Just for face and glory, the price was actually a pound of silver coins. After leaving the door, Rurik felt physical pain for a second.
The loss of one pound of silver does not feel like a big loss to Rurik now.
What surprised him very much was that as a manufacturer of wine, when he sold it to Gould, the price was already very high. This was entirely because ordinary ale had to be distilled and purified, and then filtered with charcoal into a fine wine. , just the concentration process makes the cost of wine rise a lot.
As for the glass bottle that carries the wine, it is a consumable product that tends to be mass-produced. It is indeed rare and expensive at the beginning. In the long run, its value will definitely not be as high as the wine inside.
The "wholesale price" of a bottle of wine was hitting the price of a bottle of one-pound silver coins. Unexpectedly, after changing hands, the price increase in the Malaren tavern was not serious.
This surprised Rurik. It really did not conform to the rules of a businessman pursuing profit.
"Perhaps, if the price is too high, no one will buy it? Do the people of Melalen resell spirits with small profits but quick turnover?"
After all, everyone has seen what the people of Mellaren call a tavern. It is really a chaotic place, but this kind of place is controlled by that guy Olegin.
Arik patted his brother on the back: "Honey, how do you feel about this place?"
"It's not that good! It's dirty and messy. I'm afraid those drunk guys will rush up and be stabbed through the throat by you."
"Hey, that's for sure. My attitude is to kill any attacker."
Rurik shook his head and tried to persuade him like an adult: "You are so reckless. This is the territory of the Melalen people. If you kill their people, how can we escape unscathed?"
"It doesn't matter." Arik squeezed his brother's shoulders hard. Rurik understood that this was his brother's way of expressing his tough attitude, and he just endured the pain in his shoulder and remained silent.
"No matter where the enemy attacks, only the enemy will die. Brothers have killed so many enemies on the battlefield, how could we ever be afraid."
After saying that, Arik laughed wildly, causing others to laugh even more arrogantly.
Rurik looked up at his cousin with disdain.
After all, a newborn calf is not afraid of tigers. After fighting a few battles, he became more and more cruel and ruthless. Even with this brain, he was still too naive.
"Aric."
"What's wrong?!"
Rurik frowned and shook his head: "That bottle of wine is still too expensive."
"Oh, now that I think about it, I was really extravagant. I apologize."
"It doesn't matter, at least you have earned enough face for the brothers. Haha, the owner of the tavern is the leader of Melalen. At least we know this information. Now we are all Norwegian travelers, at least that's what they think."
"Okay!" Arik pinched his waist, "Brothers, there is no need to hide anything, we are Norwegians. Let's go and see what other strange things there are in the market."
There were all kinds of people coming and going, almost all of them were simply dressed, and a few were dressed in gorgeous clothes, walking surrounded by people carrying swords or axes.
Working as a thug for wealthy households is an option acceptable to many powerless young people in Mälaren. After working as a servant for several years, after saving some money, he either buys some acres of land or orders a small boat. This is how he gets the capital to survive for the rest of his life.
Rurik took aim at the slightly fat man wearing clothes and a velvet hat.
"Aric."
"What's wrong? Say it louder sometimes."
"That man." Rurik still whispered, "That's a rich man. Let's follow him quietly to see what this guy will do."
Following an indifferent person, Arik felt that it was unnecessary. Since his brother had this idea, he and his brothers followed quietly.
There were many people wandering around in the market, and the following behavior did not arouse any alarm.
After a while, the rich man, who was being defended by mercenary thugs, finally stood up straight in front of a lively crowd.
There were at least dozens of people gathered together, looking at the special products.
"What's going on?!" Rurik was shocked. "Arik, look at those pillars. Why are there some men tied up on them? Are they guilty? Is this an execution site?" Rurik subconsciously thought that a thief had been raped. Captured by the patrolling private soldiers of Chief Laren, he estimated that he was at the scene of the execution of prisoners.
Hearing what his brother said, Arik subconsciously believed that this was the execution ground. Look at those ragged men tied up, all it takes to end their lives is a blow from an axe.
Jevro coughed twice and said with a dull face: "Adults, those are not prisoners, they are slaves."
"Slave?" Rurik immediately turned around.
"What? Master, do you think it's strange?"
"No. I'm just curious. Are these slaves tied here because they ran so hard?"
"Of course not." Jevro knew the slave market of the Melalen tribe very well. He deliberately pointed to a pillar that was erected like a ship mast: "Master, if any escaped slaves are caught, they will be hanged. On that wooden pole.”
Rurik looked at the pillar and was deeply touched in his heart.
He looked again at the slaves bound with ropes for sale, and couldn't help but feel sorry for their situation.
This is human nature! For a moment, Rurik had the idea of saving them. However, facing the current situation and seeing that a group of local rich people had already arrived, his reason prevailed. Now he would not lose anything by sitting back and watching. I'm afraid it would be too much trouble to intervene.
Rurik's psychological fluctuations were keenly noticed by Jevro.
"Master, do you plan to buy these slaves?"
"No, I have already arranged the purchase of slaves for Gould. Now we are just spectators."
After saying that, Rurik continued to watch. The more he watched, the stronger his heart was touched.
They do not regard slaves as human beings, or rather the Malaren people or even the entire alliance. The concept of human beings in the narrow sense is limited to boys and girls of the alliance who are twelve years old.
The so-called slave trade did not have any laws and regulations that needed to be followed, and it all relied on unspoken rules created voluntarily by everyone. For example, those bankrupt farmers will voluntarily become slaves to earn a living, while young people who have no strength are willing to work as mercenaries for the rich. Even some begging children, boys may be trained as laborers, and girls may be beautiful, but they will be taken away by wealthy households and become slaves.
Asking himself, Rurik realized that in the past two years, he had also relied on this set of unspoken rules within the alliance since ancient times to obtain many typical slaves for Rosberg. Even if Rurik himself didn't want to admit it, the Russian people and the businessmen who had business dealings with Gould all knew this - the Russian leader and his family were powerful slave owners.
Rurik heard a few guys with scary eyes speaking some awkward language. They were selling their goods—five Britton men—in public.
"They are actually Britons? Yes, their hair is not golden."
Rurik held his chin, and even his entourage acted as spectators.
The slave traders quoted their prices, which were fifty silver coins for each Briton to be sold.
"Ah! This price is even far less than a bottle of wine! The value of a person is so low?!"
Arik obviously heard his younger brother's muttering, and pressed his big hands on his shoulders: "What? You actually treat them as human beings? You are so kind."
"Then forgive my kindness. Alas, I hope to get some more laborers for us Russians. I can arrange for them to go mining."
"You still want to buy them? Rurik, we only have one pound of silver coins with us now."
"Forget it! You and the others are unlucky, and they are destined not to be servants of the kindhearted One."
Aric smiled as he listened to his brother's words that put a premium on his face. To be honest, Arik looked down upon these Britons at all. Thinking that the five elderly Bryton maids raised by Rurik were worshiping a strange god, Arik felt that these guys were really not good.
Arik actually liked the people of Novgorod, not only because his wife was from Novgorod, but also because he noticed that the women he married were all kneeling down to worship the goddess Freya believed by the Russians, especially No Novgorod woman died in childbirth. Everyone said that the goddess blessed these outsiders to become her own, which made them completely abandon their beliefs in their hometown.
After all, he is a strong and young man, and his wife was just a pretty ordinary village girl in Novgorod. When he saw that his young brother was actually arranged a lot of engagements by his uncle who was the leader, Arik said it was impossible not to envy him. However, the son is not yet one year old, but the wife still remains young and beautiful. In this way, I can get a few beautiful women from Novgorod to marry me, and I'm afraid this will make my family crazy.
It was already in Arik's plan to obtain a group of maids from Novgorod to serve him and his family. What's more, he also has a "wolf ambition" deep in his heart. Since you can have a group of oriental maids as concubines, why not have some oriental male servants as hard labor? If all these can be realized, I can definitely go further.
For example, younger brother Rurik became the master of the Novgorod people. I heard that there is a place called Smolensk in the south. The people there also speak the same language as Novgorod, but it is not as powerful as the north. He is destined to be less noble than his younger brother, but he is also more noble than other Ross people.
"In the future, I will lead my brothers to conquer Smolensk and make the local people my slaves. From now on, I will collect tribute every year? It's really wonderful to think about it."
The so-called Britons being peddled by the real Norwegians, the locals assumed that the slaves obtained by the Norwegian slave traders were all Britons, and it even became another word to describe slaves.
In fact, these so-called "Britons" are residents of the Kingdom of Northumbria on the island of Britain. Rurik remembered that most of the real Britons had orange-red hair, because their ancestors were Celts. These people have brown hair and are relatively tall. Looking at their sluggish faces, there is a strong sense of familiarity.
Whether it is Northumbria or Mercia, the majority of the people who make up the two kingdoms come from the Saxon tribes and Anglian tribes that landed four hundred years ago. In essence, these people have a strong similarity in blood with the Mellaren people. sex. It's just that immigrants and the survivors of Roman Britain intermarry on a large scale, and there are fewer people with pure blond hair.
Because they knew that the once noble Roman aristocrats were all black-haired, the chiefs who established the kingdom, while accepting extreme Christianity, also tried to make their descendants' hair darker and darker in blood.
But the age of Viking raids had begun.
The fjords of Scandinavia facing the North Sea formed a tribal alliance of Norwegians to raid Britain, and the captive populations were either digested by themselves, or sold to the people on the other side of the mountains who lived in the "sacred land" of Svealand. People can make great benefits.
The five slaves were inspected like cattle and their mouths were opened by the wealthy buyers. By observing the teeth, a knowledgeable buyer can know a series of information such as the slave's age and physical condition. This inspection routine was originally used to inspect cattle and sheep, but it is equally useful for inspecting slaves.
After all, these people bought them back to work as coolies on the farm. Compared with tenant farmers who paid rent, they still used slave labor to cultivate and they could earn greater profits.
A number of wealthy buyers gathered together. Apparently they had considerable differences over the division of slaves and needed to negotiate among themselves on the right to purchase.
There are many passers-by watching here. The scattered copper coins in their hands cannot buy a strong slave, not even the weakest female slave. They are simply watching the fun with greed, after all, their lives are full of boredom.
No one paid attention to the dozen or so people wearing burqas, and Rurik and the others seemed not to exist.
"It seems that the animal has an owner. Maybe we should bring more silver coins when we come again, so that we can satisfy your kindness." Arik said politely.
Rurik didn't think his cousin was complimenting him, but more like sarcasm.
"I won't read it." Rurik deliberately showed disdain.
"Then let's go deep into the market and take a look?" Arik asked.
"That's fine. The Mellaren people's market is really big. They sell all kinds of things. I'm very curious about that Olegin."
Yevluo hurriedly bowed down: "Sir, I believe you will see that person soon."
"Is it because Gould sent a messenger? I am already standing here, Yevlo, do you know where Olegin lives?"
"Ah! This..." How could Yevluo not know? Everyone in the team knows this, including all the mercenaries from Maylaren.
"Take me there quickly, I want to find out."
Yevluo's face was very nervous. He continued to bow and persuade: "Sir, that Olegin is so arrogant. I'm afraid if we rashly ask to see him, he will be rejected."
"What? Will he refuse to see me without giving him a little greeting gift? Is it just that he is a so-called alliance leader?"
"I'm afraid that's the case, my lord. He is really a proud man. He has powerful private soldiers in his hands. No one dares to challenge the rules he has set."
"Bah! Listen to what you said, why do I think he is a greedy and arrogant man? Anyway, I just want to see that guy's mansion, as long as I can see it from a distance away."
Jevro let out a sigh of relief. If the master only asked for this, of course he could do it. What he fears most is that the two sons of the leader of Ross will cause some trouble in the territory of the Melalen people because they are too unruly.
Although he very much hopes that Rurik, whom he serves, can and will have hegemony over the entire alliance when he grows up.
