When the Ross fleet anchored at Saaremaa, the islanders finally experienced the glory of the Ross Principality's navy.
They were extremely fortunate to have made the right choice. This huge navy was not an opponent, and they themselves would row their boats to join them.
Do you want to be a pirate who raids and robs again?
Prince Rus obviously disdains doing this kind of thing. Noble people have noble ways, such as leading an army to kill them directly.
Almost all the islanders of Saaremaa were dispatched. Telalang, who was in his prime, organized a fleet with his fellow islanders to join the Ross Navy.
It was also this opportunity that Rurik took a flagship cruise around the island and personally visited the villages on the island, gaining a very intuitive understanding of the entire Saaremaa Island.
In this case, the sea area south of the island naturally attracted his attention.
The whole army was going to take a final rest on this island. The rest took a very short time. However, the trawl equipment brought by various fishermen had already been tentatively fishing. The fishermen with a try mentality soon harvested unexpected catches.
What is scale effect? This is the scale effect.
Without Lauryurik taking action himself, more than 400 large and small boats that followed him began to plunder the herring resources in the waters near Saaremaa Island.
But it was Rurik who was the most ruthless. The twenty official large fishing boats that signed the contract, namely the boats numbered RFB01 to RFB20, dropped their big nets and cruised around like blue whales with their mouths open. When the people on board felt that they could Then, they used a winch to retrieve the giant hemp rope net, collected all the herrings as long as their forearms on the deck, and then shoveled them into baskets with wooden shovels.
Because Saaremaa Island is already the territory of the Principality of Rus, fishermen from all walks of life have no psychological burden when fishing here.
Even the original islanders were shocked. They had never imagined that there were such abundant fish in the waters near their island!
How can the people of Saaremaa become wealthy with very backward fishing technology?
A large number of Ross trawlers have joined the "battlefield", and it seems that the herring schools will be wiped out? In fact, this is not the case, because even if the Principality of Rus goes all out, the search for the South Baltic Sea fishery is still a scrape. Instead, they began to conduct an organized "big sweep" of the sea in a smaller area.
Their first day's fishing had already provided the entire giant fleet with food for the day. With the more aggressive electric light night fishing after nightfall, a large number of catches were delivered to the shore early in the morning.
"Saaremaa" originally meant "island", but now it may be more appropriate to call it "Herring Island".
This is a large island, reaching 80 kilometers at its widest point. However, there is only one fishing village, located in a small bay in the north of the island.
What is also longing for Saaremaa is Hiiuma, which is also a large island.
The narrow sea area between the two islands is used by Rurik as a anchorage for large ships. Speaking of this tiny strait, the two islands seem to be connected into one. In a sense, this is already a lagoon. The main force of the fleet is anchored in a clear water. In this case, where would it be suitable if this place was not used as a mooring place?
It is no problem for tens of thousands of people to live on such a huge island, but there are only a few hundred islanders staying here.
There are undeveloped areas everywhere, and the island's forest resources are lush, including many good materials for shipbuilding, such as oak trees.
The beach was a dense bonfire, and the landed Ross fishermen were already building their temporary shelters.
They began large-scale logging, and spruce, red pine, white oak, red oak, and ash trees fell one after another.
Various woods have various uses. Spruce is very suitable for building houses. Red oak is the so-called most common oak tree in Northern Europe. And ash tree has strong elasticity and toughness, so it would be a pity not to use it to make bows.
The fishermen were cooking fish on a large scale. Over-lit bonfires were set up with wooden poles and tied with hemp ropes. On the ropes were herrings with their heads, tails and guts cut off. The fresh fish meat will be gradually dried to become a flavorless specialty smoked fish. The purpose of their coming is to plunder herrings, whether they are in the sea further south or on the island of Saaremaa, there is no difference between them.
But the purpose of Gevro leading his men deep into the island's forest was simply to find books. He found a thick oak tree and marked it, leaving it to the Russians behind with a two-man saw. He was mainly looking for the so-called "ash tree". The ash tree has gray bark, its shape is too straight but its size is generally smaller than the red pine. It is easy to identify, which Jevlo has already experienced.
As long as it was an "ash tree", he ordered his men to cut it down. After peeling off the branches, the trunks, regardless of thickness, were carried on his shoulders. The brothers carried them to the coast and took good care of them. According to his idea, these unexpected treasures should be taken back and placed in the house to dry in the shade for a winter until the large-scale bow-making project begins around summer next year.
The sea breeze blew on the crowded coast, but a rain interrupted people's good mood.
The fishermen scolded the damn rain for coming suddenly!
Summer rain always comes suddenly, falls violently, and always stops abruptly.
There was a heavy downpour, and the dried fish that had been processed before had no time to protect it from moisture, so the work was in vain.
People took shelter from the rain in simple wooden sheds, which naturally leaked everywhere, making people wet on a large scale.
But Rurik was a top nobleman, and he couldn't afford to be in such an embarrassing situation.
A large house of the islanders was designated as his palace, and the islanders' parliamentary court was still the parliamentary court.
Spuyut was canonized as the governor of the island and had already completed a walled fortress, and the buildings within the wall also began to be Russified.
This place is still rough, but Rurik and Svetlana are in a good mood, even though there are big fish fishing outdoors.
On this day, a group of wet people gathered in the court of the islanders' parliament.
Prince Rus is the absolute protagonist. Everyone is looking forward to him making another generous speech, and when the rain ends, he will rush to Bornholm Island.
A pair of eyes looked at Rurik, waiting for him to preach.
"Saaremaa is a good place!" He sighed, which relaxed the slightly tense atmosphere.
He continued: "In my opinion, some people no longer intend to continue going south. They just stay on the island and go out to sea to fish. That's fine. I will undoubtedly bring a large number of vultures to fight. Our army will not be here for the time being. There needs to be a large, complex and unmanageable number of people on your tail at all times. Instead of plundering the catch off Bornholm Island, let them stay here. Tralang!”
"Ah?" Telalang, an islander in his prime, quickly raised his head.
"You are a native of the island, what do you think?"
"I...I don't know..."
"Are you stuttering again? I have decided that Saaremaa will develop well. As long as the people of the principality taste the benefits, fishermen will rush here to catch fish every year, and your fishing village will prosper quickly."
"That's a good thing."
Rurik shrugged: "I am informing you, and I hope you will not resent it. You and other islanders should understand that the moment you take the initiative to join Ross, this island is mine. How to develop it is My intention. Now, I would love to develop it into a southern fishing operation."
However, Tralan felt baffled by Prince Rurik's explanation.
Although the islanders opened a settlement in Saaremaa, they never claimed sovereignty and just happened to live here like migratory birds.
If only Rurik had been talking about these things in the council chamber, the meeting would indeed make the audience drowsy.
Rurik slapped his thigh suddenly: "Telalang! Do you know the situation in the sea south of the island? It seems to me that the south is a huge bay."
Telalang was startled: "Prince! Do you know that the south is the bay?"
"Yes. It's called the Gulf of Riga?"
"Gulf of Riga? If it's a natural name for a huge bay, you're the one who named it."
Tralan's reaction was very subtle, giving Rurik the impression that this group of islanders who had lived there for generations had no interest in the Gulf of Riga, and even simply called the Gulf of Riga "a bay."
"Since it's a bay and a coast, do you know anything about the coast deep in the bay? Are there other people living there?"
"Yes!" Tralan answered decisively.
"who?"
Suddenly, this Trarang laughed out loud in front of everyone.
"Say what you have to say, why are you laughing?!" Rurik asked slightly displeased.
"Because those people are on this island. They are right next to you."
"Oh? What does this mean?"
For the time being, Rurik didn't understand, but as some seemingly dull people were brought to the parliament chamber and they appeared to speak out, things became subtle.
There were not many people in the parliament court, and the few new guys who entered the room were still stained with rainwater. They all had black hair and their clothes were not decent.
They definitely didn't speak Norse, let alone Slavic.
Rurik tentatively communicated with them in ancient Finnish, expecting to be able to understand some words. Not to mention, the other party could only understand a little bit, and they muttered some difficult sentences.
"What are they talking about?!" Aric, who was listening in, was very impatient.
"It's their language." Tralan shrugged and smiled: "Obviously I should be the translator."
"Just speak for them." Rurik ordered helplessly.
Because Saaremaa is an uninhabited island, Vikings from all walks of life who were exiled by their tribes set up settlements here. Due to their despicable status, they basically lost contact with their homeland, so they could only find ways to go south to see the situation. Immediately, contact was made with various Baltic tribes along the coast. The Baltic people could only build canoes, and a few followed the Viking exiles to land on Saaremaa Island. Others simply forcefully drifted to the island in canoes.
People from all walks of life gather on the island. They have different bloodlines, but they all have the same origin - exiles.
Tralan himself is of mixed race, and his hair is brown and tinged with yellow.
There are Estonians here, as well as Landals (Livonians), Latgals (Latvians), and Kurz (Courlanders).
Some of the nouns Rurik understood, others were unfamiliar.
However, he knew the geographical structure of this sea area very well, because the Gulf of Riga is indeed a large and quiet bay.
Now that there are new ethnic groups, what is their situation?
"You actually come from different tribes? Now you are all Rus and all my subjects. Please tell me, what is the local situation like in the tribe to which you or your ancestors once belonged?"
Rurik continued his debriefing, the questions becoming purposefully to the point.
For example, how many people did those tribes have, what they lived on, whether the tools and weapons they used were metal, whether they could weave, and so on.
He quickly got the answer. Those tribes all knew how to make iron tools, farm and fish, and weave hemp and hunt animals. The population size is unknown.
They only have what their parents and ancestors said about their ancestral home. They have not contacted each other for a long, long time. God knows what the situation is there.
They still provide a very key description - each tribe is clustered in the form of a large number of small villages, and there is no such largest ruler as the prince of Rus.
Tralan kept patting his chest and claimed that the translation was correct. Undoubtedly, this description immediately aroused the ambition of knowledgeable people.
Arik looked up to the sky and laughed: "This is an opportunity given to us by Odin! God is suggesting that we expand to a larger land and conquer new people. Rurik, you cannot miss this opportunity."
In this way, Yevluo also advised Jin: "Since they form separate villages, we can organize armies to defeat them one by one. Prince! You should rule more."
At this moment, a smart man made the loudest noise.
This person was none other than Swinder, Bornholm’s messenger and talker.
How could it not be a good thing if it could divert trouble to the south?
Swinder was furiously raising the fire. He didn't know what was going on in the south, so he nonchalantly pointed out that there were fertile farmland, high-quality trees, and endless small animals. The so-called Russians had everything they needed.
How could Rurik not understand the implication? Isn't it just to encourage him to immediately raise his troops to go south to rob, and at the same time spare Bornholm's life? If the war is delayed, as long as the war is delayed, Bornholm will still have a chance.
Rurik pointed at the man's nose and told him to shut up.
Even Ragnar joined in, persuading Rurik to expand his territory. But what good would this do to Ragnar, an exiled Danish lord? As the saying goes, if he shoots horses well, he will gain further trust from Rurik, and it will also be beneficial to the rejuvenation of the tribe. In short, there is absolutely no harm.
Rurik looked at everyone, and his heart was beating rapidly.
He paused for breath: "My dream is to use Ross's sword to conquer a large territory. Would anyone think that I would give up this opportunity? Let me tell you! It is absolutely impossible! But!"
Once you get to the "but", things get complicated.
"Don't think about the short-sightedness of those who followed our army. Saaremaa's fishing resources are very rich, so they stayed and did not want to continue to attack Bornholm. Our goal is to conquer Bornholm. Mum, we can’t change at this juncture.”
Arik immediately followed his brother's words and continued: "So we should make a plan. After solving the Bornholm problem, should we go to the southern bay and recover those people along the coast. I know you are not willing. Massive killings, everyone will be happy if the locals surrender quickly. But I believe they are also a brave tribe, and I can help you conquer the people in the southern bay of the island."
Arik was asking for help, but when Rurik thought of his cousin's bravery, he was worried that this guy would lead his brothers and chop up all the available labor force like melons and vegetables.
Rurik saw that the time was about the same, so he set the tone as a prince: "We will solve the problem of the residents of Bornholm Island this year, and at the earliest next year we will solve the problem of the residents of the Gulf of Riga south of Saaremaa Island. Saaremaa Island will Like Tombstone Island, becoming a key maritime trade node, we will connect with the newly conquered people. For us to live a good life, we must at least let them live a good life. In the future, we will have more trading partners, and we will also have one more Criticize the Allied Forces."
"Who knows?" Arik said haha, his attitude clearly showing distrust.
Today's Rurik is naturally not too naive. He patted his thigh and made a conclusion in one glance: "Those guys need a master, and that's me! They, together with the land they settled on, must be incorporated into Rus."
History has entered this time point, or this is the inevitable trend of history. As the ruler of Rus, Rurik has stepped on the accelerator of the wheel of history.
The so-called plan for Rus to conquer the "three Baltic countries (currently just a large group of tribes)" has been formulated, and the rest is only a matter of time.
