Swinder had to give an answer immediately. He was in a huge entanglement. Faced with the aggressive attitude of the Russians, there was obviously no reason to refuse.
He glanced at the warriors sitting on both sides from the corner of his eyes and asked tentatively: "Isn't there... a third option?"
"The third option?" Rurik almost laughed out loud after hearing this, "No! You have to make a choice now. Listen, your island will have a chance of safe fishing, it depends on your choice."
A big stone pressed against his chest. Such a depressing scene made Swinder almost vomit.
He endured the discomfort and asked tentatively: "If I completely agree, what will the price be?"
"Price? If you are a servant, of course you have to pay the price. You make your choice! I don't want you to linger any longer." As he said that, Rurik raised his proud chin, first glared at the messenger with contempt, and then looked at the bright light.
Outdoors. He deliberately reminded: "The weather today is really good, very suitable for sailing. My army has not been able to fight for a while. They are eager to fight, and their swords and axes are eager to drink blood."
"This...Prince of Ross, what does this mean?"
"Are you pretending to be confused?"
Swinder was indeed pretending to be confused. Although he did not believe that the Russians would really launch a large-scale invasion this year just for the sake of a broken island in Bornholm, the prince of the Russians had already drawn his sword.
"I agree!"
He felt that he had no choice but to agree to avoid disaster.
"Very good." Rurik clapped his hands in praise, "You made a smart choice."
Although Swinder was sitting on the ground, he bent his back and tried to raise his head, staring at the sitting king with complicated eyes. "So, what price do we pay?"
Rurik also poked his head, his face filled with the joy of a winner: "Of course you have to pay a price, which is probably a price you can pay. I learned about your current situation from other people's mouths, and thought that you might use a bunch of stinky herrings.
Let’s forget about paying tribute.”
"What do you want?"
"people!"
"people?"
Swinde was a little puzzled, but after thinking about it carefully, he felt more and more terrible.
"It's the people. The most valuable thing on your island is the people. Do you have many women?" Rurik asked this deliberately.
"Women? Not many."
"Where's the child?"
"Not much of the same."
"Are you perfunctory with me?" Rurik smiled, "There are so many lonely men with no strength, right?"
"At least not as much as you."
"Haha. I think you just want to anger me. You and your islanders probably don't want to join, and that doesn't matter, because it's not difficult to destroy you. Tell me, do you have five thousand islanders?"
"There are five thousand men who can bear arms." Swinder said openly, holding his head high.
His original intention was to make a small demonstration to the Prince of Rus, and the number of five thousand was just a casual remark.
This number did touch Rurik a little bit. He didn't believe it was true. Maybe the opponent could mobilize at least two thousand troops. This was indeed a large number. Ross had been alarmed a long time ago, but now
It doesn't matter anymore, just because Ross can mobilize more troops.
Rurik did not like this envoy named Swinder. Obviously, this guy was not shocked by the prosperity of the Principality of Rus. It is an island like this, even if it surrenders, it is still an unstable group, a potential Lindenwan.
Logically speaking, there is no need for these guys to annex. The principality must extend its tentacles, obviously relying on them to contain Denmark.
At this moment, Rurik thought of Ragnar's statement again.
Swinde was very conflicted about surrendering, and now Rurik also felt that the matter was starting to become useless.
Maybe they shouldn't push them too hard?
Finally, Rurik put forward his own conditions.
"Swinder, it is meaningless for you to put forward any conditions. Now you must comply with several of my decisions. First, you must forcefully immigrate five hundred young women into Rus as my subjects. Second, your
Fishing boats must start flying the Ross flag, and our ships will attack all unflag fishing boats in that area. Third, you must resolutely oppose King Horik of Denmark and end trade with Denmark. Fourth, give your islanders the right to choose freely,
I invite some people to immigrate to Russia."
The four major clauses came to his ears, and Swinder was surprised that the Prince of Rus seemed to have no more requirements besides these. What about the requirement to pay tribute every year? It seems not?
He lowered his head and analyzed it carefully. First of all, if the Russian flag was flown, one could fish freely without being attacked. This seemed to be a good thing. It also meant that ships from Denmark could attack Bornholm ships at will. Fishing ships flying the flag
For one thing, the sense given to outsiders is that the islanders are joining Rus, which also means that the entire island is against the Danish King Horik.
The request of Prince Rus is very strange. It seems that the only thing Rus is opposed to is the current King of Denmark himself.
The so-called terms that allow islanders to have the right to freely immigrate are even more wonderful. Think about it, you are just an elected speaker, and the people who can settle on the island come from all kinds of sources. They come and go as they please, and there is no power to restrain them.
If they are willing to become subjects of the Prince of Rus, no one will stop them from leaving.
The only thing that bothered Swinde was the provision of 500 women in the first clause.
He agreed to the last three clauses, but was deeply concerned about the first clause.
"I'm not the owner of the island, I'm just the talker elected by them. I can't order those people to hand over their daughters. If you insist on doing this, maybe you can only give them an order personally to force them to submit."
"Absurd." Rurik slammed the table with his fist, forcing a smile on his angry face: "I think our conversation is getting more and more boring. Am I negotiating for peace with someone who has no authority? Since you can't
What else can I say to be responsible?”
Swinde was in a dilemma: "Sir, I can only be responsible for part of the matter. But for the handing over of five hundred women... they are human beings, not animals."
"Don't you think I ask for women to be livestock? To tell you the truth, I am merciful, and these women will be rewarded to my warriors as wives. They are all Odin's warriors, and they need a blond wife.
My kindness has its limits! It seems we don’t need to talk anymore. Someone is here!”
Rurik gave an order, and the warriors on both sides stood up.
Swinde was anxious and wanted to chat again, but he was forked out by a group of warriors and immediately thrown to the temporary dormitory to rest...
An envoy who came for peace negotiations lacked authority. Since Swinde could not promise absolute surrender, it was meaningless for him to make concessions.
Through this boring negotiation, Rurik gained an intuitive understanding of the actual internal political situation on Bornholm Island.
Swinde said some nonsense during his defense, and some of his words accidentally revealed the real information. For example, some big families on the island recommended the speaker, and Swinde is also a patriarch of the big family. Swinde is just a patriarch of the big family.
If you can manage the affairs of your own family, other families cannot.
This is a good thing. If the people of Bornholm Island, each small family is a political unit, it is obviously easy for Ross to defeat them one by one.
A new plan began to emerge in his mind.
…
"Let's just raise our troops and go to war!" At night, Rurik, who was lying on the bed, suddenly snarled, which scared Svetlana to sit up suddenly.
"Ah?! War? Did you agree not to fight? You..."
"Damn it. I just don't want to give up this opportunity."
Lanna lay down gently again: "In a war, who are you going to fight? Aren't the Karelia people perished?"
"Of course it's not them. I've changed my mind. Bornholm's envoy is ridiculous. I want to conquer it myself and force that damn island to surrender. I'm even confident that I can win without a fight."
"Victory without fighting?"
"Exactly."
"Okay. You are the prince, you make the decision in everything." Lanna firmly grabbed her man's arm and said with a smile, "I'll go too."
"You? What are you going to do? You shouldn't wander around when you're pregnant."
"That's why I want to follow you. The one in my belly is the crown prince, so I have to go..."
Is this a kind of prenatal education? It seems that she is tired of staying at the shore of Lake Ilmen and wants to go out and see the world again.
"Okay, let's go together."
"Hehe." She smiled sweetly: "I am a Varangian woman."
"Oh? I thought you were a beautiful Slavic woman."
"Both. Oh! I am a Russian woman, your woman."
Svetlana acted coquettishly this time out of her own heart, and she was also trying her best to strengthen her status in the Ross court. She wanted to work hard to please, and she wanted to be a charming woman, but also a charming woman. Varangian female warrior.
All this is very useful to Rurik. As a man, Rurik is more willing to listen to her moaning and panting in his arms. That is the most powerful ecstasy soup for men...
He could only lament that Otto really did not make a mistake, and the Lanna he chose for himself was really the most beautiful among the many wives and concubines. It was not obvious when he was a child, but now he has three-dimensional facial features, a sharp chin, deep-sea blue pupils, and big eyes. The most important thing is The reason lies in her pair of long legs. She was originally on the thin side, but her long legs not only gave her an extraordinary height, but also made her whole body slim and agile. The growth that a woman is proud of is unambiguous.
It was such a beautiful woman who had experienced the war. She had fought as an ordinary warrior with a bow and actually killed the enemy. This was a great touch to the warriors from the old Ross tribe.
After all, she is a Slavic woman who will be the prince's wife. Is she qualified? Oh?! She has killed enemies like a Valkyrie, so that is completely different.
There will be another meeting in a few days. Since Rurik has decided that he must use force to force the islanders to make a choice, there is no need to talk nonsense with the messenger Swind.
After taking a rest, Swinde was taken to the palace again. He thought about it all night and barely slept, but he still couldn't figure out what the prince of Ross wanted to do.
Ragnar was also ambiguous about the outcome of the negotiations, but he still had other things to do - talk to his tribe and family members who stayed in Novgorod.
Ragnar even visited the school of the Rus. This was where he observed up close what the young "wise men" were instilling in a large group of children.
Because his eldest son, Ivar, who was in a wooden wheelchair, was also taken to school to study.
After being away for only a month, the eldest son has already learned some things. The most important thing is the spelling pattern of the Latin alphabet in Norse. It is not difficult to memorize these letters and spelling rules by rote, so that the little boy
Young Ivar could barely spell the documents issued by the principality.
Ivar actually also dabbled in some more profound things, how a seven-year-old boy could deeply understand that Midgard (the human world) is a giant ball and Northern Europe is a small world in the far north.
Ivar dictated something to his father. He didn't quite understand it, but it shocked Ragnar greatly.
Do the Russians actually know what this world looks like?
Do they actually know the precise location of Bornholm Island? Also know the shortest route through Danish waters?
Ragnar is a down-and-out lord. His status determines that he must have more considerations and naturally realizes the importance of a map. He has a certain understanding of this sea area and knows the locations of some islands. As for those further away
I don't know where it is.
He asked his son to stare at the patterns drawn by the young teacher on the blackboard made of turquoise mixed with carbon powder during class. He relied on rote memorization and had to copy the patterns he drew with sticks and sand afterwards.
In this way, Ragnar for the first time roughly understood the shape of the entire Baltic Sea, as well as the positions of the key Gotland Island, Tombstone Island, and Lake Mälaren in Sweden relative to the entire sea area.
Following this line of thinking, I am afraid that Spyut, who is also a royal pirate, has a particularly well-marked map in his hand, otherwise their big ships would not dare to roam the sea openly.
Ragnar was embarrassed to ask, and secondly, he was afraid of causing dissatisfaction among the Russian people.
Since Ross has a treasure for wiping after using the toilet called paper, their documents are also written on another kind of paper. Ragnar simply drew a rough map on a piece of soft toilet paper, folded it and kept it.
.
But Ragnar never imagined that Prince Rurik clearly did not want to have a good negotiation with the Bornholm people.
What followed was no longer the scope of confidential talks, and even a piece of news spread like wildfire before the meeting.
Does Ross want to continue the war? Does Ross want to conquer Bornholm directly?
This news made the men feel itchy. In their view, war is a good thing to gain money, wealth and honor. Even the princes made it clear that if a person is injured, he can be saved, and if his children are killed in the war, they can have enough food and clothing.
This is what Ragnar saw and heard, and the atmosphere infected the entire Stonewall tribe living in Novgorod. Most of the men who followed Ragnar into exile did not care about his personal ambitions, and just wanted to get on a Russian ship.
own benefits.
Yes! The people of Bornholm are neither relatives nor friends and have no economic contacts. If we kill them, who will feel guilty? It will make the Russians look at them with admiration.
A military meeting with a strange atmosphere was held in the Rosduma Chamber of Novgorod. This meeting was unparalleled. Bornholm's envoy, speaker, and theoretical leader Sven
De was also dragged over.
Swinde also heard those rumors. Seeing the atmosphere at the venue, he was so angry that he was clearly deceived by the young king of the Russian people. What kind of promise can make peace? After all, we still have to fight!
The people present at the meeting were all brave warriors. They did not hesitate to make fun of poor Swinder, and they all threatened to easily conquer Bornholm. Especially Aliekai, who openly showed off his power, making Swinder just
Able to endure humiliation and bear heavy burdens.
Rurik arrived late, and the noise inside could be heard outside the venue.
As he entered, the chaos suddenly stopped, and a pair of eager eyes stared at the prince of Ross.
"It seems that you all know it! Especially you!" Rurik pointed his right hand at Swinder undesirably: "Originally, I wanted to negotiate with you and made some concessions to you. But I figured it out.
, you actually tried to get the peace that you couldn't get on the battlefield through negotiation? Ridiculous! I have fought fiercely with you islanders many times, and I won easily every time. I changed my mind, I want to conquer it myself, this year.
Make your islanders submit to me!"
Swind was sweating heavily and simply took off his cotton hat. He bared his canine teeth and stood up, shouting angrily: "If you really choose war, we would rather fight. Don't forget, we are all Vikings, who is afraid of whom?"
!”
He was so arrogant that the atmosphere in the entire parliamentary court was instantly aroused. Everyone present drew their swords, and as many as twenty swords were held close to his neck with cold light.
On the other hand, Swinder was still angry, and he was not afraid at all.
Rurik shrugged. Even if the messenger was stabbed to death, things would not end well.
"Brothers, stay calm." Rurik ordered everyone to sit down and solemnly announced: "Conquest is necessary, but... maybe this will not turn into a bloody conflict."
"How do you say this?" Swinde suddenly asked.
"Idiot! What I want are subjects, not corpses. When my army lands on the island, are the islanders really willing to fight to the death? So I want to keep you and let you tell them the benefits of surrendering to me. Let them see it too.
My army will intimidate those who disobey and kill those who resist."