Rise of Rurik - Chapter 706

[Chapter 707 Oberth Liddett New Mercenary]

Hedeby once had masters, and since the death of the great Danish leader Godfrey, the merchants of Hedeby have been freed.

Is this freedom good or bad?

No one can explain.

Big merchants are eager to do business freely, accumulate wealth and then stick to their wealth.

The city of Hedeby has entered a period of absolute and unlimited freedom. For more than 20 years, some people have claimed to be the ruler of the city, but the ruling force has not successfully penetrated.

Many merchants seem to remember that Hedeby was a free coastal city-state from the beginning, and her freedom could almost split the city apart instantly, and the city disappeared.

This is a city of merchants. In order to defend their wealth, they hire heroes from all walks of life as mercenaries.

The big merchants are all doing business with their swords, and none of them can achieve a monopoly today. Since no one can be absolute, let’s sit down and talk about various matters!

Merchants formed loose guild organizations, negotiated and negotiated to resolve disputes, and then divided the scope of trading activities they engaged in, trying their best to avoid future disputes.

Dozens of big businessmen are the “collective city lords”. Now that the forces of the Ross people have intervened strongly, the balance of power has been reversed and then quickly restored.

A large group of small merchants are close to the big merchants, and a large group of mercenaries guard the big and small merchants.

All kinds of handicraftsmen, fishermen, and farmers provide supplies for these merchants and mercenaries.

It seems that this is a stable city system, where the sun cannot find, some forces inevitably exist.

If encountered in the vast sea, armed merchant ships can turn into pirates in an instant when facing fishermen.

Fishermen can’t help but vote against a merchant ship that is defenseless.

There is no real order here, and the latter said that the existing order is a balance reached by all parties relying on their fists.

Murders and violence happened every day in the city. Dead bodies suddenly appeared in the twisted streets and alleys in the early morning, and the bodies were thrown into the sea nearby by people who couldn’t bear the stench in the future.

But it is also full of wealth and desire.

Eskil, the great missionary who was endowed with a huge mission, built his “operation base” here. First, this is a part of the Danish world, and second, this is a land of no man, full of lambs that can be influenced by wounded souls. .

He called it the City of Sin, which had nothing to do with civilization.

Perhaps the Earl of Hamburg should lead his troops to occupy this place and incorporate it into the East Frankish territory under the jurisdiction of Prince Ludwig, so as to embrace civilization.

The Earl of Hamburg didn’t dare to do this. Although this is a city without an owner, he must cross the Great Wall of Schleswig to launch an attack. This is a simple invasion, and he will first encounter a crazy attack from a large number of Danish tribes.

The scheming Esquier knows the benefits and benefits, and he doesn’t care about the nobles’ struggle for power, but only cares about his own career.

The big merchants in Hedeby have always lived a rather glamorous life, and their noble lives have always been well protected by the mercenaries, because the money given is enough, and the mercenaries are desperate to protect the lord for the money.

Who the hell is trying to plunder riches from big businessmen by openly armed robbery?

No, while the blue fox and old Eric were selling leather, the investigation after the attack was also going on.

Investigating the culprit is not difficult.

“Grey Wolf Carl? Is this a gangster that popped up suddenly? It actually has some influence in the city. It seems to be just a dirty gangster, nothing to worry about.”

Even so, Blue Fox honestly expanded his mercenary team.

He wasn’t recruiting openly, he was afraid that gangsters would mix in the crowd and be recruited by himself. Isn’t this raising a ghost?

One place that proved to be a good place to recruit new mercenaries was Hedeby’s famous slave market.

Men and women were bound by iron collars and chains, and there were even groups of children.

These people are obviously different from Danes or Saxons in appearance.

They generally have pointed chins and brownish-yellow hair, which is quite different from the golden hair per capita and the former two.

Because almost all of them are the Oberth Liddit tribe of the West Slavic forces. Their origin is in the Vistula River Basin in Poland, and they have penetrated into the eastern borders of Denmark and Frank this morning.

Some Danish tribes had been facing military attacks from the Oberth Ledidt tribal alliance, which had also attacked Denmark in partnership with their Pomeranian relatives, until the heroic leader Godfrey led the Danish coalition forces to severely damage the opponent.

The slaves came from the deliberate hunting of the Danish tribes. They were trying to wipe out all the Oberth Liddit forces on the Jutland peninsula, and turned the opponent’s people into slaves.

The prisoners of war were shipped to Hedeby, where the men were slaves and the women were prostitutes.

The needs of the merchants were difficult to meet, and the Danish tribes continued to send troops to arrest people.

For this barbaric act, Eskil can only pity those poor lambs in spirit, but he is doing some good things.

Ludwig’s steady supply of funds enabled Eskill to “rescue” the slaves. He aimed at those slave children, regardless of their source, and bought them as soon as they could be bought, and then educated them to become priests.

He is keen to spread the faith, and Prince Ludwig supports this behavior.

Because Obert Liddit and Pomerania have long been coveted by various northern noble lords in the kingdom, Ludwig is the biggest greedy one!

Bavaria was snatched from the Wendeslavs, and those Pomeranians were also Wendeslavs.

Ludwig hoped that these aliens could accept the sacred belief and accept his rule uniformly.

Then not only can I get a new force, but I can actually expand my territory, increase my tax base and expand my wealth.

Although the eldest brother and the second brother are blood relatives, why not kill them in the fight for power?

Reunifying Frank and opening up a large number of new territories in the east, so that his achievements will far surpass his grandfather Charlemagne.

Ludwig can dream, in essence, he has been fighting on two fronts all these years.

After his father and the fourth son Charlie were put under house arrest by the brothers, the civil war among the three brothers resumed. He began to deliberately encroach on the territory of the elder brother Lothar, and took the brunt of encroaching on the territories of the Polish tribes in the east.

Unlike his two brothers, his ethnic composition in the East Franks is the most complex. Apart from the Franks in his own family, the second most are Saxons, followed by Thuringians and Alemanni.

In fact, everyone speaks a very similar language, and they also share a common ancestor. Ludwig knew that he must unite all the people who spoke a very similar language in the territory. Big brother contends for the hegemony.

A concept from the past began to be brought up again, that is, “Germany”, which means “we are people who speak the same language”.

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The prince wants to give more benefits to the Saxon nobles and Thuringian nobles under his command. The former is eager to occupy Pomerania along the coastline, and the latter is eager to seize the Polish forest area directly eastward.

As for attacking Denmark, the prince really didn’t want to send troops by himself. Those Danes were unruly and unruly and not easy to provoke. On the other hand, the Slavic tribes were easier to attack and embezzle.

In this way, Horik Clarson was supported, and now the prince has also received the information.

It’s just that the situation has become somewhat beyond my control…

Blue Fox bought as many as 30 Aubert Liddit men in the slave market, and these people were brought into Ross’s shop like cattle and sheep.

They were all young men, all carefully selected, and clearly destined to be coolies until they died of exhaustion.

Those companions who tried to resist were all killed. Seeing their companions lying in a pool of blood, the will to resist also dissipated.

A group of blank-eyed men squatted on the wooden floor, squatting so easily because they were Slavs.

The blue fox appeared in front of them with his entourage in a proud posture, and the moment he opened his mouth, they all raised their heads.

“You! You will not be servants! You will be Rose’s subjects, and now I will be my mercenaries.”

The words were spoken in the Ilmen Slavic dialect. Blue Fox is a smart man, knowing that the prince is exploring the East, so he hastened to learn some Slavic languages.

In this era, the language drift of the East and West Slavic peoples is not drastic. After all, they almost all lived in the same family on the Vistula River two hundred years ago.

The shackles of all the male slaves were smashed, and the blue fox announced that they had regained their freedom. However, in this mixed Hedeby, breaking away from Rose’s protection would obviously be life-threatening.

There was a small group of oriental warriors in the team that guarded the blue fox. They were Ilmen Slavs, who were ordered by Rurik to guard the blue fox.

In addition to these people, there are Finns who are good at archery in the team.

The Ilmen and the Oberlidid spoke a very similar language. They were shocked that they were actually of the same race, but they found something was wrong after repeated inquiries. They also began to realize that the size of the world far exceeded everyone’s imagination. .

The Ilmen Slavs have always been indifferent to Denmark’s attitude. Lord Rurik led everyone to attack Denmark and made a fortune. Because of this initial encounter, the Ilmen people naturally think that Denmark is actually weak.

The Oberlidids have a completely different set of cognitions. They describe Denmark and Frank as hungry wolves that eat people and giant fish that devour everything.

Since the Prince of Ross would protect everyone, and Ross’s attitude towards Denmark was also hostile, the hearts of the male slaves were soon shaken.

The slaves changed their identities, and the new brothers put on the white and blue-striped robes of the Ross people. They swore an oath to the Ross flag, swore allegiance to Rurik, the prince of the Ross, and swore to protect the big businessman Blue Fox and the Ross businessman. The shop is safe.

They were trained to fight and were issued bucklers and hatchets.

They enjoy a good diet, with wheat and fish every day.

Wearing a unique outfit, wearing a leather helmet that can cover half of his face, wearing leather boots, and wrapping his calves tightly with cloth strips.

Ross’s Warriors First Banner Team is dressed like this, and Blue Fox’s mercenaries in Hedeby are exactly the same.

Blue Fox appointed a man named Vady Zdalovich as the leader of this team. It is also very principled for him to recruit 30 new guards, because 30 people just sit on a long combat ship. “, four “boats” form a centurion.

Four centuries can form a standard team.

All the mercenaries and sailors formed a hundred-and-twenty-strong team. They were well-trained, with swordsmen and archers. Among them, the old mercenaries had sufficient experience in defeating the Danes. They considered themselves very high, even I feel that the prince’s attitude towards the security of the Ross store in Denmark is too much.

There were indeed attackers, those blind idiots were wiped out like melons and vegetables, and killing them was as easy as crushing a poultry.

Taking in a group of new mercenaries just means upgrading the security forces?

These newcomers come from the Oberte Liddit tribe who have resisted encroachment by Denmark for generations. They also speak Slavic and believe in the God of Flame. Their performance in all aspects is quite similar to what Blue Fox learned in Novorosberg and Novgorod. for similar.

“If the prince still opposes Denmark, I can suggest that he win over the Oberlidids, buy their goods and sell a batch of weapons. One more ally will also be another choice.”

The open-air shop counters continued to sell goods, and the leather had been sold out. What the Ross people now sold were pure transparent glass and stained glass at a high price.

There is also the smelly sulfur soap, which is reputed to kill lice and fleas on people, and it is indeed effective, attracting merchants and wealthy people.

There’s also honey butter soap with a wonderful scent, seal oil soap in general, and whale oil soap.

The fastidious merchants big and small are big customers, but Ross’s cheapest soaps are affordable to local artisans, and Ross is selling these supplies with success.

One is selling and the other is buying.

Prince Rurik’s order was to buy all useful things, among which the seeds of crops were named.

“Since Ross does not lack wheat seeds, he also needs various vegetable seeds.”

Coincidentally, Denmark’s spring cabbage has entered the harvest season.

A batch of cabbages will be deliberately reserved by the professional growers until they bloom and set seeds. Blue Fox will send someone to act in advance and give a sum of money, asking a vegetable farmer to keep all the cabbages in the entire field until they bloom and set seeds, and finally turn them into a big bag. black seeds.

As for buying other vegetables, Blue Fox really has no choice in Hedeby.

First of all, the local Danes don’t like to grow vegetables. After they planted wheat, they went fishing during the slack period.

Vegetable farmers are either Franks or Saxons. They also live in Hedeby, but a village near Schleswig under the supervision of the Frankish army. They just transport vegetables to the city by boat.

Schleswig is still controlled by the Earl of Hamburg. A Frankish army is stationed in the city. Not far to the north of the city is the Great Wall of Schleswig. A city sandwiched between Denmark and the Franks.

Nowadays, there are no good vegetable choices in Northern Europe, except for cabbage and yellow root carrots, which are also in great demand in Ross.

Carrots were already being grown in New Roseburg, and Ross was already self-sufficient in that.

Cabbage is not the case, but take this bag of seeds back and plant them in Novgorod next year.

How much does it cost to buy vegetables?

But it’s a very small expense.

Looking at the whole Hedebi, he was not interested in the blue foxes that can be seen everywhere. He entrusted old Eric and young Eric to buy gems and amber, and he bought more than ten female slaves himself.

Just like those male slaves were selected, these selected women were young and beautiful, and their fate was destined to be prostitutes in Hedeby, and Blue Fox bought them all and appointed them as servants.

The fat young man was, of course, a lover of women, but he was far from being promiscuous.

He was happy with the unnamed concubines he raised, and he really didn’t know which one to make as his wife, so he simply put it on hold for now.

It was already the end of June, and the merchants here in Hedeby celebrated the arrival of the summer solstice on their own.

It was almost three years since the old alliance leader Hafgen died, and no one wanted to hold a grand event in Hedeby to kill a large group of slaves to sacrifice to Odin.

This is not the case here at the Ross shop. The clever blue fox knows that his safety depends on the protection of his mercenaries.

He must give these armed men comfort and generous rewards.

They lit a bonfire in the closed enclosure, imitating Rurik’s tricks, and using dancing flames to worship the Viking gods and Slavic fire gods, and everyone had a big meal together.

Blue Fox has his own tricks. He bought an old sheep and deliberately kept it until the summer solstice at the end of the month.

Old mutton is not delicious, it is different after roasting.

Everyone gets a share of the roasted sheep, even the newly bought maids get a big piece of fat mutton.

Compared with the beginning, the Oberth Liddit mercenaries have become stronger, and they ate delicious meals that were difficult to eat in their hometown in a short period of time. Later, they learned that Prince Ross set a standard for all fighters, so-called even mercenaries , You have to eat a pound of oats a day, and these food expenses are not included in the remuneration.

They were grateful at first, but as they got used to such a life, they couldn’t bear to part with Prince Ross.

In a sense, these mercenaries are the guards in various senses, and everything such as food and military pay is paid for by Prince Rurik.

Even if Blue Fox has a private army that seems to be managed by him, it is actually Rurik’s people. In autumn, Blue Fox has the right to find Rurik to reimburse the living expenses of this year’s personnel.

In this way, the blue fox can devote a lot of energy to trade, and the time has entered July. Although there are rumors that the self-proclaimed king Horik Clarsson will come to Hedeby to collect taxes in person, the news has long been in It was rumored that it was already July and there was no real movement from Hedeby’s side, so the merchants had no time to take care of it.

Because a group of merchants who bought Ross leather had rowed into Schleswig, the local Frankish army asked for some bribes as usual, and then let them enter the city to sell the leather to the Frankish merchants on the spot.

It’s just that the huge amount of squirrel skins shocked the Earl of Hamburg in an instant. He really couldn’t imagine how Denmark, a place where there are not many squirrels, could transport so many high-quality and huge squirrel skins.

The Earl of Hamburg quickly understood the reason through the mouth of the businessman—these were all brought in by the Ross people.

Ross people?

The earl didn’t understand, so he used the transliteration of the businessman’s description to describe Ross (rus) as “rosa”, which means rose, and the letter he wrote to Prince Ludwig was also described in the same way.

Squirrel skin is a good thing!

He ordered the messengers to hurry up and tell Baron Schleswig to keep all the Danish merchants, and they must provide them with good food and drink, and then he used his wealth inventory to launch the Frankish and Saxon merchants in Hamburg to go north. Try to buy all the huge amount of leather.

And that’s another story.

[End of this Chapter]