Ermak’s campaign in Siberia has long become a myth and an epic. But the first forays beyond the Urals were made by the Novgorodians, centuries before the legendary winner Khan Kuchum. Why didn’t the development of Siberia begin earlier? Ermak Timofeevich died “on the wild shore of the Irtysh”; all his atamans died. The first detachment of the regular Russian army, which went to help Ermak, also died. Even the commandant of the first Russian prison beyond the Urals was almost immediately killed... by his own cat. But all these losses and failures did not prevent the phenomenal success of Siberian expansion! Let's try to answer why. From the author: Previously, some of the chapters were published in the magazine "Profile" and on the pages of the electronic media "Russian Planet" and DV.land.