The visit of two children who had watched him grow up was truly the best autumn surprise for Otto.
Three long boats that had gone through a long voyage went up the slightly turbulent Neva River and entered the pier adjacent to Rabbit Island in New Roseburg. They were all firmly tied to the trestle with hemp ropes.
Now, what is presented to Rurik?
"Is this New Roseburg?!" he asked his father Otto loudly.
"My son, of course this is our new home that we have worked so hard to build. What do you think?"
What could Rurik say? He put on a smile and said something nice: "What a wonderful place. Dad, in my opinion, this place should be called Sviottoburge (St. Otto Castle)."
This is so beautifully said. Otto pinched his son's neck affectionately: "You are praising me, I don't need your praise. Boy, it is your task to run Ross well."
Otto pinched hard before letting go, making Rurik's head a little confused.
Rurik's appearance was good, and the disappointment hidden in his heart was suppressed. The entire tribe has spent a lot of manpower and material resources to build a new home. Today, when I found out, I didn't expect that everyone was actually building a large rural area here.
Isn’t she a big rural area? There are of course a large number of traditional longhouses along the river, but there are also a number of Slavic-style woodcarvings mixed in, and circular walls are also being built. Just outside the unfinished wooden wall, there are cultivated farmlands everywhere, because the settlers have used piled ridges to plan out large blocks of land, and it has obviously been harvested, making it essentially different from the wilderness.
This is probably what a typical European medieval pastoral scene looks like, right?
The first thing Rurik thought of was the appearance of the main family sitting in the first town in the Japanese RPG game, which is the so-called Novice Village. She looked very peaceful, and the immigrants who gathered around to greet the visitors had rosy and healthy faces. The men wore simple fur coats and fur hats, and the women generally wore large headscarves. They always had smiles on their faces. Apparently they are very satisfied with their current life and are not afraid of the coming winter.
If only life were really so peaceful and peaceful.
She is called New Rossburg. If everything is destiny, this place will naturally become the northern political center of the developed unified Ross country, and is even destined to surpass Novgorod and Pskov. She does not have the elegance and depth that she will have in the future, and she cannot be called the pearl of the ice and snow world.
She is really just a large rural village on the Neva River where a defensive wall is being built. Perhaps the settlers were aware of potential hostile forces in the area and built defenses early? In his hometown of Fort Ross, the eldest priest Viliadu confirmed that there had never been a wall in the more than sixty years since Fort Ross was established.
Led by his father, Rurik and the others visited the interior of the settlement as visitors.
"It's definitely a bit messy, but luckily they're not stupid enough to throw feces into the street."
"Huh? Why are there still chickens running around? These chickens are too thin, there must be no meat. But the eggs..."
"They didn't build roads at all, but they just trampled the land in the village hard with their feet? If there was a heavy rain, wouldn't there be mud everywhere?"
"Alas! Why are there still people grabbing rabbits by their ears? Alas? There are also domestic rabbits in this place (domestic rabbits are burrow rabbits)?"
The residents of New Roseburg love cleanliness more than those in Western Europe. Of course, this is not because they really understand the importance of maintaining hygiene. It comes from the traditional warrior culture. The so-called dirty warriors will be reviled by the gods.
Love of cleanliness is just their personal habit, and the entire settlement is full of chaos and complexity.
"If this place is destined to become the core of the Russian people's future, it must be clean and tidy, and it must show the weight and majesty of history for generations."
Rurik thought so.
He followed his father and gained his first introduction to New Roseburg. Maybe you can't ask too much in this era. The village is moving towards the city and it has a bright future.
For Otto, the visit of his son and nephew was a miracle. He was in an extremely good mood, and felt very strange about the visit of his son and others.
There is no need to continue to wonder, Otto wanted to reward the tribesmen who came from afar, especially his two young and promising children.
As night falls, New Roseburg gradually falls into silence. It is normal to rest after sunset. Even the chickens raised by the residents without any restraints have returned to their shacks to rest and even lay eggs. Residents are also looking forward to discovering the nearest eggs from their chicken coops early in the morning.
Only the longhouse where the leader is located is bustling with activity!
Rurik sat on a soft leather cushion. Now he was not used to the tribe's most traditional Viking-style longhouse. If he sat cross-legged, it would be more comfortable to sit on the wooden floor.
The advantage of the longhouse is that it is relatively spacious inside. Some hemp ropes fell from the beams of the herringbone roof, and chandeliers made of wooden mortises and tenons were tied to the ropes. There were a large number of small bronze trays with tiny wicks made of linen heads. Flames, when hundreds of flames gather together, the whole house is brightly lit.
It would be nice to have some light, and Rurik didn't expect much.
Looking at the wooden tray placed on his simple wooden table, with a very ferocious roasted rabbit sizzling oil on it, he even hesitated to take the knife for a moment.
It was the rough bread slices on another plate that made him feel familiar. Looking at the existence of these slices of toast, Rurik guessed that they were made by Slavic chefs who settled here.
Perhaps for any ethnic group, chatting while eating, or even noble people talking about government affairs, is a normal thing.
Rurik knew that this dinner was not a simple one. The father and son who had not seen each other all summer suddenly met. He estimated that his father would have a lot of words to say, including but not limited to greetings to his son, greetings to his old family, and his mother-in-law. What happened in the city in the past few months.
Here, Rurik saw a familiar yet unfamiliar person. He knew that this man's name was Conuson, who was the leader of the first group of immigrants and the leader of New Roseburg appointed by his father.
Everything depends on Rurik's estimation.
No, Otto tore a few pieces of rabbit meat at will, opened his mouth wide and swallowed two chicken legs, and then began to greet his son incessantly.
"Dear, how is your mother? How are the people in your hometown? I know you took those Kewen people to the north. What is the situation of the Kewen people..."
"Oh, they're all good."
Rurik's words were a bit perfunctory, and Otto narrowed his eyes. "Perhaps, you encountered some problems? How did you come here suddenly? Or was it a sudden visit without my permission. It seems that you have experienced a lot along the way."
Rurik was about to say something, but the anxious Arik threw away the half-eaten rabbit leg, raised his chest that had not taken off his leather armor, and said proudly: "Chief, please forgive me, this is all my own doing. I maintain that my brother is not responsible. The Dongfang Sorgon fleet has not returned yet, and everyone is worried."
"Is it you? Aric, I know you have been plundering Gotland fishermen. The messenger told me that your battle is going well."
"Yes! Almost all the brothers who came with me were people who settled on Tombstone Island. They grabbed some money from the enemy. I heard that the brothers in New Roseburg had harvested wheat, and they wanted to buy some, but... "
Otto nodded. He personally liked gold and silver coins because they were once extremely scarce and extremely precious. Just because of wars and plunder, the Russians who took the initiative to leave the fjords had too many gold and silver coins in their hands. The copper coins that were once commonly used have become auxiliary coins, and silver coins have become the mainstream currency in transactions.
"What's wrong?" Otto asked urgently.
"We met the Baltic people."
"Ah?! You! You..." Otto and Konuson, who was sitting on the side, were shocked. "Have you been in contact with them? My child, you are not in peaceful contact. Hey, was there a war?"
"Yes! That's a group of idiots, leader, maybe we shouldn't think so highly of them. None of our brothers died, not even the mercenaries were lost. When they were defeated, they abandoned the village and fled. We grabbed some food and iron tools. I I think the iron tools we bring will enrich the lives of the brothers here."
Arik was telling Otto about the war that had just happened. Otto had to admire his nephew and the outstanding warriors who had grown up in the sea plundering operations.
Otto not only said: "I have not wanted to dock on that coast for a long time. I just hate the harassment of those villains. Arik, you did a good job. It would be better if...hehe, you can capture some women."
"Woman? Why?"
Otto stroked his beard: "Haven't you ever thought that our New Roseburg is short of young women?"
"If you are short of women, get them from Novgorod." Arik felt that this was the simplest method, and it was a matter of course.
Otto shook his head: "If they are asked to pay tribute to too many women, many manors will revolt. I can't expect all manors to be as docile as White Tree Manor. You need to know that killing and destruction are means of shock. To deal with Brother Except for the Terans and Danes, our goal is to get women, wheat, and other things..." When he said this, Otto's eyes were also looking at Rurik.
"Then let the White Tree people continue to contribute women. That's where my wife comes from, and the blacksmith's wife, and the wives of many brothers."
Hearing this, Otto simply raised his chest and laughed, and said after a while: "You don't know something. Now the young women in White Tree Manor have become our women. They will not provide younger girls, otherwise your brother She’s already married.”
Rurik, who felt that he had been unable to speak for a long time, suddenly realized that his father seemed to have hinted at the girl.
Yes, a girl named Svetlana is said to be very beautiful? A typical pretty hairy girl? Still one year younger than me?
Arik understood the leader's hint. In short, the young people in Rus had used normal means to obtain a large number of women from Novgorod. It had become saturated and they continued to ask for more women to trigger a civil uprising. But no one wanted it. thing.
Otto did not want to listen carefully to the battle process that his son and nephew had just experienced. Since his side had won a great victory without any losses, there must be nothing special to pay attention to in the battle situation.
Indeed, it is really stupid to use your victory against the weak to brag about your martial virtues.
Otto only gave concluding instructions: "Perhaps I have overestimated them in the past years. Arick, you have done a good job. Tombstone Island is very close to those Baltic people. In the future, you should...
"
Suddenly, Rurik stood up: "Dad, brother, you are all wrong!"
"Huh?" Otto turned his head, and so did Aric. "how do I say this?"
"Dad, do you think that those people on the south bank are all Baltic people since before I was born?"
"Why not?" Otto was disgusted with his son's interruption at this moment, thinking that his son always had something to say, so he patiently listened. "I have fought with them before, and the captives claimed to be Baltic peoples, oh, it seems to be some Lieta tribe, or something."
Otto named a word, Rurik thought for a moment, and suddenly realized that his father was talking about Latvians?
At this moment, Rurik stopped talking nonsense and directly mentioned several nouns: "Dad, the people in the south of the huge bay are Estonians. They have common ancestors with the Finns, the Kovins, and even the Tavastians whom they have never met. .”
Otto sounded confused, as did the others.
Rurik was even more embarrassed when he stood up. He thought about it and suddenly hit his head.
Sometimes the truth is revealed, but others cannot understand it due to lack of knowledge. It is really sad.
Especially when thinking about the future of New Roseburg, it is also very important to let the people who settle here know the conditions of human habitation within a few hundred miles of her.
Since it was a bit inappropriate to directly state the existence of the Estonians, Rurik saw that the appointed "city lord" Konuson was here, so this person should be the first choice for the attack.
"Uncle Cornuson."
The destined leader in the future called himself this, and Cornuson sat upright in a hurry. He originally thought that tonight was mainly about the leader and his family discussing matters, and that he was just a spectator.
"My lord, what can I do for you?"
Rurik sat down slowly and asked: "I took a look at New Roseburg. It's not bad, but I think you are too comfortable. What do you think of the environment around the settlement?"
"Environment? Hmm... the Ladoga River (referring to the Neva River) is always frozen in winter, but the water is fast in summer. There are many animals in the nearby woods, especially rabbits and wild deer, and we have obtained a lot of leather , are you about to transport them back to the mother city?"
"I'm not asking you to say this. Don't you think there are other people in this area?"
"Others? Novgorodians? They are...hey, a little far away from us."
Rurik slapped his face directly. He looked at his father's indifferent expression and continued to ask, "What are you doing building the wooden wall?"
Cornuson immediately replied: "To prevent brown bears from suddenly running in and destroying the granary, and taking away our rabbits and chickens, as well as the most precious cows. Oh, and shelter from the north wind."
"Huh? Don't you want to build a wall to protect yourself from enemies?"
"Enemies?" Konuson was very surprised. "If they existed, they would have been discovered by my people long ago. But this area is not only a forest, it is still a forest."
Is he telling the truth? Rurik found it ridiculous. Even if the population of the ancient Finns was very small, those people should not have existed in a corner. They were all active hunters.
In fact, a remarkable fact is that the Fen people (Suomi people) only established the southernmost natural village in a bay a hundred kilometers away from Fort New Rose. It is so small, and the residents canoes. It is even more powerless against the water of the Baltic Sea. This settlement was the Vyborg in later generations, and it was also a war-torn existence. But now, although there are a small number of human settlements in it, outsiders don't know about it. The environment in which Vyborg is located determines that it is destined to be only a small settlement in any era.
The Russian settlers were busy opening up settlements and did not even explore Lake Ladoga. The fishermen only reached Kotlin Island and fished for herring in the natural harbor area formed by the island and the estuary. Cornuson's task was infrastructure construction, and he had no motive or purpose for sending people on long-distance expeditions. Moreover, the immigrants were generally determined to get their own land where they could grow oats and rye, so that they could stop reclaiming land and do it. Hunters, why do you need to immigrate for such a purpose?
Rurik directly criticized: "We are stocking up on food now because we know that winter is coming and those who are short of food will die. Don't think that the enemy does not exist if you don't find it. Let me tell you, there are other people in this area. They are not Novgorodians!"
After all, Rurik was not an ordinary person, and his advice was taken seriously by Otto and Cornuson.
"They! Who are they? Who else besides the Estonians?" Otto asked urgently. I have no doubt about my son’s words. After all, “just because it’s not discovered doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist” is correct.
