Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 394 036 Solovyov's Tutorial on Writing Letters
By the way, Count Golovkin is Kirill Naryshkin's uncle. He married Naryshkin's eldest daughter Ekaterina, so there is nepotism between the two sides.

Golovkin sent Kirill back early because he wanted to find a way out, and he was preparing to return to St. Petersburg from Irkutsk.

But this time he was so disgraceful that he couldn't even cover it up in his memorial.

Because Solovyov was preparing the letter, he stayed in the suite of the Alexander Palace. He was afraid that he could not return to St. Petersburg for the next few days and had to stay in Tsarskoye Selo.

As for how to write, Solovyov was also considering the font, but this was also written with a hard pen, so he always had to think about it.

In this case, you should practice your handwriting first. After all, the documents written here are mostly written in French.

At this time, he also had to think about what name to write the letter under, and his mind was quickly recalling information related to the Qing Dynasty.

Finally, he thought of the fact that Emperor Jiaqing loved hunting, and that all the emperors of the Qing Dynasty, including the Yellow Belt and the Red Belt, liked to listen to operas.

Hunting? In the end, Jiaqing also went to Mulan Paddock to hunt and died suddenly there.

But you can give him a hunting rifle and various hunting equipment, as well as a hunting dog and a falcon, as long as it doesn't kill the falcon.

Although Jiaqing was one of the easier emperors to talk to during the Qing Dynasty, he was only good at talking to internal people, not external people.

If there were foreign "tribute envoys" coming, they would still more or less adhere to the ways of the Celestial Empire.

At this time, Solovyov also thought that it seemed that this "unfree trade" was only aimed at Britain, and other countries still had some preferential treatment in mutual trade.

In fact, at this time, we should learn from Portugal and the Netherlands. These two countries often dealt with China in the East, and they even knew very well what kind of women to send to Qing officials, not to mention bribery.

It's just a pity that Lord He has already "ordered Heshen to commit suicide", otherwise it would be quite interesting to deal with him. Besides, his enemies are almost dead this year, and he won't even have a chance to brag to Lao Ji and Liu Luoguo.

But now we have to write a letter of credence and re-plan the scale of this "tribute envoy" and merchant group, so we will always need the help of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

However, considering that Badberg and Czartoryski had different views on diplomatic occasions, he used to be Badberg's subordinate, and his relationship with Czartoryski was not harmonious, but he had a friendly relationship with Count Stroganov.

No matter how you look at it, we need to take Badberg's opinion seriously.

After he had written the draft in French, he went to bed and had to get up again the next morning.

When he was thinking, he thought that 1810 was a very suitable time, as Jiaqing was celebrating his th birthday, but he also had to take advantage of the opportunity of the merchant corps going to Beijing. If he waited for a few years, the opportunity would be lost and it would not be conducive to the overall strategic planning. After all, trade was important, and it was also important to work with the Qing Dynasty to dig a hole for Britain in the future.

Therefore, the method adopted must be more or less justified.

In official Russian documents, the Qing emperor was called Bogd Khan, while the Qing Dynasty called Russia Chahan Khan, which means "White Khan". Both families followed the same system as the Tatars and Mongols in the past, but neither used official names.

But in St. Petersburg, everyone knew that Bogd Khan was the emperor of China, and they had already started addressing him as the emperor in their conversations.

Therefore, Alexander took it for granted that Golovkin's defeat also made him change his career path.

Judging from the report of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Qing government believed that the Russian diplomatic mission this time was too large and it was impossible to give them the opportunity to open an embassy in the capital.

Even female relatives are not allowed.

After reading Solovyov's French letter, Badberg was also very satisfied.

"What a pity! You are a soldier, not a diplomat. If you are asked to become a fifth-class civil servant, I'm afraid it would be an underestimation of your abilities. With your abilities, you should at least be a member of the Privy Council."

In other words, a third-class civil servant.

You have to know that Vladimir Ilyich's father, who graduated from a poor college and became a tenth-class civil servant, worked his way up to a fourth-class civil servant and was awarded a medal. This took him thirty years of hard work, and he died before he had any hope of becoming a third-class civil servant.

"Your praise is a bit exaggerated. But I must also point out that the letters and tributes to the Chinese emperor must also be carefully considered. As for the letters, I also told Your Majesty yesterday. As for the documents written in Chinese, I still need to complete them, and the craftsmen will decorate them with the highest standards. In addition, as for the "tribute", the Qing emperors are based on riding and shooting. After all, they rose from the northeast of China. When hunting, they always need hunting dogs, falcons, and hunting rifles."

"Live animals are difficult to transport, and the Chinese emperor should have them. But hunting rifles are something we can consider. Wasn't the rifle you presented to us earlier one of those?"

Badberg had already written down the first item on the list of "tributes", two breech-loading Solovyov hunting rifles.

"As for other aspects, Chinese emperors all like drama and handicrafts. Although they claim to be 'richest in the world', the richest will definitely have rare treasures. We can give them jewelry, Easter eggs and nesting dolls."

"Eggs, what are those? Are you going to celebrate Easter?"

Solovyov didn't realize that he was talking about something that didn't exist.

But, this is a solution.

"You can go to a jeweler and order one to make this precious Easter egg, which can describe stories from our side or stories from the East."

"It seems that you need to go there. If we want to negotiate with the Oranienbaum Royal Jewelry Factory, only you can state the facts clearly."

This job is his, and there are no other "experts".

In Russia, there are many "experts". Golovkin's diplomatic mission failed because of a kowtow issue, and now other methods are needed to remedy the situation.

"As for exquisite things, China also has them. We can make clocks based on Chinese dramas, such as the Peacock Clock."

If Potemkin's Peacock Clock was made according to this design concept, it would only take half a year for a jewelry factory to work at full capacity.

When Golovkin returns, a new batch of "tribute" should be prepared and stuffed into the caravan to "present" it to Emperor Jiaqing.

As for the design of this self-ringing clock, Solovyov also knew that the royal family of the Qing Dynasty were all fond of the Three Kingdoms, so he could make it look like the people in Liu Bei's group, but the shape was different.

Except for Zhang Fei's Russian image as a Zaporizhia Cossack, which makes people guess who he is, the images of other people are hard to describe. Fortunately, his painting skills are pretty good. Before Madame Le Brun left, he commissioned her and Julie, mother and daughter, to make some drawings, which made the Russian version of the Three Kingdoms characters look not so outrageous.

Some other contents, including the Russian version of the Three Kingdoms picture album, can also be used as tribute and are always useful.

Solovyov's arrangements were almost complete. Badberg took a look at the gift list and found that the actual expenditure was significantly reduced compared to the "tribute" brought by Golovkin's delegation before, and it would be much more convenient to hand it over to the merchant group for transportation.

It seemed that he could show off in front of Alexander. Czartoryski's trick was a complete failure. "But we still have one thing to deal with, which is to present the credentials. In addition, we have to bribe the Qing officials along the way. These people will inevitably cause some problems."

After hearing this, Badberg shook his head helplessly. This problem of corruption is a common occurrence in Russia. Those civil and military officials who serve as governors in local areas will have this problem to some extent.

As for the various arrangements needed along the way, the supplies carried by Golovkin's delegation can also be used, from cattle and sheep for guides to gold, silver and jewelry for bribes to Qing officials, all of which need to be arranged in place.

Fortunately, Solovyov had no intention of adapting Journey to the West, and naturally it was impossible for him to make up such a highly historical plot.

"That's about it, but this is the most important thing."

"The most important thing is the letter of credence and the documents from various places of transit."

Solovyov left a little blank, because Alexander had not yet decided when the new delegation would depart, so he had to wait for Alexander's thoughts to finally complete the Chinese letter.

But the reason Alexander mentioned was this.

"Our country wants to appoint a crown prince, and we can use this form to convey it to the Chinese emperor."

After saying this, Alexander looked at Constantine.

When Constantine saw this situation, he understood what his brother meant. Although he was always reckless, he was meticulous and knew what his brother was thinking.

Moreover, judging from the current order of succession, Constantine is indeed the crown prince, and his identity is unquestionable according to the inheritance law and the imperial edict.

"Brother, you have to think about it. You may have a son."

"It doesn't matter. If I have a son in the future but he doesn't live up to his expectations, or if the child is too young, I will still need you."

Now, Constantine has not made it clear that he will give up the succession plan, but all his brothers know that being an emperor is a hard job.

Therefore, there is a strange phenomenon that Paul's four sons, no matter who are in position or the three heirs, ignore court etiquette and are quite humble to each other.

This is quite rare among the monarchical families of various countries.

"That's fine, but my brother must strictly follow the decree of succession and the law of succession."

They brothers can talk about some "taboo" topics without affecting each other.

Constantine also didn't know about the unfortunate deeds of Lanling King Gao Changgong. This kind of information has not been circulated yet, and the information collected by Solovyov is always a little inadequate.

"Well, Soloviev, this is how you write your letter."

"Your Majesty, is this the procedure for determining the successor?"

"That's it. I hope you can complete this letter and prepare the translation. The Chinese characters must also be written beautifully."

Alexander knew that Solovyov had good handwriting and his letters were connected beautifully, so it was perfect for him to write.

Moreover, he had to take advantage of this period of time, as the General Staff had just finished working on the operational plans for the Western Front and the Danube, and he had to make good use of the time he had.

Speaking of which, he is worthy of being Maria's eldest brother. Among his nine brothers and sisters, only Alexandra and Elena are the least troublesome.

Solovyov went back and wrote it out slowly, but he wrote it in the official style, and there were some differences in the small regular script.

Fortunately, he used a hard pen, not a soft pen like a brush.

Therefore, the written font is somewhat angular.

If you are serious, I am afraid it is still a "knife pen".
But after Solovyov wrote it, in addition to the main text of the letter, there was also subsequent content to explain, and he reiterated that the relationship between the two countries has always been friendly, "Since the Battle of Nerchinsk, there has been no war for 120 years", and even mentioned the "friendship between Qin and Jin" in the content.

I just don’t know how Jiaqing will understand his words in the end.

But the Qing Dynasty's marriage to Mongolian princes was much better than that of the stingy Ming Dynasty. Not marrying a princess to Mongolia could not establish a friendly blood relationship. At the critical moment, Sanniangzi was still more useful.

Therefore, the Qing Dynasty learned a lesson, and many Mongolian princes and nobles intermarried with the Qing royal family, and some princesses even married directly into various tribes.

But if Jiaqing had understood it, there would probably be many ridiculous stories.

After reading it, although Alexander did not understand it, he was greatly shocked. After all, Solovyov translated part of the content of "Records of the Warring States Period", and this excerpt could even be seen at Louisa's place.

There is no way, my wife loves studying so much, and it is rare to find such a studious queen.

Even so, Alexander did not suspect Solovyov, because the manuscripts he translated would more or less circulate in the court.

Louisa always loved reading historical stories and appeared in the Queen's palace. In addition, there were textbooks being made for Nikolai and Mikhail, which also contained content from "Zuo Zhuan".

Alexander himself wanted to learn, but with his impatience, there was really no way for him to learn in depth.

Moreover, the biggest threat to the Russian court at present is France to the west.

Since Golovkin had failed in his diplomacy with the Qing Dynasty, he had to change his approach.

The problem that Jiaqing would stick to with wording was not a problem for Alexander. He even acquiesced to Solovyov's diplomatic document that lowered his stance. Getting things done was much more important than being turned away.

In fact, although Alexander was ambitious, he was also quite pragmatic.

He also promised that if he succeeded this time, he would be awarded a medal.

From this perspective, it is quite interesting that the awarding of medals in Russia seems to be a tradition that started from the time when the Empress perfected the medal system.

(End of this chapter)