To preserve the secret of imposture and suppress any manifestation of court and popular indignation, the liar approved a secret office. Its likeness was before, and above all for the capture of thieves and robbers. But now the secret service has also become political, and its main task is to protect the established power and political system.
The history of the Secret Chancellery begins with the founding of the Preobrazhensky Prikaz and refers to the beginning of the reign of Peter I (established in 1686 in the village of Preobrazhensky near Moscow); at first he represented the family of the special chancellery of the sovereign, created to manage the Preobrazhensky and Semyonovsky regiments. The name "Preobrazhensky Prikaz" has been in use since 1695; since that time, he has been in charge of maintaining public order in Moscow and the most significant court cases. However, in the decree of 1702, instead of the "Preobrazhensky Prikaz", the moving hut in Preobrazhensky and the general courtyard in Preobrazhensky are named. In addition to managing the first guards regiments, the Preobrazhensky order was given to manage the sale of tobacco, and in 1702 it was ordered to send everyone to the order,who will speak behind themselves "The word and deed of the sovereign" (that is, accuse someone of a state crime). The Preobrazhensky order was under the direct jurisdiction of the tsar and was ruled by Prince F. Yu. Romodanovsky (until 1717; after the death of F. Yu. Romodanovsky, his son I. F. Romodanovsky). Subsequently, the order received the exclusive right to conduct cases of political crimes or, as they were then called, "against the first two points."
Since 1725, the secret office was also engaged in criminal cases, which were in charge of A. I. Ushakov. But with a small number of people (under his command there were no more than ten people, nicknamed the forwarders of the secret office), such a department could not cover all criminal cases. Under the then order of investigating these crimes, convicts convicted of any criminal offense could, at will, prolong their process, saying "word and deed" and making a denunciation; they immediately climbed into the Preobrazhensky order together with the agreed ones, and very often people who did not commit any crime, but against whom the informers had anger, were often mentioned. The main direction of the order's activity is the persecution of participants in anti-serfdom actions (about 70% of all cases) and opponents of the political transformations of Peter I. But the main activity of the Preobrazhensky, and then the Secret Order was the prosecution for rumors about the imposture of the false Tsar, which persistently and everywhere went among the people at that time.
The Secret Chancellery, established in February 1718 in St. Petersburg and existing until 1726, had the same department items as the Preobrazhensky order in Moscow, and was also managed by I. F. Romodanovsky. The department was created to investigate the case of Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich, then other political cases of extreme importance were transferred to it; subsequently both institutions merged into one. The management of the Secret Chancellery, as well as the Preobrazhensky Order, was carried out by Peter I, who was often present during the interrogation and torture of political criminals. The Secret Chancellery was located in the Peter and Paul Fortress.
After the dissolution of the Secret Chancellery in 1727, it resumed its work already as the Office of Secret and Investigative Affairs in 1731. under the leadership of A. I. Ushakov. The competence of the Chancellery included the investigation of the crime of the "first two points" of State crimes (they meant "The word and deed of the sovereign." revile ", and the 2nd spoke" about rebellion and treason "). The main instrument of the investigation was torture and interrogation with “addiction”. Abolished by the manifesto of Emperor Peter III (1762), at the same time it was forbidden to "Word and deed of the sovereign."