Tsar of the Sphinx

Chapter 1 Birth
December 1777, 12, an ordinary winter day in St. Petersburg.

Princess Maria of Russia is nine months pregnant, and she is already in labor pains.

The current master of the Russian Empire, Catherine II, known as the Great, and her personal secretary Krabowitzki gathered in the drawing room outside the bedroom of the Grand Duchess.

Ekaterina II was already a 48-year-old middle-aged woman at this time. As the emperor of the empire and the leader of the country, this was a young and vigorous age.

Peter the Great, whom she has always imitated, was also named the Great and Father of the Motherland by the Privy Council of the Empire at this age, and was awarded the title of Emperor of All Russia by the Senate.

In the nearly 15 years since she took the throne, she followed in the footsteps of Peter the Great, not only dividing up Russia's old enemy Poland, but also regaining control of Zaporozhye.

And strengthened the state power, strengthened the serf system.She is almost equal to the great achievements created by Peter the Great, but she also encountered the same troubles as Peter the Great, that is, a heir like a vengeful seed.

When the heir Paul became an adult, he was highly similar to his father Peter III in appearance, interest and personality.

This made her hate Paul very much.

Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna gave birth for the first time, so Catherine II paid special attention to the arrival of this child now, because she could not allow Paul to have no legal heir, nor could the empire not have one For legal heirs, this is very unsafe.

Catherine II looked around, and she couldn't see the husband of the woman who was giving birth in the inner room among the maids in the room - the imperial prince Paul. She couldn't help being shocked and asked: "Where is my son Paul?"why is he not here
Krabowitzki said hesitantly: Crown Prince Paul is still in Gatchina, practicing the Gatchina Army you just formed for him.

Catherine II frowned and said: His wife is giving birth, but he only pays attention to his favorite legion.

Krabowitzki said: Maybe His Royal Highness does not want to face the dystocia again, after all, the dystocia of Grand Duchess Natalia has greatly stimulated His Highness. .

Ekaterina II snorted angrily and said: A coward, just a woman's dystocia makes me afraid.If the child is a boy, let me raise it myself.

Krabowitzki said hesitantly: Your Majesty, why don't you let His Highness and the Grand Duchess raise you personally, after all newborns need their own mother and father.

Catherine II continued to frown and said: Let him and Maria raise her personally?Will this newborn continue to develop himself like this!

Krabowitzki said: Of course, Your Majesty, everything depends on your will.

At this moment, the door of the Grand Duchess' bedroom opened, and a maid came out.He came to the emperor, bowed his knees respectfully, and said: Your Majesty, the Grand Duchess has successfully given birth to a boy.

Ekaterina II and Klabowitzki entered the room of the Grand Duchess, and Ekaterina II took the newly born baby from the handmaiden, who had been washed and wrapped, and then Announcing the birth of the second in line to the Empire, named Alexander in honor of Alexander Nevsky and Alexander, King of Macedon.

After naming Alexander, Ekaterina said to the Grand Duchess Maria: This child will be raised and taught by me personally, and you can rest well.After saying that, he hugged Alexander and walked out of the Grand Duchess' bedroom.

The next day, the Winter Palace officially announced to the empire the birth and name of the second heir.However, at this time, no one would believe that this little baby will become the savior of all Europe, the holy king, the third emperor of the empire, the restorer of Constantinople, and the king of Romania in a few years. , Augustus of Rome, father of Slavs and Romans.

At the same time, Catherine II dug out Grand Duke Vladimir from the pile of old papers and awarded it to the newborn Alexander, which means that his son can have a considerable amount of annuity since he was a baby, And it naturally has a leadership position over the domestic princes.

In 1155, Grand Duke Vladimir, Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky (son of the famous Prince Longhand Yuri) who ruled the Principality of Rostov-Suzdal and other places set his political center in Vladimir Ladimir made the city the capital of a country for the first time - the Principality of Rus.After Andrei Bogolyubsky captured Kiev in 1169, the Duchy of Vladimir was established as one of the strongest countries in the Ross duchies, and Prince Vladimir gradually replaced the Grand Duke of Kiev as the The title of the prince of Ross.

During the Mongol period Grand Duke Vladimir really became the title of the leader of the Rus princes.The grand duke was canonized by the Khan of the Golden Horde, not hereditary by a certain family. The prince who obtained the title of grand duke had the right to incorporate Vladimir into his territory.As an important means to contain the power of the Russian principalities, the Golden Horde Khan tends to designate the prince who is loyal to him as the Grand Duke of Vladimir.The princes of Rus fought fiercely for the title of grand duke.When the Grand Duke of Moscow finally eliminated all competitors and was able to provoke the Great Horde, one of the eight major kingdoms after the Golden Horde split, Vladimir was incorporated into the Moscow Principality.After being incorporated into the Principality of Moscow, on January 1547, 1, Grand Duke Ivan the Terrible of the Grand Duchy of Moscow delivered an important speech, promoting the Grand Duke to the Tsarist Queen, and the Grand Duke Vladimir was officially deposed.

Now that Catherine II has dug it out from the pile of old papers and awarded it to Alexander, it also means that Catherine II has decided to give up continuing to train Paul, and will turn to train her Alexander.And let Alexander have the right to lead the princes of the empire, paving the way for Alexander to officially become the heir of the empire. Of course, it does not mean that Alexander can become the heir of the empire after granting it. He also needs to accept the teachings from his grandmother, parents and teachers , Until Ekaterina felt that Alexander could inherit, the Grand Duke Vladimir could officially come into play.

The next day, in the Winter Palace, Catherine II finally met her son Paul who had come from Gatchina.

Ekaterina looked at her son's Prussian military uniform, and became more and more angry: When your wife gave birth, you were not by her side, but on your ridiculous miniature regiment.And Natalia's dystocia can actually scare you.By the way, little Alexander will be raised by me in the future, and I will personally educate him, so that he cannot become a coward like you.Maria, I will give her the Pavlovsk Palace, and never go back to Gatchina, and stop thinking about your mistresses and illegitimate children.You have to live in the Pavlovsk Palace.

OK, you can go out now.After Yekaterina finished speaking, she stopped paying attention to Paul and continued to deal with the affairs of state.

The Pugachev uprising in the past few years not only caused heavy damage to the empire, but also greatly reduced Catherine II's southward strategy.Moreover, it is impossible to use the dividends after the end of the Russo-Turkish war to continue reforms. On the contrary, the Turks' indemnities must be invested in the land that Pugachev has ravaged.

After listening to Ekaterina's words, Paul hesitated and said: Maria and I think it is better for Alexander to be raised by ourselves.

As soon as Paul finished speaking, he heard Ekaterina's abuse: Oh, my God, let you raise it, what, let you spoil this child, let this child become a person like your father and you?Just one you is enough, does the empire need a normal heir, not a timid, suspicious, and neurotic person like you and your father?

After listening to his mother's abuse, Paul replied: "What's wrong with a person like me? I'm not like my father. Should I be like your lover?"I didn't raise him by your side back then, now you want your grandson to experience what happened to his father?
Ekaterina had just calmed down, but became angry again because of her son's words.

Ekaterina straightened up and looked at Paul: It is precisely because you were not raised by my side that you became a neurotic person like your father. The empire needs a normal heir, not a timid, suspicious I will train Alexander to be a real emperor. If you continue like this, I will consider bypassing your right of succession and making Alexander the heir directly.Well, you now go to the Pavlovsk Palace at once!Your wife still needs your company.

When Paul heard his mother say that he was going on like this, he would directly bypass him and make Alexander his heir.Unable to break out in a cold sweat, she immediately walked out of Ekaterina's studio.

Catherine II watched Paul walk out of her studio directly after she had finished speaking, and said with a cold snort: "What a coward, if I can persist for a while, let me see the persistence and say Maybe I will let you participate in the management of the empire, and it may not be impossible to let you take the army to the Black Sea.

After Yekaterina finished speaking, she thought how happy she would be if that was the case.He shook his head and continued to deal with his political affairs.

After dealing with the political affairs for a while, Ekaterina seemed to remember something, sighed, stood up and went to Little Alexander's bedroom.

On the second day of the mother-child dispute, when Paul and his wife were warming up, they heard the maid knock on the door and said: Grand Duke, Grand Duchess, Your Majesty asked me to bring Duke Alexander here, and let me tell the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess, the Grand Duke and the Grand Duchess Will live in the Pavlovsk Palace, and will be able to visit the Winter Palace daily and stay overnight until Grand Duke Vladimir is a minor.At the same time, His Excellency the Grand Duke is allowed to expand the Gatchina Army to 1000 people, and to go to the Black Sea to fight in person at an appropriate time.

Paul and Maria looked at each other when they heard it, and Maria urged her husband to go out and bring the child in.

After Paul took the child in, he put it on the Grand Duchess's bed so that his wife could take a good look at the child.

After putting the child beside his wife's pillow, Paul said triumphantly: Haha, Maria, the birth of this child can actually change my mother's attitude, not only expanding the Gatchina Army, but also allowing me to go to the Black Sea fight.

Maria looked at the little person next to her pillow, and made her proud husband's voice quiet down.

After hearing his wife's complaints, Paul lowered his voice. Seeing his wife's attention was on the child, he bent down again and teased little Alexander with his wife.

At this time, neither Catherine II, Paul, nor Maria could have imagined that the newly born Alexander would bring about subversion and changes to the entire European continent in the days to come.

Especially Ekaterina, she never imagined that Little Alexander would add the title of Emperor to herself in the days after her death, and put herself on a par with Peter the Great.

But Paul did not expect that his son Alexander would continue to implement his own military reforms and successfully fulfilled his will.

Paul and Maria gave birth to Konstantin Pavlovich in 1779. After Konstantin was born, he was named Grand Duke of Tver.

In 1783, she gave birth to Grand Duchess Alexandra Pavlovich, and Alexandra was named Grand Duke of Yaroslavl after her birth.

Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovich was born in 1783, and Elena was named Grand Duke of Rostov after her birth.

Although after giving birth to Grand Duke Constantine, Grand Duchess Maria gave birth to two daughters, but this did not prevent Ekaterina II from being happy.

Because the royal family has two healthy third-generation heirs, and Grand Duke Vladimir is talented and intelligent, at the age of five he mastered the geographical knowledge that took him several years to master.

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The name of the Russian Tsar was on January 1547, 1, when the Grand Duke of Moscow, Ivan the Terrible, delivered a speech and promoted the Grand Duke to the Tsar, the country was called Tsarist Russia (kingdom period). All power was restricted, and the lordship was changed to a tsarist autocracy, so Ivan the Great became the first tsar.

During the period of Peter I, Peter the Great, the tsar was promoted to emperor, but the title of tsar as the monarch of the Russian Empire was still used.

The emperor titles of Russia are as follows: By the Grace of God, Tsars and Dictators of Russia, Moscow, Kiev, Vladimir and Novgorod; Kazan, Astrakhan, Poland, Siberia, Doric Kseniso and Tsar of Georgia; Grand Dukes of Smolensk, Lithuania, Volhynia, Podoria and Finland, Estonia, Livonia, Courland, Semigalia, Samogitia, Belostok , Karelia, Tver, Yugorsk, Ugra, Vyatka, Bulgar and other princes; Chernihiv, Ryazan, Polotsk, Rostov, Yaro Princes of Slavl, Belozyor, Udolya, Obodolya, Kondia, Vitebsk, Mschislav and the whole of the North; Pskov, Nizhny Novgorod, Che Landlords of Alkasia, Turkestan, Ifria, Catalinia and Kabardenia, and Armenia; heir to the Norwegian throne, Schleswig-Holstein, Stolman, Dietmarschen and Duke of Oldenburg.

Explanation for Grand Duke Vladimir: Before Kievan Rus was divided, the leader of the princes of Rus at that time was the Grand Duke of Kiev, and because of this, the Grand Duke of Kiev became the title of the chief of the princes of Rus at that time.

In 1155, the prince Andrei Bogolyubsky (son of the famous prince Yuri) who ruled the Rostov-Suzdal Principality and other places set his political center in Vladimir, making the country For the first time, the city became the capital of a country - the Principality of Ross.After Andrei Bogolyubsky captured Kiev in 1169, the Duchy of Vladimir was established as one of the strongest countries in the Ross duchies, and Prince Vladimir gradually replaced the Grand Duke of Kiev as the The title of the prince of Ross.

During the period of the Mongols, that is, the Golden Horde, Grand Duke Vladimir really became the title of the leader of the princes of Rus.The grand duke was canonized by the Khan of the Golden Horde, not hereditary by a certain family. The prince who obtained the title of grand duke had the right to incorporate Vladimir into his territory.As an important means to contain the power of the Russian principalities, the Golden Horde Khan tends to designate the prince who is loyal to him as the Grand Duke of Vladimir.The princes of Rus fought fiercely for the title of grand duke.When the Grand Duke of Moscow finally eliminated all competitors and was able to provoke the Great Horde, one of the eight major kingdoms after the Golden Horde split, Vladimir was incorporated into the Moscow Principality.After the merger, it can be said that the Grand Duke of Moscow replaced the leadership of Grand Duke Vladimir with the Grand Duke of Moscow.

(End of this chapter)