The annoying snow in Roseburg turned into a snow mountain on the frozen coast. In the open space near the coast, businessmen who came from afar took advantage of the short daytime to set up their stalls, selling goods from the Lake Mälaren region.
goods brought.
The entire business scene was like a temple fair, with vendors wrapped in furry leather huddled together, showing off their wares for the wealthy Russians who came to buy them after hearing the news.
They mainly sell daily necessities, with pottery and woodware as the mainstream items. Some vendors also sell small statues of gods carved from stone or wood.
Individual merchants are doing big business. They are gem merchants, selling raw rubies, raw amber stones, calcite crystal blocks, crystal blocks, zircon rough stones, and even extremely precious lapis lazuli.
Of course the most precious gems should be given to the richest people!
At first Rurik paid no attention to these, until Klavason, who had finished making glasses, presented gifts in the evening, as well as important information about a group of strange businessmen.
Klavasen boasted that he had completed the task assigned by Rurik, and that the people of the Northern Hunting were about to go out en masse, and his son was among them during this trip. He intended to visit the winter market and wanted to buy some interesting things.
I saw a stall that was crowded with people, so I went over to take a look and was surprised that there was a rare treasure here.
Among the many treasures, lapis lazuli has an elusive noble blue color. The Russians worship blue, which is the color of the sea and sky. Although there are pure blue stones, it is extremely rare and its origin
Confusing.
Everyone knows that the gems in this place are valuable, but they don't know that some of them are extremely precious.
Clavarson opened his arms and beckoned everyone on the mast to retreat.
At this moment, the businessman wearing a bear skin sitting on the snow took off his velvet hat and raised his bearded head: "You are a craftsman? Do you have enough money? Do you know how precious the things I sell are?
?”
"Of course." Klavason smiled knowingly: "I am also a gemstone craftsman, and I never expected that sky-blue stones would see the light of day again."
"Oh? Do you know this?"
"Of course. It's lapis lazuli!"
The eyes of the businessman and the strong man who escorted him all trembled. "It's amazing. Since I opened my business, you Russians have all pointed at the price of gems I sell and criticized me for asking too high a price. I thought I lived here."
The people in the great city are not only rich but also well-informed. I was a little disappointed for a while. Now it seems that I was wrong."
Klavason smiled again, thinking that these strange businessmen had never seen Lord Rurik's wisdom.
"Businessman, it seems..." Klavasen put away the sale, sat cross-legged on the snow, stretched his head and asked in a low voice: "Are you not from Mälaren?"
"Of course. The leader there asked for too much tribute from us. I heard that you Russians can open the business if you need a tribute of fifty silver coins, so we came here."
"Oh, so you are not from Uppsala, let alone Hjärmalen."
"Them?" The old businessman's eyes trembled even more, and he deliberately asked: "What do you think?"
"That's it." Clavarson narrowed his eyes and nodded slightly, pretending to be questioning: "Do you think it's interesting to continue selling gems in the cold wind? You know that ordinary people can't buy them at all."
The implication of Klavasen's words was very obvious, and the old businessman suddenly came to the end: "Can you recommend a good buyer for us? If you don't mind... lend me a step to speak."
Soon? Klavason came alone to the house sponsored by this group of strange businessmen.
This house does not look good? It is clearly a longhouse abandoned by a Russian family. A large number of Russian families have completed the replacement of their houses. They subsidized each other to build better wooden houses? The old house was mostly used as a warehouse.
.Now? A large number of old houses are rented by new businessmen.
This is a secret place. As the wooden door closed, a group of exquisite bronze oil lamps in the room lit up, and Klavasen saw a strange little world.
The merchants took off their rough animal skin camouflage, revealing the frugal yet noble clothes underneath. There were obviously several female relatives in the room. Looking at their young appearance and cautious appearance, they were not the wives and concubines of the merchants, but the concubines of the merchants.
their slaves.
Are they merchants from Mälaren? Absolutely not! The Gould family, the most powerful merchants from Mälaren, have immigrated and become Ross. Besides, Gould bought real estate in Rossburg before he immigrated? That is Mälaren.
Big businessmen still have their ways.
The merchants treated the old blacksmith in leather work clothes with great courtesy. The exquisite silver cups were filled with fragrant mead, and were served with dried fruit snacks, all placed on a low table.
As usual, the businessman greeted a young maid and surrounded Klavason, who was already sitting cross-legged.
"Let her go." Klavason waved his hand impatiently, making the woman feel embarrassed.
The old businessman held the wine glass and laughed: "We are all men. Why? Why are you the only one who doesn't like women? By the way, I still don't know your name."
There was a kind of ridicule in the businessman's words? Klavasen was not angry, and looked at what he saw before him? The once precious wine and dried fruits are not uncommon now. What is the silver cup? I am the only one officially authorized by the Principality of Ross.
Glassware manufacturer!
"You keep a low profile outdoors? The house inside is quite luxurious. This is the first time you have come to our Rossburg, so of course you don't know me. I am Clavarson of Ross? My family has been a blacksmith for generations? I am highly regarded by the Duke of Ross.
People, Danes! Please remember this."
Hear that? The old businessman suddenly tensed up his face, slowly put down his wine glass and smiled meaningfully again.
"There is no longer any cover. Yes, we are all from Denmark."
Klavasen shrugged: "It is true that you are the only ones who dare to sell such precious gems. Ordinary people don't understand, but those gems can't fool me. But you are Danes!"
"Really? Do we have to fight each other?"
"That's not necessarily true. Because the wealthy Duke of Ross is very interested in any businessman, but you friends from the south suddenly appear in our market. You must already know a lot of things. Let me tell you! The only one who can buy generously is
The only person in your mine is the Duke of Ross. You can choose to spend the whole winter in a low-key manner and leave quietly, but if you insist on asking me to help you, be mentally prepared. You may be killed."
These Danish businessmen were obviously in a panic. The old businessman in charge pretended to be calm and said: "If this is really the case, then the Duke of Ross will lose the opportunity to trade with Hedebe."
They came up with a very important term, and Klavasen was startled: "You are actually from Hedeby? The richest place in Denmark?!"
"Of course! What do you think of us? I'm just an ordinary businessman in Hedeby who gathered a small sum of money. I'm Eric from the family of Eric Thorulf (Thunder Wolf). You see now
There are also my four sons. We are very willing to do business with the leader of the Rus. If we are killed because we are Danes, it will prove that our prediction was wrong and we overestimated the ambition of the Rus leader."
"Erik Thorulf? I understand. But you are still Danes, and your identity will bring you great danger."
“Just as we go to the far east, to the country called Rome, to the scorching desert, to the far eastern world to buy precious blue stones from strange locals, we know the dangers involved, and we are willing to take risks for the sake of profit.
Just like you Rus people used all your strength to defeat the Gotlanders, you are also risking the future of the entire tribe for the sake of profit. We are all the same."
Klavasen's heart was beating wildly when he heard it. He was not interested in the merchant's business confession. He paid special attention to the fact that these Danes were very familiar with the military operations carried out by the Russians.
Just because they know about this matter is a huge sin. They can claim to do business with peace of mind and no secrets of the Russian people will be disclosed to the outside world, but who believes it?
Klavasen did not hesitate to point this out: "You have gone to the legendary world and experienced many adventures. But you know too much. You will tell the Danish lords our strength, and eventually the Danish army will launch a war
War conquers us."
"Maybe, if the Danish leader is willing to gamble with his power! Please remember, we are just businessmen, we don't want war, we just want to do business with peace of mind. I still hope to meet the leader of the Russians, I will go in
Offer some treasures." Eric, the old businessman, winked: "These women are all Saxons. They are well-trained slaves and know how to serve men very well. They are just suitable for the leader of Ross."
Klavason laughed loudly: "Oh, our real leader already has more than ten wives and concubines, and the most beautiful of them is the head wife, my daughter-in-law's sister. Do you know, I, sitting in front of you, also have
A noble person. It’s just that I don’t need fancy clothes to show my nobility, and I’m not interested in these boring women. I do like your gems, and I think my leader will also like them.”
"Then it's agreed. I want to meet with Chief Ross. Not only do I want to sell all the gems, but I am eager for deeper cooperation. I hope Chief Ross will not be full of anger because of our identities." Eric stretched out his hand.
In his head, he had made plans to die from the moment he landed in Rossburg. Youdao seeks wealth through danger, and he is betting on his family's life, betting on glory and wealth.
In order to keep things going smoothly, the old businessman Eric took out a small piece of rough lapis lazuli with a little chalcopyrite attached and handed it to Klavasen.
Don't look at the fact that this rough stone is only the size of a fingernail. Its current value is equivalent to double the weight of gold, or twenty times the weight of silver!
Clavarson left this seemingly simple old longhouse with mixed emotions. He came to the Duke of Ross's residence alone with a solemn expression, and went directly to the door to be let go by the guards.
He entered the Duke's home and met Otto, who had just drank a glass of newly distilled liquor and was a little dizzy.
He reported the incident truthfully, and Otto's violent actions and words were within his expectation.
"A group of bold Danes? It's a trick! Seize their gems, and then...kill them to avoid future troubles."
"Your Excellency, Duke, you must think twice!" Klavasen hurriedly advised; "Those guys are not afraid of death at all. They want to sell the gems and ask for a chance to cooperate."
"Oh? Really? It's really boring. Let's cut them down just in case, so the gems are still ours." After saying that, Otto waved his hands and shouted: "Have you finished the wonderful glasses Rurik asked you to make?
Many brothers know about this and they are all waiting to buy it! Stop talking nonsense and prepare your glasses. I will order a stall to sell them tomorrow. I will be hunting soon. For the eyes of my brothers, I need these treasures.
.”
Otto did not say any more, but lay down directly on the leather, enjoying the wonderful feeling of spinning around.
Klavason sighed deeply, and decided to continue waiting. The short day was coming to an end, and Rurik, who had gone out to log wood with a group of children, was about to return.
Soon, Rurik returned after having done enough exercise. It was surprising to see Klavasen waiting at home before dinner.
He told his women to go and rest, and he didn't care about his father who had not sobered up yet. He sat next to Klavasen and asked him about the glasses straightforwardly.
"Has everything been done? You must have come to report this matter."
"It's indeed done. We can open the discussion tomorrow. It's just..." Klavasen frowned deeply.
"Something happened?"
"There was a wonderful group of visitors, and they brought this." Clavarson took out the little gem.
The moment he saw this stone, Rurik suddenly jumped up like a cat with exploded fur.
"It's lapis lazuli! It's actually it!"
"That's it." Klavasen looked solemn, "and these people have obviously been to its mysterious place of origin."
"What? It's actually! Afghanistan? They are... really Vikings..."
Rurik said an extremely unfamiliar word, and Klavasen heard the word. It was obvious that Lord Rurik used this word to describe the origin of lapis lazuli. Moreover, Lord Rurik obviously knew more!
The so-called lapis lazuli, Rurik described it as "the stone of the blue sky", which means he said the word "azur". The word itself also comes from the word lazuri in classical Latin. It exists or exists in various Indo-European languages.
There are some commonalities, and the words used to describe some common things have their origins.
The wonderful color of lapis lazuli makes anyone who sees it think of two things, the sea and the sky.
It is produced almost exclusively in Central Asia, which, considering the current era, is dominated by food.
Rurik was actually very interested because Klavasen said that these Danish businessmen had brought a large amount of gems.
"Let them come to see me quickly!" Rurik's excited face showed no murderous intent.
Klavason still wanted to suggest: "Whether they want it or not, they already know many secrets about us Russians. Please don't kill them rashly."
"Let them come first! By the way, that's tomorrow. You go and take care of the sunglasses sale with Arik. I want to receive those Danish businessmen at home."
"Okay, they live here..." Klavasen pointed out the current residence of the Danish merchants. Rurik did not hesitate to assign his own elite mercenaries. More than ten people were ordered to monitor those people overnight and immediately at dawn the next day.
"Arrest" them and bring them all to me.
After all, they are Danes. At present, the relationship between Sweden and Denmark is tense. The attitude of the Russians towards the Danes is also simple hostility. Although many people have forgotten the source of hostility, in short, hostility is hostility.
The Duke showed courtesy to the Danish businessmen, which was a wrong move that deeply hurt people's feelings.
However, Rurik did not intend to take things too absolutely. For example, he had no plan to kill them, even if there was a high probability that these people would act as informants.
So what? Could it be that the Russians are powerful, and the confident Rurik doesn't care about the leak of secrets at all. He even accidentally revealed the true strength of the Russians, letting the people in power in Denmark know about it, not to mention making the other party fearful, at least it also made them fearful.
The opponent knows that there is also a powerful Ross Principality in the Reddy Kingdom.
If war is unavoidable, Rurik is not afraid of engaging in naval battles with any enemy. After all, next spring, the principality will have three Avora-class "Caravel-type battleships". Actual combat has proven that Avlora is very powerful.
The traditional Viking longship is basically a kind of naval battle with obvious generation differences.
Rurik is not afraid of war at all, but does not want to actively provoke war for the time being. The Principality of Rus is still actively preparing for war in the future, and most of the money plundered will be invested in military expansion and the improvement of the physical fitness of the military and civilians. In the final analysis of any commercial activities,
It is also to serve the rise of the strength of the Principality of Ross under the overall plan of the Duke of Ross, Rurik himself.
The principality must use all forces to enhance the principality's comprehensive strength, especially the development of military strength.
Think about the scene next year! Three Avora-class battleships, and as many as forty modified armed cargo ships. Each ship is taller, wider and larger than ordinary long ships, and each has terrifying capabilities.
The bow of the ship rammed into a corner, and torsion slingshots were placed on the deck. The soldiers on the ship basically gave up the tactics of jumping gangs and replaced them with ramming into corners and firing various long-range weapons to pursue ships without decks.