Rise of Rurik

"The Rise of Rurik ()"

The ships of the Rus people are still floating in the sea near the port of Visby. The big ships are like monsters emerging from the sea. The terrifying coercion of guarding the port makes the people in the city completely cut off the idea of ​​​​fleeing at sea.

A group of dead bodies floated on the sea, and others had been buried with their ships.

Are these brave fleeing fellows all businessmen? Money and jewels escorted in every ship sunk?

It's late August, and the water in the Baltic Sea is already too cool. A person floating on the water, before the sea salt brine can pickle the person to the point of dehydration and death, the low temperature will kill the person first.

Gould ordered his old sailors: "It seems that all the enemy ships are carrying treasure. You jump in the water and find a treasure."

What exactly is a bounty? The sailors were actually reluctant to do this, but the gold master was pressing hard, so they had to believe that Gould, the elephant seal, could give more money in the future.

A group of sailors stowed away their sails and dropped their spears.

They were wearing only a fig leaf, and holding a cable in their hands, they plunged into the sea one after another.

They resisted the cold of the sea with their sturdy physiques trained on weekdays, and they groped in the turbid offshore waters. Many people quickly touched the bottom of the sea full of fine sand, and then touched the wreck of the ship.

Something soft was also found, and though groping with eyes closed, the sailor knew it was a drowning enemy.

After a while, someone noticed the heavy box. Underwater people are sure of their own judgment, just because the box has an obvious lock! Not to mention the square shape of its leather, it's also very heavy.

A sailor floated up and called out to Gould on the boat after a sudden breath, and then the salvage work quickly began.

The ropes were stretched, and the people on the boat worked together, as if towing a caught cod to the deck.

There are two teams working on Avrora alone, and sailors at sea have been saying that there are still some boxes to salvage.

The first box came out of water, and Gould judged that it was full of money based on his instant intuition.

"A wooden box wrapped in cowhide? There's a hundred pounds in it! I hope it's all silver, even copper."

Gould glanced at the eldest son Snowleva: "Break the lock."

Snow Leva grinned, he raised his axe, then opened the lid and saw the silver coins full of Dengdeng!

The onlookers were almost all old and weak and women from Rosberg. They had lived with poverty in their entire lives. It was the first time today that they saw so many silver coins, and they sat on the ground in horror and shouted at the richness of the Gotlanders.

This is just the beginning.

More boxes came out of the water, as many as eight on the deck of the Avrora. All the lids were opened, and the wet coins and jewelry were revealed to the world.

Snow Leva jumped up and down in ecstasy, and Gould was also very happy. Fortunately, his head hadn't been hit by the huge sum of money to become mentally retarded.

Snoreva danced and ran up to his father, dragged his two brothers, and shouted, "This is our trophy! Oh, I heard that fighting is a shortcut to getting rich, and they said it was true. . We got rich."

Gould pouted and shook his head: "These are Rurik's treasures."

"Huh?" Snowley hesitated for a moment: "Father, what did you say? These..."

"It's all Rurik's, it's the Duke of Ross."

"But they are our spoils."

"It's Ross' trophy, what are you thinking, kid?" A wise big hand slapped Snowleva on the shoulder, "You are my first successor, you have to be smart. The money seems like a lot of money. , but as long as you are loyal to Duke Ross, what is the money?"

Snow Leva didn't understand for a moment, he didn't know that the greatest wealth was actually controlling power. Gould spent most of his life traversing the entire sea area, and he realized the concept of clinging to power so that he could accumulate wealth safely.

Yet Gould underestimated the wealth of the residents of Visby.

Each ship is salvaging, and everyone's harvest is different.

The sailors who jumped into the water got on board one after another, wrapped themselves in blankets and ate dried fish, and giggled while looking at the money box. Gould immediately ordered the so-called temporary reward of a little money to the sailors. He also said something nice: "You have helped Duke Ross get a lot of booty, and the Duke will give you a lot of rewards in the future. You will be valued for more money and more women."

A total of fifty-three chests were salvaged, filled with gold, silver and jewels, and the silver coins alone were roughly estimated to exceed five thousand pounds! Very valuable gold coins are also on the order of one hundred pounds. And the priceless amber rough stone can definitely fill the entire suitcase.

Rurik had miscalculated, he had mistakenly underestimated the wealth of the Visbys.

It took more than 233 years for the settlement of Visby to go from a colonial fishing village that the North Germans expanded northward from the European continent to a trade fair in the middle of the sea today. The locals traded with Svealans in the north, Denmark in the south, and even the Pomeranians in the south. A large amount of gold and silver from the old Roman world flowed into Gotland. In addition, the islanders loved the habit of burying silver, and accumulated a lot of wealth. Nothing could be more normal.

It is normal for an old family to bury a thousand pounds of silver, just like the Harrolev family of Harald, a big businessman who is now very entangled, and they control as much as fifteen hundred pounds of silver. However, the 200 recruited Danish mercenaries, as well as some dedicated servants, vanished in an instant.

Now that the elderly cook of the oatmeal is also armed, the entire family can only maintain the strength of a mere eighty people. Even the twenty female warriors who were responsible for protecting Asraki, who should have played more of a role as a guard of honor, were now extremely important.

The Ross ships at sea made a fortune, and Gould knew that he had made great achievements. He had no intention of being greedy for ink. Even Gould has begun to fantasize about greater possibilities through this battle.

Were the large and powerful Franks monstrous from the start? They must also have a small existence. Those who surrounded the early kings, their family descendants have become fiefdoms.

The Rus people are replicating the success of the Franks, so on this road to success, what the duke lacks most is a lot of money.

Visby's wealth reached the scale of 10,000 pounds of silver! The silver shortage problem in the Middle Ages in Europe was, to a certain extent, that the pirates and merchants of the Viking Age buried the silver obtained from trade and plundering as an insurance. This is why Swedish archaeologists excavated tombs thousands of years later, and often a silver cellar could dig up 100,000 silver coins. And 100,000 silver coins are almost the standard 1,000 Roman pounds.

Harald gave up any escape plan, and the crowd watching in the port of Visby, they were completely dead.

Some people began to look for food everywhere, and even forcibly cut the dead, and ventured to the south of the island with strange food.

They dragged their tired steps into the pine forest on the island, some tried to go to the southern port to find an opportunity to escape, and some went straight to the temple of Odin on the southern mound.

At least the priests who worshiped Frey in Visby all ran away, because Odin was clearly on the side of the Rus. Odin, the god of war, wants to destroy Visby. The Russ attacked from many directions. The priests went to the altar of Odin, hoping that the wrath of the gods would not spread any more.

But this war has nothing to do with God!

Harald is very realistic, no, on a brand new day, he put on a warrior's clothes, took his daughter Asraki, who was very beautifully dressed, wearing a silver crown, and a small number of guards, and headed to the mound. Find the Rus' camp. Of course, he also brought a little greeting, namely a hundred pounds of silver coins, to express to the Russ that he is different from those who mainly fight, and has a vision of peace.

This team of twenty people set off, and now Harald found that in just one day, the bandits who robbed the house disappeared without a trace.

There were still some gray-white corpses lying in the complicated streets and alleys. It was very absurd that he saw some sheep escaped from the pens and were grazing leisurely.

Let's take a look at the lively Visby in the past! The whole world is frighteningly quiet.

Asraqi, her handsome face is full of restraint, her long flowing hair is matched with an equally flowing plain robe, plus silver and gems embellished by the clothes and headdress, the whole person is just like her name, she really looks like Asgard Fairy.

She was Harald's jewel, and of course every woman's parents should consider marrying her when she was twelve years old. Harald obeyed his daughter's wishes, but did not want to betroth the fairy to a fellow merchant.

So, would it be appropriate to betroth her to a conqueror?

The father and daughter were speechless all the way. When they reached the top of the mound, they were immediately captured by the Ross soldiers who were ordered to stand guard.

He did not encounter any difficulties, just because the military commander said that Visby's new defeat will inevitably lose almost all of its combat effectiveness. In the ferment of fear, there is only a great possibility that messengers will visit the camp to make peace, or even announce surrender. .

Sure enough, Harald made a direct statement: "I want to see your leader, and I want to surrender to him." He also specially gave ten silver coins to each of the more than ten soldiers who were on guard. The soldiers laughed very happily. Happy to lead the way.

Of course, there were also soldiers who took a fancy to the beautiful woman among the surrenderers.

Someone tried to knead Asraki's face with a lewd smile, but the girl immediately slapped her.

This time, the laughing people strained their spirits.

"Why? Isn't she a good woman?!" The soldier who was beaten pretended to be angry. He covered his face, but he actually thought that it was a little nice to be slapped by a beautiful girl, "As long as you are my woman, you can Keep you a Gotlander safe."

Harald hurriedly explained respectfully: "This is the most beautiful woman in Visby, and I will dedicate her to the leader of Rose."

This is what happened. The soldier who was beaten took three steps back, and his attitude changed completely: "Haha? It's actually like this? Then come with me."

The Ross warriors who were present knew very well that grabbing a woman with the duke was not courting death? As for this beautiful woman, is she serving Otto? Do not! Brothers know that the old leader Otto is famous for being loyal to love, and there are rumors. The so-called Otto is actually a sacrifice for the majesty of a man, and he won the miraculous Rurik for the Ross tribe. No fool had the guts to mock Otto.

But even if this woman doesn't say a word, she is teasing the soul of a man. Could she be a Rurik woman?

The military commander, the man blessed by Odin, the miracle of the Russ, the fierce and benevolent Rurik, he has too many women! There are not many tribal men who would envy their future supreme leader Rurik's female predestined relationship. After all, being served by so many women, this god-man blessed by Odin can't stand it...

Not long after, Harald stood on Battlefield Mountain again. Facing the grayish-white corpses of the dead, Aslaqi opened her azure blue eyes and covered her mouth involuntarily.

She stood here in the fierce battle the day before yesterday, and when she was here again, she recalled that she could still hear the fighting of the warriors in her ears. She even had hallucinations and saw the ethereal figures still fighting.

"Father, I saw..." She grabbed her father's arm suddenly, "I saw souls fighting, here...it's scary."

"Really? Be cautious now and expect mercy from the leader of the Rus. Damn, I don't even know who the leader of the Rus is? As long as it's not that monster Arik."

The camp of the Rus army, the huge army is still doing the funeral for their dead.

After all, the army fought in a distant place, and the bodies of the dead had to be burned with a fire, and they were buried in the fire after being sacrificed by the high priest. Some bonfires were finally extinguished after burning for more than a day, and there were still many intact gray-black bones in the hot embers.

The hero's soul has gone to Valhalla, and the warriors have begun to dig pits and bury the last bones in the earth.

This is what is called dust to dust, and the camp is littered with charcoal trails, weary soldiers sitting or lying down, others digging pits, and still others doing laundry.

In the end, the camp is adjacent to the stream. There is no shortage of fresh water for people, and there is plenty of water to wash the blood from the clothes.

After being baked by the fire, the blue and white robes of most of the Ross warriors were restored to neatness, and it was inevitable that there would be large and small gaps on them, which urgently needed excellent tailors to stitch.

People were waiting for Rurik's order to march on Visby, and although the enemy was doomed, the brothers stayed in the camp to look like victors. Do the brothers have to wait until all the heading wheat is yellow and ready to be harvested? Indeed, the wheat harvest knot will arrive in a few days.

Rurik actually ate oatmeal first, and the grains were not fully ripe. Such oatmeal must be less nutritious, but he was fed up with eating dried salted fish.

Maybe today is another day of no big deal?

Until someone saw that the sentry brother came back with a group of people.

This time Harald finally entered the Rus' camp as a surrenderer, and he saw a fort made of shallow ravines, earth walls and wooden stakes, which the fighting army of the previous day could not break through.

A large number of warriors quickly gathered on the dirt wall. They were still wearing white robes with the classic logo of the Rus people on their chests.

Hearing that the enemy's envoy of surrender finally came, Otto originally intended to bring a group of brothers to meet these guys in the wilderness, and he didn't need any courtesy for the losers.

Rurik stubbornly asked to receive the envoy in the Duke's tent, just because the Rus people were not pirates, and Rus was a regular duchy! How formal should she be? At least some understanding is needed to distinguish it from the vulgar.

In the huge tent made of sackcloth, the ground was covered with leather.

Austrian in armor sat on his legs, and the patterned steel sword was inserted into the ground beside him.

Rurik and Arik sat left and right. Of course, Rumia was still sitting beside Rurik. As the high priest, she was wearing a deer horn helmet now.

The rest, such as Harrodsen, Mechasta, Regus, Heliger, Medvette, and Yevlo, also sat armed.

There are also some short and small warriors, Telavis, Carlota, Fisk, Kanuf.

It also includes Kawei, the blacksmith who was in charge of repairing weapons and heavy weapons, and who did not participate in the fierce battle during the whole process.

All the elites in the Ross army gathered here, and outside the account, a group of iron men stood like iron towers.

Before entering the tent, Harald was trembling with fear by the army of the Rus. He saw a large number of people with bows and a group of soldiers with spears standing on the earth wall. The iron man in front of the big tent is clearly covered in silver, and it is these guys, he really knows it too well! This group destroyed the last ace of the Visbys, the Danish mercenary army.

Harald was trembling with fear, and Asraqi was also frightened.

Suddenly, the father and daughter saw the head of the man on the wooden pole in front of the tent.

"It's actually Haken! You! You've become like this..." Harald muttered, his legs trembling.

Soon, the women's entourage was detained, and any self-defense weapons were removed.

Harald took his daughter's hand, pushed open the account boldly, and then accepted the eagle-like gazes of everyone in the account.

Otto shouted angrily: "Kneel down! Loser! I am Duke Ross, and submit to my feet!"

Apparently frightened by this powerful roar, Harald and Asuraqi were busy shaking, seemingly indifferent.

It was also at this moment of hesitation that Arik naturally leaned up slightly, just because he saw the beauty of the girl at a glance. Of course, the men present also naturally aimed at Aslaqi's delicate yet heroic attitude.

However, Otto only felt that this was the arrogance of the enemy.

"Kneel down! Don't you understand the Norse language? Come on, cut off their knees!"

Harald, who finally came to his senses, hurriedly pulled the woman to kneel, and even brought their entourage with the box.

Aslaqi slowly raised her head, she was like a frosty person, with a calm and beautiful face, her blue eyes calmly looked at Otto, Duke of Ross. Can't you think that this is the leader of the Rus people, so old? !

When she died, her body would become a plaything for the Rus people, and when the old leader died, she would be buried with him. She knew that she was powerless to resist her tragic fate, she didn't say anything, but Otto looked at each other for a moment, then turned his eyes slightly, his nose was sour, and then there was a line of hot tears.

Noticing this scene, Otto has fully understood that it seems that the new leader of Visby has been reduced to the point of offering beautiful women to beg for peace.

But what does this count? Could it be that the army of Ross will reward Visby with peace for one beautiful woman? Pooh! The purpose of the war was to wipe out Gotland's power.