Chapter 458 Those businessmen who have ghosts and confused thoughts
The Gotlanders all need the advice of the king and nobles, and they need them to lead everyone to defeat the enemy to avoid the loss of everyone's wealth.
So, how do the fleeing village leaders feel when Haken and a group of big businessmen are in the meeting room facing more and more people gathering? To this day, their superficial thoughts are still "support the war"
", it means that my heart has become a mess.
The weather was already very cool, the people in the meeting room were covered with sweat on their foreheads, and Haken was spinning with anxiety.
A group of merchants watched the king's anxiety wandering around, which made them equally irritable, and people began to discuss among themselves.
"What's going on? Haken, people are shouting that the Rus are east of the mound."
"If it really doesn't work, I might..."
"What? You actually want to escape, who can escape? The Danes don't dare to save us now."
"This is a slander. My family is here, how can I escape? We should think about how to contact the Danes."
"What about the Danes? Have we been deceived by them again? This sea is full of liars."
"It's not that the Danes don't want to, it's the guys from Mälaren who are holding back the Danish army. We can only face the Russians alone."
…
The big businessmen and village leaders were arguing endlessly, with the war faction's voice being the loudest in the quarrel, even though there was now more unfavorable news.
Those who were shouting were saying that Siegfast's team was completely wiped out, and there were even rumors that one of his men had been killed.
The patrolling Danish mercenaries captured the ten men from White Sands Port who spread the news and claimed to have escaped from the clutches of the Russians, and they were turned into the meeting room. One of them showed off the beautiful sword belonging to Sigfast, and
One person presented a hat and a very important amber necklace.
"What?! My eldest son is really dead?!" Haken stomped his feet in anger. He suddenly drew his sword and assassinated the man from Baisha Port who presented the "relic" of his eldest son.
At this time, someone took out a wooden board from his clothes: "The leader of Visby, the leader of Ross, requires you to fight them. Siegfast is not dead, and they require you to exchange him for money."
"What? He's still alive?! That's great!" The furious Haken's spirit improved dramatically, and he grabbed the board.
He glanced at the runes on the board, then felt dizzy and sat down on the ground with a dramatic thud.
He was helped up by the businessmen present, his face was bursting with veins, and he was cursing in a low voice, "Damn Russians, how cruel they are."
Another nervous businessman picked up the wooden plank. Due to the habit of being highly sensitive to numbers in business, he immediately targeted the amount of the ransom.
The businessman didn't care about Haken's extension and asked coldly: "The Russians want you to pay two hundred pounds of silver to redeem your son. That's crazy. Can you afford this money?"
"Nonsense! Your son was kidnapped by them. As a father, why don't you get him back? I would rather spend money."
"Oh, this is your business. Haken...oh no, Your Majesty, this matter is still dangerous. Since the Russians asked you to go in person, the brothers will not bring people to support you for the time being. Since you want to choose to fight with them
, brothers will naturally accompany you. This matter..."
"Shut up!" Haken reluctantly stood up, "I will take the people there myself. This is my private matter, and you don't need to take action. Tomorrow I will take the private soldiers, and you can stay in Visby and continue to organize the team. I
I will try my best to talk to the leaders of the Ross people and ask them what they want. If I can give these bastards a sum of money to get out of here, I will pay for it. As for you."
"I am willing too." Some businessmen agreed without hesitation, and then more and more people expressed the same attitude - if the price to buy peace is not a lot, of course everyone can accept it.
Of course the soldiers will not discuss such things, but they are all businessmen. In their view, everything can be bought and sold, including war and peace. They do not think it is shameful to buy peace and send the Russians away, unless the Russians are unable to feed them.
A full whale. Sure enough, the merchants of Visby did not hesitate to fight to the end.
Ironically, the so-called war faction also advocates the idea of peace in their hearts. They are more pragmatic than the previous peace advocates. The so-called preparations for a decisive battle are the best strategy.
To negotiate with the Rus, King Haken accepted this extremely dangerous job.
The businessmen present sighed deeply, and then praised Haken's courage.
Of course, in Haken's opinion, the praise given to him by his friends is really false. Look at these people, if the enemy is not at the door of the house, who would care about them? Ask yourself, I am the same as them, except that the eldest son is captured.
This thing just happened to me.
With mixed emotions, he began to prepare for the ransom. Maybe it was wrong to buy peace, but winter was coming soon, and the Russians could no longer delay. Let the Russians go back, and then the Gotlanders could have good contact with the Danes. By next year
With the support of the Danish army, will the Russians dare to make a comeback? Probably not.
Maybe it would be better for the Russians to come back, so that Denmark's Hafgen and his army can kill the main force of the Russians in one battle, so that most Gotlanders can regain peace, at least the merchant families can still
Be happy and accumulate wealth.
The life and death of ordinary people has nothing to do with businessmen, and the money lost by businessmen can be quickly earned back. In such a situation, according to Haken's own estimation, the so-called force of force will force the Russians not to dare to really fight a decisive battle, and then release the idea of buying peace.
, they should agree to leave with the money.
For all this, you still need to personally take the people and the ransom to have a good talk with the leader of the Rus.
I'm afraid it was a complete mistake to let Siegfast lead people to find out the information from the beginning. In the end, no useful information was found, and all the news came back was bad news.
The family's industry and wealth still need to be inherited by the eldest son. If he really loses him, the successor of all these should be inherited by the second son. Haken never felt that the second son's business level was higher than that of his brother, and I am afraid that the second son will inherit the family's industry and wealth.
What I hope for now is that the Russians will cut off my eldest brother.
Haken took out two hundred pounds of silver from his family's treasury overnight, which was not a lot for his family, but it was still a lot.
He summoned most of the private soldiers he supported and also recruited more than 200 strong men.
The plan to redeem his son could not get the support of other businessmen, so Haken had no choice but to take his men, organize a small army, and personally lead the team out of the heavily guarded Visby early in the morning.
After all, he is a king, and he who establishes himself as a king is also a king.
Each merchant family sent their own spies, disguised as hungry refugees fleeing, to follow Haken's team as they approached the hills.
Some big businessmen are already plotting something, what should everyone do if Haken dies. Smart businessmen will always estimate the worst outcome of the matter in advance, and then formulate a set of response plans first. Their plan is very simple, if
Haken died on this trip, and a second king was elected.
At the beginning, many merchants supported the war. It was said that all the 500 warriors who climbed over the mound were wiped out. Many people were shaken after hearing the news. Now Haken has brought more than 400 warriors to negotiate with the Russians. If Haken
His team was destroyed, and war and peace became unknown again.
Defeat without fighting is a stupid thing that no one dares to mention rashly. The businessmen did not say anything on the surface, but their inner thoughts were implicitly hinted to others. They were all filled with righteous indignation and pretended to fight to the death with the Russians.
, the so-called selection of a new king to continue fighting after Haken died suddenly is to use toughness to cover up the inner thoughts of sitting on the fence. Of course, the biggest role of this new king is probably to be responsible for ending the surrender of the Gotlanders.
After all, once Haken dies on this trip, it means that before the decisive battle, Gotland has permanently lost a total of 900 soldiers who will protect the interests of merchants. In this way, no matter how many more people are recruited, their own quality will vary, and Ross will
A massive defeat by the army is highly possible.
They are all colleagues, so Haken has already guessed the mentality of the businessmen.
Haken also had his own worst-case scenario, which was to have his captured son killed.
No matter what, the Russians will definitely send someone with a high status to negotiate. You have to ask their purpose clearly, and of course you have to protect your own safety.
The elderly Haken does not have the habit of eating greasy food all day long. He is just a little fatter than ordinary people. He put on the clothes of a warrior and deliberately put on two layers of chain armor on his upper body. The Russians have amazing archery skills.
Thinking about it, two layers of mail armor are already an excellent defense.
Haken was also afraid of being hurt by his opponent's hidden arrows, so he made a big move and equipped one hundred of his elite mercenaries with mail armor. The wooden shields they carried with raven patterns proved their identity as Danish mercenaries.
..
As for the strong men who casually support the scene, most of them are shirtless, showing gorgeous and ferocious tattoos, and their blond hair is messy. They are equipped with wooden shields and battle axes. Their entire image is the berserker that Gotlanders recognize.
The sky is a little gloomy and there may not be any rainfall, but the weather today is not very good.
Rurik led the ransom-demanding team to sleep on the top of the hill all night. When everyone woke up, they all realized that their hands and feet were cold.
The wind direction has changed, the warm southwesterly wind has stopped and been replaced by the bleak northerly wind. Autumn has started early in the Nordic world.
The chilling atmosphere made Rurik feel very bad.
Today was the day agreed upon for the exchange of prisoners. Rurik and Arik made the worst plan together. Although it was a cloudy day, if everyone felt that it was already the afternoon, the opponent would not send anyone to exchange money for prisoners.
, Sigfast's throat would be cut, and then he would be hung on a tree to frighten him and provoke the Gotlanders.
The worst plan did not come true. The Russian army did not wait long before a mighty army appeared.
Most of them wore helmets that covered half of their faces, and all of them carried shields. Many of them went into battle shirtless.
Arik, who was extremely sensitive to combat, used his warrior instinct to order his brothers to be ready to attack at any time. He also warned his brother Rurik: "You shouldn't have extravagant hopes for them. You asked their king to bring a hundred men with him."
Guard, I think he has brought an army. We are ready to fight at any time, and I will arrange for some brothers to ambush and wait for opportunities to shoot."
"Don't be impulsive." Rurik stretched his head and looked at it for a few times, then turned to question his cousin: "That's it? Can it be considered a large army? We have three hundred veteran soldiers. I don't think it will be difficult to annihilate them."
"I think so too. All our troops should be the first to attack."
"It still doesn't work. Our task is to get the ransom first. If you want to kill the enemy, at least get the gold and silver first. Once you get the money, you wait for my order to do it. Don't worry, I have no mercy towards these people."
"Maybe I'm too sensitive?" Aric shrugged disdainfully: "I'm afraid they won't bring a single copper coin. The death of a Siegfast should not be a big deal to their king. Maybe these people are here.
If they challenge us, we are temporarily at a military disadvantage, but I am still willing to take the initiative and shoot them directly by surprise. Isn't this what you want most? If they bring money, the money is still ours. Rurik,
You must know that even if you have Odin's blessing, Odin will tolerate you seeking death at will. If you stand in front of your opponents rashly, beware of being killed by them."
Ask yourself, Rurik did initially intend to directly assassinate the king of the Gotlanders. However, in order for the decisive battle to proceed smoothly, their king could not be assassinated. As for his own safety, Rurik is not a cautious person now.
"Listen to my decision, Arik. You and I will show up to meet them with a hundred brothers. The other warriors will lie in wait. If we are in danger, we will stand up and shoot arrows mercilessly."
After all, his younger brother is still the commander-in-chief. Arik felt that this decision was too risky, so he still agreed.
Arik untied the hemp rope, and his sutured left arm was now tied with a wooden shield. It seemed that it was God's blessing and Rumia's medical skills. Arik was excited that he was now healthy and energetic, and the wound was still intact.
There is some pain, but otherwise nothing serious.
God has blessed me once, and obviously he will bless me many more times.
Because Odin needs him to protect Rurik who is in danger, but this child has forgotten that he is not an adult yet and is not yet a reassuring warrior.
A flag bearer appeared carrying a "Ross Oar Flag". In the world of mixed withered yellow and ink, a white cloth suddenly appeared, with an extremely obvious blue X-shaped strip on the cloth. Many shackles stood beside the flag bearer.
Zijia's warriors, Jevro is the commander of these people. They are also Rurik's elite mercenaries. No matter what happens, they will protect the financial lord Rurik to the death and repay the favor. Of course, they have more
A simple thought - since Rurik received God's blessing and died fighting for him, he got a letter of introduction to the Hall of Valor.
"It's the Rus! Brothers, be on guard, beware of their sneak attacks!" Haken saw the situation in the distance. His men obeyed the order and took off their shields to protect most of their bodies, observing everything around them vigilantly.
Haken and his men finally saw the figures standing in a row in front of them. Look at their extremely uniform blue and white clothes, as well as a batch of wooden shields painted white with chalk mud and partially nailed with blue cloth strips. This is not
Russians or what?!
However, seeing the Russian Haken dressed like this, he just felt incredible.
"You butchers on the sea, are every man trying to flaunt himself as a Russian? You are quite gorgeous after all." Haken gritted his teeth. He had to admit that the handful of opponents he showed up did have something to say.
Unclear momentum.
Haken stretched out his right hand and the entire team stopped.
Wearing a double layer of mail, he walked out of the shield wall. In order to show that he was peaceful and not threatening, he deliberately pulled out his sword in public and stabbed it into the ground. He then took off his helmet and handed it to his men. He opened his arms and approached Ross.
people.
Until now, he did not dare to show off his kingly prowess in front of a powerful enemy. Any arrogant move would lead to the death of his captured son and an immediate general attack by the Russians. He did not believe that the ones who stood up were the Russian troops.
Most of the soldiers were just a small group of people who came to negotiate. He subconsciously looked up at the pine forests on the hills and couldn't help but swallow deeply. The pine forests would cover up many things, such as covering up the main force of the Ross army.
.
Maybe the Russians wanted an upright decisive battle just like the challenge they issued, but Haken couldn't guarantee that they wouldn't launch a surprise attack, such as a surprise attack against themselves.
Thinking about it this way, the small group of guys in front of him were all dressed up in extremely bright colors, telling everyone from head to toe that they were Russians. If Haken looked at them again, they looked like bait for fishing cod, maybe.
I am that big, fat cod.
Before meeting the nobles of the Rus' people, the cautious Haken spoke first: "I am the king of Gotland! My Haken! I brought what you want, where is the leader of your Rus' people!?