Rise of Rurik

The short summer in northern Europe should come to an end in mid-August.

The climate is no longer warm, and a rainfall that swept the entire region suddenly brought the climate that should have been slowly cooling down and pulled it into autumn. When the temperature drops, it is difficult to go up. When the rain stops, Gould in the south, standing on his island in the early morning, can clearly perceive the coolness and the hidden worries brought by this coolness.

Summer is almost over!

Just in the past three months, he carried a large amount of goods from Roseburg and made a fortune at the market in Melalen.

What surprised him was that Olegin, the leader of Mellaren, who had always been considered harsh by the world, was now willing to spend a lot of money on leather. Olegin "sweeped" the leather sold in the entire market. Due to his power and financial resources, all kinds of leather vendors sold out the goods in a short period of time.

The leader himself went down, forcing a large number of ordinary people interested in buying high-quality leather to lose the option. They were holding the limited amount of silver coins that they had to squeeze out of shape in their hands, and they were faced with the few remaining coins, and their prices were quite exaggerated. It is the last inferior leather that some people are willing to buy. For ordinary people, if they can't get linen, they can only rely on leather. They have a sense of shame and need to mend or make a new shade.

Shame? Maybe Olegin has become a little shameless in the hearts of the people.

He actually asked for more tribute from all the professional merchants of the Melalen tribe! He also took a noun "tax" for this behavior. In this way, merchants in the market, even if they are Norwegians who sell slaves they do not know where they came from, as long as they do business, in addition to paying a land rent, they also have to pay a "tax".

"Oh, things are getting interesting. Tax? Tributes going up?"

Gould didn't understand how they knew the word "tax". As a result, he saw that Olegin was trying to snatch more grease from his people. How to manipulate "tax" know.

But what does this have to do with me?

So far, at least, Olegin's request for "tax" has been limited to the Meralen clan. For other tribes, it is still the same old method, that is, as long as no stalls are set up on the shore, there is no need to pay tribute even a single copper coin.

The Gould family never needs to go ashore to operate. He and his eldest son set up a stall on Gould Island, which they control, and naturally there will be customers boating.

Among the customers, of course, was the messenger sent by Olegin.

That's a bunch of guys who spend a lot of money,

They came with real money and bought Gould's wares, apparently all prepared.

Soap, leather, and some iron items were all bought by these life-threatening messengers.

Especially the stained glassware of the workmanship, and the spirits stored in clear glass bottles. They shook the messenger, and also the leader of the shock, Olegin.

As recently as early June, Gould's massive stockpiles were largely sold out.

The gross profit of the revenue is no less than 50,000 silver coins, and the net profit is very amazing. In other words, Gould Island suddenly added a huge sum of 500 pounds of silver in a short period of time.

He Gould was Rurik's royal dealer, as he is now, and should continue to be so in the future. For him, relying on the strength of the Ross people, Gould is more confident in doing business. He is not afraid that the Melaron people will be disadvantaged to him, especially in the current situation, he feels more and more that he can open up a new area in trade. field.

what is that?

For the greater good, the Ross leader should have a direct face-to-face deal with the Melalen leader.

Lake Mälaren is at its busiest in July.

Fishermen from the lake's estuary encountered a large number of Ross fishing boats heading south, and some encouraging news spread across Lake Mälaren.

The Rus actually built a camp on a deserted island opposite the mouth of the sea, and the Rus army was attacking the Gotlanders!

Isn't that exciting news?

The Ostara tribe was destroyed, and a large number of allied tribes in the south were forced to migrate to the north. The efforts of the Siya tribe to expand to the south suffered serious setbacks during Olegin's tenure as leader.

Who would have thought that when people were grieved and indignant, they were still the "traitor" Rus people who fled to the north. They never forgot that they were part of the alliance, and they were even braver by the most powerful Melalen people.

Public opinion became more and more fermented, and while a large number of Melarens praised the feats of the Rus, they also secretly belittled Olegin's counseling.

This Olegin is not only cowardly, but also bad. He is a greedy guy who is only willing to expand his strength.

People use swear words to express their grievances, but is this really the case?

The reason why he is the leader of the alliance is that he is responsible for the entire alliance.

Over the years, Olekin's understanding of the Rus people is that this group of "traitors" who ran to the north provided a large amount of leather every year, and a group of merchants also ran to the north every year. It is said that the Russ had a goddess Rurik, and the legends came out from the mouths of the merchants, and the story became more and more bizarre.

After all, the name of the great leader Otto is a little similar in pronunciation to the great god Odin, who is revered by everyone.

This is good, people already need to get a little talk in their boring life, and now the talk is here, and people start to ridicule Rurik as "the son of the great god", "a descendant of Asgard", the person who said The truth of the story becomes more and more intense.

Olegin didn't believe these rumors at first, but he couldn't be more wary.

The fact is that the sales volume of the traditional commodity leather of the Rus has continued to increase in the past two years. It has not only reached new highs, but also of excellent quality. Not only that, the Russ people can actually take out some rare objects, and the prices they propose are no longer extremely expensive.

Glassware, soap, and the flammable spirit in a glass bottle.

After drinking the burning wine, he felt the feeling of a fire in his stomach. When he was sober after a hangover, he even claimed to those around him that his soul was separated from the body.

Arrangements to Rosburg disguised as a businessman to inquire about the news claimed that all the changes came from that Rurik.

I describe what I have seen and heard in detail, but in Olekin's view, it is an excellent story.

One boy rules over hundreds of children and even invites them to dinner.

What other bows are made of iron, how is this possible?

Xiao Zuo claimed that what he said was true, and Olekin could not fully believe it, but the fact that the Rus people asked for money from the guest merchants aroused his strong interest. This is "tax". Do the same thing.

The understanding of the Rus people has deepened. In this year's trade, Olegin also learned that the Gould family, who was originally an Ankras, has completely become a Russ.

Things have gotten very subtle!

Gould had an opinion on Olegin. After all, he has a heavy responsibility. In order to complete the task, it is obviously a shortcut to get the support of the great leader of Melalen himself.

What about Olegin? He is eager to know more about the Rus, and he is eager to establish some kind of close connection with the leader of the other party. In the past, he didn't care about the things of the Rus at all, as long as the Melarens controlled the vast lakes and the agriculture and animal husbandry of the Svealan Plain, everything would be peaceful. Now, in the face of the increasingly serious threat of war, he needs to gain more military power for himself in the future wars that are likely to break out.

Both sides had a strong demand for contact, so they would once again set foot on the messenger of Gould Road to inform the leader of Gould's wishes, and what he got was Gould's unhesitating affirmation.

It's already August, but with the vast expanse of farmland that the Melalen clan controls and reclaimed along the lake, the situation has become very delicate, or rather tense.

Although some people plant early-maturing oat varieties, more people plant traditional ones.

On normal days, the Melalenians plant in late March or early April, and by mid-August the oats are harvested one after another.

The planting period was delayed by a month due to the sudden extension of winter. The seedlings that were supposed to be in the heading stage are still green.

Gould had originally intended to meet Olegin as agreed, but a continuous rainy day cancelled all plans.

After the rain has passed and the weather has cooled down, the agreed affairs should be implemented.

A small boat leaves Gould Island, and the most honorable people on board are Gould and his eldest son Snowleva in full clothes.

The boat docked, and the two of them, accompanied by ten mercenaries (both rowers), went straight to Olegin's mansion surrounded by wooden walls.

Thick oak forms a solid wall, each piece of wood is tied with hemp ropes in a deadly dislocation, and its top is also sharpened with a sharp edge to prevent outsiders from entering.

"Dad, this is their house? That Olegin is isolated from his clan."

"Alas, he is worried that his wealth and power will be attacked by his people." Gould sighed.

"Are walls necessary?"

"You...how could you ask such a stupid topic?"

"But."

Gould patted the head of the eldest son, who was also fat, with big hands and big ears: "Fool, of course the strong must be separated from the poor."

"But Rurik..."

"Oh? What do you think of him?"

"He...he's a benevolent man, he eats and lives with those lowly people, and he's a good man."

"Good guy?" Gould wanted to laugh but felt out of place. "Rurik is an adult, and you are a child. What's he called kindness? What he's called buying people's hearts, and Rurik knows how to be a leader better than Oleg we're going to meet."

Gould did feel Rurik was a little too kind at first, but after the kid went through a war, a lot of things did change. Rurik, he had done anything to get money, and even made Olegin follow suit.

While the two of them were waiting, the messenger sent by Olegin pushed open the wooden door, nodded and bowed to the two men in honorable clothes, asking to enter Olegin's mansion.

The dirt road outside the wall is also the same inside the wall.

Gould looked left and right, and it was indeed the first time in his life that he entered Olegin's territory.

It was a building made up of a lot of wood, and only one house was the tallest, and it could be seen directly from outside the wall. It was a conical building, but it didn't have a wooden floor.

"I can't think of a noble guy who is willing to sleep on the ground?"

Gould was a little speechless. He and his eldest son did not have any mercenary guards, and followed the guide straight to the humble hall, which was the tallest building.

The wooden door was opened, and a thin guy was sitting on a low chair wrapped in bearskin. Beside him were some wives, concubines and servants, but there was not a single armed warrior.

The wooden wall has a large number of wooden steps, on which are placed a large number of bronze lamp sockets. In particular, a chain is hung from the top of the ceiling, and a chandelier with a flashing light keeps the room from being too dark.

The main hall is only dry ground, some of which are flat stones with some leather on them, and there is also a large amount of leather on the ground, which is obviously for people to sit on.

"You're Gould? Oh, you're a noble man indeed, depending on how you dress."

Gould and the eldest son bowed slightly with their right hands on their hearts as usual. He had heard of Olekin's appearance and knew that he was a thin man.

"Respected Chief Mellaren, I am indeed Gould. The weather was so bad that it delayed our meeting, and I apologize to you."

"It doesn't matter." Olekin waved his hand, and at the same time, the wives, concubines and waiters all retired.

In a short time, Gould realized that in the huge hall, there were actually only himself, his eldest son, and Olegin left. At the same time that things became very delicate, Gould also realized that today's meeting was probably very secretive for both parties.

"Honorable leader..."

Gould asked tentatively, but Olegin went straight to the topic: "My friend, I like the Ross products you sell very much. Maybe you already know some reasons for me to invite you, and I also learned that you have Become a Rus. Hurry up! I want to know more about the Rus."

"Ah! That's why you asked me for an interview?"

"Of course! Tell me quickly, and all your demands, as long as they are reasonable, I will satisfy you."

Gould's question was a well-informed question, and he was already prepared for it. It's just that he didn't expect that Olegin was also very active, and even this man, who was obviously much thinner than Otto, the leader of Ross, was more urgent in his attitude.

Under the delicate current situation, Gould abruptly assumed the role of Rurik's "Foreign Secretary". To safeguard the interests of the Rus is to safeguard the interests of the family.

On this issue, Gould knew he had to be accurate.

He has already prepared some words, and while touting the strength of the Rus, he also deliberately reserved many things, such as the Rus' conquest of the "Eastern Land", and the construction of New Rose Fort and Elon Orava. Fort etc.

Of course, there are some things that cannot be concealed, and that is about the fact that the Rus people, the leader Otto, went to Novgorod in the far east to ask for tribute. This has been carried out for decades and cannot be hidden.

This matter is not surprising to Olekin, and he has no reason to lead a large-scale expedition of his tribe to ask for tribute, he only needs to ask for tribute from the people who farm and fish.

After all, compared with the Rus, the Melarens and all the people living in the Svealan Plain can completely rely on growing wheat, growing vegetables, catching fish in the lake, and raising livestock on the small flats. While meeting their own needs, they have a certain surplus. They have the self-knowledge that they can't even fight against the mighty Danes, so they can keep their territory tentatively expanding pastures for grazing and cultivable fields.

Times have really changed for them. Although they are all Viking tribes, Melalon's ambitions for expansion are gradually diluted by the stable life of farming.

Gould wanted to show that the strength of the Rus people is "not to be underestimated", but also to show that the Rus people are very keen on trade, but also to reflect the barrenness of Roseburg, and take the opportunity to praise the Melalen people for sitting on a feng shui treasure. . He just doesn't mention the expansion of the Rus and the ambitions of Otto and Rurik.

In Gould's description, Rurik is a wise boy, but not the "son of God" in the legend. Otto is also a bold leader and a ferocious pirate.

There is a big difference between what Gould described and what he described in detail. Olegin prefers to believe Gould's statement, because in this statement, those bizarre legends about the Rus people are completely interpreted as exaggeration of the facts. Make Olegin feel more believable. They are just ordinary people who are stronger than ordinary people. Rumors are rumors after all, and Olekin let out a sigh of relief.