The forests of Sturgia are treacherous and cold, but they contain great wealth. Wild honey and marsh iron ore can be found here, but the real treasure has always been fur. For centuries, brave traders ventured here to buy fur from forest tribes for foxes, rabbits, and martens. As the empire expanded eastward, the influx of merchants turned from a trickle to a torrent. Many large towns sprang up along the river. Fortune-seekers come from the coast and steppes, but most of them come from the Nord kingdom. Tribal elders form alliances with newcomers, make vows with marriage vows, and use their trade profits to hire mercenaries to conquer other tribes. Instead of a kingdom, Stegia became a federation of principalities, developing into a great power in the north.

The sun was rising, and there was still a faint morning light that suddenly dispelled the endless darkness. The early spring sun is not yet warm, but the long cold night is coming to an end. A small grass bathed in the spring light slowly straightened its waist, even if it was small and humble, it dreamed that one day it could grow into a towering tree.

"Pop" a huge, sturdy, even faintly smelling of sweat big foot stepped on the grass's body.

A sharp pain hit it instantly, and it felt as if the muscles and bones of its whole body were crushed, but it was not afraid, it knew how tenacious it was!

"Papapa", countless pairs of big feet stepped over its weak body with rhythmic steps, and walked in the direction of the rising sun. Xiaocao died at the age of 0.1.

Suddenly, the beat of countless footsteps came to an abrupt end, and the big-footed masters were lined up in rows, ten, and hundreds, like ancient Greek sculptures. They were clad in chain mail, scale armor, and wore iconic helmets, and their sharp, two-handed battle axes emitted a terrifying chill even in such faint sunlight. Looking over the shoulders of the sculpture, nearly two thousand warships on the sea not far away, densely packed together, almost obscuring the entire skyline.

On the towering walls, Leo VI hides behind the female wall, with a sad face. Even though the walls of Constantinople were as tall and solid as Titans, the cold light emitted by the weapons and armor under the city, and the dense warships on the Sea of the Golden Horn made him panic.

At this time, a big man came out of the formation under the city. I saw that this person was wearing a helmet on his head, wearing fish scale armor, and a tiger-striped wolf flower chopping axe on his waist, which looked like a black iron tower, so powerful!

"Well, the emperor of the wall, I'm ......" Dahan's voice just started

"Oh, the good men in the city are angry. The good men have come from afar, and the widows have not been well entertained, and they have sinned and sinned," said Leo VI before he said it.

"I ......" the big man wanted to say again

"It's windy outside, please go into the city and settle down, and the widow will have a little wine and Greek beauties to accompany you."

"You ......"

"Oh oh, the rest of the heroes can be stationed outside the city with peace of mind, and from today onwards, there will be monthly coins to give"

"This ......"

"Yes, yes, there are also draft packages of agreements on economy and trade, security, and cultural exchanges, which are ready for you to sign at your sights."

"Good"

At this moment, a bead of sweat slipped quietly from Leo VI's forehead, and he secretly applauded himself for being so witty.

The day ended with the comrades of Eastern Rome and Rus' singing and dancing, drinking and talking. For many years thereafter, under the terms of the trade agreement between the two sides, the merchants of Rus' came to the castle duty-free with honey, furs, and slaves. The Rus' armies even joined the Eastern Roman armies as mercenaries, collectively or individually, and small flowers of friendship blossomed in every inch of the Balkans and the steppes of South Russia.

Although, from the point of view of the Juche people, there is no doubt that Rus is a Slavic state. But the actual founder was the Vikings (Normans) - the Novgorod prince Oleg. In 862 A.D., Oleg's relative Rurik was invited to quell the Slavic civil strife. After successfully quelling the rebellion, Rurik took the opportunity to ascend to the throne of the prince in Novgorod and established the first Rus' state, the Rurik dynasty.

After Rurik's death in 879, his son Igor was young, and his kinsman Oleg succeeded him as prince. In order to increase his prestige and consolidate his royal power, Oleg led his troops to the south along the "Vashi Trade Road". By 882 AD, it occupied strategic locations such as Smolensk, Polotsk and Kiev, and moved the capital of the Rus' state to Kiev, and Kievan Rus' was founded.

During his reign, Oleg continued to conquer the surrounding Slavic and non-Slavic tribes and states, thus forming a state with the Eastern Slavs as the main body. During the reign of the Rus' principalities, the members of the ruling group were gradually assimilated into the culture of the Slavs, the main people. The Rus' rulers after Oleg gradually began to use Slavic names.

During the reign of Oleg and the next three Grand Dukes, Igor, Olga and Svyatoslav I, they repeatedly laid siege to Constantinople, forcing them to sign a number of commercial treaties that guaranteed the commercial privileges of the Rus' in Turro (whether or not to besiege Constantinople is disputed).

Contrary to the impression of many people that the Rus' people were mostly good at warfare, in fact, the Rus' iron smelting, metalworking, weapons manufacturing, tanning, pottery and other handicrafts were very developed. At the same time, merchants sold grain, bees, furs, wine and other local products and handicrafts to Eastern Russia, Western Europe, Northern Europe and even Arabia.

And in agriculture, the foundation of the agrarian people, the Rus' people also attach great importance to it. During the reign of Yaroslav (1015-1054 AD), the Code of Ancient Rus' (also known as the Yaroslav Code) was compiled, which provided detailed provisions for various aspects of agriculture, such as disputes over land boundaries, ownership of livestock, and protection of farmland. The increasingly intensified contradictions between the landlord class and the peasant class brought about by land annexation should be alleviated by legislation, so as to ensure the sustained and sound development of agriculture.

With the continuous expansion of the Rus' and the steady trade with the surrounding countries, the Rus' power reached its historical peak during the reign of Vladimir I (980-1015 AD). The Rus' principality became an Eastern European power that no European country dared to underestimate, so much so that Dongluo had to marry Princess Anna to Vladimir I in a political marriage to strengthen relations with Rus'. Subsequently, Vladimir I declared the Orthodox Church as the state religion in 988~989 AD, forcing all the inhabitants to accept it. This move has an immeasurable impact on the relationship and pattern of the country in later generations and even today.

Yaroslav's death was followed by the reign of his three sons. During this period, the exploitation of the tenant peasants attached to them by the feudal lords became increasingly serious, and the people revolted continuously. At the same time, with the gradual increase in the power of the great nobility in various regions and the development of the local natural economy, the unified state power gradually collapsed, and gradually split into many independent local principalities, and the Rus turned from prosperity to decline. After the thirties of the twelfth century, the unified Rus' no longer existed, and the history of the Rus' entered a period of feudal separation. After that, with the defeat of the Mongol allied Rus' forces at the Battle of the Kalka River, the Rus' began to submit to the Kipchak Khanate, which was established by the Mongols. It was not until 1480 AD that the Moscow principality, a branch of the Rurik dynasty, unified the Rus' and drove out the Mongols, and the Rus' principality was destroyed.

As the most powerful infantry force, the name of the Nord Emperor is known to everyone in the entire Calradia continent. Nord soldiers are armed with chain mail and round shields, as well as their signature helmets and two-handed battle axes. Compared to the Imperial infantry, which was adept at fighting in formation, the warriors of the Nords preferred duels between a few people in small areas. The strong samurai armed with a big axe, shouting slogans, rushed into the enemy line to slash left and right, male hormones burned with blood, and the strong male breath even spread from the east of the village to the west of the village! Powerful foot warriors with high-quality cavalry and powerful archers, as the so-called hooligans know martial arts, no one can stop them! How powerful will the Nordgar Vecchia combination be?

To the south of the hinterland of the empire is the scorching sun of Nahazar, also known as the Bronze Desert, surrounded by mountains and scorching sun. Visitors passing through the pass from the verdant ground will first see the dune fields devastated by the gravel plains and volcanic outcrops, all glistening in the heat. However, water sources can be found underground, accumulating in depressions or under dry rivers where flash floods occasionally rush through. People settled in these oases. They are divided into dozens of tribes and sub-tribes, each with an exhaustive genealogy, but they are collectively known as the Banuasera or Assella, a name named after the legendary patriarch Assella, who they all revealed as their ancestors.

Even empires in their heyday were reluctant to send legions into this wilderness that would devour armies. Instead, the empire deployed its forces to Nahazar by cultivating clients and allies among tribes that competed with each other in a never-ending struggle for power. The tribes that were able to take their place in the oasis earned imperial subsidies for protecting passing caravans and grew richer. The defeated tribes were forced into the desert and had to herd goats and camels and raid caravans until they could make a comeback. Today, the decline of the empire brings new opportunities and risks, and Asselle has agreed to form a coalition led by a sultan elected from among the richest tribes, the Banahuyan. But everyone knows that the struggle has only stopped temporarily and will start again in due course.

The al-Assel was based on the Arab tribes that preceded the great Islamic conquests of the seventh century, which established a diverse caliphate on three continents, the size and institutions of which did not suit its political system. Over the centuries, the Arabs have established a series of federations and kingdoms on the edge and within the deserts of Arabia and Syria. Many consider the entire Middle East to be arid and barren, although most of the famous wars, especially during the Crusades, were fought along the Mediterranean coast or in the steppes of the Anatolian plateau. However, it is true that the hinterland of Arabia is mostly desert. Our landscapes highlight the rugged beauty of sand dunes, rugged mountains and oases, as well as the unattractive heathlands that stretch in between, such as scrublands and dry waterways.