The Aurora was moving forward in the sea of broken ice. She was moving against the wind, and her bronze bow kept smashing into the ice, as if she was engaged in a war with the enemy.
The squeaking and squeaking sound made the people on the boat feel uncomfortable when they resumed sailing, and it was even more difficult to fall asleep at night.
This is already the last voyage, and it is also in late October. It is probably only a cold snap away from the Gulf of Bothnia being completely frozen.
The weather has been quite sunny for the past few days, but the temperature has not gone up no matter what.
Due to broken ice on the sea surface, Ross fishermen have completely suspended their operations, and their winter life has begun.
The arrival of Avora was both unexpected and reasonable. The people of Fort Ross saw a large ship with a triangular sail entering the bay completely covered by thin ice floes.
Many people stood on the deck. Although the cold wind was like a knife, they finally returned home after a long and great expedition.
People were whispering to each other, talking about getting ashore and taking away the spoils they deserved, and living a nourishing winter.
Naturally, some people think this is an extravagant wish. Of course, if people have food and drink, they are willing to settle for the status quo and lie down without getting up. However, Sir Rurik is not a lazy person.
For several years the Russians have used winter as a new opportunity to explore, think of Rurik's sermon in Balmok.
This winter, many brothers have to escort the adults on their overland journey to Balmok.
There is a group of Balmoks in the mercenary team. They do not have a clear concept of nationality, and now they simply hope that the two ethnic groups can merge.
Rurik wore a thick leather coat and looked at his own Fort Ross.
Mary stood next to him, opened her eyes, and saw a huge city no less big than Tamworth!
No! It is a very special city!
The city has walls and towers, and outside the walls there are a large number of buildings adjacent to the coast. Although the bay has been frozen, the ice will only get thicker in such a cold weather.
It looked like a forest growing on the seaside? It turned out to be a large number of ships! It was an extremely large fleet.
Is this the naval strength of the Russians?
Princess Mary fell into deep doubts. She was convinced of the power of the Principality of Ross, but she doubted that even if all the power of the British Kingdom was gathered, it would be unable to defeat such a powerful enemy.
Fortunately, I am already one of them.
Rurik looked at his harbor very carefully. He counted the masts and soon became happy.
The Avora-class sailing cruiser is very large. In addition to its own ship, there are three other ships parked on the seashore. Their majestic appearance is clearly visible.
The slightly smaller one is the planet-class sail destroyer, and there are actually eight of them parked here! Apparently, from the Mercury to the Neptune, all eight planned ships have been launched.
He seemed to hear a tinkling sound, maybe it was an auditory hallucination. Rurik was sure that in the two huge wooden indoor docks on the seaside, the Hotla family was building the fifth and fourth Avora-class cruisers.
Six ships. What names should they be given?
Rurik can fully confirm that Ross’s Eighty-Eight Fleet plan will be completed as planned next summer.
Roseburg was shrouded in silver light, and the silver covered her majestic outline, making the entire city even more profound in its history.
Indeed, as a settlement, Roseburg has existed for more than seventy years.
She is actually still the capital of the Principality of Rus, but its decline may only occur within ten years.
Roseburg will always belong to Russia, and New Roseburg on the Neva River in the east will replace other cities with its glory, and it will definitely be the greatest among the cities of Russia in the future.
A group of people were wandering around the world of ice and snow. In the industrial area of the city, a group of stoves were still spewing frightening black smoke.
When she noticed it, Mary reached out her finger and exclaimed: "Ah! There's a fire there! This is your home!"
Rurik pressed his arm and said, "It's rare but strange. Have you never seen a blacksmith shop?"
"I've seen it before. Huh? You can't say it's a blacksmith shop?"
"That is, the largest blacksmith shop in Europe."
Mary still didn't understand, and it wasn't her fault. There was only one blast furnace in Europe that could smelt molten pig iron and easily mass-produce molten bronze. She was actually unfamiliar with blacksmithing, but she had seen the royal blacksmith by chance.
Forging weapons is nothing more than seeing a blacksmith shop.
In fact, Rurik underestimated his own strength.
There are five blacksmith families in Roseburg, and their blacksmith alliance naturally expands the industry.
During the few months of Rurik's absence, trouble occurred at the blacksmith's place. Due to the frequent operation of the old blast furnace, imperceptible cracks appeared in the furnace wall. A small-scale landslide accident not only frightened the workers, but also disabled the entire furnace.
.
It doesn't matter. Kawei, who knows how to make blast furnaces, has already built a backup furnace in advance and has started tapping iron.
The old stove broke down, so Kawei made use of its still usable residue to build a newer one before the cold period.
It was God's blessing that this incident did not cause any casualties. Everyone was so frightened that they all ran to the Ross Temple and paid a large sum of money as offerings to the temple. Some of them entered the temple and faced Thor, the God of Craftsmen.
The gilded idols are worshiped.
The incident also served as a reminder to Kawei, Klawason and others.
The blacksmiths realized the importance of safe production for the first time because they saw the molten iron and liquefied slag flowing after the furnace cracked. Those things could cause death if touched.
Since the stove may naturally break after two years of use, then build some new ones.
With capital in hand, they are able to hire a large number of people who are forced to become unemployed during the winter and continue metallurgical production operations.
A group of people were eagerly awaiting the return of the Aurora, and many people were standing on the city walls.
More than a dozen employees pulling sleds to transport iron ore also stood outside the gate of the wall and looked sideways at the sea. After a while, many people laughed and walked out of the wall that blocked the wind and cold to welcome Rurik's return.
An old man with white hair came with determined steps, and behind him was an old woman with a wrinkled face swaddling a child. Many girls also appeared wearing warm burqas.
Otto, Niya, and Rurik's women all came out of the city to greet him!
Everything was so peaceful, Rurik could see his father's old face from a distance.
Not to mention, if the god-king Odin should have an image, then if Papa Otto puts a piece of cloth over his right eye, the image of the god-king should be like this.
"Look, Mary, that's my family."
Mary couldn't see clearly. Since those were the top nobles of the Principality of Ross, she...
She couldn't help but panic, and subconsciously grabbed Rurik's elbow.
When it comes to height, Rurik is actually a little taller than Mary, even though his body is not that old.
Rurik liked this proactive woman very much, but Rumia was his favorite, as well as his first daughter Velika.
The Aurora was parked in her exclusive berth, and the warm atmosphere now dispelled the harshness of the cold wind.
Rurik got off the boat and was soon hugged by his old mother and kissed wildly.
The infant Velika is actually almost one year old, and she looks particularly fragile in the cold season.
Instead, Rumia held her daughter, showing the tenderness and kindness of a mother, but in fact, she also inadvertently showed her strength.
Velika can already call her daddy, and her milky breasts are really endearing. Rurik’s teasing was intentional, and her daughter kept interacting with her through her smile.
"You are finally back." Rumia said with a gentle look on her face, "You see, how much Velika likes you."
"Then let me hug you."
Rurik's movements in holding the child were self-taught. He was surprised by the weight of his daughter. When he saw the child, he looked up at Rumia: "How should I praise you? Tonight, come to my room with Velika in your arms."
.”
Rumia nodded happily, feeling extremely happy in her heart.
Witnessing all this, the princess of Mercia was so envious. Marido wished that she was like this infant girl back then, but unfortunately, her fate was to be a victim of her parents' marriage.
No!
Ask yourself, Mary still doesn’t know who her father is, is it a nobleman or a farmer? Anyway, it’s not Wiglaf.
Marie was standing here. Otto didn't pay attention at first. He thought that his son was a rare real man. What was wrong with grabbing a slave for pleasure during the expedition? However, when a large number of women disembarked along the seesaw, he couldn't help but begin to doubt.
"Who is that woman?" Otto asked with a slight expression on his face.
"Oh, she's my new woman."
"She?" Otto was surprised.
Not only Odin, but Rumia and the other female relatives were also surprised and inevitably felt jealous.
Especially Rumia, she felt angry. Even though Rurik was still holding his daughter, he casually said that another woman was his woman!
She couldn't help but be wary, because this new woman was more beautiful than herself.
Of course, this is just Rumia's simple thought. However, among the many female relatives, her skin is the most delicate and odorless. This is based on Rurik's aesthetic advantage. In fact, as the first woman of the monarch, she has the natural advantage
Advantage.
Rurik noticed something was wrong in the atmosphere. He used to blame himself for being scumbag, but this was in the ninth century AD, and the Nordic values of this era were like this. Heroic men had more than a dozen women, just like Austria.
Ding has eighteen Valkyries.
By coincidence, I currently have exactly eighteen wives and concubines.
As a king, Rurik resolutely announced Mary's presence even in the presence of his most beloved woman.
"She is Mary, a noble from the British Kingdom of Mercia. She is now my woman. The other women who got off the ship are all my prisoners."
Since all the female relatives were here, and even many Russian elites and a large number of fish-eating people who did not know the truth were watching, Rurik simply opened the skylight to speak out and publicly announced Mary's status among the prince's wives and concubines.
"Mary, she is a noble of Mercia. The son she conceived and I will have the right to inherit the throne of the Kingdom of Mercia. You must accept this sister. Rest assured, she will never threaten your status. Each of you women has
Your destiny, Mary's destiny is to give birth to a son and fight back against Mercia. She will live in our home, and she will be a sister that you all respect."
Rurik felt that he had to say this. The foundation for many things must be laid very early. It is human nature to strive for power and gain, and both men and women can be jealous.
As long as they give birth to children, their inspired motherhood and continuously cultivated desire for power will surely protect their children, and then use their children's natural noble status to carve up as much of the pie of power as possible among the top tier of power in Ross.
There are many people here, and everyone is a witness. Rurik believes that his preaching will have a strong power to intimidate.
They are all wives and concubines, and since he has divided them into four levels, each of them should continue to uphold the realm of power.
Of course, now that I am home, long periods of time alone with Mary will become rare.
The king...the emperor flips the cards.
"Rumia tonight, Lana tomorrow, Lumi the day after tomorrow, Nolen the day after tomorrow, Saipolava the day after tomorrow, and Carlotta Ella. As for those ten, we can't do it now..." He thought silently in his mind.
.
Rurik made some plans for himself, but he is also a rational person, so it is impossible to indulge in beauty.
His face glanced at Nolen, and he thought of the land trip to Balmok this winter. Perhaps Nolen didn't know that she was made Countess of Narvik Port by her biological father.
Arik must have been busy with his own affairs and had no chance to tell her about these matters.
Rurik planned to have a good chat with her, but before that, he himself had to tell the old guys in Rossburg about his British war record.
There must be a grand party tonight.
It was naturally a grand event, involving Otto's old guys, a group of blacksmiths including Klavasen, the Gould family, who were all fat boys with a fat belly, Vodgen who was good at making clothes, and the shipbuilding expert Hortra
…
More than sixty people gathered on the first floor of the palace.
Their noise made the women upstairs no longer interested in chatting and laughing with Mary, who had just arrived.
Facing the enthusiastic gazes of everyone, Rurik, who was sitting in the front seat, slapped the table hard to signal everyone to be quiet.
With a smile on his face, he said in his changing voice: "It seems that we need to build a council like the old Gotlanders did."
"What a great idea!" Otto clapped his hands.
There are all those here who agree, and the room that was quiet just now is like a pot of boiling water and boiling oil.
They were not agreeing that it seemed too small when everyone gathered together. Even so, the old meeting tent was actually even smaller. It was necessary for Ross to build a magnificent building, just like the large meeting hall of the Malaren people, although it was clearly
Waste of space.
Of course, if the ground is broken and construction begins, the property rights of the Chamber will belong to the Duke, and the Duke will give all the craftsmen a sum of money. There is money to be made here in Rossburg. Who would reject the opportunity to work and make money? All the old guys in Ross know that the Duke is very rich.
The money was also generous. Everyone wanted the Duke to carry out large-scale construction forever. They just took wages from Rurik's treasury and then bought grain and tools. They had no time or knowledge to think about the economic operations involved.
This matter is very important, Rurik gave affirmative instructions. It happens that winter is the time for shipbuilding again, this winter is still a large-scale logging, and Rossberg's cement-making technology has initially matured. This winter, we will collect building materials and build a rather stable big meeting.
Isn't the garden beautiful? No, more houses should be built. Maybe they will be idle for a while, but they will always be useful in the future.
The most important thing is that our own people must take action to earn wealth through labor, so that Ross's economic activities will be more prosperous, and by the way, it will also improve the benefits of infrastructure in the future.
According to Russian tradition, the meeting hall is called "Ottorium", and according to Slavic parlance, it is "Duma".
It must have a concise, catchy noun.
Rurik decided that the council chamber should be called "RUSDUMA". Once completed, a plaque would have to be hung. As for the name, it was naturally his bad taste.
Putting this matter aside for the time being, Rurik wanted to tell everyone about his British war record. He prepared a lot of honey water and started talking...
Wonderful! How wonderful!
Although Arik had already talked about it and many people knew everything about it, when Rurik told more details, everyone was still sweating.
It is true that the first floor of the palace was very warm because of the fireplace. Everyone felt comfortable hearing about the war, and then turned into envy and lamented their own aging.
As for those brothers who died in battle, no one regretted their deaths.
The heirs of those who died in battle were directly supported by the Duke, and then inherited their husband's sword and shield. As for the deceased themselves, they not only died in battle, but also died in battle for the god son Rurik, and their heroic spirits must enter Valhalla.
Then when a drunk guy mentioned this, many people shouted that the Valkyrie Speros had brought the warriors from their hometown on earth into the holy realm, and this was the privilege of the heroic spirits of our Rus warriors after their death.
In the lively atmosphere, many people got drunk on the recently distilled liquor on a large scale. Otto was also drunk. It was rare for him to be as excited as he was today.
No one bothered the drunks in this room, and they almost slept on the warm first floor until dawn the next day.
Rurik went up to the second floor, stroking his aching head, and secretly cursed Kamne for not controlling the strength of the distillation. He finally greeted all the female relatives and got into the room.
Here, with tears of excitement in her eyes, Rumia sat on the edge of the bed and welcomed her man.
And Vilia was lying quietly asleep in the hanging basket on the side...