Rise of Rurik

Last year, a black army of 500 people paraded through the city.

This year, a blue and white army of 100 people will do it again.

However, compared to the dead kings Olegin and Karl, the people of Melalen were more welcoming of the Rus.

This is either Russ or kindness, and it all depends on the Birka market in Melalen, where there are all street vendors on both sides of the road.

Everyone knows that the Rus people are rich, they come to the market and even the whole lake area every year to buy all kinds of things, and then they sell a lot of rare things in spring.

A large number of powerful merchants have made money in the trade.

People welcome rich adults to parade, and when they see this group of well-dressed, especially the beautiful young Rurik at the head, they praise Youjia even more.

It's just that they don't know that under this gorgeous and benevolent appearance, the Rus people hide their fangs and bloody mouths.

Rurik had no intention of interacting with the crowd of merchants and left the Birka monastery under construction. He was already imagining the Frankish missionary Eskill, seeing the "Lindis" he had stolen from Britain. The Gospel of Faen, as well as a lot of gold and silver utensils, diamond crosses, will that guy keep that surprise?

Rurik stood again at the door of the market tavern.

The mighty Junwei was so frightened that the ale drinker ran away. Oh, some guys rush to finish their drinks and walk away without paying.

The bartender ran out in a fit of rage, clamoring for money, and collided with Rurik's army.

Is it an attack?

The two mercenaries kicked violently, and the bartender was kicked into the mud.

After a while, the bartender got up, and the anger that had arisen was of course lost in the face of the Ross army.

"Sir, do you want to go in and sit?" Yevlo asked.

"No need." Rurik raised his head and shook his head when he looked at the tavern again.

"Are you a little disappointed?" asked the big businessman Gould.

"Yes. Disappointed. This pub is so shabby. Want me to take over it? I'll knock it down and we'll build a new one."

"That's true.

Gould nodded. "Then the soldiers shouldn't be rough with the bartender." They will be your subordinates from now on. "

Rurik pouted in an indifferent manner.

"Of course I want a tavern, but these people... all drive away."

"Is it necessary? They are qualified tools."

"No. They are tools of greed, and I need someone I can trust to manage the tavern for me." Saying this, Rurik turned his head, "I can trust you. Prepare some people, and you will take over here. By the way, I will take it. In some areas of the Birka bazaar, houses have been knocked down and rebuilt as a specialty store for our Rus' goods."

"Wonderful." Gould was happy, but he still had some concerns, "I'm afraid Bjorn won't give in easily."

"No. He will, that guy isn't Carl, that's a man of the moment. Let's go, enough is enough. Let's go straight to Bjorn's mansion and hope the guy has his drink ready."

The downtown parade ended here, and the army also left the market.

Compared to walking to Bjorn's mansion, it was faster to take a boat.

The two sister ships, the Avrora and the Gourdot, stood in the harbour like gods of war. Men, women and children of Melalen came to watch at close range, and then whispered about the strength of the Rus, and even discussed such large ships. How much cargo can be shipped.

Rurik and his men waited for four longboats, and they drifted smoothly to the small pier owned by Bjorn's mansion.

The army was walking on the ridge where the oatmeal had been cut, and Rurik saw that there were still a few people bending over to pick up something.

The person who picks up the ears of wheat? It is really a cold pastoral idyll.

With complex waterways and lush pine forests, this Nordic water town is a good place for leisure and retirement if you live a prosperous life.

However, the climate here and today's production capacity have created a very fragile agriculture here. If it is not too poor, how can everyone be passionate about going out to sea and looting?

The wheat roots in the fields are sparse, and at first glance they are not good at farming. Rurik had no intention of criticizing any more. This place was just too cold. Compared with the benefits of intensive farming, it was not as good as the warm French plains or the Ukrainian prairie.

At the same time, the private soldiers of the Bjorn family noticed the visiting army, the flying Ross flag and the spearheads reflected in the sun, and the private soldiers guarding the home, their first reaction was fear.

If they annoyed the Rus people, they rushed over and died quickly?

Bjorn, with a mixture of joy and fear, went out to greet Rurik and his party. At the same time, the free peasants and serfs who lived with his family were all urgently avoided.

Rurik came with arrogant steps, the other was short and childish. But the warriors around him were all ruthless.

Bjorn bowed respectfully, "Welcome! Welcome to the mansion."

"Am I invited to visit? Bjorn, we meet again. Now that Karl is dead, you are made leader by everyone. You want the dukes of all the tribes to support you as king of Sweden? No one appreciates it."

Rurik said the truth very abruptly, and Bjorn was surprised at first, then smiled awkwardly. "You...you know it."

"Yes. I don't want to say more. Let's go, my army is temporarily standing outside, and I will bring my cronies into your mansion. Let's have a good chat about your claim to the king."

Bjorn woke up suddenly, and Rurik's last words clearly pointed this out.

That is, Gould got things done, and the Russ did support Bjorn to be king. What price would be paid for this, Rurik came to negotiate for this matter.

"Then come in," Bjorn said with a sullen face.

The negotiating parties maintained a certain tacit understanding, and Rurik had expectations in his heart, but he didn't know where Bjorn's bottom line was.

Rurik stepped into the mansion surrounded by wooden walls. Sure enough, this mansion was not even as good as Carl's old mansion.

The houses are simple without floors. Those buildings are made of rammed earth and wood, and the roofs are laid with a lot of haystacks. This is a traditional longhouse.

How do nobles show nobility when they want to live in such a house?

Rurik and his cronies are now unable to adapt to such a leaked existence. He had to endure the discomfort, entered the largest room, and sat cross-legged on the soft leather cushions, waiting to negotiate with Bjorn.

The so-called negotiation is nothing but a discussion between the two parties concerned around a warm bonfire. No one who recorded the event, the witnesses sat on the side.

Bjorn did not prepare meals, and Rurik had no intention of staying here too long.

"Let's start." Seeing that his old friend was already seated, Bjorn pointed out his hope with a sullen face, "We killed Carl, and now all the big families support me as leader, and support me to replace Carl as Sweden King. But none of the other chiefs support me. Me! I want your support."

"I know everything. I! I support you as a king! My attitude is very clear, and I am worthy of your trust."

It sounded that Rurik was worried about his own concerns. Bjorn immediately cheered up, his stern face relaxed and he squeezed out a smile, "So, what's the price?"

"Huh?" Rurik was also sitting up, and he couldn't help but muttered in his heart, didn't this guy pass a message from Togold and promised the ownership of a hundred serfs?

The plan in his mind was temporarily suppressed, and Rurik asked back, "So, what will you give me?"

"One hundred serfs. I heard that you are developing fields in the far east, and you are short of slaves for farming. I will give you one hundred slaves who are good at farming. What do you think?"

"That's it?"

"Too little?"

"Not much. They're... all men? Are they just serfs?"

Bjorn thought about it for a while, and simply said the truth: "They are all slaves of the Carl family, not only men, but also women and children."

"How many grown men are there?" Rurik asked forcefully.

"There are thirty."

Thirty small families? Rurik pondered for a while, this number is really not small. By the standards of this era, thirty households can constitute a "big village" by Nordic standards.

However, this is not enough.

"It's too little, I want more. You!" Rurik patted his chest, "I conquered the entire Gotland, and now you Mellarens have begun to colonize that island. It means that you are now not only Is it the leader of Melalen or the leader of Gotland. You say, give me thirty male slaves, and let me support you as king, right?"

"This...of course it's not suitable." Bjorn took out his prepared words, "I will give you a hundred slaves, plus the women and children attached, there are two hundred and thirty people in total."

This figure really made Rurik a little happy.

However, it is still not reasonable.

Rurik continued with a sullen face: "It's still not enough. Give me at least two hundred male slaves, and their wives and children. And the women whose husbands died in the war last year, if they don't get married a second time, they will all be handed over to me. I."

"Ah! This... It's not just me paying the price, it's the whole tribe..."

"Exactly!" Rurik continued solemnly: "You want to be the king of all Sweden, and your Melalen tribe to be the leader of the entire Sweden. I only asked you for some slaves and poor people, and you are hesitating. "

"I..." Bjorn felt that he was despised by this kid.

It is true that Bjorn himself is not a tyrant. He wanted to take Carl's power, but now he has become conservative.

Rurik had been keenly aware of this situation.

Bjorn thought for a while, then gritted his teeth hard, "There are many tenant farmers who owe rent, and many more serfs. I can give you five hundred people, at least two hundred adult men. This is our plum. Laren's bottom line, no more."

Five hundred people? This number indeed exceeded Rurik's expectations. He organized a group of up to 500 absolutely obedient slaves, ordered them to reclaim the land and paid taxes directly to Duke Ross himself. Such serfs are indeed still serfs, but Rurik is determined not to ask such farmers for excess, and even in disaster years, he will be given relief food to survive.

At least among the Melalen people, the life and death of the serfs and the local wealthy landlords lacked the awareness of protection.

However, this is not enough.

Bjorn waited for Rurik to give an attitude, in exchange for further demands.

"Give me five hundred slaves, and I am very happy. However, I am the Duke of Ross. With my current strength, I can immediately call up an army of five thousand in chainmail! Believe me, I am not bragging."

Rurik was bragging, but not exactly bragging. Bjorn learned from the mouths of tribal immigrants who immigrated to Gotland that the east of the hills of Port Visby was full of the skeletons of war dead.

A very small number of the original Gotlanders were caught and hid in the Col. They told numerous details of the war.

The current Bjorn and all the powerful nobles of Melalen have to admit that the skeletons are the masterpieces of the Ross army.

Therefore, to win the support of the Rus, Melalen experienced a series of war defeats and political changes, and still was able to control Sweden's power.

Now the question is, since they are part of Sweden, why don't the Rus come to be kings?

Bjorn's bottom line is to buy 500 slaves to buy a support, and it is unexpected that the Rus people will continue to ask for it.

Are you going to go back and forth?

Bjorn suppressed the anger in his heart, he knew that he couldn't get angry, couldn't provoke the Rus.

He simply asked tentatively: "We all admit that Ross is strong. Then, Rurik, my friend, maybe you should be the king of Sweden."

"Me? I know you'll ask that. But I don't do this king."

"Why? Your power is obviously very powerful. Even now, we Melalen people are inferior to you."

In many senses, what Bjorn said was true. In fact, with the alliance attitude of the 20,000 people from the Balmerk tribe, and the fact that there were tens of thousands of servants in Novgorod, the current Rus people are already de facto. second only to Denmark's small Nordic overlord.

These words of Bjorn left Rick on deaf ears.

"Even if my Ross is strong, I have no intention of being the king of Sweden. Indeed, we Ross once lived by the lake, but you! Expel us seventy years ago. Now that Ross is strong, you give up your power and think we appreciate it. I! Rurik! I don't want to be king of Sweden, I want to be Augustus, I want to be Vladimir, I want to be Alexander, in short, I want to be the conqueror of the world."

Rurik expected that Bjorn would be shocked by this lofty revenge, but the guy's dull expression fully made him understand that Bjorn couldn't understand it at all.

Rurik shook his head and put it into a more graceful tone: "My heart is in the north and in the east, and I will not ask for the Swedish throne. The Rus people are very sad about the land of Lake Mälaren."

However, Bjorn is also ignorant of ancient history. He wasn't sure if his ancestors really expelled the ancestors of the Rus. Looking at Rurik's grief and indignation, it might be true.

"So, how can I satisfy you. You...what are your conditions?"

Rurik resolutely said: "I will not be the king of Sweden, and Ross is not a subordinate of Sweden. Karl is dead! Our Ross Duchy will automatically secede from Sweden! From now on, you and I are two countries on an equal footing."

"Ah! You! You want to leave us! Isn't this a betrayal like the Gotlanders..."

Rurik shrugged, "It's nothing, we Russ were expelled by you seventy years ago. If it wasn't for the late King Olegin who decided to attack Gotland and attack Denmark, how would you invite us to join us? In the past we only belonged to the Alliance in name, now Karl Already dead, the legitimate leader of the alliance is dead, and the alliance has disintegrated with the destruction of the Olegin family. How can I betray? So, what do you think are the real reasons for those dukes who rejected you as king?"

"Is it illegal?!"

"You're not legal, but..." Rurik raised his fists. "With force, you can make it legal. So as two countries, we, the Duchy of Ross, support you as the new king of the new kingdom of Sweden. In response we Military support, you need to give some privileges."

"Speaking."

"First, we Russ will not pay any taxes for any activity in Sweden. Second, we Russ have committed crimes in Sweden, and we should hand them over to Rus and deal with them according to the rules of Rus. Third, I want to get Birka's pub , and a radius of 50 stikas of land, as our Rus' exclusive shop."

It seems that it is only forbidden to collect taxes. Bjorn's attitude towards the first two requirements was completely indifferent.

Bjorn said immediately, "The first and second clauses are fine. You businessmen in Ross have always been very particular about contracts. Even old Olegin was alive, he never collected taxes from you, and you even invented the thing about collecting taxes. "

Rurik nodded, already laughing in his heart. This Bjorn is afraid that because of the limitations of the times, I don't know that "extraterritorial rights", "consular jurisdiction", "free trade rights" and "tariff autonomy" are all abandoned!

On the other hand, Ross, these powers are firmly under the control of Rurik.

Bjorn eventually got tangled up over the tavern.

Rurik shook his head, "I have to get the tavern, I want to build a shop specializing in the Russ. This way you Melalen merchants don't have to go to the narrow Gould Island to trade. In the future, our transactions will be located in the downtown Birka. The shops will prosper further, and Gould Island will only become our Ross warehouse. As long as we agree with these, we will sign a written agreement, me!"

Rurik patted his chest again, "I will loudly announce in front of all the leaders that I support you as king. Just, the knelt warrior salute is not required. I will support you as king of Sweden, once you intend to go to war with foreign countries. , we Ross will also send troops to fight."

Bjorn's heart was beating wildly, he said tremblingly, "Okay! I agree, I agree completely. I will call all the nobles to discuss and give you an answer within two days. Don't worry, our alliance is forever. "

Obviously, Bjorn didn't know that he had sold a huge profit in exchange for the apparent "submission" of the Rus.

Do not! The Russ even won, and they didn't lose face.

This was actually the first secret meeting, and Rurik knew he had won a big victory.

Bjorn and the aristocrats of the Melaron people did not dare to ask Ross for any taxes, and they did not dare to offend such a wealthy and powerful military force.

The final defeat of the war has caused three liters of blood throughout Sweden, coupled with the consumption of civil unrest. Those landlords and nobles of Melalen, unless they are all idiots, will harm the inherent alliance with Ross.

Oh, the two big ships at the port are actually the Russ's authority standing there, either for the common people, or for intimidation against the nobility of Melalen.

The so-called selling of some interests was recognized by the Rus for the coup d'etat and the continued alliance between Sweden and Rus.

Sadly, though, Bjorn and his friends, after urgent consultations, feel they are paying little more than a small benefit.

Especially the old guy Swain, who established the alliance with Ross. Seeing that the senior nobles are so determined, the others have no objection.

It seems that everyone just took out a few slaves each, and then led someone to catch the widows of the tribe, and gathered 500 people and threw them to the Rus.

As for the ownership of the tavern, that thing was originally distributed to Bjorn himself after the argument. Even this weakened Bjorn's strength, but everyone felt relieved.

Because, the landlords and aristocrats don't want Bjorn to become the new "Orekin the Great" to engage in personal hegemony. Everyone doesn't want to be a king and face all kinds of pressure, everyone just wants to share the king's power to gain the benefits of the family.

But those small clans whose population strength cannot compete with Melalen must admit that Melalen is the eternal hegemon, and that the leader of Melalen is the King of Sweden!

And this is the so-called Swedish version of "the king and the nobles govern the world together".

Ross and Rurik were still on the road to becoming Augustus and becoming the Third Rome.