Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

There were stops and starts along the way, and Polina was indeed a little willful. When she reached Piacenza, she entered her "former territory".

Because she found it troublesome to manage the territory, she sold it to Palma. She only kept the manor in Guastala. As for other places, her husband still had territory, and she herself had an indifferent attitude.

"You seem to be familiar with this place."

"Fights have also been fought on the Trebbia River. Not only Hannibal, but also the Russian army and the French army have fought here. All along the Po River have been places where I fought. It is not surprising."

As for Polina herself, she was sitting on the carriage and looking at Solovyov riding all the way with some curiosity.

Even though he was so intimate with Maria in the Venus Room of the Palace of Versailles, he still showed a lot of restraint in front of others.

After all, Katya is still here, which makes both Maria and Katya happy and cannot make them sad.

This is probably all he can do, but Polina is very happy. She and Katya play well.

"You have been to so many places, and you have to stay at my place for a while."

"I may only be able to stay with you for a few days. I also have to go to Vienna and Berlin."

"Then your wife and Maria can stay with me."

"How can you make decisions on your own?"

"Michelle, it doesn't matter. When Katya is willing to go back, I will find a way to send her home. Don't you still have an appointment?"

"There are stops and starts along the way, but if you go to Odessa, you have to go through the entire Austria."

"It doesn't matter, whatever you should do during this period, Mishka, just do it. Paula and I are traveling in Italy, and we happened to take the children to see Naples."

Solovyov knew that returning home by boat from the Mediterranean was unlikely.

If Katya's health was not conducive to long-distance travel, she would probably have to stay in the palace of Paulina in Italy for a while, or go to Weimar with Maria.

There are also two children. It seems that the relationship between the wife and the lover is very close, but he is a bit redundant.

"Okay, but if you go home, don't force yourself."

While they were talking, a group of French soldiers passed by.

These French soldiers also noticed Solovyov, who was wearing a green military uniform with the Legion of Honor medal hanging around his neck, and saluted him.

The green military uniforms also made it obvious to these French soldiers that they were Russians.

They were enemies before, but the emperor married a Russian girl, and the relationship has changed since then.

They passed by like this without concealing their actions and were still pushing the cart.

Solovyov was a little curious, so he rode over and asked, "What are you doing?"

"We are transporting this batch of taxes and the collected grain to Milan."

Solovyov then briefly asked about local grain prices and commodity prices, as well as their taxation and collection of grain.

These French soldiers all answered truthfully, but they were followed by rhetorical questions.

"You are a Russian general. Are you traveling through here? I see that you still have a Legion of Honor medal on your head. It should have been awarded to you by the emperor."

"I was passing by here. I was on my way to Guastala. And speaking of which, before the emperor divorced Queen Josephine, I should have called him uncle. My stepmother is Queen Josephine's cousin."

"No wonder, you are the one who caused a lot of trouble for the emperor, but you are also very capable. What are you asking for?"

"Solovyov, some of our Russian surnames are quite long."

"Let me tell you this, we have been fighting in the past few years. We have to collect grain and tax, and we also provide it to the Spanish battlefield. We can't get anything there, and we still need to get grain from France and Italy. Your Majesty the Emperor Well, he is great, but sometimes he is not considerate. I am a grenadier, so I am qualified to apply to join the Guards, but it is not interesting there. I am always in the back row during battles. "

"But you are so whiny, just like those old guys. I also served in the Russian Guards, and this is a common thing."

"Who says it's not the case? My service period has started since the Great Revolution. If I'm lucky, in a few years, I will reach my service limit and I can go home. What's different from others is that , I married a wife in Montage before I joined the army, and I had children. I was able to go back to visit my relatives during the war, just to ensure the land allocated to my family. "

"Yes, France is very good about this. Farmers have obtained land. Although there are many homesteaders in our country, the land allocated to them is not too many."

"Even for the land, livestock and houses, we have to fight those damn Germans and British people for the little property we have. But what are we doing now? If you come here with me, I'm afraid you will be with me Those ladies will also have to wait for a while."

"It doesn't matter, the one in the white skirt is the emperor's sister, the one in the red skirt is our emperor's sister, Her Royal Highness Maria, and the one in the blue skirt is my wife."

"I came out with my relatives, but to be honest, you are very lucky to have such a beautiful and young wife who gave birth to a child for you. My mother-in-law cannot be said to be pretty, but she is not ugly either. She has a very strong body. I gave birth to six children. When there was no war and I could visit my relatives, our regiment was stationed not far from home. But now that we are at war, you Russians have made peace with us. The emperor even married your tsar's sister, but those British people. guy."

"We are also at war with the Turks. If I hadn't come here to see my bride off, I would have gone to war with the Turks."

"You Russians are enemies with those barbarians. Even I, a soldier, Luke Duvall from Montarge, know that. We are the same with the Germans, but what about these Italians? I don't think so, they also farm. We are also human beings who have been bullied by the Austrians and want to tax us French people.”

Speaking of which, this veteran is still somewhat progressive in his thinking and knows that Italians have been bullied.

Of course, although he is also from Montarge, he is not a steel egg.

"You know it too, but there's nothing we can do about it."

"Who says it's not the case? We can't help these Italians. Italian girls are pretty good, but we have wives, and we are different from those old bachelor 'sans-culottes'."

"Are they resisting?"

"We don't dare to resist. We still have bayonets in our hands. As long as we scare them a few times, these people will hand over the food. To be honest, we don't want to do this. When we were fighting in Spain, there was a The chasseur brother from Italy saved my life, but to his fellow countrymen It would be unreasonable to strike too harshly. Moreover, I am not telling you that even the emperor’s sister fell out with him, because too much grain was collected in Lucca and Tuscany, and many local people changed their minds. He is now a pauper. Isn’t that the Grand Duchess of Tuscany in the carriage?”

"No, it's Princess Rossano."

"That girl, apart from being a bit ridiculous, is still a kind-hearted woman. We soldiers also know a little about the emperor's three sisters. Besides, you are good-looking, and the princess must like you very much."

The veteran told the truth. Solovyov and Polina have some emotional basis.

"What you said is somewhat meaningful, but there are some things you shouldn't say nonsense."

"Of course I know that. You are also interested in it, and you are still paying attention to our affairs here."

"I have some tobacco here, and I see you have a pipe here. It's some tobacco from the New World. I just take snuff. I don't know how to use this."

"Thank you too, sir."

The veteran took the tobacco and left, and Solovyov looked at the villages along the way.

It was plundered once by the Austrians and once by the French. When the Russian army arrived here last time, it looked relatively depressed, but the airs were still there.

This time, I didn’t follow the same route as before, and I don’t know what happened to the merchants I met during the expedition.

But judging from the appearance of the villages along the way, the civilians under the French Empire were better off in mainland France. Even the richer ones here in Italy looked more depressed.

This was still a territory under Napoleon's direct rule. The Kingdom of Italy, Tuscany, and Lucca were also territories under Napoleon's rule.

What the French have done here is already killing the goose that lays the golden egg. Considering that the French also like to engage in corruption and various transactions, they actually exploit the locals even more.

It's no wonder that Elisa dared to confront Napoleon, and there was a rift between the brother and sister.

If this continues, Italians will become poor and there will be nothing to exploit in the future.

Elisa was more concerned about the territory than Paulina. She really regarded herself as the Grand Duchess of Tuscany, governing the place with her husband, and she was somewhat willing to protect the local civilians.

But Napoleon may be a little cruel to his brothers, and he still has a little respect for his eldest brother, but not much.

The three sisters doted on her in every possible way. Elisa's behavior only worsened the relationship between the two brothers. Napoleon had no intention of depriving him of his territory, so Louis was abdicated directly.

It is unreasonable for Carolina to commit suicide like that and even conspire to push her husband Murat out.

Napoleon actually pretended that it had not happened, and only scolded Talleyrand for these possible conspiracies.

Then, what is even more outrageous is that Karolina slept with Metternich and almost gave him a child by accident.

Napoleon's housework was very troublesome. Paulina was probably the only one who realized that her power came from her brother being the emperor, and the power in the family was based on his strength.

Therefore, Polina simply ignored the offline monarchy and sold all her territories without exploiting the people there.

So a strange thing happened, that both Elisa and Polina were still very popular in Italy

At least one general knew that for his own territory, no matter what the purpose, he would go against the emperor.

The other one, in addition to always looking for men, is also a harmless little white rabbit. He often even lives a luxurious life while giving money to support the civilians around Guastala.

This is better than what their emperor brother did in Italy.

However, the Italians are still optimistic. At least they think the French are slightly better. At least there are farmers here who have obtained their own land.

If it were the Austrian master, I'm afraid he wouldn't even get a single copper back.

Solovyov came back on horseback, and Polina was a little curious.

"What did you just do?"

"I chatted with a grenadier for a while. The civilians here are living in a tight situation. It looks worse than it was ten years ago."

"There are always wars, and there's nothing I can do about it. I don't want to manage the territory, because I know I don't have the ability. Now Parma has become a province of France, and I just have a castle there."

"It would probably be better if you put your mind more on other than 'catching men'."

"No, that would be too troublesome. Elisa is willing to manage the territory because in addition to her eldest brother taking care of the house, she also often helps her mother with things."

"What about you? You are only responsible for wearing fancy clothes, but you are getting more and more beautiful."

"Your wife is still in my arms, but she is asleep. If only I had such a well-behaved and sensible sister."

Obviously, Polina was dissatisfied with what Carolina did.

This is not just sisters competing for favor in front of their brother and mother, but a genuine dislike of her actions.

"Katya is very well-behaved, but if she really loses her temper, I'm a little afraid of her."

"No way?"

Polina was a little surprised that Solovyov was still afraid of his wife.

"It's just that she's too good, and this kind of thing has never happened."

"That's okay. Catherine, I, and Maria are going to have a good bath in the hot spring. You mustn't peek in without our permission then!"

It's still her usual style, but if she stays like this and is so happy, she can forget about the things happening around her.

What's more, she has three sons. Speaking of such a heartless state, based on Solovyov's "fallacious theories," it's no wonder that her two husbands and her lover all gave birth to boys.

If everyone were like her, Europe would probably be at peace soon.

But with consumerism and this kind of enjoyment, there will still be trouble later.

Moreover, there are children in the carriage. These days, it is necessary to completely relax physically and mentally.

Apart from Louisa, the only one who had children with him was Mrs. Recamier who stayed in Petersburg. Speaking of which, he was somewhat lucky. Katya, Polina and Sylvia were not hostile to each other and had good relations with each other. Very intimate.

As for Maria?

Solovyov probably knew it when he saw her face.

Trouble, all trouble.

If he could see the future and know about the marriage that Maria had arranged for their children, he might feel it was even more outrageous. (End of chapter)