To govern a talented but undisciplined Russia, Germans are needed, lots of Germans!
——Tsar Nicholas I
The arrival of the mayor shattered the tense atmosphere, the air seemed to grow even heavier.
The officials of Druiysk filed in with the mayor, judges, inspectors, jurors, liquor inspectors, the village chiefs of each district of Druiysk, almost filling the small inn completely.
Their overcoats and formal attire fluttered wildly in the cold wind, and the breath they exhaled condensed into mist in the frigid air.
The small shop owner's body shivered violently, his face turning from excitement to terror, and he almost instinctively took a step back, stumbling and nearly falling.
In the past, even one of these bastards could make him work for a week for nothing; today, so many came at once, they must be trying to bankrupt him.
