The annoying snow in Roseburg turned into a snow mountain on the frozen coast. In the open space near the coast, businessmen who came from afar took advantage of the short daytime to set up their stalls, selling goods from the Lake Mälaren region. goods brought.
The entire business scene was like a temple fair, with vendors wrapped in furry leather huddled together, showing off their wares for the wealthy Russians who came to buy them.
They mainly sell daily necessities, with pottery and woodware being the mainstream items. Some vendors are also selling small statues carved from stone or wood.
Individual merchants are doing big business. They are gem merchants, selling raw rubies, raw amber stones, calcite crystal blocks, crystal blocks, zircon rough stones, and even extremely precious lapis lazuli.
Of course the most precious gems should be given to the richest people!
At first Rurik paid no attention to these, until Klavasen, who had finished making glasses, presented gifts in the evening, as well as important information about a group of strange businessmen.
Klavason boasted that he had completed the task assigned by Rurik, and that the people of the Northern Hunting were about to set out en masse, and his son was among them. He deliberately went to the winter market to buy some interesting things. He saw a stall with many people onlookers. He went over to take a look and was surprised that there were rare treasures here.
Among many treasures, lapis lazuli has an elusive noble blue color. The Russians worship blue, which is the color of the sea and sky. Although there are pure blue stones, they are extremely rare and their origin is puzzling.
Everyone knows that the gems in this place are valuable, but they don't know that some of them are extremely precious.
Clavarson opened his arms and beckoned everyone at the mast to retreat.
At this moment, the businessman wearing a bear skin sitting on the snow took off his velvet hat and raised his bearded head: "Are you a craftsman? Do you have enough money? Do you know how precious the things I sell are? ?”
"Of course." Klavasen smiled knowingly: "I am also a gemstone craftsman, and I never expected that sky-blue stones would see the light of day again."
"Oh? Do you know this?"
"Of course. It's lapis lazuli!"
The eyes of the businessman and the strong man who escorted him all trembled. "It's amazing. Since I opened my business, you Russians have all pointed at the price of my gemstones and criticized me for charging too high a price. I thought that the people living in this great city were not only rich but also well-informed. I was a little disappointed. Now it seems I was wrong."
Klavason smiled again, thinking that these strange businessmen had never seen Lord Rurik's wisdom.
"Businessman, it seems..." Klavasen put away the sale, sat cross-legged on the snow, stretched his head and asked softly: "Are you not from Mälaren?"
"Of course. The leader there asked for too much tribute from us. I heard that you Russians can open the business if you need a tribute of fifty silver coins, so we came here."
"Oh, so you are not from Uppsala, let alone Hjärmalen."
"Them?" The old businessman's eyes trembled even more, and he deliberately asked: "What do you think?"
"I see." Klavason narrowed his eyes and nodded slightly, pretending to be questioning: "Do you think it's interesting to continue selling gems in the cold wind? You know that ordinary people can't buy them at all."
The implication of Klavasen's words was very obvious, and the old businessman suddenly came to the end: "Can you recommend a good buyer for us? If you don't mind... lend me a step to speak."
Soon, Klavasen came alone to the house sponsored by this group of strange businessmen.
This house looks ordinary? It is clearly an abandoned longhouse of a Russian family. A large number of Ross families have completed the replacement of their homes. They subsidize each other to build better wooden houses. Most of the old houses are used as warehouses. Nowadays, a large number of old houses are rented by new businessmen.
This is a secret place. When the wooden door is closed, a group of exquisite bronze oil lamps inside the room light up, and Klavasen sees a strange little world.
The merchants took off their rough animal skin camouflage, revealing the thrifty yet noble clothes underneath. There are obviously several female relatives in the room. Judging from their young appearance and cautious appearance, they are not the wives and concubines of the merchants, but their slaves.
A merchant from Mälaren? Absolutely not! The Gould family, the most financially powerful merchants of Mälaren, have immigrated and become Ross. Besides, Gould bought a house in Rossburg before he immigrated? That is what the big merchants of Mälaren still do.
The merchants treated the old blacksmith in leather work clothes with great courtesy. Exquisite silver cups were filled with fragrant mead, and were served with dried fruit snacks, all placed on a low table.
The businessman greeted a young maid as usual and surrounded Klavasen who was already sitting cross-legged.
"Let her go." Klavasen waved his hand impatiently, making the woman feel embarrassed.
The old businessman held the wine glass and laughed: "We are all men. Why? Why are you the only one who doesn't like women? By the way, I still don't know your name."
There was a kind of ridicule in the businessman's words. Klavasen was not angry. Looking at the things in front of him, the once precious wine and dried fruits were no longer unusual now. What’s a silver cup? We are the only glassware manufacturer officially authorized by the Principality of Ross!
"You keep a low profile outdoors, but you are quite luxurious in your house. This is the first time you have come to our Rossburg, so naturally you don't know me. I am Clavarson of Ross. My family has been a blacksmith for generations, and I am highly regarded by the Duke of Ross. People. Danes! Please remember this.”
Hearing this? The old businessman's face suddenly tensed up. He slowly put down his wine glass and smiled meaningfully again.
"There is no longer any pretense. Yes, we are all from Denmark."
Klavasen shrugged: "It is true that you are the only ones who dare to sell such precious gems. Ordinary people don't understand or understand, but those gems can't fool me. But you are Danes!"
"Really? Do we have to fight each other?"
"That's not necessarily true. Because the wealthy Duke of Ross is very interested in any businessman, but if you friends from the south suddenly appear in our market, you must already know a lot. Let me tell you! The only one who can buy generously is The only person in your mine is the Duke of Ross. You can choose to spend the whole winter in a low-key manner and leave quietly, but if you insist on asking me to help you, be mentally prepared. You may be killed."
These Danish businessmen were obviously a little panicked. The old businessman in charge pretended to be calm and tried not to panic: "If this is really the case, then the Duke of Ross will lose the opportunity to trade with Hedebe."
They came up with a very important term, and Klavasen was startled: "You are actually from Hedeby? The richest place in Denmark?!"
"Of course! What do you think of us? I'm just an ordinary businessman in Hedeby who gathered a small amount of money. I'm Eric from the family of Eric Torulf (Thunderwolf). You see now There are also my four sons. We are very willing to do business with the leader of the Rus. If we are killed because we are Danes, it will prove that our prediction was wrong and we overestimated the ambition of the leader of the Rus."
"Erik Thorulf? I understand. But you are still Danes, and your identity will bring you great danger."
"Just as we go to the far east, to the country called Rome, to the scorching desert, to the far eastern world to buy precious blue stones from strange locals, we know the dangers involved, and we are willing to take risks for the sake of profit. Just like that. Just like you Rus people used all your strength to defeat the Gotlanders, you are also risking the future of the entire tribe for the sake of profit. We are all the same."
Klavasen's heart was beating wildly when he heard it. He was not interested in the business confession of the businessman. He paid special attention to the fact that these Danes were very familiar with the military operations carried out by the Russians.
Just because they know about this matter is a huge sin. They can claim to do business with peace of mind and no secrets of the Russian people will be disclosed to the outside world, but who believes it?
Klavasen did not hesitate to point this out: "You have gone to the legendary world and experienced many adventures. But you know too much. You will tell the Danish lords our strength, and eventually the Danish army will launch a war War conquers us.”
"Maybe, if the Danish leader is willing to gamble with his power! Please remember, we are just businessmen. We don't want war, we just want to do business with peace of mind. I still hope to meet the leader of the Rus, and I will go in Offer some treasures." The old businessman Eric winked a few times: "These women are all Saxons. They are well-trained slaves and know how to serve men very well. They are just presented to the leader of Ross."
Hearing this, Klavasen burst out laughing: "Oh, our real leader already has more than ten wives and concubines, and the most beautiful of them is the head wife, my daughter-in-law's sister. Do you know, I, sitting in front of you, also have A noble person. It’s just that I don’t need fancy clothes to show my nobility, and I’m not interested in these boring women. I do like your gems, and I think my leader will also like them.”
"Then it's settled. I want to meet with Chief Ross. Not only do I want to sell all the gems, I'm eager for deeper cooperation. I hope Chief Ross won't be full of anger because of our identities." Eric stretched out his hand. In his head, he had prepared to die from the moment he landed in Fort Ross. Youdao seeks wealth through danger. He is betting on the life of his family, betting on glory and wealth.
In order to keep things going smoothly, the old businessman Eric took out a small piece of lapis lazuli with a little chalcopyrite attached and handed it to Klavason.
Don't forget that this rough stone is only the size of a fingernail. Its current value is equivalent to double the weight of gold, or twenty times the weight of silver!
Clavarson left this seemingly simple old longhouse with mixed emotions. He came to the Duke of Ross's residence alone with a solemn look on his face. He went directly to the door and was released by the guards.
He entered the Duke's home and saw Otto, who had just drank a glass of newly distilled spirits and was a little dizzy.
He reported the incident truthfully, and Otto's violent actions and words were within his expectation.
"A group of bold Danes? It's a trick! Seize their gems, and then...kill them to avoid future troubles."
"Your Excellency, Duke, you must think twice!" Klavasen hurriedly advised; "Those guys are not afraid of death at all. They want to sell the gems and ask for a chance to cooperate."
"Oh? Really? It's really boring. Let's just cut them down just in case, so the gems are still ours." After saying that, Otto waved his hands and shouted: "Have you finished the wonderful glasses Rurik asked you to make? Many brothers know about this, and they are all waiting to buy it! Stop talking nonsense and prepare your glasses. I will order a stall to sell them tomorrow. The hunt will be soon. For the eyes of the brothers, I need these treasures. .”
Otto did not say any more, but lay directly on the leather, enjoying the wonderful feeling of spinning around.
Klavason sighed deeply, and decided to continue waiting. The short day was coming to an end, and Rurik, who had gone out to log wood with a group of children, was about to return.
Soon, Rurik returned after having done enough exercise. It was surprising to see Klavasen waiting at home before dinner.
He told his women to go and rest, and he didn't care about his father who had not sobered up yet. He sat next to Klavasen and asked him about the glasses straightforwardly.
"Has everything been done? You must be here to report this matter."
"It's indeed done. We can open the discussion tomorrow. It's just..." Klavasen frowned deeply.
"Something happened?"
"We had a wonderful group of visitors, and they brought this." Clavarson held out the little gem.
The moment he saw this stone, Rurik suddenly jumped up like a cat with exploded fur.
"It's lapis lazuli! It's actually it!"
"That's it." Klavasen looked solemn, "and these people have obviously been to its mysterious place of origin."
"What? It's actually! Afghanistan? They are...really Vikings..."
Rurik spoke an extremely unfamiliar word, and Klavason heard the word. It was obvious that Lord Rurik used this word to describe the origin of lapis lazuli. Moreover, Lord Rurik obviously knows more!
The so-called lapis lazuli, Rurik described it as "the stone of the blue sky", which means he said the word "azur", which itself comes from the classical Latin word Lazuri. The languages of various Indo-European language groups have more or less commonalities, and the words used to describe some common things have their origins.
The wonderful color of lapis lazuli makes anyone who sees it think of two things, the sea and the sky.
It is produced almost exclusively in Central Asia, which, considering the present era, is dominated by food.
Rurik showed a strong interest because Klavasen said that these Danish businessmen brought a large number of gems.
"Let them come to see me quickly!" Rurik's excited face showed no murderous intent.
Klavasen still wanted to suggest: "Whether they want it or not, they already know many secrets about us Rus people. Please don't kill them rashly."
"Let them come first! By the way, it's tomorrow. You and Arik are responsible for handling the sunglasses sale. I want to receive those Danish businessmen at home."
"Well, they live here..." Klavasen pointed out the current residence of the Danish merchants. Rurik did not hesitate to assign his own elite mercenaries. More than ten people were ordered to monitor those people overnight and immediately at dawn the next day. "Arrest" them and bring them all to me.
After all, they are Danes, and the current relationship between Sweden and Denmark is tense. The attitude of the Russians towards the Danes is also simple hostility. Although many people have forgotten the source of hostility, in short, hostility is hostility.
The Duke showed politeness to the Danish businessmen, which was a wrong move that deeply hurt the feelings of the people.
However, Rurik did not intend to make things too absolute. For example, he had no plan to kill them at all, even if there was a high probability that these people would act as informants.
How about that? Could it be that the Russians were powerful, and the confident Rurik didn't care if any secrets were leaked. He even accidentally revealed the true strength of the Ross people, letting the people in power in Denmark know about it. Not to mention making the other party fearful, at least it also let the opponent know that there is a powerful Ross principality in the Reddy Kingdom.
If war is inevitable, Rurik is not afraid of a naval battle with any enemy. After all, next spring, the principality will have three Aurora-class "Caravel-type battleships." Actual combat has proven that Aurora is basically a naval battle with obvious generation differences compared to traditional Viking longships.
Rurik is not afraid of war at all, but he does not want to actively provoke a war for the time being. The Principality of Rus is still actively preparing for war in the future, and most of the money plundered will be invested in the expansion of armaments and the improvement of the physical quality of the military and civilians. In the final analysis, any commercial activities must be under the overall planning of the Duke of Ross and Rurik himself, and serve the rise of the strength of the Principality of Ross.
The principality must use all forces to enhance the principality's comprehensive strength, especially the development of military strength.
Just think about the scene next year! Three Avora-class battleships, and as many as forty modified armed cargo ships. Each ship is taller, wider and larger than ordinary long ships. Each ship has a terrifying bow collision angle. On the deck All are equipped with torsion slingshots. The soldiers on the ship basically gave up the tactics of fighting in gangs, and instead used angle collisions and shooting with various long-range weapons to pursue and attack local ships without decks.
