Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 363 005 Is it wrong to become a club member before getting married?
The Duke of Richelieu still has to stay in the Jelgava Palace. Although these royalist forces are currently obsessed with restoring the country, rational people still do not have too high expectations, especially now that Russia has sent troops to Vienna and also suffered a failure.

If Russia won, the conditions Alexander offered did not include Napoleon stepping down.

Obviously, it is only to restore the original order in Europe, not to use a bed sheet as the French flag.

People like the Duke of Richelieu are currently content to serve as the Governor of Odessa in Russia, but since Louis XVI's daughter and son have come to Jelgava Palace to spend the winter and take refuge, he will also stay here for a while.

As for Langgeron, apart from his French lifestyle, he is not much different from the people around him.

It can also be seen from their subsequent decisions that Langgeron would remain in Russia from then on, but would only set foot on French soil when the war was about to end, and then return to Russia to continue his post.

When the Duke of Richelieu was the governor of Odessa, he often worked with the royalists in exile in Russia.

Needless to say, if he returned to St. Petersburg, it would be during these days.

Solovyov returned to Russia and first went to the Jelgava Palace. He did not feel comfortable living there, and if he went back to St. Petersburg, he would not have much fun there either.

After all, after Napoleon's victory, the number of people advocating peace in the public opinion environment in St. Petersburg has increased.

As for Alexander, what he is going to do is difficult for others to guess.

Solovyov did not have to go on duty in the Jelgava Palace. After all, this was the temporary residence of the Bourbon royal family overseas. Apart from some French attendants, there were only some local garrisons patrolling nearby.

To be honest, the atmosphere here seems to be much more relaxed. The exiled French princess now always invites Prince Vasily's wife and two daughters over when she has time.

She was only in her twenties, and it was normal for the women in the family to hold small salons.

Even in the Jelgava Palace, apart from the hunchbacked wife of Duke Richelieu, few female relatives have been seen recently.

However, during the conversation, both sides inevitably mentioned what they had been doing along the way.

"That is to say, you encountered those guards in Dresden."

"Yes, they are coming from Weimar, and are returning home by way of that."

After the princess said this, she put down the fan in her hand.

"That colonel is an old acquaintance of ours, though he is very young. He has been to St. Petersburg since his time in Moscow, and later to Dresden twice."

"He and my husband still corresponded frequently, but they only talked about leading the troops."

"It's still relatively rare to find young people who are so ambitious nowadays."

However, the princess did not tell anyone about Solovyov and Madame Recamier, considering that she came here with her two daughters.

The eldest daughter, Ekaterina, was already very sensible about such rumors. She had received education since childhood and was actually very familiar with social occasions, so it didn't matter if she heard them.

After all, what little Katya thought in her mind was that all men were probably like this, but as the eldest daughter of the noble Dolgorukov family, her grandfather was a famous general who defeated the Turks in Crimea, and her father was a retired general and retired senior civil servant, so she still had to understand the rules and etiquette.

She will have to get married in the future. Considering the issue of faith, and the fact that Prince Vasily has raised his daughter well, she will probably be very popular in St. Petersburg.

Vasily Yurievich from the same family wanted to introduce her to Solovyov, but the prince's aunt wanted her to marry her youngest son Sergei.

From the perspective of social relations, it is obviously more appropriate for little Katya to marry Prince Sergei Saltykov. Returning to the upper class society of St. Petersburg, even for such a relatively noble family, status factors must be taken into consideration.

Of course, there are also some who are not very particular about this. Prince Vasily's branch is not so particular, but the other branch is not.

The Krimsky Princes were more or less distant relatives of suitable status.

The Princess's wife has already begun tutoring her eldest daughter in such areas as how to be a hostess, as well as in etiquette and various arts, in which little Katya is already very interested.

It would be good if this child gets married and finds a husband who loves her.

But when Tolstoy's mother visited this family before she got married, she was surprised that such a lovely sister could not marry a man who could make her happy. Even Tsar Alexander, who was always a playboy, could not stand this marriage and took the initiative to ask Katya for a divorce, but she did not agree because devout believers could not divorce.

As for the upper aristocratic circles in St. Petersburg, after having children, they often go their separate ways. Even the philanthropic Tsar himself was not immune to this practice.

He often wavered between Louisa and Maria Naryshkina. Although they had become close friends, Alexander still followed the old rules that the monarch's spouse and mistress must be separated.

Although these two would not feel any psychological burden if they slept with him, the Tsar was still lustful but not ridiculous enough.

But a pure girl like Katya, the eldest daughter of a more famous branch of the Dolgorukov family, is somewhat unusual in this era.

She should be either a good girl before the French style came in the era of Peter the Great, or a court lady during the period of serious court life after Nicholas I. At this time, Alexander was not normal, but looked like a girl from a country noble family.
But people like her are in great demand now because they are a scarce resource.

Solovyov never thought that such a family was too high for him to marry, even though he was now a colonel and had won the Order of St. George, third class, and in terms of military achievements, his level was quite impressive among people of the same age.

Because of this, Prince Vasily admired him very much. Although he did not consider marrying his daughter to make the young colonel his son-in-law, he did arrange a place for him.

While the women were having a salon, Prince Vasily was cleaning his gun in his room and chatting with Solovyov.

"Misha, let me ask you, among the upper classes of Moscow and Petersburg, those who have served as officers or are still serving in the military, what should they do next?"

"Vassily Vasilyevich, as I recall, was to marry and join the club after he had become a senior officer."

"Yes, although you are a little young to join a gentlemen's club at your age, I can be your recommender."

Prince Vasily was optimistic about this young man's future from the moment he met him. In addition, the prince himself was kind and generous, and liked to support the younger generation. Since he could not help him in the military and political circles, he could provide some help in social occasions.

Besides, joining a gentlemen's club, whether in Moscow or St. Petersburg, is irresistible. At this moment, Brother Bagration is probably attending a celebration banquet at the Moscow Gentlemen's Club, also known as the "British Club" by the Russians.

The St. Petersburg Gentlemen's Club introduced by Prince Vasily is the only club that has been operating continuously, but its scale is slightly smaller than that of Moscow.

He met his senior brother while investigating the secretary of the theater director there. When he was preparing to collect evidence, he accidentally saw someone cheating at cards and helped Bagration.

According to the rules of the gentlemen's club, a secret ballot is also required to confirm whether a noble is qualified to become a club member. If he fails, he will be banned from entering for life.

Under normal circumstances, club members can recommend a non-club member to enter the venue and have the power to make recommendations.

Considering that Prince Vasily was about to return to the social scene, it would not be without benefit if he recommended himself.

However, women are not allowed to enter such places, even if they want to bring a maid in.

The Russian nobility has always been divided into four basic factions, but this is a lifestyle, not a political stance.

That is, there are four major categories: pro-British, pro-French, pro-German and pro-local. The last category of people may be everywhere, while the first three categories of people mainly appear in two big cities, namely St. Petersburg and Moscow.

For Solovyov, who has been to Paris and Rome, and who is also a gourmet who likes to cook, but strictly controls his diet, British cuisine is the most popular choice.
It would be better to say that the British chefs who cook French food are excellent.

This prince, who is known for his generosity, must have thought this over carefully.

They are both Prince Vasily, but why are all the Kurakin family bad guys, while the Dolgorukov family seems to be pretty good at the moment.

As for the Dolgorukov family, most of their patriarchs were named Vasily.

"Since you have condescended to invite me, I am flattered."

"Yes, paving the way for promising young people is also the responsibility of us old nobles."

"Thank you, Vasily Vasilyevich."

"No need to say more. My sons Vasily and Nikolai Vasily will go to the Guards. His Highness Constantine has already agreed. He just needs your help when the time comes, although not in the Jaegers Regiment, but in the Semyonovsky Regiment. His Highness also said that he originally intended to send you there, but the training methods of the Jaegers Regiment are the latest, and only you can use them proficiently."

"If that's the case, when the four Guards regiments drill, the Jagers are always with the Semyonovsky Regiment. I can still help."

"As for Nikolai, he requested to be a trainee in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and I have already arranged that."

"That's great, of course. Diplomats are very popular nowadays!"

Moreover, although Solovyov's friend Count Nesherrode holds a reactionary stance, according to normal development, he will become Foreign Minister in the future and will later concurrently hold this position as Prime Minister of the Russian Empire.

Given the status of the young Prince Nicholas and the relationship between the Dolgorukov and Saltykov families, it would definitely be Alexander Saltykov who would guide him.

I hope that another Humphrey Nicholas will not be raised. This guy is quite handsome. To be honest, when he returns to St. Petersburg, there will probably be many girls who are crazy about him.

In addition, Alexander Saltykov obviously did not teach a group of Humphreys.

It would sound terrible if Russian civil servants also chanted scriptures like British civil servants.

The news of Golovkin's failed mission had already reached St. Petersburg. Although there was no news in the newspapers, it was feared that Solovyov, a serious China expert, would be conscripted by Alexander.

However, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will not give him double salary simply because he is familiar with this aspect.

It’s just a pity that Solovyov could only get the more basic version of "The Analects", but did not get the annotations that were used to facilitate learning.

There is a photocopied version published in St. Petersburg. If you study it in its original form, something bad will inevitably happen.

As for what would happen, the latest order came after Prince Vasily agreed to introduce Solovyov to the Gentlemen's Club.

The Dolgorukov family can return to St. Petersburg, but they need a guarantor to introduce the six members of their family back into upper society, and they also have to accept questioning by the court. Although it is all just a formality, it is also a good thing.

As for other nobles who returned from Germany, there was also the family of Prince Menshikov, an old customer of the Solovyov family. However, they did not care much for Solovyov. Unlike the first generation of the King of Bakery, they were not willing to rescue Solovyov's grandfather and confer him a title to let him enter the upper class.

Those nobles were different from Prince Vasily who was "expelled" by Paul. After all, they went abroad voluntarily and had returned to their respective estates before that.

Prince Vasily and his family would then embark on a journey to St. Petersburg, which was also conveniently possible from the Baltic coast.

Solovyov himself was also waiting for new orders. After all, the diplomatic letters that were delivered to Riga and then sent to him would definitely be useful.

However, he could not have imagined that the order directly given by Alexander had nothing to do with the failed journey of the Golovkin mission or the current expedition to Austria.

Finally, he received an order to serve as a military science teacher to Grand Duke Nicholas after returning to St. Petersburg.

Solovyov felt strange. How old was Nikolai?

He had made a guest appearance before, but it was just to educate the children in the palace about animals and plants, as for military theories.

Alexander's idea was a little far-fetched, but it wasn't too wrong.

After all, when he was this age, he had already received strict family education with Grand Duke Constantine.

This is a good thing. Solovyov can personally participate in the transformation of Nikolai, a guy with a dull mind, and prevent him from doing anything crazy.

(End of this chapter)