Carlbrand's team majesticly maneuvered their longship to blend into the night fishing team. They returned early in the morning and headed straight for the port and their home.
When the five families returned, they were asked by Rurik to keep silent. If anyone heard about "Where have you been?", they would say that they went to the west to see what good things there are.
Naturally, they did not arouse any suspicion when they blended into the morning market. People went about their business buying freshly caught herring, cod and sea bass, and then bought hot wheat cakes freshly baked in the bakery. The people who settled in the capital have adapted to the new life, and the citizens
A group is quietly forming, even if its population size is small.
Nearly ten thousand people have long lived in the capital and nearby areas. Small businessmen are entrenched here, and many Finns come here to work. The processing of leather and linen is the pillar industry of the capital, so almost all of the kingdom's huge reindeer herds are housed.
Near the capital.
The economic industry of the old town of Roseburg was completely transformed into ore mining and metallurgy, and families who were good at tanning leather spontaneously immigrated to New Roseburg on the Neva River.
The leather industry of the Ross tribe has been famous in this sea area since ancient times, and now it is getting bigger and stronger. As the disputes in the Baltic Sea were eliminated due to the alliance treaty, the economy that was suppressed in the past broke out in the second year after the treaty was signed. Even from Denmark and Zealand
Merchants from the island also rowed long boats all the way east into New Roseburg. People who arrived here for the first time were shocked by the size of the city and the complexity and bustle of the market. They even witnessed the patrol team's public pronouncement on the captured thieves.
punishment.
Thieves should have their fingers cut off and be expelled! If they steal too much, they will be beheaded. The Danes have their own rules. It is strange that the Russians only sentence thieves to work such as felling wood, digging stones, and digging clay. The crime is understood by doing slave labor for a year.
Denmark and Sweden have no worries about being robbed on the Baltic Sea routes. There are always larger armed ships flying the Ross flag cruising in the southern waters. Danish merchant ships from the southwest Baltic Sea, they fly with white raven demeanor (designed by Ragnar
) prove your identity, take supplies and rest on Tombstone Road, and then go straight to the capital of Rus in the east.
After paying the parking fee, they can take their goods to the open-air market outside the city and set up stalls to sell goods. Salt, grain, and dried salted fish are the easiest commodities for Danes. They deliberately sell these at low prices to attract attention.
The goods were quickly sold out, and a variety of goods were bought from New Roseburg, especially all kinds of leather.
When they were doing business, the ship was completely restored to custody by the governor, who promised to compensate the ship intact if it was damaged. So when they returned, it was natural to pay a higher storage fee. This was more accurate than the "storage fee"
It is a commercial tax. Due to the control of collection costs, berthing fees and ship storage fees are direct taxes on foreign merchants.
However, Ross claimed that no commercial tax was levied, but only fees related to ship berthing. How to collect the "storage fee" specifically, the collection standard is based on 1% of the total valuation of the goods at the time of entry. This is discussed in the treaty
Good tariffs. The tariffs are collected correctly, but the name is "storage fee". The extremely low tax rate is very friendly to everyone.
This is a play on words, as if the Russians are not collecting taxes. Therefore, the more prosperous the business, the better the financial situation of the capital. It is obvious that collecting agricultural taxes and handicraft industry taxes from the local area is not as fast as collecting customs duties.
What's more, the tax-free policy is fair. Rurik is kind to the people who cross the border. All subjects of the Rus' Principality in the kingdom are tax-free for three years in all kinds of businesses.
Governor-General Conuson and his son paid taxes as national funds in proportion, leaving only the proportion to run the Governor's Palace. There must be corruption here, but in this period of rising financial conditions, Rurik does not need to thunder against corruption.
Of course, the corruption situation is very abominable. It is like psoriasis on the body. A small patch is just itchy, but if there is too much, it can be fatal.
A big problem is that Ross's political system is not perfect enough, and a large number of government agencies are either small workshops or non-existent. New Rossburg still has a lot of legacy from the tribal era. Ross's expansion is as rapid as what happened in history. Ross is now
Facing a new era in history.
Rurik did not come here to reform the governor-general's institution. The reform should not be carried out too quickly until the scribes can all become reliable professional bureaucrats on their own.
He planned to add some new institutions, the most important of which was a large state-owned printing office, so that a state-owned media agency could be established across the ages.
He firmly believes that people have a strong need to obtain information from the outside world. With the power of the media, the royal family can influence everyone's thoughts. To achieve this, the reality of small workshops in the printing department must be changed. The state-run printing house will be established this year.
This will require some major appointments and personnel adjustments.
So, after deliberately lying dormant for a night, the cavalrymen hiding in the woodland blew their horns.
Some people who entered the forest early in the morning to look for mushrooms were subconsciously shocked when they suddenly heard the melodious sound of a trumpet. Soon they were shocked to see a neat column of cavalry walking out of the forest.
Look! Isn’t that blond man wearing a golden laurel crown the king?
The lances were hung vertically on the saddles, and blue and white streamers were fluttering. They were holding the flag of Ross, and all of them were uniformly dressed.
The cavalry maintained their column formation, and Rurik ordered the warriors carrying horns to blow continuously to make their presence known to all early risers.
Although he was really being watched by people passing by, he did not interact with these subjects. Rurik held his chin high, showing dignity and arrogance, and now the whole army rushed towards the cemetery.
"Let's go! Young warriors, walk past the tombs of the fallen warriors and let their heroes see your grace."
Rurik shouted an order, which immediately shocked the spirits of the soldiers.
There are births every day, and deaths every day.
For the dead, whether it is cremation, burial or burial at sea, each tribe in the Viking world has its own version. In the Danish world, the dead were placed on ships, covered with a large amount of firewood and set alight, and the ships were pushed into the sea and allowed to burn and sink.
, this is a recognized funeral ceremony. But in the traditional Swedish world, burials are more common.
After all, Ross built the huge cemetery "Valhalla on Earth", which is a large marked area in the south of the city. Anyone can dig a hole here to bury the dead, regardless of ethnicity or whether the deceased was a warrior.
These are all within the jurisdiction of the Governor's Mansion. Since the city's total population is not extremely large, a rough management model can also manage it.
An elderly person died suddenly, and today there was a small burial ceremony as in the past.
The Governor's Palace is responsible for approving a cemetery for the family of the deceased, and the priest sends someone to conduct the funeral. It is reasonable for the family of the deceased to pay a small fee.
Those who presided over the ceremony were all junior priests under the high priest. These people were all women. Many of them ended up in this profession due to misfortunes in life. As a result, they could not remarry, nor could they inherit the property of their deceased husbands, and they could no longer worship the gods.
But for the rest of my life.
The cavalry swaggered across the destination, and their appearance stunned the crowd at today's giant funeral.
The junior priests were surprised that the king appeared suddenly as if he had cast some kind of magic, because everyone in the capital knew that the king was still in Novgorod. The king did plan to return to the capital, but he planned to return by boat from the upper reaches of the Neva River.
It definitely doesn't appear on horseback.
The cavalry gathered in front of the funeral crowd. Rurik glanced at it. The deceased was just an ordinary person. If he was a warrior, he would be willing to dismount and pay tribute to him in person. Because this is the sacred cemetery designated by him, members of the royal family are obliged to pay tribute to the deceased warriors.
Luggage is only for the deceased soldiers.
Rurik asked the priest: "Don't be nervous, is my arrival magical? Where is the high priest?"
The leading priest was still so nervous that he took three steps back and stammered a reply: "The high priest... is in the big temple. Everything is fine. Everything is fine..."
"Very good. Don't be surprised if you continue with your ceremony." After saying that, Rurik thought about it. After all, he had passed by the funeral site. The deceased did not seem to be from Old Ross, so he might as well give him a little "share".
A silver coin was his share of the money. It was a small courtesy but heavy affection. As the cavalry left, all they could hear was the constant thanks from the family members of the deceased.
Many soldiers thought the king's move was too much of a performance art, but Rurik thought it was a cultural inheritance.
The queen was riding a horse, with Prince Osborne sitting in front of her. Svetlana at least leaned close to Rurik and listened to the king's teachings to the prince.
"Osborne, remember. Any distinguished person must remain solemn in this cemetery. If possible, try to give some gifts to the people who are being buried. This is friendship."
The prince was confused. The boy didn't ask any more questions and just nodded.
The cavalry passed through the cemetery area in the south of the city smoothly, and what was in front of them was a tall wooden city wall with a cement and stone base. Due to construction cost considerations, it would cost a lot to completely turn the city wall into stone, and the wooden city wall would take many years to slowly
Converted to stone walls. At least the city's southern gate is now completely petrified.
Outside the city wall belongs to Guocheng, where there are many shanties, and the settlers who arrived later can only build their own settlements outside the main city. Compared with the inner city, the overall feeling of Guocheng is not that of a slum, but this scene immediately makes people feel
Thinking of the situation of the old settlement in Rossburg. At one time, the ordinary families of the Ross tribe were highly concentrated on the limited land in the fjord, and the longhouses were arranged in a haphazard manner without any order. If everyone was not used to living there, it would indeed look very chaotic at first glance.
At least the main road of the Outer City is an extension of the main road of the inner city. On both sides of the main road, there are not only very serious double-story buildings, but also some new buildings are building masonry bases. The foreseeable future is that the Outer City will also move inward as a whole.
The city is on par.
The population is only 10,000, which can be said to be dense or too small. The inherent inner city can only satisfy the early settlers, and the latecomers can only expand their living space outside the city, so the city is also expanding like a pie.
A small family has its own main house, a small courtyard, an aqua toilet, and even a handicraft workshop. The more skilled a family is in leather processing, the more they build their own workshops with great fanfare.
Leather is tanned by traditional crafts. Not to mention the stench coming from animal skins, the Glauber's salt water used to tan the leather also has a smell. If there is a lack of Glauber's salt, plant ash can also be used, but the latter is less effective and smells more unpleasant.
They are engaged in tanning processing in the pungent odor, and all kinds of leather are processed in the city. There is always a faint stench in the air. Thanks to everyone being used to it since ancient times, no one complains about it.
Especially for foreign businessmen, the stench from the tanning process is simply a kind of aroma. Without this smell, they would worry that their trip would be in vain.
New Roseburg has three major exits, east and west, and the east and west exits are extensions of Nevsky Prospekt, forming two outer city markets along the road outside the city. The road extending from the south gate of the city is not very wide, and the markets derived here are not.
big.
Even so, the five people from Pskov who arrived in the capital of Russia for the first time were trembling with surprise at what they saw.
They saw that this was a city with extremely prosperous commerce, and their ears were filled with the roar of people shouting. The air was filled with the obvious smell of tanned leather, and the lingering smell of salted fish.
People coming and going could not ignore the appearance of the cavalry. They saw the proud king and the majestic cavalry.
I just heard soldiers shouting loudly: "The king is coming! Pay my respects to the king!"
Rurik does not require his subjects to kneel down. Ordinary people can stand on both sides of the road and take off their hats to cheer. Only soldiers should kneel down on one knee and salute. The so-called ability to kneel down and salute is actually the privilege of the warriors of the kingdom.
The weather was good today and the weather was not up to par. The five-person team from Pskov opened their eyes wide as the cavalry finally entered the inner city.
They saw the gorgeous costumes of the guards guarding the city gate, and the respectful look of the guards when they saw the king.
The cavalry in brightly-colored yet domineering uniforms lined up in neat columns on the slightly narrow southern road. The guards saluted the king and were given direct orders by Rurik.
The captain of the guard in charge of security at the South Gate received an order: "Go and inform the governor that I am back. Ah! I am going to tour the capital, and I will inform the governor to wait at Harvest Square."
The captain of the guard was ordered to hurriedly take care of the matter in person, and quickly reported to the low governor's palace located next to the huge attic of the palace.
The Governor's Palace where Konuson and his son worked was the earliest palace in Rurik, which was actually a large longhouse.
Rurik had his own unique obsession with the palace. He really admired the Japanese castle tower-style architecture. The ruling center was located in a tall attic. It was the commanding height of the entire city, allowing the ruler to have a bird's eye view of his city.
A feeling of excitement arises spontaneously. Of course, in reality, in the Neva River Basin and surrounding areas where there are no mountains or even hills, the tall attic is actually an important landmark that can be seen from the passing ships, which can play a certain role.
To the lighthouse function.
The cavalry continued to blow their horns, and the costumed troops paraded on the gravel road under the city wall.
There is no need to send people to deliberately spread the news of the king's return. Who can be so grand? As long as you see the huge cavalry team, you will know that someone big is coming. Look at the leader of the team with a golden crown on his head and a golden ponytail flowing in the wind.
Who dares to overstep his bounds? Only the king has this image.
Rurik personally led the team, holding his chin high and letting the people on both sides of the alley cheer. The bay windows of the second- and third-story buildings were also opened, and from time to time someone stuck their head out and shouted greetings. Almost all the settlers were Vikings, but they shouted loudly
The shout was a Viking war cry, and the more they heckled Rurik, the happier they became.
Look, a group of young children are jumping and jumping in front of the cavalry, laughing and running and stopping.
Some young girls also walked out of the house because they had just heard that there were many young men among the cavalry who suddenly entered the city. It was obvious that those young men must have just grown up. It is not a bad thing that the childishness on their faces has not disappeared, which must mean that most of these boys are still young.
No marriage.
Nowadays, who doesn’t know that the cavalry made great contributions in last year’s war? Everyone is seeking profit. When the people realized that the cavalry was actually the most valued branch of the king and the group that was most likely to make great contributions in land warfare, they married their daughters to the cavalry.
Warriors are a good choice. What’s more, his daughter is also a Viking who speaks Norse. Even if the ancestral wish does not come from Old Rus, it is still a noble existence. The wise man took the opportunity to cheer for the king and also took his daughter with him.
Observe these new cavalry boys and look for a good son-in-law.
Rurik could certainly estimate how these guys felt. Before setting off, he promised his subordinates that they would solve marriage problems for many people after they arrived in the capital on horseback. This was not a spiritual encouragement.
Sweeping through the market is a strategy that kills two birds with one stone. This is an opportunity to find a son-in-law. The old Russian family wants to find a husband for their daughter, and the visiting merchant family hopes to use their beautiful daughter to complete the marriage with the cavalry and gain a higher status in Russian society.
The cavalry walked a figure "8" around multiple lanes in the inner city, and finally entered the bustling Harvest Square, which serves as a grand market.
The news has spread all over the world, and people who lack fun are pouring into the inner city, so that the Harvest Square is overcrowded.
The cavalry gathered here. They faced the royal family's attic palace, the solid governor's palace, the colorful glass-walled temple, and the Rus Duma parliament chamber.
Behind these large buildings is the wide Neva River and Rabbit Island on the other side.
The high priest and a group of people changed into costumes and appeared. Governor Cornuson and his son came to pick them up in shock.
Everything happened too suddenly. It is undeniable that because of this parade, the sudden arrival of the king has become a reality. As for how the king arrived, it is enough for thousands of people who are too busy to talk about it.