Chapter 725 A new village for forced immigrants

In the dense pine forest, an army escorted their prisoners forward at a fast pace.

"Hurry up, you all! Get to the lake early and open up the land early." A strong man carrying a round shield suddenly shouted.

This person is none other than the Novgorod city governor appointed by Rurik and his brother-in-law Medvet.

More than three hundred soldiers closely guarded the captured people. These people were only nominally captured. Not only was Medved unwilling to harm them, he also ordered his soldiers not to allow the women among them to do anything to ensure that everyone reached the lake safely.

More than two hundred men, women and children, carrying their own belongings and most carrying wooden sticks, pushed and pulled two-wheeled vehicles loaded with supplies, and set off on the traditional winding and hidden forest path leading to the big lake.

As the autumn harvest season approaches, everyone is captured by a group of terrifying Varyags.

No! They are not Varangians! Not even a strong person from Pine Needle Manor.

They are actually the guys from White Tree Manor!

The leader of this village is a man who is nearly forty years old. He is elected as the leader by the villagers because he is strong enough and has brute force. What is commendable is that he also has an ancestral iron axe.

The leader is pragmatic. He knows that the village's weak strength is not enough to fight against the powerful enemy with iron armor and giant shield. In the past, when encountering demands for tribute from the powerful Pine Needle Manor, they always handed over their belongings very obediently. They were also forced to accept the ban on entry to the lakeside. If the other party asks for a sheep, he will hide the sheep. If he asks for a young woman, he will tell the people to hide it.

But this time, everyone has nothing to hide.

The leader asked again and again: "Can we really use the land freely when we reach the lake?"

Medweit was obviously bored with the march and was in a panic, so he thought again. In order to appease their emotions, he took the trouble to reply: "Of course. If you pay tribute every year, you can enjoy the fertile lakeside. I warn you not to flee or betray, otherwise the Varyag prince's army will annihilate Pine Needle Manor. Those ten thousand people will generally deal with you."

The village leader was so excited by the former's promise, but also shuddered by the latter's warning.

The leader asked again: "Will you... force us to hand over our women?"

"Of course we will. The only thing I can assure you is that you are not slaves. We are in vain The soldiers of the Tree Manor are here, and they can be your women's husbands."

A huge stone fell to the ground. The leader still couldn't believe it too much. Now he couldn't even fight. If the whole village fled this year, they would all freeze to death and starve to death in the dense forest and become food for bears. He had no choice at all.

Some people say that leaders are compromising losers, but none of them dare to fight if they really choose to.

A lot of news circulated among the passive immigrants, saying that they were already the eleventh village to be forcibly relocated.

It is also said that the escorting soldiers proudly claimed that because Baishu Manor chose to ally with the Varyags early on, every day is a good day.Son, life will be better for any village that joins the Varangros.

They move forward with complicated emotions and are unable to go very far every day. The fertility of their farmland in the dense forest is extremely low, and the low food production has caused them to suffer from summer famine.

If someone dies of hunger on the way, the prince will be angry if he finds out! Medved had no choice but to ask the soldiers to provide them with dry food.

Of course food is not free, and it is natural to provide food harvest benefits.

A large number of women in White Tree Manor are married to Russians. The most beautiful women in most of the farms around the lake are taken away by the Russians! It is even more difficult for the men in the manor to find wives. Now that they have the opportunity, they must look for women among the people hiding in the manor.

There are still a large number of small villages hidden, and if you continue to search, you will surely find more. However, the autumn harvest season at White Tree Manor is approaching, and Medved has suspended his work.

It is impossible for the prince to break his promise. The Russians will bring the people from their hometown. They have made this place their new home. From then on, the Russian conquerors will permanently mix with the Slavs.

In the past, the Ilmen Slavs settled near the lake. Due to the rapid expansion of the population, a civil war broke out, and a large number of people were forced to escape into the forest.

Finally, an open world appeared in front of them, and the sparkling scene in the distance shocked these people.

Only some older people still remember the beauty of Lake Ilmen, and more people have only known the forest full of dangers and opportunities, and the creek that provides water since they were born. It seems that the world is just a village in the forest and the cramped farmland nearby. Many people now realize for the first time that the world is actually very big.

The leader was so shocked by the sight before him that he unconsciously walked towards the fields by the lake, towards the reeds, and finally into the big lake, and then screamed with excitement.

More people rushed over, cheered in the conversation, and deliberately played with water...

A group of Medved soldiers were busy drinking water from the lake to quench their thirst, and they just laughed and watched. Watching these rare and strange guys play in the water.

The leader made himself wet, and his clothes still smelled like mud. He approached Medved with a playful smile: "Sir, can we really settle here? No one will evict us again?"

"Are you a fool?"

One sentence , the leader was confused when asked: "I..."

"Have you never seen a lake?"

"My grandfather has seen it, and I...it is indeed the first time." See you."

Hearing these silly words, Medved took off his helmet and laughed again.

That's all, he pointed to the north: "Look carefully, there is a settled village there. We are walking a little further north. When I say enough, you will stop and settle here. Listen. "Yes, I allow your men to go back to harvest wheat, but if you escape, you must consider the safety of your women and children."

"Don't dare! We don't dare to escape, we will open a settlement immediately."point. ”

It seems that Shunchang is really going to die. Along the way, the governor Medved only verbally threatened and promised. The iron-clad soldiers did not use force. It seems that they did not intend to commit violence. , the people who were invisibly forced to immigrate were not angry.

We are all pragmatic people. Who would live in the isolated Linhai if it were not forced by the current situation?

It is said. Tree Manor has been Varyagized, and tens of thousands of Varyag people have occupied the north.

This is the eleventh village to be forced to immigrate, and the population of each village is 200 people. Up and down. Life in the forest is very difficult. They work hard to give birth to children to offset the high mortality rate. However, every winter there are people who freeze to death due to long-term weakness due to poor eating.

If so. Living by the lake, everything will be fine.

Since this is the permission of the Varyag Prince of Rus, the villages are willing to accept his rule, of course, provided that the amount of tribute paid each year does not force everyone. Their families were destroyed.

The first people who were forced to immigrate had limited encounters with Russian fishermen, and the encounters were generally harmonious, because most of these fishermen spoke some Slavic languages, and since they could communicate effectively, there was little chance of them communicating.

Most of these fishermen are young people from the First Flag Team. They have outstanding military achievements and have a lot of savings in their hands. They think highly of themselves and are arrogant towards these waning savages who emerge from the forest. At the same time, he felt pity for these people.

So some fishermen took out cheap mass-produced cast-iron hammers and harpoons, and exchanged them for young women to take Mstisk as wives. < /p>

In just one month, the soldiers of the First Flag Team recruited fifty women, and this is what Arik wanted to report to Rurik.

In Ross. The fleet finally arrived at Lake Ilmen, and Medway had just emerged from the forest.

When the eleventh farm began to lay the pile foundations of the new house, and just started to use stone sickles to treat the weeds, Medway. Te Ye continued northward with the main army.

All eleven new villages of Medved left garrisons. The people who left the forest had no clear hatred for White Tree Manor. They were both surrounded by pine needles. The manor forced them to leave the Great Lakes.

These remaining warriors were often unmarried. How could this not be good news for the new immigrants? In order to obtain further security promises through marriage

On the first night after Rurik landed, Mstisk became a sea of ​​carnivals and strange lights everywhere. The New Slavic immigrants couldn't help but marvel at the sight. Only the soldiers who stayed there proudly pointed out that it was a Russian settlement.

Mstisk was full of drunk men and even many women. They were also drunk. The soldiers of the First Banner Corps got a lot of ale and kvass from Novgorod, and they had more wheat.Make wine.

In this era, they have no choice. Alcoholic beverages are almost the only cheap drinking entertainment. Drinking wine and eating grilled fish, the reunited Ross family is so cathartic. In the past, this kind of carnival could only be done on the day of Hanukkah. Now that there is abundant supplies and the harvest is approaching, there are too many reasons and a solid material foundation for everyone to squander.

Aric's face turned red after drinking, and Rurik's condition was also very bad.

This was the first time Rurik drank too much, all because his brother mixed the ale with honey and strong vodka. The sweetness of honey covered up the pungency of alcohol. When Rurik realized that the problem had turned upside down...

At least when he was sober, Rurik learned the good news from the south. The so-called Medvet had been implementing the task. , the villagers who were picked out were all willing to accept the rule of the prince.

Are they really obedient? When he was awake, Rurik inspected the recently married village women. Although they were timid to meet him, Rurik, who had many wives, could see from the eyes of these women that they were actually very satisfied with their current lives.

Aric said it very straightforwardly: "They hide in the forest and are often accompanied by hunger. Once the wheat is eaten, they can only starve, so people starve to death every year. But here, They have wheat and fish to eat every day..."

Many of the news described by the elder brother revealed his arrogance, and the brothers all looked at the Slavs who were caught out with pity. Other than that, no one persecutes them.

Perhaps it really is Tomi Naga’s conscience? Rurik didn't quite think this was true, but he was afraid that those people were too poor to deserve the Russians' evil intentions. As for capturing people as slaves, the unspoken rules that have emerged in Russian society over the years exclude pure slaves.

The brothers still got a new group of people. They exchanged iron tools for women, and the transactions with each other were quite harmonious.

When Rurik wakes up, he will go on an armed parade to these new lakeside farms to show the local village chiefs the style of the Prince of Russia.

Just do it!

Rurik stayed in Mstisk until the third day. After that night of fun, all the emotions that the tribesmen had held back for more than half a year were released.

Both oats and wheat are growing well. They have just started heading, and the earliest harvest time is two weeks away.

For at least ten days in the middle period, I had a lot to do, so I decided to gather the army and go to those farms to visit.

The horn was blown, and the souls of the soldiers were moved!

Arik hurried to Rurik's temporary residence early in the morning and asked the prince, who was dressed in gorgeous furry clothes, whether he wanted to fight.

"Who are we going to fight when we gather an army?! Could there be an enemy attack?"

"No, I still have to gather an army. Well, gather at least 200 people for me. Let's take a ride Let’s take a boat trip to those new villages.”

Arik scratched his head and didn’t think there was anything clever about it.”I probably understand that we are going to be like those poor people who are armed and parade? ”

“Yes! It just shows my presence. ”

“Oh, then they will think that God is in the world! ”

“This is just what I want. ”

Arik shrugged. Since it was his brother’s order, he would carry it out. Showing martial arts to those poor and weak people would only bring them vanity, and he didn’t like it.

Luri What Ke wants is not vanity. He does want to show his strength to those people. By the way, he also takes his "young boys" to explore their future living space and see if he can solve the marriage problems of some boys.

There was one farm that had always been a staunch ally of the old Pine Needle Manor. The former was destroyed and the latter was executed together.

A smaller farm only had ruins left, but no land. Barren.

Part of the area was given to the soldiers of White Tree Manor after the war. They cultivated oats and sowed seeds on all the land they saw.

The prince has been providing food for a large number of children. When the children reach the age of twelve, according to tradition, such boys should fend for themselves, and girls should consider marrying.

Rurik cannot really give it. With such a young child cut off, they still have to cooperate with each other to survive, but it is time for the prince to cut off the free food supply.

The children will feel guilty when they grow up and do nothing. He needs to make a living on his own and repay past debts to the prince.

Rurik plans to build a "city of youth" with a total of nearly 400 men and women of the right age (the ratio of men to women is about 2:1. ), they have received cultural education, physical training, fought in wars, and are good at carpentry. These people can be said to be the best young people in the principality and need to show their talents in the new world.

Their other existence is also as Ross. The army went to guard the Slavs who left the forest. It seemed that those people could not rebel. The Russian army had to be around those people to prevent unexpected events.

An army of six hundred people was assembled, and Rurik was dressed in gorgeous clothes. Without sacrificing bravery, the soldiers generally did not wear heavy chainmail, but they had quite a complete set of weapons on hand.

Russ had as many as twenty flags, each about three meters long. The battle-prepared halberds (axes tied under the spearheads) are all tied with blue and white cloth, and the warriors are uniformly and neatly dressed.

Any lord who places this unit in Frank will treat it with caution. It is very visually pleasing. It's bluffing, they are really strong.

Rurik wants to show off his force, this time he will advance by water.

Since the main force of the Russian navy happens to be in Mstisk, it will go ashore to rest. The professional sailors took the fleet and cruised south again, stopping in front of the people in the new villages to open their eyes. Then came the land forces who were good at expeditions.The army arrived with great fanfare.

Rurik also thought about it. Medved’s method of forcing them to leave the forest was indeed crude. Then giving them a little iron is a kind of comfort.

Everything seems to be in place.

Rurik looked at his army again, checked the carriages and deer carts containing camping supplies, and finally ordered: "Let's go! Let the newcomers see how powerful we are!"