Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 157 A seemingly ordinary day

Tsar Paul would get up at 5 o'clock every morning and listen to reports from his ministers, sometimes on domestic affairs and sometimes on foreign affairs.

The report on the morning of March 3 was Count von Paaren's report on the latest situation abroad.

Paul still thought that von Palen's statement was suspicious, but apart from the Attorney General's report, there was no clear evidence and other circumstantial reports. He was too particular about details and the law, so he did not punish him. In addition, von Palen had been with him for a long time. He was just a dog. After raising him for such a long time, he had developed feelings for him and would not come out and bite his owner when he was full.

"Your Majesty, this is the latest news from France."

"No matter what the First Consul wants to do, the foreign ministers of both sides must be present when the peace treaty is officially signed. At that time, I'm afraid the new president of the Diplomatic Academy will have to go. You have a lot of duties now, and we can't let you go far away, especially to Paris."

"Your Majesty, it's not a big deal. If it's my job, I'll go there when the time comes. Also, Your Majesty should take a look at the marriage targets chosen for Her Highness Maria. There are the Crown Prince of Saxe-Weimar, the Prince of Denmark, and..."

"Why, is it not good to have the only son of your father-in-law? Although my wife here has not given birth to an heir, she is still young, only 22 years old. At least Alexander comes back to take care of her, which is always a good sign. The only trouble is that she is a little young. So, let's put Maria's matter aside for now. The prince of Weimar is not bad either. When I choose a son-in-law, I always have to consider his character and whether he can make my daughter live a good life. William and Frederick Ludwig are good. Don't be so anxious about the marriage."

Paul listened to four hours of reports on the latest domestic and international situations in the morning, but in fact, there was not much nutrition in them. Such complex news was actually just a bunch of noise. Compared with that, it would be better for him to review and approve the reports submitted by the governors himself.

I don’t know if it will interfere with Paul’s thinking. When so much information came in, he didn’t think about what might happen.

The second item of the morning's itinerary was to review the troops accompanied by the Crown Prince.

Before Alexander left the Winter Palace in the morning, he went to please Louisa and promised to order new books published in London for her in a few days, to replace the furnishings in the palace, to arrange a nanny for little Maria, and so on.

"Your Highness, shall we go there by horse or carriage?"

"Soloviev, prepare your horses and go over."

"How about a batch of Andalusian horses, Your Highness?"

"You have only been here a few days, but you know what I like. Go to the stable and get the horse, and accompany me to the Mikhailovsky Palace."

Solovyov himself had the Orlov trotter that Paul had given him, and he followed behind Alexander.

This road is not far. Just turn from Million Street and you will reach the Ares Square. You can see the Mikhailovsky Palace below the square.

Solovyov had been dissatisfied with the color of the palace. It was a bit strange that Madame Chevalier wore the same color dress yesterday.

He heard the most rumors. When this lady came from France, her origins were unclear. Even the Attorney General suspected that she might be a spy for the First Consul.

However, this rumor is somewhat funny. After all, this lady was Kutaisov's mistress for three or four years. As for her being a French spy, it is not so reliable. In 1794, Madame Chevalier was performing in Hamburg and was not in France. That period happened to be the early days of the Jacobin dictatorship and the Directory. Even if General Bonaparte had the ability, he would not have fired cannons on the streets of Paris at that time. This statement is also a very irresponsible behavior.

Alexander accompanied Paul in the military review. The troops reviewed in the palace were the 1st Battalion of the Prussian Regiment and the Hussar Guards, which were also the troops on duty today. The 1st Battalion will also be on duty tomorrow. On March 3, they will rest as usual and be relieved by the 13nd Battalion.

The duties of the Guards Hussars will later be replaced by the Guards Cossacks.

These soldiers were extremely loyal to Paul, and their formations during the inspection were neat, which made the Tsar himself very satisfied.

Then he went horseback riding with Kutaisov. Paul was in a good mood and even changed horses on the racecourse to show his favorite the real skills of dressage.

Meanwhile, Count von Paaren had made up his mind to launch the action on the night of March 3 and had begun distributing invitations to the conspirators to participate in the action.

But unfortunately, Solovyov was accompanying Alexander on the Field of War and saw Count von Paalen's servants rushing out and heading to General Tarejin's villa.

"Your Highness, isn't that the valet of Count von Paalen? That Lithuanian, what's his name?"

"He is going to Talyzin's house now. What do you think he can do there, Soloviev?"

"Your Highness, according to today's schedule, there will be no captains of the Guards at the evening banquet. The guests are Count Stroganov and Count Kutuzov, as well as Prince Yusupov."

"That's weird."

Alexander could not make any public statement, and what he said to Count von Paaren yesterday could not be made public, and it would be very troublesome to say it no matter how he did it.

In fact, Solovyov also knew that this was a crude version of the Golden Knife Scheme. Even if Count von Paalen was defeated, there would still be people who would continue to sow discord between Paul and Alexander, the father and son. This was unavoidable.

Even if the servant was caught, it would only force the earl to take a risky approach. Moreover, the servants were not quite sure what the conspirator was going to do based on what was written on the invitation, and many of the specific details were unclear, so they might be deceived again.

In fact, the simplest way would be to arrest Count von Paaren on the day Paul questioned him, and solve the problem quickly. But Paul had developed feelings for the dog and couldn't bear to do it.

The Romanov royal family of Russia all had this "womanly soft-heartedness" problem to some extent, except for Nicholas II who was blamed for the suppression of the Guards.

Count Zubov, who was not serving in the palace, now received the invitation and planned to go to Lieutenant General Tarejin's official residence in the afternoon.

"At this time, we have to do it at night."

Paul didn't know what was happening outside the palace at this time. He was having lunch with his entourage at noon.

"Your Majesty, what are you going to do this afternoon?"

"There are no performances today. I want to read the newspaper now. Please ask the reading attendant to come."

He was unwilling to use a maid who read newspapers, or his mistress, Princess Gagarina, who was very young, but shallow and frivolous in terms of knowledge.

That afternoon, Alexander was to return to the Winter Palace, and then to the Mikhailovsky Palace at eight o'clock in the evening, where the father and son would have dinner together. At the Winter Palace, the commander of the Semenovsky Regiment, Depreladovich, the commander of the Guards Battalion, Count Tolstoy, and the adjutant of the Guards, Prince Alexander Volkonsky, were all left behind.

Prince Bagration insisted on holding them back and playing mahjong.

"Prince, don't you usually play cards?"

"Playing cards is so boring, and you lose money all the time. Look, this is the dominoes for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, it's called Mahjong. I made two sets, one for daily play, and the other is made of ivory, ready to be presented to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. You guys, just come and play with me. This card is also simple, a 'Khitan' way of playing. The method of calculating the number is engraved on the box, can you see it?"

"If you want to play cards at this time, we all have to be on duty!"

In fact, these three people were all insiders and participants of the conspiracy group, but the Semenovsky Regiment was stationed in the Winter Palace, so they were separated outside. It didn't matter if the lower-level officers were missed, but these main officers had to be stabilized.

However, Bagration could only catch three people at a mahjong table. Usually, everyone was intimidated by his bravery, so only these three unlucky guys were left.

Unfortunately, the adjutant of the Semenovsky Regiment on duty was in the palace, not in the Winter Palace, but that was almost the same, as all the core members of the regiment were detained.

Inside the Crown Prince's bedroom, Louisa was pulling the "little fairy" and telling her some precautions after pregnancy.

"You are in better health than the rest of us. It's been six months, and you are still so lively. But don't move too much. Hey? What's that noise next door?"

"Peter wanted a few guards officers to play mahjong with him. He has been addicted to playing cards recently. These Chinese dominoes are specially made and there is no way to cheat them."

"Your husband is brave in battle and honest in heart. I heard that in order to make you happy, he would hold you around the house when he was not on duty."

"In the first few months, he even held me up high! Now that I'm like this, he's afraid that he might hurt me, so he just holds me in his arms. Although he looks a little uglier, he's still a good man. I just don't want him to look like this when the baby is born."

The "little fairy"'s myopia is getting worse and worse, and her eyes are hazy. That's why everyone likes her.

"Kadis, you just like to look at faces too much. But, this time I am also a little different, just like my mother wrote to me, my two sisters are twins, it feels a bit like that."

It was indeed like that. The "little fairy" undressed Louisa and she could tell by the shape of her belly. She was so thin that her belly was already obvious.

"Well, let's go and watch the card game, Lisa. You always shut yourself up in the palace, which is not good. You should always see something new."

Indeed, it is rare to see mahjong being played in St. Petersburg.

However, in order to avoid making too much noise, they were very well behaved and lined up neatly when playing cards.

As for Alexander himself, he returned to the hall of the Winter Palace without saying a word.

"What are you worried about, Your Highness?"

"Soloviev, you were sent by my father, but you weren't sent here to monitor me. That's strange."

"Your Highness, you are the crown prince. I came to you to serve as your aide-de-camp, not to plant a spy. Otherwise, I would have reported it to you in secret."

"Yes. I am worried that if a coup d'état really happens, what will happen then? The outcome is unpredictable."

"I wonder, too, why your Majesty does not arrest the count. He could have done so."

"Father is too particular about evidence. He only dismissed the conspirators in Smolensk and didn't even put them in jail."

Sometimes, what happens in Russia cannot be guessed by common sense. Alexander himself is still very worried. Count von Paaren will also attend the evening banquet.

"Don't think too much about it. There will be a banquet at the Mikhailovsky Palace tonight. I have to go to the palace now. You stay in the Winter Palace at night. If anything happens, you have to help Prince Bagration gather the troops, pass orders and provide staff services. I heard you are very good at this."

"Your Highness, it's just that at the dinner, you and His Highness Constantine are both in the palace. Will anything happen?"

"No, my father has such deep feelings for a dog he raised. Constantine and I are his sons and we have not rebelled. What should I be afraid of?"

Alexander seldom reveals it, and when he showed his cards today, he was actually a little vague. He knew that Solovyov was promoted by Paul, so he said this.

"Besides, the Guards are outside, and these soldiers can't possibly arrest all of us. If the officers dare to ask the soldiers to join the coup, I'm afraid the soldiers won't agree."

"That's right, but Your Highness, have you ever considered that the soldiers are loyal to the Emperor and the two Your Highnesses, but these officials have ulterior motives?"

When Alexander heard this, he also realized that Solovyov, this pretty boy, did have some ideas. He was indeed a young man with great prospects that was favored by both his father and Marshal Suvorov.

"You mean, someone wants to forge an imperial edict?"

"Not only did they forge the imperial edict, they also used a scheme to sow discord. Such people have extremely malicious intentions. Your Highness, this is what I am most worried about. Even if there is no coup, there will never be peace in the palace!"

But Alexander's idea of ​​picking peaches was very clear. He was not very familiar with Solovyov and would not tell him too much of his true thoughts.

On his way to the banquet, he also thought about this problem, and before leaving, he told Louisa not to sleep too deeply tonight, so that if something happened, she could be prepared.

If it was really a forged imperial edict, the situation would be different. If they could launch a coup against Paul, they could also do it against him.

However, Alexander is an excellent actor. He only gives orders when decisions should be made. In his daily life, he does things in a confusing and confusing way.

(End of this chapter)