Encountering and negotiating trade matters with merchants from the Balmok tribe was purely unexpected.
The ten travelers retreated to rest, and Rurik fulfilled his promise and gave them preferential treatment, such as providing accommodation and food. They were also pushed ashore for necessary repairs along with their own boats. repair.
Logically, these travelers need to pay all the expenses. Rurik did not embarrass them anymore and announced that all expenses would be waived.
But it cannot be said that Rurik suffered a loss.
After those people left, the meeting place immediately became lively.
Rurik looked at Mechasta, the Kovin man who had been silent for a long time, alertly: "You already understand our language, although you don't speak it well. You should be able to understand the conversation between me and that person. Now Tell me, have you ever known about the Balmok tribe?"
Mechasta nodded calmly: "Of course I understand, my people have been in contact with them."
"Oh? Your people? Are they in your tribe? Oops, I should call them back."
Mechasta smiled helplessly: "Sir, they are all They died in battle! Most of the men in my tribe were killed by you.”
Hearing this, Rurik couldn’t help but slap his face with both hands: “It’s true that arrows don’t have eyesight! So how well do you know them?"
"They... probably just want to do some business, so they must sell us some salt. You know, we are very short of salt. In order to get salt, we have to carry it. We took a lot of leather to the south and exchanged it with the Finns there. Now we have moved to the seaside and have learned how to boil salt in this mountain fortress.”
Rurik shrugged: "But the sea water here only has a faint salty taste. I dare say that the sea faced by the Balmoks contains more salt."
"This is true. ?" Mechasta asked in surprise.
"Of course." Rurik deliberately raised his voice: "What they are facing is probably the sea at the end of the world. We are a world surrounded by sea water, and all land is floating. Huge islands on the sea. The ocean is too big, and the sea water is very salty in some places, and it is not sea water at all, but more like some kind of lake."
The vast number of Ross warriors and mercenaries, There is also Coven's Mechasta. This is the first time they heard Rurik describe the world like this, and it really changed their worldview greatly.
Because the speaker has a noble status and is a real wise man, everyone is willing to believe it, and it is worth believing.
Rurik continued to look into Mechasta's eyes and said firmly: "Since you have been in contact with them earlier than us Russians, you should build this place well, I can be sure In the future, Ailon Orava Fort will become a very critical trading stronghold. Your people must try their best to learn blacksmithing, and have iron tools to exchange for the best salt of the Balmoq people. I also need your people to exchange them with them as much as possible. salt, so before winter, we can pickle more food. "
"I understand, sir. "
Rurik nodded: "Just step back. ”
Not long after Mechasta retreated, another important person was invited to the house.
The visitor was none other than Spuyut, who was ordered to explore.
But when this young man stepped onto the wooden floor, his slovenly appearance was really uncomfortable.
He had a sloppy beard, a dirty face, and large areas of stains on his leather jacket. Damaged, the whole person looks like he has survived a terrible battle.
“How did you... become like this? Could it be that you fought the bear with your bare hands? ”
Spuyut didn’t care about Rurik’s surprise. When he mentioned the bear, he became very excited.
A pair of sharp eyes lit up his scruffy face. His face was filled with an expression of asking for credit: "Sir, you would never imagine what we encountered in the river in the north. "
"You met Balmok travelers, I know. "
"No! "Spuyut's expression was even more lively: "We found a small lake, and there are a lot of bass in the lake. We investigated further and found that there are many rivers flowing into this small lake. Those rivers lead to distant places, and we can fully explore further. "
"So, you went further north? "Rurik's nature was brought up.
"We didn't do that. We camped by the lake and were very lucky to encounter some bears and lone deer running around. We easily killed two bears and ten deer using our crossbows. The meat was eaten by us, and we brought back bear skins and deer skins. They are all our gifts to you. ”
Rurik was certainly satisfied, but then he thought, with all these gains, why didn’t they take the initiative to trade with the Balmok travelers instead of bringing them back?
< p>Also, why didn’t those travelers mention the crossbow?After further questioning, Rurik got a logically defensible answer - the encounter with the Balmoks, It was entirely an incident that occurred on the return trip.
The fishermen have made significant progress in their exploration mission, which is to discover the outstanding freshwater fish resources in the upper reaches of the river. Due to the factors of the river itself, they have to catch freshwater fish. In terms of fishing efficiency, it can definitely surpass ocean fishing. The most efficient thing is for two larger fishing boats to cooperate and drag a very large hemp rope net forward in one direction. The boat would close the net when it felt the time was right. Since there was no sonar equipment at all, the power of the boat was a mixture of oars and sails. This kind of fishing was simply a matter of luck. Thanks to the abundant herring resources in the entire sea area, the Russians cast their nets every time. All are harvested.
Of course, river fishing is still a similar routine, but it has changed from sweeping aimlessly to sinking large nets to the bottom of the river to catch the swimming bass and salmon.
p>WhenHowever, Kewen people have a more primitive method, which is to create a calm pond to attract swimming fish, then seal the entrance of the pond and scoop out all the water to create a shoal of fish.
Freshwater fish have more bones than sea fish. The small problem of fish bones is not a problem for the Russians at all. They all know where the fish bones of freshwater fish are mainly concentrated, so they just need to pay attention when eating.
Life is still poor. Everyone has something to eat, but do they still care about the abundance of fish bones?
In fact, the small lake mentioned by Spuyut is actually the intersection of two larger rivers. There are also a large number of creeks flowing into it, so it forms a large lake here. freshwater lake.
Its geographical location is quite advantageous, and it is reasonable to build a small city here.
Yes, she is Rovaniemi, the so-called hometown of Santa Claus.
But the current Russian people do not have any romantic imagination in this regard. Spyut simply called it "Perch Lake", which was just a name for it, nothing more.
Going north along the river, from Ironburg to the so-called Perch Lake, that is, "Rovaniemi", the geographical straight-line distance is 90 kilometers away. Considering the winding of the river , the expedition team actually traveled upstream for 150 kilometers.
It can be said that the discovery of Bass Lake by Spuyut and his guys is really a precious gift to Rurik.
The preciousness of this gift lies in the local freshwater fish resources.
If local fishery resources can be used nearby, it is better than getting rid of Ross fishermen who catch marine fish from the southern seas and then transport them.
During the transportation process, the marine fish was slightly rotten and smelly, which everyone could tolerate. The only thing that worried Rurik was that he needed to pay the fishermen to buy the fish and the transportation fees.
Up to now, the Ross tribe’s comprehensive tax system has not been established. A system often cannot be instantly supported by everyone just because of the leader's decision, not to mention that this system still requires some money from the residents' pockets. Even if the funds are collected, they are used for the purpose of building the entire tribe. Because in the past, everyone had no concept of taxation and things were done quickly and quickly, Rurik was worried that the strong prestige he had established by relying on myths and stories would be damaged.
Based on this current situation, Rurik must pay the free fishermen of his tribe.
There is no free lunch in the world. Even if it is charity, those who give charity must obtain the satisfaction of reputation and even the satisfaction of their own values.
The various tribes in Kewen are fishing and hunting people themselves, and they are also good at catching freshwater fish.
In the final analysis, the attributes of the Iron Squirrel tribe are slaves.
They are slaves. kindness? Will there be some kindness in women?
I very much need them to provide labor, give them high-quality food and accommodation, and even safety guarantees, all in order to getTheir labor is worth more. My purpose is to exploit them to maintain my financial turnover.
Rurik calculated and discovered that since the Iron Squirrel Tribe consumes the most supplies is food, if they can solve these problems on their own, as their master, before the chromium steel ax becomes available, they will not have to suffer financial hemorrhage every day. .
At present, the fishery resources in the estuary are extremely poor. It is said that a huge team of salmon will enter various freshwater rivers in September. September is the traditional fishing season for the Kewen people, but September is too far away.
The Corvin people should find a way to go to the north, and even build a small settlement on the Bass Lake. The value of its existence is to catch fish to supply the food needs of Ironburg.
Thinking of this, Rurik felt that he must establish a formal contract with Mechasta.
The summer solstice is really getting closer, especially the dwindling night time, which is the arrival of the nightless night.
Five days have passed since the expedition team returned. In just five days, the construction of the third waterwheel was completed and put into use.
A large number of men died. The Steel Squirrel tribe is very short of men. As the Ross warriors will return to Rossburg, after they evacuate, the Ailon Olawa Fort will really become a military force. The literati's mountain fortress. The small-population tribesmen are Rurik's slaves, and they must give their masters the fruits of their labor - chromium steel axes.
It is unrealistic to expect the Kowen tribesmen who are fully exposed to iron smelting work to become excellent blacksmiths in just two months.
They did not understand the true meaning of the work of smoldering and carburizing. Fortunately, they finally understood how to operate a large furnace, burn sponge iron, as well as forge and quench.
How to become an excellent blacksmith? The best way is to train around the clock. Even a beginner, if he spends most of his time in smelting and training every day, his skills will become more and more refined.
Rurik was a little worried at first, but he felt relieved when he saw that those strong men could already swing the hammers in their hands and beat the embryos into the appearance of "Nordic hand axes".
The return date was approaching. Before evacuating, Rurik summoned Mechasta, the leader of the Iron Squirrel tribe, alone in his mansion inside the wooden wall.
A dark room with only the beating flames of several oil lamps providing limited light.
Two men, one long and one young, were sitting in the room.
Needless to say, the young man is naturally the wise Rurik.
"Sir, I think you and I are going to have a secret conversation?" Mechasta asked cautiously after settling down.
"Yes. There is indeed something that you and I need to talk about."
"What is it?"
"It's about Alonora I think you have been paying attention to the future of Warburg."
"This..." Mechasta hesitated. In fact, he didn't think there was anything to talk about.He said calmly: "Do we still need to talk about it? We are your servants. Just like the agreement at the beginning, we dig ore, smelt and forge it into usable tools, and we present the tools to you. As masters, you Provide us with food and safety."
Rurik nodded and said calmly: "This is the crux of the problem at the beginning. This was our initial contract. Great changes have taken place! The city was established, and you also misunderstood the relationship between slaves and masters in my mind."
"Then..." Mechasta said vaguely.
Rurik immediately took advantage of his little head, and the beating light of the oil lamp shone on his face, further highlighting the serious atmosphere.
“Now, you and I must sign a formal contract, and we must determine the relationship. Although I am your master, through this contract, we must determine the master’s responsibilities and powers, and more importantly, we must Determining the obligations of a slave."
Mechasta could not immediately understand Rurik's somewhat convoluted words. In his mind, although he was a slave now, his life was actually more stable than before. Abundance. Is it humiliating to be a slave? Probably not!
There are more days to eat, and there is no need to worry about attacks from powerful enemies all the time. Everyone thinks it is not bad to become a servant of the Rus. As for hatred, what can be done? The young leader of the Rus' people personally buried the dead, and the Rus' people still respected everyone's sacrifices!
Mechasta actually felt that the master had provided a lot of favors, and he could just continue to do what the master told him in the remaining days.
However, Rurik wanted to establish a relatively equal contract with his servants.
Youdao conquered by pure force and then used force to exploit it. It is purely a wrong act of killing the goose that lays the egg. Furthermore, Rurik's heart is not so violent. What he wants is the efficiency of production, and he wants to develop the productivity of the population under his control as much as possible under the existing conditions in order to strengthen himself.