With a lot of delicious food in his stomach, Otto mentioned the most critical thing to be carried out in the future: "I will go to Novgorod soon to collect tribute. Rurik, we have agreed, I can We need to take at least 10,000 pounds of wheat to the East. You know, in the future, the new Fort Ross we build will be more and more important."
"Is ten thousand pounds enough?" Rurik shrugged, "There must be a thousand people living there! They are all our tribesmen! In my opinion, it is more appropriate to bring fifty thousand pounds of wheat."
"This... is too much." Otto was a little surprised.
"I think it's okay. We people who live in Roseburg generally eat fish in winter. We have more fishing boats this year and catch more fish. Give a batch of food to our tribesmen who are pioneering in the east. They are in greatest need. of."
"Really?" Otto felt that his son's expression had a deeper meaning, so he said with a hint of joking: "You gave your servants very good food, which is no different from what we eat now. I also I thought you didn’t care much about ordinary tribesmen.”
"Dad, are you scolding me?"
"I didn't. I just wanted to say that you are a little too kind to your servants."
"Those people are my servants after all." Rurik emphasized, "I give them good food, and they work for me. As for our tribesmen in the east, how much support we give them depends on the leader's wishes. We can’t get anything from them now, and I’m a little sorry. If we weren’t the leaders, we wouldn’t have to pay attention to what they eat this year. But we are the leaders.”
Otto nodded: "I am the leader, and I must pay attention to them. Rurik, your words are not correct. If there is a war, the brothers in the east must participate. We are all Rus."
"That's true. I'm afraid that our tribe now only has the obligation to participate in the war unconditionally. Because we have even canceled the tribe's collective interest dividends. I have some doubts whether those who do not benefit during the war will Will work hard."
Whether the thing mentioned by Rurik was good or bad, Otto really couldn't comment.
Judging from the current situation, the former tribal system has been permanently ended. Today, the spoils and tributes collected are shared by the participating families. Of course, the chief family also controls the financial rights of the priests and obtains The gains are also unprecedented. If you don't participate, you can't get it. However, non-participants still have to defend the Ross tribe in critical moments.
There is no possibility of being attacked in the current core area of the Ross people.
Rurik thought with his toes that at last year's meeting of the powerful group of people within the Ross tribe, everyone focused more on the distribution of benefits, but they never thought that it would undermine the cohesion of the tribe.
If a disaster really strikes, those families who do not enjoy the dividends on weekdays will not be able to choose "self-exile"?
Pooh! When a catastrophe strikes, those who have received the dividends may unite to fight. Others, who usually do not get the benefits, must not run away. People, after all, only when their own interests are attacked will they fight back crazily!
Rurik had his own opinion on this: "Dad, I bought all the food, and the ownership belongs to our family. When we give food to the tribesmen over there, it should be in the name of the leader. They can't eat us in vain. Food for the family.”
"Huh?" Otto frowned; "Do you have any ideas?"
"They can accept our food, but they have to pay a price."
"Price? What price?"
"The food is lent to them and they have to pay it back next year. They can cultivate some land and the food they produce has to be returned to us. We are benevolent. How much they borrow will be at least the amount they have to pay back next autumn."
Otto suddenly realized that something was wrong with his son's words: "Wait a minute! Did it end up being that we collect tribute from our people?"
"Not bad. Is there anything wrong with that?" Rurik replied with a serious face.
"This...I always feel a little..."
"Dad, do you think it's inappropriate? Times have changed! Do you want to give them food for free? Why? Just because they had a difficult life when they first settled in New Roseburg?"
Otto's original intention was to give part of the tribute collected from Novgorod to the residents of New Roseburg who settled there. His purpose was very simple, which was to let the tribesmen there survive the first winter. He never thought about getting any real benefits from the tribesmen over there, but he just acted on the responsibility of the leader to help them tide over the difficulties.
He really didn't expect that his son Rurik, the future leader, would actually calculate the gains and losses of his tribe.
Otto didn't know whether it was good or bad to do that. If the words came out of his son's mouth, it might be a good thing in the end.
Otto expressed his idea of donating food, and Rurik immediately asked: "Dad, we collect tribute from Novgorod every year, do we have to subsidize the settlers of Novorosberg forever in the future? Since the tribute has become Only those who become participants have the right to share. Are participants willing to do so? Does settling in New Roseburg mean sitting back and enjoying the benefits? Why?!"
"Ah? I really didn't think so much, Rurik, what should we do?" Otto asked tentatively.
"We still need to collect tributes." Rurik emphasized, "Dad, you are the leader, and you have the power to distribute tributes. If I were the leader, the people of Novgorod would still have to give us a batch of tributes, that is, a large amount of tributes." Wheat. I will store the wheat and will not distribute it to the army of Sogon. Instead, I will pay them money.
In this way, the tribesmen who took our wheat this year will return the same amount of wheat next year. The tributes from the Novgorod people should also be controlled by us.
I already have a big money box, and I also want a big warehouse for storing grain.
Then, those grains are not tribute, but taxes (the English word tax is spoken).
My goal is that eventually every clan member will hand over part of their property and I will keep it for them. I am not greedy, because these properties will be used for the construction of our tribe. Just like I will control a large amount of food, if our tribe encounters a disaster and ordinary people are unable to obtain food and starve, the food I control will be distributed to everyone, so that everyone can survive the difficulty. "
Rurik talked a lot, but it was too difficult for Otto to understand the purpose and significance of "taxation" immediately.
Otto understood that since last year's meeting of the clansmen was to discuss the principle of "he who does not work shall not eat", it completely revised the tribal tradition of tribal dividends.
Since most people think this is correct, then great! There is no truly uncompensated gift, and those who receive the reward should make positive feedback.
Otto slapped his thigh: "Okay. The people of New Roseburg must clear the land and plant wheat next year. You are right, the two hundred thousand pounds of wheat belongs to our family, even the ones over there belong to us. Tribesmen, if we give them one pound of wheat this year, they must return two pounds next year. As long as they accept the gift, they must repay it next year.”
"Moreover, the food must belong to our family. Dad, you are the leader after all. According to the Franks far away, you are our king!" Rurik deliberately complimented.
Being praised by his son, Otto's thoughts were said to be beautiful.
Now that we are talking about the issue of land reclamation, after all, it is not that the Ross people do not know how to farm. They are just limited in their ability to plant by the barren and cold natural environment of Rossburg.
Otto knocked on the table and said excitedly: "Since it is land reclamation, they still need some tools. But we don't even have wooden plows. It seems that we need a batch of plows from the Novgorod people."
"No need." Rurik shook his head and talked about the plow, one of the tools he had planned to make: "What kind of wooden plow do you want? We can definitely make a better one."
Otto was surprised: "Can you make a plow? Can you plant? My child."
"I don't know how to farm! Anyway, I just know how to make a plow. Dad, didn't you say there is a loyal dog in Novgorod (referring to White Tree Manor)? I will make a brand-new plow that will cause trouble in the local area. Isn’t it good to increase people’s food yield so that they can pay tribute with more wheat? The plow I made will definitely help our people in New Roseburg, and it will be easy to cultivate a lot of land. In the end, we will benefit!”
Otto's eyes widened. He knew that whatever his son mentioned, he always meant what he said.
"Is there still enough time? I will set sail with my brothers soon."
"Dad, when are you leaving?"
"This year's situation... about ten days later. This year we acted a little late."
"It's okay. I'll take action tomorrow!"
Rurik's mobility is naturally impeccable. After breakfast today, he led more than a hundred brothers as usual, and simulated a battle on the hill with wooden sticks and shields.
Military training lasted from spring to autumn. Now, the children can listen to Rurik's orders, and the team can move freely and even make some complicated queue changes. It is precisely because of the strong obedience and discipline of these queue changes that Rurik believes that when these children grow up, they will form a combat effectiveness that will surpass other tribes.
Because the current infantry tactics of the children have reached the "Century" level, if they want to defeat such a huge group, with the current level of tribal warfare, Rurik believes that his men will be invincible.
Rurik has not yet made good use of the newly promoted mercenary captain Yevro. For the time being, he is using those people as lumberjacks.
In this regard, Rurik strongly agrees with his father's arrangement.
Otto couldn't trust those mercenaries for a moment.
The loyalty of that group of people remains to be tested, not to mention who is the guy who makes jokes and who is dedicated. They can really show their attitude when they are cutting wood.
Rurik felt that since Yevlo was an excellent warrior, next year, more than a hundred of his guys would have a new teacher - Yevlo.
Until then, Rurik did not want Yevro and other mercenaries to engage in the so-called work of "protecting the safety of the leader."
Because of the safety of the leader, he is naturally protected by a large group of cronies at all times. Those mercenaries recruited, before next spring, will be out-and-out tool men, lumberjacks, builders, porters, etc. who earn money and food.
If anyone declares that he can't stand it, then get out of the territory of the Ross tribe. For those who remain, Rurik believes that these people are dedicated mercenaries who are truly willing to take money to do things under any circumstances.
When it came to making the plow, Rurik still needed the help of a professional blacksmith.
That afternoon, he first stayed in his new home, conceiving of his design non-stop.
Since there was no paper yet, Rurik found a wooden board and used the tip of his knife to carve the shape of a plow on the board. Such was his professionalism that even if it was just a drawing carved out on a wooden board, he would try his best to make it lifelike.
After lunch the next day, Rurik took his wooden board and went straight to Klavassen's blacksmith shop in high spirits.
The sun was at noon, and an old guy with hairy arms was still banging the sword embryo desperately.
Although it may be more profitable to make glassware, due to the narrow audience, Klavasen feels that it is difficult to make money from his own people with glassware. He still needs to make a large number of steel swords to complete the previous orders and stabilize Live up your reputation. And in the foreseeable future, building carbon steel weapons will always be what his family will be engaged in.
The sudden appearance of Rurik, who came alone, was really unexpected, and the child's appearance in a white fox fur robe was really incompatible with the dirty and hot blacksmith shop.
"My little master, is there anything else important? I have already handed over the previous payment to you."
"Is our conversation more about money?" Rurik asked casually: "Where is Lilia?"
"Are you looking for her? She is in the house, working on the loom."
"She can also weave?!"
"Of course." Klavason was a little surprised: "Most women can do this kind of skill, not to mention she is from Novgorod." Klavason smiled: "My Lilia can always get me something new." Patterns, go and take a look, she is weaving a piece of patterned cloth."
Rurik came to discuss with Lilia the use of advanced plows to reclaim wasteland in Novgorod. He rushed into the inner hall of the blacksmith shop. Rurik's sudden appearance frightened Klavasen's wife. , but Lilia was immersed in her work and could not suffer any interference.
She sat on a leather cushion and used her hands and feet to operate a very crude loom. It was so crude that it hardly resembled a machine, but it could indeed weave cloth.
"Brother, you're here. What's the matter?" Lilia spoke in Slavic language very calmly, and sweat covered her forehead.
"Oh, it looks like you're weaving patterned cloth. Did you use new linen?"
"Of course, I also made moss printing and dyeing on the new linen. You see." Lilia's eyes indicated, "Soon I can make a beautiful linen garment for my Kawei. By the way, you came here to see me?" "
"Well. There is one important thing that I especially want to tell you."
"Oh, tell me then." Lilia said, still controlling the loom with her hands and feet.
Rurik could see that she had no free hands at all, and after some inquiry he found out that Kawei had led Kamni again, pulling the blacksmith's two-wheeled cart, and ran to the nearby mountains to mine ore. Rurik was not surprised. At present, while the climate has not changed drastically, the blacksmith shop needs to stockpile some ores and charcoal blocks so that the workshop can continue to operate in the cold night.
The boring winter is boring for many tribesmen. As a result, since spring, many women have puffed up their bellies.
This is not the case in the blacksmith shop. Everyone knows that steel swords are really easy to use, and steel axes are also artifacts for logging. The tribesmen are eager to completely change their clothes, which forces a handful of blacksmiths in the tribe to start an unprecedented "big game". Dry". It was too difficult to obtain ore in winter, and the strong Kawei had to try his best to get more ore reserves.
Blacksmiths are more than happy to work hard, and not just because of the financial gain. After the blacksmiths discussed it, they had to work hard to show their loyalty, reliability and importance to the current leader Otto and the future leader Rurik.
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Chapter 236 There must be a concept of taxation
