After a casual chat and some bonding with the masters, Rostislav's visit to the Blacksmiths' Guild concluded.
Rostislav was very satisfied with this trip; everything he saw and heard was what he wanted to see, and the entire Northeast Rus' was developing according to his predetermined direction.
The development of Northeast Rus' could be described as thriving, and the power in his hands was considerable, which further strengthened the Moscow Prince's confidence in conquering Bulgar.
Conquering Bulgar had always been Rostislav's predetermined strategy.
Actually, Rostislav did not have much desire to conquer this prosperous and civilized country, but now that its internal affairs were in chaos and constant conflict, and he had a legitimate heir to the Bulgar Khanate who was a Christian, conquest became imperative.
For this other city-state on the Volga River, Rostislav's demands were not high: to encourage it to convert to Christianity and become a friendly nation aligned with Rus'.
Once Bulgar converted to Christian, everything would be much more convenient in the future.
As for conquering that country, it was never within the Prince's consideration, because he could not afford the resources or the population.
In later generations, the Grand Duchy of Moscow, with the fully developed power of Northeast Rus', expended countless lives and resources on this region; how could a small, barbarian Prince like him achieve it?
Rostislav was very covetous of the land of Bulgar; this land, centered around Kazan in later generations, was one of the few fertile areas in all of Eastern Europe, and Bulgar civilization was advanced. If he could absorb Bulgar's culture and technology, then Rus' would surely rise to a new level.
But he could not do it, and if he could not, he could not. Perhaps Rostislav could acquire technology by plundering craftsmen, but to rule this land? That was absolutely impossible, and his power could not suppress this land either.
To suppress this area, he would need to maintain at least four thousand troops on this land, and then relocate tens of thousands of Rus' Christians to gain a firm foothold.
Then, he would have to embark on decades of pacification wars, with an unceasing influx of troops and personnel, until the local people no longer resisted.
But he could not do it, so his greatest option was to continuously send troops to Bulgar in the coming years, pouring all his time into it, and doing anything else would be impossible.
Furthermore, the faith of this land was notoriously stubborn; historically, after the Russian Empire annexed this land, it spent hundreds of years using various soft and hard tactics on islam to barely curb its development, but even today, Kazan remains Russia's largest Islamic center.
Such an existence, which even a great nation found so troublesome, Rostislav's small frame definitely could not handle.
Therefore, direct occupation was absolutely not advisable; he could only take a different path.
And the path Rostislav chose was to encourage Bulgar to convert, and then let them fight among themselves; Rus' could, in turn, strengthen its control over this country, and a warring Bulgar would have no mind to contend with Rus'.
The most significant meaning of bringing Bulgar into the sphere of influence was that the Rus' people could establish a long-term advantage on the Volga trade route, which was once a place where silver flowed, and greatly acquire the profits brought by this trade route, meaning taking all the shares that once belonged to Bulgar into their own hands.
Moreover, the Prince's actions were also an attempt to curry favor with Novgorod, because the city of Novgorod was the end of the Volga trade route. By expanding Rus' interests on this trade route, Novgorod could also benefit.
Novgorod was a city with its own will—in fact, all Rus' cities did, but Novgorod was the strongest and most prominent—the city's militiamen would act on their own accord, and when they did, they could even disregard the Grand Prince's authority.
Rostislav needed to win this force, and to gain the support of the Novgorod Veche, relying solely on his father's influence would not suffice.
His father was once the Prince of this city, but that was only in the past; now, this is Izyaslav's jurisdiction, and his father's authority has become increasingly diluted as many people loyal to his father came to Northeast Rus'. Although there are still high-ranking families supporting him, those high-ranking families are increasingly struggling to stand alone in that city.
Regarding the conquest of Bulgar, another reason was that Rostislav wanted to establish a barrier against the East.
As someone who understood Rus' history, Rostislav knew that during the Mongol invasion, the destruction of Northeast Rus' occurred after the destruction of Volga Bulgaria, and Volga Bulgaria played an important role in aiding Northeast Rus'.
Although the Mongol invasion was still too far off, Rostislav hoped that at least in his lifetime, Bulgar could block all possible nomadic threats from the east of Northeast Rus', preventing this large rear area from being attacked by Nomads.
After all, the safest aspect of Northeast Rus' was that its surroundings were full of barriers, and Rostislav hoped these barriers could be maintained.
Finally, the last reason for Rostislav's conquest of this area was that Moscow's direction of expansion was very limited.
As the youngest junior, he could not wage war against his elders; once he did, he would face encirclement from all sides, and at that time, he would never win.
Therefore, in internal Rus' affairs, he could only wait, waiting for those ambitious individuals to stir up disputes.
And now, the two most restless individuals in Rus' are the Sorcerer Prince and his second uncle.
Many times, the Moscow Prince could not help but wonder which of the two would make the first move.
Therefore, if Moscow wanted to use military force, it could only be in the direction of Bulgar, and now that he had so many advantages against Bulgar, he naturally had to act.
And the reason for using military force was also very simple: his nobles and soldiers needed to be fed by war, to solidify the impression of bravery and invincibility with victories, to establish personal authority, and these reputations could help him recruit more soldiers in the future.
There was also gold and silver; victory could bring gold and silver, and the Moscow Prince needed gold and silver more than anyone. The development of Moscow alone had countless shortfalls, let alone the entire Rus'.
In fact, Rostislav had always been preparing for a possible future war, and these were some of the things he was doing to prepare.
Both his understanding of later history and his intuition told him that his greatest enemy in the future would most likely be his second uncle.
And for him, who had a father-killing feud with his second uncle, if they were to engage in battle, both of them would have to go all out, because a father-killing feud must be avenged with blood, and Rostislav must accumulate resources for this as soon as possible.