It wasn't until June 1061 that Rostislav returned to his residence, Moscow in Northeast Rus'.
The Moscow Prince had actually arrived in Kiev in March, but he was delayed there for some time before continuing his journey.
Most of this time was spent organizing immigrants. After witnessing the Moscow Prince's achievements in the North, the efforts of his wealthy returnees, and the wonderful performances of the Alexei Troupe, many Rus' people were attracted, and Rostislav's immigrant team expanded significantly.
There were also those who had not followed Rostislav's father's old subordinates back then. This time, they decided to join the Moscow Prince's immigrant ranks. In response, Rostislav promised these nobles corresponding territories. Of course, they would have to develop these themselves.
For those who had returned wealthy, their stay in Kiev allowed them to enjoy much. The admiration and envy of their former relatives and friends made them extremely comfortable, and their display of wealth attracted many immigrants to the Prince.
Meanwhile, Alexei gained great fame in this Mother of Rus' Cities by promoting the good life in Northeast Rus' through a series of plays.
The citizens of Kiev loved the plays Alexei brought, and many wealthy people even vied to invite his troupe to perform. This playwright truly gained both fame and fortune.
Alexei really wanted to stay in Kiev, but since his benefactor Rostislav had spoken, he could only leave with the Prince. After all, no matter what, Rostislav was his foundation.
Rostislav needed Alexei's troupe; they were a very important part of the Moscow Prince's internal and external propaganda. Otherwise, he would have definitely left the troupe to perform in Kiev.
Besides organizing immigrants, Rostislav was witnessing something; if it weren't for this matter, he would have left long ago.
That was the division of the Rus' Metropolitanate into three, or in other words, the division of the Rus' Church! He was witnessing his uncles divide the Rus' Church into three.
The division of the Rus' Church into three was a policy set by the three Yaroslavich brothers after their grandfather's death.
As for why this policy was set, it was because the three brothers believed that since they had divided the territory of Rus', the religious authority of Rus' should also be divided accordingly.
Rus' had been Christian for three generations, and the Church had become an important part of the Kievan Rus' power system. The Church had taken over the management of many areas, making it an indispensable part of the power structure.
However, the Imperial Capital had been holding up this matter and not approving it. Although Rus' was a border region of faith that needed to be united, this request was too excessive. Constantinople could not agree immediately; if it did, it would truly be treating its own authority as nothing.
Moreover, the Imperial Capital was using this matter as a bargaining chip in negotiations with Rus'. Given the shrewdness of the Imperial Capital Patriarch, how could he easily nod in agreement to this matter? He would have to get something in return.
During the subsequent stalemate, the Church of Constantinople discovered that civil war had broken out in Hungary. Thus, they had the Rus' Great Duke try to find a way to encourage Hungary to convert to Orthodoxy, which happened to coincide with the Great Uncle's idea of increasing Kievan Rus' national influence.
This led to the Rurik three brothers' intervention in Hungary. In truth, the Second Uncle and Third Uncle were not very keen on this matter purely for its own sake. They were not the Kiev Grand Duke, so international influence held little meaning for them. This was primarily about the Great Uncle gaining renown.
However, when it came to the division of the Rus' Church into three, it was different. This was the main reason they went to Hungary, and the cities behind them also desired this. Chernigov and Pereyaslavl both wanted to achieve a status equal to Kiev.
Especially Chernigov, which during Yaroslav's time had been ruled for a period by the Wise's brother, Mstislav. During that time, it was the center of half of Rus', an existence on par with Kiev.
(Yaroslav once shared the rule of Rus' equally with Mstislav until Mstislav's death, when Yaroslav took over his territory, only then did Yaroslav become the Grand Duke of All Rus', rather than one of a dual political system.)
It was also in economic competition with Kiev; their economic statuses were quite similar. This city constantly sought to break Kiev's sole supremacy in Rus' and could be said to be Kiev's greatest challenger.
Now that the opportunity to obtain its own Metropolitan and achieve religious equality with Kiev had arrived, Chernigov was naturally extremely enthusiastic, frantically urging its Prince to accomplish this endeavor.
Moreover, Chernigov had just completed the Transfiguration Cathedral, a magnificent structure on par with Kiev's Saint Sophia Cathedral.
Mstislav, who once ruled half of Rus', laid its foundation, and Sviatoslav completed this cathedral.
And strictly speaking, Yaroslav decided to build Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kiev only after seeing Mstislav build the Transfiguration Cathedral in Chernigov.
If Mstislav hadn't died so early, the Transfiguration Cathedral should have been completed first.
This cathedral could perfectly serve as a Metropolitan's seat, thus Chernigov's desire to compete with Kiev grew even stronger.
Rostislav's main purpose in the south was to witness this event: the announcement by the Imperial Capital's envoy of the consecration of the Metropolitan of Kiev, the Metropolitan of Chernigov, and the Metropolitan of Pereyaslavl.
As one of the five major lords of Rus' today, the Moscow Prince naturally had to participate, and the Sorcerer Prince of Polotsk also came, as this was a major event affecting All Rus'.
During the ceremony, Rostislav felt it was exceedingly absurd. If the former Metropolitan Hilarion knew about this, he would probably be furious to death.
The Rus' Church, which he and Yaroslav had established together, had its authority childishly torn apart by his own sons.
Yes, authority, just authority, because although the Metropolitan's authority was nominally divided into three, in reality, Kiev, as the birthplace and most powerful center of the Rus' Church, its religious power still overwhelmingly dominated everyone.
What's more, the tithes of All Rus' were still collected at the Tithe Church in Kiev. This was a rule established by Vladimir when he founded it; he contributed one-tenth of his income to this church as a tax dedicated to the Church.
Therefore, the tithes of All Rus' still effectively remained in Kiev's hands, and the power of appointment, due to the large number of clergy in Kiev, also practically remained. With these two important powers still intact, let alone other powers, after all, financial power and appointment power are the most crucial.
It can be said that although Chernigov and Pereyaslavl gained an elevation in religious rank, their actual power did not increase at all; it was completely an empty promotion.
This is why Rostislav felt it was a farce; it was divided yet not divided, and the whole thing seemed so absurd and unbelievable.
Moreover, this matter brought no benefit to the Rus' Church or the spread of Christian faith; in fact, it caused quite a few disadvantages, significantly impacting the already low authority of the Rus' Church.
However, how could his three uncles not know about these things? Of course, they knew, but for more important matters, they could only act this way.
The Great Uncle needed to unite All Rus', whether it was his brothers or the people; he needed unity. Some issues that Yaroslav could suppress in his time, his brothers could not, so he had to do this.
And the Second Uncle and Third Uncle both faced the need for this authority to consolidate their positions of power, and there was also the strong desire of the cities behind them for this religious center's authority, so they could only act this way.
After witnessing this ceremony, which could be called a farce and child's play, Rostislav bid farewell to his uncles. All of this truly made him feel awkward.
The Sorcerer Prince left even earlier; he had no interest in this solo performance by Yaroslav's descendants and felt extremely awkward being among this group of people.
His uncles, however, were quite enthusiastic about his departure and sent many gifts when he left. After all, everyone still remembered that Rostislav had saved them in Hungary.
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