called flexible employment meant renting out empty houses, private cars could be used to run DiDi, so what about idle serfs?

Of course, they had to be used as carriage drivers, apprentices, and even various other roles!

And compared to other places, St. Petersburg was actually slightly better.

After all, the current Tsar Nicholas I, in a sense, could indeed be given a nickname: The Great Scatterer.

After experiencing the Decembrist incident, Tsar Nicholas I naturally also paid attention to the issues of serfs and serfdom.

Paying attention was one thing; whether to solve it was another matter entirely.

Ultimately, since Catherine II, Russia had actually become a country co-ruled by the nobility and the Tsar; on many matters, the Tsar might have decision-making power, but if the Tsar wanted to touch the lifeline of the nobles, he would not be far from being mysteriously assassinated and going to meet his ancestors.

And in a sense, the Tsar and the peasants were actually the closest allies; for the Tsar, the nobles were competitors and rivals for power, while the serfs were objects that needed to be wooed and cared for.

For this reason, the Tsar had issued orders more than once: reducing the working hours of serfs, prohibiting violent treatment of serfs, paying serfs wages for several days of labor each week, and so on and so forth.

And quite a few serfs also held feelings towards the Tsar akin to treating him as a father; first, the education of patriotism and love for the monarch, and second, the fact that those actually oppressing them were indeed a group of nobles, not that Tsar who was like a deity.

But this matter, to put it plainly...

Never mind, let's not say it.

In short, during the reign of Nicholas I, although he often hesitated regarding the serf issue, some of his activities laid the theoretical foundation for the serfdom reform of 1861.

Such things as: liberating peasants must have a transition period; refusing to use the redemption method to grant peasants personal freedom; liberating peasants without land; formulating rules for distributing land to peasants on the premise of protecting noble estates, and so on.

And at this current stage, Tsar Nicholas I had actually already initiated the "Great Scatterer" mode in the areas near St. Petersburg; of course, often it was scattering the nobles' land, although nominally, all land ownership in Russia belonged entirely to the Tsar.

Thus, in the areas near St. Petersburg, there were actually many free people in these years.

Getting back to the point, with Nekrasov having started it, the seemingly talkative carriage driver also began his long string of complaints, mostly trivial matters from daily life.

It was clear that he was not the kind of serf who was crazily abused by landlords, but he was indeed exhausted by the chores of daily life.

And although it was just a bunch of complaints that seemed to have no substance, Nekrasov still listened very seriously, occasionally opening his mouth to agree with a few words.

When they finally reached the destination, both felt a bit reluctant to part, but in order to get the novel in hand to the dear Vissarion Grigoryevich Belinsky as quickly as possible, Nekrasov finally bid farewell to the carriage driver.

When paying the fare before leaving, Nekrasov also specifically gave a few extra kopecks.

Although he was not too well-off at the moment.

"Have a pleasant day, Mr." While waving goodbye, Nekrasov also forcefully clenched his fist: "Please keep faith in the future; the future will get better and better, because someone is fighting for you!"

"Whether it is Vissarion Grigoryevich Belinsky or Mikhail Romanovich Raskolnikov!"

After hearing Nekrasov's words, although the carriage driver was somewhat confused, since he had complained about a lot of things that no one usually wanted to hear and could also receive extra fare, the carriage driver was more than happy.

Therefore, he also waved happily:

"God bless you, Mr.! He will surely also bless those two gentlemen you mentioned. Goodbye!"

After parting, Nekrasov also walked towards his destination with an exceptionally pleasant mood; the closer he got, the more solemn Nekrasov's expression became, even checking whether his attire was appropriate.

Although the person Nekrasov was going to see now, his attire and even his residence were probably not very appropriate.

Finally, taking a deep breath, Nekrasov strode towards an apartment building.

(End of this chapter)