6. The Russian Embassy in the Kingdom of Hanover provided Arthur with diplomatic docunts before his departure, aid at ensuring Arthur’s diplomatic treatnt in Russia.
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For the sake of these damn docunts, Arthur had been busy since last December mid-month, and by mid-January this year, he still hadn’t been able to sort everything out.
Seeing the appointnt date approaching, Arthur, out of frustration, had no choice but to write a letter to Moscow and contact Colonel Shubinsky from the Constitutional Guard under the Imperial Office Third Bureau.
Speaking of Colonel Shubinsky, he was undoubtedly one of Arthur’s few good friends from over the years; a lifelong brother.
Shubinsky not only genuinely valued his friendship with Arthur but had a perspective beyond what ordinary Russian officials could match.
Shubinsky solemnly believed that if Arthur couldn’t take office on ti, it could affect the diplomatic relations between Britain and Russia, severely damaging the priceless friendship between the two friendly nations.
Therefore, Shubinsky directly sped up the approval of Arthur’s entry and exit docunts through private channels. Moreover, unexpectedly, with these docunts, Arthur also received a dostic travel permit legally processed through official channels.
What is a dostic travel permit?
In short, not only is it difficult for Russians to travel abroad, but dostic travel also requires a travel permit. Leaving one’s locality without a travel permit is deed illegal.
rchants wishing to engage in inter-regional trade need a rchant pass.
Devout believers intending to visit a monastery or pilgrimage to the Holy Land need a pilgrimage certificate.
Craftsn or migrant workers searching for jobs must carry a migrant worker pass.
Soldiers or veterans requiring inter-regional transfers need a military permit. For border or sensitive areas, an additional border permit is necessary.
As for the travel permit Shubinsky obtained for Arthur, it was the most lenient type, generally only accessible to officials and nobility.
Such a passport does not need to strictly specify the travel route, only the starting and ending points, along with the travel purpose.
Colonel Shubinsky evidently had not forgotten Arthur’s ntion last year about his desire to tour Russia. Had Arthur only held a diplomat’s pass, he would have been confined to a fixed route.
Therefore, to grant Arthur more freedom, Shubinsky specially obtained a fake identity docunt and matched it with a travel permit corresponding to the fake identity.
Of course, even with this travel permit, there were still places Arthur couldn’t go, particularly sensitive areas. However, he did gain a few more routes into St. Petersburg.
Still, being able to visit a few more places is always good.
Colonel Shubinsky’s kindness was certainly rembered by Arthur.
Yet, just when he thought this would be a pleasant journey, an unexpected snowstorm utterly ruined his mood.
When his carriage finally reached Druiysk after painstaking efforts, Arthur suddenly discovered that the pile of diplomatic passports, entry permissions, and reception docunts he loathed so much were all gone!
Along with them, his suitcase containing five thousand Rubles also vanished!
Relying on his old Scotland Yard instincts, Arthur imdiately suspected the Russian youth who had dismounted in Werner and shared the ride with him.
"That damned thief! How dare you steal money from Italian revolutionaries! Agares, you clearly saw it at the ti, didn’t you? You treacherous devil, you wouldn’t even remind once!"
But even though Arthur cursed to the heavens, venting on all his paternal and maternal relatives, it couldn’t change the fact that he now had only two hundred Rubles in his wallet, along with a fine tailcoat and shirt, scarf, and top hat.
Still, that wasn’t the worst part; the worst was that the Rubles in Arthur’s wallet were paper Rubles, not silver Rubles.
While both were Rubles, due to the Russian governnt’s forced usage of paper currency, the circulation volu of paper Rubles exceeded that of silver Rubles, thus reducing the purchasing power of paper currency.
Therefore, one paper Ruble usually equated to 0.75 to 0.8 of a silver Ruble.
Based on gold and silver prices, one British Pound was approximately equivalent to 9.5 silver Rubles, or about 12 paper Rubles.
In other words, Sir Arthur Hastings was now left with less than 17 Pounds.
Since Sir left the frontline team of Scotland Yard, he gloriously rejoined the ranks of the impoverished farrs in January 1834.
Fortunately amidst the unfortunate events, although Sir was penniless, and all diplomatic docunts were lost, because it was necessary to present dostic travel permits and passports through various cities and checkpoints along the way, the false identity docuntation that Shubinsky had arranged for him was always carried by Arthur, tucked in his clothing.
For this reason, in the small inn in Druiysk, there was no longer any Sir Arthur Hastings.
Here, there was only Mr. Arthur Agaresovich Hestingov.
Arthur sat on the bed in the small inn, the cold wind pierced through the broken window as if it were a blade of ice.
He looked at the passport imprinted with the Russian Empire’s double-headed eagle in his hand with a complicated expression. Hungry and cold, he had no energy left for bantering with the Red Devil beside him, who was laughing while patting his belly.
Russian Empire Dostic Passport
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