Rise of Rurik

In one day, the aristocratic group that had controlled Smolensk for centuries collapsed.

Perhaps these local nobles do have some Roman blood, and whether they are noble or not, everything is meaningless. They died, and their families were uprooted one after another. The Ross coalition forces that rushed into the main settlements "pulled out nails" one by one, and then massacred each fortress indiscriminately.

Even if Rurik learns that some tenant farmers and serfs may be taking refuge in the fortress-like mansions of nobles, since they choose local nobles as their backers, they will be killed themselves...

Rurik personally led the cavalry to intercept all the escapees. He saw that some noble families were caught up and killed by the cavalry just as they fled. Those fortresses that had not yet collapsed could only hold on desperately. However, even if the trapped beasts still fight, they are still inferior beasts, and their inferior fangs are meaningless against the truly strong.

In the evening, all the noble fortresses visible to the naked eye were captured. The soldiers left almost no survivors and began to plunder wantonly after killing everyone.

One village after another remained unattacked by the Rus' troops.

The Rus' army could launch strong attacks, especially the cavalry, and sack those villages with just a slight turn of the horse's head.

Rurik led the main cavalry unit. He stuck to his arrangement and did not actively expand the target of the attack, even though he saw many people in too plain clothes leaving the village with their families and fleeing towards the nearby forest through the snow.

There are still a large number of simple villages in the main settlements, and the locals are all serfs of the nobles. These people had just been exiled by the nobles this morning, and each of them had just returned home. Some had no choice but to stay at home, and some planned to escape in a desperate way. However, those who planned to escape had not yet taken action. At noon, the main force of the Russian army had already Kill to.

These people hid in their homes and trembled. Through the cracks in their huts, they saw the strong fortresses of the former aloof landowners gradually collapsing under the attack of the endless Ross gangsters.

Seeing those nobles being killed, many people felt a little secretly happy for a while.

Even if this secret feeling may be just the last comfort before the end.

Will the Russian army let go of the many villages in these encirclements? There was no brutal attack on these villages, but the warriors whose swords dripped with blood were also quite rough in their actions.

The main battle was over, and the soldiers were busy chopping off the heads of the dead as ordered by the king - they would be piled up as sacrifices on the Gniezdovo Altar to build a more appropriate Beijing view, as special sacrifices to Odin.

Another group of soldiers was also ordered to enter the village and violently drove the screaming people out of their homes.

They pushed and drove them away, and those who did not cooperate were treated as enemies and executed.

The woman held the frightened child and walked in the snow with dull eyes. The men lost their fighting spirit, and they no longer dared to resist after witnessing the killing.

The captured villagers gathered in a dark mass, like a group of driven black sheep, gathering more and more at the designated location. They sat or stood waiting under the surveillance of Varyag warriors carrying round shields. Unknown destiny.

Smolensk's traditional aristocratic system has been destroyed, and the serfs have no masters and no idea of ​​their future fate.

The setting sun shone on the faces of these people, and their decadent, frustrated and uneasy expressions were clearly displayed.

Regarding the astonishing number of prisoners captured, Rurik only needs to look at it with the naked eye to understand that he is still operating in the outer areas with his cavalry, and so far no measures have been taken against further villages.

As night began to fall, the cavalry army, led by Rurik, began to return to the main settlement.

Fisk clearly saw the people gathered and couldn't help but ask: "It seems that our people have captured many prisoners of war. Your Majesty, how do you plan to deal with them? You can't execute them all, right?"

"Of course I can't kill them. I also need to check their identities. If there are nobles among them, they will be executed immediately. I don't want to leave any hidden dangers." Rurik replied without thinking.

"I heard from Hagen that most of the farmers here are actually slaves. Since they are slaves, there is really no need to execute them."

"Then become our slave. Don't worry."

Rurik glanced at his good brother Fisk with an indescribable smile, and then said: "We will be very good masters."

Of course Rurik knew that the natural evolution of serfdom in the Slavic world had its own internal logic.

What is internal logic? Just look at the current natural environment and you'll get the idea - it's terrible.

During the long winter, all villagers in the naturally formed village must huddle together for warmth. Tools for production and living are very expensive and scarce, and looking at the ocean of forests, forests do not mean fertility. Cutting down forests with simple tools is too inefficient. Even if the land is cleared from the forest and transformed into farmland, its fertility is destined to be limited.

The problem of limited fertility can still be offset by expanding land reclamation and large-scale sowing to offset the impact of limited fertility on grain output. However, the long winter is undoubtedly the most powerful restriction on planting.

The head family formed spontaneously in the village and accumulated wealth from generation to generation. Even through normal land sales, they could become rulers. With money and grain in hand, you can lend money. Once the free collective farms face natural disasters and have no harvests, these new land aristocrats can keep them alive by lending them grain and then buy their land at a low price.

Natural disasters will not happen every year. As the scale of developed farmland becomes larger and larger, the power of these nobles will eventually become unshakable.

The Klivich tribe of Smolensk only moved to this area two hundred years ago. The small leaders of the immigrant army must have innate political power. They rely on this power to consolidate this area in the large-scale development of the road. share of power, and finally formed today's aristocratic group.

But it's all over.

Rurik estimated that the ancestors of those who were reduced to serfs were also members of the free farms. Harvest failure and failure occur in autumn, and the disaster is largely caused by sudden frost disasters, which cause the wheat that is actively heading to fall down and freeze to death. The disaster was immediately followed by a cold autumn rain season, followed by a cold wave that ushered in a winter that lasted for half a year.

Collective farms without food have few opportunities to escape. After all, they cannot face the possible extreme cold of minus 20 degrees Celsius when food is scarce.

In order to survive, he could only sell everything and pray to the nobles who still had food and money to give him a chance to survive.

Every winter is an opportunity for traditional nobles to gather strength, and it is also an opportunity to give birth to new nobles.

In some seemingly peaceful free farms, the elected leaders are also following the path of becoming new rich.

In addition, the Krivich people of Smolensk have always had transactions with Varyag merchants, and actively selling their children is also a way to make money. Serfs in the hands of nobles can only use their own families to pay off debts once they cannot pay enough rent. Then the nobles can sell these children to the Varyags and make a fortune, and the income can greatly exceed the debts owed by the serfs.

The exploitation is a bad debt, Rurik can understand this, but...

Rurik certainly could not establish a universal fair system in the Smolensk region until he knew it. He would definitely not betray his royal power, nor could he deprive the descendants of the old Rus of the privileges they had in the kingdom.

So, King Rus led the cavalry and came in a mighty manner, and lined up on the wall to face the decadent and fearful prisoners of war.

At this time, Novgorod Governor Medvet, who was ordered to temporarily take care of the prisoners, hurried over.

"Your Majesty, welcome back."

Rurik dismounted his horse, squinted his eyes and looked at the messy prisoners of war again, and asked: "How is the capture of the prisoners? Is there any chaos on the way?"

"Everything is normal. As you can see, all the living people are here, and those villages have been cleared out." Medved frowned slightly: "As you expected, there is really no property in those villages, and some are just loots." It’s just a small amount of food.”

"Perhaps because they are mainly slaves. It is you who have the most experience in managing them."

"That's natural." Medved couldn't help but said happily.

"How many of them are there?"

"This... there are too many of them, I can't count them."

"I guess one?"

Medved took another look at his masterpiece and said casually: "There are at least five

Thousands of people. After all, this is the riverside plain area. The best farmland is here, their large buildings are also here, and there are more people. Maybe... there could be more of those guys who escaped staying here. "

Hearing that, taking advantage of the last twilight of the setting sun, Rurik took one more look: "According to Hagen, there must be at least 10,000 people living in this place. Now that we include our army, there are really 10,000 people."

"The king is joking."

"Then it's no longer a joke." Rurik looked into Medved's eyes and immediately began to give instructions: "From now on, all these people will become slaves! Of course, they are all slaves of my king. I have the right to deal with them, whether to kill them or not." Whether you stay or stay is up to me."

"That's natural."

At this moment, Medved had already guessed the fate of the slaves. slave? Falling into the hands of King Rus, these people will probably only have the status of slaves, and their living conditions will change quickly.

Slaves do not think they are poor. High-class slaves may live more comfortably than free people. Those Lapps who raised deer for a living were all legally slaves of King Rus. They controlled the royal family's deer herd and also served as charioteers during winter battles. They have a community of interests with the king. Although they are slaves, they resolutely maintain the authority of their masters because of their real interests.

Rurik here subjectively sympathizes with the hard life of the serfs, but objectively will never betray his authority. He killed all the local nobles in Smolensk just because of the unforgettable contradiction between ourselves and the enemy. It had nothing to do with saving the serfs. It was these people who did not need to be saved - they needed new masters.

Why must it be Medvet, his brother-in-law and governor of Novgorod, who led his soldiers to arrest people everywhere?

First of all, both sides are of Slavic origin, and the dialects are different and everyone can understand them.

Secondly, many of the soldiers in the Slavic Banners of the Russian Army are ancestors of the Krivich tribe who moved north, and have the same ancestors as these residents of Smolensk. They were pushed to the north, and now they are waiting for an opportunity to vent their anger for the grievances of their ancestors.

Thirdly, the Slavic Banners have been busy arresting "hiding people" in the area around Lake Ermen over the years. One after another, free farms hiding in the deep forests and enjoying themselves were forcibly relocated and sprung up on the shores of the lake. The thirty immigrant farms show the huge population of hiders and the execution ability of this force.

Maybe with Medved's talents he could be a good governor of the newly occupied area, but there is no need, there is already someone else to choose the governor.

Rurik first held the hilt of the sword and, accompanied by the guards, approached the messy slave camp directly.

Those people were not stupid. When they saw a tall, blond man who was the most gorgeously dressed and most powerful, they took it for granted that he was the leader of the gang.

The serfs retreated one after another, and a low whine came from the already chaotic scene.

"Are you afraid? Are you afraid that I will kill you?" Rurik muttered silently, looking at them closely with his sharp eyes and the last natural light.

He could tell if there were warrior-like figures among them, but all he saw were people with slumped faces. They seemed to be in a state of semi-starvation for a long time. Such a man might not even have the strength to pick up a spear, even if he had It was not enough to pose a threat to the Russian regular army wearing iron armor.

Rurik learned that the casualties of today's raid were negligible. No one died. Only a hundred soldiers were injured due to various reasons during the operation, and even sprained their feet due to slipping.

After walking around the prisoner camp, he had a clear understanding of the situation of these people.

There is no point in killing them, and it is far-fetched to expect them to be used to your advantage immediately.

The first thing to bear the brunt was that their weak bodies improved immediately. Considering that the Ross Army was operating lightly here, the rations they brought were basically only enough for everyone to eat for three days.

The Russian coalition forces would never use their own food to feed the large number of captives.

The method is very simple, as long as the granaries of each noble house are opened, there will be enough food for these people to survive.

To put it bluntly, a huge amount of food was originally produced by these serfs and tenant farmers, but almost all the food was stolen by the nobles. Now a part of it is used to show some conqueror's kindness to the serfs.

Mercy, Ross has nothing to lose.

As night fell, the Ross coalition lit bonfires everywhere. After cleaning up the corpses, the soldiers quickly took possession of the aristocratic mansion that was about to be breached.

The various buildings in a mansion can fully accommodate an infantry flag team, even if the soldiers are arranged a bit densely while sleeping.

The soldiers lit bonfires everywhere and cooked the captured wheat in captured pottery urns. All the winter food stored by the nobles went to the Russian army. The food was suddenly abundant, and everyone squandered it wantonly.

The soldiers were a little puzzled. The king sent people to various noble residences to collect food. They actually set up a bonfire matrix to cook wheat on a large scale. The pottery urns were pushed to an open area to boil snow into water, and then boiled the water to make the oats. Grains are flying up and down...

All this was clearly seen by the prisoners of war, who still stayed where they were, waiting for their fate in the dark.

The air was filled with a thick smoke of fireworks, followed by a rich aroma of boiled wheat, which immediately aroused everyone's greed. People instinctively leaned out and moved in the direction of the pottery urn until they were scolded and stopped by a Russian warrior holding a sword.

"You guys really want to eat?!" A rich voice suddenly came, and the speaker was none other than Medved himself.

He continued to announce with a rich voice: "You! You are all slaves of Rus! You will not die! You will get food! Look at these pottery urns, when the wheat is cooked, I will share it with you!"

Rurik stood aside, observing every move of the slaves.

No promise is as meaningful as an open meal, especially for these serfs who have lived in a state of semi-starvation for a long time. They do not understand verbal promises, and as they are extremely poor, their expectations of outsiders are extremely cheap. As long as they can eat and survive, they are willing to follow their new masters. If the new master can give you more food than the old master, then he is a benefactor who must be followed.

It is enough to cook the wheat half-cooked one after another. It is time-consuming to cook the wheat on a large scale and expect it to be cooked to pulp. It was indeed half-cooked, and the slaves in their status felt better than livestock eating this kind of food. It really satisfied the conqueror's pride.

Rurik told Medvet to start, but things turned out to be more confusing than he expected.

There was no sense of queuing at all. As soon as they heard that dinner was about to begin, the people driven by instinct rushed towards the pottery urn matrix in disorder. The Russian army who was so shocked that they were standing guard immediately organized a shield wall to suppress it.

The riot was quickly suppressed through pushing and beating. It's just that the Russian army is not gentle. The sword was unsheathed and killed some of the most violent ones, which immediately shocked those who came after them.

"You are not allowed to mess around! Everyone has a share! Those who try to fight will be mercilessly executed!" Medved shouted at the right time.

The effect of shouting is not as effective as killing to establish authority. The frightened people finally began to line up honestly under the pressure of the shield wall.

The wooden spoon directly scooped out half of the boiled wheat. After draining the hot water, the steaming oats were poured directly into the slave's pocket spread out with linen clothes. The soldiers who were ordered to do things only took one spoonful, and that was enough.

Even children have half a spoonful of wheat to eat. At this time, families with more children take advantage, but families with too young children suffer a bit.

Those who got the wheat sat down to eat and sell it in the new camp on the side. It didn't matter whether it looked good or not. In fact, their food was not as good as the Russian army's horses and reindeer. These big animals were open to eating the captured grain.

However, after experiencing a magical day, they never imagined that not only would their lives be spared, but they would also have food to eat at night.

Things also developed in a more magical direction - people who had finished eating were told that they could go home and sleep.

What on earth are those Ross gangsters up to? have no idea.

But it is impossible for everyone to sleep on the snow. At least they will not freeze to death in their own simple houses.

They went home one after another, all under Rurik's supervision, and even the soldiers holding torches gave them limited guidance.

"Just let them go?" Fisk couldn't help but question the king's kindness.

"Why do you think I let them go?"

"They all went home."

"Go home? No." Rurik shook his head, already confident: "After eating the food I gave you, you want to eat the next meal.

Even if they escape, they will tell other farms that the Russians have given them food. Of course, most of them cannot escape. This huge riverside plain is already our territory, the largest settlement in Smolensk, and now we are stationed here. "