Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

However, upon arriving in Paris, Catherine's "warm invitation" would certainly mean staying at the Tuileries Palace for a few days.

Solovyov himself knew what was going to happen.

“Maria likes you very much, I think that’s probably how it feels.”

“But Your Highness, if outsiders find out, it will be explosive news in the palace, and His Majesty likes you very much.”

“You’ve probably forgotten that my favorite brother is Constantine.”

No wonder that when Catherine was still a young girl, besides Prince Mikhail, she also had a somewhat ambiguous written relationship with her cousin-in-law, Prince Bagration.

"No wonder the late emperor wished all diplomats would wear this uniform."

Now, Catherine's new ambiguous target has become Solovyov. Anyway, every time she, the Empress Dowager, goes to a meeting, she respects Talleyrand's opinion and then plays the role of mediator among the marshals.

The name was well-deserved, but she did not rule France like an empress.

After all, these marshals still preferred her son.

However, these marshals all had families and were not young. The younger one, Marmont, had followed Napoleon in Toulon, and who could have imagined that he would become a traitor.

As for the court attendants and guards, Catherine didn't particularly like them either. Unlike the loyal troublemakers of Russia, these guys, besides wanting to sleep with the young Empress Dowager, were also pursuing other young women and widows.

Although Solovyov was the same, he was quite honest and knew very well about several relationships, except for those that he couldn't let others know.

In fact, compared to some womanizers, his affairs are nothing. In fact, the quality of his lovers is quite high; they all have a penchant for the arts.

And then, he himself was a general.

"It's a pity we can't have you serve as the ambassador to Paris."

"His Majesty sent me to Crimea on an important mission. Your Highness, you should know that."

"I'm not like my sisters who enjoy reading. You're leaving tomorrow, so come hunting with me."

"Go hunting?"

"Don't forget, Versailles Palace was also a hunting ground in the past. It was there that Louis XV and Madame de Pompadour met."

"But Your Highness, your analogy is not appropriate."

Solovyov still accompanied Catherine on the hunting trip. The thing about this young lady was that she was easier to please than Maria. She was happy as long as her capricious requests were met, unlike Maria who always made demands.

As for other things to worry about, Ekaterina actually said that things were very simple.

Even if she unfortunately contracted the virus, in the context of France, she was able to have her most trusted maids make arrangements.

Solovyov, as the "elder cousin," had certainly heard about the Ortenberg incident. At the time, Eugene rushed back to help his sister cover it up, preventing any scandal from breaking out.

Moreover, Ekaterina believed that she was not currently in her cycle and was probably safe.

Solovyov thought that she had been in Paris for too long and her brain had short-circuited like those other wealthy women.

Solovyov knew that because the Empress Dowager was very prolific, these young ladies would have at least three children each, with no upper limit, as long as their health allowed.

Or you could look at Louisa, who was frail and sickly, yet she was pregnant seven times and gave birth to seven daughters, including one miscarriage, and was the only time she conceived a boy.
If I do gene research in the future, I might get some interesting conclusions.

Solovyov didn't argue with her and embarked on his return journey to Crimea.

On the way, while Maria was visiting Elena, he deliberately slipped into an empty house and went to Weimar to visit Mr. Goethe.

The purpose was even very clear: to ask when "Faust" is updated.

Goethe continued writing this book until his death, while also spending considerable time on other creative works and research. In the modern era, where only newspapers existed, the fact that a book became famous didn't generate as much urgency for updates.

Solovyov knew that he was urged to update his work once when he was translating a classic masterpiece, and the Tsar and the Grand Marshal urged him to update it.

In addition, there's Pushkin, whose poetry is highly praised. Even acquaintances often ask him what he's written recently.

We simply want to see what you write.

Solovyov could not linger long at Goethe's place.

He still had to go back; in fact, he also had to deal with many affairs concerning the Crimean Tatars and Kalmyks.

After returning to Simferopol, the tribal leaders of these Tatars and Kalmyks arrived.

Every time they come, the atmosphere changes.

"Your Excellency, the warrior among warriors, the burke of burkes, the leader of all under His Majesty the Emperor."

"Wait, I don't think I have that last title. On the grasslands, the only people who have the title of 'leader of the people' are probably Lemi, the ancestor of the Uriyangkhai tribe, Bo'orchu, who was the first to follow the great Genghis Khan, and King Muqali. I can't accept this title from you."

These Tatars.
"But you are indeed the bravest of warriors, having defeated the French Emperor, an honor that is hard for others to match."

"Alright, you leaders, what brings you here this time? Let me explain: although I rarely drink, I have a batch of fine wine stored up, but it's not old enough to be opened yet. Good wine must be mellow. For now, I can only offer you tea and coffee."

"Then we thank the great governor. We've been harassed by the Circassians while grazing our livestock on the pastures."

"The pastures along the Don River are enough to share. Which horse thieves have run into your territory this time?"

Solovyov already knew that this time he would probably have to stand up for the Tatars and Kalmyks and have a good talk with the Circassians.

In the past, during the Napoleonic Wars, Solovyov hired a group of Circassian cataphracts. Although these men later settled in Russia, when they returned to their hometowns to bring their families back, they also did a great deal of propaganda for Russia.

They all returned home with spoils of war and fine horses, so many Circassians had heard of his reputation.

Furthermore, even their great boss, the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, was so frightened by this young general that he cowered in Constantinople and dared not come out, which shows how terrifying he was.

Some people have spread rumors that he is a man-eating monster, riding a giant beast that breathes fire.
Solovyov hadn't expected such an inhuman description.

But a border conflict with the Ottoman Empire is something that cannot happen now. He also knows that if Russia hadn't been so strict in controlling these Tatars, keeping them all confined to the grasslands...

They probably already rode off on horseback, brandishing their sabers, and charged in.

The Russians refer to the Jochi Ulus as the "Golden Horde," but in fact, this Ulus is one of the few lineages of Genghis Khan's descendants that has been able to maintain rule in a peripheral region.

For example, the Khiva Khanate was ruled by the descendants of the Hongjila tribe, the Kazakh Khanate was ruled by the descendants of Jochi, and Bukhara, a few decades ago, had a puppet Khan who was a descendant of the Golden Family.

Not to mention the last Khan of the Crimean Khanate, who was beheaded by the Ottoman Empire.

They came to see Solovyov, because this governor-general was different from other Russian governor-generals.

The governors of Orenburg were all notable for their major flaws, and it was only under Paul and his son Alexander that things began to improve.

The governor-general and the provincial governors in Crimea were in a relatively better position.

Solovyov was known for his kindness and righteousness, and had fought alongside the Kalmyks, who, of course, acknowledged him as a baarter.

Having suffered a loss, they would naturally seek out a trusted high-ranking official.

Solovyov also realized why none of the Boyars before Peter the Great were willing to change.

Given this complex and somewhat obscure culture, tribal leaders would bow to him, while lower-ranking herders might even prostrate themselves on the ground. Westernization offered them little emotional value.

"Alright, I'll naturally find a way to handle your matter. However, I still have some documents to review these days, so please give me three days. I also need to write to the provincial governors and think of a way to help you."

Solovyov's words show that he doesn't consider these Tatar leaders as outsiders.

Upon seeing this, they thanked them profusely and withdrew.

Solovyov did have to approve the documents, but he was also considering the problems of these nomadic peoples in southern Russia.

Russia's past practices have been far too forceful, no wonder the Kalmyk Khan eventually wanted to return east.

If this issue cannot be resolved in the end, who knows what other problems might arise in the next twenty years.

It should be noted that these provincial governors were not as kind-hearted as him, helping herders build camps, paying out of their own pockets to tinker with their carts, and even, under the premise of Russian infiltration, bringing up the Guleyan of Genghis Khan, so that these leaders would be more obedient to the rule of the Russian Tsar when they were in power.

Although the goal was to gain Russian rule, these tribal leaders were also aware of which governor was a good man and which was a bad man.

Solovyov wanted to extract these able-bodied men and organize them into an army in the form of "Gulyan," while the old, weak, women, children, and young men who were not serving continued to herd livestock. In effect, he turned the Kalmyks and Tatars into a semi-regular army.

He was already considering what kind of military organization to use when he would be waging war in Central Asia, Persia, and the Ottoman Empire.

The heavy cavalry of the Kazakhs, the horse archers of the Kalmyks, and the conscripted cavalry of the Tatars were less dependent on supplies and would fight while herding livestock, which made them much more efficient.

Moreover, it seems that the Kalmyks and Crimean Tatars who remain in the region are still willing to submit to Alexander's rule and obey his orders as governor.

In the future, it won't be about seizing a wave of territory, but about marching on the Indian Ocean and even reaching the eastern Mediterranean.

This necessitates a more mobile army.

After thinking about these things, Solovyov summoned them all again.

"I said three days ago that I would give you an answer. Now I'm setting off for your respective tribes to see how the herders live. And... in short, I'm going to your places, and..."

"Sir, if it were anyone else, they would probably have already complained about our muttony smell."

"It's alright. Soldiers take off their boots, and they smell really bad! It's nothing. Some people are just being presumptuous. I'm not the Sun Khan of the Naiman tribe!"

Speaking of which, his familiarity with the history of the Mongols, especially the history of Genghis Khan, garnered him a lot of goodwill.

Solovyov went to the border of the lower Don River with only a dozen or so followers.

Anapa and some coastal areas are still under the control of the Ottoman Empire.

However, Georgia to the south is mostly under Russian control.

The Caucasus, this grand stage, is perhaps even more chaotic now than the Balkans.

Solovyov rode into the tribe and was warmly received.

It was rare for a high-ranking Russian official to come to their tribe with such a small retinue.

"When we were in China, the Chinese emperor entertained us in the palace. We also met some Mongol princes and leaders there, but they were all from the left wing of the Mongol tribes and had kinship ties with the emperor. In principle, according to the emperor's etiquette, our emperor's envoys should be received at the Summer Palace in Chengde, which is also a vast grassland. However, the grazing conditions there are not as good as here."

"I never expected that you would like our place so much."

"Back then, many of you were still battalions, not leaders, and went to fight in Sweden with me. I never had the chance to come here. I was busy fighting and serving as an official until I became the governor of Crimea, and only then did I have the opportunity to come here. I haven't had the chance to go to Astrakhan yet, and it's not under my jurisdiction."

"If you ever decide to launch a southern expedition, we are willing to follow you south, cut down all the enemies, and use their blood to irrigate the land."

"That would be too bloody. But if we go south, we'll have to cross twenty mountains and twenty rivers. The land there is fertile, but it's too hot. Further south is the desert, and the mountains of Persia aren't much better."

In fact, the daily life of the Golden Horde consisted of fighting with their relatives or neighbors to the south.

This includes Timur the Lame, who is a Gulegan.

Solovyov, whose thinking was always abstract, couldn't help but think about this. His mind started working on how to control these tribes, and in a civilized way, so that they could still benefit from it without resorting to large-scale and violent resistance.

But for the time being, there was no good solution.

After the reception, he was also arranged to rest in a large tent.

Tomorrow I will take these armed herders to the border for talks with the Circassian officials.

After all, the Ottoman Empire was also afraid. If the Russians acted rashly again and unleashed a devastating attack, they might be utterly crushed this time. (End of Chapter)