Rise of Rurik

The latest website: Those deer farmers who went to the city to sell their goods would gather together to sell their goods if there were no special circumstances. They were very aware of their situation, even if the high priest was their own clansman, after all the high priest stood on the side of King Ross.

Although everyone's living conditions have improved a lot in the past ten years, facing those Ross people and people from various tribes in Sweden, the deer breeders have to put their tails between their tails.

They didn't dare to cause trouble, and they were also afraid that they would be attacked by surprise if they were left alone.

After all, in the past years, in the eyes of those people, his status was equivalent to a "hunting animal". Even the Kovins, Tavastians, and even the powerful Karelians who were said to be close relatives would come to capture slaves.

Although Fort Allon in the north has become an important trading point in the extreme north, it is essentially a large iron mine, and the families of the deer breeders and clans only go to the nearest place to sell and trade goods. Since the local area is also the settlement of most Kewen people, based on their past memories, they are also subconsciously cautious when doing transactions.

In contrast, if the clans moved to the vicinity of the capital of Ross, that is, in the area around Lake Ladoga, there would be better pastures for grazing reindeer, the capital would be mixed with good and bad people, the local governor would govern strictly, and the laws would be implemented in place. The most important thing would still be the High Priest Rumia, who was born in the clan, sitting in the capital.

After a comprehensive consideration, when the Karelians in the area around the lake, especially in the northern part of the lake, collapsed, the deer breeders who were also herdsmen became brand new "Karelians", even though they called themselves Laap in their dialect.

At the stalls where they gathered, the most eye-catching is the big

amount of reindeer horns.

Of all reindeer products, antlers are in the largest and most plentiful supply.

Both male and female reindeer shed their horns every year, and it falls off naturally from its head like a cicada. Although it is composed of keratin, hardened and exfoliated antlers resemble a dense wood.

The older a buck is, the more it grows giant horns. The left-right symmetrical C-shaped large horn can be made into various utensils, especially its bent structure can be easily processed into wooden stick handles and hooks on the wall.

It has a special name in the local language for this characteristic: Kvin.

The antlers, with their small bends, were easily mounted on sticks, and it became a sort of short spear with a hook, which could be used as a weapon, or hung and carried over the shoulder in salute. The Kewen people who have surrendered to Ross for more than ten years, their name comes from this.

Rurik knew almost nothing about raising deer. His economic value of reindeer has long been based on the simple understanding that meat can be eaten and skins can be made into clothes.

How else? Ross was in the tribal era. Due to the poor environment he lived in, he had no conditions to do mainstream livestock breeding. He had to go to the north to catch rare small animals, skin them and sell them to Lake Mälaren in the south to make money.

Ross has always listed reindeer as a general hunting animal in the past. Due to frequent hunting activities, this animal has disappeared near the living space. But this is not the fault of the Ross family. The entire Swedish tribe has exterminated the reindeer in their own environment. The reindeer in the area around Lake Mälaren has long been extinct.

Although Ross has rough historical data, it can be seen that the tribe completed the northward migration when the late high priest was about six years old, and it is estimated that it was around 760 AD

Fully relocated into Roseburg Sound.

Their arrival directly caused the collapse of the local free deer breeders clan.

Times have changed, and now it is King Ross who is the patron of all deer breeders.

A large number of old Ross people and their descendants know little about deer raising. Even if the captured deer are divided as trophies, only a small number of Ross families are still raising deer, and the scale is not large.

Deer breeders make a living from deer. Their task is to breed deer for the royal family. They regularly slaughter a batch of deer to supply the capital with meat.

It seems that the deer breeders have not received real remittances, which seems to prove that they are the essence of slaves of unpaid labor.

In fact, those antlers scattered on the ice field were the objects collected by the various clans.

Reindeer usually lose their horns without knowing it. It is really not suitable for deer owners to find a gray-black thing in the vast ice field. After all, it is like a dead branch, which is difficult to be noticed from a distance in the snow.

Unless, search along the area where large herds pass.

The deer breeders drive the deer herds for winter grazing year after year, and the reindeer gather in autumn and winter to shed their horns.

September is the reindeer breeding season. The giant antlers of the male deer are proof of their strength. They collided and collided in order to compete for the right to be a spouse. During this process, a large number of antlers were broken. Since they did not fall off naturally, the deer with broken antlers had to leave with a **** face.

Female deer are attracted to the winners, but once the breeding season is over, both female deer and male deer lose interest in the opposite sex. Some deer gather together to eat grass and resist natural threats in a group. Of course being palmed

The huge herd of deer controlled by humans has been domesticated, and humans have become more powerful masters. Mixing with humans is very beneficial to the reproduction of the population.

Once the time comes and the males lose interest in the females, they naturally shed their proud giant antlers.

Most of the deer herd belonging to the royal family live around Lake Ladoga, and their big camp is near the capital. The population exceeds 60,000 and is still rapidly increasing in value.

There are as many as fifty deer-breeding clans that manage the deer herd in this area. Each clan is basically centered on female old ladies, and they maintain large families ranging from twenty to fifty by blood.

Just like the reindeer under the conscious and centralized control of humans, the value-added of the herd has reached an unprecedented high speed, and the population change is similar.

The clan of deer breeders who used to be widely distributed, unwilling to communicate with each other for the sake of safety, and even fled to the shores of the Arctic Ocean to live, at least they no longer worry about being deliberately murdered or sold into slavery under Ross's rule. The living conditions are much better, and more and more children are born. It has been more than ten years since they surrendered to Ross, and a large number of children have safely entered the "boys" recognized by Rurik. In fact, in the eyes of their deer breeders, they are a new generation of adults who must bear all responsibilities.

Fifty clans turned into a group with a population of more than 2,000 people!

And this is just the clan group that is active in the camp in the northern part of the Neva River. They are authorized to manage the royal family's deer herd, and their living conditions are much better than those of their relatives without authorization.

The clans are helping each other, and because of the recent blood relationship, they have connections with the Vips and Ludi people—all of them are residents of Lake Ladoga who surrendered to Ross.

When the king is not in the capital, the fifty clans

The family is directly responsible to the Governor of New Roseburg.

As for Governor Konuzon Jr., since these short guys were all poor relatives of the High Priest Rumia, he looked down on them but did not dare to question the prestige of the High Priest, so he had to give the green light to the deer breeders in some respects.

It is still the kingdom's tax holiday, and businessmen, large and small, do not pay taxes. But even if there is no tax holiday, those clans of deer farmers do not have to pay taxes when they enter the city to do business. Although there is no legal inscription requirement here, it is completely acquiesced by the governor's office for the sake of the high priest.

But Konuzon did not allow things to develop in a chaotic direction. All the deer farmers who came to the city to do business had restrictions on the types and quantities of goods they sold, and they could only sell reindeer products. There is also no clear legal regulation here, and they have maintained a tacit understanding with each other for many years.

But the antlers themselves, as tools, were nowhere near all of Rose's usual high-quality ironwork.

Antlers by themselves are worthless unless processed into crafts, decorations, and useful gadgets.

Horn-carved statuettes of deities, dining forks, wooden combs... Clans have a lot of time to process antlers while grazing, and make some money by selling gadgets, but it cannot be a sudden wealth industry after all.

They are all handicrafts, the city of Ross is crouching, and craftsmen control the best manual skills in the whole northern world, especially for the carving work of amber and beeswax, and its finished products can be sold at a better price.

The deer-breeding clans make money but not much, which is more satisfying than the old days.

If it was just like this, life would get better at a very slow speed, but those Ross people clearly relied on

Get rich fast with war looting. Regarding the war, it seems that the only way for the deer breeders to participate in the war is to participate in it as an auxiliary staff to get a wage, and even then enjoy the war bonus.

Then news spread to the capital that when King Ross suddenly launched a winter campaign, those who drove the sleds were probably relatives who lived in Novgorod and were in charge of the southern deer herd for the king. Those people have enjoyed the dividends, and they must have received some money rewards from the king.

Now the entire capital is in the pre-war anxiety and excitement, just like the giant wooden tower that has been erected every winter, its burning is short of a thrown torch.

Now, the warships in the entire berth are moving, especially the huge ship Monarch, accompanied by sail cruisers and sail destroyers, and a large number of traditional leading longships are also undergoing final maintenance and repairs.

The appearance of inland catamarans and human-powered water steamers that entered the capital for the first time also made the residents of the capital feel refreshed. The brothers in the south put the wheels on and put them on.

Rumia's ability to act and execute is very strong. Due to her status and nobility, in the current situation, it is not appropriate to wear a priest's costume and bring her followers to the vendor's stall of her own race to chat with her.

Then, why not just wait in the Great Temple.

She arranged for her subordinates to go to the destination in a low-key manner. The summer priest wearing a brown burlap burqa, accompanied by soldiers, mixed with the continuous crowd, and stood at the stall of the deer breeders with few customers.

Ordinary urban residents discriminate against those people, of course, they

The antler products sold are not necessary for the family. The giant unprocessed antlers placed at the stalls will be sold out first, which is a very important income for the deer farmers. Unfortunately, there is not much, and the rest depends on the people in the capital to buy horn carvings.

The people who appeared suddenly did not look like customers, and the dozen or so stall owners present became alert.

The short man in the burqa suddenly showed his face, with a characteristic blond hair.

"Don't be afraid, the High Priest ordered me to come. All my friends, each clan has at least one spokesperson. When the sun goes down, go to the gate of the Great Temple to gather."

This remark may seem ordinary, but it would be unusual if it were spoken in Old Finnish.

There are a large number of Finnish migrant workers in the city, and their main body is the Suomi people, whose language is only slightly different from that of the deer breeders, which proves that they have a common origin. The low-level priests learned the Finnish dialect of the Suomi people, which was also hindered by practical needs.

Rumia sent a lower priest who understood their language, and dropped a token to prove that it was the order of the high priest.

As servants of the king, the various deer-raising clans have also started to believe in Odin. This does not conflict with their belief in animism. Besides, since everyone says that the king is the son of God, and the high priest from the same clan is the servant of God, being loyal to the king is beneficial to him and cannot be violated.

In their eyes, Rumia's order is equivalent to the order of heaven!

Just when Rumia returned to the temple to resume her work, as the sun went down, the various clans that were active outside the city sent their middle-aged men into the city one after another until they gathered in a group at the gate of the temple.

Such a group is a bit out of the ordinary

Wu, then under the guidance of the lower priests, fifty deer breeders entered the interior of the Great Temple through a side door—it was also the first time they entered the so-called "sanctuary".

Everyone says this is a sanctuary, and it is said that even if they keep praying, those who enter by mistake will be bestowed with death by the gods within a few days. These are the sayings that have been handed down since Ross's tribal era, and they are still used today.

Can a mortal also enter? Perhaps this was the acquiescence of the Ross gods.

They remained cautious, leaning against each other in the open space of the temple, like a herd of deer in a stable, waiting for the High Priest to appear.

They didn't have to wait long, and Rumia finally appeared wearing an antler helmet.

She is still that girl, but her face has more vicissitudes of time.

"Brothers!" She declared publicly in the purest native dialect: "I allow you to enter the Great Temple, this is the realm of the gods, and you will make great sacrifices for the sons of gods."

The words were somewhat polite, and they quickly understood their situation and knew what to do next.

Since my group of distant relatives never formed a tight organization, there was no chief or a unified speaker. When they talk to the king, is Rurik required to listen to the chatter of such a group of people?

Rumia was very happy that they understood her arrangement and were happy enough to cooperate.

"Now, which of you talks to the Governor a lot?" she asked again.

Listen, everyone looked at each other in blank dismay.

"It seems that the grandmothers of each clan know how to speak best. You... are all ordinary people in the clan. This is not possible! You can recommend a person to talk to me now, and tomorrow when you organize the deer

If you have a group, there must be a special person to report to the king. Choose now, act fast! "

Rumia was urging, and her majesty made everyone think of the grandmother who was in charge of the clan.

Soon, a strong man named Vahvanen (meaning strong man) was chosen.

One is that this man is willing to stand out, and the other is that he is indeed stronger than the other brothers, which does not disgrace the name.

Even so, the Vahavanin looked like a dwarf compared to the real, bear-like blond Rus.

"It's you. Brother Vahavanin, tomorrow you can represent everyone to face the king. Remember, keep a normal mind, just like meeting your clan grandma."

"Yes. High Priest." The man lowered his head and insisted on Lumia in his native dialect.

"You can go back now, remember my request, and organize the necessary deer tomorrow morning to wait for the king's inspection."

…

After a whole day of rest, Rurik's body and mind were fully restored. He knew that the whole army was actively preparing for the war at the last moment, and he planned to gather the officers who were in urgent need of going out and his cronies for a meeting tonight through a dinner party, and he wanted to recharge his batteries and have a drink with everyone in the evening.

But this morning added a project.

In essence, Rurik lacks full confidence in the strength of reindeer. Their past strength is reflected in pulling sleds, and they are used as pack mules and rideable beasts? It is not surprising that a few people act on deer. If thousands of deer act together, the cavalry who should be riding horses have become "deer cavalry" one after another. That scene is too outrageous.

Rumia swears on her pillow that today

There will be a big surprise on the day, and Rurik will wait and see.

The king, the high priest, and some attendants arrived at the training ground outside the city. The army got the news and opened the training ground today for the "royal slaves" to drive the carefully selected reindeer to arrive.

In fact, when Rurik heard the noise in the city, he hurriedly stood on the top floor of the attic-style palace. Standing on the highest point in the city, he could see the blackness of the training ground outside the city.

"Ouch?! Really deer? Are they really fast?!"

Rurik's suspicions had basically dissipated, and he stood on the periphery of the training ground, facing a huge army.

He couldn't help rubbing his eyes, only to realize that it was a herd of deer, not a herd of horses.

"How?!" Lumia, who changed into a low-key attire, pulled Rurik's skirt: "I will do what I say. Deer breeders are all trustworthy. Look, this is the deer army that is used as a complete set for the cavalry. Look again, those riding on the back of the deer are your servants."

"They? Deer breeders?!"

Rurik still had to rub his eyes vigorously, otherwise he would misunderstand those people once his eyes were dazzled, after all, at first glance, they were clearly horse riders.

However, he couldn't be blamed for his dazzled eyes, because the herd of deer that appeared this time had indeed undergone special selection.

They are all stags, and each one is about the same size as the Turkic horses that Ross equips in large quantities.

If it weren't for the anatomy of these deer that makes them always hang their heads, it would be more like a horse.

There are more than 5,000 bucks gathered on the training ground, all of them are very young, and their physical functions are in the prime of life, so they are capable of doing an epic trek. add

Now is the female deer's childbirth and feeding period, and the male deer has no interest in the female deer at this time, and their bald heads are sprouting new antlers.

The deer breeder put a saddle on the mount he had chosen, and rode the deer in the mode of horseback riding. There were not fifty people here, but as many as two hundred and fifty people. The deer riders gathered together, and their momentum was like a cavalry flag team.

Rurik saw it strangely. He planned to dispatch at least 200 deer breeders to lead the deer herd to the expedition, as a whole as the logistics staff of the cavalry corps. Can't imagine that these slaves who are loyal to themselves will complete the task in just one day? !

Those deer riders approached Rurik one after another, and under the whistle, they dismounted one after another, and after gathering together one after another, they knelt down to King Ross collectively. After all, they were all slaves.

"Get up, all of you! What I saw seemed to be a cavalry team. Maybe this king should think about equipping you with real war horses in the future." Rurik Long was overjoyed.

The person who was given the authority, Vahavaning, raised his head: "My lord, I am your servant. My name is Vahavaning. Let me report to you."

"you?"

Rumia hastily added: "He is a speaker I chose. In the future, you can give him orders directly during your expedition, and he will convey everyone on your behalf."

"Is it the talker?" Rurik pinched his beard, he was in a great mood now, and it was the first time in his life that he saw the scene of all stags gathering. "How can it be just a talker? If we want to do it, we will do it thoroughly~www.readwn.com~ On a whim, Rurik stomped his feet vigorously, and suddenly drew his sword, accompanied by the wind of the sword

Humming, the sword pointed directly at the face of the kneeling Vahavanin: "Don't be a talker. You and your brothers are very important in the future expedition. You are the one chosen by the high priest. This king will give you the position of banner captain! You and your brothers will form Ross's stag army banner team, and guard the logistics supplies for the king's horse team..."

Although they still didn't know what such an appointment meant, seeing that the king was in action, and his beards were so happy that he was so happy, they all knelt down to thank him.

It’s true that Rurik’s idea here is indeed a whim, and when he calms down and thinks deeply, he should also admire himself for doing the right thing.

Even if Rumia doesn't do anything, she has to choose a leader among the logistics staff. The group of deer breeders has one advantage. They are all relatives to each other. Even if the bloodline has been weakened, they are willing to maintain this kinship. Relying on blood as a bond, fifty small clans can also be integrated into one group under any opportunity.

Now is the opportunity.