For Rurik, he planned that today he must promote the fact that Olegin recognized the identity of the leader of Carlotta.
He had an idea and decided to take out the polar bear skin that he had used to apologize. Since the other party is no longer too lazy to pursue the misunderstanding a few days ago, the gift still has to be given, and the bear skin has taken on a new role.
Rurik deliberately said: "Carlotta of Ostara has specially prepared a gift for you in order to wait for the alliance leader's approval."
"Gifts? I know you brought gifts. What is that?" Olegin asked eagerly.
"It's bear skin, white bear skin, and a bear head that can be made into a helmet."
"White bear skin? Such a precious gift?" Olegin was startled. After all, in the Lake Malaren area, this is no longer the living area of polar bears, and it has become difficult to obtain white bear skin.
Seeing that the other party was very interested in bearskin, Rurik's mind was spinning quickly. He thought about his words and said: "As long as you can admit her identity, then the people of Ostara will be very grateful to you for your actions. They More gifts will be brought to you, even though they are now very weak."
"It doesn't matter." Olegin waved his hand to signal Rurik to be quiet. He stared at Carlotta who lowered her head and ordered: "Girl of Ostara, raise your head."
Carlotta raised her head weakly.
"Take off your hat."
The girl hesitated and did so.
After all, she received excellent treatment in Roseburg. She always had a good diet, and she spent all the sunny days doing physical fitness and archery training. Her clean and plump face showed her health. Carlotta is not the kind of girl with character beauty, but the noble temperament brought by this health is another kind of charm.
Olegin pinched his beard and praised him. He turned his head slightly and said to his son: "Karl, my eldest grandson is twelve years old. His coming-of-age ceremony is over. Now, all we have to do is choose a wife for him. What do you think of this girl?"
As soon as this statement came out, Rurik, Arik, and especially the person involved, Carlotta, were shocked.
Just before Rurik was about to explain another fact, Karl spoke first.
Carl slapped Carlotta hard and shook his head with a grin.
"What? You don't like her?"
"Why should I like her?" Karl retorted, "No matter how beautiful she is, I can't let my eldest son marry an unknown woman."
"But she is clearly a noble from Ostara, and Amber has proved it."
"Forget it." Karl held his head in his hands, looking absent-minded.
Olegin gritted his teeth and immediately turned his head to look at Carlotta, simply ignoring his son's opinion. He said in a tough tone: "Listen! Girl! I can admit the fact that you are the leader of Ostara, but you must agree to me on one condition."
"What conditions?"
"You must marry my eldest grandson. In this way, your tribe will never be in danger again under the protection of us Melalen people."
Still with this damn condition, Carlotta panicked in the atmosphere. She was shaking all over and simply forgot to decisively refuse such an order. Just because she already has a place in her heart.
Trembling, she turned to look at Rurik beside her, hoping to get help from her real fiancé.
As expected, in the face of such a principled issue, Rurik doesn't care whether he is the leader of the alliance or not. Even the most rational person has to give up the fight with the guy who offends him in such matters, right? !
Rurik gritted his teeth and stood up suddenly, and said solemnly: "Dear leader, this is the only condition we refuse to agree to."
"You? Are you rejecting me on her behalf?" Olegin was surprised and angry. For a moment, he almost forgot that he was offended many days ago, but now he remembered it again.
Rurik said without changing his expression: "Yes! I can represent her in this matter."
"My child, you'd better sit down. This is my order! If she can't accept it, why should I admit that the Ostarians still exist? Or do you think my eldest grandson is not worthy of this girl? Rurik, you don't want to We take you Russians too seriously."
Facing his ridicule and threats, Rurik saw from the corner of his eye that his cousin was about to explode again. Fortunately, after I have experienced some growth, my naive thoughts have faded a lot, and now I can be regarded as a rational old man.
Rurik was so angry that he wanted to reject the alliance leader outright.
He is by no means simply brave. What supports this bravery is the strong hard power of the Ross tribe he represents.
"I just want to refuse! If the price of recognizing her identity is this, then we no longer need your recognition."
"You...you have no right to represent her."
Rurik choked back: "Then you have no right to ask for her marriage. If you don't withdraw the so-called conditions, our discussion will end here! You can prohibit us Russians from doing business with you. If You think it’s worth it.”
For a moment, Olegin's mind fell into deep confusion. He was obviously talking about the issue of recognition of the Ostara tribe, so why did the Russians, who were supposed to be the third party, turn out to be the main guests?
Olegin calmed down and asked: "Tell me, what is the relationship between you and her?!"
Rurik simply took a step forward: "Because she is my fiancée."
"Huh? Just you?!" Olegin burst out laughing and waved his hand: "You'd better sit down. You are only a nine-year-old child, and adult matters are still far away from you."
"No. I will be twelve years old in three years, and I will be an adult by then. I also want to tell you that whether I object or not, Carlotta will object. Because at the altar of our Russians, she and I The engagement has been confirmed.”
"It doesn't matter. Then break off the engagement. My authority can do that."
Olegin's perfunctory attitude made Rurik suspect that this guy was just amusing himself. In short, the dignified next leader of the Ross tribe was deeply ignored by the alliance leader. This kind of neglect, which is almost contemptuous, is really uncomfortable!
Rurik simply made his final statement: "I have an engagement with her, which is approved by my father, and now Carlotta is my father's adopted daughter, and all the Ostara people are supported and sheltered by us Russians. . Three years later, I will be her husband. If you forcibly deny this engagement, then we really don’t want to talk anymore. In the future, there will no longer be Ross merchants in Lake Malaren. All people who enter Rossburg to do business The Mellaren people will also be expelled. I am afraid that my father cannot tolerate your humiliation of his adopted daughter and only son... As for whether we will recognize you as the leader of the alliance in the future, who knows?"
"Then get out! If you want to fight, let's fight! Do you really think you Russians are strong men?" Olegin couldn't help but speak first, and his eldest son Karl took the lead in speaking.
These words, which were almost a declaration of war, directly angered Arik. He pulled out his meat-cutting knife, pointed the tip of the knife directly at Karl and threatened: "Stupid guy, you are playing with fire! I chopped down six hundred Gotlanders." The brain is as good as yours!"
As long as a warrior kills an enemy, his attitude towards others will be completely different. What's more, Arik really led the Ross army, and together they killed more than 600 armed opponents.
Karl, who was shamefully intimidated by Arik, who was twelve years younger than him.
Finally, Olegin couldn't bear it anymore. He shouted loudly, raised his foot suddenly, kicked the sitting Karl over, and continued to roar: "Shut up! The Melalen and the Rus are brothers! They are allies! You... How can a guy who destroys the alliance get support from others? Do you want to destroy the alliance that I have worked so hard to maintain?"
After venting his anger, Olegin realized that his eldest son's crow's mouth was really causing great trouble. He even wanted to find a place where no one was around and slap himself hard with his calloused hands. If he had known that his wishful thinking had led to such a situation that the alliance was almost broken, he would have been so full that he asked his eldest grandson for Carlotta. marriage.
It seems that Rurik is the only rational person, and his anger only breaks out when he is pushed to the limit. As for his brother Arik, he is probably a hot-tempered guy just like his Karl.
Olegin had no choice but to put on a soothing expression, "Rurik, please don't be angry. Okay, I take back my decision. I really didn't know you still had such a relationship. Now I ask you, your father , has... officially recognized her identity as the leader of Ostara?"
Realizing the other party's compromise, Rurik breathed a sigh of relief and softened his attitude: "Exactly. At least we Russians recognize her identity."
"Okay then! Give me the gift. I will accept her identity and recognize her identity."
After a while, the people waiting outside, waiting for the good news, handed over the gifts they controlled. Two of Olegin's private soldiers walked into the meeting hall and left in a hurry, holding heavy wooden boxes.
The wooden box was opened, and Arik suddenly picked up one of the bear heads and threw it directly to the alliance leader with undying anger.
The moment Olegin pressed the bear's head, he was not only startled, but also couldn't help but think about how the Russians killed such a terrifying beast.
Arik used all his strength to throw the other bear head at Karl. As a result, the bear's upper fangs accidentally cut a bloody mark on Carl's arm.
Karl instantly looked at him with the intention of killing someone. After looking at his bruised right arm, he was finally attracted by the bear's head.
Anyone who is good at fighting wants to become more powerful.
Without being taught by anyone, Carl realized that the bear's head had been processed, for example, the bear's skull had completely turned into a helmet! Carl put the bear's head on his head and looked at his father with solid eyes.
"Yes, a bear warrior."
Olegin praised him, then turned his head, and saw the tall Arik holding up a whole heavy bear skin with both hands, and the leather was reflecting the light yellow light under the flames. This is the case with polar bear skin. Its fur itself is colorless, and the color changes depending on the light source. The same goes for the color of the leather.
The huge and neat bear skin attracted Olegin. He stood up and approached Arik, subconsciously stroking the soft and thick leather, and couldn't help but laugh.
The leather was folded again and the bear's head was put down.
After receiving an extremely precious gift, Olegin's mood improved greatly.
He looked at Carlotta whose tears had not been wiped away, and said solemnly: "Carlotta of Ostara! As the leader of the alliance, on behalf of the entire Melalen tribe, I recognize that your Ostara tribe still recognizes , I recognize you as the leader of the tribe, even if you are a woman."
This is the outcome Carlotta hopes for the most. Although she was once humiliated, she now kneels on one knee and repeats the words taught by Gould: "Dear leader, I thank you for your recognition. In the future, we, Melalen People will always recognize your status as leader of the alliance. You must accept my call to attend next year’s Alliance-wide Leaders Council.”
"As you command!"
"Haha! Sit down. Originally, the important thing today was never to admit that you are the leader of the alliance."
Olegin had long wanted to end this episode, and he was too lazy to dwell on the matter of "recognizing women as leaders." Whether it’s face, dignity, or tradition, Olegin just wants to be pragmatic now.
Due to his unwise move just now, he intended to get down to business immediately and formally implement the trade agreement between Melalen and the Russians. Since he had really offended the Russians, Olegin had to make a plan, so to speak, to make some compromises in trade in exchange for further support from the Russians.
He was really worried about maintaining the stability of a huge tribe and maintaining the rule of his family.
Especially during this critical period, the Mellaren people could not afford the terrible losses caused by losing their allies in Rus.
The topic returned to bear skins, and based on this, Olegin formally discussed trade matters with the Russians.
In order to get closer and to know more about the Russians, Olegin deliberately said: "I know very little about you Russians. I only know that you have been trying to rush to the distant east for a long time to live in a new world." Looking for furs in the world, and doing transactions with the locals and collecting some tributes. Rurik, is this possible?"
During the Sorgon voyage, Rurik understood the counts engraved on the wooden boards and learned that his tribe had been searching for Novgorod people for forty years. The allied tribes probably don't know the details of the tribute, but they definitely know the facts about the tribute.
Rurik is not worried at all that they will try to get a share of the pie now. Times have changed after all. Any fleet of other tribes that intends to participate in the search operation must first enter the Neva River before finally reaching Novgorod. . The mouth of the Neva River is New Roseburg! She is a river mouth fortress in a realistic sense, a geographical pass. If they want a piece of the pie, the Russians will not agree.
Of course, if they explore another waterway, the last people they will search for are the various Baltic tribes along the coast, such as the Leitas (Latvians), the ancient Prussians, and even the Estonians, a branch of the Finns. If they had explored deeper, they might have plundered the Slavs in Pskov.
After thinking for a moment, Rurik gave a clear answer: "Yes, we have been asking for tribute from those people."
"Oh? Could it be that these bear skins are..."
Rurik directly denied it. In order to highlight the difficulty and risk of bear hunting, he deliberately said: "The ancestors of our Rus people migrated to the north just to get better furs. In order to get better leather, we are almost looking for humans. The end of the world. Finally in the far north, in the cold, we hunted the bear. Great leader, the bear skin you hold in your hand, behind it is the blood and tears of our Russians! In order to kill the terrible Bear, some warriors died in battle, and some warriors were frozen into ice.”
"Ah! Actually, there is such a thing?!" For a moment, looking at the soft and thick leather in his hand, Olegin felt uneasy.
