Chapter 201 The place where Mary Pavlovna
held the welcome banquet prepared for Arthur was at the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg. This is the royal palace of the Russian Empire and the palace where most Russian tsars have lived since Catherine the Great.
Of course, as the emperor of Russia, one of the European powers, Nicholas II also owned a large number of palaces and manors.
The Winter Palace is the largest palace in Russia and one of the most formal royal palaces. It was here that the workers' petitions took place.
But if according to tradition, it is summer, Nicholas II should spend his vacation at the Livadia Palace in Yalta.
Yes, it was the place where the Yalta Conference would be held in the future. The Yalta Conference was a meeting for the victors in the war to distribute post-war benefits. It was also a meeting that determined the world pattern after World War II.
Because he had to negotiate a treaty with William II, Nicholas II did not go to Livadia Palace this summer, but stayed at the Winter Palace so that he could go to the place of conversation at any time, which was near Bjork Island.
The climate in St. Petersburg is relatively comfortable in summer. The temperature always remains above 10 degrees Celsius during the day, and can reach a maximum of about 20 degrees Celsius.
But such good weather will not last long. After four consecutive months of summer, St. Petersburg will also usher in an eight-month winter.
I have to admire the Russians for their rough skin and thick flesh. Not anyone can bear such a cold winter.
This is also the reason why in history, including the powerful Napoleon, and the later Mustache's expedition to Russia, all failed.
In Russia, not only do we have to face thousands of kilometers of transportation lines, we also have to face the cold Russian winter.
Although the climate of St. Petersburg is not suitable for being a capital, it makes up for this shortcoming in other aspects, allowing Russia to use it as the capital for more than a hundred years.
St. Petersburg has an outlet to the sea and was previously operated by Novgorod. It is a safe port with a high degree of development and belongs to the mainstream Russian culture.
If Russia wants to continue its development towards Europe, St. Petersburg is the best choice among all Russian cities.
Nicholas II held a grand welcome ceremony for Arthur, and was personally greeted by Grand Duke Sergey Alexanderovich.
Grand Duke Sergei Alexanderovich was the uncle of the current Tsar Nicholas II and one of Nicholas II's most influential think tanks.
At the same time, Grand Duke Sergei also served as the Governor of Moscow and the Commander-in-Chief of the Moscow Military District. He was one of the most respected people in the Russian royal family by Nicholas II.
Under the premise that Crown Prince Alexei is only one year old, Grand Duke Sergei is also the most powerful and status member of the Russian royal family besides Nicholas II.
I also have to complain about the chaotic relationship between European nobles. The most powerful monarchies in Europe, Britain, Germany and Russia, are actually related to each other, and they are not even distant relatives.
This is why the First World War is called the War of the Kinsmen of the European Crowns.
In the Winter Palace, Nicholas II had already asked the guards to notify all members of the nobility near St. Petersburg to prepare for the welcome banquet in the evening.
No matter what the purpose is, it is not bad news that Russia is now making good friends with Australia.
At least in the Far East, Australia already has an influence that is no weaker than that of the second most powerful European countries, and can provide Russia with a large amount of weapons and equipment support and industrial products.
Even in terms of food, Australia can provide a lot to Russia's Far East Army, which will greatly solve Russia's long-standing logistical problems.
After learning that Arthur did not currently have any engagement, Nicholas II had some ideas.
Although Australia's comprehensive influence is completely inferior to that of Spain and the Netherlands, Australia also has an advantage, that is, it is far away in Oceania and does not have to worry about participating in European disputes.
Moreover, Russia still pays more attention to the Far East issue. In the Far East, these two countries may not have as much influence as Australia.
If Australia can be tied to Russia's tank and Australia can provide some logistical assistance to the Russian Far East, wouldn't Russia have an advantage in the next Far East hegemony?
But Nicholas II's eldest daughter, Grand Duchess Olga, is only ten years old and is naturally not suitable for this banquet.
Unable to think of a suitable candidate for the time being, Nicholas II had to call his beloved Queen Alexandra Feodorovna and let the women do their most professional thing.
Empress Alexandra Feodorovna didn't take it seriously at first, but when she finally heard that she was looking for a marriage partner for her cousin Arthur, she concentrated on searching her memory, searching for the entire Russian royal family. , looking for the right person.
Yes, the mother of Princess Alexandrola Feodorovna of Hesse-Darmstadt was Princess Alice, the second daughter of Queen Victoria.
But unfortunately, Empress Alexandrola Feodorovna, as a descendant of Queen Victoria, carried the gene for Queen Victoria's hemophilia.
This is why Kaiser Wilhelm II strongly supported Empress Feodorovna's marriage to Nikolai, who was still the crown prince at the time. This would allow hemophilia to enter the Russian royal family, and no one would have an easy time with it.
"Your Majesty, what do you think of Mary?" Queen Feodorovna thought for a long time before slowly spitting out a name.
"Mary? Are you talking about Mary who is now being adopted by Grand Duke Sergei?" Nicholas II asked.
Mary's full name was Mary Pavlovna, she was the uncle of Tsar Nicholas II and the legitimate daughter of Archduke Paul.
But Grand Duchess Alexandra died when Archduchess Mary was one year old, and her father, Archduke Paul, was too grief-stricken to take care of young Mary and her newborn brother, so he could only raise them as sisters. The younger brother was adopted by Grand Duke Sergei, the older brother of Grand Duke Paul.
However, because Grand Duke Paul later married a divorced woman, the former Tsar Alexander III was very angry and did not allow Grand Duke Paul to return to Russia again. Grand Duke Sergei and his wife also officially became the guardians of Mary's siblings.
In a practical sense, Grand Duke Sergei has raised his sister and sister Mary since they were young. Although there is no nominal father-daughter relationship, the actual relationship is not much different.
As a direct duchess from the Russian royal family and the same generation as Nicholas II, Mary was indeed a suitable candidate for this marriage.
However, Archduchess Mary is only seventeen years old (an increase of two years compared to the original history, a small modification, specifically based on the setting of this book), is there a big age gap between her and Arthur?
Queen Alexandra did not have this problem. For actual European royal marriages, the rank and prestige between the two families are far more important than the age gap between the two people.
The Saxe-Coburg-Gotha family to which Arthur belonged was even more prosperous than the Romanov family of the Russian royal family. Naturally, there would be no mismatch between families.
After finalizing the candidates, Nicholas II asked Queen Alexandra to remind Grand Duchess Sergei and let Mary prepare for the banquet in the evening.
In fact, in addition to Grand Duchess Mary, whom Nicholas II personally selected, the banquet was also attended by dozens of Russian nobles and their daughters.
If Grand Duchess Mary is the main candidate for this Russian marriage, then the other noble ladies are the foils.
Of course, it cannot be ruled out that these noble ladies will be selected by Arthur and become Arthur's lovers.
After all, the current European royal marriages also have to consider the attitudes of both parties. For a monarch like Arthur who has gained real power, his own attitude is far more important than the interests of his family.
In a certain room in the residence of Grand Duke Sergei.
In the house, a young and beautiful girl dressed in a gorgeous dress was sitting on the dressing table and looking at herself carefully. There was a girl dressed as a maid standing next to her, and she was carefully helping the girl comb her long hair.
"Lolita, how are you? Does it look good?" The girl looked at her face and looked expectantly at the maid next to her.
Although she is said to be a maid, in fact, girls' emotions are also very easy to cultivate. To Archduchess Marie, Lolita was more like her friend.
"Of course it looks beautiful, Your Highness. If you wear this pearl necklace, then Your Highness, you will be the most beautiful swan in the party!" Lolita replied with a smile while combing Mary's shoulder-length hair.
Scenes like this happened in many places in St. Petersburg this afternoon. To the Russian nobles, Arthur, who had an independent territory and held real power, was considered a golden son-in-law. Although he was a little remote, the interests of the family were more important than anything else, right?
Coupled with the relationship established between Russia and Australia during the war, if these nobles can have a relationship with the de facto monarch Arthur, even if it is just as a lover, it will at least allow their family to obtain strong help from abroad.
The first thing a noble marriage goal is to look at the other party's family and direct relationship. Arthur was born in one of the most prominent families in Europe, currently the royal family of the British Empire, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, and is still a direct member.
These two points alone are enough to attract most nobles, not to mention the 100 million pounds of property that Queen Victoria gave to Arthur, which caused a sensation in Europe at the time.
At around eight o'clock in the evening, the grand welcome banquet finally began.
As the protagonist, Arthur also attracted a lot of eyes and attention at this banquet.
Wearing a custom-made dress, Arthur was already a handsome young man with extraordinary appearance after simple dressing up.
Although he is not as handsome as earth-shattering, he can still be considered as good in Western aesthetics. Coupled with his top background and wealth, it is not an exaggeration to say that he is fascinating. There was a dazzling array of delicacies at the banquet, but Arthur was not in any mood to look at the delicacies at this time.
There is no other reason. As the protagonist of this banquet, people come to invite Arthur to dance every once in a while, and they are all teenage aristocratic girls.
Arthur didn't know it at first, but he soon understood the real purpose of Nicholas II's banquet.
Just these noble girls one after another, this is not a blind date, what is this?
However, Arthur did not exclude it. After all, he was already twenty-two years old, and the Commonwealth of Australia and New Zealand did not yet have a legal heir. This was something that all federal citizens and officials were looking forward to.
Only when the country has a successor and a legitimate crown prince can more unstable factors in the country be stabilized.
In addition, Arthur's mother, Princess Louise, urged him every once in a while, and Arthur was really dumbfounded.
Isn't the best way to get out of this situation to find a qualified duchess for the Commonwealth of Australia?
Speaking of which, I have to praise the beauty of Russian girls. No matter what happens next, the appearance of teenage Russian girls is indeed at its peak. This is something Arthur can confidently affirm whether it is in later generations or now.
Before looking for a duchess for Australia, one has to think carefully about whether marriage with Russia will bring much benefit to Australia.
If we look at it purely from a historical perspective, the Russian royal family will be wiped out in more than ten years, and marriage with the Russian royal family will not be of any help at that time.
But there are big differences between now and history. Russia's disastrous defeat in the historical Russo-Japanese War also caused domestic public anger to rise even more.
But it is different now. Russia's defeat was more of a temporary compromise to domestic internal and external troubles, rather than being defeated by the island country's army.
Although there are still many domestic worries in Russia, Russia, which is not troubled by the German problem, can also have more than ten years of development and recuperation time.
Coupled with German aid and loans, the decadent country of the Tsarist Russian Empire can at least persist for a while.
It is even hard to say whether Russia will participate in World War I in the future. Will Russia really be overthrown by a revolution that breaks out in the future if it does not mobilize its troops?
No one can be sure about this, but the probability of being overturned has been greatly reduced.
Moreover, judging from the current situation, there are still many benefits to marrying Russia.
First of all, Russia is currently the fourth great power in the world. Except for the British Empire, the German Empire, France and the United States, which have sufficient advantages, other countries are not necessarily Russia's opponents.
Secondly, Russia has a large population, and a considerable part of this population is inclined to immigrate.
If it can marry with Russia, Australia can also receive some of these Russian immigrants. Of course, this must be done after excluding revolutionary elements and dangerous elements.
Russia is still thinking about the Far East policy. If they want to realize the Far East policy, they must also rely on Australia's support.
This also means that Australia can obtain more resources and benefits from Russia, and can also cultivate Russia's Far East strength, so that Russia's military in the Far East can always remain above the strength of the island country, suppressing the rise and expansion of the island country in disguise.
You know, it only took a few decades for the island country to transform from a backward feudal country into a powerful country recognized by the world.
In the future, the island country’s ambitions will even expand to the entire Pacific Rim, even Australia and New Zealand.
This also means that the island country is likely to grow into one of Australia's powerful enemies. It is necessary to prepare in advance and use Russia's power to suppress the island country.
Although this may lead to Russia becoming a dominant player in the Far East and occupying more areas of the Qing Dynasty in the south.
But in fact, all the major powers have considerable interests in these areas, and naturally they will not allow Russia to expand wantonly in this area.
If Russia wants to ask for more, I am afraid that the European countries led by the United Kingdom will not agree, and the island countries will resist desperately to hold on to their last chance to become a great power.
At that time, the Far East will become a competition between Russia and island countries for hegemony, and Australia's military industry will usher in new opportunities.
After thinking about all this, Arthur did not reject the possible marriage with Russia, and was even actively choosing one.
Under the premise that they are well matched, Arthur naturally wants to find a qualified girl for Australia who is at least smart and considerate, but will not interfere in Australian political affairs and can be a duchess with peace of mind.
Of course, appearance is also one of the important indicators in Arthur's selection. Although appearance is not that important, who doesn’t want the people around them to have beautiful faces.
After a while, Nicholas II also attended the banquet with his Queen Alexandra, but after only greeting Arthur for a few words, he left.
The host of this banquet was Arthur. Nicholas II knew that staying at the banquet would attract some attention, so he left wisely.
After Nicholas II left, the banquet gradually reached its climax as the beautiful music sounded again.
Many people have already entered the dancing area, dancing to the sound of music, adding to the atmosphere of the banquet.
So far, Arthur has been invited to the dance no less than ten times and three or four times.
Even though I was prepared in advance, I was still a little tired, so I found a seat in the corner and finished it.
Next to Arthur, Mary, who had never thought of a reason to invite Arthur to dance, suddenly widened her eyes. She didn't expect that Arthur would actually come to the door.
Arthur also saw Mary next to him at this time, smiled and nodded as a greeting.
Gudong!
Mary swallowed quietly, cheering herself up in her heart, and stood up with a glass of red wine, wanting to talk to Arthur.
It was just a coincidence, perhaps because she was too nervous, that Mary's feet slipped when she stood up and she accidentally tripped on the stool.
This stool was not light in weight. Mary suddenly lost her center of gravity, fell onto Arthur's lap, and hit her head directly on Arthur's vitals.
"Ah!"
Fortunately, Arthur was prepared in advance and blocked Mary's head with his hands before the danger came, barely holding Mary's head.
Mary's cherry lips were like a dragonfly touching water, gently touching her vital point, and then she was helped up by Arthur.
"Are you okay, miss?" Arthur asked politely.
This accident caught Arthur off guard, and the sudden contact made Arthur stagger even more.
"I'm fine, Your Highness." Mary's cheeks were like ripe apples, so red they could even bleed.
Although Mary didn't know the more complicated things yet, she also knew that such close contact was inappropriate.
"Sorry, Your Highness. I accidentally tripped just now." Mary quickly explained.
Although the accident caused her to come into contact with Arthur, Mary did not want to be thought to have been intentional, nor did she want to give Arthur a bad impression.
"It's okay, miss. Can I know your name?" Arthur smiled and shook his head, not caring about what just happened.
In fact, Arthur only now noticed the appearance of the girl in front of him. Even in a banquet filled with beauties, the girl's appearance was so outstanding and charming.
"Mary, Mary Pavlovna, Your Highness." Mary nodded slightly and replied.
What happened in the corner attracted everyone's attention. After all, the place where Arthur was represented the attention of everyone.
But when everyone saw that the protagonists of the matter were Arthur and Archduchess Mary, everyone was very interested in waiting for the result.
"Mary? Very good, can I invite you to dance?" Arthur nodded and extended the invitation to the girl in front of him.
Mary nodded slightly again, put her jade-white hand on Arthur's hand, and followed Arthur to the center of the dance floor.
Five thousand four hundred words two-in-one chapter, please support! It’s hard to find the heroine, and I’ve been searching for various information for a long time. Here’s a belated chapter, please support me! There is also an Easter egg chapter, don’t miss it.
(End of chapter)