Oleg, a veteran of the German Army, arrives in St. Petersburg at the call of his old comrade-in-arms Vladimir. Instead of the expected well-paid job and decent accommodation, he finds himself in a pine forest, where former army captains and majors live in tanks (their tank column, which the putschists sent to Leningrad, was stopped halfway and forgotten) and earn their living by dressing up as gypsies, while his friend is obsessed with private entrepreneurship. Moreover, both of them fall in love with Olga, a provincial girl who has come to study at a theater school.

The action takes place in the 18th century in Lima. The wandering artists Pericola and Piquillo perform in the town square. They love each other, but cannot get married - the poor artists do not have the means for this. Meanwhile, the Viceroy of Peru, Don Andreas-Ribeira, likening to Harun Al-Rashid, dresses up as a commoner and goes out into the city to find out what his subjects say about him. He falls in love with Pericola at first sight. But the fact that she is not married prevents the Pericole from appearing at the royal court.

Comedy based on S. Altov's feuilleton. Instead of a bribe, the official received a newspaper in the envelope... And it saved everyone.