Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

Chapter 168 025 The Russian steamship is finally built

After being counseled, Louisa's mood improved and her physical condition also eased.

In April, the investigation is still going on. Alexander himself is worried. Whether he is happy with his mistress or playing cards, he can't be happy.

This emotional political animal and excellent actor is not completely indifferent to his daughter-in-law. The queen is beautiful and kind. She is very unforgettable at first sight. It is impossible for him to dislike her because he is so lustful.

However, he always has to make an exchange of interests, using the royal etiquette status and the two palaces left by Paul, namely Pavlovsk and Gatchina, to appease the dissatisfaction of the Queen Mother, which sacrifices the interests of his wife.

Louisa has no compensation. She is only a queen now and has not been officially crowned. Alexander knows where to delay, which is one of his more hateful aspects.

"Your Majesty, the Queen is feeling better now. Do you want to arrange a place for her to rest?"

"I think it's okay. She can choose whether to go to the aquarium, Tsarskoye Selo or Tavrid Palace. Also, she can tell you how many followers she needs and what kind of pomp she wants."

However, Louisa's pomp was not big. She just moved to Tavrid Palace with a few caring maids and sisters and a few guard officers.

She didn't go to Tsarskoye Selo because it was too close to the Queen Mother and she couldn't avoid being caught in the middle. Although there were two chattering sisters-in-law, Maria and Catherine, there, she didn't like to make herself uncomfortable at this time.

After all, the imperial doctor also reminded her that during pregnancy, she should always keep a good mood. Solovyov went to enlighten her that night and emphasized it again.

"Louisa, I'm going to make you something new during this period."

The pond of the Tafred Palace is now in the process of intense preparation. This is Russia's first steamship. Although the materials used are all designs used by the French before, it is also a big deal.

The reason why Alexander himself did not appear on the scene was that he was busy completing negotiations with France and some new political ideas.

In comparison, Alexander, as an actor, is much smarter than his father. He knows to do things in a roundabout way, but he is not determined enough, and he is prone to give up halfway if he is frustrated.

However, the establishment of a secret committee, allowing confidants to discuss politics within this framework, and reforming Russia's government departments, and changing the committee and the Diplomatic Academy into a departmental system, the administrative institutions of this reform are at least more cunning than the reform that Paul forcibly turned the table over.

However, this is just a small fight. He likes to compromise very much. His wife is going to give birth to a child for him, and he sacrifices his wife's interests just to compromise with his mother.

As for compromises in other places, who knows how he will do it.

Solovyov really wanted to label Alexander as "Yuan Shao". It was too tiring to watch him perform like this. If he were a minister, it would definitely not be as comfortable as being an officer fighting on the battlefield.

In the first month of the old emperor's absence, Solovyov missed him very much. After all, the several inventions and ideas that he could gradually complete were all strongly supported by the old Emperor Paul.

He has now completed the construction of two ships. The first ship will be displayed in the pond of the Tavrid Palace.

Those who came to watch the steamboat were basically the women of the palace. Maria and Catherine also came from Pavlovsk. It was Constantine, the second brother, who was kind enough to his sisters and mentioned that Major Solovyov and the French had worked hard for a winter and had completed the first steamboat.

However, this ship had to start its first official voyage and come to the pond of the Tavrid Palace. It had to sail on dry land and be towed into the pond from the bank of the Neva River.

Solovyov had not expected that so many girls would come to observe. The area around the pond of the Tavrid Palace was already filled with girls from the two girls' schools, the Smolny Palace and the Catherine Medal School.

"Brothers, with so many girls here to observe, we can't lose face! Otherwise, we will become gossip among these little girls!"

Especially the naval cadets, who were sent to practice with two Lazarevs, but they were not nuclear-powered, and nodded after hearing this.

"Yes, Major, we can't lose face. Our sister is in the Smolny Girls' School!"

"Then we have to work harder! In fact, my sister is also a student of the girls' school. What a coincidence."

The Lazarev brothers looked at Solovyov and estimated that the major's sister was about the same age as Vera.

Of course, they didn't know that Yulia and Vera were not only in the same class, but also in the same dormitory. Sometimes they couldn't sleep and hugged each other in the same quilt. They had a very good relationship.

Solovyov himself didn't know. He knew his sister was a "social bull" in social occasions, but he didn't know exactly how good she was. She was in the barracks and the palace all day, so he didn't know the situation.

The girls from the girls' school were now sitting by the pond, waiting for the arrival of the queen.

"Which one is the queen?"

The two sisters of the Komnenos family were still very curious. After all, the former Queen Maria, the current Empress Dowager, was very particular about pomp and circumstance, and although they had heard that the Crown Princess was a great beauty, they rarely saw her.

This time at the Tafrid Palace was Louisa's first official official engagement. Although Alexander's relationship with his daughter-in-law had become indifferent again, her few words on the Champ de Mars that night were indeed very useful.

But a queen who doesn't show off is somewhat strange in Russia.

If Louisa marries another country and becomes a queen, it will be too late for those monarchs to favor her. After all, the atmosphere in the palaces of the German princes and several major countries is similar, except that Vienna is worse than Petersburg, or Louisa is not suitable for Russia. In the palace, if a princess who likes pomp and excitement becomes the queen, the problem may be solved.

"Ania, look at the one wearing a white dress, that is Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth."

Julia knew Louisa, after all, her ruby ​​brooch was a gift from the queen, even though she was still a princess at the time.

"Her Royal Highness the Queen is such a beautiful big sister!"

The girls in the girls' school all agree with this, and they are not children anymore. Girls are sensible early, and they all know that the Queen, who is obviously slender and slender, is a little "fat". This should be due to something in her belly. Baby.

They come to a girls' school with the purpose of cultivating qualified ladies.

When Louisa sat down, she also heard what the matron had said.

"Your Highness, can we start now?"

"You can let Mr. Major start. I hope he can succeed at once. After all, this is the mature design of Mr. Marquis."

Through several demonstrations in the palace and night talks with Solovyov, Louisa also knew the concept of steamships, and she was looking forward to it. After all, it was her Mishka who wanted to make her happy and talked with the Marquis. After discussion, the display location was changed from the Neva River to the pond of the Tavrid Palace.

I just didn't expect that there would be such a big battle all of a sudden, and all the girls from the girls' school would come.

For the Marquis de Jouffroy, now is indeed an opportunity to show his face. Although Tsar Paul is gone, the new Tsar Alexander is a good-looking person and has also promised bounties and research funds.

Although he did not attend the event in person, this time the young queen, three imperial sisters and two grand duchess attended the event.

Of course, Evdokiya and little Maria have no idea about this thing at the moment, but Louisa misses her daughter, so they ask the nanny and tutor to bring her.

The strange thing is that neither Nikolai nor Mikhail came, and they don’t know what kind of medicine the empress dowager sells in the gourd.

Constantine has military affairs, and he also has to clean up the remaining conspiracies in the Guards. It is normal for him not to come.

"Mr. Major, Her Royal Highness the Queen means that you can start."

"Marquis Jouffroy, let's get started."

"Okay, monsieur, light the fire!"

Of course, for a small ship, it is relatively fast to burn the boiler, but for a large ship, it is more disastrous.

After burning the small boiler on the ship for a while, steam finally came out while the fire was burning. The rising white smoke finally made the paddle wheel of the steam ship turn.

The boat drove through the west side of the pond, passing by the wooden auditorium where Louisa sat in front of the Tafrid Palace, then passed in front of the girls' school students, and finally turned around in a circle and came back.

When the steamboat with its simple whistle structure slowly passed in front of Louisa, she smiled from the bottom of her heart and hugged her two daughters tightly.

The little girls also clapped their hands. Maria and Ekaterina maintained their ladylike demeanor. They were the ones who appeared in front of the girls' school students. The aristocratic sisters of similar age and younger were watching. This could not be shamed. portion.

Solovyov and the Marquis were both operating the boiler. After confirming that there was no problem, they lined up neatly on the boat, and together with the Lazarev brothers, the young cadets sent by the Naval Academy, they lined up to salute the Queen on the boat. .

Louisa also returned the favor to them. She also noticed that the ship had a golden ship name "Elizabeth Alexeyevna". It was obvious that she chose this ship after coming here to pay tribute to her.

In fact, there is another reason. When the Marquis was testing on the Neva River, the boiler of the "Pavel" exploded again.

The Marquis himself found it funny that his inventions always blew up small boilers, and this time the damage was quite complete.

Originally the name of this ship was the "Queen Maria", but Solovyov remembered that the unlucky Black Sea Fleet could always sink its own flagship, especially the "Queen Maria" The battleship, not even the high admiral, was able to calm it down. The boiler overheated and the ammunition depot exploded and sank. This name was unlucky, so it was changed to Louisa's Russian name.

The voyage was relatively smooth. They were restoring history. Russia's first steamship was named after this.

Louisa was very happy today. After the steamer turned back, she wanted to take it herself.

"Sister-in-law, you have to pay attention to your safety, and you are not in good health recently."

Maria persuaded her sister-in-law not to get on the boat, but she was not worried.

"Major Solovyov is here, don't worry, and besides, we are just taking a short ride back."

If the load of this ship is concerned, the women can also try it out. The Marquis is a little timid. He feels that he cannot afford the risk that the Queen may fall into the water, but Louisa is very confident.

"Just drive the boat. We are going to the girls' school. If you are afraid of problems, just let the boat moor at the small dock over there."

The girls from the girls' school were all there. Today, Louisa felt much better, so she dared to "take risks". She believed in Solovyov and believed that the boat would be very stable.

Safe driving was indeed required. Solovyov knew that the responsibility today was not ordinary. Several young ladies also got on the boat.

Of course, the boat drove very steadily, so there was no need to worry, and it was moored at the dock.

The two Lazarev brothers jumped down first, holding Maria and Ekaterina's hands there, asking them to jump ashore as well.

And Louisa, with the help of Solovyov, came to the dock. She was in a really good mental state today. It seemed that after several days of recuperation, her complexion was not too different from the healthy complexion of her peers.

Of course, when Yulia saw her brother, she was not as unruly as in the past. She saluted the queen first, and then she was recognized.

"Is it Yulia? Your brother is here. She is really cruel to send you to the girls' school instead of studying at home."

"Your Highness, it's good here. I have many sisters. This is Vera, this is Anya, and this is Katya. We live in the same dormitory."

And Vera also saw her two brothers. After saluting to Louisa, she ran over there.

"Today is a really good day, Major."

"Yes, Your Highness, it is a very memorable day in Russian history. On April 10, 1800, the first Russian steamship completed its maiden voyage in the Tavrid Palace Pond."

This is indeed a restoration of history (historically it was in the same place in 1815). Louisa is very happy today and is sitting among the girls in the girls' school. Fortunately, there are only about 80 or 90 students in the first term of the girls' school. The term she is taking care of is exactly the first and second grade students where Yulia is.

The Lazarev brothers were also very happy. After all, their sister was here. They just didn't expect that they were in the same class and dormitory as the major's sister. This was a coincidence.

Not to mention the successful voyage, the Queen herself was very happy today. It was considered a successful mission.

The successful operation of the Russian steamship will also be reported in the newspapers. The next time will be sailing on the Neva River. As long as it doesn't capsize, it will be a victory.