A tribute team composed of so-called old men has already set off. The so-called old and weak are only relative to the young people of the principality.
Otto is already an old man, and his gray beard is deliberately fluffy, perfectly covering his age spots.
He was on the ship Sperosvilia, with the last four planet-class ships behind him.
This fleet of only five ships braved the wind and waves and arrived at the port at the mouth of the Neva River safely and smoothly.
The snow is melting on a large scale, fresh water from the Volkhov River and Finnish high and low rivers is pouring into Lake Ladoga, and the Neva River, the only outlet of the great lake, suddenly turns into a rapid.
The current is so fast that people are unwilling to row boats against the river. People living in the local area are busy with spring plowing and don't care much about the current.
They sow oat seeds in old and new farmland at the end of April. Compared with other ethnic groups, because of the widespread use of iron plows, they sow seeds in straight trenches after plowing the soil, which is objectively more effective than rough sowing before. Great.
Spring plowing and autumn harvest were the busiest seasons the year before last. The Russian families who settled down and the Slavic New Rus' people who joined the village were now all farmers.
They take good care of their wheat, further build their own New Roseburg, and will fight to the end to defend their wealth against any coveterer.
Because this area is not peaceful.
Are the Karelians a threat? Since Lord Rurik had already released the news, even the Suomi fishermen who joined the principality a year ago believed that the Karelia people were terrible enemies, and everyone had to be wary of the northern part of the great lake.
It is said that the principality is organizing a large army to conquer Karelia this year? If Lord Rurik organized a large army expedition, it would definitely be a victory. It just so happened that everyone would inevitably face the so-called spring famine after completing spring plowing, so it would be a good thing to take the opportunity to plunder.
Of course, what they call spring famine is that they cannot eat wheat freely, and everyone can still row boats and fish freely, just like in the past. This ability to fish makes them better than agricultural people in the narrow sense.
Another option is to engage in traditional business activities, which is to bring the amber and other precious leathers you find to Novgorod and trade wheat directly with the locals.
This kind of trading activity is completely free and is not within the scope of Sorgon at all. Any Novgorodian on the shores of Lake Ilmen is willing to do this business.
Some Russians even came into contact with the Smolensk people, so that Novorossberg had some good-quality rosin ingots and southern floral cloth.
If they could be self-sufficient in daily necessities, the Russians would be willing to settle down and actively produce. Nowadays, dreams are not yet reality. Fighting and trading in distant places are all ways to survive better.
Otto's fleet arrived, and the tall flagpole of the big ship made the people smile with joy.
Governor Cornuson, who was ordered to be stationed here, has been running the local area for many years. He happily rushed to the dock with his family and directed the men and women to grab the ropes thrown by the big ships, and the five ships were perfectly fixed.
"Your Majesty the Duke, you are finally here." Konuson opened his arms to welcome him.
Otto also walked up with his arms open and a smile covered by his beard. "You old guy looks like you can still fight," he said.
"I would be so happy if I could really fight."
"Now there is an opportunity. Stop being polite and go to the palace! Gather all the famous men in the city. I want to summon them. I hope they can all understand Norse."
The urban construction scale of New Roseburg is larger than that of Old Roseburg in the West.
This was originally the new territory of the Rus. In recent years, three thousand more Slavs have settled here through means of pull, coercion and temptation.
All the refugees from the Ostara tribe have moved to New Roseburg. The situation even changed a bit, that is, the Ostara women who fled after the war were taken in by many allied tribes, such as the Gran tribe and the Yelmalen tribe, and the men in the tribe married these women. However, the newly born Kingdom of Sweden failed in its foreign campaigns, and the strength of the Glen and Hjärmalen tribes was seriously frustrated. It was during this period that the Russians launched a good policy.
During the war, these men who took in and married Ostara refugee women saw the strength of the Rus' army and became more aware of Ostara's reconstruction in the distant east. The women were moved. After all, they all knew that the girl Carlotta was indeed of noble status. The men were also moved, how reasonable it was to follow a hero to gain a stable life and a chance of victory in future wars, not to mention that they had the power to become New Ostarians after immigrating.
Nowadays, Novorosberg is a city shared by Rus, Ostaras and Slavs. It is also a place where Swedish culture, Rus culture and Ilmenoslav culture in the narrow sense merge.
A majestic city rose from the ground on the Neva River, and its scale is still expanding. For example, with the joining of the Suomi people, theoretically all Finns became part of the Principality of Rus.
The Finnish Suomis, who had been very afraid of the Rus' fleet, began to appear in their canoes at the mouth of the Neva River. The Suomi people have also built a trading town called Helminki at the mouth of their river. According to the Norse pronunciation, it is Shetstad, which means gem city.
The Suomi people did export some amber and rubies to Fort New Ross. After the Ross people bought them with daily necessities, they immediately tried to transport them to the East and sell them.
Adjacent to the Neva River, on the opposite bank is Rabbit Island. A palace standing on a large number of wooden piles is even more solid and majestic.
Otto took a group of his old friends off the ship, and some of the support supplies were also unloaded.
Fortunately, onlookers saw that those items shipped in wooden boxes and sacks were all iron items!
It's a farm tool! There are shovels, picks, hoes and plows. There is also a large two-man saw and a bunch of logging axes.
Otto walked happily on the tamped porcelain land in the city. Presumably after a heavy rain, this land would not become too muddy.
He walked into the palace and subconsciously observed the huge building. It had looked like this since the palace was built. It only had one floor but was very solid. It is an important place for discussion and living. It also has toilets and bathing areas. The reason why it was built like this is entirely Rurik's arrangement.
Soon, nearly fifty prominent figures in New Roseburg were invited.
Everyone felt nervous when entering the originally closed palace, and everyone was also quite doubtful. If they were discussing serious matters, wouldn't it be better to go to the council chamber?
Otto actually didn't want to waste his time. He just wanted to arrange things and rest first, so he gave direct instructions here.
A piece of news that everyone already knew has become a fact through Otto’s mouth!
war! Attack Tavastia! Ross's army is about to assemble in New Rossburg!
Not only that, when there is a Slavic army fighting together.
"..., we must regard the Karelia people as a powerful enemy like the Gotlanders, and treat them as the same as the Danish army. Even if we have the hero Rurik at our command, we cannot take it lightly. We will Organize the coalition forces. I will go to Novgorod myself to give the order, and you locals will also organize warriors so that they can go to war as soon as Rurik orders the recruitment..."
Even though Otto was repeating the same old tune, if he kept saying a few more words, not only did the brothers' morale get boosted, but they also began to estimate how much loot they could get if they participated in the battle.
Among those sitting quietly, Old Harald had a sullen face, but when Otto mentioned something, he suddenly beamed.
Because of her daughter Aslaki, she wants to build a mill in New Roseburg!
Mill? Could she build that huge workshop? If she succeeds, locally grown oats will be turned into powder in large quantities.
But he still doesn't know that something bigger is about to happen to him.
The residents of New Roseburg began to actively prepare. Whether they were Russians or Slavs, these prominent figures hurriedly left the palace with the news, and spread the good news to the entire settlement that day.
Once there is a war, everyone can make their own contribution to the war, including selling a certain amount of labor and getting paid. Because this is Lord Otto's promise, and it is also a benefit that Lord Rurik has implemented time and again.
There are only a thousand pure Russians in New Roseburg, and there are almost no young men. There are older computer men and women everywhere and a group of children running around. It is precisely because they are weak in Roseburg society that they actively ask to go to the East to open up new territories.
The number of the new Ostara people was not large. The total number of men, women, old and children was only 300. If they wanted to recruit an army composed solely of men, they would only be able to recruit 50 people at most. If we dig deeper, almost all of these fifty people are not real Ostara people, but traditional Swedish tribes such as Hjärmalen, who only took the position of Ostara because of their marriage relationship.
The additional 3,000 people were Slavic immigrants, and there were too many prime-age men among them.
He cultivated wasteland, worked efficiently with the farm tools issued by the Duke of Ross, and paid taxes in kind on the harvest.
There are even a group of them from the Pine Needle Manor, which was once violently ravaged by Otto. Now they have left their hometown farm and become complete traitors, but they have found a new life here in the Rus!
After all, in my hometown, farmers also have to pay taxes to landowners. Farmland yields are low but taxes are not low. These active immigrants were the de facto tenants of their hometown farms. Although the people helped each other, the inefficient agriculture coupled with the exploitation of the conqueror Rus and the manor owners made life tight.
Today, he works here among the Rus people, and the cultivated land has been cultivated for several years. The private rights of the land are protected by the Duke of Rus. In this way, through hard work, the surplus grain is converted into money to supplement life, and life is indeed getting better.
This group of people are already staunch supporters of Russia. They are actively imitating the lifestyle of the Varangians, but they do not know that the Russians are also actively absorbing Slavic culture.
The busiest spring plowing has just ended, and farmers have taken up arms...
Here, Otto tasted the local specialty grilled European seabass, devoured salty wheat porridge, and slept soundly.
The same was true for his old friends, who were still talking to each other. It was said that within a few years, a majestic city rose from the wasteland near the coast.
The first thing they felt was the hugeness of New Rossburg. First of all, it surrounded a large area with a wall. The first Ross and Ostara immigrants and the earliest Slavs all lived inside the wall.
Because the houses are all one-story houses, each household also has a flat courtyard, even a chicken coop, a rabbit coop, and even small trees transplanted by the people voluntarily. There is an pastoral atmosphere in the city, which also makes the city become crowded.
The set straight road system does not allow illegal construction. As the "Harvest Square", which is a public threshing floor and an army gathering place, no buildings are allowed here.
More Slavic immigrants had no choice but to build residences on the wasteland outside the wall. A large number of wooden houses rose from the ground and were located in a rather chaotic manner, which gave the city a more market-like atmosphere.
People all live in groups with heating, and the vast wheat fields that are constantly being developed are outside the city. Even though people had to walk a distance to work in the fields, this reflected some difficulties in harvesting in the autumn, which led them to make a batch of handcarts.
Otto, who was sleeping soundly, was awakened by the noise outside.
The old guy hurried to the door wearing a simple white cloth coat.
He pushed aside the Slavic maid who was about to attend to the coat and opened the closed door himself.
Seeing a dense crowd of people gathering outdoors, Otto couldn't help but open his squinted eyes and let the warm sunshine shine on his face.
The wind blew Konuson's fluffy hair around, and he walked happily with a wooden stick.
"What's going on? I saw an army?" Otto was quite surprised.
"They are all peasant warriors!" Konuson said straightforwardly: "They are Slavs, and now they are all new Rus's. You see, standing in front of you are five hundred warriors, they are willing to fight for Rus'."
Looking at these people, Otto was surprised that so many soldiers suddenly appeared, but subconsciously he did not think that these people were strong soldiers.
Their stature is generally smaller than that of the strong Ross men, and no one wears a helmet. At most, they wear a leather hat, or even tie their hair with cloth strips to prevent it from being scattered.
Their clothes were all made of coarse cloth, but they had many colorful patterns.
The weapons and equipment are also sparse. Each person only carries a wooden shield of different sizes, and the spears they set up are also of different lengths.
With their appearance, they are not qualified to organize a spear army!
Otto subconsciously thought of the battle on Gotland and wondered if this group of people would be proud of their courage if they appeared on the battlefield.
forget it! To recruit soldiers, you have to go to White Tree Manor to recruit all the Slavs who participated in the Battle of Gotland. Especially Medvet, this young man is the most Russian-like among the Slavs. Otto noticed this boy's firm fighting will and courage during the decisive battle in Gotland, and hoped that this man would do greater things in the future.
The deference of the White Tree Manor is a fact, but Medved, the legal successor of the manor, is a warrior. Their deference may be disguised, just to gain benefits from the Varyag forces. According to this idea, Otto had to think carefully about why Svetlana, a little girl, was the one who boldly moved closer to him. This cannot be explained simply by the innocence of a child. Presumably, this child has been taken care of by his parents. Instilled many things.
"Rigus, you are a cunning fox. If this is what you want (referring to being Rurik's wife), you succeeded. Medved, my son will make you a count in the future." Otto said for a moment I thought about a lot of things.
It's just that there is a group of seemingly rabble-rousing guys standing in front of him. He dismisses these people with the arrogance of a warrior, but he still has to do the superficial work.
Otto said politely: "They are a group of warriors."
"Are you willing to let them fight?" Konuson asked hurriedly.
"I can't make the decision on this matter, let them continue to wait! Rurik will make arrangements for them."
If these farmers entered the battlefield without training, they would be slaughtered by the Karelians? Otto and his son Rurik unified the context and described Karelia as a strong enemy. After repeated repeated visits, Otto really believed it.
Since it is a strong enemy, I am afraid that there will still be a lot of casualties among our own people in the fight.
At least this scene of peasant soldiers rushing forward to fight fiercely is out of place.
However, what if...
A sinister thought suddenly appeared in Otto's mind.
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