There used to be owners in Hedeby. Since the death of Godfrey, the great Danish leader, the merchants in Hedeby have been freed.
Is this kind of freedom good or bad? No one can explain clearly.
Big businessmen are eager to do business freely, accumulate wealth and then stick to their wealth.
The city of Haizeby has entered a period of absolute and unlimited freedom. For more than 20 years, some people have claimed to be the ruler of the city, but the ruling forces have never successfully penetrated. Many merchants seem to remember that Hazéby was a free coastal city-state from the beginning, and her freedom could almost split the city apart in an instant, and the city disappeared.
This is a city of merchants. In order to protect their wealth, they hire heroes from all walks of life as mercenaries. The big businessmen are all doing business with swords, and to this day, no one can achieve a monopoly. Since no one can be the absolute winner, let's sit down and talk about all kinds of matters!
Businessmen formed loose guild organizations, negotiated to resolve disputes, and then divided the scope of trading activities they engaged in, trying to avoid future disputes.
Dozens of big businessmen are the "collective city lords". Now that the Russian forces have intervened strongly, the balance of power has reversed and then quickly returned to balance.
A large group of small businessmen rely on the big businessmen, and a large group of mercenaries protect the large and small businessmen.
A variety of craftsmen, fishermen, and farmers provide supplies for these merchants and mercenaries.
It seems that this is a stable urban system. In places where sunlight cannot be found, some forces inevitably exist.
If encountered on the vast sea, armed merchant ships can turn into pirates in an instant when facing fishermen. Fishermen can't help but take action when they encounter a merchant ship that is defenseless.
There is no real order here. The latter said that the existing order is that all parties rely on their fists to reach a balance.
Homicide and violence occur every day in the city. Suddenly, dead bodies suddenly appear in the twisted streets early in the morning. The bodies are also directly thrown into the sea by people who can't stand the stench.
But it is also full of wealth and desire.
The great missionary Eskil, who was given a huge mission, built his "operation base" here. Firstly, this is part of the Danish world, and secondly, this is a no-man's land, with people everywhere. It is the lamb that wounded souls can influence. He called it a city of sin that had nothing to do with civilization. Perhaps the Count of Hamburg should lead troops to occupy this place and incorporate it into the East Frankish territory under the jurisdiction of Prince Ludwig, thus embracing civilization.
The Earl of Hamburg did not dare to do this. Although this is an ownerless city, to launch an attack, you must cross the Schleswig Great Wall. This is a pure invasion, and you will first encounter a crazy attack by a large number of Danish tribes.
The wily Eskil knew the stakes. He didn't care about the nobles' struggle for power, he only cared about his own career.
The big businessman of Hedeby has always lived a very prosperous life.In the fresh days, their noble lives have always been well protected by the mercenaries, because they were given enough money, and the mercenaries fought tooth and nail to protect their masters for money.
What blind people are trying to steal wealth from big businessmen through open armed robbery?
No, while Blue Fox and Old Eric were selling leather, the investigation after the attack was also going on.
It is not difficult to investigate the culprit.
"Karl the Gray Wolf? Is this a gang that suddenly appeared? It actually has some influence in the city. It seems to be just a dirty gang, nothing to worry about."
Even though he thought so, Blue Fox still honestly expanded his mercenary team. He did not recruit openly, for fear that the gangsters would mix in with the crowd and be recruited by him. What is this other than raising a mole?
One place that is actually a good place to recruit new mercenaries is Hedeby's famous slave market.
Men and women were restrained by iron collars and chains, and there were even a group of children.
These people are obviously different from the Danes or Saxons in appearance.
They generally have pointed chins and mostly brown hair, which is very different from the average golden retriever and the former two.
Because they are almost all the Oberlidit tribe of West Slavic forces. Their birthplace is in the Vistula River Basin in Poland, and they have penetrated into the eastern borders of Denmark and Frank this morning. Some Danish tribes have been facing military attacks from the Oberlidd tribe alliance. This group of people also teamed up with their Pomeranian relatives to attack Denmark until the heroic Godfrey leader led the Danish coalition to severely defeat their opponents.
The slaves were all deliberately hunted by the Danish tribes. They were trying to wipe out all the Oberliddite forces in Jutland and turn all the other people into slaves.
The prisoners of war were all transported to Hedebe, where the men were made into slaves and the women into prostitution.
The needs of the merchants were difficult to meet, and the Danish tribes continued to send troops to arrest people.
For this kind of barbaric behavior, Eskil can only mentally pity those poor lambs, but he is actually doing some good things. Ludwig continued to provide funds so that Eskil could "rescue" slaves on a large scale. He targeted the slave children. It didn't matter their origin. He bought them as long as they could, and then personally educated and trained them into priests.
He is keen on spreading his faith, and Prince Ludwig supports this behavior. Because Oberlidd and Pomerania have long been coveted by various northern noble lords in the kingdom, Ludwig is the biggest greedy one! Bavaria was snatched from the hands of the Wenderslavs, and those Pomeranians were also Wenderslavs.
Ludwig extremely hoped that these foreigners would accept the sacred faith and accept his rule uniformly. Then not only can you get a new force, but you can actually expand your territory, increase your tax base and expand your wealth.
Although the eldest brother and the second brotherThey are blood relatives, so why not kill them in the struggle for power? After reunifying the Franks, he opened up a large amount of new territory in the east, so that his achievements would far surpass those of his grandfather Charlemagne.
Ludwig will have sweet dreams. In fact, he has been fighting on two fronts over the years. After his father and fourth son Charles were put under house arrest by the brothers, the civil war among the three brothers reignited. He began to deliberately encroach on the territory of his eldest brother Lothair, and bore the brunt of encroaching on the territory of Polish tribes to the east. Unlike his two brothers, the ethnic composition of his East Frankish Territory is the most complex. In addition to the Franks of his family, the second most numerous are the Saxons, followed by the Thuringians and the Alemanni. In fact, everyone spoke a very similar language, and essentially had a common ancestor. Ludwig knew that he had to unite all the people in the territory who spoke a very similar language. If there was a centrifugal tendency internally, he would not want to fight with Lothair. Big brother vie for supremacy. A concept that existed in the past began to be mentioned again, that is, "Germany", which means "we are people who speak the same language."
The prince wants to give more benefits to his Saxon nobles and Thuringian nobles. The former is eager to annex Pomerania along the coastline, and the latter is eager to seize the Polish forest area directly east. .
As for attacking Denmark, the prince really didn't want to send troops himself. The Danes were unruly and not easy to mess with. On the other hand, the Slavic tribes were easier targets for attack and embezzlement.
In this way, Horik Klarsson was supported, and now the prince has also received the successful information.
It’s just that the situation became a little beyond his control...
Blue Fox bought as many as thirty Oberlidit men in the slave market. People were led into Ross' shop like cattle and sheep.
They are all young men, all carefully selected, and clearly destined to do hard work until they die of exhaustion. Those companions who tried to resist were killed. Seeing their companions lying in a pool of blood, the will to resist also dissipated.
A group of men with dull eyes squatted on the wooden floor. It was precisely because they were Slavs that they could squat so easily.
Blue Fox appeared in front of them with his entourage in a arrogant manner. As soon as he opened his mouth, they all looked up.
"You! You will not be servants! You will serve as subjects of Rus and now as my mercenaries."
The words were spoken in Ilmen Slavic dialect, Blue Fox He was a smart man. Knowing that the prince was exploring the East, he hurriedly learned some Slavic languages.
The language drift of the East and West Slavic peoples in this era was not dramatic. After all, they almost all lived in one family on the Vistula River two hundred years ago.
The shackles of all the male slaves were smashed, and Blue Fox announced that they had regained their freedom. However, in this mixed-race Hedeby, life would obviously be in danger if they were separated from Ross's protection.
There is a small group of Eastern warriors in the team protecting the Blue Fox. They are the Ilmenslavs, who were ordered by Rurik to protect the Blue Fox. except these people, there are also Finns who are good at archery in the team.
The Ilmen and the Obertridites spoke very similar languages. They were shocked that they were actually the same race. However, after repeated inquiries, they discovered something was wrong and began to realize the size of this world. Far beyond everyone's imagination.
The Ilmenslavs have always been indifferent to Denmark's attitude. Lord Rurik led everyone to attack Denmark and made a fortune. Because the initial encounter was like this, the Ilmenslavs Naturally, Denmark is actually considered weak. The Oberliddites have a completely different set of perceptions. They describe Denmark and Franks as hungry wolves that eat humans and giant fish that devour everything.
Since the King of Rus would protect everyone, Rus’ attitude towards Denmark was also hostile, and the male slaves’ hearts were soon shaken.
The slaves changed their identities, and the new brothers put on the white and blue-striped robes of the Russians. They swore an oath to the flag of Russia, swore allegiance to Rurik, the prince of Russia, and swore to protect him with all their strength. The security of the shops of big businessmen Blue Fox and Ross. They were trained in fighting and issued with bucklers and daggers. They enjoyed a good diet, including wheat and fish every day.
Wearing a unique outfit, a leather helmet that can protect half of the face, leather boots on the feet, and cloth strips tied tightly around the calves.
Ross's Warriors First Flag Team is dressed like this, and Blue Fox's mercenaries in Hedeby are also exactly the same.
Blue Fox appointed a man named Vady Zdalovich as the leader of this team. He was also very principled in recruiting thirty new guards, because thirty people just filled a row. A battle longship is a so-called "ship", and four "ships" constitute a hundred-man team. Four centurions can form a flag corps.
All the mercenaries and sailors formed a hundred-man team of more than 120 people. They were well-trained, including sword, shield and archer. The old mercenaries among them had sufficient ability to defeat the Danes. Experience, they think very highly of themselves, and even feel that the prince's attitude towards the security of Ross's shop in Denmark is too much.
There were indeed attackers. Those blind idiots were annihilated like chopping melons and vegetables. Killing them was as easy as crushing a poultry.
Conquering a group of new mercenaries only means upgrading the security force? These newcomers come from the Oberlidit tribe that has resisted Danish encroachment for generations. They also speak Slavic and believe in the God of Fire. Their performance in all aspects is quite similar to what the Blue Fox learned in Novorosberg and Novgorod. for similarity.
"If the prince is still against Denmark, I can suggest that he win over the Oberlidits, buy their things and sell a batch of weapons. Having one more ally will also provide one more choice in the future."
The open-air shop counters continue to sell goods, leather has been completely sold, and the Russians are now selling pure transparent glassware and colored glassware at very high prices. There is also smelly sulfur soap, which is said to be able to kill lice and fleas on people's bodies. It is indeed effective and attracts businessmen and wealthy people to flock to it. There is also a wonderfully scented honey butter soap, aLike seal oil soap and whale oil soap.
Businessmen big and small who are very particular about life are important customers, but Ross's cheapest soap is affordable to local craftsmen, and Ross is selling these supplies smoothly.
On one side is selling and on the other side is buying.
Prince Rurik issued an order to purchase everything useful, with emphasis on crop seeds.
"Since there is no shortage of wheat seeds in Russia, various vegetable seeds must also be needed."
Coincidentally, Danish spring cabbage has entered the harvest season. A batch of cabbages will be deliberately left by professional farmers until they bloom and go to seed. Blue Fox sends people to take action in advance and gives a sum of money, asking a vegetable farmer to leave the cabbage in the entire field until it blooms and goes to seed, and finally turns it into a big bag. Blackened seeds.
As for buying other vegetables, Blue Fox really has no choice in Heideby. First of all, the local Danes don't like to grow vegetables. After planting wheat, they go fishing during the slack period. The vegetable farmers were either Franks or Saxons. They also lived in Hedeby, but in villages close to Schleswig that were under the supervision of the Frank army. They rowed boats to transport vegetables to the city.
Schleswig is still controlled by the Earl of Hamburg. A Frankish army is stationed in the city. Not far to the north of the city is the Great Wall of Schleswig. The coastal city of Heideby happens to be At the mouth of Schlei Bay, it is a city sandwiched between Denmark and Frankia.
There are not many good vegetable choices in Northern Europe today. Apart from cabbage, there are yellow-rooted carrots, which are also in high demand in Russia. Carrots are already being grown in New Fort Ross, making Ross self-sufficient.
This is not the case for cabbage, but take this packet of seeds back and plant them in Novgorod next year.
How much does it cost to buy vegetables? It's just a very small expense.
Looking at the whole Haidebi, he was not interested in the commercial goods that could be seen everywhere. He entrusted Old Eric and Little Eric to buy gems and amber, and he himself bought more than ten female slaves. .
Just like those male slaves were selected, these selected women were young and beautiful. Their fate was destined to be prostitutes in Hedeby. Blue Fox bought them all and appointed them as servants. .
Of course this young fat man loves women, but he is far from being amorous. He was happy with the nameless concubines he had raised, but he really didn't know which one to make his wife, so he simply put it aside for now.
It was already the end of June, and the merchants in Hedeby were busy celebrating the arrival of the summer solstice.
It has been almost three years since the death of the old alliance leader Hafgen, and no one is willing to hold a grand event in Hedeby where a large group of slaves are killed to worship Odin.
This is not the case here at Ross Shop. The smart Blue Fox knows that his safety depends entirely on the protection of his mercenaries. He must give these armed men spiritual comfort and generous rewards.
They lit a bonfire in the closed wall. The blue fox followed Rurik's example.After a few tricks, the Viking gods and Slavic fire gods were priests with dancing flames, and everyone had a feast together.
The blue fox has his own tricks. He bought the old sheep and deliberately kept them until the summer solstice at the end of the month. Old mutton doesn't taste good, but roasting it makes a difference.
Everyone had a share of the roasted lamb, even the newly bought maids got a large piece of the sizzling lamb.
Compared with the beginning, the mercenaries of Oberlidit became stronger. In a short period of time, they ate delicious meals that were difficult to eat in their hometown. Later, they learned that the Prince of Rus had set up a plan for all soldiers. A standard was set. Even mercenaries must eat one pound of oats a day, and these food expenses are not included in the remuneration.
They burst into tears of gratitude at first, but as they got used to such days, they couldn't bear to part with Prince Ross.
In a sense, these mercenaries are the Guards in various senses. Prince Rurik pays for everything such as food and military pay. Even though the Blue Fox has a private army that seems to be managed by him, in fact it is still Rurik's people. In the autumn, the Blue Fox has the right to find Rurik to reimburse the living expenses of this year's personnel.
As a result, the Blue Fox can devote a lot of energy to trade, and the time has entered July, although there are rumors that the self-proclaimed king Horik Klarsson will come to Hedeby in person to collect taxes. , the news has been circulating for a long time, and it is already July. There is no real news on Heideby's side, and the merchants have no time to pay attention.
Because a group of merchants who bought Russian leather had already entered Schleswig by boat. After asking for some bribes as usual, the local Frankish army allowed them to enter the city and take the leather on the spot. Sold to Frankish merchants. But the huge number of squirrel skins instantly shocked the Earl of Hamburg. He really couldn't imagine how that ghost place in Denmark, where there were not many squirrels, could transport so many high-quality and huge squirrel skins.
The Earl of Hamburg soon understood the reason through the merchant’s mouth—these were brought by the Russians.
Russian? The count didn't understand, so he conveniently described rus as "rosa", which means rose, through the transliteration of the merchant's description. This was also the description in the letter he wrote to Prince Ludwig during the surprise attack. Squirrel skin is a good thing! He ordered the messengers to hurry up and tell the Baron of Schleswig to keep all the Danish merchants, and they must provide them with good food and drink. Then he used his wealth and inventory, and also mobilized the Frankish and Saxon merchants in Hamburg to go north to fight for Buy all the huge amounts of leather.
And this is another story.