Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

Chapter 110 010 Petition from the Aleuts

In the hunting lodge in Pavlovsk, the women still had to rest. This was expanded after Paul became the tsar. There was even a temporary bedroom where the fireplace was very warm.

"Your Majesty, these are petitions collected from Siberia and American territories in accordance with your edict."

Kutaisov actually wanted to say one thing, that is, after going out for a walk, he came back here again. The emperor was really addicted to replying to letters, and he happened to catch up with the turn of petitions from these distant territories in the hunting ground.

"Kutaisov, you can go and rest. There are these young people here. They can take turns guarding and chat with me."

The tsar was a little too confident about his personal safety. Although there are four officers on duty here today, one was promoted by himself, and two are his confidant sons, who are also friends in Alexander's small circle. , and the last one is the younger Count Parron, the son of his most "faithful" confidant.

However, Paul still made a mistake, that is, the young earl was more loyal to him, so the old earl did not let his son participate in the conspiracy, and was afraid that he would expose it directly to the tsar on a whim.

Likewise, Count Zubov, who had recently returned to Petersburg, did not involve his sister-in-law, the daughter of the generalissimo, nor his eldest brother Nikolai Zubov.

The young Earl of Palen is not good at current affairs, but it is okay to ask him to talk about horse riding.

"Misha, you are really unlucky to fall down in a place like that. I know you have been on the battlefield, and you have often served as a liaison officer, passing orders back and forth between legions."

"As long as both the man and the horse are fine, this is really a good horse. Count Orlov must have worked hard to cultivate it."

"The horse you picked is not the best. The previous count selected one from his horse farm and galloped along the river in Moscow."

It can be seen that this count loves horses very much, and he may even have personally watched Count Alexei Orlov's riding test when the Orlov Trotter was successfully bred.

The Tsar himself was reading the Siberian horse administration's petition, which had something to do with China. During the Qing Dynasty's mutual trade in Kyaktu, the demand for horses dropped, causing market prices to plummet.

The most glorious moment was undoubtedly the mutual trade during the Queen's period. At that time, a horse could be sold for three times the price around Moscow. Horse dealers made a lot of money through the mutual trade.

Paul would rather ask the little Earl Palen this question. After all, while he loves his woman, he also loves his horse, and he can be said to be very familiar with horses.

"Pasha, what do you think of those horses in Siberia?"

"According to reports from the Guards headquarters, many of the horses we imported from Siberia and the Urals are not suitable for riding, but they have good endurance and can be used to pull cannons or baggage carts."

"Yes, that's what I think about. There are a lot of horse shortages reported by garrisons in various places, and the trade volume with China in Siberia has dropped sharply. In this case, the infantry regiments stationed in the south and around Moscow, as well as various places The garrison regiments began to import draft horses from Siberia.”

"But Your Majesty, this also has to take into account the quality of the horses. You know, the horses that are going to pull the cannon carriages need better foot strength."

"Solovyov, you have been to Italy and accompanied the generalissimo in the entire campaign. What do you think?"

"Your Majesty, I think Count Palen is right. In the mountains of Switzerland, we rely on Cossack horses to carry our luggage, and the Austrians have not prepared mules for us at all. In future wars, I am afraid we will need to prepare a large number of Army Horse."

Paul was also making his own calculations. He had previously denounced the inferior war horses provided by some places at the military committee. Siberia was too far away and there were not many troops stationed there.

However, considering the vast territory of Russia, even bad horses have to be used.

I won’t say what the Tsar decided in the end. They still had to shoulder the task of guarding and were asked random questions at the same time.

Considering Paul's character, it's not surprising what he did.

The Aleuts' petition was related to the extensive operations of Russian-American companies in the American territories and forcing the Aleuts to hunt to obtain furs.

"It's Baranov again, it's all my money!"

Paul had considered the possible consequences of the extensive operations of the Russian and American companies a few days ago. The merger of the four companies had already caused a serious decline in profits in the first year. Without external competition in the territory, they did this. A tough job.

As for the root cause, anyone with a normal brain circuit can detect it. This is the reason.

But another problem is that these overseas companies are generally far away from the sky and the emperor is far away. The same is true for the British and Dutch East India companies. Each has actually formed an independent political entity, and even the local king can abolish it. We have actually exceeded our authority as a company.

Baranov himself has been active in the American territories for a long time and is not in Petersburg. Rezanov has always been mediating here.

But the Tsar himself sent an imperial envoy, which was nothing more than a traditional Russian farce. This kind of thing has happened in the past, now and in the future.

Paul didn't have much time to deal with the Aleut problem. For him, it was too far away. Through the "South Sea Company" listed by Count Tickenhausen's family, could he get a piece of land on the Gold Coast or somewhere in the future? Land in every place is still a problem.

"Okay, that's it for today!"

He read some more petitions and didn't even plan to reply. There was also a secretary in charge of taking notes beside him.

"Your Majesty, how should you comment on these petitions that you have read?"

"As for the problem of horses in Siberia, I have already written a formal reply. Please polish these words and submit them tomorrow morning. As for the problem of the Aleuts, Baranov, this person is still irreplaceable. He Familiar with local affairs, leave it there first. Just respond to it as a general matter. It will take a year and a half before this letter reaches Pavlovskaya."

It was even a question of whether his order could reach Alaska while he was alive. After all, 1801 was a close call for him, and it was also known as an extremely unfortunate year for the Russian royal family.

Then he felt upset, so he warmed himself by the fire and took out the latest "Petersburg Gazette" to browse. The literary section contained poetry.

"Why is there no serialization today, Solovyov?"

"Your Majesty, these days I am either on duty in the palace or going to Gatchina. In between, I also went to the village you granted me. When I get back, I have to prepare strawberry seedlings. The translation work has been delayed."

"Where did you translate?"

"Now Sun Ce, the little overlord of Jiangdong, has been assassinated, and his younger brother Sun Quan has become the lord of Jiangdong."

"Isn't there a decisive battle between the Khitan Prime Minister and the Northern Powers soon?"

"The decisive battle is about to begin. Your Majesty, do you want to see the result now? Or do you want to wait for the newspaper to serialize it?"

"Don't worry, it seems that the prime minister can win. He has already beaten away the emperor's uncle. The forces threatening his rear in the east have been eliminated, and he can concentrate on the duel with the Yuan family along the Yellow River."

This question is relatively free, and Paul can still figure out the stakes.

In addition, he suddenly thought that when leaving Petersburg, Maria once told him that the physical condition of the musician Mr. Fomin of the Royal Theater was getting worse and worse. This was a relatively famous musician in early Russia who was good at music teaching and Rehearsing an opera.

Sometimes she also coaches Maria, but because she has an infectious disease and to ensure the safety of those around her, the musician is in the hospital and probably won't survive this spring.

"Solovyov, I remember that you often sang to Maria and collaborated with her on some folk songs?"

There was always no way to avoid it, but Paul sounded like he wasn't too interested in the matter.

He preferred to be with soldiers. He was the first person in Europe to issue medals to soldiers. Napoleon's Legion of Honor and a series of medals that could be issued to soldiers had to be ranked second.

Music is only because he dotes on his third daughter, who was almost disfigured because she had smallpox when she was a child, that he is willing to understand part of it.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Do you know Mr. Fomin from the Theater Royal?"

"I have some impression that I have met him before when I helped His Highness record music scores. I haven't seen that gentleman in the palace for a while. I think he must be in poor health. I first met him in the Little Winter Palace. That’s how he looked when he was there.”

"He has been in poor health. Musicians are all talented people. Maria asked me to care about his condition because Mr. Fomin taught her the harp. He is indeed ill. And the situation is not good, Maria. I wanted to see him, but he had an infectious disease.”

Since he can be hired by the Royal Theater, he still has a certain income. Although it is not as good as Mozart, it is not too unsatisfactory.

However, there are still many dissatisfied musicians in this era.

When Paul thought of this, he suddenly remembered the Arabian horses that Orlov had first introduced, and the bones were still carefully preserved in his horse farm.

The most important thing about a musician is his works.

"I have an infectious disease, and my life may be in danger, Your Majesty."

"Yes, so Maria wanted to preserve all his scores, which are kept at the Royal Theater. There is an opera in it, the story of the Golden Apple, which has just been completed, but has not been premiered yet."

"Your Majesty, if it is a golden apple, it is the story of Paris and the three ancient Greek goddesses."

"Yeah, golden apples are not a good omen. And this story takes place in Troy, whose location is not even confirmed. Where is this place?"

"Perhaps in Türkiye, Your Majesty."

"But it's just a story. I'm not stupid enough to refuse to let the story be acted because it takes place on Turkish territory."

Solovyov doesn't have Yan Laoxi now, so he can't shake off the burden, but Paul himself has understood the essence of a certain character in that cross talk.

"But this play is very interesting. Iphigenia is related to Troy. There is also a legend from the Athenians who claim that this poor girl was taken to Chersones."

"Your Majesty, that is a play by Aeschylus. When Crimea was still called Taurika, although it was far away from the mainstream European world, it had a very close connection with mainland Greece. The galleys were close to the shore of the Black Sea. Let’s go, we’re almost there.”

"That's right. There is a close connection. How did the Greeks come to Crimea? There are many Greeks living there now. They should come from Mithridates' Pontus or Byzantium?"

"The name of Cape Chersonesus should come from Greek, right? If we dig there, we may know."

"If we dig, we may know. We may find something at that cape, but in Crimea, what's more important is Sevastopol and the Black Sea Fleet. In addition, there is Odessa."

When mentioning Odessa, he thought of Potemkin, but now his hatred for Prince Potemkin is not as serious as when he first ascended the throne.

"Potemkin's nieces all married well. Countess Skafronskaya was his favorite, and Alexei's favorite. If he had begged his mother more at that time, he might have been married a long time ago. I know that he couldn't walk when he saw a beautiful girl with a plump chest. Madam, you have two daughters, Pasha, you proposed to her yesterday, right?"

"Yes, I proposed to Maria. Both sisters are lovely, but I can only choose one."

"When Alexander and Constantine got married, they also chose one of the sisters. Mother At that time, he particularly liked the three Saxon sisters and wanted to keep them all, but only one could be Constantine's wife, so he only kept the youngest Juliana. "

"Your Majesty, you mean Her Highness Anna, right?"

"Yes, but this unpromising boy beats his wife at home and is not a man in the village. This is really shameful. The whole Petersburg knows it. Pasha, you have to love your wife, understand?"

"I know that, Your Majesty."

Paul did not have the auspicious physique that would mess up the marriage of the adviser. He was just admonishing the cavalry major general he favored.

"The two boys outside, they don't even have wives. Mikhail often plays with Catherine, but it's a pity that my darling baby is not yet at the age of marriage. The King of Bavaria wants to propose marriage, and it's too anxious now. "

Prince Peter was the same. None of the three brothers had formally discussed the issue of marriage.

"Your Majesty, don't look at me. I am the youngest officer on duty today."

"I know, you 'little hunter', but I also saw the younger one crying in your arms. But you two look like good friends, definitely not lovers, I can still see that."

"Your Majesty, I don't want to get married too early, I still have a lot of things to do."

Paul smiled when he heard this.

"I know you still have a lot of things to do. How are the grenades and Molotov cocktails going?"

"Your Majesty, don't worry, now that I'm back, the grenades will be ready soon. As for the Molotov cocktails, the problem to be solved is the ignition problem, and the formula itself is not a big deal."

He was still very confident about this.