Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 473 050 Negotiations must be decent

When she woke up in the morning, Maria could also see the dark circles under Solovyov's eyes.

She was very surprised. She slept very late and was pregnant, but she was full of energy. She was really young and healthy.
"Misha, what's wrong with you?"

"It's just that I didn't get enough rest. When we were fighting the French, it was common to stay up late like this. After all, I am the chief of staff."

"When you were an adjutant, you were often busy. The emperor always assigned you things to do, and even went abroad for a few years."

Thinking of Maria's words, and thinking about how close she had always been to him, Solovyov began to sweat.

In fact, the decision for Maria to marry to Saxe-Weimar was something that was planned during Paul's reign.

But there was a small problem. Although Weimar was a place with a strong cultural atmosphere and had cultural figures like Goethe living there, its biggest problem was poverty. As a small principality, its finances had always been very tight.

There is a war now, and even Maria and her husband have to come to Russia to save money. With the pitiful income of Weimar, for the luxurious life of the big landowners, sometimes they are unable to make ends meet. Only the wealthy families who eat with the relatives can ease the pressure on their wallets.

As for Maria, like her sister Catherine, she sometimes tends to be delusional.

"If you hadn't gone to Paris, I might not have had to go to Weimar, although my life is pretty good now."

"You should cherish your husband. At least he has something in common with you and is not a boring person."

"Oh, well, then. In that case, we'll see what's going on there when we get back to Petersburg."

This journey was neither fast nor slow. There were many estates of Uncle Alexei in the Baltic Sea area, and Maria stayed in these places along the way.

Moreover, she has been extremely obsessed with cleanliness recently and takes a shower almost every night. However, the conditions in the places where they stay later are much better, at least there is no need to worry about sound insulation.

After arriving in St. Petersburg, Solovyov had to send Maria to Tsarskoye Selo first. This year, Alexander did not choose to go to the Summer Palace for summer vacation, but instead brought the royal family members back to Tsarskoye Selo to live.

There were very few balls held in the summer of that year, which made the Imperial Village seem a little quieter.

Maria returned to her mother's palace in Pavlovsk and hung out with her sisters there. Elena had also become pregnant recently. The two of them got married close to each other, and their relationship deepened through communication through letters.

It's just that the two of them touching each other's belly without any hesitation in being seen by others is indeed a bit... In other words, everyone here is an acquaintance, and apart from the Queen Mother who particularly dotes on Catherine, Anna, the youngest of her daughters, is not very favored by her.

On weekdays, when Nikolai and Mikhail did not go to the tutor's class, Anna would hang out with her two younger brothers and nieces, and act as a leader among the children.

The structure of this family seems very strange.

"Why are you looking at us?"

Ekaterina also wanted to hug her sisters, but she was still unmarried and felt a little embarrassed.

"I have nothing."

"I wonder if my mother has arranged a marriage for you. Do you want to stay here, or do you want to be a queen?"

Elena knew the problem of her fourth sister, she always wanted something and it was impossible to change this problem in a short time.

She wanted to have an ambiguous relationship with Mikhail Dolgorukov, and even offered herself to him; she also corresponded with her cousin-in-law Bagration all day long, especially after her cousin went to Vienna; her preference for soldiers actually came from her serious second brother, but she was always close to the party emperor's eldest brother Alexander; as for wanting to be a queen, the queen mother has been trying to make connections for her recently. Emperor Franz is now a widower, and Archduke Ferdinand and Archduke John of Habsburg are also options.

"Soloviev, you are a general now, you should be able to make your own judgment."

Elena was talking about Catherine's marriage, and the Queen Mother grabbed Solovyov and asked him about it.

The Empress Dowager had changed her impression of him several times, and now because he was the teacher of Nikolai and Mikhail, and also taught his youngest daughter Anna and granddaughters, her impression of him changed again.

"Your Highness, what do you need me to comment on?"

"You seem to have a good relationship with Archduke Karl, and you have been to the Austrian court during both of your expeditions, so you should know something about that place. What I want to know is the situation of these archdukes in the Vienna court."

"If you want me to evaluate their talents, that's fine. If it's other aspects..."

He didn't want to be hounded by the Queen Mother with strange questions, and the Queen of Austria had died of puerperal fever just two months ago.

"I think at this time, both Your Highnesses are pregnant, and it is not appropriate to discuss issues related to Vienna."

Seeing his attitude, Queen Mother Maria roughly knew the situation of Austrian quack doctors. She didn't want her daughter to go there because she might die early during childbirth. However, the position of queen left by Francis II when he remarried was indeed tempting.

However, not answering the question but mentioning the key point is indeed quite extraordinary.

"And what about Archduke Ferdinand and Archduke Johann?"

"I have never met Archduke Ferdinand, but Archduke John is a man of average ability and rather stubborn."

It can be said that he has grasped the key points accurately. This Grand Duke has always been like this.

The Queen Mother could actually get the news herself, but she insisted on asking for other people's opinions so that she could have a reference.

As for some other negative reviews of the Habsburg, it was probably that during the period of alliance with Austria, the performance of this teammate was really poor, and it was not a good choice for female relatives to go there.

Given Ekaterina's spoiled personality at home, it was obviously not appropriate for her to go there.

If necessary, relatives from Oldenburg and other places could be recruited as sons-in-law. In this way, Catherine could consolidate relations with some small countries through marriage, and at the same time she could live at home without going out.

Archduke Ferdinand did not agree to be a live-in son-in-law. Even if he was offered a high position, he had never heard of any Austrian archduke going abroad to serve as a vase position other than the monarch. Archduke Joseph's experience of going to St. Petersburg for a blind date was known to both Russia and Austria. In the end, he was not interested in her, so the engagement was cancelled. Alexandra finally married her cousin William of Württemberg.

"Your Highness, if there is nothing else, I will take my leave first."

"Don't worry. Alexander is here these days. If you have something to do, just go to Catherine Palace. There are enough guest rooms in my palace in Gatchina. I also need to say something about Nicholas' studies during the few days you are back."

Nicholas has made some progress during this period, but he went out to play before the final exam and was a little negligent in his studies, so he failed almost every exam, and even regressed in some courses that he had done well in before.

After hearing what the Queen Mother said, Solovyov didn't know what to say.

"Then your highness's summer vacation can be shortened accordingly, but it's only for tutoring. I can't always be with him in the palace. Your Majesty has not yet decided whether there will be war or peace on the front line. Moreover, due to personal matters, I will rarely be in Petersburg in the second half of the year."

"I knew it was like that, and Nicholas is almost old enough to participate in public affairs, so he always needs strict discipline. His interest in military affairs has not changed much, and it is because of you being his teacher that he has developed a great interest in other aspects of knowledge."

"That's good. But Your Majesty, it will be a long process to arrange education for him. His Highness is only 11 years old, and it's still a playful age for a child. You can find him more companions."

"That's a good idea. When the children in the preparatory school in Tsarskoye Selo officially enter the Tsarskoye Selo Middle School in the future, we can arrange for Nikolay and Mikhail to go there."

However, the Empress Dowager did not manage the school personally. It, the Smolny Girls' School, and the Women's Union were all Louisa's responsibilities.

The relationship between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law was also very delicate. The Queen Mother had been complaining that Louisa had given birth to six children, all of which were girls. The miscarriage after returning from Sweden turned out to be a boy, which made the old lady complain for a long time. Louisa was not bothered by it. She was only second in rank in the palace because of the Queen Mother, and she herself had no desire for power, so she was content with the status quo and lived like a hermit in the palace.

However, in terms of education, although the Queen Mother is the biggest sponsor, she does not manage it personally much. Instead, the recently established Women's Federation was Louisa's idea.

After all, those ladies and young ladies whose husbands and fiancés are on the front lines should also organize themselves to help each other and take care of the officers' families.

This is an institution for the nobility, and there is a corresponding institution for the common people.

The war was protracted and of little benefit to Russia, and the French invasion would not inspire widespread patriotic enthusiasm, so there were now more people in St. Petersburg calling for peace than before.

Alexander suddenly stopped making any statement in recent days, which made people curious.

He didn't appear in the public eye, probably because Louisa and the Polish girl had to accompany him. On the one hand, he was still obsessed with having an heir, so he went to Louisa's place recently. And the Polish girl was also a girl. There were even some rumors that the queen and the emperor's mistress were too intimate, uh.
Solovyov didn't care about these things. He came to live in Tsarskoye Selo and after resting for two days, he finally met Alexander.

The rumors may be quite reliable. At least today, not only the Tsar himself appeared in the reception room, but also the Queen and several of Alexander's mistresses.

It was difficult for Louisa. Solovyov went to the front line. The closest time for them was when she was the Crown Princess, and when Louisa had just become the Queen and they were alone in Sweden.

If they were to stay together like this now, they would probably feel like an old married couple, and she could even complain about Catherine's letter writing style.

Besides, she had no long-term lover, and her suitors were always rejected by her.

The main problem was to maintain good relations with Alexander's mistresses, and in this respect Petersburg and Paris had always been in sync.

In today's scene, the network of relationships seems to be a bit chaotic.

But Alexander wanted to talk about serious matters in this environment, so he couldn't understand his train of thought.

At least for now he doesn't know that the kitten that came to his house to steal food is the teacher of his younger brothers and sisters and daughter.

It doesn't matter if he knows, he will choose to forgive, after all, Russian military uniforms are green.

"Your Majesty, there is currently an armistice agreement. We are facing the French across the Neman River. According to the current situation, the French do not seem to have any intention of further fighting with us, and the morale of the Prussian troops on the front is low, and our soldiers are also very tired after continuous fighting."

"Are you just stating the facts and not expressing your own opinion?"

"Facts are opinions, Your Majesty. I think we can take this opportunity to prepare for negotiations with the French. Perhaps we should send a diplomatic envoy."

"Who is more suitable to send?"

Alexander turned around and asked Foreign Minister Badberg, who whispered something to Alexander.

Then the young Tsar looked at Solovyov as a lion looks at his prey, as a sphinx asks passers-by to guess their riddles.

Solovyov knew that the Tsar wanted him to go on purpose.

Regardless of whether he knew about his relationship, such an envoy mission was a sign of respect for him.

After all, the victories in 1807 were either commanded or planned by him. It was reasonable to send him as an envoy to extend an olive branch for negotiations at this time.

Then, it was probably a kind of face-to-face mockery. After all, the French did not completely defeat the Russian army in this anti-French alliance, but were often defeated instead.

"Your Majesty, if we need to express goodwill to the French Emperor, I think Major General Solovyov is also a suitable candidate, at least as a deputy. When he was in Stockholm before, he had certain diplomatic talents."

Seeing that Alexander remained silent, Solovyov didn't know whether he was pretending to be confused or didn't understand, so Badberg repeated it again.

"I think it's possible, Mishka, are you confident that you can complete this task?"

"Of course, Your Majesty."

After hearing this, Alexander's mouth curled up, and he was somewhat proud. He said, "Mikhail Solovyov is here as an envoy for the armistice negotiations, extending an olive branch of peace on behalf of Russia. As for the content of the peace talks, I will go to the bank of the Neman River in person to discuss with the French emperor. This will be more sincere. Europe should welcome peace at this time instead of continuing the war."

The appointment has come, and it seems that I can meet my step-uncle and my child’s second uncle in advance.

(End of this chapter)