In 1684, an ordinary peasant family in Livonia (present-day Latvia) gave birth to a baby girl, and the family had already given birth to three boys, so her parents were very happy and named her Martha. At that time, Livonia was under the control of the fat man Sweden, and the fat man was the king of a large area of the Baltic Sea (the pink part of the picture below), which was not imposing.
But not far away, the thorn-headed big bobo and the big Russian are always looking at the tiger, and there is a newly grown Prussian who is also salivating over the Baltic Sea, and the fat man sits restless all day.
(Swedish Empire around 1700)
In order to compete for territory, these goods fought with each other, so this land has been plagued by soldiers for many years, and the people have no livelihood. In 1687, a rare famine struck the plains of Eastern Europe, and the corpses were scattered and starved, Martha's parents died of starvation, several brothers were separated, and poor Martha became an abandoned orphan at the age of three.
Hunger and cold approached, death showed a sinister smile, and when the little life was dragged forward by death, the god of fate pulled her aside: an elderly priest showed mercy and took in the little girl who did not know her origin.
Years of war and disaster have made life very difficult for the elderly priest and the young Martha, and in order to make a living, Martha began to taste the hardships of life from an early age. Autumn and winter come, year after year, maintaining a primitive survival in poverty.
When Martha was 13 years old, the priest also died, and the god of fate took care of her once again: a Protestant priest, Gluck, took Martha in and made her a servant. Three years later, Martha became an elegant, well-trained maid who rose to prominence like a hibiscus in the water.
(Young and beautiful Martha)
A pair of eager eyes stayed longer and longer on the beautiful maiden, and the owner's 16-year-old son, Carl, a handsome teenager, ignited the fire of Martha's love. However, the Gruckers, who usually looked at the gentle and loving owners, after learning of their love affair, rudely broke up the hot love of the man and woman, and quickly married Martha to a Swedish soldier.
In 1702, the Russo-Swedish War broke out, Martha's newly married husband was sent to the front line, never to return, Martha did not wait for any news of her husband, but waited for the Russian army to kill all sides. The commander of the Russian army, sheremetev, was a general who had experienced hundreds of battles and made great achievements in battle, and was 50 years old at the time.
The war refugees fled like a tide, and in the confusion of the procession, General Sheremetev found a young girl who was beautiful and radiant, and she was Martha. Next, the clever girl accepted the fate of the arrangement, from a female prisoner to a general's favorite.
(Boris Petrovich Shremetev)
Soon, Shremetev received a new order from Tsar Peter I to lead his army north to join Marshal Menshikov's army and attack Nottburg together. Fort Nott is the throat of the Baltic Sea, and to capture it is to take the entire Baltic Sea. Sheremetev loved Martha so much that he decided to take her with him. For the first time, young Martha boarded a luxurious four-wheeled carriage, and the huge procession wandered away on the muddy road.
Menshkov was a minor of Peter I and a member of the Mud Army, which had made great achievements. When the young Peter was assigned to live in a remote mountain village, the Menshkov family sold burnt bread here. Two children of the same age, from the era of bare butt playing with mud, have formed an unbreakable friendship.
(Alexander Danilovich Menshkov)
The Battle of Fort Nott soon began, and after 12 hours of arduous fighting, Rui FatZi threw away his armor, the Russian army won a complete victory, the impregnable castle fell into the hands of the Russian army, and the generals and soldiers drank excitedly at the lively celebration banquet.
After three rounds of drinking, General Sheremetev got drunk and began to talk endlessly with Menshikov about his affair, how beautiful the face of a new pet Ji ji was, how seductive her body was, how skillful her kung fu was in bed, and as she spoke, the old general was full of joy and praise.
As a result, a bunch of old men and women were on the ground, insisting on witnessing the beauty with their own eyes, and the old general knew that he had lost his word, but it was too late. The dignified Menshikov fell in love with the glorious Martha at first sight, the old general was forced to endure the pain, and the young marshal took the charming girl for the price of a slave.
At the beginning of 1703, a royal decree arrived: the Tsar was touring the Baltic Sea and was about to arrive at the residence of Marshal Menshkov. The marshal was overjoyed, and the palace was illuminated, and the whole house was busy welcoming the arrival of the Tsar.
In the early spring of the Russian plains, still icy and snowy, the wind was howling, and under the lead-gray canopy, a group of guards were escorting the tsar on patrol in simple clothes, speeding down the avenue leading to the marshal's residence. His thoughts flew to the distant past, in that remote village, where he and Menshkov had an inseparable friendship and the twists and turns of fate.
The Marshal's mansion soon arrived, and the Tsar returned to reality, a pair of childhood friends who had not seen each other for a long time, hugging each other tightly. At the dinner party, Martha, dressed in makeup, quickly attracted the Tsar's attention. After the dinner, the Tsar announced directly to his friend, "I'm going to take her away." ”
In Menshkov's reluctant gaze, this mature and intelligent woman of natural beauty stepped on the golden staircase and stepped step by step towards the glorious Kremlin, she crossed one ups and downs, experienced hardships one after another, walked through a long and distant journey, and finally embarked on the peak of her life.
(Plump and charming Martha)
The ornate carriage carried Martha to Moscow, where the Tsar rented a cabin in a bazaar far from the Kremlin and moved in with his beloved girl. In 1704, Martha gave birth to a younger child, and by 1705 they had given birth to two boys, a man in a wooden house, and a family of four, and Martha's favored position was secured.
The birth of his son also brought new hope to the Tsar, who did not like alexei, the son born to the original empress Lopuhina, who was weak and conservative. The birth of two young sons made him ecstatic. A man who loves a woman will love the child she has, and this is also true.
However, unfortunate things happened, the two boys died one after another, and the sudden blow not only made the Tsar depressed, but also made Martha nervous. She was afraid that the Tsar would blame her for not taking good care of the children, that she would be abandoned by the Tsar, that there would be no way back. Martha pondered and found a reason to defend herself.
Their cohabitation is not a legal marriage, in other words, they are living together illegally, and the child they give birth to is an illegitimate child. Martha told the Tsar that illegitimate children were not blessed and that healthy offspring needed formal marriage to protect them.
The Tsar was stunned, and then he suddenly realized that he was deeply impressed. In February 1711, the man and woman, who had lived together for eight years, had a simple religious wedding, and the former lowly maid became the legitimate wife of the Tsar of the Russian Empire.
Now Martha has become Catherine, and after marriage she has given birth to two girls in a row, all of whom have died prematurely, at this time she has given birth to two boys, five women and seven children, and only two girls are alive. At present, Sister Ye is only Peter's legal wife and has not been crowned empress, so she is worried and feels that her position is not so stable.
Sister Ye began to act, and she often drove an ordinary carriage around the fiefdom as an empress, visiting peasant households and visiting soldiers, creating an atmosphere and impression: she was sent by the emperor, and she was a very good mother of the country (just like many members of the modern royal family do to visit factories and visit orphanages). However, Catherine knew in her heart that this was not enough.
One sunny morning, Sister Ye drove to the home of a noble family far away from Moscow, and it was her former owner, Mrs. Gluck, who opened the door to welcome her. Mrs. Gluck, who had two white sideburns, did not expect the former maid to fall from the sky, she was flattered, overwhelmed, fell to her knees, spoke incoherently, and kept shouting "Your Majesty, Your Majesty..."
A few months later, the Tsar returned to Moscow with a radiant look, as the new capital, St. Petersburg, had been inaugurated and the Hermitage was magnificent. In his excitement, someone suddenly presented a very wrinkled, very worn piece of parchment and almost faded ink that read: "No tsar can conquer Livonia unless he marries a Queen of Livonia." ”
Ivan the Terrible fought for 25 years and never took Livonia, where Peter was defeated and was struggling. There are folk rumors that the Tsar will never be able to conquer Livonia, and it is not known where the rumors came from. How could Peter, who was in a happy mood, not be overjoyed when he received such a note? "You are indeed my auspicious star", "You are the hope of the Empire!" ”
In 1712, Ye Dajie was officially crowned imperial empress of all Russia. Sister Ye hid her inner ecstasy and pretended to be indifferent, only she knew that this piece of worn-out parchment had firmly fixed her to the new queen throne.
(Peter I and Empress Catherine)
(To be continued)
(Original is not easy, please indicate the source when reprinting)
Past Articles:
The Russian Royal Family: The Young Son of Heaven – The Past of Peter the Great (Part 1)
The Russian Royal Family: The Young Son of Heaven – The Past of Peter the Great (Part 2)
Russian Royal Family 04: One True Empress – Two False Tsars
The Russian Royal Family: Killing the Prince – The Tragic Ivan the Terrible
Love and Kill Each Other: A Millennium Enmity between Russia and Ukraine (Popular Short Story)
Sorry we're late – Serbia don't cry
Argentina does not believe in tears – forty years of the Battle of the Falklands