Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Napoleon was very proud tonight, but he discovered it after a long time.

Although this girl is a little immature, if it is a protracted war, even a veteran like the emperor will definitely not be able to resist.

The situation might have evolved into another one in the future: when Napoleon was invincible on the battlefield, he had a Russian tigress at home.

Unlike Frederick the Great, who liked to bully his cousin, Napoleon generally did not like strong women, but it was rare for him to have a wife who would go hunting with him.

It is also a strange sight to see the couple carrying the same type of rifle when going hunting.

Here, Solovyov also met Marshal Massena for the first time.

The marshal was quite lucky. After all, the rifle designed by Solovyov was in Napoleon's hands. Napoleon loved it so much that he often used it to shoot birds.

In this way, Massena still has two eyes and is also among the hunting entourage.

But considering that he was actually a prince, Solovyov was simply dreaming of returning to St. Petersburg.

You won’t see so many princes in Moscow.

"Young man, you are Count Soloviev, aren't you?"

"Exactly, you are"

Solovyov felt something was wrong with this soldierly temperament.

"I am Jean-André Masséna, the Prince of Essling. We used to be rivals."

Because Napoleon recognized this nephew, even if he divorced Josephine, it did not affect everyone's impression of him, such as the living dictionary in the Russian army, with a success rate of 75% in capturing enemy generals.
As for the fact that he and Polina were old lovers, many people knew about it. The people of Paris obviously did not have as much sense of confidentiality as the people of Russia.

"But when I was an opponent, I was either an adjutant in Marshal Suvorov's headquarters or in Poland."

"I know you did a good job in Poland. As for your arrest of Scherer, we also know about that."

"But you went out of your way to greet me. I wonder why."

"I met your father, Queen Josephine's brother-in-law, at the reception. Although he is older than us, he has one advantage: he is very good at business."

"My father might have been very good at this. He was an adjutant in the past. If he hadn't injured his leg in Crimea, he might still be a quartermaster now."

"We have quartermasters here too, but we are not like you."

"You probably like those rich places, such as India."

"It's a pity that India is too far away. I heard that the floors of temples there are paved with gold."

When Solovyov heard this, he realized something strange: when something spread from China and India, it would become particularly outrageous due to the delay in the transmission of information.
"You can just listen to this story. As far as I know, there are indeed many treasures in India, but it is obviously impossible to spread all the gold on the ground. Gold has good ductility. If you want, there is enough gold to stick to the surface of the carriage, and it will be a golden carriage."

But Solovyov didn't expect what Massena was going to do with this.

Solovyov just wanted to dispel the rumor and then talked about the ductility of gold.

Massena, the old soldier, had already begun to covet the jewels and gold of Spain, and was thinking about how to get more of them back.

I hope the Spanish people will suffer less and let the Spanish Church bear the consequences. After all, a lot of hard currency and real money are in their hands.

"If there was a carriage like this, I think everyone would be very jealous."

"And it's very heavy. You know, the same weight of gold may only be this much, but an iron ball is much larger. You have to consider this. If you have the carrying capacity, you can do this."

Solovyov had already guessed what Massena was thinking, and as for discussing other issues, most of them were related to robbery.

You have to know that Massena is a veteran soldier and he has even been to the American continent.

"That's true, but as for hunting, the weather in France is very good, and it's the same this season. Do you want to shoot wild ducks, young man?"

"In Russia, we use hounds to hunt wolves. Otherwise, we prefer to hunt bears or deer, if we are hunting ducks."

"What a shame, but there are ducks here, I can show you one."

Solovyov didn't want to steal the limelight. He was a good shooter, but he didn't want to show off in front of others. He only used his skills in duels and battles.

Massena raised his hand and fired a shot, showing some experience of a veteran soldier.

As for duck hunting, Solovyov had only gone duck hunting once, when he went out with Archduke Karl.

Actually, deer hunting is better.

Since Polina is so busy, I really need some nourishment.

Although this is a strange idea, it can be put into practice.

After Napoleon and Catherine got married, most of the guests who came to Paris to attend the wedding dispersed. Solovyov stayed here to visit relatives, and his mission of protecting Catherine was not over yet.

But these worries were probably unnecessary. After Massena's hunting dogs returned with the duck, they continued to move forward and approached the hunting ground where the emperor was.

Napoleon actually competed with his young wife in duck hunting today, but the emperor was very accurate with the cannon, but his marksmanship was rather average, and he was on par with Catherine, who had only ever done target shooting.

The servants were also busy leading the hunting dogs to look for ducks, but the harvest was not very great.

When Massena and Solovyov came over, Napoleon was still questioning Massena.

"How's it going, Massena? I think you've gained a lot today, right?"

"I was with the Earl, mostly chatting, and only shot one duck."

After hearing this, Napoleon also felt curious. Massena was very active every time he went out hunting. The only things that could divert his interest were money and women.

Solovyov is no longer the handsome young man in his early twenties, although he still looks very handsome now, and Massena really doesn't like him. Solovyov himself rarely wears women's clothes, and the last time he did so in public was at the coronation ceremony in the Winter Palace.

It must have something to do with money. Napoleon was also very curious about making money.

"Your Majesty, we are discussing business, and the malleability of gold, and how to load it on the car."

As expected, it is still related to robbery. Massena is probably inseparable from this topic.

"But you can't pretend too much, Massena. You are an excellent marshal, but unfortunately you know too little about science." "Your Majesty, I worked on a ship when I was young, and then I was a soldier. When the Revolution began, I was a smuggler."

"Come to think of it, Michelle's grandfather was a big smuggler in Arkhangelsk. His business was much bigger than your little business!"

As for the "dark history" of the Solovyov family, his grandfather was Menshikov's black glove, and his father became a white glove. He was not angry when others told him about the label of smuggler and profiteer.

Napoleon is speaking here, mainly making fun of Massena's background.

But he didn't notice that when Massena heard that Solovyov's family was a family of smugglers, he first felt a sense of attraction to his own kind, and then his eyes began to glow green, even greener than Solovyov's beautiful green eyes.

If he were not already a French prince and a field marshal of the Imperial Army, he would have definitely asked Solovyov's father, Count Sergei, for advice on smuggling techniques.

"But that was my grandfather's business. When Prince Menshikov was still in power, my family was responsible for transporting goods from Arkhangelsk to the Netherlands and the UK for him. This business was not only open, but also involved a lot of smuggling. At that time, Emperor Peter confiscated 40 rubles from us and we were almost beheaded. You know, the currency has been depreciating. Now the paper money on the market is almost becoming waste paper. It is not as real as precious metal currency."

Solovyov spoke, Massena nodded, and Napoleon listened.

The emperor did not notice that Catherine came up from behind him and put her arms around his fat belly.

"My dear, Misha knows how to make money. His father was an honest aristocratic manager, but he became an inventor when he got here."

However, the pair of little hands circling around Napoleon's belly also made him somewhat aroused.

"My little kitty, what do you call people in Russia?"

"If you want to call Michelle by her name, in Russia it's Mikhail, close friends and relatives are called Misha, and if they are very close they are called Mishka."

"Like calling you Katyusha? I heard that from Michel's wife. She's a very lively and lovely girl."

"There are also people called Katya or Katish, but here everyone calls her Catherine."

"It's a name change. Different countries call him something different. Who calls him Mishka?"

"I know. There was Katya, his wife. And there were us sisters. He was still on duty with us sisters at that time. He was our playmate."

"No wonder you sisters all have a good relationship with him. It's a pity, Michelle, that you have risen to this position through military merit, otherwise you would have become the son-in-law of my old friend."

Speaking of which, Napoleon always had a good impression of Paul and was not very particular about what he said.

But now, he really is the son-in-law of an old friend, which is a bit funny.

"Your Majesty, we are still very close friends. Ever since I came back from the Italian expedition, Your Highnesses Alexandra and Elena got married, and you rarely call them that anymore."

"But there is one exception. My sister Maria, who grew up with me, always calls me that."

After Catherine got married, she was not afraid of even more excitement.

But thinking about the situation in the Weimar court, Maria actually had a very high status. After all, the status of this small principality depended on the protection of her daughter-in-law, and she had to get money from her brother to support the poor country's collapsing finances.

"Maria, the tall and thin one, but she looks like she has a good figure."

"Well, Maria and him used to often collaborate on composing music!"

"No wonder, Katyusha. Your sister seems to have a good voice and is particularly fond of music and poetry. Moreover, she happens to be Mr. Goethe's neighbor."

"You can say that! My sister likes to collect sheet music, but I don't."

After saying this, Catherine did not forget to stick some stickers on her husband's face.

Before marriage, she thought Napoleon was a devil, but now she has fallen in love with this middle-aged man. Although he is a fat Italian man, he is also a charming uncle.

Napoleon was also proud. His wife was young and lively, and unlike ordinary princesses, although she was well-educated, she was also very clingy, like a big cat. This made him feel that his life had entered a second spring.

If Josephine wasn't so important, he would have fallen long ago.

"You like jewels and pomp and dancing. I will prepare a grand ball for you, and beautiful young girls always deserve jewels."

"Is it just like what you said about that Polish woman? She has a good personality, but she is far inferior to the Polish women of my two brothers."

Speaking of which, Countess Valewska looked a little old even though she was still very young, about the same age as Maria.

"Polish women are pretty good, but compared to you, why are you so lively? Even my sister Polina wasn't as lively as you when she was still married."

It is also strange that Polina has no hostility towards Catherine.

But Napoleon didn't care, at least Paulina wouldn't cause trouble for his new wife.

"My dear, you should always think of something happy! And I like to be with soldiers, like my cousin-in-law, Prince Bagration."

"He is an excellent general. Your friend and this prince have caused me a lot of trouble."

"But that is all in the past, Your Majesty. Now our two countries are united in marriage, and our relations are better than ever before, just like when the late Emperor Paul visited Paris when he was still the Crown Prince."

"Oh, it's very good, Michelle."

But when it comes to soldiers, Catherine somewhat thinks of the unfortunate Prince Mikhail Dolgorukov, but she did not say it explicitly.

She was just feeling sad in her heart, and she also mentioned the reasons why she liked soldiers.

"My two brothers, when we were little, always appeared behind my grandma and dad in military uniforms, and that's why I like soldiers."

"No wonder you like me so much, but if I were a..."

"Like Marshal Massena, I will respect him because of his age. I like soldiers who are no older than my prince brother-in-law."

The person we are talking about here is Bagration, and Napoleon happens to be in this range.

"But your cousin seems to be a beauty too, only she is always holding salons against me in Vienna."

"It can't be helped. My cousin and brother-in-law were also unlucky. They were very good in Petersburg, but when they arrived in Vienna, they met Metternich. My brother didn't like this person, and I don't like him either."

Having said that, Alexander and Napoleon both disliked Metternich, but when they met, they still laughed and laughed, each getting what they wanted. (End of this chapter)