Chapter 14 Now that we have products, we naturally have customers and sales channels

Chapter 14 Now that we have products, we naturally have customers and sales channels

Chapter 14 014 Now that we have products, we naturally have customers and sales channels (Part )
Most of the ideas are good, but because of the addition of Count Bobulinsky, his idea is Moscow and St. Petersburg, but at present he can only take care of one side. While the manpower is limited, the nobles in St. Petersburg obviously have stronger consumption power.

Although Madame Le Brun had received invitations from Moscow, she mainly dealt with orders from St. Petersburg. Her portrait painting skills were indeed outstanding, and the Russian royal family quite liked her painting skills. She was also very popular among nobles. In addition, her personal royalist views and the experience of Queen Marie always brought her a lot of sympathy.

So she has been in St. Petersburg so far, and it is more convenient for the Russian royal family to summon her at 7 Million Street. In fact, she is also a channel for passing messages. Whether it is an older lady or a young lady, there are always some activities there.

With Solovyov's current energy, these are probably the only people he has come into contact with, and that is enough.

The site generously provided by Count Bobulinski requires investigation, mapping and completion of drawings before construction can begin, no matter in which era.

The Count wanted to do something, so he asked Duke Volkonsky for his adjutant to help. Actually, it was nothing. After all, Duke Dmitry Volkonsky himself had nothing to do in St. Petersburg. After Marshal Suvorov was sent back to his estate in Novgorod, several veterans from the Empress' era were also exiled or retired to their estates with honor. Times have changed.

The count was very much loved by his brother. Tsar Paul actually had very complicated feelings towards his mother. However, he did not have much hostility towards this younger brother who looked a bit energetic, even though he was the illegitimate son of Grigory Grigoryevich Orlov, one of the murderers of his father, and his surname was derived from a village in Orlov's fiefdom. He rewarded him with the palaces and manors left by his biological father, and gave him freedom in many aspects, whether he was borrowing a general's adjutant or doing something, there was always plenty of room for him.

Solovyov then took a carriage with the count to his Upper Palen estate to carry out the preliminary planning and design work. As for the construction, the count would find someone else.

Madame Le Brun had to complete the order of Countess Skafronskaya at No. 7 Million Street while waiting to be summoned by the Russian royal family at any time. Although the portraits of Tsar Paul and the two grand dukes were usually taken care of by specialized people, the royal ladies still welcomed Madame Le Brun's arrival.

And if they want to bring goods, in fact, although Mikhail Dolgorukov said it well, these young people have to serve, although they may not always have to stay in the barracks, but they still have work to do. That is, Peter, who is not dared to be ordered by many people as an adjutant, has more time, but he will also accept various orders and tasks.
Madame Le Brun and her daughter Julie were able to go in and out of the palace frequently. Although they had attendants around them, Madame still preferred to take her daughter into the Russian court, accept summons from the Queen or other ladies in the Winter Palace, and undertake many tasks.

In fact, there were other voices within the royal family, mainly from the late queen, who had some opinions about Mrs. Le Brun's pretentious artistic style and painting methods, and even thought that her granddaughters were being
Well, although the Queen herself supported art, she thought that Madame Le Brun was like a "monkey". Although the Archduchess in the painting was very cute, it could not change the old lady's own mind.

A few days after Prince Saltykov's salon ended, Madame Le Brun was summoned again by the royal family, this time by the Crown Princess (officially the Grand Duchess) Louisa of Baden, known in Russia as Elizabeth Alexeyevna, whose father was in fact Karl Ludwig of Baden.

She came from Baden, a not very big country among the German princes. It was originally just a German marquisate, and later it was upgraded to a grand duchy. Until the time of her grandfather Karl Frederick, the country's income was very low, and the ways in which the marquises generated income for their families were different. When all the men in Hesse were serving in the army, the Marquis of Baden had been trying to find ways to marry off his daughter. In some places such as Mecklenburg and Brunswick, all the noble lords went out to serve as officers.

No wonder you can see so many Germans in Russia, but the lovely girls are the exception.

When Mrs. Le Brun entered the palace, she did bring the things that she had agreed with Solovyov, Count Bobrinsky and Countess Skafronskaya to bring into the palace. These early products were all the works of Uncle Sergei, the loyal old servant of the Solovyov family. Although he was actually free, he still preferred to be with the young master. After all, he was different from some poor farmers and serfs. Not only was he free, but he also had two sons and three daughters. A free man had to save up dowries for his children. Even if the young master was generous and paid enough wages, he still had to calculate the amount.

So he made it by hand himself, and he was very attentive to it. He also added a layer of patent leather on the outside, which was a very bright sky blue. After Mrs. Lebrun got it, she fiddled with a sample in her hands for a long time. Some cheerful colors can easily attract women's attention.

These things were packed in the small toolbox that Julie was holding. After arriving at the palace, she always had to wait for a while. Although the Russian court had a lot of red tape, it was better than the French court before. Although there, the queen might prefer Madame Le Brun more, but there was no less trouble.
What needs to be done here is to wait, because Archduchess Elizabeth is always quiet, and even a little depressed recently. It always takes her some time to get ready and spend some time dressing up.

She rarely showed her melancholy look in the bedroom, and sometimes had to hide her problems in front of her husband. She led a repressed life. But if others saw it, they might think that there was such a pitiful and lovely woman.

What Madame Le Brun saw was usually the Grand Duchess dressed up carefully. After some makeup, she looked the same as when she fled to St. Petersburg, the lovely Psyche. No wonder her mother-in-law always imposed some restrictions on her.

Such times when the female painter was summoned to the palace were considered the few happier times for her after she got married. After all, Madame Le Brun and her daughter were able to talk to her more and were very happy.

Being a daughter-in-law of the Russian royal family was the hardest job after being a daughter-in-law of the Habsburgs. Although it might cost one’s life in France, before the Revolution, these French husbands had many mistresses outside, but they still had to treat the one at home well.
Although Catherine II liked her very much, now that the old lady was gone, she would be suppressed by her mother-in-law. Under some influence, even Paul, who was very satisfied with his daughter-in-law and gave her some rewards from time to time, seemed to have changed his attitude recently.

The cause was probably that the King of Sweden, an unstable guy, began to propose to her sister Frederica again. If it was just a regret of breaking off the engagement, it would have been fine, but Gustav IV happened to find Baden. Queen Maria, who was already jealous of her daughter-in-law's favor in front of Queen Catherine, now began to question her. Naturally, it was very difficult for the Grand Duchess who was alone here. This is what happened not long ago.

After carefully looking at Elizabeth's makeup, Madame Le Brun was actually able to notice it.

"Your Highness, you are wearing makeup, but it cannot hide your haggard face."
But there are some things that Grand Duchess Elizabeth cannot confide to the other Elizabeth. The current owner of the court is Queen Maria. If Paul had not been a diligent Tsar, this lady would probably want to learn from her mother-in-law. Fortunately, Solovyov was not in the court, otherwise his complaints would have earned him a ticket to visit his hometown of Arkhangelsk. You should know that this grenadier lieutenant had already been sharp once before, but he fought back against the hated Princess Saltykov on behalf of his stepmother. Even the prince himself was beaten up by his wife at home, and he secretly felt "too good" about this issue, but the queen was different. Complaining about this narrow-minded queen who pretended to be pious could kill people.

"Thank you, Madame Le Brun, I am well now. It was our agreement that you should come here today." (Thank you, Madame Le Brun, I am well now. It was our agreement that you should come here today.)
When Madame Le Brun came here, it was natural that she would paint a portrait of the Grand Duchess. Alexandra and Elena were very satisfied with the portraits she painted for the two Grand Duchesses last year. Apart from the fact that they looked a bit alike and it seemed as if they had used beauty filters, they were not as lifelike as the ones painted by the Russian court painters before.

But with Grand Duchess Elizabeth, it was a different story, because she was a recognized beauty. Even when she had just married to Russia, Catherine II's lover and favorite Count Platon Zubov had madly pursued Louisa, who was only 15 years old at the time. This sounds unreasonable, but she was indeed the kind of quiet and taciturn beauty, very smart and considerate.

Although she was relaxed at this time, she looked sad. In the past two years, when Madame Le Brun and Julie came to the palace to create for the royal family, Julie's faces could make her laugh, but today she seemed unable to laugh.

But Madame Le Brun also understood human nature. She knew that the Grand Duchess was in a bad mood, so she did not ask her to put on a fake smile, which would make her face stiff. Instead, she asked Julie to pick up a red pillow and place it under the Grand Duchess's arms.

"This pillow is as soft as cake, very comfortable, Louise."

In front of the mother and daughter, it seemed that the Grand Duchess did not care much about the palace rules, and she never asked much of others. In fact, the servants in the palace preferred her to be their master, treated others kindly, and seldom ordered others around. The most troublesome person was actually the Queen. As princesses from the same German princes, there was not much difference in their conduct. When she was in Gatchina, she was just ordering others around, and when the Queen died, other problems arose.

Elizabeth was quieter and more submissive than usual while Madame Lebrun sat here, which was more comfortable for her, and while she was touching up her makeup, Madame Lebrun asked Julie to recommend something new to her.

"Luise, maybe you can try this, eyeliner, to make your eyes brighter." (Louise, maybe you can try this, eyeliner, to make your eyes brighter.)
“Merci.”

There might not be anything else that interested the Grand Duchess. After she had drawn the eyeliner a few times, when she looked in the mirror, she probably felt better because of the psychological effect of Julie talking to her. This interested the Grand Duchess, and she accepted the eyeliner. However, she also gave Madame Le Brun and Julie extra rewards.

"Julie, these boucles d'oreilles are for you." (Julie, these silver earrings are for you.)
"Madame Le Brun, voici pour vous un chapeau, comme celui de votre autoportrait, mais plus orné." (Madame Le Brun, this is for you, a hat like the one in your self-portrait, but more gorgeous.)
Although her family was not well-off, her expenses in the palace were not much either. But when it came to giving rewards, she was actually very attentive.

Because a straw hat appeared in Madame Le Brun's past self-portraits, and at a certain stage it was an important element in her own creations.

Although the Grand Duchess was a man of few words, she was very attentive when preparing rewards and gifts.

Madame Le Brun also knew that the Grand Duchess was very satisfied today, and after they left, several female Grand Duchesses came over to chat with their sisters-in-law. Although the mother-in-law was not very nice, there was still a lot of conversation between the sisters-in-law and the sisters-in-law.

Just look at the appearance. People like to be with good-looking people. Calling Louisa of Baden "Psyche" is not a friendly thing to her. This should be associated with the love story of Eros (Cupid) and Psyche in the Greek-Roman mythology. Psyche's beauty is more respected than loved.
Of course, the grand duchesses also chattered, and the older Alexandra and Elena also heard the story of the princess's wife being humiliated. Alexandra, who was always quiet and liked to write poetry, couldn't help but want to use some words to mock the old woman who looked like a witch and spoke sharply.

"A witch who used magic to humiliate a married lady was killed by a young officer... Sorry, I can't tell you today. It's not surprising what happened to the princess. She was a nasty old woman who always tried to use some black magic and then failed. Hahaha" (A witch wanted to use magic to humiliate a married lady, and then was killed by a young officer... Sorry, I really can't tell you today. What happened to the princess's wife was not surprising. She was a nasty old woman. She always tried to use some black magic and then failed. Hahaha)

The atmosphere was very happy. In French, ha might be pronounced as a, but Alexandra found it difficult to remain reserved. She began to laugh wildly, covering her face with a fan. Her two seated sisters, Elena and Maria, also laughed. Then Elizabeth also giggled, and the air was filled with joy.

As for the next step, Elena, who still likes painting, found that her sister-in-law looked good today. The reason was naturally a little makeup skill.

Well, that's about it. The Grand Duchess was in a rare good mood today. She got together with her sisters-in-law and played well with them again, as if the humiliation of the broken engagement that Alexandra suffered when she was engaged had never existed.

That treacherous Swedish man, who is fickle, will eventually lose his throne.

Not only did Gustav IV break off his engagement, he also offended the entire Russian royal family, which angered the Empress to death and made Paul and the Queen extremely furious. The two grand dukes were indignant at the humiliation suffered by their sister. The grand duchess looked innocent, and several older grand duchesses were drawing circles and cursing the Swedish king.

(End of this chapter)