Seeing the Bulgar envoy leaving with a smile that he could not understand, Rostislav was really puzzled.
It can be said that anyone with any brains can clearly see Bulgar Khan's intention and will definitely reject it, but he still has to do it.
Rostislav felt something was wrong, but he couldn't say it, so he had to put the matter in his mind for the time being, and then summoned the remaining visitors.
The next visitors were not important people. They were either foreign merchants who came to sell or deliver goods, or farmers and citizens who wanted the prince to preside over disputes.
The merchants were selling and giving away luxury goods, and he had no interest in them, but out of courtesy he still accepted their goods without buying anything.
He only placed an order to buy slaves from one of the slave traders from Persia, and he specifically requested slaves who were skilled and Christian.
As for civil disputes, Rostislav let his subordinate judges who were familiar with the "Russian Code" handle them all. He watched the whole process and made a judgment.
In this way, Rostislav spent almost a whole day handling Rostov's affairs for a full month.
After finishing the work, he only felt extremely tired, but he had to do it. Handling affairs was the best way to declare his authority and the best way to appear in front of his subjects.
Fortunately, this is actually a special situation. It was his failure to exercise power in Rostov that led to such a serious accumulation. It will not be so serious next time.
Such a meeting brought something to the people of Rostov. The nobles discussed the prince's decisions today to judge his possible future tendencies.
The citizens are more concerned about the family affairs of their young prince, such as his beautiful wife and so on. Anyway, those policies have little to do with them.
For the residents of the old city, this visit is of great significance.
However, the crowd did not disperse because the meeting was over, because along with the Bulgar delegation came a large number of businessmen from the south, and they brought a large amount of hot-selling goods, which are now displayed in the market in the new city.
The stalls attracted a large number of businessmen to this place.
While the new city was extremely lively due to the arrival of merchants, the old city was extremely quiet.
Businessmen are not allowed to come here on weekdays, and residents here do not have much entertainment activities. Only a small number of residents of the old city who participated in the audience returned to their homes through the wooden wall dividing the two cities under the vigilant sight of the militiamen.
After Vanigo returned to his blacksmith shop with satisfaction, as soon as he closed the door, he was immediately surrounded by his friends who had been waiting in the room for a long time. The elders of the old city were much more stable and just sat silently at the back.
There were several large glasses of kvass on the table, but they were almost finished. It looked like they had been waiting for a long time.
"How is it? Vanigo, what does that kid from Kiev say?"
"Did they agree to the conditions this time?"
"What's the situation?"
All kinds of questions came rushing at him, which made Vanigo quite upset. He turned away from the crowd, went straight to the table, raised his glass and drank it all in one gulp. Then he found that it was empty after not drinking much.
"Fuck, you actually drank all my kvass. Are you drinking it as water?"
It's just that the others obviously didn't want to listen to his banter.
"Stop it, Vanigo, we'll just buy it for you. Tell us how it goes?"
"Okay, okay, you guys are really impatient."
Seeing that everyone was so anxious, Vanigo no longer wanted to fight, so he waved his hands.
"The prince did not agree to all the conditions, but he agreed to some. Now we can sell the goods to anyone."
"Oh, wait, what did you say?"
Many people thought they were being rejected as usual at first, so they said subconsciously, but then they immediately realized that Vanigo actually agreed after what he said!
Although I was only promised a request, it was a promise! A promise!
"Vanigo, don't lie to us!"
"Yes, yes, what on earth did those masters say?"
"It's no fun to joke like this!"
Suddenly, there was an extremely noisy atmosphere around him. People were clamoring to ask whether all this was true or false, which made the blacksmith blush and become angry.
"I swear by Christ on earth and the gods below, I, Vanigo, don't tell any lies! And the notice should be posted tomorrow, and you will know the truth at a glance."
Christ on the earth and gods below are the product of the collision between Christianity and polytheism in this land, and it is also the consensus that exists in many areas of Russia.
The people simply regarded Christ as the god of the earthly world, while the ancient gods ruled underground.
Both are respectable authorities, but the scope of their power and authority is different, so they must be given equal respect and belief.
In the church, this idea has a more appropriate name - dual faith.
Seeing Vanigo's solemn oath, everyone present no longer doubted it, because if he cheated, the gods above and below the ground would punish him mercilessly, and his soul would never find a place of peace.
"Stop arguing. Since Vanigo has brought good news, let's start making arrangements."
At this moment, the old men who had been silent all this time spoke up. They were the group of people with the most say in the old city of Wicher.
"Since the prince has agreed, it just so happens that many businessmen came from Bulgar City today. Let's go talk to them and take out all the goods in hand. No matter how the future changes, we will take this opportunity to make a profit first.
Let’s talk about the pen later.”
The old man's words were unanimously agreed. After all, they fight for power to make money and have a better life. Now that the opportunity is in front of them, they must seize it.
Everyone immediately began to make calculations. Someone had collected a lot of furs, but due to rough processing methods and Rostov's refusal to accept it, these goods were almost rotten. Now they can all be sold.
Some people have a lot of beeswax in their hands, but selling it to those masters is like working for nothing. They can only smuggle some secretly to support their families. Now they can finally sell it at a normal price.
Someone organized the residents of the old city to produce many handicrafts such as cloth and hammers, but they could only be sold to designated merchants in the new city at low prices. Now they can finally sell them freely.
The people here are all the leading figures in the old city. People chat about business and become more and more intense, and gradually the environment becomes more and more harmonious.
The old man smiled when he saw this scene. He had not seen such a scene for many years, and then he thought of Rostislav who caused all this.
"Rostislav... This Prince Rurik is really resolute. He agreed from the beginning... It seems that this land will change drastically in the future."