Rise of Rurik - Chapter 721

[Chapter 722 Going to Eastern Europe]

Restlessness is spreading in Roseburg as soon-to-be immigrant people rush to dispose of their properties.

People deal with wooden furniture at home, and any wooden and pottery that is not easy to carry are being sold wantonly.

The already lively market has become boiling, and people selling their belongings have turned into stalls everywhere. The market has turned into a flea market, and conventional transactions have taken a backseat.

They are also selling their own premises.

Those wooden houses that have not been built for a few years are almost sold at cost prices, and the number of old houses that have been built for decades is not many and the cheapest.

The people from Mälaren and Yermaren who immigrated recently paid close attention to these good things. They took their savings from labor and happily traded with the Ross who was about to leave.

Resident merchants also joined the rush-buying tide. With the addition of these people, the housing market, which was originally sluggish due to sell-offs, was abruptly pushed up by merchants!

Because the merchants of those customers have long been fed up with the days of renting a house for a long time, and now they only need to pay a sum of money to the prince to obtain the qualification to buy a house. Why not do it?

Many resident merchants do not have the right to emigrate to the East, at least not now.

Merchants really don’t have a particularly urgent need. Most of the trade lines they run from Roseburg to Lake Mälaren’s Birka Port have their own status on this trade line, and they will not easily give up their business here. Oriental adventure.

Rurik had no time to interfere in the free trade of real estate and daily necessities. He got a sum of taxes and recruited a group of laborers.

The hired men and women were ordered to dismantle the Roseburg Temple of the Gods. After a small sacrificial activity, the gilded bronze statues were moved out one after another.

The strong Ross men are all plowing the land and planting wheat in the east. Almost all the men he employs are immigrants from Mellaren, and all of them are equally muscular.

About six people worked together to pick up the statue and put it into a large newly built wooden box.

The box is filled with reeds, so you don’t have to worry about bumping the statue.

These six statues are the most important in the entire temple, and they must be transported safely to the seaside on a deer cart.

All this Rurik personally supervised and watched the deer caravan drift away.

There are more than 20 people standing by with sledgehammers, and their trend is clearly to smash the temple that lost its statue to pieces.

Parla was wearing plain clothes and a flower crown on her head. Seeing that these strong men had been ordered, when she swung the sledgehammer, she frowned and approached the prince, expressing her displeasure.

“My lord! This temple doesn’t have to be demolished.”

“I know your concerns.” Rurik looked straight at him, “The gods will not blame me! The most suitable place for the statue to stand is New Roseburg. There is still the old stone ship altar here, Parla , you are already the local High Priest of Roseburg, I authorize you to recruit twelve junior priests, and the Governor’s Mansion will pay for your daily food and sacrifice expenses. In the future, all kinds of sacrifices in Roseburg will depend on you, and the servant’s dormitory is now yours s home……”

Roseburg is the homeland of the Vikings. When the Ross natives left with their wives and concubines of various ethnicities, there were almost only Ross people here, and the resident population plummeted to less than 4,000.

Vikings need the purest Viking traditional life, they must believe in Norse gods, and their sacrificial ceremonies must also be Viking.

A sense of desolation struck, and Parla watched the gradually shattered temple feel sad, and two lines of hot tears dripped into the ground.

“You needn’t be sad,” said Rurik.

“I…I still want to cry. You…almost all left.”

“This is destiny. Ross is no longer the Ross of the past. In the future, I will also regulate the team of priests. I will set up a high priest in the capital. There will be resident priests in each city of Ross. The resident priests can recruit several lower priests. Just like It is the world tree, with a trunk, buds and leaves, this structure is the most stable. And you, you must recruit twelve lower-level priests to assist you, this is an obligation and responsibility.”

The major symbol of the complete relocation of the Ross administration center to Novosburg on the Neva River is the relocation of the sacrificial center here.

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Rurik intends to regulate beliefs. In order to ensure the consistency of everyone’s spiritual home, the priest team must be organized and hierarchical.

In Ross, traditional clergy are held by women, which is indeed different from other Viking tribes.

This tradition should be preserved, the priesthood is still female, and the high priest must be a continuation of the princely blood.

There is indeed an existing blueprint for the division of priesthood ranks, and Rurik intends to learn from Christ’s system, and that system was also determined by the Roman Empire.

For example, the High Priest is equivalent to the High Patriarch (Pope), and must serve in the Great Temple of the capital.

The resident priests in other cities are actually cardinals, and the hierarchy continues to be arranged downwards, so that every village has a resident priest.

The prince can use this set to control the thoughts of the people of the whole Rus, which also corresponds to the fact that “the prince is divine”.

Realistically speaking, once such a system is operating stably, the princes can issue decrees quickly in principle, which is beneficial to the operation of the huge principality’s state machinery.

The crated idols were loaded on the ship before many cargoes, and a strand of white hair from the legendary high priest was stuffed under the bow sculpture of the Sperosvillea. This sacred ship is most suitable for shipping idols and various utensils in the temple. Even a special stone!

The Stone Ship Altar will be built immediately in New Roseburg. A large stone excavated from the old altar will become the cornerstone of the new altar, which means the transmission of divinity.

Rurik breathed a sigh of relief until all the statues were loaded on the ship.

He is very happy that his immigrant army is traveling lightly. It would be too troublesome to transport a large number of pots and pans.

It is a long voyage from Rossburg to Novgorod, and the fleet may drift on the sea, lakes and rivers for half a month.

The long voyage is nothing to the soldiers, but it is a daunting challenge for women and children.

Women with their children are eager to reunite with their husbands as soon as possible. These people are the most urgent.

They were actually orphans adopted by Rurik, but they didn’t feel it.

Rurik has been staying in his hometown of Roseburg for many days. He hopes that everyone will evacuate as soon as possible after moving the supplies. When the work really starts, he will know that there will be a lot of troubles.

Relics seized in the past from Lindisfarne, diamond-encrusted crosses from Shetland, and wooden boards recording the past history of the Ross people were all packed.

The most important thing is Rurik’s treasury, or the treasury of the Duchy of Ross.

Taking advantage of the opportunity of moving, Rurik checked the remaining money in the treasury. Although there were a lot of coins, they were lower than Rurik expected.

Thinking about it, he also knows the inside story, a lot of money is spent on construction costs, and maintaining the welfare policy is also swallowing money.

Compared with ten years ago, the people are more abundant than ever before, Ross’s productivity is also expanding, and the amount of hot money circulating in the principality society is also large, which attracts more foreign merchants to trade, even if merchants have to pay taxes.

Perhaps taxes should be raised to expand the treasury so that infrastructure and shipbuilding can continue.

Shipbuilding and iron smelting are actually the two things that Rurik is most concerned about besides supervising the relocation of the temple.

The dense smoke of Blast Furnace Town covers the sky and the sun. This highly polluted town is a satellite city of Roseburg, and because it is adjacent to mines and charcoal-burning workshops, the metal output here is substantially more efficient than in Europe.

Although Rurik did not clearly count the amount of iron produced by Ross each year, it must be very little by the standard of a thousand years later. By the standard of the ninth century, the two iron smelting institutions in Blast Furnace Town and Elronburg in the north are enough to make Ross rich. .

And these two places are also important military sites that Ross must guard for generations.

Even if the core of the Principality of Ross is relocated to the Neva River, the entire Gulf of Bothnia in the northern part of the Baltic Sea must be the exclusive inland sea of the Principality of Ross!

As a result, the fortress of Tombstone Island, which is at the entrance and exit of the Gulf of Bothnia, must be further built. There is even a T-junction in the Baltic Sea, where the Ross fleet is stationed.

The shipyard is the last place Rurik focuses on research.

In fact, as early as at the banquet after the Ros Duma meeting, the slightly drunk master craftsman Hotra uttered the truth after drinking, and told all kinds of situations in the shipyard.

It was rare for Rurik to get drunk that day, and he didn’t hear much, so he still had to investigate the situation on the spot.

Because there are still a group of shipwrights and young apprentices who must immigrate to the East, Rurik came today to inspect this special group of skilled immigrants, and even announced a major event.

The order issued last year on the manufacture of standard armed cargo ships was indeed implemented by Hotra here.

The salaries given by the princes were exciting, and the supply of shipbuilding materials was very stable, so the craftsmen worked with all their strength.

It was already the beginning of June. During the past eight months in Deling, Hotla only took orders from Rurik. According to the technical parameters, two large indoor shipbuilding workshops built four boats in an average of three months. ship.

When Rurik returned, the ninth to twelfth general-purpose armed cargo ships were about to launch, and the shipyard was also working hard during his stay.

He came looking for the sound of ding ding dong dong, and the mercenaries were all waiting outside, and he entered the still bustling factory building.

No one is afraid of the prince. A young prince’s visit is equivalent to the arrival of the God of Wealth. Seeing the prince, everyone smiles like a blooming flower.

Hotra came with great enthusiasm on crutches, and warmly greeted his friends to suspend work.

“It seems that you are still speeding up the construction.” Rurik looked up at the small ship and said happily.

The more Hotra looked at Rurik, the happier he was, and he immediately sold the ship: “I rejected other people’s orders according to your order, and only built ships for the prince. These Kirk ships are very strong, and they are a little small. In theory, the loading capacity can reach 100,000 pounds, and the wind-powered sailing speed of each ship is astonishing. Since we have given up paddling, we will naturally make good use of the wind.”

Rurik nodded with satisfaction: “The fishermen who signed a contract with me are using the eight boats that have already been launched, and they told me that these boats are very useful. Especially when hauling large fishing nets, they are still fast to maneuver, and the amount of herring caught is also higher. .”

“Thanks to the prince’s promotion.”

“You’re welcome, you have to admit your ability. You also need to understand that in this sea area, our Ross fleet is invincible! So based on realistic needs, I don’t need giant ships for the time being, but a large number of standard cargo ships. This A cargo ship that can transport up to 100,000 pounds of supplies is very good, and a torsion slingshot installed on the bow is a very good force ship.”

“So……”

“In the future, the shipbuilding workshop in Fort Rose will continue to build cargo ships for me, and at least ten ships will be built for me every year. You will be satisfied with the price. In this way, our fishing boats and cargo ships in Ross are completely unified, which is not only easy to manage. It’s part of our mighty navy!”

Hotra was excited when he heard it, and hundreds of craftsmen and apprentices who were watching were making various noises to express their joy.

Rurik saw that Hotra and his friends were already a very powerful shipbuilding group. The young boys they recruited in Lake Mälaren were apprentices, and all economic life was also tied to the organization.

If such a rapidly expanding shipbuilding workshop continues to grow, it may not be entirely beneficial to Ross’s shipbuilding industry. It must be split up, so taking advantage of the opportunity of immigration, it should be split into three parts.

“Where are the talents going to the East?” Rurik asked loudly.

Hotra clapped his hands, and the selected ones walked out one after another.

Here stood Hotra’s second and third sons, as well as offspring of other small families.

Karl Hotterasen and Stein Hotterasen, the two brothers are only in their twenties, because they were personally taught by their experienced father, they are very good at shipbuilding theory and technology, and they are very good at independent command and construction. Big ships have confidence.

Rurik was very happy that Hotra could hand over his son. As for why he was the second son and the third son, the reason is very simple, because the main business of the family is inherited by the eldest son, and the other sons will have to rely on their abilities sooner or later.

There were as many as thirty people gathered, they were artisans and apprentices.

How unhappy was Rurik to look at them?

He asked again: “Is it appropriate that you elect people who went beyond my plan? Shipbuilding here will be less efficient.”

Huotla answered quickly: “Just train another batch of craftsmen.”

“Alright, I want to make an announcement.” Rurik collected himself and announced to the thirty people in front of him with a clear voice: “I want to build a shipbuilding workshop for the principality in the east, and I will fund the construction of factories and residences for you. I hire you to build ships, and I will provide you with a very stable life and an opportunity to improve your skills in shipbuilding. You will have high social treatment, and even young apprentices will be respected by everyone in the future. I, even I will assign wives to you, and the premise is naturally that you must be loyal to my command.”

The prince’s preaching promised “the grace of the gods”, and many people were at a loss when they heard it.

This is simply pie in the sky!

Those young apprentices are almost orphans, and they basically have enough to eat with Hotra.

Now that everyone has suddenly become the prince’s direct subordinates, it is natural that they will go through fire and water without hesitation.

For apprentices with very low status, they are very happy as long as they can eat well every day.

For Huotra’s two youngest sons, the two brothers need more. They are eager to start their own business with their personal abilities, but unfortunately they lack original capital.

In this case, Rurik simply hired two men as the master craftsman, and was ordered to take charge of the shipbuilding industry in Novorosburg and Novgorod.

Even if only traditional longships can be built at the beginning, it will already be a huge boost to the principality’s inland waterway transportation!

Rurik gave all the artisans in the principality very high treatment. The people of this era are also very satisfied. It is a good treatment to get enough food every day when they come out to work. If there is any surplus wealth, it is really the kindness of the employer. do.

It is precisely the struggle of the artisans. All the leading products of the Principality come from their hands, and the huge economic added value can promote the benign accumulation of capital in the Principality, without forcing the Principality to resort to war and plunder.

Rurik had already arranged all the affairs he could think of, and many matters were delayed for a long time. He had to postpone the date of immigration, which was postponed until the twenty-eighth day of June in the Julian calendar. .

The summer solstice ceremony of the Julian calendar was held as scheduled, and this was also the last grand summer ceremony in Roseburg.

Tomorrow is the departure date, and most of the soft goods have already been loaded on the ship. In fact, Rurik could have announced the departure long ago, and the purpose of procrastinating until now is to catch up with this festival on purpose.

During the waiting time, Mechasta from Elonburg also brought her daughter to report on her work. Another major event was the man who exchanged her daughter Seborava for her man Rurik.

Elronburg does not have any additional arrangements, and Mechasta still has to provide the Principality with a large amount of ironware, as well as catch salmon in the autumn fish season, and serve as a material transfer point for trade in Narvik Port, which faces the Atlantic Ocean. duty.

Now, three women gathered around Rurik. They all had black hair and almost oval faces. They were all of ancient Finnish origin.

They have basically reached the age to be mothers. Needless to say, the oldest high priest, Rumia, let’s save the other two.

Princess Mary who died of dystocia was really a tragedy. Rurik blamed himself for her death, so for the safety of other wives and concubines, he should generally restrain his desires for about three to five years.

Even if there is more desire, transform it into a desire for construction.

The summer solstice ceremony had come to a great end. Thousands of people stayed up all night, precisely because the sun never set on Roseburg’s summer solstice.

They took advantage of the extreme daylight of the only day to board the ship, ready to go with great enthusiasm.

The flags of Ross were flying, and there were as many as 5,000 people of all kinds, and as many as 200 ships of various sizes, either carrying people or goods, especially a large amount of dry food and fresh water!

The huge immigrant fleet is also the powerful Ross Navy, and they set sail!

Ross historically left Roseborg Fjord, where he had lived for nearly 80 years, in 835. The main body of the Ross people went to the warm land of Eastern Europe, and only a few technicians stayed in their homeland…

[End of this Chapter]