After the celebratory night ended, Rostislav showed no slack. After a proper rest and tender moments with his wife, he resumed his work.
The Prince's primary task was to thoroughly examine the city he had single-handedly established under his leadership.
Since arriving in Northeast Rus', the Prince had been too busy with various matters to truly examine this rising city in Northeast Rus'. Now that everything had finally settled, he naturally wanted to take a good look.
On this ordinary morning, the Prince donned a simple cloak, took four trusted retainers, and rode out from a small gate in the inner city, quietly appearing on the main street.
The Prince first attended today's Veche assembly as an ordinary citizen. The meeting was held at Moscow's assembly ground, a place every Slavic city would establish to facilitate public gatherings and voting.
Moscow's assembly ground was very rudimentary, just a group of benches set up around an open space, but most assembly grounds were like this.
As the bronze bell announcing the start of the Veche was struck, early-rising citizens came forward to participate and take their seats.
The Veche was open to everyone, so Rostislav naturally walked in easily and found a seat.
As people arrived, the Veche began. Officials from the Prince's government presided over the meeting, which was a manifestation of the Prince's power at the grassroots level, as they initiated various topics.
Today's topic was the establishment of guilds and the granting of privileges, a method Rostislav had devised to promote the development of handicrafts.
Although things like guilds might seem very backward from a later perspective, in this era, they represented advanced production relations.
In places with developed handicrafts like Kiev, the embryonic form of guilds had already appeared, and Rostislav intended to use administrative power to make such a form of production appear earlier in Northeast Rus'.
The discussion about guilds was very intense, as it involved the interests of every individual. If not for the Veche Militia present at the venue, people would have already started fighting.
However, the Prince soon grew bored. The policies had been formulated by him and the Moscow clerks, so he was naturally very familiar with them.
These arguments, to put it plainly, were about the distribution of profits, and they were achieved through red-faced, thick-necked debates, which the Prince found quite boring.
A bored Rostislav quietly withdrew from the Veche. His chosen seat was very inconspicuous, and the Prince's entry and exit caused no stir. Behind him were groups of people arguing and even fighting over interests.
Leaving the Veche, the Prince walked along the street. Moscow was already very lively in the morning. The fishmongers' stalls were the most bustling, as women wanted to buy fresh catches, so the fishmongers were surrounded by crowds.
Fish, after all, was one of Moscow's cheapest foods, available in large quantities from the Moscow River, making it naturally the primary choice for ordinary citizens' dinner tables.
From time to time, people carrying large and small bags could be seen on the street. They were planning to leave Northeast Rus'. These were people who had come for the Kashen Silver Mine, but now that they knew the silver mine had been flooded, there was no point for them to stay in this land.
However, those who did this were ultimately a minority, as most people had spent a considerable amount of money and faced no small danger traveling so far from home.
These departees were either speculative adventurers or merchants who had come to seek business opportunities, and only they were willing to travel such a long distance again to find wealth.
Second only to the fishmongers in liveliness were the butchers' stalls. The butchers would purchase the game brought by hunters each morning to prepare fresh meat.
The Prince smelled the scent of blood in the air and felt a sense of familiarity. Such a smell was most common on the battlefield; for a while, that smell had been practically inseparable from him.
Rostislav couldn't help but reflect on his life on horseback. In just a few short years, he had experienced countless bloody battlefields he could never have imagined in his previous life. Countless people had died by his sword, and now killing was as normal to him as eating and drinking.
Although his former immaturity and weakness had left him, he occasionally still reflected on why he was doing all of this.
And after these reflections, the Prince would find his sensitive thoughts amusing. He clearly understood the operating logic of this world, so why should he still engage in such emotional thinking?
A sudden clamor reached the Prince's ears. The ruler of Moscow looked over and saw a miracle troupe performing a play about God being crucified.
The troupe had erected a high stage in the most prosperous part of Moscow and established their base behind the stage.
Many people were gathered there watching, their eyes filled with wonder. This was the first time they had seen such a sight.
Clever merchants had set up a simple bar opposite the troupe, offering kvass and cracklings as snacks.
This was a very smart choice; the place was now full of people watching the performance.
As Rostislav left Kiev, the miracle troupe he had personally trained also left Kiev and followed the Prince to Northeast Rus'.
Their mission in Kiev was complete because they had already trained new miracle troupes, and many others, seeing the potential of these plays, also began to stage them independently. The popularity of miracle plays was now inevitable.
Of course, many variety performers who staged farces were also inspired by this, creating quite a few plays filled with vulgar jokes. Although most were crude imitations of miracle plays, they still infuriated the Church.
So, in such circumstances, a miracle troupe like this was more needed in a spiritual wilderness like Northeast Rus' than in Kiev.
The Prince couldn't help but go over. Although these plays were written and supervised by him, he instinctively joined the crowd when he saw them gathered. He mainly wanted to hear people's reactions.
The plot advanced quickly, and soon it was time for the resurrection of God, which was the end of the play. This miracle play also drew to a close, and cheers followed. People threw their tips onto the stage, and the troupe had people specifically collecting these rewards.
Although the troupe had the support of the Prince and the Church, money ultimately had to be earned by themselves. If they kept costing the important people money, they would eventually become impatient.
Although the performance ended, the crowd did not disperse, and many even let out expectant cheers.
This made Rostislav somewhat curious. He was familiar with the process of miracle plays, and he remembered there shouldn't be any more performances after this.
What appeared next greatly surprised the Prince. They were two puppeteers holding exquisite puppets. Both puppeteers wore birch bark masks. One of the puppets was a fierce evil dragon, and the other was a fully armed Slavic warrior.
Through the troupe's promoter, the Prince learned that this was a performance of saint george slaying the dragon, which piqued the Prince's interest. It seemed this was the troupe's own idea; they were quite resourceful.
Performing a puppet show was a very good idea. Puppet shows could achieve a different kind of performance effect, attracting more audiences.
As the puppeteers performed, the dragon and the angel began to fight. The puppeteers' fingers were very nimble, allowing the evil dragon to glide and pounce, and the angel to thrust deftly, all with just strings.
Children were most mesmerized by such scenes, cheering either for the angel or the evil dragon. Adults, though silent, were also captivated.
However, the angel ultimately defeated the evil dragon. The evil dragon's head was severed by a sharp sword, and as the painted head fell, the children's cheers and disappointment sounded simultaneously.
The two puppeteers then announced that the performance had ended, which drew rounds of applause. People threw small furs and gold and silver onto the stage, and the puppeteers naturally removed their masks to express their gratitude.
Although the moment of removing the masks was fleeting, Rostislav still clearly saw the face beneath the mask. A strange expression appeared on his face.
The reason was very simple: he recognized the owner of that face. It was his court chronicler, the author of the future Primary Chronicle, the Monk Nestor of the Cave Monastery.
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