Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Solovyov received a letter from Italy informing him of Polina's recent situation.

The man who came was the fiancé Sylvia had chosen for her third daughter. Although Octavia married relatively early, her subsequent daughters would marry later due to their mother's financial situation, even though Polina was willing to prepare dowries for them.

Then, this French staff officer, who was Demid's assistant, used his sister-in-law to win over his capable and honest subordinate, and Solovyov had no objection.

"Your Excellency, I came from Italy. I first went to see Ms. Visconti, and she asked me to deliver this letter."

"I understand. Thank you for your hard work. Your surname must also be Italian, right? Why are you serving in the French army?"

"Because my father was an officer in the 4th Army, he received a medal in Borodino, and later died near the Berezina River during the retreat."

"That's unfortunate. Your father was a fine man, but he was probably on the left wing of the French army at the time. I was on the front lines with Prince Bagration at the Fort Dew. It was a tough battle, and both sides performed exceptionally well. It's just that your surname..."

Do you know anyone in Italy with the same surname as me?

"No, it is indeed impressive."

Because he called himself Giovanni de Grosso, which was a bit too far-fetched, especially since Eugène's army was on the left wing.

The letter mentioned that Polina's health was not good. Although she had narrowly escaped tuberculosis, her family's hereditary stomach disease had returned, and despite her best efforts, she was still very ill.

"Does Sylvia have any further instructions? Or does Princess Rosano have anything to say?"

"Although the two of them wish to see you, they also know that you have great responsibilities in Russia. Here is a note from His Highness to you."

Polina's handwriting was messy; she only wrote two sentences: "I miss you" and "It would scare you if I came to see you now." She must have looked haggard because of her serious illness.

"What should I say, Giovanni? Be kind to my daughter. As a soldier, you have a duty. That's all I can say. Polina means she misses me, but..."

"Her Highness does look very haggard. Her health had improved somewhat when we were in Florence last year; it was just a stomach ailment."

"If it's stomach cancer, we can only pray to God that she will suffer less when she goes to heaven."

Although she was a promiscuous woman with many lovers before meeting Solovyov, she was not a bad person at heart. She took in Sylvia and the other girls and treated those around her very well.

At this time, the person she most wanted to see was her second brother, the French Emperor.

However, Napoleon was far away on the other side of the Atlantic. Although the British turned a blind eye to his antics in the Americas, they absolutely would not allow him to return to Europe, as that would be extremely dangerous.

The Franco-Russian alliance was already terrifying enough. Although Solovyov's command ability was one or two stars less than Napoleon's, he was excellent at strategic planning and diplomacy, and even found a huge blood bank for Russia: the Chinese emperor.

Add to that Napoleon's prestige, the formidable French army, his battlefield prowess and reputation, and the fact that France, Russia, and Spain had already restored a significant portion of their naval fleets, and the threat to the British would be immense.

Although Napoleon doted on his energetic second sister, who helped him develop industry and commerce in bed, he couldn't return. He could only instruct Catherine to send doctors and priests over, and ideally, the young emperor should visit Rome to see his aunt.

Solovyov could do a decent job, but he was quite satisfied with his prospective son-in-law. He had seen it all before: in French military marriages, the groom was always at a disadvantage.

“I will write a reply. I miss her and the children too.”

Polina's three sons inherited the positions of her deceased husband, herself, and her husband, respectively. The pain was agonizing, but the fact that her children were all taken care of was a great comfort.

In addition, Giuseppe got the position of regimental commander in the Imperial Guard. Although he got the position entirely because he was the old emperor's nephew and the emperor's cousin, he performed quite well.

Considering that Giuseppe was often in Eugène's court, where order was relatively good, it was good that he didn't go astray.

In addition, he will inherit his mother's title of Duke of Guastara. Although it is a title with only one manor and some assets, it is still a stepping stone to high society, and it is quite normal for him to marry noble ladies of higher rank.

Of course, the Russian grandmothers have already made most of the arrangements; Pasha will marry Nastya, and that's enough.

Silvia also mentioned Giuseppe's situation, suggesting he might find a job in the Russian army in the future.

For Russia, it was perfectly normal for foreign nobles to serve in the military.

From Solovyov's perspective, however, he might eventually arrange for his sons to lead troops under his command.

If things go wrong, we might have to add a few sons-in-law. While having many children is an advantage, it can also be quite troublesome to arrange.

He had already tried his best to balance things with his two younger brothers, and now there were his sons-in-law scattered throughout Europe.

Fortunately, he had affairs, mostly with girls except for Giuseppe. Katya, however, bore him four sons, and if it's another son this year...
It would be possible to keep one person out of the army, but the rule in Russia is that only one person can stay at home.

Suddenly, the style of the painting turned Mongolian, and it seemed like the youngest son was in this line of work.

There was still plenty of time. Although he wanted to visit Polina, Alexander was also on his way, and she had Sylvia say so in her letter.

He was a serving governor, not one of those leisurely nobles who could just wander around at will.

Besides welcoming the Tsar here, he also wanted to see how the region would develop, how the army would be prepared, and how intelligence gathering would proceed within the Ottoman and Persian Empires after his departure.

Given the Ottoman Empire's ruling methods, only the British were more inhumane. Even when the Qing Dynasty entered the Central Plains, compared to the massacres of villages during peacetime, their policies were considered benevolent.

Christians under Sultanate rule invariably provided intelligence to Europeans, and they might even have included other ethnic groups, such as Kurds, Assyrians, Syrians, and Arabs from other places.

Solovyov even knew from the information he had at this time that Genghis Khan's adoptive father, the old king who believed in Jesus, was a follower of Nestorian Christianity, and most likely used the Syriac Bible. This was because of the naming of his father and grandfather. In fact, if you count the names of Mogus Khan, his name was Marcus, which was even a genuine Latin name.

It's no wonder that after the Russians entered the Ottoman Empire, many Christians from various backgrounds came to guide them.

Anton, by now, will likely be halfway there when he receives a warm welcome from Muhammad Ali Pasha. Alexander's southward inspection tour will also begin with a visit to Luisa, who is recuperating in Taganrog, before proceeding to Crimea.

Solovyov has a lot of preparations to make, including the latest industrial achievements, the bumper harvests in recent years, irrigation using the Dnieper River and groundwater, and various safeguards. These will all form the basis for a possible future southward expedition.

However, Alexander simply doesn't want to launch any attacks right now, which is why some people are indignant.

This excludes Solovyov, who doesn't actually like fighting, but his personal abilities are too strong, and he's currently in a state of being unable to get anything done.

Not only will he have to work for Paul and Alexander, but even if Nikolai and Alexander the Younger come to power in the future, even if he is old and frail, he will probably be invited out. At the very least, he will be the commander-in-chief of the militia in Moscow or somewhere else, and he will be brought out as a symbol.

The Crimean War, which he now wants to avoid, can not only be circumvented but also broken through with a good strategic plan.

Solovyov also infiltrated the Armenians, and even planned to use the practice of granting an official position to the nephew of the chief eunuch of the Persian Shah to gain noble status in order to obtain certain intelligence from the other side.

Of course, on the surface he was still saying that Russia wanted to guarantee peace between the two countries.

Even if the Ottoman Sultan saw this approach, the two countries could probably maintain true peace for a while.

But the people in the position of Persian Shah cannot be judged by common sense. Even the senior Persian brothers at least have logic in their actions.

Who knows when they'll cause trouble again? Griboyedov's recent mediation efforts in Tehran were unsuccessful, and Yermolov has even been suggesting military action, or even taking the initiative.

However, neither the Ministry of Foreign Affairs nor the Ministry of War wanted to start a war. Solovyov advocated a defensive counterattack, suggesting that if the Persians made the first move, Russia would have a handle to use against them. Moreover, even if the Persian army were fully armed, with the British replacing their weapons, they still wouldn't be able to defeat Russia.

Their new army was all show and no substance, though their cavalry had a number of elite units that could still put up a fight.

But in modern warfare, the days when cavalry reigned supreme are over, meaning that new weapons are not yet mature.

Solovyov was preparing mountain rifles, slingshots, and hand-cranked Gatling guns.

As for the machine guns that modern people are more familiar with, Solovyov said that it would take a certain level of industrial capability to develop them, and even if he had the industrial base of Britain and France, he still couldn't do it.

These are already the limits. If there were Maxim, as a seasoned Maximist, almost all the nomadic peoples of the grasslands would come to offer sacrifices to the Tsar.

However, without the necessary technology, even if he has blueprints for aircraft carriers and jet fighters in his mind, it's all for nothing if he can't build those things.

Some time travelers dominate ancient times, but they don't fight against others under equal or slightly superior technological conditions. They want to create crushing victories, but in reality, they can't create any of these things.

Like the airships Lin Zexu mentioned in the hot air balloon, even Solovyov can't guarantee the stable power of these things now. He can't even guarantee the power to pedal three wheels in the air. In addition, the airships themselves are easily damaged in harsh environments. This was also the case after the Zeppelin airship came out.

He still needs to rely on his command on the battlefield, which is something he needs to take seriously.

Another issue related to the Ottomans and Persia was the plague that came from here.

The plague outbreak in Odessa didn't really escalate back then; at that time, it was just a matter of improving basic sanitation conditions.

When Solovyov took office as governor of Crimea, he began to seriously work on the healthcare system.

He has issued guidelines to administrators and doctors regarding contingency plans for various diseases, including respiratory and digestive diseases, as well as sanitation measures for water and food, and possible sources of pathogens.

Under this guidance, the incidence of tuberculosis has been significantly reduced, and most patients have been concentrated in specific sanatoriums. Some of them have been able to live like normal people with proper care.

This is even more significant than his previous work on disinfection concepts for Paul, but it is still just epidemiology, which is exactly what the military needs most.

Therefore, he also requested that all units and military doctors stationed in the area collect data and compile it to develop a treatment strategy.

It's worth noting that every time the Romans previously brutally attacked the Parthians and Sassanid Persians, they would inexplicably encounter various natural and man-made disasters.

It wasn't just the plague; there were those struck by lightning, those assassins who suddenly attacked, those emperors who were inexplicably hit by javelins, and those who rebelled right after running to the front lines.

Solovyov also made many preparations to prevent these situations from occurring.

However, there is now an important problem: the Tsar is blocking him. Not to mention the Persian Empire, even in the current state of the Greek War of Independence, Alexander has no intention of deploying troops.

While he was in St. Petersburg, Nikolai had privately complained that Russia should send troops to Greece given the current situation there.

However, Alexander was unwilling to engage in war, so he could only prepare, prepare, and prepare again.

Just like Paul abolished the death penalty, Alexander has now surprisingly become a lover of peace.

Russia is currently in a favorable external situation, and if possible, launching a large-scale offensive against the Ottoman Empire would be widely welcomed in Europe.

However, the Tsar did not make such arrangements. During his southern tour, although he was to visit various places, he also had to inspect the garrison, especially the defenses of Crimea.

However, he told the ambassadors of various European countries, as well as the Ottoman and Persian Empires, that Russia was willing to act as an arbiter of order, but more importantly, as a pacifist.

If it were a different Tsar, it would probably be a different story.

Solovyov knew that the Tsar himself also had a secret police force at his disposal, not to monitor ministers like them, but to spy on them in many ways, especially secret societies.

He was not an expert on the Northern Association, the Southern Association, and the Slavic Association, but he had heard of them.

But Nicholas had absolutely no idea, and truly no idea how these matters were arranged after he had made up his mind to abdicate. (End of Chapter)