The reason he thought of Kiev was simple: wasn't everything centered around it in Kiev as well? The clergy of Kiev almost monopolized the historical records and evaluations of the entire Rus'.
Part of the reason he wrote this history was to break Kiev's monopoly, to break the clergy's monopoly on records, and to leave more true history for future generations.
And by thinking of Kiev, the Prince also thought of the power changes in Rus' over the past two years.
His uncles, enfeoffed in various places, had already secured their positions. All the subordinate cities had submitted to the Yaroslavich, and the political transition period of Rus' was coming to an end.
After temporarily ending the clear-out of Nomads on the Rus' border, his uncles began enthusiastic construction and development in their respective territories.
After all, everyone understood that controlling the cities did not mean that the countryside would also submit; that could only be achieved through development and construction.
Of course, fire and sword were also indispensable. Without fire and sharp swords, people would not submit to the Prince's authority. There would be no shortage of killings, and various cruel methods would be used.
The eldest uncle was mainly focused on strengthening Kiev's leadership over Rus' and enhancing the construction of this Rus' core. In Novgorod, he sent his son Mstislav to serve as Prince.
Regarding Novgorod, his forces had once asked him if he wanted to expel this representative of Kiev, but the Prince unhesitatingly refused. Doing such a thing now? What a joke! That would be too ungrateful.
The second uncle was busy with the construction of Chernigov. It is said that he took over the church left by his grandfather's brother and intended to complete its construction. The scale of this church was no less than that of Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kiev.
Chernigov had always been a strong challenger to Kiev. In his grandfather's time, one of his brothers ruled half of Rus' with him there. The unfinished church was what he left behind.
Now that the second uncle had become the ruler of Chernigov, with his ambition, he would naturally complete that church to declare his prestige was no less than Kiev's.
In addition, this uncle seemed to be collecting various Christian documents from Rus' and Bulgaria, especially those of Simeon of Bulgaria, whom he admired—the canonized Saint Simeon. He seemed to want to compile a collection of Christian texts.
The third uncle continued to busy himself with strengthening the frontier and perfecting the frontier defense system centered on Pereyaslavl. There were still many Nomads active in his jurisdiction, and these people had also become restless due to the Yaroslavich's campaigns.
Now the third uncle faced double pressure from both inside and out. Fortunately, the chaotic fighting on the external steppe continued, with alliances forming and dissolving, having neither the energy nor the strength to interfere in Rus' affairs. As for these internal Nomads, they could only preserve themselves and lacked the initiative to truly challenge the Ross Army.
Rus', which had been unstable due to Yaroslav's death, also stabilized. All countries saw the capability and unity of Yaroslav's descendants, and the restless ones were also deterred by this unity.
However, Rostislav knew very well that the restless ones would eventually cause trouble. Those people had prepared for so many years to seize hegemony; how could they just abandon their plans now?
For that moment, he had to be prepared. At that time, the opportunity would fall before him, and it would depend on whether he could seize it.
As for that restless one, Vseslav the Sorcerer Prince, this fellow had been quite well-behaved recently, obediently submitting to Kiev and diligently developing himself, with no intention of causing trouble—because he knew very well that Kiev knew the reason for the 1053 uprising, and they were waiting for him to make a mistake.
As long as he made a mistake, the entire Ross Army would come to punish him. He would not give Yaroslav that last chance.
And influenced by this, even the routine trade frictions between Polotsk and Novgorod ceased.
However, speaking of destabilizing factors, some recent news from Kiev made him uneasy. It seemed his uncles intended to divide the position of Metropolitan of Rus' into three, with each of his three uncles having a Metropolitan.
After all, it was a fair division. Yaroslav divided the territory among his three sons, so religious power naturally had to be divided into three as well.
Undoubtedly, this was a great offense to the Church. Under normal circumstances, the Church would never agree to such a demand.
But this was Rus', where the Church's power was incredibly weak, and needed Constantinople's support.
Rostislav knew the historical development; historically, they achieved this, and the Imperial Capital could only reluctantly agree to this unreasonable demand from Rus'.
Although Rostislav felt it was inappropriate, he could not interfere in any way, because one thing was constant: he was ultimately just a junior. Now, the three uncles were the ones in charge of the Rurik Dynasty.
This was too far from him; it was not something he should be concerned about now. What he should be concerned about now was the development of Northeast Rus'.
And outside Northeast Rus', there was another place he needed to pay special attention to, and that place was Smolensk.
Smolensk had been facing considerable problems recently. The local tribesmen were becoming increasingly restless. They began to rob travelers, cut off trade routes, and even block waterways, causing great trouble to the area.
The reason for their increased activity was simple: with Rostislav's large-scale construction and development in Northeast Rus', more and more immigrants and merchants were attracted to this land. As the flow of people increased, so did the opportunities for robbery.
And these tribesmen saw the benefits and tasted this sweetness, then they became more and more excessive, knowing no restraint.
If it was just scattered robberies, they could ignore it, as the roads of Rus' were never absolutely safe. But on such a large scale, it had to be managed.
However, after Smolensk dispatched troops to clear them out, the tribesmen appeared in groups on the roads, like an army, numbering in the thousands.
Facing such a situation, Vishata's forces were unable to solve the problem, so he sent a request for aid to Rostislav.
Regarding Uncle Vishata's request for aid, Rostislav naturally agreed immediately. Uncle Vishata had helped him so much, and Smolensk had continuously supplied materials to Northeast Rus'. Now was the time for him to repay Uncle Vishata.
And helping Vishata was helping himself. He also greatly needed the western roads to be clear. Safety was the foundation of development; trade routes must be unhindered to bring prosperity.
The Prince had already dispatched Sogier and Auri's troops. These two Norse forces were enough to quell the local situation.
The Norse mercenaries, after completing this job, were due to return home anyway. Riga was calling these Norsemen back, as Harald's contract had expired some time ago.
As for the Norwegian King's son-in-law, he was returning home along the way. In the war against the Bulgar, this warrior and his elite Norse underlings did not gain much military merit due to mission arrangements. They waited so long only for their share of gold and silver from the Bulgar ransom.
And now that the Bulgar ransom was in hand, having received their money, they should leave. So, on their way, they could also help Uncle Vishata.
There wouldn't be much fighting in Northeast Rus' for a short time, so Rostislav naturally wanted to make the most of these two forces.