Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 382 024 Don’t go to the game where you can earn points with integrity

Madame Recamier's invitation to Solovyov to spend the night was not a hot topic in St. Petersburg, because the boy always kept his whereabouts secret and people often didn't know where he was doing.

The most famous thing recently is the difficult question that Grand Duke Nicholas posed to Princess Saltykova. Although the child's words were innocent, their words were very crucial. It also made people see that the royal education seems to be quite good.

Looking back, Nicholas was reprimanded by the Queen Mother for speaking like this, and he should at least show some respect to the Princess' wife.

As for Soloviev, it was his day off when he went to Madame Recamier's, and it was already the following week when the Empress Dowager summoned him to the Pavlovsk Palace.

"Your Highness, you summoned me at this time. Is it related to Prince Nicholas's studies?"

"It's not just about the coursework. You also have to take responsibility in certain situations. You can't just rely on General Langsdorff to be responsible for education. As the direct teacher, Nikolai trusts you very much, so you must provide guidance from the side. Things like what happened at Prince Saltykov's house should not happen again in the future."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"As for Nicholas's schoolwork, we should give him more homework recently. Although I don't understand the test questions you made, I think it will help improve his grades. We can continue doing this."

"But, Your Highness, I can't help but think that the amount of homework is already too much for a child. Whether it's for a child of Your Highness' status, or for a child of a different noble family, or a student of a seminary or a local school, the courses that our teachers have arranged before, as well as the homework assigned after class, are just right for Your Highness."

Solovyov said this, and Queen Maria was very unhappy. This boy was still not in her way as before, and he even supported his daughter-in-law to appear on the Mars Square.
Although it was noted in the little notebook, he was, after all, the trusted aide-de-camp of his two older sons, so he still had to treat him with good face.

In addition, you have to make things clear, even if this kid is insisting on his "educational principles."

"You need to give Nikolai more homework and ask him to participate less in those extra social events recently. Although Nikolai Ivanovich is a good talker, it's not good to lose face for his wife."

It is better to make things clearer. After listening to it, Solovyov nodded in agreement.

"Yes, Her Majesty the Queen Mother is only His Majesty Nicholas. He can't just be left there to do his homework. For children, playing and entertainment are also part of life."

"You can let him play in the palace, or take him to the Tauride Palace or the Royal Aquarium, away from these high-ranking ladies. Recently, some people have come to me and complained that you have no discipline. But I also know that Nikolai doesn't like to study and likes military exercises. If it weren't for Matvey Ivanovich and you, who have disciplined him well, I am also worried that he will be like his grandfather in the future. Oh..."

At this point, the Queen Mother sighed, saying that Peter III's stupidity was truly beyond description.

In contrast, the Queen Mother recalled her husband Paul, who was, after all, a diligent and people-loving monarch. Although he was not well regarded by the outside world, she, as his wife and bedfellow, knew her husband better than anyone else. The two of them had ten children and raised nine of them.

"It's just that, Your Majesty, I have received an order to go to General Michelson's headquarters."

"Who gave the order? Was it that old fool Sergei Kuzmich again?"

"It was an order from His Excellency Vyazmitinov, the Minister of War. After all, I am an excellent staff officer and a young military expert in their eyes."

"Do you really need to go just to fight the Turks? I once heard a saying from my late husband's general that only lazy people don't fight the Germans. Even a fool knows that fighting the Turks can make meritorious deeds. But what about Nicholas's studies?"

"There will always be other teachers, Your Majesty. The important thing is to let His Majesty Nicholas develop good study habits, rather than us teachers instilling knowledge into his head."

"Then you have to stay! You have only been Nicholas's teacher for a few months. This is the time to help him develop habits. You can't go to Türkiye."

Well, does this count as the Queen Mother interfering in government affairs?

Solovyov did know one thing, that if he went to the Danube front, he might not be able to return in time for the next war against the French alliance.

Moreover, he really didn't want to leave St. Petersburg during this period of time. Now that the Queen Mother said so, he felt like he had found a life-saving straw.

If you want to defeat the Turks, there will be opportunities in the future. Maybe during the battle, you will need to transfer troops to the Danube.

Or based on the results of his past investigations in the north, if Russia and Sweden were to go to war, he might go to Vyborg or some other front.

As for the Queen Mother's meddling in politics, Alexander also knew that his brother's education was very important, and if Solovyov went to the Danube battlefield, he would not actually be of much use and could only be used as a general staff officer.

Sergei Kuzmich is indeed old, but he works diligently as Minister of War, and there is currently no one of equal status to replace him.

Arakcheev could be assigned to work under the Minister of War and share Sergei Kuzmich's responsibilities.

However, the military commanders that Alexander trusted more were a group of generals of German descent, which caused dissatisfaction among the local generals.

After all, this contradiction has existed since the time of Tsar Alexei.

Therefore, when taking office, he also had to consider the balance factor. In addition, Arakcheev had been more trusted by Paul in the past, so he was a candidate acceptable to all parties.

As for the commander, the drunkard Bookholden is still in office. During the personnel adjustment, which involves the commander-in-chief of the army on the western border, Alexander actually has a lot of worries.

Because during the coup, Bennigsen's reputation as a "regicide" was too loud. Even if all the evidence proved that he participated in the coup, he was outside the door when the regicide took place, and could not be used on the crucial Western Front.

As for who to use in the future, Alexander is currently undecided, and there is even a gap in Russia's military commander.

If all else fails, Grand Duke Constantine will have to command the troops.

But Alexander was also very clear about his second brother's abilities. He was really strong and could lead the Guards, but he would probably not be able to take charge of the overall situation.

So he considered many people, including General Apraksin, General Tormasov, and some infantry generals, but none of them was suitable.

If Tsitsianov had not been assassinated by Baku Khan, perhaps veteran Gudovich would have been a better fit.

Now, there is not much people available.

However, there was no trouble on the western front for the time being, but the Danube battlefield in the southwest was facing a war. Sending Michelson there could be considered as a forward station, and then deploying troops according to the situation in this direction.

Bagration
Alexander wants to promote him to general, but even though he has a solid record, there is a problem now. That is, a group of senior active lieutenant generals may not agree.

And in order to make these old guys shut up, we need to promote a group of young people, not just to boost momentum.

There is indeed a need for renewal and replacement. Now in Alexander's place, only the middle-level officers are replaced at a relatively fast speed, especially in the Guards and some main forces.

As for the decentralization of the post of Quartermaster General, the General Staff Headquarters and the First Department's Operations Department actually also need people, and people are needed everywhere.

It was also because of this that a general who participated in the war against France, a man named Miloladovich, was transferred to Kiev to serve as military governor, leading a 4500-man force in his jurisdiction to support General Michelson's troops.

As for now, Alexander saw his mother doing this and leaving Solovyov in St. Petersburg for his brother's education, so he didn't think too much about it and agreed to this idea.

But as for Solovyov, he still needs an interview to find a position in the Operations Department of the General Staff.

Only this time, it was not in the Tsar’s office in the Little Winter Palace, but in the offices of the old Military Committee in the Menshikov Palace.

"Your Majesty, Soloviev has come by order."

"Sit down, Solovyov. Are you disappointed that you didn't make it to the Danube front?"

Alexander's question was quite strange, but Solovyov continued.

"Your Majesty, if we go to the Danube to fight the Turks, it will be a good opportunity to accumulate military merits, but it will not give us the same sense of accomplishment as fighting the French."

"Ah, you actually think so. What I'm thinking now is, since you were one of the people who proposed the General Staff's plan, why didn't you come to the Operations Department?"

"Sire, where do you want me to go?"

"Of course, you are also responsible for Nicholas's studies. At least, as you said, he needs to develop good study habits. But during this period, the General Staff also needs to be established."

"So, your Majesty, you want me to go to the War Department?"

"That's it."

Speaking of which, Alexander's baldness has become more and more obvious recently. What will his hairstyle be like in the future?
As for Solovyov himself, he always felt that he seemed to have run into the track of "Guo Xiaogui". Now Alexander has figured it out and stopped micro-manipulation, otherwise it would be quite troublesome.

"Your Majesty, whether I want to formulate a battle plan, coordinate the overall situation, or make strategic plans, I always need people to work together. Such a department also needs a lot of people to operate. It is even necessary to need your communication unit to convey orders. After all, our country is not like France, where optical signal machines can be deployed in many places. Our country's territory is so vast that there will always be delays in information transmission."

"Of course I know this, Solovyov. In addition to the headquarters established in Petersburg, each corps must also establish a staff system according to your previous ideas, so a military academy must be established in Petersburg. Although your position is in the Operations Department, you can prepare teaching materials for the Military Academy and do some theoretical research. Although you are still young, in this respect, you seem to have inherited the mantle of Alexander Vasilyevich."

By the way, before the Battle of Austerlitz, Solovyov corresponded with Archduke Karl, and the textbooks he wrote unfortunately leaked to Napoleon through the unfortunate Mark.

This set of teaching materials is very suitable for middle and lower-level officers who want to advance, and can be regarded as an introductory textbook for generals.

"That is why I want you to serve as Volkonsky's assistant and set up the Staff College."

Although this "Staff College" is relatively elementary, it is intended to train staff for headquarters at all levels.

"Your Majesty, I think"

"You are really suitable for this position. You used to be the adjutant of Uncle Dmitri Volkonsky, so there will be no problem in cooperating with him."

Since Alexander said so, Solovyov could only do as he said.

As for giving Nikola more homework and preventing him from running around, he was also responsible for that.

What is this?
Anyway, there is no need to go to the Danube to fight the Turks recently. It is not a good place.

If a war really has to happen, it would be better to wait until there is some "minor friction" between Prussia and France.

By then, we can also get some Prussian staff for free, so when we establish the headquarters, at least we will not be unable to handle staff work.

Speaking of which, although the Prussian General Staff was also relatively inexperienced and had not yet undergone subsequent reforms, its business capabilities were not necessarily stronger than those of its Austrian counterparts.

But they have one advantage, which is that they follow the plan step by step and generally do not act beyond their abilities.

The Prussians would not do something like what Werosser did in the Battle of Austerlitz.

However, the commanders of their various corps were rather arrogant, and Solovyov had met the Duke of Brunswick, the old marshal and nephew of Frederick the Great, who had always been worried about the poor situation of the Prussian army.

God knows what abstract things the military commanders will do now, skipping their staffs.

As for the Prussian commanders no longer messing around, that was only after their general staff system and military system were improved.

Now, if a war really breaks out, we can only hope that these Prussian troops can serve as qualified cannon fodder for a while, at least until the Russian army gathers and sends its troops to West Prussia. At least, they won't be eaten like sausages in Jena.

Therefore, as soon as Alexander appointed him to the Operations Department to concurrently take charge of the establishment of the General Staff College, before work even began, he began to consider possible combat plans for the second half of the year.

(End of this chapter)