A war finally ended in the year 841.

People far away in the south did not know what was happening in the north. The nobles of the Middle Kingdom only knew that there was some chaos in their north, and they only knew that the king of the East Kingdom led troops to attack.

What does all this have to do with yourself?

A large number of nobles of the Middle Kingdom and the West Kingdom do not want to fight. It is not because they like peace. Most of them are out of their own interests. They feel that participating in the kingdom's civil war and pushing troops far away will not gain any real benefits. On the contrary, they may risk their own lives.

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King Lothair led his army to camp near Strasbourg. Because of the winter difficulties, he kept quiet like a hibernating bear.

All the nobles kept quiet during the winter. This was the traditional truce season, and the Middle Kingdom had no intention of actively attacking the north.

The entire Rhine River basin is not frozen, and even in the middle and upper reaches, the river channel seems too wide. In summer, people who are good at swimming can swim to the other side smoothly, and boating is not a problem. The Rhine River seems very busy in the warm season, and today

In the harsh winter, all trade activities ceased, and both sides of the broad river were covered with gray trees and "white blankets." The river was ink-colored, and it only flowed quietly. The cold water was bone-chilling and daunting.

It was under this extremely harsh situation that a brutal battle broke out on the completely frozen Elbe River.

The scale of the war finally surpassed Charlemagne's war against Saxony exactly sixty years ago, and Saxony regained its independence in this battle.

Saxony was not really independent, at least legally it was still a great vassal of the Eastern Kingdom.

Because he was still a vassal in law, Duke Liudolf did not have to kowtow to Ludwig. He could treat his monarch in a very peaceful manner, without having to worry about his anger, because the Eastern Kingdom now dealt with Saxony.

There is no other way.

The Christmas Mass has ended for many days, and the climate has entered the coldest period of the year.

A snowfall has hit the entire Northern Europe, Eastern Europe, and Northwest Europe.

The wind and snow will invade all the way south to the Alps, eventually blocking this tall and majestic mountain, ensuring that northern Italy on the other side of the mountain will still be relatively warm.

Even if some nobles are ready to start a war, they must hide in warm houses to avoid the cold wave in January.

The situation in Saxony was very bad. Even after winning the war, the vast majority of people lost their homes and could only live in simple houses. The people of Saxony were struggling, and Liudov was basically unable to do anything about it.

If it were left to the past war period, Rurik would not hesitate to recruit a group of refugees. He would deliberately recruit children, especially girls. All the young women who had lost their families would try their best to take them away. This move was intentional.

On the good side, but the most pragmatic consideration is still to solve the marriage problems of the soldiers who serve for him.

The Principality of Saxony is an ally, and even taking away the Saxon people for various reasons can be interpreted as a betrayal of the alliance. Of course, Rurik can have many reasons to explain, but he is afraid that others will not admit it, so he simply allows the Saxons to start experiencing large-scale freezing

The tragedy of death.

A large number of young children could not withstand the cold and died silently at night. Those elderly people were tortured by the cold and coughed and twitched all over. This is just the body's self-protection mechanism against the cold. The muscles of the whole body generate heat through twitching. When this mechanism stops,

People will also freeze to death.

Simply freezing to death is a problem. Some simple shacks were actually collapsed by the snow, and people were trapped under the rubble and unable to move. Things always happen at night, and no one saves these poor people. They wait for the short daylight to appear, and those who are brave occasionally

People who came out of the shack to go to the toilet saw the collapsed house. What could they do? They had to sign the cross on their chests and lamented the impermanence of the world.

Disasters that continued after the war always occurred in the Hamburg area, where as many as 50,000 Saxon war refugees gathered. One-ninth of the entire Saxon population gathered here. The huge population did not lead to rapid post-war prosperity, but

It's a major crisis and they continue to die until spring returns.

Those Saxon villages that were not affected by the war actually experienced victory in the war inexplicably. They mostly participated in the war in name only, and theoretically they also had a share of the credit for the victory.

Everything is normal in these remote villages, although there are cases where houses have collapsed due to snow and some people have frozen to death. This is nothing surprising compared to previous winters.

Every winter is a severe test for the elderly and children in the village. It is not surprising that many people die. After all, the leader of the village, a noble who was named a baron, cannot completely guarantee that his children will survive any winter.

All safe and sound.

However, the severe winter poses no visible threat to the Russian army.

Rus was once a fjord tribe, and like these Saxon villages, many children and elderly people would freeze to death every winter. Until Rurik, a strong man from the sky, began to take control of the tribe's government affairs, just renovating the building structure was a huge problem.

A "Great Innovation in Warming Against the Cold".

A standard Russian house, it imitates the wood carvings of the Ilmenslavs, and makes extensive use of moss soil, dead grass and other common materials in Viking longhouses. Solid wood is the main building material, and a fireplace made of stone and clay bricks is

It is a special heating equipment.

Nowadays, the single-story Ross woodcarving has been innovated again. Now it imitates Frankish architecture. It has a solid first floor of masonry structure and becomes a double-story building.

The expeditionary Russian-Danish army did not have time to carry out major construction projects. Faced with preparations for a long war, their camp outside Hamburg had to be managed poorly.

The construction method of Ross wood carving is quite rough. After the straight pine trees were cut down and the bark was peeled off, they were repaired with a pair of saws, scrapers and axes, and then the stacking work began. The wooden floors and wooden walls are extremely thick. This also includes the rooms.

On the top, a large number of peeled tree trunks are stacked directly and arranged in a herringbone structure.

The Ross army, which had mastered a large number of advanced carpentry tools, took advantage of building houses. The army would eventually return home, so the Ross army camp, which could now house 5,000 people, immediately became a favorite in Liudov's eyes.

Rurik's two wives, Nolen and Bejahir, are currently living with their children in the fortress in the inner city of Hamburg.

This family castle originally belonged to Robert, Count of Hamburg, and was transformed into the residence of many great nobles.

In principle, Rurik could live in his own military camp, but his decision to do so naturally had political considerations.

There was severe wind and snow outside, but it was quite warm inside the castle after all. Even if some rooms seemed cold due to drafts, it was enough to find a copper basin and light some charcoal fire.

Rurik wanted to live here, so that his living conditions would be seen by Ludwig himself.

The living conditions of Ludwig, the grandson of Charlemagne, who also lost his entire army, can also be seen by Rurik.

In a sense, this is a frank confrontation, which can increase the mutual understanding between the two great nobles.

Because in this era, the only ones who can provoke war are nobles. It is unbelievable and unprecedented for peasant women holding hoes to gather in crowds to rebel against greedy nobles and priests. Rurik stood beside Ludwig

From this perspective, this man's defeat was almost due to his arrogance and disdain. He completely underestimated the enemy in the northern world, took a big gamble after being frustrated, and finally lost completely. If Ludwig had known about the situation of the Russian army earlier,

Is the outcome still the same as the current situation?

Ask yourself about your victory. The Russian army swept across Scandinavia, and the remnants of Jutland forced their way into Saxony. They relied on their superiority in weapons and the cooperation of the local Saxons to complete the victory at a high cost.

"What gives me the confidence to give it a try? It's Blue Fox's information!"

Real business families are always looking for business opportunities. The exiled Blue Fox looked around in the Frankish territory, and the "secret report" he wrote became the source of confidence for the Russian army to dare to fight the tens of thousands of Frankish troops.

This is an ordinary evening. The wind and snow are still outside. It seems that the daylight hours today are very short. The sun has never appeared, and soon night will fall again.

A room on the second floor of the fortress was transformed into a restaurant, where Liudov's family ate daily, and now it has become a dining venue for all nobles temporarily staying in the castle.

There is no shortage of food in the Hamburg Castle. Even the chef Liudolf brought from his hometown can only cook simple food. Using words such as fresh, simple and pious to describe these foods is just a way to cover up shame. After all, we are not ascetics, who would refuse

Where's the delicious meal?

It happened that Rurik's two wives needed the elderly maids of Liudov's family to take care of their daily lives and the lives of their babies. As a husband and father, Rurik himself lived in the castle.

Rurik had more ideas and pursued delicacies. A large amount of ingredients were delivered to the castle before the snowstorm, so the cook who worked for the King of Rus also came directly.

There were only five of these cooks, and they were female captives from Mercia and Northumbria. To be fair, Rurik never treated them badly, nor did he deny their respect for God when it came to matters of food and daily living.

Faith. They all felt in shape when they were captured. After so many years, they have started a new life in Ross, and each of them has become fat.

People will always change. They have all forgotten their hatred, remarried and had children in Rus, and joined the large-scale war that lasted for 840 years as non-combatants.

The master’s eldest son is the King of Mercia, and now Northumbria King Aynred and the prince have also come to Europe!

They have indescribable thoughts in their hearts, and they feel that everything is an arrangement of fate.

It must be God's secret arrangement, so that he will cook dinner for the past monarch and the current monarch, and the work must be done well.

There will be a dinner party tonight, and all the idlers will avoid it, because the kings will dine here.

The wooden table was put together, and a large number of bronze oil lamps were placed on it in advance, and the flames were already dancing.

A matrix of oil lamps was hung from the ceiling, and the lamp holders on the walls were also lit.

The restaurant is brightly lit, and the nobles are already waiting for tonight's delicious meal.

But eating is just a reason, they need an opportunity to sit with others.

Different from a real aristocratic dinner party, only a few people can sit here. It is not because of their absolute noble status, but because this dinner party is for the parties involved in the winning and losing sides of the war to have a heart-to-heart talk.

Because there are only three people here.

In order to show his sincerity, Ludwig came wearing only loose linen clothes and a white bear fur coat (a gift from Rurik). He did not bring a weapon, only a knife for cutting meat.

The same was true for Duke Liudolf of Saxony, whose tableware was a knife.

Using a knife as a tableware, even when Charlemagne was alive, he cut meat with his own hands and inserted the tip of the knife into his mouth. Even though he was the "Emperor of all Romans", he still used this vulgar way of eating. However, the priests strongly advocated using both hands.

Grabbing anything and putting it into your mouth is not a matter of cleanliness and hygiene. The priest's explanation is very simple - only eating the Holy Communion with both hands is truly pious.

Rurik also brought a dagger with him this time. He had to be wary of one. If Ludwig suddenly wanted to fight with him in a secret room, a dagger would become extremely necessary.

The three great nobles did not carry their main weapons. Besides carrying meat-cutting daggers, the two wooden sticks Rurik brought seemed too unique.

No, those are not wooden sticks, they are actually two white jade-like chopsticks polished from walrus ivory.

The three of them did not have any attendants here. They were dressed similarly and regarded each other as having no intention of fighting.

They seemed to be friends with each other, as if the fight to the death a month ago did not exist at all.

But who can forget the war? Ludwig had hatred, and regret was ten times greater than hatred.

The fact that the three of them are gathering here today and driving away all outsiders is essentially his suggestion.

Now that the delicious meal has not come yet, the situation has fallen into complete embarrassment.

Regardless of Rurik fidgeting with the chopsticks in his hand, he subconsciously fiddled with the chopsticks by turning his pen, which immediately gave the bored Ludwig an excuse to speak.
To be continued...