Late at night, some people holding torches were running through the winding streets of quiet Stockholm. They walked in a hurry but could not hide the sleepiness on their faces.
Now that Bjorn is no longer the king, the new king Rurik still gave him a lot of face. For example, his family occupied the residence of the earliest rulers, the Olegin family. Rurik didn't pursue it.
Not being a king reduces a lot of disputes. While he loses the right to freely go to war, he does not have to be responsible for the defense and security of the entire Sweden.
He found that he could be a rich man. As long as he quietly went about his business, his descendants would simply enjoy happiness.
He was not a man of great ambitions, and he was neither able nor willing to raise a large army to attack his enemies. When he was king in the past, even if he knew that the Götalans were encroaching northward and had even gone beyond the traditional excuse and started to eat into the living space of the Swedish people, his attitude was completely wait and see.
Duke Bjorn, he retired to an ordinary landed noble. If he had not been promoted by King Rurik, he would have become as unknown as before.
A messenger from the king arrived at the mansion overnight. He was busy having an intimate relationship with his favored slave, but Shu Shuang was suddenly interrupted.
Since it is an order from the king and the matter is so urgent that it must be communicated overnight, there is no other way.
"Which king of Rurik would summon the nobles at night?" He murmured and hurriedly changed his clothes, so that the favored slaves who were covering their bodies were waiting with peace of mind and were not allowed to sleep first. After that, he took a few followers and went straight to the Ross shopping area, which also served as the office of the Governor's Mansion.
During the day, King Rurik led his glorious army through the city. Bjorn knew all this. To be fair, he was envious and jealous, but standing by the water and looking at his face, Everything is calm. What qualifications does a forty-year-old guy have to compete for power with an eighteen-year-old promising leader?
He fully accepted Rurik as the new king. As for the big land nobles in the Melalen tribe, they easily accepted the reality. In particular, the renaming of Birka to Stockholm was simply a decree of "ten years of tax exemption", which gave huge benefits to all the large landed nobles of the tribe. Which noble would dare to confront the past that granted him complete tax-free privileges?
The area controlled by the Melalen tribe is very large and quite trivial. The urban area of Stockholm is adjacent to the Great Lake, except for fishing villages and commercial areas. Vast farmland. Some of the landed aristocrats live here, producing agricultural and animal husbandry products in the agricultural area, and then transporting them to the nearby commercial area for sale, achieving a one-stop service of low-cost production, supply and marketing.
Including Bjorn, as many as ten land nobles ran wildly on the night road, heading directly to the venue in Rurik.
The Ross Shop is an area surrounded by wooden walls. It was the support and recognition of the Principality of Ross that led this group of land nobles to join forces to assassinate the ruler Karl. King Karl is killed and Bjorn becomes king. After the incident, Ross naturally obtained tax-free privileges at the market, thereby demolishing some localPeople's residences were expanded, warehouses were built, and the shopping area was surrounded by thick wooden walls, which formed a fortress that was easy to defend and difficult to attack, independent of the market.
Now that Rurik of Rus is the king, when the land nobles come here again, they will not face a warehouse, but a real military fortress, a royal fortress that can shock the entire Sweden.
The independent wooden house was brightly lit, the fireplace heated the house extremely warm, and the matrix of oil lamps hanging from the roof illuminated every face clearly.
Everyone saw King Rurik clearly, his face was serious and not sleepy.
There were wooden benches placed on both sides of the wooden house. The nobles sat down casually, except for Rurik who was pacing in public.
The king did not intend any politeness and did not bother to answer the nobles' greetings.
He walked up and down with his hands behind his back and said bluntly, "Today, the king was patrolling in the city and saw many things. I know that you either watched in person or sent envoys. You must praise the army. Gorgeous. Indeed, my army is always so, not only gorgeous but unstoppable. However, I noticed another group of people, those fishermen. I learned that these fishermen are not local farmers, they just rely on fishing. Hygiene. They live in Stockholm. After the self-imposed tax exemption order, some fishermen came over. This was my miscalculation. Stockholm is not big. So many people suddenly came. Is it a good thing?"
Rurik deliberately calmed down when he said this. He squinted his eyes and looked left and right, silently asking everyone what to do.
The king's words directly hit the fishermen, and his attitude was clearly rude.
The nobles looked left and right, and the smart ones among them basically guessed what the king meant.
Probably, the king wants to expel these fishermen
Bjorn is the most noble among the nobles. He is also the abdicated king and has the most say.
"King, what do you want to do is to expel those fishermen from Stockholm?"
"Expelling you is half correct." Rurik sighed slightly and looked around deliberately, " In fact, it is important to me that there is no such group of fishermen in Stockholm. I think it is equally important to you. I want to know your attitude towards the fishermen who have lived here for a long time. I want you to speak your mind.
If he really speaks his mind, will he be hit because he disagrees with the king?
The nobles all looked at Bjorn, which made him I really can’t get off the stage.
"Of course I have to say this." Bjorn said fiercely, and simply raised his voice, "I personally hate those fishmongers. Their business is just fishing, and there is nothing else. . If they organize fishing villages elsewhere, but in our trading ports, I dare say that nine out of ten of those thieves and gangsters are the source of all evil. Like parasites that grow on cattle, they are not Malaren people at all.Legin summoned an army to attack Denmark, and the fishermen ran away after hearing the news. When I was king, these people never obeyed the arrangements. Rurik, now you are the king, you can do well. ”
Since Governor White Fox was also present, Bjorn, who was already quite excited in his words, went one step further, “It is shameless to kill fellow fishermen, but those fishmongers occupying this port is not a good thing for our merchants.” If the king can disperse them all, we people will not have to worry about bandits. ”
As soon as Bjorn finished speaking, seeing someone standing up for him, many local nobles who were big landowners and businessmen immediately started chattering.
It was really the big businessmen who were bitter. The dealer has been there for a long time
"Shut up," Rurik spread his arms and shouted, silencing them all.
"I understand what you mean, since we all hate those things. Fishmongers, are you all satisfied with letting them all leave?"
"Do you really want to expel them?" Bjorn asked again after struggling for words.
"Then It's natural, otherwise I wouldn't have asked you to gather so late. I don't really mean to drive them away. I will move them all away from your eyes and demolish all the private buildings. Then you can build your own shops and warehouses in the port area, and you can also build larger ones. pier. I want to return a peaceful trading environment to Stockholm, and all of you must cooperate in this matter. "
"How should we cooperate?" When Bjorn took the lead in asking this, it represented the full support of all nobles.
Rurik was a little worried that they would not cooperate. Now the worries are gone.
“Of course you have to cooperate. I know that you currently have twenty to one hundred private soldiers on hand, and many mercenaries who sell their physical strength are also working for you. If there weren't always bandits, you wouldn't have the trouble of raising so many private soldiers. I want you to gather private soldiers and help me drive away those fishermen. Listen, my methods will be very powerful, and you must cooperate with me to complete the move. ”
No one will doubt Rurik’s method, and this so-called method is to form a coalition to forcefully control the free fishing village entrenched in the port area, and finally take the captured fishermen to the king. After arriving here, they were taken away directly by the king's fleet.
They actually knew very well that the Russians had been organizing immigrants in the Lake Mälaren area over the years, and they even used their own money to help. The peasant families who were in debt paid off their debts and helped the serfs redeem themselves. Rurik was definitely not really kind. He himself became the biggest creditor, and those who were redeemed could only follow him. It is said that they were all shipped east to Russia. The nobles do not know how the people who were forced to immigrate to the frontier are living now, and they are too lazy to hear the news.
The fishermen who will be surrounded are destined to be transported away. As for Rurik. Who cares what they will do to this group of people
The nobles only care about their own interests
In the middle of the night, the king made an agreement with the local nobles of Melalen.
Those fishing villages controlled by fishermen must be wiped off the map, and the free space will be used for urban expansion. The expansion of Stockholm is inevitable, and the top priority is that huge grain delivery requires a wide space and a stable environment.
The nobles were obsessed with Rurik. The so-called large ships ordered by the tribes were anchored and floating on the lake. If they wanted to get it, they had to complete the delivery of food. The small Gould Island is not suitable for huge amounts of grain trade. The trading place is located in the former commercial street, and it seems too cramped to continue trading.
So, those fishermen must leave.
Rurik’s plan for the nobles was to organize their manpower throughout the day tomorrow and gather as many people as possible on the third day. He also ordered, "Bring more wooden shields and clubs. I don't want you to really kill them all. You have to drive them away. If there is resistance, try to tie them up with ropes. You just need to drive them overland to the Governor's Office." The drive is about to start, I will be here to guard you."
It means that the main job of driving away is done by the local nobles, and the smart nobles realize that the bad reputation of driving away the fishermen will fall on them. What else can be done to drive away the fishermen? It would be good for everyone.
Rurik will not be the ultimate good guy. According to his plan, he will start moving the entire fleet tomorrow evening, blockade the port with the king's order, and prohibit night fishing by Stockholm fishermen. Fish work. The port area has been closed since the evening and will not reopen until the dust settles.
As for the merchant ships coming from other places during this period, they can only be trapped outside the blockade.
As the king, Rurik will take the lead in taking action, which is a reassurance for the nobles.
The plan was made and it was immediately put into effect.
This peaceful day seems to be no different from other days. The majority of farmers in Mälaren are still busy harvesting oats. Some farmers who have finished harvesting first have already gone to battle with their whole families to thresh the wheat ears with their cheeks.
Those fishermen did not know the misfortune that would befall them. They fished or fished and fished as usual. They did not notice that the Ross fleet had begun to move, and the army was moving from Gould Island. A steady stream of people are heading to land.
The fishermen also don’t know that the big families living in the city are actually spontaneously interacting with the families who have settled in remote areas. Even Bjorn transferred some people from his ancestral home.
The local nobles organized their manpower in their mansions, and all men who could take up arms were organized.
In principle, these people are warriors of the Melalen tribe. This time they are no longer holding sharp blades, but sticks and cables. Although many people think that driving away fishermen is meaningless, since the master who hired them is willing to pay them with food, why not do it. The mobilized people did not want to kill the fishermen, but they still took care of each other and lived in Lake Malaren. Since we just forced them to move and drove them to the king’s camp, that’s fineIt’s over, and the psychological burden is gone.
Because all this is the arrangement of the king and the nobles.
In the afternoon, an abnormality visible to the naked eye finally occurred.
The Ross fleet formed a long snake formation, with the ships connected end to end and tied to each other with ropes. A circle of ships surrounded the port area. There was no exit here, and the gap between the ships could not pass through the rowing boats. Only sampans that could only carry one or two people could pass through.
The fishing boat trying to pass through the gap was shot at intimidatingly by the Ross Navy's torque slingshot. Although it was still stubborn, just when it was about to pass through the gap, the ship was punched with holes by cast iron bullets, and the fishermen were fished out. Come up and take prisoners.
As long as they are captured, they will be transported directly to Gould Island and imprisoned. The fishermen asked why, but no one told them.
The entire Stockholm port was completely blocked, and the floating ships flew high the flag of Chess. The landing Russian troops also set up flags outside the city.
The whole city was blocked, but that was not always the case. The real traders ran away. They didn't live in the city, so they took Xinruan and fled in a hurry. The strange thing was that the Russian army did not stop them.
This is actually a loophole, or it is also an open door that Rurik intentionally or unintentionally placed in the siege.
Those who want to be taken away are pure fishermen in the port area. If they evacuate by land, they will abandon the fishing boats and shacks on which they depend for their livelihood. There may be fishermen who feel the danger and run away with their families, but the vast majority of fishermen will definitely maintain a wait-and-see attitude.
The merchants outside could not come in, and the small traders who escaped inside spread all kinds of news. No matter how bizarre the news was, there was no doubt that King Rurik had taken control of the city.
The fishermen still didn't take it seriously, and the commercial street was completely depressed by evening.
The largest tavern in Chengli controlled by Ross would have a large number of small businessmen coming here at night to buy cheap ale and drink it, and then talk happily. Now, the tavern has closed its doors due to lack of interest.
The city fell into silence, and it was even quieter than before tonight.
As long as the local nobles were mobilized, their private soldiers were making final rest. Private soldiers from all walks of life tried their best to arm themselves. Those who were capable wore chain mail, and those who were not capable wore a layer of leather as much as possible. No one used swords or battle axes, but sticks of varying lengths.
Every noble will report their mobilization status to Rurik, and nearly a thousand private armed forces will join in the hunt for fishermen.
When the rooster crows for the first time, the sleeping private soldiers wake up one after another.
At this time, the well-prepared Ross army also stood up. Even the horses that were transported to the shore, the riders jumped on the horses holding the flagpole high.
Part of Stockholm has woken up, and part of it is still sleeping.
The sky turned blue, the eastern sun was still below the horizon, and the sky over there was already illuminated.yellow.
The sound of horns and drums suddenly sounded loudly, which not only signaled the soldiers to take action, but also woke up all the fishermen.
All nobles who are well prepared start taking action, please remember: free and fastest update, no anti-theft, no anti-theft