Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

Chapter 105 005 Journey to my own village

Bagration has not returned yet, and his time to serve as general on duty will definitely be postponed. The permanent population of Pavlovsk Palace will not increase until the summer, but Paul usually takes his whole family to join the palace. Spend the summer in Techina.

In the summer in Pavlovsk, only Queen Maria and her three younger daughters would stay there for a while, and then join the Tsar in Gatchina.

Now this plan is probably going to be cancelled.

Because Elena was married not long ago and had already developed a reaction before leaving Russia and needed further diagnosis by a doctor, the Spring Queen's plan to go to Pavlovsk was also put aside, and the family stayed in the Winter Palace.

The situation on Alexandra's side is still unclear. She is indeed older and has better physical fitness than her sister. It is normal that she did not react so early. You must know that their Württemberg cousin does have his own way of identifying beauties.

The duty of the Guards did not always remain unchanged in Petersburg. Solovyov received orders to go to Gatchina.

Although the Guards may not appear on the exercise ground, the Russian army conducts reviews, military exercises, and summary military meetings in Gatchina every spring.

As an officer of the Guards promoted by the Tsar, Solovyov had to prepare to assemble and hold a sand table in the front hall of Gatchina based on this issue. He made reference to several major battles in which the Russian army participated in the sand table deduction.

This is recognized by Paul. He believes that the scheduling on the battlefield should be seen from the drills, but the layout of the sand table can be referred to the pre-war layout diagrams commonly used by King Frederick during his lifetime, and can be used to a certain extent. This method was approved.

At the same time, some facilities on the exercise ground must also be adjusted, and some difficult-to-solve problems, such as Korsakov's performance in the Battle of Zurich, and the Russian army's presence west of the Trebia River in the Battle of Trebia. Some of the maneuvers need to be done while looking at the picture.

In general, Paul wants to conduct a battlefield review, and in doing so, the prescriptions given cannot be said to be wrong.

However, since this is the first time to do it, the workload is actually not low. Just preparing the relevant maps, various raw materials for making sand tables, and the tin soldier models have already consumed a lot of time in the preparation stage.

Solovyov just came here to assign a task, and then he would return.

But this time when he came out, he also wanted to visit the village near Pavlovsk that Tsar Paul had rewarded based on his status as an officer.

He was able to get such a "fief" village so close, and he always gave the Tsar a good impression, so he got a village of Pokrovskaya with a population of 200 people.

Speaking of which, it turned out that Paul was going to give this place to the sister of the "little fairy", but their family already had a lot of rewards, and finally it went to Solovyov.

The actual population of the village was greater than the number reported to the tsar, a fact that Paul himself would not have noticed.

And this village is on the only road from Gatchina to Pavlovsk. When Solovyov was in the Grenadier Regiment, he once passed this village from the mainland, but he did not go there. Pass.

By the time the fiefdom came to him with official documents, he himself had already participated in the generalissimo's expedition and had never been to this manor.

When he came to the village on a sleigh, the men, women, and children in the village were also confused.

"Master, who are you looking for when you come here?"

"I am Mikhail Solovyov, Major of the Guards of His Majesty the Emperor's Guards. Old man, if you say so, you should know who I am, right?"

The old man was very surprised when he heard Solovyov announce his family name.

"It turns out that our master is here, but you are so young and old, I didn't expect it."

"Old man, don't be too busy saluting me. Since I am the 'owner' here, I must also follow the emperor's edict to ensure your interests. Coming to the village to visit is just to follow the emperor's order. Qina went to arrange military exercises after the spring, and will come here to take a look when he returns."

"Sir, you'd better go into the village. The weather is uncertain."

"Okay, old man, I will follow you into the village. I once went to a village with the emperor, and all the young and old men in the village gathered around me. There were 404 people in that village. How many people are there in our village?"

"Returning to the master, there are currently 276 people in our village, including men, women, old and young. There are still more young people in our village. In the time of Empress Anna Ivanovna, there was such a village. Although Although it is said to be Huangzhuang, no one has ever taken care of it. That is to say, the women in our village are very good at giving birth to babies, and the population in this village is very high. "

"So that's it, old man, your wooden houses here are all well built!"

"Yes, because it has always been an imperial village, with so many emperors and queens coming here. Although some people come to collect taxes and have to do corvee labor, it is not as hard as the nearby villages that work for the gentlemen."

Solovyov felt reassured. Although the village assigned to him by Tsar Paul was not rich, it was self-sufficient.

Especially in recent years, with the issuance of the Tsar's edict, the burdens of these villages in Huangzhuang have been greatly reduced.

When the pressure is low and the cost of living is not high, the village looks pretty good.

And the men, women, old and young here look healthy, and there is no malnutrition.

"Old man, how many people are there in your family?"

"I am an old man with a wife, a son and three daughters. My daughters are married. My son went to the army to fight for the emperor, and he followed our old marshal to Italy."

"Now he is the Grand Marshal. Alexander Vasilyevich was ordered by the emperor last year to become the Grand Marshal of the Russian Army and Navy. Speaking of which, your son is still in our army. I led the troops beside the Grand Marshal. After I made meritorious service, I was transferred to the Guards."

"Master, do you have any news about my son? He is in the Jager Regiment of Prince Bagration. My name is Vasily Pokrovsky, which is the name of the village. My son Ivan is in the Prince regiment."

"I know there is such a soldier, and he has made meritorious service. He captured a French cannon in the battle. He should be in the winter camp now. When the Grand Marshal is about to return in triumph, you may be able to see your son."

"Thank God, my son is fine and has made meritorious service, so there is a reward. Thank our emperor for giving high rewards to these soldiers."

These villagers will not be chameleons in front of their masters, and they don't know that now this master, who has not even grown a beard, is going to invalidate the indentures of the whole village. Their bodies have gained freedom and have actually become tenants. If they still have some of their own land, this land relationship can be upgraded.

However, he is also worried that doing so may bring Paul's praise, but the Tsar's favor may be besieged by court officials and some great nobles. For him, a major of the Guards, his father is only a retired major, and some active and retired generals are still too eye-catching.

Therefore, Solovyov actually set a very low rent for them, basically in accordance with the two-day corvée regulations in the most relaxed Ukrainian region under the rule of the Tsar, which was also implemented quite thoroughly around Kiev.

That's it, the villagers were grateful to him. Although he no longer had the status of an imperial farm, this young master who came here was really kind-hearted.

"But, old man, you don't have to thank me in a hurry. My father is still alive. Our family has always made money by doing business. The manor doesn't charge too much rent."

"Then I have to thank you, sir. It's really hard to find a sir like you."

"In addition, I want to see how many streets there are in this village, and what the local specialties are."

"Sir, our village has ponds and wells, and we grow strawberries. You can see that our village has a street called 'Strawberry Lane'."

"That's great, old man. It would be a good thing if you can grow high-yield strawberries here."

However, it is really difficult to increase the yield of strawberries in 1800. Solovyov is going to use some of the knowledge he has mastered before to grow high-quality strawberries here.

After he asked, he knew that the local strawberries were all grown in the yard, and the taste has always been good. Not only is it the factor of the imperial farm, but also the local water and soil are not bad, and it can be sold at a good price when sent to the city.

Speaking of which, Paul certainly didn't pay attention to what the products in the imperial farm were. He might know more about the villages around Gatchina that belonged to him. If he could target the large-scale natural villages in Russia and use some liberal masters who supported the liberation of serfs as a lever to pry, when the relatively enlightened tsar was in power, reforms might be useful.

But the difficulty is that the reactionary forces in Russia are too strong.

Just like the most famous British prime minister said: "The Russians are too strong."

The power of these reactionaries was only temporarily defeated by Paul's unconventional moves during his time. If they dared to collude with foreign forces, it would actually be very dangerous for the rulers.

Of course, Solovyov noticed that the village was very close to the city, which was naturally very convenient.

Pavlovsk is so close that it can be transported to Gatchina, the Imperial Village, the Winter Palace, or the Summer Palace, or to the manors of the lords. Vegetables that are not easy to preserve can still form a stable supply to the palace if they are well grown and preserved for a long time.

In order for the villagers to make more money under the condition of "de facto freedom", that is, to use his identity as an officer in the Guards, as long as he sends all the fruits and vegetables during his vacation time, he can still get attention.

In recent years, he has spent more time in the upper class and knows many people. It is not impossible to sell them.

The same vegetables and fruits, if they taste better and are larger, they will be suitable for promotion in the future.

It is also a good way to adapt to local conditions. When he thought of this, he was a little dazed.

"Master, what are you thinking about?"

"I'm thinking, how many poods of strawberries can you get, so I can find a place to sell them, and I don't need those merchants to come and buy them directly. I am a major in the Guards, and I can see the emperor when I am on guard every day. It would be great if I could deliver the fruits and vegetables from our village to the emperor's table."

"Sir, if the emperor likes the strawberries in our village, I would be willing to die. Russia has always needed a good emperor. Since Peter the Great, only the two empresses were considered good emperors, but their taxes were also heavy, unlike our current father, Pavel Petrovich, who is really good to us farmers."

"If you say so, wouldn't it be great if we can grow big strawberries like in previous years? Listen to me first. Although I am an officer and don't farm, I can plow the land deeper than half of Arshin and raise the ridges higher, so that the harvest will be better."

"Old man, we all remember "Yes, sir, if you want to do this, I think you are educated and an officer, unlike us farmers. I think you can be a good farmer."

"Let's not talk about this for now. If there are animals dying in the village, the bones can be ground into powder and put into the fields like fertilizer. Also, I will ask someone to buy you some things processed with ore, and then put them into the fields. The strawberry seedlings in your yard can grow taller and stronger than usual."

Of course, Solovyov still has to calculate the numbers. This involves the formula ratio. If there is a problem, it will definitely be a problem.

He has a small problem, that is, he doesn't have this kind of greenhouse at home. His family has one in the manor in his hometown, but it has been abandoned for a long time.

If he really needs it, he may have to go back to the palace to ask a few young ladies to verify the planting of these fruits and vegetables.

His brain works fast. Anyway, the villagers all think that the young master has good ideas in his head, and those who listen to him will definitely grow good crops.

However, the verification here was already on the agenda when Solovyov left the village.

However, he didn't expect that when he returned to the palace to tell Maria about this, she would say this.

"The greenhouse of the queen mother in Pavlovsk is empty, and nothing is planted in it. I will take care of this. If it works, you can try it. I like to eat blueberries and strawberries very much!"

She also patted her still growing chest and promised that she was finally squeezed by this little girl for surplus value, and now she can see the return of money.

However, all this will eventually serve the fruits that Maria likes.