Rise of Rurik - Chapter 682

[Chapter 683]

Almost all the soldiers who make up the Slavic flag team are in Novgorod. They are the residents here, and they are also the heroes who transformed the farm into a city.

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The local Slavs have a large population, while the foreign Varyags have powerful military strength and technology.

The time for change has come, and a whole new group is being born.

Slavic warriors were dressed in the image of Varyags, they wore leather helmets, and huge nose protectors even covered their mouths.

They hold a spear in their right hand and a round shield tied to their left arm. Although they don’t have chain mail, they have thick leather cut into a suitable shape to wear around their bodies, which looks very similar at first glance.

Handaxes or daggers were hung on the waistbands of trousers. Everyone wore linen trousers, and the calves were specially tied with cloth strips, and they stepped on exquisitely stitched leather boots made of local specialties.

The soldiers of the Slavic flag team are generally half a head shorter than the Ross warriors, and they are also thinner.

Their individual combat effectiveness is very limited, and the situation will be completely different if hundreds of people gather to form an formation.

As many as five hundred Slavic warriors were assembled, and they felled wood on weekdays, and at the end of the gradually shortening days, they had to do some drills in the sunset.

Medved really didn’t know whether those barks could make “cork boards” as soft as cloth. The brothers had a lot of harvest after logging.

The trunks of the freshly peeled birch trees overflowed with some sap, which was slightly sweet and very thirst-quenching.

Local people have long known that the sap can be drunk, but the effect is unknown.

The drying trunks were thrown into the clay-tamped furnace, and birch charcoal began to be produced, as in previous years.

The weather is obviously getting colder and colder. Every morning the sun pokes its head out lazily. Once the sun sweeps across the huge Ilmen Lake, a thick, damp and cold white mist begins to evaporate on the lake until the sun rises high enough. The fog will dissipate.

Rurik didn’t have time to inspect the bark. He had already decided to make paper. Since the raw materials were already available, it was up to him to take action.

He led his men to work in the fields of the old Pine Needle Manor.

The mercenaries carried shovels and eradicated the inherent boundary stalks on a large scale. These are all the property of the duke family. The plots of various shapes must be abolished, and the entire farmland area must be transformed to be as horizontal and vertical as possible.

Rurik re-demarcated these fields according to the standard of one hectare of land he set. The batch of ropes he had on hand happened to be 100 stikas in maximum length. “One hectare”.

He saw this situation again, the area that was once full of buildings has become deserted.

The conquerors of Ross just killed the rebels, and finally collected the corpses of these guys and buried them in a giant cup.

The residential buildings after the victory were all torn down, and the available building materials were apparently divided up by the nearby farm residents in the past two months, leaving only a pile of sawdust on the ground…

Compared with wasteland, isn’t it a matter of minutes to transform these homesteads into farmland?

Next year, the pony will not pull the wooden cart, and some horses will be organized to pull the Quyuanli to reclaim the homestead. Isn’t this another big field?

The reality, however, was crazier and more gratifying than Rurik had hoped.

As long as the desolate homestead is counted, and the loot fields distributed to the servants are separated, Rurik was pleasantly surprised to find that the fields that only belong to him have exceeded 4,000 hectares.

Indeed, when Rurik had multiple calluses on his feet and his knees were sore like bearings that lacked oil, he and his team compiled the statistical data and got this crazy result.

Hundreds of people rushed to build field camps on the dusty ruins of the old Pine Needle Manor.

The mercenaries and hired locals who broke the field ridges and stewed fish in a large stove were already lying in the wooden shed due to exhaustion, and the cool breeze outside could not disturb their dreams.

Thin wooden poles, dense fir branches, and cloth make up Rurik’s lodgings, and even a place where scribes gather for meetings.

The wives and concubines are scribes, and their ages and ethnicities are different. These days, we all share joys and sorrows. Although the daily life is very difficult, everyone works for the same goal, even if their feet are blistered, it is worth it.

.

More importantly, everyone is working together with the Duke. This is a good opportunity to express yourself.

Twenty oil lamps light up the entire wooden shed, and everyone is dressed in furry bear fur coats, which are like big quilts, perfectly dispelling the cold of early winter.

The girls stared wide-eyed. They all washed off the dust on their faces before the sun set. However, the tired and haggard faces, and the rough and callused hands cannot be recovered in a short time.

They wrote the new statistical data on the wooden board and submitted it to Rurik every day, and today the entire area has been surveyed and mapped by various groups.

The boards on which the information was recorded were also erected into two towers, the height of which was comparable to that of Rurik.

Everyone just ate the oatmeal cakes sent by Novgorod, and just ate the freshly caught lake fish. Until now, the camp is also filled with a faint smell of stewed fish.

The tired man regained some energy, seeing that the atmosphere was still too deserted, Rurik waited for the wives and concubines to gather, slapped his calloused hands and spoke!

“Finally, the gods blessed us with no bad snow. We finally finished before the snow fell, and you’re all exhausted these days.”

“I’m not tired.” Svetlana said obediently: “It’s my happiest thing to be able to do things with you.”

It sounded like a baby, Rurik said with a smile on his mouth, “Really? You can’t enjoy this happiness to yourself. What about the others?”

All the girls said that they can still work, they are all just teenagers.

“You say you’re not tired, but I say I’m tired. We’ve finally completed all the farmland statistics. Everyone has worked too hard this month.”

After finishing the polite words, Rurik suppressed the joy in his heart, and explained the results after the summary: “You have all sworn to ensure that the results of the surveying and mapping of the area you are in charge of are true. You already have experience, and you don’t need to do it in this area. Other information is recorded in the region. After my summary, the old pine needle manor belongs to us as many as 4,200 hectares!”

What is this concept?

It is indeed much more than the existing 2,000 hectares of White Tree Manor.

After all, Rurik couldn’t hide his joy. He laughed out loud, and said with a smile: “Do you know what this means?! Based on my investigation experience, as long as we develop these fields well, every year Ten million Roman pounds of oats can be harvested right here at Old Pine Needles! If we take a few more steps, the grain yield can be even higher!”

He talked a lot with joy, and it turned out to be his own one-man show.

The girls lacked a rational understanding of this extremely huge number. Since His Excellency the Duke pointed out that this is a very good thing, everyone should follow suit.

Tiredness is really tiring, and the statistical results are really gratifying.

but……

All the data has been collected, this night Rurik intentionally lies in the shack by himself, and he sleeps with his wives and concubines in the Datong shop, leaving himself a quiet and lonely place to think about these data overnight.

When the hustle and bustle dispersed and the camp fell into silence, only the faint sound of snoring and wind breaking into the hut, Rurik opened his eyes and thought quietly.

It is extremely optimistic to estimate that the White Tree Manor does have two thousand acres of farmland, and their distribution is relatively scattered, and the overall geographical location is not good.

Fortunately, the latitude around Lake Ilmen is lower. In theory, the accumulated temperature is higher than that of Lake Mälaren, and the production capacity is also higher.

Putting optimism aside, according to Rurik’s own investigation in the White Tree Manor, the results are as follows: the fields are divided into grades, and only those fields near the lake can be equivalent to 150 Roman pounds per mu. hundred pounds.

This is the data of a good year. If the wheat collection encounters rainfall or frost, the large-scale reduction in wheat production and loss of more than half is due to the mercy of the gods.

The local Slavs did regard production cuts and cut-offs as punishments from the gods, and if such things happened, they would sacrifice on a large scale.

In extreme cases, even human sacrifice…

It is ideal to presuppose that every year’s wheat harvest is a bumper harvest, and then tax based on this standard. Forcing the fact that it is a specific disaster year is likely to cause anger and resentment.

According to the people of White Tree Manor, only half of the 2,000 acres of farmland in their hands belong to good fields, and one hectare can harvest 2,000 pounds of sun-dried oats, and the remaining poor fields can receive 1,000 pounds at the very least.

So, at what cost?

The price is that no matter whether the hectare harvests 2,000 pounds or 1,000 pounds, the farmer invests at least 200 to 300 pounds of grain.

Therefore, up to 400,000 pounds of grain will be stored in the granaries of each household in White Tree Manor.

This is a very crazy number, but even with Quyuanli’s blessing in their rough farming methods, the biggest effect is to transform a batch of poor fields into good fields, and the exchange ratio between growing grain and harvesting is extremely unattractive!

After the autumn harvest, about 15% to 20% of the grain will be sealed, and it must not be moved unless there is a severe famine. That is the grain grown in the spring!

One grain of wheat is exchanged for five grains. In northern and northeastern Europe where the conditions are harsh, and oats that are naturally low-yielding, how can the exchange ratio be increased without the blessing of high technology?

In contrast, in the east where the temperature is suitable and the irrigation agriculture is developed, the rice planted has been harvested in good years, and one seed is exchanged for thirty harvests.

In Novgorod, if you want to gain more, you obviously have to rely on extensive planting and low harvest, and rely on economies of scale to obtain a large surplus.

This is a pain for the farmers, who have to work hard during the busy farming season.

The White Tree Manor is like this, and the situation of the Pine Needle Manor that was slaughtered seems to be better. Rurik considers that Ross’s continuous increase in exploitation of this farm in the past has really made it difficult for the farmers.

Rurik was even more certain that their rebellion had a good reason because Ross exploited too much.

“Do I still have to apologize to you? You are already dead. If you don’t rebel, I will start to improve your living conditions in the future. It’s a pity that you collectively rebelled and acted arrogantly. It’s a good thing for you to die, so I There is no need to increase taxes on other farms. Your death can make me a wise king. Curse your souls, Ross needs rising capital, and the accumulation of primitive capital is accompanied by blood, your blood…”

Rurik didn’t want to worry about the dead rebels. The dead left a lot of wealth, 4,200 hectares of fields, even if a large area of them pretended to be fields, they were actually homesteads.

The Old Pine Needle Manor occupies the best area around the lake. The fields are almost all adjacent to the lake. They are connected to each other and are large in scale. This makes the survey team including Rurik walk marathons on foot these days. He estimates that No matter how good the land is, there must be 3,000 hectares.

The best 3,000 hectares of fields in good years yield four million pounds of oats.

For this harvest, I have to invest 600,000 to 700,000 pounds of wheat according to the rough agricultural model.

The thought of this gave Rurik a headache.

There is not enough grain on hand, and the amount of grain that can be saved is limited even if intensive cultivation is attempted.

Labor tribes can spend money to rent idle labor on farms, but how to solve the problem of growing grain?

Rurik estimates that if he plans to fully use the reclaimed fields of the old Pine Needle Manor for spring plowing next year, he will have to invest at least 800,000 pounds in weight. If the weather is good and the weather is pleasant, next year’s autumn harvest alone will be able to harvest 5 million pounds. Roman pound of wheat.

That is really a tempting number. The output of this corner alone can provide the year-round rations of the more than 10,000 men, women, and children in the Viking population of the Principality of Ross. Nearly half of the young children can even eat fat per capita.

Let’s stop this dreamy idea!

If it is no problem to collect enough dad’s 100,000 pounds of grain, the price is that the entire Viking population will live a traditional life of eating fish for more than half a year.

Is this okay?

This is not good.

Everyone is used to eating wheat, even if they can only eat a handful every day, everyone is happy if there is food in the house.

After all, wheat is more resistant to storage than pickled jerky. If there is surplus food at home, people will not worry about survival.

Everyone has the same concerns in this regard. Even though there was almost no wheat stock in Rus people’s homes a few years ago, in recent years everyone has become inseparable from wheat.

“Son of God? I am indeed the Son of God. Those guys can’t do without wheat. If they can’t get the wheat, my ruling authority will be shaken!”

This night, Rurik thought a lot.

The Pine Needle Manor with a population of over 10,000 was completely disintegrated, and they left behind a total of 5,000 hectares of developed fields. Except for giving to the servants, Ross will get most of them.

Rurik has declared that the property rights of the farmland belong to the Principality, which is actually equivalent to the ownership of the Duke’s family. This point has no objection from ordinary people, or they can’t think of anything that can be questioned.

This is simply the wealth of land the Principality has looted at the old Pine Needle estate.

There are also five farms that participated in and contributed to the rebellion. The owner of the manor was killed, and the population was divided up by the farms of other servants Rose.

The five farms also disappeared, and the pots, pans, and even the wooden beams and planks that built the house were divided up, but the land left behind belonged to the Duke.

I am afraid that another 5,000 hectares of land can be counted, and at least half of them are good fields!

Due to the constraints of the conditions, Rurik knew that he would not want to go to the ruins of the five farms to measure the acres this year.

Practical reasons force him to wait until next year when the snow melts and the spring plowing begins again.

The property rights only belong to the dukedom, or only 10,000 hectares of land belong to the duke family?

!

If they all started to produce, it would be more exciting than taxing the farms.

However, it is impossible for me to take care of these fields by myself anyway, and there is absolutely not enough surplus grain to plant in the spring next year.

The vast fields needed enough tenant farmers. Realizing that he had become the largest landowner, Rurik, out of rational considerations, transported the population directly from Ross’s hometown, just as determined in the plan.

As long as they start farming, they won’t be able to solve their wheat-eating problem, and the Duke’s family’s prestige will skyrocket.

The most important thing is that the property rights of these farmlands belong to the duke, and all they have is the right to use them. At that time, they will sign a contract with them to determine the number of years of the right to use and the amount of taxes to be paid within the number of years.

As far as the result orientation of food production is concerned, pulling people over to plant ready-made fields can produce more results than encouraging people to open up wasteland.

Or change the strategy and plant cash crops on some of the fields. Rurik thought of the manor that was good at growing flax.

Lease the land to them, and at that time, they will receive less rent and reduce some taxes.

“Ah! Thousands of hectares of fertile land are mine! One hectare of two thousand pounds of oats! This place should be able to grow spring wheat, right? The production capacity of spring wheat and spring oats is about the same? Ah, so I have to save all the wheat I got from Britain this year… Suddenly thinking of this, Rurik, who was lying on his back, suddenly sat up, “Oops! I have to write a letter to Rosberg.”

What he was worried about was this. When he needed to grow spring wheat next year, he found that the British wheat he got had already been turned into flour to make a lot of delicious soft bread.

That would be bad.

[End of this Chapter]