Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 292 059 Kind Miss Maria and the Weird Old Duke

There are many rooms in Tongshan Manor, but the guests are well-received and the local permanent population is limited.

"It's usually like this, Solovyov. Your house doesn't seem to be very fancy, either?"

"Yes, but my father was motivated by cost considerations, not strict parenting like you."

The old prince didn't say anything after hearing this, but just kept walking forward. He was going to give Maria a math lesson.

As for what kind of courses Maria would receive every day, Solovyov also felt that this was indeed a bit outrageous.

"Maria should go out more often instead of staying at the manor."

"As a guest, you can speak freely, but you have to keep it within certain limits."

“Andre, I know that very well.”

The old duke is now unemployed at home, but he has great influence, and not everyone can entrust their son to Kutuzov and arrange a specific position for him.

Although, he was just the adjutant who he thought had the least future.

"Life in the manor like this can actually be a bit boring. I've been learning on my own."

"That's because of your personal characteristics. Self-study is a way to grow freely. You are unrestrained."

"yes."

The fruits brought by the servants were all freshly picked and very fresh.

"Come and try it, Mikhail. These fruits and dried fruits are our specialties."

"It's a good way to accept life here, but not everyone is adaptable."

"You are different from Pierre. You always want to decide your own destiny instead of relying on others."

Andre looks cold and sometimes even inhuman, but he truly cares about his friends.

Solovyov was also very clear about this, and now there were only two of them here.

"It's good to be in a manor. Whether it's the reception room or the dining room, they're all so spacious. If it were my home, I couldn't stand putting only a table in the middle."

He did like to decide his own fate, so he changed the subject.

"Are you going to change the furnishings in Laundry Lane?"

"Yes, there has to be some change, and I have always wanted to have a library in my own home."

"If you have a library in your home, it will be much better than some people who are just pretending to be cultured and just use books to decorate their home."

"At the same time, Andre, I don't know if I should say this, but many people are still using the original tricks."

"You mean they're just tricks?"

Solovyov knew something about this, and when Andrei started talking, he just followed suit.

"There are always people who do things the way they are most accustomed to. If others do things differently from them, they will ask you to do the same. I have seen too many such people. Our positions are different, but I often see such people around the emperor."

They chatted for a while and then returned to a topic that was often discussed in Russia today, the relationship between France and Russia.

"I saw with my own eyes that Count Morkov had a very bad relationship with Napoleon in Paris. Although Napoleon tried his best to restrain himself, he could sense some subtle movements. Coupled with the adjustment of relations with France led by Count Vorontsov, war with France is probably inevitable. Some of us in St. Petersburg will just get together with the British. It's not that there's anything wrong with that, but it depends on the occasion. If we go there now, we'll just be their thugs. By the way, there's the economic issue. Russia is so huge, and the military and government spending are astronomical. It's hard not to side with the British."

"yes."

"Besides, France will not give money, and even then they will only provide loans."

After hearing this, Andre was silent for a moment and then said this.

"It's always unpleasant to talk to you, but what I say is indeed the truth."

"If France is eliminated, we will be the next target. The British always shoot themselves in the foot."

"That's a little strange for you to say."

"Isn't that what I always do? In order to defeat the current enemy, the British always cultivate the next enemy instead of suppressing or destroying it with their own abilities. I have never liked the British approach, and there are many people like this in Petersburg."

When they talk about the British, they also know what the British have gained from the great wars on the European continent in the past hundred years.

But it is indeed not easy to deal with Britain, especially Russia which is some distance away from the British mainland.

As they talked about geopolitics, it was almost time for the old Duke to teach Maria a lesson.

This kind of course is indeed unshakable in Tongshan, but this is for the old duke himself.

As for entertaining guests at dinner time, he usually doesn't care what is on the menu, and goes back to the "classroom", which is also his "workshop", to process wood.

It looks like they are going to carve out a door handle, and you can tell what the processed wooden product looks like.

What a strange hobby. If he had not been exiled, perhaps he would have been able to chat with the Queen Mother.

However, the processing that the Empress Dowager liked was mainly relief. Even Solovyov, whom she disliked very much, was given a special silver coin with Alexander's portrait on it. The mold was made by the Empress Dowager herself.

"How do you feel about having to go to math class every day, Maria?"

Maria is indeed not good-looking, but she has beautiful eyes, and in terms of temperament, although she is suppressed, she still has her precious qualities. That's probably how it can be said.

"This is a daily routine in our family. My father always asks me to do this."

"You can tell it's very strict. The first time I met you was at General Grushetsky's house. At that time, Nikolai Andreevich was the commander-in-chief of the Moscow garrison."

"At that time, I was still very young and didn't have much impression."

"Yes, there are many nobles from Moscow, and some who travel there from Petersburg, and now they see you, and it's like this again."

"Mikhail, what exactly do you want to say?"

Seeing Andrei asking this question, Solovyov said, "There will always be people who covet it, just like the Jacobites have always wanted the British throne. If it weren't for the Duke of Cumberland, they might have succeeded. If those stupid Jacobites had won, we might not have to go through so much trouble."

Andrei had heard that recently among the great nobles in St. Petersburg, those who wanted to marry into a family were always coveting each other's property.

He was quite good at preventing such things from happening when he told his friend's sister about this from the perspective of a "profiteer". Solovyov himself had no such plan, and he did not need to earn income by coveting other people's property. The income from the operation of the manor and his father's business success, plus his "invention", was enough for a noble to maintain a very decent life.

What their family still has to consider is how much dowry they should prepare for the number of girls they have. This is what gives Baron Sergei a headache.

In contrast, in Russia, the burden on women may mainly lie here, and although men do have burdens, they are not that heavy.

This is mainly the case between nobles; commoners do not need too much dowry in their marriages.

As for this kind of thing, just report Prince Vasily's ID number. The people in their family are the ones who like to calculate relatives' property the most in all of St. Petersburg. As for who has to take it out, it's none other than Anatoly, the playboy.

I wonder if this vaccination will make Anatoly notorious when he arrives at Tongshan.

Solovyov knew that his father disliked the Kurakin family. Apart from Alexander Kurakin, who was unmarried but had dozens of illegitimate children, there were not many good people in the family, and they often violated moral standards. As for the future...
He also thought of a problem. In addition to the feud with the Menshikov family that began in the late period of Peter the Great, the Tolstoy family probably did not have a very good relationship with the Kurakin family. Otherwise, there would not be such a family of villains with such a strong sense of déjà vu in the book.

Ah, the whole family is bad, especially the one with this surname. They are really a group of wonderful people, lowly wonderful people.

Since the Bolkonsky family was involved with such a person, it is no wonder that the sister almost got into trouble and the brother's engagement was cancelled.

Even Andrei himself knew very well what was going on with Anatoly.

But some people just like it there.
"Baron, it's a pity that your talents are mainly in translation and drama."

"This is the literary aspect, but it also requires strategy."

"Mikhail, if you take off your coat, you will find a Khitan underneath."

What Andre said is true.

"Brother, do you know what 'strategy' is?"

But when Maria talks about it, it sounds like a "routine".
Solovyov remembered this time that sometimes even when you talk to a well-educated girl like this, there are bound to be some misunderstandings.

After all, it is impossible for them to understand what you know, and if they do understand, it is only superficial.

Even in St. Petersburg, when she was with Louisa, the young queen could only follow one-third of his conversation, and this was because of hobbies. Even after the two of them were in sync, it was difficult for them to be highly compatible.

Not to mention Maria, who had only met him rarely and was not familiar with his way of speaking.

This girl has a heart of gold and totally deserves a good, honest and simple husband.

She spoke as if she were tailor-made for Nikolai, but Sonya would not be happy that way.

No matter how you put it, it's very troublesome.

"But the way you speak doesn't seem to be the original meaning. It should be explained by strategy, which makes people understand it, but it is not completely the original meaning. If you say it, this is still a cultural development that needs to be protected by force."

"Ah, maybe this is what the Khitan Prime Minister thinks?"

"Yes, Maria, you like it?"

"When I was in St. Petersburg, I collected most of the serials, as well as picture albums and original works. My father liked them very much, and after he confiscated the translation from me, he secretly read them in the study." Maria obviously had a lot of pocket money, and she owned a complete set of publications, but Solovyov was also a little surprised.

I didn't expect you to be such an old duke.
"What do you think of Nikolai Andreevich?"

"He said that the ladies who read this book probably all want to become female generals."

"Is that so?"

"Yes, but he returned it and said that the book has good intentions and can be used as official reading material in our family."

My goodness! The more Solovyov listened, the more outrageous it sounded. This ship had already left the Mediterranean Sea, left Gibraltar, and headed straight for the Atlantic Ocean.

In the future, I am afraid that I will be able to receive sharp comments from the old Duke. After all, when Maria reads the Romance of the Three Kingdoms now, she has the old Duke's notes as a supplement.

Even the maps in the book were drawn with marching routes and evaluations of the number of people on the battlefield.

Although this notebook was written by the usually serious and eccentric old duke, it contains quite a bit of humor.

It would be interesting if Andre's son also started studying this notebook.

But the child hasn't been conceived yet, so who knows how things will turn out for Andre and Lisa in the future.

Lisa still needs a well-trained obstetrician and gynecologist and an experienced midwife.

"I can imagine, can I take a look at this notebook?"

"No problem. You are the one who translated this book, and my father hopes that the translator can read it."

"The author cannot see the readers' feelings. After all, they are people who lived five hundred years ago."

And he is an old man who can't cut inside.

After opening it, you can see that the old duke has written down his thoughts neatly in italics, and it is written in French.

Although I only read a few pages, I could tell that the old duke was actually very interested.

Moreover, as a retired army marshal, his ideas are very clear.

What the literati wrote could not completely satisfy the professional generals, who knew their stuff.

Not to mention the sketches in the notes, there are also schematic diagrams of the war. These were drawn by Solovyov for readers who are not familiar with the situation in China. We can see some of the old duke's thoughts from them.

Although he is not a top general, his experience in fighting the Turks over the years is not given in vain.

It also includes an analysis of the battlefield movements of both sides, which can be said to be very comprehensive.

"It's really interesting, but I don't know if Nikolai Andreevich would like others to share his thoughts."

"Young man, you should know that it doesn't matter. Reading always gives you some thoughts, and it also involves military and political issues. If I want to deal with the enemy, I should cut off their supplies and make them sink into the muddy swamp."

It seems that he is happy to share knowledge in this way.

"It's just a discussion, everyone will have their own ideas. Thank you, Alexander Vasilyevich, for being the first to hear this story at the end of his life. I think he is also very satisfied. However, among the young people he promoted, his expectations for you are higher than those of the generals in the past."

Having said that, the burden is placed on me again.

(End of this chapter)