Chapter 289 The value of the Kovin gray squirrel tribe that surrendered to Rurik
The "Northern Hunting" army returned to Rossburg at the end of February. The official status of the hunted Kovin people was Rurik's slaves. This was recognized by all Ross people. It is precisely based on this that it is also
No one dared to disturb the "property" belonging to the chief family.
Although they were slaves, their lives were not like those of bullied and precarious slaves.
The population of the Gray Squirrel tribe has shrunk to barely 200 people, and they live temporarily in Fort Ross as slaves.
After the war and the long journey, all the old and infirm people died, and some women were taken away by the Russians and became women of Russian warriors and unexpectedly got rid of their slave status.
It seems that life is better as a slave of Rurik than as a woman who is one of those warriors.
Yes, life is like this, can it get worse?
The leader of the tribe, Mechasta, is still the leader of the tribe to this day. Since his two young children have received Rurik's attention, it is obvious that the future of the Gray Squirrel tribe will not be bad.
Everyone knows their true destiny in the future - to go north.
"Woima Kashad, this is really unexpected. The mine you discovered with your brothers has brought disaster to the tribe. Soon, the entire tribe will move there to settle. It seems to be a good thing for the tribe."
When he thought of this, Mechasta always put down the ax given by the Russians. He stood in the woods and looked towards the north.
Yes, after setting up their own tents, these tribesmen began to build a series of wooden houses covered with soil and dead grass to keep out the cold. Rurik lent them a batch of iron axes for logging, scrapers for cutting wood strips, and even tools for digging the ground.
manuscript and shovel.
These are just wrought iron tools that have been quenched. They are stronger and more durable than the pure wrought iron tools in other areas, but they are somewhat out of date compared to the low carbon steel tools that the Russians began to popularize.
In fact, as long as it is heated red and then carburized, a large number of iron tools owned by the Russians can be turned into carbon steel tools.
But judging from the actual use effect, the iron ax is completely sufficient for logging work. It is not so much that the iron ax fell down a tree, but it is better to say that the tree was broken by a not-so-sharp axe.
The Gray Squirrel tribe must relocate to the mines in the north and rebuild the tribe there, permanently accepting the control of the Ross tribe, or the Ross chief family.
Legally speaking, the Gray Squirrel Tribe is already Rurik's private property, as are all the tribesmen. He can do whatever he wants with them, and he will not encounter criticism from others.
Rurik had no intention of mistreating them and even gave them preferential treatment.
He made a verbal promise with Mechasta that he would give the tribesmen food, and the tribesmen would pay the price by cutting wood for the Rus.
The people of the Gray Squirrel tribe began to cut down pine and oak trees, and then used scrapers to remove the bark. Then Rurik sold them to the tribal shipbuilders who worked all night in exchange for some silver coins, and used the money to buy some dry oats from Gould.
And he bought fish from the tribesmen who insisted on cutting ice for winter fishing. He gave the grain and catch to the gray squirrel tribesmen, thereby completing a closed loop of the transaction.
In this circular transaction, all parties have earned a little bit of the labor value of the gray squirrel tribesmen.
As for the tribesmen, they really feel that the Russians are not as bad as they once appeared.
Many people even think that the real leader of the tribe is obviously Rurik from Russia, even if he is a child.
That is a noble boy. Since you can get food and safety as long as you do things for him, why not do it?
The tribal people worked harder and harder, and some of them had special skills that gradually began to show up.
After all, those men who surrendered on the battlefield were hunters themselves. They were allowed to re-equip their bows and arrows, and swore that they would not point their arrows at any Russians, on pain of death.
They used carefully selected elastic oak branches to re-make their own short wooden bows, borrowed iron clusters from the Ross people to make the highest quality arrows, and began hunting around the mountains near Rossburg.
They set off dragging a small sled, claiming they would not run away.
The hunters really have no intention of fleeing. After all, there are still a large number of tribal people staying in the territory of the Ross people to serve as hostages!
The hunters of the gray squirrel tribe shoot all the prey they find near the hills. Compared with the Ross hunters who like to set traps such as trip wires, these Covin people prefer to shoot directly with bows.
They hunted some long-legged snow hares, alert ferrets, and even the occasional Arctic fox. The meat of the prey was naturally shared by the hunters, and the leg bones of the prey were made into bone clusters, while the leather was given to the remaining animals.
Rick.
There were also some tribesmen who were craftsmen who knew how to make charcoal. The crooked oak branches were chopped off, and the relatively straight trunks were "tributed" to Rurik, and those branches were naturally processed into charcoal blocks.
There were only 200 surviving tribesmen, so how could they use so many charcoal blocks? They "tributed" the excess burned charcoal and prayed for more food.
Rurik was a little surprised by these changes, and naturally supported many of their reasonable requests.
Is this flattery? Maybe so.
They do not desire preferential treatment, they just want to live a better life.
The Kovin people and even the deer herders, two ethnic groups with a common origin, joined the Rus' camp for different reasons and were so obedient, obviously working very hard for themselves. How to explain this? Rurik felt that the only way was
It is explained by the so-called "weird man's fanaticism" mentality.
Compared with the Russians, they are all others. In order to prove that they are useful to their new masters, they are desperately trying to prove their worth.
If they have this mentality, things will obviously be great!
Rurik admired the skilled craftsmen among this group of people, and gathered all the children among them to manage them.
In the end, the entire gray squirrel tribe will be completely absorbed by the Ross tribe, and their descendants will eventually consider themselves to be the real Ross people. Even now, Rurik consciously cannot declare that they are the "New Ross people". They are still a group of people.
Slaves, and the duty of slaves, is to be obedient. If giving them some necessities in life can be exchanged for their obedience, Rurik would be happy to give them some things and gain greater benefits for himself in the foreseeable future.
Finally, in May, Covin and the deer herders were shocked when they saw a spectacular sight.
More than five hundred ships of various sizes, old and new, covered the sea surface of the fjord, and their huge sails spread out covering the sky and the sun!
People whose concept of boats was limited to canoes were completely stunned by the sight in front of them.
After a short period of time, the Kewen gray squirrel tribe, who had made some mental preparations, finally received the official order from their master - our expedition is about to begin!
The great businessman Gould personally led a huge commercial fleet south. He took away all the goods in stock and most of the geographical officers.
The wharf built by Gould's family temporarily became deserted, but soon it suddenly became lively again.
Two young, fat boys, who were Gould's other sons, were ordered to manage the mansion after he left. They were also responsible for managing the family's relationship with the leader of Ross, and the family's life.
The two faced the noble Rurik with extreme humility, and they followed their old father's orders and met all Rurik's requirements without reservation.
It was good weather again, and it was this day that Rurik decided to set out for the expedition.
It’s May 20th on the Julian calendar, and all preparations are in place!
It is almost the summer solstice, and there is no night in Rossburg on that day. Now the days have become very long, and the entire fjord is immersed in the warmest period of the year.
But the sea water is still relatively cold, and only the brave guys dare to throw away their clothes and swim in the sea water. This is an act of brilliance, and most fishermen in Ross are unwilling to do this just because they are in awe of the sea.
In the early morning, Rurik woke up, patted his smiling face with both hands, and got up from his mother's arms.
He felt a little pity for the mother who was lying on her side, because her only son was about to lead a group of tribesmen to the north for construction as a "war chief".
Although this matter has nothing to do with the war, after all, it is the pioneering of unknown territory. What mother wouldn't worry?
Niya has already finished giving the necessary instructions.
After she woke up as usual, she prepared some breakfast for the children who were about to leave, as if today was a normal day.
Rurik sat cross-legged near the dining table, munching on wheat cakes and dried meat, all the while glancing at his mother who was not thinking about food or tea.
He could understand the mother's mood.
"Mom, I know you are still worried. There is nothing to worry about. Just stay here and I will come back when I finish my work."
What does "completion of work" mean? Niya didn't know, she calmly pushed her wheat cake to Rurik: "Eat, eat more."
"okay."
There were actually four children sitting in front of Niya. In addition to Rurik, they were Carlotta, Ella and Saipolava. The three girls were destined to be his wives and concubines, but he clearly hoped that his wives and concubines could become
A warrior woman, not a weakling.
They ate in silence, and Niya stopped saying anything.
After a while, the outdoor world became lively.
Although it was agreed that the departure crowd would gather at the dock of the Gould family, such as Fisk, Kanuf and other Rurik's best friends, they gathered all the people, including themselves, who were selected to participate in the "expedition."
"Fifty little warriors, armed with iron weapons issued by Rurik that only real adults can use, gathered at the door of the leader's house.
Also coming were the ten maids, from Anna to Yulia. They stopped making soap, picked up wooden bows and arrows, and came to see him as "Valkyrie Legion Soldiers"
Commander Carlotta and his master Rurik.
Thirty mercenaries with iron swords and axes hanging on their waists and crossbows in their upper hands are also here. The leader of the mercenaries, due to the temporary departure of Evro, became the archery coach Fraser
.At the same time, this Fraser still has to take on the management of all children, just like daily training, and accept the supervision of his important task.
This time in the "expedition" Rurik is surrounded by a number of capable officers.
As a war chief, he had the power to mobilize hundreds of warriors to attack the enemy. He could only mobilize a hundred pure-blooded Russian warriors excluding mercenaries. Regardless of the small number of these warriors, they had participated
The veterans of "Operation Northern Hunting" had fought with the Kewen tribal coalition forces.
Originally, Rurik mobilized them simply because they had fought side by side, and because of this comradeship relationship, he could better handle them.
But in most people's eyes, this is just a little trick on Rurik's part.
Even if Rurik agrees that those Kovin slaves will not rebel, it seems to everyone that those Kovin people who can pick up iron axes and spears after receiving the gift are really full of possibility of rebellion, so they need strong Rus warriors.
Suppress them with momentum.
After the meal, Rurik felt full of energy. He put on gorgeous clothes and appeared in front of the waiting people with high morale.
"Looks like you're all ready! I won't say anything, let's get started."
He made no high-spirited noise, but his little warriors responded to their war chief by roaring "wuraaaaaaah".
Rurik swaggered and led a group of people to the beach, hoping to meet the Kovin people waiting to board the boat there.
He did not look back at his mother, but Niya was staring at her son's back and the golden ponytail that trembled under the snow fox hat as he walked, and then she also joined the team.
Rurik is going to take a group of people to the north to open up the legendary iron mine? It is said that the iron mine is better than the ore in the small hill near the Rossburg?! The blacksmiths of the tribe are jealous
With this resource, Rurik specially selected Kawei to participate in the operation.
There was no other reason than that it was Kawei, a young man, who discovered the secret of the iron mine. Also going there at the same time were Kamne and ten others, all under ten years old, from the Salmon Lord of Covin.
The tribe's blacksmith apprentice. Interestingly, because he learned the art early, Kamne was the elder brother of these Kewen children.
In fact, after two months of round-the-clock study, even though the new boys have not yet had the strength to pick up a hammer and participate in blacksmithing, they are still doing their best to help. Overall, they are full of admiration for the blacksmith's work and are helping with their abilities.
After sex work, he spent all day observing the essentials of blacksmithing.
It can be said that these children have been learning the one-stop skills from prospecting, mineral processing, smelting sponge iron, forging iron, carburizing, quenching, and polishing from the very beginning. The Russians are actually exporting technology to the Kewen people.
In the final analysis, it is still necessary to cultivate a new group of blacksmiths for the Ross tribe that can be completely controlled.
After all, reality is a bit funny. The native Ross boys prefer to be brave warriors rather than blacksmiths who work hard all day long.
What could Rurik do? He could only arrange for obedient slaves or surrendered people to learn how to be a blacksmith.
One day, the entire Gray Squirrel tribe must rely on iron smelting as their main livelihood. Rurik arranged for his slaves to explore this industry, which was also his primary purpose in developing the mines.
Speaking more broadly, the future of the Russian people will be inseparable from the huge chromite mine in the north.