Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Whether it's the Carnot cycle, an internal combustion engine, or petroleum fuel, we still have to wait for the final results. Waiting is the most agonizing part, but at least there's hope.

Solovyov even wrote a letter to the Tsar for this purpose, but the reply came from Arakcheyev.

Solovyov knew exactly what the Tsar had been up to lately.

Fortunately, Arakcheyev was an artilleryman, so he knew some technology and was very supportive of the heat engine project.

He could actually get a share of the benefits. Solovyov was in charge of organizing research and development and coordinating the process, but Arakcheyev, who had different political views from him, strongly supported him on this issue, so the leadership deserves credit for that as well.

Especially those opposition guys, Arakcheyev was able to get rid of them, which greatly reduced the resistance.

But what about the Tsar?

Sergei Volkonsky went to Solovyov again, knowing that the governor held considerable military power. In fact, the 3rd Army and the Danube Army were under his control, along with the Caucasus Corps, which constituted the entire Russian field force in the south.

The two had worked together before the Tsar. Sergei's brother-in-law was the head of the Attendant Generals and served as Alexander's Chief of Staff for a long time until Jomini came and gave up the position, but his status remained very high.

"Seryozha, what brings you here this time?"

“Aside from inspecting troops, the Emperor is rarely seen in public. He didn’t even appear when Princess Svetlana returned from Göttingen recently.”

"It's just that His Highness is going to Göttingen to defend his thesis, nothing serious. These days, His Majesty only frequently summons the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Finance. If you were to go to St. Petersburg, perhaps His Majesty would see you, but not the other governors."

"Don't worry about so many things, Seryozha. You're not getting any younger, it's time to get married. Raevsky's daughter, Maria, is a good girl. Starting a family will calm your restless heart."

"You got married because the Emperor bestowed the marriage upon you, otherwise..."

"Don't bring up the past. How are your sister and brother-in-law?"

“They are all very well, but St. Petersburg is not like Crimea. People envy your place. The scenery is beautiful, the winters are not cold, and the nights are not so long.”

"But since this place is close to the sea, people with rheumatism should stay at home."

"But you don't have rheumatism, and among the generals, you are in the best health."

"That's because I'm younger than other generals of the same rank. By the way, there have been quite a few discoveries in the Caucasus. I'm going to write a memorial to the Emperor proposing to buy wool from the mountain people in the Caucasus mountains and grow cotton on the plains so that it can be transported by water to Astrakhan and used for the textile industry."

Sergei discovered that Solovyov always talked about practical things; trendy theories and revolutionary passion seemed to be nonexistent in his conversations.

However, because of his way of doing things, the Northern Association still treated him as one of their own, while the Southern Association saw him as an obstacle. But due to his prestige in the military and the closer relationship between the Southern Association and him personally, these people could not do anything and could only watch him do things in Crimea.

"But Your Majesty"

"There's some new news from the St. Petersburg court. I heard that Elizabeth Alexievna's health isn't very good?"

"Yes, it seems that she is exhausted. Her Majesty the Queen's health is getting worse and worse. The doctor suggested that she go to Italy, but she is unwilling to go."

"So where is she planning to go?"

"His Majesty did not intend to come here. He chose Taganrog, a quiet and remote place that is not far from the coast."

“Taganrog? It’s not like Yalta. I built a villa in Yalta for entertaining guests, which can be converted into a palace soon if possible.”

Although Taganrogna was a city built in 1698 and had a port in the south, its development was very slow and it seemed to be an insignificant place. It was near the Sea of ​​Azov, but its importance was not as great as Crimea, and it may be surpassed by other places in the future.

Russia is so big that some places feel forgotten.

Solovyov wanted the Tsar and Tsarina to come to him. He was well aware that the Decembrists' goal of a coup was to stage a coup against the Tsar himself, and that he would be killed if he disagreed.

The Decembrist Revolt was caused by the sudden death of Alexander the Great. The Northern Society had not planned a constitutional monarchy coup, at least not so soon. However, Constantine and Nicholas were mutually deferring to each other for the throne, which led to the uprising.

With tens of thousands of troops stationed in Crimea and Dnieper protecting him, and officers who were all absolutely loyal and reliable men placed there by Solovyov, the troops stationed along the Black Sea coast were less affected by the Southern Association and were unlikely to encounter any major incidents.

Solovyov's arrangements were good, but the Tsar disagreed. Taganrog, to be honest, didn't have very good sanitation conditions. Although it was within Solovyov's territory, it was closer to Rostov and the Krasnoyarsk Territory, making it a region with relatively low control.

What the Tsar chooses to do is his business.

Now Alexander has married off his third daughter to a duke of a small German state, and next up is the marriage of his fourth daughter.

Because of the ongoing war of independence in Greece, although Alexander did not send troops, Greek officers serving in the Russian army could voluntarily return, and even recruit soldiers to go there. There were also many Greeks scattered in southern Russia.

In this way, Russia can still have some influence over the situation in Greece. According to the results of the talks between the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Russia, it would be an acceptable outcome for everyone if a European royal family were to be sent to Greece.

However, Greece, after being governed by the Ottoman Sultan, had become increasingly impoverished and backward. They had not yet elected their own ruler, unlike Serbia, which had appointed Black George as its head of state, and was even considered a king.

Considering the situation in Serbia, Alexander would not marry his daughter there; he was only willing to provide weapons and equipment support.

Greece was a good choice. He married Polina off to a minor German prince, hoping his daughter would be happy. Although the third son was cunning, his personality was more like that of his father.

Svetlana has a strong personality and is a rare female scholar in the royal family of this era. If she were to marry into a relatively dangerous place, she might be able to play a useful role.

This was the second important matter that Alexander and his wife were concerned about at this time, the most important of which was the issue of succession.

Since Alexander had no sons, he decided to choose one of his brothers to inherit the throne.

Due to intermarriage between nobles and commoners, as well as his private statements, Constantine had already abdicated the throne and would only serve as the governor of Poland.

Nicholas has a son, and his seemingly frail Grand Duchess is also having children, so there's no problem with the family having a large number of members. In fact, Nicholas will probably have many children and grandchildren, while Alexander will only have grandsons. This is something that makes him, as the eldest brother, somewhat envious.

“I have prepared four edicts. The original will be kept by the Patriarch of Moscow, and in the event of my death or my abdication, the Patriarch and the Governor-General of Moscow will be responsible for their promulgation in Moscow. In addition, one copy will be kept in the palace in St. Petersburg, and another copy will be in the Privy Council.” “Your Majesty, what about the fourth copy?”

“Speransky, this edict is carried by the chief aide-de-camp, so that even if I am outside of St. Petersburg and Moscow, I can promptly announce it to my entourage.”

Alexander simply learned that the Qing Dynasty's succession system was consistent in concept with the edict of succession passed down by Peter the Great, and added this clause.

He is 46 years old this year and is in very good health. Although he lives in seclusion in the palace, everything is going well.

He had never considered the possibility of any unexpected events.

But Alexander always heard about what some of the radical young officers were up to, unlike Nicholas who was completely unaware.

However, in his view, these people were probably not a threat, and their intelligence sources were always reliable.

The Tsar himself was somewhat disappointed with Russia as it was today. During his more than 20 years in power, he had accomplished a great deal, including defeating Napoleon in foreign wars and making Russia one of the arbiters of European affairs.

But the people remained poor, and the country was in turmoil, so he was despondent and spent his days praying to God.

He is well aware of his personality problems, but he has not made up his mind to change them; this is a lack of courage in him.

If it were Nicholas, I believe he could do a great job. The civil and military officials he left behind were all elites who had gradually emerged since the end of the Empress's era, and I believe these people would be able to wholeheartedly assist Nicholas.

However, internal conflicts sometimes gave Alexander a headache.

His ministers at this time included those in the palace and those who had been sent to important towns.

When Neserrodie served as the imperial prime minister and foreign minister at the palace, he supported serfdom.

His friend, Solovyov, who was sent to Crimea and then to the south, supported the reforms, but his steady approach made the Tsar feel at ease with him.

Although Arakcheyev was the leader of the conservatives, he did things according to the Tsar's wishes. However, Alexander had neglected state affairs in recent years, which sometimes meant that Arakcheyev could only manage the country by "the power of my own thinking."

If the Tsar is willing to reform, he will "think about" and implement some reforms.

In addition, there was Speransky, the former mastermind, who was now only responsible for drafting edicts and some cabinet administrative affairs. He could not touch the highest power, after all, he had offended the conservatives in the past.

Alexander had his own plans. He and Nicholas were nearly twenty years apart in age, and unless there was an extremely unexpected situation, Alexander would definitely be the one to pass away first.

Of course, we have to exclude the Fyodor Kuzmics legend, which claims that Fyodor Kuzmics almost outlived his sister.

As for the ministers, although they will also grow old, they are not without fresh blood.

Alexander himself could not have imagined that his lifespan seemed to be coming to an end.

"Your Majesty, according to the astrological results, there will be a great calamity in the coming years, and it is hard to say who this calamity will affect."

Not only did he subscribe to mysticism, but he was also somewhat obsessed with astrology.

As to who this calamity was aimed at, Alexander couldn't help but think of Solovyov's mockery of the oracle.

"Is there any clear indication? If all of this is vague, we won't know who is responsible for this calamity."

"Your Majesty, this is also what puzzles me. Astrological observations indicate that calamity will occur in the east and south, but the ruling star..."

Alexander was thus indoctrinated with astrological superstitions. Although he might face calamity, it was hard to say which direction he would ultimately go.

He used to be able to discuss things with Louisa, but not anymore. Louisa has become increasingly superstitious in recent years due to her poor health, and she is no longer the person she used to be who could help him make decisions.

"Okay, that's it."

Alexander's idea that he might be doomed, but could also escape by sheer luck, is indeed quite awkward.

Not all the ministers believed in astrology. One man who went to Crimea and lived near a Greek city scoffed at it, saying that the movement of stars in the sky was not as the theories of past astronomical observations suggested.

Indeed, Solovyov was focused on discovering Neptune, unaware that Galileo had already discovered it long ago, though he recorded it in his observation logs. Kepler was not there to help him calculate the orbit that time.

It's unknown whether the French, due to telescope malfunctions, missed Neptune during their previous observations.

Of course, celestial movements are all scientific, but the one who truly made the connection with astrology was Ulugh Beg, whose astrological skills were incredibly profound. His son actually rebelled against him and carried out an assassination attempt on his way to Mecca for the Hajj.

The rest are all celestial movements.

Solovyov was in Crimea and had no idea what superstitious activities Alexander was currently engaging in. He only learned from Katya's letter that Luisa had recently become superstitious as well.

When they were all young, Louisa, as the "older sister," was not like this.

It's just that this kind of thing is more likely to happen as people get older.

With the edict already in effect, Alexander himself was finally able to relax for the time being.

He hasn't decided to go south yet, but there's no decent house to live in in Taganrog, so he has to send people to renovate the local properties before he can move there.

Russia today, even though it's offline, seems to be running quite well; it even managed to entrust the south to Solovyov, and things are running very smoothly.

Everything is going well, but astrologically, there's an omen of disaster. Where exactly does this lie? (End of Chapter)