Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

Chapter 40 040 Tsar Paul, who was deeply loved by the serfs during his tour

Tsar Paul in Gatchina was actually extremely annoyed by Suvorov's absurd behavior of coming and not attending the event. However, while he was petty, he was extremely tolerant of the old marshal and did not impose any punitive measures. Or the kind of "character humiliation" common to the aristocratic class.

The old marshal does not hold any position now and is idle at home, so there is no punishment method available in this area.

So the final result was that Paul lifted Suvorov's confinement measures at his own estate in Novgorod, but further job arrangements were made in one word: "no".

Of course, Paul found this thin and wizened old man really interesting. He had clearly accepted more than 70% of the contents of the New Deal, but he refused to give in on the "Prussianization" of military reform. This was also why he was so indifferent to others. Being careful, he still left room for the old marshal.

The premise is that he doesn't know that some conspirators are doing things secretly under the banner of the old marshal.

Now, he is in a good mood in Gatchina. Chatting with the serfs he liberated when he was the crown prince in Gatchina is a kind of pastime, and it is also a way to understand the people's sentiments. Although these serfs are still "serfs" in name, However, the local area is the place where the "Three Days Edict" is enforced most strictly. The local magistrate once asked the tsar in his petition, do peasant women also count?

This problem is not a bad joke. There are quite funny situations across Russia.

The big landowners in Ukraine keep shouting "Long live the Emperor" because the traditional local labor is "two days of corvee". Although everyone is a serf owner, there are some honest landowners here who only have two days of corvée. A local tradition.

At the same time, the serfs were also shouting "Long live the Emperor" because there were some bastard landlords there who exploited them even more ruthlessly than in Russia! As for the matter of turning two days into three days, according to the tradition of village self-government, it is still open to question whether it can be implemented. In addition, some people will say that the emperor only allows us to work for the master three days a week. This is the upper limit!

Sure enough, in Russia, some things cannot be speculated with common sense.

As for the issue of peasant women raised by the local magistrate of Gatchina, some wives of serfs prohibited the implementation of the article breaking up families, and considering the fierce nature of Russian women, they would raise a question, that is, this edict It's their old man who's talking, not them, so there's always someone who refuses to break bread.

In fact, this problem is not unique to Gatchina around Petersburg. Paul's declaration seems to be very standardized, but both the pros and cons are using the emperor's new policy to make profits for themselves. It's so lively here.

However, wherever the Russian emperor went, as long as his ceremonial guard appeared and was seen by the passing serfs, there were still people waving their fur hats or straw hats and shouting "Our little father, Pavel" ·Long live Petrovich".

On the Russian side, there are still many problems.

After reading the petition from the local magistrate, Paul summoned the provincial secretary responsible for Gatchina and several surrounding towns for questioning. After listening to his opinions, he also believed that it should be more standardized.

"Gatchina has always been my territory. It is also the first place to implement the Three-Day Edict. We must regulate the behavior of everyone and ask them not to take advantage of national laws! Not only the landowners, but also the serfs, these two The same goes for the mother-in-law at home, don’t cause trouble all day long.”

"Your Majesty, what about the actors in the serf theater?"

A secretary actually asked a question, which required the young but experienced civil servant Alexander, the second son of Prince Saltykov, to come out and sing.

Today, it happened that an officer of the Pavlovsky Regiment was on duty in the palace. Solovyov saw this guy explaining the problem in a set of long and flowing sentences. Sure enough, he looked like Sir Humphrey. This skill pack is exactly the same.

"What's the conclusion?"

"No one is allowed to violate the original intention of the order. Your Majesty, if someone wants to take advantage of the loopholes of the law, necessary measures must be taken."

"Then do this, Sasha. When you return to Petersburg, ask your father to convene a committee of the permanent members of the Privy Council, as well as experts in Russian grammar."

"Your Majesty, don't you want a French grammar expert?"

"How many farmers in our country can understand French? We only need Russian language experts!"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

And he had a tendency to do Bernard's work as well.

Then Paul was a little restless. It was still morning, earlier than working hours, so he came out to summon these civil servants and secretaries. They all hurriedly came from their respective stations the night before. They wanted to know where the Queen visited during her time. , there was no such surprising move. All day long, they just summoned officials and local squires, and issued oral instructions one after another.

Even those who were watching felt that he was a bit eager for quick success, but it was no wonder that the queen's path to the throne was actually somewhat similar to that of the empress of the Tang Dynasty, in which she squeezed out her son's position.

It’s not surprising that Paul acted impatiently.

Now that he had dismissed the officials, and even sent little Prince Saltykov to draw up documents, he was ready to go to the garden to have a look.

"You officers on duty, prepare your horses first. Solovyov, Karpov, you two follow me."

They all said that they had to "prepare their horses", which meant they were going out on horseback to patrol the territory. Paul was a very impatient man. He felt that the officials in Gatchina were quite loyal, but that was not necessarily the case in some nearby places.

But asking the two of them to follow him was probably because Karpov's swordsmanship was great, and Solovyov could shoot randomly with two pistols, and his brain was infinitely better than the average officer who could only "Ula".

But when he entered the garden, he went straight to his daughter-in-law.

If Paul were an ordinary rich man, he would be a good family head.

"Louisa, you are getting more and more radiant. This is good. You should move more. If it is not convenient, you can ask the servant to carry you out to relax."

Paul even called the Crown Princess by her real name, which shows that this "eccentric father-in-law" is indeed not much different from the parents-in-law of ordinary people, even if they are from the royal family.

"Whether it's a boy or a girl, it's a good thing. Don't worry too much."

This daughter-in-law is more likeable when she is pitiful. Alexander also happened to hit her directly this time, and did not need the female official to explain that "God is omnipotent".

Alexander was not in the garden, but went to the legion with Constantine. This was a task arranged by Paul. When the tsar summoned the civil servants, they also had to shoulder the responsibility.

Paul had been dissatisfied with Constantine's ridiculous behavior recently, so he dragged him into the army to allow his second daughter-in-law to hide away for a few days - of course, he also hoped that the boy would learn from his brother as soon as possible.

In his personal life, he still pays great attention to his family, but no matter how you look at it, the stage of Russia is too big for him.

You know, feudal serfdom is prevalent in Europe. Russia even had this edict earlier than the German states, but they got up early and went to the evening market.

Paul took several grenadier officers on duty and outstanding riders selected from the hussars, and left Gatchina on horseback to inspect nearby villages.

This was not a "private visit in disguise". It was entirely on the Tsar's own initiative. He suddenly led a few officers, not even his personal servants, to a nearby village to have a look.

His image of wearing a black Prussian military uniform and holding a cane was already familiar to the serfs near Gatchina.

If we look back to the past, there was also a strange thing during the Pugachev uprising. Pugachev called himself "Peter III" and at the same time said that after overthrowing the Queen's rule, he would return the power to "Pavel" Pavlovich" and serve him with all our strength.

Whether Paul was the Crown Prince or the Tsar, his "photo stickers" of all ages had long been widely publicized in Russia, so people regardless of their status generally knew what his "Tsar's little daddy" looked like.

It's true that he doesn't look good, but it also lets the serfs know for the first time that there is an emperor sitting in the palace, but he cares about them.

As soon as he arrived in the village, he attracted a strong crowd of serfs.

"Come and see, our emperor is here!"

The head of the village shouted, today happens to be Sunday. The three-day edict clearly states that three days of work is for the master, three days of work is for yourself, and the remaining day belongs to God - it is actually a rest day.

The whole village's men, women, and children all showed up, which also frightened several young officers. Good guy, our emperor's reputation among the old men in Petersburg is not very good. Why, when they arrived in the village, these people had never seen the Tsar in person. It was amazing to see the portrait in the master's house. But after seeing the real person, they recognized him very well, and they all shouted "Ula!"

This is a large village with hundreds of people. As a result, everyone rushed to tell each other. The climate near Petersburg was still relatively warm and had already thawed. Some people did not wear shoes and wore foot wraps before going out.

Before Paul could ask about the situation in the village, the villagers had already brought out bread and salt.

Except on the window sill of the Winter Palace, the Tsar had never seen so many people crowded below. And unlike usual, he only brought a few entourage today, and there was no Guards blocking him.

"Your Majesty, I didn't expect you to come to our village of Bolshevo. All the men, women, and children in the village, a total of 404 people, are here."

Note: This data is taken from the census during the reign of Nicholas I

Others were just there shouting "Ula", that is, a few older people, who looked like they had served in the army before, came closer and reported to Paul.

"Your village is quite small. Which family is your master?"

"If you go back to the Emperor, it's Prince Wittgenstein's house. There is a sawmill in the village, but I haven't seen you here before, but you are here, Your Majesty."

It's a good thing that I haven't been here. If their master had less control, he might not bother to take care of the sale and rent of serfs. On the contrary, it would be easier for the serfs. I have to say it is a kind of black humor.

"Ah, that's a coincidence. I listened to the civil servant's report in Gatchina this morning and wanted to come down to take a look, so I came to your village. You look like a veteran. What's your name? What’s your last name? How many people are in your family? Which regiment did you serve in before?”

The old man didn't expect that their emperor would care about his family, so he cried bitterly. It was a spontaneous traditional Russian performance.

The serfs were simple-minded. They used to rebel and resist taxes, hoping to have a good emperor. They would thank God if they could collect less taxes. They didn't expect that the current Tsar would come with a few followers to inspect directly from the north road of the village.

"To answer your question, my surname is Smirnov, Ivan Ivanovich. This surname was given to me by my superiors when I served the empress. At that time, I served in the Ingria Regiment. When I fought against the Turks, I made three merits and received three rewards. Before I joined the army, I married my wife and had two sons. My sons also married wives and they also had children. If I fight those Turkish barbarians again, I will lose an arm, but I can still offer a few good soldiers to the emperor."

His two sons and several grandsons stood behind the old man. They were strong and strong, and they were good laborers at first glance.

"I say to you, old soldier, your children and grandchildren are all good men. What if your master is reluctant to let them go?"

Paul still knows a little about the situation below. When recruiting soldiers, these landlords always hide their best laborers. As soon as he came to power, he was fighting wits and courage with these nobles.

When recruiting soldiers, they couldn't get good soldiers, and the recruited serfs were misappropriated by the masters. This is a daily operation.

"As long as the emperor and the crown prince need people, we will go even if they are not allowed to go!"

It is actually a Russian tradition to sneak into the army. You have to taste it. There are even women who dress up as men to join the army.

What he said touched Paul. In St. Petersburg, he could only hear some truth from his confidants, but he heard more flattery. This time, he walked into a village casually. These serfs were considered the lowest level in Russian society. They were simple and strong, and they told all the truth.

Among Paul's new policies, the most beneficial thing for them was definitely the "Three-Day Edict". Secondly, when the army passed by, the services provided by the village were no longer free. Everyone who provided services to the officers and horses of the army had to add 15 kopecks in addition to the prescribed remuneration.

Another key point was the abolition of the old grain tax law that was a disaster for serfs, and the adoption of a relaxed new law, which exempted nearly 7 million rubles of head tax.

Just based on these three points, salt and bread were also ordered to stabilize the market, reduce prices, and allow serfs to breathe.

Paul was also invited to his home by this old soldier. In addition to the bread and salt they served, they also roasted a piece of venison. It was just that the meat was too much seasoning. It was really that after the price of salt was forcibly lowered by the tsar himself, the cooks were willing to add salt.

This tsar was probably the first tsar after Peter the Great who could sit in the home of an ordinary farmer like this, but he lacked courage. His policy was correct, but he lacked skills.

He looked at these enthusiastic serfs, moved to tears, and wiped his eyes with a handkerchief.

"You are all my good people, but there are still many villages like you in Russia. I can't come one by one. It has to be like this. Soloviev, you take notes!"

Soloviev has been offline for a long time, standing behind the Tsar. He didn't expect that he still had something to do here. He didn't bring a secretary out, so he took notes.

Who told you to recognize so many words and write fast?

"Today I went to the village of Bolshevo. The villagers are simple and honest, loyal to the emperor and patriotic, and exempted from national taxes for two years!"

Anyway, if the "master offline system" of Prince Wittgenstein's family really dares to collect more than the limit of the master's own miscellaneous taxes? This place is also close to Gatchina. Find a priest to recite a "forbidden spell". No, write a petition. The master is afraid that he will really go offline in Russia.

Paul will go to several cities and villages near Moscow next. This time he visited the villages. In the past, those who came to see the Russian Tsar were all local lords. Now Paul came, there was a circle of lords inside and two circles of serfs and citizens outside.

After all, he was still a Tsar. From the letter written by Kostroma to Queen Maria, it was mentioned: "Serfs can be given freedom, but they cannot exist as a political class. If they make a sound, the final result will be the fall of the crown." From what he said in the past, it can be seen that this Tsar must be underestimated.

Being able to think of this is better than many European monarchs at that time.

He would open and read all the petitions himself: in 1797, he received 3,229 petitions, responded to 854 in writing, and responded to 1,793 in the form of oral instructions by the secretary, and some of them would be published in full in newspapers in St. Petersburg and Moscow after being approved by the Tsar himself.

It is no wonder that the great nobles of Russia at that time and the populists later hated him to death, while the serfs, citizens and reformers loved him from the bottom of their hearts.

Even in the manifesto of the Decembrists, there were praises for his promotion of reform.