Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

Chapter 45 045 Too much bad news in August

In the summer of 1798, the French did a lot of things on the way. Although the news was transmitted to Petersburg very slowly, the fast horse could also be transferred from Vienna, Warsaw, and the Baltic coast to Petersburg.

At this time, the French signal machines were actually more efficient and faster. In the absence of telegraphs, this kind of signal was already very fast.

The Valletta Fortress has always been considered indestructible. Even if it came from the sea, the power of the Middle East powers in the past could not penetrate it. There was no new dynasty and elegant politics on land, and the small Malta had never been broken.

However, in June 1798, the French expeditionary fleet quickly succeeded here. Anyway, the combat effectiveness of the Knights of Malta was already very poor. Even if there were only a few thousand people, they were vulnerable, and the locals did not support their plan to continue fighting.

In a few days, the French controlled the island and obtained a lot of wealth from the collection of the Knights of Malta. It would be strange if the French did not rob the locals when they went to war.

General Bonaparte did not bring Massena with him this time. This general who was keen on robbing might feel it was a pity, but the Egyptian expedition was not fun at all. There were too many dangerous things.

For example, there was a Rear Admiral Nelson who was blind in one eye and missing an arm. He turned the Royal Navy into a royal brothel. When he went to sea, the captain of the flagship "HMS Vanguard" was a guy who was "not good at sailing", and the mast was blown off, and then the Mediterranean Squadron missed General Bonaparte's expedition fleet.

When the French landed in Malta, his Mediterranean Squadron was still active in the area of ​​Elba Island, and then he chased in the direction of Malta, but because he ran too fast, he missed the French again.

At this moment, General Bonaparte was still organizing training for officers on the "Orient", and he didn't notice that danger had passed by him several times.

If Nelson had an ironclad ship, the boiler would be red hot by now, and he would be driving madly at a speed of 29 knots.

Then he turned to the coast of the Levant, but he would also be empty-handed there.

Sometimes, the navy's skills and tactics are better, which will also cause huge troubles. If Nelson had sailed slower, he would have met the French fleet at sea.

This expedition itself is an absurd move made by the Directory, and it will soon bring about another anti-French alliance.

The current patrons of the Knights of Malta are Britain and Russia. There is still some actual presence in Britain, and squadrons will be sent here regularly for supplies. Russia is based on previous commitments and treaties, and when the Russian fleet or merchant fleet passes through the Mediterranean, it also needs some neutral or friendly places as supply points.

By the time this news reached St. Petersburg, it was already August, and it was considered as an eye drop for Tsar Paul.

In terms of time, this was also the day when Louisa was about to give birth. After General Bonaparte occupied Malta, he went to Egypt. Naturally, he won first and then lost in his expedition to Egypt and Syria, which was futile. In addition to rediscovering the great civilization of Egypt and causing a boom in archaeology in the future, there may be pseudo-historians who promote Egypt, Greece and the Middle East civilizations all day long. A few people regard it as a criterion, and most people regard them as fools, and more online gossip and jokes. That's about it.

Art historians, don't touch archaeology and whitewash the Elgin family, who are habitual offenders of cultural relics destruction, on the issue of the Parthenon!

When the news reached St. Petersburg, Paul was indeed very dissatisfied, but now he did not make up his mind to go to war with the French. The one who was really fighting against France was Britain. After his inspection, he returned to St. Petersburg and did not intend to intervene in a war at this time, especially for Russia, which might not be of great benefit.

After all, you don't need to read Zuo Zhuan to know that if Russia sent troops to the west and helped the European monarchies defeat France, any benefits it would get would mainly be in the neighboring countries. For Russia, there would be no direct benefits and advantages, and it would be a waste of time to be a good person.

When France did not show any signs of destroying the European order, it was actually not beneficial for Russia to take action.

In this way, just like Britain always had to maintain the balance of the European continent and France had to maintain the system after the Thirty Years' War, they all had basic diplomatic national policies as the basis.

Paul was not in a hurry now. He had to wait for the movement of the Vienna court. Now the two families had the intention of getting married. Grand Duke Joseph came to St. Petersburg to marry Grand Duchess Alexandra, but Paul said in front of his daughter, "I will never see her again. She will be a 'sacrifice'." There was a haze in the family. Count Rostopchin, who had recently fallen out of favor, also discovered Paul's abnormality and wrote in his notes, "Marriage with the Habsburgs is not a good idea."

Even though Archduke Joseph had good personal character, it was indeed doubtful what the overall effect of this marriage would be.

As for Alexandra's own attitude, she was actually a little discouraged after a failed marriage that lasted for several years. She loved poetry and was a little sentimental. She heard about the marriage plan and her father was talking about it. Whenever he spoke to her, he always spoke to her in a guilty tone, which made her very uncomfortable.

She even had the idea of ​​going to a monastery to become a nun and not to be involved in any marriage.

The previous king of Sweden had been struggling with the matter for several years, which had seriously worn down her patience. From the age of twelve to fifteen, she was worried about this matter.

But this is the mother's opinion, and it also involves the marriage between Russia and Austria.

Now it is Luisa and Elena's turn to worry about this problem for her, as well as Maria and Ekaterina. The eldest sister has been facing these problems ever since she got involved with that "Swedish jackass".

But what's more important is that Louisa was sent to the delivery room this time. Because Paul was worried about some old Western doctors, this time he had his trustworthy Admiralty Hospital assist the frail princess.

Although there were health problems, the Tsar himself was personally supervising them, and the performance of the Admiralty Hospital was the best in Petersburg.

"But to have a baby, she has to rely on herself."

This time, the whole family was guarding the door. Luisa was in pain inside and had already started shouting in German words such as Huch. It seemed that the situation was not optimistic.

Paul was leaning on his cane and his face was ashen. He hadn't heard anything good in August.

He himself felt that there was a problem with his eldest daughter's marriage, as did several of his favorites and people in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Although this marriage could strengthen relations with the Habsburgs, the Austrian court, starting from Maria Theresa, He also heard about the situation.

This is not optimistic. If we really send our daughter away, who knows what will happen.

He was also troubled by this. Even though it was a day without political support, he still asked Prince Saltykov to follow him behind him with a folder.

This member of the Privy Council, a senior Russian civil servant, looks more and more like Humphrey. What's more terrible is that his title is higher than that of a special prince. Giving him a title should be unattractive.

"Your Majesty, I think that staying calm at this time is the greatest support for Her Royal Highness Elizabeth."

"Thank you, Sasha, I know, but for the current marriage with Austria, if the negotiations can be suspended, I think after all, diplomats from both sides make decisions on behalf of the two governments and monarchs. I want you to join the negotiations. Well, think of some ways."

"Your Majesty, how could you have such an idea? This has been negotiated through correspondence with Vienna."

Paul's emotional instability seemed to have become a huge variable. He felt uncomfortable hearing that his daughter-in-law was suffering in the delivery room, and now he began to worry about his daughter.

Solovyov has not read the historical trend of Russia. The reason why he has not read the script is that he knows about this era. It is estimated that these are events involving generals and major figures. The marriage between Russia and Austria is a diplomatic move, and because the parties involved are not It's so famous that very few people pay attention to it.

Of course, if you read the script, you won’t think much of it.

As for Prince Alexander Saltykov, he remembered a delaying tactic he mentioned when he was chatting with Tsar Paul's aide-de-camp, Count Karl von Neschelrodie, in a cafe.

It is also the famous "four-stage tactics of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs". Although the British are most familiar with this, it does not mean that other countries will not use it. I don't know where the little bespectacled Earl learned it from or summarized it.

For this little prince, one thing that needs to be noted is that his family actually serves the monarch, and the operation of the government can only come second, but he cannot make such ridiculous policies. Since the emperor had begun to worry that the eldest princess might encounter misfortune when she married away to Austria, he also thought that as a "servant of the monarch", he should serve the monarch's vision.

After all, this does not involve fundamental interests, and in the reform of the great nobility, Prince Saltkov's family and the counts of his family did not suffer much loss in interests, so they still worked for the reform of the tsar himself.

The prince himself is only the second son. His eldest brother is blind. Although the third brother has relied on the protection of his father and brother to become a high-ranking civil servant and a servant of the inner court, he is also a playboy. The burden of the entire prince's family is on him. And that old father who was strict with his wife.

Recently, because of his ability in administrative and diplomatic affairs, he has won the trust of His Majesty the Tsar. There are some things that he has to share with His Majesty.

After thinking about it again and again, he decided to come up with this method: "Your Majesty, I think we can take some measures. It's just necessary."

"Ah, I know what you mean. We can go to the stairs. The guards are only on both sides."

As for what happened in the delivery room, Paul really had nothing to do. The queen was not in there this time, but she could take charge of the family affairs.

Queen Maria saw Paul's movements and knew that she was going to discuss something with that "cunning little fox".

She could guess that because her daughter-in-law was currently in the delivery room and had to leave behind closed doors, His Majesty must be worried about her daughter.

They are an old couple, and they have been through so many things. But the five girls in the family will all get married in the future. The first birth is usually the most dangerous, and it will be smoother in the future.

She herself went through this, but the first birth of Alexander and the last birth of Mikhail were indeed a bit dangerous.

Alexander over there looked like a ginger cat scratching the wall, anyway, he was very anxious.

When Paul turned to the stairs, Prince Saltykov expressed his opinion to the Tsar.

"Your Majesty, this can adopt the four-stage tactics mentioned above. We can delay the time of this marriage. Grand Duke Joseph's visit was in February 1799. When he came to St. Petersburg, he had to follow Russian traditions. There are some ways to delay time, such as the traditional folk engagement ceremony and the one-year cooling-off period before marriage."

These seem to be Russian traditions, that is, when the engagement comes to St. Petersburg, both parties have to inspect each other.

"You have a good idea, go on."

"If we organize another anti-French alliance and need our army to be dispatched, we must also decide whether to marry in the end based on the war situation."

This made Paul suddenly enlightened. Don't rush to send your daughter. Grand Duke Joseph came to Petersburg to get engaged. After the engagement ceremony, the formal wedding will take another year, and the diplomatic clauses must be added.

And Alexander Saltykov, this "Sasha", is a good hand at playing with words in this regard. His strengths are official document writing and poetry in French, and diplomatic clauses are all made in French, so there is a way to deal with this matter.

"That's it, Sasha, you do it this way. You must consider the content of the contract, especially the diplomatic clauses of this marriage."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Paul's hanging heart means that half of the daughter's affairs are put down, and the other half is the daughter-in-law's side. He doesn't want his son to repeat the path he has walked.

But his worries soon passed. Although Louisa was very delicate in the eyes of her parents-in-law and husband, she survived this ordeal and finally gave birth to a baby girl.

The biggest problem was that the Crown Princess was too slender, and the weight of the child at birth could be said to be that of a "big princess". The biggest advantage when the Queen chose her almost cost her life.

Now there are professional doctors and midwives here. After cleaning the child's body, they put it in the swaddling clothes and took it out.

"Your Majesty, this child is not small!"

And this pair of blue eyes, when slightly opened, is like a pair of sapphires, which is highly consistent with the pupil color of the parents.

"Thank God, thank God for the artillery, 201 rounds of cannon fire! This is a great event!"

Paul and his family were mentally tortured for a day, and now they are finally relieved.

As for naming the child, Paul did not follow the general rules. The approaching naming day was Catholic, so he finally named his granddaughter "Evdokia", which means "kindness" or "love" in ancient Greek. If a derived nickname is familiar to everyone, it would be "Donia".