"What does the city of Kiev say? Are they willing to surrender under my flag?"
Looking at the envoy returning from the city, Rostislav asked, there was not much worry in his tone. According to the current situation, it was impossible for Kiev to refuse him.
The Prince of Moscow is now standing on a flat ground on the outskirts of Kiev. Behind him is the huge Northern army. The spear poles are as dense as a forest, and the military formation seems to have no edge.
Rostislav wore a gorgeous set of armor, which could be said to be wearing gold and silver. This kind of armor was a ceremonial armor that Rostislav ordered from Moscow specifically for this moment.
Not surprisingly, Rostislav was showing off to Kiev and showing off the strength of the Northern Army.
But now Kiev cannot get any support, the southern army has been completely defeated, and both Svyatoslav and Vsevolod have been lost in battle.
As for their sons, it is difficult for them to even control the rest of their father's troops, let alone control Kiev. It is impossible for Kiev to obey such a few young boys.
The envoy in question knelt in front of Rostislav's horse, "Salute to the new Grand Duke of Kiev! Salute to the new conqueror of Kiev!"
As the messenger spoke, a hand following him waved a flag toward Kiev.
With this action, the Golden Gate opened with a bang, and a line of musicians and singers came out surrounded by Kiev citizens.
"Enter the city and tell the subordinates to restrain their subordinates. I don't want anything bad to happen in Kiev."
Rostislav gave such an order, and then drove the horse forward. Behind the prince, the personal followers and soldiers marched in neat steps, giving Rostislav great power.
In front of the Golden Gate in Kiev, Kiev citizens knelt down in front of Rostislav. Rostislav looked up at the Golden Gate made by his grandfather and was filled with emotion.
Representatives of the citizens of Kiev offered gifts of bread and salt, which represented friendship and obedience. Rostislav gladly accepted them and enjoyed the food that came from power.
The expressions of the citizens of Kiev finally relaxed, because this meant that the prince accepted their surrender. In any case, there would be no such thing as looting and massacre, and most people no longer had to be afraid.
"Let's enter the city."
The citizens of Kiev got out of the way, and Rostislav led his men into Kiev. The grand military force entered the center of Rus under the banners of the sky. They settled in various key points of Kiev in accordance with the order.
All remaining Kiev militiamen were ordered to lay down their weapons and return home to continue their normal lives, while Rostislav's Northern Army took over.
Of course, the citizens of Kiev have a lot of objections to outsiders controlling the city, but unfortunately their opinions are not important at this moment. They must endure it, because those people are now the occupiers of Kiev.
The Prince of Moscow, under heavy guard, settled in the palace of his ancestors, Vladimir Palace, the center of power in Russia, and the flag of St. George slaying the dragon flew above this palace.
Looking at the new flag, everyone understood that the new Lord of all Russia had appeared, and the political landscape of Russia had been completely reshuffled.
However, after taking control of Kiev, Rostislav discovered that the city of Kiev was being tamed much faster than he thought.
No one bothered, no one made trouble, everyone just obeyed directly, and there was no possible urban resistance like Rostislav expected.
The main reason is that no one wants to bother anymore. There have been too many power changes in Kiev in the past year. Of course, Rostislav also takes credit for inviting the former Kiev general manager Kosniyachik out.
The steward withdrew from the dispute after Izyaslav was killed and was unwilling to be loyal to the guy who assassinated the lord. But Rostislav was different. Kosnjachik was happy to serve Prince Rurik from the north.
Allegiance.
Due to his strong influence, the Kiev nobles quickly obeyed Rostislav.
The first thing Rostislav did after becoming a Christian was to ensure the condition of the troops he had sent to the other two southern Rus' cities.
What came back was good news. Chernigov and Pereyaslav both expressed their obedience to Kiev. When Chernigov learned that Svyatoslav had been killed in battle, Svyatoslav and the others did not know.
After being traced, they found that they had no choice but to surrender. This was their only feasible option at the moment.
As for Pereyaslav, on the one hand, the city had lost its prince and could only surrender to Rostislav. On the other hand, it was because Khan Polovets had carried out the plan on this land after killing the prince of Pereyaslav.
Large-scale looting.
Pereyaslav was in urgent need of support, and this was obviously something that the sons of losers could not provide. They could only turn to Rostislav, and they could only turn to the rulers of Kiev.
Rostislav successfully gained control of the three cities in southern Russia. Since then, he can be said to have become the lord of all Russia.
However, the discordant note still existed. He heard that the sons of his second uncle and his third uncle had fled to the east and occupied the town, intending to fight against Kiev. Rostislav gave the task to Jan, a veteran who was enough to suppress the young men.
Next, Rostislav will have to make a large-scale adjustment to political affairs across Russia, or to be more precise, reward according to merit.
After acquiring the three cities of Southern Rus, Rostislav directly emptied all the treasuries of the three cities and rewarded them to the soldiers of the Northern Army. It can be said that he drowned them with gold and silver.
This brought Rostislav more and more cheers, and brought his reputation to a higher level. Generous rulers are always welcome.
But some people can't be paid with gold and silver alone. Rostislav wants to give them power, and now there are indeed positions everywhere in Russia that can be used to reward people.
There is no doubt that Rostislav himself is based in Kiev, and Chernigov was handed over to Jan, who is now the mayor of Chernigov and is responsible for suppressing this key area in Rostislav's heart.
Pereyaslav gave his son Rurik. This boy had already proven himself in the war, so he should be on his own to resist the invasion of the nomadic army - of course, Rostislav would give him a
Strong army.
The mayor of Smolensk is still Vishata, the old man continues to sit here, and the mayor of Novgorod is still Gavrila, who was promoted by Rostislav.
As for Moscow, Rostislav handed over the city to a person who surprised people, but this person was also a close confidant of Rostislav, that is Vanigo from the blacksmiths' guild.
If you do this in other Russian cities, something will definitely happen, but this is Moscow, a city built by Rostislav, and he is everything here.
This is also a step for Rostislav to check the power of Vicher and the guilds in Moscow. Let them fight. When Rostislav's son reaches old age, he will come to take over everything.
Along with the enfeoffment, a large number of people will move here, but the more detailed enfeoffment does not require Rostislav's intervention, and the implementation of these things will take time, at least a few months.
In order to express the importance to the old people of Moscow, Rostislav transferred many people to Kiev. Moscow only retained the administrative power of the city, and all other forces came to Kiev to ensure that Rostislav could control this large Russian city.
After initially allocating power in the core area of Russia, Rostislav also temporarily put down his work, because he now has a more important thing, which is to accept the coronation of the metropolitan and become the Grand Duke of Kiev. Only after this step, his power
That's when it was officially established.
And his Metropolitan of Kiev had already arrived, and he was none other than Luka Zhdyata, Bishop of Moscow and Rostislav's teacher.
When he saw the teacher, Rostislav knew that he would have to find a new metropolitan immediately, because the teacher was too old, too old, too old.
Bishop Luca was already trembling when he crowned him, but he still completed the task inspired by his firm will, which made Rostislav very sad.
However, after this old but still determined coronation, Rostislav now became the Grand Duke of Kiev, the Lord of all Russia, and the unquestionable king of Russia.