Rise of Rurik - Chapter 704

[Chapter 705, Blue Fox in Port Hedeby]

The armed merchant fleet sailed all the way west, and Blue Fox returned to Hedeby Port with his sailors and guards quite smoothly.

The triangular sail is quite unique, and the top of the mast unabashedly shows the Ross flag with blue stripes on a white background

By now the merchants in Hedeby knew that the new store of strange and good things belonged to the Ross people.

Do businessmen have the obsession of warriors?

Everyone is a businessman, buying and selling things to make a profit is above all else.

In fact, Blue Fox did not reveal his identity for the first time. He did not show this banner until the death of the old Danish King Hafgen was confirmed.

At first the businessmen were taken aback, but then they were delighted.

Because the Ross people are only doing business in Hedeby, they are a newly rising and powerful tribe, and merchants are generally thinking that maybe they can row directly to the territory of the Ross people to trade directly, and they must be able to make more profits.

The prosperous bay city is in front of you, the sun is bright and clear at noon, and you can have a panoramic view of the whole city standing on the bow of the boat.

It’s just that the city’s buildings are too messy, there is no city wall, and the roads are tortuous and full of stench.

This is a good place to do business, but obviously not suitable for settlement.

The blue fox’s appetite has long been cultivated. After seeing the cleanliness of Novorosberg and Novgorod, and looking at Hedeby again, why does it feel like there are garbage dumps everywhere?

“Brothers, we are about to disembark. Protect our cargo, someone has just been violent, kill them!”

Everyone roared angrily when they heard it, and drew out their steel daggers and erected their steel spears one after another.

Three armed cargo ships entered the small pier occupied and built by Blue Fox, and he saw that six armed cargo ships had been neatly arranged here.

The sailor riding on the mast yelled down: “My lord! It must be Eric and the others! They have already returned first.”

The blue fox took a closer look and couldn’t help laughing.

The mercenaries staying on duty at the pier saw the unique triangular sail from a distance, and the lazy people hurriedly gathered, first to disperse a group of beggars, and second, to line up to catch the cables and do all the work.

Blue Fox stood at Hedeby’s pier again, and he saw a large number of traditional longboats docked on the coast, and the open-air market by the sea was also bustling.

The cargo began to be unloaded, the untanned masses of squirrel skins that were sun-dried and bundled.

Now that Ross Merchant is back, there must be more goodies!

At the beginning, some small traders came over. They saw the angry-eyed warriors not dare to act rashly, and they were trembling with excitement when they saw the incredible amount of leather.

Because any leather is a hard currency in Hedeby, not to mention these gray-red obvious large squirrel skins, which are absolutely in demand!

Some men mainly make a living by helping merchants carry goods. Blue Fox easily recruited a group of daily coolies, and asked them to carry the goods back to the warehouse of Ross’s store under the supervision of guards.

It seemed that everything was proceeding in an orderly manner, but something went wrong.

Suddenly, a group of young boys rushed out, carrying broken knives, and ran towards the leather bearers.

Chaos broke out suddenly, with onlookers avoiding and women screaming.

However, three coolies were stabbed down, and a bundle of goods was picked up by the assailant…

This is courting death!

There are always bandits who want to take risks!

“I expected something like this to happen.” Blue Fox felt his face being slapped by Hedeby’s wild bandits, and he roared and ordered: “Kill me! Leave me alive!”

The mercenaries are no longer in a money-employment relationship. You are not just doing things for the blue fox. Prince Ross is your biggest benefactor.

When everyone gets old and can no longer be a warrior, then go to the prince’s territory to be a farmer.

The mercenaries armed with elite weapons and who had actually killed people were clean and neat. Many attackers fell to the ground, and some were knocked to the ground and captured directly.

Some successful attackers ran away with a bundle of leather in their arms, and a javelin flew over, directly piercing through and killing them immediately.

The dead bodies and blood sacrifices on the ground were lying all over the place, and now a group of frightened people gathered around to watch, pointing at the blind assailant

Only one person was captured, and this person had his leg broken and was dragged in front of the blue fox.

“You! Who are you? How dare you attack me? I don’t know if this is certain death?”

The blue fox thought that this person would die, but he was stubborn. He never thought that this kid was crying and wailing: “Carl the gray wolf asked me to do it. He… He said that the Ross people are rich, and if you grab a vote, the brothers will get rich.”

“Grey Wolf Karl? Didn’t this villain freeze to death in winter? Damn it, the fallen city is a free city, did you give this guy a chance?”

After complaining, the blue fox asked again: “Is it just robbing us? You dare to rob us openly. Is Karl stupid or you stupid?”

“Wuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

“So you became a loyal dog! Silly boy, you have been used. Forget it…” Blue Fox felt that there was no need to ask any more, so he gave the mercenary a look, and then cut off the man’s head with a sharp sword.

John Ingvar on deck saw the sudden violence.

Today, he is no longer afraid of this kind of violence. He saw the mercenaries loyal to Ross chopping melons and vegetables to destroy the attackers in an absolutely safe place, and seeing those blind guys being killed, he couldn’t help making a cross on his chest.

The corpses were thrown directly into the sea and left to be eaten by swimming fish, leaving pools of blood on the pier, and when it rained at night, the traces were washed away.

The onlookers didn’t make a fuss either. This is a free city-state. Murder and robbery are unsanctioned. Killing the attacker is a dreadful act of justice.

The Blue Fox didn’t take it seriously when it was attacked, after all, Hedeby was such an uneasy place.

Behind the abundance of residents is the rampant bandits. There is absolute freedom here, and no one says it is worthy of everyone’s admiration.

A long time ago, Lord Godfrey was fine, and King Hafgen’s reign was not as bad as it is now.

The law and order in the city is still deteriorating. Even though the man named Horik has been entrenched in the north of the peninsula, Hedeby is already in danger.

Blue Fox returned to the mansion and immediately contacted the old Eric who had arrived first.

They exchanged glasses and talked about business, and then they talked about big things.

Little Eric explained the latest situation on behalf of his old father: “Brother, the world is not peaceful recently. Some bad news is spreading. A man named Horik Clarsson claims to be the King of Denmark, and the messenger asks Hedeby to surrender pay tribute.”

“Is there such a thing? This… has something to do with my attack on the pier today?” Blue Fox has realized that things have become complicated.

Little Eric hesitated: “It shouldn’t matter, but those businessmen are very scared. You know, no one wants their own interests to be harmed.”

“Horik Clarson? What is this? A shameless and unknown person.” The blue fox bared his teeth and muttered viciously: “Almost all the wealth in my hand is the prince’s wealth. That guy dares to take our etiquette. Start a war!”

“Yes! But Denmark has been at war with Rus and Sweden. It’s just that it has nothing to do with the merchants of Hedeby. We also have a large number of Saxon merchants here, some Frankish merchants, and you can even see them from Pomerania. slave traders in Asia. There is also a special large building, which is the temple of the Franks.”

“That’s a monastery.” Blue Fox pointed out the clear name, and then said along the way: “Speaking of which, my lord knows this monastery very well. My lord also wrote a letter, entrusting me to deliver it to the monastery there. For the Eskill guy…”

“This… I don’t understand.” Little Eric was stunned. “Is your lord still interested in those Frankish monks? My father and I have no interest.”

“It doesn’t matter to me either, it’s just that I have to complete the task.”

“Okay. Brother, you came late, I want to tell you good news, this year’s goods sales are really good. Ironware, leather, hahaha…”

Ironware and leather have always been popular items in Hedeby, because Denmark has no proven iron ore, and the local small animals have been hunted to death. The Ross people have brought a large number of urgently needed goods, which is easing the contradiction between supply and demand.

Of course, objectively, local gangs and robbers have also been eyeing Rose’s leather.

Speaking of leather, Blue Fox was even more happy. He deliberately asked his little brother: “The prince got a lot of squirrel fur in the east. Guess how much it is?”

“A game? I came to see a lot of leather coming into the warehouse. It seems to be squirrel skin. I have never seen so many in my life. I guess 10,000.”

“Only 10,000?”

“What? Did I say less? That’s 20,000.”

“No!” The blue fox looked up to the sky and laughed: “As many as 30,000 pieces of big squirrel skins, and some mink and fox skins. The Duke ordered us to sell them, and said that the price can be lowered appropriately. We must make a big sale this year.” It is best to exchange all the windfalls for silver coins. Because the prince said that he needs silver coins very much now.”

Hearing the description of the blue fox, Eric and his son were so excited that their hearts were trembling.

Old Eric trembled and asked, “The prince only wants silver coins?”

“There are also slaves. We bought all the slaves in Hedeby this year and shipped them all to New Roseburg. The prince will give us a lot of benefits for completing these tasks.”

Blue Fox’s two younger sisters are married to this little Eric, and now the sisters have children, and Blue Fox has become an uncle.

He himself has dependents, but he is not married.

He raised a few concubines and placed them in Hedeby. They usually work as maids, but now they are doing business with the master.

John Ingvar, he has been in the territory of the Ross people for two years, he has experienced too many things, and he has extremely complicated feelings for this Heisebi.

Those businessmen were pushing cups and changing cups, but John Ingvar was actually qualified to participate in it, and even asked Blue Fox for a maid to have fun.

But this is already a sacred domain!

I can indulge myself in the north, but I must be self-disciplined here.

An oil lamp was flickering, and it was raining outside. John Ingvar was alone in the wooden house, kneeling on the floor to pray and repent to God.

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Yes, he really wanted to repent, and he had to go to the teacher Esquier to do the confession ceremony in person, even if he still felt that that guy was plotting against him.

That’s okay too…

John Ingvar respects Eskil, that man saved himself, so…

He covered his backyard, intending to bring some seal oil produced by Rose himself.

In fact, he has always been voluntary, and he does have a big psychological problem.

The next day, flags were hung on the upper bunks of the Ross people, and a large number of dried squirrel skins were sold wantonly.

What should the price be?

Blue Fox adhered to the request of the prince, and the price could be lower. Using last year’s price as a reference, the price of the squirrel skin with the largest quantity was fully reduced.

The price is determined as two silver coins per skin, and no bargaining is allowed.

This price is cheap, and it can only be a little cheaper. He Kuan’s leather is sun-dried, and the buyer has to go through tanning after buying it back.

A huge amount of squirrel skins can be fully leatherized when transported to Roseburg’s hometown, and then made into finished clothes and tools on the spot.

At the beginning, Rurik also planned to bring the leather back to his hometown, which involved a large immigration project, and the leather processing work had to be suspended strategically.

A large amount of raw materials for the leather industry have been thrown to Hedeby, and it is a good thing that the price is lower. However, the amount of leather provided by the Ross people is astonishing, and the merchants are already boiling.

Blue Fox has always been a guest of Hedeby’s business guild, and now big merchants have come to Ross’s shop on a large scale, and they spend a lot of money to snap up leather.

The old Eric was temporarily in charge of the local sales work, and he and his fellows entered unprecedented fatigue.

A large amount of silver coins began to enter the account, and the father and son even predicted that as many as 70,000 silver coins may enter the account when the oriental goods brought by the blue fox are sold out!

Of course, while the businessman who spends money likes to mention high-quality leather, he also asks where the fat blue fox has gone one after another.

The so-called business president simply sent an invitation: “We are going to hold a new business conference. If Mr. Blue Fox arrives late or doesn’t arrive, everything will be meaningless. Maybe we should honor Mr. Blue Fox as our president.”

This is a big compliment, but Blue Fox and John Invar went to the Frankish monastery with a group of guards aggressively early in the morning.

What else could Old Eric say? Blue Fox said that no one else would interfere with today’s affairs, so he lied: “Mr. Blue Fox spent too much energy on women after a long journey. He will go to the meeting after he has rested.”

This explanation made the businessmen laugh, and after a little thought it was indeed the truth.

In fact, the blue fox had already stood in front of the monastery.

Eskill has always used Hedeby as the base camp for spreading faith to the north. He takes in orphans here and cultivates them as pious believers. Among them, he can’t help but enjoy them.

He was stipulated by the precepts not to be close to female sex, so he changed his curves to meet his needs.

He forms a choir, but has an affair with every boy in it.

This kind of thing was acquiesced, and he was recognized by Rome as the next Archbishop of Bremen. His hobbies were known to all the distinguished priests in the dioceses.

so what?

Everyone is like this.

What’s more, the little priests who are “favored” are usually reused as cronies in the future. Eskil will cultivate these little priests who are specially taken care of. They may be the bishops of various regions. He feels that he has done a good job.

Suddenly an army stood at the door which had been deserted.

The little priest who got up early opened the door to welcome the fresh morning sun after the rain, and what he saw was the army!

The little priest rushed back, and after a while Eskil, who was taken aback, hurried out with a stick.

He was terrified, for fear that bandits would attack.

Because those are bandits!

The bandits didn’t care about the Earl of Hamburg’s coat of arms deliberately hung at the gate of the monastery.

Because the monastery legally belongs to the Diocese of Hamburg, administratively the Earl of Hamburg was given management rights by Prince Ludwig.

The local smart people dare not make mistakes in this monastery. Businessmen, big and small, cherish their own interests, and those who are related to their interests do not want to provoke the wrath of the Franks.

Besides, no one thinks that this poor-looking monastery with stone spires has any wealth. After all, the group of Frankish monks show off in black robes every day, and they walk around preaching to call everyone to become ascetics, which has nothing to do with being gorgeous and noble.

It is true that Christian monks in this era pay attention to asceticism and eat lightly. Even this monastery is seriously short of gold and silver utensils, which is different from other monasteries.

Eskil has learned basic Danish, and he walked out with more than 50 believers, big and small, intending to dissuade this group of money-seekers.

Unexpectedly, just as he was about to speak, he suddenly saw the armed man on the opposite side showing the flag.

“Ah?! You are from Ross!” Eskil felt incredible.

At this moment, John Ingvar, who had changed back into his robe, emerged from the crowd. Although he had not seen him for more than two years, his face shape had not changed much, and his beard was shaved clean by a sharp dagger.

Eskill recognized his student at a glance: “John! It’s you. I actually saw you again, oh God, you are the most merciful.”

Eskil was busy making the sign of the cross, which made the blue fox too speechless.

No, the blue fox also spoke: “Eskil, I am the special envoy confirmed by Lord Rurik, Prince of Ross, and I want to send you John Invar and a personal letter.”

“Is…is that so? Could it be that your master already intends to accept our sacred beliefs? Oh, it must be so.”

Eskil looked at the rising sun, then at the people in front of him, and felt that all this was arranged by God.

No matter how scary the armed men in front of them are, they are all lost lambs, they can all be influenced, and they can even be baptized today.

There’s also the return of dear John Ingvar, and the kid looks even more handsome.

“Quick! My friends from afar, enter the monastery, let’s talk about everything in detail!”

Eskil was so confident that he was asked to end his current job in 840 and officially go to Bremen as archbishop.

The time given to Eskil seems to be too much, but in fact it is not much. He will seize all the time without hesitation. If a few years can influence the very young and handsome Prince Rurik, it will be his greatest glory.

[End of this Chapter]