Rise of Rurik

Mordegan is not homely to stay in his hometown. He simply doesn't want to move to Britain and work for the Rus people to gain personal wealth. This is his purpose.

He knew that he would be reused by Duke Ross, and he tried his best to express himself in the crowd today. It is this son who will be entrusted by Rurik of Ross. He desperately tried to get Rurik's attention, but his efforts were not in vain.

It's just that the situation has become too subtle.

Mordgen stood at attention, like a stake in the snow.

He is neither tall nor short among many men, so as a man, a short adult man is probably not suitable to be a brave warrior. Of course, some short madmen are not excluded here. Because Rurik hopes to organize a team The size of the personnel should be as close to the team as possible, and this strategy can only be used for the time being.

The men took off their leather helmets and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the slightly embarrassed Mordgan.

"Hey! Don't tiptoe."

"You are so short, wait for a few years to grow taller!"

A rare interesting thing, the onlookers are all mixed in with a group of booing guys.

Naturally, there are also ruthless men with big shoulders and round waists. For this kind of talent, it is natural that Rurik personally appoints him.

The selection of personnel took an afternoon, and the teenagers who wanted to join the army were brushed off because they were obviously too weak.

Of course, the youth's weakness is only relative to the warriors of various Viking forces.

Their cubs still had an advantage over the peasants recruited by Britain and the Franks.

In the setting sun, Rurik boasted that he had accomplished his goal, and it was surprising how quickly things got done.

He basically recruited the number of infantrymen that constituted a flag team.

How many people should a flag team have? Rurik established a standard very early on that ten people were "groups", three "groups" were "boats", and three "boats" were "hundreds".

Each centurion can be organized into a solid shield wall, and four centurions can be organized into a square array.

It is beneficial for this part of northern Europe to learn to imitate the infantry formations of old Rome,

But Rurik was no mere imitator.

The combatants of an infantry flag team should have four centenarians, three dedicated to fighting, and one dedicated to long-range arrows.

In addition, the flag captain and guards of the flag team form a command center. In this way, the flag team, which is equivalent to a battalion-level combat unit, is considered to be full.

Rurik counted the number of people, and with the explorer Mordegen as a benchmark, he selected four hundred and fifty people.

Although it was less than 500 men to make up the full force, Rurik was satisfied with its strength.

It's just that this group of people is still a complete barbarian after all, and they want to learn Ross's fighting style!

Rurik had a very simple method, because there were ready-made veterans in front of him.

The men who brought their own weapons believed that fighting with the Rus would bring great personal wealth. Although the team needed a commander, everyone was also curious. Unexpectedly, Lord Rurik recruited his brothers, and even more surprised to split the team into smaller units.

Is this necessary?

The small market set up by Rurik began to sell the scarce daily necessities from Ross in the afternoon, and they were quickly snapped up in small quantities.

Buyers used salt as currency to buy Xinyi things, and even now, even in the evening, many people are still watching Rurik, Duke of Ross, order troops with great interest.

A thin boy giving orders? This scene is really funny.

"You must fight like the Rus!" Rurik said vigorously. "So you must form a flag team. Now I choose Mordegen to be the flag captain for all of you!"

Rurik's announcement caused an immediate uproar.

In the election, a strong man stood up and questioned with a skeptical face: "My lord. Mordegen is good at hiking but not good at logging. He is definitely not a good fighter. Even in our fighting games, he always loses."

Some people talk like this, and followers abound.

Rurik stretched out his right hand to signal them to shut up, and then turned his head to question Mordgen, who had a complicated mind: "Would you like to give you the chance to be the captain of the flag?"

"I..." Mordegen was really hesitant, just because he didn't have the charm to convince the public.

"Forget it. Give you a chance, you won't use it!" Rurik thought of the third son of the old Bring Goethe again. This young man reminded him of his cousin Arik in terms of spirit.

He asked Hellafield again: "If you are the captain of the flag, command the warriors of your homeland. How?"

"Okay! Thank you for your respect." He heard that and knelt down again and saluted.

However, even this pretty boy, the men present were still a question.

Of course, there is no shortage of supporters. Since dozens of people are neighbors of the old Blingoethe family, they naturally support the prosperous Hellafield.

"I don't want this, I don't want that. What do you want?" Rurik asked pretending to be angry, and then asked: "Do you really need a competition?"

"That's not too bad!" The speaker was still Hellafield, looking at the man's raised head and chest, he really volunteered himself.

The sea breeze blew on the young man's face, and the braided hair on his head was blown golden.

Maybe, really only a very traditional competition can choose a commander?

"Okay!" Rurik drew his sword and pointed at the group of people, "Just follow your rules and hit someone who can be recognized by everyone. Now listen to my orders..."

In the end, it is still the competition to choose the best, but this is very Viking.

What makes Rurik fortunate is that this group of people is only controversial in the selection of the captain of the flag, and it does not matter to the arrangement of the centurion and lower officers.

Because of the fifty Balmerk mercenaries under Rurik's command, they are all rich and powerful warriors in the eyes of their old family. They can also develop themselves by following these brothers.

A flag team can have forty-eight "groups\

,"The "team leader" is an old mercenary from Rurik.

This evening, Rurik quickly reorganized them, and all the junior officers were in place.

Speaking of which, as the Duke of Ross, I wanted to recruit them, and I was most worried about them running away. He suddenly gave each of these recruits a silver coin, which was considered a welcome gift, and also deliberately made them owe a favor.

The Balmers have their own rules, and they also pay attention to no merit and no reward. Since the Duke of Ross is now giving the reward, the brothers should fight well.

Rurik finally announced: "If you win the battle, you will all get good spoils. You will be heroes when you return to your hometown! All of you will go home and rest. Let's see who is the strongest fighter tomorrow."

In the era of lack of entertainment, watching people fight is important entertainment.

The Rus no longer have competitions to choose their leaders, because no Rus is more honorable than Rurik.

The Balmers are still the same. Since the powerful family has run away, the rest of the people will naturally choose a recognized "boss" from the old tradition.

The people of the various small bay settlements did not care about the cold water and arrived at the Narvik settlement in large numbers by boat.

The snow on a flat ground was cleaned up, and this is the competitive arena.

Under everyone's attention, some men who were interested in competing for the centurion stood up. There were only twenty of them.

People cheered or booed, chatting and laughing.

Since it is a competition, it is not uncommon for people to be killed in competition. Although it is traditionally forbidden to fight in the same room, only in the arena, both sides of the competition must fight until the opponent is defeated, and it is reasonable to be beaten to death accidentally.

They were already together, and Rurik faced them with a simple request: "You are not allowed to use dead hands. You are not allowed to fight with weapons, you are not allowed to fight with your fists and legs. You are not allowed to hit the head, you are not allowed to kick the crotch. To be thrown out of the circle is to fail.”

There are quite a lot of rules. Since it is a rule set by Rurik, everyone will follow it.

They started, and it was the guy Hellafield who was in the middle of the circle with his upper body exposed and arrogantly shouting: "I'm very strong! Which brother thinks he is stronger, come and beat me!"

As soon as this wild remark came out, some cheered and some hummed.

Then a strong man stood up, pointed his nose and smiled: "It's me who is standing here, you should step back."

After a while, the fight of fists and feet began.

This is unlimited fighting! Or it's more like playing wild boxing in an underground restaurant!

Speaking of boxing itself, it has its origins with the Vikings, and curling rugby is also an evolution of their violent competition.

Rurik saw it, Heilafield didn't lie, this kid came prepared, and that fist was really punching to the flesh.

The opponent is also a strong man, but he was forced to the edge of the circle under continuous punches, and the last leg kicked him out of the circle.

Hellafield's first victory, the fight can be described as a storm. The boy was out of breath, shaking his shoulders with swollen biceps and shouting, "Who else!"

Have! Of course there are men who stand up.

The crowd cheered, and his father, Blingoethe, rebuked the eldest son for being a coward.

But this is no longer just a fight for the captain of the flag, it has become an internal competition simply to see who is the strong man.

Although the new rule of being kicked out of the circle even if you lose makes the losers unwilling, but unfortunately this is the rule, so they have to admit defeat.

Hellafield was already slightly tired. He beat four people in a row and beat three people.

He continued to yell, gasping for breath, and his body was soaked with sweat.

Another person stood up, and it was very strange that this person actually flinched again, and directly announced that he would not fight.

If Hellafield were suddenly defeated, no one would dare to say that the person who defeated him was a ruthless man.

He was too tired, even if he defeated him, he would be invincible.

However, Rurik saw the stamina of this man. As a warrior who fought with strength, Heilafield did have the strength to defeat ten Viking strong men with his bare hands.

The competition had a result, and Hellafield was almost exhausted, but he still defeated fifteen strong men who were stronger than him.

Everyone was convinced, and the rest of them all gave up.

Rurik walked into the circle, surrounded by cheering crowds. This cheer was for Hellafield, but unfortunately this guy was half-kneeling and gasping for breath, and there were a lot of bruises on his body, but nothing serious.

"You're a warrior." Rurik fell to his knees sincerely.

"Lord Duke..."

"Dry the blood from the corner of your mouth, don't worry, you are the best flag captain. You remind me of my cousin, you are really good."

"Your cousin? No, I'm just your warrior." Hellafield felt that the national reputation was not the case.

"I mean, you're as powerful as my cousin. My cousin took fifty brothers to fight five hundred people, and they won. A true warrior is one against ten. Look at yourself, you beat Fifteen strong men."

Although Rurik was exaggerating, Hellafield was more than heart-warming when he heard it. The Duke of Ross is indeed too young, but his strengths are almost all in his incredible wisdom.

Hellafield said sincerely: "Then, I will be more brave than my second brother, and can be your warrior."

Rurik nodded, "Then, I will teach you more powerful fighting skills until you have the same fighting power as my old subordinates."

No one questioned Hellafield anymore.

This is ancient times, and lower-level officers do not need much wisdom, as long as they honestly follow the orders of their superiors to fight.

Yes, the commander is a ruthless man who is unparalleled in slashing and killing. The brothers see that they have such a fierce teammate, and their minds are to follow the "big guy" to win.

The flag team is considered a reorganization. Since they have been defined as Russ by themselves, Rurik simply gave them a number.

There are currently the first and second flag teams of the Warriors in Ross, which are made up of pure Ross.

The people who joined the team from Lake Meralen were Ross's traditional allies. They formed the Meralen Flag Team, which has now been defined by Rurik as the "Warrior's Third Flag Team".

Then this team composed of Balmers is naturally the "Fourth Banner Team of the Warriors".

Perhaps there are more courageous men, at least today, Heilafed Bringoldsen has been invincible all over the fjords.

The young talent was simply invited by Rurik to the chief's mansion to have dinner with him.

It was already night, and the oil lamps in the longhouse were devastated.

Before dinner, Rurik took advantage of the opportunity after the competition to get together with the prominent people who came to watch the battle, and made a contribution to the future of the entire Narvik Fjord and the remaining Balmers. some planning.

"This place will soon become one of the important ports of the Principality of Ross. I will start the construction of this fjord as soon as next year. I will arrange for some people to come to this fjord and encourage your people to move to the far reaches of Ross. A settlement. A fleet will be permanently stationed here, and I will build Ross' Atlantic fleet..."

He also made another emphasis: "Narvik Fjord will always belong to Rus, and we are all Rus from now on."

So as a member of the Rus Principality, should it be taxed? As a general rule, the people of Narvik Port should pay a tax in kind. However, they are really allies and turned into their own people. I am afraid that it is too hasty to ask them to pay taxes now.

We are all Vikings, and the brothers are all about fairness. The Rus people of the traditional old Rus tribe, Rurik does not collect their taxes now, and naturally they do not have to pay the taxes of the Balmers.

However, taxation is not simply to take out physical objects or gold and silver coins. Their labor creates value, and as the Duke of Ross, the Duke defines how much value labor has. Then a part of the value of their labor is taken out, and this part is the tax, but they don't know it.

Taxes are of course not used for the pleasure of the duke's family, and at this stage Rurik is very aware of where his wealth is being invested. Large-scale infrastructure construction is beneficial to the future. As for now, most of the wealth that I have obtained every year through various means is used for infrastructure construction and armaments.

The armament is expanding. This matter is to improve the military strength of Ross, and then expand externally with strong strength to grab war dividends to bridge the internal contradictions of the Principality. Until the internal construction reaches a critical value, active external expansion can only be achieved. somewhat restrained.

These are all big truths, and Rurik has no intention of chatting too much with his generals for the time being. Fortunately, all warriors simply know that in recent years, Ross has been invincible. Fighting is the fastest way for an ordinary fisherman to make a fortune. Although it is very risky, it is really worth the risk.

This idea works entirely on the Balmers, but the bravest ones seem to have emigrated to Britain, and most of the rest are cowards?

Rurik's understanding was naturally negative, otherwise he would not value this Hellafield.

The two men were alone face to face, and some snacks were placed on the low, improvised wooden table.

Hellafield was quite weak, smelling the aroma of cooked wheat on the table, he didn't care too much to grab the wooden spoon and eat it.

Rurik watched eagerly as the man ate up a bowl of boiled wheat.

"Wheat! It's delicious! My lord, thank you for your reward."

"Hey, your flattery is superfluous. You allow you to call me Rurik."

"Then... Brother Rurik." Hellafield patted his chest, bruising indifferently, and said to himself: "The war is covered by me, and the brothers are all looking forward to following a hero to victory. Oh, I still listen. Saying that you have been blessed by Odin, you are the son of God."

Rurik nodded: "Indeed, Odin rewarded me with some things, but Odin did not explain the purpose of all this. Perhaps, God wanted me to build a great cause and turn Ruth into a great country. Perhaps, God also asked me Be kind to all."

"Yeah, God exists, and I can't comprehend God's intentions as a mortal." Hellafield pretended to be emotional.

The two chatted like this, and taking this opportunity, Rurik got to know more about the customs of Balmerk. He is deliberately getting close to someone like Hellafield, at least he must remain noble and relax at the same time, so the decision to call him brotherhood becomes very necessary.

Calling each other brothers is a language that everyone can understand.

Although the bruises on his body hurt, with the praise and hospitality of Duke Ross himself, Hellafield only felt happiness in his heart. As the third child of the family, he was destined to build a family business by himself, but now he has become the leader of an army, and he is not arrogant about exercising himself.

However, a question from the soul suddenly made Heilafield hesitate.

"Have you ever killed an enemy?"

Rurik's eyes were extremely sharp, which meant so much.

"I..." Hellafield stammered, "I killed deer, killed wolves, I even singled out a bear to prove myself, and finally I stabbed the bear with a spear."

"But, you haven't killed anyone." Rurik continued to ask.

"Yes...that's it."

"I'm different." Rurik said coldly. "The army I commanded killed at least 30,000 people! Some leaders even said that I was a ruthless butcher. Maybe so, but we have to do it. On the battlefield, you will die. You will soon have a chance to kill the enemy, but remember, this is my advice."

Hellafield finally nodded to indicate that he was listening.

"Attention." Rurik said solemnly: "Real warriors only kill enemies who refuse to surrender. We must be more vicious than bears on the battlefield, but once the enemy surrenders, we can't add more killings. We can't do things absolutely. , you must give the enemy a chance. Maybe, you are an enemy now, and you will become a comrade-in-arms in the future. Regarding the subjugation of the Karelian people, when you stand up, your people must strictly follow my instructions. If you take the lead in disobeying the order or It is indiscriminate killing, and you will not be entitled to any spoils of war."

Hellafield wanted to say that he absolutely obeyed, why did he feel like a stone was pressed in his heart. He didn't say anything, just hooked his head and said, "I will do this, and I will never disobey the order."