The sun is shining brightly today, but the spirits of the two women sitting in the carriage are somewhat depressed.
The Ostara tribe, which once had a large population, now has only more than 200 people left, continuing to head towards the territory of the Yermalen people.
Many refugees have fallen into despair. Those people have hanged themselves in the forest, or have fallen to the ground weakly and become food for wild beasts.
"Sister, are your legs feeling better?" Ella, the younger sister, asked weakly, leaning against her sister Carlotta's shoulder.
"I feel a lot better."
"Then what's next."
When the next thing was mentioned, Carlotta suddenly became alert. From the corner of her eye, she noticed that the man was napping, and she became less vigilant.
Carlotta put her mouth close to her sister's ear and whispered: "When we arrive at the port of Yermalen, you must listen to me."
"Well, I I will always listen to you."
"My dear, we may only have one chance to escape, and we must go all out when the time comes."
My sister is very worried about what she said. Tangled. Her younger sister Ella was too young. She naively thought that someone promised to give her and her sister daily food, and also promised to take good care of her in the future. Isn't this person a kind person?
However, Ella believed in her sister more. Maybe my sister has a better strategy.
What about reality? Carlotta's thoughts about the future can be described as naive. She felt that if her identity as the granddaughter of the leader of Ostara was revealed, the leader of the Melalen people would treat her with courtesy.
Now, the Gran people's team is taking the lead, followed by Fodegen's caravan. At the end of the team were the women who were determined not to betray themselves to Fodgen even if they starved to death. They took their children and tried their best to follow the large army in order to get to the Yelmalun tribe and receive courtesy from the locals.
The time has entered June, the warm breeze of early summer is blowing across the world, and the water and grass are lush at this time.
No one knew about the tragedy that happened in the southern Bleu Bay. The Hjärmalen people did learn some other news. For example, some fishermen from Mälaren claimed that the Russians from the north began to invade the Åland Islands. Build a stronghold.
The Rus people did have a new stronghold, and they had begun doing business with the nearby fishermen of Mälaren.
This situation further confirms that the legend about the Russians attacking Gotland is true.
However, those things don’t seem to have much to do with the Yermalen people.
The Hjelmalen people living by the lake continue to live their lives as usual.
These people are located near the lake in the inland area. There is a wider river bed and a river with rugged rocks on the surrounding riverbank. It continuously pours fresh water from Lake Hjälmalen into the wide Mälaren. lake.
Generally speaking, the area at the mouth of rivers and lakes is very suitable for establishing a settlement.
However, the geographical conditions in that area were not satisfactory to the Yermalen people at all.
Located inland, this group of people simply does not have the strength to plunder other places. Besides, not far to their due north is the range of activities of the powerful Melalen people. They can only live under the "protection" of the Mellaren people.
The Hjelmalen people established a settlement in a small inlet on the south side of the lake where they are located. Generations of development have resulted in a large number of wheat fields along the lake appearing around the settlement.
This tribe with a population of 3,000 people owns quite a large area of land. Not only spring wheat is grown here, but onions, cabbage, and peas are also grown. Onions and cabbage, in particular, require ample moisture and a warmer climate to grow. It’s early June, and the onions planted by the Hjärmalen people before winter last September have finally entered the harvest season after dormant and growing for more than half a year.
Onions are cold-resistant and have been an important vegetable crop in Western and Northern Europe since ancient times.
Although people do not yet have the concept of vitamins, they all know that eating onions is not only good for the body, but its sweet and spicy taste actually adds a lot of spice to the dull life.
And it is also a cheap crop in the entire "Lake Malaren Economic Circle", which even poor people can afford.
No, some traders from the Mellaren tribe have already rowed large transport boats up the Stone River and entered Lake Hälmalen.
Four to five hundred merchants and rowers entered the port of the Yermalen people. The merchants have generally built their own houses long ago, and the rowers either sleep on the boats or set up tents on the lakeside.
Everyone was waiting. When the leader of Yelmalun gave the order, the entire tribe immediately began to harvest onions.
At this critical moment, the tribesmen patrol their fields to be wary of thieves.
Opposite of those onions, there are a lot of green wheat fields.
There are still more than two months to go until the spring wheat harvest. Before harvesting wheat, the Hjärmalen people can take the lead in harvesting large quantities of onions and cabbage.
These dishes can fill the stomach, but relying solely on these cannot make a strong man energetic.
Ordinary tribesmen do not have so many requirements. They are very grateful for the gift of the so-called Lake Goddess, who has given them the ability to eat vegetables and survive stably during the traditional summer famine.
Yes, in the Jermalen people’s concept, famine events are rare.
This is the case in Northern Europe. The closer the peninsula is to the south, the macroeconomic conditions of agriculture are gradually improving. The Hjärmalen people have enough food to feed themselves, and they can make a fortune selling their agricultural products every year. Even because dealers come uninvited, they don't have to organize a fleet of ships to go to the Mälaren Market.
Just as the tribesmen were looking forward to a bumper harvest of onions, farmers guarding remote farmland saw a mighty "army" driving a large number of cattle and sheep.
Oops! These people can even chew up the roots of grass, but they don’t understand the roots.Spicy and sweet beef and sheep, they will eat the onions clean!
Suddenly the farmers exploded.
"No! The enemy is coming! They want to steal all our onions!"
"Brothers, take up arms and go to the fields to defend our property. "
...
More than thirty farmers who were the first to run back to the settlement screamed for help on the tribe's intricate dirt roads.
As more farmers came with frightened looks, and some farmers immediately ran out with shields and short spears after returning home, those who turned a blind eye for a while could no longer stand idly by.
A few farmers simply broke into the leader's house and reported the terrible things to the guards guarding him.
Winterson, the leader of Yermalen, was also shocked.
"What? A group of cattle and sheep from the south? And a large group of enemies? Really enemies?"
The guard also heard what he said: "Sir, the situation is very unclear now. No matter what Enemy or friend, those cattle and sheep will definitely destroy our farmland."
"Okay, we must organize the army first. Follow me."
With that said, leader Wenderson, a lean middle-aged man, immediately put on his leather armor, brought his sword and shield, summoned nearly a hundred guards under his command to enter the streets of the tribe, and declared war mobilization as the leader.
With this order, the entire tribe fell into a high degree of tension.
Some people suspect that those cattle and sheep were brought back by the southern allies. But they showed up at this time, what happened?
Wenderson gathered all the twelve hundred men in the tribe who could get their hands on weapons. More than 400 young women, armed with weapons, or simply shovels and hoes for digging in the earth, joined the clan's camp to replenish their numbers.
Including the businessmen who live there, they will not think about continuing to do business this year or even next year if the crops of the Yermalon people are destroyed. In order to protect their own interests, and with a slogan of supporting traditional allies, more than 300 merchants and oarsmen joined the Allied Army to join Hjälmalun's army.
For a time, an army of up to 2,000 soldiers quickly assembled, rushed to the tribe's farmland, and stood densely on the ridges of the fields for a large area.
This situation made the slow-moving Granite team very nervous.
"Chief, are they going to war? We are allies. Could it be that these people have also defected to the Danes?"
"You are so stupid." The leader, Oak, banged the helmets of his men.
The subordinates continued to advise: "Sir, if there is such a possibility, you should be careful."
"Forget it. I think they are worried that our team will destroy them." The leader of Yelmalun is called Wenderson. I know the character of the guy who cares most about his own fields. Let me know, brothers.Be good to your own cattle and sheep, and don't move on. ”
After giving the order, the Glen leader led ten people to break away from the large army and go to the opposite camp.
Because the allies in the south generally raise cattle and sheep, the Yelmalen tribe Many of the fur goods needed also come from the south.
The leader Wenderson squinted his eyes and saw clearly the guy who was gradually approaching.
“Is he from Gran? How did they get here? ”
With doubts, Wenderson also issued an order, ordering the tribesmen to be on guard. And he also brought ten equally proud warriors to step forward to negotiate with them.
In this way, the leaders of the two tribes met on the field.
After a polite conversation, the Gran explained the truth about the destruction of the Ostara people.
" Danish? Could it be that our southern defense line has collapsed? ! In this way, wouldn't it mean that we have become the southern line of defense? ”
“It’s absolutely true. "In order to highlight the seriousness of the situation, the leader of the Gran people, Oak, deliberately claimed that there were only more than a hundred women and children left in the huge Ostara tribe. "According to the information I received, the Danes seemed to be possessed by evil gods. They launched indiscriminate attacks. To avoid disaster, we fled. "
Hearing the news, Windersen of Hjelmalen's eyelids twitched, and his feet in his leather boots were covered in cold sweat.
"Could it be that... the Danish pursuers ...The enemy is coming? "
"They didn't come. Maybe, they thought they had won and retreated. "
"The Danes really didn't come? "Wenderson continued to ask.
"It's absolutely true. My friends, all our southern tribes have lost their homes. All tribes are fleeing. In order to escape death, I came with my tribe. I hope that my people can settle near your lake, and we will be neighbors in the future. "
"This..." Asked about a very real question, Wenderson realized that he could not give a straightforward answer to this matter.
Being a neighbor? This is a question based on the current situation. It's a good thing, but the Gran people who are good at raising cattle and sheep are coming. If the cattle and sheep are not controlled well, they will definitely become monsters that destroy the farmland.
Considering the mentality of the tribesmen, Wenderson estimates that it is really a good thing. It was absolutely impossible for the Lan people to live together.
After all, the visitors were all old friends, and Wenderson did not make things difficult for these people.
His only request was that they must be restrained. Cattle and sheep, it is said that once the onions are destroyed by cattle and sheep, the Gran people must use the cattle and sheep in their hands to pay off the debt.
In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, Wenderson temporarily pointed out a temporary resting place for the Gran people. < /p>
“Your large army will first go to the northeast of our tribe, which is an undeveloped wasteland. You rest for now, my friend, please allow me to invite you to my home, and maybe we should discuss the future. ”
The Gran people who have suffered from the fatigue of traveling and traveling really need to rest, and the leader Oak agreed to his friend’s kindness.
The war alarm has been lifted., life seems to be recovering quickly.
The large army of the Granites moved in a new direction, but as a businessman, Fodegen saw a large number of buildings not far away and realized that he must have arrived at the initial destination.
"Carlotta, Ella, we have arrived at Hjärmalen. My dear, wait a little longer for all of us to rest."
The two girls concentrated on Observing everything around her, Carlotta held her sister's hand tightly, her eyes trying to observe the details of everything in order to find an opportunity to escape.
"What's wrong? Are you two asleep?" As he spoke, Fordegen turned his head and noticed that the eyes of the two children seemed to be looking at something else.
"Is this your first time coming to Hjärmalen? Haha, don’t worry. We will spend one night here and leave for Mälaren tomorrow. Haha, be patient a little longer and wait until I get there On the island, I will arrange the most comfortable room for you." Fo Degen kept saying his promise, his words full of pride.
What Carlotta understands is that she and her sister have a chance to escape, tonight!
Now Fodegen has no time to care about the affairs of the Gran people. What he needs to consider most is how to bring back the nearly a hundred Ostara refugees under his control. The cost of food for so many people was not a small amount, and he didn't want to waste time in Hjälmalen at all.
When Vodgen left Mälaren for the south more than a month ago, he took the sea route, but he also traveled by land many times.
He understood the geographical conditions of Hjelmalen. As a merchant, he placed the caravan on a small piece of wasteland that had grown out of troubled times near the local settlement.
While it was still dark, the businessman took a few of his proud subordinates and rushed to the dock to look for the boaters. In the end, he could only reach a business agreement with his business colleagues.
Because only my fellow merchants brought large transport ships, the local fishermen of Hjärmalen, their small boats simply couldn’t do it!
Both of us are businessmen, and what we pay attention to is credibility.
My colleagues all learned about the fall of Ostara. They never imagined that they were all from Mellaren and knew something about Fodgen.
They envied this guy who survived the catastrophe and actually got a hundred slaves. What else could they do except envy?
Even though Fodegen tried his best to defend himself, his colleagues, while joking and teasing, also came up with their conditions.
It turns out that these merchants were just waiting to transport onions! Soon the Hjelmalen people's onions will be harvested, and whoever's fleet is at the port will be able to purchase the best batch. At this critical juncture, Vodgen must give a good reward before the fleet can take this group of people to Melalen.
Are we forced to stay here?
Impossible!
Fordgen estimated that if they left with a large number of onions, they would only come back when the cabbages were harvested again. if oneselfIf you can't reach a deal with them right away, you'll be in trouble!
He had no choice but to pay a deposit of two pounds of silver coins to a caravan, and he would have to pay another two pounds after the event was completed.
For the caravan, this is pure extortion. To transport all the people and belongings of Vordegen to Mälaren, the fleet basically just goes down the river, and it may take a whole day to transport them all to Vordegen's territory. Why not earn four pounds of silver coins?
For this caravan, which specializes in selling agricultural products, they extorted money from Verdegen. The income of four pounds of silver coins has almost caught up with their gross profit from trafficking throughout the year. Even if he is the owner of the fleet, his annual net income is only about one hundred silver coins. The routine is to stock up onions to sell in the winter and wheat to sell in the summer famine, so as to make money by putting them on the market when supply and demand are out of balance.
But most of the fleets are run by small-scale businessmen. If he had not lost all his ships because of the Danes, Vodgen would not bother to communicate with this group of people.
After all, in Vodgen’s business district, all I know are big businessmen who are active in the “Melaren Economic Circle”! Naturally, his level of Buddhism is much lower, it all depends on who he is comparing with. If he had stayed in the prosperous and peaceful years of previous years and started the fur business, he would have been able to earn twenty pounds of silver from his annual net profit.