Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 477 The meeting between the two emperors in Tilsit
"You are still very honest, but I always feel that you must be hiding some secret from me, Solovyov."

Although Alexander showed signs of baldness, his face
He said this without any evidence, but there was also some "woman's intuition" in it.

Although the relationship between Solovyov and Louisa has never been exposed, and there are even other people taking the blame, it is always easy to speculate because of his close relationship with the royal women.

Of course, he had been serving in the palace since he was 17 years old, so it was not surprising that he had a good relationship with these young ladies. In addition, he was really good at taking care of children, so it was inevitable that he was always assigned to be on duty in the palace.

Even when pushed to the limit, they can do even the most difficult work.

"Your Majesty, I think everyone has secrets that they don't want others to know."

"That's true. You had a hard time recuperating in the Jelgava Palace. Maria has been clinging to you since she was a baby, and she is still like this even now that she has become a mother. It was really hard for you to take care of her."

Of course, he also wanted to complain about his brother-in-law. What a strange arrangement this was. Maria always liked to pester Solovyov, and she was very proactive.

Unmarried Catherine also had this problem, and relying on the favor of her brother, she was even more unscrupulous.

Alexander thought about it and realized that all the girls raised in pairs at home were like this, Alexandra and Elena, Maria and Catherine. His own sisters were like this, and his daughters also had this tendency.

Especially the twins. Although they looked increasingly different, they had a tacit understanding because they were born together in the womb. Moreover, when they got into trouble, they pretended to be innocent in front of adults, which even fooled Queen Mother Maria.

But if Maria likes it, let her do it, but it will be more troublesome.

As for Solovyov, he doesn't have to worry too much, as he won't have much to do in the future.

All you have to do is accompany the Tsar to the bank of the Neman River as an attendant general, and everything else will be arranged accordingly.

"Your Majesty, if there is nothing else."

"Step back, Solovyov. You've been working hard, too."

There was indeed a lot of opposition to the negotiation in the army, and it was rare to find someone like Solovyov who advocated war and was willing to serve as an envoy.

As for what others think, Solovyov doesn't want to care. Now he just wants to go to sleep.

I haven't had a good rest for many days. After the meeting time was arranged, Napoleon was setting up the venue.

Even the Russian soldiers stationed on the shore could see the French engineers building a platform there.

"This is quite a nice display. The French emperor is quite impressive."

"Only when our emperor comes will he take it seriously. It would be better if it were our German allies, hehe."

That being said, as for the meeting in Tilsit, Alexander did have to make some gestures.

As an old actor who had been acting between his grandmother and father since he was a child, he was still thinking about how to deal with Napoleon, this aggressive guy. After all, this was their first meeting.

In this situation, he was also writing his own script and took a look at the portrait in his pocket watch.

The miniature portraits are of twins. He particularly liked these two children, and the miniature portraits are particularly vivid. The two children are so naughty.
After Napoleon built this "platform" in the middle of the Neman River, he took Duroc and Caulaincourt to it and waited for the arrival of the Tsar.

On this platform built with a boat, there are also old guards on duty.

Since the French Emperor had arrived first, he was waiting for the Russian Emperor to arrive.

Alexander also rode to the north bank of the Neman River, and the generals led by Grand Duke Constantine accompanied him here.

"Brother, do you really want to go by yourself?"

"What's the big deal? In diplomatic situations, credibility is always important. Nothing will happen."

He was wearing the uniform of a Prussian Guard and was standing upright on a small boat with four Guards rowing. He was holding onto the pole.

"The Tsar does seem very proud, Your Majesty."

"It's a gesture, but we welcome him to negotiate here, don't we, Caulaincourt?"

While Napoleon and his entourage were looking at the Tsar, Alexander said this directly as the boat approached.

"Like you, I hate the British attitude of giving orders."

"You think so, too?"

“If anyone is going to call the shots in Europe, it should be France.”

The context of this statement should take into account that Russia is not included in the "Europe" mentioned by Alexander.

"Welcome here, Alexander."

Then Napoleon reached out his hand, pulled Alexander out of the boat, and the two began to hug.

If this is proper Russian etiquette, they should kiss each other, but it would look a bit strange to these two.

After seeing the two emperors hugging each other on both sides of the Neman River, the French and Russian soldiers began to shout "Long live the emperor" and "Hurrah".

"It seems that our soldiers are happy to see this result."

"Yes, I hope it will be a pleasant meeting."

Then, both of them showed fox-like smiles, and against the backdrop of the Neman River, they looked more like a gathering of two conspirators than two emperors.

As for the subsequent arrangements, it was naturally to arrange for the entourage of both sides to be stationed in the town of Tilsit.

Napoleon did not consider the King of Prussia at all. He only arranged for the French eagle flag and the Russian double-headed eagle decorations with the N and A signatures to represent the emperors of France and Russia, and did not consider the black eagle of the King of Prussia and the letters FW of their king.

However, from Solovyov's perspective, it is reasonable not to include King Prussia.

No matter how you look at it, this king is a foolish son who inherited a fortune, had a good wife and a group of brave generals, and then did something very prodigal.

All Alexander could do was to ensure that Prussia would eventually join the talks, but that was only the status of Czechoslovakia in the Munich Agreement.

Being able to get Frederick William III to the table was the best that this ally could do.

Alexander's entourage then crossed the river in a small boat and stayed in Tilsit.

Napoleon also gave the best house he could find in the town of Tilsit to Alexander, and renovated it, even moving many things from Warsaw and Berlin.

When Solovyov took the post of aide-de-camp to the general, he was very responsible for placing the luggage and being in charge of security.

At this time, Napoleon saw Solovyov still carefully examining the things, so he said to Alexander: "It seems that the relationship between us is much closer than expected." "Why do you say that?"

"Alexander, the first military envoy you sent, Major General Solovyov, is my wife's nephew."

"Ah, you mean his stepmother, the cousin of Queen Josephine?"

"It seems you know it too."

"But there must be sufficient evidence. Misha was a guard in the Imperial Guard when my father was emperor. He is very careful in his work and will only act when he is very sure."

"He is indeed an outstanding young man, but why didn't Queen Elizabeth come here?"

"You mean my wife? She has been recovering from giving birth, and we have six daughters who always need their mother's care. Besides, you should also know that the family members of the Elector of Baden are all very family-oriented."

This is true. Karl Ludwig is a good father-in-law in Europe. His married daughters prefer family life and are not very interested in social life.

"Yes, my son Eugene married into Bavaria, and Queen Caroline is Queen Elizabeth's sister. We actually have a very close relationship."

The intersection of this complex chain of relationships is Bavaria and Baden, and Jerome is about to marry the princess of Württemberg.

They are here, and there has been no progress in the negotiations, but they are doing all kinds of things to make friends.

Solovyov was checking the residence nearby when he heard this. Although he had expected this, he did not expect the two of them to continue chatting like this.

But he still had to do his duty. Thinking about Frederick William III, who was wearing an ordinary soldier's uniform on the shore, he looked quite pitiful and very much in line with the initials of his name.

In such a place, we can also see how Alexander tried his best to safeguard the interests of his allies to the minimum extent possible.

In fact, Prussia is not worth maintaining like this, as it was such a bad teammate before.

But Alexander still valued diplomatic credibility, and at this time, he also tried his best to protect Prussia.

But Napoleon has not yet brought up the relevant topic, so Alexander can only do his best to try to find a suitable topic.

After a while of trying to establish connections and confirming the complicated relationship, Napoleon recognized this nephew on behalf of Josephine, and asked Eugene, who was with the army, to come and recognize him. After a series of operations were completed, he got to the point.

"Well, now we can also discuss how to draw the boundaries of Europe."

"Alexander, we are finally getting to the point."

"If the Vistula River is used as the border, the river will pass through Poland, a small country."

"Ah, Poland's existence is still very necessary. It happens to be between our spheres of influence."

"Would you like to reconsider? If the Polish issue can be resolved, I can send representatives to negotiate with Britain to restore comprehensive peace in Europe."

Napoleon did not respond, but Alexander could actually tell from his expression that although the issue of Poland had to be put on hold, he was still very interested in the peace talks with Britain.

There was just one small problem. The last time Alexander proposed that Britain and France make concessions, the British arrogantly refused to give up Malta, and France was just making a gesture.

It was the same this time. Although Napoleon was interested, he did not make any substantial concessions.

Alexander only said this verbally. In fact, if the British knew that Russia and France were negotiating, they would probably take some small actions.

This issue was mentioned by Solovyov when he reported in St. Petersburg.

Speaking of which, all European countries are well aware of the British's various small moves to start wars without declaring war. Even Denmark, which has a relative by marriage, has been beaten several times. This has become a traditional skill, and maybe one day it will become my friendly force that strikes hard.

Therefore, this kind of temptation is just a show of friendship between each other. What can it really achieve?

If it is pure peace, then the two countries will probably divide their spheres of influence.

If it is about forming an alliance, that is another matter.

But Napoleon's attitude was obviously negotiable.

When the two sides sat down to continue the in-depth discussion, they had no choice but to establish a relationship with Prussia.

"After we have fully exchanged views, there should be another question. That is, Prussia is also a party to the matter. Can the King of Prussia also join the talks?"

"It's already late today, and we are only discussing the traditional friendship between France and Russia. As for the Prussian issue, we can put it off until tomorrow."

Napoleon's words naturally proved one thing: Prussia was just fish on the chopping board, waiting to be cut by a knife.

For Alexander, this was fulfilling his obligations as an ally.

At least the King of Prussia did not retreat to Memel, thus avoiding the fate of national destruction.

However, unlike the situation in France and Russia, Prussia will have to make sacrifices.

"The friendship between us and the peace that will come is based on the cooperation between our two countries."

"But you must also note, sir, that it is the French army that brings about this peace, if necessary."

"French is such a beautiful language, but it sounds so cruel when you speak it."

"If you don't agree to peace, the cruel consequences will come, I think you are also very clear."

"Does it also include peace and freedom?"

"Does this freedom include the freedom of the twenty million Russian serfs?"

"Your Majesty, you can't change everyone. Russia also has its own national conditions here!"

Well, it’s a strange situation that “our Great Qing Dynasty has its own national conditions.”

But Napoleon agreed to serve the dish, and the King of Prussia had no choice but to appear on stage in this embarrassing situation.

The price to be paid for this would be extremely high. The land to be ceded was not only the core industrial areas west of the Elbe River, but also included Poland's independence. An independent Grand Duchy of Poland would be established on the part of Polish land ceded by Prussia, with France's Saxony ally serving as a puppet monarch, and the country would actually be controlled by the French.

The final decision on further negotiations will indeed depend on the circumstances.

The peace talks have finally begun.

(End of this chapter)