Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 27 Novgorod Republic
Guo Kang is not blindly arrogant.Because today, the Khan Court is not without defenses against them.

Just like arranging for Moscow to supervise other countries, in the north, Khanting is actually restraining Moscow's power by cooperating with Novgorod.

The Republic of Novgorod is located in the northernmost part of the continent, and the city is located on the Volkhov River.To the north along the river is the huge Ladoga Lake, and then out of the lake along the Neva River, you can enter the Gulf of Finland.

The land of Novgorod is very barren. Although it looks vast, most of it is a desolate land near the Arctic Ocean, and food is scarce.However, because the city is located between the two major business circles of Beihai and Ross, the water transportation is convenient, so the commerce is developed and it has become the pillar of the city.

The trade routes that traverse the north and south of the continent have a very long history, older than most of the civilizations here.

Amber is abundant around the Baltic Sea, so in prehistoric times in Europe, merchants began to collect and transport these gems, and sell them to the south where they could make more profits.Baltic amber was found in the tomb of the Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun.The Greeks also used this treasure as a sacrifice in the Temple of Apollo at Delphi.

Later, Emperor Nero sent people to investigate the source of these things and find out the direction of the trade route.Later generations named it "Amber Road".

Compared with the short-cut route through Germania, the trade route in the Ross area was much later, but with the development here, commerce also flourished.

It may also be because of this that, unlike other principalities, Novgorod is a less "Russian" city-state.

Hundreds of years ago, the Grand Duke at that time lost the battle and was deposed by the citizens. Since then, there has been no real Grand Duke here.The power of the country is in the hands of the town assembly called "Witcher", and the actual governor is the mayor elected by businessmen and citizens.

There are indeed nobles who serve as Grand Dukes in the city, but it is already an employment system.It is only because in this era, the local nobles are indeed the most able to fight, so many relics are left behind.However, he has relatively great power only in times of war, and he is only the leader of the garrison at ordinary times, subject to great constraints.

Some Grand Dukes who are more able to fight and have high prestige can serve longer and have a relatively greater voice.But if it's just an average level of Grand Duke, he even has to rely on signing a contract to ensure his legal power.

In diplomacy, due to its proximity to the Baltic Sea, Novgorod has a close relationship with the Hanseatic League and is an important member of the alliance.The largest trading station of the alliance merchants in Eastern Europe is located here.The parties often cooperate based on common commercial interests, so they are very familiar.

It can be said that regardless of system, state relations or culture, this place is closer to Northwest Europe than to other Rus countries in the hinterland of the continent.

Compared with Moscow, the Khan's hardcore henchman, these two countries almost represent two completely different opposites of the Rus people.

The conflict between the two lasted for a long time.

In Guo Kang’s world, Novgorod was eventually conquered by Moscow due to military failure, but the disagreement between “towards Europe” and “towards Mongolia” has never disappeared, but has long been rooted in the core of the Rus civilization.The sense of rift between these two tendencies haunted the Rus until his own time.

Novgorod and Moscow, the successor St. Petersburg and Moscow, the emperor and the tsar, Europe and Asia, Westernization and locality... These paired concepts and symbols give Rus culture a distinctive feature.

Of course, in this era, there is a high probability that Novgorod merchants will not regard Moscow landowners as their own.

In fact, Novgorod is an important force to check and balance Moscow.The Khan Court lacks control over the central countries, but in the northernmost Novgorod, since the Civil War, the governor and the army have been stationed.

Because in the eyes of the locals, as long as they don't delay their business and make money, it doesn't matter who is in charge of the army.The so-called Governor is nothing more than the replacement of the original Grand Duke.

The side effect of commercial development is that there are so many bandits on land and water. Every year, the Republic invests a lot of money to recruit mercenaries to escort caravans and wipe out bandits.Coupled with the fact that Lithuania in the southwest and Moscow in the southeast are both coveting the wealth of the republic, the necessary security is essential, otherwise, it is very likely to end up with a life of making money and not spending money.

All services must be paid at an appropriate price.It is really unrealistic to want to save money and get good service at the same time.If you want to lower commercial prices, you have to use political and diplomatic leverage.This point, they are very clear.

After the end of the Civil War, Novgorod was eager to get rid of the suspicion, and at the same time, it had to be prepared to deal with the impact of the power reshuffle in the Ross region.

Although it is located in the far north, even Batu's army could not reach this place, but the problem now is that the Purple Horde controls the vital trade route.

Astute businessmen and politicians can already find that, unlike the previous Eastern Roman dynasties, the Purple Horde is more keen on expanding along trade routes.

After intervening in Georgia and sending troops into the Volga River Basin, they have directly bordered the Persian region and controlled the main roads through the Caucasus and South Russian grasslands-this is also a very important place, from the Bulgar Khanate to the Golden Horde The Khanate got rich by controlling the intersection of trade routes here.

Although the eastern section of the Grassland Silk Road has never been opened, a considerable scale of trade has already been organized by relying on the four regions of Persia, the Eastern Mediterranean, Ross, and the North Sea.The key paragraphs were all controlled by the Purple Horde Khanate.

If they were offended, the Purple Horde would not have to do it themselves. The lackeys like Moscow would cut off the trade network of the Republic and put the merchants into bankruptcy—everyone suspected that they had long wanted to do this.

Therefore, now the Republic of Novgorod needs to find a new way to get itself out of the predicament.

Merchants don't want to pay too much money, but the necessary chips always have to be given.That being the case, it is better to transfer some less important sovereignty.The special location makes them perfectly possible to sell for a good price.

　Let's count your votes

　　Not to mention that I almost forgot myself...the gap between the number of interactions and the number of votes every day is too big. .

　　
　
(End of this chapter)