After a brief moment of excitement, Rostislav calmed down again. Although he thought about developing silver mines, thinking about it didn't mean he could do it immediately. Before that, he still had to be down-to-earth, strengthen his control over the land, and at least control all the nearby villages.
After making up his mind, Rostislav dispatched his nomadic cavalry, who were basically from Varu's subordinates. This nomadic chieftain, Varu, after converting to Christian, was now granted a large piece of land for grazing by Rostislav and was considered a Rurik Prince.
Of course, Varu's people mainly provided military deterrence. The official envoys for propaganda were naturally the Rostov Prince—or rather, the Moscow Prince, since Rostislav had no intention of serving as Prince in Rostov—under the command of the Rurik Prince. They brought various goods as gifts to the villages.
One reason Rostislav chose Moscow for building the city was that the population here was relatively dense and mostly inhabited by Slavic people, making it much simpler to bring them under his rule.
The Prince's policy could be described as a carrot-and-stick approach. Under such circumstances, if a village still refused to acknowledge Rostislav's authority and pay him taxes, Rostislav's clerks would record these villages for ruthless liquidation in the future.
As for the local Slavic chieftains, they immediately curried favor with the Prince upon his arrival. For them, the Prince's presence was a great help, conducive to the implementation of their power.
Facing this sudden and powerful force, most Slavic villages chose to submit to the Prince's authority. Most villages ultimately just wanted to live their lives; paying some taxes was acceptable. They couldn't possibly defeat those cavalry, and the taxes weren't very heavy, even lower than their usual tributes, plus they could gain the Prince's protection.
Yes, protection, this was Rostislav's return for their taxes.
In the wild Northeast Rus', the wilderness operated under the naked law of the jungle. Various ordinary conflicts escalating into village brawls were not uncommon, and even massacres and extermination of entire families occurred. As for the oppression of weaker villages by stronger ones, that was even more commonplace. Now, the Prince could restrain these matters.
Of course, this was for most ordinary villages. For those dominant villages that collected tribute from surrounding areas, the Prince's appearance undoubtedly destroyed their invisible hegemonic status in the region. Villages that used to pay them tribute no longer did, and there was a Prince who dictated to them. Things were truly terrible.
However, they also knew they were powerless to resist the strong princely regime, so they merely drove away the envoys sent by Rostislav, showing an uncooperative attitude. But secretly, these villages were constantly uniting and gathering various discontented individuals.
For example, large villages that also felt uncomfortable, as well as farmers engaged in fishing, hunting, and logging in the forest, all unwilling to submit to the Prince's regime.
Gradually, their plotting became more and more excessive, even openly assembling in large numbers, looking as if they were going to attack Moscow, which was still under construction.
From the rebels' perspective, they were certain they could defeat the cursed invaders in the forest. Forest ambushes were common in Northeast Rus', so how could those city dwellers from Kiev possibly defeat them?
Rostislav reacted swiftly to this. Since they wanted to rebel, he could only strike hard.
The first battle after Rostislav arrived in Northeast Rus' was very easy.
When the guards' shield wall advanced, when the retainers' cavalry charged from behind, and when a downpour of arrows descended, these Northeast Rus' natives collapsed. They had gathered nearly a thousand people, but after only dozens were killed or wounded, they were unable to fight.
In the eyes of these farmers and local tyrants, battle should be about forest ambushes and melees, with the more courageous side ultimately achieving victory. It shouldn't be about facing solid shield walls, a sky full of arrows, and cavalry circling around from behind.
So they lost. At this moment, these people, always immersed in their pride, finally saw the gap between them.
In the dense forest, Rostislav's troops advanced relentlessly. Even the thick trees could not break apart the solid shield wall. In front of the shield wall were constantly fleeing farmers. If they ran too slowly, their fate was to be struck down and tied up, becoming slaves from then on.
The cavalry, meanwhile, rode among the fleeing soldiers, using ropes to lasso one fugitive after another, making them tumble miserably in the mud.
The archers had stopped shooting; they calmly adjusted their bowstrings and maintained their equipment.
"This is truly, too powerful."
Dier followed behind the shield wall, with villagers from his community beside him. These were basically farmers who had submitted to Rostislav.
Rostislav's original intention in conscripting these people for battle was simple: he wanted to show his new subjects his power, extinguish any potential rebellious thoughts they might have, and make them realize that resistance was utterly impossible.
"Of course. Now you, boy, understand why I never took the northern campaigns seriously for so many years, don't you? After witnessing real combat, who would still value those small ambushes?"
A triumphant voice sounded beside Dier. The voice was filled with pride; it was from Dier's one-armed father. He carried a sword with his intact hand and even wore the chainmail from his years of service.
Dier's village was also a large village, but instead of enslaving other villages, they preferred to manage their own affairs, so they didn't stir up trouble.
When Rostislav's envoy arrived, the village had a heated discussion, and ultimately, under the influence of Dier's father, they chose to side with Rostislav.
Upon learning of the Rurik Prince's arrival, Dier's father was very excited. He actively went to meet the Prince who was building the city. For this, he even received a silver armlet, which he was now proudly wearing on his arm.
The old soldier had always been proud of his status as a Rurik Prince's guard. Back then, he was also a fierce warrior under the wise man. If he hadn't lost his sword-wielding hand, how could he have retired?
The guard originally thought he would spend the rest of his life cooped up in the village, but now he had the opportunity to serve the Rurik Prince, which made the guard feel reborn.
Compared to his father's triumphant words, Dier felt more relief internally. If they had chosen to stand against the Prince, then the ones being slaughtered and caught like dogs would be the people from their village.
"Alright, Dad, you're absolutely right."
A thousand words later, they condensed into this one sentence. This was the first time Dier had agreed with his father's words in all the years since his father retired.