October, 1066.
Three years had passed since the chaos that swept across the entire Northeast Rus.
Over these three years, Northeast Rus had undergone significant changes, most of which were positive, and the land was now more prosperous.
For the Moscow government, the greatest victory was the successful suppression of the bandit gangs active throughout Northeast Rus.
For these three years, the Moscow Prince's army had constantly been engaged in a battle of wits and courage with various bandit gangs in the countryside and on the roads, with continuous small-scale battles. As a result of these battles, the bandit gangs were finally reduced from hundreds of members to fewer than a hundred.
The nature of these former rebels had undergone a complete transformation; they no longer cared about striking Christians or maintaining their original way of life. Now, they used this pretense to commit atrocities in the countryside, turning public support into disgust.
However, due to the public's internal thought of "no matter how bad, they are still our bad guys," although the public disliked them, they were not enthusiastic about reporting them for punishment. Otherwise, no matter how powerful these bandit gangs were, their living space would disappear.
The Moscow Prince's series of policies also facilitated this, and achieving this was not easy; it required efforts in both military and economic aspects.
Militarily, it was naturally necessary to continuously strike at the bandit gangs, making the public realize that becoming a bandit was a path with no future.
Economically, Rostislav desperately pulled the vast majority of farmers into the economic system of Northeast Rus.
Specifically, this meant allowing merchants to collect goods from villages more frequently, making trade more prosperous, and through such means, the Prince's power continuously expanded.
The registered population under the control of the Moscow regime doubled. It should be noted that this data was achieved after the great chaos of 1063.
That year's chaos caused great disruption to the Prince's government's original population statistics, and this doubling was achieved under such circumstances, for which the Moscow bureaucrats worked themselves almost to madness.
When merchants began to widely order and extensively purchase various goods from villages, many men who were idle and unable to farm due to the season found work.
Isn't it good to make small things at home and sell them to merchants? This money is earned steadily, without any problems, and there's no need to go out and take risks.
But unfortunately, such trade activities could only radiate to a very small area, and the number of merchants was ultimately limited. Moreover, they often traveled to the countryside under the escort of the Prince's army, receiving the same treatment as Moscow's tax collectors.
However, it still had a positive impact, specifically reflected in the undeniable reduction in the number of people joining bandit gangs.
Nevertheless, while there was a decrease, their breeding ground still existed. Those dissatisfied with feudalization were still present and continuously increasing.
As for those itching to rob, there were even more.
Traveling alone or in groups of two or three in this land was still synonymous with danger and foolishness. Rostislav was quite helpless about this, but considering that Northeast Rus had never changed in this regard, the Moscow Prince did not demand too much.
The Moscow Prince set a small goal for himself, hoping to stabilize the areas along the roads before he turned forty. As for other matters, he truly didn't think much about them.
On the Bulgar side, Rostislav was very pleased to see that the Adam regime had finally stabilized this year and had not requested military assistance from Moscow.
Over these years, Adam Dulü's rule had been bumpy. Just as the Rus' people left in 1063, another wave of uprisings broke out, and at that time, only the Moscow Camp's desperate suppression maintained the situation.
As for Adam's vassals and influential figures, they were essentially fence-sitters and unwilling to exert much effort.
His core forces had to maintain control over the Bulgar cities, so the only usable force was the Moscow Camp.
But even so, Rostislav still carried out several mobilizations that year, sending three thousand men to help Adam.
As for the following year, 1064, with Rostislav redeploying the Moscow Camp, another round of uprisings broke out as an opportunity.
This time, the islam forces in the Bulgar cities launched the attack. At that time, several major Bulgar cities broke away from Adam's rule, and the Adam regime's situation became extremely dangerous.
Rostislav's response was to have Domnal lead five thousand men to Bulgar, and Domnal successfully completed the mission, also allowing the army to make a fortune.
As for 1065, Moscow sent a thousand troops to Bulgar three times consecutively, but by this time, the intensity of the resistance had decreased, and the Bulgar people were tired of resisting.
The "Sword of Justice" paid a huge price for these resistances. Basically, the uprisings were carried out under their leadership, so after their failure, they had to pay the price.
Now, the "Sword of Justice" has completely turned into a bandit gang, even more thoroughly than the Rus' Veles Gang, becoming a force that causes chaos in the countryside. However, since they are ultimately an islam force, and the student leaders of the "Sword of Justice" know better how to maintain good relations with the public than these uncultured bandit gangs of Northeast Rus, they still have a breeding ground for survival.
Adam's rule seemed acceptable, and his legitimacy was absolutely unquestionable. Furthermore, Bulgar's industries were steadily growing, and the stabilization of the situation was inevitable.
For Moscow, these wars were not entirely bad. Through continuous mobilization, the Moscow government's control over the registered population within its jurisdiction was continuously increasing. It should be noted that previously, it was just a matter of recording names.
Of course, this was based on victory and short-term engagements. The armies sent to Bulgar often returned within a few months, and they returned with wealth, so naturally, no dissatisfaction arose.
Moreover, equipment and combat effectiveness also increased; nothing cultivates warriors better than war.
By this year, 1066, with only two months left in the year, there was no request for help from Bulgar, which indicated that Adam had truly secured his throne.
According to the information Rostislav understood, Adam, during the suppression of these years, successfully used the Rus' people to break the barriers between the Bulgar cities—through physical means.
For a long time, the major problem with the Bulgar cities was that when the cities were established, they were often completed by various tribes, meaning a city was completed by one tribe, and that city belonged to that tribe.
Therefore, the Bulgar cities were severely centrifugal; after all, the various tribes were inherently antagonistic, and this antagonism continued into the cities, leading to the Bulgar Khan often having very limited forces that could be mobilized.
However, Adam, using the Rus' people as a rule-breaking force, conducted a large-scale population relocation among the cities, mixing people from different cities. In this way, the city's belonging based on tribal concepts naturally collapsed without attack.
It was precisely because of his actions that continuous urban riots occurred in 1065, but he managed to accomplish this, and the cohesion of Bulgar thus increased, and his power became stronger.
This made Rostislav very relieved; finally, finally, he didn't have to invest resources on the Bulgar side.
And now, on the contrary, he needed Bulgar's help.
The tension within Rus' began to rise again. The Sorcerer Prince started to stir, and the Polovtsians from the south seemed to have regrouped, constantly probing Kiev.
As someone familiar with Rus' history, the Moscow Prince understood that the next round of chaos would erupt, and he absolutely could not and would not stand idly by.
And in this round of chaos, the political landscape of the Rus' land would undergo a reshuffle, a comprehensive great reshuffle, and this was the moment Rostislav had always been waiting for.
For example, now, rumors of the Sorcerer Prince sending troops to Novgorod have begun to circulate, and this is precisely the Moscow Prince's opportunity to seize his father's inheritance.
But unfortunately, he didn't know when the Sorcerer Prince would act, so he could only wait.
However, at present, Rostislav's thoughts were not on this matter. He was concerned about a distant event, concerned about Harald, concerned about Edward, and most importantly, concerned about what was truly happening in Hastings.
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