Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

Chapter 10 010 Since it is Saltkov’s residence, all the big shots in Petersburg are there

Mikhail Dolgorukov also found Solovyov interesting. He himself was attracted by the petite little girl wrapped in white silk clothes. He had seen this guy in Moscow, and he actually Rejecting the other party politely, Countess Skavronskaya asked It was teasing him, but the prince believed that he was not sure how to hold it. After all, such a charming little fairy was almost at the age where nobles get engaged, and she was appointed by the emperor to arrange a good match. Who knew who would be so lucky? , and can be declared by the emperor as the most outstanding young man.

It was only within the scope of the "young man" that Tsar Paul talked about. The young Prince Mikhail may have lowered the age range, but ignored the context in which the Tsar himself spoke.

Solovyov did not know who would be so lucky to marry such a "troublesome little temptress" whose charm was almost engraved into his bones, at least when Miss de Rivery left her. Just come and find him and say this.

"It's a great place to be, a great place to be, a great place to be, a great place to be, a great place to be, a great place to be, a great place to be" "Heureuse." (I am very happy to get along with the countess, but in Russia, your last name is too difficult to remember, just like our full name. If she grows up a little longer and chooses a satisfactory groom, that man will definitely Very happy.)

Yes, everyone said so, this cheerful and charming angel, the two Michaels greeted Commander-in-Chief Bolkonsky as he passed by, and just after that time, the countess accidentally exposed her shoulders. In part, the waiter on the side looked at him with eyes wide open. It is difficult to find shoulders and collarbones like this in all of Petersburg.

"Mademoiselle de Rivery, merci pour votre aide aujourd'hui, j'ai juste une petite question, comment dois-je vous appeler après avoirépousé mon père?" (Mademoiselle de Rivery, thank you for your help today, just have a Tiny question, what should I call you after you marry my father?)

"C'està toi de décider, Mikhail. Si cette relation est exclue, nous devrionsêtre de très bons amis et partenaires commerciaux." (It's up to you, Mikhail. Excluding this relationship, we will be very good friends and partners).

When the ball is kicked back, there will probably only be a few situations: (1) I call you mom, and you call me brother; (2) I call you sister, and you call me son; or maybe you really admit it. Mother and son, or siblings, the first three would be a little embarrassing for Solovyov, but the last one would not embarrass the two of them, only the old Baron Sergei would be more embarrassed.

Miss de Rivery's family is from the West Indies. Based on her little skills, according to her own statement, she should have been captured by pirates between 1788 and 1790, but she was not sold because she was too young. When he went to the Ottoman court or some other pasha's house, he almost fell into the hands of pirates. He had just raised some valuables and was going to sell them to Muradebey, but the Russians came.

As we all know, when the Russians rescue hostages, they usually prepare heavy weapons, and the navy is invincible in land battles ashore.

The pirates ran away, leaving behind Mademoiselle de Rivery and the captured women. Any non-French people who could find their families were sent home, or handed over to General Ushakov when he returned to Naples. The embassies of the Holy See are only from France Because they had received a secret edict from the Queen before setting off, they were preparing to fight against France, but they still had to maintain a nonchalant attitude, and the ambassador of the French Directory was not very friendly to the Russian general, which led to a series of events. Embarrassing incident.

Her story, because she had been captured by pirates for several years, attracted the attention of the aristocratic ladies in the salon. These young girls who were about to be married expressed great sympathy for this sister's bizarre experience and wished her a happy marriage in the future. , after all, it is not easy for a girl who has been captured by pirates to find a suitable husband, even if the other person is older.

But that's not entirely true. Duke Alexander Kuragin, the wealthy "Diamond Duke", has always been unable to find a suitable girl to marry due to his personal hesitation and various reasons. However, he himself is in the playboy in Petersburg. He can be ranked in the top three. It is said that there are dozens of illegitimate children outside, but he has been unable to make up his mind to get married. It is said that he has been in close contact with the Orlov family recently, and he and several important representatives of their family can also be seen. In the social arena.

Alexey Kurakin is the brother of Alexander Kurakin. The two of them grew up with Tsar Paul. They are also favored in the Paul court. He himself is the Prosecutor General of the Russian Empire and is responsible for receiving all appeal, and was also the chief director of the State Distribution Bank, effectively controlling Russia's supervisory and Behind him was Prince Vasily Kuragin, who looked similar to him. This man was Hippolyte's father. He was also considered the number one figure in the Moscow salons, but he was publicly traded with his cousins. The way of making money is different from the power given by Emperor Paul. The way he makes money is always calculating other people's property.

The official position he was recently appointed to is also a prosecutor. I hope that no rich family will be caught by him.

As for the State Distribution Bank, its establishment itself has a lot to do with the recommendations of the Prosecutor General during the period of Elizabeth Petrovna. If the two are combined, if you do a good job, you can continue to prosper and be as stable as a mountain, but if something goes wrong Things, with Tsar Paul's not broad mind and impatient temper, something will happen, but it won't cost him his life or be exiled. Put it in Siberia - after all, although this emperor is small-minded, he is not willing to kill, and he is still an abolitionist at the end of the 18th century, even for those who murdered his father, and his mother who embarrassed him at the end of her reign He did not drive out all those favored ministers. He even just drove them back home and no longer used them. This could still show the emperor's kindness after he ascended the throne.

"Misha, do you know what the National Distribution Bank means?"

"Why are you asking me this question?"

"Misha, we want to do business together. You know that all the ladies in Petersburg, Moscow, and even all Russia are looking at you. They will recognize these gadgets of yours!"

Speaking of which, although Prince Dolgorukov is only 17 years old, he is quite capable of "fooling" with his words, and he is also a good talker. However, he obviously does not know that much about economic affairs. After all, he is a soldier. He doesn't have that much energy to take care of this, especially since he is still a light cavalry member of the Guards, and being an adjutant is something he should take for granted. One needs to be able to calculate accounts, especially as Solovyov mentioned the approximate investment required. Even the baron's own family gritted their teeth and came up with 20,000 rubles a year through real estate, loans and bond proceeds, which is enough, but that The scale was too small, and we could only buy a piece of cheap land near Pskov to open a factory, and the output could only cope with that of Petersburg.

And these boastful princes, with higher titles, have more imaginative ideas. The two Dolgorukovs, Peter and Mikhail, thought that they should spend at least 40,000 rubles, which are all Solovi. The annual income of the Iov family is 43,210 rubles last year. You must know that the estates of Marshal Suvorov's family are generally at this level, but their efficiency is definitely not as good as that of the Solovyov family. Many It's all useless work.

Solovyov could only reluctantly agree, and what he was more concerned about was that more and more nobles came to the scene today. Originally, when the empress was alive, she rewarded the Saltykov family with a huge set of palace embankments. The mansion can be used to entertain decent people from all over Petersburg, but it is currently being renovated, because the prince's wife is always a mean lady and gives advice in every aspect, so the progress is not fast and the construction period is delayed, so we can only Here, this was a gift from Tsar Paul to the Saltykov family.

Among the people he saw, there were nobles from Petersburg who never had to go anywhere, as well as a group of generals headed by Kutuzov, some young nobles, and those close to Tsar Paul represented by Kuragin. , there are still a few "favorites", but we can see Paul's drastic reforms to the court after the death of Catherine II. He replaced his own people in many places, but the future effect will only be Two words - hard to say!

"But I also roughly know that the role of the national distribution bank is to purchase copper and export it abroad, and to issue banknotes and mint gold and silver currencies. However, the emperor also recently destroyed some banknotes that cannot be redeemed in the Winter Palace Square. In fact, the problem The reason is that our country has a vast territory, a large population, and at the same time its production is very backward, which leads to the circulation of goods. Very poor, currency circulation is poor, and the territory is larger than others. Some of the things that Britain, France and Austria can do, it is difficult for us to do. We also need to consider that from France to our country by land, the German states passing through, How many countries are there in the shortest distance? How many taxes are there in our country?

After Mikhail Dolgorukov heard this, he was a little confused, but he understood why the goods exported from Russia were always shipped by sea, and these countries in the middle were there, and they collected tariffs. Exporters have suffered enough.

"That would be good for Britain, Misha."

"Yes, it is good for Britain. You must also notice that many of our country's dignitaries still rely on trade with the British for their lives. As for the Netherlands? It is close to the land. If anyone wants to end the trade there, The center no longer exists, and a trading center needs a secure perimeter and strong military protection.”

"That's what it sounds like."

Dolgorukov also saw his second brother Peter, who was serving as the commander of the garrison in Moscow at this time. He was only 20 years old, but he was valued by Tsar Paul and had just become a colonel. He happened to be a colonel in 1792 When he joined the Russian army, he was a captain in the Moscow Grenadier Regiment.

"So, my brother is Misha, and you are also Misha. Your two names are on the same day, but one year apart, which is interesting. On this occasion, we two brothers, and you, are sitting here. Come down, you brought them. These are very attractive to girls, and my brother insists that we join forces to build a factory to produce them. As for what are they?"

Prince Peter is obviously more concerned about pencils and crayons, which are colored and have military uses. They are also very convenient to use and can be marked on pictures. After all, he is also an officer, but he is young and inexperienced. When he is enthusiastic, he is easily fooled. cheat.

"It's a pencil that is similar to the French production process, but this batch of materials still uses graphite rods imported from England. My home is at No. 4 Laundry Lane, and there is no place to make it according to French or Prussian technology."

"Prussian pencil work is not good, but don't let the Emperor hear it."

Prince Peter's words were a bit playful. He had just been received by Tsar Paul two days ago and was promoted to military rank. Everyone knew that the emperor did not like others to talk about Prussia's shortcomings. Moreover, he himself wore a black Prussian military uniform every day, and even let his two sons Crown Prince Alexander and Grand Duke Constantine both wore them. If they met with the King of Prussia, it would be a strange scene, and even had to be painted by painters.

"That's a fact. I believe the Emperor will notice it. Moreover, if the products we produce using Russian craftsmanship are better than those produced in France and Prussia, I believe His Majesty will be very happy. And we also have original designs. Make the pencil’s wooden cover into a hexagonal shape for easier storage.”

"How did you come up with it? It's a pretty good idea."

They are really noble children. No matter how brave they are, outstanding on the battlefield, and brilliant in social situations, they have not participated in much labor. In this regard, Paul, the tsar, is much better than them. He was in Gatchina Although he followed the Prussian style, he went out to imitate King Frederick's inspections a lot. At least he knew a lot about the conditions of crops and the raising of livestock, and maybe he could also know what a bee hive looked like.

"It's a bee. If you look at a bee's hive, it's hexagonal inside, and inside it is the bee larvae."

"Perhaps we can use bees to create a trademark for your business idea, Baron Solovyov."

"But, brother, we need to find other people to join the partnership. The three of us alone are not enough."

Prince Mikhail raised this issue, and Peter obviously thought more about it. There were many old aristocratic leaders in front of him, but in the opinion of his father, Peter Petrovich Dolgorukov, it would not work with these people. , before the old man of the family went to Tula to serve as the director of the Tula Arsenal, he taught his three sons in letters to make more friends, and at the same time, if they really wanted to do some business, they should not deal with those old men too much.

In this regard, the eldest of the three brothers is currently being held under review for "violation of orders" by four colonel officers, including Nikolai Raevsky and Vladimir Dolgorukov. Therefore, he was charged and investigated. It turned out that this was an unjust case, but so far the offending officer has not been released.

They just provoked the wrong people. Count Zubov's brother Valerian, who was favored at the time, was not punished. There was always someone else to be the scapegoat, and Tsar Paul did not have anything to say about this case on his agenda. If you pay attention, you will naturally continue to close it.

Peter and Mikhail knew very well the hardships that their eldest brother had suffered, so they also decided to find some partners who were similar in age and from good family backgrounds, but they could not be those libertines.

As for the friends and relatives he found, Prince Peter Dolgorukov thought of the Privy Council member Lieutenant General Prince Vasily. After all, they were all relatives. Among the older family members, this one was relatively loyal and reliable, but Prince Vasily's family expenses are really under great pressure. After he heard about it, he was willing to pay 5,000 rubles, but only in banknotes. According to the exchange ratio, the value will eventually depreciate a bit, which shows that Prince Vasily's financial pressure is very high. big.

The first person Mikhail thought of was Count Fyodor Tolstoy, but he was still a cadet at the Naval Academy and was younger, but Mikhail had to call him "uncle" in terms of seniority. ". Mainly because Mikhail had just returned from the Caucasus, and all he could think of was It’s those adventurous friends around them. Although this guy hasn’t left the military academy yet, he is incredibly courageous and proficient in shooting and fencing. Neither Prince Peter nor Solovyov figured out why he first thought of a A poor relative who is aggressive and too young.

"But it's always good to be adventurous. Don't cause trouble for the cadet for now. He may be useful in the future. Now we are looking for partners, not bodyguards. Misha, do you understand?"

Peter just smiled at his brother's brain, but it was right. There should always be more partners on the list, and he is already a colonel, so he naturally has more experience than his brother. He even felt that Solovyov, who was the adjutant of the general, could also list some reliable people, but he didn't expect this guy to really write a long list with a feather pen.

"Are you listing the local nobles of Ryazan Province?"

"No, you see, there are notes at the end, such as Count Ilya Rostov. Although his family is only a local noble, they have always been very generous to various causes. Like this one... Is there any problem with me listing my father's old boss? The people we are looking for may not all agree. How many people did you list?"

"It's similar to you. Don't worry about Misha. This kid wrote a list, but in the end, it seems that he is looking for salesmen and bodyguards. There are even some military cadets and young officers who have just started serving. I don't know what will happen if I ask their families for help."

Prince Peter sighed and put down the quill. The list they wrote was still the more reliable people in their circle. If Prince Saltykov was controlled by his wife at home and obeyed the emperor in the court, and was also a big man who was too noble, they really didn't dare to look for him.

As for the people on this list, Peter Dolgorukov will have to solve the problem in the end. After all, he has time to deal with the relevant issues, and Mikhail Dolgorukov has to return to his regiment to serve.

Soloviev didn't notice the name of Prince Mikhail's regiment before. He just said it was the "Guards Light Cavalry Regiment", but he didn't say that this was a regiment with many funny people in the future, and he didn't say that he was a hussar - he usually wore a formal dragoon uniform when attending events, not the blue hussar uniform.

There was a guy named Rzhevsky in his regiment. There will be many absurd stories in the future, and it will develop into a national joke in Russia, which is similar to the story of a certain flag captain.