Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 180 Diplomatic Assurances to Baden
It is indeed unexpected that Solovyov was knocked down by a large glass of draft beer.

After all, he seldom drinks, and his personality always switches back and forth between liveliness and seriousness. It is too rare for such a thing to happen when entertaining guests.

It was Karl Ludwig who personally carried him onto the carriage, and when they returned to the Tauride Palace, everyone laughed when they saw this.

After all, if we knocked down the tour guide in St. Petersburg, we wouldn’t be able to continue our tour.

"Find a room for Mr. Major, and wait till he wakes up."

Louisa was chatting happily with her sisters in the courtyard. She didn't expect Solovyov to be carried back like this. According to the tacit understanding between the two, she would not show any special emotions in front of others.

"What a young man who can't handle alcohol. Does your brother-in-law often ask him to protect your safety?"

"It is indeed very safe, Mary. Don't underestimate him. He is an inventor and he also likes to translate Oriental literature and poetry."

"Ah, sister, are these the poems you mentioned in your letter?"

"What do you think?"

"Chinese poetry still has some feeling even when translated. It's just that this is real Chinese literature, not an adaptation like Mr. Voltaire."

Among the German marquisates, their grandparents were always closer to France and had a better understanding of French culture. The "Chinese style" also appeared in the Karlsruhe Palace of the Marquis of Baden. The design of the "Chinese Tea Room" looked like a Monkey King's house that had been fully decorated, but it was still relatively close to reality.

"Mary, if you want, you can come to Petersburg more often. I'm alone here and I always feel lonely."

"Sister Frederica, you are so close, but you can't see each other."

"This is our fate. If you get married, it's best to find a duke of ordinary status, so that at least you can go out and have a look. Others think that if I marry here, I will definitely live a happy life, but that's just what the outside world sees. Whether it's St. Petersburg or Stockholm, they are like bird cages for canaries. I love Alexander, but I'm always worried that if he flies to other places for a long time, he will cool down like he is now, and I'll feel scared."

She hoped that her two sisters would not be restricted by the royal family. If they were from a nearby duke or marquis family, it would not matter even if the expenses were tighter than their Margrave of Baden family. At least they would still have some freedom.

Alexander awarded the medal to his father-in-law. Starting from the formal meeting between the father-in-law and son-in-law, the Prince of Baden and his family will live here until October. The main activities during this period include Russia's diplomatic guarantees to Baden and the coronation ceremony of the Russian emperor and queen. They will not leave until Louisa gives birth to a child, and then they will go to Sweden.

As for the diplomatic guarantees for Baden, Karl Ludwig received some relevant requests from the old marquis, asking Russia to guarantee that Baden's sovereignty would not be violated. Although he had gained many benefits from the French, the old marquis, who was over 70 years old, was also a shrewd man. He was very worried about what tricks Napoleon would play next.

This worry is not without reason. Napoleon's daily routine was to sign treaties and then not abide by them. The same was true of the British across the street. On the contrary, the German princes and Russia were relatively "trustworthy". This also depends on how big the interests are.

Alexander was very clear about this. Since his father-in-law had come, he had to receive him.

Especially the prince, Louisa's grandfather. You have to know that this family actually has a close relationship with the Russian royal family. They have often dealt with each other since the time of the empress. In addition, Alexander's mother-in-law was Paul's candidate for fiancée at that time, and he even liked her more. If you look closely at the circle of relatives in Europe, you can connect the surrounding areas from these German states. It can be said that it is a network of relatives connected by princesses.

". It is for this reason that we are willing to guarantee the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Baden and prevent it from being infringed upon by neighboring countries. If such a thing happens, Russia will warn and diplomatically condemn the country that infringes on the hereditary feudal domain of Baden. In the event of a more serious incident, Petersburg will not sit idly by."

Russia was relatively trustworthy in this kind of guarantee, and its later attitude towards Christians in Serbia and the Ottoman Empire was much better than that of Britain and France.

As for what Napoleon will do, it is difficult to say now.

The scale of the subsequent banquet was not large. Louisa had been recuperating in the Tavrid Palace, so Alexander held the reception in the Winter Palace and invited the Queen Mother over.

Although Karl Ludwig had seen a lot of people, including his three married daughters, two queens, and Louisa, who was even the queen, all sounded very noble, but the status of his most beloved third daughter in St. Petersburg seemed to be rather awkward.

This was inevitable, after all, the Princess of Württemberg became the Empress Dowager of Russia after she married in, and she did not like Louisa's bloodline and background.

After all, Paul wrote to Amalia of Hesse from time to time, including when Louisa was born. The Queen even sent a congratulatory letter. It was the dowry provided by the Queen that enabled Amalia to marry into Baden.

In addition, although Baden and Württemberg are neighboring countries and have a certain level of relationship, there are still many confusing issues to be clarified.

Queen Mother Maria didn't like Louisa in the first place, and if she was pregnant now and couldn't give birth to an heir, and continued to give birth to girls, she would still not be happy with her.

After all, the Queen Mother gave birth to two sons before giving birth to several girls in succession. She also had some opinions about this slim daughter-in-law who could only bloom. No wonder she made a series of strange remarks about Naryshkina's issue before, saying that "daughter-in-law will not seduce people."

Karl Ludwig and Amalia of Hesse also had to maintain good relations with their mother-in-law. When it came to the idea of ​​their eldest daughter Amalia coming to live in St. Petersburg, the Queen Mother did not object. After all, this was something Alexander had agreed to before.

If we take this into consideration, Queen Mother Maria always had a bit of a "Queen Wei" vibe to her. She wanted to be the Queen herself, not the Queen Mother. All of this was shattered by Louisa's speech to the Guards that night with all her might.

Alexander was always acting in front of his mother and daughter-in-law. When his father-in-law, mother-in-law, sister-in-law and brother-in-law came to St. Petersburg, he also had to act. He was really an excellent actor, but unfortunately there were no awards for actors in this era. He felt tired about this, so after the reception, he went to Maria Naryshkina again. Only the heart of this Polish girl could comfort him now.

Karl Ludwig is somewhat worried about his daughter's treatment at the moment, but her mother's family in Baden is too weak, so she can only rely on the old man in the family to write to his grandson-in-law from time to time and provide some information about the French border to demonstrate his value. In addition, he mailed a copy of the charter of Heidelberg University to Alexander for reference.

Apart from this, there was not much he could do to help, so the old man just sat in the pond by himself, and now he couldn't stop sighing.

"Your Highness, why are you sighing?"

"Ah, it's Michael, are you sober?"

"I'm really not a good drinker. When I was with the Grand Marshal, I would always drink two glasses of sweet wine with him. And drinking is not something that can be developed through 'training'. I'm also afraid that someone will bring out vodka at the party."

"You don't look Russian!"

"You said these green eyes looked like they came from the Caucasus. Maybe there's some truth to that."

"Especially now, if it glows green at night, it will look like a wolf."

Karl Ludwig also felt that there was some truth in it. Solovyov's green eyes were indeed very distinctive and different from ordinary green eyes.

"How is Louisa doing here? Can you tell me the truth? In the letter she wrote, she mentioned a situation that, although not explicitly stated, seemed to indicate that she had been wronged."

Solovyov looked around and saw that there was no one around, so he thought of telling part of the truth: "Your Majesty is still caring for Her Majesty the Queen, but which ruler doesn't have a lover outside? Especially in Russia, Her Majesty Elizabeth is not used to life here. It is probably because of the dissolute environment in the court that good people are corrupted. It was during the time of His Majesty Paul that the discipline was relatively strict, but then something strange happened. Regicide actually happened in Russia. In terms of diplomatic correspondence, I'm afraid all of Europe has already known about it, and the British are interfering."

"Yes, England and France were negotiating, but who knows what they will do next? It must have been very dangerous in Petersburg at that time?"

"I accompanied His Highness to the Mikhailovsky Palace, and some things happened between His Highness the Empress Dowager and Her Highness the Queen. I was by His Highness's side, so I knew about it. Another thing that happened in the past was the diplomatic incident of the Swedish marriage."

When Karl Ludwig heard what Solovyov said, he roughly realized that his daughter was indeed being bullied in St. Petersburg, but it had not yet reached the most serious stage. It was just that the Queen Mother was unilaterally making things difficult for Louisa. The problems ranged from the marriage decision of the Swedish king to the events on the Mars Field.

But it was good for him to know these things. If he left his eldest daughter Amalia in St. Petersburg, perhaps he could find someone to help Louisa so that she would not be too lonely and would have no place to vent her anger.

"But Frederica's marriage to Stockholm has nothing to do with Louisa. I can only tell you this. Besides, in a small country like ours, if our daughters marry well, they won't be directly bullied by big countries."

He spoke in a normal manner, not like the son of a feudal lord, but like a German nobleman of a similar title.

"Besides, Baden is a small country. It was not until my father's time that it became prosperous. In the past, there were not so many girls to send away for marriage."

Solovyov did not deliberately learn about the situation in Baden and Württemberg. He only heard the Queen Mother mention her brothers and sisters, and Elena mentioned her grandfather and uncles, as well as some things he learned in Vienna. If there are many girls in these small countries, they are often sent to the surrounding big and small countries for blind dates. If they are unsuccessful, they can get some dowry in return. When giving birth, big countries like Russia also "give red envelopes" to the in-laws. If the heir and the girl can be raised, it can be regarded as a support and reliance.

Before Karl Frederick, Baden had always had a single-line succession, but with him came more sons, which solved the problem of having few offspring. Then came the marriages of his granddaughters, and the old marquis, a "farmer friend", promoted agrarianism, which allowed such a fragile small country to barely survive, but it was still very difficult.

Even the marriage of his daughter would be interfered with. The old marquis had always been in contact with Mirabeau, Nemours and others, and had closer relations with France. He even planned to marry his second granddaughter to the Duke of Enghien, but due to the intervention of the Directory, this plan failed and he had to send her to Bavaria.

It is no wonder that the Duke of Enghien chose to live in Edenheim. After all, the Prince of Condé and the Margrave of Baden have some friendship. However, this kind of decision is always more critical.

As for Karl Ludwig, due to his son-in-law's stance and France's current interference in Baden, he and his wife are actually against France. And with a Tsar son-in-law there, nothing will happen to them.

After listening to this, Solovyov also understood the difficulties in Baden. If you count a few generations ago, according to Karl Ludwig's description, Württemberg had married a daughter here, so the two families could be considered distant relatives but close neighbors. However, judging from the fact that the Queen Mother bullied Louisa, it was hard to tell that they were related.

However, the old prince had never realized the relationship between this young major and his daughter, so he did not go into details.

A German prince at the doorstep of France does not necessarily live a better life than the Poles at the doorstep of Russia, and he has to rely on others for his livelihood, which is very uncomfortable.

Although the son-in-law made a promise, once the French take action in the future, St. Petersburg will know about it too late, and will have to rely on the huge neighbor at the doorstep.

Of course, these two people do not know what will happen to Baden in the future between France and Russia.

Solovyov also didn't know that Napoleon was recently in Paris, asking around for the whereabouts of Josephine's relatives. He even found out that Josephine's ex-husband's cousin had a daughter who was being raised in a city in southern France and was about to bring her to Paris.

Judging from the actions of the First Consul at this time, he still intended to bring together his own family, Josephine's in-laws' family and her own family to establish a new dynasty when he became monarch in the future. This idea of ​​becoming emperor was probably already planned long ago. The two Ls were like Mr. Talleyrand with two legs, and he was just trying to figure out his boss's intentions.

(End of this chapter)