With an order, all the boys surrounding Rurik fell to their knees, and even the younger ones accidentally lay down on the snow.
At this moment, Rurik felt that he was not even a chief, but a king!
The light of the bonfire gently shone on all the kneeling bodies. Rurik always held his dagger. He raised it high and shouted, "Brothers, I am your leader! I am the one you can rely on in the future." Backer. I will give you orders, and you must complete them! I will do my best to train you to be the bravest warriors, and I will also help you all become rich. When you grow up, you will have comfortable houses, beautiful wives, and... There are more silver coins than you can imagine."
"Like a beautiful woman from Novgorod?" Kanuf, who was kneeling, suddenly raised his head and asked abruptly.
"Shut up! Kanuf. You can't speak until I've finished my sentence!"
Rurik's harsh words had a strong sense of oppression, which made many children tense up. They believed that their "King of Children" really changed his temperament after killing the deer.
It's like the children's own father's description of the leader Otto - the old leader is a real man on the battlefield, the mad warrior who is always at the forefront. He is fair, serious, and brave. After the battle, he was very kind to everyone.
Rurik improvised some words of encouragement, and there were other things he really needed to say.
"Now you all surrender to me, good! I trust you. After this festival, you will be one year older, and your family will ask you to do more things. I don't care what your family is like, I will continue to take care of you." You go to training, not only to teach you how to fight, but also to learn other things. You have no choice, you must follow me. Now, are any of you dissatisfied? Those who are dissatisfied, stand up and you can withdraw now!"
Someone stand up? Who dares! What's more, everyone is willing to follow Rurik, just because following him, the boring life has become interesting. Besides, their parents are saying that Otto's son Rurik has amassed a lot of wealth just through soap. If he behaves well, won't he be rewarded by Rurik?
Even the strongest Fisk surrendered obediently, how could anyone dare to object?
Rurik wanted this effect. He put his sword back into its scabbard and ordered in a childish voice that he didn't even like, "All of you, stand up! Arrange like on the hillside in the woods!"
In a short period of time, more than a hundred children were arranged in five rows. The children in each row belonged to the "same boat". Now because some people did not come, there were less than thirty people in one row. Those who didn't come were just because of some trivial things. It didn't matter if they didn't come. Rurik knew that if he had a hundred elite fans who had been trained since childhood, twenty years later, they would be his most powerful cards.
"Very good! I thought the training would be terminated when it gets cold, and you have forgotten to line up! It seems that our training results are very good." Rurik paused for breath. "Listen, you will still maintain this team after you grow up. , I promise you that in twenty years, each of you will have a beautiful and strong armor, and a beautiful stelsvard sword that can cut off ordinary swords. Now follow me and roar!"
After saying that, Rurik drew out his sword again and yelled "ypaaaax" in a very abrupt tone. Ah, we are all Russians, and the descendants of Rus are also Maozi.
Although it is a bit abrupt, Rurik wants to set a rule now, "ypa! It represents bravery and victory. From now on, when we face the enemy, we will chant ypa together, and we can scare the enemy with just our momentum. Now follow my rhythm , roar!"
Viking war cries are not uncommon, especially when forming a traditional shield wall to approach the enemy. Each individual in the team must roar in rhythm with their footsteps. The first priority in doing this is to ensure that the pace is stable, and the second is to attack the enemy. psychological shock.
However, they are Russians after all, so shouting "Ula" is a must!
Everyone accepted this interesting roar in an instant, and everyone roared rhythmically at the same time in childish voices, which made them feel so emotional.
Women were not supposed to participate in a gathering of warriors, not even a campfire gathering of a large group of young boys who would become warriors many years in the future.
Rumia is here just because she is a bed servant.
This servant was extraordinary, and the silver jewelry she began to wear proved that she was a noble servant. Rumia leaned against a big tree. She wisely avoided it because she was also afraid of those boys who were in large numbers. Until now, Rumia only believed in her heart that Rurik was the only person in the entire barbarian group who was truly good to her.
She was carrying a small rattan basket with some hard dried meat and bread cubes in it. It was the dry food she was ordered to carry. It was the first thing Otto could do when he was suddenly hungry at the campfire gathering with Rurik and other children. Get some snacks for a while.
All of them stared blankly at this humble girl. The little master, holding the dagger high, easily ordered an astonishing number of children to kneel on the ground. She was so frightened that she quickly knelt down leaning on the big tree.
Rumia, when she saw Rurik holding his dagger high and his sword accepting the worship of hundreds of children who would become powerful barbarian warriors in the future, her heart was no longer as moved as being protected.
Rumia, her heart has been completely conquered!
The children's campfire slowly extinguished, leaving a large number of footprints on the ground and a large trace of charcoal fire.
Rurik was in a great mood, but he still didn't know what kind of mental journey his servant had gone through.
His short sword was hung on his waist, and he looked like a miniature samurai when he strode forward.
His servant slightly tilted his head and followed the young master with a basket, looking submissive.
Rurik is still thinking about what happened just now, that feeling of being worshiped by others, how comfortable he feels? !
"Rumia?" he muttered suddenly.
"Asta?"
"Very good, you are calling me Asta. You saw it just now, they were kneeling to me."
"I've seen it all. They will be loyal to you, and so will I. My asta."
"Of course you will be loyal to me. Now go back with me. I still have something to do."
Rurik now knows that he needs a lot of help, especially the two industrial chains he has developed this winter, which require more labor to expand them.
Will they always keep the agreement they made with the priests and blacksmiths?
It's unlikely, because people's hearts can change, and people's pursuit of wealth and power will never stop. When they feel that the wealth given to them is too little, they will ask for more wealth.
I think I have a contract with them as business partners, and they are not my confidants.
Want to gain a confidant? The best way is to cultivate it from an early age.
It's not like Rurik has never thought about taking some of the brats under his command to learn blacksmithing or making soap, and then he will also distribute wealth to them. Rurik only had some thoughts in this regard and quickly denied himself.
Boys' parents will not let their children engage in those jobs. Boys generally grow up to be new sea warriors, and are destined to serve Odin. How can they become Thor's servants?
So from the beginning, Rumia was different from those who worshiped her.
Training Rumia to be a female warrior? Perhaps some tribes do this because there are few males in their own tribe, but there is obviously no need to do so in the Ross tribe. Rumia has her own strengths. Generally speaking, she has no objection to the wooden boards kept by the tribe to record knowledge. She is a person who loves learning. If such a person is deeply cultivated, she will be a trustworthy housekeeper and a person who is good at internal affairs.
And she is a woman who needs to be attached to a strong male authority, either her husband or her master.
When the two returned to their warm home, they took off their warm furry coats and hung them on raised copper nails on the wooden wall.
Rurik naturally stayed in his soft and comfortable sleeping nest, while Rumia sat in the corner obediently as always and listened to his wishes.
Otto, the leader of the tribe, the tribe's grand festival has passed for a long time. According to the calendar, after enduring the long night before us, the sun will rise above the horizon again, and the new year will come.
Life was compressed in a small wooden house. In this era of extreme lack of entertainment, Otto had no choice but to lie on his side and chew dried meat to pass the time. There was already too much stuff in his stomach, and the thought of leaving the house and going to the independent toilet next to the longhouse finally made him shut up due to the unpleasant cold feeling.
His wife Niya, who is quite young, is busy sewing new leather clothes and humming ancient songs.
Otto had no intention of helping his wife at all. Sewing and repairing clothes were all his wife's work. If there was anything a man had to do, it was cutting wood and repairing ships. This was the foundation of any man's livelihood.
The return of his son made the bored Otto very happy. He should take the opportunity to tell his son some things he was holding back.
"Rurik, don't lie down, come to me quickly, I want to tell you something."
"Oh? Dad?"
Rurik got up and moved closer, sitting cross-legged and looking up at his father, who had a lion's mane.
Otto calmed down, "I discussed something with other people. You know, the days will get longer and longer from tomorrow on. Winter will slowly pass. When the sea ice melts, I will take people to Novo." Fugorod."
"I know this very well. It is our routine work."
"Yes. I will try to bring some soap this time. Those Novgorod people are generally poor, but there are some rich people among them. Let's not think about how much money can be easily plundered from them with an axe. If I do Once or twice, those wealthy households ran away. This time I will try to sell some of your soap at a high price and see if I can exchange it for some other good things from them."
"Oh? I thought you would lead everyone to defeat them all and treat all Novgorodians as slaves." Rurik's head tilted slightly, and he deliberately glanced at the corner of his mouth while speaking.
"More slaves? No! We don't have that much food to feed them. Child..." Otto's big hand gently covered his son's head. "You are too young. I will take you when you grow up." Novgorod has a lot of experience. When you get there, you will know how poor those guys are. Although they are poor, their population is larger than ours. I am afraid they can be equivalent to ten of us."
Um? Could it be that Novgorod in this era has a population of 70,000 or 80,000?
According to ancient standards, a city with such a population is not considered small.
It was the first time in a few days that Rurik learned about the existence of the cow named Novgorod. A human settlement with a population of 70,000 people provided food to a settlement with a population of 7,000 people twice a year. , which is a big burden.
So what can be done? Novgorod originally means "new big city", and its residents are immigrants who moved from other places. The people of Novgorod are not idiots. They are reduced to servants paying tribute to the Russians just because the Russians are stronger.
"Dad, the Novgorod people are even poorer. Why do we want these poor people to pay tribute?" Rurik asked deliberately.
"Well, they're poor, and they're really bad with weapons. They can't even build a boat bigger than a canoe. But their land is richer and warmer, and there are plenty of deer and even bears in the woods around them. You don't have to worry, I will come back with a lot of leather. Since the priests need oil to make soap, I want to see if I can get some from them. Haha, there are also some young people, and I will bring back some Novgorod this time Women serve as their wives.”
The poverty in co-author Otto's words refers more to weakness in force.
Times have changed! Rurik was especially aware of Villya’s warning, which was that no one knew quite what the so-called “how Odin viewed the behavior of the tribe.” Although the first batch of Novgorod women to marry were pregnant, could their children be born smoothly?
Vilia was a little worried that if Odin opposed it, he would make the tribe pay the price. In order to maximize the price, the divine power was used at the last moment, that is, all married women and their unborn children would die at the last moment. It is quite common in this time and space for dystocia to cause one body and two lives.
Otto couldn't control that much. In his opinion, the priests used to sit on the floor doing nothing all day long, thinking about strange things. Their lives must be more boring than those of the sea warriors, so now they have a job of boiling oil to make soap. They all have a new lease of life, even though they endure the pain in their arms and work all night long.
The more they do this, the more money the leader's family can make in the soap business.
If it were just to collect offerings and then select some beautiful women from there to choose wives for the young men of the tribe, Otto's spring tribute voyage in 829 was really no more pioneering than what he did last autumn.
But Otto has made a great decision.
"Child, I must tell you that on our way to Novgorod, we will pass through a huge lake. Only through this lake can we find a new waterway into Novgorod. It is a very vast lake. There are many fish and seals in the lake. The environment of that place is actually better than our fjord. It seems that after reclaiming the land, we can grow wheat ourselves. Alas, it is too cold here, so we can only grow wheat. Order onions. You also know the taste of bread. Once you have eaten it once, you will never forget its taste.
I discussed it with others. I plan to build a new settlement there, and I will take people to build some houses there, and I may have to station people there for a long time. It would be better if some land could be reclaimed and wheat could be harvested.
Many people supported me, they felt that it would be beneficial to build a new town, with which in the future we would not go to Novgolov twice a year, but more often. We can do business with them through more frequent trade, and they will provide us with more good things than if we force them with ax and sword. "
When Rurik heard this, his eyes widened instantly.
"Dad, are you planning to immigrate us?"
"Immigrate? No! We do need a good living environment, but all of us can't leave yet. My son... even if you become the leader, you can't lead the tribe to leave. We can't withdraw from the alliance. We still have thousands of people living in the gorge. If we leave our allies in the Gulf, we will break the alliance and will not get support from our allies, and may even trigger a war. We still need to expand trade with the Novgorod people and expand our income. We are just establishing an auxiliary settlement. Children, when those Novgorod women marry, they will definitely have many children left. Maybe when you grow up, our fjords will not be able to carry such a large population, and we must go out!"
"Ah! I already understand... Just do it, Dad, you are looking for a new and better future for our Ross tribe."
Otto was very happy that his son was so good at talking and understood him so well.
He continued, "Novgorodians call that lake Ladoga. There is a river that connects Lake Ladoga and the sea. There are many small islands in that estuary. It is really suitable for building a port there, even better than our Roseburg." Be safe. Maybe you don’t know yet, but the most fearful thing for any fisherman is a storm. Our Roseburg itself is a haven. I believe that if we build a settlement at the mouth of that river, it will be safer there. haven."
Otto himself became more and more happy as he talked, and Rurik felt his heart pounding.
Rurik had no idea when Lake Ladoga got its name. Since his father specifically mentioned this term, it was obvious that the people of Novgorod already knew about the existence of this big lake, and the people of Russia also knew about it early, and even crazier. Yes, Lake Ladoga is connected to the mouth of the Neva River in the Baltic Sea, and the Russians have realized that there is strategic value as a port.
In 829, the Russians intended to build the second Russian settlement at the mouth of the Neva River!
Regardless of whether it will be named St. Petersburg in the future, the construction of the city at the mouth of the Neva River must have begun in 829 AD.
This is called historical necessity!
