The Avora moved forward in the sea of broken ice. She moved against the wind, and her bronze bow kept smashing into the ice, as if she was engaged in a war with the enemy.
The creaking and creaking sound made the people on the boat feel uncomfortable when they resumed sailing, and it was even more difficult to sleep at night.
This is the last voyage, and it is also in late October. I am afraid that there is only one cold wave before the Gulf of Bothnia is completely frozen.
The weather has been quite sunny for the past few days, but the temperature has not gone up no matter what.
Due to the broken ice on the sea surface, Ross fishermen have completely suspended their operations, and their winter life has begun.
The arrival of Avora was both unexpected and reasonable. The people of Roseburg saw a large ship with a triangular sail entering the bay completely covered by thin ice floes.
Many people stood on the deck. Although the cold wind was like a knife, they finally returned triumphantly after a long and great expedition.
People were whispering and laughing, talking about taking away the spoils they deserved after landing, and living a nourishing winter.
Of course, some people think that this is a luxury wish. Of course, people are willing to settle for the status quo and not get up if they have food and drink, but Sir Rurik is not a lazy person.
For several years, the Russians have used winter as a new opportunity to explore. Think of Rurik's preaching in Balmok.
This winter, many brothers have to escort the adults on their overland journey to Balmok.
There is a group of Balmoks in the mercenary team. They do not have a clear concept of nationality, and now they simply hope that the two ethnic groups can merge.
Rurik, wearing a thick leather coat, looked at his Roseburg.
Mary stood next to him. When she opened her eyes, she saw a huge city no less big than Tamworth!
No! That is a very special city!
The city has walls and towers. Outside the walls, there are a large number of buildings adjacent to the coast. Although this bay has already frozen, the ice will only get thicker in such a cold environment.
It looks like a forest growing on the seaside? That turned out to be a large number of ships! It was an extremely large fleet.
Is this the naval strength of the Russians?
Prince Mary fell into deep doubts. She was convinced of the power of the Principality of Ross, but she doubted that even if all the power of the British Kingdom was gathered, it would be unable to defeat such a powerful enemy.
Fortunately, I am already one of them.
Looking at his harbor, Rurik looked at it very carefully. He counted the masts and soon beamed with joy.
The Avora-class sailing cruiser is very large. In addition to its own ship, there are three other ships parked on the seashore. Their majestic appearance is clearly visible.
The slightly smaller one is the planet-class sail destroyer, and there are actually eight of them parked here! Apparently all eight planned ships, from the Mercury to the Neptune, have been launched.
He seemed to hear ding ding dong dongThe sound may be an auditory hallucination. Rurik can be sure that in the two huge wooden indoor docks on the coast, the Hotla family is building the fifth and sixth ships of the Avora class cruiser. What kind of names should we choose?
Rurik can fully confirm that Ross’s Eighty-Eight Fleet plan will be completed as planned next summer.
Rosberg is shrouded in silver light. The silvery white covers her majestic outline, making the entire city even more profound in its history.
Indeed, as a settlement, Roseburg has existed for more than seventy years.
She is actually still the capital of the Principality of Rus, but her decline is probably within ten years.
Rossburg will always belong to Ross, and New Rossburg on the Neva River in the east will replace other cities with its glory, and it will definitely be the greatest among the cities of Ross in the future.
A group of people were wandering around the world of ice and snow. In the industrial area of the city, the furnaces were still spewing terrifying black smoke.
Aware of the place, Mary reached out her finger and exclaimed: "Ah! There's a fire there! This is your home!"
Rurik pressed his arm, " It’s so rare, you’ve never seen a blacksmith shop?”
“I have seen it. You can’t say it’s the largest one in Europe?”
Blacksmith's shop."
Mary still doesn't understand, and it's not her fault. It is the only blast furnace in Europe that can smelt molten pig iron and easily mass-produce molten bronze. In fact, she was unfamiliar with blacksmithing, but she had seen the royal blacksmith making weapons by chance, and that was all she had seen in the blacksmith shop.
In fact, Rurik underestimated his own strength.
The five blacksmith families in Roseburg, their blacksmith alliance naturally expanded the industry.
Trouble occurred at the blacksmith's place during Rurik's absence for a few months. Due to the frequent operation of the old blast furnace, imperceptible cracks appeared in the furnace wall. A small-scale collapse accident not only caused the workers Frightened, the whole furnace was broken.
It doesn’t matter. Kawei, who knows how to make blast furnaces, has already manufactured a backup furnace in advance and has started tapping iron.
When the old stove broke down, Kawei used its remnants that could still be used to build a newer one before the cold period.
It was God’s blessing that this incident did not cause any casualties. Everyone was so frightened that they all ran to the Ross Temple and paid a large sum of money as offerings to the temple. Worship the gilded statue of Thor, the god of craftsmen.
The incident also reminded Kawei, Klavasen and others.
The blacksmiths realized the importance of safe production for the first time because they saw the molten iron and liquefied slag flowing after the furnace cracked. Those things would kill anyone who touched them.
Since the stove may be damaged naturally after being used for two years, then make some new ones.
With capital in their hands, they are able to hire a large number of people who were forced to become unemployed during the winter and continue metallurgical production operations.
One batchPeople were eagerly awaiting the return of the Aurora, and many people were standing on the city walls.
More than a dozen employees pulling sleds to transport iron ore also stood outside the gate of the wall and looked sideways at the sea. After a while, many people laughed and walked out of the wall that blocked the wind and cold to welcome Rurik's return.
An old man with white hair came with determined steps, and behind him was an old woman with a wrinkled face swaddling a child. Many young girls also appeared wearing warm burqas.
Otto, Niya, and Rurik’s female relatives all came out of the city to greet him!
Everything was so peaceful, Rurik could see his father’s old face from a distance.
Not to mention, if the god-king Odin should have an image, then the image of the god-king should be like this with a piece of cloth covering his right eye.
"Look, Mary, that's my family."
Mary couldn't see clearly, since those were the top nobles of the Principality of Ross, she...
She couldn't help but panic, and subconsciously grabbed Rurik's elbow.
When it comes to height, Rurik is actually a little taller than Mary, even though his body is not that old.
Rurik liked this proactive woman very much, but Rumia was his favorite, as well as his first daughter Velika.
The Aurora was parked in her exclusive berth, and the warm atmosphere now dispelled the harshness of the cold wind.
Rurik got off the boat and was soon hugged by his old mother and kissed wildly.
The infant Velika is actually almost one year old, and she looks particularly fragile in the cold season.
It was Rumia holding her daughter, showing the gentleness and kindness of a mother, but in fact, she also showed her strength inadvertently.
Velika can already call her daddy, and her milky milky smell is really endearing. Rurik was deliberately teasing, and his daughter continued to interact with him through his smile.
"You are finally back." Rumia said with a gentle look on her face, "You see how much Velika likes you."
"Then let me hug you. "
Rurik's movements of holding the child were self-taught. He was surprised by the weight of his daughter, and the child looked up at Rumia again: "How should I praise you tonight? Let Velika come to my room."
Rumia nodded happily, feeling extremely happy in her heart.
Witnessing all this, the princess of Mercia was so envious. Mari wished that she had been the same infant girl back then, but unfortunately, her fate was that of a victim of her parents' marriage.
No!
Ask yourself, Mary still doesn’t know who her father is, is she a noble or a farmer? Not Wiglaf anyway.
Mary stood here. Otto didn't pay attention at first. He thought that his son was a rare real man. What's wrong with catching a slave for pleasure during the expedition? However, a large number of women disembarked along the seesaw, and he couldn't help but start to doubt.
"Who is that woman?" OttoloAsked with a slightly wooden face.
"Oh, she is my new woman."
"Her?" Otto was surprised.
Not only Odin, but Rumia and other female relatives were also surprised and inevitably jealous.
Especially Rumia, she still felt angry. Even though Rurik was still holding his daughter, he casually said that another woman was his woman!
She couldn't help but be wary, because this new woman was more beautiful than herself.
Of course this is just Rumia's simple idea. However, among the many female relatives, her skin is the most delicate and odorless. This is based on Rurik's aesthetic advantage. In fact, as the first woman of the monarch, she has a natural advantage.
Rurik noticed something was wrong in the atmosphere. In the past, he would blame himself for being a scumbag, but this was in the ninth century AD, and the Nordic values of this era were like this. Heroic men have more than ten women, just like Odin has eighteen Valkyries.
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Coincidentally, I currently have exactly eighteen wives and concubines.
As a king, even if his most beloved woman was present, Rurik resolutely announced the existence of Mary.
"She is Mary, a noble from the British Kingdom of Mercia. She is now my woman. The other women who got off the ship are all my prisoners."
Since all the female relatives are Here, even many Russian elites and a large number of fish-eating people who did not know the truth were watching. Rurik simply opened the skylight and spoke openly, publicly announcing Mary's status among the prince's wives and concubines.
"Mary, she is a noble of Mercia. The son she conceived and I will have the right to inherit the throne of the Kingdom of Mercia. You must accept this sister. Don't worry, she will never threaten your status. . Each of you women has your own destiny. Mary's destiny is to bear children and fight against Mercia. She will live in our home and she will be a sister that you all respect."
Luri. Ke feels that he must say this. The foundation for many things must be laid very early. It is human nature to strive for power and gain, and both men and women are prone to jealousy.
As long as they give birth to children, their inspired motherhood and continuously cultivated desire for power will surely protect their children, and then use their children's natural noble status to carve up as much power as possible among the top tier of Ross. A share of the power pie.
There are many people here, and everyone is a witness. Rurik believes that his preaching will have a strong power to intimidate.
They are all wives and concubines. Since I have divided them into four levels, each of them should continue to uphold the realm of power.
Of course, now that I am home, long periods of time alone with Mary will become rare.
The king...the emperor flips the cards.
“Tonight it’s Rumia, tomorrow Lana, the day after tomorrow Rumi, the day after tomorrow Nolen, the day after tomorrow Saipolava, and Carlotta Ella. As for thatTen, not now..." He thought silently in his mind.
Rurik made some plans for himself, but he is also a rational person, so it is impossible to indulge in beauty.
p>His face glanced at Nolen, thinking about the overland trip to Balmok this winter. Nolen might not know that she was made Countess of Narvik Port by her biological father.
Arik must have been busy with his own affairs and had no chance to tell her about this.
Rurik planned to have a good chat with her, but before that, he had to do it himself. Tell the old guys in Rossburg about their British wars
There will be a big party tonight
It will be a big party, Otto's old guys. , a group of blacksmiths including Klavason, the Gould family, who are all fat boys with belly fat, Vodgen who is good at making clothes, Huotra, a shipbuilding expert...
There are actually sixty Many people gathered on the first floor of the palace.
Their noise made the women upstairs no longer interested in chatting and laughing with Mary, who had just arrived.
She sat in the front seat facing the enthusiastic gaze of everyone. Rurik slapped the table hard to signal everyone to be quiet.
He smiled and said in a changing voice: "It seems that we need to build a council like the old Gotlanders. ”
“Great idea! "Otto clapped his hands and applauded.
There were all those who agreed, and the room that had been quiet just now was like a pot of boiling water and boiling oil.
They were not in agreement. It seemed that this place was too small when everyone gathered together. Even so, The old meeting tent is actually smaller. It is necessary for Ross to build a grand building, just like the large meeting hall of the Melalen people, although it is obviously a waste of space.
Of course, if it breaks the ground. When construction begins, the property rights of the Chamber will belong to the Duke, and the Duke will give all the craftsmen a sum of money. There is money to be made in Rossburg. Who would reject the opportunity to make money in Ross? All the old guys in Ross know that the Duke is very rich and willing to make money. Generosity. Everyone wants the Duke to continue building construction forever. They just take wages from Rurik's treasury and then buy food and tools. They have no time or knowledge to think about the economic operations involved.
This matter is very important, Rurik gave affirmative instructions. It happens that winter is the time for shipbuilding. This winter is still a large-scale logging, and Rossburg's cement-making technology has initially matured to build a rather stable big event. Isn’t the house beautiful? No, more houses should be built. They may be idle for a while, but they will be useful in the future.
The most important thing is that our people must take action and earn wealth through labor. This will make Russia's economic activities more prosperous, and by the way, it will also improve the benefits of infrastructure in the future.
According to the tradition of the Russians, the conference hall is called "Otivium", and according to Slavic parlance, it is "Duma." ".
It must have a concise and catchy noun.
Rurik decided that the chamber should be called "RUSDUMA". Once it is completed, a plaque must be hung. As for the name, naturally it is still his bad taste.
Putting this matter aside for the time being, Rurik wanted to tell everyone about his British war record. He prepared a lot of honey water and started talking...
Wonderful! How wonderful!
Although Arik had already talked about it and many people knew about it, when Rurik told more details, everyone was still sweating.
It is true that the first floor of the palace is also very warm because of the fireplace. However, everyone felt comfortable when they heard about the war, and then turned into envy, and lamented their own aging.
As for those brothers who died in battle, no one regretted their deaths.
The heirs of those killed in battle are directly supported by the duke, and then inherit their husband's sword and shield. As for the dead themselves, they not only died in battle, but also died in battle for the son of God, Rurik, and their heroic spirits must enter Valhalla.
When a drunk guy mentioned this, many people shouted that the Valkyrie Speros had brought the warriors from the human hometown into the holy realm. This is the privilege of the heroic spirits after the death of our Ross warriors. .
Many people got drunk on the recently distilled liquor in a lively atmosphere. Otto was also drunk. It was rare for him to be as excited as he was today.
No one bothered the drunks in this room, they almost slept on the warm first floor until dawn the next day.
Rurik went up to the second floor, stroking his aching head, and secretly scolded Kamni for not controlling the strength of the distillation. He finally greeted all the women and got into the room.
Here, with tears of excitement in her eyes, Rumia sat on the edge of the bed and welcomed her man.
Vilia was lying quietly in the hanging basket on the side and fell asleep...