The fat white fox served Rurik well with greasy delicacies, and even rewarded the sailors with fat meat.
Are they still sailors? That is until Rurik reveals that Rus's dedicated navy has been established and all sailors are recognized as marine warriors.
No, Goedelund, who has the status of Marine War Chief, can participate in the king's banquet as an accompanying elite for the first time.
Roast lamb is a specialty of Gould's family feast. The lamb is marinated and then braised. What is important is that the outside is charred and the inside is tender and the meat is greasy and fragrant.
Its existence seemed to dull the spirits Rurik brought.
But wine is an important cargo to be placed in Stockholm.
Being slightly drunk, Rurik was full of energy. He asked Baihu not to submit any written documents, but to just talk about the situation with his mouth to prove it was true.
The white fox who was full of goods really opened his mouth: "I know that the king is very concerned about the grain trade in Melalen. Haha, there was no trouble in the past summer, and the king also rewarded tax-free and tribute-free gifts, and now they can give more
of food!”
"So? What's the price of food now?"
"Hey, a hundred pounds of oats only costs six silver coins."
"Ah? So cheap?"
"It's that cheap."
"Did you use some tricks?" Rurik couldn't help asking.
The white fox shook Yao Yao's fat head and big ears: "This is fate, or the invisible hand that the king said. God's arrangement, what can I, a mortal, do? As you estimated, I am trying to buy in as much as possible."
"Yes, you did a good job." Rurik clapped his thigh, "I remember this is the lowest price here in Lake Mälaren."
The white fox shrugged again: "It would be great if five silver coins could buy a hundred pounds."
"Maybe if there are more people selling food, this will happen."
Low grain prices hurt farmers more than this. This summer has been relatively smooth, and ordinary homesteaders have been blessed with plenty but have no ability to eat up the excess grain. They lack the ability to store excess grain stably. After storing enough grain, they take out the excess.
Some brew a load of ale, and almost all the rest are sold for cash.
Who is the rich man here? Only the Governor has a lot of cash, and the big white fox is the biggest buyer. Behind him is King Ross, who has a huge backer. He has a huge amount of money, and no one dares to make any plans.
The nobles of each tribe are all big landowners, especially the largest tribe, the Melalen tribe. There are a number of landowners during this period. Pulling one out and placing it in other tribes is a prestigious task.
They have the most surplus grain in their hands. If they can't sell it quickly, it will rot in their own barns, or even the barns can no longer hold it.
As for Bjorn, Duke of Mälaren, he is the abdicated King of Sweden and has now fully accepted his status as a wealthy man. This year has been a good harvest, at least in his eyes, his warehouse has been depleted.
Do you have mercy on the tenant farmers? No! The rent that should be collected must not be less, and the debts must be paid. As for the large number of debt serfs and simple slaves, no matter how high the grain output is, what does it have to do with these talking cattle and sheep?
The Swedish grain market in Lake Mälaren has been oversupplied, and the big nobles have to lower prices and rush to sell. The involution of nobles from all sides has forced ordinary farmers to participate in low-price sales.
Even Bjorn would feel the pain of flesh pain. He had no choice. If he didn't sell it at a low price, the low-priced food of other tribes would be bought by that big white fat man. That boy preached that "Russ will buy one million pounds this year", but
The amount of grain in the market exceeded this amount, and the poor abdicated king Bjorn had to accept a low price.
Unless, he organizes the Melalen fleet to rush directly to sell food far away.
Sell it to the Danes? Then you won't get many silver coins.
Sell it to the capital city of Rus? Firstly, it’s a matter of shipping costs, secondly, this old guy simply can’t save his face, and thirdly, he’s just too lazy to do it.
Therefore, in theory, 60,000 silver coins can buy these surplus grains. Rurik made some calculations and optimistically estimated that he would only spend this amount of money on buying grains. If labor costs are also included, the transportation costs can still be earned.
One stroke.
There is a market for pure grain transactions ranging from 60,000 to 200,000 silver coins. The former is a good year and the latter is a famine year. Rurik, who has a huge amount of cash, does not feel that buying food costs a lot now.
"I calculated that my investment in the new flagship has exceeded four hundred pounds of silver coins, which is 40,000 coins, and there will be more in the future! Unexpectedly, the cost of buying food on Lake Malaren is only equivalent to building a large ship
?”
Hearing what the king said, the white fox was not surprised.
"It's absolutely impossible for them to get rich just by selling grain!" As he said, the white fox held the glass and stared at the transparent wine in it, "Let's talk about the king's spirits. I can easily sell a bottle of vodka for two pounds of silver coins in a wine shop."
"Oh? I remember it was just one pound at first."
"Yes, but your supply is limited. Besides, those leaders are willing to compete no matter how many people they have or their strength. Otherwise, how can they prove that they are dukes?"
"They're willing to spend big bucks."
The white fox smiled. He was embarrassed to say that the king was ignorant and sighed, "So I dress up gorgeously all the time. My guards and patrols are also decorated with amber, their clothes are exquisite, and their weapons are all fine steel swords.
Are those Dukes willing to be compared to me, a businessman?"
Rurik thought about it. Louis XIV personally led the fashion trend, and relied on his extravagant and lewd methods to win over noble ladies from all over the world, which then attracted all the nobles to compete in Paris. In this way, the king made a fortune and centralized power.
Maybe the White Fox has realized a similar truth? If the Swedish nobles were busy with arrogance, they wouldn't have any evil thoughts? After all, Ross has been separated from the Swedish world for a long time. Even though the two countries have merged, it is impossible for the local nobles to live their own lives without breaking away from the system.
idea.
Selling Rus' eastern and northern specialties in Lake Mälaren, these nobles are indeed willing to spend a lot of money, but the goods they can provide are only a few types: grain, flax, dried fish. Of course, there are also livestock and dairy products, etc., but the total amount is too small.
Cause quantitative changes to trade.
Rurik was slightly drunk and his brain was excited. He thought a lot: "So, White Fox, how much did you earn here in the past warm season?"
"This...I dare not hide it, it's about two thousand pounds."
"That's two hundred thousand silver coins. So how much will we import in the fall?"
"I'll think about it again." The big fat man's delicate white hands were like bear's paws and there were many gemstone rings on them. He counted with his fingers naively: "Grain is mainly flax. We don't care about fish. We can buy cabbage and onions.
More. There is also Hjermalen cheese, not a big amount. These things are not very valuable. We will pay at most 100,000 silver coins this year. But I spent a lot of money on the construction here, and I will make a net profit of 80,000 at most this year.
pieces."
"Huh?" Rurik couldn't help but put his head in the air with an exaggerated expression: "Trade surplus? We have a surplus of 80,000 silver coins?"
"That's probably it. There are some discrepancies in the specific number."
"Ah? If you don't do a lot of construction, wouldn't it?"
"Exactly..."
A trade surplus sounds like a good thing. If Sweden were another country, Russia could suck blood unscrupulously. But Rurik is the King of Sweden!
He had to consider one thing. If he continued to indulge in this kind of blood-sucking, the Swedish Dukes, who realized that they were quickly becoming poor, would either be willing to be poor and sit back and watch the trade market here shrink rapidly, or they would rebel.
The white fox really gave Rurik the opportunity to think carefully about how to make these Swedish nobles rich. As for ordinary people, if they are willing to immigrate to the East, various discounts are waiting for them.
The method of bringing people to immigrate is actually to poach the nobles, and this matter can only be done secretly without making it public.
As long as these nobles give them the opportunity to make a fortune, there is no doubt about their enthusiasm.
Rurik can be sure that the economic prosperity and food harvest they brought to Lake Mälaren in 841 was largely due to last year's war dividends!
No, they can continue to get some bonuses, and in exchange, they can go to the Frankish world for a while.
Rurik led the northerners to victory against the Franks. He has a great reputation in Lake Mälaren. Although which leader becomes the king of Sweden has nothing to do with the people, the people really like Rurik as the king.
, this is evident from the crowded scene in the market.
The fiery prestige makes the local nobles quite fearful, especially Duke Bjorn of Malaren. This abdicated king has been facing the dilemma of a slow loss of the tribe's population.
Population loss is a big problem, and Bjorn can't send troops to control the departure of those tribal farmers. After all, the Melalen tribe is a behemoth made up of large and small families. Some small families want to immigrate. How to stop this?
Before immigrating, they would definitely sell their farmland and houses, exchange them for cash, and then move to the nearby Tombstone Island on the sea with the necessary production and living tools.
Tombstone Island is already Ross's core territory and a maritime fortress. Immigrants can work as fishermen, or they can rest here and continue east to New Rossburg.
As the largest landowner in Mälaren, Bjorn purchased a large amount of land left by immigrants. But he was not the only buyer. Governor White Fox had more cash in hand. Although he would not buy it at a high price, he could definitely pay immediately without any delay.
What about Yondang? Raise the purchase price a little and pay as much as possible to prevent his tribe's acres from being taken away by others. In fact, other landowners of his tribe are the worst competitors.
The land annexation of the Melalen tribe has entered an active period. The big nobles are not plundering, but they will not let the farmland be abandoned. They have many slaves in their hands. These tool men manage the imported Russian curved shaft plows, and the improvement of agricultural technology faces another challenge.
With larger-scale farmland, Bjorn has been spontaneously implementing large-scale farms. Objectively, efficiency has improved, agricultural output has increased, and food prices have inevitably dropped.
Excessive supply will cause prices to plummet. Bjorn is not a traditional businessman, and he is even less clear about the truth that many businessmen cannot understand. Besides, all the nobles are selling food now! Bjorn is very nervous.
"Ah! Fortunately, Rurik is here. I can organize the nobles to talk to him about anything."
Bjorn wanted to take the opportunity to talk to Rurik, and Rurik also wanted to talk to him. The two sides hit it off immediately, and with Bjorn's envoy personally visiting the Governor's Mansion, the date for the meeting of the Swedish nobles was set.
It would take some time for the nobles who lived far away to arrive in Stockholm by ship. Before that, Bjorn had a chance to negotiate alone.
The sailors wearing felt tricorn hats took on the new identity of navy soldiers as Rurik's nurses. They did not wear heavy armor and wore thick and neat clothes.
White Fox brought his own heavily armored bodyguards to escort the king and his wife to pay a high-profile visit to the Duke of Malaren.
They deliberately made a big show of it, and even the navy kept beating the snare drum just to attract attention.
Many flags were fluttering in the cold wind, and the feathers on the soldiers' heads were trembling violently. The autumn weather was crisp and the sun was quite bright today, which made this colorful team extremely valuable.
Ordinary Malaren people wearing gray-brown linen and leather rushed to admire King Rurik's style. They gathered on both sides of the road and took off their hats to signal, and kept cheering and making strange noises.
The noise outside reached Bjorn's mansion and the public meeting hall in Mälaren.
The old Mälaren Market is almost abandoned. There are only some small traders left here to do small business. The straight lanes lead directly to the Russian wine shop. Rurik came to visit his hometown again. Standing under the building of the wine shop, he discovered this place.
Just as Bai Hu said, a large-scale expansion was really carried out.
"You made some reliefs. Very good! Very characteristic of us. In my opinion, you should also use some chalk mud and blue dye to make decorative paintings, and try to find some whitened stones to make some sculptures. This is just
My little suggestion.”
The white fox was flattered when he heard this. His fat face trembled violently with laughter and he bowed slightly: "The king's suggestion is an order. Since you like this style, I will do it soon."
"Ah, since you are so thoughtful, that's fine. To be honest, when I walked through the market streets in the past, they were still as dilapidated as I remembered. You, the governor, have not done a good enough job. You should make the roads straight, and finally
It’s better to pave the road with stones.”
"Huh? Okay, I'm about to do it."
"Very good. Then demolish and renovate the buildings on both sides of the road to make them uniform in appearance. I will demolish those ancient adobe longhouses and replace them with pure wooden structures. You should go to the capital and take a closer look at what prosperity is."
Rurik did not mean to be bossy. He pinched his waist and pointed, simply because what he saw was regrettable. He knew that this place actually belonged to the territory of the Melalen tribe, and most of the territory on both sides of the streets and lanes were accurate.
Is it a problem that it belongs to someone and is forced to demolish it by spending some money as compensation? No. This semi-abandoned old commercial street should be integrated into the new market system.
The king wants to let the Rus' power be rooted into the soil like a root system, preferably in the large and small buildings in the largest settlement in Mälaren, and more and more proportions will become the property of the Governor's Palace, or the property of Rus.
It would be foolish not to take precautions against the abdicated King Bjorn of Sweden! A man who once served as king, to put it bluntly, his existence is a threat to the royal power of Russia.
Rurik couldn't really kill him, and as the largest nobleman of the Melalen tribe, this man must still have great prestige. What annoyed him was that yesterday the Duke only sent an envoy to visit and said
A date for Bjorn's so-called "Meeting of Nobles" was announced.
With such an attitude, Rurik agreed with a smile on his face, but in his heart he cursed Bjorn for his transgression.
That is to say, this man who is the king feels that he still has the power to convene a meeting of the nobles of Sweden. The only one who can do this is King Rus! Because King Rus is the real King of Sweden.
Leaving Rick without any rude words, he showed his displeased attitude to Governor White Fox. It was up to the fat white man to figure out what to do.
What is arrogance? As a duke, Bjorn never visited in person, but claimed that he would silently wait for the king with all twenty big landowners in the tribe's meeting hall.
"Could it be a fraud? Absolutely not. I have three hundred guards now, and no one dares to do anything wrong." Rurik thought silently. Anyway, he was very skilled. The queen and children were placed in the Governor's Mansion.
He dared to tackle any problem.
Bai Hu reorganized most of his guards and patrols to serve as the king's guards. He himself did not appreciate those armed sailors who had been upgraded to real warriors. He felt that they were wearing gorgeous clothes and fighting in vain today.
Those who can truly protect the king are carefully selected by themselves, and some are even burly men from servants who have been leaders at a very young age and have been trained continuously.
These guards and patrols all wore masks and leather helmets, and wore standard blue and white patterned Ross cloth robes, which were wrapped in chainmail. They also collectively carried round shields painted with blue patterns on their waists.
There is an arm-length steel sword hanging, exactly the same style.
It was so menacing and mighty that the civilians of Mellaren who were watching not only did not feel danger, but instead waved their arms as hard as they could. Many young people with relatively thin bodies hoped that the king would notice them and then work under the king on some errand.
This is the choice of the people. They are very discerning. Although their family is from Mälaren, they cannot make a fortune living with these landowners. I heard that serving as a soldier for the king has always been a young man with wine and meat and only one body of strength.
People just want to take refuge in the Lord.
Because they all saw that many of the mail guards in front of them were originally from Melalen. Their lives quickly became easier after being selected by the fat governor. They were all childhood playmates who fished and caught squirrels together, because they had
The brothers who were strong enough were still enjoying the good times after being selected. The other guys were envious and wanted to join.
It is precisely for this fundamental reason that Duke Bjorn has no real authority.
"There's a lot of noise outside, and the king is showing off his strength."
"Is it appropriate for us to just sit like this? Maybe we should go see the king in person."
"Meet the king now? Let Rurik see our joke?"
"I don't want to go anyway. Rurik deceived us into going home last year, but ended up sending troops south to attack Frank. He made a fortune there, and he just didn't want to share it with us."
"Forget it! Our people have already lost a lot. If we continue, we will only lose more. We obviously evacuated ourselves."
"Bah. I think the Russians also suffered a lot of losses. They just gritted their teeth and persisted. Damn it, they made us look like cowards. Indeed, no more people died, and we didn't continue to get a lot of money, and there was no glory."
The landowners were all talking, but Duke Bjorn couldn't get a word in. He was a Duke, but he was not consecrated by Rurik. The strength of the landowners present was not absolutely inferior to Bjorn, so there was no need to listen to the facts.
Arrangement. After all, everyone can easily choke to death with one sentence: "You lead everyone to retreat, and we will lose the opportunity to make a fortune again."
Although the Norse language does not have proper nouns to describe "trade surplus" and "trade deficit", after the war, the Malaren nobles could feel that although they had enjoyed the privilege of being free of tribute for ten years, they wanted to earn money from trade with Russia.
Profit is wishful thinking.
To be fair, the goods provided by the Russians are very good, and the prices paid to buy them are also relatively high. Of course, you can choose not to buy them. Common people need them to improve their lives, and nobles need them to prove their wealth. And the goods available to everyone are all
It's a bargain, and when it comes and goes, it's like a piece of sawdust stuck in the flesh, and the people of Melalen are bleeding slowly.
The power of the Mellaren tribe is actually divided between more than 20 local nobles. Bjorn has never been a strongman. His marriage to the son of the white fox is not for the entire tribe, but for himself. He is weak to the governor,
He is equally weak to the nobles of his own tribe, and as long as he compromises for the first time, he can compromise countless times. Although the nobles did not ignore Bjorn, he felt that he would only be a rich man in the future.
For this reason, the title of a duke is something of a joke.