Deep in the fjord of Roseburg, the stream has frozen and is still a trickle under the ice.
A pine forest is targeted, where a new town will rise.
Men armed with large axes and two-man saws began to work, clearing the vegetation with great violence.
The ground was shaking, and pine trees covered with snow and ice fell one after another. The fallen tree trunk was tied with cables and pulled to the ice immediately, and then pulled away by waiting reindeer and ponies.
Although they are small trees, they are suitable for making general building materials and ship accessories. The wood processed from these logs will first be used in the construction of "Ross Duma", but the most critical beam materials need to be taken from the giant spruce further north.
During the short day, nearly a thousand strong men wielded tools. On the first day alone, more than 500 pine trees were cut down. How dazzling was the bare tree stump in the sunset?
Rurik stayed at the construction site with a group of followers. He did not personally go into battle at all. In other words, as a duke, what is the point of doing physical work in person other than to show off and impress himself?
It was here that he supervised the work, not specifically of the builders of the logging, but of as many as eighty captive Mercian women.
He was also the captured old priest of Lindsay Abbey. This old guy was wrapped in furs and was holding a large cross tied with hemp rope on the snow. He was full of words of comfort to these women.
Twenty large pottery pots and ten large iron pots were set up on the snow. The women moved their hands and poured a large amount of wheat and oats into the pots and pots, as well as a pile of chopped yellow carrots, onions, seal meat and Simple seal fat, from which they were ordered to cook a delicious meal.
Almost three women are in charge of one wok or pot, and their task is only to cook, and the reward is the day's meal.
The cold air was gradually filled with strange fragrance, and the people who were busy cutting down trees and pulling wood were salivating with greed.
Encouragement words spoken too often are boring, but a greasy meal is the most comforting thing.
Rurik was very willing to use materials, and in exchange, the brothers who worked for them were also enthusiastic.
The soft light of the setting sun turns the silvery world into orange!
Rurik watched helplessly as a forest suddenly disappeared. Looking at the group of strong men, especially the mercenaries who were ordered to cut down the trees, many of them simply took off their leather clothes and swayed with sweat in the snow, showing their golden-haired arms.
This is of course a very dangerous thing, and some people must not even know that they lose their body temperature so much.
Fortunately, the daytime hours are limited, and although they can still work at night, they will not be given much working time, and there should probably not be a few people taking risks to work.
The leather drum was beating after work, and they returned with their tools and hurriedly dug out their delicious meals in their big wooden bowls.
People sat on the snow, holding a bowl in one hand and a spoon in the other, ferociously devouring the thick porridge mixed with grains, vegetables, fat and salt.
Their fatigue is actually written on their faces, and their workload is also amazing, which is reflected in their ferocious eating.
Many people stuffed their stomachs with food, and they were very satisfied after eating.
At this moment, Rurik deliberately ordered the drum to be beaten again, and someone shouted: "The Duke pays!"
Rurik, who was all furry, was sitting upright in the sunset, with a low table in front of him and an open cloth bag placed on it.
As soon as they heard that they had money, those people hurriedly ate from the wooden bowls, licked the wheat grains, and ran over happily.
Just as Rurik promised, workers are paid daily. It is true that the Duke does not give free compensation because of his status as a laborer. Mercenaries, Ross natives, permanent immigrants from Malaren, etc. all receive one silver coin.
They took the money and ran away happily. Many people simply ran all the way east to their homes.
work overtime? You can't work overtime. Isn't staying at the construction site so cold at night a suicide? If the Duke wants to stay, then he can stay. The brothers have to go back and rest.
"You... run so fast..."
Rurik couldn't complain, so he let them leave unless he paid overtime pay.
But given the current climate conditions, working overtime is also full of dangers.
Just as the sun was setting, a group of people pulling sleds appeared like an army of emperor penguins.
Those are the so-called female miners of Tavastia who are under supervision, and other free miners...
They parted ways soon after they came out of the mountainous area. The real female miners moved their steps and smelled the fragrance of wheat and came to the wheat that was still being cooked. They wiped their hands and faces with snow, held their own wooden bowls to receive the Russian rewards, and then ate on the spot.
"These lambs... are so pitiful!" Old Pastor Lindsay watched helplessly. He felt that Duke Ross's move was merciful, but he hoped that everyone here, regardless of gender, old or young, would convert to the sacred faith.
Like the departed Frankish regional bishop Eskil, these clergy saw it as their mission to spread the faith.
The old pastor wanted to take action, hoping to develop all these black-haired women into believers.
Of course, he also spared no effort to try to influence Rurik, but in the end he failed.
Their current status is that of slave labor in a practical sense.
Rurik and Jevlo, who was ordered to oversee the work, were eating by the campfire and naturally talked about these women.
"Are they working seriously?"
"certainly."
"I don't quite believe it." Rurik was indeed a little skeptical.
Yevluo patted his chest and said with a smile: "I took some measures. Sir, they are all afraid of death, so I pulled out the lazy ones and took off their leather clothes in public..."
"Ah!" Rurik was shocked and couldn't believe that Jevro would do this. "They are women who are to be handed over to the Balmok people. You can't do this..."
"Are you worried that I would humiliate them? I didn't do that. But the cold will freeze people to death, so I used this to warn them that the price of laziness is freezing to death."
"Then they completely complied?"
"Exactly."
Jevro looked proud, and Rurik didn't question anything.
"Today is the first day of work, and it would be nice to kill the proud ones among them. I am more concerned about their results."
Jevro thought for a while, "You should ask the accompanying blacksmiths about this. In my opinion, they are women after all. They seemed to be so weak that they almost starved to death some time ago. Their achievements are very limited, and they are not worth the wheat they only have now."
Rurik shrugged: "It doesn't matter. They will become stronger through labor, so that they will not die on the way to Balmok."
Night has fallen, and the well-fed women are still sitting on the ground, and the food high in carbohydrates, high in fat and high in salt continues to make them linger. They were all wrapped in leather clothes and didn't know what other plans they had for the evening.
At this moment, only a group of Rurik's elite mercenaries are left on the construction site. They bring tools to chop firewood on the spot, or repair new wood piles in order to smash them into the ground tomorrow. There are also guys who have eaten enough to hold pickaxes. Axes and shovels dug themselves into the earth to create the foundations for the walls…
After a while, mercenaries with weapons gathered, and the frightened Tavastian women who were on standby gathered one after another.
They almost instinctively felt that even if they were exhausted now, they would have to please these tough men again before they would be let go.
Of course something tragic cannot happen.
Rurik had just talked with the blacksmith who was the supervisor. Due to the thermal expansion and contraction mining technique, the work of these women basically consisted of breaking the large ore into small pieces and then transporting it to the sled with bare hands. , and finally pulled out the heavy sled.
For a really strong man, these tasks are not very tiring, but for this group of women, it is a kind of torture.
The blacksmith's disdain was written on his face, but due to his humble status, he had no intention of questioning Rurik himself. The blacksmith was very pleased that Lord Rurik was not dissatisfied with the amount of ore excavated.
Seeing the ore, Rurik was in a good mood. He approached the group of women and shouted loudly in Old Finnish: "You have done a good job. Let's continue tomorrow! You should leave immediately after finishing your meal. I order you to go to the warehouse and rest."
Is this a release order? They were still terrified, all because Yevro really punished a few disobedient people in the mine, causing the entire group to fear that they would be deliberately frozen to death.
Seeing that they didn't go back, Rurik had to order the mercenaries to drive them away.
No, they pulled the sled and ran towards Roseburg not far away.
Late at night, a large number of bonfires were lit at the construction site, and the light of the fire was clearly visible in the three-story "palace" of Rurik.
Roseburg was very rare and lively at night. First, the women unloaded a large amount of ore at the blacksmiths' mansion, and another group of free miners also came with ore.
The Tavastia female miners hurried back to the warm warehouse to sleep after unloading the ore, leaving a group of Russians who had doubts about the price of ore arguing with the Russian blacksmiths, which caused some noise.
Rurik was on the third floor. The wooden window was opened a crack, and he happened to see the light of the fire in the distance.
Not only was there light from the construction site deep in the fjord, but there was also fire on the eastern ice surface. It was a senior fisherman who drilled holes for night fishing, relying on the phototaxis of fish for winter fishing.
There was the sound of soft footsteps, and Rurik pricked up his ears.
"who is it?"
"It's me, Mary..."
"It's time for you to sleep. According to the rules, I have to accompany Rumia tonight."
"Yes. But there is something..."
Mary approached Rurik directly, and the cold moonlight illuminated half of her eyes. She grabbed Rurik's hand and put it to her belly.
"You? Got it?" Rurik was surprised.
"Yes, even if I am unclean, the child must be yours."
Rurik suppressed his inner surprise and asked, "Does everyone else know?"
"Only Rumia knows. I told her that this child will have the power of Mercia and will not interfere with other people's heirs. She...she blessed me."
"I wish you the same. Are you sure this is a boy?"
"For a boy like you, it must be so. I asked Lindsay's pastor, and that John Ingvar, and they all said it was my destiny."
a boy? Rurik laughed out loud, he really wanted it.
"Have you thought about the child's name?"
"Yes, it's called Regraf."
This name? It is clearly the benchmark against Wiglaf. Rurik still didn't know whether the dead Wiglaf was Mary's cheap father. Anyway, he was the failed king of Mercia. Mary gave birth to a successor named Reglaf. According to the inheritance system of the British kingdoms, if the prince died, the princess's heirs had legitimate rights of inheritance.
Regraf's original meaning is "the returning noble", and his name contains his destiny.
"What a good name. You must give me a boy named Reglaf!" After that, Rurik patted Mary's cheek again, and her affectionate look aroused interest again.
However, as the first Sea King of Ross, and even the Sea King in every sense, Rurik gave all his love to his first woman, Rumia, that night.
The first daughter Velika is already eating liquid food. As the destined successor to the high priest, she does not have the right to be weak. Even though the weaning process was a bit cruel, Rumia was very worried as a mother, but she still made up her mind, just because The daughter inherited the will of the old priest Vilia, and her daughter's perseverance must be cultivated from an early age.
Although it was quite sudden, after this night, Rumia felt that her second child was not far away.
She enjoyed the process and subconsciously thought it would be perfect if the new child was a boy. That would be a good boy fighting for his father.
In this era, population determines the power of a country. Ordinary people in the Principality of Rus don't think much about it. They simply believe that as long as they have more children, and the children will work or fight in the future, their wealth will increase and their lives will become more comfortable.
What's more, the Duke gave everyone the scoop!
People really don't think much. What men and women see is that when a child reaches the age of six, he can be sent to the Duke for training. Not only will he gain physical fitness and knowledge, but the most important thing is that the Duke is responsible for the child's food. The level makes everyone envious!
The Duke already has eighteen named wives and concubines, and he has a child at the age of thirteen. The Duke has ensured the food of the children under his command for several years. The Duke has also raised the orphans of all the heroes who died in the war.
All signs indicate that the Duke encouraged his tribe to seize the opportunity to have children. Now that a large amount of wealth and materials are hoarded in Roseburg, people no longer worry about being unable to raise many children due to poverty.
Why worry? The Duke helped raise the children until they were six years old. Of course, this kind of national favor must be repaid, and how to repay it is naturally to follow the Duke's arrangements.
How will the children grow up? Of course, eating the Duke's food means pioneering and expedition for the Duke, and will always win. Ordinary Russians don't have any big ambitions. They just follow the decision of their hero king, so what they have to do now is seize the time to be happy with their wives.
Many young people in Russia are no longer wives, and strategies such as polygamy, which Frank regarded as barbaric and absurd, have become popular in Russia.
The old pastor Lindsay criticized this as a barbaric behavior of the Vikings.
How about that? This is the most correct way for Russia to explode in population and accumulate strength. Because the fathers of the children born are all Russians, the children will naturally identify themselves after they are born, and tens of thousands of men and women whose hearts are devoted to Russia were born.
Rurik estimated that in Rossburg alone, there were more than 3,000 fertile women. Taking into account the young women living in other areas, it was theoretically feasible for the women of the Principality of Ross to give birth to 5,000 people a year.
Humans are not beasts. He conservatively estimated that there would be an explosion of 3,000 babies a year, and there would only be more in the future. Coupled with the much better health conditions and greatly improved living standards than before, the child mortality rate has also plummeted.
This is such a huge mouth of the abyss. If the local steel industry in Roseburg cannot make a significant improvement, tens of thousands of children in the future will impoverish the principality.
There is no crisis yet, so gathering huge financial resources for construction now is indeed a far-sighted move.
So before Hanukkah, all the work was carried out smoothly, and there were no disasters during the period. If there were any, it would be that a logger was accidentally injured by a fallen tree trunk.
Hanukkah is not far away, and sunshine every day has become extremely rare.
A forest disappears and a wall rises from the ground! Within the wall, a large number of solid wood-carved frames have been constructed.
In essence, they are slave laborers, free miners, and even some guest merchants and other idle craftsmen. They are not picky about the efficiency of obtaining money. These people are mining and transporting back, and they just built a building in the industrial zone of Roseburg. Mountain of minerals!
As for the ignorant guy who dug up a pile of granite, these stones were immediately bought by the Blacksmiths Union.
This group of senior blacksmiths are already taking advantage of the situation to build large-scale stone buildings.
The environment was bitingly cold, and the 10,000 men, women, and children living in Roseburg were extremely hot inside.
The days are extremely short, but business activities are quite lively. After earning money by selling his labor, Mr. Ross immediately started trading in exchange for daily necessities to improve his life. At night, the couple were busy creating a new life, and their life was full of hope.
So spend Hanukkah this year building a giant wooden tower on the frozen coast.
All Russians, allied peoples, Slavic and Finnish wives who live in Rosberg, should watch a show of fire.
In the "sunless day", use the fire tower as the sun, and finally see the first ray of the New Year's sunshine in the east.
Hanukkah is tomorrow!
The busy people of all kinds stopped all work, and even the female miners of Tavastia took a holiday.
Without him, pure darkness is about to fall. When the stars reach the correct position, the already erected wooden tower will burst into flames...
The time is coming.
