king of ros

Chapter 96
"I salute you, Monsieur Rostislav."

Polei stood ahead of everyone, greeting his prince gently.

"Thank you, Polei, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't have received such a welcome."

Rostislav dismounted simply and gave his confidant a warm hug. He was the one who stabilized Rostov for himself, and he deserved his warm treatment.

Sogil and his Noth subordinates stood with the local dignitaries, but they were clearly separated. The prince stepped forward to chat with them. These dignitaries were very enthusiastic about Rostislav, and they had been looking forward to the arrival of the prince for a long time.

However, Rostislav noticed a group of people wearing expensive sweaters and overcoats just watching them from a distance. The leader was an old man who looked very indifferent. Noticing Rostislav's doubts, Polei joined in come up.

"These people belong to the Kurkanta family. They are the biggest dignitaries in Rostov. They are not very happy about your arrival."

It wasn't surprising to hear the expression on Rostislav's face here. How could they be happy that the local snake was suddenly about to be crushed by the strong dragon.

He has experienced this situation several times. When visiting those towns, there are always dignitaries who think that the arrival of the prince has violated their power and look on coldly.

But Rostislav was not in a hurry to get on good terms with those people, and he asked Polei another matter in a low voice.

"There is a team from Bulgar behind us, do you know what's going on?"

"The Bulgars are here? That's a surprise."

Polei looked like he had just heard the news, and he was also caught off guard by the arrival of the Bulgars.

"You will receive the Bulgars later. I will deal with the Rostov dignitaries first. It's time for an audience later. Let's go to the castle to see what they will say."

Audience is an important step for the prince to exercise his power. Everyone will meet with the prince, or make suggestions, or ask for help.

"Yes, everything is up to your will. By the way, in order to make it easier for you to see the city, the city gate I chose can directly pass through the entire old city and new city, allowing you to see the whole city."

After responding to the prince's order, Polei went on to say that the old nobleman has worked hard for decades and knows how to cater to his boss's needs.

Rosti nodded indistinctly, and then walked towards the waiting dignitaries, while Polei got on his horse and ran towards the Bulgar mission behind him.

After a brief greeting with the welcoming Rostov dignitaries, then surrounded by the dignitaries, Rostislav's team marched towards Rostov Castle.

First of all, what they passed was the old city of Rostov, where there were mainly Merians and Rus people mixed in, and they were basically believers of the old gods.

When you look around, you can see simple wooden houses and even sheds, and some ruins of the past can be seen between the houses. I don’t know how many years have passed.

The old city obviously lacked planning. These buildings were built under the condition of barbaric growth, and the roads were also muddy. Some wooden boards were placed in a mess in the mud, and many of them were rotten but no one replaced them.

In the dark alleys, some malicious eyes kept coming, and when the prince's eyes swept over, these would disappear immediately, only a piece of dirt.

The vendors on the side of the road are all selling furs and food. These people are basically hunters and farmers nearby. They come to sell their income in the forest. Mosquitoes can be seen flying around.

Most of the people's clothes were made of fur. From time to time, people could be seen bargaining with hunters and farmers. These people also looked at Rostislav in different ways. Some people had hatred in their eyes, while others looked forward to it.

But generally speaking, most people are still indifferent with a little hostility. In their opinion, these masters of the new city are still too far away from them.

However, they looked at Xincheng with the same eyes, that is, disdain and disgust.

There are altars of the gods standing impressively on the side of the road. Perun and Veles are naturally indispensable, and there are even altars of Ugric (Fen people's belief) gods, and citizens can be seen worshiping under them from time to time.

Rostislav took all this into his eyes, silently wrote it down, and made no comments.

Seeing this, many of the Rostov dignitaries relaxed. They were really afraid that the prince from Kyiv would be a religious defender who would attack the pagan worship in Rostov, and even use this to raise excessive criticism against them. Require.

The old and new cities were separated by a thin wooden wall. Seeing the arrival of the nobles, the guarding spearmen bowed respectfully and opened the gate. The new city appeared in front of Rostislav.

Compared with the filth and disorder of the old city, the new city is more civilized and orderly. The floor is neatly paved with wooden planks. Vendors sell silk from the East, Persian carpets, and even handicrafts from the imperial capital. All kinds of goods are filled here, and hawkers selling kvass can also be seen during the period, and the Witcher militiamen are scattered among them to maintain order.

The streets are basically vendors selling cooked food. According to the nobles, those selling raw food are all in the corners of the city wall. Those butchers have formed the most basic industry alliance. Together, they entrust hunters outside the city to hunt their prey, and then Send it directly to Xincheng for them to deal with, and then be sent to the dining table of the citizens.

The wooden houses here have many more reliefs and decorations than those in the old city that exist only for living, and as they go deeper, there are more and more such reliefs and decorations. The difference between the two cities lies in these things Get a glimpse.

The same is true for the costumes of the citizens. The closer to the castle, the more exquisite and decent the costumes, and the wealth and honor are revealed in this way.

There were even merchants of other nationalities on the street, and Rostislav saw the turbans of the Christians, the pointed hats of the steppe visitors, and the Jewish figures that you can always see everywhere, and they are characterized by decent clothes , Talk quickly.

The spiers of wooden churches stand under everything, the pastor tirelessly proclaims the Gospel to the citizens, and most of the residents have crosses on their chests. There is no doubt that Christianity dominates in the new city.

Rostislav saw all this in his eyes. He understood why Polei called him here. There were ethnic conflicts, class conflicts, and religious conflicts in this city. No wonder he could only make peace here. This one will explode if it is not handled well, it really needs him, the prince, to come and deal with it.

Rostov's castle soon appeared in front of Rostislav. It was a wooden fortress with Rurik's trident on the top of the tower. Looking at the family's flag, the prince couldn't help but feel a little kindness.

Thorgil's Norse warriors now occupy the castle, and Norse warriors can be seen everywhere.

Come, let me see what this city is like, and what difficulties it will cause me.

Thinking of this, Rostislav walked into the castle.

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(End of this chapter)