"It's you, Gould!"
"Oh, respected leader, please be sure to call me Gould Unklas." As he spoke, the man was clearly dressed. He was a rich guy. He held his leather coat with his left hand and strode towards Otto.
He glanced at the soap placed on the table a few more times, and couldn't help but marvel at its special yellow-white color.
"Chief, are you still selling these soaps like you did a few days ago? It seems that your people did not buy them immediately."
Otto nodded. , while his wariness was gone, he also deliberately showed a hint of embarrassment.
Because this Gould is unusual. Anyone who is not confused can tell from his clothes that this young guy is rich.
Although this man is rich, trying to take advantage of him is really seeking death.
Not to mention that Roseburg would adopt a protective attitude towards visiting businessmen. Among them, wealthy businessmen always have a group of smart and capable guards. The origins of these guards are diverse, and there are even Fen tribes from the east of the sea. They are only loyal to their sponsors and are willing to help them do various things for money.
"It seems that you have encountered some troubles and your goods are unsalable."
"Yes, if..." Otto paused and stepped forward slightly. Introduction: "Look at these beautiful sopas. They are different from the previous ones. If you can buy them, I will be very happy."
Gould answered very happily: "Of course. I will buy it, thank you for your permission, my distinguished chief. Besides, I really want to talk to you about some other things."
"Oh?" Otto couldn't help but narrowed his eyes. He naturally felt that it would be a good thing.
This Gould Unkras is indeed extraordinary. He is a wealthy businessman and has an elite guard of about fifty people.
Onkras is not the surname of this person, or in other words, the owner of the Viking world in this time and space does not have a clear concept of surname.
If you insist on having a surname, it would be the name of the tribe where it belongs.
Onkras, which means "antlers", is a tribal name.
Hundreds of years ago, some people who went north to land in Scandinavia rowed their boats and entered a large coastal swamp. They saw a large number of islands and drinking water. Tamsui gradually settled down here.
They settled in a group of lakes named Lake Mälaren, and the population gradually developed.
For hundreds of years, a large number of residents settled in a large area along the lake. They reclaimed land to grow wheat and grazed cattle and sheep on small flat areas. They were called the Melalen tribe, and the lake was named after them.
Lake Mälaren is indeed a geomantic treasure. Hundreds of years later, a trading city will rise at its mouth and become the core of everything in the region: Stockholm. Of course Stockholm now exists as a small settlement.
More tribes moved north and west, stopping at the towering mountains.
The Onkras Tribe is in the northwest of the Melalen Tribe, and there are many waterways leading directly to Lake Malaren.
There are also tribes such as Gavle and Radina active in the area. They are all tribes with extraordinary strength.
Although his strength is extraordinary, he still needs to be compared.
What is very bad is that the current total population of the entire Siiya Tribe Alliance is less than 100,000!
That is because they are currently strongly suppressed by the Danes, and the main body is huddled in the Svealand Plain. However, even if they occupied the entire Götaland Highlands, conquered Gotland Island, and incorporated all the Gotlanders as the normal trend of history, the total population would only increase by ten to twenty thousand.
At the same time, the Danish population exceeded 200,000.
Including the Norwegians who lived in a large area of disconnected bays and the pioneers in some Baltic settlements, the population of the entire Viking world was less than half a million.
The British Kingdom and the huge Frankish Kingdom, which they began to plunder, had a combined population of up to 15 million!
The Siya tribe alliance will eventually develop into a feudal country. No matter how they develop, they will not be able to quickly develop powerful agricultural technology. Agricultural technology did not improve significantly in the hundreds of years after the Viking Age, and population development was slow.
So the real historical trend is that until the early sixteenth century, the total population of Swedes living in Svealand, Götaland, and Gotland was only more than 400,000. Even including the servant Finns, the population was only half a million.
The situation in Denmark, their centuries-old rival, is not much better, with only 600,000 people.
At the same time, the population of France reached 15 million.
In the ninth century, the Danes and the Swians both spoke the same language and were devoted to trade and raiding. Population has undoubtedly become the first key factor in competition.
Now Fort Ross has truly become a strange flower in the alliance. It is not that it is so weird, but that seven thousand people are crammed into a fjord. Fort Ross is really a behemoth. .
What kind of concept is this?
In another dimension, in the mid-16th century, Stockholm, the core of the Swedes, was nothing more than a trading port with a population of only 9,000 people. At that time, the share of citizens was extremely low, and farmers were the majority of Swedish people.
The situation is exactly the same for the Danes. Copenhagen is a geomantic treasure and is particularly suitable for business development, so the city has a population of up to 20,000. This city, which is a "large rural area" in the Eastern concept, was already the largest city in Northern Europe in the 16th century!
At the same time, London had only 60,000 people, while Paris had a population of less than 60,000.There are two hundred thousand. France, which has a population five times that of Britain, takes advantage of her population. As long as a king is not stupid in intelligence, it is not difficult to win continental hegemony.
In the ninth century, Rossburg had grown into a behemoth, and the fjord was approaching its population limit. The Rus' plunder of materials in surrounding areas had resulted in the complete elimination of wild reindeer in the area. In order to gain more wealth, the northern expedition in the winter of 828 was an adventurous and radical action.
Will famine break out due to huge population?
The answer is no. If the tribesmen feel that they will be hungry, they will voluntarily leave the tribe, give up all the rights of war dividends, and find their own new world.
So Otto insists on establishing a new stronghold in the East. He now simply hopes to set up a material transfer station on the Eastern trade line and develop it into a new settlement with the element of unexpected gains.
What about the facts? This is also a manifestation of subconsciousness.
As the elite of the tribe, Otto convinced other elites that they must establish a new stronghold. In fact, he was dispersing the terrifying population pressure of Fort Ross.
They have never been a resettled people. They are homeless everywhere.
That night, Otto was very happy to invite Gould to his home.
Poor Otto, he has never wanted to have his own personal bodyguard like Gould, because he doesn't need it at all in his daily life. In order to show his majesty as a leader, he specially gathered more than ten of his close friends.
The following time is purely a meeting between men. Women, children, and even servants must avoid it.
Rurik was relieved, and it was a pleasure to continue teaching Rumia some knowledge in the priest's longhouse.
What will they talk about? Rurik has learned that it is about business dealings.
Rurik has a clear hunch that this so-called Gould from the Onkras tribe is a big businessman who intends to buy a variety of products from the Ross tribe!
Gould, the name itself means gold.
Otto welcomed this distinguished guest with traditional mead and brown bread, and asked Gould directly about his wishes.
"Since the distinguished leader asked, I will tell you bluntly." Gould paused for a moment, took a sip of the sweet mead, and couldn't help but admired; "The mead is really delicious. For We always have to pay a lot of money to get it, but everyone is happy to buy it.
Now your Ross tribe is making a bathing tool called sopa. I asked my servant to buy one a few days ago. . I tried it in my own home and it worked really well. Hey, maybe you don’t know, but I’m different from other people. I always feel like I’m stuck in the oil, and I’m always eager to wash away the damn oil. But it always fails.
Sopa saved me and my hair felt dry for the first time.”
“Oh? Really? So what an honor it is. ”
Otto himself is not obese. He is not young, and his arms and legs still have strong muscles. Thanks to these muscles, he can still run long distances on foot with weapons like a young man. .
Gould is different. He is really a greasy middle-aged uncle. Because he is a big businessman, he has extraordinary assets and needs to hire warriors to protect his family wealth and support more. The maid Ji Concubine wanted to give birth to more children to expand her family's business strength, and she also wanted to eat a lot to satisfy her appetite.
Gould loved drinking mead, ale, and even eating barbecue. . While many farmers in the Anglas tribe lived a life of hunger and hunger, Gould had already developed fatty liver.
This time he was a guest at Otto's house and removed it. He wears a stuffed ferret hat, and his shiny bald head really shines under the light of the oil lamp.
He is just an old guy with strong sebaceous glands, and he doesn't think so. His belly was very harmful to his health. The greasy feeling made him unhappy. Soap changed this situation, and he instantly realized the business opportunities here.
Because, although Roseburg has a large population, they There is no huge wealth.
The wealthy people are all in the south, especially the Melalen tribe, which has the best farmland and pastures, as well as the most wealthy people and the most fat people.
p>In order to wash away the lingering oil, they will definitely pay a big price for it.
Gould has nothing to hide, and he is very happy that the leader Otto allows him to be there. Build a larger wooden house here, and there is no discrimination against him and his servants.
Because of the legend about Rurik "Odin's Blesser", Gould is more willing to stay recently. The servants also got clear information. Not only the sopa matter, but also the steel sword matter that had recently made the entire Ross tribe agitated, it was Rurik who spread "Odin's wisdom"
"Great leader, I will buy all the yellow and white sopa you gave birth to now. I heard the price is three silver coins. Thanks to your kindness over the years, I would be happy to buy it for four silver pieces each. "
"Really? "Otto and his friends were cheered.
"I am a man of integrity. I am willing to pay this price. It is worth paying. I will also tell you my purpose, I will sell it to the big lake in the south, I will sell it at a higher price. ”
Otto responded: “If that’s all, we can just sell it ourselves, and we will sell it at a good price.” "
"Oh, great leader, maybe I have an advantage over you on this issue. "Gould, who was sitting cross-legged, bowed slightly, with a round face full of fat. It's hard to tell that this guy is almost fifty years old.
"Chief, I think you need me. . You Ross tribe have been waiting in the far north for a long time,Your direct trade with your brothers in the South is not ordinary. With all due respect, many southerners have forgotten that there is a group of brothers in the north who call themselves master paddlers. If you rashly go south to sell a lot of novelty stuff, I'm afraid you'll still have some trouble. At this time, my value appeared. "
In fact, Gould's meaning is very straightforward, that is, to act as a big comprador to help the Ross tribe dump goods.
Gould clearly said: "I not only want to buy your soap , I also want to buy your steel sword. Your back operation last year was a great success and now I am more than happy to buy whatever I can of your already tanned pelts. Along with some other goods, I would be happy to exchange all the silver I have in Roseburg for a large amount of merchandise. ”
“Oh? Is this true? "Gould's determination really shocked Otto and others.
"I have made a decision and I will not change it. ”
“You are really a happy businessman. So how much are you willing to pay for our products. "
"Hmm...probably..." Gould pinched his chin, which had been carefully shaved off all the beards, and tentatively said: "I will probably spend five thousand silver coins on various products. What do you think? "
"Wow! so much? "
"I can afford the money. Now I just want to ask, great leader, can you provide goods of corresponding value? ”
A tanned adult reindeer skin can be sold for two silver coins depending on its softness, good quality and large area. Others, such as ferret skins and forest cat skins, are more expensive.
As a large number of processed animal skins are already on sale, merchants from all over the tribe are rushing to buy them.
Except for what the tribe residents want to use themselves, they are still selling them to the public. Half of the furs.
Since ancient times, it has been easier for the higher bidder to buy. What Gould did was very simple. He just bid a little higher than other competitors and got a lot of skins.