Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

The news that Alexander was coming to Moscow spread quickly.

Apart from coronations, the Tsar would occasionally come to Moscow, especially for important ceremonies, and he would have to return to Moscow.

Right now is a time of national crisis for Russia, so it is not surprising that he came here.

When his carriage passed Mozhaysk on the Smolensk Road and was within 10 versts of Moscow, the Moscow Governor-General Count Rostopchin and the Moscow garrison came out to greet him, and many nobles also came out to welcome him.

Probably one of the most prominent nobles in Moscow, Pierre, as the largest landowner in Moscow and with his status in the court, naturally had to attend.

What he saw now was that the common people had great confidence in the Tsar, as there were so many people gathering and cheering on the streets.

Many people were still cheering: "Tsar! Our father! Hurrah!"

As for the unlucky boy Petya, he was nearly crushed to death by the crowd. But with the help of enthusiastic people, he stood directly on the top of the cannon and watched the Tsar enter the church.

He couldn't tell clearly which one was the emperor, as they all wore hats. Even if they didn't wear hats, there were many strong men with different hairstyles among the group of people, and it would be impossible to tell from such a distance.

At this moment, Alexander came to the Patriarch of Moscow to ask for blessings. The church was also praying at this moment. Pious believers, as long as they could move, came to the local church to pray to God to send down miracles to punish the invaders.

Alexander was a tsar from the Rostov family. Except for Peter the Great, everyone in this family liked to engage in feudal superstitions, especially believing that the palace was haunted. Paul might still be in the Engineer's Fortress, where his Mikhailovsky Palace was haunted.

Therefore, he still needed some superstition to boost morale, especially since the Patriarch now delivered the portrait of the saint who worked miracles to the Tsar himself.

"Your Majesty, I also wish that the Russian army can finally defeat the invaders. I hope God will be with us and bless you and the soldiers on the front line."

As for these religious people, the things they can produce are indeed very conspicuous.

The Tsar himself did not respond much, but handed the icon over to the Moscow militia.

If it were 1941, the Red Army would have used the flags of the 1812 army in Borodino, which can be regarded as a cultural heritage of Russia.

There were cheers even as Alexander himself handed the flag to the Moscow militia.

However, there was no loudspeaker equipment, so there was no way to make a speech whether in the Kremlin or on Red Square, and we could only carry out the military parade.

But now Barclay, the Minister of War, is commanding the army and has no time to come here and get his hands sore.

Therefore, the person who actually did this job was Count Arakcheev.

Speaking of which, there is a man whose hands are always sore, and he is now Count Arakcheev's current position.

Moreover, now the inspection is not done by car, but on horseback, which is still very difficult.

"Alexey Andreevich, you were ill some time ago, so you should be alright, right?"

"Your Majesty, as a soldier, you should ride a horse whenever you are allowed to. Do you think I am doing fine?"

Although Arakcheev was a reactionary, he was extremely loyal to the Tsar. Moreover, he reviewed the parade on behalf of the Tsar, but the format of the parade was somewhat strange.

The review style of the Moscow garrison was the one that Paul often used in the last two years of his reign. In fact, this was the style that was used all over Russia afterwards. Whether it was military parades or military coats, half of the standards were from Paul, and the other half were probably improvements made later.

It was just the background music that made Alexander feel a little strange.

"Balashov, this is going to be a concert of the music that Maria and Soloviev copied."

When Balashov heard Speransky's brother-in-law mentioned in front of him, he felt a little troubled. Moreover, he was mentioned together with Grand Duchess Maria. Although this imperial sister was not as favored as Catherine, she also had close ties with the court.

"Yes, your majesty, it is indeed quite interesting."

Especially when the Second March used by the Moscow Grenadiers Regiment and the regiment's reinforcements passed through the Red Square, it really gave a strange feeling.

"Now it seems that Speransky is not a French spy, but you also said that his remarks were indeed a bit out of line. So..."

Alexander still hoped that Speransky could be re-employed. After all, he was very capable in administration, and Shishkov was obviously not as useful as him.

"Your Majesty, many people have objections to changing Russian traditions."

"I know that, otherwise I wouldn't have asked Karamzin to submit the memorandum. I've read his opinion. We really need order now, and it's not suitable for change."

Alexander was not yet the neurotic man he had been in the last years of his reign, and was more or less willing to make things clear.

But his attitude is that he is really unwilling to change anything, he does not have the determination to do so.

If Napoleon had not chosen to attack directly, he would probably have chosen diplomatic mediation and negotiation. After the failure in 1805, he became relatively cautious in military affairs.

Balashov was relieved when he heard what the Tsar himself said next.

The people at the scene were obviously in high spirits during the military review, and there were many civilians shouting "Ura" and cheering.

Recruiting soldiers is now much easier than in the past. The nobles who used to hide their power now allow some strong serfs to join the army. There are also many children of nobles who bring their own equipment to join the army. The wealthy ones even use their own money to organize new cavalry and infantry regiments. After some troops were regularized, they became part of the Russian regular army.

At this time, naturally there were quite a few young people joining the army.

As for Petya, he had already told the old count that he wanted to join the army.

Count Elijah was unable to persuade his youngest son, but he also gave him several options through Pierre.

"That's outrageous, Petya. You ought to go to school now."

"Dad, I've also told you that this is a national crisis. I've talked about this before."

Looking at Petya, Pierre also recalled the time when his family came to Moscow for the winter and met the Dolgorukovs.

Prince Vasily was already in poor health, his eldest son had just married, and his youngest son was a diplomat abroad. With their noble family, they didn't have to worry about finding a family for marriage. What worried him was his youngest daughter. Although she was a high-ranking gentry in Ryazan, her status was not too bad. It was just that the man's family had been spending too much in recent years and was no longer as wealthy as before.

There is no way around it. Many nobles are like this now, and the nobles in the countryside are no exception and have to spend a lot of money to entertain guests.

Princess Sofia likes Petya very much. After all, boys of this age who are lively, active, have good personal qualities and are handsome are relatively rare in Moscow.

My brother-in-law has a good personality, but he always has some romantic affairs outside. Moreover, before the seal on him was lifted, he was relatively reserved, unlike Petya who is so friendly.

Now Petya is also willing to join the army. It is really hard to find such a good child nowadays.

"Petya."

"Mr. Pierre, do you have anything to say?"

"I think I can understand your idea. Andrei also suggested to me in the past whether to become a diplomat or to join the Guards Cavalry, but I am like this now. You always have to make your own judgment. I think Mikhail should be a good choice. If he goes somewhere from the front, you can go to him as an adjutant."

"Mr. Pierre, do you mean Sonechka's brother-in-law?"

"Yes, when he came to Moscow in the spring he told me that he was in need of an adjutant."

Even Petya used such an intimate name. It was obvious that the two children had a good relationship and they probably kissed each other.

The Countess and Pierre actually ignored this, but they were more or less concerned about where Petya should go if he really wanted to join the army.

The Rostovs are a little willful, but of course they are kind and open-minded, and they also make good country gentlemen. They also have a polite relationship with the servants in their home.

If he grows up in the future, with such a lively character and good nature, he will probably become a good landlord, and perhaps even go further if he wants.

"It would be a bad idea to be an adjutant to the count, and I don't know when he will come to Moscow, if at all."

"Look, you still want to be a hero, so where are you going?"

"A cavalry regiment is being formed in Moscow, and I want to go there."

His eldest brother-in-law was probably a German military officer, and his eldest sister rarely came back home after she got married.

In Petya's impression, the ones he had always had were his eldest brother Nikolai, his second sister Natasha, and his cousin Sonya. Even Boris, with whom Natasha had a good relationship before, left a deeper impression on him than his eldest sister and brother-in-law.

Nikolai's friends, whether they are true friends and good superiors like Denisov or bad friends like Dolokhov, all appear in the image of cavalry.

This guy Dolokhov had an uncle who was a regimental general in the Hussars. He was a skilled horseman, so it was not surprising that he went from the Guards to the Cavalry.

In this environment, if a boy had a choice, he would probably prefer the majestic cavalry.

Moreover, Petya's riding skills are pretty good. If he grows up and joins the military, he will probably be selected by the older Hussar and Dragoon Regiments when officers are selected.

The reason why he was not a cuirassier was probably because he was not very tall. In a place where cuirassiers are generally tall, his height was more suitable for hussars.

There are also quite a few people who are organizing cavalry regiments here. Many children of great nobles are raising funds on their own to organize volunteer cavalry teams. However, only a few light cavalry regiments can get temporary organization, and the others are lucky to be considered reserve troops, and most of them are still at the guerrilla level.

Many of the thugs in St. Petersburg were forming their own teams at this time, but there was no formal order to form a guerrilla force, so this was just a militia team formed by themselves.

There are still a large number of such troops in Russia, close to the French marching routes.

Petya always went to the cavalry himself, carrying his horses and equipment, and the old count could not stop him.

But he still had his own ambition by not becoming Solovyov's adjutant.

If Pierre wanted to arrange someone for Solovyov, he only needed a letter. As long as the person did not cause trouble, it would be fine even if he was just a decoration.

But the child still has ambition, which is actually a good thing.

Moreover, Petya also has his own little thoughts. If he wants to be with Sonya from the Dolgorukov family, he naturally cannot rely on her brother-in-law, but must rely on his own abilities.

I wonder what he would feel if he knew that Solovyov was ready to bring them together under their current relationship.

In Moscow, after the arrival of the Tsar himself, more and more young people from nearby areas enthusiastically joined the army. At one time, the local militia numbered tens of thousands.

But there is also a problem, which is the distribution of weapons.

Many people still carry axes and halberds like the archers. It would have been fine if they had brought their own weapons, but many people may now suddenly dream of the fight with Karl XII.

Around 1700, there were still some infantrymen using spears, and these people were armed in this way.

There are always a large amount of equipment in the armory, so there is actually no problem in arming all these people.

However, Count Rostopchin did nothing about this issue, but there were always some strange things in his jurisdiction.

For example, in a manor on the Smolensk Road, there was even a hot air balloon. It seemed that it was not only used for reconnaissance, but also had grenades prepared in the hot air balloon's basket.
But this thing was just manufactured and not put into use.

Count Rostopchin's behavior at this moment was also very strange, but it was also a major characteristic of Russian bureaucrats. Doing nothing seemed normal.

Perhaps the militias organized spontaneously by the nobles, gentry, and even the common people are much more reliable than this official.

I hope he doesn't get overwhelmed and set Moscow on fire again.

There is still enough people in Russia to support the French invasion, and they can unite against the French invasion, especially since the French are bringing the Poles with them.

Although it has been a long time since the Poles entered Moscow two hundred years ago, many Russians still have some basic impressions of it, which are even more impressive than those of the Golden Horde.

Regardless of how the fight with the French went, these Poles always come to cause trouble. (End of this chapter)