This, the first Soviet depiction of Peter the Great, set the stage for what would become the post-Revolutionary line concerning the early Romanovs. Rulers like Ivan the Terrible and Peter the Great were widely admired for their dedication to Russia and their absolute determination to enhance her position in the world. But praise for the hated later Romanovs conflicted too heavily with the very beliefs that had brought about the Revolution in 1917.
The chairman of the factory committee of one of the Leningrad factories, Fyodor Gorbachev, a weak-willed man who was unable to completely overcome his petty-proprietor psychology, is visited from the village by his brother Sergei, a former kulak and trader. His arrival brings quarrels and discord into the friendly Gorbachev family. At Fyodor's request, the factory director hires Sergei, but demands a favor in return.
Engineer Dukalsky arrives from Moscow on the instructions of an underground anti-Soviet center to the Baltic Shipyard in order to take possession of the blueprints of a powerful ship engine. The pest meets the author of the project - a young and incorruptible self-taught master Ivanov. After a series of unsuccessful attempts to buy out or steal the drawings from the author, Dukalsky decides to take Ivanov with him. Criminal Investigation Officers will attack the trail of criminals.