When the Ross fleet anchored at Saaremaa Island, the islanders finally experienced the glory of the Ross Principality's navy.
They are extremely fortunate to have made the right choice. This huge navy is not an opponent, and they themselves will row their boats to join it.
Do you want to be a pirate who raids and robs again?
Prince Ross obviously disdains doing this kind of thing. Noble people have noble ways, such as leading an army to kill them directly.
Nearly all the islanders of Saaremaa were mobilized. Telalang, who was in his prime, led his islanders to organize a fleet to join the Ross Navy.
It was also this opportunity that Rurik took a flagship cruise around the island and personally visited the villages on the island, gaining a very intuitive understanding of the entire Saaremaa Island.
In this case, the sea area south of the island naturally attracted his attention.
The whole army will take a final rest on this island. The rest will take a very short time. However, the trawl equipment brought by various fishermen has already been tentatively fishing. The fishermen with a try mentality quickly harvested a harvest. An unexpected catch.
What is the scale effect? This is the scale effect.
Without Lauryurik taking action himself, more than 400 large and small boats that followed him began to plunder the herring resources in the waters near Saaremaa Island.
But it was Rurik who was the most ruthless. The twenty official large fishing boats that signed the contract, namely the boats numbered RFB01 to RFB20, dropped their big nets like blue whales with their mouths open. During the cruise, when people on the boat feel that it is enough, they use the winch to retrieve the giant hemp rope net, collect all the caught herrings as long as forearms on the deck, and then shovel them into baskets with wooden shovels.
Because Saaremaa Island is already the territory of the Principality of Rus, fishermen from all walks of life have no psychological burden when fishing here.
Even the original islanders were shocked. They had no idea that there were such abundant fish in the waters near their island!
With very backward fishing technology, how can the people of Saaremaa become wealthy?
A large number of Ross trawlers have joined the "battlefield", and it seems that the herring schools will be wiped out? In fact, this is not the case, because even if the Principality of Rus goes all out, the search for the South Baltic Sea fishery is still a scrape. Instead, they began to conduct an organized "big sweep" of the sea in a smaller area.
Their first day's fishing had already provided the entire giant fleet with food for the day. With the more aggressive electric light night fishing after nightfall, a large number of catches were delivered to the shore early in the morning.
The original meaning of "Saaremaa" is "island", but now it may be more appropriate to call it "Herring Island".
This is a large island, reaching 80 kilometers at its widest point. However, there is only one fishing village, located in a small bay in the north of the island.
Also longed for Saaremaa is Hiiuma, which is also a large island.
The narrow sea area between the two islands is used by Rurik as a anchorage for large ships. Speaking of this tiny strait, the two islands seem to be connected into one. In a sense, they are already one.There is a lagoon, and the main force of the fleet is anchored in a clear water. Where can this place not be a suitable anchorage?
It is no problem for tens of thousands of people to live on such a huge island, but there are only a few hundred islanders staying here.
There are undeveloped areas everywhere, and the island has lush forest resources, including many good materials for shipbuilding, such as oak trees.
The beach is a dense bonfire, and the Ross fishermen who have landed are already building their temporary shelters.
They began logging on a large scale, and spruce, red pine, white oak, red oak, and ash trees fell one after another.
Various woods have various uses. Spruce is very suitable for building houses. Red oak is the so-called most common oak tree in Northern Europe. And ash tree has strong elasticity and toughness. It would be a pity not to use it to make bows. .
The fishermen are cooking fish on a large scale. Over-lit bonfire stalls have wooden poles erected and tied with hemp ropes. On the ropes are herrings with their heads cut off, tails and guts cut off. The fresh fish meat will be gradually dried to become a flavorless specialty smoked fish. The purpose of their coming is to plunder herrings, whether they are in the sea further south or on the island of Saaremaa, there is no difference between them.
But the purpose of Yevro leading his men deep into the island's forest was simply to find books. He found a thick oak tree and marked it, leaving it to the Russians behind with a two-person saw. Look for what are called “ash trees.” The ash tree has gray bark, its shape is too straight but its size is generally smaller than the red pine. It is easy to identify, which Jevlo has already experienced.
As long as it was an "ash tree", he ordered his men to cut it down, and after peeling off the branches, the trunks, regardless of thickness, were carried on his shoulders. The brothers carried them to the coast and took good care of them. According to his idea, these unexpected treasures should be taken back and placed in the house to dry in the shade for a winter until the large-scale bow-making project begins around summer next year.
The sea breeze blew on the crowded coast, but a rain interrupted people's good mood.
The fishermen scolded the damn rain for coming suddenly!
The rain in summer always comes suddenly, falls violently, and always stops abruptly.
It rained heavily, and the dried fish that had been processed before had no time to protect it from moisture, so the work was in vain.
People took shelter from the rain in simple wooden sheds, which naturally leaked everywhere, making people wet on a large scale.
But Rurik is a top noble, and he cannot be in such an embarrassing situation.
A large house of the islanders was designated as a palace by him, and the islanders' parliamentary chamber was still the parliamentary chamber.
Spuyut was enthroned as the governor of the island and has completed a walled fortress, and the buildings within the wall have also begun to be Russified.
This place is still crude, but Rurik and Svetlana are in a good mood, even though there are big fish fishing outdoors.
On this day, a group of wet people gathered in the court of the Islanders' Parliament.
The Prince of Ross is the absolute protagonist. Everyone is looking forward to another generous speech from him until it rains.At the end, they rushed towards Bornholm Island.
A pair of eyes looked at Rurik, waiting for him to preach.
“Saaremaa is a good place!” His sigh relaxed the slightly tense atmosphere.
He continued: "In my opinion, some people no longer intend to go south, they just stay on the island and go out to sea to fish. That's fine, I will undoubtedly bring a large number of vultures with me Fighting, our army does not need to be followed by a large number of complex people at all times. Instead of plundering the fish near Bornholm Island, let them stay here. ”
< p>"Huh?" Telalang, an islander in his prime, quickly raised his head."You are a native of the island, what do you think?"
"I...I don't know..."
"You stuttered again I have decided that Saaremaa will develop well. As long as the people of the principality enjoy the benefits, fishermen will rush here to fish every year, and your fishing village will prosper quickly."
"This is a good thing."
Rurik shrugged: "I am informing you, and I hope you will not resent it. You and other islanders should understand that when you actively ask to join Ross's team, In an instant, this island is mine, and it is my will to develop it. Now, I am happy to develop it into a fishing base in the south."
However, Tralang is against Rurik. The prince's explanation was incomprehensible.
Although the islanders opened a settlement in Saaremaa, they never claimed sovereignty. They just happened to live here like migratory birds.
If only Rurik was talking about these things in the council chamber, the meeting would indeed make the audience drowsy.
Rurik slapped his thigh suddenly: "Telalang! Do you know anything about the situation in the sea south of the island? In my opinion, the south is a huge bay."
Tralan was startled: "Prince! Do you know that the south is a bay?"
"Yes. It is called the Gulf of Riga?"
"The Gulf of Riga? If it is a huge bay There is no problem with the name, you are the one who named it.”
Telalan’s reaction was very subtle, giving Rurik the feeling that this group of islanders who have lived here for generations have no interest in the Gulf of Riga. It even shows that the Gulf of Riga is simply called "a bay".
"Since it is a bay and a coast, do you know anything about the coast deep in the bay? Are there other people living there?"
"Yes!" Telalang answered firmly. .
"Who is it?"
Suddenly, this Telalang laughed out loud in front of everyone.
"Say what you have to say, why are you laughing?!" Rurik asked slightly displeased.
"Because those people are on this island. They are right next to you."
"Oh? What does this mean?"
For the time being, Rikke didn’t understand. As some seemingly dull people were brought to the parliament chamber and they appeared to give their explanations,That's where things get tricky.
There were not many people in the parliament court. The few new guys who entered the room were still stained with rainwater. They all had black hair and their clothes were not decent.
They definitely don’t speak Norse, let alone Slavic.
Rurik tentatively communicated with them in Old Finnish, hoping to understand some words. Not to mention, the other party could only understand a little bit, and just mumbled a few words. Difficult sentences.
"What are they talking about?!" Arik, who was listening in, was very impatient.
"It's their language." Telalang shrugged and smiled: "Obviously I should be the translator."
"You can speak for them." Liuli Ke reluctantly ordered.
Because Saaremaa is an uninhabited island, Vikings from all walks of life who were exiled by their tribes set up settlements here. Due to their despicable status, they basically lost contact with their homeland, so they could only think about He tried his best to go to the south to check out the situation, and immediately made contact with various Baltic tribes along the coast. The Baltic people could only build canoes, and a few followed the Viking exiles to land on Saaremaa Island. Others simply took canoes and drifted to the island.
People from all walks of life gather on the island. They have different bloodlines, but they all have the same origin - exiles.
Tela Long himself is of mixed race, and his hair is brown and yellow.
There are Estonians, Landals (Livonians), Latgals (Latvians), and Kurz (Courlanders).
Rurik could understand the meaning of some nouns, while others were very unfamiliar.
However, he knew the geographical structure of this sea area very well, because the Gulf of Riga is indeed a large and quiet bay.
Now that there are new ethnic groups, what is their situation?
"You are from different tribes? Now you are all Rus and all my subjects. Please tell me, what is the local situation like in the tribe to which you or your ancestors once belonged?"
Rurik continued his inquiry, and the questions became purposefully to the point.
For example, how many people did those tribes have, what they lived on, whether the tools and weapons they used were metal, whether they could weave, and so on.
He quickly got the answer. Those tribes all knew how to make iron tools, farm and fish, and weave hemp and hunt animals. The population size is unknown.
The only thing they have to say about their ancestral home is what their parents and grandparents said. They have not contacted each other for a long, long time. God knows what is going on there.
They still provided a very key description - each tribe was clustered in the form of a large number of small villages, and there was no such largest ruler as the Prince of Rus.
Tralan kept beating his chest and claimed that the translation was correct. Undoubtedly, this description immediately aroused the ambition of knowledgeable people.
Aric looked up to the sky and laughed: "This is what Odin gave us.Our opportunity! God is suggesting that we expand to larger lands and conquer new people. Rurik, you cannot miss this opportunity. "
In this way, Yevluo also advised Jin: "Since they form separate villages, we can organize the army to defeat them one by one. Maharaja! You shall rule more. ”
At this moment, a smart man made the loudest noise.
This person was none other than Swinder, Bornholm’s messenger and talker.
What if it can divert the flood to the south?
Swinder was crazy about the fire. He didn’t know what was going on in the south, so he nonchalantly pointed out that there were fertile farmland, high-quality trees and trees. There are countless small animals that the so-called Russians need.
Why can't Rurik understand the implication? Isn't it just that he is urging himself to immediately send troops south to rob, and at the same time spare Bornholm's life? , if the war drags on, as long as time is delayed, Bornholm will still have a chance.
Rurik pointed at his nose and asked him to shut up.
Even Ragnar joined in, persuading Rurik to expand his territory. But what good would this do to Ragnar, an exiled Danish lord? There are benefits to revival, but there are definitely no disadvantages.
Rurik looked at everyone, and his heart was beating rapidly.
He paused and said, "My dream is to use it. Ross's sword conquered a huge territory. Would anyone think I would pass up this opportunity? Tell you! Absolutely impossible! but! "
Once the "but" is reached, things become complicated.
"Don't think about the short-sightedness of those who followed our army. The resources obtained were very rich, so they stayed and did not want to continue to attack Bornholm. Our goal is to conquer Bornholm and that cannot change at this juncture. ”
Aric immediately followed his brother’s words and continued: “So we should make a plan. After solving the Bornholm problem, should we go to the southern bay and move those people along the coast? recover. I know you don't want to go on a killing spree, but everyone would be happy if the locals surrendered quickly. But I believe they are also a brave tribe. I can help you conquer the people in the southern bay of the island. ”
Arik is asking for a job, but when Rurik thinks of his cousin’s bravery, he is worried that this guy will lead his brothers and chop up the available labor like melons and vegetables. Kill them all
Seeing that the time was almost there, Rurik set the tone as a prince: "We will deal with the Bornholm Islanders this year, and we will deal with the south of Saaremaa Island together at the earliest. Problems of residents of the Gulf of Riga. Saaremaa will become a key maritime trade node, like Tombstone Island, and we will connect newly conquered peoples. If we want to live a good life, we must at least let them live a good life. In the future, we will have more trading partners and a group of allies. ”
”Who knows? "ARick laughed, his attitude clearly showing distrust.
Nowadays Rurik is naturally not too naive. He slapped his thigh and made a conclusion at a glance: "Those guys need a master, and that's me! They, together with the land they settled on, must be incorporated into Rus."
History has entered this point in time, or this is it. The inevitable trend of history, Rurik, as the ruler of Rus, put another foot on the accelerator of the wheel of history.
The so-called plan for Russia to conquer "the three Baltic countries (currently just a large group of tribes)" has been formulated, and the rest is only a matter of time.