Chapter 831 Those who confuse the public with their evil words

People's lives were stuck on both sides of the Neva River due to snowstorms. Thanks to this frozen river, transportation lines remained open.

People opened many channels on both sides of the bank and pushed the snow to both sides of the road, creating a snow slope as high as a person.

No one thinks this snow is very interesting at all. It is a disaster that kills people. The disaster has scared the hibernating hunters away from hunting far away. No one wants to walk in the exaggerated thickness of snow, and it is estimated that those small animals are either frozen to death or dormant and determined not to come out. There is nothing safer than hiding at home. Thanks to the abundant food stored at home, I also have enough coins.

Will the snowfall continue? The sky is now cloudless, with only a weak north wind blowing across the snow-covered red pine forest.

The snow disaster seems to be over, but subsequent relief work still needs to be carried out.

New Roseburg is a huge city in today's Nordic concept. According to Eastern standards, it is just a small city. People are trying their best to clear the snow from their roofs, and a large number of reindeer sleighs continue to export snow outside the city. Everyone was sweeping the snow in front of their homes. When someone uniformly transported the snow out of the city, the situation in the city quickly improved.

Some large trees were cut down, their branches stripped off, tied to cables, and dragged over the snow to the frozen shore.

The tree trunks were further sawn, stacked on top of each other to form a tower, and then covered with branches and carbon blocks.

Not only those who died tragically due to the collapse of their houses will be burned to ashes, but also those who fell seriously ill and died suddenly in the severe cold. This time, the corpses were also brought in and participated in by the prince himself. cremation.

The three wooden towers were built, and more than two hundred corpses were tightly wrapped in cloth and covered with firewood, waiting for Rurik himself to throw burning torches.

The short day is over, and there is only the last glow of the sunset.

As many as four thousand people gathered outside the city. They used their feet to trample the snow that had not been shoveled away in the area until it was solid. Everyone was wrapped in furs like standing chests. They covered their faces with linen scarves and exposed their eyes, ignoring the frost on their eyelashes.

The outdoor temperature was even less than ten degrees below zero. People gathered around the fire tower and listened to the condolences sung by a group of priestesses wearing white bear skins.

Rumia wore a huge antlered helmet on her head. She was short in stature. Now she opened her arms, and the antlers accompanied her body, making her look like a deer under the shadow of the setting sun.

Like the incarnation of the forest god.

They sang sad eulogies, and the onlookers shed tears when they saw the deceased who was about to turn to ashes...

However, not everyone was sad.

"This is the punishment of the gods. A man has overstepped his authority and stolen the throne of Sweden."

"Do you know why they died? Since the Prince of Rus has betrayed Sweden, in fact It means betraying the gods, and this is divine punishment."

"The heavy snow is a warning, if Rurik stubbornly insists on forcing the king of Sweden.position, there will be new disasters. "

...

Such complaints were covered up by people's cries, but they were still heard by many people with sharp ears. It seemed that this was just a noise in the funeral ceremony , at least Rurik, who was holding a torch in front of the public and looked solemn, didn't know it.

Nolen led the band she trained to play lamentations on leather drums and bone flutes, and coordinated the ceremony with the mourning of the priests. The sense of pathos was brought to a climax.

Fire and salt mixed with grease can be easily ignited. Rurik felt that the time was right, so he held the torch and lit the wooden towers one by one.

This was supposed to be the place. A giant fire tower was built to worship the gods during Hanukkah, and the funeral was held before the festival.

The flames burst into flames, and the faces of the Swedish businessmen who were talking secretly were whitened, and their eyes widened in shock. When I saw the fireball, I thought that because Rurik occupied the throne of Sweden, he would continue to find divine punishment. On the contrary, the flames exploded, and the three wooden towers quickly burst into flames.

When the flames ignited, people were reluctant to leave for a long time.

Things were getting weird. Onlookers added firewood and charcoal to the fire tower themselves, and then continued to stay by the fire tower. It wasn't to express condolences, it was just to keep warm.

The fire tower burned until the evening of the next day, and the embers were still burning slowly, and some clearly visible blackened bones were inside. >

The strong man pounded the ground with a big ax, and then used a steel shovel to dig out the frozen soil in the selected public cemetery in the south of the city, digging out a large pit where all the still-warm bones were dug. It was transported, along with some unburned charcoal blocks, directly into the pit, and finally covered with soil to make a tomb.

The unified funeral has not really ended until now.

The snowstorm has passed for five full days, and people have to adapt to the huge amount of snow this winter is far better than other years.

A large number of hunters returned early to celebrate Hanukkah, which happened to be a coincidence. They stayed at home in the city to avoid the cold and snowstorms. When they had free time, they walked around the city and just stayed at home while their family slept.

Would it be possible? Is there a hunter who died outdoors?

Rurik can’t care much anymore, just as he has no way to know the situation of other settlements, he just wants them to take care of themselves.

"Since my people have been affected by the disaster, they must be panicked, right? I have to check the granary first and open it for relief when necessary. ”

Speaking of which, the core purpose of setting up a national granary is to respond to disasters. I don’t know if it is to cope with poor harvests in disaster years, or to distribute food to the people, such as the snow disaster at the end of this year.

Food is absolutely safe!

Rurik ordered this news to be printed as a notice and posted on several bulletin boards in Harvest Square and in other public areas of the city.

Although there are Swedish businessmen who directly bring the grain they raise to New Roseburg for sale, so-called using the grain as currency to purchase materials here. After all, the food they transported was not much. If the people in the city were short of food at home, they would prepare money and wait for the king to release food in the granary.

Every month, three major cities, such as the Old City of Rosberg, Novorsburg and Novgorod, will sell grain publicly every month. This is a national-level act. People have long been accustomed to it. Seeing that Hanukkah is not far away, it is time for the princes to carry out the act of releasing food this month.

The public announcement foreshadowed that the prince was about to release grain, and then the people of the Principality of Rus followed the old rules, and one head of each family went to buy the limited-priced grain.

The prince clearly stated that the granary was safe, and the content of the notice really gave the people great confidence.

However, it is more painful for some people to see the people happy and to see the Russian granaries in good condition than to lose a lot of money in business!

Some rumors that had appeared during the funeral spread further, because the missing market in Harvest Square was restored and people continued their winter trade, but rumors that were extremely unfavorable to Rurik began to spread.

In the end, the people of the Prince of Rus are the majority. Although those who have no loyalty to the Principality of Rus, they also know that they have become rich through the dividends of the rise of Rus. They are not willing to do so in their own interests. Heard these rumors.

What made those loyal ministers and generals most furious was the most vicious rumor - Rurik usurped the throne of King Bjorn, so the gods sent a snow disaster.

Many people told the soldiers on patrol to maintain law and order. The soldiers thought it was ridiculous at first. As more and more people became infected, the news spread not only to the governor's ears, but also to Rurik's ears.

Rurik, who had started preparing for this year's winter solstice sacrifice, was furious when he heard the report from Governor Old Cornuson.

"Who is spreading these news? Is it that guy Bjorn? Damn it. I thought he did it voluntarily, but it seems he is really dissatisfied. Bjorn! I can't defeat it. I just use conspiracy? Just like you backstabbing Karl to seize the throne of Sweden..." Rurik was furious and without thinking, he took it for granted that Bjorn, who was currently a guest, did it deliberately.

The old Konuson denied it flatly: "I can guarantee that he is definitely not that man."

"Why? How can you see it?"

"I have been filming spies and observing secretly. Those nobles and their envoys are all under observation. You know this better than me. If there is any problem, you will have it early." Got it."

Rurik patted his head: "Okay, I'm being judgmental. So, who spread the rumor?"

"It's a few businessmen."

"Businessman? Have you been caught?"

"Caught." As he said this, the old Cornuson still smiled.

"Caught?! Great!" Rurik also showed his fangs as he spoke. Old Konuson knew what his little master wanted to do.

Old Konuson continued: "I sent my son to investigate the matter. In fact, the problem is very simple. When our people went to get the people in person, those Swedish businessmen were still spreading the so-called divine punishment everywhere. Theory, the evidence for their capture is solid."

"God's punishment? Ridiculous. Do you believe it?" Rurik looked at Old Conuson with a wry smile.

The old guy also hesitated: "How is this possible? You are blessed by Odin, which is absolutely true. In my opinion, those businessmen are jealous, or... there is something else. Conspiracy."

"I'm afraid these rumors have spread all over the city! How can I continue to stay in the palace with my wife and concubines, if I don't show up and do something publicly, let this happen? Isn’t it just asking for trouble if such remarks spread?”

“Only fools would believe this,” Old Cornuson emphasized hurriedly.

“But there are not many wise men in this city, and there are a large number of immigrants here. Besides, the snowstorm this year is really real, and everyone is in a bad mood. Listen, most of the people who died in the snowstorm were Finnish People, it would be terrible if they believed this. You have controlled all those people?" "I cannot let them be imprisoned together with their wives, concubines, and slaves. These evil people, so..."

Lai Konuson started to decapitate. Rurik nodded and said: "Don't panic, it's easy to cut off the head with an axe. Now. I want to know if there is a mastermind in this matter. Also, send more people to pay attention to King Bjorn of Sweden and listen to their words quietly. If they say anything that is not beneficial to us, report them immediately."

"Yes."< /p>

"Take me to see the situation now."

Old Konuson's family is from the old Rus. They are bound by interests to Rurik, and they have more blood ties going back. Relationship, the so-called protecting the interests of the prince's family is also protecting one's own interests. Of course, the city guards recruited by Cornusson and his son included a large number of men from other Viking tribes. These people who took the initiative to join Ross needed a backer, so they were directly tied to the interests of the Governor of New Rossburg.

This is the ruling group of the Rus Principality, so as many as ten Swedish businessmen were arrested, destroying the interests and prestige of the entire ruling group.

Because the evidence was conclusive enough, when Rurik personally came to the wooden house where the prisoners were held, he saw ten people who had hemp ropes on their mouths and were covered withThe poor guy was covered in blood from the whip.

The prisoners' current situation was pitiful, and Rurik didn't bother to look at them seriously.

Little Conuson is here. The skinny boy in the past has become a guaranteed strong Viking in a few years.

He reported to Rurik: "These ten people are all evil people, and they dare to slander His Majesty the Prince. Now you can give me a task, and I will beat them to death now."

"These people's wives, concubines, children, and slaves were all destroyed. Prisoners, I didn't kill them, it's up to you how to deal with them."

"I will continue to hold them for now. I... want to hear what these people have to say."

Xiao Ke. What Nuzon said is a fact, but it is not entirely true. He really didn't kill anyone, but the merchant's wives, concubines, and slave girls were used as playthings by the soldiers, and they were even humiliated in front of the arrested merchant. The soldiers had no sense of guilt. After all, the people they were humiliating were not the people of the Principality of Rus. Moreover, the families of these sinners should be punished by sitting together. It was a sign of mercy that they were not stabbed to death with a sword.

A businessman was poured a bucket of cold water on him. He seemed to be still in a state of depression, but he was seen holding a whip and grabbing a little coarse salt and applying it to his wound.

In this way, the businessman screamed in pain, which also aroused fear in others.

Rurik stepped forward and ordered the yeller: "Do you think I am a fool? Or do you think you are a wise man! Tell me! Who asked you to spread the words?"

"You are Rurik! Thief, you also want to be the King of Sweden?! You are not worthy."

"I knew you would say that. We in Rus are also from Sweden, so why can't we be the King of Sweden?" You are really stupid for allowing you to do business in my territory, but you are against me."

"You are not worthy of being the King of Sweden!" After speaking, the man spat fiercely.

Rurik wiped his face vigorously, then suddenly drew his sword, stabbed it directly into the man's waist and abdomen, and then twisted it several times before pulling it out.

Just as this man was vomiting blood and dying, Rurik, who was still angry, said this: "You are just stupid. It was King Bjorn who gave up the kingship himself, and all the Swedish princes thought that I was Your Majesty. You are seeking your own death by continuing to accuse me of the snow disaster. Tell me, did Bjorn instruct you?"

How dare the other nine admit it? The matter is purely personal and has nothing to do with Bjorn.

"Even if this happened, you wouldn't admit it. I thought you were peaceful businessmen, but you actually did such dirty things behind your back!"

Rurik did not continue. To continue, he had no extreme ideas about punishment. Execution of prisoners was either hanging or beheading, and other corporal punishments were unnecessary.

But this time some tricks have to be used.

The punishment of skin cramps is unnecessary. Since young Conuson is willing to whip, let him continue to whip the prisoners..

He walked out of the house and gave young Conuson a task: "These people must die. I will hold a public execution meeting and make an announcement in advance to explain the cause of the incident to the people. These guys are arrogant. , you continue to whip, remember not to kill them for the time being."

"Yes. There are also their wives, concubines and children..."

"Save your lives first, you can deal with it on your own. Whether you will be sentenced to death or not, you will have to wait for my next order." Rurik paused and said, "You and your people are both strong men, so you should understand what I mean. Except for those slaves, select the slaves and give them to me."

"Special treatment? They are just slaves. Do you really think highly of these laborers?" Little Konuson asked eloquently.

"That's true." Rurik continued with a dull face: "I will go and talk to Bjorn personally. I don't know if that guy is the mastermind, but the slaves have never had a stand. They may Will tell me the important situation."

"What a great idea!"

"Go and get the slaves here."

"Yes. ..." Little Conuson felt somewhat embarrassed when he learned that he had to execute it immediately.

His attitude was keenly noticed by Rurik, so he added: "You have already made your subordinates happy? It's okay, I don't blame you. Hand them over now."