Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

There were still some things to talk about during the dinner, but they didn't talk about any military issues.

Napoleon promised to give him a medal of the Legion of Honor. Although this was a ceremonial act, it also represented recognition of the current situation. At least the French side was willing to accept peace talks. As for the specific conditions.

France's attitude was obviously different from Russia's. Because both sides had been fighting in Central Europe, Russia had not suffered much loss except for the army. This led to the French wanting to negotiate. Prussia was always the one being exploited.

For Prussia, they were nominally equal to Russia in status, and they could also maintain consistency in diplomacy. They could not make peace with France alone.

In fact, the remaining troops they had were not even as strong as a division of the Russian army. This was a division that had suffered losses in battle. Compared with the Guards, it was only half the strength.

If they became completely subordinate, they would not have the right to sit at the table at all.

While eating chicken, Napoleon did not forget to repeat this matter endlessly.

"Your Majesty, I think you should also know that you can't force some dying beasts too hard. I know the Prussian army very well. I once lived in the Duke of Brunswick's house for a period of time. Once the oppression is excessive, it will definitely cause resistance. This is like, how to say it, like the sound of Valmy's cannons, the French people showed unprecedented patriotic enthusiasm. Not only the French will do this, I think people in many places will do this, even the Serbs who are resisting the Ottoman Empire. When I was the Deputy Minister of War, I had contact with the Serbs."

"Misha, this is just your idea. Prussia is a fickle country. I think your monarch should also know it."

"If he hadn't rashly launched the war, maybe we wouldn't be fighting in Poland and East Prussia this winter, maybe we would still be around Berlin. From a strategic, campaign and tactical point of view, Prussia did nothing right, and even became your Majesty's logistics minister."

After hearing this, Napoleon showed a contemptuous smile, of course, towards Prussia.

The emperor's newly recognized nephew of the queen actually had a sense of humor, and several marshals and generals at the table couldn't help laughing.

"Interesting, Misha, you can continue, I can see that you don't like Germans."

"That may only be directed at Prussia, but not at Queen Louise and her children. After all, my benefactor, Her Highness Elena, has a good relationship with her, and Grand Duke Nicholas may marry a German princess in the future, so I still have to be more polite."

"Okay, but your words are very interesting."

Since Napoleon asked him to continue, and there were only French people at the table, no one would collude with Prussia and act as a traitor, he started talking again.

"They have assembled their army, but the warehouses. Except for the warehouses in Königsberg, we have gained almost nothing. If it were in Russia, I would have asked the soldiers guarding the warehouses to goose-step out of the warehouse gates and start to provide supplements to the corps. Moreover, that might make the war between us more intense, and the negotiations might be moved to another place."

Since they are family members, Napoleon can still restrain himself at this moment even if he speaks with a bit of thorns. Moreover, he denigrated Prussia too much, and even revealed the consistent friendly attitude between Prussia and Russia, and there might be a marriage in the future.

In fact, this also represents Alexander's intention. He still wants to protect Prussia, so he has to reveal some wind.

"In short, you can go back and hand over the letter to your monarch for the peace that is coming now."

"I will complete this task, and the subsequent peace talks should be very smooth."

"Monarch to monarch, let's find a place in the middle of the Neman River, in Tilsit, which is very suitable."

The task has been determined, and Alexander is now on his way to the bank of the Neman River.

There must be some people who are against the peace talks. Bagration saw that Osterman-Tolstoy opposed negotiations with the French, and took the initiative to come to him and resigned from the position of commander of the 2nd Division.

Langgeron came from France, and he knew that because he failed to defeat the French army, he would most likely go to Odessa, so he did not take the initiative to manage the affairs of the corps. In the end, he came to sign, and all these issues were handed over to Bagration to deal with.

Although he could understand the peace talks, he did not support them. He did not say anything about Osterman-Tolstoy's current approach. He just approved his resignation, but it would be finalized after the peace treaty was officially signed.

"Don't be so anxious, Sasha, maybe things will turn around?"

"You'll know when Misha comes back. He used to be a diplomat. Although he was only a military attaché, he also knows diplomatic rhetoric. He probably can't learn your fraudulent methods."

"But we didn't completely deceive the French. If Napoleon had returned to Spandau and Dabstein at that time, the plan would have succeeded."

"This is just if. If the peace treaty is signed, I will leave the army and accompany my sick wife to recuperate abroad."

"How is your wife now?"

"She is still weak. The doctor has no way to help her. He can only use these recuperation methods. In addition, Misha wrote to say that the medicinal properties of American ginseng may have some problems in Khitan medicine, but the efficacy can still be used."

"This kid Misha, after all, is an adjutant. His military department has always been infantry, but he is better at logistics. It is not surprising that he knows these things."

"But I have to thank him. At least my wife looks good. Speaking of you, Peter Ivanovich, you should invite your wife back. She is in Vienna like this."

"I have written to ask her to come back, at least to see the children, but she recently was in a spa in Hungary for a spa retreat and will not be coming back for the time being."

"It's sometimes hard to guess a woman's thoughts. Even my wife who's leaning on the bed is the same."

"But I'm optimistic about Misha's marriage, even though this guy actually has a woman outside."

"He is very beautiful, so it's not surprising that a lady outside likes him. Besides, isn't Miloladovich also liked by women?"

Miloradovich was a friend of women, and the Queen had taken a fancy to him back then, but the general avoided this matter by going to study abroad in Königsberg.

"Ah, that's it, and the person involved is back. We were still talking like Davydov before."

Bagration was acting as a counterattack. After kicking the ball, Davydov was listening and did not expect that he would still have a role to play.

"Sir, if you say so, it is the adjutant's duty to inquire for information, unlike Misha who is only responsible for military intelligence."

Although his military rank is quite different from Solovyov's, because they were familiar with each other in the Guards, there is no problem in calling him this way.

"Ah, everything went smoothly for me, and this is a diplomatic event. If I mess up something during the meal, I will be in trouble. Fortunately, the emperor of France recognized me as my unrelated nephew. After all, he is my stepmother. My wife’s cousin.”

"Big news, Mishka, you always come up with something new."

Davydov is such a nosy guy, if he hears it, it will definitely spread, but it doesn't matter, I am afraid that the uncle who guards the gate of Ryazan Manor will know about it in the future.

"He has already made a guess about this. He just needs to check the evidence with Bonaparte opposite."

Bagration cannot say that he has no objection to Davydov saying that he has a long nose and a long face, but now he can only say this.

"I still have a mission, which is to sit here for a while. This letter has to be delivered to the emperor, with a signature. As for where to negotiate, a neutral area will be chosen. I think it should be on the Neman River."

"You go back and recover. If you need coffee, I have some coffee here."

"No, in the French military camp, everyone is drinking coffee. Make me black tea."

"You guys still can't live without black tea. Do you want some refreshments?"

"The tea here is too sweet and actually unhealthy, but it's good wartime food."

After he had said this, he would return to Alexander to resume his life.

After all, he was also familiar with Alexander's grooms. He could drive from Petersburg to the Neman River in two days. The road condition along the way was very good, and the speed was just right for peace talks.

As for when he arrived at the headquarters of the Guards Division, only Archduke Constantine was here.

"How did your mission go?"

"Your Highness, it went very well. Here is a letter to be forwarded to the Emperor."

"Wait a moment. Brother Huang will be here soon. His messenger will be here when you cross the river."

"It's so fast. The Hercules drives like he's flying."

"Many people in the military have objections to the negotiations. Can you detect it?"

"Your Highness, what do you think?"

"I think peace is also needed. As for where you go, how will Bonaparte behave?"

"He acted very calmly, as if victory was within easy reach for him, and he was looking forward to meeting the emperor."

"What was said about Prussia?"

"Nothing, just some jokes."

Even the French Emperor did not intend to give any face to the Prussian King in this meeting. He simply regarded it as the fish on the chopping board, Aqina and Seth Hei. That's probably what happened.

Prussia's fate may still need the Russian emperor's on-the-spot performance to be restored.

"Actually, Your Highness, what is more troublesome is that the French Emperor seems to have no need to let Prussia exist. His approach may disintegrate the country of Prussia. Destruction may be the worst option. Even more concessional negotiations may make this country The country lost most of its land and also lost occupied Polish lands and even some places that had long been under Prussian control."

"What did you say to me? Poor people must be hateful. We can only express regret when Prussia has become like this."

Although Grand Duke Constantine was relatively close to Prussia, he obviously had a better impression of the French.

Moreover, after Solovyov returned, he only served as a representative of the army. Alexander always had to pay attention to pomp and circumstance, and would later send Prince Lobanov-Rostovsky to represent the government. Speaking of which, Solovyov At first, he fell in love with his girl with a round face, but in the end, it backfired and she got engaged to little Katya.

The prince's daughter has recently been rumored to be on a blind date with Kirill of the Naryshkin family.

But when it's not time to worry about this, Alexander will always come. At Grand Prince Constantine's place, Solovyov waited until dusk before the Russian emperor arrived.

As for the title "Tsar", sometimes it can also be called Grand Duke Constantine, which was granted by Paul.

"Your Majesty, this is a handwritten letter from the French Emperor."

"Well done, Soloviev. The Foreign Minister and his committee will handle this matter. Now you don't need to return to the position of Chief of Staff of the Corps. Come back to be a general. You are already a general. You don't need to be an aide-de-camp."

"Yes, Your Majesty, but the Emperor of France may have some family relationship with me personally. This has been confirmed during the negotiations."

Alexander didn't find it strange, and he has always been abstract and loves to be a riddle king, like a sphinx.

After knowing that Soloviev's stepmother was from Martinique, he didn't care at first. Later, when he sent Soloviev to Saint-Domingue, he also noticed some special circumstances.

He could associate it, but he thought the same as the parties involved. Without clear evidence and confirmation from both sides, there would be no such thing.

Moreover, Solovyov was really useful. He had given him many surprises in the past year or so, and even defeated the French army twice. Napoleon himself came, and with the cooperation of Langeron, Bagration and others, they also fought a draw. This time, they retreated to the north bank of the Neman River without losing too many troops, and the main force of the Russian army was still intact.

He was an official member of Napoleon's family, and it didn't matter. Paris was not as easy as Petersburg.

Besides, Solovyov brought up this matter, just to tell it in advance, and to avoid the "Northern Sphinx" being too surprised.

But seeing that he didn't react, Solovyov also felt that he was worrying too much.

Alexander didn't express any opinion on the frankness of this attendant general, and his thoughts could only be guessed.

But there was also one thing that was particularly clear, that is, since he had made contributions, he should naturally be rewarded.

Therefore, being transferred back to the Winter Palace to serve as an attendant general and returning to work in the General Staff was a reward.

Then, he opened the letter and looked at the basic conditions that Napoleon proposed based on Russia's request for peace. The details still needed to be discussed.

But this was very unfriendly to Prussia, and Alexander was indeed mentally prepared.

Since he had formed an alliance with this ally, if Russia chose to negotiate at this time, it would always have to protect Prussia, but it would also have to sacrifice the interests of this country to allow France and Russia to finally negotiate peace.