Chapter 904 The price of tax exemption for the Earl Kingdom for ten years
The Russian soldiers remained vigilant, and it was precisely because of the majesty generated by this vigilance that the villagers and soldiers who gave tribute were so frightened that they did not dare to speak nonsense and had to follow.
Living in villages in the forest and close to streams, they can barely live a self-sufficient life and are not very active in contact with the outside world.
They had never seen such warriors. Their uniforms were neat and uniform, the soldiers were young and tall, and their weapons were unique and uniform.
"These are the troops of the leader of the Rus. Please be careful not to offend these strong men." The leader whispered and ordered the people in his village not to cause trouble.
The team of a hundred people is definitely not small, and they are all armed, which inevitably makes the Russian soldiers suspicious. According to the leader, the gifts and women are dedicated to the Russian conquerors. As for the armed soldiers, they are considered to be on the way or during the journey.
There are bears and wolves attacking.
Are they allowed to enter the village? In this village occupied by the Russians, they did not see the people ravaged by the iron hoofs of the conquerors. The villagers here were basically doing ordinary things. Bored children were still running around. Those who raised
Not only were the cattle and sheep not plundered, but the women in headscarves were busy milking the cows with buckets, even though there were Russian soldiers stationed not far away.
It's as if this is no longer the familiar Linhu Village, but a village of Russian conquerors.
Rurik is in the village at this moment, and he is really sorry for the poor sanitary conditions in Linhu Village.
It stands to reason that this village is not dirty, and there is no feces or debris on the ground. In fact, compared to the towns built by Ross, this village is really in poor condition.
The meeting house is a large traditional longhouse, and the wooden relief decoration at the door cannot hide the shabby thatch roof.
Rurik would receive other surrendered villages in the council chamber, and one happened to come.
More soldiers intercepted the team, and the centurion arbitrarily ordered the villagers to withdraw their weapons.
Thanks to "Broken Bone" Gorm's mediation, the situation was suppressed.
However, Gorm's exotic clothes are exactly the same as those of the conquerors, so this person has obviously surrendered. Looking at the new flags hung in the Linhu Village Council, they have really become part of the conquerors.
As long as there is surrender, there is peace. A huge army and huge ships are here. Seeing is believing. The Russians have not destroyed the peaceful life of the neighboring lake village.
The leader of the visiting village team was nicknamed "Stuttering" Gosunde, who came from Linxi Village. He was a tall man, and he would stutter after drinking too much ale, hence his nickname.
When the leader of this village, "Stuttering" Gosunde, was clear-headed, he could also speak fluently.
He ordered his villagers to put away their shields, throw their short spears on the carts, and put their axes in their waists.
The cattle and sheep as gifts were untied, and the dull women got out of the car one after another.
He walked into Gom, whom he knew quite well, and had a thousand words to say to this guy.
However, Gorm was no longer an approachable person. He raised his chin and showed off his rich beard: "I am now a hereditary nobleman conferred by King Rus. From now on, I will rule this area. You and your people will respect me in the future."
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This statement made Gesunde baffled.
"We have lived here for generations, why did you suddenly become great? It's just that those powerful Russians came, why do you want to be the master of another village? Do you want to learn from that crazy bear Karl?"
"Karl?" Gorm shook his head: "He was beheaded by the Russians, and thousands of his people were beheaded. Listen!"
Taking the opportunity, facing the surprised Gosund, Gorm walked over and whispered a warning: "We are all fellow villagers living in this area. The Russians made me a noble, and I will be responsible for any problems that arise.
The Russians won’t stay here for long, and we will still live with us after they leave. All your villages will listen to me from now on, and we will deal with everything together. With the Russians protecting us, no one will bully us. We will wait until King Rus comes.
, you all kneel down on one knee, this will bring absolute peace."
Gosunde was dubious, but with the appearance of King Rus himself, the two men's muttering stopped abruptly.
Rurik appeared! He was gorgeous and heroic, with a golden laurel crown on his head. His golden hair and beard looked quite holy in the morning sun.
A tall, golden man stands here, like a god from mythology.
The leader of Linxi Village, "Stuttering" Gesunde, was so shocked that his jaw almost dropped.
Rurik squinted his eyes at the large number of new arrivals: "You? The leader of another village?"
It's familiar Norse, although the pronunciation is a bit strange.
Gosunde immediately performed a warrior salute, and his brothers, who were so deft and dumbfounded, hurriedly knelt down on one knee.
In an instant, a hundred villagers and soldiers were half-kneeling and bowing their heads. Rurik was also surprised by such a scene, and he naturally felt very good after witnessing this.
"You all get up! I see your surrender attitude, that's good. Chief, you get up first..."
After a short negotiation, Gosunde was happy that he had indeed received a promise of safety, so he immediately took out the tribute he had prepared.
"Please accept our cattle, sheep, our wheat, and these young women. These are our tributes and we recognize the king's rule."
Gosunde had no choice but to be submissive. He ordered the villagers and soldiers to bring the cattle and sheep, and then pushed the crying woman over.
Rurik wrote a lot about supplies and population, the cattle and sheep were a little thinner, and the woman they handed over was indeed pretty, but her eyes were full of fear and reluctance.
Logically speaking, I should accept these tributes, but this year is not appropriate.
In other words, I need a special tribute.
"Is this your tribute?"
"yes."
Rurik shook his head and pretended to be disgusted: "Your cattle and sheep cannot satisfy the appetite of my 10,000-strong army, so I simply don't want them. And the women you brought out, are they old enough?"
Thinking that he could not satisfy the conqueror king, Gosunde hurriedly defended: "If the cattle and sheep are not enough, I can... provide some more. There are also these women, they are old enough to serve... the king."
"Forget it. Take all these tributes and send your village girls back."
"But it's a tribute." After saying that, Gesunde was secretly happy.
"Yes. Tributes..." Rurik took three steps forward and looked down at the burly man: "Of course you have to come up with some tributes." Then he glanced at the villagers and soldiers: "You are a good man, he can fight for me.
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"War? Huh?"
"Of course it's a war. If you want to prove that you really surrender, the best way to prove it is to fight for me. This is exactly what I want to have a good talk with you village leaders."
The joy in his heart disappeared in an instant. Gosunde was not afraid of war, but simply felt that he did not need to lead the villagers into a long war. He asked timidly: "So, who is the enemy of the king?"
"It's OK to tell you in advance. I will conquer Götaland, but the army is not here to travel in the spring. I will attack Denmark directly through the Göta River. You surrenderers must come up with men to fight for me. This is better than any other
Physical tribute is more important."
It turned out to be an attack on Denmark. Gosund didn't dare to refuse. Even though he had a lot of objections in his heart, he could only put on a smile and claim that he would send troops to help.
As a result, the leaders of all five villages in the north of the river, including Linhu Village, arrived. The same thing as each other was that they brought some tributes and women, as well as a greatly different number of people, but together they were not enough to defeat the Russian army.
The villagers are armed.
The leaders gathered in the council chamber and listened attentively to King Rurik's decision.
They didn't have any retorts, and even if they did, they didn't dare to say them out. Because Rurik ordered them to form a servant army, and under the leadership of the newly canonized Earl of Wienerenstad "Broken Bone" Gorm, rowed
Their longships merged with the Rus' fleet and joined the attack on Denmark.
Death is unavoidable in war, and the villagers are most afraid that they will be among the first to join the war, and end up with the tragedy of being hastily killed and having all their benefits taken away by King Rus.
Rurik guessed that they would have this idea. In order to dispel their fears, unless they felt that a large amount of loot could be plundered in a war, the benefits of the war would exceed the loss of population.
Therefore, Nathon's strategy against the Swedish nobles was repeated for the second time in the Götaland region.
The leader of the town of Jönköping on Lake Vettern was invited to the forum, and this person came forward to give his own account. It was no wonder that the locals did not believe that Lake Vetern was brutally conquered by the Russian army. It was this leader who gave his personal account and pointed out that it was thanks to the king.
Yanxue Pingcheng, who surrendered to the Kingdom of Rus, has received ten years of tax exemption for assisting the king.
"Yes! It's tax-free for ten years." Rurik said frankly: "Do you think I will collect tributes? Of course I will collect tributes, and that will happen ten years later. Now we make an agreement, you send troops, and each of the five villages
If you send out fifty men, you will have to bring your own weapons and the king will be responsible for the food. You fight for me and have the right to plunder the spoils of war. In exchange, you will receive ten years of tax exemption for sending troops."
The noble king made such a promise and even swore to Odin that he would carry out his decision.
Smart people must find ways to maximize the interests of themselves and their villages. Although "not paying tribute for ten years" is very magical, they choose to fully agree with the king's wise decision.
But Rurik is not at a loss. Ten years of tax exemption does not mean giving up benefits. They are a group of thin sheep, and the top priority is to fatten them up in preparation for cutting their wool in the future. Moreover, their door will inevitably open, and Ross's supplies will be transported in.
The locals can only exchange grain for goods, including the fact that villagers are considering immigrating with their families. Ten years will be enough for them to develop, and then imposing taxes will not cause them any pain.
The political ecology of the northern part of the Göta River near Lake Wienern has been reshaped. The essence of the so-called Earl Country of Wienernstad is a loose alliance of five villages with a total population of about 4,000. During the slack period, they spend 250
Ten warriors are not a problem. Here, "Broken Bones" Gorm is the only local earl and the highest-ranking noble to be canonized. His official title is "War Chief". Therefore, according to the tradition of Russia, another factor that maintains the stability of the earl country is
The elected leaders of the four villages were conferred the title of baron by Rurik during the meeting. The official title was "Boyar", or "Bjorn", which means the attendant and assistant of the war chief.
In this way, the more than ten boyars that Rurik ennobled in Novgorod are barons. They are the owners of the village's manor, and the governor of Novgorod manages them. Rurik and the royal family will not compromise unless necessary.
Fuck a certain village. This system has been operating normally in Novgorod for many years, and there is no problem in replicating it in the newly conquered Gyota River Basin.
This is based on the canonization principle of the Kingdom of Rus during the transition period from a tribal alliance to a feudal state. Rurik learned the Eastern system and the Frankish system to a certain extent, mainly from the Frankish Kingdom. Based on the Viking tradition, there are currently only dukes, counts, and barons.
Three kinds of titles.
The canonized nobles are hereditary, which means that with the support of the King of Rus, those talkative people who are suddenly selected by the village council will firmly control the power when they return. In this Nordic country where the strong is king, No.
The Dick Council has established a bottom line for survival by "working together to stay warm", but if given a chance, the strong ones among them will still have to make a positive move and become kings on their own, or even if things go wrong, they will have to become a pirate leader.
In one day, the area north of the Göta River had been pacified, and the number of villagers armed by the newly ennobled viscounts actually exceeded Rurik's needs.
After some screening, those who were obviously recruited were repatriated first, and the remaining two hundred and fifty best ones, together with the canonized viscounts, were directly placed under the management of Earl Gorm.
In this way, Linhu Village and the surrounding areas were completely open to the Ross army, and the army stranded by the lake could enter the inland area openly.
Things went smoothly beyond Rurik's imagination, and what was expected to take three to four days was completed in two days.
The newly arrived count army needs to feel the generosity of the king! Besides, the physical quality of these people does not satisfy Rurik.
It stands to reason that the Götalans are all Vikings. The men and women who can survive to adulthood in the harsh environment of Northern Europe have good physical fitness, at least better than the Frankish group of serf villagers who were exploited by their lords.
But when compared with the Russian army, it is clear which one is stronger and which one is inferior.
Why is the Russian army, especially the army of the Principality of Rus, so powerful?
When the oats are boiled in a huge iron pot and then served with a wooden spoon to the wooden bowl of the newly promoted Earl's soldier, the piles of salted oats arouse people's strong appetite.
Rurik fulfilled his promise. The food treatment of these servant warriors was inferior to that of the Russian army, but it was really dreamy to be able to eat the rewarded oats unscrupulously during this spring famine.
Earl Gorm and the four barons had more wonderful meals, such as honey water, grilled fish and wheat porridge, and miraculous flammable spirits.
Indeed, they regarded the flammable liquor they had never seen before as proof of King Rurik's divine power. After drinking the burning liquor, their stomachs felt warm, and they felt that they had been blessed by the gods.
The real strength of the Russian army was six thousand. When large and small ships blocked the rivers tightly, and when the deserted beaches that were not farmland were crowded with people camping by campfires, the villagers could not tolerate disbelief that there were ten thousand of them.
This is the largest army that the locals have ever seen. The abundance of personnel, weapons and equipment, and logistics completely refreshed their understanding of the army.
Both sides of the Göta River seemed to be lit with blazing fire, and the huge number of bonfire stalls were as dense as stars. The air was filled with the aroma of boiled wheat and grilled fish, and the army was taking a crucial rest here.
Arik was full of doubts about the fact that his younger brother was too friendly to the villagers in the past. His younger brother was too kind, and many things were clearly unnecessary!
He knew many things. If he were the decision-maker, he would have collected the tributes and women handed over by the villagers and rewarded them to his brothers, and then simply used force to force them to hand over their servants and bring their own dry food.
My younger brother has his own choice. He is almost twenty years old now. Any decision he makes must be full of wisdom.
Arik is too lazy to think because there are still a lot of challenges ahead.
However, this invasion of the Danish mainland is very likely to encounter resistance, and a bloody battle is probably inevitable. Even if the fleet drifts downstream, will the local people take the initiative to surrender?
"If it were me, I would rather die fighting than surrender."
Based on this idea of comparison, he ordered his people to be busy preparing to prevent unexpected events.