Rise of Rurik - Chapter 735

[Chapter 736 The Earl of Hamburg and the Northern Apostle Eskil]

The Elbe flows calmly, and she slowly flows westward into the Atlantic Ocean.

A small city exists next to the river. The wooden walls and towers erected, and even the three gates reinforced with stones, prove that the city is actually a military stronghold.

The morning mist filled the river, forest and farmland, and the whole world was gray. The soldiers who stood guard all night handed over the tasks to the replacement buddies. Then they took off the coarse cloth hood to keep out the cold, took off the riveted leather armor, and withdrew to their barracks. rest.

For Hamburg City, today is another normal day after autumn.

Earl Robert is still sleeping soundly, he doesn’t need to worry too much about his work, the servants will take care of everything.

When the morning fog gradually dissipated, a small number of merchants in the “commercial street” in the city set up their stalls one after another.

The curfew was over, and after the city gates were opened, the vegetable farmers pulling carts paid an entry tax to the soldiers guarding the gates, and then settled down in the open space of the market, openly selling their vegetables and surplus grain.

Cabbage is the largest vegetable sold here, and the buyers targeted by the vegetable farmers are soldiers in the city, as well as those craftsmen, servants, and horse slaves who serve the Earl.

Naturally, there are also people who sell meat and leather. They are professional hunters or herders, but the transaction volume in this area is not large.

The earl and his family are all Franks, and the dozen or so bodyguards closest to him are also Franks.

Besides that, the entire city is populated by Saxons.

Hamburg was originally a riverside village of the Saxons in the past. After the entire area was conquered by Charlemagne, the Saxons who surrendered to the Franks all converted to God and recognized the new Frankish nobles as their lords. After some turmoil, they just went to worship a new God, pay taxes to the new lord.

The Duchy of Saxony, which was formed spontaneously by the Saxons, has disappeared for thirty years, and thirty years is enough to wear people’s memories.

Not many Saxons fled to Denmark and joined it, and a large number of people still live in their old places.

They have forgotten where they came from, they only know their lord, they know very well the taxes they have to pay every year, and they have already gone to the monastery to worship.

Life is so monotonous and boring. Farmers live peacefully day after day. Apart from being extremely active in collecting taxes and hunting, the lords are also accompanied by boredom in other days.

Earl Robert had had enough of his wretched wife, and the old woman was getting old, but their divorce must be approved by the Holy See, and the divorce is only a theoretical possibility.

Some things can only be done secretly because of his own honor. The milkmaid he keeps is really a concubine. He must not let the priest know his behavior, and he must do things secretly. If you don’t recognize him as the heir to the title, the boy will be trained as a squire, and in the future, he will find a knight by the head. If it is a girl, it is easier to do, and he will be sent directly to the monastery to become a nun.

He feels that his actions have been very benevolent.

If there is anything that can cheer up the earl, it is to put on a full set of armor and fencing with his subordinates.

In recent years, the territory has been peaceful, and the life of farmers has been decent, which is reflected in the proper payment of agricultural taxes every autumn.

The harvested agricultural tax grain is stuffed into the warehouse, which is the survival material of noble families, retinues, and craftsmen.

Part of the grain was also transported as a tribute to Regensburg in Bavaria, the residence of Prince Ludwig.

The original meaning of Regensburg is “the city of the Roman legions”. The city was the residence of the Third Legion before the fall of the Western Roman Empire. A thousand of the most capable soldiers were also stationed here.

If his territory formally became independent from Frank, Regensburg would become the capital of a country.

In terms of the current traffic situation, it is really a bumpy road from Hamburg to Regensburg by land.

Fortunately, the Elbe River has a long history, and it reaches the upstream upstream, and then arrives in Regensburg by land. The journey time is greatly reduced.

The official status of the prince is the Duke of Bavaria and the Duke of Saxony. Under the current enfeoffment system of East Francia, there is no marquis in the entire duchy of Saxony, or the titles of marquis and earl are very vague.

The Count of Hamburg was directly responsible to the Duke of Saxony, that is, to the Prince himself.

It’s just that the area of Saxony is a new land conquered by the former king Charlemagne with iron and blood. Many Saxons died locally, and the development level is not as good as that of Bavaria.

The prince never expected much tribute from the lords in the northern border. Their biggest task was actually only one: to prevent the Danes and Pomeranians from encroaching on the kingdom’s territory.

However, the earl’s financial resources can only support 300 standing soldiers, and the viscount under his command has even fewer soldiers. When it comes to the baron level, the baron can only go into battle and kill them himself.

The permanent residents of Hamburg City have been maintained at 600 for a long time. In addition to the garrisoned soldiers and a few soldiers’ families, they are craftsmen such as carpenters, blacksmiths, potters, and horse slaves who are directly responsible to the Earl and their families.

Merchants certainly exist, but the local political and economic conditions are not enough to develop big businessmen like Ross Gould.

In other words, Hamburg and other Frankish cities in this era lack the soil for the existence of large merchants.

A star city among the cities of the Hanseatic League, she is still unable to show her commercial influence. She is only a regional military stronghold in the northern border area of Frank.

The earl is considered a large soldier stationed with only this little force on hand?

Frank is no longer Charlemagne’s Frank. Although the three princes fought among themselves, civil wars broke out, and more areas can be said to be at peace for a long time.

The days of stability have passed for a long time, and everyone is pursuing longer-term comfort.

In order to increase their income, the soldiers received “salaries” from the earl’s service, but they also had to start some small businesses, cut wood and hunted to subsidize their families or enrich their wallets, and then gathered in the only ale tavern in the city to taste delicious food.

An ordinary-looking carriage came from the north. There were many people coming and going on weekdays. The soldiers in charge of the gate wanted to stop them to collect the entry fee as usual. The people sitting in the carriage took off their burqas. An old man Showing off the sterling silver cross hanging on his chest, it was the soldier’s turn to stand in awe.

“I am Eskil, the apostle Eskil from the north. Children, please go and inform the people in the monastery, and inform the Earl that I am back!”

Because Hamburg is the cathedral of the region, the reason why Eskil is respected by the nobles, lords and low-level people in the whole region is precisely because of his other identity: the bishop of Hamburg.

As early as the year before last, in 833, he proposed to Reims that the Hamburg region should be taken out of Bremen to form a new bishopric. Archbishop Sinkmar of Reims not only agreed, but also appointed Eskil as the bishop of Hamburg. It was officially sanctioned by Rome in 834.

It’s just that this “Bishop of Hamburg” hopes to influence all the Danes in his lifetime, so that he can make a great contribution to a great cause, isn’t it also helping the kingdom to solve the border troubles?

In the concept of the priests, those barbarians will end the war after they betray God, and the reconciliation between Frank and Denmark will be completed. Denmark will obviously be peacefully merged into the Frankish Kingdom, specifically ruled by Prince Ludwig.

The daily affairs of the Hamburg monastery are managed by a head priest named Jacob. If there is no accident, when Eskil goes to Bremen as bishop a few years later, Jacob will take over the position of bishop of Hamburg.

Even Eskil stayed in the barbarian territory outside the Great Wall of Schleswig for a whole year to stick to his Hedeby Abbey, one purpose was to deliberately “play missing” to exercise Jacob’s working ability.

No, Jacob brought more than a dozen little priests to the small square of the city in a hurry to meet his teacher Eskil.

Both sides were speaking in Saxon, which made it difficult for the blue fox who was watching.

Even if they chat in Latin, I can still understand part of it.

Most of the priests lowered their heads, but a fat priest was looking left and right.

With a sense of business, Blue Fox immediately paid attention to the commercial street in the city. His eyesight was very good, and he saw at a glance that the green things sold there were spherical cabbages, and some meat.

Other than that there is nothing left?

!

Didn’t the Eskil guy say that Hamburg is a big city in the north?

Could it be that there is a huge deviation between myself and his understanding of the city?

[To tell the truth, I have been using the source-changing app recently to read and update books, switch between sources, and read aloud with many timbres. www.huanyuanapp.com is available for both Android and Apple.

】

Soon, the blue fox also saw something discordant.

A woman was pouring brown things out of a wooden basin. When she looked closely, it turned out to be manure, and what was even more frightening was that it was directly spilled on the dirt roads in the city.

He also saw a man with his robes lifted, with his back to the road, constipated at the base of the wooden wall.

This explained the faint sour smell in the city, and looking at the slightly muddy land where his boots collapsed, he thought that the mud had nothing to do with the rain.

“You Franks and Saxons, would you like to live in such a dirty place? If you were in the Principality of Ross, if you dared to pour dung in the street, you would be fined to cut down at least a hundred pine trees!” Blue Fox cursed inwardly. , so far he is not optimistic about Frank’s business atmosphere, and even more worried after witnessing the lives of the locals.

He was nostalgic for the good old days in Rose, and he didn’t want to linger in this fetid place for a while.

But where can I go?

Blue Fox was dressed as a priest, but his fat image had nothing to do with a priest.

The way he was looking left and right was noticed by someone, that is Robert, Earl of Hamburg.

When meeting the great “Apostle of the North” and the real bishop of Hamburg, Eskil, he was not allowed to wear a battle uniform. The saber at the waist and the calfskin boots on the feet show his extraordinary.

Even Vardy, the Slav, acted like a priest, but the behavior of the blue fox was too frivolous, and the way he looked left and right made the earl wary.

“Soldiers, listen to my order and detain the fat sheep in black.” He said.

The attitude of the soldiers was obviously very nervous. After all, is it disobeying the Lord to detain a little priest?

The earl ordered: “I suspect that the fat man is a Danish spy. Be vigilant, and don’t let the long and peaceful days paralyze your minds.”

Eskil recognized the Earl, he greeted the local lord with open arms and a smile, and Earl Robert greeted him with courtesy.

Unexpectedly, the soldiers who received the order suddenly pressed the fat blue fox to the ground very roughly.

The blue fox struggled instinctively, but was pushed down to his knees.

The sudden situation made the parties confused, and Eskill was even more frightened.

“Robert, why are you doing this?! Don’t be rude to the priest! Let go of Joseph.” After that, Eskil kept making the cross on his chest.

The count is also making the sign of the cross, and he has his own saying: “Honorable Padra, please forgive my rudeness, if I misunderstand, I will go to the monastery to repent. But I am the local governor, and it is my responsibility to protect my people. You This priest is looking around, is that appropriate? I’m worried, this guy is a security risk to my burger.”

Eskil’s heart tightened when he heard this, and he glanced at the still speechless blue fox from the side of his eyes, and secretly scolded the Ross man for not learning the rules of being a priest even though he knew he had already entered the hinterland of Frank.

He continued to smooth things over: “Joseph is a recent convert. All this is arranged by the Lord. Robert, you can rest assured that he is safe.”

“Okay.” The count shrugged and ordered the soldiers to let go of their hands.

Only then did the blue fox stand up slowly. It was his pouting fat belly that made the slightly thin earl feel extremely strange. This time he couldn’t help joking: “I have never seen such a fat priest, I have never seen such a fat priest. Fat man. Perhaps, this is also the will of the Lord. Padra! You have unearthed a strange piece of amber in the territory of the barbarians.”

They all speak Saxon, and Blue Fox has almost become an outsider. What he wants to say now doesn’t know where to start.

This place is not suitable for public greetings, and Eskil’s arrival in Hamburg also has a strong purpose.

He has already returned to his territory, and he always shoulders important missions. He has to go back to the monastery to arrange his daily work, and at the same time, he has to listen to the work report of the priest who stayed behind.

Eskil explained to the count: “Robert, your vision is keen. My Joseph not only has a strange belly, he is indeed a special person. I have important news to inform you, to I ask you to do something for me. And my Joseph will be very important to you. I still have some necessary work, and I will go back to your mansion tomorrow to visit in person, and I will have a good talk with you about some things.”

Earl Robert was a little confused, but he still didn’t care, and said casually: “Okay. Please forgive my recklessness.”

“You are a vigilant lord. That’s good! This is why His Royal Highness values you in guarding the northern border. You should pay attention, your work may become more difficult in the future.”

Eskil used “difficulty” once in particular, and Robert felt some indescribable feelings, as if he was walking in the forest, and there were gangsters ambushing with bows, and the arrow clusters had already aimed at them.

Blue Fox was quite awkward, and the group was walking on the last way back to the monastery.

He complained: “Eskil, that man is the local lord? The Earl of Hamburg you mentioned? He is targeting me so much.”

If the blue fox is indeed a junior priest, Eskil will definitely criticize him severely, and he will also be punished for self-reflection in a separate room.

“It’s you who are too flamboyant. Joseph, you should keep a low profile.”

“I’m too high-profile? I’m a Ross merchant. Since that man is the lord, I’d like to discuss business with him. You know, we Ross people need customers to buy our furs.”

Eskil wanted to laugh, but he couldn’t hold back his laughter after all, and his aging head shook slightly.

“Why are you laughing?”

“It’s nothing. Earl Robert has sharp eyes. You are indeed not a qualified priest, and you can’t be pious.”

“But your lord has protected me, so the lord must have his intentions. That’s what you said.” Blue Fox emphasized.

“That’s right, so I will keep my promise to give you a chance to introduce, but it depends on the Earl’s attitude. Oh! In fact, tomorrow’s matter itself has nothing to do with you. I will find a way to meet the prince. At that time, let the prince choose Shall I meet you! You should understand that the nobles don’t like businessmen, and Frank is like that.”

“Ridiculous. Don’t their big nobles like business? Who would have trouble with money?”

Eskil shrugged: “Frankish businessmen are always accompanied by mortgages. This is the devil’s act.”

“Why not? Is it not reasonable to lend money to those in need to help finish the work ahead of time, and then the businessman takes a sum of money?”

“This is making a deal with the devil.” Eskil originally wanted to say that although merchants were important in Frankish society, they were also very humble, and the great lord was unwilling to meet with merchants for his own face.

However, under the angrily questioned by the blue fox, Eskil could only tactfully point out the reason.

The blue fox was furious, gnashing his teeth in anger!

“Damn! In Ross, we merchants are highly respected. Our prince is not only a prince, but also a great merchant! Do the Franks think we are low? If so, why should Ross do business with them?”

Hearing that, Eskil stopped with a stiff face, turned to look at the blue fox and pointed out solemnly: “Then, you have to make a choice. What kind of identity do you want to meet the earl with? Priest Joseph? Merchant Blue Fox? Or the envoy of Prince Ross?”

The words were so level that the blue fox froze.

“Yes! I am the special envoy of Prince Ross! I will meet the great nobles of Frank in this capacity.”

“Very good! Don’t complain anymore. I’m going to Ross to take a good look at it, and I’ll need your guidance then. I’m getting old, and you’re going to help me finish the last work of my life, and I’ll always protect you. I I just ask you not to do anything outrageous, if it is not necessary, just be a calm priest, even if you are pretending, at least you have to pretend a little bit.”

The two chatted for a while, and Blue Fox and Esquier reached a consensus.

The content of their chat was naturally heard by the little priest next to them, and everyone trembled when they heard it. The little priest who stayed behind waited for the teacher to come, but the teacher communicated with a fat man in Latin the whole time.

What is the identity of the fat man?

The most nervous thing was Jacob, the chief pastor who stayed there. Facing a more talented priest (referring to a resurrected Roman proficient in Latin), he was afraid that he would be replaced by this person as the bishop of Hamburg.

Jacob had no choice but to pray to the Lord…

[End of this Chapter]