Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

After attending a banquet at Pierre's house, Solovyov stayed overnight at the villa on Sparrow Hills.

Prince Yusupov then sold the villa in this prime location, and Katya bought it back.

Solovyov was very wealthy, with 1000 million rubles at the time, making him one of the richest men in Russia.

If Pierre hadn't frequently resided in Ryazan, he would probably still hold the title of the richest person in Ryazan.

After all, he had accumulated his wealth through industry and commerce, and when his father divided the family property, he gave his two younger brothers even less.

He was the eldest son, a prince of the highest rank, and many of the ideas that made the family rich were his.

Speaking of which, when his younger brother's term as ambassador to China ended, Solovyov hoped that he would return to manage the family business, since Vasily had gone to his father's side to fulfill his filial duties.

He deserved to receive the largest share of the family fortune, and he was the one who arranged the jobs for his two younger brothers behind the scenes.

“This place holds many fond memories for me, Mishka.”

"In other words, after Prince Yusupov bought this place, he didn't make any changes, just some repairs."

Time flies so fast. In the years of fighting in the south, Katya looked like a beautiful young woman when she left, but now she has more wrinkles around her eyes.

"Katya, I will be staying by your side for a long time after I return this time. Even if the Emperor wants me to go anywhere else, I will not go. I will stay in St. Petersburg to be with you."

"What if I wanted to live in Moscow?"

"That's fine, even in Moscow."

Solovyov has indeed considered family life, but Katya now wants a child, which makes things a bit difficult.

Although Russia has precedents and subsequent examples, it is true that she can still have children at this age. Katya is also in good health. Solovyov has been away from home for the past few years, so she has been recuperating well.

"This might be bad for your health."

"But we both love you, how should you make it up to us? Consider it our last beautiful and romantic memory before our beauty fades away."

"I just want to say that Mihrma is also very beautiful. That boy Pushkin even praised her beauty in his poems."

"Master, isn't that a bit much?"

"We should rest tonight. We'll stay here for two more days before heading back to St. Petersburg. The Emperor will probably summon me again."

However, the two of them could only take turns, and Solovyov was already over fifty years old.

Katya's assessment was that her husband's passion was as strong as it had been in the past, just like during their honeymoon. This was also the longest period of separation they had ever been apart since their marriage, which was during their expedition to Persia.

The war lasted only a little over a year, but the subsequent governance took a long time. Persia was a vast country with a large population and abundant resources, and it did require a slow process of assimilation.

Therefore, he has been away from home for quite some time.

After Solovyov returned, there was something else to comment on: Katya's figure had started to gain a little weight, but that was normal. She had a long enough shelf life; even in her thirties, she still had some of the charm of her youth.

With such a wife, Solovyov felt he was a happy man.

Of course, there's also Mihrima.

If he could simply stay in his official residence and never leave them, spending his life with a partner to grow old with and accompany him to the end of his life, he would be quite content.

Of course, there are also some fond memories from the past while I was away.

Even more outrageous things happened. Octavia wrote to say that her son had married the daughter of a general, and at the time of writing, Solovyov's granddaughter-in-law was already pregnant.

His leveling up is too fast. The time he spent with Sylvia in his early years was really interesting.

Octavia and Demid could be considered to have started dating early, and had children very early as well, but it was unexpected that their children would come so soon.

What kind of strategy is this?

In the letter, Solovyov was worried about his granddaughter-in-law's pregnancy and Sylvia's recent deterioration in health. However, the doctor said it was nothing serious and was just due to her age, which was inevitable at fifty.

It should be noted that at that time, many European nobles did not live past the age of fifty.

"There are still too many things to worry about."

Solovyov booked a sleeper compartment when he departed from Moscow, something he wouldn't normally do.

But the war is over, and now we can enjoy a short period of life.

The reason for the short duration is whether Nikolai will increase his strength or add some side quests.

On the train, instead of sitting as usual, he chose to lie on the bed and read the latest newspaper to pass the time.

This lazy old man is a prince of the highest rank. It's hard to imagine how far he traveled in his conquests across Eurasia. He could even be compared to Subutai to see who traveled further.

In terms of sheer distance traveled during the campaigns, Solovyov might not have been able to surpass Subutai; the Mongols simply covered an enormous distance.

However, if you include his travels by ship and his various diplomatic missions, Solovyov is the world's number one. Apart from Oceania and the newly discovered Antarctica, which continent hasn't he been to?
Actually, he was quite close to Oceania; if he had just sailed eastward from the Dutch East Indies, he could have reached there very quickly.

Russia did have colonies in many parts of the world, including some river mouths and islands in Africa, in North America, and even in New Zealand's South Island. The British, on the other hand, had been trying to control the North Island.

Some Decembrists who had participated in the rebellion were also sent there for the development of the South Island.

The climate there is even more pleasant, but it is too far away, so far that it takes a long time for news to reach Russia.

And the rare species discovered there, the Highland Moa, likely went extinct during this period in history.

If we can get back rare samples, there might still be some value in saving them.

The problem is that the rats brought from the Pacific Ocean are quite powerful.

However, it wasn't without significant discoveries. When Solovyov arrived in Gatchina, while awaiting an audience with Nikolai, he witnessed a series of major discoveries by the Royal Society. Although it wasn't entirely hopeless, the previous experience in the conservation of the Great Auk meant that St. Petersburg now had many of these animals, with a dedicated exhibit area in the zoo.

Establishing a wild population probably wouldn't be too difficult for this bird, given that it's a diving bird and its lifestyle is more like that of a penguin.

Have you seen these reports?

“Your Majesty, I saw some newspapers when I returned from Persia and was in Moscow, but the Royal Society’s news should have been published in the last few days.”

“That is indeed the case, which means a great scientific discovery. But you, Mikhail Sergeyevich, I have always respected you, even when my brother was still alive.”

At least he still showed some interest in getting closer to me; I wonder what Nikolai was thinking when he mentioned Alexander.

"Your Majesty, you were already very tall back then. It was only through our efforts, along with those of us ministers and the teachers at the Royal Village School, that you became a learned monarch."

“I will always be grateful for this, Mikhail Sergeyevich.”

Nicholas felt it was a pity that, as a monarch, although he could still discuss issues with his teacher as before, the difference in status between a monarch and a minister was an insurmountable barrier.

They can only be like-minded people when it comes to things they are willing to do.

Therefore, he quickly got to the main topic: "What is your view on the reform of serfdom?"

“Your Majesty, the time is ripe, but we still need to proceed step by step. When I was in Persia, it was easier to dismantle the local land system and defeat the Persian Shah by force, and establish a new order. But in Russia, it is different. We cannot artificially dismantle these land systems.”

"I understand what you mean. Russia should not suffer again at this time."

"But Your Majesty, as the monarch, still has a responsibility to alleviate the suffering of the people, at least by listening to their opinions."

“You are right, so I will still allow commoners, even serfs, to submit petitions.”

“That’s good, but not enough, Your Majesty.”

Nikolai knew that Solovyov would definitely take some measures after his return.

His great victory in Persia served as a direct example for Russia, although the system of slavery there was even more backward than Russia's feudal serfdom, and dismantling that system was an inevitable trend.

In Russia, besides facing tens of millions of people, there were also the nobles and large landowners who formed the ruling class, even though there were enlightened individuals among them, as well as small and medium-sized landowners.

On the contrary, it should be noted that during the reform, the small and medium-sized landowners were probably the most reactionary opposition force, because it did affect their property. They would oppose the newly joined nobles, and they would also complain about the increased taxes.

However, if Solovyov were to implement reforms, his prestige within the military would make it much easier for him to do so than for civilian officials.

The lingering effects of the war, coupled with Nicholas's relationship as teacher, student, and sovereign, meant that no one or two conservative ministers could shake the Tsar's position.

Moreover, he had a good relationship with civil officials. When he was with Paul, he even had a close relationship with the head of the conservative faction at the time, the Imperial Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Neserrodie. The two were also friends.

Not to mention, almost all liberal officials had dealings with him during Alexander's time.

"Your Majesty, we should address the issue of serfs in several steps. We need to redistribute land so that these serfs, once freed, have their own land to cultivate. We also need agricultural officials sent by the state to guide them in farming. This will cost money and take a lot of time. Even when redistributing land, the serfs who are freed first may receive good land, while those who are freed later may only receive barren land or wasteland. There are also many problems with tools. These problems will be difficult to resolve completely in the next twenty years."

Solovyov did have a plan; the problem he knew was what Stolypin had done 70 years after him, a reform that had created a wealthy class but had done little good for the vast majority of the working class.

Workers were exploited in the city, and the serfs who had been freed over the decades had only barren land, or even no land at all, and still lived below the poverty line.

On the contrary, the rapid rise of wealthy farmers has even posed a threat to the food supply.

Solovyov may not remember much else, but due to the special circumstances, he inevitably has a deep impression of things related to Russia.

"If that's the case, how long should it take?"

"The problem of national serfs and serfs of the great nobility can be solved in ten years, but in the next ten years, there is still the issue of small and medium-sized landowners."

"Actually, this matter is relatively easy to resolve for poor nobles who only have one or two serfs as attendants, especially military officers."

Nikolai and Solovyov both thought of Alexander's strong, bearded coachman, who had been freed while his master went to serve in the navy.

"Your Majesty, it's not just the poor military officers. The landlords who own dozens of serfs are the most difficult class to deal with. Even in our provinces, it's not easy to get the provincial governors to issue a notice. In addition, the serfs in factories and mines are easier to deal with. Turning their former indentures into labor contracts is acceptable to most enlightened mine owners and will also help to further establish the dependent relationship between the workers."

Unfortunately, Ma Dahuzi is still in school, and theoretical matters are not Solovyov's forte; he is better at execution and planning.

This is not a problem for soldiers.

The problem is that he is actually in the position of Zaza's great-grandson in order to solve the problem of Russia's existence.

Even the toughest man will face many problems; sometimes he's not tough enough.

Solovyov's weakness is that while he can see problems and deal with them decisively, he considers too many things, which inevitably leads to some deviations.

Because his approach was swift, but not ruthless enough.

In Tsarist Russia, rashly changing some existing relationships would likely draw criticism.

Fortunately, Russia still has plenty of time, and Solovyov himself believes that if he lives long enough, he can develop a better plan for the reform of serfdom in Russia while he is still alive.

To minimize the losses suffered by aristocratic serf owners, the allocation of land to serfs should not create an excessive class of wealthy farmers.

But he still can't control things like land consolidation in the future.

Local governments need to develop education and supervise industrial and agricultural production, which requires more officials and teachers.

What he did in Crimea was merely the beginning; the abolition of serfdom was only the first stage.

The subsequent deepening of reforms will also pose a huge challenge for Russia.

Fortunately, he was already 53 years old, and Russia was facing an even greater crisis, which he would not live to see, whether it came sooner or later, and most of his children would also be unlikely to see it.

But these things still need to be done, and it's a massive undertaking. (End of Chapter)