Rise of Rurik

The thick wooden walls protected Roseburg in the fjord, and the cold wind blew the wood hard and hard as a stone when touched by hand.

Most of the people of the Rus tribe have migrated. They sold their houses in their hometown. Those immigrants from Lake Mälaren, or from the port of Narvik, these people who also speak the Norse language migrated among them. .

They come from a variety of origins, and now everyone can call themselves Rus.

The furriers who were visitors became permanent settlers, and the outlanders who wanted to hunt in the land of a few cups became natives.

Originally, the flat land of Roseburg Fjord was the residence of a group of Lapps who raised deer. The defeat a hundred years ago made them move north, and now the Lapps have returned in a new form.

Some nomadic Lapp families gave up their past lives and settled down, although they still rely on deer raising as their main livelihood. Now they have built deer pens outside the city of Roseburg, and the way of raising deer has also become a mixed-grazing mode. . Everything went back to a hundred years ago, and even the small mound where Rurik used to train troops was occupied by several deer farmers.

When Rurik landed, he could only look at the hills west of the fjord. Many of the mounds and the pine trees on the more gentle slopes had been cut cleanly, and there were clearly grey-brown and white clumps, which were flocks of sheep and sheep. Herd of reindeer.

He didn't go to find out for the time being. If he climbed the mounds in person, he could still see the little Lapps grazing and commanding the hounds they raised with whistles. Those Nordic sled dogs are now also working as shepherds.

Cats and dogs are indeed becoming common in Roseburg these days. He can clearly hear the bark. When he inspected the local granary, he found a fluffy cat with a hemp rope tied around its neck. The cat's mental state seemed to be bad. Just curl up and doze off with eyes closed.

The hustle and bustle of the port soon came to an end, and the people welcomed their past and hated staying in the cold wind for too long.

The structure of the Roseburg Fjord is east-west. When the cold winds of the Arctic break through the big tuyere of the Kola Peninsula, and then blow along the central ridge of Scandinavia, part of the cold will be solidly implemented throughout the fjord.

In recent days, the poor sea conditions are all due to the cold wind. When I returned to my hometown and stood in the fjord, the cold feeling brought back endless memories of Rurik.

Now look at the people here, it's just different.

Go back to the old house and arrive at the attic that has become the Governor's Palace.

Rurik brought his family back here and became the master again in an instant.

He looked up at the banquet hall on the first floor, only to see the hideous bear's head on the wall. There are also some round shields hanging on the wall as decoration, and a hand axe is hung on the shield.

"It's more majestic than the last time you came here, Haruo Zuo Sen, you are very attentive."

The old man replied with a hoarse voice and grinning, "That's what I'm pursuing. Unfortunately, I'm too old to be able to lift a sword. I'm not as good as my brother Otto, he must be tough."

Harrodsen's words seemed to be a compliment, and Rurik was a little bit heartbroken when he heard it. Both his biological father and this old man were half a pound. Perhaps the environment in his hometown in the north was too harsh, which made Haruo Zuosen look even older. Sometimes Rurik is also very depressed. That guy Otto has liked to drink in his life, and now he often tastes spirits. Although aging is irreversible, his situation seems to be okay. Maybe, just because Novgorod is warmer.

Harrozosen has a lot to say, especially for his son: "I wanted to die in battle, but now I have no chance. My son Kanuf will take my place, he is your brother, he will do better..."

"I see…"

Kanuf was standing beside Rurik, the burly man's beard pulled into pigtails. Svetlana hugged Prince Osborn, and the little boy naughty and braided the braid of the brawny man.

Although Lanna felt inappropriate, this kid was naughty. Fortunately, Kanuf knew very well that this kid was the prince, so he winked and played with the little boy.

When Rurik turned his head again, he saw his son holding on to Kanuf's beard, and he showed a look that made his son withdraw his hands in fright.

"This kid is very energetic, big brother, don't scare him." Kanuf didn't feel embarrassed, and smiled again.

"Okay. Kanuf, I know you'll get everything done."

"That's natural. Don't worry, eldest brother." Kanuf tapped on his chest, "I will do whatever you ask me to do, and I can satisfy any request."

"Really? Very good. Oh, I do have something important to talk to you about this time. It's not just you, I have to talk to Kawi."

Can there be anything big to talk about, based on the instinct of a warrior, Kanuf thinks of war. Indeed, Rurik announced to the whole kingdom only that there will be no war this year, as for next year...

The old Harrodsen claimed that he was already preparing a sumptuous meal, and begged the king to wait a moment.

Taking the opportunity, Rurik finally sat down in his old house to rest.

At the same time, Goldlund, who has the identity of the chief of the marine war, started the unloading of materials as soon as the fleet docked.

All the materials of the fleet must be unloaded cleanly at the Roseburg Wharf, and the dense trestle and supporting human lever cranes here can be efficiently unloaded with the help of the net.

Manufactured goods such as honey, cheese, leather boots, woolen clothes, etc., which were in demand as far away as Novgorod, quickly began to be sold, and Rurik could take the opportunity to make a fortune and become a big buyer, from The old family buys leather, iron ingots and the like.

Especially iron ingots.

Blast Furnace Town, a satellite city of Roseburg, the earth blast furnace technology has been continuously improved by workers during the actual production over the years. A earth blast furnace will not stop after it is built. The ore and wood must be continuously supplied, and even rain cannot stop pig iron. water production. With such high-intensity use, the original earth blast furnace collapsed long ago. People do not regret it, when they found that the blast furnace had cracks that could not be repaired, it announced the shutdown, and then it was destroyed and rebuilt. Only the internal refractory bricks are taken out and reused, so that the cost of rebuilding the blast furnace can be reduced as much as possible.

Their output is the profiteering compared to the cost of the production inputs.

Legally, all metallurgical industries in Blast Furnace Town are joint ventures between the royal family and the original five blacksmith families, and the original contract still has legal benefits.

Those laborers all received salaries on a regular basis, and most of the income was still attributed to the royal family. Although the dividends of the five blacksmith families were not large, the incomes continued to superimpose and now they are all rich. Among them, the Kravason family is the best.

Rosburg has a large number of people working around the town of Blast Furnace, which is the kingdom's first heavy industrial base, and is the key to maintaining a large population and considerable prosperity in an extremely cold world.

Likewise, further north, Fort Aron Orava is densely populated, with even a minority of the old Rus population. There are few blast furnaces in the area, but they have prospered by producing top-quality iron ore.

A lot of iron ingots are produced in the blast furnace town, and even because of the convenience of the drawing, the molten iron flowing from the tap hole has different shapes after solidification. Anyway, according to the technology of frying steel, these pig iron ingots have to be broken into pieces for further processing in a small furnace. Rosberg is mainly responsible for the processing of molten iron, which is the preliminary processing.

They have limited fine-processing capabilities, and Rurik is obliged to take them as far as possible to the furnace matrix of the royal blacksmith shop in the capital, and these iron ingots are also good ballast stones.

At night, the royal banquet.

The Kravatsen family arrived, and Kawi took his wife Lilia, the eldest son Kusneslav, and the youngest son Holderslav.

Seeing her sister again, Svitalana instantly forgot that she was the queen. She has been sticking to her sister since she was a child. When the banquet had not started, she hugged her son and ran to her sister's side.

What else could the sisters talk about, first about their lives, and then about their children.

Lilia is much older than Svetlana, which makes Kusneslav not much younger than his little aunt. Even so, Holderslav and Osborneslav, the cousins, can be very similar in age.

"Sister, you are getting fat."

"Really? Look at you again, you are still too thin. What will you do when you are so thin? Rurik has many wives and concubines and many children. Even if you are a queen, it is not enough to have only one child. Look at me..."

Lilia talked a lot because of her excitement, and she stroked her stomach again to indicate something.

"Ah? Is there a third child again?"

"Hey, there will be. I'm not like you." Lilia said again, "I won't let Kawi marry again, he won't dare to think. I'm a Varyag woman now, and my words are very useful. You I don't even know, I am the mistress of this house."

Lana's sister's words were incredible: "You became the head of the family?"

"Otherwise? Ah, I'm Kuja and I'm old enough, and I have to find a wife for him."

"Ah? This..." Lana was so choked that she couldn't say anything, and finally she said, "It's too early." After that, her eyes not only cast a glance at her eldest nephew, who was obviously manly, but saw that The boy is playing with his two younger brothers who have just learned to walk.

Kawi and Arik are the same generation. He is more than ten years older than Rurik. As a Viking, he is at the peak of his youth and strength. As a Thor follower, he does a good job of blacksmithing.

Because Lilia was almost thirty, according to Viking tradition, this age was enough to make her the head of the family. If the husband dies in battle, the wife automatically becomes the head of the family, and her due rights and obligations are firmly controlled. This is Kawhi's heavy responsibility. His job is to focus on smelting the kingdom as much as possible, and the rest is left to his wife, even taking care of his aging father.

The new generation of warriors is growing at an astonishing rate, and at this moment, Lanna feels that she is getting old too.

After all, this is a land in the extreme north, and Harrodsen, who is the governor, can't come up with any complicated meals.

Although the environment here is harsh, raising cold-resistant sheep and reindeer that can ignore extreme cold provides some key meat while providing leather for hits.

Livestock produce little red meat, and the Roseburg area's main food supply remains as in the past, which has long been dominated by herring.

Serving roast lamb is what Harrozosen is most fond of talking about. With some traditional wheat cakes and dried raspberries, as well as the most traditional grilled fish, time seems to go back to the past.

Slightly bitter and sour ale can be very tired, and now, Rurik has not hesitated to take out more advanced vodka and kvass.

Vodka blended with some honey and stirred to make a cocktail. Kvass has its own sweet and sour taste, and the more sour taste seems to be more refreshing.

The two roast lambs bought what they could eat. According to the old tradition, Rurik, as the most honorable person, first selected the best parts of the roast lamb.

First, there was a toast to drink, there was no distinction between men and women, and even Kusneslav, who had just become masculine, raised a large oak cup with elegant withering and sipped ale with his relatives.

Look, Osborn was also infected by this warm atmosphere, and he tapped the table clumsily even though he was in his mother's arms, but he had to drink a little. Helpless, Lanna got him some sweet and sour kvass, and the little guy would shrink his neck back when he was hungry.

At this moment, Kanuf and Harrozosen couldn't wait to ask the question that was deliberately betrayed.

"Brother, you are here to discuss something important, could it be... a new war?"

"Hey! You guessed it right." Rurik didn't bother to linger any longer, so he pointed out his next move.

"Last year, our brothers made great achievements and beat up the Franks in the Elbe. Now, the door of the Franks is open to us. We have recovered our strength after resting for a whole year. I will continue to use troops against the Franks!"

"Continuing a large-scale war? It's heartening to think about it." Kanuf felt nothing wrong, even though he knew it was still an expedition.

"It's just a long way to go."

As an old craftsman, Kawei is very pragmatic in line with professional habits.

"I don't care. Following the king, we will continue to make a fortune and make great contributions." Kanuf's smiling face was sincere. He has been a little reckless since he was a child, especially since he will be the governor of Rosburg, which in the past was the identity of the clan leader. How to live up to this status? Can not continue to make achievements.

It seems that the attitude revealed by Rurik is that Ross is about to start a national war, which Kanuf and Kawi both understand subconsciously.

Not so.

Before the blue fox brought someone back to debrief, and the messenger of the black fox or the red fox returned, Rurik still didn't know the specific situation on the other side of the Inn River. He felt that he was in control of everything, fully believed that his layout would be successful, and also estimated that the Frankish nobles would definitely react violently.

King Ludwig of the Eastern Kingdom will definitely maintain respect for the Rus force embedded in his own territory out of his own interests, and recognize the rationality of its existence.

Rurik had no intention of beating the severely damaged king again. His intention was to continue to increase his troops. After all, the army embedded in the Lai Yin River had to face the possibly stronger Middle Frank forces. Letting him loot deliberately, it really caused a massive counter-offensive in the Middle Kingdom, and the mere 500 troops were probably no match for them and would be defeated.

The simplest and most rude or most effective way is to increase troops, so that Ross uses the Baron of Nassau as a large military camp, and the large army is entrenched, becoming an existence that the Frankish nobles in the civil war cannot ignore and fear.

Rurik even had to consider the worst outcome, that is, Ludwig suffered a new defeat in the civil war. If that guy lost to his elder brother, it would mean that Ross's layout would collapse. Think of things for the worst so that no matter what happens, Ross will not be passive.

However, how much influence does this have on the distant Roseburg? The civil war in the Frankish world was like another world for Roseburg and Elronborg. Kawei felt that the king's idea was very radical, he did not object, and he would not turn back if there was an edict.

Kawei knew that if the king wanted to go to war, he would definitely bring a group of engineering troops into the war in person. He did his part in this matter, the affairs of Blast Furnace Town could be entrusted to others, and he was obliged to bring his eldest son to the war. Because, torsion slingshots and torsion catapults, these heavy weapons that can cause mass destruction still need careful maintenance to maintain their powerful power. They can greatly improve the combat power of the Rus army and reduce casualties in disguise. In this regard, no one is more powerful than Kawi. And he manages a large number of workers on weekdays, and this management talent is also used in wars. After all, a considerable proportion of those who operate these heavy equipment are the craftsmen who are originally used by the Queen, and to a certain extent are his subordinates.

Rurik explained the situation to them: "As to whether there is a total war, we need to look at the situation of the Frankish nobles. Think about it, we need the Frankish market, so that our iron can be sold for a lot of money. I don't I want the East Kingdom to win, and I don't want the Middle Kingdom to win. I just want that Ludwig to maintain the status quo and Lothair of the Middle Kingdom to recognize the power of his two younger brothers. Listen, a divided Frank is the most important to us. Beneficial! A giant axe can smash a tree, and if the axe melts into three small axes, what can they do. I want you to hurry up to produce ordnance supplies and hurry up to train warriors in Roseburg. This winter is very important to us !"