Tilsit. After the signing of the treaties, Napoleon and Tsar Alexander attend a parade of the Russian and French guards. Napoleon insists that Alexander award the Legion of Honor to the bravest soldier of the Preobrazhensky. Caught off guard, Russian commander Mikhail Kozlovsky simply forces the right-wing leader, grenadier Alexei Lazarev, out of line. Lazarev, stunned, finds himself in Napoleon’s arms, entitled to a lifelong pension of 1,200 francs! His fortunes will then turn against him: he will be expelled from the army for insolent behavior, arrested, faced prejudice due to his non-aristocratic background, and finally committed suicide.
