The weather seems to be getting cooler every day, and everyone knows that autumn has arrived and winter is not far away.
Different from the gradually cooler weather, there is a raging fire in the hearts of the Russian people.
Autumn has arrived, and it is time to gather for tribute from the Novgorodians.
Of course, this year's situation is too different. During this year's Sorgon voyage, the fleet will be able to rest at Tombstone Island and New Roseburg, two emerging strongholds, making the long and arduous trek in the past less arduous.
Ordinary families are still stocking up on winter supplies, and all kinds of people who have joined the Russian group are beginning to accept a new life.
Starting this fall, the situation has indeed become different, because the number of people living in Roseburg suddenly exceeded 8,000. Although there was no comprehensive census, Otto could intuitively realize the changes in the population. He was puzzled. There were obviously more than a thousand people colonizing other places, so why did the population of the mother city of Roseburg actually increase? The purpose of his decision to build New Roseburg was to divert the population.
In fact, the reason is also very simple.
More businessmen have arrived in Roseburg this year, and they are here for the wealth.
Businessmen are all saying that the Russians made a fortune by attacking the Gotlanders. Although the Danes subsequently avenged their brothers, the Russians not only suffered no losses, but also increased their population.
Gould made an unprecedented deal with Chief Ross, claiming that the payment was as high as 60,000 silver coins.
Moreover, the Russians were extremely generous and immediately took out the money.
This was indeed the case. At noon on the second day of the night banquet, Rurik personally led Gould into the sacred longhouse of the priests.
Just inside the longhouse, High Priest Vilya also performed a brief ceremony for the fat man Gould to acknowledge that he had become a Rus.
A large amount of silver coins were moved to Gould's mansion. According to the agreement, Gould will continue to fulfill his obligations under the agreement, such as building a house.
It can be said that the large amount of looted coins eventually flowed into the hands of Rurik and Gould.
Since Gould is now very happy to obey Rurik's arrangements, Rurik's "big money box" has become the "central bank" of the Roseburg tribe, with the ability to regulate the tribe's economy.
He realized that he could completely use his wealth to mobilize the diverse population of the tribe by spreading coins, making it possible for the economy to start running at high speed. Of course, throwing money away does not mean throwing it away randomly. Money is a medium, and these mediums need to be recovered through reasonable means to continue the cycle.
There are still less than 10,000 people from the Rus tribe and guests. The narrow market naturally makes Rurik focus on the not-so-distant south and the mysterious east.
What to do next?
Production! Mass production! Although those servants are weak, if their health recovers, they must create wealth for the master's family!
Of course, the biggest problem now is that Rurik still has to solve the housing, clothing and food problems of his various people.
After all, if the sheep freeze to death and starve to death, there will be no way to collect wool.
Rurik used the power of money to hire more tribal women to spin linen, weave cloth and tailor leather. The prerequisite for women to develop their handicraft capabilities on a large scale was naturally that merchants sold a large amount of flax.
Like the little maids his father brought from Novgorod, Rurik gave them uniform clothing.
The problem now is that there are still sixty orphan girls picked up by the Melalen tribe. They are also their servants, so they naturally need to dress uniformly.
Rurik no longer had the time to think about why he had an astonishing number of maids. In short, this was the reality.
As for the other twenty Brythonic women, they seem to be believers in God? Since they all knew how to weave, turning flax rods into linen was the first task Rurik gave them.
Rurik selected thirty girls with good physical fitness. They put on brand new clothes and moved into the long house exclusively for servants. The rest of the maids were still waiting.
For a time, the labor force in the soap workshop increased, and the work of Priestess Parla became more tiring. To manage the rapidly increasing number of children, they must restrain their behavior and avoid the possibility of quarreling with each other. The most important thing is to arrange for them to work. It is really difficult for a female prostitute in Parla to serve as a "life teacher".
Difficulties come to pass, but the children generally cherish their life of having food to eat.
Soap production capacity suddenly increased due to the addition of children!
It is not just the increase in staff that has led to an increase in production capacity. The most critical reason is the supply of raw materials.
It is entirely because of people's fear of winter that fishermen are increasingly inclined to hunt seals basking in the sun. The entire Gulf of Bothnia has to search for whales, waiting for opportunities to hunt.
Seal oil and whale oil are both good materials for burning lamps, but the fishermen know that if they sell the excess fat to Rurik, they will get a higher than market price.
They didn't know the inside story and didn't bother to ask. They just wanted to happily play with the silver coins in their hands.
Seal grease was already the main source of oil for soap, but now the supply is even greater.
More soap production means more wealth, and now Rurik is even clearly building a huge economy himself. Moreover, the characteristics of this economy do not come from traditional agricultural production, but from the processing of daily necessities, in order to obtain a lot of wealth through the high added value and premium of products. Then he used the money he earned to import Rossburg's necessities from foreigners, such as a large amount of food.
In Roseburg alone, the economy is outward-looking.
Of course, this situation is changing. The New Ross Fort built on the Neva River may become a production base for grain and leather, but it will still take many years for it to mature. Until then, the Ross tribe's economy still relies heavily on trade.
Otherwise, the sudden rise of happy days will suddenly disappear, causing the Russians to return to their former roughness. What's worse is that once you start enjoying the good times, it's hard for anyone to go back.
After receiving Rurik's money, lumberjacks and construction workers became more active, and even took their children into the construction.
More new longhouses began to be built, and brand new longhouses were built in the former deserted areas. In order to avoid the possibility of wave erosion, they are located on high ground, making them quite conspicuous.
Everything that happens in the tribe is what Otto wants to see.
As for Otto, he has also officially started preparing materials to support New Roseburg.
But before setting sail, another huge happy event happened to Otto's family.
That is Arik's wife, Peravina, who has finally reached the critical moment!
Lying on the soft deerskin, a woman with a big belly in pain, her face covered in sweat, was lying.
She is Peravina, and nearly a year of waiting has finally arrived at this most critical moment.
Arik stayed anxiously in his longhouse. He held his wife's vein-covered hand tightly and kept comforting him: "Keep on holding on, Peravina, our child will definitely..."
"Yes! I...I'm trying."
Originally, Niya, who served as a midwife, thought that Arik should avoid it, even though it was her wife who was about to give birth. Niya brought her son Rurik into the longhouse. She believed that because of her son's identity, she could protect Peravina from having a difficult delivery.
But the current situation is obviously a bit bad!
Arik was invited in anyway, and he held his wife's hand tightly to comfort Peravina who was in extreme pain.
"Child! Use your strength! Don't be afraid of pain, be strong and patient!"
"Keep trying harder and hold on."
"Oh, my Pelavina, you must have a brave boy in your belly. Hold on, another warrior of Rus is about to be born!"
Niya kept encouraging her, and that was really all she could do.
Of course, in this era, there were surgical operations such as cesarean section, but the child survived, but the mother died.
Chu Nu Li was perhaps the earliest woman recorded in historical records to have undergone a cesarean section. She died, and the state of Chu was born because of her.
Of course, Peravina is not ready to use such an extreme method to give birth to a child. She is still working hard and has already given birth to the child in her belly. Niya didn't have forceps, let alone painkillers. Everything depended on Peravina and God's grace.
Seeing that the child was still not born, Peravina almost collapsed.
Niya was anxious and hurriedly pulled the stunned Rurik over: "Quick! Do something?"
"Huh? What can I do?"
"Pray, pray to God. You are favored, pray quickly! Pray to God to reduce your sister's pain."
pray? Rurik thought it was ridiculous.
But when he saw his sister-in-law's expectant eyes in pain, he had no choice but to get close to her face, squat down with his hands clasped in his fists, and tilt his head thoughtfully. It gave others the impression that Rurik was communicating with God.
Rurik had indeed never seen a woman give birth to a child, and he even felt very embarrassed to be here.
The problem now is that his presence is the greatest spiritual comfort to his sister-in-law, and it seems to really alleviate her pain.
My sister-in-law Peravina is not a weak woman, so why is she having a difficult delivery?
Could it be that she was not only pregnant with a big fat boy, but also a very big giant baby?
Rurik pretended to pray, while Arik and Niya tried their best to comfort Peravina's emotions. Rumia, Rurik's head maid, is also busy working in the longhouse, especially using the indoor bonfire to boil a copper pot of hot water in preparation for wiping the child.
Outdoors, the big leader kept circling at the door. After all, his grandson was about to be born. The Russians do not have such a clear concept of seniority, and the meanings of "grandnephew" and "grandnephew" are almost the same.
He looked forward to the safe birth of the descendants of his dead brother, and a group of his fellow clan members gathered around, hearing the cries in the room, teasing the birth of a future warrior, who must be as old as the child's father, Arik. He made great achievements in a short time.
Maybe it really is the power of prayer! At least that's what Niya thinks.
First it was a child's lanugo, and then, a big fat boy closed his eyes tightly and came into the world with a thunderous cry.
The baby's cry was heard outside in an instant, and Otto stopped wandering around. His men, who were sitting on the ground like pigeons lining up, stood up in an instant. Everyone flocked to the closed wooden door and couldn't help but feel happy when they heard the voices inside.
"Haha! It's a boy!" Niya's face lit up with joy as she touched her wet grandnephew.
"Rumia! Knife!"
Niya took the dagger with the burned blade handed over by Rumia, suddenly cut the child's umbilical cord, and then immediately wiped the baby boy's body with the prepared warm water, and used the prepared He was wrapped in very clean lambskin.
Niya held the baby in her arms and knelt beside the extremely weak and relieved Peravina. She placed the baby who continued to cry next to her mother.
Looking at her son, Peravina's face was filled with tears. She gently touched the child's smiling face with her fingers, and the child responded with a strong cry.
"Ah! He is my good son. Peravina, you gave birth to an excellent son for me." Arik said in extreme excitement. If his aunt Niya hadn't stopped him, he would have picked up his son immediately. .
The nineteen-year-old cousin has become a father, and Rurik feels very happy when he looks at the child.
"Brother, give him a name." Rurik reminded him first.
"Oh! Yes! I want to give him a good name."
But what kind of name to choose, but Arik was stumped. He really wanted to give his son a domineering name, and then personally train the boy to become a berserker on the battlefield, and continue to make great contributions to the tribe.
After the placenta was completely removed in Niya, the weak Peravina reluctantly sat up and looked at her husband who was struggling with the naming: "He is my son, let me do the naming."
"You? Okay. Give our son a good name."
"It's called Asgardar."
"This name? What does it mean?" Arik was a little confused, but Rurik somewhat understood.
"It's a gift from Asgard, my brother." Rurik smiled.
Peravina laughed even more happily: "Our Rurik is the wisest. Arik, our child has the dual blood of Rus and Novgorod, and his name inherits this." .”
"That's right." Rurik could add, "Dar, the language in Novgorod means offering a gift."
"Okay." Arik shrugged, "I would still like to call him Asgard." Then he looked at his son with his eyes closed and said softly: "Asgard, you have this noble name, I can To train you to be an excellent warrior, you must be braver than me."
Niya looked at all this with joy. She smiled and said; "Pelavina, it must be because of Rurik's prayers that Odin blessed you, so your child has also been blessed. This child, with the words "Eastern" Its language is Asgardal, and our language is Asgard."
"Then let's call it Asgard." Peravina smiled shyly: "Because I am already a Russian, right?"
Who would have thought that Asgard was born like this. There is indeed a destiny in the dark. This child will inherit the martial arts of his father and grandfather and become a powerful warrior.
And, became an important figure in the Ross tribe.
Arik's wife gave birth to a very healthy baby boy, and the good news quickly spread among the Rus tribe, because it meant that the chief's family had a new boy.
This boy's name is also very domineering. Who would have the guts to name his son "The Sanctuary of the Gods"? Aren't you afraid of the punishment of the gods?
The child is called Asgard and is very healthy. Everyone believes in it. Maybe this child will be as magical as Rurik?
Whether everyone is willing to believe this or not remains to be seen.
And this was just the beginning. In the days that followed, the first batch of Novgorod women who got married all completed their childbirth. Fortunately, no one had difficulty in giving birth.
There are naturally boys and girls among the children born. In the past, some baby girls would be deliberately abandoned by their parents for the very practical reason that they could not afford to raise them. But the situation has changed this year. If the family has plenty of food, who would cruelly abandon their children?
Now the women of Roseburg are more important than ever. Rurik paid the women who worked for him, and once women had silver coins in their hands, something had changed.
Peravina has completely entered the state of motherhood. Of course Rurik wants to give his sister-in-law the best supplements. He even hopes that his sister-in-law can have a confinement. There is no concept of confinement in Russia, so Rurik persuaded his cousin Arik that his sister-in-law must stay at home for at least ten days and take care of the child with good food and drink.
What does Arik think? He felt that his baby brother's prayer must have had an effect. It was precisely because of that prayer that his wife, who had once had a difficult labor, quickly escaped from pain. He obeyed his brother's words, which made Peravina eat a lot of meat and wheat porridge every day, as well as honey.
What was the result? Asgard, who has opened his eyes and can giggle, has received the most excellent nurture.
The time has already entered September, and Rurik's new house only needs the final paving of the roof meadow. Many indoor furnitures have also been completed, such as the comfortable wooden bed. The moving day is just a few days away. It was obvious that Otto would be enjoying living in his new home even before he set sail.
Nowadays, the longhouse of the old house has long since escaped its former desolation. There are two more people living here: Carlotta and Ella. Because of their noble status, the two were able to sleep with Rurik, who was the same age, on the first day they moved in.
Although Rumia's status is just that of a maid, it is only temporary. After learning that Rumia would succeed the tribe's high priest sooner or later, Carlotta respected her almost out of instinct. When the two sisters learned that Rumia actually knew how to raise deer, the three of them immediately talked about how to raise large animals.
After all, there seems to be no difference between raising deer and raising cattle. Then, the Carlotta sisters, who were ashamed of being freeloaders, suddenly appeared as reindeer herders, and their proficiency in herding made Rumia greatly admired.
Since everyone has a noble status, even if their ethnic origins are different, the grudges in the hearts of the three girls have disappeared.
Otto had four children at home, and Rurik was surrounded by three girls.
It was another quiet night, with only Otto's snoring bringing an annoying clutter to the original peace.
That night, due to some random thoughts, Rurik kept thinking in his mind with his eyes open, and he didn't even bother to kick back one of Carlotta's legs.
Rurik was still thinking about the child from Asgard.
"Asgard? Asgard? Why do I always feel so familiar? Wait, could it be..."
"Pelavina will not only have this one son. She has given birth safely once, and she will definitely not have difficulty giving birth again in the future. If she has another son, should he be named Gil?"
"Okay, if there is Jill, who is Oleg? Is it my sister's child? But I don't have a sister."
Thinking of this, Rurik suddenly stared at Carlotta's sleeping face in the dark night and couldn't help but feel shocked.
"She?! No way. Isn't that my child? But Igor must be my son? Where is Igor's mother? Svetlana? Hell, the changes in the world line are probably not small. "
The more he thought about it, the more troubled he became, so Rurik pushed Carlotta's legs off to prevent himself from turning into a human pillow again. He thought calmly and savored it carefully.
"Well, I am the Lord of Novgorod. Maybe I have to arrange for this kid from Asgard to conquer Kiev or something. Ah, I still want to be more peaceful. I want an order, not too much. brutal."
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Chapter 234 The Birth of Asgadar
