The nobles of the Mellaren tribe are very self-aware, especially Bjorn, the tribal leader and King of Sweden, who understands that their country is unfair and should be strengthened for the sake of their own power and the advantages of the Mellaren tribe's crimes over the whole of Sweden.
Alliance with the Russians.
In addition, it is also necessary to consolidate the Mellaren tribe's trade monopoly over the entire Sweden, and this still requires the support of Ross merchants.
The education his daughter received since birth was to be used as a bargaining chip to marry other nobles.
Although they do not have the right to choose independently, but...
"Why?! I want to marry an old and fat man. Father, that man is almost older than you!" The crying daughter Safir Björndot complained about her dissatisfaction over and over again while making chaos at home.
Smash it.
King Bjorn tried his best to remain patient and persuaded earnestly: "This is your fate! You must accept it."
"If it was a young man, I'd be fine with that, but he's clearly an old guy."
"Even so, you must accept it!"
The girl put down her slapping hands. She was so angry that her face turned red and she shed tears. Her red face seemed to have a fever: "You are doing it for your power."
"For the whole of Sweden. Because I am the king!"
"You are the king? Do you dare to claim to be the king? No one really supports you! It's just that this alliance needs a man to be the talker!"
Not to mention, what this woman said hit the nail on the head. But what his daughter said made Bjorn so angry that he could no longer calm down.
With a slap on the girl's face, King Bjorn glared at his youngest daughter with a murderous look: "You don't know what you are talking about! Now you must marry Snoleva (White Fox),
If you don't want to, I will give you death. At worst, I will find a girl from the clan to adopt as my adopted daughter."
The girl was completely stunned. She did not speak, but lowered her head and sobbed alone.
King Bjorn was still angry. He turned his back and said coldly: "I will dress you up and marry you in style. Stupid girl! That man doesn't have a son yet, and you gave birth to a boy for him.
, that is, enjoying endless glory and wealth. You don’t understand?”
However, the girl Safir Bjorndot really didn't understand. She was only a fourteen-year-old girl. She was the daughter of a noble of the tribe, and she also had someone to admire.
Which girl at her age is not young and beautiful? She does not long for a handsome aristocratic man to be her husband.
King Bjorn wanted to marry his daughter. It would be too inappropriate to do such a thing in early winter. People who lacked fun gathered around and saw a girl with silver jewelry and a tall, white, arrogant and fat man in gorgeous clothes.
At night, the nobles of the Melalen tribe toasted to celebrate the marriage. White Fox Gouldson also withstood the pressure of his head wife's depression, not only forcibly married a young girl, but also paid a large sum of money for food and drinks for the wedding ceremony
cost.
He personally brought out the strong wine for the dinner, and got drunk with all the nobles. They talked about friendship and prosperous business at the dinner table.
King Bjorn was drinking heavily. He drank a lot of strong alcohol and was now almost in a critical state.
He toasted to the white fox, reaffirmed his friendship inarticulately, and solemnly announced: "I will set off in a few days! Now... there are a lot of ice floes in the lake and sea. If you don't leave now, you can only take a sleigh. I want to go to your place in person.
Neurosborg, I would like...to hold another all-Swedish conference."
"But our Rus has already separated from Sweden." White Fox pointed out this matter in confusion.
"But... we are one. That idiot Karl makes you Russians angry. It does not mean that other nobles are like this. My family has not rejected Rus since ancient times. The Danes have been defeated, and what is left is a good life. We want to be together
Do business and live a good life. Sweden cannot live without Ross, just like Ross cannot live without Sweden..."
King Bjorn did not murmur any more. He was literally broken into pieces when he sat down, and lay down on the spot, and everyone could hear his snoring.
The white fox accompanied the group of guys to drink till the end, and the newly married Safir Bjorndot had been sent to Gould Island on the lake after the wedding.
From this moment on, the girl was already a Russian.
She waited anxiously for the arrival of her obese husband, and the white fox had sex with her as soon as he came back. No one knew what the white fox had promised to his new wife. She became silent and quiet, neither crying nor fussing, like a tamed puppy. Look,
Apparently, I no longer dislike this marriage.
The return of the White Fox was sudden. He realized that sending King Bjorn to New Roseburg would be a meritorious service to the family and the prince. He needed glorious deeds to convince the public, otherwise he would be beaten by the promising second brother Blue Fox.
It's been suppressed, how can I bear this feeling?
As for King Bjorn, he was going to meet Prince Rus in person. The news was released to the people, which immediately caused an uproar.
Even if the nobles have agreed on this matter, they still need the support of all the people of Mellaren.
Thousands of people gathered in Birka, and the trading port, which had been sluggish in winter, suddenly became bustling.
King Bjorn, who was dressed in bearskin, preached to the people with his voice, and the core of his preaching was unparalleled - only by doing good trade with the Rus can you make a fortune.
In this case, Bjorn's personal visit to Rus was not condescending.
The Melalen tribe needs to raise funds to purchase some large ships and strive for business opportunities for all the people.
Among the many listeners, large traditional tribes such as Onkras, Uppsala, and Hjärmalen all sent envoys. When King Bjorn finished preaching, these tribes simply organized their own envoys.
All the tribes have to go to the Principality of Rus to meet with them? Isn’t it possible that a great king will go there in person to see his duke?
The actions of the dukes of each tribe were to overstep the authority of the king, but each tribe came up with very reasonable arguments, so the Ross and the brothers were of the same rank, and each other was the country of dukes. As for whether King Bjorn was condescending, others
If a person goes to Rus, the king will not criticize him.
The ice floes on the lake and sea are joining together. If we don't leave now, we have to wait until next year, or we can only take a sleigh ride.
They organized teams to row long boats. Some tribes had their leaders personally act as envoys, while others simply sent envoys.
The man with a white beard is none other than Ungreev, the old leader of the Unkras tribe. Many years have passed, Rurik has grown from a child to an adult, and the Gould family has moved. He Angreef
Still alive and well.
He bought the Gould family's old mansion at a low price. He felt that he had made a profit. Now when he went deep into Gould Island, he realized that the eldest son of the Gould family was now as powerful as a prince.
The Guldot returned from its expedition to Denmark and anchored at Tombstone Island in the Åland Islands without special circumstances.
Now, this large ship that had conquered Denmark, with its bronze horns that could easily smash through thin ice floes, was parked next to Gould Island, being watched by noble envoys from various tribes.
Take a good look at her!
Bjorn deliberately floated under her bow in the rowing boat and looked up at her.
"What a great ship! What a pity it's not mine," he murmured to himself.
Then some followers encouraged: "We will buy such a ship, and we will be very powerful."
"I hope so. Hey, we have to spend a lot of money to buy a boat."
The Aurora-class sailing cruiser is the largest ship that the Nordics can see at the moment. For the shipbuilders of the Principality of Ross who have mastered the keel splicing technique and are constantly improving their abilities, building larger ships seems to be just a matter of princely investment.
Ironically, the Swedish nobles lamented that the Russians had big ships, but the excellent shipbuilders came from Sweden. This group of nobles did not have the financial resources to order large-scale ships, so they could not blame the craftsmen for choosing "good ministers" one after another.
Serve the Lord."
King Bjorn was completely unaware of this and thought that the Russians had extraordinary abilities.
White Fox, the big white fat man, was praised by everyone. He was arrogant and mercilessly accused the longships of the envoys of being junk from the old era.
"My ship can break through the ice, and those long ships can be easily broken by me. Now the sea is freezing. You abandon your ship and streamline your entourage. Let's get on the Guldot and go to Ross!"
Bjorn took the lead in accepting the offer, and the others had no choice but to accept it.
White Fox knew that this trip was of great significance, so he took his new wife and decided to arrive at Tombstone Island first for supplies, and at the same time, he also allowed King Bjorn to leave the lake and see the world.
It is a shame to say that Bjorn is indeed a fish in the lake. The last time he sailed was a long time ago. He would not leave Lake Mälaren to wander in the ocean unless there was something important.
The big ship's jib was tilted to catch the north wind, so it raced with the boat on the lake at the actual fastest speed. The speed actually reached twenty knots. The speed shocked Bjorn! When the big ship left the mouth of Lake Mälaren and entered
The sea turned directly against the wind to the north, and Bjorn's doubts only lasted for one day. Soon after entering the archipelago, he saw a fortress-like port.
In order to see what happened, Bjorn would rather stand on the bow deck and suck in the cold wind.
The white fox explained with great interest: "This is our Tombstone Island. Many Merlaren merchants do business here. I'm sorry, many people prefer this port of our Rus people to your Birka."
The words were spoken like a provocation, and Bjorn couldn't get angry because what the fat man said was true.
A large number of ships are docked at the port of Tombstone Island. Although it is in the ocean, this island group has a large number of small bays, especially the two natural harbors on Tombstone Island, which are perfect havens.
There are as many as ten large sailboats here, each of which is fixed to the dock pier with ropes. It seems that they are not planning to sail in winter.
Gurdot Island docked firmly on the trestle, and people on the shore took the cables thrown and tied it up.
The white fox turned sideways to look at Bjorn, who was looking confused, and couldn't help but feel contempt for the bumpkin in his heart.
Showing respect on the surface, he called out to Bjorn's mind: "King of Sweden, are you looking at the beauties on the island? Let's get off the boat first and rest here for the night. We will leave tomorrow."
"Okay. This fortress..." Bjorn wanted to say something. He actually felt very uncomfortable and was very envious of Rose.
After all, he is the king, and even if he lacks arbitrary power, he is still the king of Sweden. Looking at the current situation, the Russians have almost built a marine fortress on the doorstep of Sweden that the Swedish army cannot break. This is equivalent to saying that the Swedes want to go to sea.
The mouth of Lake Mälaren, the only access point, has been tightly controlled by the Principality of Ross.
Although Bjorn's analysis was very correct, the Åland Islands were not developed by the Russians to contain Sweden. Now, containment of Sweden has become a reality, but as Bjorn actually landed on the island, he felt that his estimate was a little bit...
Arrogant.
There are all kinds of people on the island, not to mention the Russian immigrants. He and other envoys found merchants from their own tribe. Although these merchants were surprised by the nobles of their own tribe who landed on the island, they were only surprised.
The Merlaren merchants who settled on Tombstone Island have almost practically surrendered to the Principality of Rus. They pay commercial taxes to the principality and live on the island for a long time. They are like "new Rus' people". This shows that King Bjorn has no
He showed contempt and no respect, just as if he was seeing an ordinary person.
In addition to these people, there were other men who spoke Norse. They shaved their heads on a large scale and kept only a few braids. This was obviously something that some Norwegian tribes did. He quickly figured out what was going on here.
There is indeed a group of Norwegians from very far away operating. Just ask the Norwegians themselves and they will arrogantly identify themselves. The Principality of Rus has conquered the north, and a group of Norwegians have joined Rus with their own territories.
The same legend has also been verified. It is said that the Norwegians occupied a piece of land on the British Isles. They established a kingdom on the island and became a country of brothers with Ross.
Bjorn felt that his Sweden had been attacked from two sides. Denmark was weakening, Rus had formed an alliance with Norway, and a group of Norwegians had moved freely in the inner Baltic Sea. This was something that he, the king, had never imagined before.
The population on the island was also more complicated than he thought. There was a group of black-haired dwarves living there. They were the Fenradors, who could serve as slaves or mercenaries.
There was a group of black-haired people in the Lake Malaren area, mostly farm serfs raised by the nobles. The nobles called them "finrado", just a group of slaves.
King Bjorn never imagined that such a person could live freely.
When he deliberately asked the White Fox about his wonderful knowledge, the White Fox fought extremely easily, "All the smart people among the Finradors are loyal to our Prince Rus, and those who disobey have been killed. We have killed about 30,000 people who did not obey."
Servant, no one from Fenlado dares to rebel now."
White Fox spoke lightly, and although his words were not arrogant, the words "kill thirty thousand of them" were better than anything else.
As for the other kind of thinner people with brown hair, they are the so-called Slavs. "They were slaves conquered by Russia, and the prince of Russia allowed them to be free. The prince loved these people so much that even the queen was a Slav and could inherit the throne in the future.
He must also be of mixed race."
Can a slave people become a noble? There must be a big hidden secret behind this strange situation. Bjorn knew that old Otto gave up power to his son Rurik. Young people always have fantastic ideas. All these things must be Rurik.
What that kid did.
"Is it because Rurik's queen is very beautiful?" he asked about the white fox.
"Beautiful as a fairy from Asgard."
"Just because of a woman's beauty, those people are no longer slaves?"
"Of course not." Bai Hu didn't know much about politics. His marriage with King Bjorn was also a double insurance for his family's wealth. He casually speculated: "Maybe it's because there are many Slavs."
"A lot? How many?"
"One hundred thousand people."
White Fox described a "hundred thousand," which is one hundred thousand people. He described it in another way. The so-called Slavs who simply surrendered to Rus exceeded the combined population of all tribes in the entire Kingdom of Sweden, at least far more.
Melalen tribe.
Before actually arriving at the capital of the Rus' people, King Bjorn instinctively felt that the white fox was bragging. He concealed his shock with a smile. After all, this was a big businessman, and businessmen were always good at bragging.
He was doubtful, so he first negotiated with the elderly Gould, who had age spots on his face and a gray beard.
As for Bjorn marrying his youngest daughter to his eldest son, Old Gould has no idea. If it is just for the male heir of the family, the eldest son can only choose one from an illegitimate son, so why marry a younger one in glory?
This is a political marriage, which also brings the Gould family and the Swedish nobles into the same boat. Maybe this will arouse the resentment of Prince Rurik? Then it is not for me, an old man who is dying, to interfere.
The Swedish nobles and envoys were filled with emotion when they saw the old and hapless appearance of the once high-spirited businessman. Old Ungreave, who was also aged, struck up a conversation with this old friend, and the two elderly people became sympathetic to each other.
My youth is gone and my days are numbered.
Tombstone Island is just a small island. At most three islands in a large archipelago have been developed. Although he only stayed until the next day before leaving, in a short time Bjorn saw a large area of farmland and a city protected by a fortress. It
It is much smaller than the port of Birka, but the potential is not small.
Since the White Fox is going to forcefully sail through the ice to reach New Roseburg in the East, and the Swedish envoys have met with the prince with important diplomatic matters, Tombstone Island should organize a high-standard fleet to go to the East.
As a result, the Balmoks and Finns, who were waiting for the sea to completely freeze before taking sleds to trade with the East, now did not hesitate to take a smooth sailing.
Bags of sea salt from the North Atlantic were carried on board. This year they did not have to travel in sleigh teams or even pay much for travel. Balmok merchants happily boarded armed merchant ships.
As for the Finnish fur traders, they made money to buy wheat and ironware. They also planned to go to Helminki, the Finnish trading port, when the snow and ice became thicker, and then go north to their homes in the inland areas to overwinter. They would not let this go.
Opportunity for a tailwind.
The Guldot led four other large ships to leave Tombstone Island. In King Bjorn's view, if he had such a fleet, he would be able to ensure his internal power and have the strength to go sideways against Denmark.
According to White Fox, such a fleet does not even have 10% of the strength of the Ross Navy. Is what he said true?
The East represents the endless unknown. Bjorn is expectant and cautious, because this sea is completely unknown to him. Not only himself, but also his father and grandfather have never been there. Not only him, all the envoys have entered the Gulf of Finland for the first time. They know that they will meet
Going to the new world controlled by the Russians, as for what the new world has, is it an opportunity?
The Russians will never forget their old friends in the old world. The messengers and leaders of various tribes were deeply shocked by what they saw and heard on Tombstone Island, and the tribal leaders were itching.
Because everything was for the benefit of the tribe, Old Angreev could not forget his private chat with his old tribemate and old friend Gould. Why would an old man in his twilight years lie to himself? The Russians must be very powerful.
For the benefit of the Onkras tribe, maybe the tribe can make the Principality of Ross the leader. After all, the powerful Ross is more qualified to succeed Melalen and become the real king of Sweden.
He vaguely remembered that King Karl arbitrarily coerced the entire Melalen and other tribes to exclude the Rus. Now that the militant Karl was murdered in a coup, all tribes are actively doing business with Rus.
Why don't brothers invite the Russians over again? Become the boss of each tribe? At least Angkola is a merchant of the tribe and has tax-free privileges in Russia. That would be great.