Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

As the ice and snow melted, Solovyov began further work.

He had also seen ceramic factories in Western Europe, where high-end porcelain was produced and sold to European and American courts, and its value was evident there.

The situation in Russian porcelain factories was clearly much worse, not because of a lack of raw materials, but because of problems with the production process.

Solovyov also wrote to the "little fairy" who was having a good time in Paris, because she was also an expert on luxury goods.

Incidentally, she squandered a significant portion of the inheritance Prince Bogdanovic gave her.
Given her languid nature, the only time she would remember to reply to Solovyov was when she thought of their friendship from her girlhood.

But upon seeing the pink envelope, the letter inside, and the beautiful handwriting, Solovyov knew that this young widow in Paris wasn't thinking about things back home.

The daughters were cared for by their mother and brother-in-law. The illegitimate daughter of Metternich was forcibly claimed by Alexander as Bagration's, but the father was Metternich. This youngest daughter was also abandoned by her to Metternich.

Therefore, she only cared about enjoying herself in Paris and even led the fashion trend there; such a charming beauty has the means to be successful.

Compared to her, Polina, who used to love fooling around all day, was much more well-behaved in order to take care of her grandchildren, even though she couldn't do much.

"What was the Princess's reply?"

Katya was also very curious. She knew that Solovyov generally did not correspond with this lady, except to inform her of Prince Bagration's death and to report on the girls' education in St. Petersburg. After all, Prince Roman Bagration was not good at education; he had simply sent his nieces to the Smolny School for Girls, and this responsibility had fallen to this junior student.

When Solovyov went to war, this task fell to his mother-in-law. After becoming a widow, she had nothing to do and was enthusiastic about arranging blind dates for the young men and women around her.

Therefore, there won't be many times when communicating.

"It's still the same as before, but I'm not her type, Katya, you can rest assured about that."

"She can't change her personality, but I envy her figure."

Katya's figure was somewhat affected by having several children with Solovyov, which Solovyov could notice when they were intimate.

This woman, despite her binge eating and outrageous behavior, has surprisingly managed her figure remarkably well.

Otherwise, how would she hook up with men?
Her latest love interest is a British lord, and she even mentioned in her letters that she wants to marry him.

After all that, the local porcelain factory in Limoges will take its place.

Solovyov was speechless at this unpredictable young widow. He first informed her what she had been up to lately, and then got down to business.

She also suggested that if Solovyov were to build a porcelain factory, she should have a trial run. This time, she didn't want shares, but only wanted a set of beautiful porcelain made for her, preferably in a soft pink color, or perhaps sky blue, or the color of Lake Ladoga.

There were quite a few requirements, and Katya almost laughed herself to tears when she saw them.

“You’ve known this lady for a long time, and her personality hasn’t changed at all.”

"I'm just afraid of her, but thankfully she never targets me."

Solovyov and she have known each other for 22 years, from a little girl in white stockings to a seductive young widow. Especially in the early years in St. Petersburg, before Prince Bagration got engaged to her, people wondered why the two of them, who were such sworn enemies, did not become a couple.

The biggest advantage of "Little Fairy" compared to Katya is her full breasts, but she never does anything productive, unlike Katya who is always nursing her children.

After getting down to business, Solovyov also considered the location of the porcelain factory.

If you're in Simferopol, the environment here is quite good; it's probably the best place in all of Russia in terms of environment.

It's hard to find an environment like China's in Russia. You're lucky if you can find kaolin. The best quality minerals are in Saxony and Bohemia, followed by France and Spain, and Cornwall in England.

However, the porcelain from Europe wasn't even something that missionaries "stole" and brought back, because there was a severe shortage of minerals there. It took a long time to analyze the materials before they were able to replicate the porcelain, but it was still the kind of ceramics that appealed to European aesthetics.

No wonder the "little fairy" specifically mentioned this matter when she wrote to him.

Speaking of which, he's over thirty years old, and he's still indulging in absurd and extravagant ways.
In her letter, she also mentioned that several ceramic factories in Limoges seemed to be going out of business because there was a severe lack of customers in France.

If you're looking for a wealthy nobleman who's also a bit unsophisticated, then naturally you'd have to go to Russia.

Russian country nobles, some of whom never traveled abroad, also became a significant group of people who experienced Parisian fashion.

Russia has such a large market, so he wrote to Pierre, finally able to see his old friend again.

Pierre's business in Kiev mainly consisted of glassware. He brought in craftsmen from Venice to teach his factory workers, many of whom were his freed serfs.

The master taught them skills that would make them a lot of money, and they were willing to learn them.

Moreover, life in the factory was more interesting than life on the estate.

Whenever Pierre went to a city to build his factory, he would follow the method André had taught him: to network with the local social circles and then arrange jobs for the freed serfs.

But these serfs were mainly craftsmen.

Pierre would send those who lacked skills to the railway company to lay roadbeds, cut down trees, and clear roads—tasks that always needed to be done.

He was known in the past as a philanthropist and also a Freemason.

But Pierre was also puzzled, because Solovyov was not a Freemason and had not joined any Freemason organization.

If possible, Solovyov could be appointed as the head of Pierre's own Freemason organization, given his sharp intellect.

But Solovyov was determined that the relationship with Freemasonry during Nicholas's era might not be as friendly as it was under Alexander.

It's better to remain independent of the organization, which will also allow me to provide convenience for my friends.

As for Pierre, he departed from Kiev and traveled on the Dnieper River with Natasha and their children aboard the steamship "Helson" to Kherson, from where they took a fast boat to Feodosia.

Pierre also owns properties here. The old count of the Bezukhov family left his son a vast fortune, and his estates and properties in various places are even more important than his mansion in Moscow.

Even after Pierre and Solovyov became acquainted, he had Count Sergei help him with some planning, and Solovyov personally offered him business advice. As a result, although investment increased and money was flowing out every year, the resulting income was also greater.

Pierre's family remains the undisputed richest in Moscow, probably only the Yusupov family is richer.

“Pierre, it’s so nice to see you.”

“Misha, let me see you. I must say, you look so young, while I, well, look at me, I’m already getting gray hair.”

“That’s not a bad thing. You’ve been improving the treatment of the people around you. Everyone says that Count Bezukhov of Moscow is a true philanthropist.”

"Yes, Pierre may not want to say it, but everyone knows about it."

Natasha said that the Rostov family and the Solovyov family were not far apart.

Nikolai did not marry Sonia in the end because of the count's poor financial situation, but because he saved Duchess Maria, the two got married after the war ended.

Sonia still lived with him, but their relationship never came to fruition.

Andrei's children, and Lisa, were well taken care of by Nikolai.

Petya, on the other hand, resigned from his post as Solovyov's adjutant and married Katya's sister, Princess Sonia. The two then moved to the countryside near Ryazan.

Petya worked in the Governor's Office in Ryazan. Due to his military achievements and the arrangements made by the Dolgorukov family, he was quickly promoted to the rank of eighth-class civil servant, mainly in charge of postal work.

He was Natasha's brother-in-law, and also a staff officer in the Bagration Command. After the war ended in 1812, he was transferred to Penza due to his position.

In her family life, Natasha is no longer as lively as she used to be; now she is more like a virtuous wife and loving mother.

Of course, I also kept in touch with my girlfriends and maintained the same strong sense of curiosity as before.

“Natasha, we are all doing well now, and we all have our own careers. As for the children, I hope they grow up quickly.”

"But then we'll get old."

Katya and Natasha were about the same age, in the best stage of their lives, young ladies in their twenties, radiant and full of mature charm.

“Natasha, I want to think about our husbands before we grow old.”

"Katya, you're right, but Misha looks very young, even younger than my brother."

"That's probably because I never grow a mustache."

"Yes, the mustache. That's exactly what Nikolai's mustache was like."

"Katya, Pierre and I still have some things to discuss. You should entertain the guests; so many children will surely have a great time playing together. It's just a pity that you two will be getting married five years later than us. The younger children have their own friends, but the older children..."

Katya and Natasha led the children aside, and Solovyov brought two fine horses, and together with Pierre, they strolled through the fields near Feodosia.

"Although this place looks nice, it lacks water, so I've hired a group of geologists and surveyors who are measuring the land and drilling wells for water. Soon Crimea will prosper, just like in classical works, when the Greeks ruled here and it became the granary of the eastern Mediterranean."

“This is a great plan, but with your temperament, Misha, you won’t be satisfied with just agriculture.”

"Yes, the reason I invited you here is because the basin near Donetsk has yielded kaolin, a raw material for making porcelain, in addition to coal mines. However, I haven't decided yet where to set up a factory."

“If possible, Feodosia would be a good choice. There is a port here, and we can use boats to transport the finished products from Tsaritsyn to the Volga River basin via the Don River. We can also transport them via the Dnieper River.”

“Yes, that would be a good idea. However, when I corresponded with Princess Bagration after she became a widow, she mentioned the artisans of Limoges, suggesting that some of them could be hired from France. It’s not far from Odessa, and it will probably become a center of French culture.”

"The heart of French culture since that war."

"Forget it, Pierre. We all know the war is over. Now we need to live our lives well, restore social order, lick our wounds, and wait for new challenges."

Solovyov said this because he was worried that Pierre might inadvertently wander into the ranks of the Decembrists.

However, due to family commitments, Pierre currently has no plans to do anything.

Moreover, the Happy Alliance needs time to develop its membership. Although Pierre is currently in Kyiv, in an area where alliance members are more active, they have not yet established contact with each other.

The members in Moscow were relatively stable and didn't cause much trouble, making it difficult for the secret police to cause them any trouble.

Pierre nodded in agreement after hearing what Solovyov said.

"I understand your thoughts. After the war, we all had, and I would say, different feelings. To be honest, I had them too."

"Alright, Pierre, you're still the same as always. Let's talk about the ceramics factory. If it's too cold, it will affect the quality of the finished products. Also, the brick kilns used to fire the ceramics have to work outdoors. How to arrange that is something we need to pay attention to."

Solovyov and Pierre rode their horses and saw some villages along the way, and began to make preliminary plans.

However, unlike Solovyov, who had spent a long time in the army, Pierre rarely rode such long distances.

Even though he's a strongman, he still gets tired eventually.

Solovyov, however, seemed to be surveying terrain in the army. He had been on the expedition to Italy with the army since he was 18, and had obviously spent more time on military campaigns.

Therefore, he took it for granted and somewhat overlooked the fact that Pierre rarely had any contact with the army, except as a patron of a portion of the militia.

Seeing that Pierre looked tired, he stopped.

"Misha, you don't always have to worry about my condition."

“You look a little tired, but this place is quite nice. The roads are wide and it's close to the village ahead, making it a suitable location for building a ceramics factory.”

However, they couldn't just decide on this location on a whim; they needed to continue their investigation. (End of Chapter)