Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

Chapter 9 009 Painting eyebrows for little girls is also a way to make money

"So, that's it?"

"You seem surprised at what the emperor has done, Misha, don't tell me that your family relies mainly on real estate income."

"There are also some long-term bonds. You know my family's experience, which is always related to Amsterdam."

In fact, when Prince Menshikov was alive, a large amount of property was transferred to the Netherlands. He died of smallpox in exile, but his son survived until he returned to Moscow and St. Petersburg for amnesty. He was able to quickly restore the family business, and he always had to rely on something. However, the only one in the Solovyov family who was related to this was the youngest of the four brothers who was not knighted, and had nothing to do with Mikhail's branch.

"You are so cunning, you just won't say it."

"But you also know that this is in Russia."

Mikhail Dolgorukov knew that his new friend was very cautious in speaking, and he also knew that the other party definitely did not live entirely on the land. This amount of information was enough. As for the children brought here today, the two Mikhails also saw the dividing line very clearly.

Yulia is 7 years old this year. She is gesturing with a girl of about the same age as her. The servants handed the ready eyebrow pencil to the blue-eyed girl. The child was serious and drew Yulia's eyebrows according to the makeup method.

"Don't worry, Misha, that's my cousin Ekaterina. Her father, Vasily Vasilyevich, is a lieutenant general and a member of the Privy Council. She has a good upbringing. Moreover, this child has been receiving dance training since she was 4 years old and she also likes painting."

"So makeup is a piece of cake? This child's hands are really steady. My sister Yulia can't do that. She will paint my face like a cat."

"A cat? But I think you are more like a fox. How about my brother Beijia and I invest in you? If you, a fox, have some time to manage it, you will definitely do well."

If others think, It is indeed a bit absurd for a few teenagers to discuss business. In the 20th century, it might even be a bit of a middle school syndrome. However, in 1797, it did not seem strange. Alexander Saltykov, the second son of the owner of this salon, would later become an honorary member of the "Arzamas" Literary Association, a literary organization. The youngest member of that association was Pushkin. When he was still a middle school student, he had always wanted to join the association. However, by the time he joined, it was already the end of the association. It did not seem strange. In this era, middle school students were very advanced intellectuals.

Therefore, it was not strange for a few smart young people to talk about business.

"But I'm still serving in the Grenadiers, and the Emperor will not allow officers of our age to retire without reason. Even if there is a legitimate reason, they have to wait for a year. And I shouldn't go back to my old job. I still hope to stay in the army for a while longer."

"Then you give me some advice. Let's pay together and hire another manager."

"A British butler may be fine, and a German manager is also fine, but if a French or Italian manages, it will be terrible. Sometimes the Poles do."

He was about to tell a joke, but then he remembered that the Saltykov family had relatives in Poland, so he couldn't say it, so he gave up. At this time, Yulia came over holding the hand of Princess Ekaterina Dolgrukova.

"What's up, Yurochka, my little cat, are you here with your new friend?"

"Brother, what do you think? Katya drew it for me."

"Bonjour, M. Baron, je m'appelle Ekaterina Dolglukova." (Hello, Mr. Baron, I'm Ekaterina Dolglukova.)

Yulia can't even speak French properly, and the little girl can already introduce herself. I don't know how to say it. Sometimes there is a big gap between children.

As for this girl, her father is a prince, a retired lieutenant general, and a member of the Privy Council. But according to Mikhail, although her family looks very noble and has inherited two large estates in Moscow with tens of thousands of serfs, the debt disputes and a lot of household chores have given 45-year-old Vasily Vasilyevich a headache.

Looking at the "fire boiling oil", but taking a wrong step, you may be caught in the vortex.

"Bonjour, princesse." (Hello, princess)

The little girl's walking steps are very beautiful, like a little deer, much quieter than his crazy running "hussar" sister, obviously she has received dance training, and it can be imagined that the prince is an old curly king. His children have received strict education, and all three children have hired special French teachers. This financial strength seems good, but many outsiders know that their family has a debt of 200,000 rubles. Although the operation of the manor is relatively stable, the general's sister has always wanted to compete with him for the family property.

After the children went back to play, Solovyov found that he did not need to be a wall, but joined Prince Mikhail in the social aspect. It can be said that this relationship should be "war and social", social always occurs in the peace stage, and the rest is war.

In addition, there are the problems of life, serfs, yeomen, citizens, nobles and soldiers, as well as the Tsar's family, there are always many troubles.

If we talk about the "King of Prussia", the Commander-in-Chief of the Army, obviously many people have seen him, and his reputation is also very famous. In fact, Solovyov has already met his son and briefly greeted him, but Andre Lie may not recognize himself.

After he entered the venue, I saw only young officers, all holding their two-cornered hats under their arms and bowing their heads to salute him. After all, he was also the former commander-in-chief of the army. This rank is second only to field marshal, and in fact is higher than ordinary officers. A general is a high-ranking general, and everyone knows that he is very Serious and always meticulous about his military appearance, it stands to reason that with this nickname and his temperament, he should be reused by Emperor Paul, but he himself is a good friend of Marshal Suvorov, rather than performing a large-scale imitation show in front of the emperor to play that person King Frederick.

"I think your Excellency the Marshal will be more serious when he arrives. Sometimes he cannot speak French. Some generals are really not good at this."

"But in the past, because I couldn't speak French well, some people called me a 'groom boy.'"

"Sorry, Misha, I forgot about you." Prince Mikhail inadvertently offended his friend, so he apologized. And when the Marshal walked over to greet Prince Saltykov, the venue seemed to have recovered. It's normal. "

At this time, you may want to talk to the female relatives. There are many women in the salon. Although the hostess with a vicious tongue will always bring about some ridiculous things, there are still many young girls there.

Young unmarried officers have always been popular with girls. As Mikhail Dolgorukov himself said, many of the officers of their Guards Light Cavalry have good family backgrounds, that's it.

Solovyov went to find Miss de Riveri, but he also found that she was chatting happily with a young lady. However, it was the daughter of the diplomat who was originally stationed in Naples that he met in Moscow last year. Countess Katerina Skavronskaya, niece of Marshal Prince Potemkin. Although a 14-year-old girl is more likely to be at the children's table, it is different in Moscow and Petersburg. She is willing to come here She is now old enough, and she is more charming than last year.

This girl is naturally able to attract men, especially when she is leaning on the sofa like this with her two slender legs draped on the footstool. Just like the first time he saw her, men will be attracted to her. , if the kind of clothes designed by the French for ladies were put on her in a few years, it would definitely be spectacular. Paired with such healthy and fair skin, I believe she will be the darling of the social world, and men's eyes will go straight when they see her.

"Ah, c'est toi, pourquoi tu portes l'uniforme de grenadier? Je me souviens que tu es fantassin." (Ah, it's you, how come you put on the uniform of a grenadier, I remember you are an infantryman.)

Obviously, the countess recognizes people by their faces. She may have forgotten that when Solovyov spoke last year, he still looked like a "groom boy". Maybe he just spoke like this on purpose. It would be difficult for him to improve his French in a year. level, he may still look like a "groomman", which gives him some advantages.

"Comtesse, je suis passée du régiment d'infanterie au régiment de grenadiers de Moscou et je suis aujourd'hui aid de camp du général Volkonsky." (Countess, I went from the Infantry Regiment to the Moscow Grenadier Regiment, now Volkonsky Aide-de-camp to General Konsky).

Judging from the surprised expression on the Countess's face, she should have remembered who the other person was when she was "catching a man". Solovyov was not sure about her mental activity. She might be surprised that he could now speak a long series of sentences. , instead of just speaking German to cover up in order to avoid making a fool of yourself.

This little girl is very thoughtful, this is Solovyov's idea, but her expression can always pretend to be innocent. Fortunately, although she is a seductress, she is not a bad person. Who would be If you marry her, you may be able to get happiness if you are handsome enough, but if you are a warrior who is brave and good at fighting but not good at words, you have to be careful about your unlucky married life.

As for the countess, she then took the hand of Miss de Rivery, the stepmother of Baron Mikhail who was about to come over. The two had a very happy conversation before. After all, it is easy to find French people in Petersburg, but at the age of 20 It’s hard to find a well-bred French lady in her early years—Prince Condé’s large family had already organized a Although the Duke of Gan, or to be more precise, the Duke of Enghien is young, he is not married yet. There are no French ladies of this age appearing in the salon, especially those who come to the salon. It is really rare for a tutor or mistress to seriously marry into a noble family.

“De cette faon, vous avezéchappé aux mains des pirates barbaresques, grce aux généraux de la marine russe, et ensuite venu en Russie. No avons la chance de vous rencontrer. ?” (In this way, you escaped from the Barbary pirates, thanks to the general of the Russian Navy, and then came to Russia. It is our luck to meet you, and if you marry, Mikhail should be considered yours. people?)

Although this girl is not a bad girl, she is unforgiving in her words. It is obvious that she has a mild affection for the young man, and she always finds ways to tease him. After all, he really wants to have a stepmother.

"Comtesse, en cette agréable occasion, vous devriez accorder plus d'attention au maquillage des femmes. Ainsi, utiliser cet eye-liner pour dessiner l'eye-liner vous rendra plus attirante." , you should pay more attention to women’s makeup, like this, the eyeliner drawn with this eyeliner will make you look more attractive).

However, Mademoiselle de Rivery knew how to judge the occasion. She felt that this was too rude to her fiancé's son, so she interrupted her makeup and devoted herself to improving her personal charm. Countess Skavronskaya, who knew she Whether it is to attract men or to be an outstanding bride, or both, she is obviously more interested in makeup now - after all, she is a 14-year-old girl who prefers to dress herself up.

She instantly transformed into a docile cat, lying on her side on the sofa and letting Miss de Rivery apply eyeliner for her.

This makes Solovyov secretly happy. Although this girl is full of thorns, once she mentions something related to improving her charm, she immediately becomes like this. After all, she is still a child, and she still smiles on her face. Pasted it to Mademoiselle de Rivery's hand.

"S'il te plat!" This was a very polite "please", and Miss de Riveri also took out the makeup pencil that Solovyov had mixed with the color before, and looked at the count. As for the lady’s hair color, she chose one with a brighter color.

"Coutez, Comtesse, vousêtes encore plus charmante maintenant." (Look, countess, you are even more charming now.)

This is indeed the case. Countess Slavronskaya was very satisfied with this. She first looked in the mirror, and then showed it to others. This girl was indeed a god, and she especially liked to show up and let people see how good she was. Beautiful, very popular in Petersburg Everyone knows that this lively little girl is very charming. Even though Tsar Paul had strong opinions on Prince Potemkin, for such a little girl, he once personally promised to arrange a good marriage for the Countess, and also Find the best young man in Russia.

However, for a "marriage wizard" like Czar Paul, it is more appropriate to arrange a French singer for his personal servant (who was a Turkish prisoner in the Russo-Turkish War) who has followed him loyally for many years. He will arrange the others. The marriage was a bit eye-catching, and the previous marriage to the Swedish royal family fell through. He was afraid that he would have a lot of fun if he arranged it.

However, in Petersburg, no one dares to say that the marriage arranged by the emperor is not good. After all, if you can make him personally come out to take care of your affairs, you either have the emperor's favor, or he hates you to death, or you are with Something big is involved.

It can be said that every tsar is a bit complicated and cannot be explained clearly in a few sentences.

And Solovyov also discovered the darling of Petersburg's fashion world, and was ready to start their business with his new friends to make money from aristocratic women.