Thick wooden walls protect Roseburg in the fjord. The cold wind makes the wood dry and hard, and when you touch it with your hands, they are as hard as stone.
Most of the people of the Ross tribe have already migrated. They have sold their houses in their hometown. Those immigrants from Lake Mälaren or the immigrants from Narvik Port, these people who also speak Norse have moved there.
.
They have different origins, and now everyone can call themselves Russians.
The fur traders who were originally sojourners became permanent settlers, and the foreigners who wanted to hunt in the land became locals.
The plains of Rossberg Fjord were originally the residence of a group of Lapps who raised deer. The defeat a hundred years ago caused them to move north. Now the Lapps have returned in a brand new form.
Some nomadic Lapp families gave up their past life and settled down. Although they still made a living by raising deer, they now built deer-raising pens outside Roseburg. The method of raising deer has also become a mixed herding and pen-breeding model.
.Everything has returned to a hundred years ago. Even the small mound where Rurik used to train soldiers is occupied by several families of deer herders.
When Rurik landed, he only had to look at the hills to the west of the fjord. Many mounds and pine trees on the gentler slopes had been cut down cleanly, and he could clearly see the gray-brown and white masses there. These were sheep flocks and
Reindeer herd.
He had not gone to find out for the time being. If he climbed those mounds in person, he would still be able to see the little herding Lapps whistling to command the hounds they raised. Those Nordic sled dogs now also serve as shepherd dogs.
Nowadays, cats and dogs have indeed become common in Roseburg. He could clearly hear the barking of dogs. When he inspected the local granary, he found a fluffy cat with a hemp rope tied around its neck. The cat seemed to be in a bad mental state.
He just curled up and took a nap with his eyes closed.
The hustle and bustle at the port soon came to an end. People welcomed their passing and hated staying in the cold wind for too long.
The structure of Rossberg Fjord runs east-west. When the Arctic cold wind breaks through the strong wind outlet of the Kola Peninsula and then blows along the central mountain ridge of Scandinavia, part of the cold wind will firmly penetrate the entire fjord.
The bad sea conditions in recent days are due to the cold wind. When I returned to my hometown and stood in the fjord, the cold feeling brought back endless memories of Rurik.
Now look at the people here, they are completely different.
Return to the old house and arrive at the attic of the Governor's Palace.
Rurik returned here with his family and became the master again in an instant.
He looked up at the banquet hall on the first floor and saw that the ferocious bear heads on the walls were still there. There were also some round shields hanging on the walls as decorations, and hand axes hung on the shields. Together with the ferocious bear heads, they showed their martial virtues.
.
"It's more magnificently decorated than last time, Hallo Johnson, you're very attentive."
The old man responded with a smile in a slightly hoarse voice: "This is what I pursue. Unfortunately, I am old and can't seem to lift the sword. I am not as good as my brother Otto, he must be physically strong."
Haro Zuosen's words seemed like compliments, and Rurik was a little heartbroken when he heard them. His biological father and this old man were both the same. Maybe the environment in his hometown in the north was too harsh, which made Haro Zuosen look older. Sometimes Rurik was also very depressed, Oh.
This guy has always liked drinking in his life, and now he often tastes strong liquor. Although aging is irreversible, his situation seems to be okay. Maybe it's just because Novgorod is warmer.
Harold Zossen had a lot to say, especially for his son: "I wanted to die on the battlefield, but now it seems I have no chance. My son Kanuf will inherit my position. He is your brother, and he will do it."
Better..."
"I see……"
Kanuf stood next to Rurik, and the burly man's beard was tied into braids. Svetlana hugged Prince Osborne, and the little boy naughtily plucked the braid of the strong man's beard.
Although Lanna felt something was inappropriate, this boy was just naughty. Fortunately, Kanuf knew very well that this boy was the prince, so he winked and played with the little boy.
When Rurik turned around, he saw his son holding on to Kanuf's beard, and then he looked at him, which frightened his son into retracting his hand.
"This kid is very energetic, brother, don't scare him." Kanuf didn't feel embarrassed and smiled innocently again.
"Okay. Kanuf, I know you will do everything well."
"That's natural. Don't worry, brother." Kanuf knocked on his chest, "I will do whatever you ask me to do, and I will satisfy any request."
"Really? Very good. Oh, I do have something important to talk to you about this time. In fact, it's not just you, I also have to talk to Kawei."
If there is anything important to talk about, based on the instinct of a warrior, Kanuf thinks of war. Indeed, Rurik announced to the whole kingdom that there will be no war this year. As for next year...
The old Harold Johnson claimed that he was already preparing a sumptuous meal and asked the king to wait a moment.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Rurik finally sat down to rest in his old house.
At the same time, Goedelund, who was a maritime war chief, started unloading supplies as soon as the fleet docked.
All the fleet's supplies must be unloaded cleanly at the Roseburg Pier, where the dense trestles and supporting human lever cranes can be used to unload the goods efficiently with the help of nets.
Those in-demand commodities from as far away as Novgorod, such as honey, cheese, leather boots, woolen sweaters and other manufactured goods, quickly began to sell. Rurik could take advantage of the opportunity to make a sum of money and then become a big buyer.
The old folks buy leather, iron ingots and the like.
Especially iron ingots.
In Blast Furnace Town, a satellite city of Roseburg, the technology of earthen blast furnaces has been continuously improved by workers in actual production over the years. Once an earthen blast furnace is built, it will not stop working. Ore and wood must be continuously supplied, and even rain cannot stop pig iron.
Production of water. With such high-intensity use, the original earthen blast furnace collapsed long ago. People did not regret it. When they found that there were irreparable cracks in the blast furnace, they announced a shutdown. Later, they destroyed it and rebuilt it. Only the internal refractory bricks were taken out.
Reuse makes it possible to reduce the cost of rebuilding the blast furnace as much as possible.
Compared with the cost of production inputs, their output is a huge profit.
Legally speaking, all the metallurgical industries in Blast Furnace Town are joint ventures between the royal family and the original five blacksmith families, and the original contract still has legal benefits.
Those laborers received their salaries regularly, and most of the profits still went to the royal family. Although the dividends to the five blacksmith families were not large, the profits continued to add up and now they have become rich. Among them, the Klavasen family is the best.
A large number of people work in Roseburg around Blast Furnace Town, which is the kingdom's first heavy industrial base and is the key to maintaining a large population and considerable prosperity in an extremely cold world.
Similarly, Elon-Olav Fort further north is also densely populated, and only a few of the people there are even Old Rus. There are very few blast furnaces in the area, but it is prosperous due to the production of top-quality iron ore.
The blast furnace town produces a lot of iron ingots, and even because of the convenience, the molten iron flowing out of the taphole has different shapes after solidification. Anyway, according to the steel frying method, these pig iron ingots have to be broken into pieces and further processed in a small furnace.
Rosberg is mainly responsible for processing molten iron, which is preliminary processing.
Their fine processing capabilities are limited, and Rurik is obliged to take as many of them as possible to the furnace matrix of the royal blacksmith shop in the capital, and these iron ingots are also good ballast stones.
At night, there is a royal banquet.
The Klavasen family all arrived, Kavey brought his wife Lilia, his eldest son Kusneslav, and his younger son Holderslav.
Seeing her sister again, Svetalana instantly forgot that she was a queen. She had been attached to her sister since she was a child, and before the party even started, she rushed to her sister with her son in her arms.
What else could the sisters talk about? First they talked about their lives, and then they talked about their children.
Lilia is much older than Svetlana, which makes it seem that Kusneslav is not much younger than his aunt. Even so, Holdeslav and Osborneslav, these cousins are extremely old.
similar.
"Sister, you've gained weight."
"Really? Look at you again, you are still too thin. What will you do if you are so thin? Rurik has many wives and concubines and many children. Even if you are a queen, it is not okay to give birth to one just now. Look at me...
"
Lilia talked more because she was excited, and she touched her belly again, which was clearly hinting at something.
"Ah? There's a third child again?"
"Hey, there will be. I'm not like you." Lilia insisted again, "If I don't let Kawei marry again, he won't dare to have any ideas. I am a Varyag woman now, and my words are very useful. You
I don’t even know that I am the mistress of this house.”
Lana heard her sister's words in disbelief: "You have become the head of the family?"
"Otherwise? Ah, I am Kuja and I am old enough. I still need to find a wife for him."
"Ah? This..." Lanna was choked and couldn't say anything, and finally she said: "It's too early." After saying that, she not only glanced at her eldest nephew who was already obviously manly, but also saw
The boy was playing with his two younger brothers who had just learned to walk.
Kawei and Arik are contemporaries. He is more than ten years older than Rurik. As a Viking, he is at the peak of his youth and strength in all aspects. As a believer of Thor, he does a good job of blacksmithing.
very good.
Because Lilia is almost thirty years old, according to Viking tradition, this age is enough to make her the head of the family. If the husband dies in battle, the wife will automatically become the head of the family, and the rights and obligations should be firmly controlled. This
It was Kawei who had the heavy responsibility. He focused his work on smelting for the kingdom as much as possible, and left all other things to his wife, including taking care of his aging father.
The new generation of warriors is growing up at an alarming rate. At this moment, Lana actually felt that she was getting old too.
After all, this is the far north, and as the governor, Harold Johnson can't offer any complicated food.
Although the environment here is harsh, the cold-resistant sheep and reindeer that can ignore the extreme cold are raised, which not only provides leather for the hit, but also provides some key meat.
Livestock production does not produce much red meat, and the main food supply in the Roseburg area remains the same as in the past, and herring has long been the dominant food here.
Serving roasted lamb is what Harold Johnson likes to talk about the most. Paired with some traditional wheat cakes and dried raspberries, as well as the most traditional grilled fish, it feels like time has returned to the past.
The slightly sour and bitter ale is very good at relieving fatigue. Now, Rurik did not hesitate to take out the more advanced vodka and kvass.
Vodka is mixed with some honey and stirred to form a cocktail. Kvass has its own sour and sweet taste, and the more sour taste seems to be more refreshing.
Two roasted lambs were bought for them to eat. They followed the old tradition. As the most noble person, Rurik picked the best parts of the roasted lamb first. He finished the selection himself, while the others held knives and helped themselves.
First, there was a toast to drink. There was no distinction between men and women. Even Kusneslav, who had just become a man, raised a large and elegantly carved oak cup to drink ale with his relatives.
Look, Osborne was also infected by the warm atmosphere. He knocked on the table clumsily and insisted on drinking some even though he was in his mother's arms. Helpless, Lana made him some sweet and sour kvass, which would make him smaller.
The guy pulled his neck back when he was hungry.
At this moment, Kanuf and Harozolson couldn't wait to ask the question that was deliberately betrayed.
"Brother, you have something important to discuss here. Could it be...a new war?"
"Hey! You guessed it right." Rurik didn't bother to waste any more time and happily pointed out his next move.
"Last year our brothers made great achievements and beat the Franks violently on the Elbe River. Now, the door of Frank has been opened to us. We have rested for a whole year and have regained our strength. I will continue to use troops against the Franks!"
"Continuing a large-scale war? It's inspiring to think about it." Kanuf didn't feel anything wrong, even though he knew that this was still an expedition.
"It's just a long way to go."
As an old craftsman, Kawei is very pragmatic in his professional habits.
"I don't care, we will continue to make a lot of money and make great achievements with the king." Kanuf's smile was sincere. He has been a bit reckless since he was a child, especially since he will be the governor of Fort Ross, which in the past was the leader of the tribe.
How can I live up to this status? I cannot continue to make military exploits.
It seems that the attitude revealed by Rurik was that Ross was about to launch a national war, and Kanuf and Kawe subconsciously understood it this way.
This is not the case.
Before the blue fox brought people back to report their work, and before the black fox or red fox's messenger returned, Rurik still didn't know the specific situation on the other side of the Inn. He felt that everything was under control and fully believed that his plan would be successful.
, and also expected that those Frank nobles would react violently.
King Ludwig of the Eastern Kingdom will definitely respect the Rus' forces embedded in his territory out of his own interests and recognize the rationality of its existence.
Rurik had no intention of beating the severely damaged king again. His intention was to continue to increase his troops. After all, the army embedded in the Lein River had to face the possibly more powerful Central Frankish forces. Now, up to 500 people were placed in Nassau.
Their deliberate plundering really triggered a massive counterattack from the Middle Kingdom, and the mere 500 troops were probably no match for them and would be defeated.
The simplest, crudest or most effective way is to increase troops, allowing Ross to use the Barony of Nassau as a large army camp, and the army is entrenched, becoming a presence that the Frankish nobles in the civil war cannot ignore and fear.
Rurik also has to consider the worst outcome, that is, Ludwig suffers a huge defeat in the civil war. If that guy loses to his elder brother, it means that Ross's layout will collapse. Things have to think about the worst outcome.
, so that no matter what happens, Ross will not be passive.
However, how much impact does this have on distant Fort Ross? The civil war in the Frankish world is like a matter from another world to Rossburg and Ellenburg. Kawei feels that the king’s idea is very radical, and he does not object to it.
Even if there is an edict, he will not hesitate.
Kawei knew that if the king wanted to go to war, he would definitely lead a group of engineering troops to participate in the war. He did not hesitate to do so. The affairs of Blast Furnace Town could be entrusted to others, and he had the obligation to take his eldest son with him to fight the war. Because
, torsion slingshots, torsion trebuchets, these heavy weapons that can cause mass destruction need to be carefully maintained to maintain their strong power. They can greatly increase the combat effectiveness of the Russian army and reduce their own casualties in disguise. In this regard, no one is better than Kawei.
For strength. And he manages a large number of workers on weekdays, and this management ability is also used in war. After all, a large proportion of the people who control these heavy equipment are craftsmen who are originally employed by the royal family, and to a certain extent are his subordinates.
Rurik explained the situation to them: "As for whether there will be a full-scale war, we still need to look at the situation of the Frankish nobles. Think about it, we need the Frankish market so that our ironware can be sold smoothly and make a lot of money. I don't
I hope that the Eastern Kingdom will win, and I don’t want the Middle Kingdom to win. I just hope that Ludwig can maintain the status quo and let Lothair of the Middle Kingdom recognize the power of his two brothers. Listen, a divided Frank is most important to us.
Advantageous! A giant ax can break a big tree. If the ax is melted into three small axes, what can they do? I want you to seize the time to produce ordnance supplies and seize the time to train warriors in Fort Ross. This winter is very important to us.