Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 147 004 The Alemanni just like to be a non-stick pan

Count von Paaren still held meetings of the conspirators at his house, and sometimes at the house of Count Platon Zuboff as well.

This shows that the nature of their conspiracy has changed.

This time, the conspiracy group was convened at Count von Paalen, and many important figures were gathered. After all, the Tsar’s edict in January had already stated that he wanted to move to the Mikhailovsky Engineer Fortress and that the defense of the Guards should also be adjusted.

"Now the tyrant has fallen into his own trap. He has issued an edict to move into the New Palace and to replace the Royal Guards from the Winter Palace."

"Peter Alexeevich, you have to know that we must seize this opportunity. The tyrant himself will make some personnel changes in February and promote a group of young officers. We should take advantage of this time to continue to arrange our people, including some inexperienced rookies, in there."

"What do you mean, Count Zubov?"

Seeing that Paul's close minister was playing dumb, he had nothing to say and could only lay his cards on the table: "This is simple. When the Guards promote officers, they are sent to garrisons or promoted to the headquarters to serve as staff officers, or transferred from existing units to new units. This is also the practice of our army. Naturally, we should start making new personnel arrangements at this time."

"Then we can finally get rid of those officers who are an eyesore and hard to move away."

This sentence added by Tarezhin was directed at several battalion commanders under his command. Not to mention Solovyov, the other three old guys were colonels of the Guards. Their qualifications were there, and even if he was a lieutenant general, it would be difficult to order them around.

"So what are the plans for these people?"

"We are sending them to the Kexholm Musket Regiment. The current commander and head of the regiment are not ours, but they are short of senior officers. We will transfer a few officers from the Guards to fill the vacancies. The tyrant himself won't say anything. Also, we are sending some officers from the Semenovsky Regiment to fill in the vacancies in the Grenadiers. This was planned before."

"But as for Solovyov, I still haven't figured out where to take him."

Tarejin also knew that among the four battalion commanders under him, the youngest one only obeyed the command of the Tsar himself, and at most he would be transferred when the Crown Prince and Grand Duke Constantine needed him. It was not because of anything else, he was a young officer promoted by exception, although his promotion to general was just a matter of Paul's personal preference, but this guy was the youngest among the officers promoted by Paul, and it was difficult to increase his qualifications and military rank, so it was difficult to move him out of the Guards.

"But there are other ways. It's easy to get rid of such a person. The key is to find a place for him to go. We must transfer him horizontally and make sure that he can't command any soldiers. This will remove the last lock of the tyrant's door."

Solovyov disliked Count Panin the Younger, but he never mentioned to outsiders that he was "a poisonous snake in the Diplomatic Academy" because before this guy was dismissed, he often stared at him and made him very uncomfortable.

He was not present either, so he didn't know that he had become the target of the conspiracy group.

This was not because of anything else. As long as he was on duty in the palace with the 1st Battalion and was on strict alert, even if Tarejin and his adjutants came up with a trick, they would not be able to use it directly.

"How about asking him to serve as an aide-de-camp to His Highness? I think this kind of promotion can also move him away from the tyrant."

When Tarejin proposed this, all the rebels agreed.

"This is a good idea. We all know one thing about this guy. He is very motivated and works hard wherever he goes. We can just move him to a place where he can't harm our operations. That will be all."

If the parties involved knew about this, they would have to thank them. After all, such a genius plan to send a rat into a rice jar was something that no one could have thought of. Solovyov had to thank them for knowing about this good job.

After all, there are not many things that Alexander can do now, and the positions of attendants may exceed the staffing requirements.

Their current stupid plan actually has some effect. After all, Paul really wants to release a group of young officers to rotate in more positions.

"I will make this suggestion to the tyrant. He should not find any reason to resist. This kid is quite smart and will not disobey the orders of the emperor."

This was not a problem, and Count Zubov began to consider more practical operations.

"As for the best time for us to take action, it is when the Guards Regiment is transferred to the Tyrant's New Palace. It would be best if we do so at that time. Which of the four battalion commanders of the Guards Regiment does not need to be transferred out?"

"If anything is mentioned as available, it's the 4th Battalion."

Colonel Zapolsky, the commander of the Fourth Battalion, is the only one among the four battalion commanders who can obey the conspirators' orders, but his attitude is still unclear.

"It's best to act when the defense is changing, but it also depends on the time."

Tarejin also had some ability to make suggestions in this regard, and he also picked up a position when the Fourth Battalion was in charge of the guard.

"Want to arrange for all these battalion commanders and company commanders to leave? Of course, that's fine. Some of them are qualified for promotion. I'm afraid it's unfair for them to stay in the Guards. We just need to form some new corps. They can all be promoted to battalion commanders and corps commanders. Those with enough experience can be promoted to generals and corps commanders."

Paul actually checked the appointments of these people, but he did not touch Solovyov.

"If he has something to do, he must report it to me day and night, and he will not move until at least next month. If he goes to the prince, he should not be so anxious, it is just to maintain the social interaction. Although he will, the work at hand is more important."

As for Tarejin, he had some secrets that he didn't know yet. After all, when the palace was demonstrated, the guards of the Winter Palace were all soldiers selected from the First Battalion, and they had to keep everything they saw secret.

Apart from royal family members and some important ministers, they had only heard the names of many new invention plans, and knew even less about the more detailed planning schemes.

Although he had seen a sand table diagram, as the lieutenant general and commander of the Guards, Tarejin was actually in charge of the command of the regiment, and he was not aware of many confidential matters.

Paul was particularly dissatisfied with her, but because he was the one who led the Guards to swear allegiance, he stayed by her side.

Paul was eager for quick success and narrow-minded, but he still cherished the loyal people. He didn't know that the commanders of two infantry regiments and two cavalry regiments in the Guards had been instigated by Count von Paalen. Although he knew the danger, he had no idea who was going to launch the coup.

"There are too many things to do. I will arrange all the personnel appointments and dismissals you have submitted, including those who should be promoted, those who should be transferred horizontally, and those who should be transferred in and out."

However, Talezin also knew that Solovyov had been assigned to another position because he was trusted by Paul himself.

At another conspiracy meeting held at Count Zubov's house, Count von Paalen did not show up, but was presided over by Count Zubov himself.

"I never thought that the tyrant would transfer all his trusted officers. This is a godsend opportunity, but we have to wait and see. It's too early to act now. The security of the Winter Palace itself is very thorough. Even if there have been some negligence in the past, there are large numbers of soldiers in the main bedrooms and halls, as well as the gates and corridors. It is not appropriate to take action at this time, and this response mechanism is already very mature. If we want to take action..."

"Your Excellency, do you mean to wait until we get to the new palace before we take action?"

"That's it. We start at the Tyrant's New Palace. Although the defenses there seem to be very thorough, there are two main alarm measures. As long as we can make the alarm ring, we can attract the attention of the Guards. This also needs to be during the guard change time. We must calculate the time and take action when the Fourth Battalion changes positions. We must also act quickly."

"How can we enter the palace like this?"

"That's right, Major General Kutuzov. I think we'll need the adjutants to keep the soldiers steady. And you go to the Guards Hussar Regiment to control Lieutenant General Kologrivov. He's usually in the duty room, which makes him difficult to deal with. We can't transfer a lieutenant general."

"Leave it to me. It's not difficult to control that reckless man. I just need a few more people to go with me."

"That's good. Now that the issues of the duty officers and the guards have been resolved, we need to explain the pros and cons to the tyrant and make him sign the abdication decree. This is legal."

"What if he resists?"

"Then destroy him, Major General Kutuzov. You are a general of the aide-de-camp. Do you know where the seal of the tyrant is?"

"Usually it is placed in a box, but the edict also needs to be signed by him personally and stamped to be valid."

"If we can't sign, we need to look at what his signatures looked like in the past, and then copy them."

"Isn't this a bit dangerous?"

"Don't worry, as long as the two princes know that the tyrant is dead, they will just accept this fact."

Count Zubov calculated that Alexander himself was always around women, and the Crown Princess was pregnant again recently, so he would often return to the palace and would probably move to the castle by then, so it would not be difficult to control him.

As for Constantine, when he was on guard duty, he was usually near Paul's bedroom, so it was not difficult to control him.

"At this time, our sacred mission is about to be completed."

Zubov had a bad relationship with Paul to begin with, so he had no psychological burden about regicide.

However, in Russian history, a blatant coup to murder the reigning monarch is unheard of. When Ivan VI and Peter III were deposed in the past, they were not immediately executed. Ivan VI was killed because he was involved in a prison break, and only Peter III was killed by the generals guarding him.

It is no wonder that the three of the four Zubov brothers who had less conflict with Paul did not agree with such a conspiracy. Nicholas and Valerian were not deeply involved. Only the count wanted to kill Paul for both public and private reasons, including the interests of the great aristocratic groups and the pro-British faction.

"After the new monarch ascends the throne, there will be many things that need to be planned. We must control the situation by then."

"What about Her Majesty the Queen? She is the tyrant's woman and will cause us a lot of trouble."

"That's not a big deal. As long as we control His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and His Royal Highness Constantine, I'm sure she won't be able to do anything about it."

Count Zubov still underestimated Alexander. He had a plan for what Constantine might do, even resistance, and he would just wait until the time came for him to lead the team to complete the task.

Paul had heard about their secret meeting, and although he was somewhat wary, the secret police were distracted by the music in Count Zubov's mansion and did not obtain any specific details.

Not many officers of the Guards came to Paul's house to participate in the conspiracy, which did not arouse Paul's vigilance. After all, the count was acquainted with many people in the Guards in the past, and he could not stop social activities, as this would make the Tsar appear petty. No matter how narrow-minded Paul was, he would not do that.

But there were some unexpected situations. Because of the good news about Louisa, Alexander applied to Paul that the couple should remain in the Winter Palace, where the old environment would be good for Louisa's health. After all, although the new home had fire for heating, some bedrooms were still a little cold, which was not very suitable for the Crown Princess who was often sick and needed recuperation.

Paul himself agreed to his son and daughter-in-law's request: "It doesn't matter if it's a girl. You are still very young, and it's still warm here in the Winter Palace. If you need anything, you can go directly to the pharmacy on Million Street to get medicine, go to the Admiralty Hospital or summon the imperial physician. It's very convenient."

"Thank you, Father. We will stay in the Winter Palace for a while and move here in the spring."

"Don't worry. I know that women often have to face this stage. Your two mothers have encountered it 18 times in total, which is why you and your siblings were born. Lisa, this is your third time. Alexander is very worried about you."

As a father-in-law, he is quite caring towards his daughters-in-law. Although they were all girls before, being young always has its advantages. They still have a long way to go in life and there will always be opportunities.

"Oh, right, we need to go to your aunt and ask for more new glue made from donkey skin. I heard that the process was improved last year, and the batch sent to the palace is quite good. Put it in an iron pot and boil it with clam powder, and it will become a ball. I just don't know what this glue is used for. We don't have a complete Chinese medical book here, so we can't just use it based on hearsay."

He was in charge of quite a few things, but this also led to a strange phenomenon. The Guards Regiment of the Winter Palace itself would become the Sheikh Regiment under Alexander's command in the future, Paul would lead the Putin Regiment to the New Palace, and there would be a garrison camp of the Pavlovsk Grenadiers Regiment on Million Street.
(End of this chapter)