Otto temporarily handed over the management of public affairs to Rurik. He was training his only son so that he could inherit his career as soon as possible.
Because time is running out.
Over the past few years, the Ross tribe has been rapidly becoming better. Everything that is happening now is something Otto did not expect. The tribe is walking on an unimagined road.
This road is not just a conquest or trade route leading to the north and east.
It was a radical change for the tribe. It was Rurik’s dream, but it was something that Otto and other old tribe guys could not even imagine.
Glassware that was once extremely rare is now not particularly cheap, but a considerable number of tribesmen already own it, and the tribe is still producing and selling it at a relatively fast rate.
Drinking ale seems to have become a thing of the past. Condensing a large barrel of ale into only a few glasses of vigorously burning spirits has become the new favorite of these old guys. Not only do they like it, but different young men are eager to try the magical feeling of drinking burning spirits, even if it is possible to burn off half of their beards like the leader due to improper operation.
There are many more objects that have never been owned. Whether they are daily necessities, tools or weapons, the biggest thing they have in common is that they will definitely make a lot of money when sold.
Otto is back, and he is very happy to get together with his guys, sipping "RUSVODKA" liquor and chewing meat in a general atmosphere of "two ounces of Lao Baigan and three ounces of pork head meat" Dried and prunes. They are a large group of old guys who have experienced many battles. Rather than doing business and making money, they are more eager to vent their rage on their enemies.
This year must be like last year. The tribe needs to send troops to continue to take revenge on the enemy. What's more, this year, the Ross people have an excellent reason to go to war - to avenge the Ostara allies.
As the Spring Equinox Festival has passed, although the ice and snow have not yet melted, Otto and his guys are already discussing the specific matters of revenge.
There are many technical details in this area. It is definitely not just a commander leading hundreds of strong men, carrying various weapons and roaring rowing boats to land on Gotland Island and then massacre everyone. of.
Everyone believes that the enemy is definitely not a fool, and they must be more vigilant if they suffer a big loss.
Besides, the Gotlanders are hounds raised by the Danes. If they beat the Danes’ dogs, who knows what kind of revenge the Danes will take?
It’s not that everyone is afraid of the enemy’s revenge. It would be bad if this revenge expanded and caused trouble in the commercial activities between the tribe and the Melalen people.
But if you want to retaliate against your enemies without causing any impact on your own economic activities, how easy is it?
After many days of discussion, Otto and several respected old guys came up with some conservative ideas.
A young man like Arik who has made great achievements in battle only wants to repeat his victory and then plunder a large amount of food.Silver coins and precious stones. This idea undoubtedly caused Otto's dissatisfaction.
“The situation this year is very special. We have to continue to build Fort Ross and develop the newly conquered lands. I cannot give all the elites to you, and we do not have the ability to capture the entire island of Gotland. " Otto said.
Yes, Arik's idea is very radical. He hopes that his uncle can also delegate some power and let him lead the young people from all over Russia to organize a huge fleet to fight the Gotland people in a final battle.
"Is it because we have a small number of people that we are timid? Is it because we are worried about the Danish counterattack that we remain on guard?"
Otto asked seriously: "You are questioning "I became cowardly?" "I..." Arik gritted his teeth: "Big leader, don't forget why your brother died. We... must take revenge in my life!" Mission!" In the pure wooden meeting hall, Arik suddenly stood up and said that his uncle had become conservative because of his age.
But everyone knows that Chief Otto led his tribe and conquered slaves back directly across the ice sea. His bravery is unrivaled. Arik's accusation was obviously abrupt!
The elders asked Arik to apologize for his disrespect, but Arik refused.
He said plausibly: "We all have a common ancestor. As a fighting hero, I must continue to carry forward the glory of my ancestors. Now that I have grown up, I must avenge the Gotlanders. Now I There is also the matter of revenge against the Ostara people. I think even if Rurik is standing here, he will support my plan."
"Sit down!" Ordered with a silent face.
After all, Aric still respected his uncle, so he sat down and muttered about his rudeness in a low voice, but he did not feel that there was anything wrong with his decision.
It is ridiculous that my nephew dares to accuse himself of not being brave enough.
But what alarmed Otto most was his nephew's obvious pursuit of power.
Times have changed! The Ross tribe may never have to compete for the position of leader and compete in an age-limited martial arts competition for the entire tribe.
I am already very old, and it is a gift from God that I can continue to live for ten years.
Today there are only three most prestigious people in the tribe: Rurik, Arik and Haro Zuosen.
However, Haro Zuosen stated from the beginning that he had no intention of competing for the leadership position, and his son had no intention to do so either.
Rurik is indeed the person with the highest prestige. Is this the case or does he have the full support of the young warriors? Otto felt that he did not.
Despite the decisive battle with the Kovin people on the glacier, the Ross warriors and servants defeated enemies several times their own and achieved an unprecedented victory in terms of exchange ratio. Otto knew that the young warriors felt that they followed the big leader to fight and win, and the glory of victory belonged to Otto, not Rurik.
In all ages from fifteen to thirtyIn the hearts of men, Arik, the young man who killed at least twenty elite Gotland and Danish warriors with a sword, is the most typical image of a leader in everyone's mind. Because since ancient times, the leader of Ross has been a macho man in the slashing world, and Otto himself rose to the top because of this.
In the final analysis, no matter how well Rurik does things, his biggest shortcoming at this stage is his lack of combat success.
The problem is that no one expects a **-year-old child to be able to kill multiple heavily armed strong men with a sword on the battlefield. That is too unrealistic.
Otto couldn't help but think that the feeling of being admired by everyone was wonderful and would definitely make people's hearts swell. Even though Arik loves his brother deeply, he can obviously conflict with Rurik over the tribe's development concept for the sake of the tribe's justice.
If you ask yourself, Otto also supports Arick’s theory of “absolute revenge”. However, Arik is his eldest nephew after all. When it comes to feelings, Otto will always identify with his biological son. Just because that child could train the boys and girls of the tribe to make complex formations in an orderly manner with just a few very simple commands, he felt that only the path envisioned by Rurik had the most future.
Today’s discussion had an unpleasant ending. Otto’s mood became a little heavy. He always felt that Arik, who was becoming more and more mature, would inevitably become a powerful force in the tribe.
Otto's face was slightly red, and only his nose was red, which was a sign of drinking strong alcohol.
He ate some dried meat before returning to his home. Without saying a few words to Niya, who was leading his adopted daughters to sew leather, he took off his leather clothes, put on a loose linen robe, and lay down on the soft bed. He closed his eyes on the big leather mattress bed, and all he could think about was Arik's plans.
Is it reasonable to launch a full-scale war now? Pooh!
The soft, flat and wide wooden bed, the warm wooden house with the fireplace, and this loose but slightly slim linen dress can be used to clean the whole body, accompanied by strong drinks every day. Otto has become accustomed to such a comfortable life, and he wants to enjoy it more.
In this life, let’s forget about leading the entire tribe of men and slaves to launch all-out revenge against the Gotlanders! The time simply isn't right.
"Arik, you are a reckless fool. You are not as wise as your brother."
"You can be a very good battle leader, but you cannot bring peace to the tribe." Come to real prosperity."
"If you are the leader, our tribe can only gradually die out in the war."
At the meeting, Otto did not make a clear position. The tribe lost more than a hundred elite soldiers in all military operations last year, which was obviously a serious blow to the tribe. People will die in war, everyone is aware of this, but as the leader, Otto must weigh his own gains and losses after the war. We should not only look at how much money, food and slaves were obtained, but also calculate the losses of the tribe's warriors.
Because, the tribe can currently adjustThe most reliable combat force that can be mobilized is barely 2,000, with up to 800 elites among them.
The Ross tribe, even if the various residents living in Rossburg can expand to 8,000 people at one time, the population that can actually guard this tribe is only 2,000.
Thinking of Rurik, Otto thought of more wonderful possibilities.
Obviously, his son realized that the total number of combatants in the tribe was still too small, so he went to train those girls inconceivably. He couldn't imagine whether a grown-up girl could fight as a true female warrior. The only thing he believed in was that if there was a war, the women of the tribe could at least defend themselves and not become a drag.
I thought of my son, but suddenly Rurik would come back.
Coming back together were several mercenaries led by Yevluo, who returned with two heavy suitcases.
Rurik returned with a confident smile, and he was immediately hugged by his mother.
Niya asked enthusiastically: "Are you hungry? I'll prepare some dried meat for you."
"Let's take a look at these two suitcases."
Rurik snapped his fingers, and Yevrod ordered him to open the suitcase and show it full of silver coins.
Just a year ago, Niya was so excited that she jumped three feet high when she saw so many silver coins. In just one year, this old woman's attitude towards money has changed dramatically.
There is indeed a lot of money in the suitcase, but my family has accumulated unprecedented wealth, enough to buy food to feed hundreds of mouths.
Carlotta, Ella, and even Saipolava, the three girls hurriedly gathered around. Compared to the other two girls, Saipolava, the girl from Kewen, was the most shocked when she suddenly saw so much money.
Niya asked casually: "Did you go to the blacksmith to collect your profits this year? Could it be that the blacksmiths..."
Niya knew about the contract between his son and those people, the profits. 10% goes to the leader, so wouldn’t the blacksmiths’ profits be even more exaggerated?
Rurik immediately laughed and said: "This is a brand new tax. I asked the big businessman Gould for the money."
"Huh? You have signed a contract before , you also get dividends from all Gould’s business profits. How can you easily get money from him?”
Indeed, I have a clear business contract with Gould, which is strict. In other words, the relationship between the two parties is that of business partners.
"The situation has changed. Now Gould is our Russian people, and we are the chief family. I want Gould to use part of the money as tax, which is reasonable."
"He is so willing?!" Niya herself had doubts about the concept of "tax" between her husband and son, and never thought that her son would go so crazy in order to make money.
Rurik smiled bitterly and said: "It's not that easy. Where is dad? I want to discuss something with him."
"He is in the inner room."
After a while, Otto, who had just fallen asleep, was awakened. He remembered that his son went to Gould to discuss something, but he never thought that the discussion between the two would be so long.
Otto poured himself a small cup of strong liquor using a newly pressed mass-produced exquisite glass wine glass. After drinking it in one gulp, he immediately felt refreshed.
As for this so-called "exquisite glass", it is a new invention of the blacksmith shop. It was Lilia, who was pregnant, and she and Kamne were studying and making more strange glassware in their free time. Klavasen followed his daughter-in-law's suggestion and made a bronze mold and a pure wooden "hand-made punching machine" with a long lever. Later, Kamne, a Novgorod native who was only eight years old, Like a monkey grabbing a branch, he uses all his strength to press out the viscous glass liquid in the mold. Finally, Lilia held a knife and cut off the overflowing semi-solid glass liquid.
Compared with other glassware, this object is a delicate small utensil for drinking fine wine. The blacksmith shop has sold a hundred of them to merchants! The selling price of this thing is only ten silver coins. It is indeed a cheap thing in the eyes of merchants. It is so cheap that the wealthy leader Otto uses this glass wine cup without feeling any distress.
Of course, Rurik also legitimately earned his own considerable share.
Rurik, who was also returning, immediately ran to the blacksmith shop to get back his profits. During the conversation with Klavasen, he had a quite realistic understanding of the economic situation of all the guest merchants. learn.
After all, those businessmen, they all know that the Ross blacksmith who is under the orders of the Ross leader is allowed to make steel swords for anyone in the alliance who is willing to pay. As long as the money is taken out, everything will be easy. The merchants came with real money and silver, and they paid quickly, surpassing the local Russian warriors who must be fighting with steel swords.
Clavason and his colleagues all know that these businessmen who do not know how to blacksmith, do not know how to select various types of ore, and are full of fear of fighting in person, are very eager for a useful and beautiful weapon. Dagger for self-defense. In fact, Klavasen understands that self-defense is a lie and that showing one's financial resources is fundamental. They hold steel swords mainly for the purpose of showing off, so the hilts and scabbards are engraved with patterns and inlaid with gold, silver, and even precious stones.
Then he cut off pieces of iron and copper with a steel sword inlaid with gold patterns and precious stones in front of his business partners, claiming that he had obtained a magical weapon to show his extraordinary power, and sent I hope this will improve my business reputation.