Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 476 053 A decent peace has no place for Prussia

There were still some things to talk about during the meal, but they didn't talk about any military issues.

Napoleon promised to give him a medal of the Legion of Honor. Although this was ceremonial, it also represented recognition of the current situation. At least the French side was willing to accept peace talks. As for the specific conditions?
France's attitude was obviously different from Russia's, because the two sides had been fighting in Central Europe, and apart from the army, Russia had not suffered much damage. This led to the French wanting to negotiate, and Prussia was still the one being exploited.

For Prussia, they were nominally equal in status to Russia, and could also maintain consistency in diplomacy, so they could not make peace with France alone.

In fact, the little bit of force they have left is not even as strong as a Russian division, and that's a division after battle damage. Compared with the Guards, it's only half as strong.

If you become a complete subordinate, you will have no right to sit at the table at all.

Napoleon did not forget to repeat this incident over and over again while eating chicken.

"Your Majesty, I think you should also know that you can't force some dying beasts too hard. I know the Prussian army very well. I once lived in the Duke of Brunswick's house for a period of time. Once the oppression is excessive, it will definitely cause resistance. It's like, how should I put it, it's like the sound of the cannons at Valmy. The French people showed unprecedented patriotic enthusiasm. Not only the French would do this, I think people in many places would do this, even the Serbs who were resisting the Ottoman Empire. When I was the Deputy Minister of War, I came into contact with the Serbs."

"Misha, this is just your idea. Prussia is a fickle country. I think your monarch should know that."

"If he hadn't rashly started the war, we might not have been fighting in Poland and East Prussia this winter, and we might still be fighting around Berlin. In terms of strategy, campaigns, and tactics, Prussia did nothing right, and even served as your Majesty's Minister of Logistics."

Hearing this, Napoleon showed a contemptuous smile, of course towards Prussia.

The nephew of the queen, whom the emperor had just recognized, actually had a good sense of humor. Several marshals and generals at the table couldn't help laughing.

"Interesting, Misha, you can go on. I can see that you don't like Germans."

"That may only be directed at Prussia, but not at Queen Louise and her children. After all, my benefactor, Her Royal Highness Elena, has a good relationship with her, and Grand Duke Nicholas may marry a German princess in the future, so I should be more careful with my words."

"Well, it's just that your way of speaking is very interesting."

Since Napoleon asked him to continue, and since everyone at the table was French and no one would be a traitor to Prussia, he started talking again.

"They have assembled their army, but the warehouses. Apart from the warehouses in Königsberg, we have gained almost nothing. If it were in Russia, I would have asked the soldiers guarding the warehouses to goose-step out of the warehouse gates and start to provide reinforcements to the corps. Moreover, that might make the war between us more intense, and the negotiations might be moved to another place."

Since they were family members, Napoleon was able to restrain himself from speaking harshly. Moreover, his criticism of Prussia was too precise, and even revealed the friendly attitude between Prussia and Russia, and the possibility of marriage in the future.

In fact, this also represents Alexander's intention. He still wants to protect Prussia, so he has to leak some information.

"Anyway, now that peace is coming, you can go back and deliver the letter to your monarch."

"I will complete this task, and the subsequent peace talks should also go very smoothly."

"Sovereign to monarch, let's find a place in the middle of the Neman River, right in Tilsit, it's perfect."

The mission has been determined, and Alexander is now on his way to the banks of the Neman River.

There were certainly some people who were opposed to the peace talks. Bagration saw that Osterman-Tolstoy was opposed to negotiating with the French, and he took the initiative to come to him and resign from his post as commander of the 2nd Division.

Langgeron came from France, and he knew that since he failed to defeat the French army, he would most likely go to Odessa. Therefore, he did not take the initiative to manage the affairs of the legion. In the end, he came to sign, and all these issues were left to Bagration to deal with.

Although he could understand the peace talks, he did not support them, and he had no comment on Ostermann-Tolstoy's current actions. He simply approved his resignation, but it would be finalized only after the peace treaty was formally signed.

"Don't be so anxious, Sasha, maybe things will turn around."

"You'll know when Misha comes back. He used to be a diplomat. Even though he was only a military attaché, he knows diplomatic rhetoric. He probably won't be able to learn your kind of deception."

"But we did not completely deceive the French. If Napoleon had returned to Spandau and Dabstein, the plan would have succeeded."

"This is just if. If the peace treaty is signed, I will leave the army and go abroad to recuperate with my sick wife."

"How is your wife now?"

"My body is still weak. The doctor has no other options but to use these conditioning methods. In addition, Misha wrote to me saying that the medicinal properties of American ginseng may have some problems in Khitan medicine, but the efficacy can still be used."

"Misha is an adjutant after all, and his military branch has always been infantry, but he is better at logistics, so it's not surprising that he knows these things."

"But I have to thank him, at least my wife looks good. Speaking of you, Peter Ivanovich, you should invite your wife back. She is so poor in Vienna..."

"I have written to ask her to come back, at least to see the children, but she is currently recuperating in a hot spring in Hungary and will not be back for the time being."

"Sometimes it's hard to guess what a woman is thinking. Even my wife lying on the bed is the same."

"But I am optimistic about Misha's marriage, even though this guy actually has a woman outside."

"He is very handsome, so it's not surprising that some ladies like him. Besides, isn't Miloladovic also popular with women?"

Miloradovich was a friend of women, and the Queen had taken a liking to him in those days, but the general went to study in Königsberg and managed to avoid this matter.

"Ah, that's it, and the person in question is back, and we were just gossiping like Davydov before."

Bagration turned the tables and kicked the ball out. Davydov, who was listening nearby, did not expect that he would have a role to play.

"Sir, if you put it that way, then getting information is the duty of the adjutant, unlike Misha who is only responsible for military intelligence."

Although his military rank was much higher than Solovyov's, since they were acquainted with each other in the Guards, there was no problem in addressing him like that.

"Ah, it's going pretty smoothly on my end. Besides, this is a diplomatic event. If I mess up during the meal, it will be troublesome. Fortunately, the Emperor of France recognized me as his non-blood nephew. After all, my stepmother is his wife's cousin."

"Big news, Mishka, you always come up with something new."

Davydov is a gossipy guy, and if he hears it, he will definitely spread it. But it doesn’t matter. I’m afraid that the uncle who guards the gate of the Ryazan Manor will know about it in the future.

"He has already guessed this, he just needs to compare the evidence with Bonaparte across the street." Bagration couldn't say that he had no objection to Davydov's comment that he had a long nose and a long face, but this was all he had to say now.

"I have another mission, which is to sit here for a while. This letter will also be delivered to the Emperor, with his signature and seal. As for where to negotiate, we will choose a neutral area. I think it should be on the Neman River."

"Go back and report. If you need coffee, I still have some."

"No, in the French camp, they are all drinking coffee. Give me some tea."

"You guys still can't live without black tea, do you want some refreshments?"

"The tea here is too sweet. It's actually not good for your health. It's good wartime food."

After he said this, he returned to Alexandria to report.

After all, he was very familiar with Alexander's groom. It only took two days to drive from St. Petersburg to the Neman River. The road conditions along the way were very good, and this speed was just right for peace talks.

When he arrived at the headquarters of the Guards Division, only Grand Duke Constantine was there.

"How did your mission go?"

"Your Highness, it went very smoothly. Here is a letter to be delivered to the Emperor."

"Wait a moment, the emperor will be here soon. His messenger will be here when you cross the river."

"It's so fast, that strong man drives like he's flying."

"Many people in the military disagree with the negotiations. Can you sense that?"

"Your Highness, what do you think?"

"I think peace is also necessary. As for your going over there, how did Bonaparte behave?"

"He acted very calmly, as if victory was within his grasp, and he was looking forward to meeting the emperor."

"What about Prussia?"

"Nothing, just some jokes."

Even the French Emperor did not intend to give any face to the King of Prussia in this meeting. He treated him as fish on the chopping board, like Achinar and Seskel. That was probably the case.

The fate of Prussia may still require the Russian emperor's on-the-spot performance to be saved.

"In fact, Your Highness, the more troublesome thing is that the French emperor does not seem to have any need for Prussia to exist. His actions may disintegrate the country of Prussia. Destruction may be the worst option. Even if the negotiations are more conciliatory, the country may lose most of its land, as well as the occupied Polish land and even some places that have long been controlled by Prussia."

"What did you say to me? There must be something hateful about a pitiful person. We can only express regret that Prussia has become like this."

Although Grand Duke Constantine was relatively close to Prussia, he clearly had a better impression of the French.

Moreover, after Solovyov came back, he was only a representative of the army. Alexander always wanted to be ostentatious, and would later send Prince Lobanov-Rostovsky to represent the government. Speaking of which, Solovyov had originally taken a fancy to the little round-faced girl in his family, but in the end, it went against his wishes and he got engaged to little Katya.

There have been recent rumors that the prince's daughter is going to have a blind date with Kirill from the Naryshkin family.

But it was not the time to worry about these things, because Alexander would always come. At Grand Duke Constantine's place, Solovyov waited until dusk before the Russian emperor arrived.

As for the title of "Tsar", Grand Duke Constantine is sometimes also called this, which was granted by Paul.

"Your Majesty, this is a personal letter from the Emperor of France."

"Well done, Solovyov. The Foreign Minister and his committee will handle this matter. You don't need to return to your post as the Army Chief of Staff. Come back to be an aide-de-camp. You are already a general. You don't need to be an aide-de-camp."

"Yes, Your Majesty, but His Majesty the Emperor of France may have some family relationship with me personally. This has been confirmed during the negotiations this time."

Alexander didn't find it strange, and he was always abstract and loved to be the king of riddles, like a Sphinx.

After learning that Solovyov's stepmother was from Martinique, he did not care at first. Later, when he sent Solovyov to Santo Domingo, he paid attention to some special circumstances.

He could make the connection, but he thought the same as the parties involved: without clear evidence and confirmation from both sides, there would be no such thing.

Moreover, Solovyov was really useful. He had given him many surprises in the past year or so, and even defeated the French army twice. When Napoleon himself came, with the cooperation of Langeron, Bagration and others, he also ended up in a draw. This time, they retreated to the north bank of the Neman River without losing too many troops, and the main force of the Russian army was still intact.

It doesn't matter that he is an official member of Napoleon's family. It's not as easy to survive in Paris as in St. Petersburg.

Besides, Solovyov brought up this matter just to tell it in advance and to avoid the "Northern Sphinx" from being too surprised.

But seeing that he didn't react, Solovyov felt that he was worrying too much.

Alexander did not express any opinion on the frankness of his attendant general, and his thoughts could only be guessed.

But one thing is particularly clear, that is, since he has made contributions, he should naturally be rewarded.

Therefore, being transferred back to the Winter Palace to serve as an aide-de-camp and to work in the General Staff was considered a reward.

Then he opened the letter and looked at the basic conditions proposed by Napoleon based on Russia's request for peace. The details still needed to be negotiated.

But this was extremely unfriendly to Prussia, and Alexander was indeed mentally prepared.

Since Russia has formed an alliance with this ally, if it chooses to negotiate at this time, it will have to protect Prussia, but it will also have to sacrifice the interests of this country to allow France and Russia to finally make peace.

(End of this chapter)