The people rowing in the hustle and bustle steered the long boats to dock on the pier. They landed one after another and immediately caught the ropes thrown from the Aurora.
There were wooden piles hammered into the mud on the shore, and ropes were constantly tangled here.
Rurik's ship officially docked, and a long seesaw connected to the trestle. After a while, Duke Rus finally stood in his loyal Novgorod.
Otto came up in high spirits. He straightened his head covered with gray beard and looked at it, and he couldn't help but feel mixed in his heart.
"Niya! Where are you hiding with your children?" His cry didn't care about other people's feelings.
Old Rigus leaned on the coffin staff and saw that Otto was a ruthless and decisive man in his heart, and his son Rurik was even more outrageous.
Otto was calling his old wife, looking for his granddaughter. I didn’t expect this old guy to have such a tender side...
After calling to no avail, he approached his son who was greeting his subordinates for errands.
"Where's your mother? Where's your daughter?" he asked.
"They still have some people who will arrive in a month."
"Absurd." Otto grabbed his son's neck in desperation, "Didn't the letter be delivered to my hometown? Won't they execute it? Look at you, you came with a group of wives and concubines, and you actually forgot your mother and your Daughter. Do you know how much I want to coax my grandson?"
Teasing his granddaughter is already one of the great joys of Otto's life. He no longer needs to fight in person. He just wants to chat and have fun with his old friends in the warm place here. His granddaughter Velika is indeed a great source of fun for him in his later years.
A father’s intergenerational relationship with his granddaughter? Rurik thought his father had become cute.
"Oh, that's not the case..."
Rurik was about to explain when Otto asked again: "It seems that the crusade against Karelia has been settled. Did you win?"
"I won, but only partially."
"Why? Failure without complete victory is also a failure. Tell me what happened? Don't tell me that the army suffered a lot of losses."
Family affairs gave way to state affairs, and Otto intended to retire in Novgorod. All power was transferred to his son, but the honor and disgrace of the principality must be taken into consideration.
Rurik frowned and explained: "We killed thousands of them. The enemy fled, and the holy place where they worshiped was occupied by our army. We expelled the Karelia people, and the strategic goal was basically achieved. As for losses, our losses Very little."
Otto sighed slightly, and now he was no longer surprised when he heard the statement "thousands of heads were killed." He looked at the slim girls around his son and suddenly felt soft again.
Noticing the change in his father's attitude, Rurik turned around and gave some instructions.
The girls wearing hooded burqas took off their hats one after another, revealing their clean faces, showing an indescribable elegance.
They are the first to grow up, and they are the most beautiful youth in life. The eleven girls, including Svetlana, are all Slavs, and this rising city is their hometown.
The local people who were watching cast curious glances. They were not surprised by Ross's arrogant soldiers. The girl from Ross stood here gracefully, just like a fairy descending to earth. She was really fresh and refined, which was difficult to appreciate on ordinary days.
They somewhat recognized Svetlana, and the entire Novgorod population witnessed her traditional Slavic wedding to Prince Rurik.
As for the other girls, they are all the Duke's wives and concubines.
People couldn't help but mutter, a noble man can have multiple wives and concubines, but Lord Rurik actually has more than ten?
The whispers gathered together into a roar.
Ryuri ordered the mercenaries to form a shield wall, and soon the noisy figures retreated to make way for the city wall.
Here are all Slavs, all their own subjects.
Rurik squeezed the excited Svetlana's wrist, and casually turned to the old Rigus on crutches and Medved who had something to say: "Let everyone disperse, don't delay your own business. . I want to go to the meeting place, and I want to announce some big things quickly."
"Yes." Medved nodded deeply...
The hustle and bustle at the dock soon ended, and a group of people living a leisurely rural life were reluctant to leave for a long time.
The most tiring wheat harvest has ended. Since the Duke exempted everyone from this year's grain tax, all the farms loyal to Ross have accumulated an unprecedented amount of surplus grain.
People with nothing to do squatted or stood chatting about the mountains. They looked at the docked and unloaded ships and discussed how much cargo the ship could carry. They also focused on talking about those beautiful girls.
"The Duke is such an excellent boy. He has too many wives. I'm afraid he will be exhausted." One person murmured.
"Is that so? In my opinion, as a hero, he is far beyond ordinary people. He will take good care of those wives and concubines." Someone else agreed, and then laughed indulgently.
"Haha, it's a pity that I only have an old woman with a rotten face. My little daughter is always dirty and completely different from those girls."
"Speaking of which, except for Ligus's daughter, don't you think the other girls look familiar?"
Someone suddenly reminded me, and the people chatting suddenly became alert. A bald, skinny old man was pulled out, and someone shouted to him: "Brother, I remember that you sold your little daughter who couldn't feed her to the Russians. It seemed that she was a slave. But I heard someone who visited relatives last year revealed that the earliest Ten little girls worked as servants for Lord Rurik. They must have lived a good life."
In the middle of this person's words, someone immediately seemed to have discovered a big secret, "Ah! After the ship docked, in addition to seeing the little daughter of the old man Ligus, there were indeed more than ten girls standing beside the Duke."
"Could it be that they were from a few years ago..."
People continued to whisper to each other, and then they saw that the bald old man had stood up and ran away in a hurry.
At this moment, Rurik has entered his palace in Novgorod, which is also Otto's current residence and is part of the old residence of the Rigus family.
This is a collection of wooden ridges of different sizes. The houses are connected by boardwalks, and some of the boardwalks have continuous rain shelters. There are also low walls and some outbuildings here.
The main body of the building complex has remained unchanged for decades, and Otto has long been accustomed to living here and enjoying himself.
Of course, a brand new palace is under construction, the foundation of the matrix of wooden piles has been built, not only the large wooden poles that form the main frame of the house have been erected, but the most important central beam has also been recently completed.
Rurik sees all this. According to general rationality, the Slavs here have reached the limit of their ability to build houses. However, compared to their hometown in Roseburg, where stonemasons, carpenters and others jointly build houses, they already know how to build multi-story houses. methods of construction.
Building magnificent and tall houses can reflect the majesty of the nobility, the city can become three-dimensional, and life can be more interesting.
When Novgorod's population expands to a certain level, core residents will spontaneously want to build high-rise buildings.
Rurik sat casually in the large wood-carved room used for meetings. The chimney made of clay bricks was smoking, and the fireplace stirred up the dancing flame to warm everyone.
A group of girls sat quietly sideways on the soft deerskin cushions with the Duke they shared. Svetlana was in her natal family's old house. Among the many girls, she was the most relaxed.
Can girls also participate in discussions? Both Rigus and Otto were a little confused. Except for Carlotta, Duchess of Ostara, other girls should be avoided even if they were wives and concubines.
At this meeting, all girls present will officially accept their tasks.
"I see you are building cities at a high speed, which is good. Russia needs several famous cities, and Novgorod must be among them..."
After some polite remarks, Rurik stopped talking. He knocked on the ground and formally announced: "I will start measuring the farmland tomorrow. I will survey the total area of the farmland around Ilmen Lake before next spring plowing, and survey each area." Survey the fields owned by the manor and find out the fields owned by ordinary farmers and boyars!”
Rurik had already revealed this, and Ligus sighed: "It's finally time to start. Sir, this will be a very complicated task. Can you really complete it?"
"What? Are you questioning me?"
"No, no, no, I don't dare." The old guy denied it flatly and scratched his old face again, "But, I have lived here all my life, and I don't even know how many acres the White Tree Manor fell to the ground." He glanced at Otto again , said bluntly: "Over the years, we will pay whatever tribute Lord Otto has asked us to pay."
"That's true, but it's not appropriate. I will make a new rule. The tithe on the fields must be paid. This has nothing to do with the population. There will be as much output as there are fields. I will take one-tenth of the output. In this way, whoever has more farmland will have higher taxes. I have said this and I will implement it now. I have given you enough time to adjust your mentality. "
"This..." Ligus was speechless for a moment, and he wanted to weigh the pros and cons.
They all had an ambiguous attitude. After all, this tax collection model had only recently been implemented in Novorossberg, abandoning the old Russogon uniforms and implementing the new system in Novgorod, a huge agricultural area. It should be a good thing that Rurik has such a firm attitude.
Farmland is currently the most important means of production in the Principality of Ross, and those boyars are the big local landowners. For Rigus, this policy is a kind of plunder of his family.
Since the old guy Ligus was pretending to be confused, Rurik deliberately looked at him, which also made Governor Medved listen.
"On the issue of taxation, you do not enjoy any privileges. Your nobility is given by me, and you must fulfill my orders. On the issue of taxation, you are exactly the same as ordinary people. No matter how much farmland your family has, for example, proportionally Pay the tithe tax. As for how many arable acres your family has, what you report will not count. I will send my close associates to investigate and I will personally participate in the calculation."
Ligus looked at his son Medvet, swallowed deeply and looked at Rurik, "My lord... My lord's decision is wise and powerful. So, have you found all your capable generals? I will cooperate with you steadfastly. If it is insufficient, I will provide it immediately.”
"Very good, you are very smart. Have you seen the girls here? Including your little daughter, they are all talents trained by me personally. They will visit all the farmland, draw what the fields look like, and record what they are like. Who owns the farmland? Calculate the area of the farmland and mark the proportion of grain that should be paid each year."
After a rather professional speech, the Rigus and his son understood part of it, and Medved complained in his heart. After all, according to this new strategy, his family could not be greedy.
The Rigus family has always controlled the owners of the manor, relying on their accumulated property and their decades-long relationship with the Rus' conquerors. Of course White Tree Manor has to pay tribute. Who will pay tribute? Ordinary people paid tribute, and the manor owner's family pretended to pay tribute. When the time came to pay tribute, their share was stuffed back into the warehouse.
In the past, Rigus was just the tax collector of the White Tree Manor that Otto canonized, but there was no official document to confirm it.
Ligus did the same thing, and other boyar nobles did the same thing.
On the contrary, it is the farms in remote areas. Because they are isolated from the world, those Slavs live a harmonious life. The so-called native landowners and nobles do not exist. There are no class differences there, and only one or two are elected by the people. If so, the person in charge will be the village chief.
The latter's rural model seems harmonious. If they had been isolated from the world, they could have lived like this for a thousand years, living their stagnant life in a cramped place forever. But the Russian conquerors have directly ruled here, and the conquest and expansion in all directions centered on Lake Ilmen has begun.
A group of girls became scribes, and Ella was the head scribe.
This was the first time Rigus had learned this term. Neither he nor Medved understood it, but they were very happy to learn that their little daughter would be a scribe.
Why? The beautiful daughter became a very wise person, indeed nobler than other people.
But after hearing Rurik's next introduction, they began to doubt their knowledge again.
Look at the ten girls here, are they the same dirty little girls who were given away back then? Rigus was shocked!
After all, Otto asked him to hand over a group of little girls for him to choose from, so-called slaves to be taken back as domestic servants. How could Gus be willing to do this? A group of dirty little girls were pulled out, and Otto selected ten to take away.
"These children, are they? Impossible! They have all become fairies."
Rurik wanted to laugh when he heard this, and said, "This is their fate. They are all from your White Tree Manor. Now they are loyal to me and will do anything for me. They are all smart, but you don't know .”
"Oh, that must be God's will." Ligus hurriedly laughed.
Rurik nodded and began to read their names one by one.
"Anna Ryurikovitch Mednova, Bela Ryurikovitch Mednova..." he read all the way to the tenth-year-old Yulia.
As soon as the name is read, the corresponding girl starts talking. The most powerful person in the Ligus farm in front of him is now as humble as a docile little sheep in front of Lord Rurik.
On the other hand, she is Lord Rurik's woman, she will do things for him, give birth to him, and then become a noble...
The humble farmer's daughter who was sold by her parents now returns to her hometown as a noble. What kind of scenery is this?
All the girls present were required to participate in farmland surveying. Liuli ordered them to do their job well and not to be sloppy just because this was their natal farm. He even warned sternly: "If you stop slandering and manipulate the statistics, don't blame me." Ruthless. Anyone who dares to harm my interests will be hanged, even my woman cannot do such a thing!"
Feeling comfortable, they suddenly tightened their muscles, and Ryuri made them swear in public, which meant that all the girls solemnly declared their absolute loyalty.
At this glance, Ligus felt for the first time that his little daughter had become so strange...
Rurik wanted to give Rigus and Medved authority and make them avoid arrogance and impetuosity and act in full compliance with Duke Ross's requirements.
This is just the beginning.
"I will hold a general meeting of all boyars here, and the news will soon reach the ears of all farm owners. What I announced today will be announced again. Anyone who dares to disobey will be arrested immediately, and his family's wealth will be confiscated!"
Rurik was so determined and ruthless. Otto admired his son very much. This boy was a hundred times more manly than himself. As for Rigus and Medved, the soles of their feet were already covered in cold sweat...
A burst of noise outside spread to the inner hall, and Rurik, who had finished the discussion, noticed the noise.
After a while, someone hurriedly came to report: "Many farmers are standing outside. They have something to ask for."
"Let them all leave and disperse!" Ligus shouted with a frown.
Rurik signaled: "Ask them what they want to do. I am the Duke and I want to know."
"Yes." Medved stood up and went to investigate in person.
Soon he hurried back.
"What's going on?" Rurik asked impatiently: "You are running loudly. What big thing makes you so panicked?"
Medved glanced at the girls, then looked at Rurik, "These are the wives and concubines of the Lord. They...their biological parents are outside the door, and they want to see their girls."
"Is there such a thing? How do they know this?" Rurik was suddenly startled, and the girls also raised their chests. They didn't speak, but their eyes could speak. They all looked at Rurik.
"Hey, it's human nature, you are all looking forward to it." Rurik thought carefully and waved his hands, "Anna, Bella, Sisia...Yuliya." He took the trouble to accurately read each girl's gift. Name: "Go see your parents and tell them that your life is good. As for whether they beg you to do something, I'll say it before, that won't work. You all go. Medved, take the people To maintain order.”
"As commanded."
The heavy wooden door opened, and a group of fairies walked out, escorted by Slavic warriors who closely imitated Russian warriors.
The girls pulled off their burqas and glanced at the farmers and women. They still remembered the faces of their parents and their names in their hometown. After confirming, they walked over with tears...
Even if his parents abandon him, maybe this is his fate. They don't hate their parents, or they don't care about hatred anymore, and they don't want to be rootless duckweeds.
The parents hugged their daughter, whom they had not seen for many years, and their tears were sincere at this moment.
However, they are already strangers, and the sincere tears can only be felt at this moment...
