Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

Chapter 26 026 Life in the Pavlovsky Grenadier Regiment is like herding sheep

The establishment of the Russian army at this time was still generally based on the troops in the era of Catherine II. The troops were generally named after the place of composition. During the period of Tsar Paul, from 1798 onwards, for a period of time, they were named after the leader of the regiment. , it was changed back due to "technical adjustments" after 1801.

At this time, Solovyov, because the Pavlovsky Grenadier Regiment has been short of troops, wanted to form an experimental Russian Chasseur Company and let him be the company commander, and the weapons equipped were The paper shell version made from the downgraded versions of the two guns he presented to Czar Paul suddenly moved forward so many years from the Civil War. It seemed that this was also the Gengzi period, before the Eight-Power Allied Forces came. .

Of course, the technical barriers are not that serious, and it can still be used now.

However, mercury fulminate has not been discovered yet. If you actually use that thing, the risk factor is not low. Therefore, in addition to the sample gun collected by the royal family, the lead bullet with paper shell + copper primer, and the firing pin structure on the rifle, When it comes to processing this, I'm afraid it will have to wait until next year when the Tula factory can complete the task.

From 1797 to 1798, it was a rare period of peace for Russia. During this period, Tsar Paul was able to conduct domestic affairs with peace of mind. At the same time, he took actual control of Georgia and established the Russian-American Company. Everything seemed to be on the right track. On track.

It would be better for His Majesty the Tsar not to get involved in such chaotic scenes in Europe, but he has never been on the battlefield, but he likes to look at everything around him with a new attitude.

It might be okay if he could stay at home with peace of mind, but he is such a person.

Just because he got a good gun that he was so addicted to, Solovyov became the commander of a jagger company at the age of 16. Fortunately, he is still growing. Moreover, captains of this age look less conspicuous than those 19-year-old colonels and 20-year-old generals.

Then, there was the edict issued by Tsar Paul himself, to transfer some children from hunter and forestry worker families to Gatchina to form such an experimental hunting company and belong to the Pavlovsky Grenadier Regiment. .

But there is a small problem, that is, not a single soldier has arrived yet, so he can only wait for orders at the regiment leader, Lieutenant General Vadkovsky. Fortunately, he is the Tsar's subordinate, and since Solovyov is the Tsar himself, He takes people who come to him seriously.

Even when the soldiers were not in place, Solovyov was still doing his job as an adjutant. Even the regimental leader himself didn't care about anything. He just sat in a Voltaire-style chair all day long. If he wasn't with The Tsar grew up with him and was a trusted confidant of the Emperor himself. He, a general who had retired for twenty years, would not come here to be the leader of the regiment.

This made Solovyov actually become a "Husky that no one cares about". Although there was a mission, the soldiers did not arrive, and the guns were being rubbed one by one. When it comes to being an adjutant, he is quite free here. When he was at Prince Volkonsky's place, he was asked to deliver documents or handle some chores, but here he was completely ignored.

He can do whatever he wants. After all, the regiment leader doesn't care about him. There is no regiment leader in this regiment. The battalion commander and company commander were all recruited from the Moscow Grenadier Regiment, so he doesn't need to take care of those companies. , all holding old-fashioned muskets. In order to maintain uniformity, these muskets were captured or imported from Britain.

But at this time, Solovyov also thought about the grenadiers, which originally used grenades. Should they be improved?

But he doesn't have that time now, because in the Pavlovsky Grenadier Regiment, since he is an officer who has arrived but does not have a company, he can always attend other occasions, such as participating in literary groups or engaging in other activities. .

"Captain, you can do whatever you want. Of course, it must be legal and in compliance with the emperor's orders. I have followed the emperor for so many years, and I have never received a reward at the first meeting like you."

This lieutenant general is so envious, probably because during the Queen's era, according to the aristocratic tradition, he was registered in the Semyonovsky Guards list when he could just walk, but the road to promotion was also gone. It took several years before he was promoted to captain until he was 24 years old. However, Solovyov's family background, except that his title was better than his, was inferior in other aspects. He was promoted to captain at the age of 16 because of his invention. It's a bit too fast.

This is not surprising. Tsar Paul often decides things according to his own likes and dislikes. Except for the Russian royal family and some big nobles, even if he wants to promote these people, he will not be too fast. Solovyov is purely because of his design. Two new types of firearms were rewarded.

Many veterans of the Pavlovsky Regiment and the Moscow Grenadier Regiment were brothers who used to eat at a big table, so they were not surprised to see the adjutant of the old regiment commander being transferred over.

Especially now, the leader of the group is asking questions in person. It is strange that this group has a leader but no leader. The leader of this group is not in charge of things, which is even weirder. However, he still often appears in here.

Sometimes, Lieutenant Colonel Komarovsky came over, who was the aide-de-camp of Grand Duke Constantine. It was he who brought the portrait of the Crown Princess from Baden to Petersburg. In the end, the Empress made a decision. A "great matchmaker".

And today, the regiment commander actually came to the regiment, but he was chatting with the new adjutant of the old regiment commander.

"But when I came here, although I am the captain of the Jager Company, I don't have a single soldier."

"That's good too. You just need to be there when the roll call is called. You don't need to worry about anything else. Officers have 30 days of vacation."

"To be precise, Your Excellency, Fyodor Fyodorovich, according to the latest regulations, lieutenants have 28 days of vacation."

"Why bother so much, just do your thing. Wait until all the recruited soldiers are gathered before you can start training. The emperor's edict also clearly states that you are only allowed to take care of the affairs of the Jager Company."

"Yes, Your Excellency General."

I don't know what Paul was thinking when he issued the edict. He could have stayed away from the Pavlovsky Grenadiers. After all, in Russia, even if Emperor Paul personally issued the edict, there were still a lot of junior officers who were absent, even if this was the model grenadiers regiment he personally issued the edict to form, it was still like this.

This gave Solovyov some time to return to St. Petersburg and do other things, such as translating a book.

The books he had bought in Kyakhta through a route to Siberia might still be hard to get, so he would be thankful if he could come back in 1798.

Let alone the Four Great Classics, he would be thankful if he could get the complete version of any one of them.

He could speak French, but he had no problem writing letters, but it was difficult to write long articles.

He decided to ask an expert for help on this issue.

His performance at the parade actually made him famous in social occasions, and he got the nickname "Inventor" - after all, since he appeared in St. Petersburg, he has always appeared in a "I love invention" attitude, and he also speaks very well.

However, the problem of writing is still embarrassing.

For this reason, it was Mrs. Lebrun who gave him advice. This lady's connections in St. Petersburg were sometimes better than those noble ladies who had their own literary salons. After all, her clients covered all kinds of channels in the upper class of St. Petersburg.

The people he was going to meet were Count and Countess Stroganov, who had lived abroad for many years. Speaking of Count Stroganov, people generally pay attention to him. He was born in Paris and was even a member of the Jacobin Club. He used the pseudonym "Citizen Paul Oher". As for him, after returning to Russia, he was exiled by the empress for a while and got married.

When Mrs. Lebrun wrote this letter to Solovyov, it was not to the male owner of the family, but to the Countess.

This couple is indeed handsome, outstanding, outstanding, and very loving. As long as they appear together, they are giving others dog food. By the way, there is no secret between them. If the lady knows, Mr. Count will also know.

They were found because the countess came from the family of Prince Golitsyn and lived abroad since childhood. She learned Russian by herself after returning. Her husband did the same, and even learned it during his travels. If you ask him about Louis XVI and Queen Marie, he might be more familiar with them.

This couple, among the nobles in the upper class, are both proficient in French and Russian, but their mother tongue is French.

After learning Russian by herself, the countess translated the second part of the French version of "The Divine Comedy" into Russian, and she is also recognized as a talented woman.

At this moment, she is more busy taking care of the children. In fact, Russian noblewomen hire more nannies, but this couple, who have been influenced by the Enlightenment and various progressive ideas in France, always participate in the process of raising children when hiring nannies.

This involves the past of the couple. Count Pavel Stroganov used to receive education from a French tutor. His parents lived in the court of Louis XVI at the time. When he was a child, his mother left his father and lived with the queen's lover and finally married him. In order to cover up this problem, the old count arranged for a tutor to take his son around Europe and receive education. Although as a father, he still provided all the material conditions seriously, Count Pavel still felt after he became an adult that he had a child and he had to get more involved in family life besides official duties.

That was why, when Solovyov came to the reception room under the guidance of the servant, he saw the countess taking care of the baby. After seeing this, she handed her son to the servant.

"Captain, please sit down. I have read Mrs. Lebrun's letter. Your experience is also very interesting, but don't always do dangerous things. My husband loves adventure."

Speaking of which, Mr. Count is not just adventurous, but even a little radical.

"Thank you for your concern, madam. As you know, I am preparing to translate some oriental books, although they are just some popular novels."

"Why are there so many literature lovers among the young officers nowadays? In the past, I have seen some cavalry officers reciting poems in salons. Your new uniform should be from the Grenadiers, right?"

"Yes, madam. I have served in three regiments, two of which were Grenadiers."

"Now even the brave warriors of the Grenadiers have joined. I am afraid that the Guards will also engage in literary creation in the future."

When this lady spoke, her gestures were full of the elegance of a literary salon hostess. She talked less about current affairs and popular topics, or in other words, some vulgar topics seemed more vulgar when discussed in front of her.

She also welcomed more young people of similar age to devote themselves to creation. You should know that this princess of Prince Golitsyn's family is only 22 years old this year. Her beauty is the kind of intellectual beauty, which is very different from the ladies she had met before.

This is no wonder. Mr. Count is a good friend of the Crown Prince and even keeps some secrets for him; and the Countess is a rare best friend of the Crown Princess in Petersburg. The Crown Prince and his wife must also be more obsessed with appearance.

"If that's the case, it's better. Even if you are a soldier, you should have some hobbies to cultivate your sentiments, instead of being like the hussars of those local regiments all day long. Sorry, it may not be polite to say that."

"That's true. You can state the facts, and there is no one else here, only my children and servants."

This lady is still very tolerant. After she said this, she started to get to the point.

"You are going to translate an oriental work, but you also have to consider whether you want to use Russian or French? If you want to use Russian, the words I used when translating "The Divine Comedy" are relatively simple and easy to understand. You have to consider the audience."

"If that's the case, when writing, you also need to consider that if you use French, the other party may not understand it."

"Yes, the last time I went to a salon, there was a very elegant Colonel Miloradovich."

It may be a bit impolite to say it out loud. Of course, Colonel Miloradovich's way of speaking can only be understood by Russian, and he is very famous in social circles.

This warrior speaks Russian very well, even with an accent from Poltava, it does not affect communication, otherwise no one can understand him.

As for the fact that this matter has spread so far, it is probably the result of Mr. Langgeron's propaganda everywhere. Mr. Langgeron is a royalist officer who fled from France. He is keen to complain about his colleagues and superiors in his notes and in public, with or without restrictions. Including but not limited to work and daily life, Miloradovich is just a very common "victim" of this problem.

"So, the most important thing is to use some words that are easy for people to understand, right?"

"That's right, Captain. And there are few visitors here during this period. When my husband comes back, you can also chat. It doesn't matter. He is very kind."

And the Count also knew that Mrs. Lebrun recommended such a "student" to his wife. Although the word "student" always represents something related to blood in the Russian environment, the Count and his wife Stroganov have lived abroad since childhood and traveled to many places. They don't mind this kind of "custom" and words, but prefer to use French expressions.

And this couple, when they get along with each other throughout their lives, they are very loving, which is very different from the environment of the upper class.

Even sometimes, the Count enjoys the sight of his son Alexander calling "Dad" and rushing over when he opens the reception room.