Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 106 006 Glass Greenhouse of Pavlovsk Palace
This glass greenhouse was built by Tsar Paul in imitation of the citrus greenhouse in the Palace of Versailles. However, it was shelved because of a previous insect infestation that led to serious diseases.

After asking the gardener of the Pavlovsk Palace, Solovyov learned that the newly built greenhouse must have been infested with parasites. The soil should be treated at this time. If it is left empty, it will be of no use.

The solution he thought of was to clean the soil thoroughly.

"From the description given by the palace gardener, it should be a nematode disease."

“What are nematodes?”

"It's a crop parasite, very, very small, monsieur."

Microscopes were already available in this era, and in fact, some parasites and microorganisms can be seen under a microscope.

Solovyov mentioned the problem, but he couldn't say anything with these "agricultural experts". He didn't know whether there were any experts in microbiology in St. Petersburg. He only knew that Euler's descendants were here and that people from the Bernoulli family in Switzerland sometimes came to visit.

If he really wanted to study agronomy, he didn't have the brains to connect to a search engine like Wikipedia. Even if he typed Russian in his mind, he couldn't find any relevant experts to help him.

At this time, he had to do it himself. He said that in Count Bobulinski's shop, there were microscopes imported from abroad that could be used, and insect eggs and adults were seen during soil analysis.

"So how do we deal with this disease?"

"Now that there are no crops in the soil, we can adopt the method of replacing the soil. If we don't want to waste the fertile soil in the palace, we can use fire and flooding. Burn while flooding."

The method is definitely effective. In addition, he conducted a relatively rough organic matter combustion test, which showed that the soil in Pavlovsk Palace is still not suitable for growing vegetables.

So he borrowed a company of grenadiers, taking advantage of his familiarity with the old guys in the Grenadier Regiment, and removed all the soil from the palace, replacing it with fertile soil from estates near Tsarskoye Selo and Gatchina.

Then, it’s time to start farming, and build a greenhouse earlier than the normal planting season.

On Elena's side, after the doctor confirmed that there was nothing serious, the queen brought her daughters and two young sons to Pavlovsk, and the Tsar himself was arranging the wedding for Anna Lopushina. This young lady was the Tsar's spiritual friend. She had recently told the Tsar that she loved her childhood friend Prince Pavel Gagarin. The Tsar then recalled the young man from the front line and wanted to bless the newlyweds.

Well, this kind of thing should be that the request was made, and the Tsar asked the newlyweds about their wishes and then complied with them. It doesn't count as his violent act of arranged marriage.

But this marriage was indeed terrible. Prince Pavel Gagarin was a complete scumbag. Contrary to modern society, he tried to seize Anna Lopushina's property. These things were going to happen in the future.

Alexander brought Louisa and his two daughters to Pavlovsk. The problem came from the princess's sister Catherine. She was so young, but she had already set her sights on the crown prince himself.

Although Alexander likes to have affairs with women outside and is very popular with women, he also has taste. At least he is not the same as his father, even if the other party is only 17 years old.

Moreover, the little girl was only 14 years old when she first tried to "seduce" the crown prince, so she was arranged by Paul to be the wife of the wealthy Demidov. This was one of the few marriages arranged by Paul that did not result in any accidents.

The little girls in St. Petersburg are really terrible. Only the cats kept in the palace don’t cause much trouble, but today they are instigating their sister-in-law to “go to the fields to work” together.

Solovyov was helpless, as these ladies wanted to get involved whenever they saw something new. Since they were going to try growing large strawberries and various fresh fruits in the palace, they were very curious.

It was warm in the greenhouse, so they dressed like little country girls, took off their shoes and socks, and went down to the fields to help with sowing.

Although it was a bit ridiculous, Solovyov still had to ask the Queen for instructions.

"Baron, these three are willing to do this. You should let them go to work now. I will deal with them at night."

"That's not good?"

"It's okay. Just let them enjoy themselves in the bathroom. You just need to control them and make sure they don't get into trouble or ruin your work."

"Yes, Your Highness the Queen."

"You look proper in this attire. The son of a squire has experienced life. If Nicholas were not too young, I would have let him follow you. Boys can do anything. I have spoiled these two girls. They should learn to spin or be like Elizabeth."

Although she was an evil mother-in-law, but now looking at her two daughters who were as unruly as country girls, and the little daughter following them to play, she felt that the eldest daughter-in-law was so docile and was not bad.

However, as the second-ranked woman in the palace, the Crown Princess is always the Queen's main target. This battle between the mother-in-law and the daughter-in-law is probably the most outrageous plot in this relatively warm palace environment, even surpassing the soap opera of Alexander finding a mistress.

Meanwhile, Louisa was rocking the cradle and watching her sisters-in-law go down to the ridge and make a fool of themselves.

"You two, put Anya aside and don't let her go crazy with you." The Crown Princess took some effort to get Anna to her side.

Although she is a girl, it can be seen that Anna is taller than other children of the same age. This can be seen from the comparison between the several 5-year-old children brought to the palace before.

Several old maids said the same thing, and the child’s main task now is to lie on the cradle and look after his niece.

When Solovyov came back, he started to take the first step, which was to turn the soil.

This was done indoors, and only a small plot of land was used for the experiment, so of course no animals were used. Instead, several guards soldiers, including Solovyov himself, began to plow the soil with a wooden plow, and the depth was set at more than half of Arshin.

However, the soldiers worked in groups of two. Solovyov was holding an Irish hand-made plow, loy, which was generally used for working in inconvenient mountains or small spaces. He was also quite comfortable using it.

"Soloviev, I want to use this thing of yours. It looks like fun."

Ekaterina also obviously found it quite interesting to see someone plowing the fields.

"Your Highness, this is something that country folks use to work. You are so young, it will be a bit strenuous for you to use it."

Yes, just look at her slender neck, hands and feet, and fair skin. Even though she is the most lively and healthy among the sisters, she has never done any physical labor.

Then she stumbled and fell into the mud, with the wooden plow still stuck in the ground.

"You obviously find it very useful, why is it like this for me?"

"Before I could tell you what to do, you took action. It should be like this." However, she fell so hard that her white clothes were covered with black mud, and Maria had to come over to help her brush it off.

"Katya, I'm telling you, don't be so new to everything. The major promised us to help him with his work, and he only wanted to sow the seeds, not to plow the fields."

"But I also want to ask you, Your Highnesses, where did you learn to dress like this? Although the look is correct, a farm girl would not wear such a white dress and a flowered apron when working in the fields."

"Not only does this help with work, it also looks good!" The young lady explained readily, putting her hands on her hips and sticking out her undeveloped chest, seeming to be very proud of it.

Ekaterina looked like a compass from Tsarskoye Selo (she was born in Tsarskoye Selo), with her feet planted in the ground. She was lucky not to wear shoes or socks, otherwise she would have to bury her shoes in the ground. Soldiers are very experienced in this, after all, the muddy ground has "swallowed" their leather boots.

"Then you'll be like a kitten in a mud pit. No matter how much your mother dotes on you, you'll probably be unhappy. It's outrageous."

Maria said this, completely ignoring the fact that she was also dressed like this, but she was obviously more obedient. Solovyov asked them both to stand aside and wait until the soldiers finished plowing the fields before coming in.

"Look, this strawberry seed is only this big. Dig a hole and put a seed this big in it."

Ekaterina lost her patience after a while, but Maria was very patient. She bent over and finished the task assigned to her.

"Katya, you better hurry up, we won't help you finish it."

"Yes, Your Highness."

She pouted and was angry at herself, but she looked really cute when she was angry. No wonder her two brothers were so fond of her.

"I'm just a whimsical little scoundrel, and I got what I deserved."

This time she was the one who took the lead and wanted to urge her sisters to come to Pavlovsk to participate in the labor. However, she ended up sitting there "shut down" before she had finished half of the work.

She took the lead and was willing to finish the work even if it meant crying. Her characteristic is that she lacks patience.

After finishing this short piece, he did not return to his old ways, but instead curled up in Maria's arms and cried.

"Woo."

But as the tears flowed, she made herself look dirty and dusty, like a little cat.

This made Louisa, who was watching nearby, cover her face with a fan and laugh.

Then Maria and Anna, as well as a few veterans who were assigned to do the work, all laughed.

"Why aren't you smiling?"

"I am trained, Your Highness." Solovyov responded with a polite smile and took out a mirror.

When Ekaterina saw this, she laughed too. She made herself dirty, and all the exposed skin was covered with dirt. In contrast, after Maria washed her hands, apart from the clothes that were stained by her crying, there was more dirt on half of her calves and feet.

Considering how she played around in the palace all day, it was not surprising that she got herself dirty.

When the queen passed by here, she felt angry and amused. She originally wanted to spank Catherine, but she loved this daughter the most and couldn't bear to do it when she saw her, so she just asked her and Maria to go to the bathroom to wash after a while, and the servants were preparing hot water.

Next, the two girls, who had made themselves dirty, sat on the side with their legs crossed. When they had nothing to do, they were likely to ask all kinds of questions.

For example, when there were no greenhouses in the past, what should we do if we want to eat fresh vegetables in winter?
"That stumps me. I really only know how to build a greenhouse, and I don't know where it came from."

"It turns out that even an inventor like you sometimes doesn't understand things, sister-in-law, do you know that?"

"It seems to be related to Emperor Tiberius, Augustus' successor, who was required to eat a cucumber every day for health reasons and built these greenhouses for the first time in order to ensure supply."

As for the heated greenhouses, Koreans can actually apply for World Heritage status, because the earliest greenhouses with floor heating were recorded in the Joseon Dynasty of Korea. However, it can be confirmed that French nobles began to build various heated greenhouses in order to show off their luxurious dining tables. Initially, it was to ensure the supply of citrus fruits, and later the Duke of Bouillon wanted to eat a few rare pineapples. Even some tropical fruits have entered Europe after 1700.

It is not surprising that it appeared in Russia, but it became popular among the aristocratic circles mainly in St. Petersburg and Moscow, and even then it was only built in a few places. It had to wait until Paul's sons became tsars to promote it. However, since the cost was too high, the popularity rate was not that high.

"This is probably the earliest known greenhouse, and at that time there was no glass, but thin mica sheets for light."

This Crown Princess really loves reading history books. After reading the encyclopedia, she roughly memorized this unpopular place.

After Solovyov planted all the strawberry seeds in the ground, he went to fetch water to wash his hands, and he also reminded the two little girls.

"Your Highnesses, please wash your hands and feet first. You still have to take a shower later. You can't enter the bathroom and still be like this."

Indeed, if you make yourself look like a mud monkey, you will inevitably be beaten even in a civilian family.

They were both going to be taught a lesson by the nanny, especially Catherine, who looked as if she had rolled in the mud and come back again.

When the two of them went to the bathroom wrapped in bath towels, they were still talking and laughing, but because steam was provided, it caused fog - even the visual animation could not see clearly.

Because Paul attended the wedding of Prince Lopukhin's family today, it also provided a topic for the two of them. Even Ekaterina's mind was full of young people in military uniforms, especially Prince Mikhail Dolgorukov.

"How old are you and you already want a man?"

"Sister, don't you always ask that major to sing for you in the palace?"

"That's different. You wrote to the prince secretly. The major wrote to Sister Elena."

Indeed, Ekaterina is currently eleven and a half years old. Although the letters she writes cannot be called love letters, she is quite clever despite her young age.

(End of this chapter)