At dawn, the breeze blows across the large lake. What should have been a bustling farm, now only a few figures who got up early and swayed around.
The area near the farm was full of people, their bodies were all gray and white, and their blood seeped into the earth, turning it black.
Sleeping with thousands of dead bodies, the Ross army did not feel too unlucky. They are all victors, and a brutal battle proves to Odin who is the true warrior.
The Russian soldiers who got up early looked for flammable firewood everywhere, got clean water from the well surrounded by pebbles, and immediately cooked the captured wheat.
This group of farmers really didn’t have much to grab, and the brothers couldn’t really be satisfied simply by seizing a batch of grain. However, they had already had psychological expectations and concluded that there would be no rich spoils after the war.
In other words, there will be no gold and silver looted in this year's war in the east, and everyone is obeying the Duke's will.
The Rus and Balmoks relied on hunting and fishing as their main means of livelihood during peacetime, and most of them were still not very interested in controlling farmland to grow wheat.
When many people had enough to eat, the work of cleaning up the battlefield officially began.
The feet of the corpses were tied with ropes and they were pulled to the edge of the woods further away to wait.
The soldiers from White Tree, Calf, and Fisherman Manor began to dig deep pits with wooden shovels and shovels, preparing to bury many dead bodies.
Most of the work of cleaning the station was left to the alliance troops. The Varyags, who were the absolute majority of the Ross army, still mainly stayed in the occupied farm to sit and rest.
The dead bodies in the farm were randomly thrown onto the two-wheeled carts, and the dead were quickly transported away, and the entire farm became no longer spooky.
It is really a huge job to bury ten thousand corpses.
Ligus came to the battlefield in person in the morning with a walking stick and a Russian longboat. He was not surprised by the victory of the Russian army, but he never imagined that victory would come so easily.
When he saw the pile of corpses on the edge, his legs seemed to have turned into powder. He was so frightened that he sat down on the ground, and then fainted.
He was slapped in the face several times before he woke up and gradually understood the current situation.
Uski from Calf Manor is already here, and he was the one who slapped those hands.
"Uncle, you see, Pine Needle Manor is finished, and all their people are here." He said.
"Ah! Corpses, they are all corpses."
"You shouldn't have come here. We had a big battle yesterday, and now our people are cleaning up the dead bodies. "
"Where are the Russians?" Rigus asked cautiously.
"They? Are they all resting now? They are busy cleaning up their trophies." Uski said with a hint of dissatisfaction. Indeed, he and his people came too late, and the best things were lost to Ross. The army went through the selection process, and those who arrived late could only hope to pick up the missing ones.
Rigus was helped to stand up. The tragedy in front of him was too painful. He quickly turned his face away and sighed: "Rurik asked me to come to the meeting, saying that he had something important to announce, and now I'm here. , I'm going to find him."
"It doesn't matter. The Duke of Ross is at the old Borudne's house, and Tory and I will be late."
"It's okay. . I want to see what my son-in-law has done."
Rigus was helped into the destroyed Pine Needle Manor. During the short journey, he saw multiple carts pulling corpses. He closed his eyes whenever he saw the tragic scene in the tombs that were yet to be sealed. Therefore, he no longer had any extravagant expectations for the scene inside the manor.
As expected, some buildings had collapsed, and the entire manor showed obvious signs of looting and damage.
A large number of Russian soldiers wearing classic Varyag helmets walked around with weapons, or a few people gathered together and chatted with smiles.
How ridiculous! A lot of people have died here, but they still have the guts to laugh?
Aren’t they afraid of the ghosts of the dead?
Ligus has never seen many corpses in his life. He has only presided over funerals at his White Tree Manor, and has never left the Volkhov River to go to Lake Ladoga downstream.
He has never participated in a battle in which both sides invested more than 10,000 troops, and naturally he has never seen the tragic scene of corpses everywhere. Today is an eye-opener. He just wanted to leave this terrible place as soon as possible. Even the remaining buildings of Pine Needle Manor had to be demolished, so that this unlucky place would disappear completely.
Ligus had more important things to do. He finally arrived at the occupied Borudne mansion. These walled buildings were already Rurik’s command center and also A natural place to hold a conference.
No, as soon as he entered the wall, he saw Rurik himself and his lovely daughter.
Svetlana, this girl is dressed like a capable Varyag female warrior. No! She is a warrior, and I'm afraid she has killed her enemies. Look at her, sitting on a simple wooden bench patiently polishing an arrow cluster.
"Dad! You're actually here!" The girl stood up suddenly and came forward with joy.
"I came here under orders." After saying that, he glanced at Rurik.
The sword was sheathed, and Rurik walked slowly with his chest held high: "It seems that the people I sent out are very efficient. You are here, come in and sit down."
"Okay! Okay..."
Ligus took a good look at this young war maniac. After this counter-insurgency battle, he had a deeper understanding of his son-in-law. After seeing the handsome young man with his own eyes, he was full of praise, but now he is more afraid. As long as this kid gives an order, a large army armed with iron will rush forward and there will be no rival in the whole world.
If Baishu Manor does not do a good job, this kid will also turn his back on others.
Ligus had to think more. He was in awe of Otto, but now he was in awe of Rurik.Not only awe, fear has taken over the majority.
He continued to walk into the inner hall on crutches, and was greeted by the aroma of fragrance. No, this breath is also mixed with the smell of wine.
Otto was lying on his side on the wooden floor of the inner hall. Today he took off his shirt and sat down casually. His white beard drooped down to his chest. He had drank a lot of wine and his rosy face was red. The age spots are no longer visible. Otto seemed to be lying on his side just like this. This posture only made Rigus more awed, because those deep eyes always exuded murderous intent.
"You're here first, and I have something to inform you." Rurik was already sitting cross-legged, and his speech immediately attracted Ligus's attention.
"Okay, I will obey any orders."
Ligus threw the wooden stick to the followers, and those followers could retreat. The old guy sat cross-legged with his back bent, accepting the scrutiny of two generations of Ross leaders.
Rurik and Otto had already discussed how to reward their hardcore ally White Tree Manor, and they had clearly disclosed it in the previous meeting. Today, they summoned this person to announce the reward.
Rurik cleared his throat: "I now declare the travel promise that I will give you last time. In this war, our army completely destroyed the Pine Needle Manor, and the huge farmland left behind is my spoil of war. . Me! Rurik, Duke of Ross, declares them to be mine, but the vast farmland needs someone to cultivate it for a long time. Now I will give you 40% of the land." Upon hearing this, Rigus felt in his heart. The fear was completely gone, and his aging eyes shone brightly, completely exceeding his expectations this time.
He hurriedly thanked the Duke for the reward. Apart from the rapid-fire words of thanks, he really didn’t know what else to do.
Rurik signaled him to shut up, and solemnly announced: "The land I rewarded you will still require tribute in the future, including the land on your farm. In the future, tribute will be paid to the Principality of Rus, that is, TAX."
Ligus felt something strange keenly. He felt that part of his existing benefits would be deprived of him. After all, there is no free banquet in the world.
"So, in what proportion will we pay the new tribute?" he asked cautiously.
"Tithe tax! I have decided to collect tribute exactly at this rate, and will not impose additional taxes for no special reason. Ligus, not only your manor, but all the manors in this area are taxed." Tributes will be paid at this rate."
Is that just that? If Rurik decides to strictly implement the tax rate contract designated by him, it will be a good thing for the future of White Tree Manor, because this tax level is not serious, and even in the long run, because of the acquisition of a large amount of newly mature fields, it will even be thrown into the land. With the expanded new farmland, even if each piece of farmland pays 10% of the tax, the manor can still rely on a larger planting area to obtain far more food than in the past.
But how can the problem be so simple?
Rurik continued his declaration: "Ligus, I noticed when I came here that the fields on your farm are arranged in rows.The layout is messy and the areas of the farmlands are not uniform. The work of measuring the acres will also begin to be implemented. You... know about our Russian stika (98㎝), right? ”
“I know. My lord, my farm has long been using your weights and measures. ”
Rurik’s eyes lit up, “It’s still my fault that I don’t know you well! Unexpectedly, you have been in contact with us for decades and have already accepted some of our things. very good! The length and width are both 100stika, which will be regarded as one hectare (hectare), the length and width are 10stika each to make an area, and ten areas are equal to one acre (mu). ”
When Rurik formulated these land area planning rules, Ligus was actually a little confused.
It is easy to understand why he felt dizzy. After all, the Principality of Ross must change To be like a real country, the weights and measures must of course be unified throughout the territory, especially in the field of agriculture, the measurement of acres must be more cautious. The accounting of acres is actually a time-consuming and critical national project, which Rurik clearly controls. The purely agricultural area is small, so setting up the system as soon as possible will save yourself a lot of trouble when the control area becomes larger in the future.
Stika is the unique length unit of the Vikings, and its length always makes Rurik. I think it should be a meter, so the 100th stika is called ministika.
After all, the unit of length is defined by others, and Rurik does not want to use the length of his own feet to define what one is. He did not want to use his current height to define what a meter is.
Based on the inherent and universal unit of length, stika was designated by him as the smallest unit for measuring acres.
He knew. The definitions of hectare and area in modern English are actually modern internationally accepted units of land area. Since there is a very ready-made system, there is nothing wrong with copying it.
As for the Eastern method of using one hectare as ten. Five acres, it is a bit troublesome to divide the equivalent of fifteen parts into one hectare, but the concept of "acre" is necessary. After all, one hundred areas is one hectare, which is too trivial, especially now. Even paper did not exist yet, and professional scribes did not exist yet. Naturally, the work of measuring acres could not be done very accurately, and the farmland area should not be divided into equal parts.
One hectare should not be divided into equal parts. A portion is an acre (mu).
In the afternoon, Uski and Toli, who supervised their men cleaning up the dead bodies, came back. They washed their hands with soap, and they felt so clean. By the way, the bad luck was washed away.
The two of them apologized to Rurik for being late. Rurik treated them with hot honey water and then announced that the two manors would be fully captured. One-tenth of the farmland.
This seems like a small area for two small farms with a population of more than 700 people, and 10% from a large farm that once had a population of 10,000. One farmland is divided equally between two families.Can the newly matured fields each obtain be equal to half of the total area of their old fields? The two of them were very satisfied with such a reward. As for the tithe imposed by Lord Rurik, the two of them even applauded it with both hands?
Why? Just because this kind of tax is less than the tribute paid in the past! The Duke is truly a benevolent hero.
Rurik could clearly see the joy between the two. When he explained the new land system that he planned to implement, the two looked at each other and expressed support.
It was in the evening that Rurik relied on the capture of a large amount of agricultural materials to reward the army at the Pine Needle Manor he occupied.
All the generals of the Ross Army and the leaders of the Allied Forces gathered here.
Some of the captured livestock were killed, and the noble people feasted on barbecued meat. People in Linhai have never experienced salt shortage. The barbecue was generously sprinkled with high-quality Atlantic sea salt from the Balmok people. The taste surprised Uski and Toli to ecstasy! Unexpectedly, he could really sacrifice his life for the Russians and eat salt as much as he wanted.
This is the case in the area around Lake Ilmen. It seems that this area is very close to the sea, but in fact it is basically impossible to float to the Gulf of Finland due to the poor navigation skills of the local Slavs. What's more, the large area of sea where the Neva River enters the bay is more like a lake than a sea. The salinity of the sea water is so low that it seems to be okay even if it is drank as fresh water.
The seized ale was drunk freely, and the strong vodka carried was also shared by everyone.
Even the spirit in the exquisite glass burned with blue flames, and this kind of good show was frequently performed amidst everyone's wild laughter.
Don’t look at Otto’s age. He holds a clay pot and digs out honey as fast as a bear, and he is even more energetic in drinking strong liquor.
No, after drinking a small cup of burning liquor, his gray beard was unlucky enough to be set on fire. A piece of burlap was thrown to his face to ensure that the beard did not burn out...
The farce of drinking. The Russians have long been accustomed to drinking burning spirits. But in the eyes of Uski, the leader of Calf Manor, and Toli, the leader of Fisherman Manor, this game is clearly a miracle! They watched in shock as the Rus drank burning wine from crystal cups, which seemed to be cheap.
Because Aric was drunk, this kid wanted to show his uncle Otto that he was not afraid of strong liquor. He arrogantly snatched the glass bottle and drank two bottles of it. In an instant, he felt like the world was spinning, and he was confused and forced to do so. He was not drunk, so he smashed the glass plate holding the barbecue. Seeing this, everyone laughed at this boy as a stupid fool, and no one felt pity for the broken glass.
Tonight, the Ross army began their victory carnival. They lit bonfires everywhere and ate boiled oatmeal and grilled fish.
The bonfires were densely packed, and the manors in the distance could see these.
However, a group of uninvited guests have already arrived in some manors. The dragon-headed warship suddenly landed, and the people on the shore hid in panic. Only the manor leader approached cautiously to ask what was going on.
Up to five longshipsFive groups were sent to announce that the Duke of Ross had completely wiped out the rebellion at Pine Needle Manor and that there were no survivors. He ordered the manor owners who received the information to arrive at the occupied Pine Needle Manor within three days for a meeting. Anyone who dared not go would be regarded as resisting. , will encounter complete revenge without leaving any human or animal behind.
Rurik gave the messenger enough time, and he also felt that he had given enough time to the manor owners.
Actually, the three days were a bit tense, but isn’t tight time a good thing? They had no time to waste. The owner of the manor had to come to a meeting quickly to accept the key arrangements of the Duke of Ross.
Even, death...