Otto suddenly stood behind Rurik, with his sword in its sheath and his hands on Rurik's shoulders. He said secretly: "Rurik, I give you power, now you come to conquer them. They are all your slaves. !" After that, Otto pushed his son into the presence of Chief Kewen.
Rurik was secretly happy. With his father's promise, he no longer had to worry that when this group of people surrendered, the Ross people would continue to kill those who surrendered.
Because, according to the tribe's "rules", slaves who kill fellow tribesmen must pay huge sums of money.
No one is willing to do this.
Jevro received a new order from Rurik, and then said: "You! Take your people and surrender to this boy! You! Kiss his boots to prove your surrender!"< /p>
Rurik shook his head. He might as well express his wishes, which could be regarded as a "carrot behind the big stick" to the enemy.
He had to admit that his ability to speak Old Finnish was far inferior to that of Javlo. Fortunately, at least the enemy could understand it.
Things became so absurd that Kejas felt he had no choice. Now that everyone is kneeling down, don't worry about face anymore. As long as everyone can survive, it is okay to declare allegiance to a child.
What’s more, this boy is holding an incredibly beautiful sword. Presumably this boy also has a very high status among the enemies. He must be a noble among the Varyag people, or even...
p>
Kejas has already guessed that the boy who calls himself "Rurik" is the successor leader of this group of Varyags.
At least, this noble boy can speak alone and speak words that both himself and his tribe can understand.
Kejas looked at Rurik’s beautiful blue eyes with strong pleading eyes.
"My lord, can you really spare our lives?"
Rurik felt a little touched in his heart and immediately responded: "Yes. Your name?! You "My... my name is Kaihas, the leader of the Salmon Lord tribe"
Rurik nodded and pointed his dagger at the big one. Wooden House: "What's in there? Kejas, tell me! Is it your treasure?"
"It's... it's our... our women, our children. Please forgive me, too." Me them."
Women and children?
Rurik glanced at the closed wooden door of the big wooden house and thought that Kehas was telling the truth.
Things have always been very strange. When the Ross army entered the empty village and a fierce battle broke out with the enemy, no woman was seen in the whole process.
Suddenly, Rurik looked at the very solid snow under his feet.
Could it be that there is a cave under the hill?
Rurik stared at the surrendered old guy again, with the back of his dagger placed directly on his head, and Kejas's head was also shaken.
“You can live. Everyone can live.All of you, women and children, will be protected by me. ”
“Oh! I can't thank you enough. "Kejas responded cautiously.
"Stand up, open the wooden door, and let all your women and children come out. ”
At this moment, Kejas could only express his cooperation.
The traps and ropes that the tribesmen often set in the woods can always catch lively squirrels. Now, he has become a squirrel. The "squirrel" caught by the Varyags
Kehas looked solemn. After asking the tribesmen to get out of the way, he opened the closed wooden door himself.
After calling, a large number of women with children, either fearful, crying, or frustrated, walked out of the large public cellar where a large amount of the tribe's living supplies were stored, and walked out of this largest refuge.
While they were bathing in the sunshine again, they saw the huge intruder!
Suddenly, everyone's faces were filled with fear, the women were screaming, and the children were crying.
The women and children of the Kovin people were all stared at by the Russians, just like wolves staring at sheep.
The Russian soldiers were shocked by the sudden appearance of the crowd, many of them. He had a small calculation in his mind, hoping that after the big leader announced that the battle was over, everyone could catch their own slaves.
Of course Rurik also knew what the tribesmen were thinking in this direction.
< p> He held high the dagger with the gem hilt, and under the protection of his father's authority, he looked at his tribe and announced loudly: "Men of Rus! Now I tell you. All Covins here, men, women and children, are now my servants! Don't try to get a slave. You won't lose much. Each of you will gain some treasure. ”Many tribesmen had already guessed that Rurik would announce this, but when everyone actually heard the announcement, they felt a little depressed.
Now, Austrian Otto was surprised that his son would announce this in public.
The first thing Otto thought of when he saw a large group of women and children was to identify the young women among them and reward him for his hard work.
Since his son had made the decision in advance, he had no choice but to agree.
Although Kejas could not understand Rurik’s words in Norse, looking at the current situation, He felt that this noble boy was restraining all Varyag warriors
Rurik turned around with sharp eyes: "Kehas! "
"Here. "Kejas stood in front of the group of women and children, bowing with a humble expression.
"I can assure you that your women and children will be protected, especially your women. They will not be harmed. harm. ”
Kaihas heard it a little incredible. Even in the war between tribes, the people of the "Lord of Salmon" tribe took it for granted that the women of the defeated were forced to serve the victors.
“Oh, my lord, thank you for your kindness. "
Mercy? True kindness means not starting a war. Rurik did not feel that he was merciful now, the battle was over, he just wanted to immediately establish a new order that was beneficial to him.
Rurik sighed and asked directly: "Do you have any other treasures? For example, furs?"
"Yes! There are a lot of squirrel skins."
p>
Hearing this, Rurik’s eyes lit up. In the traditional fur trade, squirrel skin is certainly not as valuable as ferret skin, but a tanned squirrel skin can be sold for more than one silver coin. The Ross people were pursuing better furs, so they snatched Rossburg from the deer farmers. Today, the mainstay of the Russian economy is the fur trade.
Kejas is willing to believe the words of a beautiful boy, because children are always innocent, honest and reliable. It was the madmen behind this child that worried him.
Seizing this opportunity, Kehas immediately expressed his sincerity.
"My master, I will contribute five thousand squirrel skins, five hundred ferret skins, and ten brown bear skins."
Since these are some new terms, yeah After Flo translated, Otto could no longer stand. As the big leader, he pointed the tip of his sword directly at Kejas and ordered: "How many furs have you hidden? Take them all out! You have no choice."
Jevro imitated Otto's expression After a sharp translation, Kejas knelt on the ground, praying with a sad face.
"What is he praying for?" Otto asked his son.
"He..." Rurik hesitated, but said: "He begged us to leave them some supplies to live."
"Bah!" Otto's left hand lid Rurik raised his head and said: "You are too naive. You should never bargain with slaves. Giving them life is the greatest mercy. They have no choice."
Rurik thought for a while, maybe What my father said was right. In this barbaric era, there is no harm in being a little barbaric.
So Rurik changed his mind and the condition for sparing all men and women was to hand over all the treasures.
Kaihas panicked, and he did have reservations. Even though he handed over a large amount of leather, the tribe still had some remaining leather. These leathers would be brought to the south to trade with the Finns after the spring. If it were all given to the Varyags, the future of the tribe would be unimaginable.
In desperation, Kejas suddenly got up, ran into the crowd of women and children, and suddenly pulled out a timid little girl.
Then he grabbed the girl's neck and the two of them knelt on the snow together.
"My master, this is my granddaughter. I give her to you to be your wife. I only ask that you show some more kindness and leave us some supplies."
Wife? absurd!
Rurik glanced at the girl, who looked almost the same age as himself, but this child fell into unexplainable panic. Looking at her eyes slightly looking at the holes in the snow, she was clearly frightened.
In fact, it was okay, Rurik couldn't help but think, if the wall of Russians spread out and let the women and children of the Kovin people see the large number of dead bodies on the snow behind them, wouldn't they faint on the spot?
Otto also felt absurd. He motioned to Jevro to convey his will, so Kejas immediately grabbed his granddaughter's chin, revealing the little girl's stunned face.
"What's her name?" Otto asked.
"It's called Lumi."
The moment Kehas said the girl's name, Otto and Rurik were both shocked.
Or Otto was more regal. He pointed his sword and said: "All the women in your tribe are my son's maids. Why do you think your granddaughter is qualified to be your son's wife?" She is just a humble maid!”
Hearing his father’s words, Rurik breathed a sigh of relief. After all, there were already too many girls around him.
Lumi? Is this child's name Lumi?
Rurik completely understood that this name meant "snow", which was exactly the same as his Rumia's name. He couldn't help but feel good about the frightened girl. He skillfully sheathed his sword and stood in front of the kneeling girl.
Kehas said hurriedly: "She is my granddaughter. Let her serve you. All I ask is to leave us some property."
Rurik has already made up his mind. He glared at Kejas: "You must hand over all your property. I will only leave you some food. I will also take your girl away, but she will not be my servant."
< p>This result was like a bolt from the blue. Then I thought about it, at least they would leave some food, and at least the people would not starve to death.Kehas hurriedly asked: "My granddaughter, what will... happen?"
Rurik did not rush to respond. He noticed that the girl also had an eye-catching hair. Familiar braids, similar hairstyles worn by deer herder women.
"How old is your granddaughter?"
"Seven years old."
"Is she stupid?" Rurik asked deliberately.
Kejas hurriedly denied: "She is smart. She has never seen such a scene, and her father, my son, has been killed by you. Please..."< /p>
"Let me be kind to her? Of course. She will be my sister's servant and I will take her back to my homeland. I will also take some of your boys with me. Kehas, you others The tribe will continue to live here.”
Although he didn’t know what other ideas the Ross people had, Kejas could only accept it unconditionally.
This time, Rurik decided to become a terrible predator.
All the disarmed Kewen people gathered together, and then the young and strong among them were ordered to clean up the battlefield.
When the women of Kewen saw the large number of dead bodies, they fell to their knees on the spot and cried in their arms, or they crawled to the bodies of their fallen relatives and cried until they fainted.
The opposite is RossThe happy smiling faces of the warriors.
Although all warriors have no right to touch any Covin woman, and once discovered, they will be punished by the leader. They were not angry at all, because each warrior was assigned at least thirty squirrel skins!
Rurik led his mercenaries, holding burning sticks, into the cellar disguised as a large wooden house. Just as he had predicted, there was really a cave in the cellar.
The truth is even more shocking.
It turns out that all the houses in the mountain fort were built at the entrance to the cellar. These houses are inhabitable at first, and after lifting the wooden boards, you can climb into the cellar.
Because the average annual rainfall in the Oulu River Basin in Finland is only 600 millimeters, and because of the cold, digging two meters down at any point is the so-called permafrost.
Even on this small hill with an altitude of 80 meters, the Kewen people actually dug a large number of holes in the frozen soil. They are cold all year round and are a good place to store various supplies. The tribesmen don't have any whimsical ideas about living in cellars. They use this as a refuge in extreme crisis situations.
Because of the cold and because the leather has been processed, all kinds of leather can be well preserved.
A large number of animal skins were moved out of the cellar, and they were shared by the Russians as soon as possible. According to tradition, the leader's family has the right to share a particularly large amount of spoils. This time, Rurik was determined to appease the tribesmen who felt aggrieved because they were not served by female captives. He persuaded Otto to distribute all the leather to his subordinates.
It’s not that Rurik doesn’t understand that squirrel skin is a good thing. He feels that what can support the warriors until now is everyone’s desire for wealth.
As for the real wealth, Rurik felt that it was all the residents of the conquered tribes. From now on, they will have to pay a tribute, which is a tax, every year.
So, the battle is over, and the right to life of the remaining tribal people who are willing to surrender must be protected by the conqueror.
This is called taming wild sheep and cutting their wool every year.
In addition, a large amount of smoked fish jerky was also brought out.
Each Kewen tribe will go to the beach to boil seawater in summer to obtain a certain amount of salt, but they will not be so luxurious as to use a large amount of salt to pickle salted fish.
They smoked and roasted a large number of migratory salmon caught in the autumn, processed it into hard smoked dried fish, and used it as food in winter. Therefore, the mountain fortress is not only their defense facility, but also their granary.
The emergence of a large amount of dried fish has instantly eliminated the possibility of a food crisis for the Russian people.
With a wave of his hand, Otto deprived Coven's Salmon Lord tribe of half of its food reserves.
Rurik felt that his father's wishes were too fierce, but thinking that his Ross brothers also had to eat, he simply agreed with this predatory method.
Even more cold-blooded, because many people in this Kewen tribe died, especially the men who consumed the most food. Among those who survived, a group of people would inevitably be brought to Fort Ross.
In the end, the population of the tribal people who stayed here was greatly reduced, and they could not afford more food.
The battle was over, and Rurik knew it was just the beginning.
Because the battle should not stop before the warriors of the tribe capture the real gray squirrel tribe.
Gray squirrels, gray squirrels, a Salmon Lord tribe collected more than 6,000 squirrel skins. Surely the tribe named after the squirrel could collect 10,000 pieces?
The short day was coming to an end, and the battle ended. More than 150 people from the Kovin tribe were killed in the battle, and 20 people from the Ross army were killed.
Now, the Rus became the masters of the Salmon Lord tribe, and all the warriors lived in the homes of the locals.
The aboriginal people were concentrated in some houses. In order to facilitate management and monitoring, men, women and children were forcibly housed separately. Before the Rus end their campaign of conquest, the lives of the tribesmen will inevitably fall into high pressure.
Facing the powerful Ross tribe among the Varyags, Kejas could only lead his own tribe to express unconditional approval.
The tribesmen dug some pits near the mountain fort and buried all the fallen tribal warriors.
Those Russians who died in the battle were also buried on the spot.
The living warriors do not feel at all that their companions died in a foreign land, because the big leader has announced full occupation of the tribe. In the future, the Ross tribe will surely receive a steady stream of tributes from the Kovin people. It seems like a long time ago the Rus conquered Novgorod.
In fact, when the Ross people came to this Salmon Lord tribe in the future, it was like going home.