The Avlora is the most dreamy ship in the port. The entire Balmok tribe, and even people living in remote areas, rowed their boats to stop and visit.
Being watched by thousands of people, the people still living on the boat were in a very bad mood.
In Rurik's absence, the Balmoks disembarked. Jevlo naturally became the manager of the big ship. Everyone wanted to get off the ship, but without Rurik's direct order, everyone still had to stick to the ship and watch the cargo in the warehouse.
Finally, Rurik suddenly appeared accompanied by Nolen personally.
She naturally took Rurik's arm and, escorted by a group of well-dressed maids, approached the crowded pier.
The tribesmen naturally moved out of the way. They had been talking about the big ship, but now thousands of eyes were staring at Rurik's handsome face.
Are they the Russian nobles? What a beautiful boy. Those rumors are all true. The leader really betrothed his youngest daughter to this Russian!
Rurik heard some wonderful discussions, and he smiled without saying a word and had no intention of talking to them.
Seeing that the boss finally appeared, Yevluo, who was leaning on the side of the ship, shouted almost pleadingly: "Sir, when are we going to get off the ship? The cargo of this ship, we..."
"Get off the ship now! Put down the rope ladder first, and then carefully move the goods down. We will build a temporary shop here."
At this point, Rurik also announced loudly in front of the onlookers Balmok people: "Friends of Balmok! Bring your salt, your silver coins, and do business with me! This is supported by your leader .”
Not only that, but Nolen made the exact same announcement, and her description was even more descriptive than Rurik's.
Look at this situation, are the Russians really going to sell their goods?
Everyone has been gearing up for a long time. There is a saying among the tribe that the Russians need salt. It seems that for them, salt is currency. People began to leave in a hurry, causing a chain reaction, and the pier became empty in a short time.
Rurik shrugged, he was a little dumbfounded.
"Nolen, your people run so fast."
The girl smiled: "Everyone needs foreign businessmen so much. They all go home to get valuable things, and they will all be back soon."
"This is a good thing. Now, I have to wait for your brother to bring a group of brothers over."
Chief Magnut was still sleeping soundly. It was obvious that yesterday's joy was accompanied by strong wine. It was almost noon and he was still sleeping.
As early as the morning, Rurik took advantage of the opportunity to have dinner as a guest and discussed with Biyoni and Floki about opening up the business.
Everything is being implemented in an orderly manner according to everyone's plan.
This was an "expedition" with strong exploratory significance. Rurik determined a route from Rossberg Fjord to Narvik Fjord. The amount of supplies carried by the Avrora on its first voyage was not very large. Of course, the "a lot" here could only be described as "amazing" for an ordinary long ship.
The Balmok tribe is located in a fjord. Although the local area has good mountain forest resources and amazing fishery resources, some very important livelihood supplies are really scarce.
Biyongni even described that his people could not even get clay for making pottery. What was even worse was the lack of iron ore. Of course there is iron ore in the mountains, but the blacksmiths found that the iron ore in their hometown was much worse than that of other people.
It is true that the Narvik Fjord is very iron-deficient, but this fjord does not freeze all year round. The situation faced by the Russians is exactly the opposite. They are sitting on a large amount of iron ore, even amazing chromite ore, but the sea freezes for half of the year every year. Once the two parties unite and combine their respective advantages, they can offset their respective disadvantages. (So the Port of Narvik is the export port of Swedish iron ore)
Biyongni came with nearly a hundred strong men from the tribe, and they became the best to maintain order.
With the assistance of this group of "security guards", Rurik could move all the goods out with confidence.
He also had an appointment with Biyongni: "I will move out all the goods that need to be traded, and your people must maintain order. It is not my arrogance. I am afraid that greedy guys will take the lead in looting, and eventually cause trouble. Thousands of people are looting. If there is a stampede, your people will be trampled to death by your own people."
Biyongni also made a clear guarantee: "Don't worry, my brothers all carry wooden sticks. If you dare to find trouble if you are too aggressive, my brothers will teach you a lesson."
Rurik wanted to believe in his Biyoni brothers, but these people who maintained order were doing "security" work, and they shouldn't stand here to maintain order in vain.
Each of these people will receive a silver coin as a reward after completing their work today.
Rurik was to be paid a salary of one hundred pieces of gold, that is, one pound of silver. This amount of money can be described as a small amount of money for Rurik now, but for the Balmok tribe, which is extremely short of precious metals in the current era, the value of a silver coin is just like the price situation of the Rus tribe in the past.
What kind of concept is that? One silver coin is enough to exchange for a month's worth of fish.
In everyone's surprised eyes, the Russians who came from afar showed off their goods.
There are sacks of wheat, a large amount of squirrel skins, a small amount of rare leathers such as deerskin and mink, bundles of coarse linen, a small amount of white muslin, and a small amount of golden soap.
The most exciting thing is the large number of hand axes and spearheads displayed by the Russians.
These goods are mainly for civilians. Cloth and leather are for clothing, wheat is for improving life and diet, and ironware is directly related to the efficiency of local people's material production. As for soap, Rurik doesn't expect to sell a lot of it, so he won't deliberately lower the price.
All the goods were clearly marked with prices. After the announcement was made in public, the thousands of people present simply booed.
The chiefs of the big families of those tribes brought their men to watch the fun, and then used the salt, silver coins and a very small amount of gold coins in their hands to buy some good things from the Rus. They came with a curious attitude and didn't expect to buy many good things at first, but the Russian products were really attractive.
But! That Rurik, this kid’s price is so crazy!
One silver coin was exchanged for five pounds of wheat (Rurik did not need to offer stable preferential prices to foreigners), so the price was acceptable. But those leathers, a squirrel skin for one denarius, a mink skin for ten denarii? !
Especially axes and spearheads, the price is actually fifty silver coins? !
The scene became extremely noisy, like a precursor to a storm.
Biyoni and his brothers tried their best to stabilize the chaotic atmosphere. When people's emotions calmed down a little, Rurik stood on a high place and solemnly informed the Balmoks of the value of the salt in their hands.
"Balmok people! I learned that you are very short of silver coins! No problem, every pound of salt in your hands is equivalent to ten silver coins. Just use salt to buy my goods!"
As soon as this statement came out, people's negative mood instantly reversed. Those most ordinary people, they never thought that the salt in their hands was so valuable to the Russians?
The Russians like Balmok salt, and Rurik salt has the same monetary properties as silver coins. Narvik currently lacks hard currency such as gold and silver. What they can get is indeed a large amount of salt. Even if they get a pile of precious metals, Rurik still needs to get a large amount of salt from the Balmoks. .
\u001fBoth parties have a strong desire for trade, and a hot barter transaction is taking place at the dock.
To avoid confusion, Rurik asked all buyers to line up.
Waiting in line to buy something? What a strange move.
While ordinary people were inexplicably indifferent, the representatives of the big families who realized that this was a major buying opportunity quickly lined up with salt and silver coins.
"Yes, it seems that you also have the most basic organization." Rurik and Nolen were already standing on the high side of the ship, looking at the people lined up at the dock.
He looked far away, and it was obvious that most of the Balmoks had lost the opportunity to buy goods, even if they still had a large amount of salt in their hands.
The transaction is proceeding stably, and its stability is staggering.
Rurik took a closer look and saw that those in line were more neatly and decently dressed, and their money was generous.
Some people are busy buying wheat, while others mainly buy leather. The price tag of ironware is very expensive, and some people still buy multiple pieces.
Rurik stared intently at a man who bought about twenty iron tools and left. It was this man who had just arrived carrying a sack of salt and a small bag of silver coins. He saw this guy carrying a sack full of iron tools and fighting with another group of people. All the axes and spearheads were handed over to a man with a gray beard wearing leopard fur.
"Nolen." Rurik pointed, "That man."
"who?"
"The man wearing leopard fur, that is, the leather with black spots. Is he a very noble person from your tribe?"
"Him?" Nolen couldn't help but widen his eyes, his face showing caution: "Yes."
"He is indeed a noble man. He knew that I needed a lot of salt, so he took the salt to buy my most valuable goods. I really gained a huge harvest today." Rurik pinched his waist, immersed in the ecstasy of a dumping sale. I couldn't think too much at the moment.
Nolen held Ririk's arm tightly: "He is Osten, the owner of Washebi (the lowland farm on the western coast). He is very powerful and is very popular in the competition for the leader."
The girl's words reminded Rurik deeply: "Wonderful man. What next?"
"He gave up."
"Why? Maybe..." Rurik hurriedly stared into Nolen's eyes, "He sold me a lot of ironware today. Do you know? Those are better products than ordinary ironware, and they will not rust when placed in water. Magical iron.”
This rhetoric sounded very strange to Nolen.
Rurik continued: "That man's behavior may not be simple. Is he buying weapons or organizing an army? Does he have ambitions..."
Nolen understood clearly this time, and she shook her head hastily: "No. My father's position as leader was recommended by everyone. In fact, anyone can take this position, but the leader wants to negotiate with those greedy guys in Bergen. My father is willing to do this kind of thing for everyone."
"Then this Ostin..."
"Osten, and his son Geiger, his family feels that just raising some sheep in Washoby and doing salt fishing is still a poor life. He feels that our fjords will not freeze except in winter. It’s absolutely useless outside.”
"So he wants to walk out? Leave the port?"
"Maybe. I don't know the specifics, but there is only one thing I know."
"What's up?"
The girl finally sighed softly: "Many young men don't like our harbor. They all want to go out and make a living. Aren't my two brothers the same? Many men went to Bergen in the south to work for the local lords. Where are the mercenaries?"
"That Ostan, does he want to take his entire family and move to a beautiful place to settle down forever?"
Nolen said nothing to this. But Rurik felt that he had fully understood what Ostein was thinking.
"Nolen."
"Um."
"Let's get off the boat. I want to talk to Ostan first. I'm going to be a guest at his home. Maybe he won't mind."
"Of course." Nolen nodded: "Dad asked me to take you around the entire fjord. If we are visiting Washobi, Osten will definitely agree."
"Okay! You lead the way."
"Ah, this..." the girl suddenly thought: "Take Floki with you. He has a good relationship with Osten's youngest son Esbjorn."
"That's fine."
Rurik intended to visit the old guy in Osten, but Biyoni was skeptical at first. The relationship between his sister and Rurik is extremely close, and Biyoni is very happy, but the fjord where the Balmoks are located is very large, and it is already afternoon. Is it appropriate for Rurik to visit Washoby Farm now?
Seeing the boy's firm attitude, Biyongni had no choice but to recruit two trustworthy brothers, and then pushed his brother Floki forward. These three people served as the best guides.
Rurik also had to do some superficial work. He changed into a Russian uniform and brought three elite mercenaries, including Yevro.
The strong warriors protected Rurik from the noisy trading scene. Rurik no longer had to worry about trade matters. After all, the result of the transaction, the "salt", would be transported to the cabin as soon as possible.
He, Nolen and others left as quietly as possible, and soon they caught up with Ostein who was chatting and laughing with his guys at another small pier.
Someone in a strange blue-striped white robe appears!
Several guys immediately shut up, and then subconsciously guarded their financial backer Ostein.
Completely different from his buddy's cautious attitude, Osten simply pushed his men away. Although they don’t know what happened, the son and daughter of the leader Magnut, as well as Rurik from Russia, obviously came here because they had something important to do.
Osten opened his arms kindly and walked straight towards Rurik.
"My friend from afar, it seems that something is destined to happen between you and me. Ah, looking at you up close, you are such a beautiful boy."
When Rurik gently took off his hat, Floki shouted very simply: "Uncle Osten, my brother Rurik wants to talk to you about something. He wants to be a guest at your home."
"Being a guest?"
Rurik raised his head with a smile on his face, and then asked the sharp question: "It seems that the real heroes are those who can't stand the cramped fjords. A rising army wants to conquer distant and rich lands. As their New wonderful home.”
As soon as he said this, Osten fell silent.
Who could not love a boy with a handsome face and decent clothes who also exudes a heroic spirit? The moment Ostein inspected the axes and spearheads he purchased, he realized that he had clearly gotten a big deal. Why? He experimented with his own sword. Unexpectedly, with a simple chop, his sword blade had dents, while the ax blade was perfect.
He wanted to have some more polite words with Rurik, and he was willing to let these people come to his home.
Things are getting weird now.
Osten's face tightened: "You... Rurik of Ross. Do you know me?"
"I don't know. But, I know your desire, and your desire is also my desire."
"My desire?" Osten's serious face gradually revealed an intriguing smile.
Rurik responded with the same smile: "Do you really think that we Russians are just here for business? I said, what you desire is also what I desire."
Ostan nodded, then faced the sea and let out a long sigh, and sighed in the deep voice of an old man: "Maybe you are a messenger sent by God. Maybe you will help my family realize my lifelong wish. Come on, noble one." Rurik, I invite you to my home."
Who knows what the two Riddlers, one big and one little one, are talking about? Anyone with a discerning eye can see that a conversation between the two has established some kind of tacit understanding that is hard to explain.
Soon, Rurik and others got on the Osten family's long rowing boat heading for the Washobi Farm.
