Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

The summer in Petersburg is easier to endure than in Moscow. It is close to the sea and has a different inland climate.

In August, everything seems to be normal. People are doing what they should do, whether it is work, life, love, or anything else.

It's just that Alexander is leaving Petersburg at this time. He plans to go to Berlin.

In July before, Frederick William III had already planned to go to war with France, but because the Hanover issue has not been implemented, Prussia, which has always loved to take advantage of small gains, has not made up its mind.

It was Alexander who finally rejected the new agreement on temporary peace between France and Russia, and he finally made up his mind.

But France and Russia do not border each other, and the French army did not even control the remaining Russian territories in Germany at this time, as well as Oldenburg, which has always had a good relationship with Russia. The struggle between the two sides obviously did not have the opportunity to open fire immediately, and there would be no neutral country to open the border at this time, so there was no good opportunity for Russia.

At this time, Alexander decided to visit Berlin to discuss the details of the policy toward France with Frederick William III and Queen Louise, whether to use diplomatic means or directly resort to force.

It seems that the pressure exerted by the outside world and the temptation of certain benefits can make Prussia end. The queen's proposal is more courageous than the king, instead of wanting to take advantage of it. But in the end, it is still the king who makes the decision.

Now the Tsar himself set out for East Prussia, and various occasions in Petersburg were also discussing whether to go to war with France again.

At least it seems that the Russian army has recovered a lot from the failure of the Battle of Austerlitz in 1805, and can accumulate strength to go to war with France. The army that can be dispatched has exceeded 100,000 again.

It's just that at this time, the Ministry of War, the General Staff, and the General Quartermaster General's Department are very quiet.

The plan has been made long ago, just waiting for the order from the Tsar himself.

At this time, Solovyov had time to meet the Dolgorukov family in a villa near the Peterhof Palace.

According to the rules, when a man and a woman go on a blind date, they always have to be in a separate room, and the parents of both parties have to be outside the door.

"Vassily Vasilyevich, our family is also taken care of by your family. When I was an adjutant to General Grushetsky, your sister Yevdokia Vasilyevna was also very familiar with our family. How should I put it?"

Baron Sergei was a little bit long-winded. If it was about climbing up the ladder, it was not that bad. After all, he had a relationship. It was just that when facing the old boss's brother-in-law, he couldn't help but say a few more words.

"We are all familiar with each other, Baron Sergei, thank you for helping us manage the manor."

"I will do my best to solve the problems in the manor, but some debts still need time to be resolved and cannot be completed at once."

"Yes, there is no way to solve it immediately. It's just that both of us have to arrange for your son Mikhail and your daughter Ekaterina to meet here. If it is appropriate, with the grace of His Majesty the Emperor and the Queen, we can further deepen our friendship."

Let the two families be closer.

Having said that, Baron Sergei's whole family came here. Yulia seemed very happy that her good sister might become her sister-in-law. Her mind was somewhat simple and she didn't think so much.

As for Prince Vasily's family, both sons were on duty, so he only brought his wife and two daughters here.

As for the matchmaker, it was not Louisa herself. The Queen just made some suggestions, so Alexander turned back and talked to Count Stroganov, and his wife Sophia came to act as a matchmaker.

She also brought her children here. For Solovyov, the three parties have a close relationship.

If it succeeds, it will probably turn from a close cooperative relationship to a relative relationship. Such a marriage is a good thing for the Solovyov family, which has a lower family status.

"Then, we should give Misha and Katya some space and ask them to be alone. We can wait outside."

In the large reception room outside the villa, both families were sitting there. Solovyov's sisters were with the girls from the Stroganov family, and Sophia from the Dolgorukov family was also there. The girls got along very happily. They surrounded the little count first - the child's parents were both very beautiful, and naturally they were very popular with girls since childhood.

Before entering the reception room, Solovyov looked over here and found it very interesting.

Anton was still too young. For the older sisters, he was just a "pendant". If they wanted to play together, they had to have the little count as a playmate.

"Katya, we can go in and talk, maybe we can understand more deeply."

"Okay."

Just like that, the two of them went into the small room inside.

But at this time, Solovyov suddenly thought of Pierre. Under the muddled plan of Prince Kurakin, he married a beautiful woman, but the people of the Kurakin family would covet other people's property to some extent.

This matter is common in the upper class.

Pierre

Soloviev did not think about it any further, but just said: "We are already familiar with each other, but this time, I did not expect Her Majesty the Queen to arrange it this way."

"So what? Brother Mishka, you are also a frequent visitor to Her Majesty the Queen, either sent by Her Majesty or summoned."

Speaking of which, it is difficult for the personal maids to discover his secret actions.

"We can often meet in Petersburg, and also in Dresden in the past. But I think that for such a lifelong event, both parties must agree before a final decision can be made, and sufficient time must be given. If the marriage vows are witnessed by God's humble and pious servants, there must be time to prepare. You are still young, if you don't mind my age."

"Compared to those sisters who married old men, I am still lucky. I was introduced to blind dates twice, one was a senior civil servant and the other was a promising officer, and they were all acquaintances. Speaking of which, Prince Sergei... Since there are such rumors, it is indeed not suitable, and His Highness Nicholas is still childish and speaks without restraint, saying that he wants..."

Little Katya blushed a little when she mentioned this, and her face became hot and burned.

"Are you okay?"

"It's okay, but although His Highness Nicholas is young, he is a little precocious and wants to find a wife for his master."

Nicholas.

This kid is really interesting. He is tall and strong, not like a 10-year-old child, and he is a little precocious. He wants to find a wife for his teacher.

It seems that he has put it into practice. He likes to be a matchmaker, which is very similar to Paul. But he must not learn the strange behavior of the previous tsar and the unlucky additional bad luck.

He couldn't comment on Nicholas's behavior, but just smiled in return, and then slowly said: "This is inevitable. It's not just His Highness Nicholas in the palace. There are also many precocious children now."

"Are you talking about the students of the Imperial Village Preparatory School?"

"Yes."

When they were chatting inside, someone was listening outside.

"How is it now?"

Prince Vasily was more concerned about the progress, which always involved his daughter's lifelong event.

"We were just chatting, Prince Vasily. You know, they already knew each other, so it was natural for them to chat smoothly, but it was hard to get to the point. But that's a good thing, at least they agree with each other."

"That's good. I also hope Katya's marriage will be happy, not like what the fortune-teller said."

"You are still like that, but not everyone is like my husband, always a bit rationalist. You know what he did in Paris in the past."

Soloviev's conversation went smoothly, but it was hard to get to the point.

He thought about getting married, but not like little Katya, whose age was just over the age when the gendarmerie arrested him. A girl who was a little older might be more suitable.

".As for when we were in Paris, it wasn't that great. You know, the environment is not what you imagined. Katya, it was a good choice for you to live in the countryside. When the northeast wind blows over Paris, there will be a special smell. I think the drainage system should be rebuilt. Speaking of the drainage system, I want to build a manor of a suitable size on the land that His Majesty gave me."

"So, what style are you going to use?"

"Perhaps Rococo style is more suitable. I want to use some fresh colors in the reception room, such as tender green. Although it is more difficult to mix colors, the effect will be very good."

"Is it like the color of the clothes worn by Madame Pompadour?"

"You can say that, Katya. But this color can easily be seen as a bed sheet or curtain."

"If it were me, I would prefer sky blue."

"If it were just a pigment, this color is also okay."

Soloviev also noticed that the clothes that little Katya wore today did have a sky blue empire skirt, paired with a white shawl, which felt like clouds on her shoulders. As for her preference, it should also be this pleasant color.

"But if you want to use this kind of color in the glaze of porcelain, it will be a bit difficult."

For example, the inventor of the thin gold style, Song Huizong Zhao Ji, a traveler in Wuguocheng, had this kind of glaze in his Ruguan kiln. It was not until the end of the 20th century that it was successfully replicated. But is it the same material as the original?

But the mention of these bright colors obviously attracted the attention of little Katya.

"Brother Mishka, you really know a lot. If you can get porcelain of this color."

"That requires research on the formula, and the factory in Peterhof cannot make this kind of porcelain. If you want to order it, you have to ask the factories in France and Italy, and... In short, we don't have the core technology in this area, and it's unlikely to find it in China."

"Yes."

"And we have to consider that the French like to strike, while we Russians are more adapted to queuing."

As for these jokes, he has told them many times.

As time goes by, it is obvious that little Katya is still a listener willing to listen. At least what Solovyov said can still attract her.

From architecture to art, and also involving music, there are many similarities.

In this way, it is relatively smooth, and it is not like Pierre who chewed on "Sergey Kuzmich" for a long time but didn't know what to say.

Things went relatively smoothly on both sides, and Prince Vasily was satisfied with it. After all, Solovyov was also a promising officer, and could even be promoted to general. According to the rules for colonel to major general, he would probably be able to achieve that soon.

For this old nobleman who had been promoted to lieutenant general in the army and later became a second-class civil servant, he was somewhat envious of these relatively capable young people, who all had good prospects.

If you become a general at the age of twenty-five or six, you have to rely on military merit. Since the Paul period, there have been such young and middle-aged generals in the Russian army, adding a lot of fresh blood.

He was also a little anxious now. After chatting with Baron Sergey about the situation of the Moscow manor outside, he roughly knew the situation.

But what about my daughter?

In terms of wealth, the Solovyov family is not bad, at least it has exceeded the wealth accumulated by the old baron when he was engaged in smuggling.

The same Prince Vasily, a famous Rurik family like the Dolgorukov family, obviously does not care about the hundreds of thousands of rubles. Although there are external debts, with his family's property, it is more than enough to prepare a sufficient dowry.

After waiting for a while, Solovyov came out holding little Katya's hand.

He also had to take care of the little girl's emotions, and only spoke to Countess Sofia and Prince Vasily alone.

"I am always worried that the war will come, and during this period, I always have to give Katya some time to better understand what she needs and what she knows about me. This kind of engagement must be done in a secret way. carried out. Count Tickenhausen, Count Kutuzov's son-in-law, was killed on the battlefield. , is also an acquaintance of mine among the adjutants. How should I put it? If it is peacetime, I can generally do it, but war may come at any time. If I am drafted to the front line again, never mind. There are always dangers, whether on the staff or among the frontline troops.”

"I can understand your thinking, Misha, you are serious about my daughter."

"Therefore, even if we want to get engaged, we have to do it in secret, which is beneficial to Katya. Once she feels it is not suitable, or something happens to me, Katya is still free, and she can live the life she wants. "