Otto's fleet was indeed delayed again, and of course all this was within his expectation.
A very critical batch of oats has arrived in New Roseburg, which is under construction, but has not been seen for more than three months. What was originally a barren land has now turned into a settlement.
Under the leadership of the old guy who was appointed as the local leader, the first batch of Russian immigrants not only built a settlement, they even reclaimed a little land.
Immigrants transformed axes into hoes, or simply used forest axes to pound the earth.
They also set fire to wasteland, creating soft farmland in the dark grassland after the fire. The newly reclaimed farmland is not ready for planting, but most immigrants have prepared some wheat seeds and plan to sow spring wheat seeds when spring arrives.
A large number of traditional Russian longhouses have risen from the ground. They are naturally built with unfinished tree trunks, and then the wooden walls are covered with warm earth. The roof is naturally made of a large amount of thatch piled on wooden boards, and parts of it are fixed with earth.
During this period, immigrants in New Roseburg did more than just build homes.
They are a group of pioneers who are willing to take the initiative to explore in all directions with the settlement as the center.
Because the huge demand for overwintering food forced them to venture more boldly.
So the local leader Conuson informed Otto of their adventures during this time.
In the so-called north of the settlement, and even on the northern shore of the huge Ladoga Lake, there are unidentified settlers. Even the Russian fishing boats were far away on the lake and saw the phantom of the canoe in the distance.
There were strange settlers in the northern lands. When Otto arrived at New Roseburg, the old leader who had experienced many battles insisted that the unidentified people were all Finns.
Are we going to attack them? No. If an attack must take place, it is not now.
Otto ordered his men to ban all adventure exploration before winter.
Of course, exploration still needs to be done. After spring plowing is completed next year, it will be the so-called exploration season.
Across the Baltic world, the traditional trade season, or the so-called war season, has also arrived. At this moment, Otto took the initiative to have the idea of continuing to expand revenge, and he had a perfect reason for organizing an army to launch a war - to avenge the death of the old leader of Ostara.
Of course the young tribesmen are eager for more money and even more female prisoners.
What about Otto? He thinks honor is more important. Using the banner of revenge for the allies can be said to be a deliberate overreach against the leader of the alliance, the Melalen tribe.
So what? The brave people of Mellaren became conservative, and the Rus were no longer a stone hiding in the north.
Otto revealed the idea of launching a war next year to the immigrants in New Roseburg, and also issued a magical decree to them.
"I brought itAll grain is my property. You can rent my grain. As a price, you must hand over a certain amount of grain starting from next year's harvest season and you will pay it forever. ”
At first, everyone was very surprised by the big leader’s order. Everyone was shocked that the leader actually brought 50,000 pounds of food! With this batch of food, all immigrants no longer have to worry about insufficient food. There is a problem of food.
Because there are less than 700 immigrants in total, if everyone can share this food, people can eat for more than three months just by eating wheat.
The leader's food was a real help in times of need, but many people felt that the leader was forcing his family to accept an unequal order.
Seeing the mixed emotions of people's excitement and dissatisfaction, Otto immediately came up with the so-called song. Plough, the police demonstrated in public what high-speed and efficient land reclamation is! In this era when Nordic people don't even know how to use farmyard manure, more land means more harvests.
You can reap up to five by sowing. The Russians also believe this. Instead of using stored wheat as food, some people are also planning to store more grain. It seems that the only way to harvest more is to cultivate more land. , just sow more grain.
Most of these colonists who left their homeland were not doing well in their homeland. They were a vulnerable group of the Ross tribe in a deserted place. It is really difficult to hunt and catch fish to store an astonishing amount of food, not to mention that these families also have to work hard to build their own houses for the winter.
They have to build houses and store food to survive the long winter. Not many families can complete it properly.
In fact, everyone hopes that the leader will give a certain amount of charity.
But everyone does not expect that the leader will indeed give generous charity, but it must be generous. In return for this charity, it is the eternal feedback of the family.
It is the so-called tax.
Those who really do not have the time and energy to collect more food are hindered by reality. I have to accept Otto's food. As for returning the food to the leader's family every year? I will talk about this later. The first thing I have to do is survive the coming winter.
Otto gave ten pairs of curved shaft plows, and gave each family receiving food some necessary tools for farming. He even asked people not to sow seeds randomly in the spring plowing next year, and every seed must be put into the iron plow.
All the immigrants actually came from 233 families, and they basically built their own longhouses, so the mouth of the Neva River formed a real If a large amount of farmland appears nearby and low walls are built with wood and soil, it can be said that a city will be born.
Almost all immigrant families eventually accepted Otto's gift of 50,000 pounds. When the grain is distributed to them, each family will receive an average of 200 pounds. The so-called price is the tax on wheat, which will be as high as 200 pounds next year!Just pay tax based on this amount.
As for this tax, residents of Novgorod are also ordered to pay according to this standard. However, it was completely different. The local manor owner was responsible for collecting grain from the farmers. In the end, Otto only needed to get the grain from the manor owner. The manor owner was the acting tax collector, and the Russian immigrants were the true yeoman farmers, small farmers with land.
After all, it was Rurik who proposed the rules, and his old father Otto implemented the new rules for his son. New Roseburg has become a test area for the implementation of the tax system.
Rurik does not intend to engage in loss-making business. When his people borrow their own grain, they have to pay the principal and interest, as well as taxes.
In the end, they paid taxes, and Rurik did not need the wheat to expand his coffers. Wheat must be consumed, and the taxes paid by the Russians will eventually benefit the children of the Russians.
At least the immigrant families received two hundred pounds of wheat. As for tomorrow and next year, the tools are already there, so we’ll talk about everything next year.
The fleet unloaded a large amount of cargo, and the huge transport ship suddenly became very light.
The sailors raised by Gould helped Otto a lot, especially this time. The sailors on the transport ship relied on their skills in manipulating the sails and did not need rowers to row the boats. The wind blows up the Neva River.
The ship does not need oars at all and relies solely on the wind to move forward? Otto originally thought that sailing could not rely entirely on the wind, but he never expected that a transport ship could achieve the speed of a rowing warship with only sails.
On this trip, Gould's large sail transport really stole the show.
"Would it be possible if we formed a fleet of pure sails? Rurik, my son, maybe you can do it all."
Otto has a reward Gould's thoughts.
His fleet arrived at White Tree Manor successfully. The arrival date was far beyond the local harvest season.
The harvest of food in White Tree Manor and even the entire Novgorod region has been completed in late September. Compared with the situation in previous years, due to the beautiful weather during the harvest season, local people are happy to welcome a bumper harvest.
Of course, what they call a bumper harvest is when the yield per mu reaches one hundred and twenty kilograms.
There are still traces of the bonfires celebrating the harvest, and White Tree Manor has already completed its tribe’s priesthood of the Slavic god of agriculture and the god of Lake Ilmen.
Ligus, the owner of the manor, non-stop called on people to come up with tributes to the Varyag people after the sacrifice.
In previous years, people were resistant to this. Only this time, the joy of the harvest has not faded. Everyone is even more looking forward to the arrival of the Russians and the fulfillment of their vows. .
Otto's fleet entered the Volkhov River. All the ships raised their sails and moved against the current driven by the strong and cold north wind.
Otto landed at his loyal White Tree Manor, and a group of people dressed in greenSoldiers with bronze and iron helmets jumped out of the boat. They did not mean any violence, and many young men embraced women, who were the villagers of White Tree Manor.
The long-lost hometown is right in front of you. It has only been a few months. Lilia feels that she has been away from her hometown for many years!
She naturally took the arm of her husband Kawei and walked towards her father who was shaking with excitement.
Yes, when the huge Russian fleet suddenly appeared, everyone in White Tree Manor happily gathered at the riverside.
Otto’s steady steps, his deep eyes, flowing beard, and the posture of holding a sword in mail armor make him look like a deep old warrior.
Rigus, the head of the manor, knelt down on one knee with his family and saluted the strong man.
Even that Svetlana knelt down on one knee very rationally.
Seeing the girl's golden braids and cute appearance, suddenly, an impulse arose to take her back to Roseburg and keep her in his own home to raise her. This thought also flashed past. Otto knew that there were already too many girls staying at his house.
"You all get up! Especially you, Ligus."
Ligus stood up slowly on crutches. He saw that right in front of him was a tall man. The mighty Ross leader, behind this man, is a large group of Ross warriors holding shields and leather armor and holding bright white swords.
Ligus even saw clearly the new appearance of his eldest daughter Lilia. She was already dressed in Varyag, and the huge number of gems she wore on her chest completely subverted Ligus. cognition.
"Chief, we welcome you, I am happy to work for you."
Otto opened his arms and said boldly: "I keep my word, you are our Ross You are a loyal hound, so I will give you a wonderful reward. I want to explain the situation to you. Now tell me, are the food ready?"
"I'm happy to do it. You serve."
"Very good." Otto shook his neck and signaled that Kawei could take his wife to face his father-in-law.
In full view of the residents of White Tree Manor, Lilia excitedly threw herself at her old father, then hugged her mother, eldest brother, and even her lovely sister.
She even touched her belly and announced the fact that she was pregnant to her family.
My daughter is pregnant? Doesn't it mean that half of his plan is completed? My daughter’s son will definitely become the blacksmith of White Tree Manor.
Ligus watched with secret satisfaction as Kawei came carrying the sack.
As the tied hemp rope was opened, the old guy simply threw away his crutch and sat on the grass, his hands shaking crazily.
"It's iron! It's actually iron...could it be...all gifts to me."
"Just for you." Kawei said softly: "I We have already discussed it with Lilia, and our leaders have also unified.The wood-cutting ax in this sack is my personal gift to you. "
Kawei still had a lot to say, Otto stepped forward, put his big hand on Kawei's shoulder and told him to step back.
"Rigus, Kawei I gave you a gift, now it's my turn to show it. ”
Since most of the people in this manor came to join in the fun and watch, Otto simply showed off the powerful plowing ability of the curved shaft plow in public. A large number of ravines instantly appeared on the grassland of the river beach, and the depth of land reclamation it completely had Subverting the local people's understanding of land reclamation, which was just wood.
Otto immediately announced that the ten-plow plow was a land reclamation tool for the White Tree Manor. Therefore, these tools were based on the local people's ideas. In fact, it is owned by the entire manor.
Ligus, he is not completely free. Everyone is eager for these magical iron plows to complete the most thorough transformation of their fields.
This year. In autumn, some young people from Russia come to the manor to find a wife as usual. Those who bring their wives to visit relatives are also called the focus of the wife's family.
They don't come empty-handed, they keep their promises!
Those very poor ordinary families in White Tree Manor, for marrying off their daughters, not only received salt as a reward from their son-in-law, but they even got iron axes, daggers and other tools.
In an instant, White Tree Manor. It became lively, people started a new carnival, and a large number of bonfires were lit, just like a continuation of the previous harvest festival ceremony.
Otto naturally became a guest at the welcome banquet.
He was sitting on the leather cushion, and within reach was Svetlana, who was sitting obediently. Although the child was not old enough to get married, she had made an engagement with Rurik. It won't change. Because of this relationship, Otto seemed to regard her as his daughter in the true sense.
There was a plate next to Otto with dried meat and soft black bread on it. , and the slightly sweet and sour kvass.
However, the spirits that Otto brought out once again exceeded Ligus's knowledge, and the entire ruling family of White Tree Manor had to accept it. A miracle.
Under the oil lamp, Otto displayed a batch of glass bottles. What he especially showed was the special glass bottles and the spirits inside.
Lighting up the spirits. The trick of wine seemed to Rigus to be magic, and Otto had no doubt about this.
He rubbed Svetalana's blond head, and in a daze he felt that what he was touching was clearly. His son Rurik. The two of them were already a couple.
“All of this is Rurik’s work, including those iron plows and the glassware you see. There are many more things, all created by Rurik. "
Ligus trembled when he heard this: "Has your son Rurik really received the favor of your great god? "
"Are you still doubting it? Otto asked back: "Look at these objects!" Svetlana must be Rurik's wife, and her children will inherit my family's power in the tribe. Rigus, you shouldIt’s time to thank Rurik, and it’s time to thank your Svetlana. ”
Of course Ligus wanted to thank him. After the banquet, he didn’t even have the heart to talk to his daughter and son-in-law, but concentrated on studying the exquisite glassware.
He too Later, I learned from my wife that most of the glassware came from Lilia's hands, but this did not mean that Lilia had magical powers. Rurik was still the god who created all of this.
Rose. The plan was not to stay in Novgorod for a long time. Otto planned to withdraw immediately after collecting the food.
However, Otto never expected that the hateful Pine Needle Manor would actually pull the trigger. !
With his wife dead and his daughter abducted, the surrender of the owner of Pine Needle Manor is just superficial.
The reckless Vadim feels that his life has important meaning. Resisting the brutality of the Russians. If Vadim suppressed the desire for revenge in his heart, his father had already taken action.
Pine Needle Manor deliberately delayed the delivery of wheat, or because the amount of tribute was too large. , or people didn’t cooperate.
After some warnings, Pine Needle Manor still delayed, and Otto resorted to violent methods as a last resort.
“Okay, you idiots. The scar forgets to hurt. Now, some of you are destined to freeze to death in the winter. ”
Otto burned down some houses, expelled some people, and killed all the resisters. What was even crazier was that Otto personally beheaded the manor owner’s newly married wife, and Threaten: "Next year if you dare to neglect, your eldest son will definitely die. ”
Pine Needle Manor finally delivered a huge amount of tribute as scheduled. The Russians harvested a lot in the area around Lake Ilmen, and all the transport ships were full.
However, Pine Needle Manor The plot still worked.
A snowfall hit the Ilmen Lake area, and the entire land became covered with silver. In fact, the people of Baishu Manor were stunned the next day after receiving the plow. Reclamation has begun, and the speed of plowing has subverted the local people's understanding. However, snow has covered the ground. Some villagers expected to renovate their fields during the snowfall, but now it seems that they must wait until the beginning of spring.
Can the wind and snow affect the Russians?
The stubborn people in Pine Needle Manor believe that the Varangians are weird people who emerge from the snow in the north. They are a group of people who are not afraid of the cold. However, their ships cannot sail on the ice.
Otto clearly sees this, but he has no time to retaliate against the Pine Needle Manor.
The Russians delayed their trip again. They came to Novgorod in great force and put on a grand show. They gained a lot of popularity in White Tree Manor and left more notoriety in Pine Needle Manor.
The Russians withdrew, even suddenly.
Lilia had told her mother what she had seen, especially everything about Rurik. Gus realized that Rurik was by no means a god-like being., that child does have magical powers, but aside from these magical powers, he is a lovely boy. It seems that he is much gentler than his father.
Lilia put on a beautiful glass bead mixed with amber necklace for her sister, and hurriedly boarded the huge Russian fleet returning.
The arduous return journey became full of dangers. The fleet rode the waves in the icy sea wind. The broken ice that began to appear on the sea aroused people's nerves at any time and at any time. The huge amount of tribute they carried Reduced speed.
Otto felt that this was the craziest voyage in his life. Perhaps when he arrived at his hometown, it was already a freezing November. Although the fleet is now moving through small pieces of ice, it is not a big problem to return home safely. However, everyone must be aware that soon after the fleet arrives, the entire sea area will be covered by thick ice.
The Russians had a hard time returning home, and Otto wished he could go home early.
Because Rurik will show some new tricks.