There used to be owners in Hedeby. Since the death of Godfrey, the great Danish leader, the merchants in Hedeby have been freed.
Is this kind of freedom good or bad? No one can say clearly.
Big businessmen long to do business freely, accumulate wealth and then hold on to their wealth.
The city of Hedeby has entered a period of absolute and unlimited freedom. For more than 20 years, some people have claimed to be the ruler of the city, but the ruling forces have never successfully penetrated. Many businessmen's memories seem to be that Hedebe was free from the beginning.
As a coastal city-state, her freedom can almost split the city apart in an instant, and the city will disappear.
This is a city of merchants. In order to defend their wealth, they hire heroes from all walks of life as mercenaries. The big merchants all do business with swords. To this day, no one can achieve a monopoly. Since no one can be the absolute one, then
Let’s sit down and talk about various matters!
Merchants formed loose guild organizations, negotiated and negotiated to resolve disputes, and then divided the scope of trading activities they engaged in to avoid future disputes.
Dozens of big businessmen are the "collective city lords". Now that the Russian forces have intervened strongly, the balance of power has reversed and then quickly returned to balance.
A large group of small businessmen followed the large businessmen, and a large group of mercenaries protected the large and small businessmen.
A variety of craftsmen, fishermen, and farmers provide supplies for these merchants and mercenaries.
It seems that this is a stable urban system. Where the sun cannot be found, some forces inevitably exist.
If encountered on the vast sea, armed merchant ships can turn into pirates in an instant when facing fishermen. Fishermen will also be tempted to commit a crime when encountering merchant ships that are defenseless.
There is no real order here. The latter said that the existing order is that all parties rely on their fists to reach a balance.
Murders, violence, and twisting streets occur every day in the city. Suddenly, dead bodies suddenly appear in the early morning. The bodies are also directly thrown into the sea by people who can't stand the stench.
But it is also full of wealth and desire.
The great missionary Eskil, who was given a huge mission, built his "operation base" here. Firstly, this is part of the Danish world, and secondly, this is a land without one, full of injured souls who can be influenced.
Lamb. He called this city a city of sin, which had nothing to do with civilization. Maybe the Count of Hamburg should lead troops to occupy this place and incorporate it into the East Frankish territory under the jurisdiction of Prince Ludwig, thereby embracing civilization.
The Count of Hamburg did not dare to do this. Although this was an ownerless city, to launch an attack, one had to cross the Schleswig Great Wall. This was a pure invasion and would first encounter a crazy attack by a large number of Danish tribes.
The wily Eskil knew the stakes, and he didn't care about the nobles' struggle for power, he only cared about his own career.
The big businessmen of Hedebe have always lived a rather glorious life, and their noble lives have always been well protected by the mercenaries. Because they are given enough money, the mercenaries will fight to the death to protect their masters for money.
Who are these blind people trying to steal wealth from big businessmen through open armed robbery?
No, while Blue Fox and Old Eric were selling leather, the investigation after the attack was also going on.
Investigating the culprit is not difficult.
"Karl the Gray Wolf? Is this a gang that suddenly appeared? It actually has some influence in the city. It seems to be just a dirty gang, nothing to worry about."
Although he thought so, Lan Hu still honestly expanded his mercenary team. He did not recruit openly, for fear that the gangsters would mix in with the crowd and be recruited by himself. What is this other than raising a mole?
One place that is actually a good place to recruit new mercenaries is Hedeby's famous slave market.
Men, women, and even a group of children were bound by iron collars and chains.
These people are obviously different from the Danes or Saxons in appearance.
Their chins are generally more pointed and their hair is mostly brown, which is very different from the average golden retriever and the former two.
Because they are almost all the Oberlidit tribe of the West Slavic forces. Their birthplace is in the Vistula River Basin in Poland, and they have penetrated into the eastern borders of Denmark and Frankia this morning. Some Danish tribes have been facing Austrian
The military attack of the Bethlida Tribe Alliance, this group of people also teamed up with their Pomeranian relatives to attack Denmark, until the heroic Godfrey leader led the Danish coalition to severely defeat the opponent.
The slaves were all deliberately hunted by the Danish tribes, who were trying to wipe out all the Oberliddite forces in Jutland and turn all the other people into slaves.
Those prisoners of war were transported to Hedebe, where the men were made into slaves and the women into prostitution.
The needs of the merchants were difficult to satisfy, so the Danish tribes continued to send troops to arrest people.
For this kind of barbaric behavior, Eskil could only mentally pity the poor lambs, but he was doing some good things. Ludwig continued to provide funds so that Eskil could "rescue" the slaves on a large scale.
The target is those slave children. It doesn't matter their origin. They can be bought if they can be bought, and then they will be educated and trained into priests by themselves.
He was keen on spreading the faith, and Prince Ludwig supported this behavior. Because Oberlitt and Pomerania had long been coveted by various northern noble lords in the kingdom, he, Ludwig, was
The biggest glutton! Bavaria was snatched from the hands of Wenderslavs, and those Pomeranians are also Wenderslavs.
Ludwig extremely hoped that these foreigners would accept the sacred faith and accept his rule uniformly. Then he would not only get a new force, but he would also be able to expand his territory, increase his tax base and expand his wealth.
Although the eldest brother and the second brother are blood relatives, why not kill them in the struggle for power? The reunification of Frank and the opening up of a large number of new territories in the east will make his achievements far surpass those of his grandfather Charlemagne.
Ludwig would have sweet dreams. In fact, he has been fighting on two fronts over the years. After his father and the fourth brother, Charles, were put under house arrest by the brothers, the civil war between the three brothers rekindled. He began to deliberately encroach on the territory of his eldest brother Lothair, and headed eastward.
He bore the brunt of encroaching on the territory of the Polish tribes. Unlike his two brothers, his ethnic composition in the East Frankish Territory was the most complex. In addition to the Franks of his own family, the second largest group were the Saxons, followed by the Thuringians, and the Alemanns.
The Nepalese people actually speak very similar languages, and essentially have a common ancestor with each other. Ludwig knew that he must unite all the people in the territory who spoke very similar languages. If there was a centrifugal trend within the territory, he would not want to fight with them.
Brother Lothair is competing for supremacy. A concept that existed in the past began to be mentioned again, that is "Germany", which means "we are people who speak the same language".
The prince wanted to give more benefits to the Saxon nobles and Thuringian nobles under his command. The former was eager to annex Pomerania along the coastline, and the latter was eager to seize the Polish forest area directly eastward.
As for attacking Denmark, the prince really didn't want to send troops himself. The Danes were unruly and not easy to deal with. On the other hand, the Slavic tribes were easier targets to attack and embezzle.
In this way, Horik Klarsson was supported, and now the prince also received the successful information.
However, the situation has become a little beyond my control...
Blue Fox bought as many as thirty Oberliddite men at the slave market, and brought these men into Ross's shop like cattle and sheep.
They were all young men, all carefully selected, and clearly destined to do hard work until they died of exhaustion. Those companions who tried to resist were killed, and when they saw their companions lying in a pool of blood, their will to resist also dissipated.
A group of men with dull eyes squatted on the wooden floor. It was precisely because they were Slavs that they could squat so easily.
Blue Fox appeared in front of them with his entourage in an arrogant manner. As soon as he opened his mouth, they all raised their heads.
"You! You will not be servants! You will be subjects of Rus and now my mercenaries."
The words were spoken in the Ilmen Slavic dialect. Blue Fox was a smart man. Knowing that the prince was exploring the East, he hurriedly learned some Slavic languages.
At this time, the language drift of the East and West Slavic peoples was not dramatic. After all, they almost all lived in one family on the Vistula River two hundred years ago.
The shackles of all the male slaves were smashed, and Blue Fox announced that they had regained their freedom. However, in this mixed-race Hedeby, life would obviously be in danger if they were separated from Ross's protection.
There is a small group of Eastern warriors in the team that protects the Blue Fox. They are Ilmenslavs, who were ordered by Rurik to protect the Blue Fox. In addition to these people, there are also Finns who are good at archery in the team.
The Ilmen and the Obertridites spoke very similar languages. They were shocked that they were actually the same race. However, after repeated inquiries, they discovered something was wrong and began to realize that the size of the world was far beyond everyone's imagination.
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The Ilmenslavs have always been indifferent to Denmark's attitude. Lord Rurik led everyone to attack Denmark and made a fortune. Because the initial encounter was like this, the Ilmens naturally believed that Denmark was actually weak.
The Oberliddites have a completely different set of perceptions. They describe Denmark and Franks as man-eating wolves and giant fish that devour everything.
Since the King of Rus would protect everyone, Rus's attitude towards Denmark was also hostile, and the male slaves' hearts were soon shaken.
The slaves changed their identities, and the new brothers put on the white-and-blue-patterned robes of the Russians. They swore an oath to the flag of Russia, swore allegiance to Prince Rurik of Russia, and swore to protect the big businessman Blue Fox and the Ross store with all their strength.
They received fighting training and were given bucklers and spears and axes. They enjoyed good food, including wheat and fish every day.
He wears a unique outfit, a leather helmet that can protect half of his face, leather boots on his feet, and cloth strips wrapped tightly around his calves.
Ross's Warriors' First Flag Team is dressed like this, and Blue Fox's mercenaries in Hedeby are also exactly the same.
Blue Fox appointed a man named Vady Zdalovich as the leader of this team. He was also very principled in recruiting thirty new guards, because thirty people happened to fill a battle longship. The so-called "
Four "ships" constitute a centurion. Four centuries can form a flag force.
All the mercenaries and sailors formed a hundred-man team of more than 120 people. They were well-trained, including sword, shield and archer. The old mercenaries among them had sufficient experience in defeating the Danes. They thought very highly of themselves.
I even felt that the prince's attitude towards the security of Ross's shop in Denmark was excessive.
There were indeed attackers, and those blind idiots were annihilated like chopping melons and vegetables. Killing them was as easy as crushing a poultry.
Conquering a group of new mercenaries only means upgrading the security force? These new people come from the Oberlidit tribe that has resisted Danish encroachment for generations. They also speak Slavic and believe in the God of Fire. Their performance in all aspects is similar to that of the Blue Fox.
What was learned in Novorosberg and Novgorod was quite similar.
"If the prince is still against Denmark, I can suggest that he win over the Oberlidits, buy their things, and sell a batch of weapons. Having one more ally will also provide one more choice in the future."
The open-air shop counters continue to sell goods, and the leather has been sold out. The Russians are now selling pure transparent glassware and colored glassware at very high prices. There is also sulfur soap with a smell, which is known as...
It is actually effective in killing lice and fleas on human body, attracting businessmen and wealthy people to flock to it. There are also honey butter soaps with wonderful fragrance, general seal oil soap and whale oil soap.
Large and small businessmen who are very particular about life are important customers, but Ross's cheapest soap is affordable to local craftsmen, and Ross is selling these supplies smoothly.
One side is selling, the other side is buying.
Prince Rurik issued an order to purchase everything useful, with emphasis on crop seeds.
"Since there is no shortage of wheat seeds in Russia, various vegetable seeds must also be needed."
By coincidence, spring cabbage in Denmark has entered the harvest season. A batch of cabbage will be deliberately left by professional farmers until it blooms and sets seed. Blue Fox sent someone to take action in advance and gave a sum of money to ask a vegetable farmer to leave the entire field of cabbage until the harvest season.
It blooms, bears seeds, and finally turns into a big bag of black seeds.
As for buying other vegetables, Blue Fox really has no choice in Heideby. First of all, the local Danes don't like growing vegetables. After planting wheat, they go fishing during the off-farm period. The vegetable farmers are either Franks or Saxons. They
They also lived in Hedeby, a village close to Schleswig that was under the supervision of the Frankish army. They only transported vegetables to the city by boat.
Schleswig is still controlled by the Count of Hamburg. A Frankish army is stationed in the city. Not far to the north of the city is the Great Wall of Schleswig. The coastal city of Heidebe is exactly at the mouth of the Schlei Bay.
A city sandwiched between Denmark and Frankia.
There are not many good vegetable choices in Northern Europe today. Apart from cabbage, there are yellow carrots, which are also in great demand in Russia. Carrots are already being grown in New Roseburg, and Russia is already self-sufficient in this vegetable.
This is not the case with cabbage, but you can take this packet of seeds back and plant them in Novgorod next year.
How much does it cost to buy vegetables? It’s just a very small expenditure.
Looking at the whole Haidebei, he was not interested in the commercial goods that could be seen everywhere. He entrusted Old Eric and Little Eric to buy gems and amber, and he himself bought more than ten female slaves.
Just like those male slaves were selected, these selected women were young and beautiful. Their fate was destined to be prostitutes in Hedeby. Blue Fox bought them all and appointed them as servants.
Of course this young fat man loves women, but he is far from being infatuated. He is happy with the nameless concubines he has raised, but he really doesn't know which one to make his wife, so he simply puts it aside for now.
It was already the end of June, and the merchants here in Hedeby were busy celebrating the arrival of the summer solstice.
It has been almost three years since the death of the old alliance leader Hafgen, and no one is willing to hold a grand event in Hedeby where a large group of slaves are killed to worship Odin.
This is not the case here at Rose's Shop. The smart Blue Fox knows that his safety depends entirely on the protection of his mercenaries. He must give these armed men spiritual comfort and generous rewards.
They lit a bonfire in the closed wall. Blue Fox imitated Rurik's tricks, and used the dancing flames to priest the Viking gods and Slavic fire gods, and then everyone had a feast together.
Blue Fox had his own tricks. He bought an old sheep and deliberately kept it until the summer solstice at the end of the month. Old lamb is not delicious, but it will be different after roasting it.
Everyone had a portion of the roasted lamb, even the newly bought maids got a large piece of the sizzling lamb.
Compared with the beginning, the Oberlidit mercenaries became stronger. In a short period of time, they ate delicious meals that were difficult to eat in their hometown. Later, they learned that the Prince of Ross had set a standard for all warriors. Even if
As a mercenary, you must eat a pound of oats a day, and these food expenses are not included in the remuneration.
They burst into tears of gratitude at first, but as they got used to such a life, they couldn't bear to part with Prince Ross.
In a sense, these mercenaries are the Guards in various senses. Food, military pay, etc. are all paid for by Prince Rurik. Even though Blue Fox has a private army that seems to be managed by him, in fact
Still from Rurik, the Blue Fox will have the right to find Rurik to reimburse this year's personnel living expenses in the autumn.
In this way, the Blue Fox can devote a lot of energy to trade, and the time has entered July. Although there are rumors that the self-proclaimed king Horik Klarson will personally come to Hedeby to collect taxes, the news has been there for a long time.
Rumor has it that it's already July and there's no real movement on Heideby's side, so the merchants have no time to pay attention.
Because a group of merchants who bought Rus leather had already entered Schleswig by boat. After asking for some bribes as usual, the local Frankish army allowed them to enter the city and sell the leather to Frankish merchants on the spot. It was just a squirrel.
The huge number of skins instantly shocked the Count of Hamburg. He really couldn't imagine how such a high-quality and huge squirrel skin could be transported to that ghost place in Denmark where there were not many squirrels anymore.
The Earl of Hamburg soon understood the reason through the merchant's mouth - these were brought by the Russians.
The Russian count didn't understand, so he used the transliteration of the merchant's description to conveniently describe Ross as "rosa", which means rose. The letter he wrote to Prince Ludwig during the raid was also described in this way. Squirrel
Skin is a good thing! He ordered the messengers to hurry up and tell the Baron of Schleswig to keep all the Danish merchants, and they must provide them with good food and drink. Then he used his wealth and inventory, and it was Frank who launched Hamburg,
Saxon merchants went north to buy up all the huge quantities of leather.