Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

News of the Russian army's successive victories has not yet reached Petersburg, and all that has been received here is some preliminary news.

Some people are making nonsense in salons and clubs, saying that the French army is not easy to mess with, and that the Austrians have been fighting with them for so long without being able to solve the problem. Paul's approach is also very simple, which is to close most of the British clubs. Except for the British Club in Peterborough, because a noble person jointly petitioned to preserve this place as a social venue.

Paul himself could not completely screw with the nobles, so he allowed the Petersburg club to continue to operate.

At the same time, salons are still being held in various places, and it is inevitable that the war between France and Russia and the relationship with the Austrian allies will be discussed.

Although Paul himself did not want his eldest daughter to marry to the Habsburgs, he did not use his own hands to break up the marriage with Archduke Joseph. Instead, he used a relatively complicated method, and also used Four stages of diplomacy tactics.

Regarding the Austrian ambassador in Petersburg, his response was also: "Sir, we also wanted to do something, but when we wanted to do it, it was too late. My daughter Alexandra did not collide with His Royal Highness Joseph. A spark of love."

After the Austrian ambassador left, he asked the young Prince Saltkov next to him: "How about this?"

"Your Majesty, the Austrian Ambassador didn't say anything, but it can be seen from his expression that Vienna will acquiesce to this fact."

"This is going to wrong Grand Duke Joseph, but there is also a good thing. At least he came to Petersburg for a blind date, and the commander of the coalition forces on the Italian front will be Alexander Vasilyevich. Now the urgent message sent back by our Marshal, The Austrian army won the victory at Verona alone, but in the subsequent pursuit battle, we achieved a great victory. This is the result of military reforms, and under the command of our outstanding commander, we will achieve great victories in the future. "

"But your majesty, the marshal mentioned in his letter that he is still worried that the French army will increase its troops on the Italian battlefield. Although I am the secretary responsible for foreign and administrative affairs, your majesty, this is also worthy of attention. You also need and are responsible for the army secretary to discuss the matter."

"Okay, but that has to wait. We can't do much here, and Petersburg can't command so far abroad."

Paul's next concern was where his daughter's husband should choose.

He doesn't need to worry too much about Elena. The eldest son of the Prince of Mecklenburg and her have already fallen in love with each other very much since they met. The next thing to do is to get engaged first, and then sometime in the second half of the year, The official marriage took place in Petersburg - this is also a Russian tradition. Even considering the current situation in Europe, Paul asked his son-in-law, Frederick Ludwig, to live in Petersburg for a longer period of time, just as his brother was serving in the Guards of the Winter Palace.

There was no shortage of guest rooms in the Winter Palace, but Alexandra's marriage gave Paul a headache.

At this time, if he quickly arranges the next blind date, what attitude will the Austrian government take? Now he is not sure. If the war goes smoothly, there will be less worries in this regard.

The relative he was considering was none other than his wife’s nephew, Wilhelm Friedrich Karl, from Württemberg. He was 18 years old and was serving in the Austrian army. Archduke Joseph and Alexandra did not have this opportunity. Success, but choosing Württemberg next is not so unacceptable to the Austrian royal family.

But the prince of Württemberg has a problem. He has an extremely bad relationship with his father, and last year he was searched for banned books in his palace.

In fact, Tsar Paul could understand that his nephew wanted to resist his father, and he had considered his brother-in-law, a German strongman who was 2.11 meters tall and weighed 200 kilograms. He had served in the Russian army in the past and was eventually kicked out by his mother. Walk.

If Alexandra fails in another blind date, then even though this precious girl is only sixteen years old, it will be difficult for her to get married.

Instead, he wrote a letter and gave it to Frederick William. If he really wanted to discipline his children, he couldn't just put them in school. He had to go to a place where he had relatives.

In 1783, Frederick William accompanied his brother-in-law on a tour of Europe and indirectly helped bridge the gap between Russia and Austria. As a result, Frederick the Great dismissed him from his post and was kicked out of active service in the Prussian Army.

In the end, it was the Queen who offered him the position of Lieutenant General Commander of the Kherson Garrison, and then found a reason to send him away.

Later, the brothers Paul and Count Bobulinski did not know why Frederick William's daughter-in-law suddenly died of "hemorrhage" in 1788.

(Only when the Württemberg family came to move the grave later did they discover that it was a serious scandal, even involving murder.)

If you go to him, Paul thinks that he and Frederick William, the 200-kilogram strongman, are not only relatives, but also have good personal relationships. This kind of thing is always feasible.

And when Archduke Joseph came to Petersburg, Queen Maria really couldn't say anything that stood out. Although noble character is a first-class virtue, the performance of the Archduke of Austria was boring, and this matter was blown away.

But if she wants her daughter to marry in Wuerttemberg, William's unreliability is a minor problem. She cannot neglect her cousin from the Russian royal family. She is more or less worried about another point, that is, Baden and Wuerttemberg are both at the doorstep of the French.

Although France's attitude towards these two countries is not bad at present, there has been no disturbance.

Paul is not without a solution: "Dorothy"

The queen was called Sophie Dorothy before she got married. The elements of the Tsar's office in the Winter Palace are almost full.

"Your Majesty, I hope you will not make a wrong judgment on Alexandra's marriage because of the past in Sweden and Vienna."

"I am thinking this way. Let our daughter marry William, your nephew. What do you think? Although this young man has some minor problems, but."

Although William's reputation is not very good now, the queen also considers that this marriage will still be beneficial to Wuerttemberg's family in the future, and the relationship between her husband and brothers is good.

Even if Württemberg was really occupied by the French, the worst that could happen was that the daughter and son-in-law would find a way to return. Moreover, the French were not so excessive to the courts of other countries during the Directory period.

In addition to the poor Princess of Savoy who died tragically and had her head sawed off, the queen from Austria was finally guillotined.

The former bloody case caused the French royalists and republicans to keep silent about her death. The death of the latter now seems more intuitive, anyway, Austria is always a heavyweight participant in the anti-French alliance.

The French are clear-headed and will not think about working hard for their allies, and the Russians who are more vengeful will fight them to the death.

"Your Majesty, I think it's not impossible."

"Just now you were still hesitating. I think you are worried about William's character, or something else? You can ask him to come, but you have to investigate first, and even claim to the outside world that he is here to visit your aunt."

Although Paul is paranoid, he is still more careful when thinking about problems, and considers many aspects.

Even with his whimsical plan, William simply came from Württemberg and didn't go back, but lived here permanently, and returned to Stuttgart when he inherited the position of Prince of Württemberg.

In the palace, Alexandra didn't know who her next blind date would be, but she received news from Vienna.

After Constantine went to the front, the five female archduchesses finally met their second sister-in-law. Although the unfortunate archduchess and the Saxon princess were not worried about their husbands being away, they thought about the rough behavior before going out. There are still some traces of rough treatment on her buttocks and thighs.

When the crown princess and several sisters-in-law invited her to go down to the pool to play, she was also wearing a skirt, not a swimsuit that covered part of the body.

During the Middle Ages, it usually took between 25 and 50 days for a letter to reach London from Venice, far away from those places ahead. Even in the late 18th century, the speed was relatively limited.

Even if the express mail from Milan was sent to Vienna and then transferred to St. Petersburg, the speed of transmission was slow, and the delay of the messenger on the road would not be too fast.

The five sisters were still worried about their brother's safety at first, but when they saw the second sister-in-law, they all gathered around. Now the theme was to tease the children. Their niece was also brought to the pool and placed in a large wooden tub. Although the child was not yet a year old, she did not show any fear at all.

Of course, Louisa was still very concerned about the safety of the child, and soon asked the maid to carry her daughter out.

The focus was brought back. Louisa had a well-proportioned figure and slender legs. She did not look like a Greek sculpture, but a typical weak European lady. However, her body shape had changed after giving birth to a child.

In this era, there were swimsuits, which were what they wore now. For example, Juliana (the real name of the Saxon princess) wore a skirt, and even stockings and dancing shoes to go into the water. It was the most conservative way to dress.

According to the customs in some parts of Europe, people might bathe with their clothes on.

The five sisters came here today and used a heated pool. There were not many luxurious things in Paul's court. This heated pool was an additional building in the imperial village after he asked his brother to build a garden.

They all wore clothes above the knees. They didn't have stockings but had to wear shoes. People in this era would not have thought that in the next 150 years, the fabric of swimsuits would be reduced again and again to a level more serious than the decline in forest coverage.

Even wearing it like this, it was still at home. When the women wanted to go into the water, they showed themselves. For a long time after 1670, they even wore it like this when they went to the hot springs for hydrotherapy, which was different from the Roman era.

They sat by the water like this and discussed Elena's fiancé.

"Elena, we thought your fiancé would be a loud-mouthed 'little colonel' like his brother, but he turned out to be a well-dressed and gentle man."

"Brothers can't all be the same, like father and uncle Alexei, you see, they are different in character and body..."

"Maria, why are you still chewing on father?"

Anyway, she was very favored by Paul, and she was not blamed for publicly saying that father's pajamas were funny.

However, this question is indeed worth thinking about. After all, Paul and the Count, apart from the gentle eyes when they are quiet, and the identical gait when the brothers walk, it is really hard to find any similarities.

And today, Count Bobulinsky has gained some weight. Considering his clothes, he walks like a big auk.

Fortunately, Solovyov is not in Petersburg, otherwise he would have to add an advertising slogan to the Count: "Do you charge Q coins?"

Then they began to guess randomly and associate with the people around them. Alexander and Constantine's hairstyles have always been highly consistent, and the same is true when they became bald later. It is not like their father, who is a thin man, but his hair is still thick and he can cut his own hair without a wig.

There is nothing to guess with such blind guessing, so the topic returns to the brothers in Mecklenburg.

"Sister, your marriage always encounters some minor troubles, although this time it is because Joseph is not attractive enough."

"Maria, do you know what attraction is?"

"That is. What do you think of that 'little captain' when he wears a skirt?"

"He looks very beautiful after dressing up, but he and Constantine have gone to Italy, Elena, why do you mention him?"

"He actually knew to write to me, probably because he knew about my engagement, and there was a small gift from Vienna."

"He must have heard it when he accompanied the old marshal to Vienna. I heard that the court of Vienna pays special attention to marriage."

When Alexandra thought of her several unlucky blind dates, she began to sigh. Her little sister Anna in her arms had no idea about these. When the three sisters talked, they always talked about whatever they picked up. Although they all sympathized with the series of unfortunate things she encountered, there was no way to relieve them.

If she wanted help, she could only seek comfort from her eldest sister-in-law.

"Alexandra, I heard about it, and William of Württemberg. Don't tell outsiders, it was my mother's lady-in-waiting who told me."

Louisa said this close to Alexandra's ear, her voice was very low, but she could hear it clearly.

If it was cousin William, Alexandra would be able to accept it. Although in her grandfather's correspondence, he always said that he had been acting absurd since he was a child, but they had played together in Petersburg.

This William, when he was five or six years old, was already taller than other children of the same age, like a seven or eight-year-old child. At that time, he would punish any "little bastard" who dared to bully his cousin with his fists.

This is probably one of the few memories of those cousins ​​in Alexandra's childhood.

Although it was a bit absurd, this cousin would always say hello every time he wrote to her, and he would always send some small things from Württemberg with the court messenger, as well as the molds and drawings for his aunt. This alone made the sisters have a good impression of him. His absurd reputation and his attitude towards his relatives were not contradictory.