Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 530 Nicholas, is this considered premature love? (Part 042)
Catherine's situation was indeed very unfortunate. When the people in the Dolgorukov family find out about it, I'm afraid they will find it even more difficult to accept it.

And this problem can only be solved by Alexander himself.

As for Catherine, it is still hard to say whether she can heal the trauma after going to the monastery for a period of time. However, considering that, for example, a Corsican cannon king wants to propose marriage, it is still unknown what the situation will be.

The situation is simple. Catherine is the best princess to be married in every aspect, except for her temper - but Napoleon might like such a hot-tempered girl, and even want to coax her into submission, which might give him a sense of accomplishment.

Before this, who would have thought that the French emperor was not very good at matters concerning women.

Maria accompanied Catherine to the monastery in secret. The excuse was simple. The Queen Mother remembered her only daughter Olga who died young, so she asked her two daughters to go there to see that Paul's only sister, who also died in childhood, was buried in the monastery.

But this cannot be covered up, not to mention that any action between the sisters would cause all kinds of rumors in the palace.

The second largest source of information after the maids and female officials is the male attendants in the palace and the gossipy lieutenants.

But Solovyov had no time to take care of these things. He had to take advantage of the few days he was back to report his work progress to the Minister of War and to take care of Nicholas' studies.

There was no other way. Seeing that he had rich experience in raising children, the Queen Mother played a trick and actually made Solovyov sign a contract.

Then, whether in St. Petersburg or at his own estate, he always wanted to see what Nicholas was doing.

As for what Nicholas is doing at this moment?

The Queen Mother did not keep her three children informed of Mikhail Dolgorukov's affairs, so Anna, Nikolai and Mikhail usually studied their respective courses under the strict supervision of their tutors.

The Queen Mother always took care of the children she had when she was older, especially her two sons. However, if she had not met Solovyov, the education of her two sons might have been poor.
Now Nicholas has to learn German every day, but he is lucky because Queen Louise brought Princess Charlotte with her, so there is always someone to practice with him.

Although Charlotte is still a child, she will become infatuated with handsome boys when she sees them.

It is indeed rare to find someone as tall and strong as Nicholas who looks more like a girl.

Of course, in Solovyov's opinion, he will always grow back. After all, the image of a bald middle-aged uncle will be the standard impression of Nicholas in history.

The four brothers could not escape the fate of becoming bald, and starting with Alexander II, Russia officially entered the cycle of baldness or not.

Today, Nicholas was the first to be released because of his good performance in class. However, considering that Princess Charlotte lived with her mother in the Tavrid Palace, the place where they taught was also close to here, in a palace of court attendants. One could even see the garden and pond of the Tavrid Palace, as well as the steamboat in the pond, from the window.

By the way, this ship is the one that Solovyov demonstrated in front of Louisa and the girls' school students. The Guards will also have soldiers who regularly operate these ships, and cadets from the Naval Academy will come here.

They came here to learn how to drive a warship.

Nicholas also knew a lot about this steamship, and even knew the operating principles, but he had never operated it himself. Since his master came to teach him, he was often still on the front lines, so he always had to find other people to teach him. When he came back, the courses were also strict, and he would not take the ship to play.

But considering children of this age. Although Queen Mother Maria has always been lavish, she would not assign so many attendants to her children.

And there was another problem with Nicholas I. After all, he considered himself an adult, and he had also passed his twelfth birthday, so he could give orders to his subordinates.

This point was actually supported by his eldest and second brothers. After all, even if Nicholas did not become a monarch in the future, he would still play an important role in the royal family. Therefore, he must always exercise his independent ability and know how to use people.

But Nikola’s idea today was to move that ship.

What's more, Mikhail is not here. Only Charlotte, who is willing to listen to him, is here. Naturally, he has to show his skills.

"You don't have to follow us into the garden. Just go directly to the Tafred Palace. Her Highness Charlotte and I will go to the garden to wait for Sister Anna. We will have a small tea party then."

Although he said so, the Sixth Sister was just his shield. The two servants were used to it because Nicholas often played with his sister and niece.

After sending everyone away, Nicholas looked at Charlotte and grabbed her wrist.

"Nikki, what are you doing?"

"I'll take you to see something interesting. It's the boat my master built."

"Your master is so capable. He even designed a steam-powered horseless carriage that can run on rails. It's just a ship. There's nothing fun about it. When we go to Tsarskoye Selo, you must make an appointment with Her Majesty the Queen Mother. Can we take a train?"

"If your mother, Her Majesty the Queen of Prussia, had asked, she would have agreed. It would have been nice if your sister-in-law hadn't been sitting at home all day and she was willing to take care of things, but it's a pity that she's not."

He still respected his sister-in-law very much, but there has always been a problem, that is, she doesn't take care of things. Recently, because she is pregnant again, she simply started to rest. Thinking about it, there is no other way. Nicholas also wants to have a nephew instead of taking his two nephews out to play all day long.

The ship was named after Louisa, and speaking of it, Louisa had never allowed her two brothers-in-law to board the ship because of safety concerns.

But as time went on, she no longer lived in the Tauride Palace, giving it to Queen Louise and her sister Marie, and the controls around the ship were relaxed a lot.

Nicholas also knew that although the ship needed someone to refuel, it could generally be operated by one person.

Charlotte was just his guest, and it was enough for her to come on board and watch him fiddle with the boat. Well, he still liked to show off in front of girls, especially since Charlotte had such a fair complexion. Although she was not very beautiful, she was very cute, and she was a real princess, and a good friend as Nicholas considered himself.

Charlotte really listened to him. The two of them slipped from the garden to the bottom of the wooden house and saw that there were no guards around the ship. There were tools in the boxes piled up next to the small dock, and there were sheds and fire-starting equipment on top.

Nicholas pried open all the boxes. He probably knew that when his sister-in-law lived in Tafred Palace, there was a rule that the guards had to patrol every day to ensure that everything here was intact. Even in the cabin, they had to prepare coal and firewood to be added.
Under such circumstances, Nicholas just did what he said, regardless of his dignity as a Grand Duke of Russia, and jumped onto the boat holding the box.

But Charlotte was rather timid and not very good at swimming, so she was a little scared.

"Luo Qin, come up quickly."

By the way, this was Charlotte’s nickname in the Prussian palace. Nicholas knew her very well and did not use the common nickname “Lotti”.

"I think we should give up. It's just a boat without sails. And didn't your master tell you not to act rashly?"

"That's not a problem. Look, I'm taller than my master. I can protect you. There are a lot of beautiful fish in this lake. We can go to the center of the lake to see the fish!"

This is true, and when Nicholas' sister-in-law lived here, he became familiar with what kind of fish there is in the lake, even some ornamental red carp.

However, the fish in the lake were not fed to pigs. Europe also had its own strains of ornamental fish, which were even quite active and reproduced in large numbers in this lake.

Nicholas even had a large bag of food for the carp in the lake hanging around his waist, just so he could take Charlotte out to play.

He himself probably didn't realize this yet, because this time he didn't wait for his sister and brother, but took Charlotte to see the fish on his own initiative, and even drove a boat to see the fish.

At the same time, Solovyov arrived at the classroom where the class was taught and did not see Nikolai there. He also knew that the children under his responsibility were always in the Tauride Palace.

No matter how much he thought about it, Solovyov could not imagine how bold Nicholas was. He thought he was going to visit the palace. After all, this luxurious palace was used to entertain guests. Queen Louise had no intention of returning to Memel or Königsberg. She could raise her children here and recuperate in peace, while at the same time inquire about the situation inside the Russian court.

Therefore, he did not take the path he had taken after copying poems for Louisa, but went directly in through the main gate. He came to visit Queen Louise and Mary, who had been in poor health, and to check on the situation of his students.

Queen Louise had just put the children to bed, and when she saw Solovyov coming, she had time to entertain him.

"Count, aren't you in Vyborg? How come you have time to come to my place?"

"After all, I am still Nicholas' teacher. During these days of rest in Petersburg, I have to pay attention to his studies. However, after class, his German teacher said that he and Princess Lottie had finished their classes, so he came to see you, Your Highness."

"You are a very responsible master. How is Clausewitz's place?"

"He is a good chief of staff and is familiar with military theory. With him here these days, my work has become much easier. Otherwise, he wouldn't have the time to come back, visit the salon, and come here to check on my studies."

"That's fine. Would you like some coffee? Now we have to import coffee from Turkey. Fortunately, there has been peace recently and there is a ceasefire between the two countries."

"But we in the north all know that Sultan Selim is not honest. Who knows what will happen in Constantinople. In addition, if you have time, you can ask about the situation in other places."

"What can I do? The doctor suggested that I stay here because I am hyperactive. It is also convenient to raise a child here. Lisa really takes good care of us. She herself is pregnant, but she gave half of this palace to us."

"Yes, Her Royal Highness is kind-hearted. But why haven't Nikki and Lottie come to the palace yet? I thought they would come back to see the baby. When they were at my house, the princesses kept circling around my two children. Lottie should become a good mother in the future. She holds the baby very steadily and attentively."

"You are always very careful in observing children. But Nicholas and Luo Qin should be back soon, right? There are gardens and cabins in this palace. The two children may have gone there to play."

"Ah, speaking of which, Nicholas is already over 12 years old, so he should be considered a big boy. He still calls me 'boss' all day long. He should know what he can do and be close to the people around him, so as not to make people think he is aloof. As for Lottie, she is a really well-behaved child, but she doesn't have her own opinion."

"You discovered this, too. I'm worried about this problem, too."

"certainly."

As Solovyov was speaking, he also saw the large pond in the Tauride Palace, which was now emitting black smoke.

"There are still people sailing today! Since I ran a small boat here once, there have been very few people here. I don't know who is sailing this boat. Your Highness, I am interested in seeing you here."

It might be embarrassing to tell others that the Russian Navy's tradition of emitting black smoke is probably the same as their tradition of burning boilers, both of which came from Nicholas, although they are still grand dukes, not emperors.

Solovyov didn't think about this now. After all, the ship was no longer under his control. In fact, it had a lot to do with the Navy Department. The Guards here were just there to guard the situation there.

At this moment, Nicholas actually started the boat and kept adding coal to it.
It was a historic moment. This was Grand Duke Nikolai Pavlovich, Russia's chief boilerman. He was very skilled at shoveling coal. If there were trains in the future, he would be a very suitable fireman. He also learned to drive a steamship.

This kid learns things quickly, but he has not yet let the "Elizabeth" steamer leave the dock. That is, he has not yet started the boiler to burn enough to make the small paddle wheels on both sides turn slowly.

But this scene is somewhat dangerous without an adult around.

(End of this chapter)