Rise of Rurik

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A horse-riding team marched in the slightly desolate forest. There were more than 50 of them, but there were more than 160 horses.

They came from farther east, from the Volga Valley, and even from Volgograd to Astrakhan.

The young man at the head has a beautiful black mustache. He is low in height and looks unremarkable at first glance. However, he is dressed in iron armor and has a gem-set machete hanging from his waist. Ji Wufu one.

The Turkic horses they ride have strong endurance and assault ability, and each rider has a luggage bag with dry food and sleeping bags on the saddle. The saddle also has a leather pocket, with a compound recurve bow with a relaxed string inserted, and another leather pocket with fifty geese ling arrows.

They are a gust of wind from the Central Asian steppe, and because of the attack from the Tang Empire, the entire tribal alliance was forced to migrate westward on a large scale under pressure.

Part of the personnel and the main body have completed the historical separation, and they bypassed the north coast of the Caspian Sea and entered the Inner Caucasus region on a smooth road with no danger to defend and no strong local forces to block.

They finally encountered a difficult enemy - the Khazarian Khanate.

The two sides fought fiercely in the Donbas Basin, and after all, they fought evenly. So the Khazar Khanate had to admit a new trouble from the East after the Eastern Rome.

The entire Crimea, along with the Odessa region, was under the firm control of the Romans and the Roman fleet. The five-oared warship may have fallen behind the times. For Rome, this kind of ship, whether it is transporting infantry or cavalry, is very important. is an excellent platform.

The emergence of two nomadic groups in the north and a big fight is what Eastern Rome is very happy to see, especially if the Khazar Khanate suffers a serious setback, then the strategic pressure on the northeastern border of the empire (Greek Thrace) will drop sharply. . But Rome wasn't stupid enough to fund a new group of nomads.

The newcomers are none other than the Pechenegs. They have broken away from the Western Turks and the Ogus Alliance. They are the ferocious westward-going existence of the entire huge ethnic group.

They have no strategic purpose, but instinctively drive the cattle and sheep to find the most suitable pasture. If the rich pasture is occupied by others, they will kill the local people and replace it.

However, they are not just fools, and they know the importance of seeking help from foreign forces.

It is beneficial to trade with the Slavs in the forest area, for horses, dairy products, and leathers in exchange for a large amount of cloth and storable wheat from the Slavs.

Just in 836, a Slavic caravan came uninvited again! They traveled through the forests of the Chernihiv region into the steppe and met the Pecheneg herdsmen. They came with precious salt and a lot of cloth, and to the surprise of the leaders of the Pecheneg Union, this time it was the Slavs' turn to sell the salt.

The leader of the Slavic caravan was none other than the Kyiv Makkei who spent the winter in the territory of Rus. He took his guys back to his hometown in Kyiv to explain the successful pioneering of the Varyagros trade to the elders in his hometown, and rested for a while. After a while, it went all the way east.

A land trade route from the Kyiv section of the Dnieper River to the Volga River has already existed, and there are a large number of steppe areas, which are really smooth trade routes. In the gap between the Bulgarian Khanate and the Khazarian Khanate, the Pecheneg Khanate used a fast horse machete to create a trade corridor and successfully contacted Krivicslav in the forest.

Maksakyi came back to the Pecheneg people's camp not far north of what is now Volgograd. In the khan tent, they described to the khan the location of a wonderful Rus principality.

"The Russ have good iron, big ships, fine wine and precious stones, and a lot of crystal vessels. Rus needs a lot of horses. Only you can provide horses, and the Russ are willing to pay a lot of money to buy them."

It's nice to be able to develop a distant trading partner in exchange for something good, but does it do him any good for a forest Slav to speak up for Rus of the northern Varyags?

At least for Sackey and his guys,

There is indeed a great reward for doing the job of buying horses for Prince Ross. Under the reward, this group of adventurers would rather live like a Cossack in the land of Eastern Europe.

Why did the Slavic merchants have salt? It turned out that these were made by the Rus.

I am ashamed to say that the Pecheneg Khanate, which clearly occupies the mouth of the Volga River (Caspian Sea), still does not know how to separate the salt from the bitter Caspian Sea. Eastern Roman merchants trade. Those treacherous Roman merchants could not do business with conscience, and the Pechenegs had to exchange more horses for salt, and there were even restrictions on purchases here.

Roman merchants also have their own rhetoric: "What we are doing is a beheading business. If the Governor of Crimea finds out, our whole family will be killed. You have no right to complain."

Khan was moved, and a young man was entrusted with an important task.

"Kagan, you are not too young. If you want to inherit my khan throne, you must show a series of merits to prove yourself to other tribes. You go to Ross as a khan, and take our horses to exchange them as much as possible. My baby!" Khan ordered his son, although the young prince Kagan had some doubts, after all, this was a meritorious deed. If he brought back a lot of salt from this trip, wouldn't he become a hero of the entire alliance?

If they can live well, the Pecheneg people are unwilling to gallop on the grassland to fight for their living space. However, the grassland is said to be big or small. At least there are four forces competing for the huge South Russia-Inner Caucasus grassland, Pechene If Ge is showing weakness, the ending will be the annihilation of the family.

With a mustache, Kagan, with his personal bodyguard and commercialized horses, led the Slavic merchants to Kyiv for the first time, where forests and rivers are intertwined.

When Kagan and his party arrived, it was the summer solstice, and the people of Kyiv danced and circled around the sacred tree matrix of the altar at their big altar by the river, wearing beautiful flower crowns on their heads. The Slavs were priests of their gods of the sun and the saturn, hoping that the crops would thrive and produce good harvests.

Kagan and his party were all spectators. He respected the beliefs of this group of Slavs, and he was still thinking about going to the north as soon as possible.

Prince Pecheneg personally arrived in Kyiv, and a small part of the cowhide, sheepskin and wool carried by the horse team was sold on the spot, in exchange for a batch of wheat to feed the people and horses of the northward team.

They stayed in Kyiv until late July in the Julian calendar, when the long overland journey north officially began.

Compared to last year's expedition in Sackey, the size of this Pechenegma team was so large that it was impossible to take a convenient waterway.

A terrible moat lay in front of him - the Pripyat Swamp.

It is a huge swamp country. Legend has it that it is the residence of the Chaos God, Cherniberg. Those who enter rashly must leave quickly, otherwise they are likely to die of sudden illness.

It is impossible for the horse team to advance in the viscous mud, where the rotten breath can be endured. If a large number of horses suck the turbid air and die, they will lose a lot of money in the trade with Ross, right?

The mixed caravan rode on horses along the border between the forest and the steppe. They walked northeast while groping. They took a long time to spare a large circle and plunged into the forest of the present-day Bryansk region. , and successfully found the upper reaches of the Dnieper.

Compared to the disgusting and terrifying Pripet Swamp, Valdez Land is much gentler.

Unfortunately, an autumn rain brought a lot of trouble to the horse team.

However, Kagan and his cronies are a true nomadic army, and even if the horses enter the forest, the cavalry can still exert a certain strength.

A small forest village appeared in front of him, and Kagan ignored Sakyi's warning to "don't attack", and rushed over with his subordinates, easily killing the entire defenseless village, killing the villagers with enthusiasm. When Sakey arrived at the scene, all he saw was the dead body and the woman being toyed with by this group of nomads.

"Don't you want to be happy?" Kagan, who was riding a horse, did not hesitate to point to his happy subordinates, as well as the village women who were struggling to survive.

"Thank you for knowing our language. You attacked the village of the Smolensk, and they will take revenge on us once we expose our tracks!"

"Then fight a battle. This group of people is obviously weak, and I have no fear."

Sakyi didn't want to say any more, and bluntly warned: "The attack will end here, we must not leave alive, we must not expose traces. I warn you, when you are in Rus, you are not allowed to kill any Rus, otherwise you will annoy the north. Powerhouse."

"This? You don't need to say, I still know the news about the Varyag people. I will not foolishly attack a group of strong people like us."

It is true that the Rus are part of the Varyags. Armed merchants from Northern Europe have long appeared in the Dnieper and Volga rivers, but their traces are too mysterious. Because more often, the Varyag armed merchants from Denmark and Sweden like to enter the hinterland of Europe from the West Dvina River. From the perspective of the Kyiv people, these Varyag people are more from the north. They bring There are trade products and legends of kidnapping and kidnapping. In short, it is an existence that is very entangled with the local Slavs.

At least the Rus among the Varangians have never done any evil to the Kyiv people. They must be a powerful force with their own principles.

Kagan took up a short spear and stabbed the woman in front of his subordinates who were busy doing business.

"Boss, what are you doing?!"

"Idiot! Get out! Remove all the dead bodies, and we'll stay in this village until the weather clears. Go and scavenge and find food and cloth," Kagan ordered.

For the entire horse team, a long forest march wears horsepower, not to mention the lack of high-quality pasture in the forest area. They came just at the right time. The wheat in the so-called Smolensk region was harvested, and the warehouses of the villages looted by Kagan's group were also full of wheat.

The nomadic warriors wanted to take all the wheat, and they did their best to make sacks of sackcloth and hang the oats on the backs of a large number of horses, taking advantage of the rainy weather.

All the horses were also given the opportunity to feast on their hearts. During the few days of recuperation, together with the rides of Sackey and his gang, nearly 200 horses devoured the delicious oatmeal frantically. With people and horses, the huge appetite quickly depleted the food stocks of this small village. Compared with European rush grass, the calorific value of oat grains is naturally much higher than it.

Oatmeal is the most cost-effective feed for horses in Europe. Feeding horses with oatmeal is extremely luxurious in Kagan's view, but it can also help him reach Ross smoothly.

During the rest period, Sackey was so busy that he felt that Kagan had executed the peasant women prematurely.

They're all Slavs, doesn't Saky have any empathy for the dead?

He really didn't.

After all, once he is detained by the Smolensk people, he will be beaten and even executed. The reason here is very simple. Anyone who tries to do business with the Ilmen Slavs is regarded as an enemy by the Smolensk people. It's like the Pechenegs and Khazarians speak the same language, and they don't fight each other.

Taking advantage of the leisurely opportunity, Sakyi pointed out the follow-up path to Kagan.

"We're going straight through the swampy area (Valdezzeland), perfectly avoiding the Smolensk's attention. We'll find the passage of the second big river, the Lovady River, and we'll continue north along the river, As long as we see a strong castle, we will enter the territory of the Duchy of Rus through there. The prince of Rus has a high status. Thinking of your khan, I have a very good relationship with the prince. When he learned that you are going to sell a hundred horses in one breath , you will be the most honored guest! You will also enjoy a pleasure that you have never had in your life."

What is "enjoyment"? Sackey says that is beyond the pleasures of men and women.

For example, the whole body is soaked in a large warm wooden barrel until the whole body becomes soft, and the material is full of warm white mist, lying on the wooden board and being rubbed off with sackcloth, washing hair and hair with soap with a strange aroma. The whole body, let the smell of sweat and sheep mutton disappear. On the grasslands, it is not easy to take a bath happily, and taking a rash bath is easy to catch the cold, so that the people of Pecheneg adhere to the habit of their hometown in Central Asia. Although they are keen to clean their own hygiene, they subjectively reject bathing.

The Rus people have a kind of wine that is on fire. When you drink it, you will feel a fire in your belly, and those who are shivering from the cold will immediately regain their firepower.

The Rus have roast meat and large bread. The roast meat is salty because they are not lacking in salt. The bread is big and fluffy because they have wheat.

...

Kagan listened to all of this and was intoxicated, eager to enjoy it right away.

The nomadic horse team continued north, leaving behind burning villages and corpses gradually turned to ashes...

The Lovati River is bleak in autumn, and the sky is hazy and it seems that there is rain. It was not far from New Ostara, the southern border city of the Principality of Ross. Kagan and Sakyi almost saw the end of their journey, but the snowfall began.

They would rather advance in the snow, but fortunately, everyone was prepared, and these Turkic horses have already changed into long manes physiologically. The southern Russian steppe is not much milder than the winter in Novgorod. These naturally cold-resistant Turkic horses are fearless here. The cold wind and snow, that is, a large number of horses have no iron horseshoes, and they cannot be expected to move fast in the snow.

Success is just ahead, the snow has just stopped, and a wooden fort lies at the mouth of the Lovady River into the Ilmen Lake!

The hunters of the Ostarans have noticed a group of foreigners riding horses, but the female leader Carlota took her young son to cultivate in Novgorod, north of the lake.

The people stood up spontaneously, and many people suspected that the visitor was the horse rider from last year, but they still took self-defense activities just in case!

As the saying goes, there is no date to hit three poles, and the new Ostara has been turned into a fortress. The crossbowmen on the wooden city wall deter arrows, and the fixed-position torsion slingshots also launch javelins to deter them.

Kagan was taken aback by the sudden attack, and even the horses were agitated.

Kagan really took a note of Ma Wei, he was not a fool, and he knew that the Rusian defenders deliberately missed the javelin. The so-called as long as they want, they will be shot and killed.

Sure enough, someone from the city wall asked loudly: "Who are you? Enemies! Or businessmen!? Put down your arms and accept our cross-examination!"

Kagan couldn't understand Norse until he yelled again in strangely accented Slavic.

At this time, the horse guest Sakey hurriedly dismounted, and opened his arms to indicate that he had no intention of fighting. He stood within the precise shooting range of the torsion slingshot, said hello to the people at the head of the city, and blew his identity.

He gave a reason for the passage that the Ostarans could not refuse.

The so-called Kyiv horse customer Sakyi, at the order of the prince of Rus, came again with horses, and a large number of horses will be sold to the prince.

As for a group of black-haired foreign knights, they are the best horse breeders, the Pecheneg people of the East, who request to see the prince in the capacity of envoys.

The Ostarans let go of the border, but the Ostaran army was also dispatched. They are guarding the South Pass and have not been careless enough to let everyone go. Since it is a large-scale mission, it should be escorted by soldiers. Said to be an escort, but in fact it is surveillance.

An even larger force began to travel north along Lake Ilmen by land, or because there were too many people and horses, the plan that could have gone by water was meaningless. At least Kagan has seen a large number of ships of the Rus, although this is just the Nanguan city of the Principality of Rus, the strength of the navy is evident. Without him, the Pecheneg Khanate has only a few flat boats, which clearly control the lower reaches of the Volga River. The whole family does not know how to build ships.

On the other hand, there is a boat ahead of a large group and the other quickly heading north. They must report a good news to the prince - the return of the horse passenger, or there may be a hundred good horses for sale.

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