The CCTV Movie Channel has broadcasted several stories about the secret history of the Russian court. There is an important figure running through it. Peter I (ie Peter the Great, 1672-1725) was a friend in his youth, later favorite, and Empress Catherine. Na I (1884 ~ 1727) and the little tsar Peter II (1715 ~ 1730) were in power when they were in power, the real power, the mighty Menshikov (1673 ~ 1729). What kind of historical figure is he? How did he rise and fall during Russia's great turning point? What's up with the empress and the little czar calling him "a pie seller" and so on several times with contempt? The following historical materials and anecdotes can help us understand these details, and give us a more comprehensive understanding of the historical process experienced by the Russian Empire from the end of the 17th century to the first half of the 18th century and the ups and downs of Menshikov, a historical figure.
At the end of the 17th century, in Russia, from the nobles and officials to the craftsmen, farmers, and soldiers, all of them were engaged in business and small businesses. In 1686, in the streets near the Moscow Kremlin, there was often a boy selling pies with a pallet in his hand. His persistence and mischievous demeanor made him happy. Peter I, who was only 14 years old at the time, although he had been emperor for 4 years (ascended the throne in 1682), he was still a child after all, and he felt good about this clever hawker. One day, maybe it was a deliberate joke, or maybe it was a miscalculation of the money, the little guy got into a dispute with a special standing army soldier, and the quarrel was so fierce that the little guy's ear was almost torn off. This scene was discovered by Peter I, who immediately sent a decree to stop the soldiers from bullying the poor child and brought him to him. The child's cleverness and cuteness, the little emperor liked it very much, and immediately ordered it to be incorporated into the Preobrazhensky Boys Corps (founded in the 1680s as an organization for Peter I to play military games, which was formed in 1687 The Preobrazhensky Guards, until more than 200 years before its disbandment in 1918, made many achievements in foreign operations), became a small gunner, and at the same time took him as his orderly. This young man was Alexander Danilovich Menshikov, who later became a powerful man in Russian politics. He was only 13 years old at the time, a year younger than Peter I.
Menshikov, who was born as a court stable, also dreamed of becoming a soldier like many teenagers at the time. Accidental opportunity made him realize his ideal and became a member of the Boys Corps. Although the Corps was only a military entertainment team in the boyhood of Peter I, the subsequent reorganization into the Guards made him a worthy of the name. A soldier, this is also an opportunity for him to rise to the top of the political arena. Sure enough, in 1695, in the Russian War, Menshikov went on an expedition with Peter I and captured the fortress Assyria (a port city on the Don River, located in Rostov Oblast) occupied by the Turkish army in one fell swoop. to stand out. Later, in the war between 1700 and 1721 for the Baltic estuary and Sweden, Menshikov had grown into a famous military officer. During the battle, three of his mounts fell.
Menshikov not only showed his outstanding talents in the military, but also had a fanatical pioneering spirit in the civilian cause. In 1703, Menshikov was appointed governor of the Elora territory on both sides of the Neva River and southwest of Lake Ladoga, which had just returned to Russia from Swedish rule. At the beginning of his tenure, he started a large-scale urban construction. The territory was the area where Petersburg was located, and Menshikov was greatly under construction. In addition to building the new capital Petersburg from 1703 to 1712, he also presided over the construction of Schlusselburg (now Peter's Fortress, formerly known as Petersburg before 1944), Kronstadt, Petergov (now known as Petersburg) around Petersburg Peter Palace) and other cities. At the same time, he also vigorously carried out the industrial and commercial activities that the state banned government officials from engaging in at that time, and founded various enterprises, including brick and tile factories, wood processing factories, glass factories, salt fields, fishing grounds, wineries and so on. When Peter I visited France in 1717, he "fell in love" with the local exquisite silk products. He immediately established a well-known silk factory. These industrial enterprises provided him with a strong material basis for his business activities. At that time, almost all the building materials and food needed by the cities that sprung up like mushrooms were contracted by Menshikov.
When it comes to food supply, it is Menshikov's "strength". At that time, the large amount of food needed by the city he was building came mainly from the fields owned by Menshikov, and his fields were still expanding. Food supply was the most lucrative business at the time.
Like many high-ranking officials, Menshikov never gave up the opportunity to "earn extra money", even petty profits.
Menshikov also abused his power to curry favor with the tsar's cronies. There is a 1702 document that he ordered some money from the funds allocated to the royal family to buy two wigs (the most important ceremonial necessities of the time) worth ten rubles for the tsar, while the treasurer of the tsar's treasury spent For 62 rubles, I bought eight wigs.
Menshikov's abuse of power is almost universally known, and Peter I certainly did. Knowing that Menshikov had done "good things", in order to avoid people's eyes and ears, the tsar brought his favorite minister into the workshop of the palace workshop and beat him up. In order to relieve his grief, the tsar disregarded his previous grudge against his iron brother, and they could clink glasses with each other that night, until Menshikov, who was not as drunk as Peter I, was so drunk that he fell unconscious under the table.
In 1711, learning of Menshikov's occupation of Poland, Peter I wrote a letter admonishing him: "Please, don't ruin your reputation for this petty gain."
Menshikov's advice to the tsar was indeed "According to the letter", from now on, instead of making small gains, it began to "do big things". In order to create conditions for "big work", first of all, he wanted to downplay his bad deeds in the heart of the tsar, so he purchased a escort ship "Samsun" from abroad as a birthday gift to the emperor. Then Menshikov extended his greedy black hands to the most profitable and high-priced food contractors.
Menshikov's business activities finally caught the attention of the authorities, and a special committee was formed. The Commission conducted an investigation into its contracting business and found that its contracting activities caused losses to the state amounting to 144,788 rubles, and soon after it was found to have directly embezzled state property and accepted bribes, plus contracting losses totaling 1,163,026 rubles, At that time, the total expenditure of the whole country was only 5 million rubles. There is also intelligence that Menshikov has transferred a huge sum of 5 million rubles to several British banks. The grand duke was worthy of being the richest man in Russia at that time, and even the richest man in Europe.
Peter I also worried about his iron brothers. He once said to his wife Ekaterina: "If Menshikov goes on like this, he will kill himself if he does too much injustice, and he will lose his head."
Peter the Great died in 1725. Under Menshikov's plan, Peter I's widow and second wife, Catherine Aleksayevna (1684-1727), ascended the throne and became a part of Russian history. Empress Ekaterina I on the throne, immediately after she ascended the throne, exempted Menshikov from all the debts due to the treasury, and also rewarded Menshikov's dream of the city of Butulin.
However, at this time, Menshikov was most concerned about not money, but the power of the state. The shortcut to achieve this goal is to marry the royal family. Climbing the dragon and the phoenix is a shortcut to the peak of power. It goes without saying that this move naturally becomes The first choice of the grand duke.
In order to realize this plan, he first created public opinion and drew his own genealogy tree to prove that his ancestors were also from the Rurik family (the founder of the Rurik dynasty in Russia, the tsars from the 9th to the 16th centuries are considered to be descendants of him) family. one. Subsequently, a batch of so-called "Menshikov ten kopeck silver coins" was trial-produced, in hopes of being named in the annals of history. Although the Queen did not approve its circulation, the Duke was not embarrassed by it.
In order to bring the son of the young Peter I's grandson, Prince Alexey Petrovich (1690-1718, who fled abroad in 1716 because of his opposition to Peter I's reforms, returned to China in 1718 and was sentenced to death, and soon died in prison) The throne, and his eldest daughter Maria betrothed to the little emperor, Menshikov took advantage of the opportunity of Queen Catherine's illness to persuade the queen to sign the will he needed. In this way, the position of the regent of the little tsar is of course none other than him. This year, the little tsar was only 11 years old.
On May 23, 1727, more than ten days after the Queen's death, the engagement ceremony of Peter II (1715-1730) and Maria Menshikova was held. At this time, the girl was 16 years old, 4 years older than the little emperor.
Menshikov was smug and self-proclaimed the title of Grand Marshal, and the church also sounded the voice of blessing and prayer for the unmarried queen. While Menshikov was busy with these important things, he did not forget to take and rob: he embezzled gifts from various parties to the little emperor, and his high-sounding reason was that the little emperor was young and ignorant and was unable to manage a huge amount of money.
At the height of prosperity and wealth, Menshikov suddenly fell ill, but he soon recovered, so his political opponents became more active. They not only accused the grand duke of embezzling state property, but also revealed to Peter II that Menshikov was the first to sign the verdict on the execution of his biological father, Prince Alexey, in 1718. The little emperor signed the decree: house arrest Menshikov at home, remove all posts, confiscate property and various medals, and then exile.
On the eve of the exile of the Menshikov family, a day and night were given to pack up, and a day and night passed quickly. Menshikov’s residence in the Petersburg Palace was originally furnished with luxurious furniture and precious oil paintings hung on the walls. , Tapestry, now people go to the empty building, and the ground is full of robbers, as if they had been looted. Among the 15 boxes of crystal utensils left in the panic, there were 1,500 vodka glasses, 2,000 goblets and 4,500 beer glasses. The pie tray that Menshikov used when he debuted, a tray full of "historical" meaning that he treasured all his life, he couldn't even take it away.
On September 10, 1727, Menshikov was finally driven out of the capital, and a mighty convoy set off, with up to 133 entourages, including attendants, attendants, servants, cooks, tailors, singers, The shoemaker, the captain of the squire, and even two dwarfs. In addition, there is the Duke's personal guard - a dragoon corps. 15 maids were added along the way. All this shows that Menshikov is still trying to maintain the pomp and prominence he enjoys in the court in the face of adversity.
The ensuing blow was the decree of the little tsar to remove the engagement ring from Maria Menshikova's finger, and prayers for her blessing were no longer heard in the church.
After the Menshikov incident, he was originally placed under house arrest and did not intend to exile him immediately. Unexpectedly, an officer named Meligunov, who had been forgotten by history, was in charge of the guards and asked to raise his rank and increase the number of personnel in order to strengthen the situation. guard. This made the authorities feel that rather than increasing the cost of the guards, they might as well relocate the out-of-favor adult as far as possible. It was finally decided to take Berezov (now Berezov), a remote town in Siberia, about 3,000 kilometers away from Petersburg, as his place of exile. Since then, the three-dynasty official, grand duke, grand marshal, supreme privy chief, president of the Army Academy (predecessor of the Ministry of Army), admiral, Alexander Danilovich Menshikov, Governor of St. Petersburg Province, academician of the French Academy, member of the Royal Society, and recipient of various medals, will spend the rest of his life here. He died two years later in poverty and illness.
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