In the earlier part of the 16th century Moscow was like any other peasants village, only with the addition of a few fancy buildings and tripled in size. The city had become rich from fur trade, it being the centre of the trade lanes from the north and south. From here, the muscovite rulers had become powerful, under the leash of their Mongol masters they had conquered all other Russian principalities and established themselves as the Empire of the Rus. Now was the time to break the dark bond with their former masters to the south, but many precautions had to be taken; Russia had more than a few enemies at her borders. To the west the Commonwealth of Poland-Lithuania being the clear dominating power of eastern Europe, commanded vast armies (maybe not as vast as the Russian ones but surely more advanced) and possessed great generals like Ostrogski. The threat of this realm was not one to be taken lightly, that was for certain. To the north the weak kingdom of Sweden dominated by Denmark, was perhaps not a power to be reckoned with at this time, but they had a very powerful strategic location, something that could give them the strength to become more powerful in the future.
In the south, the mongol khanates, earlier so mighty but now divided and weak, were ripe for the taking. Beyond that, there were rumours of great lands, rich with resources and wealth.
THE RISE (or fall)
OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE 1520 – 1820
Chapter 0
Moscow was almost entirely covered by the black northern night, the only light coming from the heavily clouded moon. The Kremlin was easily seen as a dark silhouette to the black sky, its towering shape standing high above the other houses of the city. Dark shapes moved in the night, somewhere an inn was still open, even at this ungodly hour the sounds of drunken laughter emitting from the bright windows. Like any other city, Moscow had its shortcomings as well as splendours.
Vasily III sat in his chamber, pondering over the future of his realm. The newly formed state was still in its cradle and he could see that there were many enemies standing by, ready to squash its ambitions for glory. The Poles were making threatening demands for the Ukrainian provinces under Russian control. Vasily did not know what to do. The Russians had acquired these lands from the Commonwealth not long ago but right now, their armies were incredibly large with the great Ostrogski leading them. Russian peasants could not do much against these winged hussars. Hopefully the Poles would become preoccupied elsewhere, the Turks were making a fuss down in the Balkans and being a good Christian Zygmunt would have to come to the aid of the Emperor in protecting their lands.
Not only outer enemies threatened Russia’s, and Vasily´s, existence. The boyar Yurij Muravjov was also a thorn in his side. The old noble was more than a power to be reckoned with; rumour had it that he was perhaps even more powerful than Vasily himself, at least at the court. Whatever he was planning, it could not be of good.
The man was probably too influential to be exposed of, so maybe he could be made an ally? The future of Russia was uncertain, but golden glory lay there and the opportunity to grab it would surely come....
NOTE: Be aware that the Empire of Russia has been formed a little earlier in this scenario
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Chapter 1
1520
Yurij Muravjov walked along one of the corridors of his residence. His powerful stature gave away his former service in the army, even though he was an old man by now. He was a boyar, a member the old aristocracy of Russia. Rich and powerful, he owned a lot of lands around the former realms of Novgorod. When the current Tsar Vasily III assumed power, he had moved to Moscow to be able to direct certain matters in person as well as being closer to the court. Known as sly and a lover of intrigues, the current “important people” of the court had tried to have him taken away through a varied flora of actions. Still, Yurij had stayed. He had lived for a long time and could easily tell what the opposition was planning, the ones in the Kremlin most of all. His wide contact net gave him knowledge of every action his enemies as well as his friends were committing, and he had made certain that not a mouse would be able to stir in Moscow without his knowledge. Right now, he was the most influential, powerful and greatest player on the diplomatic field (apart from the tsar of course). He had a toothache and couldn’t sleep.
At this time, medical specialization such as dentistry was no more than a hobby among some of the nobles and “doctors” of the capital and Yurij was not exceptionally fond of having his teeth drawn out. Besides, this tooth had ached since he was sixteen, it was not like he wasn’t used to it. In fact, he thought he would miss the old bugger if he decided to draw it out.
What really held him awake was not his tooth however, no there was another reason for his late excursions in the big residence. A messenger had arrived just that night carrying a message of utmost importance, demanding to speak to the boyar at once. Yurij wondered what the message was, but he could make some guesses already. A month ago, the Polish had made troubling demands for the ruthenian cultured provinces of Poltava and Donetsk. The Tsar had answered with the usual statement, a more verbal form of “no” and since then all communication with the Commonwealth had stopped, news of the hussaria massing at the border had reached Yurij’s ears a week ago. What troubled Yurij was not the war in itself, he already knew the Russians could hold their own on the battlefield but the Polish army was superior in every aspect. He had spoken to the great Ostrogski on several occasions (Yurij was a man of contacts and intelligence after all) and knew that man had a mind like no other. The Russians would have to be really lucky or blessed if they were to win the upcoming war.
What made him sweat however was that a large part of his lands lay around the city of Kharkov, the area the Poles had made advances to. Would the Poles win, which they surely would, he would loose half his fortune. Perhaps a deal could be made with the Polish king…
When he reached the end of the main hallway, he descended the beautifully wooden ornamented stairs into the hallway, where the messenger stood waiting. It was Katja, a young woman who had been hired a few years ago by Yurij, now working at semi-high level in his wide contact net.
“Greetings Yurij, I am sorry to wake you so late but as you may know, I come with a message of utmost importance”, she said, the girl never paid heed to titulations.
“Tell me Katja, I already have a feeling what the matter is.”
“The Poles have invaded, at the moment they are sieging Kharkov and have occupied all lands south of the river Donetsk. It all happened very fast. The Teutons have allied the Commonwealth, right as we speak, they are marching on Pskov”, then she added “The Tsar will be notified in an hour.”
1538
It was a beautiful winter-day, the snow glistening in response to the strong sun, the trees bulging from their weight, the way they always did. Moscow was as usual, filled with serfs, nobles and screaming laughter as well as wailing despair. Even though it was cold, the white sheet made it feel warm somehow and coupled with some furs and the fact that you have lived in this weather for all your life, it was actually a pretty hot day after all.
Ivan took an arrow from his pack and strung it to his short bow. Taking aim, a deep breath and concentrating, he let it go swiftly. The twang and swishing sound was immediately followed by a deep thud and the last sighs of a deer. It had been a pure shot and had hit the leg of his prey, which would cause the animal a lot of pain before it would die. Just like Ivan wanted.
“Great shot my Lord”, Yurij appraised on his side.
Since his crowning two years ago, Ivan had enjoyed hunting even more than before. It provided a great relaxation and the ability to focus his thoughts on the tasks at hand. The realms he had inherited from his father was an Empire in growing. Though Russia had lost to the Poles, after countless of battles and countless of serfish deaths, the lands south of the Donetsk had been ceded to the Commonwealth. It had been a great loss, but not something that could be repaired. Ivan remembered his father when he had made the decision to attack the Khanate of Astrakhan. The outdated Mongols had fallen to the Russian cavalry like wheat before a scythe and the war had gone swiftly. This had given some prestige and the nobles and generals had something to talk about other than the defeat to Poland-Lithuania earlier.
After consolidating his holdings, his father had made the order of attacking Krim and the ravenous slave-traders that lived there. As long as they were not controlled, Russia could not benefit from the fruitful lands they had just conquered (Crimean Tatars and slave traders were known to make raids northwards, taking as many prisoners as possible). With the aid of the ancient kingdom of Georgia the Tatars were crushed, surrendering large amounts of territory to both parties, giving the Tsar access to the Black Sea.
When Ivan took the throne, he continued the conquests of his father. Some more lands of Astrakhan were handed over to Russia and he had just started a second war on this Khanate, aiming to take as much as possible from the corrupt Mongols.
On the second day of ruling, Ivan had been approached by an old boyar, Yurij Muravjov, the man right now accompanying him on his hunting excursion. He had proven incredibly valuable, how stupid his father had been not to accept his services! Yurij provided him with information that the young Tsar in turn used to counter his enemies. He had not demanded any payment, but that was not weird, as anyone would be honoured to serve the Tsar in person. The only thing that troubled him was that there were rumours that Yurij was a friend of the Polish king and that he owned a great deal of estates on the other side of the border. Anyway, it was probably just what is seemed anyway, a rumour.
Smiling, Ivan ran ahead to take care of the now dead deer...
