It didn’t take long to sail, and Rurik and his party arrived safely at the Washobi Farm in Osten.
Rurik tried his best to block the sun with his palms. When he first saw this place, he only thought it was shabby.
There are a large number of wooden long houses here, and a few houses have walls made of stones, but their overall simplicity is obvious.
The long boat docked at a small dock.
"It seems that your family owns many ships." Rurik said casually.
"No. Rurik of Rus, most of the longships you see are not from my people."
"Who are they? Why are their ships in your Here."
"Just friends. They are all the masters of Vashobi."
Rurik was a little strange, but Floki who was accompanying him gave a simple explanation. Because Washebi itself is a village formed by a group of small families, and the Ostein family is the most prestigious among these people, and he himself is officially the village chief.
As Rurik landed, he stepped on the green grass and soon saw the overview of the entire village with his own eyes.
A large number of simple houses are covered by sparse pine and oak forests. Of course, many of the houses are essentially like tents. You can’t tell that they are houses unless someone comes in and out.
When those people saw that Ostein was back, many people walked out of their houses with smiles and greeted him.
Why are there still some strange visitors?
They are dressed uniquely and seem to have something to do with the big ship entering the fjord?
People were cautious about outsiders, and Rurik tilted his head slightly, scanning the crowd of people from the corner of his eyes to estimate their number and composition.
The scene was a little awkward for a while, and Osten stretched out his hand in greeting: "Don't be nervous, these are Russians. Especially this young Rurik, he is our honored guest!"
After that, the old guy patted Rurik on the shoulder again: "Friend, please stay with me tonight. I will just talk to you about that great thing."
"I have no objection. However, you need to send someone to inform the leader about this matter."
"I will send someone to take care of it right away."
A batch of pine branches lit up. In the fierce fire, a lamb was skinned and roasted.
Washobi welcomed a distinguished guest, and Osten decided to roast a lamb for Rurik, which made his simple home more dignified.
The number of cattle and sheep raised by the locals is very limited. These livestock are constantly exposed to the wind from the Atlantic Ocean and forage on the trivial meadows on the western coast. The harsh natural environment has made Washepi almost a desert. The area is restricted to grazing, but the people living here are still struggling to survive.
Because the best settlements in the fjord are already overcrowded, people who cannot bear the overcrowding have to open new settlements in the area near the home port, or betray the tribe and go to "work" for the Bergen people.
As everything settled down until Rurik personallyAfter entering the village banquet, Rurik finally understood that Vashobi was a semi-free settlement compared to the entire Balmok tribe, which was equivalent to the relationship between the Russian homeport and Tombstone Island.
More than a dozen strong men from Washobi entered the largest brightly lit house at Osten's call.
This house is not a longhouse. According to Rurik, it is a huge permanent tent. Huge wooden “mushroom heads” are installed on the nearly circular wooden walls. There is a hole in the center, so a bonfire can be lit indoors, and the exhaust gases will escape from the hole.
Rurik has a noble status and is naturally entitled to enjoy the sizzling roasted leg of lamb. Even the three Rus warriors including Yevro, whose heroic spirit was admirable, naturally became guests. Similarly, Nolen and Floki are the two children of the leader, and Ostan must also treat them with courtesy.
In fact, when Austen saw the intimacy between Nolen and Rurik, an indescribable sense of loss enveloped him.
The younger son Esbjorn is already old enough to get married. He intends to wait until Noren grows up and then takes his younger son to propose marriage. Now, all the plans have come to nothing, but I am not at a loss.
Rurik, a boy from the sea, whose hometown is actually the ocean to the east of the mountains.
Although this is very unbelievable, looking at it now, the Russians have dreamy ships, which can naturally sail extremely long distances.
Many strong men gathered together. They all wore swords and hand axes, and their eyes glanced at themselves from time to time. Rurik felt really uncomfortable eating this meal.
Until Ostan saw Rurik chewing half of the lamb leg, he finally said: "It's time to talk about business! Rurik, look, our bravest men in Vashobi are all gathered together. Here."
"Okay! Let's talk about business."
Rurik put down the meat and looked around, realizing that he no longer needed any cover. I know what you are going to do. You are going to try to rush into the so-called sea of the end of the world, you are going to find a new home, and build a better Washebi." "That's right! Do you think we can do it?"
When asked suddenly, Rurik was slightly stunned: "Is this my problem? It's obviously your problem, so just take your friends on the voyage. . So, you don’t have full confidence until now.”
“Indeed, because sailing to the west, you may be swallowed by sea monsters, or fall into the abyss at the end of the world, no one knows what is there. . I know some brave people tried to sail away..."
"And what?" Rurik asked.
Osten shook his head with a sullen face: "No one survived."
Of course there are too many dangers to sail in the ocean. At least the hydrological conditions of the Baltic Sea are better than those of the Atlantic Ocean. too much.
Rurik leaned back slightly: "So, what can I do for you? WordsEncouragement? Or provide more direct help? "
"We...I..." Osten continued to hesitate for a while, and finally came up with the desire that Vashobi and his gang had been thinking about all night: "I want to buy your big ship. "
"Buy? "Ostan's proposal immediately cheered up Rurik. After all, Rurik had already made a verbal agreement with Biyongni about buying a ship. Therefore, even if he bought a ship, he would have to sell the new ship to the leader Magnu. Special.
"Yes! Ordinary long ships may not be able to withstand the waves of the sea, but if we have a big ship, we have nothing to fear. ”
Rurik did not want to refute Osten’s extravagant hopes. The Avora was a replica of the Caravel ship. Even if she was upgraded to a Galen-type ship with a displacement of thousands of tons, if it encountered a typhoon at sea, Still unable to withstand the huge waves, Halsey, the monstrous beast from the plane, had to rush through the typhoon with the entire fleet in a hurry. Even a 30,000-ton steel aircraft carrier could only rely on its huge size. To be honest, Rurik didn't want to sell it to this group of people even if he had a new ship. It wasn't because he had strategic concerns. It’s these guys who simply can’t afford it.
Facing Rurik’s hesitation, Osten urged: “Friend, at least give me a price. ”
“Okay. Rurik took a long breath and said, "At least two thousand pounds of salt." "
As soon as these words came out, the whole room was suffocated.
Osten was silent for a long time and finally suppressed a bitter smile: "Two thousand pounds of salt? This... is crazy. It takes us at Washebi many years of hard work to make so much salt. "
Rurik shrugged: "But I see that you are very happy to buy my ironware. ”
“That’s different. I want to arm my friends, we want to organize a force expedition, and the weapons have to be paid even for a large price. Besides, the quality of your Russian ironware is excellent, which really opened my eyes. "
"Oh. To be honest, as for the price of a large ship, which is equivalent to two hundred pounds of silver coins, this is actually the best price for selling it to a friend. If I were to be serious, it would make sense to sell you four hundred pounds of silver. What do you think? It will take us twenty days of continuous sailing, crossing the Danish blockade, and fighting if necessary, before we can bring the ship to your port. I also narrowly escaped death for this voyage. "
What Rurik said is completely true, and in the eyes of Osten and others, the Russians are simply using their strength to persuade them to back out on the issue of buying big ships.
"But Two thousand pounds of salt, that’s crazy. In order to buy this batch of ironware from you, we at Vashobi have sold you a whole year's worth of boiling salt. ”
“You can only make a hundred pounds of salt a year? "Rurik suddenly stuck his head out and asked.
"If you work hard, maybe you can reach two hundred pounds. You see, it will take us ten years at the fastest to buy one of your big ships. ”
"That's because you are too poor!" Rurik slammed the table. Now that he had some unkind words in his heart, he finally shouted out.
"Ostan!"
"Here."
Rurik no longer modified his words with any honorifics, he stretched out his hand and pointed to the west: " Do you know Britain? That big island is in the southwest. Do you think the sea in the west is the end of the world? I tell you, the abyss and the huge sea monster are all the imagination of cowards who dare not go to the sea, so they make up some lies. To cover up your cowardice, if you believe it, you are a fool."
How could Austen endure being scolded by a kid at his age? But he held it back because Rurik's words mentioned a very wonderful conclusion.
“We all know the existence of Britain. The guys from Bergen went there and captured a lot of slaves and a lot of gold and silver. But how do we get to Britain when we go all the way west?”
p>"You... think Britain is just a small island? Its length is longer than the distance from Balmok to Bergen. You are very poor now, but what I see is a group of warriors." said Then, Rurik simply stood up: "I can guarantee that you will be able to find land when you sail westward, and you can establish a new settlement in a more comfortable place. And I also intend to control the big ship to explore the western waters. Because, I got the oracle."
Rurik patted his chest, and his words "I got the oracle" really shocked Ostan.
"Sailing westward, we will encounter some islands where settlement may be possible. If we leave the port and turn southwest, we will definitely find the northernmost point of Britain."
Listen, Ostan stood up excitedly: "So, you will help us?"
"It's not just you? I'm not just here to sell a shipload of goods. I'm here, then it's just the two of us. The tribes join hands to do a big thing." Rurik simply approached Ostein and looked up at the old guy: "Don't you want to be like those in Bergen and go to Britain to grab a lot of wealth?"< /p>
“Think! I dream about it. Maybe I won’t live to see that day, but my two sons, my family, and my friends must farm in a warm place. Shepherd."
"Then follow me!"
"Okay, but all my warriors in Washebi, including all the female warriors, can only do it. Assembling a team of 150 people is not very strong. I don’t want to simply plunder in Britain. I want to settle down.”
Compared to ordinary Vikings, this Gass. The motives of Ostin the Hobbit's expedition are truly bizarre. Rurik thought carefully, and suddenly he realized that these guys were Norwegians. Although they were all Vikings, there were indeed big differences between the Norwegian Vikings and the Danish Vikings. The various Norse tribes, rather than raiding, were willing to explore the new world and serve as pioneers.
Washobi, by the standards of the current era, Rurik determined that she was already a medium-sized village. In various Viking tribes, even if a girl has the strength to pick up an ax, she is considered a female warrior. It can be said that all tribes are soldiers, and here in Washobi, Rurik saw the simplest "nodic democracy".
This Ostein, his position in Washobi is just the spokesperson of all residents.
The men present began to express their opinions, and everyone’s attitude was very pure. If the Ross ship wanted to explore to the west, if Rurik intended to find Britain and start plundering, then the entire Vasho Bi's warriors would row long boats and join the battle as free mercenaries of the Rus. Once they plundered the locals in Britain, they decided to give half of the loot to the Russians.
Everyone had this attitude, and in the end Ostein also strongly supported it. Everyone started to boo, just to hear Rurik's affirmative attitude from Ross.
"Okay, I'm relieved to see you supporting me so much. But..."
"What other difficulties are there?"
Rurik Clearing his throat: "Soon your leader will hold a meeting."
"Yes. Many distinguished nobles are planning to gather in our tribe's council chamber to have a good meeting with you." The matter I invite you to now is only a private matter for us in Washebi. Any contract we sign does not essentially count."
"But your real desire to leave here is to be in the warmth. Build Nyvastholmby. You don’t have to worry about this at all.” Rurik patted his chest, “Biyongni and I are already brothers. We talked a lot after Biyongni learned that there was a route to go directly to Britain. , he is also very supportive of the attack there. It is difficult for you, the Washebi, to organize an army alone. If the entire Balmok tribe organizes an army, we can successfully rush to Britain during the warm season this year." p>
Ostan was extremely excited when he heard this. A sleeping beast was aroused with the desire to hunt, "It would be great if everyone supports this plan. I am just a little worried."
Suddenly, Floki, the bald boy who had been in the audience, stood up: "Uncle Ostan, what Brother Rurik said is absolutely true. We have been brewing this plan for a long time, and now the Russian ship is parked in the port and heading for Britain. We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to gain wealth."
"You? Boy." Ostan glared at Floki: "There may be a battle. You are young and eager to explore. Fight?"
"Fight? I have fought several naval battles with the Danes."
"This is a fact." I am not afraid of any enemy in a naval battle. I will announce this in public in the council chamber. Chief Magnut will definitely support me, and I believe you will also be very supportive."
"Then.Of course. ”
“Very good. Just rush to Britain and you'll have a chance to loot and become rich. At that time, you will have a steady stream of wealth to buy our goods. Look, I'm not going to do business with people who are willing to be poor. You have to get rich quickly. "
Ostan nodded deeply, then opened his arms and held Rurik in his arms, just like a father holding his son.
"You...are indeed Austrian. The envoy sent by Ding, you have brought us an opportunity in Washebi. "
Rurik hurriedly broke away and asked again: "What do you want to do? ”
“I understand. I will be your absolute supporter in the chamber and I will attack all doubters. We will definitely succeed in our plan to attack Britain! ”