Chapter 391: Changes in Moscow

Mikhail finally took control of the supreme power of Novgorod. After confirming his legitimacy, the first thing he did was to confiscate the property.

"The Citizens' Assembly can no longer maintain its role. Some people with ulterior motives have controlled it, causing the assembly to violate the will of the Grand Duke. From now on, the Citizens' Assembly will be dissolved, and the date of resumption is to be determined. All the property of the escaped members will be confiscated."

This announcement shocked the whole city. The political system that had been maintained for hundreds of years was directly overturned. Then the captured members of the meeting were packed and sent to Moscow, and the Grand Duke gave them the final punishment.

"It's much colder here than Constantinople."

Mikhail's first feeling here was the cold. Novgorod is located in a high-latitude area. Except for some cold-resistant crops, other crops cannot be grown at all. Food needs to be transported from Moscow and Tver. In order to make up for the expenditure, the Hanseatic League was used for trade, which also earned more income.

Now Mihay has become the owner here, and he wants to make a thorough transformation of this place. Although Novgorod has a coastline, there is no suitable place to build a port. Trade basically goes to Reval (Narva) first and then goes to Novgorod by land. With the Kalmar Union surrounding them, it is even more difficult to get to the sea.

"Sir, we want a port of our own. We have to pay a large fee every time we go to Reval. If we continue like this, we will go bankrupt."

More than a dozen merchants petitioned Mihaly, hoping to own a port. Mihaly agreed and said that he would prepare for it. The merchants left with satisfaction. But Mihaly was left in a dilemma.

According to the current situation, Reval is the best choice. It is the closest to here and does not cost too much money. If a port is to be rebuilt, it will take a lot of time to build a port with so many swamps on the northern coastline. And the border issue with the Kalmar Union needs to be resolved.

"Starting tomorrow, we will survey the northern coast and see where it is most suitable to build a city."

Mihaly gave orders to everyone. It is urgent to obtain an outlet to the sea. Only in this way can the country be guaranteed to operate for a long time. At the same time, we must strengthen our strength to cope with possible wars.

Grand Duke Vasily returned victorious and won the applause of the whole city. The nobles also sincerely wanted to assist the ruler who won independence for Moscow, but the appointment of Mihaj once again put Moscow at risk of division.

"Grand Duke, why do you appoint a foreigner to control Novgorod? They originally did not obey the Grand Duke's rule. Now it is not exciting to let a foreigner come?"

The younger brother Yuri proposed to the Grand Duke to let someone else take over Novgorod, but the foreigner was worried. But Vasily was very open-minded: "As long as it is beneficial to Moscow's cause, he can give it a try. And if Mihaj had not delayed the war, it is still unknown who would have won the final victory."

"Even if he has great merits, he can be rewarded with money. Why should he be appointed as the chief of Novgorod? This is to make us repeat the same mistakes."

What Yuri said is not unreasonable. Now that Moscow has entered a period of centralization, there are many reforms that need to be carried out. What if the other party directly relies on the local financial resources to become independent? At that time, it will be another long war. Can Moscow still afford it?

Vasily was a little angry, "You always say that this and that are not good, but who among you can contribute to the country? If any of you think you are capable, go to other places to prove it."

All the nobles were silent. Which fool would be willing to give up the comfort of Moscow and go to the border area. Only some mud legs were willing to do so. They were unwilling because their ancestors had already done the work and they didn't have to work.

"Since there is no one, don't say anything. Let's see how he does in Novgorod first. If it doesn't work, I will find someone to replace him."

After getting this answer, others couldn't say anything, and then the next situation in Moscow. Since it got rid of the shackles and didn't need to pay tribute to Mongolia, Moscow had nearly one and a half tons of silver every year, which could maintain the expenses of an army for a year. Vasily decided to continue to expand the army. Crossing the Ural Mountains and following the footsteps of the nomads would have greater surprises.

The war between Lithuania and Teutonic was an opportunity for expansion. Moscow could take this opportunity to attack the Livonia region. After hundreds of years of governance by the Knights, this place has become a fertile land. In sharp contrast, the political division is that the Knights are only nominal co-lords, and there are four bishops and a city-level district in the local area. Such division has promoted the economy but weakened national defense. The neighboring countries all want to get involved in this land, and it depends on who is quicker to act.

Moscow is now also making a lot of money. Rome, the most important trading partner in the south, is Moscow's customer. The reactivation of the Amber Road has driven the growth of merchants and citizens in Moscow. Cities have sprung up along the way. After gaining economic strength, they demand more reforms to solve the current noble problems. They want too much benefit, and they must spit out some.

Moscow absorbed a lot of noble forces during its rapid expansion. Because it expanded too fast and there were not enough officials, it let the nobles govern themselves. But the implementation of the centralized ideology and policy made those nobles feel a crisis. If they want to protect their own interests, they have to launch their own agents. Brother Yuri is just the right one.

He promised the nobles that he would not infringe on their interests, and also received support from Lithuania. But Vasily's ideas were obviously much higher than his. In this centralized world, enfeoffment of nobles was a dead end. Therefore, the expansion in recent years has basically adopted the direct jurisdiction method to increase its own strength.

At the same time, Vasily did not rely on the noble army to fight wars. He preferred to use the army composed of self-cultivating farmers or small landlords who obtained small plots of land. Vasily clearly guaranteed that their rights would not be violated, and also greatly improved their status. Everyone was proud to join the army. On this basis, Vasily began to form the first standing army, and was equipped with 20 muskets and 4 cannons for the first time. The power was improved, and this was also the first army in Moscow equipped with firearms, which was epoch-making.

This was not enough. Vasily needed more troops to fight against those huge noble private soldiers, so the appointment of Mihaly was actually to let him keep an eye on Moscow's money bag. If they surpassed these nobles in terms of financial resources, their strength would be surpassed by the Grand Duke.