Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

The navigation conditions in spring were not good. Solovyov could see ice all over the road. He could not even take a big ship, but landed near the Gulf of Riga.

During this trip, after finding a vehicle at the post station, he also went to Count Bobulinsky's estate to see the situation of the factory.

Although it was just a pen factory, it was still a sense of accomplishment with its current scale and free people working.

But he had no time to stay here. After staying overnight here, he would go to Gatchina the next morning.

It was normal for Alexander to arrange to meet the ministers in the Imperial Village, especially for diplomats returning from abroad. Sometimes they would meet the Tsar and the Queen Mother.

Solovyov actually knew that he was not liked by the Queen Mother, that is, he was better at taking care of these young ladies before, so he was not included in the list of overseas assignments.

Now he is here with Alexander, from the coup to the subsequent work, he is still valued a little, and the Queen Mother will not drive away the officers appointed by the Tsar for a small matter.

In the past, Gatchina was a training ground. Now that Paul is gone, this place must be replanned and rebuilt according to the Queen Mother's requirements.

When Solovyov saw the changes here, he knew what the Queen Mother pretended to be in front of the Empress and Paul in the past.

People in Petersburg didn't know where they got the news from, and the source was probably the Finance Committee. There was a huge gap between the Queen's expenses and the Queen Mother's expenses. Even the expenses saved by the Tsar and the Queen were partly filled in by the Queen Mother.

From the furnishings of the court, this possibility is not ruled out. Korsakov spent 1,200 rubles when bribing Count Kutaisov and Madame Chevalier, and Louisa's annual expenses were 15,000 to 20,000 rubles. Compared with the Queen Mother's pomp, this is nothing.

Some of the servants in Gatchina still recognized the former captain of the guards and the "inventor" beside Paul, and they also came forward to greet him.

"What are you doing?"

"Major, we need to redecorate the garden of Her Majesty the Queen Mother. When our old emperor was here, this place was too simple, especially this garden. When the masters come to Gatchina, this pomp can't lose face!"

"Well, at least Her Majesty the Queen Mother likes it, and the emperor often comes here, so the palace should be more particular."

He could only say this, and couldn't reveal his true thoughts.

Alexander was also in the palace, but he was meeting with the noble representatives who came to pay their respects with the Queen Mother Maria. The Tsar himself also avoided some embarrassing scenes on such occasions, so he sent Louisa and the children to the Alexander Palace.

Except for the coronation ceremony, Louisa seemed to be non-existent in the palace. She could only be ranked second in the palace, and the one ahead of her was not the queen.

However, with the flattering characteristics of Russian nobles, they all know who they should please. The Queen Mother especially likes to interfere in domestic and foreign affairs, and is also planning the next marriage to marry her third daughter Maria to Saxe-Weimar, but the final agreement between the two sides has not yet been negotiated.

Alexander himself has no decision-making power in this matter. Although Maria is not his favorite sister, he has also heard that the prince of Saxe-Weimar is a weak person. Although Maria will definitely not be bullied if she goes there, whether she can be happy is also a big problem.

Compared with his mother who wants to gain benefits for her family in Württemberg through marriage and diplomacy, Alexander cares more about the interests of Russia and the happiness of his sisters.

The advantage of his sister control is that although he has a special relationship with Catherine, he also takes care of the other four sisters. As the eldest brother, he is still very good in this regard.

Alexandra was lucky to marry William, and the matter was settled, but the future things were not easy to deal with.

Maria's marriage also needs to take into account the fact that Saxe-Weimar is close to Berlin, and the attitudes of Prussia and Austria towards France. Alexander appreciated some of Napoleon's actions in diplomacy at this time, but the French First Consul sent troops to the Republic of Shannan, which was a bit embarrassing, although it was only based on the peace treaty with Austria and had nothing to do with the British.

But the British will definitely not give up in the future. During the few days when Alexander came to Gatchina, the Treaty of Amiens would also take effect. He could only wait and see what would happen there.

However, he still had to meet with diplomats returning from abroad and officials coming to Gatchina from local areas.

"Major Solovyov, come here."

"Which one is my audience?"

"The last one in the morning, it's just a coincidence. The emperor loves the two little princes very much. These days, he has to go back to Alexander Palace in the afternoon. He feels uncomfortable if he can't see the children for a day."

"Thank you, this is for you. If there is any movement from the emperor, don't forget to tell me."

"Mr. Major, we all know that your father, Baron Sergei, is good at business, and you are good at tinkering with new things. Your family is rich, but you can't give us money like this."

Although it was just a few silver rubles, these servants also knew it. Such a rich man came to do business, so he couldn't take too much.

When he saw Alexander, the Empress Dowager was also here. After he saluted, Alexander spoke before he could speak.

"Solovyov, how are you doing in Sweden?"

"Your Majesty, I just injured my arm. It will not delay my activities in Sweden."

"I would also like to thank you for this matter, and so does the Queen."

Solovyov could only stand like this now, and it was difficult for him to speak when the empress dowager was here.

"How is the plan you reported to me at the Winter Palace before you set off being implemented now?"

"Your Majesty, although my trip to Finland has been postponed for some reason, I started from Stockholm in late January and went all the way along the coast to Malmo. I still gained a lot along the way. And in Malmo, I also bought A French newspaper was published in Copenhagen and some intelligence was collected at the Swedish naval base."

The Queen Mother actually had a lot of objections to King Gustaf of Sweden. She was unwilling to leave during the report. In addition to her enthusiasm for intervention, there was also Alexandra's original engagement.

“In your opinion, what is the situation in Sweden?”

"Their army is not as good as that of Karl XII, and I can feel that the Guards are very lazy. The dispute between the Caps and the Top Hats has not been resolved yet. The domestic economy is still prosperous, but the big Part of the money has gone to the hands of the old men, which is the same everywhere. I can also see that the Swedish navy warships are very poorly maintained because of their tight military budget. "

"Then there's nothing good going on?"

"That's not true. His Majesty the King of Sweden has an heir. This may be the only good thing. However, I have heard a lot of rumors. Although they cannot be conveyed in diplomatic letters, they are related to King Gustav III. You know, His Majesty."

Although Alexander couldn't delve into it, he was very smart and understood everything. He also knew that there were people questioning the bloodline of Gustavus IV for more than a day or two.

With the empress dowager beside him, Solovyov couldn't go into too much detail, so he could only pick out the important points.

"Okay, now you have returned to the team for the time being. Come with me to Huangcun. Queen Mother, we still have important things to talk about, so we can't accompany you here."

The Queen Mother also nodded and called the maid over. She was going back to carve beads for her granddaughter.

And Alexander brought two horses. If he wanted to run a horse now, it would be inappropriate to choose a rider who was too good. Solovyov was from the Guards. Although he was skilled in handling horses, he could not Better than Alexander who had time to practice dressage.

"We said it on the road, so it would be more confidential."

But when Solovyov came in, he didn't eat, but he didn't go hungry like this twice.

When he led the Guards to the Mikhailovsky Palace, he was unable to eat even a piece of bread for a long time until the crisis was finally resolved.

Alexander ate some dried fruits to fill his stomach. He also likes to play tricks on others sometimes.

"Now that we are walking on the road, you can tell me about it. It is not convenient for you to talk about military plans at the Queen Mother's place."

"Yes, Your Majesty. I think we can adopt a two-sided attack. During the freezing period of the ice, we must confirm the ice journey from the Courland Peninsula to Gotland. I measured it from the map to 150 versts. If the Cossacks and Hussars take bold actions, Gotland can be quickly controlled, and then this detachment will boldly attack southern Sweden by taking advantage of the thickest ice period during the ice period. "

"You are going to attack the hinterland of Sweden from the ice, but what about Finland?"

"This requires mobilizing troops from Petersburg and Vyborg, marching towards Helsinki and Turku, trying to control the traffic lines in a short time, and threaten the Åland Islands. The icing period here is longer, and we can quickly control of the island and, in a short time, threatened Stockholm."

After hearing this, Alexander felt quite satisfied.

"Moreover, I also prepared an imperfect plan. I also took some notes on the way back and forth. If I want to complete the entire plan, I need people who are familiar with the situation in Sweden and Finland to further complete it."

"Well, I will accept this plan first. You have said so much, and I think I am thirsty. Let's go to the Alexandria Palace, which is the palace that my grandmother built for me when I was still a grand duke."

His tone was that even though the Queen was no longer here, he still spoke with respect.

Although in fact, Alexander did not completely agree with his grandmother's and father's actions.

This actor has to act in front of everyone.

Alexander chose good horses. After returning to the Alexander Palace, he deliberately took Solovyov around the palace.

"Your Majesty, you don't need me to perform security work here."

"I know, but I need to ride more!"

After the torment with him, Solovyov got the chance to dismount.

Alexander had absolute trust in his aide-de-camp. He saved his younger brother, protected Louisa on the night of the coup and took the lead in swearing allegiance to him. After that, he even had to take care of the housework and obeyed the doctor's instructions under the delivery table to save Alexander. His own wife.

While dining, Alexander was still explaining this in the palace where he had only lived for a short time.

"This is a good place to raise children. The queen likes it here. Lisa likes quietness. As long as the queen mother doesn't come to this palace, it's fine. You can see that, right?"

"Your Majesty's affairs are all national affairs, just like Louis XIV said."

"I think so too. So, I have been told many times about the queen mother's affairs, and I don't intend to care about it. The passage over there leads to the nursery, which was also ordered to be built when my grandmother was still there."

He introduced his mansion at this moment, and he didn't know what he wanted to do.

Soloviev also saw a tapestry in the corridor here. It was a picture of Queen Marie Antoinette of France with her children. This composition was obviously by Mrs. Le Brun, who was a close friend and exclusive painter of the queen.

This lady has now embarked on a journey home, which can only be achieved after peace comes.

And what Alexander is thinking is often unclear to the outside world.

He only set up a working lunch here at noon. Compared with the Paul period, it looks as simple, but more exquisite.

"I read your letter last month, which mentioned that you wanted to make canned food. What should we do specifically?"

"We should still import high-quality iron materials from Sweden, but the preservation time and the material of the cans will be affected. If it is a glass jar, how can it be preserved? What ingredients can we choose?"

"Why don't you start with pickled lard and pickles?"

What Alexander said was quite reliable, as both of these things are easy to preserve.

And Solovyov also knew that many people in Eastern Europe later made canned food for winter storage.

"Your Majesty, what you said is a good idea, but I didn't expect you to notice these things."

"Although you won't be able to eat these things here, Bekov often brings his own snacks, so I still know some of them."

"Is it the strong man coachman?"

"Yes, it's him! I saw that he was extremely strong and could operate a four-horse carriage by himself, so I hired him to the palace."

"No wonder, he is strong, but he also eats more than others."

"I just like his strengths, and he is also very straightforward. It would be very pleasant to get along with such a person."