Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

Chapter 117 017 Jewelry Factory in Peterhof Palace

The ruby ​​brooch chosen by the countess looked gorgeous in terms of decoration. Although she was very intuitive, she did not say anything and just faithfully followed her bestie's instructions.

In a workshop near Oranienbaum in Peterhof Palace, there is a factory that specializes in supplying building materials to the royal family and the nobles nearby. This factory was established in 1721 under the order of Peter the Great. At first, it really only provided building materials.

There are a large number of stones that can be mined around Peterhof Palace. After some natural stones are sent here, they are directly processed into suitable building materials. They are very good at polishing. In the later years of Peter the Great, he was also very satisfied with the Dutch merchants who served here.

But in 1731, a serious fire destroyed the factory. Then the "local rich" Queen Anna Ivanovna from Courland ascended the throne. She ordered the construction of a new factory, and the business was more complicated, including hard stone cutting and mosaic processing.

By the time of the Queen, this place was directly under the jurisdiction of the Academy of Arts, and jewelry could be processed, and complex mosaic collages and various utensils used in the palace were made, including some jewelry and utensils decorated with small gems. It can be said to be a luxurious luxury processing center.

The person in charge here now is Count Stroganov. As the leader of the nobility and the chief chamberlain of the court in Petersburg, he does have to take care of a lot of things.

Also included is the recent wedding of Prince Arkady Suvorov and Elena Naryshkina. The 15-year-old groom and the 14-year-old bride were still ignorant, but they had already married. The reason was also the news from Silesia. In the end, the Duchess gave up the marriage plan, but did not give a reason.

But later, some things were clarified. Both parties of the engagement were free because there was no formal confirmation of the engagement.

The guests all praised the couple for being so cute and well-matched, but they did not establish a solid relationship.

As the last disciple of the Marshal, Solovyov also attended the wedding. At the wedding, Arkady did not let his cousin be by his side, but Prince Bagration, who could be said to be the proud disciple who had followed the Marshal for the longest time and inherited his "aggressive and fiery" attacking thought.

He thought that the "little goblin" at No. 7 Million Street had always asked him to inspect the prince, but in terms of personal interactions, they were already very familiar with each other. The prince was resolute and brave, and was very loyal to his friends, but his gambling addiction was a huge problem. As a senior gambler, he often lost the game and was dug into a trap.

Although Solovyov knew that many of these were due to cheating, the Georgian prince himself enjoyed it.

The nobles present today also include the Stroganov family, because Arkady's cousin Andrei is the son-in-law of the old count and married his daughter Sophia. Although the old count and his wife separated, he still missed his daughter and finally gave a considerable dowry.

If Yusupov later became the richest man in Russia, Count Bobulinsky followed closely behind, and Count Bezukhov, the richest man in Moscow, was rumored to have huge wealth, then Count Stroganov's family is now the richest in Russia, and in addition to jewelry, their family also owns a large number of artworks, including sculptures and paintings, as well as mosaics. These artworks are difficult to measure by wealth value. It can be said that this family owns a huge spiritual wealth, and a considerable number of them are treasures.

In addition to the treasures collected, there are also a large number of imitations displayed at home, such as some of Bernini's sculptures. The originals may be in Italy, but after the skillful hands of craftsmen, the series of works completed cannot achieve complete imitation, but they are highly overlapped.

It is precisely because of this that the old count himself is still very confident in appraising treasures, but he has a cane in his hand, not the hammer of the master.

What's more, the master had followed Emperor Qianlong last year, and they had no chance to meet as the richest man.

The countess came from Prince Golitsyn's family. She has always been well-educated and handled things properly.

"Madam, what can I do for you?"

"The prince in the palace asked me to give this brooch to your sister Yulia."

She also explained that the crown princess hoped that Yulia could be a court maid for her eldest daughter in the future. Although it was not as noble as the maids assigned to the queen and the crown princess, it was also a kind of trust.

And Solovyov's heart "stomped" and knew what the prince meant, because their meeting in the English garden did not cause anything, and outsiders did not know. The reward for the sister is also a normal reward for noble ladies like the queen or the crown princess to the girl they like. Of course, although he was moved, he could not detect the slight emotional fluctuations of the prince.

"Her Highness Elizabeth is really thoughtful. Madam, thank you on behalf of our whole family."

"Let's not talk about that. I have some things to do at home and need your help."

After hearing what the Countess said, Solovyov realized that someone could not wait to publish the first twenty chapters of the book he translated.

If a book is to be made in Russian, it also needs to be illustrated, and the font size needs to be very large. At this time, it needs to be able to process. Then the old count received a task to make it at the home of a book lover. Mosaic painting.

"You are an expert in this field. Apart from sinologists, you are the only one in Petersburg who can understand the original meaning of the work."

In addition, regarding "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", some nobles indeed regard this as "Legend of Chivalry PLUS", which is much more exciting than the chivalric novels that Cervantes ridiculed. Not only is it not mind-boggling, it can also I learned a lot of basic military skills from here.

As a result, it was considered a big sale and brought a lot of income to the "Petersburg News" and the publishing house. At least the sales volume of the newspaper increased sharply.

"In this case, it will not only be a hardcover book, but also peripheral products!"

"Periphery?"

"The mosaic is too big, and you can make some exquisite small sculptures." Solovyov said this, more like making a soldier, which in the 21st century is just a figure.

After listening to Solovyov's explanation, the countess knew what to do next.

The old count called him there to discuss this issue in depth.

"Alexander Sergeyevich, it is hard to imagine that a Petersburg noble leader would condescend to ask me, the son of a country baron, some cultural issues. Your artistic vision, Petersburg It’s also something that few can compare to.”

"Then we must also note that all of us have unfamiliar areas. Come on, Misha, how about you sit here and see how this pattern is drawn?"

"Apart from the fact that his face looks more like a Russian, there's nothing wrong with him."

"There is no way. We can't describe the Chinese people in the same way as the Tatars and Kalmyks. Their appearance is different from the ethnic groups under our rule."

"However, it is indeed interesting to draw General Zhang Fei as a brave Cossack. Moreover, you must have read my annotations before designing the weapons like this."

"Although legendary stories can also be reflected in sculptures and paintings, we must also realize that many of them are based on facts, so I asked the craftsmen in the jewelry factory to pay attention to the changes in the production of the commander-in-chief's sword. Became a spear."

"Fortunately, the craftsman didn't show a Frankish lance on the drawing, which is already pretty good."

Solovyov put forward his own opinions on adjustments and made one point.

"Mishka, you mean to say that in China, Guan Yu is commemorated as 'Indrado'?"

"This is not what I said, it was what Her Royal Highness Elizabeth said when I was telling your Highnesses in the palace. Although the meaning of 'Emperor' in China is not consistent with ours, we must also take into account the origin of 'Emperor' here. ”

"That's right. Since it was said by a talented woman like Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess, there should be nothing wrong with it. However, we are going to make this kind of mosaic collage and display it in the 'Chinese Garden'. Needless to say, Your Majesty, Petersburg's Many noble people have such needs.”

"Is that a huge order?"

"That's it, and there should be a lot of illustrations in the published books. You should also pay attention to the required content and whether there are any fallacies."

Just seeing the exquisite decoration of the first volume, Solovyov knew that it was not simple. The royal factories and factories in Petersburg could get a lot from this kind of luxury book. The profits, even if the version is changed to French, can be used for export.

Although there were no changes in industry, the handicraft industry started to make profits.

The old count was also very satisfied with Solovyov's suggestion and invited him to dine in the villa.

"Young man, you have a bright future. Don't get involved in some whirlpools that are not good for you. This is my experience as a person who has been there. If you talk about age, I am older than your father."

The old count gave Solovyov many instructions and wished this time a complete success.

However, we have to wait until August to complete the first batch.

The fonts on the cover are also relatively thick and simple - only in terms of the fonts used by Europeans.

In addition, he was invited by Prince Bagration to go to the bathhouse. Although the Georgian prince was "ugly", he still paid attention to the cleanliness of his appearance and even went to the bathhouse.

After returning like this, what he could tell the "little goblin" was: "That Prince Bagration, although his complexion is dark, is strong and powerful."

Some areas involving privacy require the parties to experience it themselves, so what he said was relatively simple.

You must know that happiness after marriage has relevant content both physically and mentally.

Although the rumors originally released by Tsar Paul cannot be realized immediately, it also depends on the final feelings of both parties, at least in the Tsar's own opinion.

If the "little fairy" were told something in-depth, her face would probably turn red. This girl was so happy that she was so happy, but she still had a strong sense of shame.

And she has been relatively free recently, leaving Elena and going to Luisa.

However, Solovyov was not so desperate as to ask the "little goblin" about the current situation of the princess. He just brought up the recent profit sharing situation.

"Our pen-making business, whether it is cosmetic pens or pencils, is very profitable. It is even exported to Denmark, Norway and Sweden. From the news I learned from the Stockholm newspaper, it seems that Her Royal Highness the Queen of Sweden has publicly displayed her The makeup box has also become a fashion there.”

Speaking of which, the Queen of Sweden is Louisa's biological sister, and her display has a strong advertising effect.

"It would be great if this was the case. We could get a lot of profits from Sweden."

"I'm just worried that the King of Sweden will do it again. He can't be trusted."

"Don't worry about the king. He has always been hated by Elena."

If the stupid king of Sweden suddenly imposes taxes on Russian goods, this may have a devastating blow to the second armed neutrality.

However, Gustavus IV had made many stupid mistakes in this kind of thing, and he was not afraid of itching even if there were too many lice.

In the palace, the Crown Princess now received a small mosaic, but it was not a character from a popular book, but a girl in red.

Julie went to the Solovyov family's old house and got back the story. Because it was just a love story, even Solovyov himself didn't pay attention to it. Now the content of the script of "The West Chamber" has been revealed, how much makes this "large Cosette" with a face like an apple.

"I still like this love story very much, Katya, what about you?"

"It's just a pity that while that 'idiot' is busy with the security work in the palace, he goes to Oranienbaum's jewelry factory to complete some 'great' work."

Speaking of "idiot" and "great", the "little goblin" added an emphasis. She was very familiar with Solovyov, so she said so.

"If he focuses on some work, this major is undoubtedly a 'dumb'. I hope he won't be too dull when it comes to emotional issues, but there are rumors that he doesn't like men or women. He only knows how to do things."

"Your Highness, that's not the case. I think he is a kind-hearted person. He has helped me inquire about many things, but what is it? Your Highness, even you and I must keep it a secret."

Louisa would not go to the bottom of it, but Major Solovyov had already made a good impression on her. He was also very good at doing things, loyal and reliable, and he didn't really need to be an emotional "idiot".