Rise of Rurik - Chapter 681

[Chapter 682 The Boyar Conference in Early Winter]

During the busiest period of surveying and mapping the farmland, the Boyar nobles from the farms around the lake arrived in Novgorod in a boat or a carriage.

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They all saw what happened in the farmland, and they immediately understood that Prince Ross was actually implementing his decision himself.

Now measuring the fields of Baishu Manor, sooner or later this matter will fall on his own head.

They have no choice but to face it hard, not knowing whether this is good or bad, it has already happened and they are unable to change it.

After all the boyars had gathered, Rurik washed the dust off his body, put on gorgeous clothes and restored the nobility of the duke.

A wooden house was designed as a place for the parliament. It is quite simple at present, but as the highest noble, Rurik intends to entertain these local nobles who have been delayed for a long time.

People like Usky and Tori who have participated in the counter-insurgency war think highly of themselves, so they accept the invitation very happily.

The other manor boyars, they are still vigilant and suspicious of the Rus conquerors.

A group of people gathered in this simple wooden house. They all wore fox fur furs and fox fur hats. Some holes were punched in the hats, and some mottled feathers could be inserted to decorate them.

Many boyars are furs made of bearskin, and apparently wearing them to a party is a kind of courtship.

Who can wear bearskin clothing?

Ross fighters have the right, and deserve it.

Although the house is simple and simple, there are a batch of deerskin cushions inside, and square tables are placed in front of the cushions.

What does this mean?

Could it be that the prince still needs to arrange meals?

When they were bored, they chatted with each other, and all the boyars were missing the old man Rigus. They exchanged the news they found, and even some rumors.

“Hey, have you all heard? I heard that the prince brought all his women here this time, but I don’t know if the young man’s body can bear it. Haha, maybe he can.”

“Of course he can. My friends, I heard that Regus’ little daughter is pregnant, and when a cub is born, that cub will become our master.”

“So what? Let me complain?” Someone muttered regretfully, “That fellow Regus is a conspirator, and he succeeded. My daughter is obviously more beautiful than his daughter, but it’s a pity…”

“Let’s talk about serious business!” Usky interrupted the conversation of a group of old guys.

“What’s serious? What’s wrong with the field?”

“Exactly. I dare say that the prince summoned us to explain this matter. Have you thought about it? At that time, we have to pay the wheat or other things according to this. I don’t believe that the people of Ross will really be merciful. The Pine Needle Manor is over. , the rest of us are a bunch of poor cows, how much milk is squeezed, that is what the Ross people do.”

People looked at each other in blank dismay, and no one spoke up for a long time.

Finally someone waited on the table in front of them and whispered: “In the past, Pine Needle Manor was our master. At that time, we had to pay tribute to them, and we also paid tribute to the Ross people. Now we only serve the Ross people, so the situation won’t be too bad, right? They are coming now, obviously they have defeated the enemy of the Great Lakes in the north. You have all seen that there is no one alive in the entire Pine Needle Manor! Let us not complain about it, and worry that if we offend the Ross people, we will suffer.”

This person was already trembling at the end, and many people’s eyes inadvertently turned to Ning Wang Uski and Tori, because they were also participants in the killing.

Tori was not happy about this, he raised his head: “What do you think I am doing? That Vadim is an idiot, following him is death. I follow Ross to have today, you should touch your conscience, if you lead troops earlier If you follow the Ross people, you can also get farmland. You are afraid of the Ross people’s looting? In my opinion, Grand Duke Rurik is a very good man.”

They were whispering to each other again.

Finally, there was a commotion outside, and the sitting boyars got up one after another.

I saw the young man who thought he was capable, with his head held high and his chest held high, wearing a fluffy white bear fur robe, holding a sword hilt, walking arrogantly.

Prince Rurik of Ross is here!

Numerous Ruth warriors wearing chain mail reinforced with iron sheets surrounded it. They no longer used burqas to cover up the armor, which clearly proved to the witnesses that they were indeed covered in iron, and their power was beyond words.

There were two people beside him, and one of the tall and strong men was Governor Medwait. This guy had been intimate with the Ross people for many years, and he looked like Ross.

The other boy was handsome and slender, dressed neatly and slightly close-fitting, with a sword hanging from his waist and a velvet hat on his head.

who is he?

When the prince arrived, the people who were chattering just now showed signs with smiles.

“Sit down, all of you.” Rurik said casually in Slavic language: “I summoned you, and I saw you all came. Very good! I don’t want to hear any polite words, and you have no right to ask, just listen My qualifications for preaching, now sit down occasionally.”

After taking a note of Mawei, the boyars had no choice but to sit down obediently.

They all knew that old Otto had been staying in the city of Novgorod. When they entered the city for a meeting, everyone glanced at the pier and saw those familiar ships docking quietly.

The Duke’s ship was firmly fixed?

!

Obviously the Duke intends to spend the winter here.

Rurik sat cross-legged, and Medved sat down with a sullen face, but saw the handsome young man sitting sideways beside him raised his body and slowly took off his hat.

The braids of the coiled hair drooped, and the face became clear, and the boyars were taken aback.

It was rumored that Rigus’ youngest daughter had become a pregnant woman, and everything was absurd.

She was sitting here, dressed so clearly that she was a young Ross warrior. If it weren’t for this face, no one would dare to say that she was Svetlana.

Seeing the eyes of the Boyars, Rurik thought they were holding back their words.

My time is very tight, and I have to carry out surveying and mapping in the old pine needle manor, so I have no time to spend time with this group of boyars.

“My order has already been issued, and you are too late. I know that the roads and waterways are not good, so I don’t blame you. You must have seen it when you came to my Novgorod. I have already begun to criticize the land here. Carry out detailed measurements. I have completed my summoning of you today, and I am going to publicize this.”

He paused, not giving the boyars a chance to intervene, and said: “You better listen like rabbits, this is my order.”

(Rurik repeated to the group of boyars what he had explained to Rigus before…)

“Have you all understood now? The result of not cooperating is very dangerous, but you can rest assured that I am a just ruler. Whoever has more farmland and livestock will pay more taxes. Whether you are The tax law is the same whether you live in the remote forest or around the city of Novgorod. Those who pay taxes will be protected by Ross, and those who do not pay taxes will be punished by Ross. As long as you pay taxes, you will be punished by Ross. A recognized Novorossi can call himself that.”

As long as you pay taxes, you have the name of Roth?

Zhongbo Yaer does not think that this so-called honorary name actually has much effect.

Because they have been calling themselves Slavic, which is “glory” itself, they have always called themselves the glorious family.

The boyars are also smart. They are the best in the competition in this community, so they can control the identity of the manor owner.

Land is their lifeblood, and all matters related to land will arouse their extreme vigilance.

Prince Rurik of Rus swore this time. He swore to Odin, the main god of Varyag, and Peron, the great god of Slavs, that the eleventh agricultural tax will be implemented and the tax rate will not be raised again.

The tax base for taxation is the area of farmland, and the prince also guaranteed that only mature land that has been developed for at least one year will be counted, and wasteland and newly reclaimed land will not be included in the calculation, and the area of farmland will also be recalculated every five years to revise the tax base.

The prince clarified two principles this time: fairness and contract.

This is a meeting of fairness and contract, but before they are actually implemented, the boys can’t really believe it, and now they can only face Rurik with a smile.

Rurik would not allow them to intervene, as the highest nobleman he had to be independent on this issue.

After all, these native boyar nobles are a threat to the Principality of Ross itself. They should be cleaned out, and the Principality of Ross should directly rule every family around Lake Ilmen.

This is not to destroy the inherent farm system, on the contrary, it is to build a farm that can be directly controlled by the principality.

For example, one hundred peasant families are formed into a collective farm, and one person is elected as the village head every few years, and then given administrative power after review by the duke.

This kind of village head is different from the boyar nobles. He has no roots and no shackles, and he has to do things for the duke for his personal glory and wealth.

Even if there might be a few Lindenwans, it would be nothing more than a small fight.

Unlike the collective rebellion of tens of thousands of people in the Pine Needle Manor that just happened, the preparations for the conquest of Karelia ended in an anticlimactic situation for more than half a year. The delay in financial and material resources in the counter-insurgency war was the biggest factor.

From this, Rurik concluded that even if the local boyar nobles were very loyal in their generation, their descendants might rebel because they had enough resources to rebel.

Establishing a farm directly controlled by the Duke, relying on layers of bureaucratic decremental governance, this model is more advanced than entrusting the boyar nobles to rule, but it is completely inappropriate for today’s era.

After a few days of surveying and mapping activities at the grassroots level, Rurik has thoroughly felt the extreme backwardness of rural life in this era.

Is this considered rural?

Living people are like “apes who know how to farm”.

There is not even paper, and processed wood boards are used to record information. As for the inkros used, they use technology learned from Rome a long time ago.

Writing itself is not a problem, but the carrier of writing is a big problem.

The carrier for recording information is a heavy wooden board, and there are only a handful of people in the entire Ross Principality who can write well.

The absolute lack of talents and information carriers made it impossible for the principality to accurately manage the people under its rule.

There is really no way to entrust these native boyar agents to manage.

It is even a question mark whether Medved, the governor appointed by him, has always been loyal. After all, this person is a very substantial relative to the Principality.

The preaching ended here, and Rurik believed that they had understood it all.

Due to the poor traffic conditions, even though they are all residents around the lake, it is not easy for all the boyars to gather in Novgorod, the northernmost place of the lake. They should be treated as hospitality.

The long-prepared feast begins to be served!

The fine wheat flour treasured by Rurik, mixed with butter and honey, is baked into an extremely fragrant and soft meal.

The bread was placed in front of the boyars one after another, as long as they smelled the fragrant smell, the halazi would flow like a spring.

After a while, the aroma of wine filled the air again. The exquisite crystal cup had a strange shape, and the ultimate wine aroma overflowed when the cork was pulled out.

This two-flavored meal makes the newly served barbecue no longer a delicacy.

In fact, the boyars saw that all the plates provided by Duke Rurik were crystal plates!

The tableware is actually glass, and the wine bottles are also blow-cast, and these vessels are now mass-produced.

Regus came on crutches, and the son-in-law preached that he was silent.

Seeing this group of boyars studying the glassware for a long time, they glanced at it with contemptuous eyes.

Because Rigus already knew the whole truth, although he didn’t understand the principle, it is certain that most of the glassware at the scene was actually made by the eldest daughter who was married to Rose.

The eldest daughter Lilia must have mastered magic, or the wisdom bestowed by Odin.

The boys didn’t go back empty-handed. They all drank a bottle of vodka and half a pound of spirits.

They ate up the sweet, pastry-like bread, and licked the glass bottle with their tongues.

The barbecue was finished, and Rurik ordered his subordinates to put more salt on the meat. He wanted to see how uncomfortable this group of people were when they ate salty food. clean up.

How sodium deficient must their bodies be?

!

Rurik could understand after thinking about it for a while. The salt sold to them before was too little. Facing the large market around Lake Ilmen, and even the unconquered free farms in the surrounding forests, this is a huge market. , Salt and iron are a hard currency.

They took away the glassware, and it is conceivable that these things will become the exclusive treasures of the boyars.

This is the meeting of the boyar nobles in Novgorod in early winter, and it is also the second meeting of the boyar nobles after the rebellion was put down. From now on, life will be on the right track, and we will win in the autumn harvest next year according to the principality’s regulations. Grain taxation, and a new peaceful life under the Ross rule is coming.

The meeting had just ended, and Rurik threw away his gorgeous robe, revealing the simple and capable linen clothes underneath which were convenient for working in the fields.

Those boyars in furs had already left, so he casually beckoned Medved to come to his side.

“My lord, do you have an important order?”

“Yes. My mother and daughter are coming. In the next few days, you organize the flag team and let the soldiers dress up like real Varyag warriors. The old lady wants to see a mighty army.”

“Of course.” Medved smiled.

“Oh, one more thing. Send me to cut down five hundred birch trees. Remember, no small trees. I will peel off the bark when you are done.”

“Peeling the bark?” Medved heard too freshly.

“You must be questioning something. Don’t question it, just ask me to do it. Also, try to find birch trees as far away as possible. I don’t want to cut down the birch forest outside the city in a short time. ”

Only Ligus had something to say about this matter. The old guy coughed twice and interjected: “My lord, those birch trees have been planted by our generations. There is no need to worry about the disappearance of the birch forest. If a tree is cut down, We just replant one. The birch (white tree) is the symbol of our farm, we need these high-quality woods to live on, and we are good at carrying these trees.”

Rurik was not clear about these things, and what Rigus said surprised him: “That would be great.”

“Then my lord, can you tell me why the bark is needed? Five hundred trees and you will get a lot of bark. What is it for?”

Since Rigus asked, Rurik might as well express his long-held decision: “I will make a very soft board (referring to paper), which is as thin as cloth, can be folded like cloth, and can be used Ink writes eternal words. But it is also a special kind of wood, and it needs bark to make it. Since you like birch for daily use, birch bark will be the best cork board.”

How can Riggs and Medved abstractly know what has never been seen?

Instead, Svetlana, who was dressed as a soldier, cheered happily, and she hugged her husband’s neck enthusiastically: “Those heavy wooden boards are so annoying. If there are… cork boards that are as thin as cloth. We can write a lot of things Is it? In this way, you don’t need to pull a lot of wooden boards on your carriage, and a small box can carry these things for writing and recording.”

“Of course.” Rurik laughed out loud, he has already decided to make paper!

He believed in Medved’s ability to act, and the most readily available raw materials for papermaking, the governor of Novgorod was about to do it for himself.

Just before that, and before the first snow fell, Rurik also decided to convene all the surveying and mapping teams, concentrate manpower and material resources, and win a “tough battle against the surveying and mapping of the old Pine Needle Manor”.

Rurik and his men are already doing their best.

Medved and his subordinates have also received orders to go deep into the forest with a pair of saws and big axes to cut down the white birch in the red pine, and the bark began to accumulate continuously.

As for the peeled tree trunks, there was no waste at all. The charcoal craftsmen in the city started to act, and the people of Baishu Farm were already making and storing charcoal blocks for heating in winter.

So their actions also explain why this farm likes birch, the obvious reason is pine, pine charcoal burning is accompanied by a very pungent smell, who likes this?

Then birch, which has a large number and low burning odor, has become the most cost-effective material for heating.

[End of this Chapter]