Rise of Rurik

Otto suddenly stood behind Rurik, with his sword sheathed and his hands on Rurik's shoulders, he said to himself: "Rurik, I give you power, now you will conquer them. They are all your slaves!" said After all, Otto pushed his son into the front of Chief Kewen.

Rurik was overjoyed in his heart, and with his father's promise, he no longer had to worry about the fact that when this group of people surrendered, the Ross family would continue to kill the surrenderers.

Because, according to the "rules" of the tribe, slaves who killed their fellows must pay huge sums of money.

No guy wants to do that.

Yevro received a new order from Rurik, and said: "You! Surrender to this boy with your men! You! Kiss his boots to prove your surrender!"

Rurik shook his head, and he simply expressed his will, which was considered a "carrot behind a big stick" to the enemy.

He had to admit that his Old Finnish was nowhere near as good as Yevlo, but at least the enemy could understand it.

Things got very absurd, and Kaihas felt that he had no choice. Now that everyone is on their knees, don't worry about their face, as long as everyone can survive, it's okay to declare allegiance to a child.

What's more, this boy is holding an incredibly beautiful sword. Presumably this child also has a very high status among the enemies. It must be a nobleman among the Varyag people, or even...

Kaihas had already guessed that the boy who called himself "Rurik" was the successor leader of this gang of Varyags.

At least, this noble boy can speak words that he and his clan can understand by himself.

Kaihas looked at Rurik's beautiful blue eyes with intensely pleading eyes.

"My lord, can you really spare our lives?"

Rurik felt a little touched, and immediately responded: "Yes. Your name?! Your identity?"

"My... my name is Kaihas, the leader of the Salmon Lord tribe."

Rurik nodded and pointed his dagger at the big wooden house: "What's in there? Kaihas, tell me! Is it your treasure?"

"Yes...is our...our woman, our child. Please forgive me and them too."

woman and child?

Rurik glanced at the closed wooden door of the big wooden house,

I think this Kaihas is telling the truth.

Things have always been very strange. When the Ross army entered the empty village, and there was a fierce battle with the enemy, the woman was not seen throughout the process.

Suddenly, Rurik looked at the snow that had been trampled so hard under his feet.

Could it be that there is a cave under the hill?

Rurik glared at the surrendering old fellow again, the back of the dagger lay directly on top of his head, and Kaihas's head also shook.

"You can live. All can live. All of you, women and children, will be blessed by me."

"Oh! Thank you so much." Kaihas responded cautiously.

"You stand up, open the wooden door, and let all your women and children come out."

At this moment, Kaihaas can only express cooperation.

The traps and ropes that the tribes often set up in the woods can always catch the squirrels jumping around. Now, he has become the "squirrel" caught by the Varyag people.

Kaihas looked solemn. After he ordered the people to make way, he personally opened the closed wooden door.

After a call, a large number of women with children, either fearful, crying, or frustrated, walked out of the large public cellar where a large amount of the tribe's living materials were stored, and walked out of the largest refuge.

While they were bathing in the sun again, they saw a massive intruder!

Immediately, fear was written on everyone's faces, the woman was screaming, and the child was crying.

The women and children of the Kowen people are all stared at by the Rus, like wolves staring at the sheep.

The Ross warriors were all stunned by the sudden appearance of the crowd. Many people had small calculations in their hearts, hoping that after the big leader announced the end of the battle, everyone would be able to capture their slaves.

Rurik, of course, also knew what the clansmen were thinking in this direction.

He held up a dagger with a jeweled hilt, and, under the protection of his father's authority, declared to his people in a loud voice: "Men of Ross! Now I tell you. All the Kowens here, men and women and children, All my servants now! Don't try to get a slave, and you won't lose much, each of you will get some treasure."

Many clansmen had already guessed that Rurik would announce this, but when everyone heard the announcement, they were a little disappointed.

Now, Otto is surprised that his son will announce this in public.

The moment Otto saw a large group of women and children appear, the first thing Otto thought of was to screen out the young women among them and reward them for their hard-working clansmen.

Since his son made a decision in advance, he had to agree.

Although Kaihas could not understand Rurik's Norse words, looking at the current situation, he felt that this noble boy was restraining all Varyag warriors.

Rurik turned around, his eyes full of sharpness: "Kaihas!"

"Yes." Kaihas bowed his body in front of the group of women and children with a humble look.

"I can assure you that your women and children will be protected, especially your women, that they will not be harmed."

Kaihas was a little unbelievable. Even in a war between tribes, the people of the "Lord of Salmon" tribe took it for granted that the women of the defeated were forced to serve the victors.

"Oh, my lord, thank you for your kindness."

kindness? True mercy is not to wage war. Rurik does not feel that he is benevolent now, the battle is over, he just wants to establish a new order in his favor immediately.

Rurik sighed and asked directly: "Do you have other treasures? Like furs?"

"Yes! Lots of squirrel skins."

Hearing that, Rurik's eyes lit up. In the traditional fur trade, squirrel skins are of course not as valuable as ferret skins, but a piece of tanned squirrel skin can be sold for more than one silver coin. The Russ just robbed the Rosberg from the deer breeders in pursuit of better fur. Today, the mainstay of the Rus' economy is the fur trade.

Kaihas is willing to believe the words of a beautiful boy, because children are always innocent and honest. It was the madmen behind the child who worried him.

Taking this opportunity, Kaihas immediately expressed his sincerity.

"My master, I will donate five thousand squirrel skins, five hundred ferret skins, and ten brown bear skins."

Since it was some new nouns, Otto couldn't stand after Yevlo's translation. As the big leader, he pointed the tip of his sword directly at Kaihas, and ordered: "How many furs did you hide? Take them all out! You have no choice."

Yevro imitated Otto's expression and translated sharply, and Kaihas knelt directly on the ground, crying and praying continuously.

"What is he praying for?" Otto asked of his son.

"He..." Rurik hesitated a bit, but still said, "He begged us to leave some supplies for them to live on."

"Bah!" Otto's left hand covered Rurik's head, and ordered: "You are too naive, you should never bargain with slaves. Rewarding them with life is the greatest kindness, and they have no choice."

Rurik thought about it, maybe his father was right. In this savage era, there is no harm in being savage.

So Rurik changed his mind and the condition for pardoning all men and women was to surrender all treasures.

Kaihas panicked, he did have reservations, even if he handed over a large number of leather tribes and some leftover leather, these leathers would be brought to the south to trade with the Finns after the spring. If it is all given to the Varyag people, the future of the tribe is unimaginable.

In a hurry, Kaihas suddenly got up, he ran into the crowd of women and children, and suddenly pulled out a timid little girl.

Then they pinched the girl's neck, and the two knelt on the snow together.

"My master, this is my granddaughter. I will give her to you as your wife. I just ask you to show some mercy and leave us some supplies."

wife? absurd!

Rurik glanced at the girl, who looked almost the same age as him, and it was the child who was in an unexplainable panic. Looking at her eyes that looked at the holes in the snow, she was clearly frightened.

In fact, it was okay, Rurik couldn't help thinking, if the Rus people's human wall was scattered, and the Kewen women and children were allowed to look at the large number of dead bodies on the snow, wouldn't they faint on the spot?

Otto also felt absurd, he motioned Yevlo to convey his will, so Kaihas immediately grabbed his granddaughter's chin, revealing the little girl's stunned face.

"What's her name?" Otto asked.

"It's called Rumi."

When Kaihas said the girl's name, Otto and Rurik were both excited.

Or Otto was more of a king. He pointed his sword and said, "All the women in your tribe are my son's maids. Why do you think your granddaughter is qualified to be your son's wife? She is just a humble maid! "

Hearing his father's words, Rurik let out a sigh of relief. After all, there were already too many girls around him.

Rumi? Is this kid named Rumi?

Rurik fully understood that the name meant "snow", exactly the same as his own Rumia's name. He couldn't help but have a good impression of this frightened girl, his skillful sword retracted its scabbard and stood in front of the kneeling girl.

Kaihas said hurriedly: "She is my granddaughter. Let her serve you. I only ask for a little property for us."

Rurik had already made up his mind, he stared at Kaihas: "You must hand over all your property, I will only leave you some food. I will also take your girl, but she will not be mine. servant."

This result seemed like a bolt from the blue. After thinking about it, at least they would leave some food behind, and at least the clansmen would not starve to death.

Kaihas hurriedly asked: "My granddaughter, will... what will happen?"

Rurik didn't respond in a hurry, he noticed that the girl also had a familiar braid, and the women who kept the deer had similar hairstyles.

"Your granddaughter, age?"

"Seven years old."

"Is she stupid?" Rurik asked deliberately.

Kaihas hurriedly denied: "She is smart. I have never seen such a scene, and her father, my son, has been killed by you. Please..."

"Shall I be kind to her? Of course. She will be my sister's servant, and I will take her back to my homeland. I will also take some of your boys. Kaihas, the rest of your people will continue to live here. ."

Although I don't know what other thoughts this group of Ross people have, Kaihas can only accept it unconditionally.

This time, Rurik made the next one, determined to be a terrifying predator.

All the disarmed Kewen people gathered into a group, and then the young and strong among them were ordered to clean the battlefield.

When the women of Cowen saw a large number of dead bodies, they knelt on the ground and cried, or crawled to the bodies of their dead relatives and cried until they passed out.

In contrast, the happy smiling faces of the Ross warriors.

Although all warriors have no right to meddle in any one Corvin woman, and once discovered, they will be punished by the leader. They were not angry at all, because each warrior was given at least thirty squirrel skins!

Rurik took his own mercenaries, holding a burning stick, and entered the cellar disguised as a large wooden house. Just as he had predicted, the cellar really had a different place.

The truth is even more startling.

It turned out that all the houses in the mountain fort were built at the entrance of the cellar. The houses were first habitable, and after lifting the planks, you could climb into the cellar.

Because the average annual rainfall in the Oulu River Basin in Finland is only 600 mm, and because of the cold, any point dug two meters down is the so-called permafrost.

Even on this small hill with an altitude of 80 meters, the Kewen people actually dug a lot of holes in the permafrost. They are cold all year round and are a good place to store all kinds of supplies. Tribes also have no idea of ​​living in cellars, at best they use it as a refuge in extreme crisis situations.

Because of the cold, and because the leather has been processed, all kinds of leather can be well preserved.

A large number of hides were removed from the cellar, and they were immediately shared by the Rus. According to tradition, the chief family has the right to share a particularly large amount of spoils. This time, Rurik was determined to comfort the clansmen, because he felt aggrieved because he could not be served by the female prisoners. He persuaded Otto to give all the leather to his subordinates.

Rurik didn't understand that squirrel skin was a good thing. He felt that what could support the warriors now is everyone's desire for wealth.

As for the real wealth, Rurik thought it was all the inhabitants of the conquered tribes. From then on, they have to pay a tribute every year, that is, a tax.

Therefore, the battle has ended, and the right to life of the remaining tribesmen who are willing to surrender must be guaranteed by the conquerors.

This is called mowing the wool every year after domesticating wild sheep.

In addition, a lot of smoked jerky was also moved out.

Various Kewen tribes would go to the seaside to boil seawater in summer to obtain a certain amount of salt, but they would not be so extravagant as to use a lot of salt to marinate salted fish.

They use the method of smoking and roasting, processing a large number of migratory salmon caught in autumn, processing it into hard smoked dried fish, and using this as winter food. Therefore, the mountain fort is not only their defense facility, but also their granary.

The emergence of a large amount of dried fish and meat has instantly dispelled the possibility of a food crisis for the Rus.

With a wave of his hand, Otto deprived Cowen's Salmon Lord Tribe of half of the food reserves at once.

Rurik felt that his father's wishes were too fierce, but thinking that his Ross brothers also had to eat, he simply agreed with this plundering method.

Even more cold-blooded, because this Cowen tribe has killed a lot of people, especially the men who consumed the most food. Among the surviving people, there must be a group of people who will be taken to Roseburg.

In the end, the tribesmen who stayed here were greatly reduced in population, and they could not afford more food.

A battle was over, and Rurik knew it was just the beginning.

Because the warriors of the tribe should not stop until the true Grey Squirrel tribe has been captured.

Grey squirrel, grey squirrel, a tribe of salmon masters scavenged more than 6,000 squirrel skins, presumably the tribe named after squirrels could snatch 10,000 pieces?

The short day was coming to an end, and the battle was over. More than one hundred and fifty people of the Corvin tribesmen were killed, and twenty of the Rus army were killed.

Now, the Rus are the masters of the Salmon Lord tribe, and all the warriors live in the homes of the locals.

And those aboriginal people were concentrated in some houses. For the convenience of management and surveillance, men, women and children were forcibly housed separately. Before the Rus' conquest was over, the Tribes' lives were bound to be under pressure.

Facing the powerful Rus tribe among the Varangians, Kaihas could only lead his tribe to express unconditional approval.

The tribesmen dug some earthen pits near the mountain fort and buried all the fallen tribesmen.

Those Rus who died were also buried on the spot.

The living warriors did not feel that their companions were killed in battle in a foreign country, because the big chief has announced the full occupation of the tribe. In the future, the Rus tribe will definitely receive tribute from the Kewen people, as if the Rus people conquered it a long time ago. Same as Novgorod.

Even, in the future, the Rus people came to this tribe of salmon masters, just like coming home.