From Kotlin Island to the mouth of the Neva River, a huge area is covered by a solid ice floe.
The ice was more than half a meter thick, and large ships anchored in the port were firmly trapped by the ice. A large number of rowing boats were pushed directly to the shore and fixed to wooden piles with cables.
Strips are covered with snow, and the towering wooden walls are covered with ice. The entire city looks like an ice sculpture, standing in the bay of the North.
The sun was shining brightly on the ice, and the teams running wildly on the ice generally wore sunglasses to shield them.
The team marched forcefully under the sun, and the whole scene was indescribably poetic.
It is no secret that the prince will personally participate in this year's Hanukkah. As the festival approaches, the people of Novorosberg are already ready to welcome visitors from Novgorod.
But before that, a group of guests from the direction of Roseburg's hometown had already arrived at the port with supplies before the sea completely froze. Even after the sea froze, there were still sporadic sled teams transporting goods for sale.
In terms of permanent population, Novorosberg is second only to Novgorod. Due to the arrival of a group of merchants and hunters, the city's population exceeded 8,000 on the eve of the festival.
Eight thousand people living together is considered a big city?
Indeed, in a residential complex built a thousand years later, several rows of "pigeon cages" hundreds of meters high can even swallow tens of thousands of people. Although the Principality of Rus now has the ability to build high-rise buildings, at best only wealthy people like the prince can afford to build three- and four-story wooden lofts. Some of the resident wealthy people did build a lot of construction in New Roseburg, and three-story wood-cut ridges with herringbone storage rooms began to appear in large numbers.
High-rise buildings are limited to the urban areas within the walls, and outside the walls are large areas of wooden houses.
The expansion of the city is entirely a pie-spreading model, but even so, there are still a number of open spaces remaining in the city.
Therefore, the first impression Kagan gave to the Kingdom of Princess Rose was her hugeness.
A huge city must have a lot of treasures, and it can house a huge population in the extremely cold north. The Russians must have their brilliance. He desperately hoped to buy some treasures in the city, especially good salt.
The city wall is in sight, and a dense cluster of woodcarvings appears on the south bank of the frozen river. A large number of people walk out of their houses and wave to the team.
The whole group slowed down, and Kagan took the opportunity to tug on the reins and drive his horse into Rurik's sleigh.
"My lord, are the prices you set absolutely stable?"
"You? What do you want to buy in the city?" Rurik asked loudly in excitement.
"Salt!"
"Salt? One pound of silver and ten pounds of good salt. Buy as much as you like! Just don't be too showy in the market. You have to remember that you are visitors, and there are also a group of foreign visitors in the market. You are all warriors, Qian Don’t get into any disputes with others, because if something happens, I won’t favor you.”
Kagan agreed wholeheartedly, but when he thought about it carefully, the prince's words were a bit strange.
There are many foreign visitors in the market. Could it be that the place where I am is still not the northern end of the world.
How big is this world?
The team finally reached the end of the journey. After hearing the news, Governor Conuson and his son gathered the militiamen who patrolled the city to dress up, and then led a group of people to gather at the frozen dock to welcome the prince's return.
A pregnant woman with a swollen belly is wearing a deerskin robe and a huge antlered helmet on her head.
She was dressed like a wild elf in the forest, her youthful face slightly hidden by her rugged clothing. She was more anxious than the others and gathered at the dock with the team of priests she had trained.
Rumia is still the same Rumia, and she must serve as the high priest of Hanukkah this year, even though her second child is about to be born, which makes the current activities very inconvenient.
It had been several months since she had seen the prince, and as a noble person, she felt extremely lonely. Her daughter and the prince were both in Novgorod, and the two cities were not far away. However, her responsibilities dictated that she could not leave.
She houses the amber-encrusted staff of the former high priest, a sacred relic of the duchy and a testament to her nobility.
Surrounding the high priest stood more than a dozen lower-level priests wearing plain clothes and white fox fur hats, as well as a distinguished deputy, Lumi, the daughter of Chief Kewen.
She saw a tall and handsome young man stepping off the sled surrounded by many cavalry. To be honest, Rumia was shocked to see a large number of Ross warriors on horseback.
Not just her, the onlookers never dreamed that the principality actually had a cavalry force. What a dream! War horses are generally wrapped in white cloth sewn with blue stripes, which seems to keep the horses warm. The riders wear Russian uniforms and all hold Russian flags.
Hunting with flags on the ice, horses and deer wearing rough clothes, the cavalry in the sun has a sense of pressure like a hill. In fact, it is the tall and strong Nordic men riding tall Turkic horses that give people absolute strength feeling.
A man stepped out of the majestic team, becoming a mighty background, which further highlighted the powerful strength of Prince Rurik.
The governor and his son, who were trembling under the pressure of the powerful aura, walked cautiously and couldn't help but ask about the origin of the cavalry.
"This? This is my achievement in Novgorod in the past few months. I tell you, our cavalry will be more and more. When the boys in Novorosberg grow up, I will recruit a group of people Become a cavalryman and enrich our army's land combat strength." Rurik made a grand vision.
Little Cornuson will undoubtedly be the next governor, or mayor, of New Roseburg. At the same time, he also has the obligation to organize a citizen army to respond to the prince's call and fight the war himself.
How could little Conuson not be curious about those handsome boys riding tall horses?
Because there is a horseman who is clearly Arik!
They are all of the same age, and they are all brothers who came out of Roseburg Fjord. Why is this guy so famous? The other brothers must also learn to ride horses, and New Roseburg must have a standing cavalry force, at least useful for daily patrols.
The brief greeting was broken by the woman who thought she had lost her composure.
Rumia walked over in a hurry, ignoring the men's chatter, her own big belly, and even the words of the onlookers.
"Mastra!" she shouted until she was in front of her man.
She threw herself into her man's arms amidst the gazes of many eyes, her eyes filled with tears...
The prince, blessed by the gods, held the high priest in his arms, and who dares say that they were not cherished.
Only Rumia has the right to call Rurik Mastra, which means master. This was appointed by Rurik back then. It was Rumia's exclusive power and a symbol of friendship.
Such an intimate scene made Svetlana and other concubines jealous. The other concubines were all aware of themselves. But as the queen, Lana saw the prince and the high priest being intimate. Why was she feeling depressed? She patted her face hard to force herself to calm down and put on a smile.
Rurik was a whole head taller than Rumia. She was obviously twenty years old, but she cried like a child.
Rurik buried his mouth in his ear: "Obviously I am going to be a mother again, why don't you take the risk to welcome me if you don't cultivate in the temple?"
"I...just miss you. And our daughter."
"I miss you too. I will live in the city for a while, and the other women will go away. We will be together day and night in the next few days." Rurik made a promise, but Rumia cried even more. She was so excited that she howled.
No, four-year-old Velika walked over, hugged her mother's legs, and called her mother with milky milk. Rumia, who was crying with joy, used amazing strength to lift her daughter up. He kissed her fiercely, and then put it into the arms of Rurik, his father.
A noble prince should pay attention to pomp and circumstance in his work and need to set an example for the people. What's more, Rurik suddenly learned that a group of Swedish allies simply went to New Roseburg with goods to conduct direct trade in the winter, so as to save freight and purchase cheap oriental leather. In this way, the prince is even more particular about ostentation!
A small triumphal ceremony becomes extremely important.
Just like the first crusade against the Karelians, the Russian army assembled in New Rossburg. The army was lined up in a matrix in the Harvest Square outside the palace to be inspected by the prince. Afterwards, they walked around the city twice around the road under the city wall. The army was in a good position. Rushing to the battlefield of the expedition with extremely high morale.
This time is naturally the first show of the Ross Principality Cavalry, and it must leave an extremely positive impression on thousands of people.
Rurik, who was riding a sleigh, transformed into a knight. He personally led the entire cavalry into the city and walked on Nevsky Prospekt.
The tall wooden walls blocked the grand scene in the city, and the Pechenegs on horseback were brought into the city with weapons to enhance the prestige of the king.
Look at this city!
Kagan opened his eyes wide and saw a group of double-storey wooden houses on both sides of the road, some of which even had three floors. Some houses even have stone bases, or simply piles of stones (bricks). As seen in Novgorod, there are drains on both sides of the main road in Novorosberg. Apparently this is the key to keeping the city clean, even now the drains are frozen.
Residents cheered, whistled, and even found various objects to bang on both sides of the road to create momentum. For example, a young boy picked up his father's buckler, holding it in his left hand and beating it with a wooden stick in his right hand.
The cavalry was followed by the reindeer sleigh team, and the entire team formed a long snake formation and entered the city one after another.
Finally, people gathered in Harvest Square, which had been transformed into a winter market.
What kind of business do businessmen from all walks of life do now? A man dressed like a bear cordially watched this majestic cavalry team, and Prince Rurik received endless glory...
In fact, it was this square that shocked Kagan greatly. Although there was boundless flat land as far as the eye could see on the southern Russian grasslands, the appearance of a huge and very hard flat land in the city gave him a huge shock.
Because this piece of flat land is really extraordinary!
Governor Cornuson and his son have been implementing the prince's orders. At least until now, the father and son do not dare to commit crazy corruption out of morality and the honor of tribal warriors. meal needs. New Roseburg itself is a huge tax source. Businessmen must pay taxes for their economic activities. This tax was set in their hometown of Roseburg and has been implemented for many years now. The amount of businessmen's tax payments has also been adjusted every year.
Rurik was deeply engaged in the economic development of the Novgorod agricultural area, and the tax collection work of Novorosberg was fully entrusted to Governor Konuson.
Cornuson actually became a tax collector. He was ordered to build a magnificent city for the prince. He had to spend a lot of money on infrastructure construction, and tried not to rely on state treasury allocations, but tried to rely on local taxes to complete the construction. These are the results of Cornuson. Song needs to report to Rurik himself.
Part of Harvest Square is paved with cement. As long as you pry open the solid snow, you can see the hard gray pavement.
The "Square Cementification Project" can be said to benefit the country and the people. After it is completely cemented, it will become a super-large threshing floor, which can basically meet the work of drying oats in the local area. In the same non-farming period, it will be transformed into a harvest square of the market, so that merchants and customers will not have to Worry about mud and potholes.
The base of the wooden fence continues to be reinforced with cement, and the cementation project of all roads in the city is slowly progressing.
Rurik did not lack the financial resources to hire people to lay cement. This was because the key lime, iron ore slag and sandstone came from different places and needed to be transported to New Roseburg by ship. Not only are these three materials transported, but barges are also transporting entire blocks of granite and cobblestones into the city. The transportation of these heavy materials relied entirely on the summer transportation of marked transport ships. The half-year-long severe winter and sea freeze greatly limited the efficiency of New Roseburg's urban construction.
Is there any good solution? Both sides of the Neva River and even the huge Valdai Highlands including Novgorod are filled with too soft mud, and the most scarce thing is stone, because there are no mountains in this huge area. Of course, it is precisely for this reason that Rurik consciously must train a cavalry. In the winter when the convenience of the summer water network is lost, the cavalry is the key to ensuring the principality's winter operations.
Even with the slow construction, Rurik is very satisfied with the current construction results.
He was very happy that a large amount of scaffolding was laid out in an open space next to the Winter Palace he ordered to be built. Although a batch of stones were scattered on the ground, the granite base was indeed being pieced together.
The original Winter Palace was a large longhouse that combined the advantages of wood carvings and Viking longhouses. According to Rurik's new needs, the new Winter Palace should have the style of the old palace in Rossburg's hometown. It is essentially an enlarged version of the Winter Palace. A four-story castle with a wooden structure and a stone base. The mortise and tenon structure, which is widely used in ship construction, is used in palace construction. Rurik's new Winter Palace will be a stable structure similar to a pyramid. It is also the tallest building in the city and even the tallest building in Northern Europe!
Naturally, there was no need to worry about wood for the construction of the palace. The giant red pine and spruce trees everywhere in the area provided sufficient materials.
They are also good materials for shipbuilding. Except for the keel and ribs, which are made of oak found in forest areas, other parts are made of spruce. Therefore, a walled area was added to the riverside, which is where the "Neva Shipyard" of the Hortra family is located. Huge spruce trees stand on the soft riverside to form a frame structure. Two indoor shipbuilding workshops were completed and put into production. The standard cargo ship produced in New Roseburg has been launched and put into the East and North Baltic Sea trade network, and new cargo ships are still under construction.
The New Winter Palace only built the base and erected a large number of load-bearing spruce columns, and the winter construction by migrant workers was proceeding step by step. Look, wooden beams have been erected between some load-bearing columns, and the frame structure of the second floor is already under construction.
Kagan couldn't imagine the grand occasion after the completion of the new palace. He noticed some other magnificent buildings!
Just like the largest temple in the Principality of Rus, a stone temple inlaid with countless gems that reflects violently in the sun.
The first temple of the principality has been completed. The sculptures of gods inside are well-proportioned, and the interior can accommodate hundreds of people kneeling to pray.
The people call the First Temple the "Gem House", and some even praise it as the "Valhalla on Earth". It is pasted with a layer of colored glass and colored glaze. These crystal clear objects with messy shapes are all mass-produced. They are not valuable in themselves. They are densely packed and neatly inlaid, and quantity becomes quality. The sense of magnificence is exactly what people think of it. Temple expectations.
Harvest Square can be said to be the core area of New Rossburg. Surrounding the square are the old Winter Palace, the new Winter Palace under construction, the huge Ross Duma Parliament Chamber, the magnificent First Temple, and the heavily guarded granary area on artificial highlands.
After the long journey, the people finally settled down. After the day's scenery, the cavalry, including the Pechenegs, all enjoyed a feast of roasted venison.
Military and national affairs, festivals and rituals, these major events can be formally discussed in the Rus Duma tomorrow.
Tonight, everyone needs a good meal and a comfortable sleep.
After the scenery, Kagan and other Pechenegs handed over their horses, and all the horses were managed uniformly. At the same time, he also learned that there were 20,000 reindeer wandering around New Roseburg. They were domesticated creatures, most of which were domesticated. It is the property of the princely family. There is a group of people called "deerkeepers" who are collectively loyal to the princely family and are ordered to take care of all the deer. Even the high priest of the principality himself is a "deerkeeper".
There were so many wonderful things, and what Kagan saw and heard was indescribably fresh. He is also like a poor boy who has just arrived in the big city. He is new and has a bit of inferiority complex. He really needs some time to adapt.
More than just Kagan? Ragnar, who had been in exile a few months ago, was not allowed to enter Novorosberg because he was a Dane. The entire family, women and children were "detained" in Novgorod. Only then did he and the thirty brothers who accompanied him enter the large Russian city. .
In a daze, Ragnar had an hallucination. In a sense, this big city was very similar to the Frankish Bremen that he participated in burning. The same large square, the same structures of noble residences and great temples, as well as riverside docks and a large number of ships. Just in terms of size, New Roseburg was the grandest city he had ever seen.
In fact, because Rurik built New Rossburg based on the old city structure of St. Petersburg and Moscow in his impression, she was strictly planned to have an inner city from the beginning. It is understandable that the structure of the residential areas in the outer city is a bit chaotic. Straight, just like its name of "harp city", the straight roads are like harp strings, with a large number of standard intersections, and even the harvest is square and square.
The palace of the prince is called the Winter Palace. Without other reasons, the Winter Palace in the two planes is at the same location. The Senate Council of St. Petersburg in another dimension is the Duma Council Chamber of the Principality of Rus.
Even the small sandbank directly north of the Winter Palace is called Rabbit Island. There is indeed a small wooden fortress built there. While guarding the entrance of the Neva River, it also levies taxes on merchant ships, except for ships of people from the Rus' proper. (temporary).
Of course, the people wandering here all believe in Nordic gods such as Odin, Thor, and Freya, and at most there is the Slavic fire god Peron.
This is a famous northern city favored by Odin. At least Odin will not reject the warriors who believe in him.
Ragnar is more self-aware than Kagan and other sons of the grassland. He signaled to his men not to run around in the city, let alone publicize the fact that he was a Dane.
The returning people had a big meal and took a steam bath. The floral essential oil soap washed away all the dirt, and even the body odor turned into the scent of flowers. After the work of boating and carting was eliminated, the whole person became limp. How could they not sleep now?
A large number of people lived in a warm, vacant warehouse. Lagla and his brothers collectively made a bed on the floor. The fireplace warmed the air in the house. They fell asleep with a stomach full of barbecue and the aroma of essential oil soap all over their bodies. Kagan and other Pechenegs slept in another vacant warehouse. Naturally, their weapons were temporarily kept, and only the money to purchase supplies remained with them.
Those young Ross cavalrymen all received good treatment. They were directly arranged by the Governor to stay in the patrol soldiers' dormitories, which were warmer rooms and were convenient for using the toilet or eating late-night snacks. As for the horses and deer, they naturally end up in the deer pen. They also enjoy a very abundant supply of hay and oats because of their hard work.
That night, the pregnant Rumia hugged her Rurik, while their eldest daughter Velika slept in the middle, twisting her body playfully, enjoying the rare parental love.
Such intimacy is worth a thousand words, as if they are the closest family, and they are really the other wives and concubines of Mushalyurik.
Svetlana, Nolen, Carlotta and others, as well as Saibolava who came specially from Ellenborg, the girls gathered together and talked and laughed happily. They set up a dormitory in the palace. To welcome the new dawn.
