Rush to the lower reaches of the Dnieper River and seize the area with the richest water and grass to plant wheat extensively. This may be very unrealistic in a short time.
In terms of climate, Novgorod is far inferior to the areas around Kiev, and now the principality has no choice. After all, Novgorod is the largest agricultural area that Russia can now firmly control.
The news of returning to Novgorod on the shores of Lake Ilmen has already been conveyed. Elite mercenaries will arrive in the south with the Duke. It all depends on the Duke's mood when they leave.
Some poultry in the city were slaughtered, their feathers were carefully collected, and skinning of captive rabbits began. The chicken is eaten immediately, and the rabbit meat is marinated and baked into jerky.
The market in the city became lively, and the leather trade prospered like never before.
All soldiers who have loot are willing to trade within the city, and trading items can be done anywhere.
On the riverside outside the city wall, an open-air "dew market" has been established. The open terrain here is perfect for gatherings of large numbers of people.
The assembled Ross army will be temporarily disbanded, and the day for the departure of the Third Banner Corps composed of Suomi servants and Balmoks has been set.
The bazaar that sprouted in New Roseburg is carrying out large-scale transactions of leather and grain. A large number of captured enemy iron weapons have actually become a kind of currency.
Local farmers, especially Slavic farmers, enjoy the new tax law that Rurik ordered to implement this year, the tithe tax. Farmer families enjoy a batch of surplus grain under this not harsh tax rate.
Looking at the Suomi and Balmok people, their problem is that they robbed a batch of scrap copper and iron equipment. The really good loot was naturally kept in his pocket, and the bad ones were exchanged with the locals for wheat and leather at the market, and even a specialty of the Ilmen Slavs - colorful striped linen.
The clothes are all gray or dark brown, which is the color of wild beasts. Who doesn't love to look beautiful? Due to the absolute lack of dyes and textile materials, the port of Narvik in the far north cannot even make linen on a large scale. Although woolen textiles can be made, the output is not high, and the colors are too single.
The colorful cloth will give these expeditionary Balmoks a completely new look, and it will also be an eye-opener for the people watching in their hometown.
Here, the circulation of silver coins and copper coins is still limited, and squirrel skins play a partial currency role.
In just three days, the people who were about to leave had more or less what they needed. The spoils of the warriors whose expedition is temporarily over are no longer single, but how can they be easily satisfied?
The expedition is just suspended! The war in Karelia is still going on, and the army will surely regroup next year. A network of interconnecting waterways between settlements has been established, and the concentration of armies will be rapid.
The expectation of future wars made up for the soldiers' regret of insufficient loot.
However, the area of New Roseburg is much better than the fjord home facing the Atlantic Ocean. Hellafield and his entire Third Flag Team are well-known in the Eastern world.They will all return to their hometown of Narvik carrying a sack of various trophies. These loots are of limited value, but are the information sheets about the East also the most valuable?
Helafeld relied on his feet to explore the bare farmland after harvest on the Neva River, and he was envious. Now that Rurik made that decision, he was tempted.
He expressed his attitude to Rurik: "This time I will wait for Jiang Xue in Rossburg, and I will return to Narvik on a reindeer sleigh. Next year, before the ice and snow melt, I will bring a A group of women and children and other warriors arrived at Fort Ross. I hope that by that time, the Duke will send a fleet to pick us up."
This is what Rurik hopes to see most, but it is not just that. this.
The main force of the fleet is about to head to New Rossburg, and will stop at Herminki on the way to unload all the Suomi soldiers. The captain of the guard, Jevro, will perform his obligations as a noble and represent the Principality of Ross. Govern all of Finland.
Many people will leave, and many people will also arrive in the East.
Before the fleet set sail, Rurik wrote a letter in rune letters on a wooden board.
Both the Duke and the Supreme Duke are wintering in the East. A group of people must rush to their new home in the East before the sea freezes. This is not a journey but a settlement!
The old guy Harold Johnson will continue to be ordered to garrison his hometown in Roseburg. In a sense, his dream has been essentially realized. Harozolson serves as the governor of Roseburg, which is equivalent to a chief, and will govern his hometown on behalf of the duke according to tradition.
I am afraid that the most painful one is Rumia...
Rurik felt a little sorry for this woman, but this is the fate that no one has to live with.
A chicken quill pen dipped in carbon ink wrote on the birch board. Rurik used a dagger to make grooves on it. The ink penetrated into it and became a formal ducal edict.
Birch trees are not uncommon on the banks of the Neva River, especially in the White Tree Manor in Novgorod. The white trees are birches, and there are so many birches there.
The birch board on which the letter is written is baked hard and is originally used as a carrier for information recording.
There are a lot of them, enough to build a small room on top of each other. These were all made by Ella and the sisters. The astonishing number of birch boards were flat, yellow-white in color, square and uniform in size.
They are writing carriers and serve as the meaning of paper. Unfortunately, they are not paper.
After writing, it must be engraved and then inked to become a permanent document.
It took a lot of effort to finish his letter.
He stretched his body vigorously, yawned lazily, and sighed to himself: "If we don't make paper, will the scribes be so tired that they vomit blood in the future? This year I will rely on these wooden boards to record records Are the acres in Novgorod enough? ”
The huge amount of information cannot be satisfied by disks, and the carrier must be upgraded to mechanical hard drives or even more outrageous storage devices.
Actual demand forced Rurik to advance the papermaking business.
How to make paper? As long as it is made of cardboard that is effective and practical, it does not matter if it is yellow in color. At least it is 10,000 times more useful than a pile of wooden boards. You can even jump directly to the implementation of more advanced affairs...
The wooden board recording the letter was specially placed in a suitcase. The recipient was Harold Johnson, who stayed in Ross's hometown, and he preached to the Duke according to the content of the document. resolution.
The appointed day has arrived, the first day of October in the Julian calendar, a day with northeast wind...
This wind direction is very reasonable for the fleet, and each ship adjusts the sail position You can rush to the Baltic T-junction Åland Islands like a wild horse in a straight line.
More than 1,600 people are leaving. A large amount of grain, more than a hundred deer, and a batch of rare leather are all goods that must be safely transported to their hometown.
The residents of Roseburg's hometown are living as usual. The regulations, or the new "customary law" formulated by Rurik, Otto and others after consensus have been implemented for three years.
The residents have become accustomed to the new rules, and they have enjoyed the dividends of the new rules. The gossips have long since shut up. What the residents in their hometown long for most is wheat, and they have begun to be unable to bear the lack of wheat. Days, a stable supply of wheat is above all else!
The primitive accumulation of capital is full of blood and tears. This truth has once again proved that it is the truth. The food self-sufficiency rate of the population directly controlled by the Principality of Rus exceeded 100% for the first time. Pine Needles Manor supported ten thousand people, but its residents were exterminated for their rebellion, whether justified or not, and reduced to skeletons in the ground. The remaining farmland will support 10,000 Russians, and Rurik estimates that with a little more intensive farming efforts, the current area of trophy farmland will be able to support as many as 20,000 people.
Now the population of the Vikings in the Principality of Rus that can be directly controlled and managed by the Duke has just exceeded 10,000 due to the addition of the Balmoks. Infants and young children probably account for 40% of the population. Women are still trying their best to give birth, and the baby boom is continuing.
How much food can a group of children eat? Within a few years, the farmland plundered by the principality can ensure that the basic Viking population has food to eat all year round.
Standing on the ruins of Pine Needle Manor, relying on the spoils of ripe fields, the agriculture of the Principality of Rus rose instantly, and Rurik did not dare to let go of this development opportunity.
The team sailing westward has disappeared on the sea level, and Rurik has also begun to take action.
The Aurora, which represents the authority of the Duke, stopped at the riverside, and the human-powered net crane began to load some regular plates onto the ship.
Rurik himself made a guest appearance as the overseer. He deliberately dressed gorgeously to force his subordinates not to neglect him.
"You guys should be careful in your work! These planks must not be damaged!"
"It almost hit the side, Grund, you fought with several women last night I've been dizzy all night! If you break a board, I'll charge you."
"Hey, over there.people! Be careful when moving it. If there is mud on the wooden boards, I will still deduct your money. "
Rurik was yelling at the port, and he was right to yell. After all, these wooden boards will be preserved as permanent documents. After the written records are completed, a thin layer of beeswax will be applied to prevent corrosion. , they must not be damaged.
The mercenary Grund did not understand what happened to his master today. He did not like gold or silver, but he treated a pile of burning boards as if they were gold and silver. < /p>
This old boy is very happy that the Finn from Gevlo has become a local noble, and he himself is lucky enough to be in the position.
The Duke of Ross is young and generous, and he has no mercy on the battlefield. He wrote it down to repay the favor, but the brothers with the raven crest shield had no better place to live. No lord could provide higher wages and living conditions than Rurik. They were a group of self-interested people. The desperado was really given too much honor by the Duke of Ross in terms of money, women, and warriors.
Grund knew that he would not really be regarded as a close associate of the Duke, and there was no such shackles. The brothers are living happily.
Rurik is almost moving the entire family to New Roseburg. He has not officially issued an order, but most of the family members and servants will be reunited this year. East.
That will be the end of October, and before then Rurik must arrive in Novgorod with a group of "scribes"
A cabin of materials and personnel was packed into the ship, so the prefabricated wooden boards were neatly stacked, as if they were the materials for assembling wooden floors.
The intimate female relatives stepped on the board one after another, and Rurik stood up again. Standing on the bow of this battle-hardened old ship, looking up at the huge New Roseburg city wall from a high position
In front of the ship, more than a hundred elite mercenaries were divided into four ships. The boat was waiting for the order to tow the big boat up the Neva River by rowing.
The shore was full of people, men were cheering, women were holding their children and shouting, and a group of children were jumping up and down.
Aric led the first flag team to deliberately put on battle armor, lined up neatly, and beat the shield regularly with his sword.
This was a Viking-style farewell. Moved by the warm atmosphere, the oarsmen towing the big boat also roared to the rhythm...
The faces of the women were all smiling, and Carlotta, the Duke of Ostara, also saw it on the shore. Her own clansmen.
The clansmen are easy to identify. The abstract and simple cow head emblem is sewn on a piece of white cloth, which is the flag of the Duke of Ostara.
"Everyone is saying goodbye to us, Rurik..." she said
"Yes, we are only leaving temporarily. We'll have the land counted before the first snow falls, and we have a long winter ahead of us. ”
“Is this...worth the trouble? ”
“Stupid. Rurik pouted and said harshly: "Do your job well." And..." He pinched Carlotta's neck with a smile: "You said that I am like a bull in April. IIs it a bull, or is it an October stag. I will give you enough opportunities. Whether you can succeed or not depends on God’s will. "
Carlotta smiled, everything was progressing without saying anything, she was looking forward to it...
Ross's flag was raised to the top of the mast, and the horn and walrus were blown at the same time. , the anchor was retracted by the winch, and the tow boat was ordered to start moving forward.
A short voyage began. In late autumn and early winter, the supreme leader arrived in Novgorod again, and asked about the principality. This is the first time, even if it dates back to the tribal period, it is unique.
After five days of non-stop sailing, the small fleet finally drifted to the White Tree Manor on the Volkhov River, or it was the city of Novgorod itself. .
Looking around, the originally tall and dark green cedar forest has been cut down, and even the birch forest that symbolizes the White Tree Manor has partially disappeared. A large amount of wood is needed to build the city walls and internal buildings. The better material is of course stone. In the current shortage of materials, the almost inexhaustible forest is the source of building materials.
Those Slavs have been working, and Rurik clearly saw that there are still a lot of them. Warrior-looking people are wandering around.
The ones wandering around are all old guys. After all, Otto is still here.
Many loggers can be seen from a distance. With the big ship and the flag fluttering on the towering mast, they hurriedly smashed the long-handled ax on the tree stump, ignoring the sweat on their bare backs, and rushed to the city wall under construction because the Duke actually arrived, actually in October. Arriving in Novgorod
A man has become the master of the city. Otto wants to retire here. He and a group of old friends who are stranded here are the most noble people in the city, even in this area. It was Mrs. Ilmenslav's vast ocean.
The good news suddenly reached his ears, and he raised his arms and shouted: "My old friends! Rurik and the girls finally arrived. Let's go! Let me show you my lovely granddaughter. ”
People responded with laughter, and some guys murmured silently that the old leader doted on his granddaughter.
The people who were building the city suspended their work one after another, and it was already quite cold. In October of that year, many people heard that the Russian army’s expedition to Karelia would last until the world was frozen by ice and snow. Grand Duke Rurik thought many things too well, but when he really tried to implement them, troubles came one after another, and time ran out. Stop delaying.
Thousands of people felt that the duke was busy with the expedition and the work of measuring the acres had to be postponed.
Surveying the acres was a matter for the nobility, a matter for the duke and the boyars. , does it have a lot to do with ordinary farmers? How many acres of land are watched by God, and taxes are paid according to the number of acres. People who have seen the destruction of Pine Needle Manor do not dare to provoke the Duke's anger. They pay as much tax as the Duke asks. A clear conscience.
Many people are simple-minded. They are ashamed of cheating and are even more afraid of being retaliated for not showing enough respect for the Duke.
That is the Avora, the principality. The flagship of the ship, her bow is full of scratches, she is clearly a weather-beaten old manWarrior, the posture is clearly identifiable.
Thousands of people gathered at the newly built pier on the riverside, and many stood on the pier to cheer for the ships.
"They are welcoming you." Carlotta shouted excitedly: "Rurik, have you seen...have you seen your father?"
"Otto is here There! It's like the image of the great god Odin." Rurik stood on the deck and pointed his hand clearly. Carlotta looked sideways and saw the old man, an old man who was a little too old...
Which girl here is the most excited?
Rationally, she told herself to remain reserved. After all, she would have to spend the winter here when she returned to her parents’ home. Svetlana, who could not hide her excitement, jumped up and down with excitement, and her disheveled hair moved up and down with her dancing figure. Fly, completely indifferent to other people's feelings.
The ten maids forced out smiles one after another, holding the railings of the ship with both hands, facing the home of Baishu Manor that was completely different from what they remembered with mixed emotions.
Is this still home? Everything has changed...