The group of people had finished wandering around the market, but they had to walk along the old road again on their way back.
Now that news of the "strange Norwegian businessman" has spread, the drama must continue.
Mercenaries will carry some tools with them, such as knives, axes, and thin hemp ropes for binding things. Rurik didn’t know what disaster had happened to tribes like Uppsala, which were clearly far away from the war. Anyway, a group of children fled to the Mälaren Market in search of a way to survive.
The children's hands were tied one after another, and Rurik and his party also acted as slave traders. Their swagger around the city attracted many people to comment, not on the slaves they controlled, but on their attire.
The news had spread, and the Norwegians in burqas almost came to blows with the leader. Are there only some bold Norwegians left who dare to challenge the leader of Mellaren?
The market merchants said that they were brave people. Unexpectedly, not long after Rurik and his party left, the whole market was in a state of uproar.
For nothing else, Chief Olegin brought his private soldiers to collect the so-called tax. The news had already spread, and anyone who refused to pay would be severely beaten.
At the dock, Gould has sent a long ship. Thinking that Rurik might purchase a lot of things, the ship is larger in size.
The sailor who was ordered to pick up the people was surprised to see Rurik returning. They landed with only a dozen people, but now they have become a giant of more than 40 people.
A large number of ragged children with their hands tied got on the boat. There was no fear in their eyes, only a strong sense of anticipation for the legendary Gould Island and Fort Ross.
Sailors are self-aware. They don’t ask anything and just control the sail. Rurik’s mercenaries and even Arik are all working as oarsmen, just to help the ship return to ancient times as soon as possible. After arriving on the island, the brothers can eat barbecue.
"Now, let's untie their ropes!"
Rurik's order was immediately implemented. The mercenary gently pulled the rope a few times, and the ropes on the children's wrists were Just let go.
Yes, the mercenaries were tied with live buckles, which also proved that the swagger was just an act.
The children were freed from all restraints. They all held some dried fish in their hands and ate by themselves, even sucking the fish bones.
The sky is dark, the cool lake breeze sweeps across the main water area, and the wheat fields that are doing their best to ear are rustling in the wind.
Some blurry fishing boats on the lake lit torches to lure fish, and large fishing nets have been sunk in the water, waiting for the perfect opportunity to catch bass.
The huge Lake Malaren has huge freshwater fish resources, among which the intentional bass is the largest. And every autumn, salmon that inhabit a wide range of sea areas begin to return to their original spawning grounds. A considerable number of bass must first enter Lake Mälaren, and then enter the small rivers and penetrate deep into the cradle-like marshes.
The vast lake area is almost exclusively used by Mälaren fishermen.At the fishing ground, another group of bold fishermen entered the sea. Facing the northern Rus people who had begun to compete with them for the ocean fishing grounds in the past two years, they dared to be angry but did not dare to speak.
As usual, the Gould family is not involved in lake fishing. They and many business families who occupy the islands in the lake have very professional ethics, that is, they only do business and will never compete with the Malaren people for basic information. survival resources.
At least the merchants will not threaten the roots of the tribe. The traditional leaders of Melalen only require them to pay tribute when they go ashore to do business. Other than that, everything is free. Even merchants need to spend money to buy food to support a group of servants, and their consumption also makes the lives of the fishermen in Melalen easier.
In general, the Melalen tribe has more abundant materials and is more capable of resisting natural disasters and material shortages.
However, for those tribes living in inland areas, the geographical location of the Uppsala people determines that they can hardly grab some resources from the rich Lake Malaren, and their farmland is naturally poorer. , the food that can be grown is really not much even in warm years. They are also actively raising livestock in order to obtain wool and milk so that they can support more tribesmen.
However, the autumn of 831 came too early.
A large rowing longboat full of people docked at the dock on Gould Island.
Rurik and his mercenaries were the first to step off the landing board and stand on the trestle.
"You all come down, children of Uppsala, this is your home for the time being."
The gentle call slightly dispelled the children's worries, and they were still very happy overall. Be alert, when the first boy tentatively walked out of the plank, the subsequent children followed cautiously, and finally they all stepped onto the trestle.
"Very good. Now let me go and I will give you something to eat."
It is in the evening, the setting sun is spreading its last glow on the lake, and the world in the east has already The stars are brilliant.
The entire island is filled with the aroma of food. As usual, the people on the island eat thick vegetable soup and a lot of grilled fish. Before the oats were harvested, Gould sent food purchasers and all they brought back were fresh fish and vegetables.
Almost everyone is eating, but there is no canteen here, and Gould has no plans to do so.
The core area of the island is wrapped by a wooden wall, which not only plays a defensive role, but also serves as a key leveling to keep out the cold.
A large number of people were holding wooden bowls in one hand and several grilled fish skewers in the other, sitting on the wood deliberately placed horizontally at the base of the wall to feast.
The most ordinary people can only eat the most ordinary food, including the beggars from many tribes who were gathered by Gould early on. They have been eating surimi vegetable soup for a long time. Although the food is meager, no one will go hungry.
As for the mercenaries, they were naturally provided with beef, mutton and fish.
As for Gould himself, his greedy habit became more and more serious in his later years.
He deliberately kept some strong liquor and mixed it with ale or wine to drink every meal. When it came to meals, of course there was barbecue every meal. If you are satisfied with your food, you will naturally gain beauty.
Although Gould wanted to enjoy life in time and enjoy the rest of his life in his later years, he was not confused.
As usual, he and his eldest son Snoreva gathered for dinner, accompanied by his newest maid. Perhaps the only drawback was the lack of actors playing the harp and sheng.
Under the dim chandelier with dancing flames, the way the two of them cut and eat the barbecue with knives was really ferocious. Gould, an old guy, even deliberately stuck a dagger into the meat and put it into the mouth of the maid next to him. He also said some promising words and was moved to tears when he saw the servant eating meat, while he smiled literally. The 300-pound fat man had his round blue eyes narrowed into slits.
The two men of the Gould family were enjoying the dinner, and they seemed to have forgotten that Master Rurik landed at the Melalen Market.
Finally, a mercenary hurriedly broke into the dining scene.
"Sir, Chief Rurik is back."
"He is finally back?! Oops!" Gould slapped his forehead vigorously, and then the two beauties beside him Push away. He glanced at his eldest son: "Let's go and welcome him in. It seems that there will be more people at the dinner party."
Gould almost stood up with the help of the slave girl. He drank some strong alcohol. Drinking, walking wobbly.
At this moment, Rurik and the newly subdued children had just walked under the wooden wall.
The wooden door creaked open, and everyone entered the wooden castle in the core area of Gould Island.
For those children, they were surprised to see a large number of people carrying rice bowls. Soon as the wooden door was closed, they subconsciously gathered together because of fear, and because they smelled the aroma of food, they couldn't help but Drooling.
After a while, Rurik finally saw Gould, who smelled of alcohol.
"Have you been drinking?"
"Oh, my little master, I can only say that Ross Vodka is really delicious."
"But it It’s not as profitable as I thought.” Rurik didn’t want to talk about the wine anymore, so he turned around and pointed at the children who had gathered into a group of shadows, “Look, this is me in Mela. The children found in the market. Gould, are you guilty?"
Gould was shocked: "Ah? I am guilty?" He couldn't see that Rurik was really unhappy. What does this child mean?
He squinted and saw a group of trembling and pitiful children in the dim light, and couldn't help but feel strange.
"You are guilty. Have you seen these children?"
"Yes, they..."
"I thought you gathered the whole Beggar at the Melalen Market, I met so many people today. Why? Please explain to me."
"This is...unjust!"Gould confidently shouted that he was wronged, but when a new group of children appeared in front of him, he couldn't say anything. "Perhaps, another group of foreign children have fled here recently? "
"Huh? Rurik narrowed his eyes suddenly. Inadvertently, he felt that Gould had told a big secret. He didn't want to wait any longer: "I asked, these children are all from Uppsala. Maybe you know about Uppsala?" What did Ra go through? "
Gould clenched his chin: "Are they all from Uppsala? Among the children gathered before were people from Uppsala. They claimed that there was not enough food to eat and they were driven out by their parents to fend for themselves. Could it be that these people..."
"Maybe that's true? ”
Rurik originally planned to let these children have a full meal and put on new clothes. It is best to wash themselves and even have a good sleep. He will ask questions tomorrow. Their experiences. Now that everyone has arrived at Gould Island, let’s ask clearly now.
Food, clothing, shelter, and a stable future life, Rurik made these four promises. What resulted was the immediate surrender of these Uppsala children. Hunger and cold inspired their survival instincts. As long as they could survive, they were willing to do anything.
Children. They all talked about their past. After all, they were real children, and their pure hearts made them have no reservations. One or two of them wanted to tell their new master everything they encountered on the way to escape.
The problem soon became clear, but the scene described by the children was simply described as "nothing to eat"
It turned out that the Uppsala tribe was experiencing a serious agricultural crisis!
The Uppsala tribe, located northeast of the Melalen tribe, has also experienced a long cold winter this year. The planting season has been delayed, and local farmers are still sowing seeds and praying to the harvest god Frei and the sun. Become Odin and give everyone a hot summer so that the autumn food harvest will not be too bad. However, their food harvest is destined to be a complete failure! /p>
They sowed the seeds close to May, and the low temperature caused many seeds to be buried in the soil. When the seedlings finally grew, their growth was not satisfactory.
The temperature throughout the summer was not as warm as the people of Uppsala had hoped, and the seedlings did not grow rapidly. Of course, there was no fertilizer at all and watering relied solely on rainfall.
One lasted for many years. Autumn has arrived after Japan's rainfall, but there are no signs of earing in all the farmland.
The autumnal equinox is coming. In the hearts of local people, the first snow will not be long after the day and night of autumn. will come.
They had no harvest during the short frost-free period. To make matters worse, most Uppsala people could not catch enough fish in the river and carry their boats to the beach for offshore fishing. The profit is not high either. The annual "battle" to stock up on supplies for the winter has begun.A serious question lies before the entire tribe - famine is destined to come, what should we do in the future?
Youdao is a wealthy person in the Uppsala tribe who leaves each other when disaster strikes. They generally own a large amount of farmland, and a group of tenant farmers are taking care of the land for them.
There is no harvest from the farmland, but the tenant farmers still have to pay their rent.
The wealthy knew full well that their tenant farmers could not produce large quantities of oats and rye, and they did not even have the ability to fish to pay for their rent. The so-called tenant farmers are farmers who once cultivated the land. Natural disasters caused them to gradually lose their land and became "workers" for the wealthy tribesmen.
Now, the most tragic agricultural harvest has come, and the tenant farmers who have harvested nothing are completely in a state of abject poverty, that is, all their properties cannot offset the debts they owe.
In fact, they do have one last asset, and that is themselves.
It can be said that the Ross tribe’s class differentiation is relatively late compared to the entire tribal alliance. The various tribes living near Lake Mälaren have almost completed the evolution from tribes to states, to a certain extent. In ancient times, the Uppsala tribe had become a slave city-state.
Those who could only sell themselves to repay the agricultural debts of the wealthy, in order to survive, they really could only serve as slaves, also known as serfs.
In this way, the wealthy people who own land have suffered certain losses in their lives due to this disaster, but because they have obtained a group of slaves, they may start the most thorough exploitation next year. After all, serfs had to farm all year round, and the reward they were given was only some food to prevent them from starving to death.
In such a state, the wealthy people in Uppsala no longer care that their slaves are actually their own race.
Pity? Why? The alliance leader's Melalen tribe has been doing this for a long time. The alliance leader himself does not care that many ordinary tribesmen have become serfs of powerful people, and the alliance leader has even become very powerful because of this.
The family became serfs, and the men and women were forced to face a sad fate. However, they still had one last hope deep in their hearts.
If the children are controlled by the leader, they will also be regarded as debts to be paid, and the children will be slaves for life.
The farmers in Uppsala, who were completely bankrupt, drove away their children in extreme grief and anger, ordered them to "run away from home" and fled to the Mälaren Market to become beggars. Theoretically, the child's parents can drag their family with them to become refugees. This is just a theory, because the powerful families of the Melalen people will also select or even capture refugees as slaves.
They would rather let their children try their luck in Mälaren, while they would rather stay in their hometown.
Because some rumors are spreading among various tribes, that is, there are some businessmen with unknown motives in Melalen. They are recruiting children. It is said that boys may be trained to be private soldiers, and girls may be trained to be soldiers. Servants, even trained concubines to become masters, in short the child's situation will never be worse than it is nowcake.
Almost overnight, hundreds of children took a small amount of food and ventured toward the core territory of the Melalen people in the southwest.
On the way, they either became weak and died, or were killed by wolves. More than sixty people remained and fled to the Mälaren Market.
The children all complained that they were cruelly driven away by their parents, but they did not know that their parents would face a more tragic fate of lifelong slavery.
In fact, they were controlled by Rurik and faced a similar fate.
Hearing about "parents maliciously abandoning" children, Rurik is no longer surprised now. He is not surprised at all, just like a small area called "Baby Cemetery" near Roseburg. In the woods, babies who cannot survive will be abandoned here. As long as there is food to eat, who would abandon a newborn child?
In just two years for the Russians, Rurik was convinced that the entire tribe had basically solved the problem of food and clothing for the whole year, and the abandonment of babies had ended. Of course, there was also a death order issued by the leader Otto. Because of constraints.
Some children who spoke clearly explained their tragic experiences, and Rurik felt a chill all over his body.
He sighed deeply: "Well, I really can't expect most parents to be kind."
"Mercy? The people of Uppsala have no food. No more If they want to eat, the men will take up arms to plunder. I don’t think Uppsala can rob anyone. They don’t dare to attack the Melalens, let alone the ability to organize a fleet to attack the Gotlanders. The Russians? Attack us? If they dare to plunder, I think you will kill them easily," Gould said coldly.
"Of course!" Rurik said without changing his expression: "If the Mellaren army comes to attack me, what awaits them is my ruthless killing. You know, our crossbows are useless in battle. Invincible."
Hearing this, Gould suddenly recognized the murderous intention hidden in these words. war? The Malaren people attacked the Russians when they were full? Rurik happened to say this.
Gould asked in a low voice: "Rurik, did something happen to you on the shore?"
"Yes. I met Olegin. He was really a hateful person." This guy actually kills people in front of me, is he still the leader of the alliance? He is simply a child killer, hateful!"
Gould had no idea that Rurik could be so angry. Some overly kind children are angry, that must be...
Because of surprise, the slightly drunk Gould came to his senses: "Ah? You mean, the leader Olegin, he...he provoked Did you? Did you go to find him yourself?"
"It was just an encounter." Rurik raised his head, "Sooner or later, he will dare to kill me. To lose the status of alliance leader."
Rurik has long had the ambition to become the new alliance leader, and his ambition is even greater, like the legendary emperor of Rome.
Ambition is ambition, Gould knewDao's little master is actually a very pragmatic person by nature.
"Alas! I don't know what happened between you and him, but we still have to do business with him."
"Only now." Rurik gritted his teeth.
"Okay." Gould shrugged, "I sent a messenger, but the messenger hasn't come back yet. Just come back and rest on the island. As for these children..."
p>
"Follow the old rules." Rurik said in a commanding tone: "When we go back, I want all the children in Uppsala to be alive. You arrange their lives as usual, and treat them if they are sick. Sick and healthy children tell them to do things."
"I understand." Gould nodded deeply: "They are already new Russians."
"Of course! I want all the beggars that the leader expelled, especially that Olegin!" Rurik continued baring his teeth, "Sooner or later, the children who survived his persecution will become my warriors. Pay the price for their prejudice and arrogance!”