king of ros

Chapter 385 Open the Market
In September 1068, it was another peaceful day in Novgorod. On this day, Rostislav was writing in the castle facing the Volkhov River, and admiring the scenery of white sails coming and going on the river.

The prince is in a good mood, because in the past time, as the merchants discovered that the shelf life of these salted fish has surpassed the usual technology of this era, they have realized the business opportunities and the places where these salted fish can come. profit.

There are more and more merchants buying salted fish, both outside Ross and inside Ross. Everyone has seen the profit of these salted fish. There are too many places to make money in the salted fish that can be kept for so long .

The market that was originally restricted due to the shelf life of salted fish was also opened in front of them. Next, they only need to buy Ross's salted fish to enter this market and make a fortune.

But whether you can get the goods now depends on your luck. After all, the production of salted fish has been troubled by the production of salt. Of course, the merchants who supported the salted fish business at the beginning will definitely be able to get the goods. This is a reward for them.

Some merchants noticed the feasibility of selling salt in Novgorod. Because of the strong demand for salt from the salted fish industry in this area, they shipped a lot of salt, but compared to this huge market, it was still a huge market. A drop in the bucket.

In Novgorod, those who invested in the salted fish business are now getting rewards for their efforts, and the future of this reward will obviously be brighter.

Those guys who didn't invest or withdrew from the investment regretted it very much now. They wanted to join in again, but they were all rejected mercilessly.

Some people want to do it themselves, but it is a pity that the relevant supply sources have been controlled by Rostislav. They want to build a supply source from scratch, which is not something they can do with their own financial resources.

So these people can only watch others make money, and they will make a lot of money in the future, but they can't do anything.

The number of foreign businessmen attracted by salted fish is also increasing, because as Rostislav imagined, this matter is very, very large, and salted fish with a high shelf life is welcome in any corner of the Christian world.

There are also many more merchants in Ross, and the salted fish market in the south is also very large, and some people even sent these salted fish to the imperial capital.

The increase in caravans also makes the city more prosperous, and the increase in the flow of people drives the industrial development of the entire city, and the whole of Novgorod is benefiting from it.

There are even more businessmen going to Moscow with them. Moscow’s status as the city of weapons has long been famous. If you come to Northern Ross and don’t go to this city to buy some weapons and equipment for sale, it will be in vain.

This made the Muscovites quite gratified. The princes did not forget them because they owned Novgorod. Rostislav still remembered his roots.

In Novgorod, local support for Rostislav also rose to a new level.

The always rebellious Novgorodians are now boasting of Rostislav's name. It is really great that "little Rostislav" is the prince. He is better than the dead ghost Mstislav before. .

They called Rostislav the Red Sun of Novgorod, a title that only Yaroslav once enjoyed, which shows the support he now receives among the citizens of Novgorod.

Various cities also benefited from the behavior of the prince, especially Lusa, which produced salt, and they also obeyed the prince's officials.

And there is good news, that is, under the strong demand for salt, the two border regions of Pskov and Toropets have discovered salt production areas and started to develop them. Rostislav also immediately imported them here. Lots of labor.

With the development of these two areas, the salt problem will be greatly alleviated by then.

And some people are worried that technology outflow may lead to loss of profits. Rostislav is not afraid of this, because he has established a size advantage, and he is promoting this matter as a ruler, so that sales can be directly increased. Are the rulers of other places as sharp as he?

As for businessmen, it is not 200 years later, they are still accumulating capital, and they simply do not have the money to do so.

Moreover, the salted fish market is still not big in nature, and it has not developed to the extent that rulers will pay attention to it.

When it develops to that extent, Novgorod has also become a salted fish sales giant, monopolizing the market, how can others compete with it?
Rostislav's most concerned naval construction is also on the agenda. With the continuous influx of profits, Ivangorod is also expanding. With the expansion, the number of docks is also increasing, and the manufacture of ships is also increasing.

Ivangorod is now undoubtedly the fastest-growing city in the Baltic Sea. A large number of merchant ships have poured into this place to buy salted fish and other products produced by Novgorod. The rapid development of the city has also attracted the inflow of people.

The farmers also took the initiative to gather in the city to seek shelter, and a large amount of fertile land soon appeared outside the city of Ivangorod, and the reclamation was still in progress.

In order to ensure the control of Ivangorod, Rostislav formed a standing battalion called the Ivangorod Battalion, which was permanently stationed in Ivangorod.

However, this battalion is just a shelf now and needs to be filled with manpower.

There are even foreign merchants building merchant stations in Ivangorod. Rostislav did not refuse this, because it is conducive to the development of the city. He just emphasized the city’s control over the merchant stations and ensured the control.

After all, something like a commercial station is a colony, and Rostislav of course attaches great importance to such an existence.

In addition, when it comes to commercial stations, some Novgorod merchants under Rostislav have recently established commercial wars outside.

And this place is Gotland, which can be said to be a great success in Ross's trading career.

Rostislav often thought that it would be great if he could take down this island. This island almost radiates the entire Baltic Sea. Controlling this place is controlling the eyes of the ocean.

But it is a pity that Ivangorod's fleet is too weak, and attacking rashly will only bring humiliation, and they still need to accumulate strength.

On ships, and in addition to self-made, Ivangorod is also buying a large number of foreign ships, and there will always be captains who want to sell ships.

Excluding the fishing boats, Ivangorod now has a fleet of 25 ships, all bought, most of which are long ships, mainly used for cargo transportation.

Only four ships were specially modified with scorpion crossbows, but this was enough to dominate the entire region.

As for sailors, there is no shortage of these things at all, but they are all fishermen. They can be recruited as sailors, and they don't need them. Because of the generous treatment promised by Rostislav, some poor people want to join the fleet.

In addition to transporting goods, this fleet has another task to eliminate pirates in the Gulf of Finland, ensure the safety of the Gulf, and turn the Gulf of Finland into Ross's inland sea.

In addition, Rostislav is also on the opposite side of the Gulf of Finland. Later generations of Vyborg established Vyborg to strengthen their influence on the Gulf, increase their influence on the Finns in Karelia, and increase the amount collected from this area. Number of furs.

After all, the production of salted fish is only just emerging, and the pillar gold industry in Novgorod is still fur sales after all, so increasing fur output is still very important.

At the same time, this layout is also for future preparations, in response to the rise of Sweden in the future and Ross's fight for the right to claim rights in this area.

And the city of Ladoga joined the project very enthusiastically, and the residents on the lake of Ladoga even directly voted as a whole.

This made Rostislav ecstatic, a powerful sea fighter would not just be in his hands.

It was because Ladoga saw an opportunity. If they made good use of this opportunity, they might be able to gain the status above Novgorod.

It is precisely because of all this vitality that Rostislav is in a good mood, so he enjoys the scenery every day.

This is Rostislav's favorite view in this city, because in his eyes, it is not a river that flows, but gold and silver. This is why the ancestors of the Rurik family came and established a prosperous Kievan Rus , there is more gold and silver on this river now.

Just as the prince looked at the scenery for a while and was about to continue writing, his captain Vasily opened the door and walked in. He put a letter in front of Rostislav.

"My lord, the letter from Kyiv is written by your uncle."

"Thank you very much, Vasily, go down and rest."

Rostislav took the letter, skillfully lifted the seal on it, and opened the parchment, revealing Izyaslav's handwriting.

At first, the Prince of Moscow's face was full of indifference, but the more he looked, the more serious his expression became.

The above meaning is very simple, that is, the Polotsk people in the south are attacking again, this time they are coming very fiercely, no less than the attack in 1053.

However, the uncle was confident to stop them, and directly gathered the other two brothers' army to face these guys.

And he wrote the letter to tell Rostislav that you should not come. This war will end soon, and when you come, the flowers will all be gone, so don't use it.

After reading the letter, Rostislav's face was very solemn, because he knew that the impact of this battle was huge.

But he is also worried, what if history changes and the war does not develop according to the original logic?
In the end, he still couldn't get a result, and he simply didn't want to, just wait and see.

Thinking of this, the prince of Moscow continued his writing, and then began to write quickly, using the world in the book to divert his attention.

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(End of this chapter)