Muravyov saw action during the Russo-Turkish War (1828-1829) at the Siege of Varna. He also participated in quelling the Polish uprising of 1831, but was forced to retire form the military in 1833 because of health issues. In 1838, he returned to military service as an aide-de-camp for General Golovin in the Caucasus region. He was wounded in one of the campaigns.
In 1840, Muravyov commanded a section of defense lines on the Black Sea during a campaign to suppress the Ubykh people. In 1841, he attained the rank of major general and had to retire from service due to health issues. In 1846, he became the military and civil governor of the Tula Province. Tsar Nicolas I called Muravyov “liberal” and “democrat” after Muravyov proposed the abolishing of serfdom.
In 1847, Muravyov was appointed governor of Irkutsk and Eastern Siberia. At the age of 38, many people thought he was too young to govern such a large territory. The tsar charge Muravyov with finding an advantage against China.
Muravyov stopped the embezzlement of public funds in his territory and forced the native populations to teach Russian in their schools. He also explored and settled the Amur region, often using political exiles and worked for a better economy for Far East Russia as a whole. In 1853, he suggested to Tsar Nicolas I that Russia should sell Alaska to the U.S. and concentrate its development on the Russian Far East.
In 1854, under orders from Tsar Nicholas I, Muravyov took troops to the Amur estuary and started negotiations with the Chinese for a border using the Amur as its maker. Russia did not have the right to navigate the river due to the 1689 Treaty of Nerchinsk. In May, 77 barges, rafts and the Argun steamship sailed to the Amur estuary. In 1855, the first Russian settlers made their way to the estuary. Muravyov began his negotiations in earnest.
In 1858, Muravyov and the Qing official Yishan signed the Treaty of Aigun granting Russia the left side of the river as its territory and the Amur as the border. This gave Russia free access to the Pacific and Muravyov was granted the title “Count Amursky” to become N. N. Muravyov-Amursky.
Settling the Amur river was another problem. Muravyov-Amursky’s attempts to orgainze a steamship and postal road failed, and no one wanted to come to the area. He moved a Baikal Cossacks into the area. He freed Nerchinsk serfs from working in the mines and made them a part of the Cossacks. Combined with a military core of Cossacks, about 12,000 people moved into the Amur area.
Muravyov-Amursky retired in 1861 and moved to Paris with his French wife in 1868. He lived there until his death in 1881.
Read about the Treasure of Nikolai Nikolaevich: Adventures on the Amur #1
Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolay_Muravyov-Amursky
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