I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 600: Song of Poland (asking for monthly ticket)
With Stanislaw II's advance arrangement, the news of his "audience" with the Tsar occupied the headlines of major newspapers in Petersburg that day. Many newspapers even published his disgusting speech in full.

Petersburg was immediately filled with joy. Although the Russians had always considered Poland to be their "little follower", the fact that the Polish king came in person and showed his utmost humility was a completely different feeling.

Catherine II was obviously very satisfied with Stanisław II's attitude. She praised him highly and hosted a sumptuous dinner for him.

However, the elegant young man beside the Tsar always stared at the Polish king with vigilance - every time the latter got a little closer to Catherine II, he would use various methods to get between the two.

Stanislaw II was very polite to him and gave him many valuable gifts.

The King of Poland knew that this man was the biggest obstacle to his trip - Catherine II's current lover, Pladen Zubov.

He seemed very patient and visited the Tsar every day with formal etiquette, and only talked about state affairs, which were basically about how Poland was now in a precarious situation and was more loyal to Russia than ever before.

Four days later, Stanisław II finally got the opportunity he wanted.

He was invited by the Tsar to participate in a hunting trip and stayed in the hunting palace in the evening.

Under the moonlight, the Polish king, who had been wandering in the courtyard, saw Catherine II wearing a mink coat and appearing on the balcony on the second floor. The pretty boy was probably too tired from hunting and did not follow her.

Stanisław II immediately signaled to his entourage, took the Scottish organ handed to him, and began to play it more than 30 meters away from the balcony.

A piece of music with deep affection and a touch of sadness floated into the night sky. It was the theme song of the later "Titanic" "My heart will go on".

Catherine II was immediately attracted by the melodious organ sound. She leaned over to look and saw a lonely man leaning against a pine tree, exuding a melancholy and desolate charm.

After the man finished the prelude, he switched to the cello and began to sing:
"Every night, in my dreams.

"I see you, I touch you."

"Then let me know that your heart is still the same..."

Stanisław II had a pretty good singing voice. After all, a man who was favored by the Tsar had to have some singing skills.

The lyrics have been adapted into French by Joseph, retaining much of the flavor of the English version.

Catherine II was immediately attracted by the passionate singing. When the first verse ended and the interlude began, she immediately turned to the servant and said, "Is that... Stashi?"

She unknowingly felt as if she had returned to the time more than 20 years ago, and subconsciously said Stanislaw's nickname.

The servant bowed his head and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, that is indeed His Majesty Stanislaw II."

Catherine II waited until the song was finished, her ears filled with the sad and beautiful melody, her eyes were a little blurry, she raised her hand and said, "Let him come over."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The next day.

Pladen Zubov woke up from his sleep, but found that the Tsar was not with him.

He quickly put on his clothes and went to the living room, where he saw Catherine II admiring an oil painting. Next to her was the author of the painting, the famous Russian painter Fyodor Stepanovich Rokotov.

In the picture, Stanislaw II bowed humbly, while the Tsar stood on the high steps in front of the Winter Palace, surrounded by hundreds of Russian nobles, looking very majestic.

It was exactly the same scene as when the King of Poland came to the audience the day before.

Of course, Stanislaw II paid Rokotov a lot of money to paint the painting. Catherine II looked at the painting with satisfaction and told her attendant, "Hang it in the concert hall when you get back."

She was attracted not by the fact that the painting showed Stanislaw II, but by the fact that it showed the majesty of the Russian Tsar and the submissive attitude of Poland.

The next evening, Stanislaw II "accidentally" met Catherine in the corridor again.

The latter sent Zubov away, and then listened to her Stashi playing "Let it be me" for her.

"Thank God for letting me meet you
"I want to stay with you..."

This theme song of "Heartbeat" is more emotional and straightforward than the one the day before, and once again made Catherine II fall into memories of the past.

After a while, she looked at Stashi and said, "You have never shown such excellent talent for composition before."

"I still can't compose music, Your Majesty. I just wrote down the thoughts in my heart."

Catherine II smiled and did not return to Zubov's room. Instead, she had a long talk with Stashi by the fireplace and listened to him play "My Heart Will Go On" several times, her face full of reminiscence.

Stanisław II did not expect it to go so smoothly.

You know, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince prepared 7 extremely romantic songs for him. Each one is so touching that it can be called a masterpiece.

In the end, I only used the second song to get it done.

After that, Catherine II still favored Zubov alone - after all, an old man in his 50s certainly doesn't taste as good as a young man in his 20s.

But she would summon Stashi every now and then to listen to him play those moving music and relive the romantic times of the past together.

Yes, aged bacon also has its own unique flavor, and sometimes goes better with rice than fresh meat.

In this way, Stanislaw II shamelessly settled down in the Winter Palace.

……

Warsaw.

In the hall of the Tin Dome Palace, Prince Poniatowski looked around at the people in front of him, flipped through the manuscript in his hand and said:
"Then I think everyone has no objection to making Catholicism the state religion, right?"

He has recently gone over the constitutional provisions in detail with Sieyès.

The latter used his extraordinary political acumen to help him eliminate to the greatest extent possible all content that might cause a shock to the situation.

At the same time, he helped him sort out the distribution of political forces in Poland and developed a plan to unite all political forces.

The representative of the Patriotic Party curled his lips but said nothing.

In the amendments that the prince just read out, although Catholicism becomes the state religion, the constitution does not require citizens to convert to Catholicism. Protestantism, Orthodoxy, and even Islam are all allowed.

Because of the state religion, the Vatican has promised to provide Poland with 25 scudos in aid, which is approximately equivalent to 110 million francs.

This is definitely a huge sum of money for the stingy Vatican, which shows how satisfied the Vatican is with Poland becoming the "Spear of God" again.

(End of this chapter)