The nobles of the Mellaren tribe are very self-aware, especially Bjorn, the tribal leader and King of Sweden, who understands that their country is unfair. For the sake of their own power and the advantages of the Mellaren tribe's crime to the whole of Sweden, they The alliance with the Russians should be strengthened.
In addition, it is also necessary to consolidate the Mellaren tribe's trade monopoly over the entire Sweden, and this still requires the support of Ross merchants.
The education his daughter received since birth was to be used as a bargaining chip to marry other nobles.
Of course they do not have the right to make their own choices, but...
"Why?! I want to marry an old and fat man. Father, that man is almost older than you!" "The crying little daughter Safir Björndot complained about her dissatisfaction over and over again while smashing things at home.
King Bjorn tried his best to remain patient and persuaded with earnest words: "This is your fate! You must accept it."
"If that is a young man, I can accept it, but He is obviously an old guy."
"Even so, you have to accept it!"
The girl put down her slapping hands, her face turned red with anger and she burst into tears. His flushed face was like a fever: "You are doing it for your power."
"It is for the whole of Sweden. Because I am the king!"
"You are the king? How dare you Claiming to be a king? No one really supports you! It’s just that this alliance needs a man to talk things over!”
Not to mention, this woman’s words hit the nail on the head. But what his daughter said made Bjorn so angry that he could no longer remain calm.
With a slap on the girl's face, King Bjorn glared at his youngest daughter with murderous eyes: "You don't know what you are talking about! Now you must marry Si Noreva (white fox), if you don't want to, I will give you death. At worst, I will find a girl from the tribe to adopt as my daughter."
The girl was completely stunned. She did not speak. He lowered his head and sobbed alone.
King Bjorn was still angry. He turned his back and said coldly: "I will dress you up and marry you in style. Stupid girl! That man doesn't have a son yet. , you gave him a boy, you will enjoy endless glory and wealth. "You don't understand?" But the girl Safir Bjorndot really doesn't understand, she is only fourteen. A 20-year-old girl, she is the daughter of a noble of the tribe, and she also has an object of admiration.
What girl is not young and beautiful at her age? Not longing for a handsome aristocratic man as a husband.
King Bjorn wants to marry his daughter. It would be too inappropriate to do such a thing in early winter. People who lacked fun gathered around to watch. They saw a girl with silver hair and a big white fat man who was arrogant and gorgeously dressed.
At night, the nobles of the Melalen tribe toasted to celebrate the marriage. White Fox Gouldson also withstood the pressure of his wife's depression. Not only did he forcibly marry a young girl, he also paid a fortune for the wedding ceremony.food expenses.
He personally brought out the liquor for the dinner and got drunk with the other nobles. They talked about friendship and business success at the dinner table.
King Bjorn was drinking heavily. He drank a lot of strong alcohol and was now almost in a state of fragmentation.
He toasted to the white fox, reiterated his friendship inarticulately, and solemnly announced: "I will set off in a few days! Now... there are a lot of ice floes in the lake and sea. If you don't leave now, you can only take a sleigh. . I want to go to your new Rossburg in person, and I want to...convene another Swedish alliance."
"But our Ross has already separated from Sweden," Bai Hu pointed out in confusion.
"But...we are one. That idiot Karl made you Russians angry. It does not mean that other nobles are like this. My family has not rejected Rus since ancient times. The Danes have been defeated, and the remaining It's a good life. We want to do business together and live a good life. Sweden can't live without Ross, just like Ross can't live without Sweden..." King Bjorn didn't mumble any more, and he sat down. His body was broken into pieces and he lay down on the spot. People could hear his snoring.
The white fox accompanied the group of guys to drink until the end, and the newly married Safir Bjorndot had been sent to Gould Island on the lake after the wedding.
From this moment on, the girl is already a Russian.
She waited anxiously for the arrival of her obese husband, and the white fox had sex with her as soon as he came back. No one knew what the white fox had promised to his new wife. She became silent and quiet, neither crying nor fussing, like a tamed puppy. It seemed that she no longer resented this marriage.
The return of the white fox was sudden. He realized that sending King Bjorn to New Roseburg was a great achievement for the family and the prince. He needs glorious deeds to convince the public, otherwise he will be suppressed by his promising second brother Lan Hu, which would be unbearable.
As for King Bjorn, he was going to meet Prince Rus in person. The news was released to the people, which immediately caused an uproar.
Even if the nobles have agreed on this matter, they still need the support of all the people of Melalen.
Thousands of people gathered in Birka, and the trading port that was originally sluggish in winter suddenly became bustling.
King Bjorn, who was dressed in bearskin, preached to the people in his voice. The core of his preaching was unparalleled - only by doing good trade with the Rus can you make a fortune.
In this case, it would not be condescending for Bjorn to go to Ross himself.
The Melalen tribe needs to raise funds to purchase some large ships and strive for business opportunities for all the people.
Among the many listeners, large traditional tribes such as Onkras, Uppsala, and Yermalen all sent envoys. When King Bjorn finished preaching, these tribes simply organized His own messenger.
All tribes have to go to the Principality of Ross for an audience? Isn't it possible that a great king will go there in person and go to hell with his duke?
The actions of the dukes of each tribe were to overstep the authority of the king, but each tribeThe tribe came up with a very reasonable argument, so the Ross and the brothers have the same level, and each other is a duke country. As for whether King Bjorn is condescending and others go to Rus, the King cannot blame him.
The ice floes on the lake and sea are joining together. If we don’t leave now, we have to wait until next year, or we can only take a sleigh ride.
They organized a team of rowing long boats. Some tribes had their leaders personally act as envoys, while others just sent envoys.
The man with a white beard is none other than Angreev, the old leader of the Angkras tribe. Many years have passed, Rurik has grown from a child to an adult, and the Gould family has moved away, but Ungreev is still alive.
He bought the old Gould family home at a low price. He felt that he had made a profit. Now when he went deep into Gould Island, he realized that the eldest son of the Gould family was now as powerful as a prince. .
The Gurdot returned from its expedition to Denmark and anchored at Tombstone Island in the Åland Islands without special circumstances.
Now, this large ship that had conquered Denmark, with its bronze rams easily breaking the thin ice floes, was parked next to Gould Island, being watched by the noble envoys from various tribes.
Take a good look at her!
Bjorn deliberately floated under her bow in the rowing boat and looked up at her.
"What a great ship! What a pity it's not mine." He murmured to himself.
Some followers encouraged: "We will buy such a ship, and we will be very powerful."
"I hope so. Hey, we have to be ruthless in order to buy a ship." Spend some money."
The Aurora-class sailing cruiser is the largest ship that the Nordics can see at the moment. For the shipbuilders of the Principality of Ross who have mastered the art of keel splicing and continuously improved their abilities, they can build even larger ships. The ships seemed to be just a matter of investment by the princes.
The irony is that the Swedish nobles lamented that the Russians had big ships, but the excellent shipbuilders came from Sweden. This group of nobles did not have the financial resources to order large-scale ships, so they could not blame the craftsmen for coming up with "good ministers who choose their masters and serve them" one after another.
King Bjorn was completely unaware of this and thought that the Rus people had extraordinary abilities.
White Fox, the fat white man, was praised by everyone. He was arrogant and mercilessly accused the longships of the envoys of being junk goods from the old era.
"My ship can break the ice, and those long ships can be easily broken by me. Now the sea is freezing. You abandon your ship and streamline your entourage. We will take the Guldot Go to Ross!"
Bjorn took the lead in accepting the offer, and the others had no choice but to accept it.
The White Fox knew that this trip was of great significance. He took his new wife and decided to arrive at Tombstone Island first for supplies, and at the same time, he also allowed King Bjorn to leave the lake and see the world.
Ashamed to say, Bjorn is indeed a fish in the lake. The last time he sailed was a long time ago. He would not leave Lake Mälaren to wander in the ocean unless there was something important.
The big ship's jib was tilted to catch the north wind, so it raced on the lake at the fastest speed possible. The speed actually reached twenty knots, and Bjorn was shocked by the speed! When the big ship left the mouth of Lake Mälaren and entered the ocean, it headed directly against the wind to the north. Bjorn's doubts only lasted for one day. Shortly after entering the archipelago, he saw a fortress-like port.
In order to see what happened, Bjorn would rather stand on the bow deck and suck in the cold wind.
The white fox explained with great interest: "This is our Tombstone Island. Many Merlaren merchants do business here. I'm sorry, many people prefer our Ross's to your Birka." This port."
Speaking like a provocation, Bjorn couldn't get angry because what the fat man said was true.
A large number of ships are parked at the port of Tombstone Island. Although it is in the ocean, this island group has a large number of small bays, especially the two natural harbors on Tombstone Island, which are perfect havens.
There are as many as ten large sailing ships here. Each ship is fixed to the pier by ropes. It seems that they are not planning to sail in winter.
Guldot Island docked firmly on the trestle, and people on the shore took the thrown cables and tied them up.
The white fox turned his head sideways to Bjorn, who was staring blankly, and couldn't help but feel contempt for the bumpkin in his heart.
Being respectful on the surface, he loudly pulled Bjorn's attention: "King of Sweden, are you looking at the beauties on the island? Let's get off the boat first and rest here for the night. We will go back tomorrow. Let's go."
"Okay. This fortress..." Bjorn wanted to say something. He actually felt very uncomfortable and envied Ross.
He is the king after all, even if he lacks arbitrary power, he is still the king of Sweden. Looking at the current situation, the Russians have built a marine fortress almost on the doorstep of Sweden that the Swedish army cannot break. This means that the mouth of Lake Mälaren, the only way for the Swedes to go to sea, has been controlled by the Principality of Ross. Dead.
Although Bjorn’s analysis is very correct, the Åland Islands were not developed by the Russians to contain Sweden. At this point, it became a fact to contain Sweden, but as Bjorn actually landed on the island, he felt that his estimate was a bit arbitrary.
There are all kinds of people on the island, not to mention the Russian immigrants. He and other envoys have discovered traders from their own race. Although these businessmen were surprised by the nobles of their own clan who landed on the island, they were just surprised.
The Merlaren merchants who settled on Tombstone Island have almost practically surrendered to the Principality of Russia. They pay business taxes to the Principality and live on the island for a long time. They are like "new Russians". Seeing King Bjorn without any contempt or respect, it was as if he was seeing an ordinary person.
In addition to these people, there are other men who speak Norse. They shaved their heads bald on a large scale and kept only a few braids. This was clearly something that some Norwegian tribes could do. He quickly figured out that there was indeed a group of Norwegians from extremely remote places operating here.When asked about the Norwegians, they arrogantly explained their identity. The Principality of Rus had conquered the north, and a group of Norwegians joined Rus with their own territories.
The same legend has also been verified. The so-called Norwegians occupied a piece of land on the British Island. They established a kingdom on the island and became a country of brothers in Ross.
Bjorn feels that his Sweden has been attacked from two sides. Denmark is weakening, Rus has formed an alliance with Norway, and a group of Norwegians have moved freely in the inner Baltic Sea. This is something that he, the king, had never imagined before.
The population on the island is also more complicated than he thought. There is a group of black-haired dwarves living there. They are the Fenradors, who can be used as slaves or mercenaries.
There is a group of black-haired people in the Lake Malaren area, most of whom are farming serfs raised by the nobles. The nobles called them "finrado", just a group of slaves.
King Bjorn never imagined that such a person could live freely.
When he deliberately asked the White Fox about his wonderful knowledge, the White Fox beat him very easily, "All the smart people among the Finlado are loyal to our Prince Rus, and those who disobey have been killed. We will kill them." There are about 30,000 disobedient people, and now no one from Fenladuo dares to rebel."
White Fox said it lightly, and although his words were not arrogant, a sentence of "kill 30,000 of them" was better. everything.
As for the other kind of thinner people with brown hair, they are the so-called Slavs. "They were slaves conquered by Rus, and the Prince of Rus allowed them to be free. The prince loved these people so much that even the queen was a Slav, and the person who will inherit the throne in the future must be a mixed race."
The slave people are still alive. Can you become a noble? There must be a major secret behind the strangeness. Bjorn knew that old Otto gave up power to his son Rurik, and young people always have strange ideas. Rurik must have done all this.
"Is it because Rurik's queen is very beautiful?" he asked about the white fox.
"As beautiful as a fairy from Asgard."
"Just because of a woman's beauty, those people are no longer slaves?"
"Of course not." White Fox didn't know much about politics. His marriage to King Bjorn was also a double insurance for his family's wealth. He casually speculated: "Maybe it's because there are many Slavs."
"A lot? How many?"
"One hundred thousand people."
White Fox He described a "hundred thousand," which is one hundred thousand people. He described it in another way. The so-called Slavs who simply surrendered to Rus exceeded the combined population of all tribes in the entire Kingdom of Sweden, at least far exceeding that of Mei. Laren tribe.
Being unable to reach the capital of the Russians, King Bjorn instinctively felt that the white fox was bragging. He concealed his shock with a smile. After all, this is a big businessman, and businessmen are always good at bragging.
He was doubtful, so he first negotiated with the elderly Gould, who had age spots on his face and a gray beard.
As for Bjorn marrying his youngest daughter to his eldest son, Old Gould had no idea. If it was just for the male heir of the family, the eldest son would have to choose one from an illegitimate son, so why bother marrying a younger one in glory?
This was a political marriage, which also caused the Gould family to get on the same boat as the Swedish aristocracy. Maybe this will offend Prince Rurik? That's not something that an old man like me, who is about to die, can interfere with.
Swedish nobles and envoys saw the old and hapless appearance of the once high-spirited businessman. Old Angreeve, who was also aged, struck up a conversation with this old friend, and the two old people became sympathetic to each other. Everyone knows that their youth is gone and their days are numbered.
Tombstone Island is just a small island, and at most three islands in a large archipelago have been developed. Although he only stayed until the next day before leaving, in a short period of time Bjorn saw a large area of farmland and a city protected by a fortress. It is much smaller than the port of Birka, but has considerable potential.
Since the White Fox is going to forcefully sail through the ice to reach Fort New Rose in the East, and the Swedish envoys have met with the prince with important diplomatic matters, Tombstone Island should organize a high-standard fleet to go to the East.
As a result, the Balmoks and Finns, who were waiting for the sea to freeze completely before taking sleds to trade with the East, did not hesitate to take a smooth sailing.
Bales of sea salt from the North Atlantic are loaded onto the ship, and this year there is no need to travel in sled teams or even pay much for travel. Balmok merchants happily boarded armed merchant ships.
As for the Finnish fur traders, they made money to buy wheat and ironware. They also planned to go to Helminki, the Finnish trading port, when the ice and snow became thicker, and then go north to spend the winter at home in the inland areas. They won't miss this opportunity.
The Guldot led four other large ships to leave Tombstone Island. In the view of King Bjorn, if he had such a fleet, his internal power could be guaranteed, and he would also have the strength to go sideways against Denmark. .
According to White Fox, such a fleet does not even have 10% of the strength of the Ross Navy. Is what he said true?
The east represents the endless unknown. Bjorn is expectant and cautious, because he is completely unknown in this sea area. Not only himself, but also his father and grandfather have never been there. Not just him, all the envoys entered the Gulf of Finland for the first time. They knew that they would see the new world controlled by the Russians. As for what the new world held, was it an opportunity?
The Russians will never forget their old friends in the old world. The envoys and leaders of various tribes were deeply shocked by what they saw on Tombstone Island, and the tribal leaders were itching.
Because everything was for the benefit of the tribe, old Ungreave could not forget his private chat with his old tribemate and old friend Gould. Why would an old man in his twilight years lie to himself? The Russians must be very powerful.
For the benefit of the Onkras tribe, maybe the tribe can make the Principality of Ross the leader. After all, the powerful Ross is more qualified to succeed Melalen and become the real leader.King of Sweden.
He vaguely remembered that King Karl arbitrarily coerced the entire Melalen and other tribes to exclude the Rus. Now that the militaristic Karl was murdered in a coup, all tribes are actively doing business with Ross.
How about brothers inviting the Russians over again? Be the boss of each tribe? At least it would be great if Angkola, a merchant of the tribe, has tax-free privileges in Rus.