Whether they are Rus people or Kovin people, due to the special geographical conditions of the area they live in, they naturally regard the complete polar night on the winter solstice as the end of the year, and the first light of dawn that breaks the darkness in the east as the beginning of the whole year. .
When the sun lazily squeezes out of the horizon, it shines precious sunlight on the world for a very short time like charity.
In this way, time has essentially entered AD 831.
In the Frankish Kingdom in the far south, the conflicts between the highest-level nobles over the issue of inheritance were so acute that they were on the verge of civil war. Louis the Pious made his eldest son co-emperor, and his second and third sons received Aquitaine and Bavaria. The empire was already showing signs of being split into three, and the king's nephew in northern Italy took the lead in raising the flag of rebellion.
The old emperor was mentally and physically exhausted, and saw that his three sons had begun to attack each other. He tried to bridge the civil war between his sons and decided to take some major measures this year.
While the Frankish Kingdom was busy with civil war and the recasting of internal affairs, a large food fleet stationed in the empty-defended Sicily and began to develop it.
The Franks had no time to expel these foreign invaders, just like their northern areas, which were often attacked by the Danes and Wenderslav Pomeranians. The north of the kingdom had never been peaceful. The northern princes respected the emperor and made no secret of their pursuit of Pomerania's furs, oats and wool. Similarly, the penetration of the Danes from the land direction also made them miserable.
Perhaps the only advantage is that the military strength of the northern princes is stronger than that of the south.
Of course, just a little stronger.
Because of the Flanders region at the bottom, it had long been targeted by the Danes. Some Danish tribes have developed the idea of long-term occupation and rule, growing their own wheat and raising their own sheep, instead of simply plundering in the past.
There was a Danish baby boy who was born in the autumn of 830. Because he was born weak and his body was as soft as a ball of clay, he was thrown into the woods near the tribe by his biological father. Just as the Russians once abandoned their baby girls, the same thing happened in Denmark.
Baby boys and girls who were not wanted by their parents were discarded in this way. While limiting their population, objectively the babies with the best health survived.
But the child cried all night in the forest, and he was not frozen to death, nor was he picked up by a wild beast.
When his father wanted to check it out, he was shocked that this child, who was regarded as a "boneless man" by the priest, was still crying with a weak voice. Who can't be moved by this scene?
The boy survived with difficulty. He was indeed frail, but he also experienced his first Hanukkah in Denmark.
"Perhaps, he is favored by God." The boy's father asked his father.
"If he is born weak and is favored by God, he may receive some favors. Raise him up, but don't expect him to become a great warrior." The boy's grandfather has a pessimistic attitude. He is getting older and does not want to be a great warrior. The first grandson is a "boneless man". "You must continue to find a suitable woman, give me some strong children, and inherit my power."
No one could have predicted that a Danish warrior would be born in this way.
Of course, the overlord of Denmark in this era, the leader "Lion" Hafgen who lives in the north of the peninsula, cannot predict the future, such as who will succeed him in power.
Fortunately, Hafgen was young and powerful. The horrific acts he carried out on the territory of the Northern Alliance established his prestige and won the support of many Norwegians and Gotlanders, but he also made enemies on the mainland.
It's entirely because this guy completely broke everyone's agreed-upon rules of war for the pleasure of revenge.
Because those captured women will be distributed among the tribes participating in the exhibition according to their merits. They will become the victors and the tribesmen will continue to live. However, Hafgen actually killed them in order to vent his anger.
The leaders of various tribes in Denmark showed respect on the surface, but secretly called the leader a "stupid butcher". Even if they scold each other, the tribes will not form a coalition to overwhelm the leader's tribe, because this is unnecessary. After all, all the tribes complained that they did not get enough benefits from the last war against the north. They themselves did not suffer any real losses, and they had to go on with their lives.
Some turbulent changes are quietly taking place in Europe, which do not seem to have any impact on the residents of the Svealand Plain in the north of the Baltic Sea.
The Sveyan Tribal Alliance is living its own life. They are only slowly integrating tribal power and spontaneously upgrading to a feudal country.
That is to say, the Melalen tribe, which has the strongest population, military, and economic capabilities, is expected to become the leader of the new country, and its power is still increasing.
There are obviously huge variables here.
The Rus' people are rising rapidly. Rus' rulers have built multiple colonial settlements and upgraded internal governance methods. Tribal power is rapidly concentrating on the chief family, and a centralized feudal country is almost ready to emerge.
However, the two people in power, Rurik and Otto, especially Rurik, are currently actively exploring new conquered areas. As for competing for the highest power within the alliance, Rurik does not want to go everywhere now. Promote the ambitions of the Russians.
He felt that one of the strategies of the Ross people in the next two to three years was to absorb the power of the Covin people and let them know that following the Ross leader would benefit, so continuing to build Iron Castle would have a positive demonstration effect.
The Julian calendar has officially entered January, and people can clearly feel the increase in daylight hours.
Still in Roseburg, the Hanukkah sacrifices are like a prelude to the winter hunt in the new year.
Due to the huge success of the winter hunt the previous year, 10,000 squirrel skins entered the leather production, processing, and sales market in Roseburg. The strong commercial interests deeply stimulated the nerves of the young people.
All the Covin people have surrendered. After the Russians who robbed them are captured, they will be designated as "heinous crimes" by the leader.
Ordinary people understand that the people of Covin surrendered to the chief family, and they will not touch this bad luck. They were eyeing the mountains and forests owned by the Corvin people, where there were a large number of squirrels, ferrets, owls, and even bears and wild boars.
The once mysterious "Land of the East" has been explored very carefully by the leader and two hundred brothers. There are a lot of unexploited resources there!
What's more, this time the tribe owns Ironburg!
No, Otto issued an edict, and more than 500 strong men decided to follow the leader's footsteps to the north, carrying their own weapons, dragging their newly made sleds, carrying some dried meat and wheat cakes, Among them are a group of young people who are participating in hunting for the first time.
They don't need to be afraid of the cold, because Ironburg is a huge settlement, and the towering wooden walls will withstand the terrible wind and snow and protect everyone. In the future hunting, everyone can be protected by Ellenburg. As the saying goes, if there is a snowstorm, everyone can have an absolutely safe refuge.
The hunters had no worries, and with the settlement of Ironburg, some fur traders were ready to follow suit.
More than five hundred people decided to walk on the ice and head north to pursue their dreams of wealth. There are more than twenty merchant families, totaling nearly a hundred people, joining the team, including the Gould family. Gould sent one of his sons and more than thirty servants to ride north in six reindeer carriages. They are not only buying furs at low prices for the first time in the fur origin, but also trying to explore new business opportunities.
The first ray of dawn shone on Fort Ross. A huge army walked toward the east facing the rising sun. After walking out of the frozen fjord, the dark team gathered into a group and continued northward along the coastline.
Finally, the team led by Otto himself arrived near Ironburg on the night of January 2 in the Julian calendar. When everyone saw the flames lighting up in the distance, they realized that their long march had come to an end.
Many Russians have never seen towering wooden walls and have a vague concept of a "city".
Roseburg is a densely populated city, but unfortunately the internal buildings are disorganized and there is no city defense system.
When the young warrior saw the huge wooden wall, as well as the mottled snow on the wooden bars and the thick snowdrifts under the wall, he not only lamented that it was impossible for someone to conquer this place by force.
At the frozen pier, the long ships frozen on the shore were clearly visible, and the towering masts seemed to be frozen and integrated with the earth.
There are also a large number of obviously processed logs piled on the shore. They have all had their bark peeled off and are neatly stacked together, forming a number of even more peculiar wooden walls. What are these logs used for? The first thing many people think of is building a house.
Isn't it about building a house?
Six extremely long logs were lying on the ground. The bark of them had also been peeled off. The white and extremely thick wood cores were receiving the rays of the winter sun. They were slowly drying in the dry snow. Rurik deliberately placed them so that they could dry naturally and the moisture inside would sublimate as much as possible, making them easier to use when actually processing the mast.
Some old hunters are very knowledgeable and know that this item is actually fir, while other woods are mostly pine. Fir can grow very long, but as the main beam of a house, it is still inferior to oak.
Extremely long oak is hard to find, but extremely long fir seems easy to get?
Overall, the condition of Ironburg is beyond imagination. Especially after entering the wooden wall, the Russians who looked around had to sigh that this city is so orderly. For example, the houses inside are all carved out of the same mold. While they are regular, the stone chimneys are always emitting green smoke, and the air inside the wooden walls seems to be intoxicating.
After all, more than 600 people suddenly arrived, and together with the previous group, the population of Ironburg temporarily exceeded 1,200.
This has basically reached the limit of the current carrying capacity of the settlement.
A group of open spaces reserved for the settlement were temporarily filled with tents set up by Ross hunters. Some of the vacant buildings were owned by Rurik himself. He did not hesitate to rent the buildings to businessmen who came from afar and charge a higher rent.
Businessmen can also set up tents, but where can I find a comfortable wooden house with a fireplace, thick wooden walls, and even the bed is covered with leather? Rurik also directly issued an order, requiring the merchants to either rent a house or withdraw to Rossburg with their sleds. If they did not pay the money and deliberately kept them, they would be evicted by force.
withdraw? You have come, why should you leave?
Rurik immediately collected a fairly good rent, which totaled more than a thousand silver coins. In other words, a merchant charges half a pound of silver coins and rents the house for three months, which is the theoretical maximum sustainable time for winter hunting.
They may not be able to come up with the money right away, and the accounts are owed, and those who don't come up with the rent right away will have to make up for it in the future. Rurik regarded this as a special commercial tax. These businessmen only learned about the wonderful sanctuary of Ironburg, and then went to the far north for the first time. They could pay extremely low prices. They enjoy a lot at the price of purchasing, and naturally they have to pay the price in money.
Ten pounds of silver were easily collected by Rurik, which surprised Otto who came here again.
The hunting operation has not officially started yet, and everyone has to settle down in Ironburg.
On a rather lively night, a group of tribal women who had not found a suitable man were looking for fledgling young hunters among the newly arrived Rus. To put it bluntly, this is blatant seduction. They are looking for young and energetic men so that they can use their youth to give birth to healthier children.
Otto no longer cared about these things. At the moment, in the dimly lit meeting hall of the leader's residence, the linen cloth spread on the floor was covered with a large number of silver coins that reflected a strong metallic luster.
"You got a new tax so easily? You kid, this is greed!" Otto said in surprise, "We arrived at Ironburg in less than two days!"
Rurik laughed out loud: "Dad, I asked all my mercenaries to move out of those wooden houses, and now all the people living in them are businessmen. This is the rent they provided, not a tax. We will have to The commercial taxes collected from them will not be reduced because of today’s incident.”
It had not occurred to Otto that he could make money by renting out a large number of houses, and Mechasta was equally shocked.
Especially Mechasta, it was really hard for him to imagine that Rurik could easily obtain so many precious silver coins. In his opinion, every silver coin is precious, but in Rurik's eyes, the value of the silver coins circulating in the Roseburg System has substantially shrunk, and the internal silver coins are no longer precious.
Gold and silver coins have a natural deflationary nature due to the wear and tear of trading and the trouble of recasting. The economic system of Rossburg has become complicated. The copper coins that were once the most widely circulated are no longer so strong. Silver coins have become common in daily transactions, entirely because until now, ordinary people in Ross still have a large number of silver coins in their hands. To put it bluntly, Rurik was using various means to get the tribe's silver coins, and finally used him to purchase the tribe's labor.
It was a large-scale purchase of food from the Malaren people, which caused a serious outflow of silver coins. Those lost silver coins will be earned back sooner or later. For example, among the businessmen renting houses right now, some of them are from Mälaren! Collecting rent is a means of collecting silver coins.
After all, a thousand silver coins for the rent is a small amount of money. This time the father and son reunited, the two did not waste much time praising their family relationship, and there was no need for it. Two powerful men sitting together talking about real matters.
Otto soon learned of the major events that had taken place in Ironburg during his absence.
Some of the big things that were obvious were the disappearance of a large swath of forest and the huge piles of timber piled up at the docks.
Mechasta was also eager to show off the saw and longbow he had and once again pledged his loyalty.
Can a longbow as tall as a man shoot a relatively light arrow 200 stikas away? As tempting as it sounds, it's strange that Otto didn't take it seriously.
Otto knew that his son was trying every means to build a big ship, and one of the goals of staying in Ironburg was to find excellent ship materials.
There is a logical explanation for the timber that was placed on the dock.
Otto subconsciously stroked his beard. Under the dim oil lamp, he looked more and more cunning: "Those fir trees may be good materials, but they look too long and must be very heavy. Rurik, how do you plan to use them?" Transport it back.”
"Use a sled." Rurik responded with a smile, his face full of confidence.
Otto subconsciously felt that something was not right about this: "Those timbers look extremely heavy to me. How are you going to carry them onto the sled? Those are the longest timbers. You plan to use them as masts. Is that okay?"
"It's all doable!"
"You...you believe so much in the power of warriors?" Of course Otto didn't understand. He pinched his beard. "Those masts are made of too heavy wood. I can organize a hundred people and we should be able to lift it up together."
As he spoke, Otto suddenly slapped his head: "Oh, why do you have to put it on the sled? Just use the reindeer herd to pull the wood and slide it on the ice. You should understand that the frozen sea is stable. the way."
This sounded like a good solution, but Rurik refused.
"Why? Are you so upright?"
Rurik simply clenched his fists and made a banging sound. He was obviously gearing up to do something big: "Dad, just look at me. I will make a brand new... thing. I call it Crane can carry very heavy wood onto a sled. This thing will have many exciting uses in the future.”
Otto shook his head. He didn't know what it was. Looking at his son's worried look, he still said: "As long as what you want to do is a good thing, I will support it. Tell me how many soldiers you need. I will Organize it for you..."
