Chapter 9
Bilibin is now a diplomat at Army HQ and his letter to Prince Andrew contains all the criticisms he's been holding in (diplomatically). He's upset that the Prussians gave in to Napoleon at the first defeat, so now Russia is at war with Prussia (try saying that ten times fast). The field marshall has basically quit, offended that the Emperor Alexander is writing to everyone but him. A power struggle after that led to the battle of Pultusk, the victory of which was celebrated in St Petersburg, but, in Bilibin's opinion, victory belongs to the side which didn't retreat halfway through. One half of the army is avoiding the other half, due to this power struggle (netween Buxhowden, who is in charge on paper, and Bennigsen, who is actually leading the part of the army closest to the French). Bennigsen finally beats Buxhowden, but before they can turn their attention to the French, the Orthodox Russian soldiers riot because they've not been fed. They begin looting, forming bands which scour the countryside and attack HQ. The Emperor's solution to this is to allow commanders of divisions to shoot the rioters.
Prince Andrew feels vexed at missing out on so much life while he's at home with his sick, possibly dying child. He goes in to check, and at first is sure that his son is dead, because the nurse and Maria appear to be hiding something from him. Baby Nikolai is not dead - his fever has broken, which is much better news. Maria was about to come and tell him.
Chapter 10
Pierre is heading to the Kiev province, where most of his serf's live. He's brought instructions from his Masonic brothers. He tells his stewards that his serfs must be freed as soon as possible, and, until they are, they are not to be overburdened, assistance will be given, nursing mothers should not work, corporal punishment is abolished, and hospitals, asylums, and schools are to be established. I had my doubts but, so far, this does not sound like the worst thing ever. Some of the stewards assume that Pierre is displeased with them and suspects them of embezzlement. Others are figuring out how to manipulate our big dumb kitten.
The first thing to sort out is the budget. Pierre is very wealthy, but is hemorrhaging money everywhere, and he doesn't really understand the point of money management or how it connects to reality. So, he just does whatever his chief steward thinks best.
Pierre has lots of new friends in Kiev, for the same reason he found so many new friends in St Petersburg. He quickly gives in to his old temptations, allowing him no time for reflection. His life is exactly the same as it was before, but now in new surroundings. He knows he's not living up to all the masonic ideals - specifically, morality and love of death - but consoles him by believing he is making up for it with his virtues of generosity and loving his neighbour.
That brings us up to the spring of 1807, when Pierre decides to visit St Petersburg again. On the way, he's going to visit all his serfs, and see how they're getting on. The Steward has not been following his orders to free the serfs because he thinks they're dumb (the orders, but probably the serfs too). He does quickly build a couple of large buildings for the hospitals, schools, and asylums Pierre wanted, and arranges for some grateful religious ceremonies to greet him. Pierre enjoys his journey - all the serfs seem grateful, and his estates are picturesque. He doesn't know that he's meeting the richest peasants, he doesn't know that the nursing mothers have to work harder on their own lands than on his, that the priest is charging a huge amount for the schooling, or that the serfs are having to construct the buildings in addition to their original workloads. Pierre writes enthusiastic letters to his "brother-instructor", the masonic Grand Master. The Steward uses all this to persuade Pierre that freeing the serfs isn't possible and wouldn't make them any happier anyway. Pierre still insists on their being freed though, and the Steward promises to do all he can, in the knowledge that Pierre will probably never check.
Chapter 11
Now we're all caught up with both of them, Pierre is going to visit Bolkonski. He likes the neat little manor, especially in comparison to the opulent St Petersburgs houses, where they last met. He's also struck by the change in Andrew, who now looks old, dull, and lifeless. They find they have little in common, and Pierre is embarrassed to appear naive when he talks of his new Masonic ideals. Prince Andrew does finally find the discussion of the duel rousing - he thinks Pierre should have killed Dolokhov. Andrew's new philosophy is that one should avoid the evils of remorse and illness, because good only exists in their absence. Pierre disagrees - he wishes to live for others. Andrew wishes to live only for himself, that self including his sister, son, and father. He says Maria will probably agree with Pierre though.
Andrew argues that to educate a peasant to his level but without giving him Andrew's means is a pointless and harmful enterprise. He argues that peasants and nobility are fundamentally different, and like how he could not stand physical labour day after day, a peasant couldn't handle thinking. He's also not a fan of the hospitals, since they just create cripples to go about being a burden on everyone. Pierre mostly feels sorry for him.
Prince Andrew has promised himself that he will never again serve in the active Russian Army, which seems fair enough. He's technically now serving under his father, which is useful because he's the only one who has any influence over him and can save him from his impulsive temper.
Chapter 12
As they're driving out and admiring Andrew's husbandry, Pierre is thinking that he should do his best to save Andrew, but he also doesn't want to expose himself to ridicule, especially over something precious to himself. Still, he finally does get up the courage to admit that his new ideals come from Freemasonry. Prince Andrew listens with interests, but can't quite bring himself to agree. The idea of future life interests him, because he had promised to be a better husband to Lise, right before she died. What finally unleashes something inside him is when Pierre points to the sky and Andrew sees, again, the sky he saw as he lay dying.
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