Valin finally breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the last nail being driven into the wooden wall in front of him.
The tower had been completed long ago, and he and his wife had already lived in it. The final steps were to dig trenches and build wooden walls.
For him, the completion of this building was of great significance. This standing city was regarded as his establishment of power.
This walled city is very simple, with a two-story wooden tower, a wooden wall and trench, three large wooden houses for soldiers and servants to live in, and a fish pond, the walled city is completed.
The layout of this walled city was arranged by the prince's subordinates from Moscow. Valin heard that all newly built walled cities have such a layout. This layout was designed by the prince of Moscow himself. The purpose of these architects was mainly to ensure that it adapts to local conditions.
The walled city can accommodate very few people. The lord's family and their dozen or so servants and soldiers are the limit, but this is the normal situation of the low-level walled lords.
Although the completion of the walled city made Valin extremely happy, he immediately became headache because the farmers he hired from nearby to work were clamoring for him to part with the food expenses.
Logically speaking, these people are peasants attached to him, and it is their obligation to serve half a month of corvee for themselves every year. However, these peasants, who were free men not long ago, did not even obey the princes in Moscow.
How could it be possible to obey a small city leader like him?
I have no choice but to give out money. Fortunately, these farmers don't want much. After all, they know not to go too far, and they can only spend the gold and silver in towns. There is no point in taking too much.
Funa Shirogane sent them all away.
Watching the farmer take the money and leave happily, Valin couldn't help but sigh. He had a premonition that he would be very tired as the leader of the city in Northeast Rus.
However, he has no complaints about this. Being able to become a city lord is already a gift, so why should he complain?
Varin was once a farmer in the swamps outside Kiev. Later he joined Rostislav's army. During the war with the Polovts, he served as a guide for the prince in the swamps, which earned him generous rewards.
Varin could have quit the army just like this. The money he got was enough to live and work in Kiev, buy a good family property, and become the citizen of Kiev he always wanted to be.
But after seeing Rostislav's achievements, he decided to follow this young but already famous prince. He thought he could gain more by following this prince.
And his investment did pay off for him. After arriving in Northeastern Rus, Rostislav entrusted him with a piece of land and its population, turning him into a walled city owner.
In return for sitting in the city, Valin must pay taxes to the prince in a timely manner, and can always organize a team of twenty warriors to respond to the call, including two well-equipped warriors.
And if you bring three or even four people, the king will give corresponding subsidies as a reward.
However, although the prince made him the lord of the city, he still had to build the city himself and tame the people there, and all he could rely on was his own armor and the twenty Qignons given by the prince.
His existence is as a servant and a soldier, as someone he can rely on.
In the beginning, Valin had no fear of taming the village community. In his opinion, everything would fall into place. However, when he arrived, he discovered that the village communities that were supposed to obey him did not pay much attention to him.
Valin couldn't force them if he wanted to. He only had twenty farmers under him, plus a veteran himself. The number of strong men recruited by those village communities was nearly a hundred, and he couldn't tell who the leaders of those village communities were.
You guys still have weapons and armor at home, and when the time comes to fight, you won't even have the advantage of armor.
Although the prince's inspection team will also conduct weekly inspections to ensure that his appointment is normal, that is all. They can only ensure that he is in office, and he has to rely on himself for the rest.
With no other choice, Warin had to take a roundabout route. He first married the daughter of a rich farmer in the largest village under his rule, and then negotiated door-to-door in the village, drinking and chatting with them. When necessary, he could add a message from the prince.
Threat of force.
After all this trouble, he finally made these villages surrender and expressed their willingness to pay taxes and obey corvees.
During this period, his fulfillment of his obligations was also very important. It can be said that it was this that contributed to the obedience of the village community. He adjudicated cases in the village, helped the villagers hunt wild animals, and even sometimes worked in the fields himself - he was also a swamp farmer after all.
, these skills have not been lost yet.
Moscow gave him a lot of food and tools to support him. These things allowed him to bribe the people, which was a big help.
But the obedience of the village community was compromised. For example, now, he asked the villagers to perform their due duties and had to pay. Although the money was not a lot, it still felt awkward.
Valin knew that some powerful nobles and warriors would not compromise with the farmers at all. It seemed that there were still others who colluded with the local powerful to suppress the farmers. If the farmers dared to disobey them, the family warriors would go into the village and kill those who dared to take the lead, and the rest would be killed.
No one dares to make trouble.
But that was something he couldn't learn, nor could most of the new city leaders. There were at least five or six armored warriors, and dozens of veterans who had experienced the battlefield. It was too easy to suppress and intimidate the village community. They had that
This kind of force can do it.
I guess these farmers will not recognize my status as a ruler until my descendants grow up. In that case, I might as well go dig for money.
Valin thought with some frustration that of course he knew about Kashen, but since he was already a lord here, how could he abandon his territory and become an extractor?
But when he thought about it, his heart became hot. He thought of his newlywed wife's delicate body and that Valin was an old bachelor.
I didn't get married until I came to Northeastern Ross,
Seeing the lord like this, the others went to work, and there were already some wooden houses and fields near the walled city.
This part belongs to the Qinong who followed him, and the other part belongs to the local people who want to leave the village community or are simply driven away. They want to start a new life under the lord's walled city.
Scenes like this are everywhere in the areas where Rostislav's power is involved. Walled cities are either being built or already standing.
With their emergence, the social ecology of Northeastern Rus is undergoing slow but irreversible changes, a change that the current King of Muscovite just longs for, but it will take many, many years, or even generations, to achieve the effect he wants.