"Ancient...antique? Comrade Antonov, are you talking about antiques?"

Alexandra Mikhailovna Corente's eyes widened, and he stared blankly at the German spy in front of him who was wearing yellow and green military uniforms and red armbands, living in Smolny Palace. In order to facilitate Hessman to participate in the revolutionary work (he was Lenin's military adviser), Lenin included his pseudonym "Peter Andreevich Antonov" on the list of members of the Military Revolutionary Committee! So he is really a real revolutionary leader. If he was not a German spy, he would definitely become a marshal of the Red Army in the future with such qualifications.

Mrs. Corentai, the founder of the feminist movement, is now one of the few people Lenin trusts most. In history, she lost Lenin's favor because she got too close to Trotsky. However, now she is not a backbone of the Trotsky faction, and Lenin's most trusted partner.

So these days, the Bolshevik Central Committee member and the People's Committee on Social Welfare did not work for the welfare of the Russian working people (there was no welfare to give), but was responsible for communicating with Hessman - in fact, it was to establish a secret channel for Russian-German interactions. Trotsky and Yue Fei were responsible for the open negotiations, and it was not the turn of the woman, Colente. However, the Russian-German negotiations were definitely not good, and there must be a private communication channel.

Because the Bolsheviks cannot truly represent the entire Russia now, it is not a legal government, and the people do not have authorization with votes, so it is very unreliable. It cannot make too much concessions on the surface, which is likely to cause the collapse of the regime. For Germany, the collapse of the Bolsheviks also means that all previous efforts have been put into vain.

However, Curente did not expect that when he was about to leave Petrograd, Hessman was concerned about antiques and works of art...

"Antiques, and artworks, where are the shops for selling these things? I'm going to the best-reputable antique shop."

While eating the breakfast carefully prepared by the chef of Smolny Palace (according to Corente, the famous chef of Petrograd, named Spiridon Ivanovich Putin), Hessman talked to the visiting Corente. While Chloe was preparing today's luggage, Hessman was still wearing a Russian military uniform, wearing a red armband, and wearing an armed belt. The armed belt was inserted into the holster of the armed belt a Nagan 1895 revolver with a bullet-filled revolver, and Chloe himself brought a military pistol produced by the Austrian Steyr Company.

"In Petrograd, the best antiques and art shops are all on Nevasky Street. This is..." Corente replied.

"Okay, let's go there today." Hessman nodded.

After the August Revolution, Petrograd was still not very safe, and although political protests were reduced a lot, robberies and murders were still emerging one after another - after all, the revolution could not be used as a meal. It was still necessary to be careful when going out for purchases with a large sum of cash, so Hessmann provided guns for Chloe and himself.

In addition, the Military Revolutionary Committee also assigned a guard and a carriage to "Commissioner Antonov". The guard and coachman was a young man named Yefimov Petrovich Selov. He had a wide and flat Slavic face, a nose that looked like garlic, and a messy beard, which made him look much older than his actual age. After contacting him for a few days, Hessman thought this guy was basically reliable, but after drinking, he always stared at Chloe's sexy figure...

The carriage left the heavily guarded Smolny Palace, rolling along the road beside the Neva River, and soon arrived at Nevasky Street. This is the best commercial street in Petersburg and even the entire Russia. The wide street is surrounded by very beautiful buildings. Because the height does not allow it to exceed the Winter Palace, it is not tall, but the appearance is very gorgeous.

Through the glass windows of the carriage, Hessmann admired the view of Nevasky Street. There were not many vehicles on the wide street, which seemed a bit depressed. However, there were many pedestrians, mostly men and women dressed in more exquisitely. They were the bourgeoisie of Petersburg. Although the revolution seized their regime and deprived them of their control over the factories, they had not yet touched their property besides the means of production. Therefore, they could maintain a more decent life, but this kind of life was no longer safe.

Therefore, most of the bourgeoisie in Petrograd are now selling their property and preparing to escape - similar to when the party and the country ran away in later generations, and the prices of all inconvenient property have plummeted!

There were also some unwilling capitalists who were looking forward to German soldiers like Hessman coming in - it was not far away. The German vanguard had arrived near Pskov! If they wanted to come, William II would be the master of Petrograd in at most two weeks.

There are also some poor people on the streets of Nevasky, with workers wearing red armbands and long spears patrolling everywhere; the tattered "bards" (to Hessman's eyes are similar to rap artists and beggars) are singing on the streets; there are also some young and beautiful girls standing on the corners with heavy makeup. They may have been female students and may have a good family background, but in this era of drastic changes, they now have to sell their bodies for food and clothing.

Hessman also met a group of parades organized by the Bolsheviks, chanting the same slogans with anti-war peace signs, but the scene was not intense. Unlike what people later saw in documentaries and old movies, Petersburg after the Second Revolution did not have the scene of jubilation like a festival.

At this time, even the Russian proletariat did not think that the revolution had created a new and powerful red empire. No one thought that the Bolshevik rule would last for decades or even longer. In their opinion, the Bolsheviks were just the only choice after the end of the war. If the peace the Bolsheviks received from the Germans did not satisfy them, they would soon be abandoned by the people... of course, by votes!

"Ludwig, we're here." When Colente's voice sounded, the carriage had already stopped in front of a huge building with many huge circular columns.

"This is the best and earliest department store in Russia, called the Palace Chamber, which was built in 1785. There are several stores selling antiques and art. There is also a gallery in the basement here, belonging to the Artists Association, which contains works by great painters such as Serov, Schirchin, Magrovsky and Repin. Moreover, the stores in the Palace Chamber have a long history, at least 100 years, so they do not sell fakes."

Mrs. Curentei reported a series of names of Russian painters, and she was obviously an expert in this field. Hessmann was not very interested in painting. In this life, he liked exquisitely made swords. But now, he was concerned about the difference between antiques in Petrograd and Zurich. According to the history that Hessmann mastered, the Russian civil war would last for many years. As an old friend of the Russian people, he must have frequent exchanges between Russia and Germany, and it seems that some of the cultural relics are easy to do.

Thinking of this, he turned his head and smiled at Chloe: "Dear, then let's start purchasing from the Palace Seat."

.........

"Happy, welcome...Sir, no, comrade, do you have any instructions?"

In a separate store with bright chandeliers in the basement of the Courthouse Department Store, behind an ancient counter stood a pale man with a dough face. He wore gold-rimmed glasses and a gold-toothed mouth wide open, looking at the visitors in horror - two men and one woman, among which the man and a middle-aged woman were both in yellow and green military uniforms, and the other looked very elegant in a well-cut dress, three wore red armbands on their arms, and two wore guns on their belts in military uniforms. In Petersburg after the August Revolution, it was not a good sign when the three men dressed up in front of a boss...

The owner of the here, Lev Abramovich Gusinsky, was a Jew in his sixties who was trying hard to recall his "crime". He was the owner of the antique and art store called "Gusinsky House", an industry passed down by his great-grandfather. Their Gusinsky family was a well-known antique and art merchant in Petersburg, and also engaged in jewelry, jewelry and clocks. The customers of the antique and art business are of course either rich or noble.

And these Gusinsky's customers are undoubtedly opposed to the Bolsheviks and the Soviets...

"Is it that Mr. Gussky implicated him?" Gusinsky thought in fear, but he still tried to calm down in his face.

"Are you the boss here?" Colente spoke coldly - she had no good feelings for capitalists and nobles, although she herself was born in the first-class Russian noble family, with her ancestors as princes and her father as generals.

"Yes, I'm..." Gusinski was sweating coldly. He had already discovered that none of his customers were good people!

"This is Comrade Antonov, a member of the Military Revolutionary Committee!" Corentai pointed at Hessman and said, but she did not sign up for her name.

"God! Members of the Military Revolutionary Committee..." Gusinsky's heart was trembling. Are he that serious sin? If a member of the Military Revolutionary Committee is arrested, will he not be shot?

"There are many antiques and artworks here!" Hessman took Chloe's arm and wandered around the vast and large shops piled up. The business scope of this shop is obviously very large, including oil paintings, books, glassware inlaid with jewelry and gold and silver, gold and silver tableware, sculptures, antique furniture, very exquisite swords and armor, and even objects from China - exquisite porcelain and bronzes! I don't know if it was stolen by the Eight-Nation Alliance?

"Yes, there are a lot, but the business is very bad and I can't sell it, and it's all over. "Gusinsky was bitter. In this world, who still buys antiques and artworks? They are all trying to find ways to sell these things for cash or jewelry that are easy to carry, and fortunately run away when the signs are wrong!

"The business is not good?" Hessman smiled, "Then I'll take care of your business."

Taking care of business? It's really not an arrest? Gusinsky breathed a little relieved: "Comrade Comrade... Actually, the things I have here are not worth. If you like, just take them."

"What?" Hessman glared at the Jewish businessman with a smile on his face, "You are bribing a Bolshevik! Do you think I am the same as those corrupt Tsar officials? Today I came to you as a customer to buy things, as a customer who really loves antiques and art. By the way, there are no fakes in your stuff here, right?"

"No, absolutely not!" Guxinsky hurriedly said, "To be honest, it's really not worth anything right now, who will fake it?"

Hessman nodded, "Antiques and artworks are falling violently?"

"It's very fierce!" Gusinsky replied, "I'm almost becoming a proletariat!"

"So what's the most fierce thing?" Hessman thought, he bought the most fierce thing. This is called "bottom-buying", and there is nothing wrong with that.

"The big size and heavy weight all fell very badly, such as antique furniture, large glass and porcelain. Oh, and oil paintings also fell very badly."

"The painting also fell?" Chloe interrupted with interest.

"Yes! It's a big drop... Because oil paintings are not as easy to keep as jewelry, it's not easy to carry them out, and it's difficult to take action. Moreover, some oil paintings have poor subject matter and are easily regarded as nobles..."

Gusinsky said with a bitter face. If it were the landscape paintings of Shishkin and Levitan, Chagall's abstract paintings were okay. If it were the figure paintings of Kramskyi, Selov and Repin, and the large scene paintings of Surikov, some of the contents would easily be reflected in reactionary aspects - for example, drawing a Tsar, a Tsar Russian general, or a heroic Tsarist Russian army, it would be difficult to explain clearly...

"Can I see the painting?" Chloe seemed very interested in oil painting. "Are there any works from the school of painting touring exhibitions?"

"Yes, there are!" Gusinsky breathed a sigh of relief. The tour exhibition school is a group of Russian realist painters. The more famous ones are Kramskoy, Repin, Levitan, Shishkin and others. There are some of their works in Gusinsky's store, the most valuable of which is a Kramskoy's work, which was collected at a low price before the February Revolution. I thought I could make a vote after the war, but I didn't expect to encounter another fierce revolution...

"Where? I want to see it." Chloe said.

Gusinsky did not dare to neglect, so he quickly called a young man who looked very much like him, his son and the only friend in the store. He asked his son to lead Chloe to the gallery where the oil paintings were displayed, and he continued to accompany Hessman.

"What's your name?" Hessman walked around the store with his hands behind his back.

"Comrade of the Commissioner, my name is Lev Abramovich Gusinsky."

"Have you opened a store here for a long time?"

"It's been a long time since my great-grandfather."

Hessman's eyes were on several swords placed in the glass cabinet, all of which were exquisite works of art. The scabbard was inlaid with gems and gold plated with ivory hilts, which looked very valuable.

"The situation is not good during this period, right?" Hessman continued.

"Yes, the situation is too chaotic..." Gusinsky felt that his words were inappropriate and quickly added, "But now that the Soviets have come to power, I believe that under Comrade Lenin's wise leadership, Russia will get better soon."

Will it get better? Hessman just sneered in his heart. In the original history, you didn’t know if you were shot by the charlatan? However, you are lucky and met a noble person.

Hessman took out a business card of his own—on which was printed with Antonov, a member of the Military Revolutionary Committee, and handed it over to Gusinsky.

"This is my business card with my office number on it. If you have any troubles you can't solve, you can call me."

"This, this is so great, thank you very much!" Gusinsky took the business card with both hands, but his face was filled with an incredible expression. A member of the military committee, at least equivalent to the tsar's general, was almost a figure in heaven, and actually offered to be his "protective person".

This was actually said to Corente, and Hessman knew that she would definitely report her every move to Comrade Lenin.

Now Lenin and Trotsky still need Hessman. As long as they know that Hessman buys antiques and art from Gussky, the small shop will be open all the time and there will be no fakes.

Moreover, this Gusinsky may be of great use in the future - if he is really available, when Comrade Lenin collapses and fails to implement new economic policies, this will be the comprador of the future Hessmann company in the Soviet Union...

——

The chapter with more than 4,000 words, presented at the end of Hessman's trip to Russia is actually a foreshadowing. Those who know the history of the Soviet Union should know the new economic policy. This is an era when the Soviet Union's "reform and opening up" was very easy to make money. It is also the first climax of Russia-German cooperation. This chapter is an ambush for Hessman to participate in the "reform and opening up" of the Soviet Union.
Chapter completed!