Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

If Elena and Maria were to race home, Elena would be faster by water, since the Baltic Sea is uncovered.

Mecklenburg has this advantage, while Maria has to endure a long and arduous journey with her child, stopping in Yelgava for a few days to rest before continuing her journey home.

In contrast, the eldest sister Alexandra was also inland, but she got along very well with her sisters, and they traveled very close by boat.

Maria was closer to her brothers, especially her two younger brothers.

Moreover, although she could frequently visit Goethe to ask him questions and invite him to the literary salons of the Grand Duchy of Weimar, the convenience of daily life ultimately couldn't compare to having a literary giant.

The journey from her to Mecklenburg was longer than her older sister's journey to the Netherlands, so she set off earlier and endured a bumpy ride home.

Nicholas was the one who greeted her at the Summer Palace.

"Sister, you're finally back! How was your journey?"

“Misha, that guy, said he was going to build a railway, but he didn’t build a single track along the Baltic coast.”

"There's nothing we can do. The boss is the governor of Crimea, not Riga. Even the railway there has only just started construction on the peninsula."

Nikolai also had to defend Solovyov, considering that his third sister Maria was 36 years old, an age when people are prone to becoming irritable.

He also has to host four other sisters; hopefully, they won't have tempers like Maria's.

The idea of ​​returning to her parents' home came about after her aunts got married. Although some returned to seek refuge during the war, Catherine and Anna were still at home then, unlike now when they each had husbands and a bunch of children.

Mary lost only one son, which was due to the child's poor health.

But now Weimar has an heir; her youngest son is obviously quite robust, and she also has an older companion.

Maria said he was her husband's godson, whose father was a master craftsman in the Weimar court.

When Nikolai told him, he couldn't understand the significance of the simple surname.

If Solovyov, who lives in Tsarskoye Selo, finds out, he'll say that this kid is bound to amount to something.

Because this kid is Carl Zeiss, the founder of the future optical giant, whose original factory location always surpasses its branch factories, and whose products are commonly used in the lenses for rockets going into space.

Weimar is much poorer than other principalities, but it has some unique skills.

However, the technology cannot be too advanced.

Maria's complaints quickly reached Solovyov.

"There's nothing I can do; that's just the current level of locomotives. Besides, we can't possibly build a railway to Weimar; it's too far, and the area around Minsk is swampy, making it inconvenient to travel."

"I knew you'd say that, boss. It's just that my sister and I have always had a good relationship, so this is the only way I can reply to her."

"Fortunately, we're not children anymore. We'd better not come back to the days when she cornered us in the house and wouldn't let us leave until we finished our manuscripts."

Some things are better left unsaid.

The affair with Maria was kept secret between the two of them. Her husband was honest and timid, and although he wouldn't cause any trouble, it was still quite a sensational piece of gossip.

Nicholas's childhood memories of his sisters did indeed include Maria's history of bullying their leader on a daily basis, taking advantage of her noble status.

Consider his teacher, who wasn't even afraid of Napoleon, yet was trapped in a palace suite by a young girl.

If it were the British, even those attendants and generals who had a good relationship with the princess wouldn't have been able to do anything to Wellington.

In a letter to St. Petersburg, Constantine's former brother-in-law, Leopold, mentioned the situation there.

George III's daughters generally had close relationships with court attendants, generals, and adjutants. The poor old maids often couldn't get married, or they didn't get married until they were over thirty. Charlotte the Elder was the only one who had her own legitimate children.

Amelia ultimately failed to marry and chose to become a nun in a convent. She was even permitted to marry by the council, thus missing the most suitable time for her to marry.

The sheer absurdity of the British royal family makes the Russian royal family seem even more glaringly abnormal.

At least Paul and his wife, as well as Alexander and his wife, doted on their daughters, arranged their marriages with generous dowries, and ensured that their in-laws would not mistreat them.

It was Napoleon who, after marrying Catherine, would go hunting together. They would often fire more than a dozen shots but not be able to shoot down a single duck. It was only because the dog didn't laugh at them that they were like a real-life duck-hunting machine.

Europe is so peaceful now that sometimes it feels like we can put aside the technical work we're doing.

However, some essential items, such as steam-powered vehicles and ships, still need to be developed.

But Solovyov often looked troubled when faced with this problem; there were some things he simply couldn't do.

For example, when it comes to ironclad warships, you also have to consider whether the manufacturing process is up to standard and whether you have the money to invest. The bottomless pit of initial investment is a huge problem.

They created a simple kit for the infantry: breech-loading rifles, grenades, and Molotov cocktails. Initially, it was a bit difficult to fire without mercury fulminate, but it was quite practical and had a low technical threshold, so they got through it.

Technical hurdles can only be overcome after accumulating a certain level of expertise. The principle of the steam engine was discovered by the ancient Greeks, but in the end, it was just a toy with a combustion efficiency of 10%.

Rifled cannons are nowhere to be seen today, but at least spherical shells are still very useful.

For the grandmothers, taking a car or boat home is a basic necessity, and the same applies to the army and navy.

However, even though Solovyov was able to figure out the principle behind the fuse for a single exploding shell, spherical shells were ultimately no match for the things fired from rifled cannons later on.

If the shell is too thick, it will explode in two and have little power.

He had already encountered this problem during the development of the hand grenade.

When it came to the shells, they encountered this problem again. The British had even come up with a plan to put steel or copper balls inside, but that wasn't safe.

The shell might have exploded on its own due to the sparks from the impact before it even left the barrel.

Russia's manufacturing technology is sufficient for producing firearms and hand grenades, but it faces challenges with explosive shells. Their metallurgical industry still needs to catch up.

The British were ahead in terms of technology, with only France being comparable, but France had not yet completed its industrialization.

Russia's problems are twofold: a lack of money and backwardness. Long-standing debts are a problem, and even Pugachev's deindustrialization of Izhevsk caused the loss of many workers in the Urals. Later investors came to Russia mainly from the raw material producing areas between the Dnieper and Volga rivers after the environment improved, which made it easier to enter the European market.

Solovyov was well aware of the technical difficulties.

Previously, when he was tinkering with steamships and steam locomotives, he would find knowledgeable experts, provide them with design specifications and blueprints, and have them complete the work, after which he would supervise them.

This was true all the way up to clipper boats.

However, when it comes to more in-depth technical work, he is not omniscient or omnipotent.

Besides, he's focused too much on military skills over the years. And time travelers aren't gods. He managed to defeat Napoleon with a 2:1 force by taking advantage of the overall situation and proceeding steadily.

If anyone has that amazing ability, he can demonstrate it.

The truth is, even if you bring someone who can make bombs by hand to the 19th century, they will still have to find a way to overcome any missing parts. No one is omniscient or omnipotent; such a person only exists in fantasy.

If they really do it, what kind of system is it?
That kind of cowardly behavior is laughable just thinking about it.

Solovyov could only list the technical difficulties, such as Maria's insistence on taking the train home, and the challenges posed by the Baltic Sea and the swamps of Belarus.

The line from Moscow to St. Petersburg is not yet open to traffic; it's just that the entire line has been completed.

If it were really that easy, it's impossible that when the Russians went to build the Chinese Eastern Railway, they discovered problems in the geological survey and changed the interface from Dongning to Suifenhe, eventually merging the entire line at Hengdaohezi.

Solovyov never considered himself omnipotent; he even needed to rely on the current technical personnel.

If someone brings up Paradox Interactive games as an example, he'll just say, "That's bullshit."

Bringing the game's environment into reality can cause some mental problems.

Games are just simulations of a bunch of variables, not real environments, so it's ridiculous to use that as a model.

Solovyov could only tell Nikolai about further industrial plans.

He was a member of Alexander's inner circle, and he had known for a long time that Constantine had renounced his right to the throne, but Alexander had not intended to tell Nicholas.

At this point, in the Russian court, Solovyov had already secured a long-term meal ticket for Nikolai and his son, so there was no need for him to say much; he just needed to do his job well.

There was one thing he needed to make clear to Nikolai.

“That Menshikov beside you, although he is a descendant of my old master, I think he is a loyal but not very smart man. He does things too simply and is inflexible. He will definitely cause trouble in the future. Kolya, we need to be flexible in everything we do. We can’t just use iron bars. The knowledge I’m teaching you is not for fighting.”

Solovyov was also afraid that he would turn the Analects into a "distorted version of the Analects." Although he was rumored to be quite cruel during the war, it was just a rumor.

Even though Nikolai had watched him grow up, he still couldn't help but retain some of the inherent traits of the Luo family.

Alexander became increasingly indifferent to state affairs, spending his days in the prayer room, while Constantine, residing in Warsaw, was unwilling to get involved in matters of St. Petersburg.

Paul's death affected both of the older brothers to some extent.

However, Nicholas's personality is still like Paul's, which makes things difficult.

When Solovyov was with Paul, the other was the monarch, and he was just a loyal guard officer and aide-de-camp, simply obeying orders and making meticulous arrangements.

There wasn't much room for maneuver. Although Paul was willing to listen to everyone's opinions, in the end, he always did things his own way.

When it was Nikolai's turn, Solovyov had been involved in his education since his early childhood, with private tutors and his studies at Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum. His education included a significant amount of tutoring, and he even taught classes himself.

His lessons differed from those Rakharp taught Alexander; Solovyov had always known Nikolai's shortcomings and had been guiding him accordingly.

He remains stubborn, but he always listens to what others say, and because of his influence, he also hopes to abolish serfdom and "Make Russia Great Again."
Solovyov wasn't entirely sure what path he would take, but he wasn't stupid and wouldn't be led by the nose forever. On the contrary, he would sometimes suffer setbacks due to his stubbornness.

As for those troublesome Decembrists, although their positions were much closer to those of the liberals and constitutionalists, they only knew a catchy slogan and advanced ideas. Solovyov did not believe that most of them could actually get things done.

Although many of them went to Siberia and immersed themselves among the people, making significant progress, this knowledge was not applicable. They were trapped in the mines and forests of Siberia and were only able to return to St. Petersburg during the amnesty. Many did not return and remained in Siberia forever.

Nikolai had a good impression of Menshikov; he was decisive, obedient, and an outstanding soldier.

However, there are also leaders like Solovyov, who are very efficient, but always procrastinate at the beginning, considering the whole picture before taking action, which makes them a bit slow.

But he had watched him fight alongside those veteran generals since he was a child, and eventually became the acting commander-in-chief who defeated Napoleon. He was capable and had a high reputation. It was just that he was a little slow at the beginning, but that was not a big problem.

If it were someone else, without these twenty-odd years of getting to know each other, Nikolai probably wouldn't have trusted him.

“Mikhail Sergeyevich,” Nikolai said in a very serious tone, even using a respectful title, as if addressing a father, “since it is your opinion, where should Menshikov be sent?”

"I want him to oversee a certain project; he's a qualified supervisor. But he mustn't interfere with the technical staff. It's a big no-no for someone who doesn't know the stuff to get involved in technological development. I do know a little bit, Koria. When I was a page general to the Emperor and Grand Duke Constantine, I noticed that our young nobles didn't like to study. I've already gone to great lengths for your studies, creating study plans and assigning homework, all to help you develop good study habits. Also, you should consult with others when you encounter problems, and learn as much as possible to avoid making mistakes later."

Nikolai, though still haunted by the memory of the "Ryazan Secret Scrolls," understood his boss's intentions.

Therefore, Menshikov had to go elsewhere; had he not been the great-grandson of the Solovyov family's old benefactor, he would probably have been sent to the Caucasus. (End of Chapter)