Rise of Rurik - Chapter 696

[Chapter 697 Returning to the Field of Hope]

Under the cold and calm appearance, the whole world is freezing, and some clues have emerged.

The Neva River is still frozen, and the heaviest reindeer can still walk on the ice.

The Gulf of Finland is also an endless ice layer, and it seems that spring has nothing to do with it.

The vernal equinox was approaching, and Rurik also planned to leave right after the vernal equinox sacrifice, which was set on the twenty-ninth day of March.

Although there is ice everywhere, people began to find that the afternoon became quite warm, and the snow began to melt on the wooden eaves, and then it began to condense again in the evening, causing a lot of icicles to appear on the eaves the next day, so that some children used the ice as a sword. Fight each other.

Svetlana is already preparing dry food for the trip back home.

She plans to cook some fish herself and bake some oatcakes.

The stove was in the corner of the backyard of the palace, and she had no one to help her and she didn’t want others to interfere, so she just sweated here and was very satisfied.

Suddenly, Rurik, wearing a velvet hat, walked over looking for the scent.

“You can arrange for a servant to do it, you don’t have to do it yourself,” he said.

Lanna smiled: “You didn’t recruit a few servants. Besides, according to our tradition, women must do these things.”

“But you are my queen.”

“I’m more your woman.”

Satisfied, Rurik took a closer look and found that she was indeed cooking a pike steak that had been cut into several pieces.

Compared to bass and herring, the largest fish that can be caught by water fish near New Roseburg are pike.

This fish tends to grow very large and live a long life.

It has a ferocious temperament like a vicious dog, and it is a proper carnivorous fish, so the bait for fishing is freshly slaughtered reindeer meat, and the hook is tied with a thick hemp rope and thrown into the dug ice hole, and the line is set to 30 meters to wait.

While cooking the meat, Lan Na said, “The fishermen said that the water under the ice is becoming turbulent, and the ice must be melting. Fortunately, the deep water is stable. The big fish took the bait, and it took 20 people to pull this big guy up. ”

Rurik took a closer look, and it turned out that this was a hard dish.

“Did you send someone to buy it? How much did it cost?”

“Two silver coins. The best fish is here. Rurik, this fish will feed us for a week.”

“Really? You got a big deal. No, they sold it cheaply on purpose.”

“Yes.” She smiled softly: “Because I am your woman, they will charge you a price once they hear that the fish will enter your stomach.”

“Alright. It’s just that I still have to spend a lot of money on the journey back.”

“So how’s your inspection going? They’re all going well with their preparations?” she asked.

“Certainly. There are fishing holes all over the ice, and pike and bass come out of the water. I have also seen the sleds they make a lot of, and the whole thing is very strong. The snow covered a lot of yellow reeds, and they cut some.”

“Reeds? Feed the deer?”

“Exactly. But you don’t believe that just eating grass, more than a thousand deer with a larger sled team can go to Novgorod smoothly, right?”

“That’s impossible,” she said.

It was this matter that made Rurik upset, and Rurik sighed: “I can wait until the ice and snow melt before I act. But that will delay the farming season. Look at the ice on the palace, the ground is thawing, and the ice can still There is not much time left for the sleigh, but I dare not risk a great deal of ice-breaking ice that could wreck the ship.”

“Yeah…” She continued to turn the fish with the iron fork.

“It will be the spring sacrifice soon. We will leave after the ceremony. I will whip the deer as hard as I can. We must go back within ten days.”

New Roseburg is indeed making intense preparations for an “Operation Ice and Snow Immigration”.

A total of nearly 1,300 people will immigrate to Novgorod. They will leave not only themselves, but also all kinds of things that can be taken away.

The soldiers of the First Banner Division are strong and strong, and their families are all in their hometowns in Roseburg Fjord.

Their families will immigrate on a large ship in the summer. The prince made a promise not to mention this, but also positioned this as a current national policy, even higher than foreign wars.

The success of their winter hunts was reduced to heavy silver coins.

They made another batch of jerky or cooked meat, and bought a large batch of wheat cakes or simply fried oatmeal from Asuraki’s shop.

Several people teamed up to hire local people to build sleds. As for the reindeer pulling the sleds, there is no need to worry about this at all.

The First Banner Team has nothing heavy and soft, and they have all their belongings and dry food on them, so they can run without worry.

The Ostara people are another huge immigrant team. Although there are only more than 600 people, men, women, and children, they have a lot of soft hands.

Those New Ostara people who are actually Yermalen people, they traveled thousands of miles to the mouth of the Neva River and basically completed their wintering. Unexpectedly, new immigrants will start again.

It is said that Lake Ilmen is very similar to Lake Jermalen in the hometown, and the climate is more humid. If this is planted with wheat, wouldn’t it be a bumper harvest every year?

Regarding where the tribe settled down, the Duchess Carlota had already figured out the location, even though she hadn’t arrived in person to investigate.

Tomorrow is the Spring Festival. On the eve of the festival, all the people of Ostara have completed their preparations.

Their camp outside the walls was about to be abandoned, and it was up to the governor of New Roseburg what would happen to the old shack.

The shed has become a simple shed, and the people of Ostara carefully took away the extra cloth heads and clay pots, and the breath of life is rapidly dissipating.

In contrast, there are a large number of oak sleds, a variety of materials, especially sacks full of grain, and the sleds are full of loads.

After signing the contract, Asuragi handed over the large amount of wheat that Rurik paid to Carlota the next day, and she paid an extra part for it.

Wheat worth 20 pounds of silver greatly increased the weight of the Ostara people’s supplies. They didn’t think the goods were too much, because the current food of the tribe could guarantee more than 600 mouths to eat until next year’s harvest season, and even There can be surplus grain as grain for spring plowing next year.

There are only more than 600 of them, of which there are more than 300 adults, and the rest are children.

Although the sled slides on ice and snow, if the weight is too large, the sliding effect will be poor.

The total weight of the tribe is not large, and their goods far exceed the weight of people.

“We will build the best farms and pastures on the very warm south of Lake Ilmen. We will grow wheat, grow flax, raise cattle, and fish. We will have unprecedented abundance.”

Carlotta described a wonderful picture, even describing it with the legendary Asgard.

People believed in this so much that they took it very seriously when making the sledge.

The men in the tribe are all farmers from the Yermalen tribe, and they can also do carpentry and make a batch of commonly used farm tools and vehicles.

Many people can actually live a decent life in their hometown, and they can’t afford to take risks and immigrate.

But their once-wrecked wives have been clamoring to return to Ostara, and there are legends about the Ross people discovering a wonderful world, and the Ross people indeed sell all kinds of things in the Birka market, and even the Duke of Ross himself killed This is what the King of Denmark said.

Many reasons are intertwined, which attracts them to take risks.

However, life on the Neva River has not changed much from my hometown.

Now they are already on the verge of riding a tiger, and they can only believe in new legends and immigrate to Lake Ilmen.

Each small family had its own sledge, and each sledge was piled with various goods and fastened with twine.

They have as many as one hundred and forty large and small sledges, and now the “army” of sledges has assembled in the camp.

All the clansmen surrounded the female leader, and the setting sun shone on Carlotta’s clean face, wanting to hear an exciting speech from her before departure.

No, Carlota has already tore her throat.

“The snow is going to melt! Ostara, we are going to the Lake Ilmen, to the land of plenty of water to the south of the lake. There is a river there, the locals call it the Lovati River, and we are going to At the mouth of the Vati River we build our new Ostara.

There are other tribes in the area who have despicably betrayed our ally, the Duchy of Ross.

I led our warriors in the crusade, the rebels were slain, and their land was ours as spoils.

I know that many of you men are actually from Yermalen.

It doesn’t matter, you are all my people, and you are also good farmers and herdsmen.

We’ll be given a large cleared farmland that we can cultivate as soon as we land.

The land there is fertile and the climate is warmer, so we can harvest a lot of wheat this year.

We also have a fortune now, we want to buy some cattle and some deer, we breed livestock, skin them for fur coats, milk them for butter, and make cheese.

We’ll do whatever we want under the military protection of the Rus.

There is a brand new heir, he is the blood heir of the chief of Ostara, and the nephew of the prince of Ross.

So no one can hurt us and everything will be fine…”

Although many words have been repeated too much, it was just passed on by word of mouth in the past, but now Carlotta personally preaches the significance.

The Ostara people were shouting, attracting nearby residents to watch and comment.

Some people were reluctant to give up, and some fell in love with their abandoned wooden sheds. Many people also felt itchy and wanted to immigrate with them.

Immigrants are not random immigrants. The worries of the Ostara immigrants do not exist. Rurik has guaranteed it, and even this year’s “big immigration project” Rurik has paid for it.

This immigrant sled team had already approached 250 vehicles. He was not only transporting people, but also a large amount of materials.

In particular, a large amount of grain has to be transported away, which occupies a lot of the load quota of the sled.

There are also sleds that simply transport oats and bales of hay, which are fed to reindeer.

Rurik gathered a thousand deer and a few horses.

He now has such capital, but the deer didn’t just choose it randomly.

Locally owned and newly captured deer make for a huge herd of nearly four thousand here in New Roseburg.

They are almost all the property of the Prince of Ross, and Governor Knudson has the obligation to breed them and is also eligible to obtain some benefits from them.

The capture is that the deer herd is believed to be selected by the Karelians, so the number of females far exceeds that of males.

Many does are already pregnant, they are about to give birth, and the herd will swell to nearly 5,000 this year.

There are still a group of does that did not finish breeding during the mating season last autumn for various reasons, and they are now the perfect breeders.

These deer are already different from their wild counterparts, and their genes have even undergone slight changes, making them more willing to be raised and used by humans, and humans will try their best to reproduce the number of deer herds.

There were four deer in each sleigh, a doe and a stag.

Reindeer are inferior to horses, but they surpass Mongolian horses in endurance and are extremely cold-resistant.

These deer are excellent winter livestock, and Rurik has figured out how to put them to good use by feeding them oats at a cost.

Simply feeding oats is not enough, just put salt on your hands so that the deer will lick it with their tongues.

When the team began to rest, they untied the reins and watched the deer. They would turn the snow on the spot to eat hay and moss.

Land transportation is far worse than water transportation, especially the settlements controlled by the Principality of Ross are all close to lakes and rivers.

However, the farming season cannot be delayed. Rurik needs a large number of strong men who have a strong desire for farmland and good harvests. He needs brothers from the first banner team to sweat.

More importantly, wheat is grown as grain, even though it can only be planted on more than one hectare now.

He hoped that after the sea in his hometown froze, the clansmen in his hometown would strictly implement the order, and the new big ship would carry a huge amount of wheat all the way to Novgorod in the shortest time, so that the land could be planted before the end of spring plowing.

If this is going to be a failure, that’s okay. It’s okay to plant vegetables or hemp stalks immediately on the deliberately empty land.

The “Immigrant Pledge Conference” of the Australians was very lively, and the people sent by Rurik came back to report truthfully.

He was very satisfied. The most worrying Aostara people were ready, and the only thing left was for tomorrow’s sacrifice to calm people’s minds!

Since this is the great migration of the Vikings, the people and gods of the Vikings must be enshrined.

The priests stationed in New Roseburg in the early years escaped the “burial for Vilia” incident in their hometown.

They are the remnants of the old priesthood. They knew that coveting the highest power would lead to their own death, so they deliberately lived a poor life and simply became priests.

However, the residents of Fort New Rose did not worship the priests much. These priestesses did not believe in Rurik himself. The heroic boy was clearly a tangible and visible god.

Rurik did bring benefits to his clansmen and latecomers, and his status as a “son of God” was further consolidated.

In a sense, he did become the son of heaven, the medium through which mortals communicate with the gods of Asgard.

No, people from the entire New Roseburg were dispatched for the spring festival.

Ross has changed customs. There will be a stone boat altar to slaughter deer and cattle, and a fire tower will be lit.

That way the Vikings and Slavs, and even the Finns would be happy.

He personally slaughtered a stag, and the priestess dissected the liver and cheered auspiciously.

This sacrifice is dedicated to Frey and Freya, and finally to Odin.

When the fire tower is ignited, it is tantamount to offering sacrifices to Peron, the Slavic god of fire.

Everyone is cheering, enjoying the warmth spread by the flames, as if bathing in the sunshine of early summer.

The sacrifice was a great success. After the priest, the spring will come, and the ice and snow will soon melt away.

Those who were very worried about the emigration journey itself were relieved. The priests and princes would not lie, and the gods had promised everyone a safe arrival in Novgorod.

The appointed day has arrived!

People had a good night’s rest, and at dawn the next day, golden light shone on the ice and snow land.

“What a beautiful sight!” Rurik looked into the distance, looking east as well as west.

Svetlana wrapped herself tightly, took off her scarf, and couldn’t help but look at the sun.

“Rurik, we are about to set off, and I see that people have gathered.”

“Indeed. Oh, here comes my brother.”

Arik came at a confident pace. He ate wheat cakes and grilled fish, and he was full of strength with the food in his stomach.

“The first flag team is ready, you have to take everyone to action. Thanks to my second daughter-in-law’s ability, the brothers have no shortage of food now.”

Rurik nodded: “Sister-in-law and Askad should go too.”

“Naturally. It looks like my third son is going to be born in Novgorod. I’m going to call him Kiel.”

“Sure enough, it’s a son, what if it’s a daughter?” Rurik was surprised and asked again.

“It must be my son. Freya gave me a dream. My son will make great achievements.”

“Yes. It is indeed a great achievement.”

“Oh? So you can still see the fate of your nephew?” Arik asked with a smile.

“Yes, after all, he is a child of our family. You go and tell the brothers to show all the flags. I’m not sure if Loki will play a prank on the way, beware of sudden snowstorms, hang flags on all sleds, and ensure that no one is left behind. ”

“Good decision, I’ll arrange it now.”

Rurik chatted with Arik and Carlotta, and then bid farewell to Governor Conusson.

The huge team is flying with banners and banners. Although they are immigrants, they are actually a powerful military force in Northern Europe.

They are armed immigrants through and through, under the direct command of the Maharaja of Ross.

Horns sounded one after another, and drums beat fiercely.

The immigration operation began, and the reindeer pulled the sled and began to march on the frozen and flat ice of the Neva River.

Behind Rurik are more than 200 large and small sledges, and people are enthusiastically marching on the ice and snow road leading to happiness.

They successfully crossed the Neva River into Lake Ladoga and continued to advance on the frozen lake.

A discerning person could see that the lake ice was thinning, so in order to avoid danger, when the sled team entered the Volkhov River, they all advanced on the left bank of the river, just to reach Novgorod directly.

Svetlana keenly noticed the changes in the river: “Look, Rurik, there are cracks in the ice.”

“It looks like the Volkhov is about to freeze.”

“Yeah, the thaw is later than before. It seems that spring plowing may be delayed this year.”

Lanna spoke normally, but Rurik felt a trace of fear.

The climate of this era is indeed gradually cooling, and we exist in the course of a small ice age in Europe.

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Northern Europe as a whole is not suitable for farming, and it is basically impossible to play without the blessing of modern agricultural technology.

In Novgorod and more difficult areas, warm winds from the Black Sea can penetrate the entire area.

Agriculture in Eastern Europe will develop rapidly, and Ross’s large immigrants need to seize the land here.

This journey was so safe that it was almost boring, God Loki did not add to the trouble.

The ground is indeed thawing, and every afternoon the immigration team finds the ice melting.

Some even saw grass sprouts breaking through the snow and dead branches starting to sprout.

As soon as the team left, it lasted the whole day, and the reindeer herd consumed a lot of oats, which Rurik could afford to consume, ensuring that he could reach Novgorod by sled in eight days.

Sen suddenly disappeared, and the front suddenly became clear!

Under the snow lay the fields of Novgorod, and a city appeared by the river!

It’s the tower and the wall!

Finally arrived at the destination!

Rurik took the whip and lashed at the deer.

The deer that was walking slowly all the way began to speed up, and then the whole team ran wildly.

The flags of Ross and Ostara trembled violently, and the people cheered that the deer were flying wildly. The mighty team finally arrived at this happy land and returned to this field of hope.

[End of this Chapter]