Yes, Rurik himself did not have the ability to finish leather. Fur is not deeply tanned and becomes nothing more than waste once it decays.
The Gould family has been operating in Roseburg for many years. Thanks to the long-term and stable environment provided by the tribe, they have great wealth. Of course, Rurik was convinced that he was Gould's nobleman, and it was natural for him to ask for more wealth from this extremely wealthy businessman.
Because the trade of various metal tools and weapons within the tribe was monopolized by Rurik. The blacksmith group and even the newly promoted Kewen blacksmith are truly in a community of interests with Rurik.
Rurik will openly sell the chromium steel and chromium iron tools he brought back, almost all of which are axes. An ax costs twenty silver coins or the equivalent amount of silver coins in exchange for physical goods. Rurik Gram decided not to make any changes to the existing pricing.
However, the large amount of leather brought back requires a lot of work.
All furs, including all polar bear skins, are priced at Rurik's fixed price. A bear skin costs fifty silver coins, a snow hare skin costs two silver coins, and reindeer skins also cost five silver coins. .
This price has greatly exceeded the market price, which means that the price of bearskin is not too high.
Rurik did this intentionally and deliberately forced them to buy. He had already figured out a concept of "leather consumption tax for big businessmen" to suppress the Gould family when they desperately refused. , forcing them to accept this strangely named and malicious new tax.
In the final analysis, Rurik wants to make money from great wealth to alleviate the growing financial expenditure pressure under his rule.
Hearing Rurik's quotation, the two obese young men opened their eyes, which were almost narrowed to a line due to obesity, on the spot, clearly revealing their blue pupils.
The elder brother argued hard: "My distinguished lord, the price you proposed is really too high. How can there be such a high price in the market? We have suffered losses by completing this transaction."
"What? You refuse to trade with me?"
Rurik only frowned slightly, and the two of them were frightened to withdraw their resistance.
"However, the price is still a bit high."
"What? Want to bargain? Listen, we hunted the most ferocious beasts from the far north, you should praise me Yongqiang, now you tell me that the price is too high." "No! I don't mean that, sir." The elder brother pulled the younger brother, and the two knew that there was no way out, and they really couldn't think of anything better. For the sake of the longevity of the family, they covered their hearts and bowed slightly: "Then we will follow your request. We...we are willing to spend money to buy it."
Helpless, Gould immigrated to Soon after joining the Ross tribe, he began to have some doubts about his actions. Specifically, he had a complicated feeling in his heart.
Generally speaking, if you stick with the Russians, you should be able to getIt will be stable for a long time, and their descendants are also expected to enter the core group of the Russians. This is a political right that they cannot enjoy in their hometown. Just to get it, the family really continued to bleed a lot, as if his family had become Rurik's sheep, but Rurik was indeed not a person who indulged in pleasure, and the funds he asked for were actually used on ordinary people. Gould was a scheming man, and he knew that this was a strategy to win over people.
The education Gould gave the children was to ask them to obey Rurik's request, even if the request was somewhat unreasonable.
Especially since Rurik participated in the war and returned home across the frozen sea.
If Gould was nice to Rurik at the beginning, it was to maximize commercial benefits. Now he is more afraid of Rurik. He really doesn't know that a child who throws his troops and kills seven or eight hundred enemies (Rurik, as a victorious chief canonized by Otto, naturally gets the greatest honor of victory), once he is defeated, What extreme measures will you take if you get irritated?
Gould's children followed their father's orders and bought Rurik's leather goods at a very high price within a short time of the fleet docking. As for the follow-up matters, Rurik didn't care. In short, he took his servants, guys, and soldiers back to his home away from home.
That night, the servant of the Gould family came to the door of the leader's house carrying a heavy suitcase.
They unloaded the box and evacuated, and there were as many as nine thousand silver coins in it!
And Rurik also immediately ordered the mercenaries to work with him to transport the silver coins to the room where the "big money box" was stored in the longhouse of the priest. Rather than building a treasury himself, Rurik thought it was most reasonable to arrange for people to act as gatekeepers and guard the sacred priestly domain where silver and gold coins were stored.
It was in the chief priest's house that Rurik met Rumia, who was dressed in plain robes and devoted herself to receiving one-on-one priestly education from the elderly Vilia.
Just like a sister seeing her long-lost biological brother, Rumia excitedly rushed over, hugged Rurik, and kept telling her sins of not welcoming him with all her heart.
It was this hug that finally calmed Rurik's heart.
Ah! Finally home.
But why hasn’t Arik come back yet? Is the fighting still going on? !
Not only has Arik not returned, but Rurik still lacks the latest news on where Otto’s fleet is now.
The sacrifices on the summer solstice arrived as scheduled.
On this day, there is no night for the Russians.
Just when the light was at its dimmest and the orange sun was fixed on the horizon, the Russians completed their sacrifice.
Compared to a year ago, Rumia has grown much taller and stronger. She already showed the graceful figure of a girl. When she put on the plain robe of a priest and the antlered helmet with a flower crown on her head, she became even more beautiful and solemn.
Rurik’s ten maids immediately received some sacrificial techniques upon their return.During the training, the girls wore flower crowns and surrounded the stone ship altar. Rumia, the owner of the largest flower crown, presided over this sacrificial activity as usual under the guidance of the high priest Vilia on crutches.
As promised, Rurik half-knelt in the altar and prayed to the gods for the safety of the entire tribe.
In the past, Rurik felt that these sacrificial activities did not have supernatural magic power, but they could really calm people's hearts.
Now, Rurik realizes that what he needs most is the human heart!
He sincerely prayed that the tribe’s development strategy could be implemented stably and that there would be no huge irresistible changes caused by sudden wars and natural disasters.
He especially prayed that his father, cousins, and all the Russians who were wandering outside could return to their homes before winter.
The money obtained from the Gould family relieved Rurik's financial pressure. But what really made him relax was the "dividends from sales of mild steel supplies" collected, which were actually the corporate taxes paid by the blacksmiths.
In addition, Rurik made another fortune by selling more than 500 chromium steel axes without wooden handles on hand.
Silver coins are just a medium of exchange, but there are really a lot of silver coins circulating in the Ross tribe. The price of various goods traded within the tribe has naturally increased. This strange high price situation is of course abnormal.
Rurik wanted to train his men, especially the boys. He felt that he needed a larger number of professional warriors who were completely free of charge. To feed this group of people, a large amount of supplies must be purchased out of pocket. Now that the grains have been exhausted, Rurik can only hope that fishermen will catch large quantities of food to provide a large amount of food and ensure that the daily diet quality of more than 300 boys and girls remains at a high level.
Everything in the world is for profit, and fishermen go out to sea to fish just to live a good life. They spontaneously continued to raise the selling price of their catch and tested other people's ability to bear the price, and the price stabilized at a high level.
The current situation is not unusual for Rurik. He is desperately trying to find a way to reasonably collect the large number of silver coins in circulation into his own hands from the market, in order to force prices to drop. However, he really has too many people to support! The money spent just to buy the catch every day actually exceeds one hundred silver coins, and the trend is continuing to rise!
The fishermen have benefited, and more fishermen have become diligent.
The supply of fish on the market has increased, but the price has not dropped. The reason is quite simple.
In this era of general scarcity of resources, even the Rus people who settled by the sea still lacked food in general. Because of war dividends, many families suddenly had a fortune, and the first way they thought of spending money was usually to buy food. This demand caused a fishing boom among fishermen.
On a macro level, the fish and meat consumption of the entire tribe continues to increase, and the silver coins in the hands of fishermen have also begun to accumulate.
Wealthy fishermen give priority to buying excellent weapons and tools from the blacksmiths controlled by Rurik. Although they have to pay a higher price, getting excellent steel swords will give them the confidence to go to sea. They all felt that the steel swords in their hands could bring them good luck.
Even so, a large number of fishermen still had some spare money in their pockets, so they began to move south until they broke into the territory of the Melalen people.
In 830 AD, during the busiest months of July and August in the Mälaren Market, those mysterious Russians finally ceased to be very mysterious beings.
Some ordinary Russian fishermen came with a large amount of silver coins. Many fishermen were simply dressed, with a beautiful dagger hanging from the rope belt around their waists. They did not risk going to Lake Mälaren and snatching fishing resources from the locals.
They are a group of consumers who buy whatever they need in the market, even slaves from far away, such as the poor Briton women.
Rurik saw the spontaneous actions of the tribesmen and it was difficult to say anything.
If he really wanted to say something, he could only express one emotion: "People in the ninth century had very little knowledge, but their minds were still very smart."
Every day , new fishing boats were pushed into the sea on the sandy beaches of Roseburg.
Every day, there is a continuous ding-ding-dong-dong sound from the airtight wooden shed on the seaside, and new ships continue to be built.
As we enter July, life seems to be back on track.
But every time he stood on the hill where the children were trained and looked at the raised sails in the fjord in the distance, Rurik's mind turned more and more to the ships.
He often thought of the agreement he had made with his cousin regarding the marauding phalanx against the Gotlandic fishermen.
"Arik, you are back!"
The transfer will not take place until July 15th of the Julian calendar.
A brisk longship entered the fjord waters. It did not raise its sails, but a group of unkempt warriors rowed hard.
The fishing boats all noticed this tribal warship, wondering whether its sudden appearance brought important news.
As expected, they were not only messengers, but also warriors who ended the robbery!
They immediately went to the home of Harold Johnson, who was in charge of staying behind, and reported to him with Arik's message that the fleet that had plundered and won the victory was already on its way to triumph.
What a huge piece of good news! Rurik summoned these messengers and learned some of Arik's daily raids.
The messenger mentioned how many hostile fishermen they had killed and how many catches and tools they had captured.
Most importantly, they focused on the captured ships.
"Well, it looks like I need to prepare the money to exchange ships with my brother."
Whatever is missing is what comes, and now Rurik feels that he can't do it for the time being. There was a shortage of metalware and the need for fishing boats was urgent. Rurik of courseYou can place an order with the tribe's shipbuilder, but unfortunately, even if he has a noble status and is increasingly willing to pay attention to the contract, the shipbuilder will accept the order at the current market price.
The price of a fishing boat continued to rise, coupled with the time it took to build the boat and the number of boats built at the same time, Rurik was not satisfied.
In this case, it is better to wait for Arik to bring back the captured fishing boat.
Rurik was looking forward to it, and on the third day after the confident envoy returned, a huge fleet suddenly broke into the fjord.
If I were to use one word to describe this fleet, it would be "swagger".
The fleet is vast, and Aric is just like his uncle Otto. He stands on the bow of the fleet leader, holding the raised bow with one hand, and holding the hilt of his sword tightly with the other hand. .
He was high-spirited, just like the entire triumphal team he led. All the people who participated in the robbery battle that lasted for more than two months did not have the fatigue of the long battle on their faces, but the joy of victory. And the longing to go home.
Of course, there is also a dream of getting rich.
"Brothers, we are about to enter the harbor! Pass my order down, watch the towing fishing boats, don't let the ropes break!"
"Remember them all, every boat The fishing boat costs two hundred silver coins. Watch the boat carefully and don’t be a sinner to your brothers!”
The soldiers are no fools. Their warships are towing a large number of fishing boats with wooden hulls in series. It seems that as long as they are right, A few strikes on the bottom of the boat with an ax will turn it into a useless pile of sinking wood.
Having towed too many ships, Arik spent a lot of time at sea. Now entering the port, the speed of the fleet is still slow.
The only advantage of traveling slowly is that this young "warrior hero" will further gain the respect of his tribe.
Russians, they are always full of respect for the brave men in battle.
A large number of Russians gathered at the dock. Some people said that this was the triumph of the great leader, while well-informed people said that this was a righteous man who attacked the Gotlanders.
In short, they are a triumphal fleet, and those who return need to be cheered by their tribesmen.
Rurik led his men to seize the best position on the beach. The children formed a neat square formation, each carrying a wooden shield in one hand and a wooden stick in the other. The stick kept beating on the shield, and the warm sound was Rurik's welcome gift to his victorious cousin.
Rurik put on his gorgeous ferret costume, and his "wives and concubines" who were destined to be married were also gorgeously dressed.
Arik, who was on the bow of the ship, saw the large number of tribesmen gathered, and his ears were filled with their warm cheers. He was sure that he was the triumphant hero, and he was immersed in the excitement of this spirit, and burst into tears. His blue eyes flowed.
"Now, I am also a hero recognized by you!"
Arik, he regretted his bad fate. He loved his brother deeply. As he grew older, his inner heart Here he could not stop his jealousy towards his younger brother.
The younger brother is a god blessed by the great god Odin, and he is just a mortal with flesh and blood.
How high can a mortal reach?
Seeing the cheers of the tribesmen, Arik wiped away his tears. He felt that he must continue to receive the congratulations of the tribesmen after landing as a majestic warrior.
Soon, Arik saw the neatly arranged people. Needless to say, this must be an interesting trick of his cute little brother. Although my brother's subordinates are still children, he has to admit that these children only need ten years to grow up, and they will become the new warriors of the tribe, and they may even have more prospects.
He quickly noticed some snow-white human figures. Needless to say, Rurik himself and his wives and concubines were dressed in ferret furs to show off their wealth.
I saw my younger brother, my mother (actually my aunt), my wife, and even the infant Askard.
"Brothers, adjust the course! Head towards the children who are lined up, we will rush to the beach in front of them!"
The rowing warriors roared, well-trained They quickly corrected their course and led the entire fleet straight to Rurik.
"Arik, are you finally going to land?" Rurik soon saw his cousin, a man standing at the bow of the ship holding his sword high.
On this trip, Arik was holding the sword of his late father, Rurik's uncle Ogier. As the successor of the sword, Arik renovated the sword into a steel sword and took it for him. He got a very fierce name "Avenger". Therefore, Arik has two steel swords. Compared with fighting with a sword and shield, he increasingly feels that holding two swords can make him more intimidating and directly scare the enemy.
So the soldiers who fought with him began to jokingly give Arik a nickname: Double Swords.
It seems like this is a domineering nickname, and Arik naturally likes it.
Of course, the two swords will eventually have new successors. Arik hopes to have two sons so that the two brothers can inherit his swords! Oh, the eldest son inherits the family business and must inherit his grandfather's "Avenger". As for the newly made steel sword, it is naturally inherited by the younger son who is not yet born.
The ship washed up on the beach, and the strong keel wood carved deep dents in the sandy beach flattened by the tide.
The empty fishing boats connected in series rushed to the beach one after another due to their inertia, making a dull roar, shaking the beach, and soon the sandy beach was overcrowded with boats!
Rurik saw his cousin, with a very cool gesture, supporting the side of the boat with one hand, jumping down with his whole body and the bow, and setting foot on solid ground.
He glanced unconsciously again and saw a large number of empty ships stranded, and he couldn't help but feel happy.
Ship! Plenty of ready-made boats right here!
Many difficult problems can be solved easily!