Rise of Rurik

It didn't take long to sail, and Rurik and his party arrived safely at the Gashebi farm in Osten.

Rurik tried his best to block the sun with his palm, and when he first saw it, he only felt that it was shabby.

There are a large number of wooden longhouses here, and a few houses have stone walls, but their overall simplicity is obvious.

The longboat docked at a small pier.

"It seems that your family owns a lot of ships," Rurik said casually.

"No. Rurik of Ross, most of the longships you see are not my people."

"Who is that? Why are their ships here with you."

"Just friends. They are the masters of Gashebi."

Rurik was a little strange, but fortunately Floki, who was accompanying him, gave a simple explanation. Because Wasshobi itself is a village formed by a group of small families, and the Ostan family is the most prestigious among these people, and he himself is officially the village head of the village.

With Rurik's landing, he stepped on the green grass, and soon saw the general situation of the whole village with his own eyes.

A large number of simple houses are covered by sparse pine trees and oak forests. Of course, many of the houses are essentially tents, and it is impossible to tell that they are houses unless someone goes in and out.

When those people saw Ostan come back, many people walked out of the house with a smile to welcome him.

Why are there still some strange visitors?

They dress uniquely and seem to have a lot to do with the big ship that entered the fjord?

People kept their due caution to foreigners, and Rurik also cocked his head slightly, scanning the crowd around him from the corner of his eyes, estimating the number and composition of them.

The scene was embarrassing for a while, Osten stretched out his hand to greet: "Don't be nervous, these people are from Rus. Especially this one, young Rurik, is our honored guest!"

After that, the old guy patted Rurik on the shoulder again: "My friend, stay with me tonight for the night. I happened to be talking to you about that great thing."

"I have no objection. However, you need to send someone to inform the chief about this."

"I'll send someone to do it."

A batch of pine branches caught fire, and a lamb was skinned and roasted.

Washobi welcomed a distinguished guest,

Osten decided to roast a sheep for Rurik, which has made his modest home more respectable.

The number of cattle and sheep raised by the locals is very limited. These livestock often blow the wind from the Atlantic Ocean and forage in the trivial meadows on the west coast. The harsh natural environment makes Gashebi almost a forbidden area for grazing. People here are still struggling to survive.

Because the best settlements in the fjords were already overcrowded, the overcrowded had to open up new settlements near their home ports, or betrayed their tribes to "work" for the Bergen people.

As everything settled down, it was not until Rurik personally entered the village feast that Rurik fully understood that Vashobi, relative to the entire Balmerk tribe, was a semi-detached settlement, equivalent to the Rus. The relationship between the Rus homeport and Tombstone Island.

More than a dozen strong men from Washerby entered the largest brightly lit building at Osten's call.

This house was not a longhouse, but in Rurik's view it was a huge permanent tent. A huge wooden "mushroom head" is installed on the nearly circular wooden wall. There is a hole in the center, so that a bonfire is lit indoors, and the exhaust gas is freed from the hole.

Rurik's status is noble, and he has the right to enjoy the oily roast leg of lamb. Even the three Rus warriors, including Yevro, who exuded admirable heroic aura, naturally became the guests of honor. In the same way, Noren and Floki are the two children of the leader, and Osten also has to give courtesy.

In fact, when Ostan saw the intimacy between Noren and Rurik, an indescribable sense of loss enveloped him.

The youngest son Esbjorn had already reached the age of marriage. He was determined to wait until Noren grew up, and then took the youngest son to propose marriage. Now, all the plans are in vain, but I am not at a loss.

Rurik, the boy from the sea, whose hometown is actually the sea to the east of the mountains.

Although this is very unbelievable, now, the Rus people have fantastic ships, which can naturally sail very long distances.

Many strong men gathered together, and they all wore swords and hand axes, and their eyes glanced at themselves from time to time. It was really uncomfortable for Rick to eat this meal.

It wasn't until Osten saw that Rurik had eaten half of a leg of lamb, and finally said, "It's time to talk about business! Rurik, you see, our bravest men in Washerby are all gathered here."

"Okay! Let's talk business."

Rurik gently put down the meat, and he looked around and realized that he no longer needed any cover: "Ostan, I know what you are going to do. You are going to try to rush into the so-called sea at the end of the world, you are going to find a new home and build a new home. Better gas-to-H ratio."

"Not bad. Refreshing! Do you... think we can do it?"

When asked abruptly, Rurik was a little stunned: "Is this my problem? It's obviously your problem. If you have confidence, take your friends on a voyage. So, you don't have full confidence until now."

"Indeed, because sailing west, or being devoured by sea monsters, or falling into the abyss at the end of the world, no one knows what is there. I know of some brave men who have tried to sail far..."

"And then?" Rurik asked.

Osten shook his head sullenly: "No one survived."

Of course, sailing in the ocean has to face too many dangers, at least the hydrological conditions of the Baltic Sea are much better than the Atlantic Ocean.

Rurik leaned back slightly: "So, what can I do for you? Encourage verbally? Or provide more direct help?"

"We... I..." Osten continued to hesitate for a while, and finally raised the desire that the Gashebi and his group had been pondering all night: "I want to buy your big ship."

"Buy?" Ostan's suggestion immediately cheered Rurik up. After all, Rurik had already made a verbal agreement with Biyonni about buying a ship, so even if he bought a ship, he would be selling the new ship to the leader. Magnute.

"Yes! Ordinary long ships may not be able to withstand the waves at sea, but if we have a big ship, we are not afraid of anything."

Rurik didn't want to refute Ostan's extravagant hopes. The Avrora was a replica of the Caravel. Even if she was upgraded to a Galen-type vessel with a displacement of thousands of tons, it would still be unable to withstand the huge waves in the face of a typhoon at sea. Halsey, the savage bull from the plane, but in a hurry, he took the entire fleet to rush through the typhoon. Even a 30,000-ton steel aircraft carrier can only rely on his huge body to resist, so he also took advantage of it. The lives of eight hundred sailors.

To be honest, Rurik didn't want to sell to this group of people, even if there was a new big ship. It's not that he has strategic concerns, it's that these guys simply can't afford it.

Facing Rurik's hesitation, Osten urged: "Friend, at least give me a price."

"Okay." Rurik exhaled. "At least two thousand pounds of salt."

As soon as these words came out, the whole house was suffocated.

Osten was silent for a long time and finally let out a wry smile: "Two thousand pounds of salt? This is... crazy. We Gashebi have to spend years of hard work to make so much salt."

Rurik shrugged: "But I see that you are very happy to buy my iron."

"That's not the same. I'm going to arm my friends, we're going to organize a force expedition, and the weapons have to be paid for, even if they cost a lot. Besides, the quality of your Rus' iron is really eye-opening."

"Oh. To be honest, about two hundred pounds of silver for a big boat, that's actually the best price you can get for a friend. If I'm serious, it makes sense to sell you four hundred pounds of silver. What do you think? We have to go through twenty days of continuous voyage, to cross the Dane blockade, and to fight if necessary, before we can bring the ship to your port. For this voyage, I will die."

What Rurik said was completely true, and in the eyes of Ostan and the others, the Russ simply tried to persuade them to retreat on the issue of buying a big ship.

"But 2,000 pounds of salt, that's insane. We at Gasheby have sold you a year's worth of boiled salt to buy your iron."

"You can only make a hundred pounds of salt a year?" Rurik asked, poking his head sharply.

"Maybe two hundred pounds if you try hard enough. You see, we'll have ten years at the earliest before we can buy one of your big boats."

"That's because you are too poor!" Rurik slapped the table violently, and he finally shouted out some rude words that he didn't care about now.

"Ostan!"

"exist."

Rurik's words no longer modified any honorifics, and he stretched out his hand to point to the west: "Do you know Britain? That big island is to the southwest. Do you think the western sea is the end of the world? I tell you, what abyss What kind of giant sea monster is all the imagination of cowards. Cowards dare not go to sea, so they make up some lies to cover up their cowardice. If you believe it, you are stupid."

How could Osten endure being reprimanded by a cub at his age? But he held back, because Rurik's words mentioned a very wonderful conclusion.

"We all know the existence of Britain. The guys from Bergen went there and caught a lot of slaves and robbed a lot of gold and silver. But how do we get to Britain when we go all the way west?"

"You... think Britain is just an island? It's longer than the distance from Balmerk to Bergen. You're very poor now, but what I see is a group of warriors." said Rurik He simply stood up: "I can guarantee that you will find land when you sail westward, and you can build new settlements in more comfortable places. And I also intend to maneuver the big ship to explore the waters in the west. Because, I got oracle."

Rurik patted his chest, and the sentence "I got the oracle" really shocked Ostan.

"Sail west, and we shall come across some islands, which may perhaps be settled. If we leave the port and turn to the southwest, we shall surely find the northernmost point of Britain."

Hearing that, Osten jumped up excitedly: "So, will you help us?"

"It's not just you? I'm not just here to sell a shipment of goods. I'm here, then our two tribes will join hands to do a big thing." Rurik simply approached Ostan and looked up. The old guy: "Don't you want to kill Britain and grab a lot of wealth like those Bergen?"

"I think! I dream about it. Maybe I won't live to see that day, but my two sons, my family, and my friends must farm in a warm place and shepherd sheep."

"Then do it with me!"

"Okay. However, all the warriors of my Gashebi, including all the female warriors, I can only assemble a team of one hundred and fifty people, and the strength is not strong. I don't want to simply loot in Britain, I I want to settle down."

Compared to the average Viking, the expedition motives of this Osten of Gasherby can be described as strange. Rurik thought about it carefully, and suddenly, he really realized that these guys were Norwegians. Although they were all Vikings, Norwegian Vikings and Danish Vikings were indeed very different. The various Norse tribes, rather than raiding, prefer to seek out new worlds and serve as pioneers.

Vashoby, by the standards of the current era, Rurik was sure she was already a medium-sized village. Among the Viking tribes, even if a girl has the strength to pick up an axe, she is counted as a female warrior. All tribes can be said to be soldiers of the whole people, and here in Vashoby, Rurik saw the most simple "nodic-style democracy".

This Osten, his status in Washobi is just a spokesperson for the entire population.

The men present began to express their opinions, and everyone’s attitude was very pure. It is said that if the ship of Ross is going to explore the west, if Rurik intends to find Britain and start looting, then the soldiers of the entire Washobi will row for a long time. Ship, as a mercenary of the Rus who does not need money. And once they plundered the natives of Britain, they decided to give half of the spoils to the Rus.

Everyone has such an attitude, and in the end Osten also strongly supported it. Everyone started booing, just to hear Rurik's affirmative attitude.

"Okay, I'm relieved to see you support me so much. But..."

"What else is difficult?"

Rurik cleared his throat: "Soon your leaders will hold a meeting."

"Yes. Many distinguished nobles are planning to gather in the court of our tribe to meet you well. The matter I invite you now is only a private matter for us in the Gashebi side. We sign any contract, the essence It doesn't count."

"But you really want to get out of here and build Nyvastholmby in a warm place. You don't have to worry about this at all." Rurik patted his chest, "I and Biyonni are already brothers, and we talked a lot. Biyon After he learned that there was a way to go directly to Britain, he was also very supportive of attacking there. During the warm period, we can successfully rush to Britain."

Osten was very excited when he heard it, and a sleeping beast was aroused by the desire to hunt, "If everyone supports this plan, it would be great. I'm just a little worried."

Suddenly, the bald boy Floki, who had been in the audience, stood up: "Uncle Ostan, what the Rurik brothers said is absolutely true. We have been planning this plan for a long time. Now the big ship of the Rus people is parked in the port and rushing towards Britain. We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make a fortune.”

"You? Boy." Ostan glared at Floki angrily: "Maybe there will be a battle. Are you eager to explore and fight at a young age?"

"Fighting? I've had several naval battles with the Danes. I'm not afraid."

"This is a fact." Rurik immediately added: "I am not afraid of any enemy in the naval battle. I will announce this in public in the chamber, and Chief Magnut will definitely support me, and you will be very supportive. "

"Of course."

"Very good. Just rush to Britain and you'll have a chance to loot and you'll be rich. By that time, you'll have a steady stream of wealth to buy our goods. Listen, I'm not going to talk to the poor. Guys do business, you have to get rich quick."

Osten nodded deeply, then opened his arms and embraced Rurik in his arms, like a father hugging his son.

"You... are indeed the messenger sent by Odin, and you brought us an opportunity for Vasherby."

Rurik hurriedly broke free and asked again, "How are you going to do it?"

"I understand. I will be your absolute fan in the Chamber, and I will attack all doubters. The plan to attack Britain, we will succeed!"