A special sled team was set up in a surprise attack, and Rurik selected twenty people from his mercenary team and ten people from the local residents of New Roseburg.
Some of them are old Rus people from the fjords, and there are also a group of people from Lake Mälaren.
Rurik held a small banquet in his palace for these people who were about to travel, eating roast venison and drinking ale with them.
He held the glass high and walked in the hall and said: "This year we will launch a large-scale immigration. Before that, people in our hometown must know about it. By April, the ice and snow in New Roseburg will melt and the bay will become suitable for navigation. We will The fleet will return to the Rossberg Fjord as quickly as possible, and I will ship the wheat seeds as quickly as possible. Brothers, your task is very important. I want you to deliver the letter to Harold Zuosen and the great merchant Gur In the hands of Germany. When I arrive at Tombstone Island, I will see that a large number of wheat seeds must have been placed..."
He stated the importance of the mission and described a grand scene of overwhelming golden wheat fields. In particular, I want to tell you that this is not a dream. As long as the information is delivered in time, starting from the golden autumn, in the years to come, everyone can turn into a fat elephant seal due to eating too much wheat.
The following adjective made everyone laugh.
A slightly drunk man showed his slightly black teeth and shouted: "Sir, we are fighting with our lives! This is a cold expedition."
"Oh? Does that mean anyone is afraid?"
"Afraid? We have nothing to fear." It's the same person, "It's just that there are risks..."
Rurik guessed that someone would hint at something, so he announced in public: "You can rest assured. I promise thirty of you to bring letters and a batch of goods to your hometown as quickly as possible, and each of you will receive 50 silver coins." Don't worry, I know how difficult it is, so I will give you food for the fifteen-day journey and oats for feeding the reindeer. Don't think that this is just a simple letter delivery task. I need your achievements to prove one thing. , is to open up a winter ice and snow transportation line so that Rosberg and Novgorod can be connected."
They heard it half-understood, thinking that this would be a great trip.
The prince always kept his promise. Just for the task of reporting the news, he could earn half a pound of silver coins, and he didn't have to pay for food himself. It was a bit bitter, but the sweetness was yet to come. Especially the mercenaries, they know best that for the greater benefit, they need to make new achievements in front of the prince.
Rurik was not chosen randomly, and the best among the mercenaries had the right to participate.
The men selected by the residents of New Roseburg are not actually strong, but they know the routes in warm periods very well. Even if the sea is frozen now, there is no doubt about their control of the routes. When they were young, they rowed to Novgorod for the first time with Otto, but now they are so old that they are not even qualified to join the Second Flag Team. They still have important value, that is, the old horse knows the way.
Rurik personally determined a route for the messenger and wrote some letters in traditional script on paper. In particular, a special document was handed over to the left-behind governor Harold Johnson, who was allowed to take out silver coins from the "treasury" to pay the messenger. A piece of paper had the meaning of a silver note.
He even drew maps for the sled team, and the Gulf of Bothnia, the Gulf of Finland, the Åland Islands, the Great Peninsula and the Land of the East of Finland were all clearly marked.
There are some nouns written on the map, which are the places where the sled team can get supplies. For example, the first supply point you will encounter during the journey, Helsinki, is not far away as long as you walk along the frozen coast. Instead of an endless journey along the frozen coast, the team arrives at Tombstone Island in the frozen Åland archipelago, and all is well. Because when they continue to go north, they will definitely meet a group of experts who dig through the ice to fish and catch seals.
This will not be a lonely journey. Being able to meet some people from my hometown along the way will certainly eliminate the fear of ice, snow and freezing to death.
The climate is still cold, the branches covered with ice and snow are ready to move, and the grass seeds on the ground under the snow are about to germinate.
Southern Europe is already a scene full of spring, and the entire Eastern Roman Empire has even completed their spring plowing.
In the Nordic world, you can still see the vast snow and the frozen sea.
The sleigh team received the order and prepared to set off. Thirty of them were divided into ten sleighs, and as many as forty reindeer were responsible for pulling them.
Rurik hoped that they could complete the task as soon as possible and had spent a lot of money on logistics. Fortunately, the warehouse in New Roseburg had enough supplies to cope with the excessive consumption required by Rurik.
The sleds hauled a large load of oats, which were the deer's ration.
People's rations consisted of a lot of oatmeal cakes mixed with wheat and pickled venison and fish jerky.
What awaits them is a thousand-kilometer expedition, which is very dangerous from any angle. Exactly like this, a large amount of rations, dry charcoal blocks for fire, and materials for quickly building a tent were fully prepared.
The most critical letters were placed in a suitcase, along with a batch of freeze-dried squirrel skins as special cargo.
The main ships of the huge Ross fleet are still trapped in the ice and snow, and the ice is like shackles. They are firmly anchored in the frozen Neva River.
A small team of sleighs prepared to move forward, each with a mast and a Russian flag. This makes the team look quite impressive, ensures that everyone can see each other and avoid getting lost, and can also explain their identities to the settlements along the way.
The team set off, heading towards the frozen Gulf of Finland under the watch of thousands of people.
Rurik and his wife stood on the frozen dock, watching them gradually turn into dots on the ice field.
People took off their hats and cheered, and all they said were words of blessing.
"I always feel like the ice is about to melt. Will they be able to arrive smoothly?" Svetlana asked worriedly.
"They will, they will. Lanna..." Rurik murmured.
"Well."
"We should also prepare and do the next thing as soon as possible. We need to return to Novgorod quickly and bring a large number of immigrants there. This matter cannot be delayed."
A larger sled team is being prepared, and the whole of New Roseburg is bustling again.
Some of the early settlers wanted to leave the city and go further east. Everyone knew that Novgorod had more suitable fields for farming, but the land on both sides of the Neva River in Novorosberg was not bad either. When an immigrant has nothing, or has not yet settled down in a certain area, and then sets off to settle in a possibly better area, he will not have many worries in his heart. As the saying goes, you are not afraid of wearing shoes when you are barefoot.
However, the early immigrants reclaimed the land and signed a contract with Prince Rurik. Are they still eligible to immigrate now?
Once the Rus became farmers, they became, like no other, bound to the land itself. They have not lost their pioneering spirit, but no one will boldly give up the land they have cultivated and cultivated for many years, and are unwilling to take the risk of delaying farming and cultivate in new areas, unless the prince provides some kind of guarantee.
Rurik does not provide a minimum guarantee mechanism for old immigrants. Of course, old immigrants can buy and sell land freely, and the buyers only need to pay taxes every year. It's just that when the old immigrants went to Novgorod, they shouldn't think about getting developed mature fields. Instead, Rurik would naturally welcome the idea of logging and opening up new fields.
Only all the Ostara people who stayed in New Roseburg, they determined the total number of men, women, old and young (infant children were also included) under the personal count of Duchess Carlotta.
The Ostara people are indeed not too rich. Although there are a group of female tribesmen among them, more of them are men who are married to their wives.
People from various tribes often don't worry about which tribe they belong to. They don't even have surnames. It is a great honor to be able to remember the names of their grandparents.
Ordinary people live a difficult life, so those who are not destroyed by life are the strong ones who have experienced it, which objectively makes the Varyag people's overall fighting ability tenacious. If you find a more livable environment and there are no shackles on you, immigrating with your family is a good choice.
In recent years, life in my hometown in Scandinavia has become increasingly difficult.
Carlotta knew full well that her men were a group of Hjärmalen and Gran people. It doesn't matter, everyone has moved to the East, which is further away than the Eastern Land. They have broken away from each other and Sweden, and the merger with the powerful Ross has also eliminated all passive disputes.
The reason why more than 600 tribesmen are willing to accept Carlotta's leadership is not simply because she is the woman of the Prince of Rus, but also because she solemnly announced something - she will be a mother, and the child in her belly will be a boy.
People naturally welcome a male leader, and it is purely expedient for a woman to be the leader, and Carlotta knows this.
"We will move to the hardest part of Lake Ilmen in Novgorod. The environment there is very similar to our hometown. It is warmer, there are abundant water and grass for us to raise cattle, and there are fertile fields for us to grow wheat seeds. Flax. There are no dangerous enemies there, and the people nearby are our allies. We can all live in freedom."
Compared to the Russians, the Ostara people have the most urgent desire for a stable life.
The first group of Ostara families to immigrate began to publicly sell their cultivated farmland, and the selling price was the expected five-year wheat output of the fields. These people did not cultivate a large area of land, and they were a little far away from the city. Those fields were not fertile and did not produce much wheat. Perhaps the only advantage was that they were concentrated and connected as a whole, which made it easier for early immigrants to cultivate and sell them now.
The estimated output in five years is used as the selling price. The Ostara people plan to leave all, and all the land they have cultivated will be sold. In total, they have cultivated nearly ten hectares of land. Since it is a new field, the yield per hectare has not even reached 1,500 pounds. They do still have great development value, but the price given by the Ostara people is equivalent to nearly 60,000 pounds of oats, or 60 pounds of silver coins.
The ordinary Russian immigrants here now were originally the disadvantaged people in Roseburg back then, so they had the courage to make a desperate move to immigrate. They are indeed weak, and they have not even enjoyed the dividends of the wars in the Principality of Ross over the years, but only the dividends of survival and security.
What family can afford at present sixty pounds of silver at once? Even if the purchasing power of silver decreases due to the influx of huge amounts of hot money into Russian society, the sixty-pound silver coin is still a huge sum of money. This price is basically enough for the shipyard to build a complete "Mercury-class Sail Destroyer".
Who can afford to buy a field of this size at such a price?
Rurik has already given the departure time for the brothers of the First Banner Corps and the immigrants from Ostara. At that time, more than a thousand people will board a huge sleigh team and go straight to Novgorod with all kinds of belongings. .
It was a peaceful night. Rurik, who had had enough wine and food, was about to go to bed early. Carlotta pursed her lips and hurriedly asked to see him.
The guard made the announcement as usual, and when he heard it was Carlotta, an embarrassing thought came to Rurik's mind.
"Lana, look. Your sister is here. It seems that tonight..."
Jealousy suddenly arose in Svetlana's heart, but she still had to smile on her face: "I understand. I will avoid it tonight. It doesn't matter if I sleep alone."
She stood up and scurried away.
After a moment, Carlotta approached her man.
"Is there something serious?" Rurik raised his head, first moved the table with minced meat, wiped his hands with a cloth, and asked her to sit close to him.
She understood the situation and followed the order. Unexpectedly, her man suddenly turned over and pinned her down, and skillfully lifted up her robe with one hand.
Rurik stared into her eyes with a smile: "One more time before departure? I ate stewed deer blood, and my whole body was full of strength."
"Don't!"
"Huh? What's wrong?"
"I actually..." Carlotta smiled kindly, "I already have it."
"We succeeded?!" Rurik sat up suddenly, "If you didn't tell me earlier, I almost did something stupid." After that, he patted his heart again: "It's probably a boy, it must be a boy! That's it! It's up to you. You...are you here to tell me this specifically?"
"Yes! No." She slowly stood up, patted her cheeks and tried to regain her serious expression: "It's about the farmland."
"Oh, that side of Novgorod? That gentle land is yours, and I will do what I say."
"It's New Roseburg. I'm here today...to represent the 600 men, women, and children in Ostara to find a good buyer for our land."
(She described the field on hand, its approximate area and the price offered)
Originally, Carlotta thought that her man would be happily reunited, but unexpectedly, what she saw was indeed his frown.
"What? The price I gave is too high?" she asked cautiously.
"Not high."
"Why are you hesitating? If...you don't buy it, who can afford it? Do I have to wait until the people from Roseburg come to sell them? Rurik, I beg you to buy it quickly Come on! This way our immigrants will have no worries."
Purchasing the newly reclaimed land of the Ostara people was not part of Rurik's plan. Theoretically, the more land directly under the jurisdiction of the prince, the better. However, the current situation is quite special.
Rurik wants to cultivate farmland in the Novgorod region, and the focus of agriculture will be here.
Based on the current agricultural conditions, New Roseburg is not suitable for vigorously developing agriculture. It is more suitable to develop animal husbandry, fishery, and even other handicrafts, shipbuilding and other industries.
These are the fundamental reasons. Secondly, Rurik is very self-aware. He bought the acres here but has no energy to cultivate them.
But wait! There is still a big turning point here!
Rurik had an idea and gradually laughed out loud.
Anxious Carlotta asked hurriedly: "Have you thought about it?"
"I've thought about it."
"So, when can I get the silver coins?"
"No." Rurik looked into Carlotta's eyes again: "I won't buy it myself. I can find a buyer for you right now."
"who is it?"
"Of course it's Aslaqi. My dear, you want to revive your tribe, and she wants to revive her family industry. She bought the land, and you all benefited."
"fair enough."
Rurik nodded: "If there is nothing more important, you can go back and tell your tribe now. Carlotta, it seems that Freya has answered your prayer. I will not touch you in the following days." Body. You will give birth to the child safely in the new world of Novgorod."
"That's fine." Carlotta smiled with tears in her eyes, stood up, stuffed a few pieces of Rurik's leftover meat into her mouth, and ran away happily.
Rurik breathed a sigh of relief, grinned and shouted, "You can come out now. Lana, I knew you didn't really leave."
Svetlana emerged from the darkness and clung to her husband very skillfully.
"You heard it all."
"Yes." She said, "Sister Carlotta finally fulfilled her dream, I..."
"You better not think about it in a few years, but Regraf can be given to you to raise."
"Me?" Lana was startled and opened her clear eyes.
"This child lost his biological mother as soon as he was born. You are my queen, and you should learn how to be a mother in advance. When this child is weaned, you will raise him. In the future, he will become the king of Mercia, and he will still be willing to call you It’s the foster mother.”
Think of poor Mary, poor Regrave. Svetlana, who has always been well protected by her natal family, did not expect that there would be such a pitiful aristocrat as Princess Mary. She did not dislike Mary at all and planned to learn how to please men from her. It's a pity that everyone has his own destiny.
She felt compassion and agreed to this royal order.
