The armed merchant ship fleet traveled westward, and Blue Fox returned to Hedebe Port with his sailors and guards quite smoothly.
The triangular sail is quite unique, and the top of the mast unobtrusively displays the Ross flag with white background and blue stripes
By now, all the merchants in Hedeby know that The new shops selling weird and wonderful things belong to the Russians. Do businessmen have the obsession of warriors? We are all businessmen, and making profits from buying and selling things is above all else.
In fact, the Blue Fox did not reveal his identity immediately. It was not until the death of the old Danish King Hafgen was confirmed that he showed this flag.
The businessmen were surprised at first, and then they were happy.
Because the Russians are just doing business in Hedebe, they are a newly emerging powerful tribe. Businessmen are generally thinking that they may be able to get more by rowing directly to the territory of the Russians for direct trade. profit.
The prosperous bay city is in front of you. The sunshine at noon is bright and clear. Standing on the bow of the ship, the blue fox can have a panoramic view of the entire city.
However, the layout of the buildings in this city is too messy, there are no city walls, the roads are winding and full of stench.
This is a good place to do business, but it is obviously not suitable for settling down.
Blue Fox's appetite has long been cultivated. He has seen the cleanliness of Novorosberg and Novgorod. Looking at Hedebe, why does it feel like there are garbage nests everywhere?
"Attention, brothers, we are about to disembark. Protect our cargo. Someone just used violence. Kill them!"
Everyone roared when they heard it and pulled out their weapons one after another. He took out his steel dagger and raised his steel spear.
Three armed cargo ships entered the small dock occupied and built by Blue Fox. He saw clearly that six armed cargo ships were neatly arranged here.
The sailor riding on the mast shouted down: "Sir! It must be Eric and the others! They have come back first."
The blue fox looked at it again and couldn't help but smile. Made a sound.
The mercenaries who stayed on duty at the dock saw the unique triangular sail from a distance, and the lazy people hurriedly gathered together, first to disperse a group of beggars, and secondly to line up to catch the cable and do all the work. .
Blue Fox once again stood at the pier of Hedeby. He saw many traditional long boats docked on the coast, and the open-air market on the seaside was also bustling with people.
The goods began to be unloaded, and a large number of squirrel skins that had not been tanned but were dried and bundled were unloaded.
Now that Ross Merchant is here again, there must be more good things!
Small traders began to come over. They saw the angry-eyed warriors who did not dare to act rashly, and they were trembling with excitement when they saw the incredible amount of leather.
Because any leather is hard currency in Heidebi, not to mention these large gray-red obvious squirrel skins, which are definitely hot sellers!
Some men mainly make a living by helping merchants carry goods. Blue Fox easily recruited a group of daily coolies and asked them to carry the goods back under the supervision of guards.The warehouse of Ross Stores.
Everything seems to be going on in an orderly manner, but something unexpected happened.
A group of young boys suddenly rushed out, carrying broken blades and running towards the people carrying the leather.
Chaos suddenly broke out, onlookers were avoiding, and women were screaming. Three coolies were stabbed down, and a bundle of goods was picked up by the attackers...
This is looking for death! There are always some bandits who are desperate!
"I expected this kind of thing." Blue Fox felt that his face was slapped by Hedebe's wild bandits. He roared and ordered: "Kill me! Leave me alone." A living person!"
The mercenaries are no longer in a financial employment relationship. We are not just doing things for Blue Fox. Prince Ross is our biggest financial backer. When everyone gets old and can no longer be warriors, then they will go to the prince's territory and become farmers.
The mercenaries, who were armed with elite weapons and had actually killed people, used their methods cleanly and neatly. Many of the attackers were killed, and some were knocked to the ground and captured directly.
There were also successful attackers who ran away holding a bundle of leather. Soon after, a javelin flew over, directly piercing through the attacker and killing him immediately.
The dead bodies and blood sacrifices were lying in a mess on the ground. A group of frightened people now gathered around to watch, pointing at the blind attackers
Only one person was captured. The man's legs were broken and he was pulled in front of the blue fox.
"You! Who are you? How dare you attack me? I wonder if you will definitely die?"
The blue fox thought that this person would be so stubborn, but he never thought that this kid would bring him with him Crying and wailing: "It was Karl the Gray Wolf who asked me to do it. He... He said that the Russians are rich, and the brothers will get rich if they steal a vote."
"Karl the Gray Wolf? This villain didn't freeze to death in the winter. ? Damn it, this is a free city, did you give this guy a chance?"
After complaining, Blue Fox asked again: "Are you just robbing us? Are you stupid or not? Are you stupid?"
"Ugh...it's all what Karl asked us to do. There's nothing I can do about it. Karl gave me food and clothing, otherwise I would have frozen to death."
"So you became a loyal dog! Silly boy, you were taken advantage of. Whatever..." Blue Fox felt there was no need to ask anymore, and gave the mercenary a look, and then chopped off the man's head with a sharp sword.
The sudden violence was seen clearly by John Invall on the deck. Now he is no longer afraid of this kind of violence. He saw the mercenaries loyal to Ross chopping melons and vegetables to kill the attackers in a completely safe place. He watched those blind guys being killed and couldn't help but cross his chest.
The body was thrown directly into the sea and allowed to be eaten by swimming fish, leaving pools of blood on the pier. When it rained at night, all traces were washed away.
The onlookers did not make a fuss. This is a free city-state. There is no sanction for murder and robbery. Killing the attacker is an act of justice.
Blue Fox didn’t take it to heart at all when encountering an attack. After all, HaizeBi is such an uneven place.
Behind the abundance of residents, there are also rampant bandits. There is absolute freedom here, and no one says it is worthy of everyone's admiration. It was fine when Chief Godfrey was around a long time ago, and the situation during King Hafgen's reign was not as bad as it is now.
Nowadays, the security of the city is still deteriorating. Even if a man named Horik has settled in the north of the peninsula, Hedebi is already at risk.
Blue Fox returned to the mansion and immediately contacted Old Eric who arrived first. They exchanged glasses of wine and talked about business matters, and then they talked about big events.
Little Eric explained the latest situation on behalf of his old father: "Brother, the world is not peaceful recently. Some bad news is spreading. A man named Horik Klarsson claims to be the King of Denmark. , the messenger asked Hezebi to surrender and pay tribute. "Is there such a thing? Is this... related to the attack on me at the dock today?" Blue Fox has realized that things have become complicated.
Little Eric hesitated: "It shouldn't matter, but those businessmen are very scared. You know, no one wants their own interests to be harmed."
"Huo Rick Klarson? What is this? A shameless unknown." Blue Fox muttered fiercely: "I have almost all the prince's wealth in my hands, just to provoke a war. !"
"Yes! But Denmark has been at war with Russia and Sweden, but this has nothing to do with the merchants of Hedebe. We still have a lot of Saxon merchants, you. You can even see slave traders from Pomerania. There is also a special large building, which is the Frankish temple."
"That's the monastery," Blue Fox pointed out. name, and then said along the lines: "Speaking of which, His Majesty the Prince knows a lot about this monastery. His Majesty also wrote a letter, entrusting me to deliver it to the guy named Esquier there..."
"This...I don't understand." Little Eric was confused. "Are you still interested in those Frank monks? My father and I have no interest at all."
"I It doesn't matter, I just have to complete the task."
"It's okay, brother, you are a little late. I have good news to tell you. The sales of ironware and leather are really good this year. , hahaha..."
Iron and leather have always been popular goods in Hedebe. Because there is no proven iron ore in Denmark, the local small animals have long been hunted to death. The Russians brought a large amount of urgently needed supplies. The arrival of goods is easing the contradiction between supply and demand.
Of course, objectively, it also spawned local gangs and robbers who were eyeing Rose's leather.
Speaking of leather, Blue Fox was even more happy. He deliberately asked his little brother: "The prince got a lot of squirrel skins in the East. Can you guess the quantity?"
"One Game? I came to see a lot of leather coming into the warehouse. They seemed to be squirrel skins. I had never seen so many in my life."
"Only ten thousand.? "
"What? Did I say less? That's twenty thousand. "
"No! "Blue Fox looked up to the sky and laughed: "There are as many as 30,000 large squirrel skins, as well as some mink and fox skins. The Duke ordered that we must sell them, and also said that the price could be lowered appropriately. We must make a fortune this year, and it is best to exchange them all for silver coins. Because the prince said that he needs silver coins now. "
Hearing Blue Fox's description, Eric and his son were so excited that their hearts were trembling.
Old Eric asked tremblingly: "Prince, you only want silver coins? ”
“And slaves. We bought all the slaves in Hedeby this year and shipped them all to New Roseburg. For completing these tasks, the prince will give us great benefits. ”
Both Blue Fox’s sisters married this little Eric. Now that the sisters have given birth to children, Blue Fox has become an uncle.
He himself also has Dependents, but not married. He has kept several concubines in Hedebe, working as maids on weekdays, and now he is doing business with his master.
John Invar, he is in the territory of the Ross people. After staying for two years, he has experienced too many things, and he has extremely complicated feelings for this Haizebi.
Those businessmen were trying to change the cup, but John Ingvar was actually qualified to participate, and even asked Lan. The fox asked for a maid to have a good time.
But this is already a sacred territory! You can indulge yourself in the north, but you must be self-disciplined here.
The flame of an oil lamp is swaying and it is raining outdoors. , John Invar was alone in the wooden house, kneeling on the floor to pray to God and repent.
Yes, he did want to repent, and he had to find his teacher Esquier in person to do the confession ceremony, even if he still felt that way. The guy has evil intentions against him.
That’s okay...
John Ingvar respects Esquier, and that man saved him, so...
He covered his back yard and planned to bring some of Ross's special seal oil. He actually had always volunteered, and he did have a big psychological problem.
The next day, the Ross people went public. Flags were hung all over the shop, and a large amount of dried squirrel skins were sold.
What should the price be? According to the prince's request, the price can be lower, so we will use last year's price as a reference for the largest quantity. The price of squirrel leather is reduced across the board.
The price is determined to be two silver coins per piece, no bargaining is allowed.
This price is cheap, it can only be a little cheaper, because these leathers are sun-dried. Yes, the buyer has to go through tanning process after buying it.
A huge amount of squirrel skin can be fully leathered when it is transported to Rossburg's hometown, and then made into finished clothes and tools on the spot. It is also planned to bring leather back to my hometown. It involves a large-scale immigration project and the leather processing work must be strategically suspended.
A large amount of raw materials for the leather industry are dumped in Heidebi. It is a good thing that the price is lower, and the Russians provide it. The amount of leather is astonishing, and the merchants are already excited.
Blue Fox has always been the seat of the Hedebe Commercial Guild.Dear guest, big businessmen are now coming to Ross's store in large numbers, and they are spending a lot of money to buy leather.
Old Eric was temporarily in charge of the local sales work, and he and the guys were working harder than ever before.
A large amount of silver coins began to be credited to their accounts, and the father and son even predicted that when the Eastern goods shipped by Blue Fox were sold out, as many as 70,000 silver coins might be credited to their accounts!
Of course, while the spendthrift businessman liked to buy high-quality leather, he also kept asking where the fat blue fox had gone.
The so-called business president simply sent an invitation: "We are going to hold a new business meeting. If Lord Blue Fox arrives late or is not available, everything will be meaningless. Maybe we should respect Blue Fox Your Excellency, be our president."
This is a big move, but Blue Fox and John Ingvar went to the Frankish monastery early in the morning with a group of guards.
What else could Old Eric say? Blue Fox said that no one else should interfere with today's affairs, so he lied: "Master Blue Fox spent too much energy on women after working hard on the boat and traveling. He needs a good rest." I will go to the meeting on my own."
This explanation made the businessmen laugh. After thinking about it for a moment, it really made sense.
In fact, the blue fox had already stood in front of the monastery.
Eskir has always used Hedeby as his base to spread his faith northward. He took in orphans here and trained them into devout believers. Among them, he couldn't help but enjoy the handsome ones.
He was stipulated by the commandments not to be close to women, so he found other ways to satisfy his needs. He formed a choir but had an affair with every boy in it.
This kind of thing is tacitly allowed. He is recognized by Rome as the next Archbishop of Bremen. His hobbies are known to the distinguished priests in each diocese. So what? This is true for everyone. What's more, the "favoured" young priests are usually reused as confidants in the future. Esquier will cultivate these young priests who are specially cared for. They may be the bishops of various regions. He feels that what he has done is quite benevolent.
An army suddenly stood at the otherwise deserted doorway.
The little priest who got up early opened the door and welcomed the fresh sunshine after the rain. What he saw was the army!
The little priest rushed back in a hurry, and a moment later the surprised Esquier hurriedly walked out holding a wooden staff.
He was terrified, fearing that bandits would attack him. Because those are gangsters! The gangsters did not care that the coat of arms of the Count of Hamburg was deliberately hung on the door of the monastery.
Because the monastery legally belongs to the Diocese of Hamburg, administratively the Count of Hamburg was granted management rights by Prince Ludwig. The smart local people did not dare to cause trouble in this monastery. Businessmen, big and small, cherished their own interests, and those who were related to their interests did not want to provoke the anger of the Franks.
Besides, no one thinks that this poor-looking stone spire monastery has any wealth. After all, the group of Frankish monks wear black robes to show off to others every day, traveling around preaching and calling on everyone to live an ascetic life, and are gorgeous Nobility has nothing to do with it.
It is true that Christian monks in this era were very particular about asceticism and had to eat light meals. Even this monastery was severely lacking in gold and silver utensils, which was different from other monasteries.
Eskil has learned basic Danish. He walked out with more than fifty believers, intending to dissuade this group of villains who were seeking money.
Unexpectedly, just as he was about to speak, he suddenly saw the armed man on the opposite side showing the flag.
"Huh?! You are Russians!" Eskil felt incredible.
John Invall, who had changed back into his robe at this moment, emerged from the crowd. Although he had not seen him for more than two years, his face shape had not changed much, and his beard had been shaved clean with a sharp dagger.
Eskil recognized his student at a glance: "John! It's you. I actually saw you again, oh God, you are the most merciful."
Eskilde Skier was busy making the sign of the cross, which made the blue fox speechless.
No, the Blue Fox also spoke: "Eskil, I am the special envoy confirmed by Lord Rurik, the Prince of Rus, and I want to send you John Ingvar and the autographed letter."
"Is...is that so? Is your master already planning to accept our sacred faith? Oh, that must be the case."
Eskir looked at the rising sun, and then at the people in front of him , I feel that all this is God’s arrangement. No matter how scary the armed men in front of you are, they are all lost lambs, and they can all be converted, and they can even be baptized today.
There's also the return of dear John Ingvar, and the kid looks even more handsome.
"Quick! My distant friends, enter the monastery, and we will discuss everything in detail inside!"
Esquier was full of confidence, and he was asked to end the present in 840 job, officially went to Bremen to be Archbishop.
The time given to Eskil seems to be a lot but is actually not much. He will not hesitate to seize all the time. If a few years can influence the very young and handsome Prince Rurik, it is him. The greatest is glory.