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preface
Joel Khan ran amok in Tver, wantonly robbing and insulting the Rus, and the citizens of Tver dared not speak out. On the morning of August 15, a citizen of Tver was leading a horse to drink water, and was seen by a group of Mongols, who saw that the horse was fat and healthy, majestic, and liked it. The horse owner shouted in a hurry, and the citizens of Tver could no longer bear it, so they launched an uprising, drove all the Mongols together, and killed them all, including Jorhan himself.
Ivan was crowned Grand Duke of Vladimir
After the incident, Yue Ji Khan was furious and prepared to drive his family. Seeing that there was an opportunity, Ivan hurriedly came to the Golden Horde and expressed his willingness to follow the work of dogs and horses. Therefore, the Great Khan sent Ivan and the prince of Suzdal, Alexander Vasilyevich, with an army of 50,000 to attack the Grand Duchy of Tver. After coming to Tver, Ivan took the opportunity to take revenge, brutally suppressed the uprising, captured a large number of people, and Alexander fled to Pskov. Yue Ji Betsu Khan saw that Ivan was also faithful to himself, so in 1328 he made Ivan Grand Duke of Vladimir. Ivan got his wish, and the Grand Duke of Moscow once again became the ruler of all Rus.
After Ivan was promoted to Grand Duke of All Rus, he was not satisfied and stopped there. At this time, he obtained the power to collect tribute from all Rus and send it directly to the Golden Horde. After that, he took the opportunity to use his power for personal gain and replenish the treasury of the Grand Duchy of Moscow. When he collects tribute, he either increases the amount privately and extorts money; Or hide from the sky and the sea, intercept from it. He wanted to do it without knowing it, but there are no impermeable walls in the world, and his actions are still seen through, for which he has earned the nickname "Karida" (money bag). But Grand Duke Ivan was not afraid of being convicted or losing his position as Grand Duke, because he had already bought off the Golden Horde, his wives, and his concubines and vassals from the overcollected or withheld tribute.
Grand Duke Ivan also bought land everywhere and tried to expand his sphere of influence. He bought and annexed the principalities of Galich and other cities, and he also bought many villages in the grand duchys of Vladimir, Kostroma, and Rostov, which expanded the territory of the Grand Duchy of Moscow. At the same time, he implemented a policy of attracting the population, attracting peasants and citizens of other principalities to the Grand Duchy of Moscow with a policy of paying less or no tax. In addition, he ransomed Rus captives from the Golden Horde and made them subjects of the Grand Duchy of Moscow. This led to a rapid increase in the population of the Grand Duchy of Moscow.
With the expansion of land and the growth of the population, agriculture, handicrafts and commerce in the Grand Duchy of Moscow further developed, the number of cities increased, the size of the cities expanded, and a prosperous scene appeared. This in turn had a strong attraction for the lords of other principalities, who came to the Grand Duchy of Moscow or gathered around the Grand Duchy of Moscow, such as Rodion Nesterovich, lord of the Principality of Chernihiv, who moved his family to the Grand Duchy of Moscow with up to 1,700 servants. During the reign of Grand Duke Ivan, the foundation for the strength of the Grand Duchy of Moscow was laid, and he became the "first consolidator" who gradually unified all the Rus principalities.
In 1340, Grand Duke Ivan died, and the princes of the Rus principalities gathered in the Golden Horde to await the Khan's announcement of the edict of Grand Duke Vladimir. It is conceivable that many princes longed to receive this edict in order to be above all the princes; There is also no shortage of people who are secretly active in an attempt to obtain this edict. However, perhaps Grand Duke Ivan was highly respected and had a brilliant political achievement; Perhaps the money of the "money bag" was not spent in vain, and the Great Khan of the Golden Horde unexpectedly announced that Ivan's eldest son, Semyon Ivanovich, succeeded him as Grand Duke Vladimir and gave him the edict. When the princes saw that the wood was ready, they silently approved.
The "Black Death" swept through Europe
Grand Duke Semyon was not an ordinary person. In order to hold the throne of Grand Duke Vladimir, he was domineering and commanding the princes of Rus, for which he earned the nickname "Proud King". The Grand Duke of Novgorod once disobeyed the rule and plotted against him, and Grand Duke Semyon sent troops to requisition him, forcing him to accept him as a plenipotentiary agent. To the Great Khan of the Golden Horde, he tried his best to curry favor and grovel. During his reign, he traveled five times to the Golden Horde with a cartload of rich gifts to pay tribute to the Golden Horde. He was naturally rewarded with "glory and reward", as well as the throne of Grand Duke Vladimir, who ruled all of Rus.
Grand Duke Xie Miao had the intention to plant willows, but he was unable to return to heaven. In 1353, just as he was ambitious and trying to further expand the power of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, a terrible plague, the "Black Death", swept through Europe, and the Rus principalities were not spared, and many places were extinguished. Grand Duke Semyon also died in this terrible plague, along with his two sons and brother Andrei. On his deathbed, Grand Duke Semyon called his brothers to his sick bed and instructed them to unite and not listen to the "wicked" who tried to sow discord between their brothers, but to the words of Metropolitan Alexei and reliable lords.
After the death of Grand Duke Semyon, he was succeeded by his brother Ivan Ivanovich. During his reign, Ivan Ivanovich was cowardly, indecisive and unsuccessful, thanks to his obedience to his brother's will and consulting Metropolitan Alexei in everything, he kept the Grand Duchy of Vladimir and did not let the three principalities of Tver, Ryazan, and Nizhny Novgorod, which were increasingly powerful and always coveted the grand duchy throne, take the grand ducal throne. In 1359, Ivan Ivanovich died after only 6 years in power, leaving behind two young sons, the eldest of whom Dmitry Ivanovich was only 10 years old. The Edict of Grand Duke Vladimir was taken away by the princes of the Duchy of Nizhny Novgorod.
Dmitry was a young man with high ambitions and extraordinary hearts, and he was determined to reclaim the edict of Grand Duke Vladimir. Archbishop Alexei and the lords of Moscow actively supported Dmitry in preserving the status of the Grand Duchy of Moscow. At that time, the Golden Horde was divided, and in just twenty years there were 18 great khans. In 1362, Dmitry obtained an edict of being made Grand Duke of Vladimir. Then they brought Dmitry to Vladimir with an army and drove out Dmitry Konstantinovich, the prince of Nizhny Novgorod, who was entrenched there.
The following year, the Golden Horde, after receiving generous gifts, also sent Dmitry an edict from Grand Duke Vladimir. The Nizhny Novgorod prince Dmitry Konstantinovich was quite unwilling and managed to obtain an edict from the Golden Horde from Grand Duke Vladimir and drove Dmitry out of Vladimir, but he only held out in the city for 12 days before being defeated by the Muscovite army. Dmitry returned to the throne of Grand Duke Vladimir, and Dmitry Konstantinovich had to bow down and marry his daughter to Dmitry.
As Dmitry grew up and his ambition and talent grew, he was determined to make the principalities of Rus submit to his will. He first submitted to the principalities of Galich, Rostov, Starodub, and then challenged the most powerful Grand Duchy of Tver. Mikhail Alexandrovich, Grand Duke of Tver, knew that he was no match for the Grand Duchy of Moscow, so he hurriedly asked his son-in-law, Grand Duke Algidas of Lithuania, for help. In 1368, Algidas and his brother led a Lithuanian army with Mikhail's army to attack Moscow.
The army pressed the border
Dmitry, seeing that the army was overwhelmed and disparity in strength, took refuge in the stone-rebuilt Kremlin, closed the city gates, and refused to fight. The Lithuanian army attacked the city and retreated after three days of burning and pillaging outside the city. In August 1370, Dmitry declared war on Tver, Mikhail fled to Lithuania, and Dmitry's army broke through the Grand Duchy of Tver, completely destroying Mikhail's hereditary domain Mikulin Principality. At the end of the same year, Mikhail again brought the Lithuanian army to Moscow. Dmitry again hid in the Kremlin. At the same time, several princes of the Duchy of Rus came with reinforcements. Seeing that the situation was not favorable to him, Algidas withdrew on his own.
At this time, Mikhail tried to use the Golden Horde to fight against Dmitry. In 1371, he came to the Golden Horde and managed to obtain the edict of Grand Duke Vladimir from the powerful minister Mamai, who accompanied him to Vladimir's emissary, but the Vladimir people turned him away and prevented him from entering the Grand Duchy of Vladimir. When Dmitry heard the news, he immediately invited the messenger of Mamai, gave a generous gift, and then came to the Golden Horde with a large number of precious gifts to recapture the edict of the Grand Duke of Vladimir.
At that time, Mikhail, unable to pay the debts of the Golden Horde, left his son Ivan Mikhailovich hostage in the Golden Horde. Dmitry paid the debt on Ivan's behalf, keeping Ivan hostage with him. In 1375, Mikhail was finally forced to submit, claiming to be the "brother" of the Grand Duke of Moscow, promising to renounce his alliance with Lithuania and join the Grand Duchy of Moscow in attacking the enemies of Rus. At this point, the strongest competitor of the Grand Duchy of Moscow succumbed.
Resources:
ANING. The 1917 Revolution in Russia witnessed by Kerensky et al.Ding Zuyong, Hu Hanying, Shen Faliang, trans.Beijing: Life, Reading, and New Knowledge Sanlian Bookstore, 1984.
Department of History, Peking University, "History of Tsarist Russia's Invasion and Expansion". The History of Aggression and Expansion in Tsarist Russia: Up and Down[M].Beijing:People's Publishing House,1979.
CHEN Lemin. History of Western Diplomatic Thought[M].Beijing:China Social Sciences Press,1995.