Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

The Northern Association is relatively moderate, with Trubetskoy and Muravyov as its founders. Their views are more focused on resolving issues peacefully than on launching a coup or military adventure.

Therefore, when they discuss political topics, they usually take good meeting minutes and do not make any claims.

Summarizing and drawing conclusions from experience is always better than rushing into doing something with great enthusiasm.

Solovyov's attitude was similar, except that he never associated with dangerous people.

While the Northern Society was still discussing the topic enthusiastically, he had already traveled from his mother-in-law's estate to Moscow and arrived at the Tverskaya Street station.

Tverskaya Street was originally a gathering place for coachmen, and its name comes from the fact that the main road leads to Tverskaya, which is a traditional Russian naming convention.

If there is a station going to Minsk, it will most likely still be called the Belarusian Station.

But today, looking at the coachmen, he realized he didn't have a horse of his own, and these people were quite adept at attracting customers.

"Sir, are you heading to Tver?"

"I'm going to Tver, but I need to catch a train. Isn't there a train to Tver at this station?"

"Given your stature, you're probably going too."

"Yes, I'm going to St. Petersburg, but I need to visit a friend in Tver first."

Although Solovyov was very famous, many coachmen had never even seen him.

Such an important figure as him was always in the realm of rumors, unlike an emperor who had portraits everywhere and a retinue of followers.

If a distinguished infantry general were not wearing a military uniform, one could only guess that he was a great man because of his age.

She wasn't wearing any medals, just a grey dress, accompanied by a maid with two girls, a pregnant "lady," and two servants—you'd never guess who she was.

If I stay in the army for a long time, I'll probably be able to see him.

Pierre is in Tver, but it's unclear whether he's in the city or on his way to the construction site in Novgorod.

The passenger train that Solovyov was on this time was the one that had started trial operation during his trip to Crimea. Although the train was moving very slowly, it could carry dozens of passengers, and he could even charter a carriage for an important person.

On the train, Solovyov also met some unexpected people.

"Igor, how have you been lately?"

"My lord, I am fine. It seems Miss Mihrima is also here, but sir..."

The veterans all knew that Solovyov was a womanizer, and they were all very familiar with his past relationship with Mrs. Rykamir.

But this isn't the first time the story of the big bad fox eating the little white rabbit has happened.

"Igor, just know it, sometimes it's best to just observe and not say anything more."

"It's just that I'm a train conductor here, and I might be a bit too old."

“When your term of service is up, you can naturally leave the army and become a train conductor, which is a stable job. Count Bezukhov is a man who is enthusiastic about public welfare. Few of us gentlemen have his kind heart.”

Solovyov's statement elevates Pierre, but his kindness and enthusiasm are indeed qualities that others lack; he has a heart of gold.

Solovyov and Igor talked a lot. Of all the veterans he had trained, this guy was the luckiest. He finally completed his service and returned home. Because of his excellent performance during his 25 years of service, he had made almost no mistakes. Therefore, he was still wearing the "Perfect Service" medal and three St. George medals, which is a rare honor among soldiers.

"that's it?"

"Yes, I settled in Tver, right next to the Tver train station. Mr. Pierre wanted me to be the stationmaster of the small station, but I didn't go."

"Is it more interesting on the train?"

“You can see a lot of people on the bus, and you often see familiar faces, adults. Like the old man from my village, when he saw me wearing my medals, he couldn’t even crack his whip, and he would still praise me.”

"Ah, that's good. Veterans should have some spirit and not lose face, especially since you're a veteran who fought in Borodino."

But many people did not return from the Battle of Borodino, a fact that Solovyov was well aware of.

After arriving in Tver, Solovyov also inquired about Pierre's whereabouts.

As expected, Pierre has been in the village near the construction site these days. The railway is now only one small section away from completion, and the bridges along the line are almost finished as well.

Sitting in the carriage, I watched the workers lay sleepers on the roadbed, and then the rails.

Russia’s first train was in Tsarskoye Selo, but the first railway from St. Petersburg to Moscow is finally nearing completion.

By 1822, there were already relatively mature early trains, but they could only pull a maximum of six carriages, and steam locomotives on major routes had only just replaced horse-drawn carriages.

Although Pierre became a railway tycoon, he remained very cautious in this regard.

"Sir, once this section of the road is paved, the entire project will be considered complete."

"That's right, but after it's completed, it still needs to be operational. In that case, our trains need to travel from Moscow to at least Novgorod. Yes, I mean Novgorod. In the past, there were already trains from there to Tsarskoye Selo and St. Petersburg, all using locomotives like ours."

Of course, the situation in Tsarskoye Selo was quite special. The Empress Dowager herself was a railway enthusiast, so there were naturally many steam locomotives there, and the Tsarskoye Selo Railway almost became a testing ground.

Some people even told Alexander that Russia was short of coal, only to be angrily rebuked by the Empress Dowager sitting to the side.

Because the Empress Dowager herself knew that there were many coal mines in the Donets Basin, and that even the sons of Count Bobulinsky were mining coal around Moscow, and that the Empress Dowager received a share of the profits from the mines.

This act of deceiving the monarch was only possible because Alexander was good-natured; it might have been a different story for someone else.

Pierre was still reflecting on the construction progress of the past few days. He had come from Moscow specifically to see the situation on site.

Pierre.

"Misha, where are you going from Crimea this time?"

"It's just that the princesses who have married are coming to St. Petersburg to visit their families this year. I used to be in the palace, so naturally I had to go to St. Petersburg as well. Of course, I also had to go home to see my children. I've been separated from my children for a long time for various reasons."

Of course, he also wrote many letters to these children to communicate with them and educate them. No matter how much of a womanizer he was, he was still very responsible towards the children.

As generals and governors, it was indeed easy for them to be separated from their families.

These children will probably complain that their animals are left in Crimea and they can't bring them to St. Petersburg.

"Yes, I often go to Smolensk and Moscow with Natasha and the children. You haven't been back to Ryazan in a long time either, have you?"

"It's been a long time since I've been back, but I've given the estate there to Petya. I might be going to live in the warm south in the future." Actually, Solovyov is only 41 years old. To be honest, he's in very good health, better than many generals in their thirties.

But he insists on living in the south, perhaps out of a longing for warmer climates.

In the summer, they would return to their estates in St. Petersburg or on the shores of Lake Ladoga.

However, he is still in active duty and has great responsibilities, so he doesn't have that kind of time.

Unlike Pierre, who was a nobleman, landowner, philanthropist, factory owner, and railway tycoon, spending more time with his family while managing his vast business empire, Pierre clearly had more time to spend with his family.

"Going south, I think in the future I'll say, build a railway from Moscow to Kharkiv, and then to Simferopol."

“Islands are not easy to construct, but grasslands are indeed more suitable for laying railways.”

"How long would it take to build the railway to Kharkiv and then to the steppe?"

“Based on the current construction cycle, it will take five or six years, and may even require a branch line railway. I have a coal mine in Taganrog.”

"Taganrog?"

For Solovyov, the only memory he has of that place is probably that Alexander died there.

Some say he went into seclusion and became Fyodor Kuzmich in Siberia, a mysterious hermit.

Solovyov did not believe this claim, just as Luisa later became "Silent Vera," a story that often appears in Russia.

However, the doctors and embalmers in the palace did indeed perform the autopsy and embalming, and there's nothing more to say about that.

He didn't believe such strange stories; Russia is such a large country, there are bound to be many rumors.

It is said that Nicholas II's youngest daughter escaped, but after examining the remains, some problems were discovered.

Russia is a place where rumors are particularly easy to spread.

The peasants in the countryside still believed that there had to be a good emperor, and that a "wise minister" like Solovyov could only appear when there was a good emperor.

But they didn't criticize the Empress much either, as the serfs suffered the worst during her reign.

According to Solovyov, their desire for Peter III to return, or for Paul to ascend to the throne, stemmed from their dire circumstances.

However, Peter III was indeed a scoundrel. Although saying this might not be very respectful to Emperor Paul, the unshackles of the great nobles began from his time.

Russia's later difficulties were partly due to the fact that the imperial power needed to win over the powerful nobles in order to consolidate it. By the time of Alexander the Great, if the next monarch was not determined to reform, the deep-seated problems would become insurmountable.
It's either destroy the country or start over; the current rentiers won't give up their vested interests.

Even more outrageous was that the gentry and landlords, having become registered nobles early on, were unwilling to allow those who had made contributions to also be promoted to hereditary nobles.

Solovyov had already encountered this kind of thing when he was in Crimea.

If he were to take off his uniform and put on ordinary clothes in the future, he might even be able to outwit the wealthy landlord like Afanti.

Although such things are welcomed by the masses, landlords and rich peasants are always reactionary, and there is no doubt about that.

People like Pierre are even more of a minority.

He possessed a fortune of 2000 million rubles, but instead of squandering it, he implemented reforms, invested in industry, and organized a large number of militias when the country was in crisis.

Therefore, Alexander also awarded him the Order of Alexander Nevsky in recognition of his contributions.

This country, while it wants to clean its houses, seems to have attracted far too much dust of its own.

They also had to clean everything up, and there was always the worry that someone might accidentally start a fire inside the house.

If the dust explodes, that would be a bad thing.

Solovyov advised Pierre to devote himself to industry and not get involved in political discussions, and Pierre listened to his advice.

However, he cannot persuade everyone, even though he already has a great influence.

Are you going to stay in Tver?

"I still have to take a horse-drawn carriage to Novgorod, and from there take a train to St. Petersburg."

"If that's the case, I'll go with you. We can ride the horse-drawn carriage, and I think the children would love it."

That's true; Mihrima's two daughters both had a great interest in trains.

It looks like I'll definitely have to buy them both toy trains when we get back. For kids from aristocratic families, trains might be more appealing than dolls; that sense of novelty is irreplaceable.

Pierre's carriage was also pulled by eight horses, but the speed was not fast. The horses moved slowly and steadily on this track.

For longer journeys, trains are more efficient than horse-drawn carriages.

Horses will work very hard under a certain load, and it will always be necessary to consider changing horses halfway through the journey.

Trains are different. Once the railway connecting St. Petersburg and Moscow is completed, it will be easier to travel between the two cities in the future.

They were in the carriage, talking about recent events.

The fact that Grand Duchess Svetlana went to university was quite a sensation in St. Petersburg's high society.

Her marriage will definitely have to be postponed until she finishes her university studies.

This proves that women, after receiving the same level of education as men, can also reach a relatively high level in their field of study.

However, in the current education model, women are still biased towards social and artistic pursuits, while primarily taking care of the family.

Although the principals did not object to introducing those contents into the girls' school, the Empress Dowager herself had some concerns.

Therefore, although educational reforms in girls' schools have been put on the agenda, they have yet to make any progress.

Solovyov was aware of this, but it wasn't a problem that needed to be solved immediately.

Serfdom, Russia's administrative system, and a long-distance transportation network were the most pressing issues.

Alexander neglected state affairs and could even go offline in St. Petersburg, so some things probably needed to be done by Nicholas, whose stubbornness was the only way to complete the reforms.

The prerequisite is that no one causes trouble. (End of Chapter)