Ivan was utterly fed up with the endless infighting within the Grand Duchy of Moscow. Even when his gaze swept over his courtiers, it was filled with contempt and disdain. Everywhere he looked, there were short-sighted fools. Ivan IV cursed these incompetent, stupid gray beasts from the bottom of his heart. These barbarians, raised in the cold permafrost, had no idea that the world was undergoing a cataclysmic change.
Thousands of miles away, Spain and Portugal had discovered the Cape of Good Hope, and Europeans had begun the era of the slave trade. The Spanish emperor, Charles V, a protagonist of the Habsburg era, ushered in the era of the invincible Armada, the age of the sun never setting. And what was Moscow doing at this time?
Still basking in the glory of who could control the young Tsar? Still busy with factional infighting and vying for power?
No. Mercy and forgiveness towards these cowardly beasts will only embolden them. Every great Tsar, from Ivan the Great to Peter the Great to Catherine the Great, every Tsar recorded in the epic, climbed to the top by stepping on the corpses of his rivals.
It was time for Ivan IV to show them what a ruthless tyrant truly was.
The candlelight flickered, and the bedchamber door was pushed open. An attendant cautiously entered. After the bloody baptism of the day, no one dared to mock the young Ivan IV behind his back. They felt a genuine fear of the boy sitting on the golden throne.
It was as if overnight, he had shed his cloak of cowardice and donned the robe of brutality,
becoming a proper monarch of Moscow.
"The stable master, Chelyadnin, requests an audience."
The attendant carefully observed Ivan's expression, and only breathed a sigh of relief when he saw no impatience.
"Granted."
Ivan IV waved his hand, dismissing the attendant.
A relieved official hurriedly left Ivan's bedchamber, not wanting to stay there for even a moment longer. The area around Ivan IV seemed like a vacuum, devoid of air; no one dared approach.
Just as Ivan IV was becoming increasingly agitated, Ivanovich Chelyadnin, the stable master and Ivan IV's last guardian, requested an audience with the Tsar. He was Ivan IV's tutor and the last line of defense arranged by Vasily III before his death.
Chelyadnin entered the room, having just learned of the day's events.
He was shocked by Ivan IV's decision to throw a maid into Lefortov and the mass arrests of guards in the Kremlin.
Chelyadnin had always taught Ivan IV to use kindness and forgiveness as the standard of moral judgment, guiding His Majesty towards good. He did not want a tyrant who disregarded human life to appear in Moscow.
As an elder himself, he adopted the authority befitting one, attempting to use his years of life experience to critique Ivan IV. He had prepared his entire speech in his mind the moment he entered.
However, when his eyes met Ivan IV's, he was surprised to find that the young Tsar had lost his previous timidity towards authority.
The child he remembered, who cowered before his harsh methods, now sat maturely and steadily in his chair, awaiting his arrival.
Chelyadnin was always adept at reading people, yet he could discern no emotion on Ivan IV's face. It was as if he had layered on disguise, leaving only a mask to face his teacher.
In that instant, Chelyadnin realized that his prepared speech was useless.
"You've arrived, teacher,"
Ivan said calmly. "It's quite late now. If there's nothing else…"
"Are you absolutely sure there's nothing else? Your Majesty Ivan."
The elder standing before him interrupted him firmly. Chelyadnin looked at him seriously and asked,
"Your Majesty, how long are you going to keep this up?"
"I don't understand what you mean, teacher?"
Ivan IV pretended to be deaf and dumb. He asked, "Does Teacher Chelyadnin think there's something going on?"
"Of course."
Chelyadnin slammed his hand on the table. He pointed at His Majesty Ivan and said, "Throwing servants into Lefortov's prison without trial, and having Grand Duke Tuchkov send men to conduct a massive search for servants in the Kremlin. You're acting recklessly! Did Tuchkov say something to you? How many times have I told you, a monarch…"
"Shut up, you old man!"
"What did you call me?"
As Ivan's teacher, Chelyadnin angrily adopted the posture befitting a guardian, addressing the rude Ivan. "You called me an old man? I was your father's appointed guardian before his death!"
"So what, old man?"
Ivan IV, unable to contain his anger, stood up, his expression impatient. "A man with one foot in the grave dares to point fingers at me? Think about it, this frozen wasteland is a result of people like you; it's because of you that Moscow is like this. A bunch of short-sighted fools, completely lacking any grand strategic vision, and you dare call yourselves the heirs of Rome?"
Chelyadnin was stunned by Ivan's words.
The young Tsar had never spoken to him like this before.
Faced with these fools, the unbearable Ivan IV finally erupted in anger. Pointing to the map, he said, word by word, "Look at the West, look at them, look at that Holy Roman Empire, which is neither holy nor Roman nor imperial! It is rapidly rising under the leadership of Charles V. They have already begun to search for new continents, built a powerful fleet, and are engaged in colonial expansion and the slave trade! And what are you doing? You are slowly boiling frogs in the daily strife. You are completely unaware of the earth-shattering changes taking place in the world."
"Do you think the Ottoman Empire, the Golden Horde, and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth are all you have? When will you, you ignorant gray beasts, open your eyes and truly look at the world!"
These words of Ivan IV were nothing short of heretical to a Grand Duke who had been baptized in Orthodox theology, yet these heretical words still came from the mouth of a Tsar.
He said with a scathing sneer, "Compared to the Holy Roman Empire, the subjects of Moscow are truly unworthy to call themselves heirs to the Roman Empire."
"Your Majesty,"
Chelyadnin hurriedly tried to stand up, but Ivan IV pressed him back down. The Tsar had developed early; the thirteen-year-old boy already possessed a physique and stature far exceeding his peers.
He also possessed a maturity and aloofness far beyond his years.
"Listen carefully, Teacher Chelyadnin. I address you as 'teacher' now out of consideration for our past relationship. If, if you try to stop me from doing anything, I will not let you off the hook out of our past teacher-student bond."
"Moscow has been mired in darkness for too long; it desperately needs a guiding light."
When he accepted the reality of becoming the first Tsar of Russia, he also accepted the fate he was to bear.
Ivan IV stood up and gestured for his teacher to leave with dignity.
"Therefore, I implore all you gray beasts in Moscow present here, stop holding me back!"
"This empire is poised to rise!"