The villagers watched the cavalry approaching with trepidation. They shuddered subconsciously and didn't know what to do for a while.
Karl, who arrived first, glanced disdainfully. "You are such an ignorant person. This is your first time seeing cavalry? I came to rule here, and all my subordinates are these cowards? I am really born to be a slave."
Of course, Karl hopes that the villagers in his fiefdom are more reliable. They are too weak. Even if they can be improved through some training, it cannot be changed in a few years.
He and the warriors who arrived first gathered together to bang their shields and cheer, and also ordered the villagers: "Everyone shout! Shake your arms and cheer for King Rus!"
Soon, the cavalry arrived at this simple village.
Karl personally led the king's horse. Rurik looked at the people gathered and clearly saw the "dwarfs" with black hair.
"Sure enough? The so-called Savoks are also Finns."
"Yes. Your Majesty, they are willing to surrender."
"Very good." Rurik nodded, "Where's the local caller? I want to talk to him."
"Please wait."
After a while, the old man came over with a wooden staff in one hand and a flag in the other. He was very afraid of the cavalry, and felt that they were more terrifying than the forest beasts. The Russians easily tamed the beasts, and they were indeed ferocious beings.
Rurik looked at the old man: "It seems that you are the old leader of the village?"
The words were spoken in Finnish, which the old man understood and felt very cordial to.
"Great man! We are willing to surrender and we are willing to do anything for you."
"Anything? It seems that the people I sent have reached an agreement with you. Very good, surrender to me and do anything for me. As long as you are sincere, you will get a better and better life. If you rebel, you will die.
.Old man, we can have a good chat."
Forget it, Rurik dismounted and ordered the cavalry behind him to get down collectively. Even some young warriors who were only twelve years old, most of whom were of mixed Roslavic descent and who lived a good life of good food and drink, had already grown prematurely in height and shape.
close to their father.
The previous generation did not eat well, and their physical development was greatly curbed. Now there is nothing to curb the next generation. Golden fuzz sprouted from the boys' lips, and some of them began to have hairy chins. Their bodies are still growing rapidly.
, people are starting to grow beards.
So they dismounted. Compared with these adult Savok villagers, they were all the same height. Rurik and the veterans of the cavalry looked like a group of giants together.
Rurik coughed twice and woke up the dazed old man: "I am King Rus, the greatest ruler. Originally, you people as lowly as clay have no right to talk to me, but I am very happy for your surrender. I
The army will camp outside the village and will not interfere with your life. Let your people gather together, I want to see your faces."
The old man was trembling, and so were his people.
The strength of the Russian army was much greater than the number of people in the entire village, and their weapons, equipment and military quality were overwhelming.
The people gathered together and continued to accumulate panic. Rurik led the army to observe them and made the most practical assessment - a group of weak people.
Just as Rurik promised, after the cavalry showed off their prowess, they actually camped in a meadow with rich water and grass outside the village.
Rurik ordered all the respected people in the village to gather around the bonfire and chatted with them in person with his trusted soldiers.
The villagers swore that the nearby area was indeed unpopular and only wild beasts were rampant and very scary.
The villagers also claimed that they all escaped from enslavement by the Karelian people and escaped all the way here.
The villagers just hope that their stable life can continue and they have no worries about the world.
"However, you are foolish to think that you can be isolated from the world by escaping into the forest." Rurik ruthlessly denied their extravagant hopes and said bluntly: "Your village no longer belongs to you, and it will be renamed Reidska.
It is the core of the Reed Earldom. You all can protect your master, and the river in front of you will become more frequent with ships..." Rurik asked these villagers to accept a new era, but he said a lot, the villagers
Still half-understood.
"Forget it, you will have enough time to understand." He finally said.
It can be said that the only thing that makes these Savoks happy is the collapse of Karelia, because even if these villagers leave their hometown, they still have a basic understanding of the past. They live in isolation, but they still know Suomi, Kovin, and Ta.
Vast, Vips and Rudy tribes that speak the same language.
King Rus claimed that all Finnish-speaking tribes had surrendered to Rus and had a stable life. The Savoks did not dare not believe it. After all, King Rus spoke a language that everyone could understand. A blond giant understood everyone's language, so surrendering to him would be a sure thing.
It's God's arrangement.
However, the Ross army would not stay too long in the village. Even if Karl became the local count, it would still take some time before he could actually be stationed here. At least he would have to pack up his family's belongings in New Rossburg before moving here.
To be honest, Karl didn't like this simple village at all. The villagers were like groundhogs living in burrows. The living environment was completely different from that of New Roseburg, which is famous for its cleanliness.
The village needs major renovation to become a port town where business travelers can station. Karl estimates that he will be able to make a lot of money by collecting service fees in the future, so he must first make future businessmen think that this settlement is worth a stop.
After all, it was his own fiefdom, and the disadvantaged family of Old Ross was suddenly able to make a comeback. Karl intended to sell his assets in the capital, purchase a batch of materials, and develop the village himself. To this end, he proposed to borrow some money from the king and stay in the village.
Ke Xu.
Now, Karl has announced his presence in the village. He took out all his hand axes and knives as gifts. Rurik also took out a huge gift, a large iron cauldron for marching.
The conquerors commended the villagers for their obedience with great sincerity, but unfortunately they were unable to provide guide services to the army.
Rurik rested here for two days and took the opportunity to investigate the lake, forest, and hydrological data here. He noticed that the village was at the intersection of two lakes. Although the lake was large, it had a natural crossing for horses to swim across.
The main channel of the Reedy River is easy to determine, after all, there is only one waterway that flows into the sea. Now, the armies marching on both land and water temporarily left the Savok village. They did not loot and even left some iron tools.
Many villagers are very happy that the village has good things, and they are both excited and confused about the future.
From a macro-geographical perspective, the Reedy River (Luga River) is heading towards the huge Lake Chud, but a huge bend causes the waterway to turn 90° and then rush straight into the Gulf of Finland.
The river flows extremely slowly in a slightly low-lying area, and the water current pushes the floating ship at a desperate speed. However, as long as the sail is lowered, the south wind can make the ship go faster.
The longship had to keep pace with the cavalry. Rurik still had no intention of rushing for the time being, so he ordered Ella to use clean paper to make a rough sketch of the environment, and then record his experiences in writing to make a memo.
Everything couldn't be more peaceful. They were still camping by the river, enjoying the rainless and warm summer time.
Until, a small ship appeared on the waterway ahead.
Even the horse-riding Rurik loves strange boats.
"It seems that there are still people entering here to explore. It's a pity that they left too early." Rurik muttered to Brody.
"They seem to have discovered us, so why don't we catch up and talk to them as soon as possible."
"That's fine." Rurik nodded, "I was just going to ask about their exploration findings."
Then some cavalry were ordered to face the long boats drifting with the army. The two boats temporarily docked, and the women and children were allowed to go ashore first, and the dismounted cavalry sat on them.
Karl and Brand each led a boat, and the oars were lowered and the triangular sail was hoisted.
Karl held the oar with both hands and growled calmly: "Russians, intercept them! Look at the power of you brats."
As an old Russian, Karl could encourage the young people in this capacity, but in their opinion, the old guy's words were a slight to everyone, so the ship pushed forward at full speed in the waterway, and the water splashed on him.
Until now, they still believed that the boat in front was also occupied by Russians, and they also realized that the other party did not notice that there were pursuers behind them.
Then when the boat discovered the pursuer, it was too late.
It was a simple boat, only a little more advanced than a canoe. It was actually a very simple fishing boat. A Russian family with some financial resources would order a long boat if they saved enough money.
The boat didn't even have a mast, how could it outrun the pursuers?
Karl watched the development nervously, and couldn't help but murmured in surprise: "It's weird, what are they running from when the flag is up?"
Someone reminded: "That's okay, he's not one of ours at all."
"Impossible! This area is all ours."
Suddenly a clear voice shouted: "Maybe it's Mrs. Pskov. The king said that those guys are to the west."
But Karl still didn't take it seriously: "Young man, don't think you know a lot just by knowing a new word. We rowed with all our strength and caught them before they landed and escaped."
The two boats seemed to be participating in a dragon boat race, and even the sails became a liability.
The longship soared past eleven knots, and it could not last long at such a high speed. The soldiers were burning their energy in pursuit.
Finally, just as the small boat was about to dock, the long boat sailed directly across to complete the interception.
The two sides looked at each other, and the five men on the boat were shocked, but all of them had pure golden hair, fair faces, and sky-blue pupils.
"It's strange, they are all Russians, why are you running away?" Karl asked breathlessly.
"..." They were silent.
"Hey, talk!"
But they saw that the five people had been holding back for a while, and finally someone spoke: "We are not Russians. We are... Danes."
"Huh?" Karl scratched his face, "You actually met the Danes here? Now Denmark and Russia are allies. What's wrong with you? There's no need to run away when you see our flag. We don't attack our allies."
The five people still looked at each other.
Karl finally got impatient: "Stop delaying and tell me your identities quickly. Otherwise, I will tie you up."
After such threats, someone finally came out with some explosive information.
"We surrender. We are all from Pskov. The leader sent us to go to the north to have a look and plan to contact you Russians."
"Ah?!" Karl showed an expression of disbelief, and then turned into a smile, "We plan to find you too. Haha, it's really a miracle."
"How about it? You are Russians, so you won't harm us, right?"
Karl shrugged, "That's not true, tell me your purpose."
"If possible, we would like to meet the ruler of Rus. We really have no ill intentions, we are just messengers."
Sometimes a chance encounter is very magical, but for the Ross Kingdom, which is now so large and prestigious, such an encounter is only a matter of time.
It was impossible for Karl not to be wary of them. He heard that Pskov was another group of Slavs. It seemed that there was also a group of Danes there?
We don't have to worry too much, so we might as well unarm them first and untie their hands and feet. Tie their boats with ropes and put the five people on the long boats to go to the other side of the river to meet the king.
The five people were trembling with fear. The ship had not yet docked. They were shocked when they saw the cavalry on the shore.
The five people were pushed and twisted to Rurik. After all, they were also Viking warriors. After their spirits calmed down, they all straightened up again, raising their proud heads and chests, revealing their thick beards.
Karl hurriedly introduced: "Your Majesty, these are actually Danes from Pskov."
"Pskov?" Rurik narrowed his eyes in surprise and hurriedly dismounted.
The five people realized that something was strange and hurriedly explained their identities in Norse. Each of them claimed that they were indeed from Pskov and came well prepared.
"Don't say it yet." Rurik held up his hand to signal him to shut up, raised his chin and asked, "You...do you know my identity?"
They looked at each other, and one of them said cautiously, "Probably the distinguished war chief."
"Haha." Rurik almost laughed out loud, "Okay, I do have this identity. Please explain your purpose carefully and don't talk nonsense."
One person continued: "I came to the north on the order of our boss. Our boss is called Gol Sigfamson. He hopes to get in touch with the leader of Ross."
"Contact?" At this time, Rurik had no intention of revealing his identity. He felt that the incident was too coincidental and the coincidence was suspicious.
Rurik simply hid his identity and asked in the tone of a war chief: "I can talk to the supreme leader of Rus, but how can I trust you? Who can guarantee that you are not assassins? Or profiteers."
"We are not evil people, but we cannot bear this kind of insult." Then, the five people's faces darkened.
"Do you want a duel? A duel if we don't agree?" Rurik looked at the people who were already laughing and yelled: "It is said that this is the envoy from Pskov. Is he really ignoring his own mission and wanting to fight the Russians instead?
"
However, Rurik suddenly turned his face and threatened: "Then don't contact us. We Ross can lead the army to fight over it. I know that there is a huge lake near your settlement. Is it a problem to fight over it?"
Someone hurriedly acted as a peacemaker to ease the tense atmosphere: "Even Pskov knows about the expansion of Rus in recent years. We are Danes, but we have long been far away from our homeland. We still know what happened in Denmark, and now the ocean
It has been occupied by Russia. If we don't contact you, it will be really bad if we end up fighting each other."
Rurik curled his lips: "Thank you for knowing that you are smarter than your brother. What is your name?"
"Eric."
"What about the rest?"
"Bohm, Grunford, Carrot, Svard. We are all Danes, but we are already the masters of Pskov. The local people are our servants."
They are all generalized Nordic names, and they all have different pronunciations.
Rurik nodded: "You have enough time to explain what happened in Pskov. Let me tell you good news. We are about to go to the capital of Russia, and I will give you the opportunity to meet the King of Russia. Now,
How about you take down all your weapons and follow us? This is your chance."
Even for these five people, they felt that this chance encounter was suspiciously lucky, but it was a pity that they had no strength and could only follow this group of cavalry.
A noble man with extraordinary popularity, and hundreds of people behind him were listening to the command. Five people murmured that this young man who had not yet revealed his identity was a general under the command of King Rus, and maybe he was the son of King Rus.
Then just follow along. There is no need for the five brothers to explore the next path. They just want to see what the Russian capital is like and what Russia's strength is in all aspects, so as to get some information to report on Pskov.
The ruler, Gorsig Famsen, tried his best to ensure the safety and interests of Pskov, a common community of Danish immigrants and Krivich Pskov people.
Because Mrs. Pskov, who was in hiding, keenly noticed that a new era has arrived. Waiting for Ross to conquer, it is better to negotiate the conditions in advance. Even surrender is not a big problem, as long as more benefits can be obtained.