Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 483 060 At Pierre's House in Moscow

Nikolai stayed at Solovyov's house for two days, but left reluctantly.

Although there is a master in charge, there is no one else in charge here, and it is even quite free.

No matter whether the child is from a royal family, an aristocratic family or a commoner family, he or she prefers a life without restraint.

But Solovyov will not continue to live here. This time he is going to Moscow.

On the one hand, she had to prepare for her wedding and get married in the old Dolgorukov house on Sparrow Hills that was bought by Prince Yusupov.

On the other hand, his old friend Pierre invited him to Moscow.

It’s still early, so just treat it as a visit to a friend’s house.

As he had always been serving in the army, his family took care of his marriage.

Now that I'm back from the front, I can free myself to take care of my own affairs, and I can also go to Moscow to deal with Gauss's matter.

Before leaving, as per custom, he still had to submit a memorial.

That’s right, in order to be different from other people’s memorials, Solovyov made a folding screen for Alexander.
Moreover, his memorials were often long and voluminous, and it was inconvenient to write them without folding them.

But I have spent so much time just to recommend Gauss. His performance is indeed quite abstract.

You know, although Gauss’s math skills were higher than some people’s, he didn’t like teaching. Although he worked very hard in research, there was another problem: he was often unwilling to attend the defense when his papers were published.
Solovyov knew about this because the old Duke of Brunswick told him that Gauss's thesis was exempted from defense and was directly passed at the local university.

But he was focusing on theoretical research at home and didn't even come to the site.

It would definitely not be possible for him to teach in Göttingen now, after all, Jerome had set up a paid job. Now that the territory of Hanover has been annexed, he would have to consider the circumstances if he wants to get a teaching position.

After mentioning Gauss's great talent, Solovyov set off for Moscow.

Starting from Lake Ladoga, we must first arrive near Gatchina.

What can be seen is that a steam locomotive built by primitive methods is already being debugged, but it is only a test run.

This project was not under his jurisdiction, and it was only intended to facilitate transportation in the Imperial Village. It did not involve any transportation monopoly, and it was even just an attempt.

After all, there is a major problem, that is, the steamship provides power support, which is the project that will be launched first, so it is not difficult to deal with.

To build a railway, it does need to be verified. According to the national project acceptance, it will take several years.

You can't eat hot tofu in a hurry, especially for this project, it would be better to complete it before the Queen Mother's 50th birthday.

It sounds like the Qing Dynasty and Tsarist Russia are half-brothers. Solovyov planned the railway, Paul approved it, Count Vorontsov recruited people in the UK, and Alexander is now preparing it for his mother's birthday.
Well, technology has advanced, which is a good thing.

Then, we set off for Moscow.

On his way to Moscow, if he wanted to get anywhere, he would first walk to Tverskaya Street.

Although he appeared from the Moscow garrison, Solovyov spent most of his time in St. Petersburg, which was not so familiar to him.

If his relatives were not all around Moscow, he would not have come back once before, with the task of setting up a military supply factory in Ryazan.

Pierre's family has a big house on Arbat Street, but Pierre usually doesn't live here. He and his wife Helen live separately, and his wife lives here.

Solovyov would not run into such bad luck. It would be bad if Helen saw him and caused any trouble.

There used to be a "little goblin" in St. Petersburg, but she was not as restless as her and was always creating trouble.

In addition, Solovyov has always had a bad relationship with the children of the Kurakin family, so it is unlikely that he will appear on Arbat Street.

At this time, he arrived at another mansion where Pierre lived.

I have to say that Pierre's house is really big. These mansions in Moscow were where princes and nobles settled during the Moscow Principality period, and the layout of many mansions had been determined since the time of Ivan the Terrible.

Even though it was burned down by the Poles and two more pseudo-Dmitri appeared in succession, the general framework of Moscow's core urban area remained unchanged.

As for Smolensk Street, Pierre's house is not far from Marshal Kamensky's house.

The old marshal had recently come to Moscow from Oryol. Instead of living in the countryside in the summer, he went there in the winter.

Pierre usually stays here, and any Masonic activities are held in his home.

In fact, he didn't feel any happiness among such a group of people.

When Solovyov arrived, he was very happy.

"Misha, thank you for coming to my house at this time."

"Pierre, I'm sorry to bother you. After all, at this time, you can't live in your fiancée's house, nor can you live in my cousin's house."

"It doesn't matter. You can stay here before you go to Sparrow Hill to propose marriage."

Although Pierre said this in a very friendly and ordinary tone, his room was one of the best in this street.

"Moscow, Moscow, there are seven hills here, too, like Rome and Constantinople."

"Why did you suddenly think of this?"

"Pierre, I'm just curious as to why Rome would move, and why it's so far-fetched."

"You'd better not say such things. You should know that there are always some people here who don't have good intentions."

"Thank you, Pierre, you are always considerate of others. If they were to tell on me, they should have considered that I was just back from the front and it wasn't anything special. Also, how is Andre doing lately?"

"He's been in Smolensk lately, but if you want to get married, he and his wife will also return to Moscow." "That's not bad. As for our friends in Moscow, who else will come?"

"I will definitely help you with this matter."

"Thank you in advance, just"

"Now that we have no official business, we can go to Moscow for a tour together. When you were in Moscow, you were always in the military camp."

"Except when I'm out doing errands for my father."

"Since you mentioned the 'Seven Hills', we could go out and have a look together in a car."

So, Pierre, on his part, brought along his trusted driver and went on the tour with Solovyov.

Among the seven hills was Sparrow Hills, which was far from the Kremlin and the last point on their journey.

The first place to go is Borovetsky Hill, where Yuri Dolgoruky established a settlement in the 12th century. It is also the earliest record of Moscow in the chronicles.

Going back to earlier times, this was once a place where the Scythians roamed freely, and people had already settled in the Borovetsky Mountains in the Bronze Age.

In 1147, Moscow was just an inconspicuous village on the border of the Grand Duchy of Rostov-Suzdal. Today, it has become such a huge city and is known as the Third Rome, which is really unexpected.

"But this is the case here in Moscow, Misha. We are going to visit the Seven Hills. We can see the past of Moscow."

"Perhaps there is a future. Pierre, how many serfs do you have now?"

"There are a total of 48,000 people in various manors."

My goodness, the number of serfs owned by one person was already 1.3‰ of the country's population. If the productivity of the feudal serfdom manor had not been so backward, he would have been the largest landlord in Russia, and Count Bezukhov's family would have had the largest property in Moscow.

"I know you always want to change, but the actions we take now can only be carried out in our own manor. My family does not have so many serfs, only a few hundred people. You can, Pierre, we also talked about some things in Riga. What are you going to do?"

"If we focus on business, we can start to put the money into motion. I think what you said to me makes sense. As long as the money is flowing, we can do a lot of things, and we will have the ability to change some things."

"But don't get involved in too many political issues. You are the only real and pure person among us. You can't correct what Andre advised you to do immediately. But if you emphasize it repeatedly, it will always help you take the right path. Am I right?"

"Well, that's probably the case. A lot of things did happen in the past."

"Andrei should have told you that he is at home now and can help you with some things. I have been in the army and cannot get away from it. I have become a general and I came back to Moscow just to get married. But if you need me to do something and I can help you, just let me know."

The carriage was heading towards the Sparrow Hills again. Pierre heard what Solovyov said, and he did not want to let his friend worry too much about him, so he said: "It's just that..."

"Alas, what I fear most is being idle. If you need me, we can always take care of each other, but don't get involved in politics, don't get involved in politics."

Important things always need more words.

Arriving at the Sparrow Hills, Pierre and Solovyov saw a birch forest and an abandoned wooden palace that looked very dilapidated.

Even fifty years ago, the Vorobyovsky Palace was a single-story wooden palace with 124 rooms. It was once the palace of Ivan the Terrible, but now it has been abandoned and even partially demolished, turning into ruins in a birch forest.

"It really is seven mountains. But if it were outside of Moscow, I'm afraid you could find some places with seven mountains. The distances between the hills in Moscow are a little farther."

"Over there is the palace that Prince Yusupov recently bought. I am going to be married there."

"This place is in a good location indeed. It's a good place to escape the summer heat, but now the season is almost over."

"It doesn't matter if it's over. Maybe we'll have another chance to spend the summer here next year."

"You are so busy, I can't imagine that maybe you have something to do. Even though I have been in Moscow, I know that your French relatives are quite powerful."

"It seems that this kind of news spreads the fastest, but I only made a small contribution in Tilsit, and I met Napoleon again. It was an interesting experience to meet him as an envoy and recognize him as a relative. You always think that peace can be lasting, even forever, but there are always people who can't avoid their ambitions, so they will fight against each other."

"I believe that if people are committed to a good cause, war can be avoided."

"If that happens, soldiers will probably be out of work. Pierre, should we go take a look at this abandoned palace?"

Solovyov said this, and Pierre agreed to accompany him, and the two of them entered the birch forest.

"This place has been here since before Ivan the Terrible, right?"

"And there's the Imperial University nearby."

"In my letter to the Emperor, I mentioned inviting some European scholars. Now I have the strange experience of paying for work. I can invite them to Moscow and Petersburg. What do you think?"

"That's certainly a good thing. I've even thought about running a school."

"Run a school? If you have the financial resources to build a private university, it is not impossible. However, if you really want to run a school, you have to start with basic education and target more civilians."

"I do have this idea. You know, when I was in St. Petersburg, I paid attention to the private schools run by the French. I myself was educated in Paris."

"But the investment is huge and the effect is slow. We can first establish a normal school similar to the one in St. Petersburg to train a group of qualified teachers. We can't always tell students the same old things as priests on the podium, telling them that the history of the earth is 4,000 years. If someone comes into contact with science, they may still have doubts."

"There are some truths. First of all, people should be literate. For example, in my estates around Moscow, if the peasants can read, they can do a lot of things. Then they should understand agricultural knowledge, not just wielding hoes to work."

"It seems, Pierre, that you still have some ideas about what I told you in Riga."

"Building a school is my responsibility. I want to apply to be promoted from a palace eunuch to a civil servant and start a school here in Moscow."

"With your rank, you will probably have to start as a fifth-class civil servant. If you are a local school inspector, you should be a fourth-class civil servant or even a third-class civil servant. And you have to supervise the construction of hundreds of schools in your jurisdiction."

"That would be a glorious career, and I'd like to do it."

(End of this chapter)