Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

Chapter 169 026 Tafrid Palace

The building of Tavrid Palace still looks very new. The city of Petersburg is relatively new enough, and many buildings were built after Peter the Great.

This palace was built between 1783 and 1789. It was an exclusive palace built by the Queen for Prince Potemkin. The name of Tafrid Palace is also related to the ancient name of Crimea, Taurika, and also represents Potemkin's title.

During the construction of the palace, Russia achieved a great victory in the war against the Ottoman Empire. However, in the palace, there were not many places commemorating the military achievements of the Russian-Turkish war, but it was very luxuriously decorated.

This was what it became after Paul moved most of the Tafrid Palace property to the Winter Palace.

After Potemkin's death, Potemkin's manager Ganovsky and Zubov's secretary Gribovsky actually transferred the property in the palace, including gold and silver jewelry, furniture, paintings, and sculptures. Even the building materials were kept for themselves. This was discovered during the Empress's time, when Potemkin's nieces discovered that they were transporting these properties through the Fontanka Canal, and were eventually imprisoned for their crimes.

"Speaking of that Garnovsky, his mansion blocks the sunlight from the poet Delzavin's official residence, making his house look cold. Louisa, if you want to put it this way, it is 'dark and dark', this opportunist, He tried to use the inheritance of the Duchess of Kingston to engage in real estate speculation, and in the end he could only end up in jail. "

The young queen herself was in the palace. Although she had heard of the story of Ganovsky, she only knew it from the mouths of the girls of the Golitsyn family. To understand the original story, a lot of things had to be revealed. deviation.

"What was that palace used for later? I remember that it could be seen from the Fontanka embankment. Although it looked grand, it was not pretty."

Although Louisa dresses plainly, she still inherits part of her mother's aesthetics. When she came to Petersburg, she was also influenced by the Queen, and she still has a high taste.

"It is now a barracks, owned by the Guards and used by the Ismailov Guards. Unlike our regiment, which is always on duty in the palace, they stayed there during the time of the late Emperor Paul."

"You are now an adjutant, and you still care about your former brothers."

"They also sincerely support His Majesty and His Highness. They even grow beards and call the Emperor 'little daddy' and you 'little mother'."

"But I have never had the idea that not everyone can become Her Majesty the Queen."

The two of them were in the garden, sitting on the blanket and chatting like this. Louisa was also following the doctor's advice to walk more in the garden.

"But you are the Queen, Your Highness."

Big Natalia is also here. She knows that Louisa is not adapted to life in Petersburg and prefers the quiet environment of Tafrid Palace. The struggle in the palace is dangerous enough for her, let alone political struggle.

It was even difficult for her to deal with Alexander's mistress. The empress dowager still suppressed her because of the shadow of the empress in her and her status in palace etiquette. That is, the enlightenment of her best friend and lover made her relax slightly.

"I know, Natasha, it would be nice to be in Karlsruhe, where it's warmer at this time."

"Lisa, isn't it warm to be in my arms?"

Speaking of which, this maid is also the daughter of a prince, and her conditions are indeed good.

"Yes, there are only a few people here who can give me comfort, and the children, my 'little mouse', how is she these days?"

"Her Royal Highness Little Maria is doing very well these days. I asked Volkonskaya to check on her."

"Your Highness, you always care about others, but you seldom think about yourself. Whenever you think about yourself, you hide in bed and cry."

When Solovyov said this, it seemed like he was repeating the story Natalia told him before. He did things in a secretive way.

"That's what I told you."

"At the same time, when His Majesty sent me here, I saw him several times during night patrols. One time when you were away and little Natasha was there, His Highness fainted due to physical weakness. I always thought it was It’s caused by malnutrition. This kind of malnutrition shouldn’t happen in the palace. It’s really strange.”

Solovyov knew a lot of things, but of course he didn’t know more. He didn’t know many things the Empress Dowager had against Louisa, but now that he was talking about it in his own mouth, he thought of it. The Queen Mother of Sk Palace will not let her daughter-in-law off easily.

Especially now that she actually has only one daughter-in-law, Juliana applied to go abroad for recuperation and returned to her natal family in Saxony.

Of course, you can't turn around while chatting. Big Natalia reminded: "Mr. Major, it's time for His Highness to take a walk. We have to go to the garden."

Louisa is getting better and is indeed able to walk around, and the paths in the garden are flat so she doesn't have to worry about falling.

The reason why an officer was sent here was because it would be more convenient to help the queen. In addition, the steamship "Queen Elizabeth" was still in the pond of Tafrid Palace. This ship had to be in the pond every few days. A lap in it was also used to test and prepare Mr. Marquis for sailing on the Neva River.

Another advantage of Solovyov is that he can be used as a tour guide. Although he does not often come to the Tavrid Palace when he is on duty with Paul, he can know the artworks here after just a few glances. What is it all about, especially since there are still many sculptures from the time of Peter the Great left here.

Of course, Alexander was very confident in his work, which was quite ironic.

"Your Highness, there is the Venus statue purchased from Rome during the time of Peter the Great."

"The statue appears to have a severed head."

"Yeah, I checked the archives. When this statue was unearthed, the head and base suffered a lot of damage. Moreover, it's strange that there are no arms. Statues of Venus always have no arms. This is because Does it show a sense of beauty?”

"Why do you say that?"

Solovyov was not afraid of his nonsense. The Venus of Milos, also known as the "Venus Broken Arm", had to wait until 1820 to be unearthed, and the Venus bought by Peter the Great This statue was unearthed in 1718 and purchased from Italy in 1721.

"The lack of a pair of arms can always arouse people's imagination. This is also a kind of missing charm."

"It makes sense, Misha. I remember you told me about Chinese painting art."

"Your Highness, in Chinese art, there are always some blanks. Not everything needs to be stated in detail. There are also such techniques in some of the literary works we read. It should be said that it is not unique to Eastern art. It’s worldwide.”

But I don’t know if Europeans can appreciate Chinese paintings.

"Okay, let's continue walking forward. There are other statues we can see. Do you know the allusions here?"

"Your Highness, are you testing me?"

"Of course I want to test you? Although some people call you 'idiot', it has nothing to do with wisdom. You are like a walking encyclopedia."

"But there are some parts missing. I don't know everything. It's not interesting if someone is a know-it-all."

"Do you know the stories of ancient Crimean legends?"

"Your Highness, could it be?"

"I'm a little tired from walking. Let's stop here."

Louisa felt that her feet were sore. She was indeed not very good at land sports and preferred swimming. She was a typical "I'm not good at running".

Louisa leaned on the bench and huddled in Big Natalia's arms. She would not ask Solovyov to hug her in public. That would seem too intimate and could easily arouse suspicion.

"Speaking of Taurica, we should mention that in the epic poem "Iliad", Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter as a sacrifice. However, at such times, there is always God's protection. Artemis Si took pity on her and asked her to come to the temple of Taurica to serve as a priestess, which is what we all know as the story of Iphigenia, among the plays handed down by the Athenians."

What follows is a series of stories, indeed there are also wonderful touches from Aeschylus's tragic trilogy, as well as an opera dedicated to the Russian royal family, and the meaning is very obvious.

"It's no wonder there are so many Greeks in Crimea. There should be many treasures waiting to be discovered there."

"But it's mainly the remains of Greek statues and palaces, and like the remaining sculptures in the Ottoman Empire, I think there will always be thieves who want to make a fortune out of this."

"What about the French? When Napoleon went on an expedition to Egypt, he also took away a lot of treasures."

"But Napoleon had ambitions and dreams, Your Highness."

Louisa asked this because it was true that she always disliked those cultural relic dealers and thieves.

"This General Bonaparte has ambitions and dreams. He wants to go to Egypt because he wants to replicate the great achievements of Alexander the Great. And what he brings with him is not an antiquities dealer, but a real French scholar and artist. He can Let the outside world know more about Egypt and what the world was like four thousand or even five thousand years ago. This is a truly culturally significant undertaking, rather than the theft that the British often do. It seems unfriendly to the British. , but compared to the 'gentle thieves' French, they are very barbaric."

"I remember that Mikhail of the Dolgorukov family was warmly welcomed by the locals when he arrived in the Peloponnese. He mentioned it when he told Katish a story in the palace. "

"Yes, that's because the old prince was once there as a volunteer to help the Greeks complete their independent cause. It's just a pity that it didn't succeed in the end. Although Russia is a big country, it cannot decide everything. Likewise, There is no way to stop those thieves who steal culture. Peter the Great really paid for it, but the British always have to steal, and their own people have to criticize them.”

This would make it necessary to report the Elgin family's household registration book directly. After all, it was them and the cultural relic dealers in Western Europe who did this.

If there is some scientific significance for museums to seek specimens for research, the result of this kind of direct theft of cultural relics is that the original sculptures have been removed from their original places.

"I don't like those thieves."

Louisa is sometimes very direct when she expresses her emotions. The last time Solovyov was treated in this way was by Adam Czartoryski, but that was just a short-term dislike.

"Your Highness, but sometimes we can't control them. It would be nice to be able to take care of things at our own doorstep."

Luisa couldn't do anything about it. Although she was the queen, she was a nobody in the palace. Only the girls in the two girls' schools could obey her management. There was also a queen mother above her. She had no way to solve this matter far away in Greece.

"I know, you can see how pitiful and helpless Louisa is now. My feet are sore and I can't walk. I can only ask the major to carry me."

"I am happy to serve your highness. However, I still need to find a wheelchair and push your highness back to the palace."

Considering that there were only Natalia and a few maids close to Louisa in the garden, and there were no guards, he could only carry Louisa out like this.

But he was also very careful. In order to avoid trouble, he ran down to find the butler in the Tafred Palace and pushed a wheelchair out.

Louisa also smiled. This "brother" was indeed very careful and cared about his relationship with her, instead of the fanatical attitude of some young officers.

It's not that there weren't other Guards officers who wrote love letters to the Queen to express their love. After all, with the Queen in the lead, even the Queen Mother often corresponded with Count Nikolai Rumyantsev. To be the lover of the Queen or the Queen, in the eyes of some adventurers, there were still many rewards.

But it's not so easy to win. If you are seen pushing the Queen's wheelchair or have a close relationship, it's inevitable that there will be some struggles.

After all, Tauride-Taurica-Taurus, back to Latin, is Taurus. When Zeus turned into a golden bull and Europa, something happened, the meaning is very clear.

When Alexander was outside, he inevitably became a popular target of the Minotaur.

Solovyov wanted to maintain this secret and intimate relationship, so he kept it secret and always kept a little distance in public.

He deliberately kept his distance, but some Guards officers didn't think so.

This aide-de-camp was next to the lovely Queen. If you want to get the reward from Her Majesty, you must find a way to move him away.

However, they all seemed to have forgotten that Solovyov himself was also quite capable, and the last person who dared to sneak into the Peterhof Palace and was about to do so was killed on the spot by him.