Otto looked at the manor director Rigus with sharp eyes: "How are you preparing the tributes from your manor?" and then motioned to Peravina as an interpreter.
"Yes. Great Chief Ross, the situation this year is the same as last spring."
"Are you completely prepared?" Otto continued to ask.
"Yes, we have packed all the tributes together, and you can take them away tomorrow morning."
"It's just that the weather tonight is not good enough." Otto said deliberately Sighing, "Actually, I know that you all hope that we can leave as soon as possible."
Hearing this, Ligus quickly objected: "I didn't mean that at all, you are our master , We want you to stay for a long time."
He said it politely, but Otto himself did not want to lead the entire tribe to move to Novgorod. He also knew many tribesmen. Already have this idea.
Otto said deliberately: "Stay here? Let's forget it. As long as you provide us with enough tribute, you can live in peace. If those Smolensk people want to attack you, I intend to help you." Compared to other tribes, your manor is the most cooperative. Tell me, what tributes have you prepared for us?" "Yes." Ligus nodded and motioned for his eldest son to come over. .
Immediately afterwards, Medved, the successor to the head of the manor, personally explained the situation to Otto.
Although the residents of the Novgorod area live together in a natural village in the form of a traditional manor, they are naturally divided into large and small families.
What is a family?
A couple and their remaining minor children form an ordinary family. Those women who get married actually form a new family with newly grown men from other families.
The evolution of this traditional farmer family is natural and reasonable.
In places like Novgorod, where winters are cold and long, huge families form huge estates, which are the dependence of everyone's life.
Their family structure and production capacity prevent them from cultivating too much farmland. In order to obtain more food during the harvest season, their sowing skills will also sow more seeds. In such an environment, a couple will work hard to have children in order to live a better life. Even a child is an important source of productivity.
The paradox is that more children have to share the daily wheat ration of only about three pounds. Having more children is unbearable for a family!
Even if he is the head of the manor, Ligus’s family structure is still simple.
Ligus has only one eldest son and two other daughters. In addition, he also has two brothers, and the brothers' families are also dissatisfied.
For the prosperity of her family, Ligus's wife has been trying to have more children. Even though she is not young, she still desires more children.
As a result, heHis wife took the risk of giving birth to her last child at a very old age, but unfortunately, it was a girl.
Ligus regretted that his last efforts in life ended up with a girl. Although she is a girl, she looks more and more cute, but it brings a lot of happiness to the life of Rigus who is getting older.
Li Gusbon had three sons, but both of them died of illness when they were young.
He heard that Otto, the great leader of the Rus, also lost two sons in an accident, and he felt that the two ethnic groups still had many things in common.
Even if they are powerful Russians, the God of Death can still ruthlessly take away their lives!
Otto wanted to plunder the wealth of the Novgorod people, just like he would not shear all the wool from a sheep. Otto’s exploitation was still aimed at the most vulnerable people. The rich ones.
Baishu Manor, which has a population of 2,000 people, actually only has about 400 strong laborers, that is, men who are capable of farming.
There are a large number of children in the manor. When boys and girls grow up to the age of marriage, they have to face various severe challenges for more than ten years. Many children are destined to die growing up due to disease or malnutrition. In order to make up for the pain of losing a child and to make up for the labor force, any family is willing to continue to have children, which leads to a large number of children in the manor!
These dirty and thin children will be the alternative resources that Otto wants to obtain.
Four hundred strong and uniform farmers only go fishing or hunting during their leisure time. Their wives take care of various household tasks such as giving birth, taking care of children, weaving, chopping firewood, fetching water and so on.
The whole family has no right to leisure. As long as they are lazy, they will starve to death.
Every farmer who was able to farm had to pay a tribute of one hundred pounds of wheat throughout the year. Women who could weave had to pay a piece of linen about a quarter of the size of an ordinary longship's sail throughout the year.
In the spring, Otto came with the Sorgon army and took away various goods prepared by White Tree Manor.
Of all the tributes, the accumulation of 20,000 Roman pounds of unprocessed wheat was the most important. After conversion, the total weight was close to eight tons of wheat. Just loading this wheat would require two full-time transport ships!
It must be said that in order to successfully transport various tributes this time, most of the fleet led by Otto were pure transport ships. It was simply unfit for combat and difficult to row. On weekdays it would be towed by other ships, assisted by the sails of the mast. This is the kind of ship that can carry four tons! Well-deserved core strength in transportation.
The sails of the Russian dragon-headed longships are not small, and the sail area is relatively uniform. They used the area of the sail as the standard. In fact, they required the people of White Tree Manor to provide a single layer of linen cloth close to four square meters. Four hundred families of sackcloth are gathered together, which is a huge number.
Line is an important source of clothing materials, and the other is animal skins.
ThirtySheep skins, ten cow skins, fifty fox skins, two hundred rabbit skins, and even two bear skins are all on the tribute list of Baishu Manor.
Every time he heard the specific number of tributes from White Tree Manor, Otto was very moved.
After listening to Medved's explanation, Otto nodded with satisfaction: "What a wonderful tribute. You have proven your loyalty. This is good."
Medved, who had been half-kneeling to report, raised his head slightly: "Great Russians, are you satisfied with our tribute?"
"Satisfied? I am quite satisfied, but..." Otto deliberately Picking his teeth with chicken bones, he looked at the person in front of him with a look of disdain: "Your name is Medved, and you are the next head of the manor. You kneel in front of me to show your loyalty, and now I want you to provide more tribute."
After hearing this request, both Ligus and Medved felt sweat break out on their foreheads.
"Big Chief, you guys..." Ligus was about to refute something, but was immediately stopped by Otto.
"Now listen to me, people of White Tree Manor. Starting from this year, you must further show your loyalty to us. We need more tributes, and you must bear them without any right to argue. Now Listen to me!"
Pelavina tried her best to translate it truthfully. She was inevitably shocked when she heard that the big leader wanted to increase the tribute.
"Pelavina, don't be afraid, just translate it truthfully." Otto nudged her and said.
Otto paused again, softened his tough tone slightly, and then came up with his specific request: "I want fifty chickens, alive, all in cages. I also want Ten cows and ten sheep, two males and eight females."
"You want to take away all the cows, sheep and chickens?" Ligus asked cautiously, "I heard about your hometown. Very cold. It may not be suitable for raising cattle and sheep."
"Oh, Rigus, thank you for the kind reminder. We are at Lake Ladoga. Our new Fort Ross was built on the river that flows into the sea. It will be a huge settlement, which may eventually be larger than the largest Pine Needle Manor here. It is only a four-day sail away from you. "
Pelavina translated this tremblingly, and she also said one more thing, so-called proof that the Russians arrived in Novgorod from Novorossberg in four days.
Ligus instantly felt that an ax was hanging over his head and could be smashed down at any time.
The Russians have built a new settlement. As long as the White Tree Manor shows disloyalty, the crusade will attack in just four days!
The residents of White Tree Manor know that there is a large lake in the north, and the name Ladoga has been around since ancient times.
However, exploring the shores of the Great Lake is the limit of activities in the north of Novgorod. To the west of the great lake is the sea, which is an absolutely dangerous place, because all the Varangians are active in the sea there, and tradeHowever, if you set foot on it, you will meet death!
Otto added: "In the autumn, you don't need to provide these animals. Listen, fifty chickens, ten cows and ten sheep every year are the additional tributes."
Ligus calculated that for the entire manor, the increased tribute was still within an acceptable range.
"Ah, great leader, we will give these."
"My request is not over yet." Otto quietly moved to the table and stared at Rigus, " I want you to provide us with some people, and I want to take these people away." "Is it more marriages?" Ligus asked warily.
"Exactly, maybe this is something you are willing to accept."
"Ah, if our humble girls marry you, that will be their happiness."< /p>
Rigus's humble and beautiful words hit Otto's heart: "Well, how many girls to be married can you provide? I tell you the truth, among the people I brought this time, at least a hundred people must be Complete the marriage on this voyage."
Ligus fell silent, and he had to take a moment to think about the pros and cons.
The Ligus family is hereditary as the head of the manor. This has been regarded by ordinary people as a very natural thing since ancient times. He did not take up this position to be arrogant, but to maintain the operation of the entire manor.
Of course Ligus will enrich himself when people from all walks of life collect tributes, but what can ordinary people do?
The head of the manor and his family also control several large kitchens in the manor to bake large lobsters that can be eaten for a long time. In addition, there are important mills and a collection of metal farm tools.
Precisely because they are all relatives with a common ancestor, the head of the manor will rent these means of production for free or at very low prices to make life somewhat warmer.
Living away from the manor is simply asking for death! Ordinary families need the protection of the manor. If they move out and live in the dense forest, they are likely to become food for bears and wolves.
Currently, there are at least forty girls of marriageable age in the manor, and Gus basically knows the specific number.
He thought carefully and said: "Thirty people. I can provide thirty girls." As he said that, Ligus glanced at Peravina, who had been working as an interpreter.
"I just couldn't think of it. This girl was supposed to marry your nephew. How..."
Otto immediately understood what he meant, and he laughed with abandon in reality. Laughed, and then asked Peravina to explain herself.
In this case, Peravina, who will be the mother of the Russian people, has already taken the position of the Russian people. After returning to her homeland, she must also consider the feelings of the villagers.
Pelavina immediately explained her life in Fort Ross, how she ate fat meat and fish every day and didn’t know what a hungry life was, which really surprised Rigus.
"Dear, you were obviously very thin at the wedding, but you have really changed now. Your husband, that young man, he..." Ligus never imagined that the Russians would be divided into two groups this year. An army of nearly 500 people was organized to attack the enemies of the Russians, and Peravina's husband was the commander of the army. < /p>
The child in her belly was not someone else’s, but that young man’s.
What really shocked Rigus was that Peravina kept saying that it belonged to the Russians. The big leader is actually a good person.
These signs really show that the girls who marry the Rus are well taken care of. If the marriage can bring greater benefits, why not do it?
p>Although there are a large number of people in the White Tree Manor, since they are all relatives, the principle that men and women of the same race are not allowed to intermarry is still being implemented.
That is, girls who are to be married to the manor will not be married to Russians. It is also a matter of marrying into another manor. Each manor uses marriage to realize the flow of personnel and maintain social relations with each other.
Whoever marries is married to a daughter. For ordinary families, it is their own family. Perhaps it would be a greater guarantee for a girl to marry a tough Russian.
The wife’s husband wields a battle ax against his parents-in-law? This is something that Ligus thinks is absolutely impossible. < /p>
Ligus had already thought of it, and he said: "Thirty women, what do you think? "
Otto nodded: "Very good. Beyond that, I still want more people. "
"Huh? ! ”
For a moment, Ligus thought of another word-slave.
The reason why the Varyags who arrived in the Ilmen Lake area from various walks of life gave the locals The infamous image they left behind came from the initial contact. The Varyag people captured people as slaves everywhere.
In fact, Otto's ancestors did this even a few years later. In the past ten years, the Russians did not have the ability and energy to engage in slave activities, which did not mean that the evil done by their ancestors had been forgotten by various Novgorod estates.
Otto mentioned this matter again. Ligus was immediately alerted.
The fear of the people in White Tree Manor was written in their eyes. Otto waved his hands slightly and explained: "I want you to provide some children, preferably boys. If It's okay to be a girl. I only want ten children who will serve as personal servants to my only son. I can promise you that these children will be well fed and clothed as servants, and for this I will pay a sum of money. This also includes my young men who want to get married. If you marry your woman, you will also give the woman's family an absolutely acceptable amount of money. "
If the matter involves money, the problem can be discussed.
Ligus had an idea and immediately said: "Okay, my leader, I can provide you with Some kids are just too young, I hope you don't mind..."
"Of course I don't mind. "Otto is telling the truth. Now, he is doing things for his son Rurik. "My son is a great man, just like your eldest son will inherit the position of head of the manor. When my life comes to an end, my son will inherit LuoThe position of leader. Listen, Rigus! You are an old man and I am also an old man. When we pass away, it will be my Son who will deal with you. "
"But your son, he is too young..."
Ligus basically knew Rurik's age and what a seven or eight-year-old child could do. , who can’t not deeply question it?
Otto didn’t bother to publicize what great actions his son had taken, because when he calmed down and looked at his son, it was reasonable for a child to spend half a year. The fact that he had caught five thousand silver coins had really improved the lives of the tribesmen. He could only explain this as a favor from God, which he thought was bizarre, let alone the people of the White Manor.
Otto deliberately took off the small linen bag from his waist, untied the rope and revealed the treasure inside - a small handful of unprocessed amber stones.
"You gave us tribute. These are your rewards. Rigus, you can have this all to yourself. Listen, this is your baby, in return for your loyalty. As for other manors, don't expect to receive my favor. "
"Huh? Is this true? What a great gift! ”
Ligus felt that this was a method used by the leader of Russia to win people’s hearts. This method was also implemented by the Russians last year. He really didn’t understand the price of processing and selling this bag of amber. , may be close to the value of all tributes, what are the Russians doing? Is it just the loyalty of another group of people?
Maybe this is just another form of trade? Arrogant, he still labeled it "collecting tribute" and "special reward"
Otto quickly tied the rope and handed the sack to Medved.
He continued: " Ten children, the best is a boy. They should preferably be about the same age as my son. Remember, they are my Son’s servants and will be well taken care of as long as they obey my Son’s requests. I will give ten silver coins to their parents, whether they are boys or girls. "
Ligus immediately replied readily: "Okay! I will offer it immediately and I can guarantee that many families will support this deal. Let's cheer! ”
After saying that, Rigus raised the glass filled with ale, and Otto, who was in a good mood, did the same.