After handling many matters in the countryside, Rostislav Vladimirovich Rurik returned to his capital, Moscow.
The ruling class of Moscow had naturally prepared for the Prince's return, and Rostislav saw the enormous crowd gathered before the gates of Moscow from afar.
Undoubtedly, as the wife of the Moscow Prince, Zoe was naturally among them, surrounded by high-ranking officials and dignitaries of the Moscow regime.
However, to Rostislav's great disappointment, Zoe held an infant in her arms, while little Rurik stood beside his mother.
Rostislav's disappointment was not for any other reason, but mainly because he regretted not being able to attend his son's birth.
Gvaran stood inseparable behind the two of them, clad in iron armor, like an iron tower, the Captain of the Guard as serious as ever while on duty.
More Bodyguard Unit members stood around their captain, vigilant against any potential threats.
As the Moscow Prince and his entourage approached, welcoming music immediately resounded, to which Rostislav smiled; this was clearly Leo's work, as only that Greek loved such ceremonies.
Amidst the music, Rostislav walked to his wife's side, gave her a slight embrace, then hugged little Rurik who was raising his hands, and finally took his second son from his wife's arms, learning that the child had been born a month ago.
Rostislav, holding the child, gave the infant a name.
"Volodar, your name shall be Volodar, Volodar Rostislavich Rurik."
Rostislav's reason for choosing this name was quite simple: it was the name of his second son in history.
When naming his children, Rostislav could be said to be completely lazy, following history entirely; mainly, he was too lazy to think, so he just used what was readily available.
The moment the Prince bestowed a name upon his second son, Leo, who stood by, immediately ordered the musicians to play a joyful tune, bringing the festive atmosphere to a climax.
After the reception at the city gate concluded, Rostislav rode his horse into the city.
The citizens of Moscow warmly welcomed the Prince's return, with many crowds lining the streets, waving to the Prince, and Rostislav returned their friendly smiles.
For the people who followed Rostislav to this North Rus', everything before them was quite novel.
Especially the Hungarians, it was their first time seeing such a Northern scene.
As for the Slavic immigrants, there were also surprising things in the city, such as the red brick walls of Moscow's inner city, a sight rarely seen in Rus'.
Leaving the work of settling immigrants and troops to Leo and Anwar, Rostislav went straight to the palace named after him.
Entering the audience hall, the Moscow Prince sat on his usual main seat, once again feeling the sensation of governing the Northeast Rus'.
Originally, Rostislav wanted to thoroughly review the various records of Northeast Rus' from the recent period to ascertain the situation during his wife's and subordinates' rule.
However, shortly after he gave the order, he was dragged by Zoe from the main seat to the bedroom, while the two children were left in the care of the maids.
The reason for being dragged was simple: as a young and healthy woman, it was too difficult for her husband to be away for more than half a year, and now that her husband had returned, some things naturally had to be made up for.
Rostislav gladly accepted this; he was also a young man, and his physical desire for his wife had never been small, but this time Rostislav completely miscalculated.
The next day, while Zoe was still sleeping with a satisfied smile, Rostislav got up clutching his waist; Zoe last night was truly... he almost couldn't take it. Are women whose husbands have been away for a long time that terrifying?
And just when Rostislav thought that if he endured that night, it would be over, for the next three days, he was mercilessly dragged into the house by his Greek wife...
When Rostislav finally appeared before his subordinates, everyone was somewhat astonished.
Because their Moscow Prince, who was almost invincible and triumphant in every battle, was now dispirited and looked utterly exhausted.
Everyone knew, of course, that this was due to excessive indulgence, but they did not know the reason behind it, and everyone still thought that Rostislav had caused it himself.
Some even hinted that although he was young and healthy, he should still exercise restraint, which truly left him with no words to express his bitterness, like a mute eating bitter coptis.
And he couldn't say anything; what could he say? That he had been pinned down by his wife for the past three nights? Rostislav also had his pride.
He coughed, signaling everyone not to dwell on trivial matters and to return to the current meeting; he had many things to attend to after returning to Northeast Rus'.
First, they needed to compile the quantities of various raw materials produced in Northeast Rus' over the past six months, and after the Prince's confirmation, place them into prepared sacks, which were then sealed with stamps bearing the Prince's symbol.
After all this was completed, these goods would then be sent to Kiev for inspection, and then they would be sold by the Kiev Grand Duke's large fleet to Constantinople in the South, with the profits collected by the Prince's representatives stationed in Kiev and sent back to Moscow.
This was how the ancient Valangian-Greek route operated, and it was also the foundation of commercial Rus'; countless Slavic cities would collect various resources from their locations in this manner, then transport them to Kiev, where the Kiev Grand Duke would unify their sale to the South, and then bring back the profits to distribute among everyone.
At the same time, this was also the root cause of the Rus' state's ability to maintain itself; it was these commercial profits that united the many city-states in this land.
This income currently remains a significant part of Moscow's finances, although the Moscow Prince is now diligently pursuing efforts to make Northeast Rus' more agricultural, meaning shifting the bulk of income from commerce to agriculture, but after all these years, the results have actually been minimal.
Don't let the flourishing appearance of Rostislav's widespread construction of towns and control of villages in Northeast Rus' deceive you; even to this day, his expenditures for these endeavors still outweigh his income.
If it weren't for his guild reforms in Moscow, which established a source of growth for the city's handicrafts and brought economic growth to the city, coupled with the gold and silver he acquired through conquest, Moscow's finances would have long since gone bankrupt.
Agricultural Rus'ification is not an easy task; historically, it took over a hundred years to complete, costing an unknown amount of manpower and resources during that period.