The world in Otto's mind was not very big, or his concept of distant places was very vague. The gods created a wonderful human world, and there is an illusory Asgard in the sky. Unfortunately, he is old and has lost the capital to continue exploring.
Rurik began to mention that there were other people around New Roseburg, even though these people were not even seen.
Otto had to remain vigilant.
Who are those people?
Rurik gave a surprising answer.
He first looked at the structure of the house, determined all directions, and then raised his little finger to point to the west: "I can confirm that Estonians live there."
" I already knew it. It's just a little weird that you gave them names," Otto said.
Rurik immediately pointed to the south: "There are still people there, probably the Pskov people, and a group of people who speak the same language as the Novgorod people. Since we conquered Novgorod Rod, I will also conquer Pskov in the future.”
Pskov? This was the first time Otto had heard this term.
The city of Pskov was not founded in 830 AD, but if the village is regarded as a city, then Pskov has already existed. Rurik knew very well that the Neva River was not far from Lake Chud and Lake Pskov was not far from the Neva River, and there were waterways connecting the two places. As for whether there is a direct waterway from Pskov to Novgorod, this is something Rurik does not know.
Here he particularly emphasized that a certain river on the southern shore of the bay flows into the sea, and going upstream will lead directly to Pskov, another Slavic settlement.
Otto and Konuson were already shocked.
Rurik pointed to the east again: "There is a being named Perm there. There are some people living there, and they may speak the same language as the Finns. Yevlo is a Finn, we The people under his command can also talk to the people in the east. "Perm? Are you sure they exist?"
"Dad, you can't question me."
"Oh, that's right." Otto slapped his forehead, thinking about the extraordinary ability of an only son to see into the unknown world. And the correct prediction of the future is the huge advantage that the Russians have, and it is also a real blessing from God.
In fact, there are many ethnic groups in the east, including the Ingrians, Maryas, Malians and Perm people. They are actually loose tribes with a small number of people. As far as the snowy plains are concerned, they all belong to the broad Finn. What kind of communication can be carried out with these forest hunters from Siberia? Rurik probably only has a very limited leather trade, right? Both parties can do business, and it is not necessary at this stage.
But when the East was mentioned, Rurik was inevitably very excited.
He opened his hands to emphasize. Due to the limited understanding of his father and brother, he was forced to speak simply: "There are many big rivers in our east, and they may lead to the ice."sea, or an equally fiery sea. Continuing to the east, there will be a huge mountain range. If we climb over it, we will enter a vast world that cannot be described in words. There are endless leathers, large amounts of gold and silver, and many unprecedented existences, such as a world with A country as great as the legendary Rome. If distant trade routes can be established, we should take the initiative to establish trade with that eastern power, but we should never think of conquering her. "
What exactly is there in the Eastern world? Of course the Russians want to explore and explore. Konuson has long wanted to do this, but he just suffered from the inability to organize an expedition. He has never imagined going to the East. It is possible to measure a 30,000-kilometer road with both feet. After all, the Russian explorers who traveled eastward in history established multiple camps as far away as California, but due to their absolute military disadvantage, they were all destroyed by the Spanish Empire.
“Ah! Is the East really full of treasures? ! "Knusson was overjoyed.
Rurik also struck while the iron was hot and deliberately said: "What I said is all an oracle. Listen, the gods have blessed us, and what they tell me is the truth, which is a hint that we Rus need to explore. ”
Everyone was very happy with Rurik’s explanation. In addition to Rurik’s words, he was inducing them to explore desperately. Even if they were to be the king of the bad land, they had to be the first to plant a flag on the bad land to establish their ownership. Quan, although Ross is big, there is not an inch of land to spare.
“What’s in the north? I am anxious. "Otto said suddenly.
"Yes! North. Rurik composed himself, "I must emphasize this." Conuson, did you conduct large-scale exploration in the Great Lakes of the East in the past year? ”
“No, we haven’t. If it is your request, we will do it next year. "
"Then be careful, I'm sure there are other people living near the lake, they are Karelia. ”
Another very unfamiliar term. What kind of people are they? Maybe they are a group of rabble that can be easily defeated.
After all, Rurik asserted that Lake Ladoga is not the Russian people and In the lake shared by bears, humans are the masters of the world. No matter how strong the Karelia people are, if they organize an army, will New Roseburg be in danger?
< p>Rurik particularly emphasized the need to beware of threats from the north. Through information gathered from all parties, some existing tribes have been well confirmed, and their strength levels have also been estimated by the Russians.Rurik began to list the forces that should exist north of the Neva River in this era: Karelians, Tavastians, Fens (Suomis), Kovins, deer herders (Sami) <. /p>
Covin and the deer herders have surrendered and boarded the Russian warship. Jevro has given a detailed explanation of the general situation of the Finns. As for Tavastia, whom he has never met. People, they have always been the enemies of the Kovin people. As for the Kovin people on both sides who often fight with each other, they were instantly killed by a small group of Ross expedition teams. Doesn’t this mean that the two partiesHave we been just noobs pecking each other for a long time? Since the Rus quickly conquered the Corvins, it would not be difficult to conquer the Tavastians in the future. That's how he estimated it.
The ones who still remain mysterious are the Karelia people. In Rurik’s impression, the Karelia people have always been an extremely weak force with almost zero sense of existence. They can’t even The Sami people are not even as good as they are.
In line with the principle of paying attention to potential enemies, Rurik thought for a while and simply overestimated those guys whose existence was vague, so that his people would not be too arrogant and treat possible military threats with vigilance and rigor. threaten.
Rurik claimed that the Karelians were quite powerful, and if they launched an attack, Novorosberg would have to rely on walls to remain safe.
So what is the actual situation?
Tavastians and Karelians are not weak in today's era. In other words, the reason why they are relatively strong is that their tribe has more than 10,000 people. Even if the tribes live scattered and rely on fishing, hunting and gathering, they have at least entered the semi-iron age, and the proportion of iron in their weapons and tools continues to increase. In history, many Kievan Rus nobles were attacked by Tavastians and Karelias when they asked for tribute from the north, causing considerable losses.
But today's Karelia people can only maintain a population of at most 20,000. Their production capacity is extremely low and they have no resources to feed more people. But the population directly controlled by the Russians was barely 6,000. When he was at an absolute disadvantage, Rurik did not want to actively provoke some wars unless the war came uninvited.
Now, Rurik has a strong premonition that a big war is in the near future.
Otto was excited. At this moment, he felt that his son's sudden visit was an oracle, which had made the people of New Roseburg realize that their lives were never easy, and there were potential enemies on all sides.
Otto pinched his chin: "The Karelia people? If we have more warriors here, can we conquer them? Rurik, give me an answer."
"War? If possible, I hope to have peaceful contact with them, unless they are really plundering our interests."
Rurik hopes for peace, Otto laughed: " Forget it. If they are really strong, let's do business well. If they are weak...just tell me how many people can conquer them."
"This..." stayed for a while. Rick couldn't make up his mind, so he lied: "Maybe a thousand people are needed."
"So many?"
Aric was displeased and slapped his proud chest. : "Forget it. Give me five hundred people and I will conquer them all. In my opinion, the Karelians are all weak and only worthy of being our slaves. Brother, you can't look down on them."< /p>
"That's good." Otto nodded with satisfaction, then looked at his son: "You should learn from your brother. Listen, treat them as if they are realhave surrendered, you can be kind to them. You should defeat them before they fall to their knees. ”
“Okay. "Rurik didn't want to waste any more words. He secretly sighed that some small ethnic groups were destined to be conquered by the strong and become vassals. "Now you know, there are people everywhere around New Roseburg, they are just hiding in the woods. . I saw that the land here is fertile and suitable, the rivers ensure sufficient fresh water, it is adjacent to the sea for cooking salt, and it is adjacent to the large lake for fishing. To the north we can conquer those people, to the south we can ask for tribute from the Novgorod people, and to the west we have smooth trade routes. New Roseburg is our new beginning. Maybe we should move all the people from our hometown here. "
The son's words hit Otto's heart directly. Compared with his hometown, New Roseburg at the mouth of the river is indeed a geomantic treasure.
" When we want to migrate, we must do it slowly. But I think my hometown still plays a role. "
"Is it a mine? Maybe it will be enough for our hometown to be responsible for producing ore in the future. Rurik answered very simply. Although he was attached to the small fjord, the Russians never missed home, and they were never people who settled down in their land.
The ore Otto was mentioned. Fa didn't think much, so he continued to mention the original topic: "Rurik, you took the surrendered Kovin people to the north, to the big mine we discovered in the winter. Is everything okay? Those special ores..."
"The condition is very good. In my opinion, that mine is a hundred times better than the one we have near Roseburg. "
It must be true that his son had high praise for it. Otto recalled what happened more than half a year ago and thought that the northern forest was surrounded by mountains and rivers. It was a bit cold. , building settlements is not difficult
“How are the settlements there? Do Covin people adapt? "Otto asked.
"Of course. I took many brothers there, guided some fishermen to explore, and even organized an expedition to go north against the river. Dad, you know, the Kovin people are used to building a hill fort, and they didn’t want to give up the name of the squirrel. I named it Ailon Olawa Fort, and they were very happy. A brand new hillfort was built, enclosed by a wall and five hundred stikas long. We made an agreement with them. Starting from this year, those Kewen people must pay us a large amount of iron. "
Otto was very happy to hear this, but also a little suspicious: "Iron weapon? Those guys actually have a blacksmith? ”
“They didn’t have them originally, so we conducted a surprise training. Dad, you should have gone back long ago. We should go to the Oulu River to collect tribute from other Kovin people. ”
“The situation this year is more complicated. Otto sighed, "The sea will freeze in November, and I think it doesn't matter." Now that we have conquered the ice sea, we can conquer it a second and third time. We use reindeer sleighs to collect tribute, which is no more difficult than sailing. ”
“Okay. Iron Olawa Fort is indeed a good place, and soon, in our tribe,Iron tools will become cheap products, and we can make huge profits by selling them. ”
My nephew Lezhong led his warriors to plunder and make a fortune, and his son Lezhong made money by selling high-value-added goods. Now New Roseburg is rapidly evolving into a production base for major daily necessities, and there are also many foreigners. Tributes were provided regularly. Otto stroked his beard, life was really pleasant.
But wait, just now his son mentioned that he organized an expedition to go north along the river?
"Rurik?" , you sent an expedition team, how did it go? From the look on your face, they must have gained something. "
"I was about to say this. "Rurik slapped his thigh, his excitement palpable.
"Dad, we all know that there is a dangerous mountain range to the west of Fort Ross, and there are a large number of Norwegian tribes to the west of the mountain range. There is a group of people who are unknown to us and even to other tribes in the alliance. They come over the mountains. They call themselves the Balmoks and speak a language that we can fully understand. In fact, they are not strangers. They are the northern fur traders mentioned by the Corvin people. They are looking for the Corvin people. We are the masters of the Corvin people, so..."
"Where are they? ! "Otto's body that had been sitting upright had already made his back hurt. However, the series of key information mentioned by his son kept refreshing his worldview.
"There are ten travelers, and they are here. Our Roseburg. They were happy to talk to us and happy to buy our pelts. ”
“Balmok people? I have no idea. Do they have any silver coins? ”
“A little bit, the silver coins don’t matter. They brought a large quantity of salt, which was of excellent quality. Boiling salt is a very troublesome thing. In my opinion, if our business is stable, we can buy their salt for a long time, and we don't have to go to all the trouble of making it ourselves. "
"Balmok Merchant..." Otto clenched his fists, "It seems I should go back early. "
"Dad, when will the fleet set off? ”
“Are you urging me? It's going very quickly. We'll have to wait two or three days to finish loading the supplies and then return. Haha, this time the brothers in my hometown want to praise my greatness again. "Every time Otto returned to his hometown with a huge amount of demanded tribute, he would receive a wave of praise, and he has been increasing his reputation through this for many years.