Rise of Rurik

The visit of the two growing children was the best autumn surprise for Otto.

The three long boats, which had experienced a long voyage, went against the slightly turbulent Neva River and entered the pier adjacent to Rabbit Island in Novo Roseburg. They were all tied to the trestle by hemp ropes.

Now, what is presented to Rurik?

"Is this New Roseburg?!" he asked Father Otto aloud.

"My boy, of course this is the new home we've worked so hard to build. What do you think?"

What can Rurik say? He put on a smile and said something nice: "What a nice place. Dad, it's just called (Fort St. Otto), as I see it."

This is so beautifully said. Otto pinched his son's neck affectionately: "You are praising me, I don't need your praise. Boy, it is your task to manage Ross well."

Otto pinched hard before letting go, making Rurik a little confused.

Rurik did a good job on the surface, and his hidden disappointment was suppressed. The entire tribe has consumed a lot of manpower and material resources to build a new home. Today, I found out that everyone is building a large village here.

Isn't she a big country? Although there are a large number of traditional longhouses along the riverside, there are also a number of Slavic-style woodcuts mixed together, and annular walls are also being built. Just outside the unfinished wooden wall, there are cultivated farmland everywhere, because the settlers have planned out a large block of land with piled up ridges, and it has obviously been harvested, which makes it fundamentally different from the wilderness.

A typical European medieval pastoral scene is probably like this, right?

The first thing Rurik thought of was the appearance of the main family sitting in the first town in the Japanese RPG game, the so-called novice village. She looked very peaceful. The immigrants who came to greet the visitors were ruddy and healthy. The men wore simple leather coats and hats, and the women generally wore large headscarves. The smiles were always on their faces. Obviously they are very satisfied with their life now and not afraid of the next winter.

If only life was so peaceful and peaceful.

She is called Novorossburg. If everything is destiny, it will naturally become the northern political center of the developed Russian unified country, and even destined to surpass Novgorod and Pskov. She doesn't have the elegance and weight of the future at all, and she can't be called the pearl of the ice and snow world.

She, really, is just a large rural area on the Neva River with defensive walls being built. Perhaps the settlers had learned of a potential hostile force on the ground,

Did you build defenses early? In the hometown of Roseburg, the eldest priest, Willia, is certain that there has never been a wall since the establishment of Roseburg for more than 60 years.

Under the leadership of his father, Rurik and his group entered the settlement as visitors.

"It's a bit messy, but they're not stupid enough to throw shit in the street."

"Huh? Why are there still chickens running around? These chickens are so skinny they must have no meat. But eggs..."

"They didn't build roads at all, they just stepped on the land in the village with their feet? If there is a rainstorm, wouldn't there be mud soup everywhere?"

"Alas! Why are people still holding rabbit ears. Alas? There are still domestic rabbits in this place (the domestic rabbit is the hole rabbit)?"

The residents of New Roseburg are more clean than those in Western Europe. Of course, this is not because they really understand the importance of maintaining hygiene. It comes from the traditional warrior culture. The so-called dirty warriors will be reviled by God.

The love of cleanliness is merely their personal habit, and the entire settlement is full of chaos and complexity.

"If this place is destined to be the heart of the future of the Rus, it must be clean and tidy, and it must exude the weight and majesty of history for generations."

Rurik thought so.

He followed his father and got the first glimpse of New Roseburg. Maybe in this era, you can't be too demanding, the village is moving towards the city, and she has a bright future.

For Otto, the visit of his son and nephew was a miracle. He was in a very good mood, and also felt very strange about the visit of his son and others.

There is no need to continue to doubt, Otto intends to reward the clansmen who have come from afar, especially his two young and promising children.

As night fell, New Roseburg gradually fell into silence. It's really normal to rest at sunset, and even the unfettered chickens raised by the residents have returned to their shacks to rest and even lay eggs. Residents are also looking forward to finding the latest eggs from their chicken coops early in the morning.

Only the longhouse where the leader is located is very lively!

Rurik sat on the soft leather cushion, and now he is not used to the most traditional Viking-style longhouse of the tribe. If he sits cross-legged, it is still comfortable to sit on the wooden floor.

The advantage of the long house is that the interior is relatively spacious. Some hemp ropes fell from the girder of the gable roof. The ropes were tied with chandeliers made of wood tenon and tenon. In a large number of small bronze trays, the wicks made of linen head lit up with tiny lights. Flames, when hundreds of flames gather, the whole house is brightly lit.

It was nice to have light, and Rurik didn't expect much.

Looking at the wooden tray placed on his simple-style wooden table, a very hideous roasted rabbit was simmering on it, and for a while he was even a little afraid to use the knife.

It was the rough slices of bread on another plate that made him feel friendly, and looking at the presence of slices of toast, Rurik guessed that it was made by a Slavic cook who settled here.

Perhaps for any ethnic group, chatting while eating, or even the nobles talking about government affairs, is a normal thing.

Rurik knew that this dinner was not easy. The father and son, who had not seen each other all summer, met suddenly, and he estimated that the father would have a thousand words, including but not limited to greetings to his son, greetings to his old family and mother Rosberg. City for a few months.

Here, Rurik saw a familiar and strange person. He knew that the man's name was Conuson, the leader of the first group of immigrants, and the leader of the New Rose Fort appointed by his father.

It's all in Rurik's estimates.

No, Otto tore a few pieces of rabbit meat at will, and then opened his mouth to swallow two chicken legs, and began to greet his son incessantly.

"Dear, how is your mother? How are the people in your hometown? I know you took those Kewen people to the north. What about the Kewen people..."

"Oh, all of them are fine."

Rurik's words were a bit perfunctory, and Otto narrowed his eyes, "Perhaps, you have encountered a problem? How did you come here suddenly? Or a surprise visit without my permission, it seems that you have experienced a lot along the way."

Rurik was just about to say something, when Arik, in a hurry, threw away the half-gnawed rabbit leg, raised his chest, which had not removed his leather armor, and said proudly, "Leader, please forgive me, this is all my own doing. Advocate, brother is not responsible. Dongfang Sorgon's fleet has not returned, and everyone is very worried."

"It's you? Arik, I know you've been raiding Gotland fishermen. The messenger tells me that your battle is going well."

"Yes! The brothers who followed me are almost all from Tombstone Island. They stole some money from the enemy. I heard that the brothers in New Roseburg have already harvested wheat, and they want to buy some, but... "

Otto nodded, he himself liked gold coins and silver coins, just because it used to be extremely scarce and extremely precious. Just because of wars and looting, the Rus people who took the initiative to walk out of the fjords have already controlled too many gold and silver coins. The copper coins that used to be commonly used have become auxiliary coins, and silver coins have become the mainstream currency for trading.

"What's wrong?" Otto asked urgently.

"We met the Polo's."

"Ah?! You! You..." Otto and Konuson, who was sitting on the side, were shocked. "Have you been in contact with them? Children, you are not in peaceful contact. Hehe, was there a war?"

"Yes! That's a bunch of idiots, chiefs, maybe we shouldn't think highly of them. None of our brothers died, not even the mercenaries lost. When they were defeated, they abandoned their villages and fled, and we got some food and iron. I I think the iron we have brought here will enrich the lives of the brothers here.”

Aric was telling Otto about the war that had just happened, and Otto had to admire his nephew and the outstanding warriors who grew up in sea raiding operations.

Otto not only recounted: "I didn't want to dock on that coast for a long time, I just hated the harassment of those villains. Arik, you did a good job, if... hey, you can catch some women even better."

"Women? Why?"

Otto stroked his beard: "Don't you ever think that our New Roseburg is short of young women?"

"If there is a shortage of women, ask for it from Novgorod." Arik felt that this was the easiest way, and it was a matter of course.

Otto shook his head: "If they are asked to pay tribute to too many women, many manors will rise again. I can't expect all manors to be as docile as Whitetree Manor. You need to know that killing and destroying is a means of deterrence. Except for the Tran and Danes, our goal is to get women and wheat, and so on..." As he said this, Otto's eyes were also looking at Rurik.

"Then let the Baishuren continue to contribute women. That's where my wife came from, as well as the blacksmith's wife, and the wives of many brothers."

Hearing that, Otto simply raised his chest and laughed, and then said a little: "You don't know, now the young women of White Tree Manor have become our women, they will not provide younger girls, otherwise your brother Married long ago."

Rurik, who felt that he could not speak for a long time, suddenly realized that his father seemed to have hinted at the girl.

Yes, a girl named Svetlana, said to be beautiful? A typical pretty hairy girl? Still a year younger than me?

Arik understands the leader's suggestion. In short, the young people of Ross have used normal means to get a lot of women from Novgorod. It has become saturated. matter.

Otto didn't want to listen carefully to the battle process that his son and nephew had just experienced. Since his side won a big victory without any loss, there must be nothing special to pay attention to in the battle situation.

Indeed, it is really stupid to tout the victory of the weak against the weak and tout one's own martial virtues.

Otto only gave a summary command: "Maybe I have overestimated them in the past years. Arik, you have done a good job, Tombstone Island is very close to those Baltic people, in the future you should...

"

Suddenly, Rurik stood up: "Dad, brother, you are all wrong!"

"Huh?" Otto turned his head, and so did Arik. "how do I say this?"

"Dad, before I was born, did you think those people on the South Bank were Baltic?"

"Why not?" Otto was very disgusted with his son's interjection at this moment, thinking that his son always had high points, so he listened patiently. "I fought with them, and the captives claimed to be people of the Baltic Sea, oh, it seems to be some Lieta tribe, or something."

Otto named a word, Rurik thought about it for a while, and suddenly realized that Dad was talking about Latvians?

Rurik stopped talking nonsense at this moment, and directly put forward several terms: "Dad, the people from the south of the huge bay, they are Estonians, they have a common ancestor with the Finns, the Kovins, and even the Tavastians who have never met. ."

Otto listened suspiciously, as did the others.

Rurik, who stood up, was even more embarrassed. After thinking about it, he suddenly beat his head.

Sometimes the truth is presented, but others cannot understand it because of the lack of knowledge. It is really sad.

Especially when thinking about the future of New Roseburg, it is also very important to let the people who settle here know the living conditions of human beings in a radius of hundreds of miles.

Since it is a bit out of place to directly explain the existence of the Estonians, Rurik saw that the appointed "City Lord" Konusson was here, and this person should also be the first target to conquer.

"Uncle Konuson."

When the destined leader of the future called himself this way, Konuson hurriedly sat up straight. He thought that tonight was mainly the leader's family talking about matters, and he was just a spectator.

"My lord, what can I do for you?"

Rurik sat down slowly and asked back: "I took a look at Novo Roseburg, and it's not bad, but I think you guys are too comfortable. What do you think of the environment around the settlement?"

"Environment? Well...that's the fact that the Ladoga River (Neva) is always frozen in winter, but it's turbulent in summer. There's a lot of animals in the woods nearby, especially rabbits and wild deer, and we've got a lot of leather. , are you about to transport it back to the mother city?"

"I didn't ask you to say this. Don't you think that there are other people in this area?"

"Others? Novgorods? They are a little far away from us...hehe."

Rurik's small slap was placed directly on his face, and he looked at his father's indifferent expression again, and continued to ask, "What are you building the wooden walls for?"

Conuson replied immediately: "To prevent the brown bears from suddenly running in and destroying the granary, taking away our rabbits and chickens, and the most precious cows. Oh, and shelter from the north wind."

"Huh? Don't you guys build walls to protect against enemies?"

"Enemies?" Konuson was very surprised. "If they existed, they would have been discovered by my people. But this area is still forests other than forests."

Is what he said true? Rurik thought it was absurd. Even if the ancient Finns had a small population, those people should not be a small existence. They were all active hunters.

In fact, it is a remarkable fact that the Finns (Suomi) only established the most southern natural village in a bay a hundred kilometers away from New Roseburg, she is such a tiny, inhabitant's canoe It is even more powerless against the waters of the Baltic Sea. This settlement is the future Vyborg, and it is also a war-torn existence, but now, although a small number of humans have settled in her, outsiders do not know it. The environment in which Vyborg is located determines that she is destined to be a tiny settlement in any age.

The Ross settlers were busy clearing the settlement without even exploring Lake Ladoga, and the fishermen, at best, went to Kotlin Island and fished for herring in the natural harbor area of ​​the island and the estuary. Conuson's task is to build infrastructure. He has no motive or purpose for sending people to explore long-distance. Besides, the immigrants are generally determined to get a field of their own that can grow oats and rye, so that they can stop reclamation. Hunter, why immigrate for such a purpose?

Rurik directly criticized: "We are storing food now, knowing that when winter comes, those who are short of food will die. Don't you think that the enemy does not exist if you do not find the enemy. I tell you, there are other people in this area, They are not Novgorods!"

Rurik was not an ordinary person after all, and Otto and Konusson took his advice very seriously.

"They! Who are they? Who else but Estonians?" Otto demanded urgently. There is no doubt about the son's words, after all, "not found does not mean non-existence" is the correct truth.