Those slaves seem to be just tools. They are both male and female. Men are tools for managing the family's property. Women, while being tools, also have special uses.
They were their future backline, and they thought they would be beheaded directly when they were pulled out of the prison.
Unexpectedly, a man in gorgeous clothes stood in front of them. They raised their heads nervously. Isn't that the Prince of Ross? !
A pair of shrinking eyes revealed prayer. Rurik could guess the desire of this group of people to beg for a living.
"Your master has committed a serious crime!" He shouted sternly. "According to traditional rules, you must also die with your master. But you are just slaves. It would be too much to be killed by me so simply." Unjust. You..."
Rurik pointed at the slave's head: "You! And you! Or you! As a slave, do you know more details? What happened? Now I declare that you will be exempted from death! If you can tell me the details of your master's rebellion, you will be freed immediately, and I will reward you with a sum of money."
They heard it like a dream. After Rurik confirmed it, they all raised their heads and talked about their master's faults.
They became slaves for various reasons. It is normal for them to be slaves due to lack of harvest, bankruptcy and debts. They are not fools. If the situation is not forced, what will happen to these farmers and women who were also born in Mälaren? Slave? They quite cleverly seized this opportunity. Regardless of whether it was true or not, they added fuel to what they heard and heard, and decisively described their masters as the great villains who opposed the prince of Rus.
Some people even said this with certainty: "My old master said this. He said that it is illegal for the Prince of Rus to become the King of Sweden. If the Prince insists on doing so, they will..."
"How? Can you still assassinate?" Rurik asked in anger.
But he saw that this person was more determined: "Exactly."
This is not important information. One person said this, and others agreed. They were obviously biting each other, but in the current situation, Rurik didn't bother to distinguish. This matter was of great importance, and it was really better to believe it than not.
The slaves were still sitting on the ground collectively, both men and women holding their heads high and showing pleading smiles.
Looking at them again, Rurik nodded deeply: "Forget it, in the name of the prince, I will reward you with the elimination of slavery, but that will be five years later. I will immediately arrange you into my In the workshop, I will give you food and clothing, and if you work for me for five years, you will be Russians."
They burst into tears upon hearing this. It is great to be free, but food must be taken care of to regain freedom. question. If you want to be a slave, it seems better to continue to be a slave to the prince of Rus.
Slaves are still slaves, and Rurik has no intention of talking nonsense with these people. Now he has a lot of evidence, and he just takes it with him to summon Bjorn.
The slaves did not explainKing Bjorn had participated in any conspiracy that was detrimental to him. Maybe Bjorn was confused throughout the whole process, but the guy didn't come to visit him after the snowstorm, so how could he avoid making people suspicious?
On the other hand, regarding the Ross patrol catching the liar, the soldiers sealed all the houses where the merchants temporarily lived, and all the slaves in debt were confiscated. These situations are also causing uproar throughout the city.
The ones who were arrested were all businessmen from Mälaren. Those who were not captured were trembling with fear. The businessmen from other tribes in Sweden were busy watching the show and at the same time they were also a little worried.
Only when notices in traditional Rune, Romanized Norse and Romanized Cyrillic were posted on several bulletin boards in Harvest Square did the onlookers learn the reasons for arresting people and sealing down shops.
The matter is very simple. The person who was arrested was involved in the conspiracy against the Prince of Rus.
The people thought about it with their toes and knew that all this was related to the rumors that went viral a few days ago. It turned out that it was not a "punishment from the gods" at all? Is it just a small group of bad guys causing trouble?
The public document calmed people's hearts, and the document's struggle was directed at those outside businessmen who were restless and unruly.
The atmosphere in the city of New Rossburg has begun to become very delicate. The attitudes of the old Russians and the new immigrants to New Rossburg towards the visiting merchants are becoming strange. The people know where their good life comes from and have no feelings for those foreign businessmen. People simply voted with their feet. After the documents were posted on the bulletin board, the market in Harvest Square and the stalls of foreign merchants gradually became more and more deserted. Unless the merchants lowered the prices of the goods they sold, some people risked chewing their tongues. Line of defense to buy it.
In their minds, Prince Rurik is a complete holy king, and they are also proud of being Russians. Why can't my own prince be the King of Sweden? Because of this matter, there are evil people who want to harm the prince? Maybe the enemy will be among the merchants.
King Bjorn originally intended to pay a visit to Rurik in person, mainly to talk about buying a ship. He needed a secret deal to go without other nobles to get involved, so that he could place a large order and then try to finalize a "group purchase discount".
His people inquired about those rumors. Although Bjorn was not willing to abdicate, nor was he stupid enough to conspire behind the scenes, it was against the pride of a warrior after all. He chose to lie dormant for the time being, hoping that the bad news would slowly subside. After that, more exciting news came. Prince Rus arrested all the bad people who spread rumors, and the only one who had his right relative was a Meralen businessman.
This situation really surprised Bjorn, and he became hesitant. During this period, the Uppsala envoys and the Hjälmälän envoys also heard about the situation. It was said that King Bjorn was dissatisfied with his abdication. The envoys also expressed their own attitudes, saying, "What do you think of Mälaren?" It doesn’t matter, we are willing to recognize Rurik as the new king of Sweden, and if the Russians continue to pursue the case, we will stand on the Russian side.”
This is to slap Bjorn's face left and rightHe couldn't tell the pain of the slap. Firstly, he didn't dare to get angry and oppose Rose. Secondly, he still hoped that the deal with Rose could continue to be implemented.
It seems that nothing is more important than visiting Rurik himself!
Rurik's envoy arrived first, which played into Bjorn's plan.
The kings of the east and west decided to meet privately. This was the opportunity that Bjorn had dreamed of, and it was Rurik who insisted on doing so.
This matter is of great importance, and idlers have no right to know the content involved in the private meeting. Rurik not only made a plan, but also made a clear attitude - a real man has something to say, and he must not hide it and cause misunderstandings.
But the location of the private meeting was not in the city at all.
On the day of the appointment, the daylight hours were extremely short. Outside the city, just where the cremation was on the blackened hard ground, a larger wooden tower mainly made of pine wood was being piled up. Hanukkah is not far away, and people need a giant fire tower to light up the world instead of the sun. Especially in this snowstorm year, people need the heat source of the fire tower to melt the snow.
Rurik took a dozen of his followers and left the city on a sleigh while it was still dark.
After a while, King Bjorn also left the sponsored mansion on a sleigh with his entourage.
The private meeting place between the two parties was the so-called Kronshtadt military port where the warships were anchored outside the city. The all-powerful warships during the warm period were now frozen solid by the sea ice. There are a lot of dark yellow light spots on the ice of this frozen sea area. They are a group of night fishing madmen who use ice cloth bait to catch cod. This is how the plump frozen fish at the New Roseburg Market comes from.
The dim light concealed the ghosts of the two sled teams. Rurik chose the place for the private meeting directly on his flagship Avora. The specific location was directly under the bow deck. in the captain's lounge.
More than a dozen oil lamps were lit, all the entourage left, the side wooden windows were closed, and the wooden doors were also closed.
There were only two people in the narrow room, Rurik and Bjorn, and their eyes looked at each other.
"You and I are the only two left here." Rurik got straight to the point, "Since you are opposed to me becoming the King of Sweden, why did you pretend to agree before? Since you are opposed, just say it."
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Bjorn had already expected Rurik to ask this question, and he denied it flatly: "I never meant that."
"Oh? Are you trying to fool me into being a fool?" Rick already showed murderous intent.
"I dare not lie to you. I have never opposed you."
"However, some businessmen in your tribe have been promoting my faults. Now you tell me this It has nothing to do with you?"
"It really has nothing to do with me."
It sounds like Bjorn's explanation is full of arrogance, and Rurikben feels that it really has nothing to do with him, but His denial was so decisive without any modification, which made people suspicious.
Rurik hit the wooden board hard: "Actually, the problem is very simple. You and I are dueling on this ice. You are the king, and I am also the king. I will kill you., no one doubts that he will win the Swedish throne. If you kill me, your throne will be guaranteed. ”
Bjorn’s face turned pale when he heard this. Even though the room was already very warm by the fire, he still felt a chill all over his body.
Who is this kid Rurik? Also, the old guys who have seen this man say that his current figure and appearance are exactly like Otto's back then. Rurik is a tough guy who is still growing. Considering his somewhat aging body, the two of them are fighting. Bjorn estimated that he would definitely be defeated and killed.
What's more, why did the two sides have to fight? If it was a duel, he would probably be killed. At the same time, the Russians would also have an excuse to start a fight. Injuring Rurik, Ross would have even more excuses to start a war. Even if he assassinated Rurik, everything would be over. The Ross army would exterminate the entire Melalen tribe for revenge, and other tribes would definitely stand aside and even join the Ross army. .
Bjorn hurriedly concealed his embarrassment and fear with a smile.
“Duel? I don't dare, I am already an old person, you can kill me easily. Besides, I never wanted to be your enemy. My ability to become king in Sweden also comes from your support. I dare not forget this kindness. "
"But those hateful businessmen..." Rurik continued to knock on the wooden board and asked sternly.
"That is the spontaneous behavior of the businessmen. They are destroying our friendship. , if I catch such a person, I will stab him to death immediately. They are the instigators of evil, and I... heard that you have caught them. I beg you to kill them all. ”
“Are you telling the truth? ”
“It’s absolutely true. "
Rurik narrowed his eyes slightly: "Indeed, you don't dare to lie about the current situation. My principality of Rus has a larger population than you, more troops than you, and more ships than you. You are a smart person and know the possibility of winning. Those businessmen are a group of provocateurs. They hope that we will fight so that we can fish in troubled waters and reap profits. Since you want to punish those people to death, I also have this intention. There are currently nine businessmen in my hands, and their families have been secretly executed by me. I will publicly execute these evildoers on the eve of Hanukkah as a gesture to the gods and as a gesture to the people. "
Prince Rurik has already killed a group of people? Bjorn did not expect this.
Bjorn chose to give in but did not feel shameful. After all, The Melalen tribe is a hodgepodge of people. They live in a very wide area on the north shore of the Great Lake. They are composed of a group of large families as the backbone, with a large number of yeoman farmers and free fishermen as auxiliaries, and the Birka market is used as a trading base.
This situation is completely different from that of the Old Rus. The core of the Principality of Rus is the thousands of Old Rus. Bjorn has been visiting New Ross Fort for some time, and he learned about the city. There are a large number of children running around. Their fathers are old Russians and their mothers are mostly Slavs from the east. According to ancient tradition, some of these mixed-race children who have grown to ten years old are still Russians..
The children of the Ross people are obviously taller and healthier than the children of the Melalen tribe, and there are also more children in this group. Bjorn learned that New Roseburg was indeed the capital, but it was not the most populous city. The Principality of Rus is located in Novgorod in the east. It is a large settlement next to the Great Lake. The geographical situation is similar to the Lake Mälaren area, but the climate is milder. The settled population is not only large, but also all accept the rule of the Principality of Rus.
Bjorn could easily get a lot of information, and some of the information sounded like the boasts of local people. Because there were so many people telling him, he had to trust it.
For example, there are more than 10,000 mixed-blood Russians in the Principality of Rus. Although they are all still children, thousands of them are about to reach the age of twelve, which is the age at which they become adults in Viking tradition. By then, women will have A man who is qualified to be a mother has an obligation to be a warrior. Bjorn, the traditional Viking head of this guy, did not hesitate to believe that Rurik was about to have a new army of thousands of people.
Rurik naturally knows this best, so the formation of a new flag force is already in the plan. The successful results of the Russian-Slavic marriage decreed by Old Otto are beginning to appear. The Principality of Rus We are about to begin to officially enjoy the demographic dividend.
The group of old Russians has become larger. This group has shared common ancestors since ancient times, and they have stronger cohesion through blood ties.
But the Melalen tribe does not have this. Even since King Olegin was defeated and killed, no one has the charisma to unite the entire tribe. As a so-called king, he mainly relies on the support of the big families in the tribe and the recognition of other tribes.
The main tribes have expressed their attitude that their support has come to an end. They all support Rurik. Things are already like this, what else is there to worry about?
Bjorn basically guessed what Rurik wanted to do, so he expressed his position: "You can execute them, but I recommend that you kill them in a safe and dignified way."
"How about it? You have fully supported it?"
"I don't want to ruin the friendship between you and my tribe because of some idiots. We still have to do business in the future! For example, I plan to order your Five armed cargo ships, the price is easy to negotiate.”
Order five ships at once? Rurik was very moved, and he brought the topic back: "Those guys must die. Since they are from your tribe, and you think they must die, it is you who decided how they died, which proves our friendship between you and me. ."
"Then hang them, their blood has no right to flow into your territory."
"That's fine."
"At the same time. I will also announce to your subjects that I, Bjorn, was never involved in the incident. I will announce that it was me who voluntarily gave up the throne. At the All-Swedish Congress next spring, you, Rurik, will be king. "< /p>
The secret meeting between the two kings resolved the misunderstanding, Rurik was satisfied, and Bjorn felt relieved.