The armed merchant fleet headed west, and Blue Fox, along with his sailors and guards, returned to Hedebe Port quite smoothly.
The triangular sail is quite unique, and the Ross flag with white background and blue stripes is unobtrusively displayed on the top of the mast.
By now, all the merchants in Hedeby knew that the new shop selling strange and good things belonged to the Russians. Do businessmen have the obsession of warriors? We are all businessmen, and making profits from buying and selling things is above all else.
In fact, the Blue Fox did not reveal his identity immediately. It was not until the death of the old Danish King Hafgen was confirmed that he showed his flag.
The businessmen were surprised at first, and then they were delighted.
Because the Ross people are just doing business in Hedebe, they are a newly emerging powerful tribe. Businessmen are generally thinking that maybe they can make more profits by rowing directly to the Ross people's territory for direct trade.
The prosperous bay city is in front of you. The sunshine at noon is bright and clear. Standing on the bow of the ship, the blue fox can have a panoramic view of the entire city.
However, the city's buildings are too messy, there are no city walls, and the roads are winding and full of stench.
This is a good place to do business, but it is obviously not suitable for settling down.
Blue Fox's appetite has long been cultivated. He has seen the cleanliness of Novorosberg and Novgorod. Looking at Hedebe, why does it feel like there are garbage nests everywhere?
"Brothers, please pay attention, we are about to disembark. Protect our cargo, if someone is violent just now, kill them!"
Everyone roared when they heard it, and they also pulled out their steel daggers and raised their steel spears.
Three armed cargo ships entered the small dock occupied and built by Blue Fox. He saw clearly that six armed cargo ships were neatly arranged here.
The sailor riding on the mast shouted down: "Sir! It must be Eric and the others! They have come back first."
The blue fox took another closer look and couldn't help laughing.
The mercenaries who stayed on duty at the dock saw the unique triangular sail from a distance, and the lazy people hurriedly gathered, first to disperse a group of beggars, and secondly to line up to catch the cable and do all the work.
Blue Fox once again stood at the pier of Hedeby. He saw a lot of traditional long boats docked on the coast, and the open-air market on the seaside was also bustling with people.
The goods began to be unloaded, and a large number of squirrel skins that had not yet been tanned but were dried and bundled were unloaded.
Now that Ross Merchant is here again, there must be more good stuff!
Small traders began to come over. They saw the angry-eyed warriors who did not dare to act rashly, and they were trembling with excitement when they saw the incredible amount of leather.
Because any kind of leather is hard currency in Haizebi, not to mention these large gray-red squirrel skins, which are definitely hot sellers!
Some men mainly make a living by helping merchants carry goods. Blue Fox easily recruited a group of daily coolies and asked them to carry the goods back to the warehouse of Ross Shop under the supervision of guards.
It seemed that everything was going in an orderly manner, but something unexpected happened.
A group of young boys suddenly rushed out, carrying broken blades and running towards the people carrying the leather.
Chaos broke out suddenly, onlookers were ducking and women were screaming. Three coolies were stabbed down, and a bundle of goods was picked up by the attackers...
This is seeking death! There are always some bandits who are desperate!
"I expected something like this to happen." Blue Fox felt like his face was being slapped by Hadeby's wild bandits. He roared and ordered: "Kill me! Leave me alive!"
The mercenaries no longer have a money-employment relationship. We are not just doing things for Blue Fox. Prince Ross is our biggest financial backer. When everyone gets old and can no longer be warriors, then they will go to the prince's territory and become farmers.
The mercenaries, who were armed with elite weapons and had actually killed people, used their methods cleanly and neatly. Many of the attackers' heads fell to the ground, and some were knocked to the ground and captured directly.
There were also attackers who succeeded, holding a bundle of leather and running away. Soon after, a javelin flew over, directly piercing through and killing them immediately.
Dead bodies and blood sacrifices lay scattered on the ground. A group of frightened people now gathered around to watch, pointing at the attackers who didn't open their eyes.
Only one person was captured. This person's legs were broken and he was pulled in front of the blue fox.
"You! Who are you? How dare you attack me? I wonder if this will lead to death?"
Blue Fox thought that this person would be so tough-talking, but he never thought that this kid would cry and wailed: "It was Karl the Gray Wolf who asked me to do it. He...he said that the people of Russia are rich, and brothers will get rich if they steal a vote."
"Karl the Gray Wolf? Didn't this villain freeze to death in the winter? Damn it, the city that fell to the ground was a free city. Did it give this guy a chance?"
After complaining, Blue Fox asked again: "Are you just robbing us? You dare to rob us openly. Are you stupid or are you stupid?"
"Ugh...it's all Karl asked us to do, and there's nothing I can do about it. Karl gave me food and clothing, otherwise I would have frozen to death."
"That's why you became a loyal dog! Silly boy, you were taken advantage of. It doesn't matter..." Blue Fox felt that there was no need to ask anymore, and gave the mercenary a look, and then chopped off the man's head with a sharp sword.
The sudden violence was apparent to John Invall on deck. Now he is no longer afraid of this kind of violence. He saw the mercenaries loyal to Ross chopping melons and vegetables to kill the attackers in a completely safe place. He watched those blind guys being killed and couldn't help but cross his chest.
The body was thrown directly into the sea and allowed to be eaten by swimming fish, leaving pools of blood on the dock. When it rained at night, all traces were washed away.
The onlookers did not make a fuss. This is a free city-state. There is no sanction for murder and robbery. Killing the attacker is an act of justice.
Blue Fox didn't take it to heart at all when encountering an attack. After all, Hedeby was such an uneven place.
Behind the abundance of residents there are also rampant bandits. There is absolute freedom here, and no one says it is worthy of everyone's admiration. It was fine when Chief Godfrey was around a long time ago, and the situation during King Hafgen's reign was not as bad as it is now.
Today, the city's security is still deteriorating. Even if a man named Horik has settled in the north of the peninsula, Hedebe is already at risk.
Blue Fox returned to the mansion and immediately contacted Old Eric who arrived first. They exchanged glasses of wine and talked about business matters, and then they talked about big events.
Little Eric explained the latest situation on behalf of his old father: "Brother, the world is not peaceful recently. Some bad news is spreading. A man named Horik Klarsson claims to be the King of Denmark, and the messenger asks Hedebe to surrender. Pay tribute.”
"Is there such a thing? Is this... related to the attack on me at the dock today?" Blue Fox has realized that things have become complicated.
Little Eric hesitated: "It shouldn't matter, but those businessmen are very scared. You know, no one wants their own interests to be harmed."
"Horik Klarsson? What is this? A shameless unknown." Blue Fox bared his teeth and muttered viciously: "I have almost all the prince's wealth in my hands. That guy dares to take away our etiquette, just pick a Let’s start a war!”
"Yes! But Denmark has been at war with Rus and Sweden. It's just that it has nothing to do with the merchants of Hedeby. We also have a large number of Saxon merchants here, some Frank merchants, and you can even see people from Pomerania Slave traders in Asia. There is also a special large building, which is the Frankish temple."
"That's the monastery." Blue Fox pointed out the clear name, and then said: "Speaking of which, the prince knows a lot about this monastery. His Excellency also wrote a letter, entrusting me to deliver it to the name of the monastery there. For the Eskil guys…”
"This...I don't understand." Little Eric was confused. "Do you still have an interest in those Frank monks? My father and I have no interest at all."
"It doesn't matter to me, I just want to complete the mission."
"That's fine. Brother, you're a little late. I want to tell you good news. The sales of goods this year are really good. Ironware, leather, hahaha..."
Ironware and leather have always been popular goods in Hedebe, because there is no proven iron ore in Denmark, and the local small animals have been hunted to death. The Russians came with a large amount of urgently needed goods, which is easing the contradiction between supply and demand.
Of course, objectively it also spawned local gangs and robbers who were eyeing Rose's leather.
Speaking of leather, Blue Fox was even more happy. He deliberately asked his little brother: "The prince got a lot of squirrel skins in the East. Can you guess the quantity?"
"A game? I came to see a lot of leather coming into the warehouse. They all seemed to be squirrel skins. I've never seen so many in my life. Ten thousand of them, I guess."
"Only ten thousand?"
"What? I said less? Then it's twenty thousand."
"No!" Blue Fox looked up to the sky and laughed: "There are as many as 30,000 large squirrel skins, as well as some mink and fox skins. The Duke ordered that we must sell them. He also said that the price can be lowered appropriately. We must make a big fortune this year." It is best to exchange all the windfall into silver coins. Because the prince said that he needs silver coins very much now."
Hearing Blue Fox's description, Eric and his son were so excited that their hearts trembled.
Old Eric trembled and asked: "Prince, do you only want silver coins?"
"There are also slaves. We will buy all the slaves in Hedeby this year and transport them all to New Roseburg. For completing these tasks, the prince will give us great benefits."
Both of Blue Fox's sisters married this little Eric. Now that the sisters have given birth to children, Blue Fox has become an uncle.
He also has a family, but he did not get married. He kept several beloved concubines and placed them in Hedeby. They worked as maids on weekdays, but now they were doing business with their masters.
John Invall, he has been in the territory of the Ross people for two years and has experienced too many things. He has extremely complicated feelings for this Haizebi.
The merchants exchanged cups and cups, and John Ingvar was actually qualified to participate in it. He even asked Blue Fox for a maid to have a good time.
But this is already a sacred realm! You can indulge yourself in the north, but you must be self-disciplined here.
The flame of an oil lamp was flickering, and it was raining outside. John Invall was alone in the wooden house, kneeling on the floor to pray and repent to God.
Yes, he did want to repent and find his teacher Eskil in person to do the confession ceremony, even if he still felt that the guy had evil intentions towards him.
That’s okay too…
John Ingvar respected Eskil, and that man saved him, so...
He covered his back yard and planned to bring some of Ross's specialty seal oil with him. In fact, he has always been voluntary, and he does have a big psychological problem.
The next day, the Russian people hung up flags all over the public upper floors, and sold large quantities of dried squirrel skins.
What's the price? Blue Fox adheres to the prince's request that the price can be lower. It uses last year's price as a reference and comprehensively reduces the price of the squirrel skins with the largest number.
The price was fixed at two silver coins per skin, and there was no room for negotiation.
This price is cheap, it can only be a little cheaper. He Kuan's leather is dried in the sun, and the buyer has to go through tanning treatment after buying it back.
Huge quantities of squirrel skins can be transported to Roseburg's hometown and fully reformed, and then made into finished clothing and tools on the spot. At the beginning, Rurik also planned to bring leather back to his hometown. Due to the large-scale immigration project, leather processing work had to be strategically suspended.
A large amount of raw materials for the leather industry were sold to Hedebe. It was a good thing that the price was lower. The amount of leather provided by the Russians was astonishing, and the merchants were already excited.
Blue Fox has always been a guest of the Hedebe Commercial Guild, but now the big businessmen have come to Ross's shop in large numbers, and they spend a lot of money to buy leather.
Old Eric was temporarily in charge of the local sales work, and he and the guys were working harder than ever before.
A large number of silver coins began to be credited to their accounts, and the father and son even predicted that when the Eastern goods shipped by Blue Fox were sold out, as many as 70,000 silver coins might be credited to their accounts!
Of course, while the spendthrift businessman liked to buy high-quality leather, he also kept asking where the fat blue fox had gone.
The so-called business president simply sent an invitation: "We are going to hold a new business meeting. If Lord Blue Fox arrives late or doesn't arrive, everything will be meaningless. Maybe we should respect Lord Blue Fox as our president." "
This was a big move, but Blue Fox and John Ingvar went to the Frankish monastery early in the morning with a group of guards.
What else could Old Eric say? Blue Fox said that no one else could interfere with today's affairs, so he lied: "Master Blue Fox spends too much energy on women after working hard on the boat and traveling. He will go to the meeting after he has rested."
This explanation made the businessmen laugh. After thinking about it for a moment, it was indeed true.
In fact, the blue fox had already stood in front of the monastery.
Esquier has always used Hedeby as his base to spread his faith to the north. He took in orphans here and trained them into devout believers. Among them, he couldn't help but enjoy the handsome ones.
He was stipulated by the commandments not to be close to women, so he found other ways to satisfy his needs. He formed a choir but had an affair with every boy in it.
This kind of thing was tacitly allowed, and he was recognized by Rome as the next Archbishop of Bremen. This hobby of his was known to the distinguished priests in each diocese. so what? This is true for everyone. What's more, the "favored" young priests are usually reused as confidants in the future. Esquier will cultivate these young priests who are specially cared for. They may be the bishops of various regions. He feels that what he has done is quite benevolent.
An army suddenly stood at the otherwise deserted doorway.
The little priest who got up early opened the door and welcomed the fresh sunshine after the rain. What he saw was the army!
The little priest rushed back in a hurry, and a moment later the surprised Esquier hurriedly came out holding a wooden staff.
He was terrified, fearing that bandits would attack him. Because those are gangsters! The gangsters did not care that the coat of arms of the Count of Hamburg was deliberately hung on the door of the monastery.
Because the monastery legally belonged to the Diocese of Hamburg, administratively the Count of Hamburg was granted administrative rights by Prince Ludwig. The smart local people did not dare to cause trouble in this monastery. Businessmen, big and small, cherished their own interests, and those who were related to their interests did not want to provoke the anger of the Franks.
Besides, no one thought that this poor-looking stone spire monastery had any wealth. After all, the group of Frankish monks wore black robes every day and traveled around preaching and calling on everyone to live as ascetic lives. They had nothing to do with splendor and nobility.
It is true that Christian monks in this era practiced asceticism and had to eat light meals. Even this monastery was severely lacking in gold and silver utensils, which was different from other monasteries.
Eskil has learned basic Danish, and he walked out with about fifty followers, intending to dissuade this group of villains who were looking for money.
Unexpectedly, just as he was about to speak, he suddenly saw the armed man on the opposite side showing the flag.
"Ah?! You are from Russia!" Eskil felt incredible.
At this moment, John Ingvar, who had changed back to his robes, emerged from the crowd. Although he had not seen him for more than two years, his face shape had not changed much, and his beard had been shaved clean with a sharp dagger.
Eskil recognized his student at a glance: "John! It's you. I actually see you again, oh God, you are the most merciful."
Eskil was busy making the sign of the cross, which made the blue fox speechless.
No, Blue Fox also spoke: "Esquier, I am the special envoy confirmed by Lord Rurik, Prince of Rus, and I want to send you John Invar and the autographed letter."
"Is...is that so? Is your master already planning to accept our sacred faith? Oh, that must be the case."
Eskil looked at the rising sun and then at the people in front of him, feeling that all this was God's arrangement. No matter how scary the armed men in front of you are, they are all lost lambs, and they can all be converted, and they can even be baptized today.
There's also the return of dear John Invall, and the kid looks even more handsome.
"Quick! My distant friends, enter the monastery, and we will discuss everything in detail inside!"
Eskil was so confident that he was asked to end his current job in 840 and officially go to Bremen to become archbishop.
The time given to Eskil seems to be a lot but is actually not much. He will not hesitate to seize all the time. If he can influence the very young and handsome Prince Rurik in a few years, it will be his greatest and greatest glory.
