A young reindeer was roasted until it was charred and juicy. In order to welcome willing collaborators, Rurik was also willing to take a deer from the capture and make it a feast.
The roasted venison is browned with a lot of carbon spots, and the dripping fat penetrates deep into the sand along the reeds that hold it.
Rurik had already cut off a deer leg with his sword and started eating it, waiting for those people to come to see him.
Uko and his friends finally arrived, and when they saw the roasted venison and the fragrant smell of ale from the open oak barrel, they couldn't stop crying.
These visitors are already defeated, aren't they?
Rurik was too lazy to look outside. While sitting cross-legged, he put down the half-gnawed deer leg with both hands, wiped his hands and held his sword.
He is still a young man, and his aura cannot be underestimated.
Because there are also brave generals such as Arik and Herriger sitting in this room, and there are also more than a dozen burly men sitting cross-legged with their ferocious tattoos on their bodies.
When meeting visitors, Uko, the Suomi leader, is simply a "dwarf," and so are his friends.
Macroscopically speaking, the men of the Russian army are generally a whole head taller than the Suomi people. To avoid fighting with thousands of these tough men, Uko saw the scene indoors and felt that his decision was wise.
For a moment Uko didn't know what to say. He wanted to say something but didn't know where to start.
"Sir, we have arrived." Yevro said respectfully.
"Very good! Let them sit down and give them meat and wine!"
Rurik seemed a bit familiar, but he was actually showing his goodwill and openness to these leaders. It doesn't matter whether they appreciate it or not. As long as they are willing, Ross's army will crush them as easily as cutting a deer's neck with a knife.
There was barbecue and ale, and not only that, the Russians actually provided cooked oatmeal.
Uko, who was already hungry, couldn't care less now. If the other party rewarded him, he would follow suit. Of course he also knew that after eating the delicious meal rewarded by the leader of Ross, if he had any objection to the matter of "surrender", he would be seeking death.
The visitor had already eaten and drank a lot, and even burped. Rurik snapped his fingers, and a strong man stood up and took away the half-eaten roast deer in front of the surprised faces of the diners.
Rurik cleared his throat again: "You are finally here. I remember your name is Uko."
"It's Ukonirma."
"It doesn't matter, you are just an ordinary leader, and your Suomi tribe is also an ordinary tribe. I am different!" With that, Rurik stood up and held his head high: "I am a man blessed by God, I am Invincible. As you can see, we Rus have occupied the entire Tavastia. My army has killed five thousand Tavastian warriors. All living men surrender to me, and all living women are willing. Marry us.”
"Yes, I have seen it all. You are already the masters of Tavastalu." Uko complimented.
"You are smart and realize that fighting with us is a recipe for death. Since you are willing to cooperate with me, you must accept all my conditions."
Uko had the most humble bottom line. When he heard the young leader's words, he listened with wide eyes and swallowed deeply, while all his friends were sitting on pins and needles.
The cooperation here is basically a "submission treaty" that is quite unequal to the Suomi people.
The core of the treaty is four paragraphs:
First: Starting from this year, the Suomi people must pay annual tribute to the Rus. There were five hundred reindeer skins, a thousand ferret skins, a thousand fox skins, and a hundred thousand squirrel skins.
Second: hand over five hundred young and pure women to be married to Russians.
Third: If there is a foreign war, as long as the Duke of Ross issues a clear order against the Suomi people, Suomi must organize an army in accordance with the order to join the Ross army in foreign combat.
Fourth: Uko must sacrifice his daughter to be married.
The agreement is currently verbal. Since Suomi does not have its own writing, they cannot understand a written treaty with them. Rurik simply swore on his own honor that as long as the Suomi people agreed to these terms, Rus could declare eternal peace with Suomi.
Paying tribute every year and handing over women. If this can be done to avoid war and destruction, although it is a shame, it is better than the destruction of the Tavastians. What's more, as the slave army of the Rus in the future, the Suomi people should also be able to get some useful trophies in foreign wars.
The village chiefs and leaders all watched Uko's reaction cautiously, and heavy pressure was placed on the shoulders of this man who was no longer young.
Uko agreed to the first three clauses, but of course he also knew that things would not be that simple at all.
He was quite curious about the final terms. He didn't expect that this young man would actually ask for his daughter. How did this boy know that he still had a little daughter to marry? Maybe it was revealed by those captured brothers?
Wait! if……
Uko slowly smiled and deliberately approached: "We Suomi people know you, and our fishing boats will encounter you sailing in the southern waters every year. Yes, I have a daughter. Since you like her, I am very willing to I will give her to you as your wife.”
"Gift it to me? That's not appropriate."
"this……"
Rurik glanced at Jevro casually and said: "The captain of my trusted personal guard is a Suomi, a member of your race. According to us, you are all Finns. My captain of the guard still has no For marriage, only an important woman is worthy of him. The captured men said that your daughter is very beautiful. You are the leader of Suomi, how about your daughter marrying my captain of the guard?"
"Him?!" Uko suddenly turned his head and looked at Jevro with a look of surprise, or surprise.
"How? Is my Jevro not worthy of your daughter?"
"Ah! This... is worthy, worthy!" Uko quickly turned his head.
"Then it's settled. Now I have one last request." Rurik said solemnly.
"Please tell me, we...will try our best to satisfy you."
Uko really didn't know how big the appetite of the Russians was. He also learned from this Yevluo that his master's name was Rurik. Yevluo's praise was full of praise, as if Rurik was really the descendant of the God of War. World.
If Rurik of Rus really has divine power like the God of War, and Suomi has betrayed a lot of things and surrendered, can they guarantee Suomi's safety?
But what Rurik said next frightened him again.
"I learned that your fishermen can not only enter the territory of the Tavastians by water, but also row into the sea. I decided to enter your territory and then directly enter the ocean."
"Ah!" The only word that Uko thought of was "destruction".
He made no secret of it and stated his fear straightforwardly: "Heroes of Ross, we... are just a group of fragile people, just like a group of helpless rabbits. Aren't we like you..."
"Afraid that I will harm you? Afraid that I will tear up all contracts and start a war with you? Do you... think it is necessary for me to go to such great lengths?" Rurik's eyes sharpened as he spoke, "Your camp is not far away, as long as you If I give the order, your people will be wiped out. But I don't, I need your people to live well."
"ah?!"
"So. Now I have decided! Now that the men of Tavastia are almost destroyed, you can move here. I know that you and Tavastia are the same family."
Are the Russians serious? To put it bluntly, Suomi's army marched north to attack the invaders crossing the sea for one purpose, and taking advantage of the chaos to seize huge benefits in Tavastia was the most important purpose. If he accepts the Rus as king, he can rule Tavastia at his request, and the annual benefits will definitely be more than the tribute paid.
Uko keenly noticed that the Russians would not leave this area forever after occupying it. They still needed to entrust big people to rule it.
Rurik now solemnly explained a word: "Fin! This is the new name given to you by us Russians."
"This...don't you Varangians always call us Fens?"
"Yes, and no." Rurik patted his chest again and let out a long sigh of relief: "The Lapps and Kovins have already surrendered, the Tavastians have also surrendered, and finally it is your surrender. Everything in this area says All people who speak a common language surrender to me. I declare that your past conflicts are over. You are all Finns. The land under your feet, from the sea in the south to the frozen sea in the north, is Finland. I Having conquered the entire Finland, this is the new territory of my Principality of Rus, and you!”
Rurik suddenly pulled out his sword and pointed it at Uko: "You, kneel in front of me."
Wu Ke came tremblingly without knowing what was going on, and the shining sword seemed to be about to stab him to death.
When Uko knelt firmly, Rurik put his sword on his left shoulder and said in words understandable to the Suomi people: "I, Rurik, Duke of Rus, canonize you Ukonirma as the war chief of Suomi. (actually close to the level of a marquis), and has the authority to command Suomi and Tavastia.”
The sword was placed on his right shoulder again: "My guard captain Yevro will marry your daughter, and your daughter's son will inherit your title of Suomi War Chief and be loyal to the Principality of Rus from generation to generation. You and The power of your descendants is protected and supported by the Duke of Ross, and you will prosper, but betrayal will lead to destruction."
Rurik's sudden ritual operation stunned everyone. As his cousin, Arik had some opinions and felt that he should not be so kind to those who surrendered. Since his brother was enjoying it, he might as well keep his mouth shut.
Uko understood part of it. He was really surprised by the "titles" of various Varyag people. But one thing he was sure of was that his current power originally came from the recommendation of the villages in his hometown. Now, the power Received military support from Russian conquerors. He suddenly realized that he could rely on this support to give orders to the people in his hometown.
Things have developed to this point within Rurik's calculations. Conquering the Eastern Land (Finland) is inevitable. In this case, the legal conquest will be completed today!
After announcing the sovereignty of the Principality of Rus over the entire Finnish region, it is time to announce what obligations the Principality of Rus should fulfill.
Rurik put away his sword, told Uko to be obedient, and said: "I know that you are always facing the threat of war from the Karelian people. Now I promise you that the Russian army will give you military support and will Help you attack Karelia until you destroy them."
This was a promise that everyone loved to hear. Uko, who had already sat down, suddenly stood up, his joy beyond words.
The Russians among the Varyags have a strong military, and the strength of the Karelians is not easy to underestimate. In comparison, the Russians are still strong. At least the Russians promised peace upon receiving tribute, while the Karelias just wanted to encroach on the land and become the overlord.
It's nice that a fierce battle that was supposed to be bloody ended with such a happy ending.
The Suomi people decided to open their door. More importantly, the Rus people could determine a waterway, that is, go upstream from the mouth of the Oulu River at the Kovinstad stronghold east of Roseburg, and after arriving at the lakes in central Finland , directly enter the Gulf of Finland via a brand new waterway. The Ross people added an inland freshwater route to New Rossburg, and there were some supply points along the way.
But are the inland waterways leading to the Gulf of Finland real? Rurik still had doubts before seeing the southern ocean. He needed to take the fleet to find out personally.
This was the reason why Rurik insisted on leading troops into the core territory of Suomi.
A night banquet for the conquerors was over, and Uko and others were kept overnight. Of course, Tavastian women were also ordered to serve these noble leaders this night.
This night, Rurik tossed and turned, making Carlotta on the pillow quite upset, but he didn't dare to feel any resentment.
Carlotta just murmured: "You are a great hero. Now that you have conquered the Eastern Land, are you happy about taking the position?"
"Of course, I was too happy to sleep."
"But they are all a group..." Although Carlotta felt something was wrong, her disdain for those Suomi troops was written on her face. "They are all a group of weaklings. Is it worth being happy to conquer them?"
"At least they are a clever bunch of servants. Soon I will also annihilate the Karelians, Carlotta, do you know what that means?"
"This...I don't know."
At this moment, Rurik had already sat upright under the night cover, lifted up his blanket and showed off his enlarged biceps in front of his woman.
He smiled and said: "Did you see it? This is the power of Duke Ross."
Carlotta laughed out loud when she saw it: "Your power? You let me give birth to you, that's the real power."
"No, no, no, as long as I conquer Karelia, then the entire Karelian Isthmus, the Kola Peninsula, and Finland will all be mine. From then on, there will be no others in the northern world, everything will be mine. Territory, no one can compete with me..."
Rurik's words are an obvious fact. The Karelians are already the last powerful ethnic group in Northeast Europe. Conquering them means that the Russians have no rivals in the area west of the Ural Mountains near the Arctic Ocean. If Yes, there are polar bears and brown bears running around.
Although this kind of conquest of territory is like becoming the "King of the Bad Lands", Rurik does not feel that his territory is even an inch redundant. At least those so-called bitter and cold bad lands will be the origin of the precious furs of the Principality of Ross in the long future. Woolen cloth.
Because Karelia is not considered the land of Finland, he has essentially conquered Finland, and a new history has been written by himself. How can Rurik not be excited about such a great historical glory.
However, the macro historical development has indeed not changed. Finland is destined to be occupied by the Swedes. The current Principality of Rus has been split from the sudden emergence of the Kingdom of Sweden, but it was indeed born out of Sweden.
Rus conquered Finland, and Rus was also destined to conquer Finland. In other words, Finland's existence would either become part of Sweden or become part of Rus. This is the destiny of Finland caught in the gap.
Uko, the leader of Suomi, made the most correct choice for his entire ethnic group. This is a smart approach that a person in Europe should take.
Uko and his guys also discussed this night. To put it bluntly, providing those tributes to the Russians would not hurt the Suomi people at all. Also because of the marriage of Uko's daughter, this political marriage is to strengthen the relationship between Suomi and Rose.
As for that Yevluo, I don’t know where this kid came from. At least with this marriage, Yevluo will care about the friendship of the same clan and help all the Suomi people to gain benefits from the Russian conquerors.
The two parties concluded an agreement, and Suomi merchants can trade with the Russians. As long as the Russians keep their peace promises, Suomi can indeed make continuous profits. Is it a shame to be a vassal and pay tribute? No, at least they don't think so. Everyone is doing business and making money, so don’t shiver.
