One day passed. The Covin people of Mechasta, a group of mercenaries invested by Rurik, and the Ross fishermen each began to use their own skills to wildly destroy the woods near Ironburg.
What is their motivation?
It is understandable that the mercenaries and Russian fishermen wanted to get financial and material rewards from Rurik.
What about the Corvins of the Iron Squirrel tribe? Rurik painted a pie for them: "Do good things and make me happy. If you do well, not only will you have wheat to eat immediately, but I will also reduce the amount of your tribute next year, and I will also exchange wheat for your leather."
They were already forced by the Russian military strength, and the conditions proposed by Yurik were indeed attractive.
After nightfall, those Kewen people who were ordered to destroy the forest frantically dragged their tired bodies back into the wooden wall.
They never thought that a feast was waiting for everyone.
When it comes to giving rewards, it is not discounted.
During the day, Rurik sent people to take out all the uneaten wheat and hand it over to the women of the tribe to pound it into oatmeal crumbs. They didn't make it into flour, and they didn't need to. All the coarse scraps were poured into pottery urns and boiled over high fire. It is also served with chopped frozen fish meat, which turns into surimi, and is further cooked into a thick and sticky wheat porridge.
In order to increase its aroma and oil content, Rurik also ordered the mercenaries to pour a lot of lump seal oil used as fuel for oil lamps into it.
Some imported Atlantic refined sea salt from the Balmoq people makes its taste extremely attractive, and considering that each meal high in sugar, oil and protein is served to those who have put in a lot of physical labor, leaving Rick didn't care whether it was watered down or not, but Weng Li was extravagant in pouring in half a pound of salt.
Another forest disappeared, and the tree trunks fell to the ground before they could be pulled away in time.
The exhausted Kewen lumberjacks admired the high efficiency of the saw. They also held the wooden bowl with trembling hands and moved their spoons while watching the extremely viscous soup in the bowl.
The leader of Ross is rewarding the Corvin people!
Chief Ross did not hesitate to pour a lot of salt!
Chief Ross kept his morning promise!
Kewen's eyes widened, feeling the salty feeling of happiness like heaven, and he couldn't help but be moved to tears.
In fact, they are not simply grateful to Rurik, but the Kewen tribesmen who have lived in the inland areas for generations and have only migrated to the coastal areas in recent months. Their bodies have always lacked salt. Objectively speaking, this It also limits their combat effectiveness.
Their bodies crave a lot of sodium chloride, so they drink salty porridge, which everyone gulps down in three or two gulps.
The meal was not over yet. Almost each of the hungry lumberjacks devoured two more smoked fishes. They gave up when their stomachs could no longer hold any more.
On boring winter nights, besides creating a new life with your wife, is there any other entertainment?
The well-fed tribe men were survivors after the battle. The former enemies actually rewarded them with a good meal. It seemed that there would be many more days like this in the future.
They were in their own homes, sleeping soundly with their bloated bellies, not wanting to talk to their wives and concubines at all, which made the women really unhappy.
They just didn't consider that their husbands were so excited when they were cutting wood that they almost collapsed from exhaustion. This time, he had eaten so much that his blood was concentrated in his stomach, busy mobilizing his digestive organs to cope with the unprecedented sugar shock in the body's owner's life. In short, it means that the brain is relatively ischemic. Coupled with physical exhaustion, being able to get up and "fight" with his wife and concubines is a fantasy.
It can be said that after winter, the women of the Iron Squirrel tribe have an instinctive desire to use fertility to support the tribe's lost population. They never felt that the tribe was Mechasta's tribe, but that they belonged to everyone. Women are only slightly inferior to men in terms of physical strength, but they are no worse than men in terms of their obligations to the tribe.
The logging work was still going on, and Rurik only had a small amount of wheat stored, and the remaining wheat was eaten up in an instant by a group of big eaters.
What next? Has the army transporting grain already set off? Have the deer herders and their reindeer herds moved north?
Before they arrived, Rurik had to live on grilled fish like everyone else. Fortunately, Ironburg has a large stockpile of fish, which are now frozen solid and do not need to be considered rotten. Somewhat worse, these fish are all salmon, that is, salmon. Eating grilled fish every day is really boring.
When Rurik was bored, he noticed something. Those tribal women were actually taking the initiative to hook up with the settled Russian fishermen.
They were actually actively having a relationship, and this relationship was clearly illegal. They did not have a marriage relationship witnessed by the priest.
He simply called Mechasta directly and got some news that didn't surprise him.
"Chief." Yes, Mechasta simply used the Norse vocabulary he learned to call Rurik "chief": "Don't think it's strange, in fact, these things have happened a long time ago. After the war, many people died in my tribe Men. Women are resolutely unwilling to marry their relatives. They need outside men."
"However, they are not married to each other."
"It doesn't matter."
Rurik was not surprised. His attitude was very calm: "Don't you think your priest will intervene? Even if it is a Coven-style ceremony, it would be good."
"It doesn't matter. Chief, my tribe needs people, a lot of people. Whether they are men or women! I am happy to see the women of the tribe marry your men. Now that our lives are stable under your governance, we don't have to worry about starvation. , being frozen, and not worrying about being attacked, so we can have more children. My tribe will be revived, and so will the larger population in the future." Mechasta hesitated for a moment, and then said calmly: "More Steel Squirrel tribesmen will pay you more tribute. I have one more request."
"You speak."
"Your...your mercenaries. They are extremely strong. If you can..."
"Okay!" Rurik agreed without hesitation with a wooden face.
"Huh? Really?"
"Of course. But you should also understand that if the child's father is a Rus, then they are not simply Covins, they are Rus. They are not slaves, but they need to pay taxes. If you are in a hurry, I will soon I can arrange for my people.”
Rurik seemed to have no hesitation, but in fact he had already gone through a psychological struggle in his mind. Because Mechasta's hope and the proactive behavior of those women actually conflicted with the three fixed views in his mind.
He has been adapting to this wild but extremely real world. People or tribes will do anything to survive, and they will do anything to restore the population lost in the war. What do you mean by morals between men and women? It seems that these are all nonsense. For the Kewen tribesmen, the concept of "marriage" is very vague to them.
After all, Mechasta is a man. If the leader were a woman, I'm afraid the entire tribe wouldn't be a large matriarchal clan.
Oh, at least the community of deer herders is mostly a matriarchal clan. Rurik especially remembers the rescued deer herder women, who are now generally full-bellied. As for who the father of the child is, it doesn’t matter, they are all Ross anyway. Things men do.
Rurik overcame his "moral mysophobia", which was by no means a simple compromise.
If the Ross tribe wants to develop, having a larger population is the optimal solution at a time when technological means cannot significantly improve material production efficiency.
Youdao is that all problems are human problems. As long as the population is large, those things that cannot be accomplished can be accomplished.
Rurik also thought about using force to force slaves to work. The overall efficiency of this economic method is questionable and it is extremely high-risk.
Slaves are generally unreliable unless they are truly adopted as one of their own. It would be a troublesome task to directly transform these foreigners into Rus, but their descendants would be easy to transform.
Rurik has truly understood that this is a world of the jungle, which is more direct, more violent and more unreasonable than he imagined.
The weak will be beaten. Not being beaten does not mean that it is good to live in peace with the world, but that the strong are busy attacking others and have no time to care about this.
Whether the mercenaries are really loyal or just for money and wheat, Rurik is more inclined to agree with the latter. If you want to win over them, I'm afraid money and food alone won't be enough. Most of them are young people who can't make it in their hometown of Mälaren. They have nothing and only have the strength to become mercenaries.
Using women to win over them is an effective method.
This way, each party gets what they need.
Finally, will Fort Ellon-Olawa experience a baby boom next summer?
Anyway, the two major settlements, Roseburg and New Roseburg, are certain to have a baby boom next year.
The days are getting shorter and shorter, and nighttime takes up most of people's life.
The logging work continues every day, but the subsequent workload has been greatly reduced. Some of the towering spruce trees that were discovered were felled in a classic Viking felling technique, and a large number of bowl-thick pine trees were disposed of with saws.
Residents took advantage of the moonlight and aurora to use small hand axes to cut off pine and cedar branches, and simply used them as fuel and threw them into the fireplace to burn.
Most of the people who do this work are women. They do it with a smile. They tie the branches with hemp rope and put them into the small sleigh that is pulling them. Sometimes they caress their bellies and think of happy things.
Their attitude towards the Russians had already changed. Rurik's fluent and understandable language, coupled with the feast to reward the woodcutter, reassured them even more.
Rurik's mercenaries all had relationships with women from Coven's Iron Squirrel tribe, the first time followed by the second time.
The mercenaries, who have always provided good food and drink, and done all the hard work, have completely subverted the Kewen women's perception of "what is a man."
In a difficult environment, weak women long for the protection of strong and promising men. No, a group of dew couples were born, but this dew may not dissipate so easily.
For example, the wives of the settled Rus fishermen were local Covin women.
Everyone has good expectations for next year. Regardless of men or women, the Iron Squirrel tribe is praying for a baby boom. Mechasta didn't say anything, but he was calculating in his mind. Why would fifty people be born next year? In another two years, another fifty would be born. As long as there is enough food, the tribe can increase its number by fifty every two years. The population increased at the speed of children, and his imagination was like a great dream in spring and autumn. It seemed that it was not impossible for the tribe to expand to a thousand people in his lifetime.
Of course, what Rurik was praying for at this stage was either this or the long night. He felt that his mercenaries were becoming a little weak, and even Yevro was weak.
Otherwise, it’s time to kill a reindeer and let them drink raw deer blood to replenish their kidneys.
What he was praying for was a group of people from Rossburg, who were deer herders who drove their herds north for winter grazing, as well as Rurik's mercenaries who were ordered to go north collectively, as well as a large amount of goods that were stranded in Rossburg.
It’s been half a month since that terrible long snowstorm ended, and it’s November 1st on the Julian calendar. There are still four full weeks before the Rus’ Hanukkah, but Ironburg is more affected by geography. In fact, the settlement's polar night hours are slightly longer than those in Roseburg.
The dimensional difference between the two places is actually very small. The complete polar night there only lasts for one and a half days.
The dimensions of this place are indeed very high. Due to its proximity to the sea, even if the sea has frozen, the day and night temperatures in Ironburg are not that extreme on a clear day. The temperature during the day is indeed below freezing, and the temperature at night is basically maintained at about minus ten degrees. Unless there is another snowstorm, the temperature will suddenly drop below minus 20 degrees.
This low temperature is not that fatal, as long as you go out wrapped in thick fur, there will be no problem.
Since Ironburg is already a small city, basic city defense measures seem superfluous, but they are necessary.
Some people were ordered to stand guard all night, and they lit a constant bonfire on the frozen dock outside the wooden wall. They warmed themselves by bonfires, took naps, and even grilled stone-frozen fish as a midnight snack.
They are also always equipped with weapons, especially sharp short spears, so that if a wandering polar bear appears, everyone can swarm up and get this unexpected surprise.
What Rurik didn't expect was that the ever-burning bonfire actually acted as a beacon!
A team of deer herders, mercenaries, and a small group of Rosedon hunters who decided to set off early organized a team of over a hundred people, who all boarded up to forty sleighs of various sizes pulled by reindeer. Pulling a batch of fodder and a large amount of wheat, they headed north along the frozen coastline.
The navigators are a group of veteran hunters who have participated in many winter hunts. They are experienced and best at setting traps to catch ferrets and forest cats. Being able to possess such abilities just proves that they have the ability to not get lost in the woods, and are most suitable as guides.
The reindeer pulling the sleigh were carefully cultivated by the other three Kovin tribes. They themselves were tools for pulling goods. Compared with the heavy burden they had to bear on the Oulu River, the Rus and the goods were not very heavy.
The herd of deer has multiplied, and there are as many as 400 large and small deer, mixed with a large number of sleds carrying people and goods. The deer herders headed by Alska have taken on the very important work of driving, and it is they who are the most important. This will train the reindeer herd to be docile.
Deer farmers cherish their animal power and do not force the reindeer to work hard. Instead, they stop at the right time. People camp and rest on the spot. The reindeer also eat the hay pulled on the sled. There are even a group of sled pullers. That batch of oats the reindeer ate.
Letting the deer eat oats was a luxury, but Rurik reminded his father. When they arrived at Fort Ross, Otto listened to Carlotta's attitude without hesitation, and received similar opinions to Rurik. Who is Carlotta? Her Ostara tribe is good at raising cattle and sheep. There seems to be no essential difference between reindeer and cattle and sheep. If you want them to work hard, you must feed them wheat.
Luxury is truly luxurious, and Otto could not forget his lack of experience back then. They actually forced the reindeer to keep walking, and as a result, almost all of the more than 200 deer captured died of exhaustion and starvation on the road.
Alsaka felt that the Ross chief family cared about deer and even used excellent oats as feed.
Reindeer have high digestion and utilization of cellulose. They have obtained all the calories from oats, which shows their strong strength. The reindeer herds continue to move fast in winter, and the long boats with speed and smooth wind There's not much difference in speed.
In fact, only three days later, that is, the third day of departure, they had reached the northernmost coastline.
They continued to move along the frozen coast, and night fell early. Everyone who was resting on the spot suddenly saw fire lighting up on the ground in the distance, and everyone was no longer calm.
It's Ironburg! It's the fire of Ironburg!
Is there still time to light a campfire and have barbecue?
This team transporting supplies began their final journey, and their sudden visit during sleeping time first frightened the deer herders into thinking it was a bandit attack. After figuring out the situation, the closed wooden door was also opened.
Rurik was awakened by the noise, and he suddenly became energetic again.
Although the timing of their arrival was a little annoying, the army of supplies transporters and deer herders finally arrived.
