Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 221 Madame Recamier in the Salon on Mont Blanc Street (Part 033)
After the recitation, Solovyov came down and passed in front of General Moreau, who invited him to sit down.

"I am General Moreau, Baron von Stirlitz. You are doing well, and you must be a young officer. However, your steps show that you are not from Augsburg, but from Russia."

"Why do you say that?"

"I've only seen Russian officers walk like this. Although we were defeated by Marshal Suvorov in Italy, we also captured Russian officers in some sporadic battles. Even if your accent is impeccable, it will be exposed by the way you walk."

"Do you want to know my true identity? Or do you think I'm pretending?"

"Perhaps you are an officer who has served in the Russian army, with a rank of captain or major. That's my guess."

Solovyov also didn't want him to know that he was the military attaché of the Russian Embassy in Paris, and the Paris Police Department had not noticed his whereabouts so far. There was no need to reveal his identity at this time, but some words could be lied to.

"My father did serve in the Russian army, and I grew up in Odessa, so it's not unusual for me to walk like that."

"That's right, but how did you come up with the idea of ​​using such a centurion character?"

"Because I am familiar with the original text of Gallic Wars. Even though many people think Caesar is a tyrant who should be eliminated, it should be noted that he did not kill his fellow senators, but welcomed them back and eventually died by the sword."

"Your point of view is interesting. Caesar is indeed a man of charisma."

Bernadotte's words actually made Solovyov think that he should be an opportunist. Unlike Moreau, who always insisted on republicanism, even when he served the Tsar, and Napoleon had his ambitions. These two were very determined, but he was not. Moreover, he was extremely lucky and was good at picking up bargains.

It can be said that his title inexplicably became the one that survived among the many royal families that were changed during the French Revolution.

However, considering Louisa's position, Solovyov would try to make Louisa's nephew, Crown Prince Gustav, the Swedish monarch if there was a chance in the future. Besides, he really didn't like Bernadotte, so he could only remain polite on the surface.

In this way, he still needs to work hard now. If he wants to become a colonel or a general, he may be able to play a role. If he is just a lieutenant colonel of the Guards now, it is not enough.

"But this does not mean excessive tolerance. Some enemies, such as the enemies of the French Republic, should be resolutely attacked."

"Including the British?"

"I think everyone should be friendly to the British. You are General Bernadotte, right?"

"Yes, Baron. We are acquainted now. What is it you wish to say?"

"I think at the diplomatic level, whether it's Britain, France or Russia, or the Austrian court in Vienna, they all want a divided Europe, not a united one, especially in Germany. They probably will..."

Desiree was listening to Solovyov speaking French in a high-pitched Marseille accent, and she was confused. It was clearly his native dialect, but now she couldn't understand it.

"Your Marseille accent, sir, makes me doubt whether I am a Marseille."

"Mrs. Bernadotte, you worry too much. I think diplomacy is a complicated art."

"You sound more like a diplomat, Baron von Stirlitz, than a general."

"General Moreau, you know that sometimes in diplomatic situations, you also need to mobilize your opponent, just like attracting the enemy's attention on the battlefield, like Alexander the Great's river crossing battle in India, looking for a suitable crossing. Or like, in the Italian war, I mean the war in 1799, the Russian army's inappropriate mobilization led to an ambush in their initial crossing of the river."

"How did you know?"

"I heard from the Austrian cavalrymen who participated in the battle that the Russian army's actions were somewhat rash, and it was not a decision that Suvorov could have made."

"So that was also a very small tactical victory and we almost lost Italy in the end."

"Then there was Emperor Franz in Vienna. He made a stupid mistake and forced Archduke Karl and Suvorov's armies to be mobilized, which ultimately led to a complete defeat on the Swiss battlefield. This meant that the two battlefields could not communicate with each other, and they were eventually defeated one by one in 1800. First there was the decisive victory at Marengo, and then there was a more complete victory at Hohenlinden. It was hard to imagine that the Austrian emperor would send his young brother as the commander-in-chief. It was not surprising that he lost the battle, and he lost so badly. He completely ignored the most basic rules of war. Not everyone is Alexander, who could perform well in the Battle of Chaeronea as a rookie."

Solovyov also supported Moreau. After all, the Battle of Hohenlinden was the last and decisive battle in the Second Anti-French Alliance. From then on, Austria had to make peace and withdraw from the war.

Although the opponent played badly, Weroser was an old acquaintance of Solovyov, so there was nothing much to say.

Moreau, on the other hand, was always calm, and if other issues were not taken into consideration, his calmness was sometimes very useful. However, it was not a good thing for him in the conspiracy from 1802 to 1803.

His continued association with some friends eventually led to his expulsion from France, and when he returned to Europe in 1813, the situation was very different.

"Ah, that's very interesting. I think if you continue to return to the army, you will have a very good military record in time, and perhaps even become a general."

"However, the Republic's army does not need foreigners outside of France's mainland territories and colonies. To hire an officer from the German region, one usually has to go to Prussia, Austria, Russia, or even the Ottoman Empire."

"Do you want to be a bey or a pasha, too?"

"No, that's not good. If you join the army, you should know the meaning of drawing a sword."

"But when you drew your gun, you didn't hesitate at all. You can tell from the fact that you've been fed a lot of bullets. You don't even need to be there to know because it's in the newspapers."

"All of them hit vital points. What a good shooter! These people died in vain."

"Yes, Bernadotte, these people died for nothing."

Bernadotte and Moreau spoke like a crosstalk, singing in unison and commenting on the fate of these fools.

"At least we should know our opponents. The streets of Paris have been full of hostility over the years. Perhaps the appearance of this baron will reduce the number of people who want to duel." "I don't want to cause trouble. After all, I'm still single. My father is counting on me to bring a girl home and inherit his business after we get married, even though it's just a few estates."

"Ah, Paris is a nice place, maybe you'll find a girl you like."

Both Moreau and Bernadotte were married, but that did not stop Moreau from frequently visiting Madame Recamier's salon, and Bernadotte always brought his wife with him.

In particular, Moreau noticed that Madame Récamier and Madame Staël were looking in their direction while discussing something.

The poem recited on the field was also long, but it was meaningless. Solovyov felt that he had not performed well, but others were worse than him, and after a while, someone came to express his opinion to him.

"Young man, your poem might be more meaningful if it were turned into a play or a novel. We are full of stories about Caesar and Brutus, but few people care about the common people. No one writes about the little people in Rome, and no one writes about the little people in France."

"But sir, I have only just arrived in France, and there is no telling when I may have to leave again, just like a migratory bird."

"That doesn't matter. Maybe you can change these stories and perform them in the theater. You don't even need to be a playwright. You can succeed just by telling the story and collaborating with some playwrights who are good at writing beautiful words."

"Then I thank you, too, sir."

"This is just a suggestion, young man. You are very smart and have a chance to succeed in anything you do."

"grateful."

After the gentleman left, Moreau mentioned it unintentionally.

"If you're a diplomat, then maybe that's appropriate, but you also need to hide the edge of your words so that it's useful."

"That must be someone like your foreign minister, Mr. Talleyrand. He would certainly emphasize the two Ls."

"Haha, that's very vivid. Mr. Talleyrand did emphasize that."

After leaving the salon, Solovyov still had to go back to 205 rue Montmartre. He didn't expect that Madame Recamier had some interest in him, but it was not strong enough. Perhaps he would need some opportunity to come to this salon in the future.

After returning to the apartment, Solovyov didn't say much. He was not in a hurry to write anything. He just wanted to analyze his experience in the salon today.

However, no conclusion was drawn.

Even if I went next door and met Pierre, I wouldn't be able to figure out anything. This gentleman is really very stupid.

When he returned to the embassy, ​​Count Morkov encouraged him to continue his activities in the salon.

"There are actually benefits to doing this. Whether you are using your real identity or this alias, you will know more about social events in Paris, especially these salons, than in other places."

Moreover, the current theme between Russia and France is still friendship. Even if Solovyov goes out with his real identity, there may be a policeman or some scout following him wherever he goes.

He wasn't worried about that, there were some anti-reconnaissance capabilities, the French police might have thought of it but wouldn't have noticed.

At least in the apartment at 205 rue Montmartre, it was unlikely that anyone else could enter his bedroom except Adele to clean it.

At the same time, at Recamier's residence on Mont Blanc Avenue, the lady showed some interest in Solovyov and hoped that he could come to the next salon.

This is to be expected. After all, Parisian ladies like young, handsome and talented men, and as embellishments in salons, sometimes the more such men there are, the better.

However, Solovyov's interests were not limited to poetry and military affairs. Even gathering intelligence was secondary. He was more concerned with paleontology.

On this point, he wanted to visit Cuvier. After all, in St. Petersburg, scholars always made some mistakes in their judgments about some animal fossils, and the authority in this area could be said to be mainly in France.

During the Enlightenment, a large number of scientists emerged in Britain and France. No matter what their field of study was, even if some of their heads were chopped off by the guillotine, there were still quite a few. The output rate of such a large field of scientists will not be so high even with the population size of the 21st century.

However, Mr. Cuvier was not at home, so Soloviev had nothing to do. Madame Récamier's salon was not always held, and even if she met a gentleman alone, it was only for a brief moment. The young lady always kept a distance from him. She controlled herself well in this regard and left some impression on others.

As for a stupid question, he also tried asking it in some streets.

If there were old soldiers who had been hunted down by the Russian army in Italy, captured and managed to survive and return to Paris, they would probably say this.

"Damn it, the Russians are all the way to Paris posting missing-family notices."

The search for relatives was about to come to an end. Count Morkov received an order to attend a public reception hosted by the First Consul of France, and he had to go with a military attaché.

Solovyov thought that in such a place, he would definitely meet Moreau and others, as well as Napoleon, which would not be a good situation.

Anyway, his disguise will be exposed one day, so he might as well be generous and use one identity in public and another in the salon.

Of course, he was not excited, and his heartbeat did not speed up. It was probably like this when he was with Silvia and Luisa in the past. He had met too many people in Europe, and even that man looked like a sturdy Italian, and might become a fat Italian in the future.

Maybe in his stereotype, Italians are all fat and flexible, sometimes with beards.

Count Morkov accepted the invitation to the Tuileries Palace. Regardless of what this place will become in the future, it is also in the city center of Paris. The French king stayed here before he went to Versailles and stayed here after he came back. Whether it can exist in the future depends on what happens in Paris and whether it is burning, and it may burn more than once.

(End of this chapter)