Rise of Rurik

() You can search "The Rise of Rurik ()" in Baidu to find the latest chapter!

Yevro continued to lead the group, and Rurik also noticed that his subordinates were relatively relaxed mercenaries. Their lightly hooked heads began to look to the right, their eyes became sharper, and their The right hand was inserted into the burqa, clearly holding the hilt of their steel sword!

This unusual time, Arik also subconsciously approached his younger brother, and he also covered the hilt of the sword under the burqa.

"Brother, it looks like your people are aware of the danger."

"Dangerous?" Rurik looked left and right, and the people who came and went were no different from the Mellarens he had just seen.

Yevluo hurriedly explained: "Sir, we have entered the interior of Mälaren Castle, where bandits are often haunted. Don't worry, my brothers and I will protect your safety."

To say it's dirty here is really bad. Even though all Viking tribes have high hygiene requirements, the so-called "high" here is relative to other groups.

For example, of course, each family builds their own toilets, but a large number of dry toilets are close to their own soil embryo houses, and it is normal for the whole street to stink. And this so-called road is a dirt road. Mälarenburg is close to a lake. The wet land (there is no real irrigation system) is very important for the wheat. However, these fertile black mud is really sticking to the boots, not to mention the long rains a while ago. It's just over.

Yevro's reminder made Rurik be vigilant. It is said that there will be patrols sent by the leader of Melalen to fight the bandits, but the settlement is really too big. While the patrols are more concerned about the stability of the market area, the lack of concern for ordinary residential areas is reasonable.

However, to enter the commercial area, the merchants who landed always have to pass through a civilian area. Just now Rurik has made it clear that the leader of Melalen will not go everywhere to ensure the personal and cargo safety of foreign merchants. Hire manned self-defense.

Thinking of this, Rurik paid more attention to the middle-aged men who seemed to be doing nothing on both sides of the road, as well as some half-eldest boys whose eyes were a little dull, and the eyes they cast seemed to become ambiguous.

They seem to be potential attackers, and they are the kind of people who can disappear in the intricate alleys of the residential area in the shortest time after grabbing things.

In this way, under the leadership of Yevluo, the group walked cautiously for a while.

"My lord, that should be coming soon." Yevlo said calmly.

Rurik let out a sigh of relief: "Damn, I thought we were going to fight those men.

Maybe we should land in a different location. "

Yevluo shrugged helplessly: "That's impossible. The business district is close to the mansion of the alliance leader, and the ordinary clansmen live near the lakeshore. No matter where we land from, we have to pass through dangerous residential areas."

"Okay, I didn't say it." Rurik shrugged, thinking that Olegin's so-called leader is really a chicken thief in this regard. But he thought about it carefully. Since that guy has been in control of the business of the market, and he has received huge tributes from it, for the convenience of management, not only must he create an area where only business is allowed, but the area must also be within his reach. place.

Leaving the area where the crisis seemed to be in danger, Rurik felt a lot of peace of mind. After a while, some discordant scenes suddenly appeared in front of him.

There are still a large number of adobe houses here, which seem to be still some residential houses. There has been a lively and low-pitched roar not far away. There is no doubt that there is the so-called business district, which is also the "Melaren Market" in the narrow sense.

But there were kids sitting by the walls of some of the adobe houses, and they were ragged, and they were fundamentally different from the giggling Mellaren kids.

Carlotta was clearly aware of the identities of these children: "Rurik, I'm afraid they are all beggars."

"Are they beggars?" Rurik immediately asked Yevlo.

Yevlow was also taken aback, because this is the area where he found and rescued Carlotta last year. "They...should be beggars."

Hearing this, Rurik froze on the spot: "Ah, I saved these children. Gould didn't do a good job, he didn't rescue all the beggars."

With that being said, Rurik didn't want to rashly strike up a conversation with the few children who were sitting in the corner. Their blond hair was covered in mud, and their dejected appearances could not tell whether they were male or female.

Yevro also felt strange, because his old master Gould had obviously collected no less than fifty new beggars, and last year's large-scale collection of beggars, it is reasonable to say that unless the Melaron people abandoned him How can some poor new beggars suddenly appear?

war? Wrong! What Yevro knew was that, except for Arik and his brothers who attacked the ships of the Gotlanders in the sea, there was no news of the other alliance tribes using foreign troops, and there was no news that some tribes had been injured by war and displaced their tribesmen. of tragedy.

"My lord. Of course you can save him. We will do it soon. You don't need to deal with it yourself. Tomorrow at the latest, these children can be brought back."

"Well, I hope they can survive until tomorrow."

"Then it depends on their fate, my lord." Yevlo put forward a theory, "You gave them a chance to live, and you gave them a test. If they are alive tomorrow, I will bring my brothers to pick them up. If they go back, that means they have been forgiven by God."

This reason is really absurd, but people in this era believe in it, and Rurik doesn't say anything.

He looked at the children in the corners, and suddenly saw a woman in coarse clothes walking out of the house. She was obviously the mistress of the adobe house, holding a wooden stick and swearing to drive away the children sitting in the corner of her house.

Those children, they rolled and crawled away in panic...

"Look," Yevro shrugged. "They're all scared. Maybe when we try to take them in, they'll run away thinking we're going to abuse them!"

"However, as a servant, you can at least eat a bite." Rurik sighed a little.

"Why don't they know? They are too young, I am afraid it is really only you, my honorable master, only you have the financial resources to take in these poor children. Oh, it is strange, obviously there is no war, and it is clear that Lord Gould has gathered. There are many children, how come there are new foreign children fleeing to Melalen?"

"Maybe there are some secrets." Rurik didn't think about it for a while, "Come on, go to that Cologne. Maybe the people who drink there can reveal some information. Or the merchants who set up the stall can also say something, oh, I'd like to hear any other news."

Yevro nodded and beckoned them to continue following him.

The group tried their best to keep a low profile, and at the same time, all the mercenaries, their right hands were inserted into the burqa, always clenched the hilt of the sword and were ready to fight.

Because most of the mercenaries were from the Meralen tribe, they knew very well what was ahead of them on foot.

Just in front of the winding road, the structure of the dwellings there has undergone some changes.

Gone are the houses with adobe walls and haystack roofs, replaced by a large number of wooden houses. Compared with the previous area, the front is obviously more lively.

There have also been some changes in the pedestrians passing by. Most of them are no longer empty-handed, or lead some cattle and sheep, or carry pain baskets full of charcoal blocks, or directly carry bundles of firewood.

The place ahead is nowhere else, it is the Melalen Market in a narrow sense, and it is also the most lively, chaotic, and most prone to sin in the entire settlement.

"The front is where all kinds of businessmen do business. Your Excellency, please follow me closely and don't get lost." Yevluo deliberately stopped and instructed cautiously.

Rurik froze for a moment: "Ah! There's no way someone would rob a child in this place, right?"

"That's not true, but please be careful."

Rurik swallowed hard, looked up at the chaos in front of him, and couldn't help sweating.

When there is demand, there will be a responsive supply. It is human instinct to do business. Since the leader of Melalen intentionally brought all kinds of merchants together as much as possible to form a market under his control, it is not surprising that typical problems and chaos will occur in a typical market.

Originally, the Melalen tribe did not have the concept of planning streets. The so-called roads in the settlements were just some customary passages, and the roads in the market were also here.

In a narrow sense, the Melalen Market is built around a somewhat winding and narrow dirt road.

There are a lot of wooden houses on both sides of the road, and there are many people occupying the road stalls in front of the houses. There will be no punishment for occupying the road. Fortunately, these businessmen have not been bold enough to close the road.

There are some regular merchants in the market, and most of the wooden buildings are the shops of these merchants. Shopkeepers, or local professional merchants in Melalen, or long-term businessmen from other tribes can live here to do business.

There are so many traders of this type that they try to do some business almost all year round, and even in the coldest gatherings, they are willing to sell some of their winter catches. It is they who form the middle of the traditional business of Melalen.

In addition to them, there are also a large number of traveling merchants carrying their own baskets, or unloading the backpacks full of goods, and sitting directly on the ground on the side of the road, with the baskets and baskets as the center, selling their goods. Most of these people are ordinary Melalen people. They sell some agricultural and sideline products that they have obtained after farming. They sell them at the market, earn a little copper coins, and then go to other people's stalls to buy some daily necessities to support their families.

How long has the market been born? No one could tell.

It's just that the Melalen tribe is the most powerful in the entire region, and their market has naturally been since ancient times, and has spontaneously formed a relatively stable trading scene in the long-term evolution to form a fixed market. .

The tribes themselves had their own fairs, and the Merlarens dominated that they had a true general market that Rurik was convinced of.

Today, even though the Ross tribe has become very powerful, the tribe still has not built a market. It is custom among the Rus to form a dewy market near the beach every morning and evening, rising quickly and dissipating as quickly.

Gradually, Rurik's inner vigilance was diluted by the dazzling knowledge.

Some were selling charcoal, some were selling fish, some were selling fresh fish, some were selling live sheep, and many others piled bundles of flax on the ground, shouting a price they said was a good deal.

Occasionally, a group of warriors in leather armor with swords appeared among the pedestrians. They walked in relatively neat columns. Obviously, these people were the so-called private soldiers who maintained market order and only obeyed the command of the leader Olegin.

Seeing that Rurik had been looking left and right, Yevro asked, "Master, have you seen anything you like? We'll buy it when you see it."

"Well, in the whole market, I felt that those who sold flax made me tempted."

"Them? Then buy all their linen and bring it back to make a fine cloth. And we can save a fortune by eliminating the merchants' shipping costs."

"It doesn't matter." Rurik shrugged, "It seems that there are many people selling linen in this market, so we shouldn't be too anxious."

Yevro nodded and revealed: "The lakeside area of ​​this lake is not only suitable for growing wheat, but also for growing flax. Before the wheat is ripe, the flax is harvested. My lord, if you want, we can buy a lot of The flax stalks that have just been cut are what we need ourselves for the subsequent processing."

A mercenary captain actually knew a lot of information about business, and Rurik was surprised and had to think carefully about Yevlo's suggestion.

The fact is that simple and straightforward, the geographical conditions of Lake Mälaren are not suitable for the growth of oats. It is located at a high latitude and the light level is not high throughout the year, which makes the wheat here destined to be difficult to produce high yields. However, due to the infiltration of the large lake, the degree of sunlight is limited, and the frost-free period is long enough for flax to complete a life cycle, so that many areas around the lake were transformed into flax fields by the Melalen people.

There is no cotton and there is a great lack of excellent cold-proof leather. Ordinary people in Melalen have to rely on relatively cheap flax to be spun into twine, and mixed with limited wool thread to spin into thick cold-proof cloth. And flax itself, it is the most important raw material for making all kinds of cables. No ship can sail without it.

The flax harvest usually coincides with the autumn harvest of grain, and similarly, the huge vegetable trade also coincides with the autumn harvest of grain. For a long time, the flax trade has been hidden in the lively grain trade, and now the oat is still in the large-scale heading, the flax trade has become very conspicuous.

The linen sellers were almost all sold together, making a small area of ​​the bazaar seem like a "linen market".

Just next to the "Flax Market", there are also a large number of stalls selling brown pottery, large and small, most of which are pottery urns and pots, and some are obviously drinking cups, and even lamp bases for oil lamps.

There are also many people who sell woodware, and it is known that they are craftsmen only from the finished product. They are selling hooped barrels, large wooden cups, and even woodcarving crafts.

The whole market is clearly a large-scale comprehensive farmers' market. Until now, Rurik felt that he had entered a temple fair scene, and it was also like entering a huge vegetable market, where many merchants were selling a variety of goods, all of whom were ordinary people. Daily necessities related to food, clothing, housing and transportation.

Does it have any special features? What about the pub? In which area of ​​the market is the slave market controlled by Norwegian merchants, which is not even familiar?

There were indeed a lot of people wandering in the market, and Rurik felt that he couldn't describe it as shoulder-to-shoulder, but he did run the risk of getting lost.

There are many people wearing burqas or gray velvet caps here, and most of them are middle-aged men. There are so many businessmen and customers walking around. If they don't follow up their mercenaries, they will really get lost. Well, maybe even get lost in the huge shanty towns of the Mellarens.

Without the help of a local guide, Rurik was sure he would be blind, and maybe someone else would come up with their own ideas.

Rurik was convinced that there must be quite a few shops in this place that deal in flesh and blood, which, like bandits, can be called the "professional" of human beings since ancient times. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that Yevro's more veiled warning of "don't get lost" actually implied this.

It's not that Rurik is narcissistic, he really thinks that he is a "very beautiful boy" naturally full of charm. People, no matter men or women, it's an instinctive rush to anything that is floating, isn't it?

For the convenience of reading next time, you can click on the "Favorites" below to record the reading record of this time (Chapter 330 What are the farmers' markets in the ninth century), and you can see it when you open the bookshelf next time!

If you like "The Rise of Rurik", please recommend this book to your friends (QQ, blog, WeChat, etc.), thank you for your support! ! ()