If tobacco existed in this era, Otto would definitely not mind taking out one, sitting on a bare tree stump, and sitting down to smoke one.
Perhaps the only advantage of tobacco is that it calms the mind and relieves some physical fatigue.
Otto had heard that some people would look for some red mushrooms in the woods, and those who ate them would see some incredible scenes, and even be able to talk to gods.
He didn't try this because he heard that some people ate red mushrooms. I don't know if God saw it. Anyway, the poor guy foamed at the mouth and died in convulsions. Maybe that person's soul will ascend to Valhalla and see the true form of God.
Otto just wanted to rest, so he sat on a log that had been transported to be broken down, longing for a gorgeous glass filled with foaming craft ale next to him. It's really enjoyable to have a drink.
Otto accompanied his son this morning and walked half a circle around the entire tribe!
After all, it has been three months, and huge changes have indeed taken place within the tribe. There are not only a group of foreign merchants, carrying and holding their goods, shouting and selling their linen, wine, or other useful things on the winding roads of the tribe. It is obvious that these traveling merchants can always sell their goods quickly, and at the same time, traveling merchants do not have to worry about their own safety.
Because Otto, the older people in the tribe, and the high priest Vilia, formulated a very basic law many years ago.
So-called thieves will have their property confiscated and then permanently deported. Robbers will have their property confiscated and be publicly executed, and their families will be enslaved.
Even in the sea, fishermen often turn into pirates, openly engaging in gang fights among their peers. Within the Ross tribe, residents supervise each other, and once criminal behavior is discovered, the consequences will be severe.
Basic laws govern both tribesmen and residents, and crime within Fort Ross has been rare over the years. The penalties imposed on criminals are big news.
The internal security of Roseburg is very good. The first reason for the excellent security comes from the simple supervision of each other by the settlers. The second reason is that the population of Roseburg is only 7,000 to 8,000 people at most. To manage such a small number of people, there is no need to invent professions such as "head catcher" or "quick catcher", let alone more advanced ones.
The basic laws are binding on our own people and allied merchants who belong to the same alliance.
As for the captive slaves? forget it.
The captives who were taken into captivity participated in the labors of daily life.
Otto thought nothing of the captured women. They could be described as the "tools" of their possessors. Even so, if they gave birth to the possessor's child, it would be completely different!
The Ross people cherish the boys of every tribe. Even if their mothers are slaves, it does not affect their right to grow into warriors who can fight for the Ross clan.
Many families have also started building new houses. Otto noticed one thing, that is, the so-called new houses had a large number of wooden piles buried next to their own homes, and superstructures were built on these wooden piles.
It wasn't until he saw Rurik's masterpiece that Otto suddenly understood.
It is obvious that some tribesmen must have started building Novgorod-style wooden houses due to the influence of those Novgorod women who married there.
Are they doing it right? Regardless of whether it is correct, it is indeed understandable.
Because of Otto, during his long stay in Novgorod, he lived in a comfortable wooden house provided by the head of the White Tree Manor. Otto felt quite comfortable, especially sleeping on a wooden bed.
All the children were brought out by Parla, each with their little hands behind their backs, shyly facing their master.
Rurik took a little inventory and determined that the ten people were correct.
He still wanted to ask: "Parla, is everyone here?"
"Yes, as you can see."
"Really? Are they queuing up according to their names?"
"This... of course not." Parla looked quite regretful. No one could completely tell each other apart in the face of ten children in just one day. Of course, Parla would eventually be able to tell their names based on their appearance, but that would take a little time!
Good thing now, because of Parla's actions, even if Rurik saw them from a slightly distance, it was as if they were decuplets!
It turned out that they faced dirty work. Parla began to boil a lot of hot water, and then washed their bodies one by one.
Just like a mother giving a bath to her children, Parla wiped each child with soap, and then used a very rough linen cloth to rub off the dirt that had accumulated for an unknown amount of time on their bodies.
Especially their hair! They fell into Parla's hands, but their hair was washed forcibly, causing the children to scream for a while.
Many children have parasite eggs hidden in their hair, as well as lice and fleas.
Since enjoying the wealth of soap, the annoying bugs in the past have been eliminated. Parla noticed this magical power of soap several months ago. She rubbed the children's hair crazily. Due to long-term malnutrition, many children lost a lot of hair during this process.
The only good thing is that many parasites were washed away, and they also felt the ultimate refreshing feeling on their scalp afterwards, and the itchy feeling on their heads was gone!
Along with their clothes, Parla also washed them and finally dried them quickly by the fire.
It can be said that when Rurik saw his ten little maids, their clothes seemed simple and dirty, but in fact they had been washed with soap. The mud on their bodies was gone, and their hair was not only washed, but also trimmed by Parla with a sharp knife.
The children's long hair was trimmed to the same length. After being cleaned by Haosheng, although the hair quality was not very good, the crooked hair became smoother in the end. Parla also put a little grease on their hair and tied it into a small braid at the back of their heads.
No one else, because Parla knew that Rumia, Rurik's head maid, had braids on the back of her head. The most ordinary maids naturally want to be closer to their "eldest sisters" in image.
Is it really?
But the biggest shortcoming of these little maids is that they have not received huge favors from their masters, and they have not been decorated with huge silver ornaments like Rumia.
Their images are so similar!
In addition to uniform attire and hairstyle, although their faces are fair, they all appear to be in a sub-healthy condition. After all, their faces are different.
Rurik, he is still accustomed to some military management elements, especially his servants.
With his left hand he caressed the small linen bag filled with silver nameplates, recalling the names given to them one by one.
First, let’s start with Anna…
The girls are not afraid of their master at all, or in other words, when they face Rurik, they always feel a bit like facing their elder brother. Even this "elder brother" is better than the elder brother in his hometown family.
They are generally only seven years old! Even though they have already begun to face the burden of family production and become a labor force. Whoever treats you well is really clear-cut.
Yesterday our stomachs were full of fish, and everyone ate some more this morning.
Although they didn't understand what the woman named Parla said, they knew that in a while, it would be time for everyone to eat again!
This is happiness that cannot be enjoyed in my hometown.
The ten girls stood obediently and did not dare to act rashly without the master's order.
Their eyes were full of expectation, not knowing what else their master would do.
"Anna, come to me!" Rurik ordered in Slavic.
I saw the little girl jumping up and down, and the pigtails on the back of her head were swaying as she moved.
"Master?" The girl opened her dark blue eyes wide. Maybe at this time, she is more willing to call Rurik "brother".
"Were you satisfied with yesterday?" Rurik asked politely.
"Very satisfied, Master!"
"Have you eaten anything this morning?"
"have eaten!"
During the questions and answers, Rurik completely understood their new life based on this girl. Perhaps I have received too much favor from my father or other tribesmen based on my servants. But is this really the case? Rurik felt that this was not called a "favor" at all, but the most basic public affairs that a powerful person should give to his tribe.
Especially the kids! Even though the current living conditions of the Ross tribe can only be said to be improved compared to a few years ago, in the final analysis it is still relatively worse.
Economic difficulties can be further improved through efforts to increase productivity. If the tribe wants to be strong, all the children are the key!
It is no joke that a strong young man will make a country strong.
They are still sallow, thin, and have thinning hair. After living like this for a period of time without worrying about food and drink, Rurik was sure that they would become rosy and even gain weight. Now that his physical fitness has improved, he doesn't have to worry too much about his servants getting sick and dying.
Rurik calmly took out the silver nameplates. In Anna's excitement, Rurik took out the nameplate with the letter "a" inlaid in gold and hung it on Anna's head with his own hands.
The girl raised her head and couldn't help but tremble all over.
"Are you...excited?"
"Master...this is silver?"
"There is also gold." Rurik added, "The pattern on it represents your name. You are my servant, and you will become noble by following me."
noble? Anna was very vague about this concept.
"Now, face your sisters and show your nameplate." Rurik ordered.
Anna turned around happily, swaying freely in the envious eyes of her sisters.
Anna is just the beginning.
Soon, Rurik issued nameplates to all the girls, with the letters on them corresponding to their names.
The children gathered together and jumped. They understood the value of silver and gold, and that this gift came from the master.
Let them make noise for a while.
Rurik approached Parla who looked relieved: "Now, you can probably tell their names apart."
"Yes. I basically understand the order of those Roman letters. But you... gave me a nameplate made of silver."
"It doesn't matter." Rurik felt that Rumia might be jealous because of his behavior, so he pulled her to his side: "Look, this is my head maid, and her nameplate is the biggest and most beautiful. Don't The maids can only condescend to her. Parla, you know their names and the future work."
"Soap?" Parla chuckled, "I will finish it well."
"Okay, I will give you the money as usual. But you also understand my attitude. The money will be given to you, and aside from daily life, you have no right to spend it randomly."
Parla nodded deeply. She had already heard that the once domineering Bona was directly beheaded by the returning leader. She didn't dare to ask, she didn't dare to say, Ji Yuryuriqi's words basically settled the matter.
Rurik returned to his father's side. In the soap workshop behind the father and son, the chatter of a group of girls became even more noisy.
Otto, who witnessed everything, couldn't hold it in anymore: "Child, they are your servants, not your sisters. Your attitude towards them is the same as your treatment of sisters."
Rurik was startled: "What? Dad, do you think what I did is inappropriate?"
"No! If those people were your brothers, you would have done it very appropriately. However, they are just some servants. My child, I found that you treat all the servants like relatives and friends."
"Well, maybe I'm just a kind person."
"Really?" Otto's big hand covered his son's head: "I selected them for you. They are all pretty girls. Their status is inherently low. Don't you think they are low?"
"This...actually..."
"If you hesitate, that's your acquiescence!" Otto said bluntly: "Well, you take them all as your wives."
"What? Dad, are you sure?!"
"Of course." Otto continued to sigh: "It seems that I need to go to the Stone Ship Altar to pray to God to grant me another ten years of life, so that I can see them all pregnant with your children. Haha, forget about the high priest."
As he spoke, Otto suddenly grabbed the braid on the back of Rumia's head and pulled her to his side: "The high priest cannot get married. However, there is no need to go through a ceremony. It doesn't matter if she becomes the high priest after giving birth to the child. .”
"Dad! You!" Rurik felt that his father had just drank a glass of wine? That’s not right!
Otto's words seemed to be out of tune, but in fact they were his straightforward thoughts.
It’s not surprising! Tonight the tribe will hold a huge and grand collective wedding. After one night, all the newly married Novgorod girls will become new Rus women.
As a leader who has held the highest power for more than ten years, Otto knows the importance of population! What's more, although the tribe benefited greatly from this year's war, sixty-five young people died in the battle. You must know that there are only 700 elite warriors in the tribe, and half of these elites were lost. The only thing that can make up for the loss is to hope that all Russian women will give birth to children as soon as possible and give birth to healthy sons as soon as possible.
Yu Gong, this is what Otto thinks.
Personally, Otto certainly hoped that he could have countless grandchildren.
Now, Rurik thinks his father wants him to be a piledriver.
Well, one of the ancient stories about the land of Eastern Europe that Rurik knows best is that the descendants of Rurik in history are everywhere. Rurik used the power of blood to make his children the leaders of various Slavic tribes. This is quite similar to the expansion routine of the Eastern and Western Zhou Dynasties. study? Maybe it's out of the question. It may be an optimal solution for a special pattern.
The early history of Kievan Rus also has anecdotes similar to "the Duke of Zhou assisted the government".
It was the general Oleg who assisted the young prince Igor. When Igor grew up, he conquered the south, attacked Eastern Rome, and established the first prosperous age of Kievan Rus.
Oleg? Who is Oleg?
So, are Arik and Oleg the same concept? No! Oleg must be a very young man, not yet born! The only thing Rurik could estimate was that this legendary good assistant to the government must be born among his relatives, friends and subordinates.
I want to talk about "The Rise of Rurik" with more like-minded people, follow "Youdu Literature" on WeChat, chat about life, and find confidants~
