At dawn, the breeze blows across the large lake. What should have been a bustling farm, now only a few figures who got up early and swayed around.
The area near the farm was filled with people, their bodies all gray and white, and their blood seeped into the earth, turning it black.
Sleeping with thousands of dead bodies, the Ross army did not feel too unlucky. They are all victors, and a brutal battle proves to Odin who is the true warrior.
The Russian soldiers who got up early looked for flammable firewood everywhere, got clean water from the well surrounded by pebbles, and immediately cooked the captured wheat.
This group of farmers really didn't have much to grab, and the brothers couldn't really be satisfied simply by seizing a batch of grain. However, they had already had psychological expectations and concluded that there would be no rich spoils after the war.
In other words, there will be no gold and silver looted in this year's war in the east, and everyone is obeying the Duke's will.
The Rus and Balmoks relied on hunting and fishing as their main means of livelihood during peacetime, and most of them were still not very interested in controlling farmland to grow wheat.
When many people had eaten, the work of cleaning the battlefield officially began.
The feet of the corpses were tied with ropes and they were pulled to the edge of the woods further away to wait.
The soldiers from Baishu, Calf, and Fisherman's Manor began to dig deep pits with wooden shovels and shovels, preparing to bury many dead bodies.
Most of the work of cleaning the station was left to the alliance troops. The Varyags, who were the absolute majority of the Ross army, still mainly stayed in the occupied farm to sit and rest.
The corpses that died in the farm were randomly thrown onto the two-wheeled carts, and the dead were quickly transported away, and the entire farm became no longer spooky.
It was a huge job to bury 10,000 corpses.
Rigus came to the battlefield in person in the morning on a walking stick and aboard a Russian longship. He was not surprised by the victory of the Russian army, but he never imagined that victory would come so easily.
When he saw the pile of corpses at the edge, his legs seemed to have turned into powder. He was so frightened that he sat down on the ground, and then fainted.
He was slapped in the face several times before he woke up and gradually understood the current situation.
Uski from Calf Manor is already here, and it was he who slapped those hands.
"Uncle, you see, Pine Needle Manor is finished, and all their people are here." He said.
"Ah! Corpses, all corpses."
"You shouldn't have come here. We had a big battle yesterday, and now it's up to our people to clean up the dead bodies."
"Where are the Russians?" Rigus asked cautiously.
"They? Are they all resting now? They are busy cleaning up their trophies." Uski said this with a hint of dissatisfaction. Indeed, he and his people arrived too late, and the best things were all selected by the Ross army. They arrived late. People can only hope to pick up the slack.
Rigus was helped to stand up. The tragic scene in front of him was too painful. He hurriedly turned his face away and sighed: "Rurik asked me to come to the meeting, saying that he had something important to announce. Now that I'm here, I want to Go find him."
"It doesn't matter. The Duke of Ross is at the old Boludne's house, and Tory and I will arrive a little late."
"That's fine. I want to see what my son-in-law has done when I get there."
Rigus was helped into the destroyed Pine Needles Manor. During the short journey, he saw multiple trolleys pulling corpses towards the graves to be sealed. He closed his eyes whenever he saw this tragic scene. From this, he There is no extravagant expectation for the scene inside the manor.
Sure enough, some buildings had collapsed, and the entire manor showed obvious signs of looting and damage.
A large number of Russian soldiers wearing classic Varangian helmets walked around with weapons, or a few people gathered together and laughed and chatted.
How ridiculous! A lot of people have died here, but they still have the guts to laugh?
Aren't they afraid of the ghosts of the dead?
Rigus has never seen many corpses in his life. He has only presided over funerals at his White Tree Manor, and has never left the Volkhov River to go to Lake Ladoga downstream.
He had never participated in a battle in which both sides invested more than 10,000 troops, and naturally he had never seen the tragic scene where corpses were everywhere. Today was an eye-opener. He just wanted to leave this terrible place as soon as possible. Even the remaining buildings of Pine Needle Manor had to be demolished, so that this unlucky place would disappear completely.
Rigus had more important things to do. He finally arrived at the occupied Borudne Mansion. These walled buildings were already Rurik's command center and a natural place for the general meeting.
No, as soon as he entered the wall, he saw Rurik himself and his lovely daughter.
Svetlana, this girl is dressed like a capable Varyag female warrior. No! She is a warrior, and I'm afraid she has killed her enemies. Look at her, sitting on a simple wooden bench patiently polishing an arrow cluster.
"Dad! You're actually here!" The girl stood up suddenly and came over with joy.
"I came here under orders." After saying that, he glanced at Rurik.
The sword was sheathed, and Rurik walked slowly with his chest held high: "It seems that the people I sent out are very efficient in their work. You are here, come in and sit down."
"well……"
Ligus took a good look at this young war madman. After this counter-insurgency battle, he had a deeper understanding of his son-in-law. He was full of praise after witnessing the handsome young man's heroic appearance, but now he has more It's fear. As long as this kid gives an order, a large army armed with iron will rush forward and there will be no rival in the whole world.
If Baishu Manor doesn't do a good job, this guy will turn his back on others.
Rigus had to think more. He was in awe of Otto, and now he was not only in awe of Rurik, but also fear.
He continued to walk into the inner hall on crutches, and was greeted by the aroma of fragrance. No, this breath is also mixed with the smell of wine.
Otto was lying on his side on the wooden floor of the inner hall. Today he took off his shirt and sat down casually. His white beard drooped down to his chest. He had drank so much wine that he could not even see the age spots on his rosy face. Otto seemed to be lying on his side just like this. This posture made Rigus even more awed, because his pair of deep eyes always exuded murderous intent.
"You're here first, I just have something to inform you." Rurik was already sitting cross-legged, and his words immediately caught Rigus's attention.
"Okay, I will definitely obey any orders."
Ligus threw the wooden stick to the followers, and those followers could retreat. The old guy sat cross-legged with his back bent, accepting the scrutiny of two generations of Ross leaders.
Rurik and Otto had already discussed how to reward their hardcore ally White Tree Manor, and they had clearly disclosed it in the previous meeting. Today, they summoned this person to announce the reward.
Rurik cleared his throat: "I now declare the travel promise I gave you last time. In this war, our army completely destroyed the Pine Needle Manor, and the huge farmland left behind is my spoil. I! Rurik, Duke of Ross Ke declared them mine, but the vast farmland needs someone to cultivate it for a long time. Now I will give you 40% of the land."
Upon hearing this, the fear in Ligus's heart completely disappeared, and his aging eyes shone brightly, completely exceeding his expectations this time.
He hurriedly thanked the Duke for the reward. Apart from the rapid-fire words of thanks, he really didn't know what else to do.
Rurik signaled him to shut up, and solemnly announced: "I will still collect tribute from the land I rewarded you, including the land on your farm. From now on, tribute will be paid to the Principality of Rus, which is TAX."
Ligus felt something strange keenly. He felt that part of his existing benefits would be deprived of him. After all, there is no free banquet in the world.
"So, in what proportion will we pay the new tribute?" he asked cautiously.
"Tithe tax! I have decided to collect tribute exactly according to this tax rate, and will not impose additional taxes for no special reason. Rigus, not only your manor, but all manors in this area will pay tribute at this tax rate. .”
Is that all? If Rurik decides to strictly implement the tax rate contract designated by him, it will be a good thing for the future of White Tree Manor, because this tax level is not serious, and even in the long run, because a large amount of newly mature fields have been obtained, even if it is thrown into the For the expanded new farmland, even if each piece of farmland pays 10% of the tax, the manor can still rely on a larger planting area to obtain far more food than before.
But how can the problem be so simple?
Rurik continued his declaration: "Ligus, I noticed when I came here that the acres on your farm are arranged in a disorderly manner, and the areas between the farmlands are not uniform. The work of measuring the acres will also begin to be implemented. You... Do you know our Russian stika (98㎝)?”
"I know. My lord, my farm has been using your weights and measures for a long time."
Rurik's eyes lit up, "It's my fault that I don't know you very well! I didn't expect that you have been in contact with us for decades and have already accepted some of our things. Very good! The length and width are both 100stika, which will be regarded as one Rus hectare ( hectare), 10 stikas in length and width make an area, and ten areas make up one acre (mu).”
When Rurik formulated these land area planning rules, Ligus was actually a little confused.
It is easy to understand that the people are dizzy after hearing this. After all, the Principality of Rus must become like a real country. Of course, the weights and measures must be unified throughout the territory, especially in agriculture, the measurement of acres must be more cautious. Clearing out acres of land is actually a time-consuming and critical national project. Rurik is aware that the purely agricultural area he controls is small, so he should establish the system early to save himself from getting upset when the controlled area becomes larger in the future.
Stika is the unique unit of length of the Vikings. Its length always makes Rurik think that it should be a meter, so 100th stika is called ministika.
After all, the unit of length is defined by others, and Rurik does not want to use the length of his feet to define what is a foot, nor does he want to use his current height to define what is a meter.
Based on an inherent and universal unit of length, the stika was designated by him as the smallest unit for measuring acres.
He knows the definitions of hectare and area in modern English. They are actually modern internationally accepted units of land area. Since there is a very ready-made system, there is nothing wrong with copying it.
As for the Eastern method of dividing one hectare into fifteen acres, it would be a bit troublesome to divide an equal amount of fifteen acres into one hectare. But the concept of "acre" is necessary. After all, one hundred areas is one hectare, which is too trivial. Especially now that there is no paper and professional scribes do not yet exist, the work of measuring farmland cannot be done very precisely, and the area of farmland should not be divided too trivially.
A hectare divided horizontally into ten equal parts is an acre (mu).
In the afternoon, Uski and Toli, who supervised their men cleaning up the dead bodies, returned. They washed their hands with soap. The extreme sense of cleanliness made them feel that their bad luck had also been washed away.
The two apologized to Rurik for being late, and Rurik treated them with boiled honey water, and then announced that the two manors would receive one-tenth of all the captured farmland.
This seems like a small area? For two small farms with a population of more than 700 people, receiving ten percent of the farmland from a large farm that once had a population of 10,000 people. If the two families divide it equally, the newly matured land each will get is not equivalent to its own old farmland. Half of the total area? The two of them were very satisfied with such a reward. As for the tithe tax imposed by Lord Rurik, the two of them even raised their hands in favor?
Why? Just because this kind of tax can be less than the tribute paid in the past! The Duke is truly a benevolent hero.
Rurik could clearly see the joy between the two. When he explained the new land system that he planned to implement, the two looked at each other and expressed support.
It was in the evening that Rurik relied on the capture of a large amount of agricultural materials to reward the army at the Pine Needle Manor he occupied.
All the generals of the Ross Army and the leaders of the Allied Forces gathered here.
Some of the captured livestock were killed, and the noble people feasted on roasted meat. People in Linhai have never experienced salt shortage. The barbecue was generously sprinkled with high-quality Atlantic sea salt from the Balmok people. The taste surprised Uski and Toli to ecstasy! Unexpectedly, he could really sacrifice his life for the Russians and eat salt as much as he wanted.
This is the case in the area around Lake Ilmen. It seems that this area is very close to the sea, but in fact it is basically impossible to float to the Gulf of Finland due to the poor navigation skills of the local Slavs. What's more, the large area of sea where the Neva River enters the bay is more like a lake than a sea. The salinity of the sea water is so low that it seems to be okay even if it is drunk as fresh water.
The seized ale was drunk freely, and the strong vodka they carried was shared with everyone.
Even the spirit in the exquisite glass burned with blue flames, and this kind of good show was frequently performed amidst everyone's wild laughter.
Don't forget that Otto is getting old. He holds the clay pot and digs out honey as fast as a bear. He is even more energetic in drinking strong liquor.
No, after drinking a small glass of burning liquor, his gray beard was unlucky enough to be ignited. A piece of burlap was thrown into his face to ensure that his beard did not burn out...
The Russians have long been accustomed to drinking farces and drinking burning spirits. But in the eyes of Uski, the leader of Calf Manor, and Toli, the leader of Fisherman Manor, this game is clearly a miracle! They watched in shock as the Rus drank burning wine from crystal cups, which seemed to be cheap.
Because Arik was drunk, this kid wanted to show his uncle Otto that he was not afraid of strong liquor. He arrogantly snatched the glass bottle and drank two bottles for himself. For a moment, he felt that the world was spinning. He pretended that he was not drunk in a daze, and was stunned. The glass plate holding the barbecue was also smashed. Seeing this, everyone laughed at this boy as a stupid fool, and no one felt pity for the broken glass.
Tonight, the Ross army began their victory spree. They lit bonfires everywhere and ate boiled oats and grilled fish.
The bonfires were so dense that the manors in the distance could see them.
However, a group of uninvited guests have already arrived in some manors. The dragon-head warship suddenly landed, and the people on the shore hid in panic. Only the manor leader approached cautiously to ask what was going on.
As many as five longships were sent in five directions to announce that the Duke of Ross had completely annihilated the rebellion at Pine Needle Manor and that there were no survivors. He ordered the manor owners who received the information to arrive at the occupied Pine Needle Manor within three days for a meeting. Dare there be any dissent? Those who leave are considered to be resisting and will suffer complete retaliation, leaving no human or animal behind.
Rurik gave the messenger enough time, and he also felt that he had given enough time to the manor owners.
In fact, the three days were a bit tense, but isn’t tight time a good thing? They had no time to waste. The owner of the manor had to come to a meeting quickly to accept the key arrangements of the Duke of Ross.
Even death...
