Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

Count Semyon Vorontsov, the ambassador to the United Kingdom, knew what the conspirators were doing, but he would definitely not join the Petersburg side of the operation in London, but he was always regarded as an "absent conspirator" ".

Judging from this evaluation, he would not avoid having some contact with the British, and by the end of 1800, he had become a former ambassador, but was allowed by Paul to stay in London.

Vorontsov's son Mikhail would play a great role in the military field in the future, and would also become a field marshal and be awarded the title of prince, but that would be a long time later.

The earl is now settled in London, and he does have in-depth exchanges with the British cabinet. He may even convey news from Petersburg to London, and at the same time communicate with his associates what the British attitude is.

His clothing and living habits are no different from those of ordinary British people.

Meanwhile, his daughter Catherine stayed with him in London.

The strange thing is that this unmarried girl now has the status of a palace maid, but she does not appear in the palace at all. She is living in London while having this status.

Count Vorontsov once claimed that if it were during the empress's time, he would never let his daughter accept this title.

After all, there were Potemkin's infamous nieces before them. The kind of life they lived, and his daughter would be compared with them, of course she would not accept it.

However, when he said this, he was a typical "Russian chameleon". Paul would generally not be merciful and provide this status to a noble girl who was absent from Petersburg. The two sisters at No. 7 Million Street were an exception.

If Queen Maria had not mentioned Vorontsov's contribution to Paul, it might not have been approved.

Now the earl is dictating a letter to the country, written by his daughter, to explain the progress of the recruitment of engineers in England.

"Father, the content of the letter I want to write to His Majesty must not just be dictated by you, but you must also check it so that I can write it out again."

"It doesn't matter, Catherine, you don't need me to check. Just treat the matter of recruiting engineers in Scotland as failed."

He did not want to serve Paul at this time, but through his contacts with the British, he learned that the British government was currently dissatisfied with Paul's policy of armed neutrality and reconciliation with France, and wanted to maintain contact with Lord Whitworth. The channel was actually blocked by Paul himself.

Now only Count Vorontsov and his friends in Russia are communicating, which can keep the British informed of the latest developments in Petersburg.

The latest reply he drafted implicitly expressed the British cabinet's support for Lord Whitworth, which also indicated an issue. The British hope that Russia can change from its current political views to become closer to Britain, just like the Queen before 1793. foreign policy.

The result of the communication with Smirnov, the charge d'affaires of the Russian Embassy in London, was only a note from the cabinet sent to the actual envoy.

"That's it. The count's letter has stated the British attitude, and we can take further action."

However, what they have to do is also quite funny. After the arrival of the New Year, they must first mobilize personnel for the Guards.

Since personnel appointments were in the hands of the regiment leader, Solovyov escaped the disaster. The appointment power of the Guards Corps was in the hands of Tsar Paul, the Crown Prince and Grand Duke Constantine. Talyzin once proposed The commander of the 1st Battalion was to be transferred out, but Paul rejected the first suggestion.

And the big news recently is that the Crown Princess, who has always been so delicate that she has difficulty eating, has suddenly developed a strong appetite recently.

Thinking that it has been three months since the "little fairy" had a swollen belly, I knew something had happened to her this time. The outside world also generally believes that some subtle results may have occurred after the crown prince recently returned to the palace. At least the results have been produced. Otherwise, Louisa, who has always been unable to eat much, would not be able to eat a large plate at each meal. Dishes.

Only Solovyov himself was more worried about whether there would be any trouble if the child in Louisa's belly had the typical green eyes of his family.

Of course, his idea was a bit redundant. As long as the child was blond, there would be no problem. His hair color was brighter than Alexander's. At most, it would be considered, "This is God's will."

This was thanks to Russia's underdeveloped science and technology, and he did not run over during this period. After all, Alexander spent more time with Louisa. During this period, he should not cause trouble for himself or throw himself into a trap.

But the job he was responsible for in the palace was to deliver letters to the Tsar on a daily basis, including Count Vorontsov's petition on behalf of the expatriates in the UK.

"If Count Vorontsov could take into account the serious negative impact that the British did on Russia in the past, he should not write this petition. I agree with his resignation as ambassador to London , we don’t want him to just be a leisurely retired aristocrat, after all, he also has many connections in the UK.”

"Yes, Your Majesty. But if you show me this letter, what's the point?"

"Unfortunately, for your steam engine plan, the British do not intend to directly license the production technology of steam engines to us. They only agree to sell us some physical objects."

"By the time they are ready for delivery, your majesty, I'm afraid that our own imitation steam engine will be completed, and it will be an updated version."

"Have you ever thought about becoming a civil servant? Soloviev, you are in the Guards, and it is obvious that you have not done your best to complete some things."

"Your majesty, I still think it is better for me to be by your side, so that I can protect your safety. I am afraid that some people in the country will not be very friendly."

"Become a civil servant, you can directly transfer to an eighth-class civil servant, which is also a hereditary noble. You can do well in railway construction, literary translation, and other aspects that you are interested in."

"No, your majesty, I am not a professional engineer, it is better for me to stay with you."

And he has been communicating with Louisa recently. The Crown Princess no longer just writes him letters on white paper, but communicates in French and German. Soloviev carefully collects every letter in the old house in Laundry Lane, as well as Louisa's pajamas that he took away that night. The outside world doesn't know why this guy always goes to his old house in a mysterious way.

In this regard, Solovyov's explanation to the outside world was simple, that is, it was very quiet to work there, and it was quieter than the new home at 29 Moika Embankment.

As long as Count Shuvalov and Prince Yusupov's family did not hold any salons, Laundry Lane would be too quiet.

Here, he finally put down his pen and completed the translation of a book. It is unlikely that he will have such sufficient time to do something in the future.

Here, he is still making his own plans. Regarding the possibility of Paul being murdered, he has expressed his concern for the safety of the Tsar himself when he was on duty.

And he is also making his own analysis, including the communication between London and St. Petersburg, the recent letter from Count Vorontsov, and the movements of European countries some time ago.

With the disastrous defeat of the Austrian army in Hohenlinden, the war in Central Europe has come to an end. At present, the only ones actively participating in the anti-French alliance are Britain and the Ottoman Empire. The latter is still to take action in Egypt to repel the troops of General Kleber and General Menou.

Judging from the attitude of the British, they were actually very afraid that Tsar Paul would turn to France and form a formal alliance.

Paul was different from his son. He really came up with a plan and even revealed this grand plan to the First Consul of France.

He also suggested that France and Russia each send troops to march to Afghanistan and India through the road explored by the Cossacks in Central Asia. The method of action would refer to the method used by the First Consul to expedition to Egypt in the past. In addition to soldiers, there would also be scholars. The commander of this French army would be General Massena.

Apart from other things, General Massena's ability to make money would definitely come into play if he went to India. If this old soldier could win the battle, he would probably plunder all the princes and Brahmins in India.

He himself was favored by Tsar Paul because he defeated the Russian army in Zurich.

The biggest obstacle to this plan is probably that it is not suitable for expeditions, whether it is through Central Asia-Afghanistan or marching into Persia. The legendary expedition of Alexander the Great was very costly, and it is not very feasible in terms of action.

However, having a sizable squadron to operate from the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea can solve this problem.

When Alexander returned from the expedition, he took this route, which should not be a big problem and is more operational.

You should know that the French have several frigates and tens of thousands of militia-level armed forces in the land of Reunion and Mauritius, which can already support Surcouf's privateers and pose a huge threat to the British.

At the most powerful time, they could even attack the Indian coast and Sumatra, and finally the British had to send a small squadron to occupy these islands.

If they could have a foothold in the Persian Gulf, it might be more troublesome for the British.

It's just that Solovyov's ideas were more or less because he was not influenced by the Americans in other places, but there was oil in the Persian Gulf, which could be said to be a very typical symptom of "oil deficiency".

After he told Paul so much, the Tsar only sent two Cossack detachments to explore for oil near some mountains. There are still reserves on both sides of the entire Caucasus Mountains.

It should also be considered that the first Shah of the Qajar dynasty of Persia was a eunuch. He had no descendants. After being murdered like Nader Shah, his nephew who succeeded him was not very friendly to Russia, and was also prepared to use the power of Britain to continue to fight against Russia.

Whether it was the empress, Paul or Alexander, three generations of grandparents and grandchildren had the same goal, which was to have a good talk with the Persians. After all, Russia's strategy in the Caucasus was somewhat restrained as the situation in Europe changed, and there was no active attack with great fanfare.

On the other hand, the Qajar dynasty took many actions to restore its sphere of influence in the Caucasus Mountains.

This is a long-standing issue left over from more than 80 years ago when Peter the Great went south and took control of the southern coast of the Caspian Sea.

Although he was a bodyguard that the Tsar trusted very much, this status was not enough to allow him to speak a few words during the meeting. He could only answer questions asked by Paul.

Thus, although he told the Tsar himself about these ideas in bits and pieces, they did not play a big role.

During this period, he also saw that Alexander often returned, and he would not get into trouble at this time, but would focus more on invention.

As for him to continue to do translation work, he just translated some poems that he could still remember, and explained some Chinese cultural background.

In fact, publishing books in this regard can also improve his status, especially in cultural salons.

There are a lot of girls in that kind of place, and Louisa also reminded him when she kissed him.

Especially when he began to publish and distribute the translations, he had already signed on the cover, and many young girls knew such a "great translator".

Even the "little fairy" claimed that if she had not just got married and was enjoying her happy newlywed life, she would also organize a literary salon and invite him to go.

This girl is just as interesting even if she becomes a little wife.

She has now been nicknamed "little white cat". She gets up lazily from the bedroom all day long and starts a boring life as a lady.

Solovyov didn't like literary salons, and he hoped to quickly transform the technical aspects, so he had to get closer to Alexander and Constantine and show activeness in front of them.

Alexander actually had a very good impression of him. After all, if he hadn't sold donkey skins to the palace, Louisa's uneasy fetal movement when she gave birth to her first child would have been very dangerous. He was also very loyal in the palace and reliable in his work. He had previously chased the intruder in Peterhof Palace and shot him dead.

In addition, he was a friend of several of his confidants. If you round it up, he was still around Paul, Alexander's own people. It's just that when he was loyal to Paul, he also had to be "loyal" to Alexander and his wife.

However, if he knew that Solovyov's intimate relationship with his wife had developed into his bedroom, he might have a different attitude.