Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

In the spring of 1835, the Tsar returned to St. Petersburg, where he was greeted by a large crowd of cheering people.

However, news has also come from Europe.

Emperor Franz of Austria is dead.

As the Holy Roman Emperor, he was Francis II, who was swept into oblivion by Napoleon in 1806.

As Emperor of Austria, he was Franz I, but given his past actions, it would be difficult for Austria to extend its reach into Italy.

Even if Madame Soloveo, when she was in Vienna, knew that Prince Ferdinand had severe epilepsy and that his intelligence was at the level of an average person, it would still be impossible for him to take control of the country.

The power in Austria would inevitably fall into Metternich's hands.

Solovyov knew Metternich all too well what kind of person he was; the foreign policy he pursued was merely for the benefit of Austria, and often even at the expense of others and himself.

But it didn't mean much to him either.

After returning from his inspection tour, the Tsar issued a further declaration, announcing the liberation of serfs along the Baltic coast and in Belarus. The total number of serfs in these areas was relatively small, and the resistance from the local German nobles was not expected to be too intense.

For the nobles in coastal areas who were more involved in industry and commerce, serfdom had already affected their ability to make money.

However, during this time, Solovyov learned that his friend Neserrodie had received a letter from Metternich reaffirming the Holy Alliance.

Incidentally, it also criticized the liberal reforms in Russia at that time.

In reality, Neserrodi's influence at this time was limited to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, because the ministers in Russia each had their own division of labor, and ultimately the power belonged to the Tsar.

As long as Nikolai is willing to be enlightened and autocratic, Neserrodie can actually ensure that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs operates around the Holy League.

The problem is that Metternich's actions left a very bad impression on Alexander and his three brothers.

Nikolai also couldn't forget that he had slept with his distant cousin.

"It's no wonder my elder brother disliked him back then, given that he said that."

"Austria's policies are all based on their own interests. Although the British are the same, the British can give money, but what can Austria give? In the newly established customs union, they cannot occupy a dominant position, and even though the King of Prussia is not a good monarch, they have a greater say."

The relationship between Solovyov and the King of FW was very delicate. Solovyov was the father of Princess Louise and also Prince William's father-in-law.

However, he remained highly vigilant about the rise of Prussia.

The current state of this country's deterioration may not be the same in the future.

However, because of their kinship, Nikolai always had to side with his father-in-law.

This creates a delicate relationship, especially since Neserrodie has been pro-Austria since becoming a diplomat. The three most influential people in the empire in foreign policy now have completely different attitudes.

However, Nikolai preferred to talk to his teacher, Solovyov, who, although a soldier, was quite knowledgeable in diplomacy.

“Your reasons for opposing Austria are different from mine.”

"Personal feelings don't always work, Your Majesty. You must understand, this is how Austria always acts. Ever since the Habsburgs were driven to the East by the Swiss mountain people, it's been like this. They suck the blood of Spain, use the framework of the Holy Roman Empire, and expect their allies to lead armies to save them. Then, when we achieve victory, they stab us in the back. If it weren't for Franz's interference in Italy in 1799, we might not have had to fight for more than a decade before finally defeating Napoleon."

Nikolai understood that Solovyov was still holding a grudge about what happened 36 years ago, when he was only 3 years old and had no memory of it.

In other words, they knew that Solovyov had distinguished himself in Italy that year, and that the court knew of his fond memories of Italy.

Such things are something to be envied; Solovyov has always been very popular with women, especially noble ladies and princesses.

As Nikolai grew older, he noticed that every time he greeted his sister, she would also greet his teacher's family.

Even if they had a very good relationship during their teenage years, they wouldn't have been this intimate. Elena, Solovyov's older sister who was closer to him, had recently passed away, so they didn't correspond as much.

As for Anna, the sixth sister, she spent more time with Solovyov but didn't have such a close relationship with him.

Therefore, Nicholas noticed it, but because such a thing was explosive news in the court, he wouldn't do anything without evidence.

Moreover, those were all cherished memories from their youth. One was their most respected teacher, and the other was their most caring older sister. Nikolai had received a lot of care and attention from them.

Moreover, this doesn't involve politics. From a personal perspective, they are both quite old, with Maria approaching 50. Nicholas tacitly accepted these things.

But Solovyov, indeed, never considered feelings in diplomatic matters, and Nikolai was well aware of this.

Solovyov and Madame Rycamir were lovers, and in fact, Madame Rycamir's two daughters would inherit shares in the bank, and they had financial ties in France. His son-in-law, Demid Leclerc, was the French Minister of War, and he also had his fourth sister as the Dowager Queen, and Solovyov was unaware of his daughter in Paris.

That's how it is. Solovyov didn't lean too much towards France; he simply kept pushing for a Franco-Russian alliance against Britain.

He was not friendly to Britain and Austria, but as for other countries with close ties, he would still serve their political interests.

It just so happens that the person he disliked, Metternich, coincided with Austria, which he opposed politically.

"Your Majesty, although we appear to be maintaining the Holy Alliance, we still need to preserve our influence in Europe. But Metternich is so openly criticizing our reforms, what exactly is he trying to achieve?"

"Perhaps to Austria, just like to the British, we are also their resource source? That's utterly ridiculous. What do you think we should do?"

"Austria's internal oppression will inevitably lead to a revolution. Should we then go to Vienna's rescue? I think not. Austria should let their Spanish uncles rescue it; what does it have to do with us?"

"Is this your view of Austria?"

“They will use our power and then kick us out. If we try to restore order, we will end up being the ones who are blamed. It’s better to let Central Europe spend the next thirty years in division and decline. I can’t guarantee what will happen, but one thing is certain: helping Austria will not do us any good.”

After thinking about it, Nikolai realized that every time he got involved with Austria, they would either break their promises or drag their feet.

And this is even more true when considering his nephew in Paris.

"But revolution would also be a problem. If the crown of Vienna falls, there might be a chain reaction."

"We have already implemented reforms, and the demands from nobles and commoners are not so strong. As long as our reforms proceed smoothly for the next five to ten years, without encountering an economic crisis that would fundamentally affect Russia, they can continue smoothly. If what happened in Senate Square in 1825 were to happen again, the Russian people would probably not be able to accept the Tsar's system. Your Majesty, that will not happen during your reign, but it may happen after you are gone."

"What will happen after me? That's too far away. It's hard to imagine what will happen in 1865 and 1875."

Nikolai knew that the longest-lived member of the Romanov family was Patriarch Fyodor, the father of the founding monarch Michael I, who lived to be 88 years old. It was probably true that religion made people detached from worldly desires, which in turn made them live longer.

No Russian monarch has ever outlived his grandmother.

The root of Russia's problems lies in the 18th century.

All he could do was, as a monarch, promise to emancipate the serfs and complete this task within the next twenty years.

He even thought about completing this task by 1854, and Solovyov knew the monarch's intentions.

They still have a long way to go.

"Your Majesty, my hope is that there will be decades of peace and prosperity ahead, and that there will be no more wars."

Although it was almost certain that five years later, the Qing Dynasty and Britain would have their first Opium War, probably due to the opium problem.

However, the war will likely be confined to East Asia. The risk of France and Russia going to war in Europe is very high, but all parties can compete in the Far East.

The struggle must continue.

Peace has come to Europe, but it is still far from reaching the rest of the world.

Solovyov's story ends here; the most glorious period of his life was these nearly forty years.

He accompanied Nicholas to the royal cemetery at the Peter and Paul Fortress to see the coffins of Tsar Paul, Queen Mother Maria, Alexander I, and Louise. Nicholas became aware of his third sister's situation because his frequency was mentioned in their correspondence.

But now, the truth about my sister-in-law has finally been confirmed.

Judging from the teacher's expression as he stood there, one could roughly guess what was going on, but there was no evidence.

But all of that is in the past. His sister-in-law must have held a very important place in his heart.

Russia's reforms will continue, Solovyov will live a long time, and many of his comrades will no longer be around.

The story could be said to have ended here, or it could be said to be far from over.

PS: The reform to liberate serfs is a long and complex process that will last a long time. It is never something that can be accomplished overnight. Even in online novels, this slow and meticulous process would take up a lot of space.

It's worth mentioning the fates of the main characters.

There will be more side stories about them later, I will write them as I think of them. If you are interested, you can come and read them. I will try to release them for free at the end of this volume.

Nicholas I finally completed the serfdom reform during his reign and ushered in twenty years of peace and stability in Europe, becoming the enlightened monarch that Solovyov had hoped for.

However, the results of the serf reforms were clearly not what Solovyov had predicted.

Landlords and wealthy peasants still appeared in large numbers, but due to the constraints of the system and Nicholas II's iron-fisted policies in the later years of his reign, no major chaos ensued. However, some minor issues remained, so much so that Alexander II, in the early years of his reign, had to rely on the help of generals and civil officials from the Solovyov and Speransky factions to resolve the remaining problems.

He eventually died in 1855, passing away before his wife.

Lottie, also known as Queen Alexandra, lived in seclusion in the royal village, silently praying for her husband and children. She witnessed her son finally complete the first phase of reforms and her husband's long-cherished wish being fulfilled. Afterward, she, who had never been in good health, passed away peacefully.

A few years later, Grand Prince Mikhail, due to declining health, returned from Isfahan and went to Sochi at the foot of the Caucasus Mountains for recuperation. He passed away before his brother, but his wife had given birth to a son, fulfilling his wish to personally train a good military officer. However, because royal naming conventions were highly repetitive and Nicholas had many children, the son was named Pavel Mihajlovic after Paul. This child inherited Mikhail's position and would remain in Poland as viceroy.

Archduke Constantine survived the cholera outbreak of 1831, but he was getting on in years. After marrying his mistress in Warsaw, he gradually withdrew from politics and frequently visited his daughter and son-in-law in Stockholm.

Moreover, it seems that 67 is a threshold for the men of the Romanov family, and he finally died in 1848.

The fact that his elder brother and younger brother had passed away before him was a great blow to Nikolai.

Maria was in the court in Weimar. When she was young, she was tall and slender, but she also had a fertile figure.

She frequently returned to Russia, but her health deteriorated; she began to experience blurred vision and hearing loss, and by the time Liszt premiered in Weimar, she could hear very little.

Solovyov and Katya would visit her, reminiscing about their youth and sharing anecdotes from the court.

Apart from her younger sister Anna, none of her siblings lived longer than her. When she died in 1859, she specifically requested that her coffin be buried with soil imported from Russia, and her sons fulfilled this wish.

Catherine stayed in Paris with her son and witnessed Napoleon II peacefully ruling the country, but she died from a sudden cold.

When the other women found out, they couldn't help but sigh.

Anna's marriage was unhappy because of her husband, and she also had to work hard to mediate the delicate relationship between her father-in-law, husband and son. Only when her brothers' and sisters' children came to visit her could she slightly relieve her tension. She lived until the 1860s.

Of the nine siblings, only Maria and Anna witnessed Crown Prince Alexander's ascension to the throne.

A few years later, Crown Prince Alexander, accompanied by his adjutant Lev, visited Europe.

He fell in love with Princess Maria of Hesse-Darmstadt, the youngest daughter of Louisa. Although the marriage was opposed due to a dispute over bloodline, the Crown Prince still decided to marry her.

The Empress objected at the time because of the issue of bloodline.

However, with Nicholas's support and the arrangements made by senior officials in the court, the two still got married.

Solovyov was very worried about Maria's personality. She was even weaker than Louisa had been, and easily bullied. Moreover, the Crown Prince, like his uncle, had many lovers outside the marriage.

As the Grand Tutor, Solovyov couldn't say anything about this. He simply sent a doctor to save the Crown Prince's eldest daughter, Alexandra, from a high fever. This girl even stayed with Solovyov for a long time.

But the situation with Crown Prince Nicholas was a different story; he had tuberculosis complicated by meningitis, which made it very difficult to save him.

Moreover, Solovyov was already quite old at that time. He had just heard of the untimely death of his carefully groomed successor to the throne, who was 84 years old at the time. Alexander II had always joked that the Grand Tutor could live to be over 100, like a Caucasian, but he visibly aged and eventually withdrew from most public affairs.

Grand Prince Alexander, whom Solovyov disliked intensely from childhood because of his stubbornness and stupidity.

He preferred Grand Prince Vladimir, and the other sons of Alexander II were not in his consideration, even though the young Grand Prince Paul lived in his house.

However, the succession law established by Tsar Paul in the past is still useful.

Even as a tutor and a veteran official of four reigns, Solovyov would not oppose the imperial power.

What will happen to Russia in the future is no longer something he can control.

Because Katya's health has also deteriorated, and Mihrima, as the housekeeper, is too old to continue working, he now spends most of his time accompanying his wife, spending the winter in the warm south, especially in Crimea where the couple spends their honeymoon.

Katya also died in 1866, before Solovyov. He sometimes joked that, like a father, the woman he loved could not be with him until the end.

However, he always shared more of the love.

Both of the tailor Ulyanov's sons received diplomas from Kazan University. Vasily graduated with Solovyov's financial support and served as his benefactor's secretary for a period of time before deciding to teach in Novotsaturzin and Astrakhan, becoming a civil servant like his brother Ilya.

In 1870, Solovyov received a telegram from Ilya, who was working in Simbirsk, saying that another of his sons had been born.

Although Solovyov's health was not as good as it used to be, it was still better than that of other men his age. In Russia, it was only in the Caucasus region that one could easily find men of this age.

Elijah was not as familiar with him as his elder brother, but he had great respect for the prince's family. The Threst family were a rare group of enlightened nobles who had liberated serfs and were more sympathetic to the lower classes.

He wanted to name his son Mikhail as a tribute, but Solovyov preferred that he name the child Vladimir.

“Ilya, this child should have such a name. I saw the photo you sent; a beautiful child with such a large forehead, he will surely be very intelligent in the future. If you wish, my son can be his godfather. I am simply too old to see this child grow up. I hope he will achieve great things, and I also hope that you can reach the rank of third-class civil servant before you retire. Both of you, father and son, should achieve great things. Also included is a ruby ​​necklace for the child, one of my wife's wedding jewelry pieces. I hope he will meet a like-minded woman and build his own happy family.”

Ilya Ulyanov was an excellent local educator and a fine civil servant in Simbirsk. He knew that his father had worked for the prince, but he did not expect the prince to have such high expectations for the child. So he decided to take the train to Crimea to visit the prince himself when his wife and child were able to travel far.

The frail Solovyov, now 89 years old, is no longer the handsome young man who was as beautiful as a girl, nor the mighty commander he once was.

Fortunately, he remained clear-headed, and even in his memoirs, he was able to recall many events from his youth, such as fighting to protect Julie's reputation, his numerous outings, and his public romantic relationships.

However, his energy was no longer as abundant, and when he saw the child, he began to say strange things again, even more bizarrely than his mentor, Marshal Suvorov.

"My child, what should we do if the Emperor can no longer protect the people of Russia?"

Ilya was a little confused. If someone else had said those words, the Third Hall would not have let it go so easily; at the very least, it would have been a warning.

However, Prince Solovyov was a close guard of Tsar Paul, a general of Tsar Alexander I, a teacher and important minister of Nicholas I and Alexander II, a tutor of the Tsarevich, and even Grand Duchess Alexandra was his granddaughter-in-law. The young Grand Duchess often stayed at his house.

Such an important figure is beyond the control of the Third Bureau.

But he couldn't give a straight answer. He was just an educator, and his duty was to ensure that farmers' children could go to school, to give bright and studious children a future, and to help them avoid detours.

"Your Excellency, this is a difficult question to answer."

"If the Emperor cannot protect the Russian people, the Russian people can also find their own way out. If Russian soldiers can find their way out when there is no way forward, I also believe that the Russian people can find their own way out."

As for the baby with the large forehead, he hugged him and then put him back in the cradle.

Prince Mikhail Solovyov (1781-1873), of the Threst class (End of Chapter)