The Great Temple of Uppsala was never the property of the Dukes of Uppsala, nor even the property of the entire Uppsala people.
In a sense, Duke Swinned was generous and "sold" the temple to Rurik. Precisely because this temple does not belong to him, the price for selling it is quite cheap.
To be fair, the entire building complex was built by the people of Uppsala with donations. The building itself is not valuable, and the original monks' life was not luxurious.
The local residents do not have much wealth, and it is impossible to support a large and magnificent temple.
The temple is indeed huge. Anyone who sees it for the first time is amazed by its scale. However, when they actually enter the interior, they realize how empty it is.
What is there to be proud of in building a group of large wooden sheds with a large amount of wood
At night, the Russians completely occupied the temple.
The cavalry accompanying the army turned into messengers. They galloped to the camp of the main force of the Russian army, carried out the prince's instructions, and conquered more than 300 people at once.
The most elite warriors were personally led by General Arik and were ordered to rush to the Great Temple. They pulled a handcart, carrying a large amount of daily necessities and a batch of construction tools, and arrived at the temple in the evening.
A considerable part of the fence has been demolished, and the useless scrap wood has been directly turned into firewood for daily life.
As a result, the people in Uppsala not far away saw such a scene.
The sky in the west is dark blue, the sky is full of stars, and only the last shadow of the setting sun is left on the western horizon.
A large number of bonfires appeared at the temple of their faith, and a large number of people were stationed here.
The Russian army camped around the sacred tree. Most of them were building bunks on the ground and preparing to build a number of sheds tomorrow.
The bonfire boiled the large urn, and the entire urn was carried into the empty central temple.
The hungry people came together one after another, each holding tableware and preparing to share a piece of the pie.
Some small bonfires were lit indoors, and the specially brought oil lamps were also lit.
Look around, here are all relatives and close comrades-in-arms.
Rurik cleared his throat, "Although this temple is very simple, it belongs to us after all. We will spend the night here. From tomorrow on, I will start to make some improvements to this temple." . I must sleep here today to show my authority. You all stay, too.”
No one is willing to wander around again after nightfall, especially the women who are dragging their children with them.
Occasionally, such a large family lived together, and a different feeling came to Otto's heart. There are a large number of women here, most of whom are sons' wives and concubines. He was not excited at all, simply because most of the women in it were appointed by him for his sons. As life enters its twilight years, the old couple who have faced many hardships now have a large family.
The women chatted about all kinds of things, orRumia, the eldest high priest, cleared her throat and signaled the sisters to be quiet for now.
As the high priest, she was the host of the prince's king-proclaiming ceremony. She didn't want to talk about the touching words for the time being. Since Rurik mentioned some key issues, she would talk about them.
"Rurik, this temple is very big, but it is too simple. What do you think of the so-called transformation? Could it be that it was torn down and rebuilt?"
"It's not that it's not. Okay."
"But this place is not directly ruled by you."
Rurik shrugged, because she was right. "Yes. I ascend the throne here. Uppsala will be my blessed place, so even if I don't rule Sweden directly, I will at least control a small area, such as here, which has the largest temple in Sweden and a sacred tree."
"You want to rule here directly?" Otto suddenly asked in a rough voice.
"Exactly, in my opinion, my father, the cost of directly ruling the whole of Sweden is very high. I don't believe that the Malaren people, the most populous, will completely surrender to me. But the Uppsala people have a limited population. , that Swined has dozens of private soldiers at his disposal."
"You look down on him?" Otto asked again with narrowed eyes.
"Father, do you think highly of him? We now fully understand that the Uppsala priests are separated from the ordinary people, and those people may not really support their leaders. At least I To rule Uppsala directly, I'm going to take the title of duke of Swined, I'm going to make him governor. I'm going to control the entire Swedish faith, and when we have enough wealth, we'll build a better one here. "The temple."
Rurik's answer satisfied Otto, and Rumia sounded very comfortable. Because the sacred place here is not this building complex, but the giant yew tree at the door.
Rurik also made a plan in his mind. If he wanted to build a new temple, he would try to use a solid masonry structure and paste a layer of glass fragments on the outside.
A crystal clear building reflects violently in the sun, coupled with a huge sacred tree, it is really doubly sacred.
In fact, these ideas of Rurik are by no means taken for granted. Of course, in another time and space, the giant yew tree was burned and destroyed due to a fire in the cathedral in the 14th century. The place where it was located became a holy place, and among the Swedes It's ingrained in my heart. A new masonry cathedral was built near the old site, and the adjacent land was designated as the cemetery of our Swedish dignitaries.
To be the king of Sweden, you must control Uppsala, the center of faith.
Rurik made a choice that was consistent with history. Next, before the nobles arrived, he still had one big thing to do.
The huge family slept in the temple all night, and when the new sun rose, a new chapter began.
In the next three days, the repair work on the big temple was fully launched.
A piece of news went viral in the Uppsala village. The so-called old priests were carrying artifacts on their backs.After betraying everyone, the Great Temple ushered in its true master. The temple area, which used to be a semi-restricted area, is completely open to ordinary people, and curiosity drives a large number of Uppsala people to find out. They wanted to obtain some divine power through prayer, and this long-cherished wish was very realistic, so on the third day, Rurik ordered that the gilded statue of Odin that had been shipped by ship be solemnly erected in the temple hall.
It was a statue that no one could refuse, and the Uppsala people who entered the temple spontaneously knelt down to worship it.
It was very large and plated with gold. It was placed at such a good angle that the people whispered to each other that the Russians had moved a giant solid gold statue.
A leather mat is placed in front of the statue, and a large wooden box stands next to it.
Rumia still wears a pure white bear skin, a huge antlered helmet on her head, and holds a gem-encrusted wooden staff passed down from generation to generation. She was standing next to the idol.
The young lower-level priests she personally trained, as well as Rurik's ten Slavic concubines, were all dressed as priests. They collected wild flowers from the meadow and woven them into huge corollas. They wore gray-white plain clothes with a large number of glass beads and amber hanging on them. They stood on both sides of the temple and watched the Uppsala people who came into the temple to worship.
The reason for such trouble is that Rurik directly transplanted the "precise sacrifice" model of Russia here. The people of Russia accepted this special "self-service sacrifice" model on a large scale. It is natural to promote it in new areas.
Whether it is silver or copper coins, they must be thrown into the wooden box first, and then worshiped by the huge gilded bust of Odin.
Uppsala people have never seen this kind of situation in the past. In the past, priests asked for physical offerings from the people during festivals, and a few people were able to watch the barbaric human sacrifice ceremony. Sacrificial activities are mostly closed to ordinary Uppsala people, and now the mysterious Great Temple of the Great Temple is no longer mysterious.
Listen to what those beautiful priestesses say
"When coins go into the wooden box, the soul of the whole family is Asgard."
No matter what is invested Silver coins or copper coins, as long as the people put in the coins, the priests agreed in unison.
Many people feel very strange, as if they are not worshiping Odin, but Freyr, the god of wealth. So what? In the past, people didn't even have the opportunity to get close to the statues of gods, not to mention that Odin is the Lord of the gods, and any worship will ultimately be dedicated to this great god.
When the wall was demolished, a large number of Uppsala pilgrims came with their families. It is said that others bring copper coins to kneel down and worship the golden statue of Odin, so our family cannot remain indifferent
No matter what we are praying for, if we throw coins to worship the statue and pray for our long-cherished wish at the same time, maybe Odin will Can I give you rewards and advice?
The fact that people in Uppsala were busy "praying to gods and worshiping Buddha" really moved Rurik and left him speechless. He was moved by how simple these people were, but what made him speechless was that these people lived adjacent to the Great Temple, but their spiritual lives were still empty
Even Swined's private soldiers were ready to take action.
To put it bluntly, these private soldiers are all hired fighters. They live a happy life of licking blood while they are young, but as they grow older, they have to consider their future. They encouraged their sponsors and collectively requested to kneel down and worship the golden statue of Odin.
Originally, Swined thought this was Rurik's trick to seduce people. Almost everyone in the village went, and there was a lot of noise at the big temple. He was also a duke after all. The son became a polished veteran.
Things are getting worse.
More than thirty private soldiers swarmed into Swined's mansion, shocking him.
"What are you going to do?"
The captain of the guard was very respectful, "Master, brothers are very concerned about the statues erected by the Russians. We want to worship them."
"You all know the news."
"Already know."
"Damn, that's all." Swined's head became hot and he asked all the female slaves serving him to go away. .
For a moment, he never imagined that his wife would also be on the side of a group of mercenaries.
"What's going on with you?"
"Swynedd, I've thought about it." She said without changing her expression, "I want to take my son to the temple. Maybe the gods can send blessings to our son."
"Do you really believe it?"
"Why don't you believe it? At least there is no harm in believing this. Rick was blessed by Odin, and look at the people of Rus, who rose up because of that Rurik. I think if our son is also blessed, he will be at least ten times stronger than you." /p>
Hey, this sounds reasonable at first, but upon closer inspection, it feels too wrong.
Swined was furious, "You mean I can't do it"
His wife remained calm-faced, "At least let your son become great."
"Go ahead, everyone, I'll go with you." He stood up straight suddenly, and a calloused old hand suddenly hit him in the face. It is unreasonable to be told "no" by his own woman, but his son must become strong.
Swenned made special preparations, so on the fifth day after the Russians took root in the Great Temple, private soldiers escorted all his family members and went straight to the temple.
To this day, people still bring money into the temple to worship, and even more people stand under the huge yew tree to pay their respects, comment on the place of blood sacrifice under the tree, and recall their past selves. Sacrificial people.
Rurik and Otto then learned that it turned out that the old Duke of Uppsala did not die of natural illness, but was afraid that he would age and become a haggard old man, so he chose to sacrifice himself.
This move left Otto, who was also an old man, speechless and shocked.
Svinned's arrival was sudden and inevitable. Rurik thought that this guy would have to come again sooner or later. He never expected that this guy would bring his whole family here.
His son Helgon SwinedsonHe is almost the same age as Rurik, but this young man does not show a brave appearance. Helgon's expression was rather dull. When he saw a group of young Russian warriors dressed in gorgeous uniforms, a sense of inferiority occupied his head.
Hergon was timidly pulled to his side by his biological father, Swynedd.
Swenned's son's cowardice has always worried him. When he had the opportunity to talk to Rurik and Otto alone, he secretly said, "My son must become a true man." Man, it's a pity that he is a mortal. If I can get even a little blessing from Odin, I will be very happy."
"You can bring him to worship the holy statue." Rurik was surprised. I was laughing inside.
"I brought him here. He must come." Swined's wife said without hesitation.
"Oh noble woman, you hope that your son will become a real man after being blessed."
"That's right. Lord Rurik" The woman maintained a very strong expression. With great caution, "Tell me, is this really okay?"
"Maybe." Rurik shrugged, "Have you brought any money?"
"Some silver coins. "
"This may not be enough"
"Ah, how much is one pound, two pounds or more?"
"Who knows because you are not mortals. , They are all nobles. As nobles, they want to get Odin's blessing, and the money may be of some use. But"
An opportunity appeared in front of him. Rurik did not continue to answer for the time being, but called soldiers to cover him. Whisper a few words.
The prince's oral instructions were quickly conveyed to Arik, and a group of Rus warriors stopped cutting wood and started fighting with the prince with weapons.
Rurik talked some more nonsense to delay time. After all, Swinned's family and the private group were surrounded by the Russian army. The Ross army was not authorized to use force. They formed a circular shield wall, doubling the pressure on Swined, as if his head would disappear in the next second.
"Ah, what do you mean?" Swynedd shouted, but his son Helgon hurriedly hid.
Rurik waved his hand, indicating to the soldiers to maintain the shield wall, but put away all the steel swords and halberds. He also ordered some soldiers to drive away the people of Uppsala who were watching.
He himself walked into the shield wall and confronted Swined face to face with his hands behind his back.
"Standing in front of you is the King of Sweden who is about to ascend the throne. Even if I am not proclaiming the king now, it is no different from proclaiming the king. I am different from the past kings of Sweden. I am my army with real power. It's enough to support me to do whatever I want, and I really just want to be an excellent king."
"What do you want?" Swinned was extremely cautious because his family was also trapped.
"Don't worry, I don't mean any harm. I'm just worried that you will resist. You should know that you didn't refuse the money."
"You know what you want, I support your claim to be king, and I am also willing to be your servant."
"It's good to be a servant. In fact, you have seen the current situation." Rurik opened his hands and tilted his neck with an arrogant smile. "What I built is the golden statue of Odin of my Ross. It is what Uppsala people worship. Look at the warriors around you. Some of them are Uppsala orphans who were taken in by me. They even found their parents who abandoned them many years ago. Do you understand? I like you. People, the people of Uppsala who surrendered to me in the early years, I regard them as my tribe. I will get all the people of Uppsala, I am their monarch, and I will grant them benefits, and you"
< p>"What will happen to me.""I will remove your title of Duke now, and you will no longer be the Duke of Uppsala."
"Ah, as a noble, I , Do you want to become a commoner?"
Rurik shook his head, "Look at your stunned look, would you like it? No, we can deal with this matter peacefully. If you give up your title of duke, I will make you a prince. Governor of Uppsala. It doesn’t matter whether your son is cowardly or brave. Your family can inherit the duties of governor and manage Uppsala for me. I will build a better and greater temple here in the future. A major responsibility of the Psala people in the future is to defend the temple."
The so-called governor, the word used by Rurik is the word "manager". After some explanation, Swinned fully understood the meaning.
Uppsala will no longer be a miniature city-state that develops freely. She has a master, Rurik's family. Uppsala will serve as a place directly under the jurisdiction of the king of the future Russian Kingdom of Sweden. Specifically, it is the great temple directly under the jurisdiction of the city. At the same time, the city built has a whole new meaning, a small Russian army. Stationed here, it shows the authority of the king.
Faced with the current situation, Swined has no choice.
He sighed in frustration, "It seems that you are completely different from the old monarch. I will give up the title of Duke and I will be your governor. But you must also promise to protect my family. At any time , my family must be nobles, even if it is my cowardly son, he must take over the position of governor and serve you in the future."
"Yes"
Sven. Rurik was extremely satisfied with Ned's rapid transformation, and he was even more satisfied with the cowardly boy Helgon. When Helgon grows older, he can be directly promoted to the new governor to succeed his still living father. After all, a cowardly person often represents conservatism and obedience. It happened that the brand-new Uppsala under the rule of Ross should remain conservative as a whole. People here do not need to have any opinions, as long as they follow the king's arrangements with peace of mind.
The rapid development of the matter surprised the Russian nobles, and Rurik was also surprised. However, considering that he relied on the power of faith to win over most of the people in Uppsala, he also made a fortune. With a small amount of money but a lot of money, he has controlled the people's hearts to a certain extent, and the rest will fall into place.
Under the sacred tree of the Great Temple, the people of Uppsala gathered for the first time, men, women, old and children.
SvenNed publicly announced that he had removed his title of duke, and Principle was no longer the leader of the Uppsala people.
This announcement caused an uproar, and everyone whispered to each other. Swined was not a bad person. Everyone was satisfied with him as the leader, so why did he suddenly stop doing it?
Then people looked at Arrived, Rurik, who was about to become king, announced three major events
First, Uppsala will become a territory directly under the king's jurisdiction, and the people of Uppsala are all direct subjects of the king. The lives of the people The king will pay close attention to you, and your living standards will get better day by day.
Second, the Great Temple of Uppsala will be rebuilt in the future. The major task of the people of Uppsala is to guard the temple and the sacred tree.
Third, the Swined family became the governor of Uppsala. The governor was Swined, and his son Helgon was the successor to the governor.
People worship heroes, and Rurik is the hero who defeated the Danes. Rurik also promised that after becoming king, the lives of ordinary people in Uppsala would be better. So now the behavior of washing clothes and fishing for supplies for the Russian army to earn rewards can be continued. Rurik is really a good man.
Of the so-called three major events, people only pay attention to the first one. In fact, it doesn't matter who is the ruler, as long as he can make everyone's life better, he is the best ruler. ,Please remember:,Free fastest update No anti-theft No anti-theft