Time has passed quickly since the end of the Great Hunt; peace has nourished the land of Northeast Rus', allowing it to flourish, and the wounds of war have been healed, with vibrant vitality permeating the land.
During these days, Northeast Rus' was very peaceful, and everything proceeded systematically according to Rostislav's plan.
Occasionally, there were reports of village communities or tribes killing or expelling a chieftain in the local areas, but this did not affect the overall peace.
In fact, for Rostislav, he even looked forward to such events; whenever such things happened, it was a time for blades, which could prevent his subordinates from having their bones corroded by peace.
However, the Prince was well aware that the rural areas outside the city walls were always rife with undercurrents; most village communities might have felt the Prince's authority to some extent, but deep down, they remained unaffected, as Rostislav's reach simply couldn't extend that far.
The current situation was largely thanks to that large-scale hunt; otherwise, it would have been worse, but the Prince knew very well that as time went on, the powerful force displayed by the hunt would eventually fade from people's minds.
Furthermore, the resisters chose to remain dormant, but when the situation was suitable, they would surely launch a resistance.
Therefore, there had to be a permanent solution, and after careful consideration, the Prince decided to implement a major project in his territory.
This project was the extensive repair and construction of fortresses.
The reason why the Moscow Prince's control over the rural areas was so weak fundamentally boiled down to one thing: 70% of Northeast Rus' did not have a single town or fortress proclaiming the Prince's authority.
Yes, 70%; this figure was not an exaggeration, as the Behind-the-Forest Land was a frontier region developed by immigrants, a wild land even by Rus' standards.
And even in the 30% of areas where towns and fortresses existed, in reality, most of these were merely one or two fortresses across vast stretches of land.
Rostislav's plan was to build as many fortresses, towers, and walls in the wilderness as possible, and the heavily armed warriors stationed within them were undoubtedly the best way to expand authority; upon seeing those sturdy strongholds, even the most unruly person would feel awe.
However, Rostislav did not have the manpower or resources to spread fortresses to every corner of Northeast Rus', so he could only focus on key areas.
The Prince knew the locations of important cities that would rise in later generations (referring to a hundred years later), and these areas were currently mostly in regions without the Prince's influence, so Rostislav intended to build fortresses in these areas to consolidate the Prince's authority and also to prepare for future development.
Moreover, since the ancients built cities here, it meant there was definitely value in building a city, and following in the footsteps of the ancients was generally not wrong.
As for whether Rostislav had this power, of course he did, because in a strict sense, apart from the towns, this young Prince owned every piece of land in the Behind-the-Forest Land.
However, since the Prince only generally knew the locations of those later-generation towns, he still had to dispatch people to survey them.
For the past five months, the German Engineer under the Prince, accompanied by the Bodyguard Unit, had been traveling all over Northeast Rus' for this very purpose.
Currently, Rostislav had a full thirty city-building sites and corresponding city-building plans; Robert was a very responsible engineer, and his designs were very well-suited to the terrain and environment, which made Rostislav very satisfied.
However, the city-building plan, which was about to begin, was postponed due to one event: the impending delivery of the Prince's wife.
The Moscow Prince's first child was about to be born, which caused Rostislav to set aside his other matters and concentrate on waiting for his wife's delivery.
However, due to the Prince's inner tension about having a child soon, he often did not wait in his palace but came to the outskirts of Moscow to find things to soothe his nervous nerves, such as horse riding.
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On the outskirts of Moscow, there was a racetrack.
This racetrack was very rudimentary, merely a large circle outlined, with some wooden stands built around it.
Several horse races were held here daily; although it was not even a drop in the ocean compared to the grand racecourses of the imperial capital, in this era of scarce entertainment, it was a great pleasure.
So, there were always spectators here, and during break times, it was even more crowded.
The admission fee for this simple racetrack was very low; a few silver coins were enough to enter. To accommodate farmers who only had goods, the Prince even specially arranged for merchants to come here to purchase goods, making it convenient for people to exchange for money.
However, the fundamental reason Rostislav arranged for money changers was not to earn those few silver coins, but because he was running a big business here, and that business was horse racing gambling.
Yes, horse racing gambling; this was a money-making method the Prince had recently conceived, and the common people were also very willing to participate, with people always willing to spend a fortune here, and nobles and wealthy merchants spent money like water.
And Rostislav's target for making money was also these people, after all, as the house, he would absolutely never lose.
However, today, with the conclusion of the morning races, the racetrack was closed in the afternoon, and a large number of heavily armed Bodyguard Unit members arrived to cordon off the area.
Although the official explanation was that the racetrack was under maintenance, how could so many Bodyguard Unit members be needed for maintenance? So, everyone actually knew very well that the Moscow Prince was inside.
Inside the racetrack, where the stands were empty, Rostislav was riding a horse.
He was still riding his red warhorse, which was currently running at full speed, sweat seeping from its skin as if pouring, and thick blue veins bulging.
The situation was very dangerous now; the two riders behind the Prince were only half a horse's head behind him; with the slightest inattention, he would be overtaken.
Those two riders were also old friends of the Prince: one was Yan Vishatich, and the other was Edward Wessex; all three riders here were important figures in Northeast Rus'.
The two riders did not give way due to Rostislav's status; they also desperately urged their warhorses forward.
And as if sensing their masters' will, the warhorses also ran desperately.
However, at an abrupt turn ahead, Rostislav used the opportunity of the turn to sharply pull away from his opponents; his warhorse and he were old comrades, and their cooperation could be said to be seamless; with just a slight reduction in speed, they successfully completed the turn.
The two riders behind him found it difficult to do the same and could only significantly reduce their speed to make a safer turn, which created a considerable distance between them and Rostislav.
With such a large distance already created, Rostislav's victory was naturally unquestionable; in a short while, the Moscow Prince was the first to cross the finish line.
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