After a brief period of excitement, Rostislav calmed down again. Although he thought of developing a silver mine, it did not mean that he could do it immediately. Before that, he still had to be down-to-earth and strengthen his control over the land. At least he had to
Control all nearby villages.
After thinking about it, Rostislav sent out his nomadic cavalry. These cavalry basically came from Varu's men. The nomadic chief converted to Christianity and was now given a large piece of land for grazing by Rostislav, which is now considered
Nobles of Rus.
Of course, the main purpose of Varu's people is to provide military deterrence, and the propagandist is of course the Prince of Rostov - or the Prince of Moscow. After all, Rostislav has no intention of taking office in Rostov - the Russian nobles under the prince's command.
Bringing various physical objects as gifts to each village.
Another reason why Rostislav chose Moscow to build the city is that the population here is relatively dense and is basically inhabited by Russians. It is much easier to bring these people into rule.
The prince's policy can be said to be a combination of carrot and stick. Under such circumstances, if the village communities are still unwilling to give up Rostislav's authority and pay taxes to him, then Rostislav's clerks will record these villages, and in the future
Routinely liquidate them.
As for the local owners of Ross City, they immediately took the initiative to curry favor with the prince when they saw him coming. For them, the prince's arrival was a huge boost to them and was conducive to the implementation of their power.
Faced with this sudden and powerful force, most of the Ross village communities chose to submit to the authority of the prince. After all, most of the village communities just wanted to live by paying some taxes. It was impossible for them to defeat those cavalry and pay taxes.
It is not very heavy, even lower than the usual tribute, and it can also get the protection of the prince.
Yes, protection, in return for the taxes Rostislav offered them.
In the wild Northeastern Rus, the naked jungle law is followed in the wilderness. Village fights evolved from various ordinary conflicts are not uncommon. Tragedies of massacre of villages and annihilation of families will even occur. As for the oppression of weak villages by strong villages, that is
It is even more commonplace, and now the prince can control these things.
Of course, this is for most ordinary village communities. For the local overlord village communities that collect tribute from all over the country, the appearance of the prince will undoubtedly destroy their invisible hegemony in the area, and they must pay tribute to them.
The villages are not offering sacrifices, and there are princes who are dictating to them. The situation is really terrible.
But they also knew that they were unable to fight against the powerful princely regime, so they just drove away the envoys sent by Rostislav, showing an appearance of non-cooperation. However, privately, these villages continued to unite and gather various dissatisfied people.
For example, the large villages, as well as the fishing, hunting and logging farmers, who also felt uncomfortable, were unwilling to submit to the prince's authority.
Gradually, their plans became more and more excessive, and they even gathered in large numbers in public, as if they were going to attack Moscow, which was still a construction site.
In the eyes of the rebels, they can definitely defeat the damn intruders in the forest. Raid attacks in the forest are the norm in Northeastern Russia. How can those city dwellers from Kiev defeat them?
Rostislav reacted quickly to this. Since they were going to rebel, he could only strike hard.
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Rostislav's first battle after arriving in Northeastern Rus' went very easily.
When the shield wall of the personal soldiers advanced, when the personal cavalry rushed out from the rear, and when the heavy rain of arrows fell, these Northeast Rus natives collapsed. They gathered nearly a thousand people, but they were unable to fight after dozens of people were injured.
In the eyes of these farmers and local bullies, the battle should be a surprise attack and a melee in the forest. In the end, the more courageous party will win the final victory, instead of facing a solid shield wall, a sky full of arrows, and a sudden attack from behind.
The cavalry coming out.
So they lost. At this moment, these guys who were always immersed in their own pride finally saw the gap between them.
In the dense forest, Rostislav's troops advanced ruthlessly. Even the densely packed trees could not disintegrate the solid shield wall. In front of the shield wall were farmers who were constantly fleeing. If they ran slower, their fate awaited them.
He was knocked down, tied up, and became a slave from then on.
The cavalrymen were swarming among the deserters. They tied up one deserter after another with ropes and made them roll in the mud in embarrassment.
The archers have stopped shooting. They are calmly adjusting their bow strings and cultivating their equipment.
"This is really, really amazing."
Dil followed behind the shield wall, and beside him were the villagers from the village community. They were basically farmers who obeyed Rostislav.
Rostislav's original plan for recruiting these people to the battlefield was very simple. He wanted to show his new subjects his power, extinguish any possible resistance they may have, and make them realize that resistance is absolutely impossible.
"Of course. Now you know why I didn't take the northern campaign seriously for so many years. After seeing real battles, who else would take that small surprise attack seriously?"
A proud voice came to mind next to Dill. The voice was filled with pride. It came from Dill's one-handed father. He used his still intact hand to carry the sword and even the chain he wore when he was serving in the army.
First.
Dier's village can be considered a big village, but they prefer to be themselves rather than enslave other villages, so they don't provoke those troubles.
When Rostislav's envoy arrived, the village also had a heated discussion about this, and in the end it was under the influence of Father Dill that they chose to side with Rostislav.
After learning the news of the arrival of Prince Rurik, Dill's father was very excited. He took the initiative to visit the prince who founded the city. For this reason, he was even given a silver armband, which he is now wearing on his arm to show off.
The veteran has always been proud of his status as a soldier of Rurik. He was also a fierce warrior under the wise man back then. How could he have retired if he had not lost his sword hand.
The janissary originally thought that he would live in the village all his life, but now he actually has the opportunity to be loyal to Prince Rurik, which makes the janissary feel like he has been given a new lease of life.
Compared to his father's proud words, Dill was more grateful in his heart. If he had chosen to stand opposite the prince, then the people in his village would have been massacred and arrested like dogs now.
"Okay, Dad, you are right."
Thousands of words were then gathered into this sentence. This was the first time in so many years since his father retired that Dill agreed with his father's words.