Rise of Rurik - Chapter 1128

[Chapter 1128]

The thick wooden fence protects Roseburg in the fjord. The cold wind makes the wood dry and hard, and touches them as hard as stone.

Most of the people of the Ross tribe have migrated. They have sold their houses in their hometown. Those immigrants from Lake Mälaren or the port of Narvik, these people who also speak the Norse language have migrated. .

They have different origins, and now everyone can call themselves Rus.

Fur traders who were originally residents became permanent settlers, and those outsiders who intentionally went hunting in the land of a few cups became locals.

Originally the flatlands of Rossberg Fjord were the residence of a group of Lapps who raised deer. The defeat a hundred years ago caused them to move north, and now the Lapps have returned in a new form.

Some nomadic Lapp families have given up their past lives and settled down. Although they still mainly make a living by raising deer, they now build a deer-raising pen outside Roseburg, and the way of raising deer has become a mode of grazing and mixed breeding. .

Everything went back to a hundred years ago, and even the small mound where Rurik used to train soldiers was occupied by several deer farmers.

Rurik who landed only needs to look at the hills on the west side of the fjord. Many mounds and pine trees on the gentler slopes have been cut clean. You can clearly see the gray-brown and white lumps there. This is a flock of sheep. with herd of reindeer.

He didn’t go to find out for the time being. If he climbed those mounds himself, he could still see the little Lapps grazing with whistles to command the hounds they raised. Those Nordic sled dogs are now also working as shepherd dogs.

Now cats and dogs have indeed become common in Roseburg. He can clearly hear dogs barking. When he inspected the local granary, he found a furry cat with a hemp rope tied around its neck. The cat seemed to be in a bad state of mind. Just curled up and closed eyes to take a nap.

The hustle and bustle of the port soon came to an end, and the people welcomed their passing, but also hated staying too long in the cold wind.

The structure of Roseborg Fjord is east-west. When the cold wind from the Arctic breaks through the large wind outlet of the Kola Peninsula, and then blows along the central ridge of the Scandinavian Peninsula, part of the cold will be carried through the entire fjord.

The bad sea conditions in recent days are all due to the cold wind. When I returned to my hometown and stood in the fjord, the cold feeling brought back endless memories for Rurik.

Now look at the people here, it’s really different.

Return to the old house and arrive at the attic that has become the Governor’s Mansion.

Rurik returned here with his family, and became the master again in an instant.

He looked up at the banquet hall on the first floor, only to see that the ferocious bear’s head on the wall was still there.

There are also some round shields hanging on the wall as decorations, and there are handaxes hanging on the shields, together with the ferocious bear’s head to show the abundance of martial arts.

“It’s more magnificently decorated than last time, Harold Zuosen, you’ve put your heart into it.”

The old man replied with a hoarse voice and a smile: “That’s what I pursue. Unfortunately, I am already old, and I can’t seem to lift a sword. I am not as good as my Otto brother, he must be physically strong.”

Harrow Zuosen’s words seemed to be a compliment, and Rurik felt a little bit heartbroken when he heard it.

My biological father and this old man are not the same. Maybe the environment in my hometown in the north is too harsh, which makes Harrow Zuo Sen look even older.

Sometimes Rurik is also very depressed. That guy Otto likes to drink all his life, and now he often tastes strong alcohol. Although aging is irreversible, his situation seems to be okay.

Maybe, just because Novgorod is warmer.

Harrow Zuo Sen has a lot to say, especially for his son: “I wanted to die on the battlefield, but now it seems that I have no chance. My son Kanuf will inherit my position. He is your brother. He will Do better…”

“I understand……”

Kanuf stood next to Rurik, a burly man with a long beard tied into a pigtail.

Svetlana hugged Prince Osborn, and the little boy naughtily brushed the braided man’s beard.

Lanna felt it was wrong, but this boy was naughty. Fortunately, Kanuf knew that this boy was the prince, so he winked and played with the little boy.

When Rurik turned his head again, he saw his son holding on to Kanuf’s beard, and then he showed his eyes, which scared his son back.

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“This kid is very energetic, brother, don’t scare him.” Kanuf didn’t feel embarrassed, so he smiled naively.

“Okay. Kanuf, I know you’ll get everything right.”

“That’s natural. Brother, don’t worry.” Kanuf tapped his chest, “I will do whatever you ask me to do, and any request can be met.”

“Really? Very good. Oh, I do have some important things to talk to you this time. In fact, it’s not just you, I have to talk to Kawi.”

Can there be any big things to talk about, based on the warrior’s instinct, what Kanuf thinks of is war.

Indeed, what Rurik announced to the whole kingdom is that there will be no war this year, as for next year…

The old Harrow Zuo Sen claimed that he was already preparing a sumptuous meal, and begged the king to wait a moment.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Rurik finally sat down in his old house to rest.

At the same time, Godlund, who has the status of the chief of the ocean war, started unloading the supplies as soon as the fleet stopped.

All the materials of the fleet must be unloaded at Roseburg Wharf, and the dense trestles and supporting human lever cranes here can efficiently unload the goods with the net.

Those in-demand commodities from as far as Novgorod, such as honey, cheese, leather boots, woolen coats and other manufactured goods, began to sell quickly. Rurik could take the opportunity to make a fortune and become a big buyer. The old family bought leather, iron ingots and the like.

Especially iron ingots.

In Blast Furnace Town, a satellite city of Roseburg, the soil blast furnace technology has been continuously improved by workers in actual production over the years. A soil blast furnace will not stop working after it is completed. Ore and wood must be continuously supplied, and even rain cannot hinder pig iron production. water production.

With such high-intensity use, the original soil blast furnace collapsed long ago.

People are not sorry that when the blast furnace was found to have cracks that could not be repaired, it was announced to stop work, and then it was destroyed and rebuilt.

Only the internal refractory bricks are taken out and reused, which makes the cost of rebuilding the blast furnace as low as possible.

Compared with the cost of production input, their output is huge profit.

In terms of law, all metallurgical industries in Blast Furnace Town were jointly established by the royal family and the first five blacksmith families, and the original contract still had legal benefits.

Those laborers all received regular salaries, and most of the income still belonged to the royal family. Although the dividends of the five blacksmith families were not large, their income continued to add up and now they all became rich.

Among them, the Clavasen family is the best.

Fort Rose has a large number of people working around Blast Furnace Town, which is the kingdom’s first heavy industry base, and is the key to maintaining a large population and considerable prosperity in the extremely cold world.

Similarly, Fort Eron Orava in the north is also densely populated, and only a few of the people there are Old Ross.

There are few local blast furnaces, but they prosper because of the production of top-quality iron ore.

There are a lot of iron ingots produced in Blast Furnace Town, and even because of the convenience of drawing, the molten iron flowing out of the taphole has different shapes after solidification.

Anyway, according to the technology of frying steel, these pig iron ingots have to be broken into pieces for further processing in a small furnace. Roseburg is mainly responsible for processing molten iron, which is preliminary processing.

Their fine processing ability is limited, and Rurik is obliged to take them as much as possible to the furnace matrix of the royal blacksmith shop in the capital, and these iron ingots are also good ballast stones.

At night, a royal banquet.

All the Kravassen family arrived, Kawei took his wife Lilia, the eldest son Kusneslav, and the youngest son Holderslav.

Seeing her own sister again, Svetarana instantly forgot that she was a queen.

She has been clinging to her elder sister since she was a child, and before the banquet started, she rushed to her elder sister with her son in her arms.

What else could the sisters talk about, first about their lives, then about their children.

Lilia was much older than Svetlana, which made it appear that Kusneslav was not much younger than his little aunt.

Even so, Holderslav and Osborneslav, the cousins are very similar in age.

“Sister, you are getting fat.”

“Really? Look at you again, you are still too thin. What will you do when you are so thin? Rurik has many wives and concubines and many children. Even if you are a queen, it is not enough to just give birth to one. Look at me… …”

Lilia talked a lot because of her excitement, and she stroked her belly again to clearly imply something.

“Huh? Another third child?”

“Hey, there will be. I’m not like you.” Lilia stiffened again, “I won’t let Kawi marry again, so he won’t dare to think about it. I’m a Varyag woman now, and my words are very useful. You I don’t even know, I am the hostess of this family.”

Lanna heard her sister’s words in disbelief: “You became the head of the family?”

“Otherwise? Ah, I’m Kuja, and I’m old enough, and I have to find a wife for him.”

“Ah? This…” Lanna was so choked that she couldn’t say anything, and finally choked out: “It’s too early.” After that, she not only glanced at her eldest nephew, who was already obviously manly, but also saw The kid was playing with his two younger brothers who were just learning to walk.

Kawhi and Arik are of the same generation, and he is more than ten years older than Rurik. As a Viking, he is in the prime of life and at the peak of all aspects.

As a disciple of Thor, he does a good job of blacksmithing.

Because Lilia is almost thirty years old, according to Viking tradition, this age is enough to make her the head of the family.

If the husband dies in battle, the wife will automatically become the head of the household, and all rights and obligations should be firmly controlled.

This is Kawei’s heavy responsibility. His job is to smelt the kingdom as much as possible, and the rest of the things are thrown to his wife, even including taking care of his aging father.

The new generation of warriors is growing at an astonishing speed. At this moment, Lanna actually feels that she is getting old too.

After all, this is a place in the extreme north, and Harold Zuosen, as the governor, can’t offer any complicated meals.

Although the environment here is harsh, cold-resistant sheep and reindeer that can ignore extreme cold are raised. While providing leather for hits, they also provide some key meat.

There is not much red meat from livestock farming, and the main food supply in the Roseburg area is as it used to be, where herring has long been the staple.

Serving roasted lamb is what Harrow Zuosen likes to talk about the most. With some traditional wheat cakes and dried raspberries, as well as the most traditional grilled fish, time seems to go back to the past.

The slightly sour and bitter ale can relieve the boredom. Now, Rurik did not hesitate to bring out more advanced vodka and kvass.

Vodka is blended with some honey and stirred into a cocktail.

Kvass has its own sweet and sour taste, and the more sour and refreshing taste seems to be more refreshing.

The two roasted lambs were purchased for them to eat. They followed the old tradition. As the most honored person, Rurik first selected the best part of the roasted lamb.

First there was a toast, and there was no distinction between men and women, and even the newly manly Kusneslav raised his large, well-crafted oak cup and drank ale with his relatives.

Look, Osborne was also affected by the warm atmosphere, and he tapped the table clumsily, even though he was in his mother’s arms, he insisted on drinking a little.

Helpless, Lanna made him some sweet and sour kvass, and the little guy shrank his neck back when he was hungry.

At this moment, Kanuf and Harrow Zuosen couldn’t wait to ask the question that was deliberately kept secret.

“Brother, you have something important to discuss here, could it be… a new war?”

“Hey! You guessed it right.” Rurik didn’t bother to dawdle any longer, and happily pointed out his next move.

“Last year, our brothers made great achievements and beat the Franks violently in the Elbe River. Now, the door of Frank is open to us, and we have recovered our strength after resting for a whole year. I will continue to use troops against Frank!”

“Continue large-scale war? Thinking about it is exciting.” Kanuf didn’t feel anything wrong, even though he knew it was still an expedition.

“It’s just a long way to go.”

As an old craftsman, Kawei is very pragmatic in line with his professional habits.

“I don’t care. Following the King, we will continue to make a fortune and make great contributions.” Kanuf’s smile came from his heart. He has been a little reckless since he was a child, especially since he will be the governor of Roseburg, which is the status of the tribal leader in the past.

How to be worthy of this identity?

You must not continue to make military exploits.

It seems that the attitude revealed by Rurik is that Ross is about to launch a national war, and both Kanuf and Kawhi subconsciously understand this.

It is not.

Before the blue fox brought people back to report on his duties, and before the messengers of the black fox or red fox returned, Rurik still didn’t know the specific situation on the other side of the Inn River.

He felt that everything was under control, and he fully believed that his plan would be successful, and he also estimated that the Frankish nobles would react violently.

King Ludwig of the Eastern Kingdom will definitely maintain respect for the Ross forces embedded in his territory out of his own interests and recognize the rationality of its existence.

Rurik has no intention of beating up this seriously damaged king again. His intention is to continue to increase his troops. After all, the army embedded in the Rhine River has to face the possibly stronger Central Frankish forces. Instructing him to deliberately plunder really caused a large-scale counterattack in the Middle Kingdom, and the mere 500 troops were afraid that they would be defeated and retreat.

The simplest, most brutal, or most effective way is to increase the number of troops, making Ross use the Nassau Barony as a large barracks, and the army is entrenched, becoming an existence that even the Frankish nobles in the civil war cannot ignore and fear.

Rurik had to consider the worst outcome, that is, Ludwig suffered a major defeat in the civil war. If that guy lost to his elder brother, it meant that Ross’s layout would collapse.

Things should be considered for the worst outcome, so that no matter what happens, Rose will not be passive.

But how much does this affect distant Roseburg?

The civil war in the Frankish world seemed like another world to Roseburg and Eronburg.

Kawei felt that the king’s idea was very radical, and he did not object to it. If there was an edict, he would have no hesitation.

Kawei knows that if the king wants to go to war, he must personally lead a group of engineering troops to join the battle.

He will do his part in this matter, the affairs of Blast Furnace Town can be entrusted to others, and he is obliged to bring his eldest son with him for the war.

Because, torsion slingshots and torsion trebuchets, these heavy weapons that can cause mass destruction need to be carefully maintained to maintain their powerful power. They can greatly increase the combat power of the Ross army and reduce their own casualties in disguise.

In this regard, no one is more powerful than Kawhi.

And he manages a large number of workers on weekdays, and this management talent will be used in wars. After all, a considerable proportion of those who operate these heavy equipment are craftsmen who are used by the queen, and to a certain extent are his subordinates.

Rurik explained the situation to them: “As for whether there will be a full-scale war, we need to look at the situation of the Frankish nobles. Think about it, we need the Frankish market, so that our iron can be sold smoothly to make a lot of money. I don’t know. I want the East Kingdom to win, and I don’t want the Middle Kingdom to win. I just want that Ludwig to maintain the status quo, and Lothair of the Middle Kingdom to recognize the power of his two brothers. Listen, a divided Frank is the worst thing for us To benefit! A giant ax can break a big tree, if the ax is melted into three small axes, what can they do. I want you to hurry up to produce ordnance supplies, and hurry up to train warriors in Roseburg. This winter is very important to us !”

[End of this Chapter]