I am a literary giant in Russia

Chapter 276 Organization Methods and the General's Arrival in Paris
Strictly speaking, the Communist Correspondence Committee of 1846 was merely a small, secret international liaison and ideological coordination center, serving as a "preliminary network construction headquarters" for Marx and Engels to establish a unified international organization in the future.

His core members numbered only about ten people, and their main task was to contact small socialist groups or individuals in various places.

Even during the Communist League period, the core members still numbered only a few dozen, and the total number of members in all branches might reach several hundred.

This was because in the 1840s, the workers' movement was not yet fully organized, there were no legal political parties or public newspapers, and secret organizations could be arrested or expelled at any time, so secrecy, loose organization, and small scale were the norm.

Even during the First and Second International periods, due to internal reasons and practical conditions, this international alliance still lacked unified command and sufficiently strong execution capabilities.

Later still, a man named Vladimir emerged in Russia who, on the one hand, drew inspiration from the organizational structure of the German SH Democratic Party, such as membership registration, a dues system, a branch system under central leadership, and a unified program.
On the other hand, he also drew on the organizational methods of the Russian populists who liked to carry out terrorist attacks, such as small-scale core groups, secret underground operations, unified command, and covert communication.

Building upon these foundations, he further "innovated" the vanguard and the mz centralism.

Then, with the changes and development of the times, the political party organization method he devised demonstrated a terrifying organizational and cohesive power.
To be honest, under the right historical conditions, this set of techniques did indeed seem to be a genuine "dragon-slaying technique".

Of course, Mikhail may have some knowledge, but theory and practice are often two completely different things.

In short, the Communist Correspondence Committee during this period was a small organization, and its members were at most well-known within their own circles. However, in the eyes of Engels and many others, Mikhail was undoubtedly a "big figure" who was gradually gaining fame throughout Europe in the cultural field.

In particular, Engels had once wanted to dedicate his life to literature during his youth and had written many poems. Therefore, after confirming Mikhail's identity, Engels's gaze towards Mikhail did indeed carry a different meaning.
Although Engels did indeed like the young man's poetry and his works depicting the lives of the lower classes, it was impossible for him to confide in someone he had just met or even accept their help.

Before that, Engels wanted to have a brief chat with Mikhail first, and make a judgment on more important matters after they had become more familiar with each other. This was the only way to be truly responsible to their organization.

After his initial surprise, Engels, just as he had done with Marx in a coffee shop in 1844, invited Mikhail to sit and chat at his usual coffee shop.

Engels's remarks were clearly biased. After all, even if they were about the same age, they might not have the same political views and beliefs. For example, Engels had already become a fervent revolutionary democrat during his student days, but his friends were so frightened by his radical views that they wanted to "enlighten" him.

Engels sternly refuted and ridiculed them: "Why do you, a politically slumbering man, criticize my political beliefs?"

When Engels talked to this seemingly mild-mannered young man about religion, monarchy, class system and many other things, he was surprised to find that the other man had no respect for these things at all!

It wasn't a fierce rebuttal or attack, but a kind of contempt in a higher sense, as if these things had been completely swept into the trash heap in his mind!
At the same time, when Engels talked to this young man about Hegel's philosophy, political economy, and some of the popular communist ideas of the time, although his thinking did not seem to have formed a complete system, his knowledge was undoubtedly broad, his understanding of many things was quite accurate, and he even unconsciously revealed his depth and thought when talking about some things.

So this young poet, who is gradually gaining fame throughout Europe, is really an atheist? Or even a revolutionary democrat?
Does he truly understand the various socialist ideologies of today, as well as the new socialist ideology he is currently promoting?

As the exchanges deepened, Engels increasingly understood why the other party had the idea of ​​sponsoring their Communist Correspondence Committee. After all, when it came to the poor conditions of workers and the lower classes, the other party knew much more than he did in terms of details, and the emotions they expressed were by no means fake.

Before they knew it, Engels had been talking with Mikhail for almost an entire afternoon, but the two of them had to say goodbye because of their own business.

Although Engels was not entirely wary of this encounter out of caution, recalling the harmonious and pleasant conversation between the two, he couldn't help but grasp Mikhail's hand and say:

"I think I have a completely new understanding of you now! You are completely different from what I imagined. Will we have another chance to meet and sit down for a chat? I haven't even had a chance to talk to you about literature yet!"

Just like the poem "A Worker's Questions on History," which was widely circulated among workers and deeply moved both him and Marx, Engels was eager to hear this exceptional literary genius's opinion on the poem.

However, it would be too late to discuss this now.
"With great pleasure."

Feeling the strength from Engels' hands, Mikhail shook Engels' hands firmly in return, replying with a mix of emotion and excitement, "It is my honor!"

Engels found his conversation with Mikhail quite pleasant, and Mikhail felt the same way.

While Mikhail heard many valuable things from Engels, he also finally expressed his own views on some matters without much restraint; he rarely had such in-depth conversations with others.
"This is my address in Paris. Please feel free to contact me anytime. I look forward to seeing you again!"

After saying this, Engels, who indeed had some urgent business to attend to, quickly waved goodbye to Mikhail. On his way elsewhere, as he reflected on the day's conversation, he was once again somewhat surprised to think:
How could someone from a serfdom country have such a deep understanding of certain things?
Russia probably doesn't have any proper workers' organizations at all.
After watching the young Engels leave, Mikhail, while marveling at Engels' erudition and eloquence, also briefly considered his actions in this regard.

Since Mikhail will be returning to Russia soon, further in-depth contact is advisable for now. As for more distant matters, we'll have to wait and see. Otherwise, if rumors start circulating now, Mikhail might be subjected to scrutiny the moment he sets foot in St. Petersburg. Given his current reputation, he'll likely be scrutinized under a magnifying glass by many.
Following this seemingly ordinary yet significant meeting, Mikhail spent the next few days not only preparing to welcome the general's family, but also dealing with a large number of people who were trying to intercept and visit him.

Just as Turgenev had said a few days earlier, quite a few people in Paris wanted to see Mikhail, and not long after news of Mikhail's official arrival in Paris spread, on a very ordinary day, Dytak, the owner of Le Soir, an old friend of Mikhail's in Paris, knocked on the door of Mikhail's house.

As soon as he sat down, he said to Mikhail in an unusually firm tone, "Mr. Mikhail, if you don't hand over your new work today, I'm not leaving! Hand over your new work now! I'm even willing to offer you a higher price than for Mr. Dumas's work."

Mikhail: “?”

He's the owner of the newspaper with the largest circulation in Paris, is it really necessary to act like this?
In reality, it shouldn't be that bad. After all, Dietrich knows a lot of well-known writers in Paris, so if he really wanted to serialize a new work in the newspaper, he certainly wouldn't lack manuscripts.

But if we're talking about Mikhail's current works, Ditak can only say that they are, extremely so!

The reason for this is twofold. On the one hand, "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" has gradually built up its popularity over the past year. It can be said that now, almost every episode of "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" attracts a lot of attention and discussion, which is comparable to "The Count of Monte Cristo," which caused a sensation in Paris for a long time back then.

On the other hand, Mikhail's success in London obviously further enhanced his profile in Paris, and a considerable number of readers started reading the ongoing series "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" after seeing news about Mikhail in Britain.

With the support of various factors, the sales of Le Soir gradually reached a peak in recent years. In order to prevent this figure from declining, in addition to striving for the French serialization of works such as A Study in Scarlet, Le Soir naturally hoped to get new manuscripts from Mikhail.

Previously, his requests for the manuscript had only resulted in the reply that it was still being written. Now that Mikhail was in Paris, Dietak decided that even if he had to wait in person, he had to personally watch Mikhail begin writing.
Faced with Dietak's insistence on a manuscript, Mikhail, who had indeed come to Paris to continue his previous work, thought for a moment and finally handed half of the manuscript to the seemingly bitter and resentful Dietak.

After successfully securing a portion of the manuscript, Dietak, without even glancing at the details, immediately promised, "Mr. Mikhail, I will offer you a satisfactory price, the most generous offer in all of Paris. But please continue writing; we have many more opportunities to collaborate in the future."

Mikhail simply nodded noncommittally in response to these words.

Now that Mikhail has made a name for himself in Paris, he should perhaps shift his focus, for whatever reason. He no longer needs to produce easily popular works to quickly gain fame, but rather needs to solidify his position in the French literary world with more profound and substantial works.

Mikhail is still considering the specifics.

After seeing Ditak off, Mikhail was truly troubled by the wave of visits from old acquaintances and strangers. However, in order to prevent these troubles from accumulating, Mikhail finally mustered his spirits and focused on dealing with them.

However, what Mikhail didn't know was that while he was busy dealing with interpersonal matters, the general's family had already officially arrived in Paris several days earlier.
The reason for such a rapid progress was that the general's family did not stop for a day or two in some places along the way as planned.

Upon arriving in a relatively open and developed city, the general, in high spirits, went straight to a bookstore, intending to find any books or news related to Mikhail.

The good news was that the general had indeed found it, and he even showed off the book to Madame Danilevskaya, saying, "Look! This place is two or three countries away from Paris, but you can already read Mikhail's novel here!"

The bad news was that while the general was flipping through other newspapers and magazines, he accidentally came across a comical cartoon satirizing Tsar Nicholas I of Russia.
According to Nadya's observation, her father initially seemed somewhat annoyed, but upon realizing that this was not Russia and that everyone around him was a stranger, he took a second look at the cartoon.
Nadya: "?"

Regardless, the general eventually protested to the bookstore, and on the rest of the journey, seemingly to avoid further trouble, he shortened his stay in some cities and headed straight for Paris.

As they drew closer to Paris, Nadya's already excited heart trembled, but for some reason, she felt that her father seemed even more excited than she was.
As for the general's family, since they had finalized their itinerary well in advance, before they officially arrived in Paris, the general had already used some connections to arrange for some people to clean their residence in Paris and to learn about the situation in Paris in advance, inquiring about which important figures were currently in Paris.

But when the general and his family finally arrived at their residence in Paris, the general heard some truly astonishing news:

"You mean, several well-known French playwrights and poets want to meet me and talk to me about literature and art?"

".That's right."

General: "???"

Am I going to take my talent, which was buried in Russia, to France?
(End of this chapter)