When things in Kiev temporarily came to an end, Rostislav left Kiev. He recalled his son Rurik to guard Kiev and make him familiar with Kiev's government affairs. Now Kiev is stable enough for him to manage.
And he himself went north to Novgorod to inspect the territory that came under his rule.
Rostislav's team was very large when he traveled. He gathered a huge fleet of nearly a hundred ships. When this fleet appeared on the Dnieper River, no one could ignore them.
However, only thirty of the longships belonged to the Grand Duke of Kiev, and the others were merchant ships that followed the Grand Duke northward. But Rostislav wanted to make the momentum bigger so that the residents along the coast could see the momentum of the new Grand Duke of Rus.
The merchants are very willing to follow the Grand Duke northward. Although the Grand Duke has carried out several waves of raids on bandits, instability still exists, and everyone still wants to follow the strong team.
Rostislav had all the ships hoist their flags, all the sails were raised, and the fronts of the ships were covered with fully armed soldiers, showing off their momentum to both sides of the bank.
And this did achieve the effect Rostislav wanted. The news spread much faster than the speed of Rostislav's fleet. Therefore, many times Rostislav found that the shore was full of people, watching Rostislav.
Slavic army.
This is exactly what the new Grand Duke of Kiev wants. Nothing can show momentum better than showing off force.
Rostislav only stopped in two cities along the way, namely Chernihiv and Smolensk.
In Chernihiv, Rostislav went to see the Transfiguration Cathedral, which was no less impressive than Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kiev, where he prayed and spread goodwill towards the city.
Then the Grand Duke met with Jan and asked him about the situation in the Chernihiv area. Rostislav was very concerned about this place. After all, it was the second largest city in Southern Russia.
Young said that everything is under control, but it will still take time for the city and its subordinate areas to truly belong.
Rostislav expressed that he was very pleased. Among the commanders deployed in the cities, he could only rest assured that Yang, his comrade-in-arms and young man, was the only one who he thought could entrust the policy and let him execute it independently.
Rostislav asked Young to set up the Chernigov Battalion in Chernihiv to strengthen control of the area and spread goodwill to the locals to win them over.
Next came Smolensk, and while waiting for the boats to be carried by dry boats to the rivers of the north, Rostislav had a long conversation with Jan's father, Vishata, his uncle, always wise and profound,
He needed Visatta's opinion.
The mayor of Smolensk first congratulated Rostislav on gaining power, and then discussed the implementation and rationality of some policies with the Grand Duke of Kiev. Rostislav came to see him for this reason.
What Rostislav currently wants to do is to establish military service rosters in various places in Russia. The so-called military service rosters are statistics of men in various places who can participate in battles and are equipped with equipment. In the future, the dispatch of troops to various cities must be carried out according to this roster.
Veshata's suggestion is to establish such a roster in local areas. For example, Moscow is a very suitable place. At present, various parts of Russia have not been under the rule of Rostislav for a long time. If the statistics of men participating in the war are rashly carried out, trouble will definitely occur.
The military service roster seems to be just a statistics of the country's manpower, but every noble and businessman will realize that this is an infringement on their power. This is not something Rostislav can do now. It will be much better after five or six years of rule.
Already.
Rostislav was persuaded by Vishata, and he felt that this was also feasible. The Grand Duke of Kiev sent an envoy to Moscow at that time, asking Vanigo, who now ruled that town, to register the military service roster, but not other places.
Conducted.
After bidding farewell to Uncle Vishata, Rostislav came to his destination, which was Novgorod.
The mayor of Gavrila welcomed his master grandly, but Rostislav left here after checking Novgorod's military and financial records in recent times. The purpose of his journey north was not here.
Then we went to a place, and this was Ivangorod.
Ivangorod, this emerging city is becoming more and more prosperous. Although its history is short and the city was founded less than five years ago, it has tilted resources in Kiev, the massive development of salted fish exports, and the increasing prosperity of urban trade.
, this place has become a small city with a population of 3,000, and various facilities have been built very well.
This place is also the embodiment of Rostislav's power, exerting influence from the Grand Duke on Northern Rus.
However, Rostislav did not go to the north specifically to see how the salted fish was selling. He came mainly because the Ivangorod shipyard recently built something that Rostislav had longed for - Kirk.
Boat.
The task of developing a Kirk ship was actually carried out as early as when Rostislav was still a simple prince of Moscow. Rostislav had asked people to explore and build some simple boats to test the rationality of the structure very early.
But at that time, Rostislav did not invest much in these explorations. After all, Moscow did not need a navy at that time.
When Ivangorod laid the first foundation stone, Rostislav gathered all the shipwrights that could be found in the Baltic Sea area and let them work together with the explorers to start real shipbuilding and big ships.
According to the vague memories of later generations, Rostislav told the shipwrights the shape of the ship and the method of making it. Unfortunately, it was a pity that Rostislav could not understand these craftsmen with just a few words, so they could only follow the instructions of the Grand Duke.
The explanations are tried and errored one by one.
But this is much better than having nothing at all. Having an idea is better than not knowing anything and having to fumble directly.
They produced a lot of failed products, but fortunately the most indispensable thing in the north was wood, so the cost was still acceptable. However, after many attempts, Rostislav became impatient.
Manufacturing has been going on for four years now, and Rostislav even gave up on the idea and considered whether to cancel the project.
Fortunately, these researchers were still up to par. After consuming a lot of resources, they came up with the results for Rostislav, the Kirk ship he wanted.
Rostislav, accompanied by Roman, the mayor of Ivangorod, inspected the Kirk ship, which was built strictly according to the Grand Duke's description.
The ship has a total length of thirty meters and a width of eight meters. It has only one mast located in the center of the hull, which is used to spread the rectangular sail, and there are shooting platforms at the front and rear that look like the top of a tower.
Rostislav was very satisfied with this ship. Whether it was fighting or transporting cargo, the Kirk ship was undoubtedly better than the long ship.
Historically, such ships were the main force of the Hanseatic League. They supported trade in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, as well as Hanseatic maritime hegemony.
Rostislav was very happy. He saw that the future of Rus' Baltic hegemony and his Baltic trade alliance was beckoning to him.
He immediately invested more resources in Ivangorod, and the city no longer had to pay taxes, and all resources were invested in reproduction.
In addition, he asked the city to give him a fleet of Kirk ships within three years, the number of which should not be less than ten. This fleet would allow Ross to establish its superiority in the Baltic Sea.
Roman readily agreed to this. With the current level of Ivangorod, it is more than enough to build ten Kirk ships in three years.
A powerful fleet is the foundation for establishing Baltic Sea hegemony. This is why Ross did not start the expansion of Baltic Sea hegemony and establish a trade alliance. Without a strong fleet, this is just a dream.
And even if it is established, it will only be used as wedding clothes for others.
After spending some time in Ivangorod and Novgorod to ensure that the land was operating normally and there were no problems, Rostislav went to Moscow.
In any case, you must take a good look at this land of Longxing. The people above are also looking forward to seeing their Grand Duke.