The situation becomes chaotic and Otto must control it.
He deliberately waited for the excitement of the tribe to ferment for a while. When those people saw that the leader did not express his position, the initial enthusiasm gradually dimmed.
"Have you finished yelling? Listen to me now!
We are talking about building a stronghold on the Eastern Channel, how come it turns into attacking the Gotlanders?
You remember our hatred, how can I forget it. However, the Gotlanders are not weak, and we cannot rush to take revenge this year just because we recall those people. We cannot interrupt our plans because of this. .
You young people should consider your own marriage first instead of going to Gotland to seek revenge.
We want revenge, and we want to bring more. Many warriors to take revenge.
I will take you to Novgorod soon and find a beautiful wife for each of you. Soon, each of you will become a father.
When you all grow up to be real men, you will take your sons who are able to hold weapons and follow our new leader Rurik, and he will lead you to the most complete revenge."< /p>
Otto's eyes were blazing at this moment, and a pair of big hands suddenly grabbed the young Rurik who was watching and held him on the table.
What's going on?
Rurik looked left and right for a moment. Standing on a high place, he stood out from the crowd. He found that he could look down on all the heads.
Otto whispered instigation behind him: "Child, you have heard it. When you grow up, you will lead them to Gotland for revenge. Your uncle died in the hands of those bastards, and many people's My father and brother died at the hands of those people, you have to take revenge."
"I..."
"Repeat what I said!"
An exciting scene. Rurik was a little flustered for a moment, as if their anger was completely ignited, and they wished they had to wait for the ice and snow to melt and rush directly to Gotland on foot.
Otto muttered something behind his back, and Rurik could only repeat it out loud in obedience. These contents are really horrifying. No matter how you look at it, it is a declaration of war against Gotland. Moreover, this declaration of war is issued in the name of Rurik.
"I... when I grow up, I must take them to that island and cut down the entire island from top to bottom? Do I need to eliminate all the enemies? Do I need to take all their hidden treasures? Dig it out?" Rurik's mind couldn't help but doubt the rationality of this. Is it reasonable? But there is a certain rationality.
They want to avenge their relatives who died in the war, and secondly, make a fortune in gold and silver. The relatives have been dead for many years. If they wanted revenge, they would have screamed and rushed over. When it comes to this matter now, looting gold and silver is probably the simplest purpose. Of course, blood revenge must be avenged.
Rurik obeyed his father and chanted the slogan of "revenge" while weighing the cost-effectiveness of doing so.
When it comes to feelings, Rurik doesn’t understand his uncle Ogier who was killed in battle at all.The Gotlander who killed his uncle was also indifferent.
However, when cousin Arik mentioned the Gotlanders, he was filled with rage and thirsty for revenge.
Rurik also doesn’t think Gotland is really a place of wealth, because soap and steel swords are two things, and he can make a lot of money by selling them. It is a bad idea to take risks to rob someone. It is more efficient to use commercial means of soft knives than to carry an ax in person.
I have already earned a sum of money, and my personal wealth is still accumulating at a high speed. With more money, you can recruit a group of attendants, which are defined as "slaves" by others, and support a group of attendants, and you will become more powerful.
Standing on the seat, Rurik shouted for revenge, causing everyone to roar enthusiastically. He knows that his elderly father Otto is still building momentum for him. If you want to serve as a leader, you must have sufficient financial resources. The most important thing is to obtain the support of the strongest group of people among the tribe.
The elite forces of the tribe are gathered here. Those who are willing to buy sulfur soap are definitely strong men with financial resources and military force.
However, when it comes to personal ambitions, Rurik is more willing to go eastward. Since everyone is a Russian, it is destiny to become a real Rus, rather than huddled in a corner of the Arctic Circle as a city-state, and ultimately still exist as a part of Sweden.
Ross, according to the development of history, she should occupy the entire Eastern Europe. The wheel of history has begun to move, and Rurik knows that even if they clamor to go south to counterattack the Gotlanders, it is impossible to change their decision to build a stronghold at the mouth of the Neva River.
No one in the tribe dares to stand up and directly oppose Otto. There is no such person at all.
They are standing here just taking this opportunity to express to the leader the position of the young people who are eager to make achievements.
They were tired of shouting slogans, and their pent-up emotions were vented. It was as if Arik recalled the grief and indignation of his father's murder. After this shouting, he felt better, so he took his wife Peravina to pay homage to his father Ogier's tomb.
Those who are willing to buy sulfur soap have already put the treasure in their arms. People who were just watching the excitement began to go back as the evening approached.
Rurik had already been let go, watching people leave, and deeply regretted that his sulfur soap was not sold out at the first time.
He suddenly muttered: "Dad, is the price of three silver coins too high? If it doesn't work, I'll try again with just two silver coins?"
" No need." Otto covered his son's head with his rough hands, "Don't move at this price. In my opinion, they are just worried about money! Do you think they are asking me for permission to go south to attack the Gotlanders? What's the purpose?"
"It's revenge," Rurik said deliberately.
"Bah! Of course it's for the money! What do you think of the Gotlanders? They are actually very rich."
p>"Rich? I heard from Aric that those guys are all fishermen."
"Just fishermen?" Otto shook his head and bluntly criticized his eldest nephew's ignorance. "Rurik, do you believe him or me? You would never have imagined that those Gotlanders were once half of our allies?"
"Huh? They are also part of the alliance?" Rurik was a little surprised.
"At one time they intended to join the alliance, but later, the leaders of the Gotlanders respected the Danes as their masters. They gradually became unwilling to do business with us, and gradually under the instigation of the Danes, It has become a hostile relationship with us."
"It's actually..."
Indeed, in Rurik's concept, Gotland is part of Sweden. In this era, the Swedish state had not yet been formed, and it was still a process of gradual transformation from a so-called tribal alliance to a formal feudal state. That is, the leader of the strongest tribe would be promoted from leader to king in a reasonable manner.
Including the Danes, they are also in this gradual process. It is obvious that Denmark is one step away from being upgraded to a feudal kingdom.
Through his father's description, Rurik could estimate that the Danes had been wooing the residents of Gotland a long time ago, and now, the Danes have indeed established a stronghold in the Götaland region.
The Danes are using their own force and diplomatic strategies to try to form a huge group of Norse-speaking tribes across the sea.
The Danes are determined to unify the Baltic Sea and are trying to complete it.
With the fall of Rome and the development of the shipbuilding industry, traditional trade among tribes became more frequent. They actually entered a state of separatism among princes. Frequent trade and wars were actually a process of integration. In order to defeat commercial enemies without being defeated by them, closely related tribes must sign a covenant to unite.
They must form a larger alliance with each other, and still have to recruit other small alliances to join.
This is how the Danes rise! Because the Gotlanders joined the alliance, the power of the Danes instantly overshadowed the Swedes living in the Svealand Plain in the north, which was the Svea League.
Rurik has heard more or less that his alliance is competing with the Danes for the southern highlands of Götaland. It is a fairly humid place with a lot of shoals. The relatively mild climate nourishes a large amount of pasture. Unlike the Svealand Plains, where wheat can be grown, Götalan is a good pasture.
A long time ago there was a group of people grazing here, but they were not from Svealand, but from the island of Gotland.
The so-called Götalanders are still Gotlanders. They herded cattle on a large scale in the high plains, and then transported their cattle and sheep to Gotland for marketing throughout the Viking world. The Danes living in Jutland and surrounding islands moved north immediately after they completed their internal tribal unification.
To the GotlandersSaid that compared to the residents of Svealand in the north, the Danes are their largest trading partner.
The Danes are coming.
War? No!
Recognizing the Danes as the leader is the best way to make a lot of money.
Perhaps during the Viking Age, Gotland was the center of the entire Viking world. Just because of its geographical location, it is in the middle of the inland sea of the Baltic Sea. In a sense, it is very similar to the Apennine Peninsula of the Mediterranean.
Starting from Gotland, the ship is not far away in all directions. The islanders raised livestock on overland pastures, traditional trade with the Danes, or went south to raid the Prussians, Vinlanders, Poles, and even the Franks. They had accumulated a lot of wealth.
The rich are happy to hoard silver coins. As long as it is silver, they will accept silver coins of various specifications.
The older people in the Ross tribe all know more or less that the Gotlanders who had taken the initiative to attack the Ross fleet were generally wealthy. If the Sivia Alliance can conquer Gotland, they will not only have a lot of wealth, but it also means that they can occupy the entire Gotland. The Siiya tribe alliance, which had been suppressed by the Danes for countless years, would rise in an instant.
So, can the Alliance possess the Gotlanders?
How can it be that simple? !
Otto believed that even if he gathered the warriors of the entire alliance and fought a decisive battle with the Danes, his chances of winning would be slim. There is no other reason. The other side has a larger population. In this era, both sides are sea warriors in the wilderness. Whichever side can gather more warriors will be the easiest to win.
What’s more, there is another variable here, which is the Norwegians to the west of the mountains.
Businessmen of the Siiya Tribal Alliance can travel overland, through some obstacles in the mountains, and directly trade with the Norwegians by land, but this kind of transaction is far less enjoyable than sailing.
However, the Alliance and the Gotlanders have actually become rivals, and the sea routes to the outside world have been cut off. How could the ancestors of the Swedes not feel itchy when they saw the Danes, Norwegians, and the Gotlanders who followed the Danes making a fortune in their attacks on Britain and the Franks?
The Gotlanders are wealthy and powerful, and it may not be a wise choice to provoke them now.
After all, Otto is very old, and now he is more willing to pinch the weak, not to mention that the problems faced by the Ross tribe and their allies are indeed different.
He can be sure that at least fifty years have passed since the Ross tribe opened up the eastern inland waterway.
There is a legend from our ancestors: as long as you find a river flowing south or east among the intricate waterways, you will enter an extremely salty sea along it, and eventually you will Encountered the mighty Romans.
The Romans? Otto himself did not see it, but not only did the high priest see it, but the priest's longhouse also had precious Roman parchments as evidence.
How could Otto change the development of the tribe because of the excitement of young people?Decades of strategy? While he was alive, he must repair the new stronghold at the mouth of the sea. After his death, his son Rurik must inherit the long-cherished wish of his ancestors and continue to expand eastward. As long as the development is based on the Roman trade line, why should the Ross tribe still use the attitude of the Siya tribe alliance to help those ineffective allies to fight against the Danes?
Although the Gotlanders were indeed wealthy, when the young men mentioned their long-cherished wish to rob a wave, they had already expressed it in front of them, and Otto knew that they would not understand it at this time.
For the time being, life is generally boring. Although it is February and the weather has become slightly warmer, the sea ice shows no signs of thawing.
Young people will definitely not be able to temporarily ignore the attack on Gotland to steal money in the name of revenge. After today's incident, they will definitely regard this matter as an important topic of discussion. They have a strong desire to rob gold and silver, and individual people may be worried. If everyone gets together, their fear will be overwhelmed by the desire for wealth.
Although they left, Otto estimated that a group of young people would just go back and polish their axes and sword blades.
When Otto piled up the silver coins he earned, the priests who made soap behind the scenes walked out of the longhouse one after another. Bona and everyone's eyes widened when they saw the pile of silver coins.
"It's time to divide the money." Otto turned around, facing Bona specifically.
"Bona, according to the agreement, eighteen of the ninety silver coins earned here belong to you. Now I will hand them over to you."
"Thank you, Great leader!" Bona's heart was beating fast, not only because she saw so much money, but also because the leader was willing to help the priest sell the things.
After she received the money, she not only asked more questions: "Chief, I saw there are twenty pieces of soap. You said that you can help us sell the soap we make."
Otto was slightly embarrassed: "But they didn't buy it. Bona, there is something I really need to tell you about the soap."
In this era, we cannot expect to be ordinary. How much economic common sense do people have? Even the Vikings, they were more intellectually active than those people in Western Europe who had completely degenerated into a purely agricultural social life, and did not understand concepts such as "supply and demand balance".
Otto simply realized that the reason why he could not sell immediately was very simple - the tribesmen simply could not pay silver coins for each small family to buy soap.
Otto even suggested: "Maybe you should suspend production. When I return with my people and distribute the wealth, many people will come back to buy soap."
But Bo Na just likes silver coins. Only silver coins can bring a better life to these so-called priests who "do not engage in production or robbery, but rely on food from the tribe."
All the priests had troubled expressions on their faces, and the deep wrinkles made them even more hesitant.
After all, they are women. Rurik just can't stand the resentment of women, and he can't help but feel sympathy.
Selling fertilizerAll the wealth that Zao gained was his own. Rurik gritted his teeth and took out another twelve silver coins from the 80% he received and personally handed it to the resentful Bona.
"Rurik, this..."
"Take it. Just think that all the soap has been sold, Bona, I won't let you suffer. You can Keep doing it, and I will give you the silver coins directly, as if they have been completely sold." Bo Na immediately understood and asked: "Is this okay?"
" Of course. I'll pay you the agreed 20% first, and you don't have to worry about anything else. If I suffer losses, it's my business, and I will never let you suffer losses. If you become the leader, your life will be guaranteed!”
“Oh! You are such a respectable child!”
After saying this, Rurik asked himself, He really looks like a profiteer! Youdao said that a double profit can make capital betray its conscience, but this is five times a profit for me! The simple priests still feel that they have made money! Do they really think that their labor is so cheap? !
After giving them the money, Rurik noticed his father Otto's slight displeasure from the corner of his eye.
Just when the scene was a little awkward, and when the priests were smiling, a man with ferret fur on his head, wearing a tan furry bearskin coat, with a collar decorated with ferret velvet, and a belt around his waist A man with a string of gold ornaments came over, and behind him were two warriors in armor as followers.
This person is dressed richly and gorgeously, and will definitely attract others' attention wherever he goes.
Otto noticed this person out of the corner of his vigilant eye. He was especially alert to those warriors who were dressed differently from his own tribe. His big hand grasped the hilt of the sword tightly with instinctive vigilance.
But the comer is not an enemy.
A smile soon appeared on Otto's face, because the visitor was a wealthy visiting businessman, and he really recognized him.