On the way back, Rostislav also inspected the fortresses that had been built along the route.
These fortresses and strongholds were crucial to Rostislav's national strategy, so the Moscow Prince invested a great deal of effort in them.
Lower Novgorod, in particular, a stronghold built with the goal of becoming a town, was the core of Rus' eastern expansion.
It was for this reason that Rostislav entrusted it to the third son of the Sherikhov Family, who was already known for his coordination and governance, and it also helped the family resolve its inheritance issues, sparing old Scherihov a headache.
The establishment of Lower Novgorod marked the conclusion of the fate of the tribes located between Rus' and Bulgar, as the surrounding tribes, awed by Rostislav's power, flocked to him, which meant an increase in the collection of furs, beeswax, and other goods, and an increase in collection meant more money could be made.
During the few days Rostislav was stationed in Lower Novgorod, the local Mari and Mordovians expressed their submission to the Moscow Prince, offering large quantities of furs and pledging eternal loyalty to the Moscow Prince and his descendants.
Rostislav, however, did not listen to their flowery words, knowing that such words were useless; he merely made one demand of these tribes: as long as he, Rostislav, and his descendants were in power, they must prioritize selling their furs to the Rus'.
The Moscow Prince's demand was not harsh, and the chiefs naturally agreed with great alacrity; furthermore, the current trend was that the Rus' completely overshadowed the Bulgar, so with whom else would they do business? The tribal nobles also needed to exchange the goods collected by the common tribesmen for ironware and handicrafts.
Before leaving Lower Novgorod, Rostislav left another five hundred immigrants there; these people were mostly farmers who felt that Lower Novgorod offered many opportunities for development, and since the Prince was already attracting immigrants with preferential treatment, they simply settled there with Bulgar women they had acquired through raiding or purchase, strengthening the city's power.
Soon after leaving Lower Novgorod, the Ross Army entered Northeast Rus territory, returning home, and it was at this moment that the Winter Army began to disband.
This disbandment came even faster than Rostislav had anticipated; as they drew closer to Rus', rumors of great chaos grew more numerous, and the soldiers, who had initially not believed them at all, became increasingly convinced.
And upon entering Northeast Rus, they witnessed those scenes firsthand, so naturally, they had no choice but to believe, as the facts were laid out before them.
Upon learning of the chaos, their first reaction was naturally to rush home to check, and this applied to both ordinary soldiers and vassals.
At this moment, Rostislav also straightforwardly told everyone everything he knew, informing them of the current situation in the Northeast.
During this time, as the Winter Army drew closer to Moscow, the information Rostislav received became increasingly complete, so he knew which vassal's stronghold had fallen and which was still holding out.
As for the various armed groups, the Moscow Prince's attitude remained consistent: if they wanted to leave, they could, and he would absolutely not stop them.
Vassals who heard that their strongholds were still standing naturally rushed their troops to provide aid, while those whose strongholds had fallen had no choice but to remain with Rostislav's army, as the Moscow Prince had promised compensation, which persuaded them to stay.
Following this, Rostislav led his army to encircle and suppress all bandit gangs and rebels along the roads.
Facing the vast Ross Army, whether it was the Veles Gang, the Eye-Digging Gang, or various bandits simply out for plunder, their only outcome was rout, rout, and rout.
Under the might of the Moscow Army, a large number of bandits were suppressed and executed, their bodies hung by the roadside.
This naturally included massacres of rebellious villages, and Rostislav was absolutely merciless when it came to matters of governance, beheading traitors in droves, making them realize the power of Moscow's swords.
During the Moscow Prince's absence, the road network that originally covered Northeast Rus was greatly affected; pedestrians and caravans who could once travel safely suddenly found the roads full of bandits.
Even many of the strongholds and villages originally built alongside the roads to maintain road conditions and safety had fallen; most were burned to ashes, while some became bases for bandit exploitation.
Upon realizing that the Moscow Army was deliberately clearing the roads of Northeast Rus, the smarter bandit gangs immediately fled into the forests, and the Moscow Prince indeed did not pursue them, which undoubtedly encouraged more people to flee.
But where there are smart people, there are also fools, and these fools surged into the roadside strongholds they had occupied, intending to defend them and thwart the Ross Army's advance.
For Rostislav, this was naturally a great stroke of luck; someone was actually offering themselves up to him to establish his authority, so he would generously accept.
The attack process was simple: Rostislav had the German Engineer tie chains to the bolts of the ballistae, then shot the bolts into the wooden walls of the stronghold, after which dozens of oxen and horses, spurred by whips, pulled with all their might, directly tearing down sections of the wooden walls.
What happened after the wooden walls were pulled down goes without saying; the Moscow army charged directly in, easily slaying all the bandits inside with virtually no losses, because the moment the walls were pulled down, these people lost all will to fight and could only wait to be slaughtered.
Next, on the surviving outer walls of the former stronghold, Rostislav ordered his soldiers to impale hundreds of heads; since this stronghold was at the core of the road network, it had been chosen by these bandits as their center of exploitation, so now visitors from all directions could see these heads and witness the power of the Moscow Prince.
With Rostislav's return and the news of his massive suppression along the roads, the road network of Northeast Rus quickly calmed down; various rebels and bandits moved into the forests, avoiding the great army victorious from Bulgar, which temporarily achieved a severance of the rebellious forces.
Communication between cities also became frequent due to the victory, with armies from various regions cooperating to suppress rural rebels, and previously blocked trade revived.
Most importantly, with Rostislav's return, the vast majority of those who had taken advantage of the chaos to cause trouble felt it was time to stop; opposing that Prince would not end well.
So, it was better to put away their belongings and return home honestly with their money before he came after them.
And those who returned from Bulgar had their pockets stuffed full and were spending lavishly; they were full of support for Rostislav and praise for Rostislav's army, which also led many to withdraw from the conflict.
Because of this, both the Veles Gang and the Eye-Digging Gang were constantly losing manpower, slowly but surely, and they were helpless to prevent it, feeling very frustrated.
It was in this broader context that Rostislav returned to Moscow, to the capital he had built with his own hands, the center of Northeast Rus.
On the day of the Prince's return, all of Moscow rejoiced; everyone was excited by the Prince's return, and he had also brought distant victory and a large amount of spoils.
The Moscow Prince generously scattered Dirham silver coins from Bulgar onto the streets of Moscow, and as the silver coins rolled, the spirits of the people soared with them.
Furthermore, Rostislav announced that conscription would end, and the war had been won! The war was over! There was no longer any need for conscription.
For the common people, this was most directly related to their lives, and thus their cheers for this command were the most enthusiastic.
The returning soldiers also received a warm welcome; they were treated like heroes, which was exactly what they craved.
However, most importantly, the Prince's return brought stability to the people's hearts; everyone knew that with the Prince's army returning, Moscow would soon calm down, and the entire Northeast Rus would soon stabilize.