Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 169 026 Tafred Palace

The Tavrid Palace looks very new. The city of St. Petersburg is relatively new, and many of its buildings were built after Peter the Great.

This palace was built between 1783 and 1789. It was a private palace built by the Queen for Prince Potemkin. The name of Tauride Palace is related to the ancient name of Crimea, Taurica, and also represents Potemkin's title.

During the construction of the palace, Russia achieved a great victory in the war against the Ottoman Empire. However, there are not many places in the palace commemorating the military achievements of the Russo-Turkish War. Instead, the decorations are very luxurious.

This is what happened after Paul moved most of the Tauride Palace's property to the Winter Palace.

After Prince Potemkin's death, Potemkin's manager Ganovsky and Zubov's secretary Gribovsky actually took all the property in the palace, including gold, silver, jewelry, furniture, paintings, sculptures and even building materials, for themselves. This was discovered during the Empress's time. It was Potemkin's nieces who discovered that they were transporting these properties through the Fontanka Canal, and they were eventually imprisoned and convicted.

"Speaking of that Ganovsky, his mansion blocked the sunlight from the poet Delzavin's residence, making his house look cold and gloomy. Louisa, if you want to put it that way, it's 'dark'. This speculator tried to use the Duchess of Kingston's inheritance to speculate in real estate, but in the end he ended up in prison."

Although the young queen herself had heard the story of Ganovsky in the deep palace, she only learned it from the girls of the Golitsyn family, and there were many deviations from the original story.

"What was the palace used for? I remember seeing it on the Fontanka River embankment. It looked magnificent, but not very pretty."

Although Louisa herself dressed simply, her aesthetic taste was partly inherited from her mother. When she came to St. Petersburg, she was also influenced by the Empress, so she still had very high standards.

"It is now a barracks, owned by the Guards, and used by the Izmailov Guards Regiment. Unlike our regiment, they are always on duty in the palace. They lived there during the time of the late Emperor Paul."

"You are now an adjutant, and you still care about your former brothers."

"They really support your majesty and your highness. They have grown beards and call the emperor 'little daddy' and you 'little mommy'."

"But I never had that thought. Not everyone can become Her Majesty the Queen."

The two of them were sitting on a blanket in the garden, chatting like this. Louisa was following the doctor's advice to walk around in the garden more often.

"But you are the Queen, Your Highness."

Natalia was also here. She knew that Louisa was not adapted to life in St. Petersburg and preferred the quiet environment of the Tauride Palace. The struggles in the court were dangerous enough for her, not to mention the political struggles.

She even had difficulty dealing with Alexander's mistress. The Queen Mother was still suppressing her because of the shadow of the Queen and her status in court etiquette. It was only with the guidance of her best friend and lover that she relaxed a little.

"I know, Natasha, it would be nice if we were in Karlsruhe, where it's warmer at this time of year."

"Lisa, aren't you also warm in my arms?"

By the way, this maid is also the daughter of a prince, and her conditions are indeed good.

"Yes, there are only a few people here who can comfort me, and the children, my 'little mouse', how is she these days?"

"Little Princess Maria is doing well these days. I asked Volkonskaya to go and see her."

"Your Highness, you always care about others and rarely think about yourself. Whenever you think about yourself, you hide in bed and cry."

Solovyov's words seemed to be repeating the story that Natalia had told him before. They did things in a very secretive way.

"That's what I told you."

"At the same time, I was also seen several times during night patrols when His Majesty sent me here. Once when you were not there and little Natasha was there, His Highness fainted due to physical weakness. I always thought it was caused by malnutrition. This kind of malnutrition should not happen in the palace. It's really strange."

Solovyov knew a lot of things, but of course he didn't know even more. He also didn't know many things the Queen Mother had done against Louisa. But now that he was talking about it aloud, he realized that the Queen Mother in the Pavlovsk Palace would not let her daughter-in-law off easily.

Especially now that she actually only had this one daughter-in-law, Juliana applied to go abroad for recuperation and returned to her parents' home in Saxony.

Of course, we can't go off topic when chatting, so Natalia reminded him, "Major, it's time for His Highness to take a walk. We need to go to the garden."

Louisa was feeling better and was able to walk around, and the paths in the garden were flat so she didn't have to worry about falling.

The reason for sending an officer over was that it would be more convenient to support the Queen. Besides, the steamship "Queen Elizabeth" was still in the pond of the Tauride Palace. The ship had to run a circle in the pond every few days, which was also used for testing and preparations for the Marquis to sail on the Neva River.

Another advantage of Solovyov is that he can be used as a tour guide. Although he did not often come to the Tauride Palace when he was on duty with Paul, he could tell what the artworks here were after just a few glances, especially the many sculptures from the time of Peter the Great.

Of course, Alexander was still very confident in his work, which was quite ironic.

"Your Highness, that is the statue of Venus purchased from Rome during the reign of Peter the Great."

"The statue's head appears to have been severed."

"Yes, I have checked the archives. When this statue was unearthed, its head and base were both severely damaged. Also, it has no arms. How strange! Statues of Venus are always armless. Is this to show a sense of beauty?"

"Why do you say that?"

Solovyov was not afraid of talking nonsense. The Venus of Milo, also known as the famous "Venus with Broken Arms", was not unearthed until 1820, while the Venus statue bought by Peter the Great was unearthed in 1718 and purchased from Italy in 1721.

"Missing a pair of arms always arouses people's imagination, which is also a kind of charm of imperfection."

"That makes sense, Misha. I remember you once told me about Chinese painting."

"Your Highness, in Chinese art, there are always some blank spaces. Not everything needs to be stated in detail. This technique is also found in some of the literary works we read. It should be said that this is not an art unique to the East, but a global art." However, I don't know whether Europeans can appreciate Chinese paintings.

"Okay, let's keep going. There are other statues to see. Do you know the stories behind them?"

"Your Highness, are you testing me?"

"Of course I want to test you. Although some people call you 'idiot', that has nothing to do with wisdom. You are like a walking encyclopedia."

"But there are also some parts missing. I don't know everything. It would be meaningless if a person knew everything."

"Do you know the story of the ancient Crimean legend?"

"Your Highness, could it be..."

"I'm a little tired, let's stop here."

Louisa felt her feet were sore. She was not very good at land sports and preferred swimming. She was a typical example of "I am not good at running".

Louisa leaned on the bench, curled up in Natalia's arms. She would not ask Solovyov to hug her in public, as that would seem too intimate and easily arouse suspicion.

"Speaking of Taurica, we should mention the epic poem "Iliad", in which Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter as a sacrifice. However, at such times, there was always the protection of the gods. Artemis took pity on her and asked her to come to the temple of Taurica to serve as a priestess. This is the story of Iphigenia that we all know, in the drama handed down by the Athenians."

What follows is a series of stories in between, which indeed include the brilliant writing of Aeschylus' tragic trilogy and the opera dedicated to the Russian royal family, and the meaning is also very obvious.

"No wonder there are so many Greeks in Crimea. There must be a lot of treasures waiting to be discovered there."

"But it's mainly the remains of Greek statues and palaces, and like the sculptures that remain in the Ottoman Empire, I imagine there will always be thieves who want to make a fortune from it."

"What about the French? When Napoleon invaded Egypt, he also took away a lot of treasures."

"But Napoleon has ambitions and dreams, Your Highness."

Louisa asked this because she indeed always disliked those antiquities dealers and thieves.

"General Bonaparte had ambitions and dreams. He wanted to go to Egypt to replicate the great deeds of Alexander the Great. And he brought with him not antiquities dealers, but real French scholars and artists. He was able to help the outside world better understand Egypt and what the world was like four thousand years ago or even five thousand years ago. This was a truly culturally significant undertaking, not the theft that the British often did. It may not seem very friendly to the British to say this, but compared to the 'elegant thieves' the French, they were very barbaric."

"I remember Mikhail of the Dolgorukov family. When he arrived in the Peloponnese, he was warmly welcomed by the locals. He mentioned it in the story he told Katish at the palace."

"Yes, that's because the old prince was there once, as a volunteer to help the Greeks achieve their independence, but unfortunately, they didn't succeed in the end. Although Russia is a big country, it can't decide everything. Similarly, it can't stop those thieves who steal culture. Peter the Great really spent money to buy it, but the British always rely on stealing, and they also scold their own people."

Now all that’s left is to report the Elgin family’s household registration directly. After all, it was them and the antiquities dealers from Western Europe who did this.

If it is said that museums seeking specimens for research still has some scientific significance, the direct theft of cultural relics, which has removed the original sculptures from their original locations, has a very clear result.

“I don’t like thieves.”

When Louisa expresses her emotions, she is sometimes very direct. The last time Solovyov heard someone being treated this way was Adam Czartoryski, but that was only a short-term dislike.

"Your Highness, but sometimes we can't control them. It's good to be able to take care of the things at our doorstep."

Louisa couldn't do anything about it. Although she was the queen, she was a nobody in the palace. Only the girls in the two girls' schools could obey her management. There was also a queen dowager above her. She had no way of solving this matter which happened far away in Greece.

"I know, and you can see how pitiful and helpless Louisa is now. My feet are sore and I can't walk. I can only ask the major to carry me."

"I am happy to serve Your Highness. However, I still need to find a wheelchair and push Your Highness back to the palace."

Considering that there were only Natalia and a few maids close to Luisa in the garden, and there were not even any guards, he had no choice but to carry Luisa out like this.

But he was also very careful. In order to avoid trouble, he ran downstairs, found the butler in the Tafred Palace, and pushed a wheelchair out.

Louisa also laughed. This "brother" was indeed very careful and cared about his relationship with her, unlike the fanatical attitude of some young officers.

It’s not that there were no other Guards officers who wrote love letters to the Queen to express their love. After all, there was the Queen before her, and even the Queen Mother often corresponded with Count Nikolai Rumyantsev. Becoming the lover of the Queen or Queen, in the eyes of some adventurers, still had a lot of rewards.

But it is not so easy to win. If you are seen pushing the queen's wheelchair or have a close relationship with her, some struggles are inevitable.

After all, Tauride-Taurica-Taurus, back to Latin, is Taurus. The meaning is very clear about what happened when Zeus incarnated as a golden bull and Europa.

When Alexander is outside, he will inevitably become a popular target for the Minotaur.

Solovyov wanted to maintain this secret yet intimate relationship, so he kept it secret and always kept a slight distance in public.

He deliberately kept his distance, but some Guards officers didn't think so.

This attendant adjutant is by the side of the lovely Queen. If you want to get Her Majesty's reward, you must find a way to get him away.

However, they all seemed to have forgotten that Solovyov himself was also quite capable, and the last person who dared to sneak into the Peterhof Palace and was about to do so was killed on the spot by him.

(End of this chapter)