Rise of Rurik

The moment those Uppsala children arrived at Gould Island, a new destiny had already arrived.

The happiness they could ever imagine was cheap enough that they would not go hungry all the time.

On Gould Island, they had the opportunity to gulp down thick vegetable soups and nibble on freshly grilled fish. They also got an unexpected meal, and Rurik asked Gould to kill a sheep to appease the poor children with a barbecue.

Does the taste of red meat exist in memory?

Boys and girls, they don't care that the meat in their hands is only half-cooked, and the aroma of the barbecue makes them almost lose their minds.

No, on the first night, their shriveled bellies were stuffed with food for the first time, and their bulging bellies contrasted with the clearly visible ribs.

The things that will subvert their cognition are still to come.

Each child was given a burlap top and trousers, and even panties, simply stitched. Gould actually gave all the tucked children a whole new set of outfits according to Rurik's special request. Due to the colder weather, each child was also given a leather coat.

Before they put on new clothes, one of them counted as one, and they were all torn off their severely damaged old clothes. Several old women who took care of some housekeeping were ordered by Gould to bathe the new children.

They were driven in droves to the dark wooden house, and soon the whole room was hot and humid as cold water was poured over the hot stones.

The feeling of warmth and comfort combined with a happy satiety makes them feel happy, but they don't know what will happen next.

The Finnish sauna was just the beginning, and the children's mud was finally washed away with soap, along with their mud-laden hair.

With new clothes and new leather shoes put on, the hair of boys and girls is simply tied into a ponytail, and the hair is too long and part of it is directly cut off by a knife. The sloppy image is already a thing of the past. When they are in a warm wooden house, lying in a warm sleeping bed made of leather, it is only then that everyone realizes that a whole day's adventure is not a dream.

The Uppsala children quickly adapted to their new life. Together with the children who had been brought up before, they did what they could on the little Gould Island.

Uppsala? Say goodbye to this identity forever!

Their new identity was that of Rurik's servants, which sounded like slaves, but it wasn't. The kind of slaves who were exploited to death were not what Rurik wanted, they were first and foremost people,

As long as it is a human being, with the correct guidance, a strong subjective initiative can burst forth. The wealth they can obviously create, so that when exploited, the master himself can reap greater benefits.

Satisfying their food, clothing and housing is only the most basic act. If they can make them feel that their servants are proud, that is what they want.

Rurik is constructing a concept of identity for his servants - servants who submit to the chief family, and are also new Rus.

Children who lost their parents, lost their hometown, and lost some needed a new support. Rurik stood up at this time, claiming that "I am your supporter".

But Rurik had already made a promise to Carlotta.

No, while he was waiting for the messenger sent by Gould to return the clear order of the leader, Rurik made a grouping of all the children stranded on the island.

As the female leader of Ostara, Carlota accepted the bowing ceremony of more than 50 children to swear allegiance, so that the Ostara tribe has an additional 50 members in name. Rurik separated all the Uppsala children, and almost all of them saw the violence of the leader of the alliance. For Melalen, the place of hope they once fantasized about is now the place of sin.

Who is the great man? It's Ross!

More than fifty Uppsala boys and girls transformed themselves into children of the Ross tribe. They have no father or mother, but they have a trusted elder brother, Rurik.

Life seems to have entered into a brief silence, and the silence is only the appearance of tiny Gould Island.

The world outside the island is getting more and more chaotic.

The leader of the alliance, Olegin, wanted to exploit all the merchants who sold goods in the market again, and he basically succeeded! Considering that he could not scour the sheep's wool at one time, he did not charge too strict a tax.

The tossing of the market lasted for two whole days, and as many as 20,000 pounds of silver coins and some copper coins were collected from merchants who landed on the shore and did not take the goods to avoid the edge in time.

It looks like Olegin made a lot of money, but what? The money still does not satisfy him.

For a long time, the harvest season was the best time for him to make money.

The climate is getting colder and colder, and the lowest temperature at night around Lake Mälaren is not too bad due to the adjustment effect of the Great Lake.

The wheat production is destined to be reduced, and every farmer can evaluate this year's output from the heading status.

Maybe this year's wheat production will be cut in half!

Those families of the Melalen tribe with a large number of acres, when they sensed the crisis, also found an opportunity.

This year, a group of farmers are destined to go bankrupt because of the reduction in production. If they want to survive, they must buy subsistence grain and next year's planting grain from those who have a lot of grain. For this reason, they will sell part of their fields to tide over the difficulties, or really There's no way to be sold as a slave.

As the most powerful man, how could he let go of this opportunity to exploit his own people? Exploitation of wealth is one of his goals. In addition, by directly controlling a large number of clansmen, he makes them complete serfs and lives entirely on his own rewards, so that his family's power in the entire clan can maintain its peak for a long time. In the long-term control of clan power, their own family can also control the entire alliance for a long time.

Although there is no set of rigorous theories to support his actions, he is indeed using economic means to continuously strengthen his comprehensive strength, and being able to support a completely out-of-work private army of 500 people is an important manifestation of strength.

When Rurik returned to Gould Island, he had a limited stay of up to four days! Rurik wanted to meet Gould's so-called craftsmen who made large ships, and he also wanted to meet Verdegan, a master clothes maker who claimed to be immigrating to Roseburg.

However, none of them came, and even the number of boats on the lake has been reduced these days.

Finally, the messenger sent by Gould every day, after four consecutive days of closed doors, finally met the leader of the alliance, Olegin, and reported to him the visit of the two sons of the leader of Ross, with a lot of silver coins eager to buy new ones. Mai facts.

Olegin didn't mean to snub Gould's messenger, he really had his own business to do.

What he lacks most now is silver coins, which is not his greed, but purely a realistic reason that forces him to need a lot of cash.

No, a noble person came with a real large sum of silver coins. Although Olekin wanted to see Otto, the leader of Rus, the two sons of that person came to see him. Olekin felt that his honor was obtained. respect.

The audience permission has been issued! Just tomorrow!

At night, the council chamber of Gould Island.

The dark room was filled with the aroma of barbecue as usual, and the sizzling roast lamb exuded a charming aroma, but now Rurik didn't have any particularly strong food to nibble on.

Gould also maintained great restraint for the first time, completely worrying about tomorrow's major events.

There were only four people sitting in the huge room, Gould and his son, Rurik and Arik.

"Although it took a lot of time, that guy Olegin finally didn't let us wait in vain. That's the news, we have to see him tomorrow, this is a very important matter for the two of you, and please be good for the Ross tribe. Show it." Gould said it from the bottom of his heart.

Rurik listened attentively, but Arik still looked contemptuous.

Gould looked at Arik's rebellious appearance, and the stone in his heart just couldn't be put down.

"What happened a few days ago, no matter what, it's actually that you offended the leader. I'm most afraid that he will care about these things, and it will be bad for the two of you in the end. I think, when you meet tomorrow, you two should... salute. Apologize."

Gould lacked confidence when he said this. Out of the corner of his eyes, he kept paying attention to Arik's mood changes.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking, Arik roared: "Apologies?! Why?!"

"Ah! My hero, take my advice. Apologizing to that person is the best decision."

"But that shames me."

"No." Gould sighed a little and persuaded in the tone of a person who had come over: "You two, when you step into Olegin's mansion, your identity is not yourself. You are the entire Ross tribe. incarnation!"

"Then I can't apologize!" Arik sat up straight, looking at Gould with murderous eyes. "What's wrong with our arrogant Ross tribe? It was obviously that Olegin who provoked me."

"Ah... For the benefit of the Rus people, I just suggest to you that surrender at a special moment is not a real surrender. If you can get a lot of benefits by pretending to surrender, we can do it."

"Is it a slave? Why?! And you, why do you order me?"

What's the "slave" thing here and there? Gould secretly scolded Arik for his recklessness, but he didn't dare to say that, and he had no choice but to continue to persuade himself. He looked at Rurik, who didn't speak for a while, and frowned, presumably the child could understand his good intentions.

Gould immediately turned his face and said sincerely: "Rurik, I hope you can understand what I mean."

"Well, apologizing to that person can get a lot of benefits, but that's fine."

Listen, Gould was overjoyed, and Arik simply stood up, looked at his stupid brother and asked, "Rurik, are you crazy? Why should we give in to that guy? Didn't you get so angry that you wanted to stab that guy yourself? people?"

"Brother! Don't be impulsive!" Rurik raised his head and shouted with determination.

Arik sat down again, clasping his hands together like an angry toad: "I just don't accept him. Olegin, that's an idiot. If we are hostile to each other, I will cut his head off on the battlefield."

Is the cousin talking angry? Rurik didn't think so. As far as his own emotions are concerned, the past exchanges between the Rus and the Melalen people were limited to the spontaneous exchanges of some businessmen, and the exchanges at the official level had long been cut off.

The Rus people have overcome difficulties in these years, and a large number of young warriors have acquired very good experience in killing enemies. They are rebellious, and they want everyone to really admit that a guy they have never met is the most honorable leader. Why? !

I am afraid, with the fact that Olegin is the leader of the alliance.

Rurik didn't care about Arik's eloquence, he knew that even if Father Otto was present, he would not dare to rashly destroy the inherent political ecology of the alliance. As long as the Rus people are still accumulating strength, they have to strategically subdue and even flatter.

Arik was a reckless man after all, and Gould could see that Rurik was the wise man, and his only hope was that Arik would not cause any unpleasant incidents tomorrow.

Gould continued to advise: "From what I know about that man, he is a man of great joy, and he needs the most powerful person in his life to recognize his power. So, I hope you can provide him with a little precious gift."

"Gift? He deserves it too!" Arik interjected sternly.

Rurik now understood Gould's intentions. If the guy is really overjoyed, he takes out a little valuables to curry favor, and in terms of the benefits he may obtain, a little gift will completely become a stepping stone to greater interests. .

What is the best interest? Rurik had already figured out that if the Ross tribe wanted to continue to develop, expanding the commercial trade with the Mellarens was a top priority. The two sides can sign some trade agreements, so that the Ross tribe can rely on the leader himself to continuously receive supplies. The key here is food.

However, Arik was still chattering about idiots and the like.

Gould really took the trouble. He complained: "Arik, do you know what an idiot is? If you can't position yourself correctly, and pretend to be strong, this is an idiot."

"Ah!" Arik was overjoyed at first, and sneered, "I didn't expect you to treat such a leader as an idiot? I thought you were afraid of his so-called power."

Gould raised his old face again, and didn't want to say anything for the time being.

Rurik smiled without saying a word. He looked at Gould and knew that this guy had something to say. The pun here is mainly to criticize Arik for being a reckless guy.

The person who can listen to his own opinions humbly is Rurik. As for Arik, this young man who is good at fighting again, Gould does not want to offend him.

"Our purpose is to do business. This year's wheat harvest is doomed to a large scale. For the sake of the Rus people, we must get a lot of wheat. In order to achieve our goal, we have to coax Olekin to get him the pleasure of being bowed down. We get a lot of wheat. In the end, his people will be hungry next year, and our people will not worry about food. Maybe someday, he will kneel in front of you and beg for food. So those polar bear skins that are going to be sold..." When he said these words, Gul De also looked at the change in Arik's expression. Perhaps his words were euphemistic enough, and the young man's tense face relaxed a little.

Rurik gritted his teeth: "I understand, all the bear skins I brought were given to him as gifts."

"You don't have to!" Gould waved his hand. "Give him two pieces of leather. That guy really needs our Ruth steel swords, steel spears, and crossbows, in addition to a lot of leather. It's enough to supply him. Arms in exchange for huge benefits, the decision is yours."

"It's a pity that the time is not ripe. Only our soldiers are equipped with the best weapons, and then sell the extra weapons, I think." This is the case, Rurik does not think it is necessary, " It is also possible to use the "human version" weapons for personal use, and to sell them to Olegin's "monkey version" weapons for great profits.

"Then give him bear skins, and bear heads. No spirits, glasses, soap, whatever. That guy is already a big customer. In my opinion, he's more than happy to spend a lot of sheets. A bear head with a big mouth to show his personal prowess," Gould continued.

Rurik patted his forehead, "Ah, if I knew I would have brought all the bear heads, those things themselves are useless."

"Don't say that." Gould hurriedly explained the role of the bear heads as taxidermy, "Rurik, if you can hunt a lot of bears, you can make a lot of helmets out of bear heads and distribute them to you. of fighters. Think of hundreds of fighters wearing bear heads, and your army will have the spirit of a bear to scare your enemies before they even engage.”

For a moment, Rurik thought of Hu Ben.

ah? Could it be that Olegin, the leader of the alliance, wants to turn his private soldier into a "Bear Ben"?

Everyone's deliberations came to fruition, and Rurik was mentally prepared. When necessary tomorrow, he would kneel down on one knee to salute the leader of the alliance. Of course, his true identity will inevitably be revealed tomorrow. If he had an unpleasant relationship with Olekin as a "Norwegian traveler" before, if the guy blamed him, he would have to continue to salute.

There is also a bottom line for etiquette. Rurik has already thought about it. If that person is mean, the Rus people will not have to be humiliated.

It's a big deal and break up.

At that time, it is not impossible for Arik, who already despised Olegin, to make a scene at the scene. Anyway, Alic looked down on Olegin with all his heart. In his heart, Olegin's despicable coward image of the "child killer" cannot be changed. .

Tomorrow's contact is ultimately unknown. Rurik desperately hopes that as the leader of Ross, he will sign a series of agreements with Olegin. He believes that the fallout due to a small matter of etiquette is purely a small probability event.

It is more likely that the two sides will sign a more equal bilateral trade agreement because of what they need. This is the biggest purpose of Rurik.