Compared to other forces, the Russians do have extremely strong mobility.
This is not because they have some profound belief that surpasses others. To a large extent, their passion for action lies in wealth.
After discussing the countermeasures with the blacksmiths, Rurik hurriedly counted his money.
There are a large number of wooden boxes and leather boxes piled up in the well-defended house. Inside are only gold, silver and copper coins obtained by various means. Among them, the silver coins from old Rome and Frank are the largest. Not just money, but a large number of physical objects.
Materials are the solid backing for his executive orders.
That’s food!
A large amount of grains have literally piled up like mountains. The population directly controlled by the Principality of Rus is much larger than before, and the number of people including infants and young children has exceeded 20,000.
However, the permanent settlements of Tombstone Island, Ironburg, Fiskburg, Kovenstad and New Roseburg are completely self-sufficient, and the consumption of local people is far lower than their economic output.
The largest settlement in the Principality of Ross is Rossburg. Although Rurik had long wanted to completely move the capital to New Rossburg at the mouth of the Neva River, due to practical factors, he found that he still needed to vigorously develop Rossburg, a place of great prosperity.
Rossburg has the largest population and is also the industrial, commercial and cultural center of the Principality. The strongest fighting force of the Principality is also located here.
The city can further develop. Since the environment of the fjord once hindered development, it is necessary to open up new land by logging on the spot. This is of course only one of the ways. The other way is to pile up mountains of food and coins in the warehouse.
Do the people of Roseburg really want to spend most of their time fishing and hunting for food production like they did in the past seventy or eighty years? There is enough grain for everyone to eat for a whole year in the warehouse. Although it is close to the sea, the overall situation is
The dry and cold environment naturally brings advantages in grain storage. The people of Roseburg do not need to produce grain. All the people living here do high economic value-added work. The food problem can only be solved by blood transfusions from other areas.
Looking at the amazing food and wealth, Rurik was full of confidence!
Now that it's December, the daylight hours in Roseburg have actually plummeted to just four hours. Everyone knows how short the day is, and the extreme cold at night makes people reluctant to go out.
If you want to build a small town in such an environment and organize a large number of people to dig ore, it is really a joke on human lives.
Time is always precious, and the blast furnace that keeps burning cannot stop suddenly. The first two furnaces must continue to swallow ore.
Furthermore, even if the severe winter period is not suitable for building a new earthen blast furnace in a new area, at least the woods must be cut down and a basic blacksmith shed built.
Despite the difficulties, Rurik was unwilling to delay any longer.
Because Hanukkah for the Russians and the entire Nordic world is not far away.
On December 10th of the Julian calendar, the men and women staying in Roseburg relied on the news that had gone viral before. They walked out of their homes one after another and moved towards the Duke's three-story mansion.
Most of the able-bodied men went to the north, especially to settle in Ironburg, using it as a "base" to carry out winter hunting with supplies in search of precious furs.
Most of the people who stayed in Rossburg were young and old, men and women, and even a lot of outsiders. As for the strong labor force, there were naturally some, including the mercenaries whom Rurik valued, as well as Herriger and his Mela.
The people of Lun live permanently.
Even those Tavastian women who were allowed to leave the warehouse. They have become much healthier due to the continuous good food. Now they all put on the leather clothes they were given. With doubts and caution, they were surrounded by the crowd one by one and stood.
In front of the huge Duke's Palace.
Five thousand people of all kinds gathered, and the crowd also attracted many foreign businessmen. The news about building a new town and encouraging logging and mining made many ordinary people itchy in their hearts, and their hands became even more itchy.
People have heard a lot of news. Based on Sir Rurik's past, any promises made by Mr. Rurik will be implemented afterwards. It must be inevitable this time.
Some people have questioned this. After all, by encouraging so many people to work, the Duke will inevitably bleed financially. Your Excellency should remunerate all participants, but the remuneration will not be much.
The harsh winter still makes many people so bored that they can only stay at home.
In the past, the vast majority of Russians were poor, and this poverty was directly reflected in the thinness of their clothing. Nowadays, men and women are wearing leather jackets, and they are all furry. Keeping warm is no longer a problem, but lack of money is a big problem.
The rumbling sounds outside started before the sun rose. Rurik was in a happy mood, but his wives and concubines were complaining endlessly.
He simply ate some dried meat and ordered his wives and concubines to change into neat and decent leather clothes immediately.
The elites of Russia gathered on the rare and solid cement floor of the Duke's mansion.
When Harold Zosen saw old Otto, he embraced him like a brother, his face as warm as if he were celebrating a holiday.
"Brother, the whole Roseburg is in a state of excitement. Everyone is waiting to make a fortune. Rurik should be completely trustworthy."
"Of course." Otto's mind was still a little dazed due to yesterday's strong drink. He picked the fur again, and a burst of cold hit him, and he was full of energy. "Rurik will come out in a while. You and all the brothers will come out."
I quickly set up a stage and he wanted to give another speech."
"Just outside the yard? How about building it out of snow?"
"Okay, let's do it quickly."
Otto's old guys hurriedly built a podium for Rurik. When the winter sunshine completely shone on the frozen Roseburg, Rurik stood on the makeshift podium, covered with fur.
In front of him were the enthusiastic smiles of thousands of people.
He stretched out his hands to gradually calm down the commotion of the people, and then looked left and right with his head, and kept repeating a simple sentence in a voice that was changing.
"Build a town! Work! Have money! Everyone! Every day! One silver coin! I'll give you food, you get money!"
He just kept shouting these very short phrases. The sentences were so simple and the content was so tempting!
Yelling a lot of long speeches? In this era where there are no loudspeakers and papermaking technology has not yet been invented, government orders announced in public should be concise and to the point.
Rurik felt that he had to desperately rely on a few words and phrases to explain his orders, and it turned out that he succeeded again.
To build a new town for the blacksmiths, only some able-bodied people are qualified to participate. The people who gathered here knew about this in advance. Those old Russian men who are not too old and even some strong women are the labor force that is needed.
All are eligible to receive a reward of one silver coin for this day!
The remuneration was so generous? The Duke also promised that he would provide food and the remuneration would be paid daily.
In this way, wouldn't the money earned by any worker for one day's work be enough to buy ten pounds of oats and nine pounds of wheat? On a normal day, this kind of food would be enough for a person to live for half a month.
Although a large amount of silver coins flowed into Russia, causing the prices of many consumer goods to skyrocket, the prices of wheat and meat were still low. They did not understand what macro-control of the economy was. In fact, Rurik also lacked this knowledge, but left
Rick has mastered the only granary and the only treasury in Rossburg. He has only a very low guideline for the materials for the national economy and people's livelihood. Especially for salt and iron, Rurik has actually completed a monopoly. These are the core of the principality's survival.
He had all the things in his hands, and he felt that the remaining things were open and thrown to the market, allowing all kinds of businessmen and producers to coordinate among themselves.
Isn't this an opportunity to make a lot of money? If the construction of the town takes a hundred days, the strong men who participate will not only get a hundred days of free food, but also get a pound of silver coins in their hands.
This pound of silver is enough for me, my wife, and my children to live happily for a year.
They completely lacked economic knowledge, but their arithmetic skills were all talents. Adhering to the traditional Viking arithmetic skills, they immediately discovered the huge benefits. Men and women were making Viking war cries,
The roars were in praise of the Duke's kindness.
This was the sound of cheers. The powerful sound deeply shocked the heart of Queen Mary, and once again shocked Rurik's other wives and concubines.
In fact, the person who was most deeply touched by this gathering was Mary. What she saw with her naked eyes was that in the hometown of the Vikings, a heroic king was supported by countless people.
This incident alone is only a legend in my hometown of Mercia. It seems that the old King of Mercia two hundred years ago had such support from the people for a short time. Unfortunately, his cheap father Wiglaf was clearly a fool.
She unconsciously held her stomach and stared at Rurik who was standing on the snowdrift and continued to give orders. She didn't know whether to talk about something important.
This was because Princess Mary had not seen her menstrual period for more than two months, and the only man who had been close to her since her last menstrual period was Rurik.
Perhaps at most 1,500 people are involved in the infrastructure construction of Blast Furnace Town. How long will the construction period be? It may last for two months, or even continue due to the short period of sunshine.
He also knew that there would be some jokesters sneaking in, and there would also be workers taking advantage of the situation.
It is of course necessary to arrange a small group of supervisors for them, but some unnecessary losses also need to be tolerated.
Compared with the future when Blast Furnace Town is completed and begins production, the money paid now is nothing. The focus is not even on building the town, but on how much ore the mobilized Russian people can dig in the mountains.
Rurik didn't worry at all that the ore would be exhausted one day. If so, it would be in thousands of years!
It is an iron ore vein that stretches from Denmark to the Arctic Ocean. It is the best iron ore vein in Europe. It is a vein that cannot be dug for tens of thousands of years simply by relying on hammers, chisels and thermal expansion and contraction.
People chatted lively about silver coins and food issues, and the rumbling sound continued for a while.
Rurik waited for them to gradually quiet down, and then began to officially announce the mining matter.
The new speech is still extremely simple in language and more penetrating.
"Anyone! Mining! I will buy it at the market price!"
Rurik kept repeating these phrases, which struck like arrows into the hearts of all men, women and children.
What is generosity? This is the greatest generosity!
Rurik's declaration confirmed all the previous rumors. Now everyone in Rossburg who can hold a hammer and pickaxe is qualified to make money from mining.
So, when does the work start?
It’s December 12th, roughly!
Rurik deliberately chose this day for no special reason, just because "Double Twelve" can be interpreted as a good fortune in a literal sense.
However, when Rurik made all the declarations, all the people gathered ran away.
Rurik himself was dumbfounded. He was silent for a while and then laughed out loud.
"Damn it, what did these guys do? During the war, they couldn't run as fast as they do today." Otto complained harshly.
Rurik descended the snow hill quickly. He felt refreshed but his throat was dry.
"Everyone has finished running away, what do you think?" Otto asked immediately.
"It's nothing. They are all busy going home to pick up tools and go mining in the mountains." Rurik spoke with a smile. As a father, Otto kept a straight face this time.
Otto also instinctively knew that Rurik's troubles would result in a huge loss of wealth, and it was because this boy now had a huge amount of money that he was qualified to squander it. Otto simply said that it was inappropriate, and he went straight to the point to explain his doubts.
What else can Rurik do? He shrugged: "They can make money, and I won't lose. Just wait and see, we will be stronger next year."
After hearing this, Otto stopped saying anything.
Rurik's judgment was absolutely correct. As promised, the people quickly took their tools and pulled their sleds towards the mountains. Most people claimed to know what the iron ore looked like, but it was just the women who went out.
The number is staggering, and many people are obviously following it blindly.
Old men, young men, young women, and even all old women, they stopped the weaving men in their hands and rushed towards the mountains with their tools.
To be fair, Rurik was indeed shocked by the enthusiasm of such a group of blind movers. The chaos that his father pointed out was a fact, but this chaos will soon stabilize.
It's entirely because you need to be hard-working to make iron. They are rushed in by the trend of profit. Only some of them can actually dig up the iron ore and successfully bring it back.
Rurik also explained that the ore must be sold according to the market price. To put it bluntly, this price was actually set by him and the blacksmith alliance together, and he controlled the pricing power. This was the sharp sickle that secretly harvested the labor force.
What's more, do the people in Roseburg know real iron ore? If ordinary granite is excavated, they naturally cannot pay the high price of iron ore.
Rurik predicted many things, which all came true in the short daylight of the next day.
In fact, many people are afraid of the cold at night and simply give up mining to avoid being frozen to death. One or two of them retreated home that night and became weavers by themselves. At least they hid in a warm home and weaved with an oil lamp. The money was
If you make a lot less, at least you won't freeze to death.
Those who simply set up shacks in the mountains for the night did eventually bring back a batch of ore. Unfortunately, the blacksmiths only took away the real ore after sorting, and the granite was only paid at the price of ordinary stone.
Even for iron ore, which is purchased by the Blacksmiths Union at the market price, its price has plummeted by half. Many voluntary miners are very angry, so what's the harm? No one forces everyone to mine, and they can't stand this low price.
If you don't want to do this, don't do it.
However, that large group of Tevastian women were all dragged into mining by Rurik. Even if women are indeed not suitable for holding axes and chisels to cut ore, their current status is definitely that of slave labor. Earn silver coins by digging and transporting ore? Never think about it.
!However, their accommodation, food, and clothing are all provided by the Duke of Ross. Their labor is the price of obtaining these materials, and they have no ability to bargain.
Even though this group of women had not been taken away to mine, Rurik once again reiterated their destination in a language they could understand on December 11th of the Julian calendar: "You will all be Balmokhs."
Women, you will not be slaves! You must work for me in exchange for the food, clothing and shelter I give you. When the weather becomes warmer, I will lead you to distant places. Tavastia has perished, you
The disaster of the old leader's wrong decision will be borne by you, but I am not a bad person. You will eventually have a stable life, as long as you work for me honestly now."
Any one of them is free now. In fact, they are completely able to escape, but no one dares to do so. Where can they go? Will they become prey of wild beasts on the ice sheet? Tavastia has indeed perished, and where is their home?
They still don't understand what a good future is. At least for now, they can only get food by working according to the orders of the conquerors. Smart people naturally live by taking one step at a time.
It was on this night that a total of 450 young women from Tavastia were carefully counted. They were all distributed with small axes and chisels, and some who were obviously strong-armed were even given long-handled draft axes. A group of diggers
The woman should leave tomorrow.
This night, many men and women are also preparing. Even though the "invisible hand" has screened out those who are not suitable for mining in Roseburg, there are still many people who still plan to work hard to make money by mining ore, even if they dig it by mistake.
granite.
Except for the fishermen and sealers, the soap-making Parla and others, the people who were busy with weaving, leather manufacturing and garment manufacturing, and other people who had their own jobs, any idle labor force in Roseburg was mobilized.
No, on December 12 of the Julian calendar, only young children, mothers who could not escape, and the truly infirm were not involved. Every single one of Roseburg's labor force was mobilized.
Even Rumia was ordered to make sacrifices to the statue of Thor alone, and to encourage the people on a spiritual level.
The noisy people, carrying tools and sleds, marched toward the west of Fort Ross.
Chapter completed!