Chapter 621 The Tsar’s Order
Władysław was sure that the enemy would be happy after capturing Lviv, and then relax their vigilance when celebrating. This was their best opportunity. Their rush could catch the enemy off guard.
Who knew that when they arrived in Lviv, they saw that the city was quiet, the gates were closed, and the enemy soldiers were fully armed and ready for battle.
The reality was different from what they had imagined before, and Władysław was a little nervous, but he still ordered the soldiers to make a tentative attack.
As a result, the Polish soldiers struggled to climb over the trenches and came to the city gates, but suffered a lot of casualties under the long-range attack of the defenders.
In this case, he had to go out in person. The envoy went to the city and asked to see the Romanian emperor, and Peter agreed.
He rode out of the city gate on horseback, surrounded by guards. Władysław also came to the front and confronted him.
"Long time no see, Romanian emperor, I wonder if you still recognize me."
"Of course I know you, you are the Polish king who took advantage of the fire to rob"
The words that hit the heart almost killed the almost 60-year-old man, but he quickly changed the subject.
"Poland has always been friendly with Romania. We don't know what happened, so we let you attack with the army. Isn't it a bit bad to do so?"
Peter said disdainfully: "I think you should know what Lithuania did to Russia and our country. At the beginning, I caught Vytautas with my own hands and released him, just to let him learn a lesson, but what happened?
He didn't learn the lesson, and started to fight everywhere and destroy peace. He even dragged Livonia into it. Such actions are intolerable to the empire."
Wladyslaw knew that Vytautas was unhappy, but he didn't expect him to do this. He had discussed with him that he would take action after getting Sigismund's support, but he couldn't help but come early. Now it's too late to turn back, and I don't know how much it will cost.
Before he opened his mouth, Peter continued. "Jagiełło, I hope you understand that I will not give up this time. I advise you to go back to Warsaw and enjoy the last moments."
After saying that, Peter took his men back to Lviv, leaving Władysław in the wind. Hearing the other party calling his name directly, he felt dizzy and hurried back to the tent.
Peter refused to negotiate, so Władysław had to camp outside the city. At least they couldn't march to Krakow.
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Riga surrendered, and the mayor and local merchants couldn't stand it. They and some citizens launched a coup, tied up the Livonian head, archbishop and others, and then sent people to surrender to the Russian army.
Grushenko confirmed it again and again and decided to accept the surrender, and Riga opened peacefully.
The mayor personally brought the captives to surrender, and those once glorious Livonian nobles, heads, and bishops now lay on the ground like dogs. They never thought that the Russians would rise so fast.
"Dear commander, I, the mayor of Riga, on behalf of the citizens of Riga, formally express my submission to you."
It has been a long time since I saw this obedient city, and Grushenko decided to keep them for the time being. After all, it is not realistic to kill them all, just ask them to convert to Orthodoxy and speak Russian. This is quite good for the citizens, just save their lives.
After the Northern Crusade, Livonia finally ushered in his end. Destruction, 217 years of establishment.
Russia has gained a lot of Baltic coastline, and important ports such as Reval and Riga will become the driving force of Russia's economic development.
Mikhail did not forget to govern the country while fighting on the front line. At present, Russia is jointly governed by the queen, prime minister and patriarch. As the main driving force for Mihaly to become the tsar, the queen has gained great power. When the tsar is away, she can receive foreign ministers, appoint and dismiss officials, etc.
As for the prime minister, he was promoted by Mihaly from Novgorod. He is a very good bureaucrat who can provide a steady stream of funds for the front line and also promote the country's economic development.
Trade with Romania is Russia's most important source of income. The two sides have frequent trade exchanges, and the Volga River and the Dnieper River have become golden waterways. Russia also exported a large number of logs to the south, which became the main raw material for the Roman shipbuilding industry.
In addition to logs, Russia's exports also include hemp, flax, beeswax, fish, honey, wood, fur, leather, bristles, etc. Goods imported from Romania include woolen cloth, silk fabrics, wine, metal products, weapons, luxury goods, etc. At the same time, relying on the Volga River, Russia trades with Eastern countries.
Relying on rich foreign trade, Russia has developed rapidly in recent years. The population of Moscow has increased to 85,000, and Novgorod also has 30,000. The urban population has increased rapidly, and in the countryside, a large number of farmers have separated from agriculture and engaged in handicraft production. They act as blacksmiths, potters, carpenters, coopers, icon painters, woodcarvers, stone carvers, etc. to operate handicrafts. There are 9 handicraft industries in the clothing industry in the city of Novgorod alone.
At the same time, trade exchanges in various parts of Russia have been strengthened. At that time, Moscow was the regional trade center of the whole of Russia. There were more than 120 kinds of goods concentrated and sold in the Moscow market.
In order to obtain more arable land, the Russian army began to expand eastward, all the way to the Ural Mountains. But even so, Russia still had too little arable land, and they wanted to continue to move eastward. But at present, the expansion has indeed reached its limit, so it has to slow down.
The decrees signed by Mihaly included the appointment and dismissal orders of local governors and central bureaucrats. The local boyar nobles still had great political power. In order to centralize power, Mihaly promoted the development of the manorial system in Russia.
The so-called manorial system refers to a land system in which the tsar divides the feudal hereditary territory into small pieces as a territory and rewards it to his confidants, great feudal lords, dukes, nobles, meritorious officials, and soldiers, and hands it over to the recipients together with the peasants living on the territory. The purpose of the tsarist government to implement the manorial system is to make the land recipients obey orders, be loyal to the tsar, and assume feudal service or corvée obligations.
And Mihaly also knew that peasants were the source of vitality of the national economy. While consolidating serfdom, he also tried to find a way out for peasants.
One of the policies was to promote monetary and in-kind rents. Most of the major landlords in Russia were satisfied with in-kind and monetary rents, while small landlords in various parts of Russia forcibly implemented labor rents and exploited dependent peasants.
Now the Tsar directly encouraged the adoption of monetary and in-kind rents, and with the development of handicrafts and commerce, the small landlords were also somewhat tempted and began to change. The peasants got a chance to breathe under the serfdom.