Rise of Rurik

Gould is very old, and sometimes he feels the pain that his head is about to split (actually, it is atherosclerosis). Whenever he has a headache, he makes his female slaves or wives and concubines rub his head, and he is also afraid of the end of his life. Of course he was afraid of death, but death is something everyone must experience.

That's why he hangs a deer head, a shield, and an axe in his bedroom. He sometimes fantasizes about being a warrior, so that after death, the soul may enter Valhalla with honor. He felt better every time he thought about it.

He felt that he had found a good opportunity when he entered, but he had to grasp the extremes and obtain a little "God's grace" by contributing to the "Son of God" Rurik. Of course, in reality, it is also to obtain political capital for his own descendants, especially the eldest son Snowlev, who will inherit most of the wealth, and needs to be reused by Rurik's future for the eldest son for a long time because of his efforts.

"My great, invincible, and glorious leader." Gould used many good words to describe Rurik and Otto. Otto was very happy, but Rurik got goosebumps all over his body. .

"What do you want to say?"

"Ah! If the leader allows, I hope to exchange them for a new big ship for these hundred pounds of silver coins."

"Huh?" Rurik suddenly understood Gould's intentions: "You? Are you planning to donate a big ship like the Avlora?"

"Yes! Even if it is expensive, I will add some money and let the Hortra family build it. I will give you this ship as the second large warship of our Rus."

"Okay, since you are willing. Originally, I intended to build at least five more large ships. Your cooperation has moved me."

Hearing that, Gould was only shocked, "What? There are actually five more?"

"Yes, if we had more wealth, we should build ten, or more. I must have some examples of great ships to defend our future sea trade."

"That's true." Gould nodded, admiring and shocked by Rurik's long-term vision, "I only have one extremely humble request now."

"Go ahead. You're going to be the financier of the second ship, and you can ask for a lot."

"Actually there's only one, and I'd like to name the ship. I'd like it to be called the Gould."

"Huh? Is this the end?"

Gould nodded, but Rurik was not satisfied: "What do you call a ship? I need to tell you clearly,

You need to call Gould 'hon (her)'. "

"Ah? You..." Gould also slapped his forehead before thinking of a so-called bad taste that Rurik had always had. "Do you still refer to ships as women? It's weird, but it's kind of funny."

"Really weird? But it's like our big ships, each of which has to have a unique name. The ship is like a woman, and a man rides a ship like a wife. If the ship has a soul, then it is a woman, or a A beautiful elf from the sea."

Gould seriously confirmed Rurik's eyes and decided that the child was serious.

He thinks this statement is very dreamy, but it is not. Rurik quoted the Roman poet Virgil's statement. Poetry in Rome may have fixed this cultural phenomenon in the classical Greco-Roman era in the form of literature and influenced the navies of European countries. Oh, except Germany, Germany treats the ship as a brother.

Rurik mentioned the "elf of the sea", and he used the word "elf", which itself was hidden in the cultural life of the Rus, or Vikings.

Gould thought about it for a while, he suddenly became enlightened, and suddenly pulled out his necklace. Among the many amber, he deliberately showed an individual carved into a villain, or a female elephant.

"This is the lucky elf. I probably understand what you mean. Sailing is like doing business. It is full of risks and opportunities. Every ship needs a lucky elf to guard it."

Gould's remarks also surprised Rurik: "Ah...that's it."

Rurik thought about it again, and now he can no longer explain the situation to Gould, the so-called contribution of Roman poets to the personification of ships, and even the Rus people who want to do great things should try their best to learn about Rome.

The Rus people clearly have their own excellent culture, and he will do whatever they want: "Maybe I should erect a wooden sculpture on the bow of Avrora, it is no longer a ferocious beast, but the image of a beautiful girl, preferably behind her. And with a pair of wings, she is the spirit of the ship, and will bring luck to all sailors."

Gould smiled instantly, and he slapped his thigh violently: "Wonderful! Everyone is afraid of hitting rocks, ice cubes and storms. We do this, everyone will be at ease. Then the boat I donated, I can call her ancient Gulddotter."

Rurik immediately understood the meaning, this old guy was really witty, and he directly named the big ship his daughter. In the end, the old guy was willing to invest the funds for the second ship, and the ownership of the ship belonged to the chief family.

As for the shipbuilding plan itself, Otto had no objection, his only concern was funding. Rurik's ability to pull funds from Gould is a skill, but the total cost of a large ship is far beyond Otto's imagination. If it were three or four years ago, he would have thought it was a poisonous mushroom nerve. Opinions from deranged people.

After all, three years ago, in a corner of Roseburg, the currency as a medium of exchange was very scarce, which led to a high currency value even for copper coins. Thirty silver coins are enough to build a fishing boat, and only one pound of silver coins for a long boat.

Due to the successful revenge operation, a huge influx of silver coins has changed not only Rosberg, but also the entire tribal alliance. Although the price of building ships has skyrocketed due to inflation, the amount of money to build ships such as Avlora is too much, even absurd.

A ship can't wait for 20,000 silver coins! Otto only hoped that the Avrora would be as powerful as she was originally designed to be, so as to demonstrate the authority of the leader.

Gould quickly took out two hundred pounds of silver coins. After taking out the funds, in fact, his family did not have much silver. Because of trade, a large amount of silver coins actually flowed into the Meralen tribe and spread to the main tribes in several alliances around the lake.

The Rus people have to earn this silver back through trade. This year, they have hoarded a lot of high value-added goods. No matter what the alliance talks about, Rurik will soon have to sit on the Avrora, which is on the water, and simply let her carry a lot of cargo and go to Melalen to make a fortune.

Tax work begins immediately.

As the chief of the tribe, Otto issued a special order to the entire Roseburg Fjord, which is to prohibit all ships from leaving the port for three days. Even if there is no ban on the wise people, they will not dare to break into the sea that is still full of floes. The entire tribe of fishermen are now waiting quietly.

Large amounts of meltwater from icebergs poured into the fjords and the vast Gulf of Bothnia, and the floating ice on the sea was basically not a threat to a ship that was deliberately built quite solid, as long as the ship was not hit by the giant ice mass. In this hydrological state, many merchant ships have the ability to run away. If they really slip away in the dark, Otto will not be able to make money.

As a result, some merchants really planned to escape at night.

But Otto isn't a fool either. Others are not confused. The escaped merchant tried to push his boat into the sea, and was soon caught by the ambush. What to do with these tax evaders?

Otto didn't put them to death, but they didn't live well either. All goods and money have been confiscated, and his entire family has been reduced to slaves in logging, and will be sent to work in far-flung places for up to three years! For example, the distribution of new Roseburg, which is in desperate need of labor.

Although Rurik felt a little inappropriate about this punishment standard, when they thought that the punishment was not severe, did they think that Roseburg was actually a good place to come and run as they wanted, and they could make money without paying taxes? Does it mean that the Rus lost their tariff rights?

In a big way, this kind of escape is a huge injury to Ross, and it is necessary to give strong punishment.

At least the Rus did not kill these tax evaders. This practice of killing chickens and warning monkeys actually deterred those who wanted to flee. Yes, Rurik thought that his family was a little indecisive last year, and let some tax evaders sneak away with the money they earned before the ice and snow melted. Regarding the case of the icefield trek provided by the Maillaren messenger, Rurik now does not think that the merchants who escaped last year would really freeze to death in the icefield.

The agreed tax collection day was today, and Otto called all the merchants in front of the Avlora, which was about to be launched.

There are more than 300 people, all of them are the owners of the merchant family.

No one has escaped since an escape attempt was caught. It's just that all the wealth of those families was confiscated, and everyone still has lingering fears when they think of the aggressive appearance of the Ross soldier.

They became submissive and just wanted to quickly hand over the money to keep them safe.

No, Otto stood directly at the bow of the boat. He looked down at everyone and said arrogantly: "You have made too much money in my territory, and you have to pay taxes. In the past winter, all merchants made When it comes to big money. Then, you have to pay more tax."

Otto didn't want to talk nonsense anymore, he just wanted to clap his hands and announce the start of a show.

Everything that follows is a drama.

Rurik, dressed in gorgeous costumes, was accompanied by more than a dozen strong warriors, and stood in front of a group of businessmen who were equally well-dressed. Everyone has seen the beautiful Rurik, and his face is still so clean, but the discerning person inadvertently notices that his front teeth are missing.

"let's start!"

Otto roared in the high place, people didn't know what happened, they saw a fat man with a stout figure, he was also dressed in fancy clothes, especially the velvet cap on top of his head with two green feathers (previously high prices) purchased peacock feathers), this man is Gould unmistakable. Behind him, there are many little fat people, needless to say, these are all the cubs of the same family.

The more obese, the more proof the family is wealthy. The merchants are not fools either, they all know that what this family has done in recent years is shit. They were jealous of the Gould family, and they wished they could be a bitch themselves, so that Chief Ross could make a lot of money.

Some of the mercenaries raised by Gould jointly carried two large wooden boxes. They walked slowly on purpose to intrigue anxious merchants.

Their eyes focused on the heavy box, as if the contents were too heavy to describe in words.

The mercenaries were also acting. They unloaded the box in front of Rurik, pretending to be extremely tired, and the severe panting sounded as if they had just finished fighting.

Gould deliberately complimented loudly: "The great leader of Ross, Rurik who was blessed by the great Odin, this is the tax burden offered by my Gould family for this year. According to the contract, I offer this year's 20,000 A silver coin in thanks for the security and stability the Ross tribe has provided my family."

Gould himself is revealing a principle, the so-called tax is not paid in vain, he is equivalent to the purchase of "Russian security".

The tax amounted to 20,000 silver coins, and the clear number shocked all the merchants present were shocked and trembled. Not only were they shocked that the tax was so high, but they were also surprised that the Goulds had made such a big business.

"Very good, now I want to open the box." Rurik said his lines according to the script, "I want to see the real silver coins."

The box was opened, and the silver coins with white flowers immediately attracted the merchants who were watching.

They are more than 300 people, they are the heads of all the foreign merchants, and they are also the people in charge of wealth. There were not many of them, so almost all of them saw Rurik crouched down, stirring the silver coins with both hands on the spot, making a violent metal collision sound.

This was also in Rurik's plan, and it was deeply stimulating their hearts.

"Boss, what do you think?" Gould raised his head and asked.

"You are doing well! You are an honest man. I hope all businessmen have your honesty."

Look at what they said, other merchants stood under the huge ship, a strong sense of oppression made everyone nervous, and now the Rus people leader suggested a threat.

The merchants whispered, and gradually some people began to shout that they would take the money immediately.

More and more people are shouting and claiming that they are also honest businessmen. They are infected by such an atmosphere. Who else dares to say no?

The show was over quickly, and Otto ordered the merchants to go back quickly, and soon he personally led a group of soldiers, going door to door to collect their taxes or tax-deductible goods. In order to speed up the tax collection work, he appointed his nephew Arik, his old friend Haro Zuosen and others, and also brought the brothers to collect the tax separately.

This has almost turned into a "feast of plunder". Although the goods and money that are worth 30,000 silver coins are collected, it is normal for the tax collector to take the opportunity to get a little more benefit. There is no resistance from the merchants, they would rather take some more money to send away these tax collectors. In fact, there is no need for them to resist. First, resistance is courting death. Second, they have known the tax policy of the Rus from the beginning. They are all businessmen who can come with a certain foundation, and they can pay only one pound of silver in tax. .

The tax work went extremely smoothly and was finally completed in just two days. The currency of the tax was successively moved to the longhouse, and the goods deducted from the tax were moved to the warehouse built by Rurik for storage.

Rurik and his mercenaries happily moved the two large boxes full of silver coins to the priest's longhouse, and then moved them into the room where wealth was stored.

He stopped by to visit Villa, the old man's condition was still bad, but her pain was not apparent on the surface. If it is a person's luck to die without a disease, when she sees that the thing she has guarded for a lifetime has a bright future, and leaves with hope, is it a greater luck?

Villa was extremely weak, and when he was awake, his thinking was still meticulous.

She fixed the time for this year's Sailing Festival, which was set on April 15th in the Julian calendar.

The day is very near, and this Brumia has been walking around the priest's long house, constantly reciting this year's sacrificial prayers.

Of course, this year's sailing festival is destined to be unusual, and the Avrora will be launched on this day.