Only four days after Otto returned with his troops, the sunny days came to an end again.
The sky begins to snow again, and this time it is accompanied by strong arctic winds.
Blizzards have hit all of Scandinavia for half the year and have hit all of Europe. The Danes and the residents of the Frankish Kingdom really felt the cold this time, and people were forced to hide in their homes.
The houses of the nobles were more protected from the cold, and those poor people froze to death on a large scale.
The lords of the northern Frankish territory lived in their own thick houses made of stone and wood, and their cronies were relatively well protected. There are only a large number of homesteaders. This cold wave directly froze to death a lot of winter wheat, livestock and poultry, and even many people died in the wind and snow.
However, the nobles were unable to calculate how much damage this cold wave had caused to themselves, but they could realize that the cold weather had also dealt heavy losses to the Danes in the north. It was foreseeable that when spring arrived, the hungry Danes would leap over the stone walls they had built and head south to plunder.
Perhaps this is the commonality of human beings.
The residents who live in the north are always brave and good at fighting, because those who survive in bad environments are often the strong ones.
The sudden extreme cold destroyed much of their wealth, freezing their cattle and sheep to death, and killing a handful of crops. In order to survive, these brave and strong men went south crazily, driven by hunger, like wild beasts.
The people who survive the extremely cold weather are strong, and the animals that survive are also strong.
This cold wave continues, and the Danes, the Siyan Alliance, and even the Norwegians on the west side of the foothills continue to suffer from it.
The situation of the Ross tribe seems to be better.
Because they have moved to the edge of the Arctic Circle for nearly seventy years, the first generation of immigrants has only one priest, Vilia, who is about to die, and the immigrant tribe has also developed to the fifth generation. Everyone has adapted to the extremely cold weather that occurs every year, and they can still endure even colder climates.
The wooden houses of many small families are indeed made of tree trunks, and they often have to be covered with a layer of soil to keep out the cold. But this is not very beautiful, as if you are a mouse living in a hole in the ground. For this reason, many wooden houses also have to pile stones on the outside or lay another layer of wood.
The house has become very thick, and the interlayered soil can prevent heat loss very well, so that the snow outside has gradually submerged the waist, but the indoors is still a warm nest.
As long as they are not alone wandering around outdoors, the residents of the Ross tribe will not freeze to death.
But the deer they brought back suffered a real disaster.
Many of those who followed Otto back in victory brought at least one live deer.
Deer that can travel 200 kilometers in a short time are also strong among deer. Their new owners will naturally be more enthusiastic about them.In order to be strong, he was not properly taken care of after he was brought back.
Too much physical strength is lost, and the deer must eat a lot of grass, but few people will take the deer to graze, and they just feed some hay.
Some hungry deer simply gnawed on the drooped thatch from the new owner’s longhouse. This behavior was naturally curbed, and they became fresh deer skins and food for a small family for a long time. Fresh meat.
Otto's own herd was an exception, with twenty of them well cared for in just four days.
Everything is the result of Rumia, the only deer herder.
In the short four days before the cold snap, Rurik gained a deeper understanding of the girl's identity through the questioning of priest Vilia.
"I can't believe that this girl is three years older than me, that is, a mere ten-year-old child. How come she is taller than me? Is it because I am too short, or is she too short?"
"She is a Sami. Maybe life in the Arctic Circle is really hard. She doesn't have enough food and will have to look like a dwarf all her life."
"If I give it now She has enough meat and occasionally bread to eat. She is only ten years old. Can she grow better?"
Rurik had too many questions, and because of these questions, he had questions about her. This Rumia also has more favorable impressions.
After all, the soul that resided in Rurik's young body was forty years old. He was more rational and caring, and as a result, he naturally lacked the impulsiveness and wantonness that a child should have. He prefers to analyze everything quietly rather than being swayed by his own emotions.
But he also understood that many people in the tribe are emotional, and this kind of people are the easiest to be exploited. A smart and rational person can use his knowledge to take full advantage of other people's impulsiveness. characteristics and tame them into their own fans.
Welia used the power of faith to instill awe in his tribe.
What Otto does always brings satisfactory wealth to the tribe, making them happy to follow him.
So, how do I get them to recognize me? Just because of the ethereal oracle of "Odin's Blessing"? No! I can bring them a lot.
Rurik believes that as long as he brings a steady stream of wealth to his people, they will always feel happy.
The most critical issue now is that the tribe’s wealth is so good that a little meat and some leather goods can easily satisfy the tribe. Solving the problem of food and clothing should be the most basic thing, but the tribe actually does not solve it well.
It is unbelievable to grow flax locally, and importing flax from other places also requires high wealth.
The only thing the tribe can produce in large quantities is leather clothing, but the tribesmen who sweep across the vast area like locusts are clever hunters, but not excellent herders. They had to go to the legendary end of the world and get a lot of deer by attacking the deer herders.
Ordinary tribesmen don’t know how to raise deer, and no one teaches them. I’m afraid they also dismiss it.
Perhaps they don’t understand the principle of sitting back and taking advantage of nothing. When the nearby resources are exhausted, they can only row long boats to plunder farther away.
How much room for development can a group of gangsters have?
If you can’t change them instantly, then set an obvious example yourself!
Before the cold snap and heavy snowfall, the sun was still shining brightly outside. Although the climate was cold, the world was still a blanket of snow. Such an environment was the best for reindeer herding.
The girl Rumia did not have any shackles on her body, and she was personally dragged to the priest's steam bath room by the lower-level priestesses like they were carrying a kitten.
Even in the cold climate, the Ross tribe already pays attention to their personal hygiene, both men and women.
I don’t know when the Germans who immigrated to the Baltic Sea region invented the steam bath. They did not seem to get inspiration from the ancient Romans, but during countless cold winters, they boiled hot water on their indoor charcoal fires. The hot water was accidentally knocked over. As a result, the whole house was filled with hot steam, and the house became special. Damp and hot.
For this reason, some people took off their thick leather clothes. The skin was directly moistened by the steam, and the dead skin on it was easily scratched off by the wood. After scraping off the annoying old skin, the whole person becomes very comfortable, and it is natural to fall in love with this method of cleaning.
They are human beings, born with creativity!
So there is a sauna next to the large wooden house of the priest of the Ross tribe.
The sauna is also very particular. I think Odin was very disgusted by the foul smell of the mortal priests who prayed for help and blessings.
Whenever there is a major sacrifice, bathing and changing clothes are very necessary.
Rumia's simple leather coat was put aside, and she was cleaned of dirt by two powerful lower-level priestesses.
Although the work ended in Rumia's panic, when she was carried back to the warm priest's wooden house, her whole person shed a layer of skin in a sense.
She put on a new dress made of linen, like the clothes of other lower priests. A layer of fur is worn on the outside, and if you go out, you also need to wear a hat made of a whole arctic fox skin.
Her original hairstyle was also changed, and she wore the common braids of Ross tribe girls.
At first glance, Rumia has completely changed and has truly become a member of the Ross tribe.
However, her identity is still a servant. Even though Rurik intended to treat her well, the priests, including Vilia, who was regarded as an enlightened one by Rurik, initially believed in their hearts that Rumia was just a humble servant, perhaps no more important than some tribesmen. The hounds are a little more advanced.
This servant is extraordinary. She is Rurik’s servant, the servant of the future leader.
But she is still a servant. Even if she puts on nice clothes and doesn't have to worry about eating every day, she is still a servant.
After that, Otto publicly announced that he would give Vilia five deer as a sacrifice for a period of time in the future. The other deer in his family were also "stored" with the priest.
Otto showed the special gift of a generous man. He announced boldly: "All my deer are prepared for sacrifice. The servant will definitely breed them into a larger herd, so Odin They will be happy to see more and more offerings from us, and will bless us even more.”
The leader’s words are really pleasing, because no matter what, the alliance between the leader and the priests will be stronger, and the priests will be able to do better in the future. Eat more meat.
If you are not a vegetarian, who would hate eating meat?
In addition to the rest of the deer, Rumia, a professional deer herder, naturally takes care of them.
According to Rurik's request, Rumia was placed in the priest's wooden house. The girl's important daily work was to herd cattle during the day and study at night.
A large corral was quickly built. It was pieced together with lumber and had a roof made of logs. Its exterior was simply piled with some soil and some ice and snow. The entire corral only has a main entrance and a number of ventilation holes in the wooden walls.
Although reindeer are very cold-resistant animals, deer farmers’ own deer pens are also simple. Those wild deer are also exposed to the natural environment in winter and rely on their thick fur to resist the cold.
Since a corral was to be built, Rurik was really worried that the deer herd would suffer even a little loss.
These deer are like seeds. Rurik cherishes them. In a short period of time, all the deer wore a pair of necklaces.
There are some wooden signs strung on the hemp rope, on which numbers are chiseled out with the tip of a knife, which are the Arabic numerals that Rurik calls "Oriental numerals". They are also marked with Roman numerals and the tribe's own Roman numerals. en numeric characters.
Unfortunately, those deer farmers only have their own language and no alphabet.
Only a few people can distinguish the numbers engraved by Rurik, but even Rumia, a deer-raising girl, understands that her master has accurately marked all the deer.
Rumia cherished deer. She felt sorry for the deer that were eaten because they could not be taken care of properly. Seeing the little boy's behavior, she felt a little warmer in her heart. Seeing that these barbarians also built special warm enclosures for the deer, the warmth further increased.
The girl was ordered to herd, with twenty deer beside her, and two priestesses in leather clothes to help, which was actually surveillance.
Rumia was very happy that her hands and feet were free of any restraints, and the clothes she was wearing were warmer than the previous one. The deer is also his own deer, but things have changed, his relatives have all died, and both the deer and himself have become barbarians.
She knew she had a chance to escape, but where was home?
The so-called master does not impose any restrictions on himself. As long as he feeds the deer well, he will have enough food to eat and sleep in warm supplies.
Does she really have no desire to escape?
If any of the relatives are still alive, if they can still escape back to their own small tent. No matter how warm and wealthy this place is, it is not my home.
Go home? The reality is so cruel, maybe I can only pray to return to my former home in my sleep.
Over several days, through continued grazing, the hungry deer regained their strength. Not only that, Rumia was very pleased that in the barbarian tribe, their high priest understood their own language.
Rumia is worried about a terrible snowstorm. She is not worried that the deer will freeze to death, nor is she worried that she will freeze to death. She is only worried that the deer will starve to death.
She told the priest Vilia: "You can't graze on snowy days. Deer will starve to death if they can't eat hay. We must prepare in advance."
Even if Vilia and her The priests knew nothing about raising deer, and they knew that if they didn't eat, they would starve to death.
The lower-level priests actually prepared a pile of hay. When the priests were about to dig through the snow and cut off more buried hay, the climate suddenly changed.
Reminiscent of Rumia’s words, Vilia didn’t know if it was a coincidence or if Rumia really expected the cold wave.
Any snowfall will not last long, and deer will die without food during the critical period. It was snowing outside, but the deer still had enough food.
I never thought that for Rumia, this would be an opportunity for change.
Four days have passed, and Vilia no longer treats the girl harshly just for Rurik’s sake.
Rumia had no intention of running away, at least not on the surface. At night, she also stayed in the priest's cabin to learn the Norse language of the Ross tribe.
Her precautionary request really brought about good results. When other people's deer were dying on a large scale, only the priests' deer were still grazing leisurely in the warm deer enclosure.
She, Rumia, not only saved the deer for Hanukkah and the spring sacrifice, but also the future.