Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

When we arrived in Karlsruhe, the simple palace of the Grand Duchy of Baden looked quite large, but in some places, it was probably only at the level of a count.

The old man did not want to expand the palace too much, so it was made like this.

There was not even a fence outside, but there was a forest, but few people were around.

This made Soloviev, who had been working as a guard for a long time, feel unsafe.

However, Karlsruhe was indeed quite safe.

When the group passed through Prussia, they could see that after the war, the defeated Prussian soldiers passed by, and the French army passed by like locusts. There were also many places that lost order and became bandit dens, and everything became dilapidated.

Karlsruhe, on the other hand, was a place where civilians could live unless Napoleon was beaten up and beaten to his doorstep.

Besides, the old man of the Grand Duchy of Baden was old and cunning, and he could still protect the civilians under his rule with his rich experience, which was also a form of living and working in peace and contentment.

He had survived all these years, from the time he ascended the throne at the age of nine, to the time he took power at the age of eighteen, until now, so many years had passed.

He had witnessed three wars of succession to the throne, plus the Seven Years' War and the many wars since the French Revolution. It was a blessing in disguise that the local area was only levied by the passing French locusts.

He could now walk with a cane, but for convenience, he still met Catherine and her party in a wheelchair.

"Catherine, when my granddaughter Louisa wrote to me, she often brought portraits of you sisters, from the time you could hold the railing, until, well, before the war, you are now a big girl. How old are you this year? You must be eighteen, and it's time for you to get married."

"Grandpa, Catherine is the same age as my younger sister, and I am the same age as Maria who married to Weimar. Didn't I tell you that?"

Karl wanted to add to the old man, and Solovyov couldn't confirm whether he really couldn't remember or what was going on.

But it was because she was too old, over 80 years old, and could talk to people clearly, so it was not a big problem to count wrong.

"Ah, that's what happened." He also saw Ekaterina bowing to him, so he held her hand and continued to talk.

"Your grandmother was a blessed person, but she also had many misfortunes. I corresponded with her at that time, and I didn't expect that she would agree to it so easily. This is how we got a marriage between a small state like ours and the Russian Empire. You are luckier than your sisters and can marry into a big country, but you have to be careful everywhere. It doesn't matter for old guys like us, but you young people still have a long way to go."

But the old man said this, if he continued to talk, who knows what condiments he would add.

But Karl didn't know what to say, just let the old man continue.

Ekaterina had to listen. This Archduke Karl Frederick was originally just a feudal lord of the Baden branch. Because Baden-Baden had no heirs, Baden was merged into a state again.

Because small countries can only follow the wind in recent years, he chose to rely on France, which is at his doorstep. In his later years, he turned the Marquis of Baden into a grand duchy, and its strength has greatly improved compared to the original small towns.

However, it is still far behind France at the doorstep.

Whether he is a vassal or a grand duke, he can only rely on powerful countries and have good relations with neighboring countries. This is why he asked his son to marry his granddaughters to suitable countries.

It is also a pity that the eldest granddaughter is really not good-looking. In addition, it happened that the King FW of Prussia wanted to marry at that time, and he was unable to ask the British prince who was interested in Amalia's character and qualities to come to propose marriage, which almost delayed his granddaughter's lifelong event. Although the Polish prince was unreliable, he was still a close friend of the Tsar and had a high status.

As for the latter, it is relatively simple. Caroline married the King of Bavaria as a second wife, Louisa is the wife of the Russian Tsar, Frederica is now the Queen Mother of Sweden, and although the little granddaughter Wilhelmine is not happy, her status is still there.

Poor Mary, although her husband treats her the best, but because of the special relationship between the Duke of Brunswick and Prussia, the family is almost broken up. The "Black Duke" divorced Mary formally because he had no fiefdom and was marching and fighting outside, and he might encounter unexpected events at any time, so he gave her the right to choose her own future.

However, it is embarrassing that although Mary has the protection of her sisters in Petersburg, few people come to her to ask for marriage.

This is now the most worrying one among the few heartaches of the old man, after all, this granddaughter is too far away from him.

When he saw Catherine, he chattered like this.

The old man's mind is quite clear, and what he said, that is, the numbers and ages, may be a little biased, but generally speaking, it is still correct.

He even had the heart to tell jokes, and making people laugh was also a skill.

In Solovyov's view, the old man was indeed an old artist. Not only did he live a long life, but a feudal lord could develop to this point. At least the internal institutional reform of the country was completed, and what should be done was done, and the civilians could survive.

However, it was hard to say what would happen after his death. With his prestige and the open-minded attitude of the Baden family, it was easy to say.

Whenever Solovyov arrived at a palace, he did pay attention to the interpersonal relationships here.

Unlike the situation in the old Duke of Brunswick, at least everyone in Baden is normal, and no one has abnormal intelligence.

But it should be noted that the old man’s wife, the Countess Louise von Gersberg, obviously has a bad face, and it is unknown how the old man found his future partner.

According to Louisa’s memories of her childhood, the Countess was not very friendly to Karl, but at that time Karl Ludwig was still there, and the in-laws of Baden were always well selected, and the Countess of low status could not do anything.

Her covetousness was also due to the special family structure of the Zähringen family that ruled Baden.

Since Karl Ludwig was a "good father-in-law in Europe", there might be an embarrassing situation of insufficient number of sons.

Especially his family, with a strange family structure of one son and six daughters, if there was one more son, it might not arouse the ambition of the Countess to compete for a position for her son.

If we talk about it in a higher level, it is probably the position of the Grand Duchy, but the three previous dukes still have the order of succession. Even if Karl is removed now, it will require legislation within the Grand Duchy.

But this also has problems. It seems unrealistic, because although Stephanie is only Napoleon's adopted daughter, France is at the door.

And relatives, no matter how far or near, can interfere with Karlsruhe's affairs to some extent.

For example, Wilhelmine, who married to Hesse, was unhappy, so her sisters would write to her brother-in-law Ludwig. In view of the pressure from the sisters-in-law, the unfortunate Ludwig could only bear it.

As for Nicholas' son marrying a daughter-in-law, some people would say that the daughter-in-law who married here was "impure blood", but Ludwig was forced by the sisters-in-law to recognize the child.

Although it sounds outrageous, it can be regarded as restoring history.

But the Baden family looks very subtle.

At the banquet, Solovyov also saw his father, stepmother, and brothers and sisters. The family reunited here and they lived here for a while.

Count Sergei was very happy and took his daughter-in-law's hand to meet the old man of Baden.

"Your Highness, this is my daughter-in-law. She should be called Catherine. She is the granddaughter of Prince Klimsky of the Dolgorukov family."

"Ah, that's the commander-in-chief. I've heard of him, and he also led troops to fight. It's a big man like him, but he has such a lovely granddaughter. It's just curious that you have such a daughter-in-law, whose status is much higher than you, the count."

"Your Highness, this is the Queen's intention. At that time, the Queen promised to find a marriage for Misha. At that time, I was also the Queen's maid, and we got married like this."

"No wonder, my granddaughter's vision is not wrong. A girl with a high status in the court should find a promising young man."

However, the old man looked at Katya's appearance, always paying attention to stroking her belly, and now that she hasn't shown her figure, he also knows the general situation.

"Count, your family is really prosperous. However, these three sons..."

"Don't worry, Your Highness, I have already arranged it. Anton will learn to manage the family property from his relatives in the future. Mikhail is the eldest son, so naturally he will have his own career and he is also my heir. The two younger sons will never be as promising as him. They are already lieutenant generals before they are 30 years old. As for the youngest son Vasily, I am not young anymore, and I will have to rely on the eldest son to take care of him in the future. As for whether he wants to join the army, do business, or become a civil servant, it will naturally be based on his interests."

"Well, there is some truth. I really envy your "new rich" families, it is easy to arrange household affairs."

When saying this, the old man was a distance away from his current wife.

Although the three sons born to the countess were fine, the elderly grand duke was still somewhat distracted by household affairs.

He also hoped that his family could be like the Soloviev family, but their family had a certain size of territory and also a considerable fortune.

However, although this wife took good care of him, it was also a problem whether he could manage what he wanted to do and what he could do after his death.

If the French forces behind his granddaughter-in-law fell, or if something else happened, it would be hard to say.

He could only take it one step at a time, that is, his grandson Karl was very young, and his first wife's other two sons were still there, so he didn't have to worry too much.

This was not without a solution, but the third son Ludwig had no intention of marrying a nobleman, and he had illegitimate children outside. Even if he found a noble widow who had given birth to a child to marry, this matter could be considered settled, which could cut off the strange ambition of his current wife.

"You are so lucky, your child is always around. Although Mikhail is promising, he has been in the army since he was thirteen, and he is rarely at home. When he was in Moscow, I could still send him to do some things. Later, he became an adjutant, and then went to the Guards, and became a general. He has grown up. You know, birds always leave the nest."

"But this child looks like he can do something."

The old man heard about Solovyov in the letters from his granddaughters, and not only the positive comments from Louisa and Mary, but also the more neutral comments from Amalia, and the things in Frederica's letter.

The last point is that the granddaughter's position as queen was eliminated, and she became the queen mother.

Let’s not talk about those outrageous things, the ability is here.

As for his own affairs, he now saw Solovyov and Karl talking about something.

They knew each other when they were in Petersburg, and they seemed to get along well.

However, judging from the report from the grenadiers sent back to him, it should be that Louisa was worried about her only brother, so she said a few words.

Solovyov spoke very quickly, and the grenadier officer didn’t hear clearly. By the way, he also complained about Solovyov’s outrageous Austrian accent, which was sometimes unclear.

As for the two of them, they were naturally talking about this matter.

"Karl, I have to do this, but if there is any entertainment, we may have to stay in Karlsruhe before we are ready in Strasbourg."

"We need to arrange concerts and hunting. I heard that you like music very much?"

"I do have this hobby, but unlike the emperor, who is still my uncle, I not only like military music, but also have a wide range of hobbies. At least I am not uninterested in Paganini's performance."

"That's good, there will be hunting and concerts."

"It's a pity, if Mozart were still alive, I like his music very much."

As for Mozart's "resurrection" creation, he still released new singles more than 200 years later. Solovyov came early and was not completely clear. He just knew that the scores were often found from various strange places.

When Maria caught him once, she showed him a copy of Vivaldi's manuscript of the Four Seasons Suite, and even the copy was a few years old.

"Since you like Mozart's music, you must be a lively person. But, can you play the piano?"

"My fingers are not suitable, but other instruments are fine. For example, the accordion or the balalaika, they sound very Russian."

"No wonder the sisters mentioned you and said you have a talent for music. We can exchange some music later. Stephanie also has a hobby in this area. You can talk to her then."

"Is this appropriate?"

"Michael, call your wife too. She used to be my sister's maid, so there won't be any problem."

Speaking of which, Karl still has some political ability and cleverness. The Countess's son was able to inherit the right later, probably because he knew that his health might not be good, and the legislation was passed less than a year before his death.

Now, he has to help his friend even more, although Solovyov has not seen this script. (End of this chapter)