Both the Rus and the Kovin people, due to the special geographical conditions of the area they live in, naturally regard the complete polar night on the winter solstice as the end of the year, and the first light of dawn that breaks the darkness in the east as the beginning of the whole year.
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When the sun lazily squeezes out of the horizon, it shines precious sunlight on the world for a very short time like charity.
In this way, time has essentially entered AD 831.
In the Frankish Kingdom in the far south, the conflicts between the highest-level nobles over the issue of inheritance were so acute that they were on the verge of civil war. Louis the Pious made his eldest son co-emperor, and his second and third sons received Aquitaine and Bavaria. The empire already had
There was a sign that the country was divided into three, and the nephew of the king in northern Italy took the lead in raising the flag of rebellion.
The old emperor was mentally and physically exhausted, and saw that his three sons had begun to attack each other. He tried to bridge the civil war among his sons and decided to take some major measures this year.
The Frankish Kingdom was busy with civil war and the reshaping of internal affairs, but a fleet of large food fleets stationed in Sicily, which was empty of defenses, and began to develop it.
The Franks had no time to expel these foreign invaders, just like their northern region, which was often attacked by the Danes and Wenderslav's Pomeranians. The north of the kingdom had never been peaceful, and the princes in the north respected the emperor and did not care.
Covering up the pursuit of furs, oats and wool in Pomerania. Similarly, the penetration of the Danes from the overland direction also made them miserable.
Perhaps the only advantage is that the military strength of the northern princes is stronger than that of the southern princes.
Of course, it's just a little stronger.
Because of the Flanders region at the bottom, it has long been targeted by the Danes. Some Danish tribes have already had the idea of long-term occupation and rule, planting their own wheat and raising their own sheep, instead of simply plundering in the past.
There was a Danish baby boy who was born in the autumn of 830. Because he was born weak and his body was as soft as a ball of clay, he was thrown into the grove near the tribe by his biological father. Just like the Russians once wreaked havoc
Abandoning their baby girls is the same thing in Denmark.
Baby boys and girls who were not wanted by their parents were discarded in this way. While limiting their population, objectively the babies with the best health survived.
But the child cried all night in the forest, and he was not frozen to death, nor was he carried away by wild animals.
When his father deliberately went to check, he was shocked that this child, who was regarded by the priest as a "boneless man", was still crying with a weak voice. Who can't be moved by this scene?
The boy survived with difficulty. He was indeed weak, but he also experienced his first Hanukkah in Denmark.
"Perhaps, he is favored by God." The boy's father asked his father.
"If he is born weak and is favored by God, he may receive some favors. Raise him up, but don't expect him to become a great warrior." The boy's grandfather has a pessimistic attitude. He is getting older and does not want to be a great warrior.
The first grandson is a "boneless man". "You must continue to find a suitable woman, give me some strong children, and inherit my power."
No one could have expected that a Danish warrior would be born in this way.
Of course, the overlord of Denmark in this era, the leader "Lion" Hafgen who lives in the north of the peninsula, cannot predict the future, such as who will succeed him.
Fortunately, Hafgen was in the prime of his life. The horrific acts he carried out on the territory of the Northern Alliance established his prestige and won the support of many Norwegians and Gotlanders, but he also made enemies on the mainland.
It's entirely because this guy completely broke everyone's agreed-upon rules of war for the pleasure of revenge.
Because those captured women will be distributed among the participating tribes according to their merits. They will become the victors and they will continue to live. However, in order to vent his anger, Hafgen actually killed them.
The leaders of the various tribes in Denmark expressed their respect on the surface, but secretly cursed the leader as a "stupid butcher". Despite the insults, the tribes would not form a coalition to defeat the leader's tribe, because it was unnecessary. In the final analysis
, all the tribes complained that they did not gain enough benefits from the last war against the north. They themselves did not suffer any real losses, and they had to continue to live their lives.
Some turbulent changes are quietly taking place in Europe, which seem to have not had any impact on the residents of the Svealand Plain in the north of the Baltic Sea.
The Svia Tribal Alliance is living its own life. They are only slowly integrating tribal power and spontaneously upgrading to a feudal country.
That is to say, the Melalen tribe, which has the strongest population, military, and economic capabilities, is expected to become the leader of the new country, and its power is still increasing.
There are obviously huge variables here.
The Rus are rising rapidly. The rulers of Rus have built multiple colonial settlements and upgraded their internal governance methods. The power of the tribe is rapidly concentrating on the chief family, and a centralized feudal country is almost ready to emerge.
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However, the two people in power, Rurik and Otto, especially Rurik, are currently actively exploring new conquered areas. As for competing for the highest power within the alliance, Rurik does not want to go everywhere now.
Promote the ambitions of the Russians.
He felt that one of the strategies of the Ross people in the next two to three years was to absorb the forces of the Kovin people and let them know that following the Ross leader would bring benefits, so continuing to build Ironburg would serve as a positive example.
The Julian calendar has officially entered January, and people can clearly feel the increase in daylight hours.
Still in Roseburg, Hanukkah sacrifices are like a prelude to the winter hunt in the new year.
Due to the huge success of the winter hunt the previous year, 10,000 squirrel skins entered the leather production, processing, and sales market in Roseburg. The strong commercial interests deeply stimulated the nerves of the young people.
All the Kovin people have surrendered. After the Russians who robbed them are captured, they will be designated as "heinous criminals" by the leader.
Ordinary people understand that those Corvin people surrendered to the chief family, and they will not touch this bad luck. What they are eyeing is the mountain forest owned by the Corvin people, where there are a large number of squirrels, ferrets, owls, and even bears and wild boars.
The once mysterious "Eastern Land" has been explored very carefully by the leader and two hundred brothers. There are a lot of unexploited resources there!
What's more, this time the tribe owns Ironburg!
No, Otto issued an edict, and more than 500 strong men decided to take their own weapons, drag their newly made sleds, carry some dried meat and wheat cakes, and follow the leader's footsteps to the north.
Among them are a group of young people who are participating in hunting for the first time.
They don't need to be afraid of the severe cold, because Ironburg is a huge settlement. The towering wooden walls will withstand the terrible wind and snow and can protect everyone. In the future hunting, everyone can be protected by Ironburg. The so-called Tan Ruo
If there is a snowstorm, everyone can have an absolutely safe shelter.
The hunters no longer have anything to worry about, and with the settlement of Ironburg, some fur traders are ready to follow suit.
More than 500 people decided to walk on the ice and head north to pursue their dreams of wealth. There were also more than 20 business families, totaling nearly 100 people, joining the team, including members of the Gould family.
Figure. Gould sent one of his sons, along with more than thirty servants, to the north in six reindeer carriages. They were not only buying furs at low prices in the fur origin areas, but also trying to explore new territories.
business opportunities.
The first ray of dawn shone on Fort Ross, and a huge army walked toward the east facing the rising sun. After walking out of the frozen fjord, the dark team gathered into a group and continued northward along the coastline.
Finally, the team led by Otto himself arrived near Ironburg on the night of January 2 of the Julian calendar. When everyone saw the flames lighting up in the distance, they realized that their long march had come to an end.
Many Russians have never seen a tall wooden wall, and their concept of a "city" is very vague.
Roseburg is a densely populated city, but unfortunately the internal buildings are scattered in a disorderly manner, and there is no city defense system.
When the young warrior saw the huge wooden wall, the mottled snow on the wooden slats, and the thick snowdrifts under the wall, he not only lamented that it was impossible for someone to conquer this place by force.
At the frozen pier, the long ships frozen on the shore were clearly visible, and the towering masts seemed to be frozen and blended into the earth.
There are also a large number of obviously processed logs piled on the shore. They have all had their bark peeled off and are neatly stacked together to form a number of more peculiar wooden walls. What are these logs used for? Many of them are used.
The first thing people think of is building a house.
Isn’t it about building a house?
Six extremely long logs were lying on the ground. The bark of them had also been peeled off, and their white and extremely thick wood cores were receiving the rays of the winter sun. They were slowly drying in the dry snow.
Rurik deliberately placed them so that they could dry naturally and the moisture inside would sublimate as much as possible, making them easier to use when actually processing the mast.
Some old hunters are very knowledgeable and know that this item is actually fir, while other woods are mostly pine. Fir can grow very long, but as the main beam of a house, it is still inferior to oak.
Extremely long oak is difficult to find, but extremely long fir seems to be easy to obtain?
Overall, the condition of Ironburg is beyond imagination. Especially after entering the wooden wall, the Russians who looked around had to sigh that this city is so orderly. For example, the houses inside are all the same model.
The chimneys made of stones are always emitting green smoke, and the air inside the wooden walls seems to be intoxicating.
After all, more than 600 people suddenly arrived, and together with the previous group, the population of Ironburg temporarily exceeded 1,200.
This has basically reached the limit of the current carrying capacity of the settlement.
A group of open spaces reserved in the settlement were temporarily filled with tents set up by Ross hunters. Some of the vacant houses were owned by Rurik himself. He did not hesitate to rent the houses to businessmen who came with the team from afar.
and charge a higher rent.
Merchants can also set up tents, but where are there comfortable wooden houses with fireplaces, thick wooden walls, and even beds covered with leather? Rurik also directly issued an order, asking the merchants to either rent a house or withdraw with their sleds.
Rossburg, if you don't pay and deliberately keep people here, you will be evicted by force.
Withdraw? We have come, why should we withdraw?
Rurik immediately collected a fairly good rent, which totaled more than a thousand silver coins. That is, a merchant charged half a pound of silver coins, and the rent was three months, which was theoretically a winter hunting period.
Maximum sustainable time.
They may not be able to come up with the money right away. The accounts are in arrears, and those who don't come up with the rent right away will have to make up for it in the future. Rurik regards this as a special business tax, and these businessmen absolutely have to pay it.
After learning about the graceful shelter of Ironburg, Peipianpipian went to the Far North for the first time. They could purchase goods at extremely low prices. They enjoyed a lot, but naturally they had to pay the price in money.
Ten pounds of silver were easily collected by Rurik, which surprised Otto who came here again.
The hunting operation has not officially started yet, and everyone needs to settle down in Ironburg.
On a rather lively night, a group of tribal women who had not yet found a suitable man were looking for fledgling young hunters among the newly arrived Rus. To put it bluntly, this was an obvious seduction. They were looking for young and energetic men.
, in order to take advantage of their youth to give birth to healthier children.
Otto no longer cared about these things. At the moment, in the dimly lit meeting hall of the leader's residence, the linen cloth spread on the floor was covered with a large number of silver coins that reflected a strong metallic luster.
"You got a new tax so easily? You kid, this is greed!" Otto said in surprise, "We arrived at Ironburg in less than two days!"
Rurik laughed out loud: "Dad, I asked all my mercenaries to move out of those wooden houses, and now all the people living in them are businessmen. This is the rent they provided, not a tax. We will have to
The commercial taxes collected from them will not be reduced because of today’s incident.”
Otto's mind had not yet thought that he could make money by renting out a large number of houses, and Mechasta was equally shocked.
Especially Mechasta, he really couldn't imagine that Rurik could easily obtain so many precious silver coins. In his opinion, every silver coin is precious, but in Rurik's eyes, the circulation of the Roseburg System
The value of silver coins has substantially shrunk, and domestic silver coins are no longer precious.
Because of the wear and tear during transactions and the trouble of recasting, gold and silver coins have a natural deflationary nature. Roseburg's economic system has become complicated. The copper coins that were once the most widely circulated are no longer so strong, and silver coins are in daily transactions.
It became common simply because ordinary people in Russia still have a large amount of silver coins in their hands. To put it bluntly, Rurik is using various means to get the tribe's silver coins into their hands, and finally uses him to purchase the tribe's labor.
It is a large-scale purchase of food from the Malaren people, resulting in a serious outflow of silver coins. Sooner or later, those lost silver coins will be earned back. For example, among the businessmen renting houses now, are there from Malaren! Collecting rent is
A means of collecting silver coins.
After all, the rent of a thousand silver coins is a small amount of money. This time the father and son reunited, the two did not waste much time praising their family ties, and it was unnecessary. Two powerful men sitting together should talk about real matters.
Otto soon learned of the major events that had taken place in Ironburg during his absence.
Some big things are obvious, such as the disappearance of a large forest and the large amount of wood piled at the dock.
Mechasta was also eager to show off the saw and longbow he owned, and once again pledged his loyalty.
A longbow as tall as a man can shoot a relatively light arrow 200 stikas away? It sounds very tempting, but the strange thing is that Otto did not attach great importance to this.
Otto knew that his son was trying every possible means to build a big ship, and one of the goals of being stranded in Ironburg was to look for excellent ship materials.
There's a logical explanation for the timber that was placed on the dock.
Otto subconsciously stroked his beard. Under the dim oil lamp, he looked more and more cunning: "Those fir trees may be good materials, but they look too long and must be very heavy. Rurik, what are you going to do with them?"
Transport it back."
"Use a sled." Rurik responded with a smile, his face full of confidence.
Otto subconsciously felt that this was not appropriate: "Those timbers look extremely heavy to me. How do you carry them onto the sled? Those are the longest timbers. You plan to use them as masts. Is that okay?"
“It’s all doable!”
"You...you really believe in the power of warriors?" Otto certainly didn't understand. He pinched his beard and said, "Those masts are made of too heavy wood. I can organize a hundred people and we should be able to lift it up together."
As he spoke, Otto suddenly slapped his head: "Oh, why do you have to put it on the sled? Just use the reindeer herd to pull the wood and slide it on the ice. You should understand that the frozen sea is stable.
the way."
This sounded like a good solution, but Rurik refused.
"Why? Are you so upright?"
Rurik simply clenched his fists and made a banging sound. He was obviously gearing up to do something big: "Dad, just look at me. I will make a brand new... thing. I call it
The crane can carry very heavy wood onto the sled. This thing will have many exciting uses in the future."
Otto shook his head. He didn't know what it was. Looking at his son's worried look, he still said: "As long as it is a good thing, I will support it. Tell me how many soldiers you need. I will