The situation becomes chaotic and Otto must control it.
He deliberately waited for the excitement of the tribe to ferment for a while. When those people saw that the leader did not express his position, the initial enthusiasm gradually dimmed.
"Are you all done yelling? Now listen to me!
We are talking about going to the Eastern Sea Route to build a stronghold, how come it turns into attacking the Gotlanders?
You remember our hatred, how can I forget it. However, the Gotlanders are not weaklings, and we cannot rush to seek revenge this year just because we recall those people for a moment. We can't interrupt our plans because of this.
You young people, rather than going to Gotland to seek revenge, you should consider your own marriage issues first.
We want revenge, and we want to bring more warriors to take revenge.
Soon I will take you to Novgorod, find each of you a beautiful wife, and soon each of you will become a father.
When you all grow up to be real men, you will take your sons who can already hold weapons and follow our new leader Rurik, and he will lead you to the most complete revenge. "
Otto's eyes were blazing at this moment, and a pair of big hands suddenly grabbed the young Rurik who was watching and held him on the table.
How is this going?
Rurik looked left and right for a moment. Standing on a high place, he stood out from the crowd. He found that he could look down on all the heads.
Otto whispered softly behind him: "Child, you have heard it. When you grow up, you will lead them to Gotland for revenge. Your uncle died in the hands of those bastards, and many people's fathers and brothers died in the hands of those people. , you are going to take revenge."
"I……"
"Repeat what I said!"
The excited scene made Rurik panic for a moment, as if their anger was completely ignited, and they wished they had to wait for the ice and snow to melt and rush directly to Gotland on foot.
Otto muttered something behind his back, and Rurik could only repeat it out loud in obedience. These contents are really horrifying. No matter how you look at it, it is a declaration of war against Gotland. Moreover, this declaration of war is issued in the name of Rurik.
"I... when I grow up, I must take them to that island and chop down the entire island from top to bottom? Do I have to eliminate all enemies? Do I have to dig out all their hidden treasures?" Rurik My mind couldn't help but deeply doubt the rationality of doing so. Is it reasonable? But there is a certain rationality.
They want to avenge their relatives who died in the war, and secondly, make a fortune in gold and silver. The relatives have been dead for many years. If they wanted revenge, they would have screamed and rushed over. When it comes to this matter now, looting gold and silver is probably the simplest purpose. Of course, blood revenge must be avenged.
Rurik obeyed his father and chanted the slogan of "revenge" while weighing the cost-effectiveness of doing so.
In terms of feelings, Rurik didn't understand his uncle Ogier who was killed in the battle at all, and he had no feelings for the Gotlanders who killed his uncle.
However, his cousin Aric was filled with rage and thirst for revenge whenever he mentioned the Gotlanders.
Rurik also didn't think Gotland was really a place of wealth, because soap and steel swords were two things, and he could make a lot of money by selling them. It is a bad idea to take risks to rob someone. It is more efficient to use commercial means of soft knives than to carry an ax in person.
I have already earned a sum of money, and my personal wealth is still accumulating at a high speed. With more money, you can recruit a group of attendants, which are defined as "slaves" by others, and support a group of attendants, and you will become more powerful.
Standing on the seat, Rurik shouted for revenge, causing everyone to roar enthusiastically. He knows that his elderly father Otto is still building momentum for him. If you want to serve as a leader, you must have sufficient financial resources. The most important thing is to obtain the support of the strongest group of people among the tribe.
The elite of the tribe are gathered here, and those who are willing to buy sulfur soap are definitely strong men with financial resources and military force.
However, when it comes to personal ambitions, Rurik is more willing to go eastward. Since everyone is a Russian, it is destiny to become a real Rus, rather than huddled in a corner of the Arctic Circle as a city-state, and ultimately still exist as a part of Sweden.
Ross, according to the development of history, she should occupy the entire Eastern Europe. The wheels of history have begun to move, and Rurik knows that even if they clamor to go south to counterattack the Gotlanders, it is impossible to change their decision to build a stronghold at the mouth of the Neva River.
So far, no one in the tribe has dared to stand up and directly oppose Otto. There is no such person at all.
They stood here just to take this opportunity to express to the leader the young people's desire to make achievements.
They were tired of shouting slogans and had a good time venting their pent-up emotions. It was as if Arik recalled the grief and indignation of his father's murder. After this shouting, he felt better, so he took his wife Peravina to pay homage to his father Ogier's tomb.
Those who are willing to buy sulfur soap have already carried the treasure in their arms. People who were just watching the excitement began to go back as the evening approached.
Rurik had already been let go, watching people leave, and deeply regretting that his sulfur soap was not sold out as soon as possible.
He suddenly muttered: "Dad, is the price of three silver coins too high? If it doesn't work, I'll try... with just two silver coins?"
"No need." Otto covered his son's head with his rough hands, "Don't move at this price. In my opinion, they are just nervous about money! Do you think they are screaming for my permission to go south to attack the Gotlanders? What’s the purpose?”
"It's revenge," Rurik said deliberately.
"Bah! Of course it's for the money! What do you think of the Gotlanders? They're actually very rich."
"Rich? I heard from Arik that those guys are a bunch of fishermen."
"Just a fisherman?" Otto shook his head and bluntly criticized his eldest nephew's ignorance. "Rurik, do you believe him or me? You would never have imagined that those Gotlanders were once half of our allies?"
"Ah? Are they also part of the alliance?" Rurik was a little surprised.
"At one time they intended to join the alliance, but later, the leaders of the Gotlanders respected the Danes as their masters. They gradually became unwilling to do business with us, and gradually became hostile to us under the instigation of the Danes. "
"It's actually...that's it."
Indeed, in Rurik's concept, Gotland is part of Sweden. In this era, the Swedish state had not yet been formed, and it was still a process of gradual transformation from a so-called tribal alliance to a formal feudal state. That is, the leader of the strongest tribe would be promoted from leader to king in a reasonable manner.
Including the Danes, they are also in this gradual process. It is obvious that Denmark is one step away from being upgraded to a feudal kingdom.
From his father's description, Rurik could estimate that the Danes had been wooing the residents of Gotland a long time ago, and now, the Danes have indeed established a stronghold in the Götaland region.
The Danes are using their own force and diplomatic strategies to try to form a huge group of Norse-speaking tribes across the sea.
The Danes are determined to unify the Baltic Sea and are trying to accomplish it.
Traditional trade among tribes became more frequent with the fall of Rome and the development of the shipbuilding industry. They actually entered a state of separatism among feudal lords. Frequent trade and wars were actually a process of integration. In order to defeat commercial enemies without being defeated by them, closely related tribes must sign a covenant to unite.
They must form a larger alliance with each other, and still have to recruit other small alliances to join.
Such is the rise of the Danes! Because the Gotlanders joined the alliance, the power of the Danes instantly overshadowed the Swedes living in the Svealand Plain in the north, that is, the Siwea Alliance.
Rurik had heard more or less that the alliance he was in was competing for the southern highlands of Götaland from the Danes. It was a fairly humid place with a large number of shoals, and the relatively mild climate nourished a large amount of water. of pasture. Unlike the Svealand Plains, where wheat can be grown, Götaland is a good pasture.
There was a population grazing here long ago, but they came not from Svealand, but from the island of Gotland.
The so-called Götalanders are still Gotlanders. They herded cattle on a large scale in the high plains, and then transported their cattle and sheep to Gotland for marketing throughout the Viking world. The Danes living in Jutland and surrounding islands moved north immediately after they completed their internal tribal unification.
For the Gotlanders, the Danes were their largest trading partner compared to the residents of Svealand in the north.
The Danes are coming.
war? No!
Recognizing the Danes as the leader is the best way to make a lot of money.
Perhaps during the Viking Age, Gotland was the center of the entire Viking world. Just because of its geographical location, it is in the middle of the inland sea of the Baltic Sea. In a sense, it is very similar to the Apennine Peninsula of the Mediterranean.
Starting from Gotland, boats are not far away in all directions. The islanders raised livestock on overland pastures, traditional trade with the Danes, or went south to raid the Prussians, Vinlanders, Poles, and even the Franks. They had accumulated a lot of wealth.
Wealthy people are happy to hoard silver coins. As long as it is silver, they will accept silver coins of various specifications.
The older people in the Ross tribe all know more or less that the Gotlanders who had taken the initiative to attack the Ross fleet were generally wealthy. If the Sivia Alliance can conquer Gotland, they will not only have a lot of wealth, but it also means that they can occupy the entire Gotland. The Siiya tribal alliance, which had been suppressed by the Danes for countless years, would rise in an instant.
So, can the Alliance possess the Gotlanders?
How can it be that simple? !
Otto believed that even if he gathered the warriors of the entire alliance to engage in a decisive battle with the Danes, his chances of winning would be slim. There is no other reason. The other side has a larger population. In this era, both sides are sea warriors in the wilderness. Whichever side can gather more warriors will be the easiest to win.
What's more, there is another variable here, the Norwegians to the west of the mountains.
Merchants from the Siweiya Tribe Alliance can travel overland and directly trade with the Norwegians overland through some obstacles in the mountains. However, this kind of transaction is far less enjoyable than sailing.
However, the Alliance and the Gotlanders have actually become rivals, and sea routes to the outside world have been cut off. How could the ancestors of the Swedes not feel itchy when they saw the Danes, Norwegians, and the Gotlanders who followed the Danes making a fortune in their attacks on Britain and the Franks?
The Gotlanders are wealthy and powerful, and provoking them now may not be a wise choice.
After all, Otto is very old, and now he is more willing to pinch the soft persimmons, not to mention that the problems faced by the Ross tribe and their allies are indeed different.
He could confirm that at least fifty years had passed since the Ross tribe had developed the eastern inland waterway.
There is a legend from our ancestors that as long as you find a river flowing south or east among those intricate waterways, you will enter an extremely salty sea along it, and eventually you will encounter the powerful Romans.
Roman? Otto himself did not see it, but not only did the high priest see it, but the priest's longhouse also had precious Roman parchments as evidence.
How could Otto change the strategy that the tribe had developed for decades because of the excitement of young people? While he was alive, he must repair the new stronghold at the mouth of the sea. After his death, his son Rurik must inherit the long-cherished wish of his ancestors and continue to expand eastward. As long as the development is based on the Roman trade line, why should the Ross tribe still use the attitude of the Siya tribe alliance to help those ineffective allies to fight against the Danes?
Although the Gotlanders were indeed wealthy, the young people mentioned their long-cherished wish to rob a wave of people, and they had already expressed it in front of them. Otto knew that they would not understand at this time.
For the time being, life in general is boring. Although it is February and the weather has become slightly warmer, the sea ice shows no signs of thawing.
Young people will definitely not be able to temporarily ignore the attack on Gotland to steal money in the name of revenge. After today's incident, they will definitely regard this matter as an important topic of discussion. They have a strong desire to plunder gold and silver. Individual people may be worried. If everyone gets together, the fear will be overwhelmed by the desire for wealth.
Although they left, Otto estimated that a group of young people would just go back and polish their axes and sword blades.
Otto piled the silver coins he earned together, and the soap-making priests behind the scenes walked out of the longhouse one after another. Bona and everyone's eyes widened when they saw the pile of silver coins.
"Now it's time to divide the money." Otto turned around, facing Bona specifically.
"Bona, according to the agreement, eighteen of the ninety silver coins earned here belong to you. Now I will hand them over to you."
"Thank you, great leader!" Bona's heart was beating fast, not only because she saw so much money, but also because the leader was willing to help the priest sell the things.
After receiving the money, she not only asked more questions: "Chief, I saw there are still twenty pieces of soap. You said that you can help us sell the soap we make."
Otto was slightly troubled: "But, they didn't buy it. Bona, there is something I really need to tell you about the soap."
In this era, we cannot expect ordinary people to have much economic knowledge. Even the Vikings, they are more active in thinking than those people in Western Europe who have completely degenerated into a purely agricultural social life, and do not understand concepts such as "supply and demand balance".
Otto simply realized that the reason why he couldn't sell immediately was very simple - the tribesmen simply couldn't afford to pay silver coins for each small family to buy soap.
Otto even suggested: "Maybe you should suspend production. When I return with my people and distribute the wealth, many people will come back to buy soap."
But Bona just likes silver coins. Only silver coins can bring a better life to these so-called priests who "do not engage in production or robbery, but rely on food from the tribe."
All the priests had troubled expressions on their faces, and the deep wrinkles showed their hesitation.
After all, they were women, and Rurik just couldn't stand the resentment of women, and he couldn't help but feel sympathy.
All the money he got from selling the soap was his own. Rurik gritted his teeth and took out another twelve silver coins from the 80 he received and personally handed it to the resentful Bona.
"Rurik, this..."
"Take it. Just treat it as if the soap has been completely sold, Bona, I won't let you suffer. You can continue to do it, and I will give you the silver coins directly, just as if they have been completely sold."
Bona understood immediately and asked, "Is this okay?"
"Of course. I'll pay you the agreed 20 first, and you don't have to worry about the rest. If I suffer losses, that's my business, and I will never let you suffer losses. Even...even if I do If you become the leader, your life will be guaranteed!"
"Oh! You are such a respectable boy!"
After saying these words, Rurik asked himself, he really looks like a profiteer! Youdao said that a double profit can make capital betray its conscience, but this is five times a profit for me! The simple priests still feel that they have made money! Do they really think that their labor is so cheap? !
After giving them the money, Rurik noticed his father Otto's slight displeasure from the corner of his eye.
Just when the scene was a little awkward, and when the priests were smiling, a man with a ferret fur on his head, a brown furry bearskin coat on his body, a collar decorated with ferret velvet, and a bunch of gold ornaments hung on his belt. The man came over, and behind him were two soldiers wearing armor as followers.
This person is dressed richly and gorgeously, and will definitely attract others' attention wherever he goes.
Otto noticed this person out of the corner of his vigilant eye. He was especially alert to those warriors who were dressed differently from his own tribe. His big hand tightly grasped the hilt of the sword out of instinctive vigilance.
But the comer is not an enemy.
A smile soon appeared on Otto's face, because the visitor was a wealthy visiting businessman, and he really recognized him.
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Chapter 112 The Wealthy Gotlanders
