Rise of Rurik Chapter 480

"The Rise of Rurik (

A protracted war seems to have come to an end.

Rurik has some worries about the future. It is undeniable that the Rus army has indeed carried out a massacre on Gotland. From the very beginning, the army didn't want to fight the rout, and turned around and left without asking for a ransom.

Adhering to Clausewitz's concept, Gotland has been scrubbed like a swarm by the Russian army. The island's population is small, and it is now almost a no-man's land.

Not necessarily, a new batch of immigrants live in the ruins of Visby. The old Gotland survivors fled into the woods, and the Mälaren immigrants took up space.

The huge Ross fleet almost left Gould Island in the extreme cold.

On the lake full of thin ice floes, a group of big boats gathered, and the huge jibs that raised showed the martial power of the Rus people.

Every cargo ship is packed full, and the Russ have purchased unprecedented food and vegetables. With a population of more than 10,000, they will surely have a very comfortable winter.

Some people are happy and others are worried. For the ordinary people of the Mälaren tribe, they have been full of joy in the past year looking forward to a bumper harvest, and hope to share some dividends in the victory of the war.

After the battle died, Maizi was taken away by the powerful, and their wealth was depleted, and their feelings of sadness and anger continued to ferment in the cold wind. But King Carl was not in a good mood at all. He stood on the shore watching the departure of the huge Ross fleet, and with extreme anxiety he watched a group of local merchants who followed the Ross people to leave.

"Such a powerful fleet. Aphrora, such a big ship! Unfortunately, if I also have such a fleet, I don't have to worry about anyone who dares to covet my throne. I can go south to destroy the Danish army..."

It is very realistic that the organization of such a fleet requires a lot of money.

Throughout the warm season of the war, the Ross people became the final big winners. They had made a lot of money through trade in the previous years, and now they have plundered a lot and become rich.

He sighed and couldn't care too much, just because the rebellious strength within the tribe, the rising Bjorn, had become the most deadly threat. The Danes are unlikely to hit Lake Mälaren in one go, and Bjorn and others have the ability to gather a group of armed farmers to overturn their wooden walls.

"I have to find a way to get rid of them! I have to do it first."

The Ross people's fleet is getting further and further away, gradually disappearing into the tens of thousands of islands and sandbars at the mouth of the lake.

The cold wind was like a knife, and Carl greeted his incompetent entourage back with a sad mood.

He is brewing a plan, a plan similar to a Hongmen Banquet, to behead the leaders of those big families, and use this violent means to kill all the doubters. It seems that only this can ensure the stability of his king's identity.

The Ross fleet arrived at Tombstone Island, and part of the supplies were unloaded, especially the key wheat. This is to ensure that this stronghold can survive the long winter.

Not long ago, the Aland Islands was still a no-man's land, and a large number of offshore reefs filled the area with danger.

The Rus took possession of this place, and a trading stronghold and military fortress rose from the ground to become a pass in the sea into the Gulf of Bothnia.

After Tombstone Island is the huge Bay of Bothnia, even if the cold wind gusts, there are still a number of herring fishing boats scattered on the sea.

There are Ross fishing boats everywhere, and the soldiers temporarily recruited armored soldiers and resumed active operations as fishermen. They tied blue and white cloth strips to the top of the mast of the fishing boat to show their identity.

The huge Ross fleet is back!

The huge Aphrodite is the pride of people. She leads all the ships, riding the turbulent waves against the wind in the north wind.

She is an unsinkable warrior in the ice sea, an elegant Valkyrie, and the flag of Rose flying on the mast attracts nearby fishing boats to come closer.

The homecoming is under the control of Rurik, although the waves have become turbulent, any fully loaded ships will be one after another in the waves.

The structure of the cargo ship is extremely sturdy, and the design of the deck prevents most of the water splashing in. It was a group of people in the cabin, the Mälaren women and children who were passively emigrating, and they were "dying to breathe" in the constant vomiting.

The multi-day voyage had results. A stone mound appeared in the distance, and as the fleet approached, the stone mound turned into a stone mountain range.

Roseburg is in the fjord under this stone mountain. The boulders block most of the cold wind, and the fjord is the best haven.

All the cargo ships docked smoothly at the pier of the trestle bridge, and people on the shore hurriedly took the ropes to secure the ships, and then moved the cargo in an orderly manner.

The following merchant ships, as usual, rushed directly to the sandy beach and deliberately ran aground. The people on the ship disembarked with cables, knocked down wooden stakes and tied the cables on the sandy ground to secure the long ship firmly.

For the native residents of Roseburg, the return of the huge commercial fleet means that the end of the warm period is completely over.

The north wind seems to be getting stronger every day. It is like a knife, forcing people working outdoors to cover their bodies with leather.

What made the public extremely gratified was that as a large amount of grain was moved to the warehouse, the Lord Duke soon put up a bargain and sold the latest wheat openly.

It's still the old rule. The Ross people brought the stamped wooden vouchers and silver coins to buy wheat. They had to be restricted by the purchase restriction order. When the wheat bought was eaten clean, they could only wait until the next month. Open, continue to buy cheap grain from the duke.

Rurik set the "food-based physique" of the Duchy of Ross, at least in Roseburg, this policy must be implemented stably for a long time. A silver coin is exchanged for ten pounds of wheat, regardless of the year of harvest.

Rurik, he explained his dignity and the legitimacy of his rule with myths and stories, and he used the most basic economic measures to stabilize the hearts of the people.

The Ross warriors were civilians in peacetime. The burlap used in warfare and the rope-tied backpacks are now excellent food bags.

They returned home happily carrying a sack of wheat, so that the newly married wives and concubines could share the porridge meal that night.

Silver coins are only meaningful when they are exchanged for the living supplies that soldiers need most. For the most ordinary fighters, because participating in war is equal to meritorious service, meritorious service means getting a large amount of silver coins, and everyone can exchange silver coins for wheat. Lord Duke is fair, and the amount of wheat that each person exchanges every month is limited. They were holding the newly boiled oatmeal in the pottery bowl, looking forward to Lord Duke's new war orders.

Otto finally enjoyed the long-lost peace. He lay on the warm bed of his home, thinking about defeating the Gotland completely, and his life would be fulfilled.

He turned into a pool of mud for a while, looking forward to the constant distilling of the new arrival of ordinary ale into spirits, and then enjoying it by himself.

But his son, Rülik, the energy of this brat seems to have no limit!

The time of the day is getting shorter and shorter, and the temperature continues to drop. The north wind blew the sky deep blue, and Rurik did not let his young men idle in this cold state.

Boys and girls on the expedition, they told their friends who stayed in their hometown about the battle, and the victory stimulated them to scream.

They don't seem to know the horror of war, only the joy of victory?

Rurik doesn't matter anymore, because most of these children are damned people. What is human nature? Giving the weak a bite of food and a piece of clothing against the cold are the greatest human nature in this barbaric era.

The vast majority of them are due to conservative wars, or the death of their parents due to natural disasters.

They are also fortunate. Lurik prides himself on being a good person, not only giving them food and clothing, but also promising them a bright future.

Those Mälaren children who got off the ship joined the group immediately, and the current number of boys and girls over six years old and under twelve in Roseburg directly exceeded 1,000.

Facts have proved that in ten years, a thousand children will definitely become the daring soldiers of the Duchy of Ross. People naturally have doubts about the strength of female fighters, but no one will deny that their participation in the war will bring a very positive effect.

Just before they grew up, the cost of support was almost paid by the Duke of Ross!

And this is just the beginning!

Because those Slavic women who were married a few years ago, as well as women obtained through other channels, their childbirth is equivalent to completely becoming the Rus recognized by the tribe. This group, together with the women of the Rus native, will increase with the increase in living conditions. To improve, they are desperately giving birth.

In this era, there is almost no automatic machinery, the operation of the country is completely dependent on manpower, and the size of the population greatly determines the upper limit of the strength of a power.

Rurik, who returned to his hometown, seemed to Otto to be very busy indeed. He must have an estimate of the population directly controlled by the Duchy of Ross. He hasn't done a detailed census yet, and he has basically figured out the population structure of the Principality.

At present, there is a group of children with a population of two thousand in the four strongholds of Roseburg, Elronburg, Shilla Fort and Tombstone Island under the rule of the Duchy of Ross. If you look at it for a long time, this group will still be in the next ten years. Will rapidly expand.

After all, during the conquest of Gotland, most of Rose's mature men got at least two young women. Based on his understanding of men, Rurik was completely convinced that these women would have big bellies next spring.

After giving birth to boys and girls, Rurik plans to give a small reward, which emotionally shows the Duke's importance.

When these children grow up, they can no longer be stocked as they did in the past. They must be supervised by the elites of the principality, both men and women, to discipline their daily lives and educate them.

For the time being, the distant stronghold Liurik could not be well controlled, such as the Conuson responsible for the construction of the city of Silla Fort, the behavior of this person is basically the "Governor of Silla Fort."

Rurik gave his children a very simple order, that is, to go to remote places to large-scale logging, and organize a group of self-proclaimed boys to dig iron ore in the stone mountain.

How much food can the child need for a day? Rurik estimates that half a pound of oatmeal and a pound of fish a day for a boy with a long body is very good, while the needs of girls are even less. He is so stipulated, is it practical? Just such an extreme food level is much better than before!

Once the children of the Ross tribe were not hungry and full, Rurik asked himself, even he was forced to eat very unpalatable shark meat for his life. There is no way. In the past, the Ross people ate everything. Until now their living conditions have improved, they are qualified to say no to certain exotic foods.

Even if it is three thousand children, Rurik can raise them to the so-called twelve-year-old adulthood with his own financial resources.

There is no concept of "child" in this era itself, and some only "non-adults". No matter how young children are, they are a kind of labor, and Lurik needs to do what they can.

Take exercise in logging and mining! Practice martial arts in the woodland hunting!

It was the end of October, the clear sky was gone, and dark clouds covered the whole world like a blanket.

In fact, at this time, the fjord where Roseburg was located was covered with a thin layer of ice, and those who went out fishing had completely finished their operations.

Especially the people who went to the Airon (Kemi River) and Oulu Rivers desperately for salmon, most of them have returned boat after boat with salmon and perch frozen like sticks.

Everyone knows that it is going to snow, and the world will completely change after this snowfall.

Before the snow fell, the whole world had fallen below freezing point. People no longer worried that the food stored would decay. Outside the fisherman's house, a large number of gutting frozen fish were piled like bricks into a wall. Indoors, a large amount of bacon, bacon, vegetables and wheat purchased in limited quantities from the Duke are hung in the thick wood-carved storage room.

They don't have to worry about the lack of firewood in their fireplace, because the children under Liurik's command, with an axe and a double saw, completely destroyed a pine forest not far from Roseburg! Even children who master new tools will become the craziest loggers. They produced a large amount of firewood, which was used as fuel for heating in their dormitory, and sold to each Ross family to earn a small amount of money to subsidize their living.

It was the fact that a large number of people rushed into Roseburg, and the inherently diverse houses could indeed accommodate so many people, that is, everyone had to squeeze during their daily rest.

The snow has finally fallen!

At first it was Xuezi, and then there were endless snowflakes. Large groups of snowflakes quickly attached everything in the north wind, although everyone did not like it, a terrible snowstorm hit the entire Nordic world!

A cold current from the Arctic penetrated through the geographic gap between the Scandinavian Central Mountains and Murmansk Highlands. It swept across the Fort Elon Olava of the Rus, and then swept across Fort Rose, and then It was the entire Gulf of Bothnia, Lake Mälaren, the entire Svealand Plain, and finally rushed directly to the Rhine, and its remnants were blocked by the towering Alps.

Trapped in a blizzard, the safety of other residents of Roseburg was naturally worried about Liurik. Unfortunately, the outdoor wind was like a battle axe, and the air was so cold that it seemed to freeze everything.

"Maybe the temperature at night is already minus 20 degrees. The Nordic world is cold, but the woodcuts are really warm." Rurik can only hope that the large-scale civil engineering projects that have emerged throughout Roseburg in the past few years have risen from the ground. A large number of woodcuts can replace traditional mud-wood longhouses to bring extreme warmth.

Those craftsmen who have earned rewards and made money for their military merits follow the trend and build new houses. The thick logs are stacked with a layer of moss soil on the outside, and then a layer of logs are stacked. The matching stone fireplace and stone chimney make heating also comfortable.

There is a lot of effort to build this kind of house. Fortunately, the Russ simply help each other. The strongest men, their houses have been completely renovated.

As for the people who still live in the old house, they...

Although this is cruel, a group of poor and infirm may die in their sleep on a cold night. They are all aging people. During the warm period, Lurik asked these old people to work hard to get a little life-saving reward, but he is really helpless in today's snowstorm.

No one will complain about this, or even regret it.

Thunder is Thor's supernatural power, so the blizzard is the test of Odin! People who can't stand the test will naturally freeze to death.

The cold wind outdoors carried a whistle, the snow had covered the thick door, and a large number of people wrapped in animal skins were squeezed in the woodcuts. Before the blizzard ended, they had no choice but to go on.

This snow can't last for a month, right?

Rurik believed that the time when the snow stopped was already November in the Julian calendar, and the blizzard was too likely to score twice.

In the warm and calm interior, Rurik gathers with his family and closest women.

Lumia, Carlotta, Ella, and Sepolava surrounded Rurik, and they sat around a square table in front of the fireplace with Otto and Niya.

Like hiding in a safe cave, they have forgotten the time. Life became extremely boring, and Rurik had to do something about mathematics so that his women could develop IQ.

Of course, this year is the same as in previous years, and some very critical matters need to be discussed.

In the warm home, Rurik and Otto have discussed the formal settlement method for the captured people.

It is necessary to increase the number of immigrants to Shilla Fort. A part of the local middle-aged men must take the whole family to move to the warmer Shilla Fort to open up new farmland to settle.

Especially for those debt slaves, the Duke of Ross controls the creditor's rights and has the right to arrange their future. Those debt slaves were almost all women with their children, and all of them had to immigrate to Shilla Fort. As for marrying a new husband, Rurik remembered that a group of 400 Slavic men who had betrayed his farm and moved to Fort New Ross. They had made meritorious deeds in the war. Maybe they only rewarded a few silver coins and iron tools. , Then wouldn't it be beautiful to reward them with a group of Varanga women as wives?

But the price is that generations of generations have to pay agricultural taxes and accept the obligation of conscription.

Otto did not oppose these plans of Rurik, but he did not explicitly support it, just because Otto is quite irritable now. It is clear that the spirits are still distilling, and due to the extreme outdoor climate, the wine can't be shipped.

Otto is still thinking about one thing: "Rurik~www.mtlnovel.com~ We will go to Elronburg when the snow stops."

"Winter hunting, I know! We will make a fortune again for this, and there will be those pieces of wood."

"It's not just that. There are also Balmerk's businessmen, maybe they're already staying in the warm house in Elronburg."

Balmerks? ! Rurik patted his forehead and suddenly remembered the business trips of the Balmerk tribe, the Norwegian visitors from Narvik port.

"Their salt is very good. We should fully trade with them. There is also a new batch of wood for masts. The quality of the northern fir is very good. I was worried that the mast of the Aphrora was fragile. Worry. There are two other big ships that have completed their hull construction, just one mast!"

Otto smiled: "I do care about this very much. Haha, next year we will have three Aphrodites."

"No! One of them has been named the Guldot. She was built by Gould. The name of the other is to be determined."

"Oh, then you have to think of a good name." Otto subconsciously looked at the closed air door and patted his old face heated by the bonfire: "The Corvin of Elronburg, and the Corvin of Oulu. Literati, they have all finished paying tribute. I, now I just want to go hunting bears again. Listen, the soldier in bear skin scared Carl. It seems that we need to organize a berserker in bear skin."

"It's not difficult." Rurik shrugged, he was awakened by his father, and a strong idea of ​​hunting bears emerged in his heart.

The blizzard also ended on November 3 of the Julian calendar, and it has been raging at Roseburg for more than a week!

The world has changed because of the fact that the sea in the Gulf of Bothnia has been completely frozen, and ice packs raised by sea surface tension have appeared.

In 831, a new winter came.

Chapter end