Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Demid's favorite thing to do is reading, and Octavia is a little bookworm.

It is obvious that Sylvia is very good at educating children. As a housekeeper from an aristocratic family, she is indeed capable.

So, Polina provided the material foundation, but cultural education was another matter.

Jerome admired his nephew, who was much more reliable than his second brother. After all, his nephew would not show any authority in front of him. As an emperor, Napoleon must make his family obey.

Of course, what he is thinking about now is probably how to keep his family safe, and even this aspect needs his eldest brother to take care of it.

Napoleon scolded Joseph again.

Now Joseph will no longer be the King of Spain, but he is still Napoleon's elder brother and Prince of the French Empire, and he has always played a role in diplomatic occasions.

Originally, in Napoleon's family, the eldest brother was good at diplomacy, the third brother Lucien was capable of being a minister or controlling the parliament, Louis was better at domestic affairs, and Jerome, as the youngest brother, was good at hooking up with girls, and all of his women were devoted to him, but this was also a common feature of the brothers.

This combination probably wouldn't have been like this if Napoleon hadn't been so domineering and always imposed strict arrangements on the family.

So, now Napoleon is a lonely man.

Joseph just sighed and left the Tuileries Palace.

He worries a lot about his family.

Now he doesn't want to go back home, but wants to go to his mother.

The Queen Mother saved more than one million francs for her children every year, and that was just the savings, not including bonds, real estate, and jewelry.

If something unexpected really happened, the money the old lady had saved could still support the whole family.

The diplomatic proposal that Joseph saw was put forward by Metternich.

The speed at which news traveled from the Rhine to Paris was very fast, even faster than hearing the news in Weimar.

Solovyov is visiting Mr. Goethe at this moment.

Although he personally was not interested in Goethe's works, he still had great respect for this great writer from Germany.

"Count, I am curious about the fact that you have rarely produced any works of your own, but you are always translating Eastern culture. I have to say that although you are young, you are very knowledgeable. To be honest, your introduction is much more accurate than what Voltaire gave us back then."

"Perhaps even the story of the 'Chinese orphan' has more than one interpretation in history. Mr. Voltaire just wanted the audience to understand it in a French way."

"It's a pity. You are a soldier, and this is not your main occupation. If you are willing, you can play a big role."

"But Mr. Goethe, that's how Misha is."

Goethe actually knew that Her Highness Maria had a very close relationship with the Count, but he did not know to what extent. He thought it was just the kind of friendship that Maria had when she was a child, as when she was always accompanied by a Guards officer.

If he knew, he would probably sigh at how bold young people today are.

"Because I am a soldier, I am always involved in the army and politics. I am not like the poets who are now in the Guards, who can always participate in some activities after their duties. Or like Prince Vyazemsky, who is young, has a lot of property, and is not old enough to worry about official duties. I always have tasks on my shoulders, and perhaps I have to go to the East."

"You are very familiar with the East. At least you are not like the British, who do not know the etiquette of the Chinese emperor. It is just like when Alexander the Great marched east, he asked his subordinates to crawl on the ground like Persian subjects."

"But not entirely. You have to know that from Imperator to Dominus and then to Basilius, Rome has always been Rome."

What Solovyov heard from Goethe was criticism of Macartney.

However, Mr. Goethe would probably be disappointed when he arrived in the East. The sense of mystery of the distant distance would probably refresh his conception of it all.

But he had been to St. Petersburg and to Paris, and the big garbage dump in Paris wasn't that great either.

Even Goethe, after hearing Solovyov's mention of Golovkin's failed journey to the East, expressed the view that both sides were stupid.

"But, sir, in diplomatic occasions, there are always some people who show arrogance."

"But there are many facts that we, the hearsay spectators, do not know. Perhaps there are other ways. Count, what do you think of the French emperor's recent attitude towards diplomatic notes?"

"If it were Parmenion and Alexander, their attitudes towards the peace terms sent by Darius III would also be different. It is obvious that the emperor is unwilling to accept the fact that the entire Germany has been lost. After all, he does not want to exist like this. He is even a little paranoid. Some great people are prone to this."

"But this is something that many great people cannot avoid, Count. We also know that there are always some people who are not perfect in personality. If there is really a perfect person, it will feel unreal."

"Yeah, it's like Greek drama, especially tragedy"

"You like Greek drama, too?"

"I just like the core of tragedy. A story always attracts attention at some point, and its structure is not so perfect. For example, some of the Chinese novels I have obtained are out of touch with reality. If it is written based on history, it means that a character has the ability to change the course of history, and probably the ending is not always so perfect."

“But from what you said”

Goethe did get a few novels, but Solovyov did not have time to translate them. He just wrote some story summaries after reading them.

As a contemporary European literary giant like Goethe, he quickly discovered the problem and came to his conclusion.

People who are well versed in drama always have their own unique perspectives.

After watching Peking Opera, Chaplin quickly analyzed the characteristics of each role according to his own understanding.

Even if it is the first time that Europeans hear the clown Jin Shaoshan, they will be surprised that there is such a great tenor in China!
For someone like Goethe, it seems like a piece of cake to be able to evaluate the quality of some historical novels just by reading some introductions.

"It is true that they can tell who is better. No wonder the Chinese have finally allowed that general to enter their pantheon."

In Goethe's view, China is probably also a polytheistic religion, with bureaucrats selected and appointed.
In other words, he was past the age of open-mindedness. Goethe, who was already in his sixties, was still active in thinking, but he was also more conservative due to his age. He did not comment that China was actually the Eastern Rome of the Principate, which was a sign of progress.

After all, there are some strange stories about "Da Qin" in ancient Chinese history books.

The content that Europeans are getting now has obviously been selected.

But Solovyov brought first-hand information, unlike Voltaire and others who got information from second-hand dealers.

Goethe had only seen a few related contents in the library in Weimar. If we want to talk about large quantities and sufficient content, it had to be Solovyov's introduction.

But because he is a soldier and has always been leading troops, he still had some time when he was an adjutant and battalion commander.

Now that I am a general, I have put all these jobs aside.

"But this book is really interesting. Why do you want me to adapt the story of the Chinese Prime Minister's Northern Expedition into a drama?"

Solovyov's approach is actually not surprising.

After all, he knew that the Three Kingdoms drama was able to form a relatively complete system, and even the number of repertoires in Peking Opera had caught up with the annotated version by Mao Zonggang, which was because there were literati helping the troupe to improve it.

Solovyov knew that Goethe had a lot of work on his hands at this time, including "Faust 2", as well as the content of philosophy and natural science that he was very interested in, as well as.
Goethe was actually a painter, and his level was not low. He could do anything well, but in the field of natural science, due to the level of his knowledge, there were always some flaws. This is inevitable. After all, a person has a wide range of hobbies and is good at many things, so it is inevitable that he will be like this on some issues.

"I think only great playwrights can have a deeper understanding of these heroic stories. And when you were young, you once served as a privy councilor of the Grand Duchy, and you always wanted to show your ambition and change the world."

"Yeah, it always takes some persistence. So you want me to do this?"

"You probably only need to complete this part of Prime Minister Zhuge's campaigns, and I will be satisfied."

But Wang Situ is probably going to enter the ghost-animal zone in Europe.

As for the Northern Expedition, it was also a kind of persistence, which Goethe could also agree with.

But the topic soon returned to Napoleon's attitude towards the new peace treaty. Goethe had been chased to his doorstep by the emperor, witnessed his rise, and then saw the emperor's fall.

And it is very likely that she will live longer than the emperor.

"Count, I think I agree with you on this point. After all, I have met Napoleon and I know he will not accept this condition. A man who almost controls Europe in his hands will not accept this peace treaty."

"But if it were anyone else, they would probably agree. There is always a buffer period, and the situation in Europe will change due to many things. This drastic change may happen in the next few decades."

"You can still see, my young friend. Even if I had the good fortune to live as long as the great men of the classical age, I am now sixty-four years old, and I have not been able to see so much. And you are still very young, you are only thirty now, right?"

"Sir, I am already thirty-two years old, but I always look younger than my actual age."

"Yes, it's great to be young. Count, you, His Royal Highness, and the Countess are all very young, and you can probably see a lot of things, including those great changes. I am fortunate to be in the same era as you, but I witnessed the last era, and what the next one will be like. The unknown things always make people very interested."

Goethe had been stroking his cane, as if lost in thought.

"What will happen next? The Great Revolution is probably just the beginning. I am old now. I just hope there will be no more bloody and cruel events, and fewer wars."

"But those are all good wishes, probably to form a stable international system, let the monarchs take care of their subjects, there will always be a smoothly functioning political system in the republic, wars should be far away from this era, and people should always look at problems from a humanitarian perspective. Those who do evil will be unanimously spurned."

"But many things are difficult to change through us. There will always be ambitious people among the rulers. No matter what the environment is, there will be such people. We must avoid the emergence of a Catiline, and we must also avoid someone coming out to incite public opinion and start a war."

They all have a highly consistent understanding on this point.

As for Napoleon himself, after seeing Metternich's diplomatic note, he also disdained it.

But this also lost the last chance for peace talks. After all, the Allied forces had reached the front line of the Rhine River. As long as they passed the front line from Mainz to Strasbourg, they would enter France.

Since Valmy, foreign coalition forces have not entered here for a long time, and what they may face now is a war on the French mainland.

The same explanation may be given to Metternich's note.

If you turn against your enemies and surrender with courtesy, you can still rule the land west of the Rhine and be the emperor, and your country will be safe and your people will be happy. Isn't that wonderful?
Even because of the Austrians' instinctive fear of Napoleon, they did not put forward more stringent conditions.

However, with the interference of Russia and Prussia, Metternich, who was still somewhat courageous, added another clause.

There will be no such favorable peace talks in the future, and they will only become more harsh.

However, for Napoleon, the Rhine River border was probably his bottom line before he proposed the 1791 border.

But in order to maintain his own rule, he will inevitably take some action.

The French army is still mobilizing, but it is difficult to say how strong it is at the moment.

Perhaps the only good news is that the old ruffian Massena and his robbery partner Soult brought back Spanish veterans.

But Wellington was still chasing after them. The British did not occupy many places in Spain because of their victory. These troops rushed back to provide support only because France was in danger.

In addition, Eugene had returned to Italy and organized 60,000 people to resist the possible invasion of the Po Plain by the Austrians.

But there were obviously problems within Napoleon's empire.

Most marshals can still remain loyal, and even those who have the potential to be traitors will probably not defect to the other side until the last moment.

But the problem lies within Napoleon's family. Murat said he wanted to recruit 100,000 troops, but when he returned home, he discussed with his wife about selling Napoleon.

Carolina is still her biological sister! And this is not the first time. When Talleyrand was still loyal to Napoleon, Napoleon lost contact in Spain, and Carolina was more active in colluding with Talleyrand and Fouché to launch a coup. (End of this chapter)