Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Ever since the children were weaned and could be taken care of by the nanny, Solovyov also found that Katya was becoming more and more clingy.

"Why do you like to touch my hair and ears so much?"

"Look, have you grown cat ears on your head? Otherwise, why are you clinging to me all day long like a pet cat?"

"I am your kitten, Mishka."

Solovyov was speechless, but he married such a wife, so the two of them started playing around in the speeding carriage.

Fortunately, nothing happened in the carriage, otherwise the gossipy coachman and servants would have made up some story.

After he separated from his family and lived on his own, although the Solovyovs treated their servants well, they still had to follow some rules and could no longer live the same way as before.

But this gossip
As for Katya, she stretched out her legs and placed them on his shoulders, but she had to endure it because there was little space in the car.

That is, she would take a shower every day, make herself very clean, and change into some... Well, that was really "unforgettable".

"Put it down, Katya. We went into the city today to see what new products are on the shelves of the Russian American Company."

Solovyov also knew that although the Russian-American Company said its business was only in North America, in fact they could also do trade between Eastern Siberia and China.

However, during the previous round-the-world voyage, Golovkin's big move in Uliastai caused Jiaqing's impression of Russia to deteriorate, which led to the failure of the expedition ship passing through Guangzhou to unload the cargo. Only a part of the cargo was sold, and no big profit was made.

You have to know that the British might be more cunning and add adulteration to the furs purchased from North America, which were then exposed by Guangdong merchants.

When they changed to Russian ones, the materials they used were more economical. Both Shanxi merchants and Thirteen Hongs gave them good reviews.

If they come across bad materials, they will just throw them into the sea. Generally speaking, there is no chance to see defective products when they are delivered.

As for the "British barbarians", what they want, in fact, Russia actually has now, that is, there are warehouses near Beijing, and there are complete caravan routes. During the reign of Emperor Kangxi, there were drunk Russians who accidentally broke into the Forbidden City.
The Qing Dynasty and Tsarist Russia looked like half-brothers, and they did a lot of things that looked similar.

This time, the two of them went to the Russian-American Company to see if there were any fresher goods from China.

Katya has a lot to see, including many things imported from China. In addition, she also naturally has to pay attention to the new fur styles that Russian-American companies get from North America.

Solovyov had agreed with the company's board of directors that they must get some relevant news every time, and it would be best if they could copy something back to use as "reference news". At least they should have some understanding of the latest situation in China.

There were still people who could speak Manchu in the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, so there were Manchu documents that even Solovyov could not resolve. But the documents were relatively limited, and what they could get back were probably some copied notices and reports, which were kept relatively secret to prevent them from being discovered.

Solovyov left Katya on the first floor and went to the board meeting on the second floor.

"Count, you are finally here. We have been waiting for you all these days."

"Thank you for your hard work, where is the latest information?"

Solovyov was actually concerned about this. If the Russian-American Company could demonstrate its importance, it could leave some files and materials to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Anyway, this can be considered a form of intelligence exchange, and from the Qing Dynasty's perspective, it is still public information, so it doesn't matter even if it is known by "foreigners".

"They are all here, but we can't understand them. The local translator is not here either. If they are complicated, I'm afraid we won't be able to understand them either."

"Let me take a look."

Solovyov's greatest advantage is probably that he has no pressure reading traditional Chinese characters. Even if he finds a fortune teller on the street to copy them, his handwriting is still very neat.

At first glance, the handwriting is that of a failed scholar. It looks good, but in the north, fennel beans are not necessarily required.

Solovyov only knew three ways of writing, but Kong Yiji could write the last one, which was particularly rare. He would have to admit defeat if he went there.

"Well, I can still understand it. It talks about some changes in local officials in the 13th year of Jiaqing, including the governor-general and the provincial governor. The provincial governor is in charge of one province, while the governor-general is in charge of several provinces. It is also very clear. It also includes some education officials and officials in charge of salt administration. That's about it."

"So what's next?"

"That's simple. Don't make any mistakes in understanding. The biggest problem with our interpreters is that they are not familiar with Chinese allusions."

Well, this problem still exists 150 years later.

Solovyov took a look at the content below, which was mainly related to the recent academic developments.

If it involves someone else, it may still be a small matter. The article mentioned above is about Tang Jian, a Juren from Hunan.

Well, now it seems that he might just be a juren.

However, if we mention Woren, who was always the clown in the high school history textbook, and a certain "barber brother" who was also from Hunan, they both had contact with him. In fact, these two actually learned things from him. As for why the contrast is so great, it is hard to figure out.

Of course, Russian businessmen who went to get intelligence were also relatively amateur. Solovyov only knew that there was a person named Tang Jian, but he didn't know the details. After all, he was a Jinshi in the next year, and he was not so prominent among historical figures. He knew this person because he impeached those who went to sign the treaty during the Daoguang period, but that was just empty talk and had no nutrition at all. It would be better to read the content of this article.

It is probably because he wrote an article as a juren, talking about the content of promoting education since the Song Dynasty. Although it may be impossible to verify it in the future, we can still understand it now. Anyway, people in the Qing Dynasty liked to do textual research, and they were able to dig out many books that were almost lost from the Sikuquanshu and various other books.

Tang Jian's father, Tang Zhongmian, was a Jinshi in the 58th year of Qianlong's reign. At that time, he should have been serving as an official in Jiangsu. Because there was no transfer of his position in the 13th year of Jiaqing, there was no content about it in the copied reports.

As for whether he won the championship next year, naturally no one would know now.

But the more important information is what Jiaqing has been doing recently, which seems to have something to do with the British.

Although what I copied were all from last year, it didn't prevent me from knowing Dai Qing's attitude towards the British. Probably the "British barbarians", they didn't know much about the rules, and always wanted to follow the rules of the Netherlands or Russia, or rent a place like the Portuguese, so that they could store goods, and it would be best if they had a leased land.

This kind of thing, except for the Portuguese, is a fact that has been established since the Ming Dynasty and is unlikely to be achieved through normal means.

Russia's warehouses in the Qing Dynasty were still under the management of local officials and did not have the same status as a diplomatic embassy.

Besides, I have my own national conditions here, probably here.

As for the British, they have thought a lot. As for what they have done, the Qing Dynasty officials only sent a letter to George III last time, said a few polite words, and that was probably the end of it.

To be honest, this is the national condition. You cannot take something that is not given to you.

Alexander already had some idea of ​​the attitude the Russian side received from the letter he had seen before.

As for these board members, they were quite interested after Solovyov finished reading it, so they asked, "Count, what do you think?"

"If we can translate it into Russian or French and present it to the emperor, that would be good. At least we can know the Chinese emperor's attitude towards our country and some important situations. It's just a pity that they will definitely ask us to transit according to the agreement. Don't even think about it in a few years. Unless the Ministry of Foreign Affairs specifically sends diplomatic documents to the Lifanyuan of the Chinese emperor, which is a department that handles the affairs of "dependent countries" and is equivalent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the Ministry of Colonies."

"The Colonial Office?"

Some people may be indignant. Solovyov's explanation is based on the British method, but it is too advanced, so some of the board members cannot accept it.

"You have to listen to me clearly. The emperor of China has no interest in foreign colonization. Therefore, diplomatic relations only arise when vassal states or friendly countries want to meet the emperor. The situation in China is very different from that in Europe."

I also have to explain these things to people who don't understand, but it doesn't matter. After all, he is an employee of the Russian-American Company, and my father is also a small shareholder. Although he is not qualified to attend the core meetings of the board of directors, he also needs people like him who know the business to join.

They are still patient, and the translation is also improving. At least in the future there will be corresponding personnel in St. Petersburg and Moscow, and several universities will have Oriental Studies Departments, which will also facilitate future economic exchanges.

Are you asking about territory?

Well, I have to say there is something strange, that is, Russia's current foreign policy, although it cares about Siberia, but as for the line of the Greater Khingan Range, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has always advocated that the boundary be permanently drawn between the Greater Khingan Range and the Udi River, and not to have any ideas about the Heilongjiang River (Amur River).

Some time ago, Nesherrode, who returned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from Vienna, wrote a letter to Solovyov, telling him some diplomatic matters.

Well, if we get along well with this friend, in the future when it comes to border issues between the Qing Dynasty and Tsarist Russia, it will seem like he has received 500,000 taels of silver.

As for why it has become what it is now?

Solovyov himself didn't know. If he knew, it was Nicholas who gave Muravyov the power to act arbitrarily, or when Alexander II was in power, he used the sword of the previous dynasty to execute the officials of his own dynasty and signed the Treaty of Aihui.

He would certainly dress Nicholas in women's clothes and let him pass in front of his brother, sister-in-law and sisters!

As for spanking, Nicholas is taller than himself now, so he probably can't hit him. After all, he is the Grand Duke, and even though he is his student, he won't beat him up for no reason.

Moreover, Solovyov was more partial to Nikolai, and the way he expressed his preference was strict discipline.

What's more, Nicholas now looks like a beautiful girl in women's clothes, even more feminine than when he was dressed at the coronation ceremony. He couldn't bear to hit her when he saw her.

Solovyov did not accept 500,000 taels of silver. He just lamented that there was no Lord He in Daiqing.

If the adults were here, it would probably be much more convenient, and negotiations would be easier. At least there wouldn't be weird things like practicing kneeling in front of a portrait.

He was still willing to talk to adults, he just fell down.

As for the following content, Solovyov asked the board of directors of the Russian-American Company to make a copy for him so that he could go back and do the translation work.

When I came down from the second floor, I saw Katya ordering the servants from Moika Embankment and Laundry Lane to buy a lot of things in large and small bags. I had to think about how many silver rubles I had available.

Although this is a relatively rare situation for Katya, many of the things she bought this time were on behalf of her relatives in Moscow to check out the goods.

Although the goods shipped back by the Russian-American Company must pass through Moscow, the best goods have always been in St. Petersburg, so it is no wonder that this situation occurred.

This girl has probably been with this profiteer family for too long and has been captured by the ruble.
Solovyov looked at the situation and smiled, but it was not a bitter smile.

After all, although Katya is not an active member in the social circle, she is very lively. She can quickly establish good relationships with many people, especially the young girls and wives in the aristocratic circle.

This way, it can be considered a cost-effective business.

"Katya, you are in trouble now. You have to call a carriage from home to help you transport the goods."

"It doesn't matter. There are also some for mother and aunts. Although I hate Aunt Praskovya, don't offend her. You should get along well with her first."

The two men were walking arm in arm on the embankment, which Solovyov also found strange.

"Hasn't that aunt always coveted Dad's estate? If she thinks that we and Vasily Vasilyevich are weak and directly submits a petition to the court to have a good talk about the estate in Moscow, it will be a big trouble. You know, although I know a lot, what I fear most is the lengthy court process."

"We also have to consider that these estates will definitely be inherited by my brothers in the future. The estates left by grandpa, except for the few places that were sold, are all left to dad. I don't want any problems to occur in the coming years. Dad's health has begun to deteriorate recently."

"My father is the same. Although he is still in good health, he has always been worried about who will manage the family property in the future. He may ask my uncle to come and help support it for a while. In the future, it will always be Anton and Vasily. I have always had an official position and will not go there."

"That's good, we can figure this out."

Come to think of it, this girl is quite clever. (End of this chapter)