Rise of Rurik

The technique of ice fishing has spread throughout Lake Ilmen. Just dig a big hole in the thick lake ice to set up a fishing net to catch fish. Compared with aimlessly casting a net to catch fish during the warm period, it is easier without this method.

Catching fish is now easy, whereas in the past it was nearly impossible. Only suitable tools can quickly dig holes in the ice. Now in the Novgorod market, state-run blacksmith shops have timely introduced crank drills. Steel scrapers continue to cut the ice surface, and large holes can be drilled in even thicker ice.

When a large number of holes gather together, a piece of ice riddled with holes becomes weak, which is smashed into pieces with a long-handled hammer, and then a net can be set up to catch fish.

Although the residents of Lake Ilmen in this era have not yet upgraded to the high level of winter fishing in Lake Chagan, because they can actually get a lot of fish, interests drive people to constantly upgrade their weapons.

Deep in the Gulf of Finland, Lake Ladoga and Lake Ilmen, there are ice fishermen everywhere.

The Fisherman's Manor, where people are neither good at raising animals nor good at farming, is the only farm in the entire Ilmenslav ethnic group where fishing is a way of life.

In the past they were quite conservative and only fished in fixed areas. The unknown world is of course full of opportunities, but the poor fishing gear and weapons of the fishermen at that time prevented them from exploring new rivers.

But now, they purchased wooden-armed crossbows, mass-produced iron-tufted arrows, steel harpoons, and even steel swords.

Such fishermen have been completely Varyagized. On the surface, they are indeed villagers whose purpose is fishing. They have suddenly transformed into Rus warriors whose authenticity is difficult to distinguish, but they are indeed native Slavs.

Just this time

In this era, it has become increasingly meaningless to entangle the relationship between Slavs and Varyag in the Novgorod region. Marriage is free. Daughters of Russian families can also marry local Slavs. Similarly, locals can also spend money to buy Varangian female captives as wives.

The Fisherman's Manor has a batch of spoils from past wars. In addition to iron tools, there are also Danish female prisoners. Now these women have given birth to mixed-race children and have become peaceful residents.

It has been eleven years since that war, and the manor’s leader, Tory Msjevich, has ushered in the good days of the manor because of his correct stance.

There are more and more children being born, and every household has four or five babies. What is better than in the past is that these children have a higher survival rate. This situation occurs throughout the area around the lake. As living standards get better and better, the elderly die of illness later and fewer children die in infancy. Nowadays, because there are a large number of young children being looked after by their parents at home, it seems that the population of Fisherman Manor is not large, but in fact, this manor has huge development potential.

For this reason, the men and women in the village had to carry cutting-edge tools to carry out winter fishing, transport frozen fish to Novgorod, which is not very far away, to make a profit, and then purchase various commodities in big cities to complete labor reproduction.

This is a virtuous cycle, but the price is that people have to take risks fishing in winter.

…

Rurik's army all arrived at the Shelon River. Although this was within his expectation, he led his army to personally develop and measure the legendary communication line. He and everyone were very happy.

What was even more exciting was meeting fishermen on the frozen river.

As long as you arrive at the Fisherman's Manor, it is equivalent to going home, so

Some of the young warriors in Ross's 2nd Cavalry came from this manor.

The manor owner Tori's family is a hereditary boyar, and his eldest son has long since joined the First Cavalry, and is now stationed in Riga.

The marriage relationship in the entire manor is rooted in illusions. Some young men in the village passed cultural classes and military proficiency tests, and were lucky enough to be absorbed into the cavalry team, which is known as the "noble arms" among the people.

This kind of recognition is not a complete verbal praise. The retired cavalry will definitely receive preferential treatment and be allocated a piece of hereditary land in the vast world. It is absolutely okay to be awarded the title of Boyar.

Although there are only a few cavalrymen from the Fisherman Manor, there are even fewer cavalrymen in the Second Cavalry. They have all gone through a long winter expedition to prove their extraordinary strength.

How many cavalrymen and winter catchers are more than acquaintances? There is also a certain blood relationship between them.

King Rus appeared from an unexpected place with his mighty southern expeditionary force, which shocked ordinary fishermen psychologically. After all, it is a good thing to meet the king. No, the fisherman was not in the mood to continue working, so he hurriedly packed up the fish, threw all the frozen fish he had caught into the net bag, and happily got on the sled to guide the army to the Cheron River. The fisherman's manor north of the lake mouth and south of the lake mouth of the Varoda River is temporarily resting.

The captains of each banner gathered around Rurik in an emergency. He changed his clothes and brought the golden laurel wreath specially, looking at these brothers with joy.

"I'll go home soon. I know you and the soldiers are in a hurry, but don't worry. Our army will be stationed at the Fisherman's Manor. The whole army will have a good night's rest. We will be in the best condition tomorrow.

Return to the city! "

Rurik's words immediately aroused everyone's frustration.

Because the target manor is not far from the main city of Novgorod, with a few more whips on the reindeer, the entire army may be able to reach the Novgorod military camp this evening. Only when they get there can they really go home. .

Immediately, a flag captain boldly said: "Your Majesty, why bother? Let's go back early so that our brothers can cleanse themselves of this filth. Also, we can give our elders back home a surprise."

"Surprise? What is a surprise?!" Rurik rolled his eyes at the guy with a somewhat harsh look, and fiddled with his riding crop with a smile: "I'm afraid... our old king was too surprised and died, and that would be a shock. You too You know, the great Otto is already seventy years old, and he cannot be frightened by anything."

Seeing what the king said, all the flag captains nodded slightly and remained silent.

"Immediately inform the soldiers of my king's decision. The whole army will rest at the Fisherman's Manor. Let's go!"

Rurik's decision was indeed quite disappointing to all the soldiers, because almost all of the four infantry banners were natives of Novgorod. As long as the king ordered to disband, everyone could immediately go back to their homes to find their mothers.

All were promised that the warriors who had completed the winter expedition would have a long holiday before the official expedition to Frankland.

Now, there is nothing more exciting than the temptation to go home, and this anticipation has turned into a kind of mania.

What to do? Let’s go to the manor where the fishing guys gather first?

This was really annoying for some and happy for others. The warriors from the manor suddenly became active, and they were so happy that they seemed to be dancing on horseback.

In response to this

The group of guys were happy, and Rurik immediately gave them a task - to go to the fisherman's manor to report the news.

A cavalry squad led the way. Five of them were from the Fisherman's Manor, and they were all blood cousins. Unsurprisingly, these people were pure Slavs.

They were carrying a fisherman and ten horses racing wildly on the ice, disappearing without a trace in a flash.

Their appearance was extremely unexpected for the entire manor. All the people fishing on the ice saw the speeding cavalry and the flying Ross flag.

The fishermen stood up one after another, covering their brows with their palms, squinting and listening to the shouts of the horsemen.

It was a cry in Slavic, which seemed to say "the army is back."

The cavalry rushed directly into the farm, and the women who were repairing fishing nets at home came out one after another. Some of them recognized the majestic cavalry soldier as their promising son, and greeted him with open arms without asking why.

The owner of the manor, Tori, was indeed old. He was helped out of the big wooden house by the villagers inexplicably.

The old man was holding a wooden staff in person, and was covered with a bearskin to keep out the cold. He poked his head with a gray beard and looked up at his young man who was riding a horse. The latter was still unruly, controlling his restless war horse and overlooking Lord Boyar in the village.

"Boys, how did you show up? Did the king come back with his army?!" the old man asked.

"Exactly. Dad, please come out with the villagers to greet us! The king's army is about to arrive in our village."

"Is there such a good thing?" Tori had no doubts. He had watched these five young children grow up.

They would never lie, let alone joke about such a big matter.

Although it is really unbelievable, considering that part of the southern expedition returned a month ago with a large amount of loot, the most important of which was the head of the rebel Vadim.

Governor Medvet and the Duchess of Ostara returned at the same time, and the army carried a batch of loot through the Novgorod market, attracting crowds of people, and then began to sell it in public.

The Smolensk forces were defeated, and Rus was already the new local master. Arik, who was originally the lord of Mstisk, suddenly became the governor of Smolensk, and together with Rus's oldest citizen soldier, the First Banner Corps, once again became the governor of Smolensk. The pioneers became local masters, which also meant that the old Russian families in the tribal era had completed their occupation of the developed space in Smolensk. Even if they could not use it immediately, the old Russian families took the lead in occupying the space.

Some time ago, the Fisherman Manor also went to the big city to join in the fun, and came back with some very cheap junk. The blacksmith in the manor then smashed these junks and made them into harpoons, thereby enriching his arsenal of tools.

Of course, Tori also inquired about the young people of this manor.

As one of the first manors to surrender, the warriors from this manor were neither stupid nor blind nor mentally retarded. With the king's deliberate preferential treatment, all of them now became cavalry.

The cavalry went to the legendary Riga. They will expedition to Frank, which is no longer legendary. Whether they can come back alive is not certain.

Toriben had decided that it would be a pity that the villagers could not see these young people again before the king completed his expedition.

Now a miracle happens...

…

It was only after noon, and the large army led by Rurik had already completed its march in the snow-covered meadow area on the west bank of Lake Ilmen.

At the same time, all the iron pots and large pottery urns were moved out of the Fisherman's Manor. Tori intends to use his kindness as a landlord to prepare fish soup to welcome Master Wang.

After all, it is still cold now, and the soldiers will definitely feel happy even if they take a sip of hot water, not to mention they will taste the delicious fish soup.

All kinds of fish caught from lakes and rivers are piled up one wall after another in the open space outdoors. The outdoor world is a natural refrigerator. Since all the large beasts in this area have been hunted, the villagers do not have to worry about bears stealing them. fish.

The newly caught fish today was immediately scaled and gutted, and the fish fillets were cut off as boneless as possible and thrown into the boiling water, stewed with some pickled sour cabbage.

The manor had no time and no reason to feed the returning army. After all, it was said that it was a giant of more than 2,000 people. Tori's standard was to serve a bowl of hot fish soup to all the soldiers. It didn't matter how much fish or sauerkraut there was, the key was The reason is that it is hot soup.

The pot after pot of pickled fish is mouth-watering. The fresh fragrance and the sour taste that makes people laugh permeate the entire manor. Its fragrance drifts with the north wind into the nostrils of the marching Russian soldiers.

Rurik was overjoyed when he heard this. Everything was consistent with what the returning scouts said. He couldn't help but raise his riding whip: "Great! The manor has been informed of our arrival. The whole army should leave quickly. Let's drink fish soup."

Soon, a flash of blue appeared on the lakeside.

Ross's army was flying with flags. After clearly seeing the village, the army immediately began to beat drums and blow trumpets, trying to make as much noise as possible to attract the attention of the people in the manor.

"Bring your bowls, line up, and drink fish soup!"

Rurik first ordered the cavalry unit he led personally, and the order was quickly transmitted to the entire marching column.

Finally, the mighty army arrived at the fisherman's manor. Under the watchful eyes of the villagers, old and young, each flag team passed by with the loot they plundered, and then stopped at a wasteland designated by Rurik, and then followed the flag. Team members went to collect a warm meal one after another.

Rurik dismounted, followed by his cronies, especially the princess and countess Beyathil.

Olafin and Pom were also fortunate enough to serve as the king's entourage. Although they had only entered the first manor, they finally arrived in the Novgorod region through a new path, and it was the first time in their lives that they had arrived here.

The majestic king has golden hair, which looks like the noble golden laurel crown growing on his head.

With joy and restlessness, Tori quickly arrived in front of the king with his wooden staff and his entourage without any help. Looking at his trembling hands, the excitement in his heart was self-evident.

"King, you... are finally back."

"Yes. Back."

"But, you... just appeared out of thin air. Could it be that you used your divine power?"

He said this as if he could create something like a portal. Rurik knew that the local residents had already started exploring the western Selon River, so he pointed directly to the west: "We came from the Selon River, and I did some exploration for you. Do you... know about Pskov?"

"I don't know." Tori shook his head vigorously.

"Okay, now you know. In the future, your people will just go west regardless of everything and pass through a forest to see something.

There is a lake as big as Lake Ilmen, and there is a city on the lakeside, that is Pskov. Now, it's Ross' territory. "

"So? That's it?" Tori couldn't understand instantly, and he didn't show too much surprise. His answer was a bit perfunctory.

"Forget it, the Xielong River will prosper in the future, and I will start to immigrate to the west. But now our army will be stationed in your village, and I am very satisfied with the fish soup you prepared in advance. I am fair, tell me! How much fish did you use? , how much sauerkraut? I will pay."

"Pay?" Tori was very clear on this issue. Based on King Ross's preferences, Tori knew that the king would never break his promise if he paid for it, but he couldn't be so careless about asking for it.

The old guy immediately played a trick and bowed his head respectfully: "The army is dusty, this hot soup is a tribute from my village, will the king pay for the peace talks?"

"That's a wonderful thing to say! But I saw that you must have set up all the pots in the village. Only in this way can I feed my army a hot meal. It's not good for you to spend money in vain. Let's do this! Hand over all the villagers, Let’s have dinner together.”

How can a bowl of hot soup satisfy an army? Even if the fisherman's manor has stored a large amount of frozen fish that is urgently needed to be transported to the big city for sale, the soldiers who have only eaten dry food to save trouble for many days will naturally not miss the opportunity to eat fish.

Although Rurik, who has mastered a large amount of loot, has discretion on the issue of rewards, after all, this is Novgorod. When giving rewards, you must also consider the feelings of other loyal ministers who have surrendered to the manor. It is not good to favor one over the other. .

If it is an exchange of equal value, it is a reflection of fairness.

The Russian army currently lacks cash

Gold, the most indispensable thing is the wheat obtained by plundering.

What is the market price of a piece of frozen fish, and what is the price of a good family in the government business? After some calculations between the two parties, Rurik reached a barter. In fact, this solved a big problem for the fisherman's manor. After all, the catch was not durable for storage. A large amount of frozen fish was transported to Novgorod, and Tori was looking forward to carrying back a batch of grain.

Isn't it now that the king bestows benefits?

The price of government-run grain is fixed, but it sells a limited amount each month, and each manor has a purchase quota. Although it was originally designed to avoid runs by businessmen, now it has become a way to fight against grain shortages for agricultural manors of all sizes. insurance measures.

For example, if the Fisherman Manor runs out of its share this month, it will have to wait until next month. But the main livelihood of this manor is fishing, and their desire to grow wheat is not urgent. In a sense, these people are very similar to the living habits of the old Ross tribe twenty years ago.

If there is insufficient food, then paying a high price to buy grain from a nearby manor that is actively growing grain will cost you a lot more, because each manor will not consume its own seed grain, and there will still be food left in half a year before harvest. I planned to eat (because there are more and more children), but now there is really no more surplus food to sell privately at the end of winter.

The soldiers all enjoyed a pot of pickled fish, and all the people in the small Danish community of Pskov who came with the army also had a feast.

The fish meat tube is full, the fish soup and wheat are simmered together, and the mixed pickled fish rice is extremely comfortable to eat.

In exchange, the manor immediately received a large amount of oats and rye, and Tori no longer had to organize people to sell goods in the big city.