Five years passed quickly, just like that, and time arrived at 1060.
These five years were peaceful years; aside from occasional border conflicts and some rural skirmishes, this land was very peaceful, peaceful and prosperous.
Moscow changed greatly in these five years, and the most significant change was in the inner city.
The inner city has now undergone a major transformation; the wooden walls and towers of the past have disappeared, replaced by red brick city walls and equally red brick high towers.
It is also due to these red brick walls that the inner city of Moscow has a new name among Moscow citizens and outsiders: Red City.
And Moscow also has a new name, City of Red Towers, a name derived from the red high towers standing on the outer city walls; although Rostislav did not turn the outer city walls into brick and tile, he could at least replace the watchtowers with brick and tile.
The urban area of Moscow has also changed significantly; under the Prince's vigorous promotion and expansion, many brick and tile buildings have emerged in Moscow's urban area, with the Bricklayers' Guild contributing greatly.
An urban area composed entirely of brick and tile buildings has also appeared; that is the Artisan Quarter established under Rostislav's orders, and it is also where Moscow's guilds are most concentrated; these guilds have built their quarters like enclosed fortresses, a privilege granted by the Prince.
As for outside the city, the forest is now quite far from the city; some land has been developed into farmland, while other land is still vacant; several hydraulic mills have also been built along the Moscow River, making it convenient for people to grind wheat into flour, though of course, a fee is charged.
Now, in Moscow, to engage in professions such as carpentry, pottery, and blacksmithing, one must first go to the guild for a standardized examination, and then a sales certificate will be issued.
At the same time, guilds also provide skill training services; as long as you are willing to pay, you can serve as an apprentice within the guild and learn relevant skills.
However, many times, such learning is essentially paying to do unpaid work for the masters, but this is an opportunity to learn skills, a rare opportunity, and in other places, whether one can even receive this training is a question.
Fortunately, now is the time to expand production; artisans need apprentices to quickly master skills and join in production; they do not have to endure for so long, and they do not demand much from apprentices.
Through the guilds' standard control, the Prince successfully improved the quality of Moscow's handicrafts; at the same time, the existence of guild monopolies meant that artisans no longer had to worry about the sale of goods, only needing to focus on production.
Furthermore, the Moscow Prince will purchase all surplus products from the guilds to sell in the villages of Northeast Rus', which is a very vast and promising market.
In addition, Moscow is now the largest producer of iron products in all of North Rus', including various ironware, weapons, and armor.
The guild system greatly improved production efficiency and the number of practitioners; unfortunately, this still cannot satisfy the eager market, as iron products can fetch high prices anywhere.
The works of the Moscow Blacksmiths' Guild are all engraved with a knight emblem representing Moscow; this was Rostislav's idea, as building a reputation can itself bring an increase in added value.
And just as Rostislav predicted, as these iron products engraved with the knight emblem gradually spread, the reputation of Moscow-made products also spread.
The Blacksmiths' Guild office is always crowded with merchants from various places; there are all kinds of people among them: Rus', Bulgar, Jewish... These people anxiously await the completion and shipment of their orders.
Sufficient goods and relatively high quality have led many merchants to favor various handicrafts produced in Moscow, and more and more people come here to purchase goods.
And Moscow has become increasingly prosperous, and with the flow of merchant caravans, immigrants attracted by Moscow itself have gradually arrived.
Some of them come from other Rus' regions, and some are farmers drawn by the city's prosperity; these people come to Moscow with only one goal: to pursue a better life.
Moscow welcomes immigrants; the city is still on a fast track of development; as long as you have hands and are willing to work, you can find a job that can support you, and live very well.
Therefore, the number of hopeful faces on the streets is increasing, and due to the influx of these people, the city is becoming more prosperous.
The strategy set by Rostislav five years ago is bringing him sweet returns; establishing the guild system was incredibly correct, and as time goes on, the returns will be even more abundant.
And after Moscow emerged as a center for handicrafts, with the spread of Moscow citizens to the countryside, Northeast Rus' is also undergoing changes.
Some changes are difficult to perceive and incredibly slow, but they are real and are the changes Rostislav desires.
——
Meanwhile, in the Prince's palace, important figures of Northeast Rus' were holding an important meeting in the Map Hall, aiming to summarize Moscow's development over these years.
The Map Hall of the Prince's palace was arranged under the command of Rostislav Vladimirovich; it is the simplest room in this magnificent palace.
The surrounding walls are a simple gray, without the superfluous and complex decorations found in other rooms, and in its center is a large table, on which the entire Rus' territory and surrounding maps are engraved.
The skilled masters of the Carpenter's Guild, following existing maps, combined with the research of scholars and the Prince's descriptions, sawed out various coastlines and river bends; the entire table has no flat surfaces, and the tabletop depicts this land: mountains, rivers, cities, fortresses, lakes, forests, national borders.... all are clearly visible.
The Northeast Rus' portion of this map is the most exquisite, marking all the towns and fortresses in this land, as well as the simple dirt roads connecting this land.
And because the large map can be disassembled, the Northeast Rus' portion has now been detached, and the attendees are gathered around it.
Rostislav put a lot of effort into this map; many concepts needed to be personally explained to the artisans, as well as the shape of the Rus' territory, which he could only roughly depict from memory, but it was at least better than the abstract images of this era.
During the mapping process, the Moscow Prince's Persian doctor provided significant help; Ibn Hain was an encyclopedic scholar, familiar with both Arab and Byzantine cartography techniques, and with the help of this professional, the Moscow Prince's mapping proceeded very smoothly.
And the ruler of Northeast Rus', Moscow Prince Rostislav Vladimirovich, was looking at this map, listening to his subordinates' reports.
——