Chapter 468 The Harald and Daughter of the Hrorev Family Beg to Surrender
The Russian ships were still floating off the coast of Visby Port. The big ships were like monsters emerging from the sea. They guarded the port and used their terrifying force to force the people in the city to completely stop thinking about escaping by sea.
There are a number of dead bodies floating on the sea, and others have been buried with their ships.
Are all these brave escapees merchants? Every sunken ship was carrying money and jewelry?
It was already late August, and the water temperature in the Baltic Sea was already too cool. For a person floating on the water, the low temperature would first kill him before the salty brine of the sea would pick him up until he died of dehydration.
Gould ordered his old sailors: "It seems that all the enemy ships are transporting treasures. If you jump into the water and explore, you will be rewarded if you find the treasures."
What exactly is a bounty? The sailors are actually not willing to do this, but the sponsor is pressing hard, so they have to believe that Gould, the elephant seal, can give more money in the future.
A group of sailors furled the sails and dropped the spearheads.
Wearing only a fig leaf and holding a rope in their hands, they plunged into the sea one after another.
They relied on their strong bodies to withstand the cold sea water, and they groped in the turbid offshore water. Many people quickly touched the bottom of the sea full of fine sand, and then touched the wreckage of the ship.
Some soft things were also found, and even though he groped with his eyes closed, the sailor knew they were drowned enemies.
After a while, someone discovered the heavy box. The people underwater were sure of their judgment because the box had an obvious lock! Not to mention its square leather shape, it was also very heavy.
A sailor came up and shouted to Gould on the boat after taking a sudden breath, and then the salvage work quickly began.
The cable was stretched straight, and the people on the boat worked together, as if they were dragging a big cod onto the deck.
There are two teams working on Aurora alone, and sailors at sea have been saying that there are still some boxes that need to be salvaged.
The first box came out of water, and Gould judged that it was all money with just a moment of intuition.
"A wooden box wrapped in cowhide? There is at least a hundred pounds in it! I hope they are all silver coins, even copper coins."
Gould glanced at his eldest son Snoleva and said, "Break the lock."
Snoleva smiled, raised the ax in his hand, then opened the lid and saw a lot of silver coins!
The onlookers were almost all old men and women from Rossburg. They had been living with poverty almost all their lives. They saw so many silver coins for the first time today. They all sat on the ground in shock and shouted at the wealth of the Gotlanders.
This is just the beginning.
More boxes came out of the water one after another, and as many as eight boxes were placed on the deck of the Aurora. The lids were all opened, and the wet coins and jewelry were exposed to the world.
Snoleva jumped up and down in ecstasy, and Gould was also very happy. Fortunately, his head was not mentally retarded by the huge sum of money.
Snoleva danced and rushed to his father, dragging his two brothers with him and shouting: "This is our booty! Hey, I heard that fighting is a shortcut to getting rich, and what they said is true.
.We made a fortune.”
Gould grimaced and shook his head: "These are Rurik's wealth."
"Huh?" Snorevar was stunned for a moment: "Father, what did you say? These..."
"They all belong to Rurik and belong to Duke Rus."
"But, they are our spoils of war."
"It's Ross's trophy. What are you thinking about, kid?" A wise big hand slapped Snoleva on the shoulder. "You are my first heir. You have to be smart. This money seems to be a lot.
, but as long as you are loyal to Duke Ross, what does this money mean?"
Snoleva didn't understand for a moment. He didn't know that the greatest wealth is actually the control of power. After spending most of his life traveling across the entire sea, Gould realized the concept of clinging to power so that he could safely accumulate wealth.
However, Gould underestimated the wealth of Visby residents.
All ships are salvaging, and everyone's harvest is different.
The sailors who jumped into the water came on board one after another, wrapped in blankets, ate dried fish, and looked at the money box and giggled. Gould immediately ordered to give the sailors some money as a so-called temporary reward. He also said some kind words:
"You have helped Duke Ross get a lot of loot, and the Duke will give you a lot of rewards in the future. More money, more women, and you will all be valued."
A total of fifty-three boxes were salvaged, which were full of gold, silver and jewelry. The silver coins alone were roughly estimated to be more than five thousand pounds! The very valuable gold coins were about a hundred pounds. And the priceless amber rough stones,
It can definitely fill the entire suitcase.
Rurik made some miscalculations. He mistakenly underestimated the wealth of the Visby people.
The settlement of Visby has been transformed from a colonial fishing village where the North Germans expanded northward from the European continent to the current trading market in the central area of the sea. It took more than 233 years. The locals traded with Svealand in the north.
Trading with Denmark and even the Pomeranians in the south, a large amount of gold and silver from the old Roman world flowed into Gotland. In addition, the islanders loved the habit of burying silver, so it was normal for them to accumulate a lot of wealth.
It is normal for an established family to bury a thousand pounds of silver. Just like the Harrolev family of the great businessman Harald, who is now extremely entangled, they control as much as fifteen hundred pounds of silver. However, two hundred Danish recruits
The mercenaries, as well as some dedicated domestic slaves, were wiped out in a matter of seconds.
Now even with the elderly cook who bakes wheat cakes armed, the entire family can only maintain a force of 80 people. Even the 20 female warriors responsible for protecting Aslaki, they should have been more
Serving as a guard of honor has now become extremely important.
The Ross ships on the sea made a fortune. Gould knew that he had made great achievements. He had no intention of being greedy. He just gave them all. Rurik's child would definitely give the family a greater reward. Even,
Through this battle, Gould had begun to imagine greater possibilities.
Were the huge and powerful Franks a behemoth from the beginning? They must also have a small existence. The descendants of those who surrounded the early kings became feudal officials one after another.
The Russians are replicating the success of the Franks, so on this road to success, what the Duke lacks most is a lot of money.
The wealth held by Visby has reached the scale of 10,000 pounds of silver! The silver shortage problem that occurred in the European Middle Ages was, to a certain extent, caused by pirates and merchants in the Viking Age who buried the silver gained from trade and plunder as a precaution.
Get up. This is the reason why Swedish archaeologists excavating tombs thousands of years later often unearthed 100,000 silver coins in a silver cellar. And 100,000 silver coins were almost equivalent to the standard 1,000 Roman pounds.
Harald gave up any escape plan, and the people watching in Visby Port completely gave up.
Some people began to look for food everywhere, even forcibly cutting up dead bodies, and ventured to evacuate to the south of the island with strange food.
They dragged their weary steps into the pine forest of the island. Some tried to go to the southern port to find a chance to escape, while others went straight to the Temple of Odin on the southern hills.
At least those priests who worshiped Frey in Visby all ran away, because Odin was obviously on the side of the Rus. Odin, the god of war, wanted to bring destruction to Visby. The Rus attacked from many directions. The priests
Go to the Altar of Odin and hope that the god's anger will not spread again.
But this war has nothing to do with God!
Harald was very realistic. No, on a brand new day, he put on warrior clothes, took his daughter Aslaqi, who was extremely beautifully dressed and wore a silver crown, and a small number of guards to the mound.
Looking for the Russian camp. Of course, he also brought a little greeting gift, namely one hundred pounds of silver coins, to express to the Russians that he was different from those who were fighting, and that he had a peaceful vision.
This group of twenty people set off, and now Harald realized that in just one day, the bandits who had robbed homes had disappeared without a trace.
There were still some gray corpses lying in the complicated streets and alleys. What was very absurd was that he saw some sheep escaping from their pens and actually grazing leisurely.
Look at the bustling Visby in the past! The whole world is so quiet that it’s scary.
Asraqi, her handsome face is full of restraint, her flowing long hair is matched with an equally flowing plain robe, and the silver and gems embellished on her clothes and headdress, the whole person is just like her name, she really looks like someone from Asgard
Fairy.
She was the apple of Harald's eye. Of course, when a woman reaches the age of twelve, her parents should consider marrying her to someone else. Harald obeyed his daughter's wishes and did not want to betroth the fairy to a fellow merchant.
So, is it appropriate to betroth her to the conqueror?
The father and daughter were speechless all the way. When they reached the top of the mound, they were immediately captured by the Russian soldiers who were ordered to guard the place.
They did not encounter any difficulties, just because the military commander said that Visby's new defeat will inevitably lose almost all combat effectiveness. With fear fermenting, there is a high possibility that envoys will come to visit the camp to make peace, or even declare surrender.
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Sure enough, Harald directly stated: "I want to see your leader, and I want to surrender to him." He also gave ten silver coins to each of the more than ten soldiers on guard, and the soldiers laughed heartily.
Happy to lead the way.
Of course, there were also soldiers who took a fancy to the beautiful woman among the surrenderers.
Someone tried to squeeze Aslaki's face with a lewd smile, but the girl immediately slapped him back.
At this time, the laughing people tensed up.
"Why? Isn't it great to be a woman?!" The beaten soldier pretended to be angry. He covered his face, but in fact he thought that being slapped by a beautiful girl was a bit satisfying, "As long as you become my woman, you can
Keep you, a Gotlander, safe."
Harald hurriedly explained respectfully: "This is the most beautiful woman in Visby, and I want to dedicate her to the leader of Ross."
When things turned out to be like this, the soldier who was beaten took three steps back and completely changed his attitude: "Haha? That's how it turned out? Then just follow me."
The Ross warriors present knew very well that snatching a woman from the Duke was not seeking death. As for this beautiful woman, was she serving Otto? No! The brothers knew that the old leader Otto was famous for his loyalty to love, and
There are rumors that Otto actually sacrificed his male prowess to gain the miraculous Rurik for the Rus tribe. No fool had the guts to mock Otto.
But this woman stirs up men's souls even if she doesn't say a word. Could she become Rurik's woman?
The military commander, the man blessed by Odin, the miracle of the Rus, the fierce and kind Rurik, he already has too many women! There are not many men in the tribe who would envy the women of their future supreme leader Rurik.
Fate, after all, being served by so many women, that is, this god blessed by Odin can bear it...
Soon, Harald stood on the battlefield mountain again. Facing the gray corpses of the war dead on the ground, Aslaqi opened her blue eyes wide and couldn't help but cover her mouth.
She stood here during the fierce battle the morning before yesterday. She was here again and thought about it. She could still hear the soldiers fighting in her ears. She even had a hallucination and saw ethereal figures still fighting.
"Father, I saw..." She suddenly grabbed her father's arm, "I saw souls fighting. It's... very scary here."
"Really? Be cautious now and expect mercy from the leader of the Rus' people. Hateful, I don't even know who the leader of the Rus' people is? As long as it's not the monster Arik."
In the camp of the Russian army, the huge army is still making funeral arrangements for their fallen soldiers.
After all, the army was fighting in a distant place, so the corpses of the war dead had to be burned in a fire. After being sacrificed by the high priest, they were buried in the fire. Some bonfires were finally extinguished after burning for more than a whole day, and the scorching embers were buried in the fire.
There are still a large number of intact gray-black skeletons.
The hero's soul has gone to Valhalla, and the warriors began to dig pits and bury the last bones into the earth.
This is the so-called ashes to ashes, and everywhere in the camp were covered with charcoal marks, tired warriors sitting or lying down, others digging holes, and others washing clothes.
After all, the camp was adjacent to the stream, so people had no shortage of fresh water, and there was plenty of water to wash away the blood stains on their clothes.
After being roasted by the fire, the blue and white robes of most of the Russian warriors were restored to neatness, but there were inevitably large and small tears in them that needed to be sewn by excellent tailors.
People are waiting for Rurik's order to march to Visby. Although the enemy is doomed, the brothers stay in the camp and look like winners. Do the brothers have to wait until the wheat in the ear has all withered and turned yellow and can be harvested? Indeed,
The wheat collection will arrive in a few days.
Rurik actually ate the oats first. The grains were not fully mature, so the nutrition of such porridge was bound to be poorer, but he had had enough of eating dried salted fish.
Maybe today is another uneventful day?
Until someone saw the sentry brother returning with a group of people.
This time Harald finally entered the Rus' camp as a surrenderer. He saw a fortress composed of shallow ravines, earth walls and wooden piles, which the fighting army the day before could not break.
A large number of warriors quickly gathered on the earth wall. They were still wearing white robes with the classic Russian logo on their chests.
Hearing that the enemy's surrender envoy had finally arrived, Otto originally planned to lead a group of brothers to meet these guys in the wilderness. There was no need for any courtesy to the losers.
Rurik stubbornly demanded to receive the envoys in the Duke's tent, just because the Russians were not pirates, and the Russians were a formal principality! How formal should it be? At least it needs some understanding to distinguish it from the vulgar people.
In the huge tent made of linen, the floor was covered with leather.
Otto, who was wearing armor, sat with his legs crossed, and the patterned steel sword was stuck in the ground beside him.
Rurik and Arik were sitting on the left and right respectively. Of course, Rumia was sitting next to Rurik. As the high priest, she was now wearing an antlered helmet.
The rest of the people, such as Harozolson, Mechasta, Rigus, Herriger, Medvet, and Jevlo, were also sitting with weapons in their hands.
There are also some short warriors, Terravis, Carlotta, Fisk, and Kanuf.
It also includes Kawei, the blacksmith who is responsible for repairing weapons and heavy weapons and did not participate in the fierce battle during the whole process.
All the elite members of the Ross army gathered here, and outside the account, a group of iron men stood like iron towers.
Before entering the big tent, Harald was trembling with fear from the strength of the Russian army. He saw a large number of people holding bows and a group of warriors holding spears standing on the earthen wall. The iron man in front of the big tent was clearly covered in blood.
It's the money, it's these guys, he knows it all too well! These guys defeated the last ace of the Visby people, the Danish mercenary army.
Harald was trembling, and Aslaki was also frightened.
Suddenly, the father and daughter saw a human head stuck on a wooden pole in front of the tent.
"It's Haken! You! You've become like this..." Harald muttered, his legs trembling.
Soon, the two women's entourage were detained and any self-defense weapons were removed.
Harald took his daughter's hand and boldly pushed away the account. Then, he accepted the eagle-like gazes of everyone in the account.
Otto shouted angrily: "Kneel down! Loser! I am the Duke of Ross, surrender at my feet!"
Clearly frightened by the powerful roar, Harald and Asraqi were busy trembling and seemed indifferent.
It was also at this moment of hesitation that Arik naturally raised his body slightly, because he saw the beauty of the girl at a glance. Of course, the men present also naturally aimed at Aslaqi's delicate yet heroic posture.
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However, Otto only felt that this was the enemy's arrogance.
"Kneel down! Don't you understand Norse anymore? Come on, chop off their knees!"
Harald, who finally came to his senses, hurriedly pulled the woman to her knees, along with their entourage carrying the box.
Aslaqi slowly raised her head. She was like a frost person. She had a calm and beautiful face without saying a word, and her blue eyes calmly looked at Otto, Duke of Ross. Unexpectedly, this was actually the leader of the Ross people.
Wow, actually so old?!
She gave up. She would eventually become the plaything of the Russian people. When the old leader died, she would be buried with him. She knew that she was powerless to resist the tragic fate. She said nothing and looked at Otto.
For a moment, he gently turned his eyes, his nose felt sore, and then he burst into tears.
Noticing this scene, Otto fully understood that it seemed that the new leader of Visby had been reduced to offering beautiful women to beg for peace.
But what does this mean? Could it be that the Russian army would reward Visby with peace for each beautiful woman? Bah! The purpose of the war is to eliminate Gotland's power.