Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

The commander-in-chief himself envied Solovyov's luck, because he was left behind to consolidate the rear, and he was also a favorite of the royal family and had close relations with the Tsar and the three grand dukes. Even the empress dowager, who had a bad impression of him in the past because of things before and after the coup, had a better impression of him because he was Nicholas' teacher.

Kutuzov himself was not so lucky. When the Zubov brothers were in power, he, a general who had been fighting on the front lines all year round, had to grind coffee himself to please Count Zubov, who was much younger than him.

Marshal Suvorov was able to stay away from the bizarre life in the palace due to his military achievements and his eccentric personality. He was also known to be aloof and close to the common people, so he did not need to seek trouble.

Not to mention Bagration, he was simply a young general who was highly regarded by both the Grand Marshal and the late emperor. Even his marriage was arranged by Paul. In the Guards, he was almost treated like the emperor's own son. Although he was Alexander's brother-in-law, he was still a reliable big brother.

It was impossible for him to gain the emperor's trust with his loyalty and dogma like Arakcheev, nor could he be like Barclay, who rose to power despite the opposition of a group of senior veterans, many of which were due to his professional ability.

Even though he had gained prestige in the wars with the Turks and the French, there were many other problems.

He is the kind of person who is always on secondary battlefields or takes the blame for the Tsar, because this shows that he has a good ability to withstand pressure.

Even now, he is not actually executing according to his own plan.

He had talked to Tormasov about this many times. Among the generals around him, only his younger brother, who was not much older than him, could chat with him.

"You should relax a little. You can't always be like this. I know what you think, but what can we do at this moment? Young people are eager to establish meritorious service, and the emperor is right. We must defeat Napoleon in the end, or at least make him surrender, so that we can achieve the final victory."

"But from the current situation, it is still too early. Only Prussia has joined us, and possibly Sweden, which wants to take back its territory."

Kutuzov was very clear about the current situation. He was sitting in the carriage. It seemed that the weather today was not bad. Except for the low temperature, such a sunny day was also suitable for taking a carriage to relax.

"It's getting better after all. We've stopped being afraid of Napoleon since the chase at Krasnoy. You and Alyosha once said that if someone had said in the past that you could defeat Napoleon, you would have spit in his face."

"Oh, that's true. But the war is still going on, and I'm tired, I feel very tired. There are not many people my age who are still in the army or active in social occasions. Except for Misha's father, who used to be an aide to Prince Klimsky's son-in-law, and because of this I know him, the rest are too old to do anything."

"If you need to find some more people, Master."

"Yes, these are the only ones left. All of us are leaving, and I've recently felt that the right side of my body has slowed down, although it doesn't affect what I do, but my movements have slowed down. I'm really old, and if one day I really can't lead this army, I hope you can come and command the army."

Although Cavalry General Tormasov was famous for his bravery in combat, fortunately he was also a traditional Russian soldier, which at least made the soldiers feel at ease.

All he had to do was to give him a suitable staff. Moreover, Tormasov received the Order of St. Andrew the Apostle during the war, which was the highest honor a Russian general had ever received except for the First Class Order of St. George in the entire War of 1812.

"Don't let this medal down, His Majesty."

Although Kutuzov did not mention Wittgenstein, Tormasov's biggest rival at the time, Tormasov must have understood what he said.

Now Kutuzov himself feels that his physical functions have declined, so he is a little worried.

"But you know me, Mikhail Illarionovich. It would be fine for me to lead one legion, but if I were the commander-in-chief, I would be in charge of several legions."

"That's all right. Did you know that the Prussian General Staff has a special staff group?"

"Yes, Colonel Clausewitz. He has served in our army for several years. He and Misha have made great contributions in Sweden and the Balkans. I always feel that I owe him a third-class Order of St. George."

Speaking of this medal, Tormasov knew clearly that Clausewitz's rank was not high enough and he was not a general, so the medal he received would naturally be capped.

However, the commander of his legion is Solovyov, and this guy still lacks the Order of St. Andrew the Apostle and the Order of St. George, First Class.

"Don't think about it. If the army needs a chief of staff, you and Bennigsen will definitely not be able to intrigue with each other. As for Thor, he is still old-fashioned after all. To control so many troops, we always need a more efficient department."

"You mean"

"We have actually developed a new style of staff in the past few years. The new methods used by the Prussians are all put into practice by our young people in the past few years. Misha is really a smart boy. He knows that he can't change too many people, so he does a lot of things within his ability. I think he does things according to this meaning."

The new general staff system of the Russian army is actually what Prince Volkonsky is leading now.

Tormasov also needs an external brain circuit to connect to him so that he can command the army smoothly.

Kutuzov was a veteran in social circles, and this characteristic was also reflected in his third daughter, who later had a good relationship with Pushkin.

Through the changes in his social circles, he also learned about the attitudes of the nobles in Alexander and St. Petersburg.

Because Wittgenstein stopped the French army in Riga, he is considered the patron saint of St. Petersburg.

That's why this general, who was also not very smart and might even have insufficient prestige, was more favored by Alexander himself.

Kutuzov also learned from some strange things in the palace that there were always some people around the Tsar who liked to spread some news.

If I really fell, Tormasov would probably want to replace me, but he would only be a temporary commander.

By then, the Tsar might have become mature in grand strategy because of his past failures.

But he rarely has the bad habit of making personnel arrangements according to his own preferences.

Solovyov is indeed an all-round talent. It can even be said that he is good no matter which part of the army he is placed in, except as a infantryman on the front line.

Now he is a general, and from his talent we can also draw a conclusion that there are Russian generals of every age group who are better than their peers.

Among Bagration, Barclay, Miloradovich and the late Kamensky the Younger, Solovyov was actually the first to be an army commander and the first to independently command a corps. The highest positions held by the others are basically division commanders or corps chiefs of staff.

If he completes his mission in Warsaw and can join the army, it would seem to be very beneficial to the Russian army.

Therefore, he also wanted to do something, so he wrote to Solovyov, asking about his preparations in Warsaw.

The letter also mentioned the situation on the front line. Since Archduke Karl looked up to him, this young man must have some weight. So when the anti-French alliance was just established in March, Solovyov received a letter from the commander-in-chief.

Kutuzov's letters to Solovyov were always about business, but they were rarely so long-winded.

Considering Kutuzov’s lifespan, a man of his age, still on the battlefield and often not getting enough rest, would probably collapse soon.

He has been serving since the time of Queen Elizabeth, and whether it is because of his military oath or for his own future, he has officially served the army for more than fifty years.

"The commander-in-chief wrote at this time."

Unfortunately, it was Nicholas who was on duty today. Because of his special status, he could open the letter directly.

"Kolya, you are sitting here too. If it is the Emperor, did you notice His Majesty's attitude when you were in Petersburg?"

"Boss, what do you think of my brother's attitude?"

Only when Nikolai was with Solovyov could the two of them talk in a relatively relaxed manner as master and disciple.

But one always has to be cautious when talking to him. After all, he is also the heir to the throne and will probably become the Tsar in the future because his brothers have no sons.

Solovyov also had to protect his students so that they would not be dragged into the battle for the commander-in-chief's successor just as they were able to act independently.

This will create a somewhat eerie atmosphere in the palace. What will happen in the future?

Solovyov knew only too well what to do to support an heir.

Even though this question is actually an open-book test for Nikola and he can ask a lot of helpers, he still has to get the job done.

Who knows if those people will come and cause trouble?

There will be problems in the relationship between Paul and Alexander, father and son, and someone will take advantage of the situation.

The four Alexander brothers had a very good relationship, but there was one thing that could not be ignored, that is, even if the monarch wanted to have a family, he probably could not have it. Even if he wanted to have a son with his wife, it was a political issue.

In this environment, even though Constantine had always supported his brother, there were people reporting him behind his back. His long absence during this war was also related to previous events to a certain extent.

What's more, Nicholas is inexperienced and has no experience.

Solovyov even asked Nikolai privately, this boy actually didn't even have a lover of the same age so far. Apart from Princess Charlotte, the honest daughter of Queen Louise, he probably had never been attracted to other girls - and that was the relationship that developed from playing together.

Members of the royal family, in addition to having wives, must also have some lovers.

However, Solovyov also took into account the resources around him and the maids in the palace at that time. There were some beautiful girls, but so far Nikolai had not taken a fancy to any of them.

There is a lack of experience in this area, and the same is probably true for social experience.

Although people used to say he was the stupid son of a landlord, now he has only improved a little because of his hard work and study.

After thinking a lot, Solovyov finally continued to speak.

"I have also thought that His Majesty should be optimistic about someone. Now there are always people here who are thinking about these issues. You still need to be trained. Although being an adjutant has no future for ordinary people, it is a place where you can gain knowledge."

Solovyov may have talked more to Nicholas, and he may have disciplined him more than the Queen Mother or his two brothers.

"You need to be able to get information. Corea, you don't necessarily need to do it yourself, but you still need to send someone to do it, and you also need to be able to distinguish right from wrong. The most typical negative example in this regard is probably Napoleon in Europe."

Nicholas felt strange. Solovyov was the adopted nephew of the French emperor. His two brothers' opinion of the emperor, even though he was an invader, would probably not be too low.

Another point is that he is his brother-in-law.

Solovyov actually said that there was something wrong with a person who had great influence in Europe and was extremely talented?

"Boss, why do you say that?"

"Too confident in your own abilities can actually lead to misunderstandings. In this regard, do you remember the homework I assigned to you before?"

Nikolai now thought of the fact that Solovyov had assigned him a lot of homework before, which included the parts of the Five Classics related to ancient Chinese monarchs, and some evaluations of the policies and behaviors of European monarchs. In short, Nikolai's homework was assigned strictly in accordance with the requirements of the monarch's heir.

Although Mikhail learns quickly and has better grades, he is not as resilient as Nikolai. Among the four brothers, Nikolai is probably the only one who will work harder because of the stimulation.

When Solovyov assigned homework to the children of nobles in Tsarskoye Selo, he also raised some questions about the qualities of the monarch and ministers.

They always have to think for themselves. Although Nicholas's thinking was not thorough, he remembered the examples very well.

"Because of this, you have caused me a lot of trouble."

"You can say that. Corea, a monarch cannot always rely on his own abilities to do things, and the same goes for a commander. Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses. Think about the War of Succession in China at the same time as Hannibal. Sometimes you just have to be good at using people and balancing relationships."

Solovyov would not say that Alexander liked to be a smart guy, but he was still much better. At least he could balance the relationship and was aware of the shortcomings of his abilities.

By now, Napoleon was clearly obsessed with the use of force.

Solovyov even thought that if it were him, he would probably win a few battles in the future and then propose a new sphere of influence. He might have a chance to take back what he had given up in the future, or even reverse the situation through diplomatic means. (End of this chapter)