Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

Solovyov and Pierre were still walking in the ruins of Ivan the Terrible's palace. It was still spring and it was still a little cold, but one of them was wearing more clothes and the other could roughly figure out Pierre's condition by looking at his body shape.

Since we are still interested, we should keep going.

"You can also see that in this world now, there are naturally some people who like to grab territory."

"Russia's territory is already very vast. If this continues, all cold places, except for some parts of Europe and North America, will have some concern for us."

"If possible, even places like Iceland and Greenland. I always feel that some of the places mentioned in the Viking epics may have some connection with the American continent. Of course, this is just one person's opinion. We can also notice that the British are trying their best to expand their colonies, and the French will definitely feel that they have not occupied enough. Our country is the same, but the emperor's attitude is a little different. He still has to have some dignity."

However, the later tsars were not as proud as Paul and his sons.

“Everyone is looking at their own interests, but ignoring what is the driving force behind social progress.”

"The fundamental core is the progress of productivity and production relations. Pierre, I only tell you this because you are a sincere, upright and honest person. These contents seem to be only used on your own land. If others hear about it, they may think it is heresy."

"What exactly is it you want to say?"

Pierre was somewhat curious. Solovyov always instilled some strange things in him, but was unwilling to involve him in politics.

"Pierre, what we need to do is probably social practice. The existing new laws provide some space for this approach. But the conservative forces in the past are still strong. If we want to make Russia stronger, we must naturally look to the south and the west, not the east. I still remember that you and Andrei started to liberate the serfs in the southern estate, but this was just out of good intentions."

"You still insist on making progress in science and technology, right?"

"If we can use machines, we will not only have these mines and manors, but also factories. Industry is always more important. France, which only meets the farmers' demand for means of production and sells luxury goods, will not develop its industry faster than expected. They have already seriously threatened Britain's position. For us, if Russia can burst out with great power and put all this labor to use, I think the British will be sitting on pins and needles."

"You still can't forget to deal with the British."

"No matter how you look at it, the British always do things that are not decent, and they always act like gentlemen."

Pierre also knew that Solovyov was not lenient with these Western European countries, and it made sense for him to joke about them privately, calling them "barbarians".

After all, the three countries of Britain, France and Germany all evolved from barbarians in the eyes of the Greco-Roman world.

"You always think they are all barbarians."

"They say we are all barbarians, but if you think about it, the real civilized people are probably the Turks, but now they have been Turkified by the Sultan. When I was fighting in the Balkans, I could clearly see that they were just a group of pagan Greeks!"

The attitude is very clear. Solovyov also believes that the center of civilization is probably still in the Middle East and the Mediterranean, but because of economic development and changes in the times, the center of gravity of Europe has shifted.

"It's just that you need to exercise some restraint in this regard, at least don't appear emotional in public."

"Pierre, you used to love to debate. Lisa mentioned this trait of yours, and Andre and I also mentioned this in the army. You are much better now than before. But then again, I am not like you. I cannot express my disgust for the British openly through emotions, not to mention that I will always have some friends in Britain."

"But you have always considered Britain as a competitor, but the threat comes from France."

"France and Russia actually have common interests, but sometimes, there are always people who put personal ambitions above the country. My relatives..."

When Pierre heard this, he thought it was correct. After all, the Bonaparte family was indeed his relatives.

Napoleon arranged for his brothers to be kings, which did seem to pose a threat to the status of the feudal lords.

There are problems from any direction.

However, Solovyov was also aware that even with such a France, Britain had spent so much effort to deal with it, and the cost was already astonishing.

By the spring of 1812, things were already tense in Britain. Not only was there chaos in the cabinet, but there was also a threat from the United States. In addition, the Luddite movement in the country, which was destroying machines, seemed to have become more intense.

This situation happened in the UK because of the great lack of morality of the British gentlemen.

Although everyone is the same, what the UK is doing is extremely outrageous. It completely demonstrates the superiority of capitalism and opens people's eyes to see what kind of people they are.

Now all Solovyov was thinking about was preparing for the next competition. Although Russia had lost so badly at Austerlitz, it had always been well prepared when preparing for the anti-French alliance. The anti-French alliance without Napoleon also proved that Austria was indeed not very useful, even with Archduke Karl.

What's more, as for the Austrian marshals, such as Schwarzenberg, even Solovyov could say that if he met him on the battlefield, he would definitely be defeated.

After the wars with Sweden and Turkey, he became very confident.

If Russia could achieve some radical transformation, even just a small change in a certain direction, it might become a huge threat to Britain in future wars.

Russia is indeed the only country in Europe that has rich coal and forest resources, vast land for growing cash crops and food, and the ability to develop industry.

However, there were also such shackles that restrained Russia's development. Serfdom was indeed a burden, and there were also a large number of small and medium-sized landlords who opposed it. It seemed that the Tsar, the top nobles, and civil servants were more supportive of reform.

There is still a long way to go on this road.

"If Russia can develop by utilizing its vast land, even if it is just to build cities and transportation networks in the relatively warm southern Russia and develop industry using various resources, I think it will be a huge progress. It is already difficult for the British to deal with France. If Russia can realize its potential, it will be great."

Pierre looked expectant, thinking that perhaps the Russian system would undergo a radical change.

Solovyov was thinking, if I am so capable of making trouble, and a Muravyov can pop up, then I should find a way to have a good talk with Nikolay.

Just learn from Cheng Yaojin to take advantage of his age and roll over.

He himself had forgotten that when Suvorov was still alive, he really liked to roll on the grass in the morning. If he did so, it would be considered a discipleship.

Moreover, for Russia, the right of passage is more important at sea. To be honest, shipping on the Heilongjiang River (Amur River) is not very convenient.

Golovkin has already failed once, and next time he will probably have to solve the problem himself.

I hope that next year when the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is making trouble, Emperor Daoguang will be able to use the rifle he invented to perform a devastating job on the roof.

After all, his name was written in the rifle column on the tribute list, so he could make himself familiar with him, which might be useful in the future.

As for really dealing with the Qing Dynasty, one must be smart enough and do something big.

Compared with Nicholas, with my height, I can probably play the role of Master Yan.

It was also a pleasant conversation with Pierre. He is still financially strong, and has made many industrial adjustments as he said, and is not involved in some strange clubs.

However, he was still a Freemason.

Pierre often wondered why, although Solovyov was not a Freemason, he had mystical tendencies.

"You never told me what you were going to do, but now I have a rough idea of ​​what you were going to do."

"But there is only so much I can do alone, and the Freemasons are an organization that the emperor has repeatedly ordered to be banned. It is only because many bigwigs are members of various Freemasons that it has become what it is today. Pierre, if we really want to form a force, we should probably form a parliament like the British, elect a cabinet, and have a political party running."

"But this is somewhat difficult here, as you should know."

"In this case, you can complete the business, while I can only do some things in the army. Also, as a soldier, I may be more free to act, but..."

"Just what?"

"We also need to see what we can do, politically and in other areas."

Russia's potential is there, but because of its own problems, it will take another 50 years to abolish serfdom. This in itself is a huge joke. It is a case of getting up early and arriving late.

Pierre also shook his head. He knew that this would require a lot of people to do the work, and even among the relatives and friends who could understand their behavior, not all of them would join in the cause of transforming Russian society.

The communal basis of Russian village self-government was a huge problem for conservatives and reformers alike.

Especially during the period of Boris Godunov, serfdom was consolidated and the basis of village autonomy was destroyed, but the landlord class that already existed in 1812 was formed.

PS: Bondarchuk actually directed and acted in Godunov

In the next few days, Pierre finally got the final relief, and Helen finally lay in the coffin. Regarding Pierre's experience, the people around him who cared about his life came to Moscow to comfort him and also confirmed one thing, that is, after Helen's death, Count Bezukhov's family would always need a new daughter-in-law.

However, considering that there is always a need for an adaptation period before marriage in Russia, Pierre was tricked by Prince Vasily Kurakin and soon married Helen, which eventually led to the misfortune of his marriage.

After being freed from this, Pierre has been more enthusiastic about various undertakings in recent times, especially the repair of roads and the transformation of manors. He also wants to improve the living conditions of serfs and gradually liberate the serfs in his huge industry.

As a famous wealthy man in Moscow, his investments also include mines in the Ural Mountains and a large number of factories.

If feasible, we would probably also plant cotton in the South and then develop the textile industry.

Before Russia resumed economic relations with Britain, it was always able to achieve rapid development of its own industries.

Mainland countries often encounter this problem. France is like this: when it sells luxury goods, its industry is also developing, and some side effects are sometimes useful.

As for Solovyov himself, he also separated from Pierre and went to his father-in-law's estate.

Some time ago, young Prince Vasily got married, which allowed old Prince Vasily to see some happy events while he was still sober.

He is now drowsy all day long, obviously suffering from a serious cardiopulmonary disease. If he continues to become so weak, it is only a matter of time before he passes away.

"Misha, there is something else to worry about."

His mother-in-law had spoken, and Solovyov had to listen.

"Mother-in-law, you are referring to the property rights dispute with Aunt Praskovya?"

"I don't need to be reminded to know that you are a really smart kid."

In fact, his mother-in-law is only 12 years older than him, and she dresses very beautifully. It is hard to notice the passage of time if you don't look out of the corner of your eye.

"In this case, our aunt can also submit the petition directly to the emperor. Her family already has so many properties, why would she care about these 3,000 serfs?"

"Father has listened to you and is going to release these serfs gradually."

My brother-in-law doesn't care about these things. If he can make more money, it would be good to restore the serfs' freedom.

Of course, his attitude was ambiguous. The family still had debts of hundreds of thousands of rubles. Old Prince Vasily was not a first-generation special prince or ordinary prince with great military merits like his father, so naturally he would not receive any pension from the Tsar.

Suvorov was relatively poor, but his son was favored and had no debts, and his daughter-in-law brought a large dowry, so he naturally lived a good life.

But for some other nobles, this is a problem.

Solovyov asked his old father to help his father-in-law to check the real estate and population in preparation for getting rid of some inappropriate burdens, but Katya's aunt refused to do so, and it was obvious that she wanted to cause a lawsuit. (End of this chapter)