After the first day of Rostislav's departure, Rurik sat where his father had been sitting yesterday, and suddenly a strong sense of absurdity came over him.
Although in the eyes of the public, he is just a regent, in fact he knows very well that his father has actually handed over power to him, and his father has also hinted that Monomach will definitely die within ten years. At that time, he will
Give Rurik the title of Grand Duke as well, so that he can be fully justified.
As for himself? Then leave Ross and travel abroad.
"I'm finally sitting here, but why don't I feel happy at all?"
Rurik was talking to himself, his tone was very calm, as if he was just describing the facts of an incident.
He recalled his past, the bloody battle in the Battle of Buda, the transformation from a rookie who knew nothing to the skilled ruler he is today, and how his two sons grew from babies to grown men... He felt it.
A wave of fatigue came over me.
Deep down in his heart, Rurik has always not wanted these things, and he has not wanted all the power of Russia. However, under the influence of his identity and surrounding environment, he has wanted these things. Although this is pretending, it is just like Russia.
Just as Tislav had been pretending to be a Christian for so many years and it had become his habit, he also pretended to be a Christian until it really became his habit.
Even his father was deceived, and his mother knew it very well, but she always pretended not to know. As the eldest son of a prince, this was a responsibility he had to shoulder.
But now that goal was finally achieved, he felt nothing but endless emptiness, especially when he saw his father happily leaving Kiev and planning to travel around the country.
But he will not abandon the responsibility given by his father because of this, because it has become his habit to no longer want to take responsibility.
Rurik planned to continue working, even if his father didn't give him a title, it didn't matter. When he couldn't work anymore, or when he felt that his son could take over, he would put all these things aside and learn from then on.
My father went abroad to find a place to retire, such as Constantinople, which was quite good.
As for now, of course I have to work hard. Now the workload is getting bigger and bigger. There are so many things that need to be done every day, and I can't relax for a moment.
After work, Rurik would think about his eldest son Yuri. He is already married to the Komnenos princess. I wonder how his life is in the south.
But if he knew the situation over there, he might be even more upset.
Compared with Rurik's reluctant "succession", Yuri's newlywed life is extremely happy. What Rostislav and Zoe were like back then, Yuri and Anna are like now, and the newlyweds still have them
own happiness.
Due to the fulfilling nightlife, Anna's bad temper has become much more restrained than before. She is rarely as unreasonable as before, which makes Yuri more and more obsessed with Anna.
However, Yuri began to deliberately think of ways to "excite" the arrogant and impatient Anna at this time, because at this time he found that "taming" Anna was a very fulfilling thing for him.
And Anna actually enjoys it. Although the eldest princess sometimes has no brains, she doesn't understand her husband's thoughts. However, she deliberately cooperates with her husband because she also likes such games, and even deliberately plays them in the game.
Act like that in front of your husband.
While the first and third generations of Rostislav were enjoying their happy lives and the second generation were working hard, the crusade trend in the Christian world became more and more obvious. Several large crusaders were taking shape normally, and a storm arose.
It is forming, and another wave of strong winds will come from the east.
The Italian nobles headed by Anselm, Archbishop of Milan, formed the Lombard Crusade, and a large number of poor people from Northern Italy joined this army. These people wanted to settle in the wealthy East. In their view, the East would allow them to escape from the current situation.
The only solution to the dilemma.
They were commanded by Etienne, Count of Blois, a deserter from the First Crusade who had fled home during the siege of Antioch, much to the displeasure of his wife, the daughter of William the Conqueror.
The daughter, who has always been extremely strong in the relationship between husband and wife, became even more angry after seeing her brother Robert's glorious return. This directly made Etienne unable to stay at home, so he could only drag in those fellow Crusade deserters.
People who were despised by the entire society came to join the crusade again.
William, Earl of Nevers, the famous mad earl, also formed a large crusade. Although this earl was said to be crazy, he could always say some philosophical words from time to time, and this person's informality also made people
He was very close to him, so many people came to join the mad count's team.
The next crusade was quite large, including William, Duke of Aquitaine, Hugues, Count of Vermandois and Prince of France, and Welf, Duke of Bavaria. They wanted to make up for those who did not participate in the first Crusade.
The votes of the Crusaders, and Hugues had to retreat because the Crusaders were seriously injured last time, so he has always been very regretful in his heart, so now he wants to make up for this regret.
In Norway, the new King of Norway is also gathering devout believers from the north to prepare to go to the Holy Land to participate in the war. The northerners are happy to fight for the cross.
As for England, a crusade was also gathering there. After some thought, Edgar decided to return to his hometown to summon a crusade.
At present, the number of troops in his hands is less than 2,000 after rounds of battles. Although they are absolutely loyal to Edgar, this number is too small, so Edgar finally decided to return with his father.
Go to England and form the English Crusade as a Crusader and an Anglo-Saxon King.
The Norman kings of England were unable to stop their actions. No ruler could withstand the label of "impeding the Crusades" and even had to order his lords not to prevent anyone from joining the Crusades.
Edgar's recruitment in England went very smoothly. People were already excited about the victory of the Holy War. They received an extremely warm welcome. Moreover, the Anglo-Saxons never liked these Norman conquerors who took life and death. They all remembered the Normans.
How to deprive them of their power? I still remember the bloody northern massacre.
Now the last two Anglo-Saxon kings are calling in front of them. One of them once led them to resist the Normans, making the islanders who were originally indifferent to the situation on the mainland happy to join the Crusaders and go to the Holy Land to win the new world and build a new world.
New England.
Many warriors also came from Wales and Ireland, and many nobles from Scotland decided to participate in the Crusades. This was thanks to Edgar's sister being the current Queen of Scotland, and the Scots also wanted to fight with the Norman conquerors more than they did.
Old friends the Anglo-Saxons acted together.
The last crusade was in southern Italy. As a fellow sufferer even worse than Edgar, Tancred had less than a thousand troops, so he decided to go back to his hometown to recruit troops at Edgar's suggestion.
Although when he left, Tancred could only be regarded as an inconspicuous knight, but now he is a hero in the Christian world. Although he does not have the blessing of a former king like Edgar, he is still enough to have a huge impact.
A steady stream of southern Italians gathered under his command. They either wanted new adventures, settled in the Holy Land, or simply went on pilgrimage. In short, huge crowds also gathered under his command.
Huge fluctuations are taking place in the Christian world. According to rough estimates from the church, the total number of this Crusade is likely to exceed that of the First Crusade, which means it will reach a huge number of more than 120,000. How come there are only four of those who can fight?
If such a large number of jihadists reaches fifty thousand, the situation in the entire East will be reversed.
This does not include the small and medium-sized crusaders who have already taken ships to the Holy Land on their own. The number can only be more, not less.
This is the scene of a religious society being mobilized. Such huge numbers have not appeared for many, many years, and all Christians firmly believe that if such an army reaches the Holy Land, the Crusaders will sweep across Syria, and then
Then take control of Egypt and launch further attacks on the home base of the pagans.