Mikhail Dmitrievich Gorchakov's mansion on Garden Street is a magnificent French-style manor.
Although Nicholas I hated France so much that he almost regarded it as his lifelong enemy. When Crown Prince Alexander was allowed to travel around the country, he was only not allowed to go to France, which shows his hostility towards France.
However, French culture has penetrated the Russian body from all aspects, at least completely penetrated the Russian aristocratic circle. Elegant French, luxurious French clothing, perfume, and romantic French salons.
The entire Russian aristocratic circle, except for Nicholas I, is a Russian-style, or mixed-style existence. After all, this Supreme Being has no interest in a purely Russian-style lifestyle. He prefers a mixed style, which is quite weird anyway.
.
It's just that the subordinates of this supreme king don't like the mix and match style very much. They prefer luxury and comfort, so privately they are all French style.
The same goes for Mikhail. As a general of the Imperial Artillery and a dignified Duke, his status may not be as good as Menshikov's or Paskovich's, but this definitely does not mean that he is a nobody.
On the contrary, his reputation in the military is greater than that of the two above, because his ability is well known to everyone and is much better than the two above. This also determines that his income will not be less.
Every now and then, Mikhail will hold a grand dance. He likes this joyful atmosphere and likes to play with many young people, which makes him feel that he is still alive.
For example, today is his regular dance time. Under the huge Bohemian crystal lamp is a large plate of French delicacies and Burgundy red wine. All of them are original goods imported from France by sea. They are definitely not the kind to fool laymen.
Fake stuff.
The Duke himself was wearing a straight uniform of an admiral, holding a goblet in his right hand, gently swaying the red wine in the glass. Around him, the princes of the Duke's family gathered around him, listening to the veteran general's story of 1812.
Story. From time to time young people exclaimed in admiration and exclaimed, as if they were in the midst of that unprecedented war.
This is Mikhail's favorite moment. He likes to tell the story of 1812. Although he was only a mid-level officer in his late teens and 18s and could only follow a group of famous generals to increase his numbers, it was the first battle in his military career.
At a high point, he thinks he is still very good.
"The French are very powerful, but we are even more powerful... My cannon kept firing, with solid bullets, grape bullets, and the barrels were red-hot... For a moment I suspected that I was going to die, but in the end I survived
, there are at least thousands of French Japs lying in front of my position...You can see their faces when you look up, their eyes wide open, as if they can't believe that they will die or fail..."
There was another burst of admiration, and the onlookers praised Mikhail's courage and called him a fearless warrior. This greatly benefited the Duke. He picked up the wine glass and sniffed it elegantly, then swallowed a small sip.
, according to his arrangement, it is time to tell the story of how to deal with the Turkish barbarians.
"Mr. Leonid Alexanderovich is here and he wants to see you."
Mikhail glanced slightly unhappily at the butler who interrupted his interest. What a coincidence. He likes to tell stories about the Turks. These guys are like leeks, they can be harvested one after another. The medal on his chest
Most of them were contributed by these lovely guys. So he is grateful to these good people. God bless, let there be more Turkish fools!
Mikhail ordered calmly: "Ask him to go to the study. I will be there later."
Yes, the Duke decided to finish telling the story about the Turks before meeting his nephew. He knew his nephew well and would never be dissatisfied with his cousin's little hobby.
Ten minutes later, amidst the constant praise from the young people, Duke Mikhail resigned gracefully and left. In fact, he also wanted to tell stories about Poland and Warsaw, where he also left wonderful memories.
Although the foot cleaners were very dishonest and always caused trouble for him as the governor, the Polish beauties were really nice and he missed them very much.
Pushing open the door to the study, Duke Mikhail strolled in and saw Leonid at first sight. He was both satisfied and dissatisfied with this young man. What he was satisfied with was that he was not like his old playboy father.
Instead of being a diplomat, choose to be a real man.
In Mikhail's opinion, the boys of the Gorchakov family must be soldiers. What does a soft-spoken officer look like? It is extremely boring. Men have to rely on their fists and muscles to speak, rather than their slippery tongues.
But what makes Mikhail dissatisfied is that this good nephew is a bit too old-fashioned and upright. His character is impeccable, but he is too straightforward, which is not a good thing. As the saying goes, there will be no fish in the clearest water.
A person with a mysophobia will not be able to survive in the cesspool of Russia!
You have to learn to adapt and learn to enjoy these flavors!
It is a pity that Leonid was obviously not adaptable before. This made Mikhail very worried. He was deeply afraid that Leonid would follow the old path of the Decembrist Party. That would be a big mistake, and he would never forget it.
No more Prince Sergei Petrovich Trubetskoy and Prince Sergei Volkonsky.
Like him, these two were heroes of 1812 with distinguished backgrounds, but they went down a wrong path because they were too mysophobic. In the end, their reputations were ruined and their families were harmed. Mikhail did not want such a weirdo to appear in his own family.
"Lonia, my dear nephew. How long has it been since you came to visit your old uncle!"
Mikhail hugged Leonid warmly, beat his chest and patted his shoulders, expressing his enthusiasm for his juniors like a traditional Russian.
"Uncle, I'm sorry, I've been too busy recently." Leonid showed an apologetic expression, "Actually, I haven't been back to St. Petersburg for two months! There are too many trivial things in Sertolov town.
It’s too busy to finish…”
"I know, I know!" Duke Mikhail also sighed, patted Leonid's shoulder again, and sighed: "You went to the 748th Regiment. I know that unlucky unit is completely
Scum, rubbish! To be honest, I really don’t understand why you want to go there?”
Duke Mikhail looked into Leonid's eyes. He guessed that this nephew could not stand the 748th regiment and was planning to ask him for help in finding another job. If so, he would be happy to help because he also knew the unlucky man.
How troublesome the group is and what is involved.
"It's okay, uncle." Leonid said sincerely: "I have learned a lot in the past few months. The feeling of actually leading an army is completely different from that in the Preobrazhensky Guards Regiment. I have learned
Understanding the real situation and taking control of everything, the grassroots troops are completely different from what is taught in school. I am very grateful to have taken this step..."