When the news of the Polotsk prince's decision came out, Rostislav was sorting out the large amount of collected information and putting it into a volume for future reference.
The entire military camp seemed very leisurely these days. After all, everyone knew that they had a sure chance of victory, so they all relaxed and looked less and less like a war.
As for the sadness caused by the passing of comrades or companions, it quickly dissipated. After all, this is an era where death is as common as eating and drinking, and people's psychological endurance is not generally high.
Now is the time to spend all your money on alcohol and women's bellies. Isn't that what wars and plundering are for?
The life atmosphere in the military camp has become more and more serious. Originally, there were no prostitutes in the military camp, but now they are everywhere. Rostislav even heard that some people used the bombardment of Minsk in the siege camp as an erotic background to have sex with prostitutes.
.
The prince didn't care. On the one hand, the victory was already certain, but on the other hand, he was busy dealing with the prisoners. In this battle of Minsk, the coalition forces captured more than 4,000 prisoners. These 4,000 were all mature men with sound limbs.
The kind most needed in the slave market.
However, Zhuya Roslavich did not intend to sell all these people as slaves. In fact, not many people were sold as slaves, and only a few unlucky ones suffered such a fate.
Most of them are the toughest Polotsk supporters. Such people must not be allowed to stay and must get out. Moreover, their highest status is only the city owner. There is no pressure for the Yaroslavichs to sell them.
.
Most people were forced to sign a contract with the prince and became debt farmers who were vassal to the prince. Anyway, as long as they were willing to obey, this was basically the treatment they received.
Zhuya Roslavich has a great need for population, especially under the background that they are promoting feudalization, and they also have the need to compete with the vast wilderness of Rus.
For Kiev and Chernigov, dispersing these bonded peasants with the seal of the Grand Duke into their territories will undoubtedly strengthen their control over the countryside, and they can also be distributed to the city owners below to serve as the bottom layer of the feudal order.
Pereyaslav was motivated by the need to replenish the number of border militiamen. Recently, the southern grasslands have become increasingly restless, and Pereyaslav needed more manpower. Therefore, the third uncle also received the most debt farmers, which was enough for one year.
Thousands of people.
And everyone agreed that after taking control of the Polotsk Principality, as many people as possible would be moved to Pereyaslav.
Rostislav was indifferent. For the other two uncles, it was also good for them to ensure Pereyaslav's grassland defense line. After all, it was not difficult for nomads to go to Kiev and Chernigov.
The demand for population here is very strong, and there are never too many border defense manpower.
Rostislav was also assigned 300 people. The prince of Moscow planned to send these people to build a village on the outskirts of Moscow after returning, and then give them a city lord. These people would be enough to raise a fully equipped heavy cavalry.
However, these people have not yet set off on the road. They are still waiting in Minsk. This is because the princes all think that it is better to wait for the prince of Polotsk to surrender and let them take their families with them on the road, and also let them
escorted by a large army.
The princes are busy with this matter. Signing a contract is of course done with the prince himself.
However, the princes all had paperwork on their behalf, but Rostislav still chose to do it himself.
Because the three hundred people he was assigned were from all classes in the Polotsk Principality, this was a good opportunity to understand the Polotsk people's thoughts on this war, and at the same time, he could understand the society of the Principality.
Another point is to learn about the battle from the Polotsk people, and then combine it with the description from the coalition forces to summarize the full picture of the war. He even asked his uncles about their command and response.
From this point of view, "Journey in the Army" also has some meaning of military summary.
Rostislav had already made up his mind to describe the social scene and the war through this civil war that spread throughout Russia.
Therefore, when everyone was resting leisurely after the war, the Prince of Moscow was busy. He asked various people in the camp, recorded their stories, and then compiled these stories.
When interviewing different parties involved, Rostislav was also quite emotional.
Some of the people he recorded before the Battle of Minsk are now dead, and some are even more tragic, such as a pair of brothers where the older brother died and the younger brother is still alive, but at the cost of losing a hand.
Gradually, Rostislav realized that this story could be written on a large scale, involving all aspects of society, showing the social scene of the whole of Russia, and already conveying criticism of war and nobility.
Rostislav understands the elements of progress very well. Without these things, how could his books be sought after by future generations?
In Rostislav's vision, "Army Travels" will be completed in the form of a collection of stories, recording the experiences of each soldier and noble before and after enlistment, and finally and most importantly, a comprehensive summary of the Minsk War.
In addition, there is an interview from Visatta's uncle in the appendix, which talks about Visatta's thoughts on the war, basically his thoughts on aristocratic rule and post-war thoughts, as well as some summary of his experience in battle formations.
, Rostislav felt that what his uncle talked about was of great record value, because he wrote it all down.
Of course, this was also out of Rostislav's selfish motives. He hoped that Vishata, who had helped him in times of need, would have a good reputation in future generations, so he wrote down Vishata's words.
There is no doubt that if this book is written, Rostislav will be indispensable as a realist writer in later generations, and his works may become a heavily cited document in the future.
So after sorting out the information, Rostislav began the preliminary construction of the article. He already had many complete stories in his hands. All he needed to do was write them in, but polishing was still needed. After all, some stories were really real.
It's too miserable and dry.
And while Rostislav was busy writing, Jan opened the tent at the door, told Rostislav an important event, and then put the tent back again.
"Rostislav, Minsk has surrendered. The Grand Duke calls you over."
"Ah? Oh, I surrendered."
The Prince of Moscow was startled for a moment, and there was some surprise in his words, but the surprise disappeared immediately because this was something that was expected.
Whether the remaining troops of the Polotsk people can even stand up to the full length of the Minsk city wall is a big problem, and it is precisely because the uncle saw this that he chose to use trebuchets and ballistae to continuously bombard Minsk, adding more and more pressure to the city.
Deterrence and force them to make a choice.
After all, it would be best if you can make the enemy surrender. If you can kill fewer people, it is better.
As for not surrendering, it doesn't matter. After all, the city walls are in tatters after being bombarded for so long, and the city is not as desperate for repairs as before. It can be seen that the morale in the city is just like that, and at most it can be attacked by force.
Rostislav walked out of the tent, and the next thing he saw was the noisy military camp.
The atmosphere here has not changed because of the news of Minsk's surrender. People are still drinking, boxing, gambling, and whoring.
He also saw a man with his upper body naked running after a woman who was only wrapped in a layer of cloth. The guy Rostislav knew was a nobleman from Kiev.
A little further away, Yegor was training the soldiers of the Moscow Battalion. He was a very strict battalion commander. Even in such an environment, he only reduced some of the soldiers' training.
However, the mobilization of troops can be seen further away. Groups of militiamen were gathered. They should have gone to accept the surrender.
In addition, Rostislav also saw the guys from the Black Hat Army moving. This made Rostislav a little strange, why were these people moving? Did the uncle need them to do something?
The personal soldiers and personal followers guarded the prince tirelessly. Rostislav noticed that the personal soldiers were a little proud of the personal followers. This was because in the previous wars, the personal followers had always been by the prince's side, and the personal soldiers gained a lot from going into battle.
A lot of loot.
Not paying attention to the minor moods of his subordinates, the prince of Moscow found that his three vassals, Yan, Meshko and Edward, were gathering together and chatting about something.
They seemed to be talking about the surrender of Minsk. It seemed that a young warrior opposed the surrender of the city and was directly hacked to death by the wizard prince. Then his head was sent to the Grand Duke of Kiev as a sign of sincerity in surrendering.
This made Rostislav a little concerned. This news had just come in not long ago, how could they know about it, unless... someone deliberately spread it.
But I don’t want to think about who this deliberate spreader is, Rostislav. Anyway, no matter who it is, the person who does such a thing must be on their side, and it can indeed bring benefits to them.
The interest of these three people was a little low, because they had been ordered to stay in the camp during the previous battle. As a result, they were not able to participate in the largest battle in Russia from beginning to end, and could only listen to other people's battle epics.
When Rostislav looked at him, the three of them reacted differently. Edward gave the prince a smile, while Meshko acted neither humble nor overbearing.
As for Jan's indolence, the prince was not offended by this. This was just the way his little brother was, and he was the only one who dared to do this to Rostislav.
After greeting the three of them, and being served by his entourage, the Prince of Moscow got on his horse, still a red one, because it reminded him of the one his grandfather had given him.