Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

After explaining it to Nicholas, he finally saw the light and understood everything.

Solovyov also shook his head. This kid was tall and strong, but he had put all his talent points in appearance and etiquette. It would be difficult to force him to change his talent points.

Even compared to the average Russian or German man of this age, Nicholas is not only strong and muscular, but also surprisingly delicate and tender - from a European perspective.

No wonder, his uncle is a 200-kilogram Württemberg strongman. Since he can support such an outrageous body, his skin elasticity must be top-notch.

In addition to having a big butt, Maria's skin also feels nice.

"Boss, what you said makes a lot of sense."

"But you must not bow down to me. According to the duties of a monarch and his subjects, although you are only a duke, I still have to be loyal to you."

"But boss, you have taught me so much. If I can achieve something in the future, I will definitely suggest that you reserve a place in the Kazan Cathedral."

"I think it's better for me to stay in my own house."

By the way, Solovyov also had a bad association, that is, Nikolai might not live as long as himself.

As for the tomb in the Kazan Cathedral, Solovyov still wants to be buried with his wife, along with the tokens of his lovers.
Seeing Solovyov like this, Nikolai stopped speaking on this issue.

"But we have to go to Paris, sir. What shall we do?"

"If Schwarzenberg can hold Napoleon back, Your Majesty, we should need to march for seven days and approach Paris from the north. It's not a suitable place to attack, but we can march very quickly, and the French probably won't expect us to come this way. I have discussed with Clausewitz how to do it. Corea"

Hearing his nickname being used, Nikolay knew that Solovyov was speaking in a normal manner.

Alexander probably would not have a son. If Nicholas succeeded him as Tsar, there would be no such intimate title, and the relationship between them would only be that of monarch and subject. However, Nicholas might unilaterally use a nickname or honorific title out of respect for his teacher.

There would be no silly boy following him around and calling him "boss" all day long. Solovyov had some ideas about the future, but he couldn't arrange anything.

All we can do now is probably march towards Paris.

But his marching route was a bit strange.

If he took a shorter route, leaving Reims and heading directly southwest, he would be able to reach Paris in less than a week.

However, Solovyov chose to go to Soissons first, then walk to the north of Paris, and then turn south.

This not only takes a detour, but also may delay time if anything happens along the way.

However, there is also an advantage, which is that it can avoid the reconnaissance of Napoleon's main force and French scouts near Reims as much as possible.

Solovyov's arrangement was also rather risky, as he even left Sacken in Reims, along with Blücher.

He was only leading the troops currently under his direct command towards Soissons.

Besides, based on his seniority, he couldn't command Sarkhen.

Don't trouble yourself now, Solovyov will be leaving soon.

As for him, it took him a day and a half to march to Soissons. The French defenders here did not resist the Prussians like they did, but chose to surrender.

"You did a great job against the Prussians before, why are you surrendering to us now?"

"At least you are the nephew of Queen Josephine and the sister of the Emperor."

"Ah, old man, it's not nice of you to say that. Although my wife is not with the army, she is now in Karlsruhe. If there was no war, she would probably have followed."

Solovyov also noticed that although the old man was wearing the mayor's clothes, they did not fit him well and his ears were missing.

"Are you a veteran?"

"Yes, sir, I used to be an old guard of the emperor, and I served until I met the emperor of your Russia on the Neman River. The emperor thought I was too old, so he gave me a pension, and I came here to raise ducks. But I am from Arbois, Pont-du-Oise, and what I hate most is people robbing houses. The old guards now are different from ours. As long as the emperor gives an order, they dare not rob at will. Now these..."

"What do you mean by this?"

Although Nicholas looked a little immature, the old man could see that although Solovyov was the commander-in-chief and had medals and was known to be the nephew of the former queen, the young man behind him, who was still a little immature but tall and strong, seemed more noble.

Nicolas asked, and Arbois answered.

"Ah, we all know how good the emperor is, so if he's nearby, we old soldiers and the local militia will fight to the death. If you treat us, the young men who look a bit noble, well, we won't resist. Otherwise, hey! We've beaten those Germans countless times!"

"You are an honest man, old man. Boss, shouldn't we..." Nikolai immediately switched back to Russian when talking to Solovyov.

Although this title is still in use, Solovyov did not frown in front of the French, as they did not understand Russian.

Use your job title when you are working!
"We should indeed observe military discipline, Your Highness. This is what the Emperor has always requested, and as a general on duty, I will do the same."

Now Arboise of Pont-toise also understood that this tall young man was a member of the Russian royal family and had just come of age.

But he didn't beat around the bush and invited Solovyov's headquarters to the town hall in Soissons.

"It turns out that the mayor took away everything that could be taken away. I can only give you some roast duck and foie gras as if I were entertaining an emperor."

“That’s so rich!”

"Ah, that's nothing. After all, General, you are the nephew of Queen Josephine, and Your Highness, you are the brother of Queen Catherine. To an old man like me, you are all family members."

Well, he doesn’t treat guests as outsiders, which is a bit strange, but normal.

This old man had a wife before the revolution, who was also an old woman. Her ladylike clothes did not fit her and looked funny, and she still dressed like a country cook.

"My cooking skills are very good. Although Soissons is not our hometown, it is not bad here. It's a little cold, but the house is warm."

"Ah, it tastes good. Sir, you are also a new mayor, right?" "Yes, the emperor saw that we old guys blocked the Germans, so he made me the mayor. Speaking of which, it's not as good as the days when I was raising ducks at home. It's not easy to deal with people. And although I can read, there are some words I have never seen before. Those masters always make things so complicated. That's it, I really need a secretary."

"You want a secretary? Let me take a look. We have captured a French officer. We'll find a well-educated one to be your secretary!"

"That's fine. I just understand what it is. I don't understand those petitions. I only know that we need to repair the roads for the local folks, plant the fields in the spring, sow the seeds, and harvest in the fall. We should pay taxes and do things as usual. Of course, there is probably no need to conscript soldiers now. We can't beat you with so few people. The emperor has gone to cause trouble for the Austrians again."

"Although you are this culturally, if anyone compares with you and talks about being a good official, they are this, and you are this!"

Solovyov finally gave a thumbs up, and the old soldier was very happy to hear it.

Of course, he always reminded Solovyov of Sancho, the peasant in Cervantes's novels and the follower of Don Quixote.

When he was teased by the lord, he did serve as governor for a period of time, and actually did a pretty good job.

At this time, Nicholas and the staff officers were only concerned with finishing the duck on the table.

"Thank you for your hospitality, but we have to pay for the collected supplies."

Solovyov's control over the army was different from that of others. When he arrived at the local area and collected supplies, he had to pay money.

Therefore, when they arrived in France, the French were not afraid of the Russian and Austrian armies.

Austrians are traditionally rule-abiding and very rigid in their enforcement.

There was a group of Cossacks in the Russian army who liked to rob. They refrained from large-scale looting at the request of the emperor, which was already a sign of strict military discipline.

It was the ordinary Russian soldiers who behaved very differently from the "barbarians" that the French believed they were.

Less than a week after the old soldier became mayor of Arboise-Pont-de-Pont, the emperor left and his nephew and brother-in-law came.

Their identities, on the contrary, made the French less hostile, not to mention that Nicola had a good relationship with his sisters - although it was suppressed by blood.

The two men were quite easy to talk to. Even the emperor's nephew kept signing checks, indicating that these could be exchanged at the bank. As cash was still in short supply, they paid with silver rubles and thalers, which were precious metal currencies comparable to the franc.

If they don't accept paper money, there's nothing we can do. Nowadays, paper rubles are like waste paper. If you want to spend them, you have to look at cash (silver), rubles, and foreign currency (cloth).

In short, the local civilians in Soissons felt that the Russians might be more willing to pay the bill than the French army, and they didn't even have the heart to fool them, which was really a bit naive.

As for advancing towards Paris, Solovyov was also prepared to continue westward, which was always more deceptive.

"If you are going to Paris, I have nothing to say. If the Emperor can come back, it is better to stay away from his army."

"I know that, but it's a long way back from Troyes, and you shouldn't think that only the French army marches the fastest. We Russians are not bad either. When we were in Switzerland, we even crossed the Ghost Bridge, and the Russian soldiers were always able to find a way out."

It was quite pleasant to get along with this old man, but it was short-lived.

The Russian army had to continue moving forward towards Paris.

If they could do nothing along the way, the noise would not be small and could effectively reduce the French resistance.

Moreover, turning north, Napoleon's perception of the battlefield would be much weaker.

If they wanted to stop them, they would probably have to ask Bernadotte, who was in Belgium, to return and join the defenders in Paris.

But behind Bernadotte, there were tens of thousands of troops from the Allied Northern Corps, as well as the Dutch and British coalition forces, so there was nothing he could do for the time being.

There were no troops blocking the road to Paris, and even small-scale sporadic attacks were rare.

You should know that when he was in the Balkans, Solovyov was shot by Ottoman stragglers even though he had the support of local Slavs, but fortunately he was not seriously injured.

It seems that after the emperor left, even the man who was pumping up chicken blood was gone, and the resistance became much weaker.

Walking along the main road, the journey is smooth and unobstructed.

At this time, it always feels a bit strange to say "unimpeded", but the Russian army's progress was also very smooth.

Even though they were still several days away from Paris, and considering that it was impossible to travel in a straight line, the people in Paris had already known about the Russian army's movements, but it was still difficult to pass the message to Napoleon.

Because the gap in military strength between Napoleon and Schwarzenberg was too great, even with reinforcements, they were still at a 1 to 2 disadvantage.

Schwarzenberg only needed to use the pig tactic to make it difficult for the French army to bite.

Now Napoleon wanted to cut off the Austrian army's transportation lines. In addition, the French resistance to the miscellaneous German princes' troops on the Bohemian Army side always wanted to find an opportunity to force Schwarzenberg to retreat.

However, the Austrians did not buy it and instead confronted Napoleon.

Even if the news reached the emperor, it would probably be difficult for him to return to Paris.

At the same time, front-page headlines have appeared in some tabloids in Paris.

"The Siberian Barbarians Departing from Reims"

The Russian invaders have arrived at Soissons

The Russian Army Continues to Advance

This kind of headline that attracts readers' attention in Paris tabloids can indeed bring some sales at this time.

But it also brought further panic. After all, in the minds of Parisians, the Russians were probably...
But Solovyov was very clear about their character. What was happening now was just a farce, "The Russians Occupy Paris." What the French were going to do next would probably happen again several times in the next hundred years.

But, will there be any French troops to resist him on his way to Paris? (End of this chapter)