Rise of Rurik - Chapter 624

[Chapter 625 This is the Power of Capital]

Compared with other forces, the Ross people do have extremely strong mobility.

This is not because they have some profound beliefs that surpass others. To a large extent, their enthusiasm for action lies in wealth.

After discussing the countermeasures with the blacksmiths, Rurik hurriedly counted his money bank.

A large number of wooden boxes and leather boxes were piled up in the well-guarded houses, and inside were only gold coins, silver coins and copper coins obtained by various means, among which the silver coins from Old Rome and Frank were the largest.

Not just money, but a large amount of material goods is the solid backing for his executive order.

That is food!

A large amount of grain has literally piled up like a mountain, and the population directly controlled by the Principality of Ross is much larger than before, including infants and young children, it has exceeded 20,000 people.

However, the permanent settlements of Tombstone Island, Fort Elrond, Fort Fiske, Kowenstad, and Fort New Rose are completely self-sufficient, with locals consuming far less than their economic output.

The largest settlement in the Principality of Ross is Rose Fort. Although Rurik had long wanted to completely move his capital to New Rose Fort at the mouth of the Neva River, due to practical factors, he found that he still needed to vigorously develop Rose Fort, a prosperous place.

Roseburg has the largest population and is also the industrial, commercial, and cultural center of the Principality, where the strongest combat effectiveness of the Principality is located.

The city can be further developed. Since the environment of the fjord once hindered development, it is necessary to log on the spot and open up new land.

Of course, this is only one way. The other way is to pile up mountains of grain and coins in the warehouse.

Do the people of Roseburg really want to spend most of their time fishing, hunting and other food production as they have done in the past seven or eighty years?

There is enough grain for everyone to eat for a whole year in the warehouse. Although it is close to the sea, the overall dry and cold environment naturally brings advantages to grain storage.

The people of Roseburg do not need to produce food, and all the people who live here do jobs with high economic added value, and blood transfusion from other areas is enough for the food problem.

Looking at the astonishing food and wealth, Rurik is full of confidence!

Entering December, the daytime in Roseburg has actually plummeted to just four hours. Everyone knows how short the daytime is, and the extreme cold at night makes people reluctant to go out.

Wanting to build a small town in such an environment and organize a large number of people to dig ore is really a joke with human life.

Time is always precious, and the blast furnace that keeps burning cannot be stopped suddenly. The first two furnaces must continue to devour ore.

Furthermore, even if the harsh winter is not suitable for building a new soil blast furnace in a new area, at least the forest must be cut down and a basic blacksmith shed will be built.

Even though there were difficulties, Rurik was unwilling to dawdle any longer.

Because Hanukkah for the Ross people and the entire Nordic world is not far away.

On December 10th of the Julian calendar, the men and women staying in Roseburg relied on the news that went viral before, and they all walked out of their homes and approached the three-story mansion of the Duke.

Most of the able-bodied men went to the north, especially entrenched in Elronburg, and used it as a “base” to carry out winter hunting with provisions in search of precious furs.

Most of the people staying in Roseburg were old and young, men and women, and even quite a few outsiders.

When it comes to a strong labor force, there are naturally some, that is, the mercenaries that Rurik valued, as well as Heliger and his permanent residents of the Mälaren.

Even those Tavastia women who were allowed to leave the warehouse, they have become much healthier because of the continuous good food, and now they all put on the rewarded leather clothes, surrounded by the crowd with doubts and caution, standing In front of the huge ducal palace.

Thousands of people of all colors gathered, and the crowd also attracted many foreign businessmen.

The news about the construction of a new town and the encouragement of logging and mining aroused the itch in the hearts of many ordinary people, and the itch in their hands became even more itchy.

People have heard a lot of news. Based on Lord Rurik’s past, any promises made by Lord Rurik will be fulfilled afterwards. Presumably this time is also inevitable.

This is also questioned, after all, encouraging so many people to work, the Duke is bound to suffer financially.

Adults should pay all participants, which means that the rewards will not be much.

The harsh winter still makes many people bored and can only stay at home.

In the past, the vast majority of Russians were poor, and this poverty was directly reflected in the thinness of their clothing.

Nowadays, men and women are wearing leather clothes, and each of them is furry. Keeping warm is no longer a problem, but being shy in the pocket is the big problem.

The rumbling outside started before the sun rose, and Rurik was in a happy mood, but his wives and concubines were full of complaints.

He simply ate some jerky, and ordered his wives and concubines to change into neat and decent leather clothes immediately.

Ross elites gathered on the rare and solid concrete floor of the Duke’s mansion.

When Harrow Zuosen saw old Otto, he went up to him and hugged him like a brother, his face was full of enthusiasm like a festival.

“Brother, the whole Roseburg is boiling. Everyone is waiting to make a fortune, and Rurik should keep his word.”

“Of course.” Otto was still a little dizzy due to the alcohol problem yesterday.

He plucked his fur again, and his whole body was refreshed by the cold, “Rurik will come out later, you and a group of brothers quickly set up a stage for me, he will give another speech.”

“Just outside the yard? How about building it out of snow?”

“Okay, let’s do it.”

Otto’s old buddies hastily built a podium for Rurik, and when the winter sun completely shone on the frozen Roseburg, Rurik stood on the podium temporarily built for him in a furry suit.

In front of him are the enthusiastic smiles of thousands of people.

He stretched out his hands to gradually calm down the commotion of the people, then poked his head to look left and right, repeating a simple sentence in a voice that was changing.

“Build towns! Labor! Money! Everyone! Every day! A silver coin! I’ll give you the food, and you get the money!”

He just kept yelling these very short phrases.

The statement is so simple, the content is so full of temptation!

Shouting a bunch of tirades?

At this moment when there are no loudspeakers and papermaking has not yet been developed, announcing government orders in public should indeed be concise and to the point.

Rurik felt that he had to desperately rely on a few words, a few phrases to formulate his orders, and it turned out that he succeeded again.

For the construction of new towns for blacksmiths, only some able-bodied people are eligible to participate, and the people gathered have known this in advance.

Those old Ross men who are not too old and even some strong women are labor forces that need to be used, and they are all eligible to be paid one silver coin a day!

The reward is so generous?

The duke also promised that he would provide food, and the remuneration would also be paid daily.

Wouldn’t any workman earn enough money for a day’s work to buy ten pounds of oatmeal and nine pounds of wheat?

On normal days, such food is enough for a person to live for half a month.

Although the prices of many consumer goods skyrocketed due to the inflow of a large amount of silver coins into Ross, the prices of wheat and meat were still low.

They didn’t understand what economic macro-control was. In fact, Rurik also lacked knowledge in this area, but Rurik had mastered Roseburg’s only granary and the only money bank.

Especially in salt and iron, Rurik has in fact completed a monopoly.

These core things related to the survival of the principality are all in his hands, and he feels that the rest should be opened and thrown to the market, so that all kinds of merchants and producers can coordinate themselves.

How is this not an opportunity to make a lot of money?

If it takes a hundred days to build a town, the strong men who participate in it will not only get a hundred days of food for free, but also get a pound of silver coins in their hands.

This pound of silver alone is enough for myself, my wife and children to live happily for a year.

They were completely lacking in economic knowledge, but their arithmetic skills were talents, adhering to the traditional Vikings’ arithmetic skills, and they immediately discovered the great benefits of this.

Men and women uttered Viking battle cries, all in praise of the Duke’s benevolence.

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This is the sound of cheers, the majestic voice deeply shocked the heart of Queen Mary, and also shocked Rurik’s other wives and concubines again.

In fact, Mary was the one who touched the most in this gathering. What she saw with her naked eyes was that in the hometown of the Vikings, a heroic king was supported by countless people.

This incident alone is only a legend in Mercia’s hometown. It seems that the old Mercia king two hundred years ago had the support of the people for a short time. Unfortunately, his cheap father Wiglaf is clearly a fool.

She clutched her belly unconsciously, then stared at Rurik who was standing on the snowdrift and continued to give orders. She didn’t know whether to talk about a big event.

Because, Princess Mary has not had menstruation for more than two months, and the only man who was close to her after the last menstruation was over was Rurik.

Perhaps at most 1,500 people participated in the basic construction of Blast Furnace Town.

How long is the construction period?

It may last for two months, and even the short construction period due to the sunshine time will continue.

He knew even more that there would definitely be gags mixed in, and there would definitely be laborers scrambling for water.

It is of course necessary to arrange a small group of supervisors for them, but some unnecessary wear and tear also needs to be tolerated.

Compared with the future when the blast furnace town is completed and put into operation, what is the money paid now?

Even the focus is not on building towns at all, but on how much ore the mobilized Ross people can dig in the mountains.

Rurik is not worried that the ore will be exhausted one day, if there is, it will be thousands of years later!

It is an iron ore vein extending from Denmark to the Arctic Ocean. It is the best iron ore vein in Europe. It is a vein that cannot be excavated for tens of thousands of years by simply relying on hammers and chisels and thermal expansion and contraction methods.

People chatted lively about silver coins and food, and the rumbling sound lasted for a while.

Rurik waited for them to gradually calm down, and then began to officially announce the mining.

The new speech is still very simple, but also more penetrating.

“Anyone! Mining! I will buy it at the market price!”

Rurik kept repeating these phrases like arrows in the hearts of all men, women, and children.

What is generosity, this is great generosity!

Rurik’s declaration confirmed all the previous rumors, and now everyone in Roseburg who can handle a hammer and pickaxe is qualified to mine to make money.

So when does work start?

It’s December 12th in the lunar calendar!

Rurik deliberately chose this date, and there is no special reason for it, just because “Double Twelve” can be interpreted as a lucky draw in a literal sense.

However, when Rurik made all the declarations, the gathered crowd ran away in one go.

Rurik himself was dumbfounded, he was silent for a while and laughed again.

“Damn it, what are these guys doing? They couldn’t run as fast as they are today during the war.” Otto complained sharply.

Rurik quickly descended the snow hill, feeling refreshed and dry in his throat.

“Everyone has run away, what do you think?” Otto asked immediately.

“It’s nothing. They are all busy going home to get tools and go digging in the mountains.” Rurik said with a smile. As a father, Otto had a serious face this time.

Otto also knew instinctively that Rurik’s tossing would result in a hemorrhage of wealth, and that this kid was qualified to squander it now that he had a huge amount of money. Otto simply raised the question incorrectly, so he went straight to the point and explained his doubts.

What else can Rurik do? He shrugged: “They can make money, and I won’t lose money. Just wait and see, we will be stronger at this moment next year.”

Hearing that, Otto didn’t say anything more.

Rurik’s judgment was completely correct, and the people who made the promise rushed to the mountains with their tools and their own sleds.

Most people claim to know what the iron ore looks like, but the number of women dispatched is astonishing, and many of them are obviously following blindly.

The old, the young, the young women, and even all the old women, they stopped the weavers in their hands and rushed to the mountains with their tools.

It is fair to say that Rurik was indeed shocked by the enthusiasm of such a group of blind movers. The chaos that Dad pointed out is a fact, but this chaos will soon stabilize.

It is entirely because blacksmithing still requires hard work, and they are rushed in by the trend of interests. Only some people can actually dig iron ore and successfully bring it back.

Rurik also explained that the ore should be sold according to the market price. To put it bluntly, this price was actually set by himself and the Blacksmith Union in collusion, holding the pricing power. This is the sharp sickle for secretly harvesting labor.

What’s more, the people of Roseburg all know the real iron ore?

If the excavated is ordinary granite, naturally they cannot pay the high price of iron ore.

Rurik had foreseen many things, and these things were fulfilled in the short day of the next day.

In fact, many people were afraid of the cold at night, so as to avoid being frozen to death, they simply gave up mining. One or two retreated home that night in despair, and worked as weaving buddies by themselves.

At least hide in a warm house and weave with oil lamps. The money is much less and at least you won’t be frozen to death.

Those who simply set up tents in the mountains for the night did bring back a batch of ore. Unfortunately, the blacksmiths only took away the real ore after sorting, and the granite was only paid according to the price of ordinary stone.

Even for iron ore, it was purchased by the Blacksmiths Alliance at the market price, and its price plummeted by half.

There are a lot of spontaneous miners who are very angry, so why not?

No one forces everyone to mine, if you can’t stand this low price, don’t do it.

However, the large group of Tvastian women were all taken to mine by Rurikla. Even if women were indeed not suitable for digging ore with an ax and chisel, their current status was that of slave labor.

Digging and transporting ore to earn silver coins?

Don’t think about it!

However, their accommodation, food, and clothes are all provided by the Duke of Ross, and their labor is the price for obtaining these materials, and they have no bargaining power.

Even though the group of women hadn’t been taken to mine yet, Rurik reiterated their destination on December 11th in the Julian calendar in a language they all understood: “You will all be Balmerks Women, you will not be slaves! You must work for me in exchange for the food, clothing and shelter I will give you, and when the weather becomes warmer, I will lead you to distant lands. Tavastia is dead, you You will be responsible for the disaster of the old leader’s wrong decision, but I am not a villain. You will have a stable life in the end, as long as you do things honestly for me now.”

Any one of them is free now. In fact, they can escape completely, but none of them dare to do so.

Where can escape go?

Fall prey to the beasts of the Ice Field?

Tavastia is indeed dead, where is her home?

They still don’t understand what a bright future is. At least for now, food can only be obtained by working according to the orders of the conquerors. Smart people naturally live by taking one step at a time.

It was on this night that a total of four hundred and fifty young women from Tavastia were distributed after careful counting. They were all distributed with small axes and chisels, and a few obvious pretenders were also given long-handled draft axes.

A group of mining women should set off tomorrow.

This night, many men and women are also preparing. Even though the “invisible hand” has screened out those who are not suitable for mining in Roseburg this day, there are still many people who still plan to dig ore to make money, even if they dig by mistake. granite.

With the exception of chiseling soldiers, fishing sealers, soap makers Parla, and others who were preoccupied with weaving, leather, and garment makers, and other people with their own jobs, any idle labor force in Roseburg was mobilized.

No, on December 12 of the Julian calendar, only young children, mothers who couldn’t escape, and the truly infirm did not participate, and every one of Roseburg’s labor force was mobilized.

Even Rumia was ordered to perform sacrifices to the statue of Thor alone, and encouraged the people spiritually.

The rambunctious people took their tools and pulled the sled, and marched mightily towards the west of Roseburg.

An unknown laborer also laid the first stake for Blast Furnace Town…

[End of this Chapter]