Chapter 59 Whether she Qiuxiang is emotional or not, everything is under my control (er, must read)
Vorontsov nodded and said angrily:
"Your Majesty, I know that the Holy Council has gone too far!"
Peter agreed with this statement and then said:
"In this case, let's start the trial. I heard that Mezyjevich, who was just released, started to instigate agitation within the church after he stopped for a long time. Let's start with him."
"In addition, the scale of the trial can be expanded, in addition to Adrian, other archbishops can be involved. After this time, the church will become a religious department under the management of the state, rather than being parallel to the state, or even beyond it."
"Don't let the judges come from you. Let the people in the Holy Council carry out the execution. Although there are people who accuse us, there are also people who agree with us. I believe they will be willing to work for us."
Vorontsov, Bestudev and Ivanovich had always known Peter's plan from beginning to end. They were still a little worried at first, but things developed better than they imagined.
Originally, if the church was not moved, it would look like a huge thing, but after moving it, I found that it was not like that.
Not only are many people from outside looking at the church covetously, but they also have their own opinions internally.
Thinking that His Majesty was about to achieve his goal, both Vorontsov and Ivanovich were a little excited.
In the position of the church, the glory of the time of Peter the Great will appear again.
"Yes! Your Majesty, I followed your instructions exactly and made no mistakes at all!"
Vorontsov's face lit up. It was a lifelong pride to be able to handle the church while he was minister of general affairs!
Peter nodded. He was still very satisfied with the people who had signed the confidentiality agreement.
Even Vorontsov was not a good person to begin with, and even Vorontsov had some talents, and under the guidance of a deceitful monarch like him, it was almost impossible to make big mistakes.
Thinking that after this time the church's population and land would be nationalized, Peter couldn't help but feel excited.
This can be regarded as an achievement recorded in history!
Moreover, when he first planned to do it, it was not a decision that he came up with casually. Instead, he made reference to the original Peter III and Catherine.
It turned out that Peter III believed in Lutheranism when he left Holstein, and he and Frederick had the same idea.
Frederick once criticized the whole of Europe, including Russia, which was considered an Asian country, saying that everyone except him and Theresa were fools because all monarchs were imprisoned by religious ideas.
Peter, like Frederick II, was disdainful of clergy and religious belief, so he issued a new decree to transfer all properties under the church's name to the supervision of a newly formed government department.
As soon as this decree was issued, the clergy and dignitaries in the church became public officials receiving state salaries.
The senior clergy were aggrieved, but to no avail.
Moreover, compared with him, the original Peter III made particularly big strides. I don’t know whether it was because he was ignorant or fearless, or because he was doing something wrong, but he still achieved his goal.
He also ordered that all images and sculptures of saints except Jesus Christ be removed from churches, and then he asked all clergy to shave their beards and change their clothes.
Clergy can no longer wear floor-length brocade robes, but must wear cassocks like those of Protestant ministers.
Protestantism is a religion commonly believed by the Prussian people. It was suppressed in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Austria, and there was no soil for Protestantism to survive in Russia.
But despite this, Peter III still successfully implemented this decree. Although he was considered a heretic by the Russians, he did succeed. In his hands, the church became a department under the state.
The fatness of the church was once again reflected in the hands of Catherine.
After Catherine successfully launched a coup, in order to appease the church and the army, she promised to the church to abolish the decree issued by Peter III and return the serfs and lands to the church.
At first, Catherine was shocked when she learned about the assets owned by the church.
There were fully 1 million male serfs and a huge amount of land. If the families of these male serfs were included, the population would increase to more than 2 million.
Ekaterina didn't want to return it, but she was a cautious person. When launching the coup, if Peter III had not been too careless and did not leave a guard army at all, Ekaterina would never have succeeded.
.
The timing of her coup was particularly bizarre.
Because the then Field Marshal Aprakhin told Ekaterina, you can launch a coup, I support you, but Ekaterina did not initiate it, she said I don’t understand what you mean, I will keep my peace.
Apraksin was then imprisoned and later exiled.
Bestudev, who was the Minister of General Affairs at the time, said, "You can launch a coup. I support you." Ekaterina did not launch a coup. She said, "What are you talking about? I don't understand."
Bestudev was arrested, interrogated rigorously, and finally proved Yekaterina's innocence.
Lestock said don't get so close to me, I was suspected, and Ekaterina immediately distanced herself from everything.
Even Yekaterina's spiritual supporter, Volontsov, told Yekaterina twice at the beginning that I would support you unconditionally no matter what you do, but Yekaterina didn't show any emotion at all.
The last time little Vorontsova couldn't bear it any longer. She roared at Ekaterina, "If you don't think of a way out for yourself, you will be finished!"
Ekaterina still held back her voice. She said that little Vorontsova must be drunk and talking nonsense, and advised her not to talk like that in the future.
Even if Catherine had the support in the army led by the five Orlov brothers, if a coup was launched, it would not be a problem as long as Peter III listened to Frederick's persuasion and left an army to guard St. Petersburg.
The coup was successful.
Moreover, one of the participants, a captain, had been captured before the coup, but Peter III still didn't care.
It can be said that Peter III deserved a successful coup. If Catherine, with her extremely cautious character, could succeed in a coup, God would really reward her with such success.
Therefore, even though Catherine did not want to return the church's land and serfs, she was born in Prussia and was a foreigner of German descent. She was much more wary of the Russian state religion than the Russians themselves.
So she returned it initially.
But Catherine still felt in her heart that Peter III's decree was very reasonable, and the church's lands and serfs should be nationalized.
The temporary return of the land and serfs to the church was a last resort and was contrary to her wishes.
Just a few months after returning the lands and serfs to the church, Catherine changed.
She ordered an accounting of the vast wealth owned by the church and recommended a new policy to the government.
Parliament proposed a compromise plan, which was that the land would still belong to the church, but the poll tax would be increased.
Some people in the church agreed with this plan, while others opposed it, and the church was divided.
Then Ekaterina took two steps to desecularize the church, and now Metzjevich is a typical example of being arrested for running around to oppose it.
Ekaterina said about Mezyevich:
"Mezjevich's condemnation of her is unreasonable, making trouble out of nothing, demagogueing people, and distorting facts. This liar and hypocrite must be punished to serve as a warning to others!"
Then Metzjevich was arrested and tried, with Catherine personally participating. During the trial, Metzjevich questioned the death of Peter III.
Metzjevich said of Ekaterina:
"The current monarch is not Russian and does not have firm beliefs. She should not occupy the throne that originally belonged to Ivan Antonovich (Ivan VI)."
Ekaterina was stabbed in the heart, covered her ears and screamed:
"Tell him to shut up!"
The church was deprived of its lands and serfs, but the funny thing is that it was still the church who tried Mezyjevich.
Metzjevich was found guilty, deprived of his priesthood, expelled from the diocese, and exiled to a monastery as far away as the White Sea.
He was not allowed to write any articles there, and worked hard three days a week, carrying water, chopping firewood, cleaning the monastery room, facing the sea, and the flowers were blooming in spring.
Later, Ekaterina, who was cautious in this regard, called Mezievich back for a public demotion ceremony.
Metzjevich appeared in the palace wearing a flowing robe, and then the robes that symbolized his priesthood were stripped off one by one, but Metzjevich kept condemning Catherine and yelling at his colleagues for not being allowed to do so.
Good to die.
Metzjevich was then stripped of all religious titles and imprisoned in the Levelli Fortress on the Baltic Sea coast, where he lived in a single room.
None of the soldiers guarding him spoke Russian.
Mecijevich finally stopped swearing. Until his death, the soldiers guarding him did not know his real name and only called him "Andrew the Big Liar."
With Peter III and Catherine in front, Peter saw the attitudes of all parties after sending a letter of condemnation through the Holy Council, and he no longer hesitated.
The church is so fat!
Moreover, Vorontsov and Bestudev were at the front to confront the church, and Ivanovich was in charge of the conflict with Metzjevich. What was he afraid of?
Does this have anything to do with him?
It was obviously the Holy Council that was blaming him.
To paraphrase Master Xing's words, whether Qiuxiang is emotional or not, everything is under my control.