Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 146 003 We can't build an icebreaker under the current conditions

The engineers they needed arrived, and Solovyov was not an officer on duty, so he went to the Admiralty Shipyard to have a chat with these experts.

When he got here, he also saw the wooden keel that had been laid. The most basic work for the first clipper ship had already been completed here, but it would take some time to complete.

"The port here is frozen outside, and it's inconvenient to move around."

"It can't be helped. It's like this all over the Baltic Sea."

His answer to the Marquis's question was also simple.

Who can blame Russia for overtaking the few places in the world with relatively fresh water, such as the Sea of ​​Azov and the Baltic Sea?

The Sea of ​​Azov does not freeze easily in winter like the Baltic Sea. Although there are some ice-free ports, navigation is still very difficult.

It is difficult to travel these waterways by sailboat alone. In the Gulf of Finland in winter, the colder the weather, the more difficult it is to travel.

Even in winter, if we are across the sea from the Swedes, we can still hit them.

"That's true. The sea water here is indeed not as salty as that in the Mediterranean. When I served in the provinces, I went to Toulon and Saint-Tropez."

"The climate in the south of France should be very good, right?"

"That's true, Major. If you have the chance in the future, you can go and have a look."

Solovyov had some impression of Saint-Tropez, mainly because he had watched a lot of comedies there, such as the one in the police series, which was actually a gendarmerie series, starring the conductor, who took his daughter to take up a post in a police station. It was quite interesting after all.

This place is also a resort and is adjacent to several important ports in southern France, but its military use is not so strong. Toulon is already an important base for the French Mediterranean and Levantine fleet.

"I am looking forward to going to Saint-Tropez, but I have to finish the work at hand."

"So what are you going to do?"

"I have already presented the steamship model you made to the Emperor. Now we need to complete the construction of a new ship, which will take some time."

"It would be good if we can finish the structure by summer. The steam engine we use here is not powerful enough and can't go very fast on the water."

"I see. You want this ship to be practical, not just to be displayed in front of His Majesty."

"That's true. Russia's territory is much larger than France's, and it has a dense network of rivers. We should start shipping on several major rivers. It will be more convenient, and building roads is not that easy."

He didn't intend to say much to the Frenchman about how terrible the muddy roads in Russia were, especially in the thaw season, when carriages would often get stuck in the mud, making travel very inconvenient.

Steamboats are still needed in all directions as long as it is in the navigable season. In the absence of wind, they are also very useful as ferries and navigable vessels on rivers such as the Volga.

"That's it. We'll make some modifications to the ship we built at that time, so that the steam engine has more power and the ship is bigger."

"You mean, Marquis, to enlarge this ship?"

"That's right, but we also need to reinforce the parts. As for the safety valve you're considering, you can try a few materials first. You also need one with better thermal conductivity."

At the same time, we must also consider that lead plugging still needs to be used. If it is tin, it will be too brittle at low temperatures and useless at high temperatures. This must be put aside.

You see, tin buttons, like tin soldiers, are not very useful in Russia.

The first Russian version of the paddle wheel ship did not adopt the appearance of a small inland transport ship. Instead, it was based on the previous French design, with an enlarged hull, which also required precise calculations.

In this regard, the engineers of the Navy Department can give full play to their advantages.

After all, they are professionals and are definitely very good at "copying" technology from abroad.

The construction progress is relatively stable. The sea in front of St. Petersburg is indeed not as good as the seas around the North Atlantic Current. It is relatively convenient to come up, but the temperature and salinity are not enough, so you can only freeze.

It's not that there is no way to build an icebreaker, but the technology is not mature enough and cannot be used right now.

Even the first practical icebreaker was not delivered until 1864.

There is still early time, and the demand in the Baltic Sea direction is not that great right now, so we just need to develop a steamship first.

It was reassuring indeed that much could be done in the Admiralty Shipyards.

The new news coming from the palace is that Count von Paalen seems to be making a comeback and will be in charge of the postal business that Paul is more concerned about.

However, this was also news released in St. Petersburg. Count Kutaisov always had his own way of making money, so this kind of information did not cause much waves.

According to Solovyov's idea, it was not very likely that someone like Count von Paalen, who had been working for Paul in the palace, would rebel.

After all, not everyone has the script in their hands and knows about the current conspiracies. Especially the things happening in Russia are still a bit unpopular, just like the weather here.

At this time, Solovyov returned home. When he went up to the third floor, he saw Yulia playing with Polina there, wearing the ruby ​​brooch given by Louisa.

He asked Luisa, this is for children to dress up, she only pins it up at home to take good care of it, but she won't let her wear it outside. Yulia is more sensible this year than before, seeing her brother come back wearing a cloak, she doesn't clamor for him to play with her like before.

Maybe Polina plays a role in the family's entertainment. It's more fun to have a growing doll.

He also liked Polina and just touched his little sister's cheek.

"Master, there is a letter for you."

"Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Malafeev."

He took several letters from the butler and knew from the envelopes that they came from several different places.

The first letter was from Silvia, who had not written for a long time. The girl mentioned that she had moved to Rome and was staying at Prince Borghese's palace. Her father had gone to Rome from his relatives in Spain.

The letter only told the story from Milan to Florence and Rome, and what changes had taken place there after the French took control of northern Italy.

"Michele, I know you will be very busy. We also saw a set of hardcover picture books here, which seem to be adapted from your translated manuscripts. These picture books are very beautiful, and the stories are very vivid. It's just a pity that the texts accompanying the pictures are all in Russian. I don't understand Russian, but just seeing your signature makes me very happy."

He had not expected that his book had been brought to Italy despite the language barrier. The speed of cultural dissemination was not slow, but only the content of the "first volume" had been sold recently.

But he also couldn't figure out what "Dear Michele, if we meet again, I will give you a surprise" meant.

"What on earth is this kind of surprise?"

He would mutter to himself, and he even analyzed the result, but if this happened, he would definitely explain it in the letter.

Although he always knew that Sylvia liked to surprise people, he didn't expect that he would surprise her on this issue.

At the same time, he did not notice that Silvia was going to Prince Borghese's house, where the famous sculptures he loved very much were located.

The second letter came from Prince Peter, who met Prince Vasily Dolgorukov, who was abroad, in Dresden. After all, they were relatives. He also met the unfortunate "Cake Princess", who was living well in Dresden and was exchanging letters with the two princes who were spending the winter in Berlin.

It was also a public matter that the exiled French princess had gone to Dresden, but Prince Peter did not know that this highness had written a letter to Archduke Karl some time ago.

All we know is that the poor princess lived a happy life with Prince Dolgorukov's family. She played with the two girls all day long and invited Goethe and Schiller to Dresden, or she went to Weimar accompanied by servants. This might be a good result for her since her parents had lost their heads, her brothers and sisters died of illness, and she was left alone.

She didn't need to marry her cousin, but gained freedom.

However, the princess still couldn't let go, and the letters she wrote to Archduke Karl also revealed some emotional entanglements between the two.

Peter did not write it explicitly, but only stated in his letter to Alexander that Marie Therese would give the greatest support to those who supported the Bourbon.

But considering her miserable situation, and even her dependence on the always kind-hearted Prince Vasily Dolgorukov for her livelihood, even if we don't know the specific content of this reward, we can guess what it is.

However, there was nothing wrong with the great cause brought about by the capture of the Bastille. The princess represented the Bourbons of the past, not the current First Consul. Napoleon himself could also be called great. He had no grudges against the princess and even believed that the Swiss Guards should use artillery. However, he represented the current Consulate in Paris, so the hatred was diverted.

What he didn't know was that Archduke Karl sympathized with his cousin and that during his recent absence from illness in Teschento, away from the intrigues of Vienna, he had the opportunity to write to Dresden.

After Emperor Franz found out, he did not interfere with his third brother's private life. He just lamented that his aunt Maria Christina adopted his third brother, but when she was alive, he pursued his own love and married his uncle who was of lower status, which even made his brothers and sisters jealous.

Only his father, Emperor Leopold, had a decent relationship with this aunt, so he decided to adopt his third brother. Unexpectedly, over the past few years, Karl actually learned how to fall in love freely!

Of course, only the parties involved and Franz himself knew about this. Compared with his political stupidity and stupid military command, Franz was very tolerant in personal matters. He believed that Karl could pursue his own happiness. In this respect, he was still a good brother. Even this potential marriage would not bring any benefits and might even bring trouble to Austria.

If it were a historical story, Archduke Karl met a young Protestant noble girl in Mainz and married her according to his personal wishes. Unfortunately, his wife died young due to scarlet fever. At this time, Franz considered the perspective of family members and buried this young sister-in-law who had never converted in the Habsburg catacombs. After all, they were all family.

Moreover, Karl himself rarely receives marriage proposals. I don’t know why. Maybe he always makes people feel boring when they meet.
As for the third letter, it was written from Prince Vasily in Dresden. He said that there were many craftsmen in the German principalities, and considering the current dangerous situation in Central Europe, some talents could be introduced to Russia.

This was because he still had business dealings with Baron Sergei, but he was worried that the old baron himself was not sensitive to technology and was only good at operations, so he left the technical issues to Solovyov to communicate.

In addition, he mentioned that Europe has peace, and he plans to send his two sons to study in France. Now going to the university in Strasbourg is also a good choice.

Solovyov still respected this prince very much. He was a kind-hearted man, a retired lieutenant general and member of the Privy Council. He was also very kind to his servants. In fact, his old father's former boss was the son-in-law of the deceased old prince of this family, so naturally they had a close relationship.

He also mentioned in his heart that his eldest daughter, Ekaterina, missed her playmate Yulia whom she met in St. Petersburg, but he also knew clearly in his heart that the Baron's family should hire a professional French teacher.

Thinking about the Baroness, his stepmother, Solovyov also knew this problem. His stepmother spoke French well, but there were always grammatical errors in her writing. This was the same problem as her eldest cousin, but because she had studied in France, she did not make so many mistakes.

Prince Vasily's statement did catch Solovyov's attention. He planned to talk to his father about sending Yulia to the Smolny Palace's Girls' School, which was open to children of aristocrats. If the family taught her like this, it would probably delay her sister's marriage in the future.

He told this to the Baroness and received strong support. After all, his father was not at home. He had recently gone to the Suvorov family's ancestral estate in Tver to visit the Marshal's relatives in his hometown. When he came back, Solovyov's work would not allow him to spend so much time on his work.

Looking back, he was still thinking about Prince Borghese's background. Silvia was a branch of the Visconti family in Milan, so it was not surprising that she had some relatives in Rome.

However, he did not realize that Prince Borghese would marry into the Bonaparte family in the future, and this circle of relatives was too small.

I am still reviewing the last chapter. I have tendonitis recently, so my typing speed has been affected.

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(End of this chapter)