Guo Kang's speech did not surprise everyone too much. Tuohuan couldn't help but laugh a few times, and Theodora showed a crying and laughing expression. As for Joanna, her Chinese language skills didn't seem to be enough to understand the word, so she didn't react for a while.

"You can call it whatever you want...... Lady Elena was also a little confused, and continued, "Anyway, everyone has been using this set of laws since then. But by the time of my great-grandfather, it was very outdated. ”

"After the beginning of the Mongol era, the Rus' countries changed a lot, from the Norse style to the steppe style. In Ryazan, this change is especially noticeable. Because of the geographical location, there are many people who have migrated from the steppe in the Ryazan territory, including the Bulgars and the Kipchaks. These people are not used to Nordic management, which makes the chaos even worse. ”

So he called in a Greek jurist, hoping to draw up a "law of all peoples" to govern all the inhabitants, referring to Roman law. Thanks to their efforts, Ryazan himself was finally codified. ”

"I see you've been emphasizing this. Does it have a big impact? Tuohuan asked.

"After all, it is only a document in itself, but the key point is that the legal thought of the Greeks has provided us with a lot of ideas that are very worth learning from." "Jurists," said Lady Elena, "for example, not only brought the law, but also taught us the art of domination. In a simple way, they educate us on the logic of our rule and the nature of the law. Looking back now, I think these thoughts are the most precious. ”

"The Greeks told us that the key to the law was 'to give law to disputes, to punish crimes, and to judge right and wrong by words, not weapons.' The entire code revolves around these three purposes. The code must be made public, accessible and referenced by all that is needed, and it must be strictly maintained by forceful means to maintain order within the Principality. ”

"The key to rule is 'You are loyal to me, and I will protect you.'" This sentence has been our governing principle to this day. ”

"This is a typical feudal duty." Dehuan commented.

"That's true." Lady Elena nodded, a little helpless: "But to be honest, in the Ross region, this is already a very advanced way of management. ”

"That's ......"

"This law makes our society a little like the Franks of the past. The people in the village were almost serfs, and the power and responsibilities of the nobles were clearer than before. However, my father thought that this was still too backward, so he made a lot of new attempts. Lady Elena said, "Our plan builds on these successful attempts. ”

"He was an energetic and strict man. After stabilizing the situation, they have been trying to confine the boyars to the capital and cut them off from the territory. The day-to-day affairs of the realm were entrusted to the more shallower-based retainers and rich peasants, who were allowed to centralize the management of the grange industry. ”

In addition, he attacked the local diocese and forced the church to pay taxes to the princes. He ruled for more than fifty years, so the current atmosphere of Ryazan ...... According to our side, it is more secular and not quite like other principalities. Of course, they didn't scold us for it. ”

Guo Kang nodded.

Thanks to the basic common sense of various countries that his stepmother forced him to learn before, he already had an impression at this point. Because Lady Elena's father, among these generations of Rus, is too famous.

The word "harsh" she used was too tactful. In fact, both Ryazan law, and her father, the former Grand Duke Oleg Ryazansky, the most appropriate adjective is "brutal".

Ryazan's laws were so harsh that no other Rus' principalities could stand it. The Smolensk people next to him likened this law to "written in blood".

Order was formed within Ryazan, which was maintained by the Grand Duke with terrifying violence. The Ryazan Law completely forbade the traditional revenge of blood relatives and forbade the settlement of disputes by force. According to local tradition, those who fought with weapons were put to death on both sides. For this reason, some of the local clans were forced to choose to conceal their hatred, and in the event of a conflict, they would give priority to compromising with each other by losing money, so as not to wipe out both sides by the tyrannical Grand Duke.

The entire code of laws is full of such bloody rules. Not only the Rus' people in various places of this era, but also the Rus' scholars of later generations, believed that this law was so harsh that it was inhumane. Later, as the order stabilized, the law was amended several times, and the punishment was slightly milder, but the principality was still famous everywhere for its harsh punishment.

And Grand Duke Oleg was the one who used brutal means. Not only that, but he was also known for his cunning. He has been constantly going back and forth between the Rus' countries, Poland, Lithuania and the steppe powers, but all sides have nothing to do with him, even Moscow and the Golden Horde.

Domestically, he managed to maintain control of the grassroots and weaken the boyars.

Not only that, but he also extended his hand to the territory of the church, and essentially hollowed out the church by intervening in the management of water sources and land, and the adjudication of disputes. And even as Madame Elena said, weakened the religious atmosphere that had always been very strong in the Rus' region.

The cultured aristocrats were very afraid of his cleverness and lethality, and gave him the nickname "Viper".

Paradoxically, however, under his rule, the lives of ordinary Rus' people changed for the better.

During his more than 50 years of reign, Grand Duke Oleg promoted more advanced farming techniques, which tripled the annual grain harvest of the principality. And the quality of life of ordinary people has not declined because of this.

Nominally, most of the peasants became serfs of the state or feudal lords, bound to the land. But after serfdom, forced labor and military service were reduced. Moreover, under the new law, taxes have been clearly fixed, and the amount of money that farmers need to hand over is much reduced. Later, the principality also learned to set up relief warehouses for emergency use in times of famine.

As a result of these changes, although Oleg's way of ruling was bloody and brutal, the common people welcomed him. The Grand Duke is also very aware of this, and in order to deal with some stubborn nobles, he will even take the initiative to support the other party's lords to resist. The trust and support of the common people in the Grand Duke made the nobility even weaker.

Under his rule, the nobles who were not powerful in the first place became almost replaceable, and could be replaced by the cold and unsympathetic Grand Duke at any time because of their unqualified performance.

After the increase in grain production, cash crops such as flax and olives began to be cultivated on the lands of the aristocracy that had been managed by the previous political changes. These newly introduced centralized management methods have brought in more revenue. In addition, there were originally trade routes here, which made the national strength increase faster, and even had the confidence to call the most powerful Moscow.

These situations are quite "unconventional". Other Rus' were surprised to find that the Ryazan peasants had the desire to increase their production on their own initiative and were willing to work in order to get more pay.

Over time, the local social climate has also changed.

The history books of Smolensk describe the Ryazan people as having no sense of humor, only knowing that they are addicted to work, as if money is more important to them than God. Moreover, these people did not keep the Sabbath, and even contemptifiably sent nobles to collect taxes from the church.

Even the way of life of the aristocracy was restricted by strict laws. They live a relatively simple life, and their greatest pleasure is to spend and display themselves in the capital markets. The social atmosphere has become martial, disciplined, and simple, and everyone lives in a decent manner, not daring to go out of the ordinary, for fear of touching the harsh code.

Mrs. Elena must have thought that this condition would be beneficial for the implementation of the new system. And there are real situations on the ground that need to be addressed.

The biggest problem is that this system requires a strong ruling machine to maintain it. But the civilizational base of the Rus' region is not able to provide such a high-quality manager.

Grand Duke Oleg single-handedly imposed this policy for half a century, but after his death, a very traditional Rus's problem arose: the strongman was gone, and his heir was no longer capable of doing the same.

In their records, the clergy agreed that Fyodor, who had ascended to the throne, had inherited his father's cunning but lacked the corresponding strength. As a result, he has been able to maintain the status quo with the help of his supporters, but he has been unable to push for reform more effectively.

(End of chapter)