Rise of Rurik

Rurik really underestimated the strength and endurance of the reindeer, and the smoothness of the glaciers.

Humans are the stamina powerhouses in the animal kingdom, and beasts like reindeer are the stamina kings.

Rurik thought that most of the people would follow the sleigh and walk from Murmansk back to the stronghold of Fiskole Fort (Rovaniemi) on foot. This was the polar long march, and it was a huge and terrifying challenge for the toughest people.

But the reindeer seem to be accustomed to such a life, and the reindeer selected by Rurik are all good deer captured in the previous war against the Kovin tribe. Rurik forgot that the Kovin reinforcements were killed by sleds, which were pulled by two sturdy and docile does, dragging twenty people along the frozen Oulu River.

The rest of the wheat was food for the reindeer, and every two deer pulled a sleigh carrying ten people, and behind the sled was a makeshift sleigh carrying cargo.

Driven and corrected by the whip, the reindeer ran to the south at a leisurely pace.

Rurik and everyone didn't want to ask for too many reindeer, after all, the reindeer pulled the heavy sleigh and had to be pushed by someone behind when starting.

Under the sun, the reindeer moved at a speed of about four kilometers per hour. This is their "leisure walk", which is the violent white fog of breathing, which proves that the deer are not easy.

During the day, they were on their way, and at night everyone estimated the time by the stars. Half the day is on the road, and of course the witty Seporava focuses on the toileting of the reindeer.

"Reindeer peeing, what's there to see? Why are you paying attention to this?" Rurik rolled his eyes at Seporava, who suddenly started talking about it.

Seporava is not embarrassed at all, she proudly said: "This is our wisdom. You... have never known?"

"Know what? Know about deer urine? Why am I paying attention to this."

"Yes, because the reindeer... pee time is constant."

"Constant?" Rurik on the sled suddenly tensed up, "Really? I never heard of it before."

"Now you know." Seporava continued to hold her head up with a proud face. "The reindeer is the first to finish the morning urine. When it finishes the ninth time, about half a day has passed. Spring and autumn are like this."

The current night time is still too long, and there is no clock reference at all for how long the team travels every day.

Everyone can only estimate by the stars, and Seporava’s explanation made Rurik immediately give instructions,

The so-called Seporava is a master of time management.

She is not a pendant in the team, or she has been observing deer urine to count the time from the beginning, and most people in Rus pay attention to this. Rurik didn't ask her or said, until now the team needed to manage time precisely.

Rurik decided to follow Seporava's words. He stipulated that the eighth time when the reindeer went to the toilet was when everyone was camping and resting. In the future, he designed the deer sled to do so.

Seporava does offer the wisdom of the Kowens, or so do all deer breeders.

The interval between reindeer toilets is usually about 80 minutes. Rurik's so-called eighth time to use the toilet to set up camp is equivalent to saying that the team ran for ten hours.

As a result, the team was pulled by the reindeer every day for a distance that was a little more than the marathon. The daily journey was not short, and the animal power was not seriously wasted.

Every time they set up camp, they fed the reindeer with a lot of grains of wheat, and each deer gnawed on the dry grass by the glacier while opening the snowdrifts.

The Rus and Balmers lit bonfires and grilled large quantities of pre-made kebabs.

Rurik was making skewers in the polar regions, and the large amount of seal meat skewered on the branches was washed clean and bloody, and everyone was satisfied with the gulps of grilled seals.

Seal oil can be absorbed in large quantities by people, so it is extremely cold, and high blood lipids are an advantage. People rely on these oily barbecues to obtain powerful heat, and the thick leather coats keep out the cold, and even a little hot.

After making sufficient preparations, there was no embarrassment on the way back. After six full days, people arrived at the key mountain. The polar tundra below the mountain is the water source of the Elon River (Kemi River).

It was during this break that the reindeer frantically gnawed on the hay under the snow everywhere, and the hunters also made some gains.

People still love steaming meat, and foraging arctic foxes and snow hares come uninvited!

These little creatures couldn't think of the inexplicable death of their own. They couldn't understand the sniping of the crossbow, and they were shot at a safe distance.

A fierce flame ignited in the camp, dispelling all the cold. A lot of oily meat skewers were inserted by the fire, as well as roasted foxes and rabbits that had their heads and tails chopped off.

"Continue south and we will find the right river. In my opinion, at the current speed, we have to walk for another 20 days." Biyongni, who is stringing the skewers, is dissatisfied with the current speed.

"Let's go like this." Rurik yelled helplessly.

"We can hurry up."

"No, if the deer are exhausted, we can only go on foot. I don't want to be so tired."

Biyongni sighed, "I actually wanted to go back earlier. We Balmers should probably take advantage of the ice and snow and walk home on the glacier, instead of waiting for the ice and snow to melt and go to the river."

"Returning to your hometown?" Rurik smiled. "I'm bringing back a lot of goods. Let your clansmen cheer as soon as possible!"

"Of course, who doesn't aspire to be a hero?"

When Biyonni mentioned this, Rurik had a strong idea of ​​visiting the Balmerc tribe.

He tentatively said, "I can visit your tribe, we are allies after all."

"You want to come with us?" Biyonny was overjoyed, and Floki was also extremely happy. "You come to my tribe, and we'll treat you like family. So we'd better get out of here, you see, we're very steady on the glacier."

"No, let's go to the sea!"

Rurik's answer with a smile is questionable.

Biyonny clucked his ears. "By sea? How is that possible? It's strange."

"Yes. I have a great idea. I'm going to take a big ship and rush to the Danes, cross the waters they control, and then follow the coast to what you call Bergen, and then continue north to your fjords. ."

Rurik's words challenged Biyonny's concept of geography, so he used a bonfire to build a simple sand table out of snow, "You see, this is our world, a world that has been explored."

Rurik piled up the entire Scandinavia and the subordinate Kola Peninsula, and even the Danish Jutland. Not only that, but he simply made two snowballs and pointed out that it was Britain and Ireland.

Even Iceland was piled up by him.

Compared with the huge world, people are indeed too small. Biyonni saw the so-called earth that Rurik sprinkled with soot from the bonfire and blackened it, and he felt that he was overlooking this earth from the perspective of Asgard.

He couldn't believe it: "So we go south from your Roseburg and cross the sea between the two peninsulas. Can we really go home?"

Rurik patted his dark hands, "Why not try it? You see, we've seen the northernmost ocean, what's the danger?"

"Isn't it? The Danes are going to let you swagger over there? They'll try to collect tribute, I've heard of that."

"I heard it too. I don't care. If we encounter any obstacles, our attitude is to fight!"

"Can you guys do it?" Biyonny's suspicions are not unreasonable, he doesn't want everyone to be in danger alone.

But now, the Danish army seems to be the same in Rurik, and he has never been as afraid of Danish power as some people.

Why be afraid? The vast Baltic Sea, all tribes should fear the Rus army.

Based on this idea, Rurik beat his chest hard, "We Russ will have a decisive battle with the Danes sooner or later. I have no intention of annihilating them, I just hope that they will spit out most of their benefits to me. If they do not agree, Don't blame me for being ruthless."

Hearing this, Biyonni can only put on an awkward smile, isn't that arrogant?

However, Mordgen, who knew it was not easy to interject, interjected: "The Russ have a huge ship like a mountain, I have seen it! Such a ship can ram through any Danish ship, and any obstruction is courting death."

"Really?" Biyonny stared suspiciously at Rurik, hoping for an explanation.

"Indeed, what do you think the giant machinery in Elrond is for? It's a machinery that can lift a giant tree, and the giant tree is the mast that makes it into a giant ship."

Biyongni was a direct good guy, his heart was beating wildly, and he broke out in a cold sweat because of his astonishment.

"You're lucky, there will be two big ships coming into the water soon, and you'll be a spectator."

Rurik's words were more exciting than Jonny's tossing and turning. He longed to have all kinds of things that could show strength and power, which is why he shaved his hair and forcibly tattooed the hideous beast. A crossbow turned him into a madman who could easily kill a walrus, and he started thinking about buying a giant Rusian ship.

They were full of meat, wrapped in leather and slept around the campfire, only those who took turns standing guard, kept clear and awake with their crossbow.

Rurik was a little worried during the break, did he reveal too much to them? Now the top nobles among the settlers in the port of Narvik are already aware of the fact that Britain, Ireland and even Iceland exist, and their geographical location is not too far from the port.

If the Balmers decide to go on an expedition to Britain, will they pull the Rus along with them? It must be, and it must be.

"Attack on the kingdom of Britain? Northumbria? Then we really need to see if the Avlora can sail across the Atlantic."

Rurik was not going to visit the Balmerk tribe on a whim. There is no possibility of a dispute of interests between the two sides, but some have the prospect of making a lot of money together. Both sides face different military threats. Strengthening the alliance is good for everyone.

Rurik didn't pre-set a military action plan for 832. He didn't want to use foreign troops. He just wanted to make a fortune in silence in the next year or two, and then expand his power vigorously after accumulating strength.

However, the complex waterways of the tortuous coast and the rivals have choked the Baltic Sea to the Atlantic Ocean.

Rurik now faces serious obstacles to visit the Balmerks of the port of Narvik by sea.

"Peter the Great at that time was facing the exact same predicament as me! At least I have to get the right of free navigation into the Atlantic Ocean."

Rurik has no intention of attacking Denmark now, so-called revenge for the dead Swedish king Olegin, he is not the cub of this dead king, revenge is Karl's business. On the contrary, he went to the waters and straits of Denmark to provoke, and acted as a pirate to deliberately attack the local merchant ships in Denmark. Rurik was happy. Anyway, any form of revenge from the Danes could not circumvent the power of the Swedish Mellarens. With the meat shield of Melalen, isn't he doing whatever he wants?

Thinking of a few points, Rurik actually laughed in his dream, and the laughter during his sleep was so startling that Seporava, who was snuggling next to him, was not sure why, and even had some fear.

Once the plan is set, Rurik doesn't want to deny it easily, and on the way back, everyone has a new conversation.

Rurik began to describe the beauty of visiting by sea to all the Balmers present.

Everyone is in high spirits!

Rurik threatened that a large Ross ship could transport a hundred thousand pounds, so-called 100,000 pounds of various goods, an order of magnitude that was no different from an astronomical figure for the Balmers.

What exactly is Biyonni's mission? As far as I found the Russ, after forming an alliance, confirming the trade relationship, and transporting the exchanged materials back was his last task.

Since the ultimate goal is to let the tribe get the goods, how is the most suitable way to deliver them? Obviously, the safe arrival of a Rus giant merchant ship fully loaded with cargo is the best result.

In any era, the arrival of merchant ships from afar is the most carnival for the people. The Balmers have a strong deal, and Biyonny is sitting on the sleigh, yelling that the Rus will leave with a lot of salt.

But is salt really worth a fortune?

Biyonny gushed, "We can buy you a thousand pounds of good salt a year, and some leather. We need your good iron."

"However, we won't need too much salt, you need to come up with more goods, so that our trade will be more prosperous." Rurik's words suddenly stabilized Biyonni.

The maritime trade of the Nordic world is a grade worse than that of the Mediterranean.

That's the Mediterranean! The prosperous area of ​​various material trade in Europe, Asia and Africa is too small in comparison with the Baltic Sea, and there are too few so-called commodity categories.

Everyone was bored on the long march, and Rurik simply slammed at Biyonni: "I will sell you the best iron weapons, and you will take the Balmerk warriors to attack the British Isle. There are a lot of gold and silver, slaves and Wheat, all kinds of precious leathers, cloth, and even some magical things. There are kingdoms out there, their armies are weak, and the guys from Bergen are there for gold and silver and slaves, you can do the same . . "

Of course Beyonny knew about the British Isles, and the news of Bergen's madman returning home with a looted treasure and becoming a hero has irritated all the children over the years. He told the truth: "I had the idea of ​​going to sea to attack, but I had a lot of concerns. Sometimes the sea is very violent, and our ships will capsize. So, I... need your big ships, and with big ships, they can withstand any storm."

Biyonny took the opportunity to test Rurik's attitude.

"You want a big ship? Well, it's still a problem if you can buy it with money?"

Biyonni was overjoyed, "Great! How much? When will I get it?"

"At least two hundred pounds of silver."

"Ah! So many? You... sell my favors, less..." Biyongni was startled, and what he said was straightforward.

"No." Rurik said with a sullen face, "Brothers make up their minds, we are brothers, if I sell you at a low price, everyone will think that you are bullying my younger brother. Besides, it is really expensive for you. Maybe yes. Don't you say it's okay for the Balmerk tribe to make a thousand pounds of salt a year? You just have to keep making it for two years, two thousand pounds of salt is two hundred pounds of silver, and you get a big ship."

Rurik's description made Biyonni feel hopeful again.

"Besides, if you have a big ship, you can go on expeditions at will, and you can get more benefits without worrying about the enemy. We are allies, please call me brother when you go on expeditions in the future."

What Rurik said, Biyonni felt that this man was really his own brother. Also, who would look down on a beggar?

Biyongni solemnly stated, "Wait for me for two years, or less, and we Balmers will try our best to make the salt well. Please sell me the big ship at that time."

"I'll build your ship in a year, maybe the hull can start this year. By the way, I'm not making money on this deal. The cost of the big ship is two hundred pounds of silver. You won't owe me either. Renqing, when you really do something against Britannia, you must call me and let's fight together."

"Okay, so wait until the snow melts..."

"Of course it's by sea to Balmerk." Rurik said solemnly again: "I have to let you keep quiet about the seaworthiness and combat effectiveness of the big ship, otherwise you won't be completely assured when you buy a ship."

"That's true. I think my father, the elders of the tribe, everyone will be satisfied with this transaction."