Crimea is ours. But for how long? What will one merely sailing into the Black Sea matter—does anything really get decided that way alone? Who would you trade with if the Ottoman Empire is hostile? But the deed is done; now we must hold on.
In Russia, after the deposition of Patriarch Ioakim, reforms are in full swing, meeting resistance from part of the boyars. The Jesuits will never be satisfied…
As the governor’s adviser, I try to put into the headstrong mind of Peter Alekseevich what needs to be put there, but… the tsar’s character is something else…
And in the north there is another enemy of Russia: without defeating it, you cannot count on growth. The Swedes still buy Russian grain, resell it for triple the price, leaving crumbs from their royal table for the Russian treasury. Is that fair? No. And don’t the Russian lands once occupied by the Swedes, during a moment of Russia’s weakness, want to return to their native harbor? Icy war is inevitable.