Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

In late February of the Julian calendar, Count von Paalen was officially appointed and returned to serve as a minister.

Unexpectedly, Count Rostopchin was dismissed from his post because of his slow progress as the dean of the Diplomatic Academy and his failure to complete the final text of the peace agreement with France in time.

Count von Paalen was overjoyed at this time. Many of the things he did were still successful, especially his position as the Minister of Posts. As long as the letters were not delivered privately, he could see them, which allowed him to spy on what everyone was doing.

He could even frame Paul based on the information he obtained and exclude those senior ministers who were still loyal to him.

However, there were a few people he found difficult to deal with. One was Kutuzov, who often went to the palace to play cards with the Tsar. The general never left any written letters. He only chatted with Paul, so there was definitely no written evidence.

"This fat man with one eye blind has never been ruled out. The tyrant trusts him very much, and he was transferred back from the post of Lithuanian Governor to serve as the commander of the Vyborg garrison."

"But none of his people are like him, at least not ours, they are very cunning."

Count von Palen listened to Count Zubov's words and agreed with him. After all, among these people, it was this count who had a close relationship with Kutuzov.

But Kutuzov is like this. He is actually very loyal and will not join these conspiracies. He is also very smooth. Paul has assigned him many tasks, and generally speaking, he has done a good job, so he has been promoted all the way.

It is said that this old, blind and sleepy fat man will soon become the military governor of St. Petersburg, with the power to command troops other than the regular army of St. Petersburg and Vyborg.

"So can we win him over?"

"This old guy, he won't participate. And we should also pay attention to the fact that he has a good relationship with Rostopchin, and he has several regiments of troops in his hands. If we don't act quickly enough..."

"Don't worry about this, Count. The tyrant won't have time to mobilize the troops outside the city, and these people won't play any role."

Indeed, although Count von Paalen's plan was hasty, it was still relatively feasible. After mobilizing the officers of the Guards on a large scale, they could place their own people, and replace the soldiers of the 3rd Battalion of the Semenovsky Regiment and the 4th Battalion of the Putin Regiment, who were better under their control, without their knowledge.

Even the excuses have been thought of. Although such a plan looks childish and ridiculous, it is very feasible.

The appointment of Kutuzov as the Military Governor of St. Petersburg has also been put on the agenda, but it is unlikely to be appointed immediately. The current governor is Count von Paalen.

Solovyov couldn't figure it out. It sounded like Xiao Duozi was going to rebel against the emperor. The composition of the Chinese and Russian imperial powers was different, but it was always outrageous that such close ministers who had made a lot of money were carrying out a widespread conspiracy.

And they also thought that they were righteous. However, judging from Alexander's style, it would be difficult to use such a group of people who dared to kill the emperor with confidence in the future.

Wouldn't it be more convenient for these greedy idiots to kill all the members of the royal family and ascend the throne themselves?

After all, the Russian royal family had few people before. If Paul and Maria hadn't given birth to so many children, there might be a crisis of succession soon. It would not be surprising if Boris Godunov appeared again.

Their result was probably that most of them would be transferred out or exiled, and would not accept the appointment for a long time.

The servants in Count Stroganov's house actually found out the news.

"Alyoshka, have you got any news?"

"To answer your question, I got it from the entourage of the young master of the von Palen family. Their young master has been working in the Guards Cavalry Regiment recently and rarely goes home. He went to work for the Count and said that he was going to deliver an invitation to Count Zubov's house."

"Oh? When your Majesty ascended the throne, their relationship was not very good!"

"That being said, I heard that among the four masters of the Zubov family, only Master Platon usually came to the house of the master of the von Palen family. Sometimes General Bennigsen would come, and there were a few people, and there was also a man in red clothes who looked like a lord from the British Embassy."

After hearing this, Count Pavel Stroganov wiped cold sweat from his forehead. Although he was only the Minister of the Palace, this position could be high or low, and generally he only acted as a facade in the court and used his talents when the royal family and the nobles were socializing.

But these people come from different directions. If they are put together, they will not talk about unspeakable things at home. That would be strange.

"Misha, I remember your funny way of expression, how did you say it?"

"If it is a normal love story, it should be Romeo and Juliet, but this is like Romeo and Fourier, which is not normal."

"It seems that we need to collect some evidence, at least we should remind the emperor and His Highness."

The Stroganov family has always been close to France, and there is Count Pavel who actually participated in the Jacobins and witnessed the capture of the Bastille on the streets of Paris. Even his good friend and third uncle Prince Dmitry Golitsyn personally took part in it when he studied in Paris.

But regardless of the position, Count Pavel is very clear about the troubles that will come from being close to Britain, and he will inevitably be used as a gun. Although Paul was chilled by Austria's micromanipulation, the British's promise was not fulfilled, which made him clearly realize that Russia will always be used to do something on the European continent.

"The British must be thinking about doing something. Their diplomats came to Count von Palen's mansion. This is not simple. Alyoshko, you go to collect the reward. This information is worth a lot of money. The reward is this."

"Thank you, young master!"

Although the rules of Count Stroganov's family are strict, the master treats the servants very kindly, and the reward money is also high, so the loyalty of these servants is high.

"It seems, Misha, that your speculations are actually quite close to the facts. In addition to Alyosha, I also sent some servants out to get some even stranger news."

"The question is, what are they going to do? If it's the British, I tend to believe it's their conspiracy. If it's a military coup, what benefit can they get?"

"A government that benefits the British is like what Queen Elizabeth Petrovna did back then, to get our government closer to the Bourbon king, but this is different. The British obviously didn't contact any member of the royal family, and the people under the crown should be from the same family."

Stroganov knew nothing about this, which meant that Alexander, who had no secrets with him, was not directly involved.

You know, Alexander blocked Count Pavel's talented wife in the corridor and wanted to pursue her. In the end, he told the count all about it, just to ask for the count's forgiveness.

But Stroganov was unwilling to tell Solovyov in person. After all, he only had the phrase "I am the emperor's confidant" pasted on his forehead. However, since the issue of imperial power was involved, he had to produce more sufficient evidence.

"Ha! This Count von Paalen, who always boasted about how honest and trustworthy he was among the ladies of the court, has now done such a thing."

"You must know more than me, Pavel."

"I don't think you want to say any jokes today, Misha. That Count, do you know what Mrs. Leven thinks of him?"

"I don't know."

"That's right, you still have to sit at the children's table for meals. After all, you can coax children and play with unmarried princes. It's normal not to know Mrs. Leven's evaluation."

Mrs. Leven is the tutor of several young ladies and is also responsible for raising Nicholas and Mikhail. However, Solovyov is always absent when she teaches, and Mrs. Leven will not appear in the princes' entertainment time and practical classes, which are often occasions for Solovyov to appear. It's not surprising, after all, this lady is very old and is almost 60 years old.

"What did the lady say?"

"She said that Count von Palen was the most honest and happiest person. It seems that this is no longer true."

"Maybe he is still a hypocritical and cunning person. There are always people like this in politics, grabbing their interests instead of for true morality."

"You can say this, I think I should formally introduce you to His Highness. Although your behavior is sometimes a bit reckless, your heart is at least bright, and you are very loyal to your friends and monarchs."

Just one thing to exclude is that he once slept with Louisa in his arms one night, and the feelings were very deep. This kind of thing cannot be said, unless Alexander is King Zhuang of Chu.

Although he has been tolerant to the point that even if Louisa really has a lover and gives birth to a girl, he will raise her as his own child, sometimes he will not be so tolerant.

The reason for this tolerance is that he has too many lovers. Louisa's cold and pitiful appearance in the Winter Palace, he himself can't bear to see it, and he has come back frequently recently.

But apart from his relationship with Louisa, he was a man known to everyone, honest and loyal, and he would never play tricks.

The Count was going to tell Alexander and the Tsar what happened, but you would never expect that someone would come out to make trouble at this critical juncture.

Paul heard about a duel between the end of February and the beginning of March.

At this time, Alexander came to the Mikhailovsky Palace with his entourage. The father and son were sitting in the office. Paul was accompanied by Count Kutaisov, and behind Alexander were Stroganov and Solovyov - Alexander still felt that he should bring the young adjutant he sent when he came here to see his father.

"It's ridiculous to duel together like this. I heard that it was a duel between Alexander Ribeaupierre, a young man from Switzerland, and Czetvertinsky, a Polish prince! What were they going to do? Jealousy for a woman? Some asked for confidentiality, but others asked, ha! What? If I knew about this, these two little bastards should be expelled from the country. It's not like... Misha, I remember you dueled with a secretary from Venice for the honor of Mrs. Lebrun and her daughter?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, there was such a thing, but I didn't have the chance to meet you at that time."

"It was really early, your duel was a just duel. When I found out later, you were not punished because of your rare talent, and you are Russian, so it is unlikely that you will be expelled from the country."

Paul was still angry, and he didn't say it clearly, because von Paalen advocated confidentiality, and Dmitri Naryshkin leaked the matter, and it was even rumored that they fought because of jealousy for Paul's mistress Anna Gagarina.

The Tsar usually would not punish duelists, but since it involved the reputation of people around him, he decided to personally inquire about it.

However, according to what Alexander and Count Stroganov knew, the young Swiss man did not like Princess Gagarina, but liked Princess Yusupov's daughter Ekaterina Potemkina, born to her deceased ex-husband.

What's even more outrageous is that Ribeau-Pierre, now 21 years old, is very rich, and the girl he likes is the cousin of the "little fairy", who is only 14 years old this year. The outrageous thing is that Ribeau-Pierre is handsome and very popular in social circles.

Paul also likes him very much, often lets him be an aide-de-camp, and promises to send him to the diplomatic department or the National Bank in the future, where he can show his skills.

"Why does this unpromising boy want to cause trouble at this time? When he recovers from his injury, I will send him back to Switzerland!"

"Your Majesty, calm down first. I think things are not that simple." Count Kutaisov was still trying to calm Paul's irritable mood.

Of course, Solovyov knew about this. After all, the "little fairy" treated him as a "good sister" before getting married, and knew that her cousin was pursued at a young age by this Swiss boy.

It is well known that the Engelhardt sisters are very beautiful, and their daughters are also very beautiful. If they stand together in social occasions, they are a string of dazzling gemstone necklaces.

"But I know Sasha, he should not like Princess Gagarina, after all, this is not his favorite."

Solovyov said it by himself, and directly told the gossip that the "little fairy" told him in front of the people in the room.

Unexpectedly, Paul's temper subsided, and he smiled and turned his eyes to him.

"You need to show evidence to protect your friend!"

"In fact, my friendship with Sasha is not like that of the three Dolgorukov brothers. We are colleagues in protecting the emperor, and sometimes we can learn about his affairs."