Seeing his son again, the old king could not conceal the joy in his heart.

When I learned that my son was going to start a new war, I felt excited and worried at the same time.

Rurik was sitting here, and old Otto could look down on his son's handsome face that looked exactly like his own when he was young.

"You achieved great success in the previous expedition. Our footsteps have reached incredibly far away places. Sometimes I wonder, are our actions too radical?"

"Father." Rurik said with a serious face, "This is my decision after careful consideration. It is an extension of the last war."

"But it's too radical. We are even fighting for others. Is this... very beneficial to us?"

"Of course it is full of opportunities. Father, please listen to me slowly..."

Now, Rurik wants to convince his father and also himself.

Continuing to use troops in the Franks and participating in their civil war with high intensity, what is the purpose of all this? Naturally, it is for profit.

The Ross army will be entrenched in Nassau, and will nominally form an alliance with the army of the Baron of Nassau. However, it makes more sense to call it the Earl of Nassau in 842.

That Henry Nassau was a pragmatic man who relied on marriage to strengthen the bond between them. Modern Ross has even more reasons to protect him.

The fat black fox had objectively given up his status as a Gould family, inherited the name of Nassau, and controlled the area as his son-in-law, which was unexpected by Rurik. Then Count Ingau's land sale and retreat, and the actual situation

In fact, Rurik could not even think of betraying the Eastern Kingdom.

Ross launched the invasion carelessly, and Ross did a lot.

Frank is at least a "civilized world", and there is no high-sounding reason for launching an invasion.

The big nobles want to evacuate, even all the way to Tours in the Western Kingdom, and they even offer an olive branch to the Russian merchants. When the big nobles evacuate, what will happen to the small nobles who have the remaining land? Are those people willing to surrender to Nassau? If they don't

, you need to use force to force them to comply.

At the beginning of the period, Rurik's plan was divided into three parts. The first was to establish a Ross shop in Nassau, the second was to increase troops and carry out sabotage operations in the Middle Kingdom, and the third was to form an alliance with the Eastern Kingdom to join the civil war.

Naturally, the Ross army will not obey Ludwig of the Eastern Kingdom. It is best for that guy to keep paying for his labor service, so that Ross can fight for him in the form of a Norman mercenary. In fact, everyone can accept this, Ludwig

Xi has been raising Norman mercenaries for a long time, but the unit has been disbanded. Especially now that its strength has been severely damaged, that man needs new mercenaries.

Rurik explained all this to his father as usual...

Otto's body is aging, but his mind is still clear.

The expedition to Frank was beyond the old king's cognition. As he got older, he came up with the idea of ​​​​defending the status quo, but he also realized that tens of thousands of new generations of Rus's who were growing up and howling, and their battle axes and swords had not yet drank blood.

Carrying the glory of their ancestors, they urgently need glory.

"How many troops do you... plan to send? Is it still a national war this time? I am very worried about your risk-taking. I am afraid that you will be too radical and cause disaster."

Faced with Old Otto's heartfelt words, Rurik had a meaningless hesitation on his face. He knew what he was thinking and replied with a serious face: "We are facing a somewhat responsible situation and we really don't dare to be radical. I plan to dispatch a thousand people."

Expedition to the Franks."

"A thousand men? Not too much, not too little. Ah, looking back at my life, launching a thousand people to fight is already a big deal! With you, a thousand warriors are no longer a big army. Only you can fight with this kind of wealth

battle."

"Especially those young people." Rurik continued: "Askard took my newly established seventh flag team to the expedition. When they reach age, it is time for them to accept the test."

"They are very young...especially the boy Askard. Like Arik, they should be brave and fierce people. I am afraid of him..."

"Father, don't worry. Asgard is reckless. I also plan to let the First Standard of the Standing Army go into battle. Grund has proven his loyalty in ten years. I am willing to believe him! The Standing Army and the Seventh Standard will join forces.

Enough for a thousand troops, of which as many as 700 have the blood of our Ross tribe, even if they are very young. After three years at most, they will be young and extremely strong warriors. By that time, we will have lost more than

Completely restored and stronger again.”

"Let's do it! Ah... I wish I could be thirty years younger. It's a pity that I'm old."

"Father……"

Faced with his own weakness, Otto would be speechless and choked in quiet moments. Sometimes he fantasized about dying in battle, but now he couldn't bear to part with his numerous grandchildren and the howling young clansmen.

Otto composed himself: "What should you do? Stay in the capital? Or here?"

"I... plan to stay in Novgorod."

"Oh?" Otto's gloomy blush reappeared, and he asked deliberately: "Are you going to run this place, or continue to expand the army and prepare for war?"

"My father still understands me. Naturally, I want to expand the army and prepare for war! I want to expand my influence in Frank, from the rich western trade to a large number of useful things to meet our needs. In the east, our biggest threat is still Smolensk.

Maybe they won't attack us actively, but they block our trade line to the south. That's why they must be eliminated."

"Very good. Alas! I was too kind and spared the life of Vadim. That man is older than you, and there are rumors that he became the chief. You must kill him! You will definitely succeed."

"Yes. Considering that they are not weak, I intend to intensify training in Novgorod and the capital."

"You will win, and what will happen in the end? How do you plan to treat the people of Smolensk?"

"Them?" Rurik answered without thinking: "The old rule is, those who disobey will be killed, and those who surrender will live and work in peace and contentment. Nobles who resist me must die! Anyone who surrenders to me, I can canonize them as boyars, and ordinary residents will also become Rus

my subjects. I have an obligation to protect them, and they have an obligation to pay tribute and serve me.”

"A very smart choice, it depends on whether you do it. Maybe..."

"How is father?"

"nothing."

Otto learned about the death of old Gould. His tomb is in the cemetery. It is a unique tomb. The stone monument erected is directly a statue. The abstract carving is like a bust of a fat seal, which expresses it very well.

The image of that great businessman in the hearts of the world.

He had to think carefully about his fate.

After all, how can I see Rus continue to expand? At least, I have to live to see Rurik defeat Smolensk, thereby clearing the big obstacle on the road to Rome in one fell swoop.

…

The agreed date has arrived.

Rus Dumane of Novgorod, Rurik invited all the elites of Rus.

Princess Carlotta of Ostara, Captain Fisk of the 1st Standing Army Cavalry, Captain Grund of the 1st Standing Army Infantry Standard and Captain of the Guards, Captain Askard of the 7th Standing Army Infantry Standard, Mstisk

City Lord Arik, Pecheneg Princess Bejashir, Novgorod Governor Medvet, Rotstadros Shop Chief Red Fox, Count Gothenburg Blue Fox.

Wladyslav, the Kiev horseman, Quetzal, the Pecheneg nobleman, and Stekander, the leader of the Danish community in Riga.

Some of Rurik's relatives, maternal relatives, loyal generals, or all-around allies, all gathered in the same spacious council chamber.

Rurik is undoubtedly the protagonist, and everyone knows more or less what he is going to talk about.

Just as everyone was busy waiting for Rurik to speak, they saw him clapping his hands: "Brothers and friends, don't be impatient. Please see a distinguished guest."

He gave a verbal signal to the waiter outside, and after a while, a human-powered sleigh pulled a Venerable to the door. A moment later, an old man with a white beard and a wooden staff stood in front of everyone.

The old man is none other than the old King Otto.

Upon seeing this, everyone stood up one after another, took off their hats, and went to the old king with their luggage with a smile.

"Everyone, please sit down." Otto waved his hand in a slightly hoarse voice.

What is the old king doing here? Is it related to war? But he is too old, so he cannot be the leader of new military operations? It is also possible that a truly brave man does not want to admit his aging, even if he has to carry a sedan chair.

Otto also wanted to try his best again.

Many people think so.

In fact, it was not the case. Otto came here firstly to meet the hard-working young people, secondly to endorse his son's determination, and thirdly to have some fun. The so-called son gave up part of his glory, and the old king announced "launch".

war".

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"Everyone, please take a seat." Rurik said again.

The layout of the Rosduma in Novgorod is like an ordinary student classroom, or like a church's preaching hall. There is a wooden base and a podium, and the rest of the people sit on spacious wooden benches on both sides. In the middle of the room

It is a connected corridor, so that when the speaker is excited, he can go directly to the stage and talk to the crowd at close range.

Here, Rurik repeated the conversation with his father yesterday.

The content of his decision was extremely important. Since part of the information had been revealed, especially Ascard happily telling his father and uncle's arrangement, Aric understood a lot.

Could it be that we won’t use troops against Smolensk this year?

Rurik's answer is clear: don't take the initiative to attack.

Another explanation is that Ross will not take the lead in attacking. If Smolensk takes the initiative to attack, then it will counterattack with all its strength. Based on this strategy, Rurik declared in a high-profile manner that he would stay in Novgorod and personally focus on infrastructure construction and agricultural development.

, training new militia and other operations. He restricted the continued expansion of the Principality of Ostara and ordered Carlotta to digest the success of the expansion. It is said that it is safest to expand after internal stability.

Therefore, Lukiholm and Vitebsk must strengthen their defenses because they are too close to Smolensk, especially Vitebsk in the south.

Carlotta did not object. She was self-aware. Although the principality's strength was rapidly expanding, the principality still had a very realistic task of completely ruling the Polotsk community, and it was indeed impossible to allocate troops to continue expanding eastward.

Arik also explained that he took his brothers on an expedition in the east and discovered a very well-controlled hunting ground. However, the world is vaster than people expected. People explored the lake area throughout the warm season and did not find the real Volga River channel. Everything

Still need to continue to explore. It is equivalent to him showing weakness, using this language to imply that he can accept the strategic arrangement of not attacking this year.

Even so, Arik was still a little unwilling.

"The matter in Smolensk is over for now." Rurik cleared his throat and simply walked off the podium. He motioned to the young Askard and the veteran Grund to stand up. He then said: "The First Infantry Corps of the Standing Army and
To be continued...