Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

After Zanzibar left, the fleet headed to Madagascar.

Solovyov promised the King of Imrena that he would visit him on his return journey.

When the Qing people arrived in Tuamasina, they also witnessed an army that was a mix of indigenous people and advanced weaponry.

This combination was even more outrageous than that of the Qing army, but the fact that they all used flintlock muskets certainly opened the eyes of Qing officials.

Furthermore, people from the Qing Dynasty also discovered that the customs of Madagascar, judging solely from clothing and architecture, resembled those of Southeast Asia.

They also had doubts, so Long Ruyan asked Solovyov, and then he suddenly understood.

"So that's how it is. In ancient times, there were skilled boatmen who traveled across the ocean to come here."

"Indeed, there should be ocean currents at sea, just like the principle of sailing against the current in a river."

Basically, if you explain it to someone, they'll understand; if you don't, they'll be completely clueless.

As for ocean currents, the theory has been proposed, but it will take some time to perfect it.

Human understanding of the world is still in the process of gradual exploration.

As for the Qing army's formation in Madagascar, their armor proved extremely uncomfortable in the tropical region.

However, when we arrived in Madagascar, it was winter, and the temperature was relatively low, unlike in Oman.

When they are arrayed in formation, it always gives people a refreshing feeling.

Since these people were still elite troops of the Eight Banners, and came from two Zuo Ling (military units), they caught the eye of King Radama.

He asked Yishan if they could handle this.

Yishan didn't understand any foreign languages ​​at all, unlike Emperor Xianfeng and Emperor Guizi Liu who had actually learned some foreign languages, nor was he a gifted individual like He Daren, nor was he a diligent student like Lin Zexu.

Since we're speaking now, a translator is naturally needed.

Yishan didn't understand the situation at all; when he came to "comfort," things just didn't get done.

Organizing militia to suppress rebels somewhere would be more suitable for someone of his level.

However, the news that King Imrena wanted to implement the Eight Banners system caused many Qing Dynasty officials to lose their composure.

If you've read the General History of the Eight Banners, you'll know that there used to be a neighboring Khan named Lindan, who also plagiarized, but in the end, he didn't quite get it right.

Moreover, the Eight Banners system itself was relatively accepting within the military organization.

It might be more appropriate to bring the Native Americans over and have them organize themselves according to the established rules; their fighting capacity might then increase significantly.

It's worth noting that when Native Americans armed themselves, they could annihilate the main force of an American cavalry regiment, killing 300 enemy soldiers.

Even the Volunteer Army's crushing defeat of two regiments of the 1st Cavalry Division at Unsan was only the second major defeat in the division's military history.

Although, it is larger in scale.

As for the Kingdom of Imerina, given their relatively loose military organization, Solovyov didn't know if it was suitable. He thought that dividing the army of the King of Imerina into several combat units according to the Eight Banners, commanded by princes and high-ranking nobles, might be acceptable.

But he was still unsure about the next steps.

Even as a prince, Zhao Lian felt that this matter was unreliable.

However, the two martial artists, Delin and Ancheng, were eager to try.

However, that's not the main point; they won't be staying in Madagascar for more than a few days anyway.

It was merely a trade agreement that was signed, and the king received a reward from the Celestial Empire.

He even had something that others didn't: according to the edict of the Jiaqing Emperor, King Radama of Imreina was officially recognized as a king.

It has a gold seal and the colors of a prince's robe from the Qing Dynasty.

This is a huge windfall. For the people of Madagascar, distant China is still a legend.

That's almost on par with mythology. This was during Zheng He's voyages to the Western Ocean, when he reached Mozambique, which was also a center of the slave and ivory trade in southern Africa.

Beyond the sea lies Madagascar, and the rulers of the Imreina Kingdom, being Malay speakers, inevitably had some recollection of their homeland.

Given that the Ming Dynasty fleet once visited, the existence of such a legend is not surprising.

These rewards and investitures marked the last time the Qing Dynasty officially conferred titles upon an overseas tributary state.

As for what will happen in the future, that's up to the island nation of Imerina to pray for good fortune and not let anyone accidentally annex it.

After that, the fleet will weigh anchor and set sail for the southernmost tip of Africa, and will also stop in Cape Town on the return journey.

Solovyov needed to stay there to resupply and also to learn about the situation in Europe and America through the local governor.

When he arrived in Brazil, Bolívar received help from his former boss Napoleon, and the Polish cavalrymen who had completed their service went to the South American continent to join in the grand event.

Speaking of which, some of them used to do the dirty work and beat up the Spaniards when they were in Spain.

When they arrived in the Americas, they were still fighting the Spanish.

From this perspective, the emperor abdicated in vain.

As for the warships entering Cape Town, the governor was quite sensible and brought over six of the larger cheetahs.

This kind of weak, big cat only has the ability to run fast and catch chickens.
Zhaolian was also curious, as Russians all like to keep pets.

Solovyov himself loved raising horses, while his wife Katya loved raising cats.

When that Turkic concubine talked about pets, all she ever did was talk about various kinds of cats.

Moreover, this time when tribute was presented, a number of tigers of various sizes from different regions were also brought along.

Solovyov also took several Balinese tigers back to Russia to raise. When Zhaolian asked him about it, he mentioned that he was going back to be appointed as a governor-general, and that in southern Russia, he would be able to clear land and build a giant zoo.

Including lions and leopards.
"Russia is indeed a wonderful place."

"If Your Highness arrives in our capital and sees someone raising bears and parading them around, don't be surprised."

"That's natural."

Zhao Lian thought that these Rakshasa people were strange, as they actually kept bears as pets.

It's not surprising, really, because the Sultan of Oman's court has lions and leopards, as well as fine horses and a huge number of camels.

Upon arriving in Cape Town, Solovyov briefed the Qing delegation on the current situation in Europe, serving as a review, and also outlined important considerations for their journey after arriving in Europe.

In addition, in Cape Town, the Dutch governor arranged hunting activities for the guests who had come from afar.

Ah, this is something the Eight Banners soldiers excelled at.

Furthermore, they were two of Jiaqing's handpicked lieutenants, both skilled in archery on horseback and in foot combat on foot.

Solovyov felt that these elite Eight Banner soldiers did not resemble the Eight Banner soldiers of the Jiaqing and Daoguang periods.

In addition, there were also a few Manchu bannermen and members of the Qing imperial family who came this time.

Along the way, Solovyov was also giving them military lessons, which was considered top-tier private military instruction in Europe. Even Nikolai would be envious if he heard about it. After all, the famous generals in Europe at that time would not go out and teach; only Clausewitz and Jomini, two top staff officers, had the time to do so.

Solovyov's teaching of Nikolai didn't focus much on military science.

He did, however, want to provide more training for the roughnecks of the Qing Dynasty.

An Cheng would find it strange that Solovyov's personal martial arts skills were good at ranged combat and riding, but only so-so in close combat. He always used a revolver to get out of trouble.

However, the scholars saw no problem with this.

Solovyov, after all, was a commander who sat firmly in the central command post, not the kind who charged into battle.

But Solovyov had actually done frontline work before, and he had crawled through piles of corpses and fought his way through countless battles, so he was never lacking in that respect.

What the scholars saw was the present-day Solovyov.

As for these Manchu bannermen, although they don't study much normally, they're on someone else's ship, and if they don't study hard, they won't be fed.

Thinking back to their childhood when they were hungry, they still had to study in order to get food.

What's most infuriating is that although Solovyov doesn't get punished, he has a ton of homework.

We need to think about it carefully.
In response, the scholars said that memorizing this amount of content was too easy.

Niu Jian also shared his thoughts on the lecture. This guy is quite good at bragging. Although he was a coward during the Opium War, he is still eager to improve his studies.

As for the maintenance of muskets and cannons, these Eight Banner soldiers also had to practice and become proficient in the techniques.

According to Solovyov's own idea, since these Eight Banner soldiers were carefully selected, they would naturally bring with them some solid skills that wouldn't be a disgrace when they were to be stationed in various places as officers.

What he teaches here is the skill of leading troops into battle.

Those who have experienced it on the battlefield can naturally understand how it all works.

Moreover, look at the troops that Delin and Ancheng led. Although the two of them might not have lived to see the Opium War, the troops they led were all in their twenties or thirties, which was relatively young.

As long as they don't fall ill and die, and the British find an excuse to attack, these people will all be at their posts.

As for Solovyov's training experience and the knowledge that his mentor Suvorov had once taught him, he shared it all without reservation.

There are some things that even if you show them everything, the other party may not be able to learn them all.

For example, India, in its remarkable way, has yet to solve the problem of domestically producing weapons.

Even if these Manchu bannermen of the Qing Dynasty learned the skills, not everyone could necessarily use them.

Solovyov thought that Yang Fang, who had made a fool of himself in the Opium War, would probably learn faster because he had abandoned his studies to join the army.

If it were these people, and I were to lead them on a voyage and teach them along the way, it would be quite an achievement if they could finish the course by the time we reached Europe.

When they reach various European countries along the way, the major European powers will probably also set up their military parades.

This way, you can see quite a few, and inevitably, there will be some comments and criticisms.

As for the armies of various European countries, Solovyov was quite clear about their capabilities, except that he had never directly fought against the Spanish army.

Even before going hunting today, he didn't forget to give this lesson, making these Eight Banner soldiers suffer greatly.

However, they all knew they needed to keep a good appearance and not lose face.

Moreover, the purpose of arranging for them to hunt wild beasts this time was to showcase the horsemanship and archery skills of the Eight Banners soldiers.

Solovyov also knew that the Qing army's qualified archers, the Eight Banners soldiers, were basically required to have an eight-strength bow, and the Green Standard Army was the same, with even the weakest archer needing a six-strength bow.

The one who angered Emperor Qianlong to the point of breaking two eight-strength bows was the weakling from the Hangzhou Green Standard Army.

But the elite troops from Shaanxi and Gansu, along with some key officers, were also at their peak when they drew their bows.

Solovyov followed behind, watching them gallop away on horseback, and he was quite worried. This wave of attacks was probably going to be a disaster for the wildlife near Cape Town.

Although elephants, rhinos, and hippos are not included in this hunt, other animals are in for a rough time.

Moreover, there are rules when hunting; what can be shot and what cannot be shot are clearly defined.

When the hunt ended and these people returned, it didn't surprise Solovyov.

They mainly hunted herbivores; there weren't many truly tough animals.

That is An Cheng, who is indeed Hailancha's son. Although he is muscular but simple-minded, he is also very skilled at hunting.

He actually used a powerful bow to shoot and kill a lion and brought it back.
He truly is a superhuman, though his fighting prowess has somewhat diminished after spending so much time in the city.

But to pierce the skull with an arrow is something no ordinary person could do.

As for Solovyov himself, he still prefers living things, and running zoos and aquariums is his real interest.

He was riding a horse, holding his daughter in his arms, and had no intention of going out hunting.

As for these Baturu of the Qing Dynasty, they brought back all the game they hunted, which was quite convenient.

Fortunately, the Zulus are too far from Cape Town, otherwise there would definitely have been a warm and friendly exchange.

Solovyov didn't know what the exchange would go like.

The Russian officers and soldiers, after disembarking in Cape Town, were all wandering around aimlessly.

They gradually returned when it was time for the barbecue.

Fortunately, Cape Town is located in a place where it is unlikely to be affected by any dangerous epidemics.

This barbecue feast, along with chugging down drinks, resulted in Qing and Russian officers and soldiers, a group of drunkards, hanging out shoulder to shoulder in Africa.

Solovyov shook his head at the sight, as he couldn't hold his liquor, so he had to go off to the side with Zhaolian and a group of Hanlin scholars.

Then, these scholars, not content with their previous observations, discovered after observing the celestial phenomena at night that the stars in the southern sky were quite different from those in the northern sky.

This is going to be quite lively; I'll even have to discuss academic matters with them.

Fortunately, Solovyov was a naturalist type; besides leading troops, his greatest interests were women and reading.

In this era, it's easier to attract women, especially high-class noble ladies, if you're well-educated.

Solovyov is quite knowledgeable in this area, and he's quite proud of it.

I also need to explain to you all that for navigation, you must look at the Southern Cross constellation, which is very rare in China and can probably only be seen in the south.

Then, as the wine flowed freely, Zhaolian wanted to recite poetry, but considering that Solovyov really didn't want to write poetry, they just picked out lines to show off their erudition.

At this point, all you scholars will no longer be sleepy.

But when it comes to astronomy and geography, Solovyov, as the one who sets the questions, certainly doesn't lose face.

After Cape Town, we'll head north, straight towards Europe. (End of Chapter)