The Rise of the European Emperor

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In Slavic, "Ukraine" means border region. Compared with Lithuania in the north, and even Moscow, Ukraine is the southern "border area" of the Slavs.

Therefore, the "Ukrainian Count" that Marin bought for Simon means "Country of the Border Region" in Slavic.

Maybe people in later generations will find it unbelievable - the warm and fertile Ukraine on the Black Sea in the south would actually be a border region? Yes, that's true...

The Slavs originated in the Vistula River Basin in Poland. Once, during the Roman Empire, the distribution area of ​​the Slavs started from the Oder River in the west, the Dnieper River in the east, the Carpathian Mountains in the south, and the Baltic Sea in the north. The Dnieper River is the central river of Ukraine. Therefore, it is not unreasonable to say that Ukraine is a border region of the Slavs.

Later, the Slavs expanded in Europe, and the southward branch occupied the Balkans, which was the Yugoslavs. To the north... well, because of the Baltic Sea, they migrated along the sea to the Livonia region, which is later in Estonia and Latvia. Needless to say, Maozi is a branch that develops to the east. As for the west, it was blocked by the Germanic knights and stopped in the Czech region.

As for the Ukrainian region to the southeast, states like the Principality of Kievan Rus originally appeared, which should have developed into an important civilized area for the Slavs.

But unfortunately, when the Mongolian Batu expedition to the west, the principality of Kievan Rus was destroyed, and the progress of Ukrainian civilization was interrupted, and it became a poor border area.

Later, although the Grand Duchy of Lithuania took the opportunity of the decline of the Golden Horde to seize Ukraine from the Golden Horde, it was difficult for the Ukrainian economy to have such a fierce robber state in the south of Ukraine because of the Crimean Khanate. developed.

Therefore, the current Ukraine region, in the eyes of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, is a poor border region. But the irony is that this poor border area is the warmest and most fertile place in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

Because the land is too fertile and there are rivers such as the Dnieper River, this part of Ukraine still supports two or three million Ukrainians. The so-called Cossacks are actually just a relatively aggressive minority of Ukrainians. Most Ukrainians are ordinary herdsmen, and a few are engaged in agriculture by the river.

However, agriculture in Ukraine is generally concentrated in the northern region. Because the farms in the south are easily sacked by the Crimean Khanate.

The Galicia region of Poland was actually originally a Ukrainian region. After the decline of the Golden Horde, Poland took the opportunity to snatch Galicia. And Lviv in Galicia is now a famous granary in Poland.

It also belonged to the Ukraine area and was also a black land, but because the Lviv area was protected by the Polish knights and was located in the northwest of the Ukraine area, it was basically not harassed by the Crimean Khanate. Therefore, the local agriculture developed.

Therefore, in the current Ukraine region, only the north has relatively stable agricultural areas. For example, Kyiv, because it is located in northern Ukraine and is relatively safe, has also developed agriculture. In the south, under the threat of the Crimean Khanate, the land was basically abandoned. Or, some Cossack villages are grazing.

And those southern Cossacks and ordinary Ukrainians chose to herd because they were afraid that the Crimean Khanate would sack them. The reason is very simple - you see, we are also poor herders, and we usually eat cheese, so there is no oil or water to grab... Heroes of Crimea, don't come to grab us, the same poor herdsmen... ...not to mention, the Crimeans really have no interest in villages that are also herdsmen. At most, go grab some population...

Also, it is convenient for herdsmen to relocate. If they heard that the Crimean Khanate had invaded, everyone would put the tents or something on the carriage, then drove the cattle and sheep, and ran away immediately. The Ukrainian steppe is so big that it is not easy to be caught by Crimean robbers. If it is a farming village, then the monk can't run away from the temple...

...

Of course,

Marin asked Simon to go to Kyiv to become an earl, not to open up wasteland for farming, but to attack the Ukrainian population.

After all, Ukraine has a population of two or three million. For countries in the world before the Industrial Revolution, the population was the labor force and the productive force.

Although Marin encourages childbirth in Beihai, it takes time to give birth. Waiting for domestic women to give birth and raise them slowly, Marin may have died.

Therefore, the easiest and quickest way is to plunder the population. And the Ukrainians who do not have their own country have become the targets of Marin's coveted.

Although both Slavs, Ukrainians and Muscovites are different. Maozi had formed a strong and unified country at this time, with a strong sense of national identity. Moreover, Maozi is also used to using his own language and characters.

And Ukrainians, because they don't have their own country. Although they have their own language, they mainly use the Ruthenian language of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (about the language of Belarus and Lithuania). Usually, Ukrainians want to communicate with the outside world, they must use Ruthenian, even German, Latin and Polish. Even the legal provisions of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania are written in Ruthenian, Latin and German.

And this gave Marin the opportunity to absorb and integrate the Ukrainians—the Ukrainian nobles and upper-class people all knew German.

The reason for this is mainly because the German missionaries contributed greatly to the conversion of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to Catholicism. In addition, the number one rival of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Teutonic Knights, is a German-speaking country. For religious and diplomatic purposes, Lithuanian nobles generally learn Latin and German.

In this way, when Simon becomes a Ukrainian count, it will not be a problem to promote German locally. At that time, Marin planned to pay to build a group of mission schools in Ukraine, specializing in teaching German to Ukrainian children, and eventually Germanizing Ukrainians.

What are the benefits of the Germanization of Ukraine? Of course, it is convenient for immigration! These people can speak German, and it will be easier for Marin to recruit them. Even German-speaking Ukrainians can be recruited into the North Sea army.

Once Ukrainians are accustomed to speaking German, they will be completely Germanized and integrated into the German population just like the East Prussians in history.

It should be pointed out that the Prussians are not Germans, but authentic Slavs. But as the Teutonic Knights from Germany invaded the Prussian region and Germanized the Teutonic state, the Prussians who were originally Slavs were integrated into the German Empire and became Germans.

Obviously, Marin also intends to use the same routine to promote German education in Ukraine. Even, no expense was spared to set up tuition-free mission schools to Germanize the Ukrainians. In this way, after a few generations, these Ukrainians will be like the Prussians, integrated into the North Sea country, and silently merged by the Germans...

And the North Sea country, at least one million more people can be added, which can alleviate the labor shortage problem when Marin developed the Americas...

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