Those slaves seemed to be just tools. They were both male and female. Men were tools for managing the family's property. Women, while being tools, also had special uses.
For their future backline, they thought they would be beheaded directly after being pulled out of the prison.
Unexpectedly, a man in gorgeous clothes stood in front of them. They raised their heads nervously. Isn't that the Prince of Ross?!
A pair of shrinking eyes revealed prayer, and Rurik could guess the desire of this group of people to beg for a living.
"Your master has committed a serious crime!" He shouted sternly. "According to traditional rules, you will also die with your master. But you are just slaves. It would be unjust to be killed by me so simply. You..."
Rurik pointed at the slave's head casually: "You! And you! Or you! Your master is against me. As a slave, do you know more details?! Now I declare that you are exempt from death penalty! If you can
Tell me the details of your master's rebellion, and you will be free immediately, and I will also reward you with a sum of money."
They heard it like a dream, and when Rurik confirmed it, they all raised their heads and talked about their master's faults.
They became slaves for various reasons. It is normal for them to be slaves because of their failure to farm and go bankrupt and cannot pay for their debts. They are not fools. If the situation is not forced, how can these farmers and women who were originally from Mälaren become slaves? They are quite smart.
He seized this opportunity and, regardless of whether it was true or not, added fuel to what he heard and heard, and decisively described his masters as the great villains who opposed the Prince of Rus.
Some people even said more conclusively: "My old master said this. He said that it is illegal for the Prince of Rus to become the King of Sweden. If the Prince insists on doing so, they will..."
"How? Can we still assassinate him?" Rurik asked in anger.
But I saw this person became more determined: "Exactly."
Isn't this important information? One person said this, and the others all agreed. They were obviously talking about it, but in the current situation, Rurik didn't bother to distinguish. This matter is of great importance. I would rather believe it than believe it.
No.
The slaves were still sitting on the ground collectively, both men and women holding their heads high and showing pleading smiles.
Looking at them again, Rurik nodded deeply: "Forget it, in the name of the prince, I will reward you with the elimination of slavery, but that will be five years later. I will immediately arrange you into my workshop, and I will give you
If you have enough food and clothing and work for me for five years, you will become Russians."
They burst into tears after hearing this. It was great to be free, but the problem of food must be solved to restore freedom. If you want to be a slave, it seems better to continue to be a slave to the prince of Rus.
Slaves are still slaves. Rurik has no intention of talking nonsense with these people anymore. Now he has a lot of evidence in hand, and he just takes it with him to summon that guy Bjorn.
The slaves did not say that King Bjorn had participated in any conspiracy that was detrimental to them. Maybe Bjorn was confused throughout the whole process, but the guy didn't come to visit him after the snowstorm, so how could he avoid making people suspicious?
On the other hand, the Ross patrol captured the charlatan, the soldiers sealed all the houses where the merchants temporarily lived, and all the slaves in debt were confiscated. These situations also caused an uproar in the city.
Those who were arrested were all businessmen from Mälaren. Those who were not captured were trembling with fear. The businessmen from other tribes in Sweden were busy watching the show and were also a little worried themselves.
As notices in traditional Rune, Romanized Norse and Romanized Cyrillic were posted on several bulletin boards in Harvest Square, the onlookers learned the reason for arresting people and sealing down shops.
The thing is very simple, the person who was arrested was involved in the conspiracy against the Prince of Rus.
The people thought with their toes and knew that all this was related to the rumors that went viral a few days ago. It turned out that it was not a "punishment from the gods" at all? It was just a small group of evil people making trouble?
The public document calmed people's hearts, and the document's struggle was directed at those outside businessmen who were restless and self-defeating.
The atmosphere in the city of New Rossburg has begun to become very delicate. The attitude of the old Russians and the new immigrants to New Ross towards the visiting businessmen is becoming strange. The people know where their good days come from, and towards those foreign businessmen
There was no emotion at all. People simply voted with their feet. After the documents were posted on the bulletin board, the market in Harvest Square and the stalls of foreign merchants became increasingly deserted. Unless the merchants marked down the goods they sold, no one would risk it.
Buy it with the defensive line of chewing your tongue.
In their minds, Prince Rurik is a complete holy king, and they are also proud of being Russians. Why can't their prince be the King of Sweden? Because of this matter, there are evil people who want to harm the prince? Maybe the enemy will
Mix among the businessmen.
King Bjorn originally intended to pay a visit to Rurik in person, mainly to talk about buying a ship. He needed a secret deal and went without other nobles getting involved, so that he could place a big order and then try to finalize a "
Group purchase discounts”.
His people inquired about those rumors. Although Bjorn was not willing to abdicate, nor was he stupid enough to plot the conspiracy behind his back, it was against the pride of a warrior after all. For the time being, he chose to lie dormant, hoping that the bad news would slowly subside. Then there was
More breaking news came, the Prince of Rus arrested all the culprits who spread rumors, and none other than his right relative was a merchant from Mälaren.
This situation really shocked Bjorn, and he became hesitant. During this period, envoys from Uppsala and Hjälmallen also heard about the situation, and asked whether King Bjorn was dissatisfied with his abdication.
The envoy also expressed his own attitude, saying, "It doesn't matter what you think of Melalen. We are willing to recognize Rurik as the new king of Sweden. If the Russians want to continue to pursue the case, we will stand on the Russian side."
This was a slap on Bjorn's face. He couldn't express his pain. Firstly, he did not dare to get angry and oppose Rose. Secondly, he still hoped that the deal with Rose could continue to be implemented.
It seems that nothing is more important than visiting Rurik himself!
Rurik's envoy arrived first, which played into Bjorn's plan.
The kings of the east and west decided to meet privately. This was an opportunity that Bjorn had dreamed of, and it was Rurik who insisted on it.
This matter is of great importance, and no one else has the right to know the content of the private meeting. Not only did Rurik make a plan, but he also made it clear that a real man has something to say, and he must not hide it and cause misunderstandings.
But the location of the private meeting was not in the city at all.
On the day of the appointment, the daylight was already extremely short. Outside the city, on the blackened hard ground where the cremation was, a larger wooden tower, mainly made of pine wood, was being piled up. Hanukkah was not far away, and people needed one.
The giant fire tower illuminates the world instead of the sun. Especially in this snowstorm year, people need the heat source of the fire tower to melt the snow.
Rurik took a dozen of his followers and left the city on a sleigh while it was still dark.
After a while, King Bjorn also left the patron's mansion on a sleigh with his entourage.
The place where the two parties had a private meeting was the so-called Kronshtadt military port where the warships were parked outside the city. The mighty warships during the warm period were now frozen solid by the sea ice. There were a lot of dark yellow lights on the ice of this frozen sea area.
The light spot is a group of night fishing madmen digging ice cloth bait to catch cod. This is how the plump frozen fish at the New Roseburg Market comes from.
The dim light concealed the ghosts of the two sled teams, and Rurik directly chose the place for the private meeting on his flagship, the Avlora. The specific location was the captain's lounge directly below the bow deck.
More than a dozen oil lamps were lit, all the entourage left, the side wooden windows were closed, and the wooden doors were also closed.
There were only Rurik and Bjorn in the narrow room, and their eyes looked at each other.
"You and I are the only two people left here." Rurik got straight to the point, "Since you are opposed to me becoming the King of Sweden, why did you pretend to agree before? Since you are opposed to it, just say it."
Bjorn had already expected Rurik to ask this question, and he denied it: "I never meant it."
"Oh? Are you trying to fool me into being a fool?" Rurik already showed murderous intent.
"I dare not lie to you. I have never objected to you."
"But some businessmen from your tribe have been promoting my faults, and now you tell me that this has nothing to do with you?"
"It really has nothing to do with me."
It sounded like Bjorn's explanation was full of arrogance. Rurik felt that the matter really had nothing to do with him, but his denial was so decisive without any modification, which made people suspicious.
Rurik hit the wooden board hard: "Actually, the problem is very simple. You and I are dueling on this ice. You are the king, and I am also the king. If I kill you, there will be no doubt about the Swedish throne. If you kill me
, your throne can also be guaranteed."
Bjorn's face turned pale when he heard this. Even though the room was already very warm due to the fire, he still felt a chill all over his body.
Who is this kid Rurik? Old guys who have seen him say that his current figure and appearance are exactly like Otto's in those days. Rurik is a tough guy who is still growing. Consider that he is a bit old.
The body was a duel between the two, and Bjorn estimated that he would definitely be defeated and killed.
What's more, why did the two sides reach the point where they had to duel? It was a duel, and there was a high probability that he would be killed. At the same time, the Russians would have an excuse to start a war directly. Similarly, if he accidentally injured Rurik, Ross would have even more excuses to start a war. Even if
If he assassinates Rurik, everything will be over. The Ross army will exterminate the entire Melalen tribe in revenge, and other tribes will definitely stand aside and even join the Ross army.
Bjorn quickly covered up his embarrassment and fear with a smile.
"Duel? I don't dare. I am already an old man and you can kill me easily. Besides, I have never wanted to be your enemy. My ability to become king in Sweden also comes from your support. This kindness to me
Don’t dare forget.”
"But those hateful businessmen..." Rurik continued to knock on the wooden board and asked sternly.
"That is the spontaneous behavior of businessmen. They are destroying the friendship between you and me. If I catch such people, I will stab them to death immediately. They are evil instigators. I...I heard that you have arrested them
Here we are. I beg you to kill them all."
"Are you telling the truth?"
"Absolutely true."
Rurik narrowed his eyes slightly: "Indeed, you don't dare to lie about the current situation. My Rus Principality has a larger population, more troops, and more ships than you. You are a smart man and know the possibility of winning.
.Those businessmen are a group of provocateurs. They hope that we will fight so that we can fish in troubled waters and gain profits. Since you want to kill those people, that is what I want. Currently, there are nine businessmen in my hands, and their families have already died.
They were executed in secret by me. I will publicly execute these evildoers on the eve of Hanukkah as a gesture to the gods and to the people."
Prince Rurik had already killed a group of people? Bjorn had not expected this.
Bjorn chose to give in but didn't feel shameful. After all, the Mellaren tribe was a hodgepodge of people. Everyone lived in a very wide area on the north shore of the great lake, with a group of big families as the backbone, a large number of homesteaders, and free fishermen.
Affiliated, using Birka Market as a trading base, pieced together a tribe.
This situation is completely different from that of the Old Rus. The core of the Principality of Rus is the thousands of Old Rus. Bjorn has been visiting New Rus for a while, and he learned that there are a large number of children running around the city, and his father is an old Rus.
Most of the Russian mothers are Slavs from the east. According to ancient tradition, these mixed-race children, some of whom have grown to ten years old, are still Russians.
The children of the Ross people are obviously taller and healthier than the children of the Mellaren tribe, and there are also more children in this group. Bjorn learned that New Rossburg is the capital, but it is not the most populous city. The Principality of Ross is in the east
Novgorod is a large settlement next to the Great Lake. The geographical situation is similar to the Lake Mälaren area, but the climate is milder and the settled population is not only large, but also all under the rule of the Rus Principality.
Bjorn could easily get a lot of information, and some of the information sounded like the boasts of local people. Because there were so many people telling him, he had to trust it.
For example, there are more than 10,000 mixed-blood Russians in the Principality of Rus. Although they are all still children, thousands of them are about to reach the age of twelve, which is the age at which they become adults in Viking tradition. At that time, women are eligible to be mothers and men are obliged to do so.
Warrior. Bjorn, a traditional Viking head, did not hesitate to believe that Rurik would soon have a new army of thousands of people.
Rurik naturally knows this best, so the formation of a new flag force is already in the plan. The successful results of the Russian-Slavic marriage that was approved by Old Otto are beginning to show, and the Principality of Rus is about to officially begin to enjoy the demographic dividend.
The group of old Russians has become larger. This group has shared common ancestors since ancient times, and they have stronger cohesion through blood ties.
But the Melalen tribe does not have this. Even after King Olegin was defeated and killed, no one has the appeal to unite the entire tribe. As a so-called king, he mainly relies on the support of the big families in the tribe and other tribes.
Just agree with it.
The main tribes have shown their attitude and support for themselves is over. They are all supporting Rurik. Things are already like this, what is there to worry about?
Bjorn basically guessed what Rurik wanted to do, so he expressed his position: "You can execute them, but I recommend that you kill them in a safe and dignified way."
"How? Are you fully supportive?"
"I don't want to ruin the friendship between you and our tribe because of some idiots. We will still have to do business in the future! For example, I plan to order five of your armed cargo ships. The price is easy to negotiate."
Ordering five ships at once? Rurik was very moved, and he brought the topic back: "Those guys must die. Since they are from your tribe, and you think they must die, it is up to you to decide how they die.
, prove your friendship with me."
"Then hang them. Their blood has no right to flow into your territory."
"That's fine."
"At the same time, I will also announce to your subjects that I, Bjorn, have never been involved in the incident. I will announce that it was me who voluntarily gave up the throne. At the All-Swedish Congress next spring, you, Rurik, will definitely be king.
"
The secret meeting between the two kings cleared up the misunderstanding, Rurik was satisfied, and Bjorn felt relieved.