Thirty leading warships sail in the Gulf of Finland in autumn.
Each warship has a proud dragon head, and its towering giant sail is being blown by the autumn northeast wind, sailing towards the west.
However, the warship was like a galloping dragon, with a large number of tributes piled on the deck, and the heavy burden made the warship move very slowly. No matter how hard the oarsmen rowed, they could not keep up with the speed at which they came.
But all the oarsmen were full of hope for the future, and this time, as in the spring, the Swegs again paid them a large tribute.
This autumn's trip was still very fruitful. A middle-aged man with a beard a foot long stood on the platform of the deck, looking into the distance with his eyes wide open.
That is the direction of home. With this successful trip to Sorgon, the entire tribe will surely spend the winter in abundance.
This man's name is Otto, and he is the chief of the rowers' tribe.
Despite his extremely long beard, he is only forty-five years old.
His long career of sailing and fighting gave him strong muscles and scars.
He is a warrior in the tribe. He always leads his tribe to gain an advantage in battles with surrounding tribes, and also consolidates the tribe's power in central Scandinavia.
However, my hometown is a barren land. The cold climate only provides short-term warmth, and people can only grow a small number of crops.
Fishing and hunting animals were very important ways to satisfy hunger, until tribes began to imitate other tribes and rowed warships towards the mysterious south.
Thanks to the bravery of their ancestors, the tribe has found a route through the mouth of the Neva River and deep into the Sweg territory.
Otto especially remembered that his grandfather led an expedition of a thousand warriors, quickly defeated the Sweg people's counterattack, and forced them to surrender.
Since then, every spring and autumn, Sorgon's fleet has been able to obtain a large amount of valuable cargo from the Sweg people.
Thinking of this, Otto turned his head with satisfaction and saw the treasure placed on the deck and wrapped in linen.
There were fine cloths and animal skins, and some clay pots contained honey, dried fish, and very valuable salt and flour.
In addition, Otto paid special attention to a wooden box, which was even attached with a delicate iron rope.
The box wrapped around it must have been made not just by the Swegians who were good at building wooden houses, but by the Romans, and the box contained a lot of Roman copper coins.
Otto knew very well that in the east, there was a large country called Rome in the far south, and the Sweg people maintained a trade route with them. Through the fur trade, the Sweg people accumulated a large amount of copper coins, and these copper coins could be traded with other tribes when they were in the hands of the paddlers tribe.
Today, all copper coins are the property of the tribe, including the furs obtained from the tribute this time, and are also the property of all tribe members.
The ability to obtain so much wealth through Qiu's actions was entirely dependent on the military power of the tribe.
There were as many as seven hundred warriors wearing metal helmets and chain mail, and holding battle axes and spears. Each of them was strong. Novgorod, the largest town of the Svig people, has a total population of only 5,000 people.
The Sweg people are not united. Although they have one prince, many families have their own thoughts. As the northern army approaches the city in warships on the Neva River, paying tribute obediently is the only way to avoid disaster.
At least for now, they don't dare to take the most violent resistance.
Or maybe it's because they once resisted and after losing the battle, they had to bow their heads to the strong.
"Brother, shall we spend the night on the shore tonight, or shall we just float on the sea?"
"Ashore, we will stay one night and continue sailing tomorrow morning."
Otto gave instructions to his brother Ogier, and as the war drums beat, all the ships began to turn.
Like other tribes, the tribesmen are all experts in rowing. Among all tribes, they are even called "the best rowers".
As they call themselves in their language, "rowers" are "ross".
They are the Ross tribe.
The soldiers rowed hard and the boats washed up on the beach. They jumped off the deck, holding hemp ropes and tying them to trees or rocks on the shore to secure the ship.
The bonfire was quickly lit, and after a while, the aroma of grilled fish came from the bonfire.
Until then, Otto finally put on his helmet, sat cross-legged in front of the campfire, and ate the roasted herring that his brother brought him.
"Brother, tomorrow we will pass through the territory of the Goths. We are likely to meet their fishermen and may also be attacked by them."
"You don't have to worry about those people. We are outnumbered and no one dares to attack us." Otto, who was eating grilled fish, was full of confidence.
"But I always have an inexplicable worry."
"Why?"
"We brought a lot of treasure with us this time. It is very likely that some people will take over our wealth."
Otto frowned and shook his head: "Is that why you are worried about those Goths?"
"They once harassed us!" Ogier reminded.
"Yes! They did do that. But look, we have seven hundred brothers, they are no match for us."
"Alas! I'm just afraid of losses. We are like slow-moving turtles."
"It's okay!" Otto patted his brother on the shoulder, "Let them come over, we will fight on the sea, and we will completely defeat them."
Ogier is willing to obey his brother's orders, just like most people in the clan, everyone obeys the chief's words.
After all, when Otto was elected as the chief of the Ross tribe, the tribe had never failed.
Ogier hoped that his estimate was wrong. After eating the grilled fish, he built a small tent for himself and lay on the beach wearing armor until dawn.
A new voyage has begun!
Otto, the chief of the tribe, is still so confident. The reason for his confidence is that there are two thousand warriors in the tribe. Such fighting power is not only the basis for self-protection, but also a trump card for external pressure.
The entire Rurik tribe has eight thousand people. On the land of Scandinavia, this is really a tribe that cannot be underestimated.
Otto has confidence in the Goths, because the residents living on the island have gone south on a large scale, and there are not many people who stay on the island.
They are just a group of fishermen, nothing more.
Do we still have to worry about the harassment of that group of armed fishermen?
Otto thanked his brother for his kindness, but he was still full of pride in his heart, so today's voyage through Gotland will be very smooth.
But the younger brother mentioned this after all. Maybe his other warriors also had this concern.
A little caution is a good thing after all.
