Rise of Rurik

To establish a settlement in the source area of ​​the Lovati River, it was destined to be far away from the Yin Ermen Lake.

A city that is isolated outside the core control area must have all the measures to be self-sufficient, especially military defense.

Lukiholm was to be the first permanent colonial city that Rus would colonize southward in Eastern Europe.

It occupies such an important strategic and economic position, but it is too far away from Yin'ermen Lake, so the cost of continuous blood transfusion would be too high. It would be better to solve the problem at the source and recruit some local residents to permanently relocate to Lukiholm. These expropriated Slavs will also change their identities, from farmers from various farms to subjects of the Principality of Ostara.

Everything remains the same, Rurik still arranges for one of his wives, Carlotta, to guard the southern gate of the kingdom.

It has been agreed at the meeting that the defense of Lukiholm will be managed by the Principality of Ostara in the future. Unless it is really unable to withstand it, the main force of the King's Division will move southward via waterway for reinforcements.

As long as you row a boat upstream along the Lovaj River, you can reach the big bend and build a city. The cost of marching does not seem to be high.

This time, Rurik intends to recruit a thousand people to go, and this is the biggest cost.

A three-year tax exemption decree has been issued, and the boyars in all the farms are rejoicing. They themselves are still in Novgorod and will never leave suddenly.

Kagan and his Pecheneg cavalry are about to end their sojourn life and leave with the purchased goods and a large number of strategic materials given by King Rus. They were caravans and the guardians of the city-building team. The huge cavalry was about to leave Novgorod and return to the city of Novoostara at the southern end of the lake. The reason why Kagan was still lingering was because he deliberately waited for Rurik to complete the final meeting.

The boyars were gathered again, with happy smiles on their faces, whispering to each other and wondering whether the king was going to announce some more rewards or something.

In anticipation, Rurik once again appeared kindly. Unlike the last meeting, this time he was accompanied by a noble woman.

Carlotta is dressed smartly, with long hair tied into thick golden braids, a white fox hat on her head, and a fair and round face under the hat.

Carlotta has a round face like her sisters, even though they are full-blooded Nordics. It's probably because I always eat hard food in my life, which makes my cheek muscles too strong.

Her face was familiar to many boyars. After all, there was only one duchess in the whole kingdom. Legally, her Principality of Ostara was incorporated into Rus through a dowry.

Her identity is so special, and her wealth is also extremely special.

This noble woman was also quite fierce, and the slaves rebuked her as a "forest she-bear." Geboyar was happy to have such a heroic woman by her side.

Carlotta and the King appear at the same time. What's going on?

Rurik first clapped his hands vigorously to shock the noisy audience, and signaled those who stood up to sit down again.

He cleared his throat: "I only announce one thing today. Ross has already completed the expansion to the north, and we discovered the sea at the end of the world. Last year we explored westward, and this year the matter was suspended. This year, I ordered the opening of the The exploration of the eastern forest has also decided to start the exploration of the south now. You are all residents living near Yin'ermen Lake. Don't you want to expand your living space? Therefore, I will build another one in the upper reaches of the Lovaj River. Big city.”

Building new settlements is pioneering and innovative, and is certainly a good thing overall. All the boyars subconsciously expressed their welcome.

Their welcoming attitude was indeed welcome, whether it was sincere welcome, perfunctory or echoing, all were firmly grasped by Rurik.

"Oh! It seems that you are all very supportive. Very good, since you are so supportive, will you support me if I make some more requests?"

All the boyars looked at each other, and some people suddenly felt that it might not be a good thing. Their happy faces gradually became gloomy, and those who wanted to make noises shut up.

Rurik shrugged: "Don't worry, it's all good things. I counted forty-two boyars present. I want each of your farms to immediately come up with ten men, no less than twelve years old. They must not be over twenty years old. From now on, these men will leave your farm and their status will be changed to subjects of the Principality of Ostara."

As soon as he said this, those closed mouths immediately buzzed. It's not that Rurik's decision caused any uproar, everyone just didn't understand the purpose of handing over some young boys.

After all, some farms only have a population of two to three hundred people, so handing over ten people at once would be a huge loss.

Rurik had to explain again: "I know that asking you to bring out some young boys is a big loss of labor for the village. But your boys will take up arms and build a settlement in the south! It will be a fortress , a post. You did not really lose them, but these boys will take the lead as warriors to protect the safety of the entire lake area. This has huge benefits for all of us, and the difficulties you face are only temporary difficulties. Rest assured, As long as you surrender ten people obediently, I will give you a cash subsidy."

After saying that, Rurik touched Carlotta next to him and asked her to repeat the arranged words.

Under normal circumstances, Geboyar would not talk cordially with Carlotta, but each farm had more or less transactions with New Ostara in the southernmost part of the lake on livestock issues. Breeding some calves and lambs to sell in exchange for food directly from farmers is also Carlotta's business method.

She raised her chin, her posture was arrogant, and her tone was kind: "Friends, if you take out ten boys, it will be a temporary loss. They will all be under my management, and from now on they will become my subjects, and they will be my family." . I swear that I will not treat them badly and will train them to become qualified warriors. Your dedicated children will eventually make meritorious deeds. They will live in the emerging fortress in the south for a long time. I will allow them to come back by boat to visit relatives regularly. You actually These children have not been lost. Don’t you still believe me? The king will give you some cash rewards as the king, and I can give you some lambs and calves as the Duke of Ostara. Ten people from each farm, I Give back five lambs and a calf.”

Carlotta was serious. Theoretically, there would be 420 boys as her subjects, and there would be 42 cattle and 210 lambs.

Ostara is no longer what it used to be. Under the leadership of the Duchess Carlotta, all the people are doing their best to breed livestock. The number of cattle, sheep, horses and reindeer is increasing. Among them, sheep have the highest reproductive efficiency. . In addition, they sent their own cavalry south to plunder, and not only took away slaves, but also local livestock, and those who could be easily taken away would definitely be taken away.

The number of livestock she owns is getting higher and higher, so there is no problem in using part of it to reward the boyars.

After all, these cattle and sheep are gifts to the Boyar family, and the compensation given by Rurik will also fall into the hands of the Boyars.

In today's era, Boyar still has a reputation. Most of the residents of the farm are related to him by blood, and they are not going to devour the king's reward. It is normal to eat more than half of it.

Hand over ownership of a boy and change him to a subject of the Duchy of Ostara. For the cost of this change of relationship, Rurik was willing to pay one pound of silver coins per person.

Ten pounds of silver coins, five sheep and a calf, this deal is okay!

In the eyes of boyars, human life has a price. Those boyars with small village populations urgently need a sum of cash to improve the lives of the whole village, not to mention that sheep now mean wealth! The state-owned garment factory in Novgorod has received a large amount of Western wool, and all workers are working hard in the textile trade and earning gratifying labor wages. Even if the salary is actually not high, it is enough to attract the attention of a large number of unemployed farm women.

Even if there is a lack of opportunities to work in state-owned garment factories, what those workers do is not unusual.

Each farm can raise its own sheep, cut the wool regularly, or sell the wool to the city, or process it and spin it with wooden needles, and just wear woolen clothes.

Normally it costs a lot of money to buy a lamb, but now the Duchess is giving away five of them, which is really a delicacy.

After thinking about it, these people felt very comfortable. Suddenly someone stood up obediently and said, "Sir, how many males and females are there in these five sheep?"

"I'll give you all the ewes," Carlotta said casually.

"This... at least gives us a ram lamb."

"Oh? I understand." Carlotta narrowed her eyes slightly, "I think you want to breed your own lamb. For the sake of you all handing it over, you can."

Giving them male lambs poses no threat to New Ostara's economy. Wool is a good thing. The more of it, the better. Carlotta has no intention of monopolizing wool production, but only wants to expand output. After all, her husband Rurik has a way to sell excess wool products to distant places, and this is also an important way to gain profits in a peaceful state.

So, Zhong Boyar left the venue happily. They got the cash on the same day, and every silver coin was Frankish goods of good quality.

"The Sword Comes"

They immediately went shopping in the city of Novgorod and quickly returned the silver coins Rurik had given intact in exchange for a large number of high-quality agricultural tools.

The cost of cast plowshares is not high, and as hot money pours into the market, its selling price has also increased accordingly. If the plowshare is completely made into a curved shaft plow, the price can be raised very high. It is natural to do this purely based on the thinking of a businessman, but Rurik must take into account the needs of the people. Essentially, they just want a plow, and they don’t even have an urgent need for a curved shaft plow. They just want a sturdy tool that can cultivate soil. .

Equipping your traditional oak plow with an iron plowshare is a hundred times better than the old wooden plow.

Now is the period of comprehensive expansion of more than 200,000 people in the Yin'ermen Lake area. The armed expeditions sent by Ross to the east and south are only part of the great expansion. The real expansion lies in the natural expansion of farmers. Various farms, including the immigrant settlements of the old Russians, asked for farmland from the forest, which had a huge demand for plows and axes. Every small family needed its own tools, and the more the better.

The price of plowshares rose to twenty silver coins, and Geboyar took the opportunity to buy some.

Rurik made an agreement with everyone, and each farm brought the boys to the southern city of New Ostara to assemble at the agreed time.

He could probably imagine what kind of trouble Zhu Boyar would cause when he returned to the farms. After all, no parent was willing to let their son leave, let alone a son who was already a strong laborer. These things are Boyar's business, and all the children must be gathered in place on the appointed day no matter what.

Rurik himself will not go to the source of the Lovadi River, but Princess Carlotta will ride there in person and lay the foundation stone herself. She also wants to take her son Karl to see the world, and also intends to give him some experience as a city lord in the emerging Lukiholm when he grows up.

After all, building a new city is a national-level project. Rurik organized a fleet in the lake area, whose task was to escort the immigrant team to arrive smoothly. The fleet is composed of traditional long boats, which also transport some tools and materials needed for city construction, especially a large number of nails and cables. There is also a large amount of food to ensure sufficient supplies when building the city.

From Kagan's point of view, his Rurik brothers were indeed serious about their fanfare, and he indeed attached great importance to Lukiholm.

Rurik rode his horse and led the cavalry to New Ostara quickly.

He traveled with Kagan's horse team and made their final stop here.

At this time, Kagan had 200 mercenaries and 300 pure transportation horses. There were hemp sacks hanging on both sides of the horses. Fortunately, the horses were all grassland horses with extremely strong endurance. Otherwise, Rurik would not have thought that his sworn brother would be able to carry away a large amount of goods. Iron pots, iron cutlery, glassware, soap, jars of honey, barrels of ale, bottles of spirits, arrow clusters, steel swords, spearheads, linen, cables, salt, vegetable dyes, deerskins, rabbit skins, bearskins , squirrel skins, walrus tusks, poultry flight feathers, raspberry preserves, dried thyme, and many other small items.

Ross has been producing all kinds of objects. What Kagan brought most were bulk materials necessary for production and life, and the rest of the small objects were mostly curious.

It is undeniable that the variety of goods that Rus can produce has been increasing, which the Pechenegs could not imagine in the past, even if their trade volume was not high. What Kagan is very careful about is that in the future, the trade routes will become more and more stable, and the transaction volume between the two parties will definitely increase year by year. The Pechenegs can indeed rely on the power of Ross to strengthen themselves. The heavy supplies carried by these hundreds of horses prove everything.

This was Kagan's last personal escort and the largest trade horse convoy between the two countries.

The two brothers continued to drink and chat in New Ostara, and the children were waiting for them one after another before the appointed date.

A large number of boys were escorted by their tribesmen to New Ostara, either by boat or on foot. The word "escort" can indeed be used here. Just looking at the faces of these children, Rurik can see their reluctance.

So what?

Moreover, Rurik felt that he was being teased a little by a group of boyars. They did bring the boys in accordance with the regulations, but they all looked young and immature. They were obviously selected by the boyars according to the lower age limit. I'm afraid after closer inspection, there were even eleven-year-old boys brought in to make up for the number.

The boyars all personally escorted him, and their playful and smiling faces made it difficult for Rurik to criticize him.

Carlotta was still very generous and immediately accepted these boys with thin bodies and immature faces. Then she ordered her subordinates to give them the prepared boiled wheat and poured boiled milk into the wooden bowl. The salty oatmeal soaked in milk was a strange delicacy. The boys were not picky and happily finished the delicious meal.

The boys had a full meal and then changed their clothes together. All the clothes were naturally funded by Rurik. Different from the shirts of the Ross army, these boys' robes had black cloth strips sewn into abstract bull heads on the chests.

This is the emblem of the Principality of Ostara. Putting on these clothes, putting on new leather boots, and eating the food of the Ostara people, they bid farewell to their hometown farm. Even if their parents are still with them at home, at this moment All the children suddenly became Carlotta's subjects.

The boys even performed a collective ceremony, saluting and swearing allegiance to Duchess Carlotta.

It was a sunny morning, with long boats lined up on the Lovaj River and cavalry gathering on the shore.

The four hundred and twenty boys were short in stature. They were too young after all. Carlotta accepted them with a smile, thinking that in a few years these boys would grow tall enough and strong. She also really needs her new subjects to be younger, so that it is easier for her to train and emotionally nurture them. In her plan, all these boys will become cavalry, but it is just because there are not enough qualified horses on hand.

Ostara wanted to send another 200 people to accompany him, and Carlo Talling hired hundreds of farmers from several nearby farms to assist. Rurik also brought some brothers from Novgorod. He did not go to the south himself, but assigned the task to his beloved general Fisk.

Together with the Pecheneg troops who were about to go home, the number of people in the entire team heading south along the river easily exceeded a thousand.

This is less like an immigration team and more like an expeditionary force.

The boys got on the long boat and, accompanied by their adults, imitated the Varyags and picked up the long oars to wait for the order to set off.

On the shore, Rurik raised his head and looked at the face of Carlotta on horseback, and the tiger-headed Karl sitting in front.

"Complete the task early. The fortress must be built this year."

"Okay." Carlotta didn't say much. She had already said what she needed to say.

Rurik also talked too much with Kagan, and he really didn’t want to say anything at the moment of separation. We are both men, and this moment is deeply divided.

He signaled to the trumpeter on standby, and as the melodious trumpet sounded, the huge team began to move.

The move of migrating people south to build new cities has begun!