Rise of Rurik

The huge wooden house is the mansion that Rurik built for himself, and it is highly imitated of Rosberg's house, which makes Otto very friendly.

The fire of coals in the stone fireplace was very pleasant, and the smoke was blown into the sky through the chimney, and the whole house was warmed and a little bright.

As far as lighting is concerned, it depends on the matrix of oil lamps hanging from the beams of the house, and the chrome and iron lamp sockets protruding from the wooden walls.

The fleet that arrived with difficulty against the sea wind from the Arctic docked on the river that was about to freeze, and it was getting late when people landed.

Now night has fallen. A large number of residents have returned to the wooden walls, and Fort Eron Orava is protecting all residents and guests from afar with thick walls.

Outside the wall, the cold wind of early winter was even sharper. Inside the wall, with the arrival of a fleet of hundreds of people, the peaceful days suddenly became lively.

Otto sat casually on the leather cushion, holding up a glass full of spirits, and he was paying homage to the "lord of the city" Mechasta.

"You did a good job. Those wooden houses are neat and tidy, and each house can accommodate at least ten people. You deliberately left them vacant, and you have a good eye."

Mechasta was a little flattered: "Boss, this is Rurik's arrangement, and I just follow his decision."

As usual, Evro served as an interpreter, and here he added an extra sentence, "I am your slave", which made the explanation even more slavish.

Otto laughed happily, and drank half a glass of spirits: "You are very good at talking, and you know your identity very well. The tribute you claim to be paid is ready? Are you sure?"

"Yes! I dare not speak nonsense."

Otto put down his wine glass slowly, showing a fierce look without comment. "You know what I do with traitors and dishonest people."

"I dare not violate it."

Mechasta felt like he was sitting on pins and needles. He could say that he got some benefits from the Ross people, which was also given by Rurik.

Rurik, a beautiful boy, is full of wisdom, at least he likes to talk about contracts, and his personality is kind. Yes, not killing is kindness.

He hopes that his daughter can give full play to her abilities, and it is best to work hard to be favored so that the clan can get greater benefits. Rurik and his daughter Saiporava are here, just the most bystanders? They should be more looking forward to a big meal.

Otto had no intention of further intimidation,

"You said earlier that you had an amazing experience and had something amazing to tell me. What was it?"

"Yes!" Mechasta's hanging heart relaxed slightly: "It's a gift, that is, the big meal I'm about to offer."

"Big meal? I'm really hungry." Otto thought for a while, "I learned that you hunted and killed some bears, and I saw all those bear skins, which are displayed on the wall of this house." Otto clicked his tongue. , especially in dim light, the bear's head with its bloody mouth wide open is extremely terrifying.

"You...wouldn't entertain me with bear meat? You roasted a bear?"

"Actually, it's a fish." Mechasta said calmly, which made Otto almost spit out the wine he drank.

"What's a fish? Did you catch the sea monster?"

"It's not enough to say it's a monster, it's really huge, and it just happened to be left as a gift to the great leader."

This matter aroused Otto's interest, so the adventure of the Iron Squirrel Tribe in September became clear.

Mechasta bluntly described that they encountered the reward of the gods earlier, and then encountered the salmon tide.

However, the volume of "salmon tide" sounds absurd to Otto.

"Fish? Lots of fish? I hear the waters here are poor."

"That's right, but a salmon tide happened:" Mechasta said honestly, "In September, some Ross fishermen were fishing in the river channel, and accidentally found a school of fish going upstream. When we heard the news, we cast nets, kayaks by the river We cast nets in the river, and even went upriver where the water was shallow. We even saw bears catching fish, so we caught some more bears.”

The more he talked, the more excited he became: "Boss, the fish we catch in September is enough for us to survive the whole winter. Compared with our hometown on the Oulu River, no one here will compete with us."

"Huh? Is this true?" Otto asked in surprise.

"Yes. We made a lot of smoked fish, dug cold cellars, and we even stocked some big fish. Big boss, I've never seen such a huge salmon, it..."

"How old is he?" Otto questioned, poking his head out, and Rurik also became very interested.

Mechasta opened his arms, "It's just that long."

"Ah! Fish, where is it?"

"The fish is almost done, and I hope this salmon lord is to the High Chief's liking."

This is really a pun, and Otto didn't feel anything when he heard it, but Rurik felt a little uncomfortable when he heard it. If it's a giant salmon, it's okay to call it the "Lord of Salmon." The name was that of another tribe, and Rurik sensed the hatred in this person's heart.

Mechasta will not lie about eating, look at his happy face, only people who don't have to worry about starving will show this joy.

Soon a scent of fragrance rushed into the wooden house first, the wooden door was pushed open, and the cold air from the outside rushed in, making Rurik shiver.

Four tribal women reasonably carried a huge wooden tray, on which were grilled slightly blackened big fish.

The low table that was erected on weekdays was brought down, the wooden plate was put down, and the wooden stick that pierced the big fish was suddenly pulled out.

"Wow! What a big fish." Otto stood up in surprise. He had never seen such a huge salmon in his life.

Pre-dinner etiquette? That's redundant.

He stabbed the grilled fish with the dagger in his hand, and immediately cut himself off a huge piece of oily fish. He didn't care about anything, just opened his mouth to gnaw on the fish, only then realized that the fish had been pickled.

Rurik and Saiporava had already approached the wooden table and shared a huge salmon, which of course caught Rurik's eyeballs.

And the color of this fish is really beautiful, even if it is already sizzling.

Dark orange with lots of white streaks, it's a huge salmon.

Salmon is the most common species of salmon in the Nordic region. In Rurik's impression, salmon in the Baltic Sea should be treasured, but now that I think about it, it's all because of people's big mouths, so they cherish fish and have to raise them artificially.

Rurik speculates that the Ayron River (that is, the Kemi River) is only now being set foot by humans. For thousands of years, a huge salmon school has set its spawning ground in Lake Rovaniemi in the upper reaches of the river. They never imagined that the Russians and Corvins who are good at fishing have established settlements!

He knew that salmon were all cold-water fish that were extremely long-lived and grew throughout their lives. I also know that this kind of fish has low fishy smell, and it tastes delicious no matter how it is cooked. It’s just based on the current situation that Europe’s native dill, thyme, and Rurik all have the ability to get a batch, but it takes a lot of manpower and material resources, and the gain outweighs the gain. No seasoning is not a big problem, high-quality salt is the most important.

The fish must have been salted with the salt provided by the Balmerk traveler, and Rurik remembered that he had left some of the good salt, so Mechasta must have processed the big fish.

Looking at this fish, Rurik felt that the length from the head to the tail of the fish must be one and a half stikas, and it must be longer than himself. It is impossible for several people to share such a big fish.

Regarding this fish, Mechasta explained, "A fish of this length, it was like a battle to catch it. We caught five with the Ross fishermen, and the biggest ones were eaten long ago. There is this one, I pickled it with the most precious good salt and put it in the cold cellar, just to present it to the leader.”

"You did a good job." Otto twisted his neck, indicating that his son was also stunned.

A piece of fish steak was placed in front of Rurik, it was so huge that he couldn't finish it by himself. He deftly picked up two wooden sticks, used them to pull the fish, and stuffed the small pieces of meat into his mouth. The same is true of Saiporava, who deftly manipulates sticks to eat meat instead of knives and hands, which really shocked Mechasta.

They are not very used to talking endlessly during meals. Otto first arrived here, and he was very careful about the construction of Elronburg. He has a very high evaluation of this place in his heart, and even in some places, it is better than the construction of New Roseburg.

The builder and designer of the settlement was actually Rurik, and Otto could ask his son directly. After all, Mechasta is the castellan, and he has a lot of questions that need to be answered by this person.

The huge fish fillet fell into Otto's stomach three times, five times and two times. He drank his wine again, and his words were a little awkward under his slight drunkenness, "Now, let's talk about those iron tools. Mechasta, you have recently learned how to forge iron tools. , I want to see your mines, your shops, and your blacksmiths, and I want to ask for the payment of one thousand axes and five hundred spearheads. Have you really finished the production?"

Mechasta felt that he hadn't gained enough trust, so he was angry, "Boss, they are all in the warehouse. They are very hard axes, which are comparable to those made by Roseburg blacksmiths, and even... even steel axes. A sword can break. You can see it now if you want."

Otto was getting more and more involved. He originally doubted Mechasta's production efficiency, but now he simply laughed like a maniac, which is actually a kind of alienated drunken madness.

At this moment, Rurik should be the most concerned. Although "seeing is believing" is important, he has no doubts.

The reason for Otto's laughter was soon revealed by him. He laughed and muttered, "A thousand magical axes? It's good to equip my clansmen. The axes are very powerful, and they cost a pound. Haha, sell them again. To the people of Mälaren... aha, wealth! Endless wealth..."

As he was talking, Otto actually lay down on the bed, and he smiled silly again, and then the dull snoring sound kept coming.

Gevro didn't do any translation, and Rurik didn't want to say anything. Even an ordinary chrome-iron ax can cause great damage to ordinary wrought iron utensils, and it is extremely difficult to corrode.

If it is sold under the banner of "Unembroidered God Axe", the price of a pound of silver coins will be less. This is a matter of no cost and no profit. The total price of a thousand axes must be close to 100,000 silver coins, which is to consider the purchasing power of the buyer.

Rurik believed that the Mälaren could not digest them instantly, and in the end, these utensils had to be armed with the Ross himself. Such a benefit is naturally a substantial increase in the combat power of the Ross tribe.

A thousand axes must be real, and that's just four months of production. The warm air in northern Europe is only five months at most, and the time for efficient iron smelting and forging production can be carried out. Rurik optimistically estimates it to be eight months. He sat at the dining table, thinking again in his small head. I am afraid that the annual production capacity of this group of Kewen people can exceed 2,333 chrome-iron axes.

"Is...is he alright? Master Rurik." Mechasta asked with his head stretched out.

"Of course he's fine, it's just that we're all tired from the long journey, and he drank again..." Rurik suddenly asked seriously, "Now tell me what happened to you on the blacksmith."

Rurik soon understood how the defeated Kewens of Fort Ailon Orava managed to complete the powerful iron smelting with only more than 300 people.

There are certainly excellent furnaces here, the amazing efficiency of hydraulic free forging and the enthusiasm of new blacksmiths. It also lies in Mechasta's management of the tribe. For example, there are a group of women in the mine, and they are actually digging ore with sledgehammers and pickaxes made of ferrochrome. Those reindeer carts were simply driven by children, transporting ore on the hard-cut road. Even the man who operates the waterwheel forging is helped by the children of the tribe.

Rurik, who is quite familiar with the production of industrial products, is very aware of the efficiency of hundreds of people, regardless of gender, who participate in blacksmithing in an almost "industrial population" posture. They spontaneously form a division of labor. Rurik believes that This is the wisdom forced out by the pressure of tribute.

In fact, they began to show strong development potential as early as July. If they were lazy, a city standing in a bitterly cold place would not stand up.

Even so, it is a miracle that 300 men, women, old and children processed the ore into nearly 2,000 pieces of ironware in four months. Rurik knew something inside, that is, the axes and spearheads they made were almost all for war, so the small size of the axe made it very convenient for combat, and the slender spearhead could be used as an excellent javelin with a wooden pole. Therefore, it is very economical in the use of iron.

There is a lot of space inside the wooden walls of Elronburg. Even if a large number of wooden houses are built, Rurik can build 500 houses in a compact manner on purpose. If you don't care too much about the quality of life, it is completely feasible to pack 3,000 people in this settlement.

The core element that constrains the population size of a settlement is food supply. Cities can be very cold, and as long as food and water supplies are adequate, creatures like humans can take root.

Rurik is very confident in this settlement in the extreme north, that is, its population should be maintained at more than 1,000 people at present, which should be reasonable.

There are actually a large number of salmon that use the Ayron River (Kemi River) as the only waterway for breeding. Not only did he think about it, he also understood why there are a large number of wandering polar bears and brown bears here. They just took a fancy to the salmon resources here.

Mechasta hadn't finished his drink, and he was able to report many things to Rurik, and let his daughter act like a baby in his arms again.

"Master, is it appropriate to let the big leader sleep here? He... should go to the wooden bed." Mechasta rolled his eyes and pointed to the wooden house.

Rurik glanced at the snoring old man, and shook his head regretfully; "Let him lie here to sleep, the fireplace will keep him warm."

"But... he is the chief."

"But I am your master." Rurik gritted his teeth and emphasized.

"Okay...Okay." Mechasta collected himself, he thought he understood something, but he didn't seem to know anything.

For example, Evro, of course he felt that Rurik's decision was inappropriate, so he suggested: "My lord, I can take a few brothers and put the leader on the wooden bed."

"No, I've made up my mind."

Rurik's resolute appearance made Yevro feel strange like never before. In an instant, he realizes the obvious: the son is actively displacing the father. Everyone has a dark side in their hearts. For example, the dark side of Evro seeks revenge from the people who took him into slavery. However, after so many years, who is the enemy?

He guessed that Rurik might wish that Otto died in peace so that he could take over the power earlier. If this is the case, Evro is willing to be a pawn.

In fact, the problem is not so complicated, Rurik simply can't stand Otto's hangover. Of course, the Ross people should be associated with spirits to be appropriate, although spirits are already an important medicine in the tribe. Otto really picked up a treasure. Since the technology of distilling low-alcohol ale into spirits was realized, who is the biggest beneficiary? Of course, good things should be enjoyed by the big boss first. No, as long as he has strong alcohol, this guy wants to drink it to his heart's content.

Before long, Fort Eron Orava fell into true silence. Mechasta has accumulated a lot of mature experience when he fought against the Salmon Lord tribe for a long time in the former mountain fortress. For example, how to quickly build wooden walls and how to arrange night watchmen.

The cold wind of the Arctic blew away all the clouds, and the bright moonlight illuminated the whole earth. The flames inside the city walls were blazing, and there were crackling sounds one after another, and the people who rubbed their hands by the bonfire were all night watchmen on duty. The night watchman on the tower, wrapped like a bear, could hear the penetrating tinkle of the waterwheel, and the faint lapping of the waves against the muddy shore. Not far from the pier, the boats docked were also swaying weakly with the slowly freezing river.

The guests from Roseburg were already lying in unknown reserved wooden houses. They were full of food and drink, and they were sleeping soundly. Their shouts could not be covered by the north wind.

The night watchmen are worried that the days ahead will get colder and colder, and they all have a premonition that the first snow is approaching. So, is the fleet led by Ross going first? Or will the snow come first?