Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

Chapter 200 012 Empress Elizabeth of Russia has arrived in Stockholm

Turku was the capital of Finland at this time and the center of Swedish rule in Finland. Before the rise of Russia, they had always controlled the entire eastern Baltic Sea. After Peter the Great came over, and after 21 years of the Great Northern War, they finally The dust has settled.

Sweden's past territory has been opened up, and now the Baltic Sea is not entirely theirs. The war between the two sides actually started with the Livonian War, and ran through the early and middle stages of the Romanov dynasty's rule of Russia, all the way to the Napoleonic Wars. During this period, Finland became part of Russia, and finally the Grand Duchy of Finland emerged from the merger of Swedish-controlled Finland and the Russian province of Vyborg.

The alliance and peace between Russia and Sweden have a lot to do with what is happening on the European continent. In fact, the Swedes themselves are aware of this visit by the Russian Queen.

The ship departed from Turku and headed directly to Stockholm. The freezing period has passed and the scenery on the Baltic Sea is very beautiful. When passing the main island of Åland, the wind direction was always northeasterly, which was very smooth, and this distance Very close too.

Once, a visitor from Russia came to Stockholm, and this time his status was higher. From the Swedish fort near Ship Island, a salute was fired to welcome the arrival of Queen Elizabeth of Russia.

Like the previous interviews, King Gustav will also hold a reception at the Swedish Palace. Moreover, Louisa is Frederica's sister. Their sisters' preferences are relatively similar, which saves a lot of pomp and ceremony. .

The Prince of Baden, who is recovering from his injuries, can now move around, but Carl Ludwig's legs are still a little weak. He came here with the help of his servants, and he was very happy to meet his daughter again.

At the reception, various activities were indeed prepared. For this kind of diplomatic occasion, a banquet was naturally held.

The characteristic of Lake Mälaren near Stockholm is the variety of fish that abounds in the lake, and the presence of wild ducks and geese at this banquet also takes care of the stomachs of the Baden sisters. Frederica and Louisa is close in age, and many of the little problems are "the same".

Of course, Badberg's appearance is indispensable at such a banquet. As one of the Tsar's teachers and the Russian ambassador to Sweden, he also has to appear on this occasion.

"Your Highness, I hope you will enjoy your visit to Stockholm. The scenery here is also beautiful. In accordance with Your Majesty's instructions, I will send an embassy attaché to accompany Your Highness in daily activities."

"Thank you. I think the military attache you are talking about is Major Solovyov, right?"

"Yes, Your Highness, he has traveled to many places in Sweden before, and he accompanied His Highness Crown Prince Baden on his previous trip to Lake Mälaren."

"I know this, and he is also His Majesty's aide-de-camp, but he will go to Berlin and Dresden later."

Louisa was actually a little reluctant to let go of Solovyov. She knew that this business trip would take a long time, there would be many places to go, and she would not be able to see him for a while.

If it's just a caring sister getting married, her current lover will also be away for a long time, and the mental pressure caused by this time is doubled. Of course, she also knew very well that matters with Solovyov were kept confidential. This situation was very low-key and quite safe.

As for the way here, she also knew that the arranged accommodation was on the shore of Lake Mälaren. The two of them could find a secret place to date every night or even during the day, especially since there were so many islands on Lake Mälaren and the water area was also very large. When traveling, we will spend half of the time staying at Drottningholm Palace and some palaces and castles, and the other half of the time we will go to the lake and stay in manors and villas by the lake.

The schedule was all planned, and Louisa agreed.

"The place we have arranged to stay today, Your Highness, is the China Pavilion on Queen's Island. We will go there after the banquet."

"Misha, after you make arrangements, you have to come to me."

"I await your call at any time."

While the receptions and concerts here were still going on, Solovyov went to Queen's Island first to arrange accommodation for his entourage and Louisa and Amalia. The Swedish king and his wife were to entertain the Russian empress, as well as the parents of the two distinguished ladies and their sisters and brothers, to watch a play in the theater at Drottningholm Palace.

Although this theater is small in scale, it is also very special among Drottningholm Palace. It retains mechanically assisted performance devices. The stage machinery is very clever. It can be said that at the beginning of the 19th century, royal families from all over the world were in the palace. Prefer this form of performance, but relatively few have survived, and the theater still exists into the 21st century.

If the original course of history had been followed, Drottningholm Palace would have been abandoned for more than 20 years after the Vasa royal family was expelled and a Frenchman became king. It was not until the time of Oscar I that restoration began. During this period, only a few Members of the European royal family only use the gardens here when they visit Stockholm.

The China Pavilion is an independent building in Drottningholm Palace. It displays many rare treasures brought back by the Swedish East India Company. It is also very suitable for entertaining distinguished guests.

When he saw the outer wall of the palace, Solovyov also found that the Swedes, who were proficient in carpentry, were able to show the "Chinese style". Only the decoration style and internal structure were still Europeanized, but the meaning and the general appearance were there, which was a pleasant surprise.

This is the Queen and Queen Mother of Sweden, Louisa Ulrika of Prussia, the daughter of a "sergeant king" and the sister of Frederick the Great. The palace she loved very much took more than ten years to build when she was the queen. Later, it became the property of Gustav III when he was the crown prince, and it has been preserved until now.

"This palace is interesting. It is closer to the original appearance than the 'Chinese Palace' in other places."

"No wonder. You understand Chinese culture and should know this place very well."

"After all, this is still the framework of a European palace, but there are some Chinese porcelains as decorations. If it is according to my idea, you can also refer to Chinese porcelain and order some porcelains from European porcelain factories. They can be European in style or imitate the appearance of Chinese utensils. For example, among Chinese porcelains, some porcelains with special colors are still very beautiful."

Of course, if he talked about the history of porcelain development in white porcelain, celadon and various porcelains, it would be enough to confuse the Swedish eunuchs who came with him.

And such an exotic Rococo decoration is suitable for Louisa to live here, and it is also convenient to enter and exit.

As for arranging it here, Frederica knew that her sister liked quietness, and this area was idle after the death of Gustav III, so she suggested it to Gustav IV.

The "Chinese style" decorated in European style is actually quite good here. Soloviev did not go to the theater, but he had to arrange the accommodation.

Stopping here, he could actually appreciate the Chinese-style lacquer panel paintings, which was something Soloviev did not expect. What he saw was the special craft products brought back from China during the prosperous period of Sweden, which showed the Thirteen Factories in Guangzhou.

And the furnishings here are really good, but the beds are temporarily placed. After all, this is not the usual bedroom for the royal family.

This is also considering that Louisa is the Russian queen and has a special status. Her palace is not arranged together with her parents, sisters and younger brother, but it is very convenient for them to travel between each other because they are all in a large palace.

Louisa is happy that the family reunited here except for her second sister and grandfather, and the play performed in the theater is "Iphigenia in Taurica" ​​which was ordered for the Russian royal family. The first public performance was during Paul's visit to the German countries. It can be regarded as a modern extension of Greek drama.

As for the accommodation, the eldest sister is now living in the suite of Drottningholm Palace. Only she and her entourage are in the Chinese Pavilion, which is more convenient.

And Solovyov also went to check the facilities of the Chinese Pavilion. Although it was a coincidence that he came to Sweden together, the two of them could do a lot of things on a date as long as there was no one around.

But after she returned to the palace, she found that her lover was revising the script.

"Misha, the performance in the theater is very exciting. It's a pity that you didn't go."

"But I am also revising the script. If it's just a drama, I have to add some conflicts. For example, the maid and the old lady."

But when it comes to this, Louisa is not very happy. After all, her good sister is going to get married, and the sense of déjà vu is so strong.

"Sorry, Louisa, I touched your heart."

"It's okay, I know you didn't mean it. You can come to me in the evening when the maids go to bed."

"Okay, Louisa, we still have to discuss the script in the evening. I'll leave when you go to bed."

When there was no one around, the two of them were still able to hug and kiss in such a room.

"The perfume you used today is different from usual."

"It's the natural fragrance of precious wood. What do you think?"

"I like you so much, little laurel."

Compared with the young officers who pursued her, Louisa preferred Solovyov and made her her lover. The names he used were never cliché. Although he sometimes repeated some allusions, she felt very useful after hearing these names.

At the same time, their hobbies were more similar. Louisa knew that Mishka liked her with some sympathy and pity. Although she was the queen of Russia, she was bullied every day, and her behavior was relatively low-key and withdrawn, which made her look even more pitiful.

It is no wonder that the young officers and students around her were very sympathetic to her, but there were only a handful of people who could touch her bed.

"Fortunately, there is no one outside. You are too careless."

This time, it was Louisa who reminded Solovyov that after the two of them kissed, Louisa went to take a bath first, and asked the sisters to read during the break, instead of playing cards, which is common in the palace.

Although Louisa was very smart and learned to play mahjong, she did not like the noise when playing mahjong, so even though she was good at it and once won a lot of money from Alexander, she was not willing to use it as a pastime.

But Queen Mother Maria liked pomp and excitement, and changed the whist card to mahjong during the card game.

Soloviev was not so anxious, after all, they were in tune with each other. He was a little impatient this time, but he would not be next time.

As for the night in Louisa's room, he still had to tell her stories.

The relationship between the two was quite subtle recently. He was supposed to be the younger brother and Louisa was the older sister, but the younger brother had always taken care of the older sister, even coaxing her to sleep and soothing her wounded heart, which was indeed more fun.

In the Chinese Pavilion, these girls were still reading poems at night, and Natalia started singing again, and she was singing the songs that Solovyov had copied down, that is, the songs of Maria, the little girl, and no one else could make him write a booklet of them.

"Natasha, you sing really beautifully, but this is not the song you are used to singing."

"Lisa, you have to know that the folk songs that Maria blocked Misha in the children's room and the concert room and copied down are still very beautiful, not only when playing, but also when singing. If you try it, you will know how pleasant it is."

"But I am now..."

"It doesn't matter, just sing it, especially that strange song, it may be better to play it with guitar."

"You mean Alexandra? This song does not require too much effort, but we are not like Catherine of the Lopukhin family, who can play the guitar skillfully."

"It doesn't matter, just sing it, I will play the piano."

Then Natalia sat in front of the piano. This piano was obviously brought by the Queen of Sweden to take care of her sister's living habits. She likes singing, and Frederica likes playing the piano. Louisa misses the time she spent with her family in Karlsruhe very much.

When Louisa sang this song, Solovyov happened to be outside the window and heard it.

"It's really interesting that Louisa actually sang this."

But he didn't care too much, sitting in the yard, listening to Louisa singing. She usually shed too many tears, and this song happened to be the ending song of "Moscow Doesn't Believe in Tears".

But Louisa's singing was also beautiful. She is very suitable for lyrical music, but this song always needs someone to sing with her. If Natalia wanted to sing, two girls singing together would seem very abstract.

However, it is not abstract and not Russian.