Rise of Rurik - Chapter 740

[The Chapter 741 meeting enhanced the mutual understanding]

Eskil couldn’t guarantee that the blue fox was really caught by the local nobles. He was an old acquaintance with the Earl of Bremen. Even though he hadn’t seen him for a while, he still remembered the Earl’s face clearly.

The team formed by the priests all held fire guns soaked in turpentine, and a fire dragon appeared in the dark night. Many citizens who lived nearby pushed open the windows on the second floor and poked their brains out to try to find out.

Priests, it seems?

Is today a big day?

Need a ceremony at night?

When Eskil and others arrived at the inner castle suspension bridge, facing the wooden suspension bridge that had been released, the previous speculation seemed to have largely come true.

The soldiers in armor were waiting first. They saw all the priests in black robes respectful, and even retreated spontaneously.

At this time, a man pushed the priest away. He took off the hood of his burqa and shouted loudly: “Hunter! Hear my voice! I am Robert, Robert Richard von Hamburg.”

“Robert? Did I hear you right?!” A voice came out quickly, and soon a strong man walked over with a sullen face.

The torches illuminated the faces of the people, and Saint-Esquil took off his hat, his weather-beaten face looked very kind.

The other man smiled maliciously. It was Robert, Earl of Hamburg himself.

Both of these two were old acquaintances of Count Hunter of Bremen, and they hit it off right away.

Hunter greeted him enthusiastically, embraced his old friend Robert, and said politely, “Are you performing a miracle? You suddenly appeared in my castle. Robert, what is the big event that compelled you to come? And…”

Eskil coughed twice and got straight to the point: “I’m just here to verify a question. My lord, please answer me truthfully.”

Hunter hurriedly made a sign of the cross on his chest: “Please speak.”

“Three of my ascetic monks mysteriously disappeared, and there are rumors that they were captured by your people. You know, this kind of thing is too crazy! I hope this kind of talk is just a slander from the wicked.”

Hunter obviously took a step back. Unexpectedly, not only did the church come to inquire about the crime, but St. Esquil also seemed to have received a miracle from the Lord and suddenly came to Bremen, and it was the saint himself who inquired about the crime.

“This matter is more complicated.”

“That means there is.” Eskil continued to ask: “There is a fat man among them, I hope this man was not beaten to death by your subordinates.”

“No! Nothing at all. My men have indeed caught such a suspicious person, and they are in my dungeon, but now they are eating and drinking.”

A stone fell to the ground, and Robert’s guess turned out to be true.

The blue fox in the dungeon was quickly released, and he reappeared in front of Eskil intact.

This is a farce, and no one can accuse the Count of Bremen’s subordinates of being wrong.

But the matter has just begun. The secret visits of a suspicious fat man, St. Esquier and the Earl of Hamburg, many events seem to have many coincidences, and there must be a shocking secret hidden in them.

The Earl of Bremen had his own means. First, he ordered his subordinates to pull back to the suspension bridge on the grounds that it was too late, and then he wanted to listen to the teachings of the saints, drink some wine with his friend Robert, and then chat.

He had to figure out all the tricks in it, just because of his intuition, there might be a dangerous situation behind it.

Priests pay attention to asceticism. As for an ascetic monk who eats fat, there must be something hidden behind the absurdity, not to mention that this person is very good at talking about Norse and Latin, but he is not good at Saxon and Frankish.

In this way, the blue fox suddenly became a guest from a prisoner. He was still dressed as an ascetic, sitting in the banquet hall of the Earl of Bremen illuminated by oil lamps, facing the black bread on the table without appetite.

No one really had an appetite, but the Count of Hamburg was more than happy to clink glasses with the Count of Bremen for ale.

Hunter asked directly: “Please tell me all the truth. All signs show that you are doing secret things. For the safety of my territory, I need to know the hidden secrets.”

Robert shrugged: “I didn’t need to hide this matter originally, I thought I would tell you later, since I exposed it now, it doesn’t matter.”

“Speaking.”

“It’s a military threat.”

When Robert uttered this phrase, he saw the thick-haired Hunter, his beard swelled in extreme tension, his head resembled a lion, and his eyes stared like copper bells.

“You…are you so vigilant?” Robert couldn’t help but want to laugh.

“Where is the threat? I see! It must be the Normans.”

“It’s the Normans. Do you remember the pirate who stole Durist (about twenty kilometers east of present-day Amsterdam)?”

“Horik? A dog raised by His Highness the Prince?”

“It’s a bad dog.” Robert shook his head. “He has left Durist, and now he is the king of the whole of Denmark. Among the many Normans, Denmark is the most threatening to us. Horik expelled the northern priests , that man betrayed his faith, and started killing bloody evil gods again. St. Eskil fled Denmark, and that man threatened to use force against us. The war is about to start again!”

For a long time, the Franks did not care about the affairs north of the Great Wall of Schleswig. The lords were the heroes of Charlemagne’s expansion war. There is also a lack of channels for understanding.

Based on his own knowledge, Robert described the possibility of terror with embellishment: “The Normans will cross the Great Wall. Horik is a hateful big pirate. Now that he is king, he has the capital to plunder wildly. He lacked strength before, but now It should be possible to muster an army of 5,000 men.”

5,000 people didn’t seem to be many, but Charlemagne could gather an army of 100,000 people.

But these 5,000 Norman warriors were in the cramped area north of Schleswig. A large group of hungry wolves were imprisoned in a small cage. Once they broke through the cage, the first person they encountered would suffer the most terrifying bite.

“Hamburg will be attacked first, then your Bremen, and Baldwin’s Flanders, the whole Saxon region is dangerous. Many Saxon rebels escaped the Great Wall and became Normans. If they choose revenge , will not be afraid of death. The evil god they believe in promises that the souls of the dead can… go to the heaven of the evil god, but they are eager to die in battle. I don’t have the slightest ability to resist this army going south, can you?”

Earl of Bremen Hunter felt like he was sitting on pins and needles, his whole body was covered in cold sweat under his robe, and his feet in his boots seemed to be soaked in icy water.

Hunter shivered: “I can’t… Even if I spend all my wealth to recruit militiamen, I can gather up to two thousand people. They are all farmers with spears and sickles, not qualified soldiers. I can spend up to three hundred elite.”

Robert froze for a moment, then smiled wryly: “Three hundred people? It’s really a strong army. I’m sorry if I include the militiamen, and I can gather up to eight hundred people at most.”

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“And what about Baldwin in Flanders?” Hunter asked.

“He? A coward! Horick is looting and looting in his territory, and this coward let it go so that he can offer silver coins to buy the gangsters to stop. Horick is a hungry wolf that can’t be fed. Our prince thinks he can use this man to deal with Luo Tell, now this hungry wolf is ready to bite its master.”

Things became very difficult. It was Robert who said that he was the lord on the northernmost border of the kingdom. Many of the contradictions he faced were the most difficult, and the information he got must be accurate.

Hunter was very grateful for his friend’s war alert, so he could probably guess the purpose of Robert’s sudden subdued departure – to go to Regensburg, the city of princes, to report the enemy’s situation and claim credit.

“We must unite,” he said.

“We alone are not enough.”

“Since Baldwin is a coward, who else can we unite with?”

“Ross.”

“Who is that?”

“There is a person sitting in front of you, the real Ross.” Robert’s attitude was very clear.

Hunter glanced at the blue fox: “This fat man?”

“Exactly.”

But Blue Fox, after he was released, heard the conversation in Frankish and stared blankly throughout the whole process, and couldn’t understand everything.

Hunter originally didn’t want to talk to a fat ascetic monk. He didn’t know the identity of the other person. Even a priest must be a very low-level priest. Eskil regarded this person as an important person, so why should he look up to him?

Hunter begged Eskill to describe the situation in the northern border. As a person who saw the whole process of the war, Eskill was not stingy in describing the cruelty of the war.

The fortress of the Rus was besieged by a thousand men, and all one hundred Rus soldiers died in battle, and five hundred Danes also died.

Hadeby Harbor was in flames, a true regional sight, if not rain.

“Fat Joseph was protected by the Lord, and he survived. He was the envoy of the Ross people and wanted to establish a good relationship with us.”

Now that St. Eskil had spoken, Hunter reluctantly began to look at the fat man squarely.

Blue Fox was ordered to describe information about the Danes and Russ, so he talked in Latin throughout the whole process, and Eskil translated it into Frankish, which was embarrassing for the Earl of Bremen.

The envoy of Ross, Qiao Zhuangcheng, was an ascetic monk, and he was absolutely worthy of being arrested for being suspicious, but the other party spoke Latin, and Hunter in the next round was ashamed.

In any case, after some investigation, Bremen is the first commercial city that Blue Fox saw on his trip south. The wool trade in this city can make up for some of the current shortcomings of the Principality of Ross, and the Principality can also open up a new wheat, importer of salt.

Blue Fox judged the situation, and immediately prescribed the right medicine after learning the general content of the conversation between the two earls.

“My master has a blood feud with the Danes. Now the Danes burn my shop and steal a lot of wealth. This will definitely arouse the anger of the prince of Ross. Maybe the prince will organize an army of 3,000 people to sail to Denmark to take revenge. It will be a big war , if you can get the support of your military strength in the south, the probability of victory is very high. Denmark must lose their strength, which is beneficial to us businessmen. Even if you have different beliefs, at least you will not object to buying Ross’s iron and leather. .”

The mysterious Roths seem to be in the ocean to the east, hesitating that the distance is clearly not going to be a new threat to the kingdom.

But wait!

The fat man clearly said that the 3,000-strong Ross army can cross the sea to crusade against Denmark.

Do they have such strength?

If so, aren’t the Russ just as dangerous as the Danes?

Sure enough, any Norman is the same.

The visitor’s attitude has been clearly stated. Even if this visit is accidental, the Ross envoy’s request to form an alliance with Bremen is not a joke. The fat man came prepared.

Hunter directly showed his cards: “I’m worried that you Ross people will become new villains. Even if you convert, your prince is still a barbarian. I can’t believe it!”

“You can barely believe it.” Eskill stopped translating, and simply participated in the discussion in person: “Hunter, my child. I have stayed in Ross for half a year. The Prince of Ross allowed me to build a monastery, and I am already there A bishop is arranged. According to my observation, the Maharaja of Ross is very interested in our faith, and many people there have converted. The people of Rus are not pirates, they have their own business. Especially the Maharaja of Ross, he is a very young man , as handsome as you were when you were young, and a blond brave man. You can be friends with each other.”

“It’s all wishful thinking!” Hunter said so, his heart was slightly shaken, and he forcibly calmed down.

Eskil was indeed wishful thinking. He ignored the fact that he was once under house arrest and an accompanying priest was killed. Seeing that Prince Rurik treated his subjects well, he did not hesitate to think of Moses and his people. It is quite pedantic. Coupled with the close contact with the blue fox, Eskil kept hinting to himself, and felt more and more that all Ross people could become converts and good people.

He was full of praise for Prince Rurik, completely ignoring that the young prince was actually murderous.

Eskil is ambitious: “I will go to Ross to make the greatest attempt and try to convince them to convert. After that, I will return to Bremen with peace of mind. Maybe you should accept the olive branch from the Ross people… …”

Hunter still can’t fully trust, and now that Eskill is standing up for the mysterious Ross, he is also “relaxed”.

“If the people of Rus are willing to come to Bremen to do business, it is possible. They should pay the city entrance tax, customs tax, belief protection tax, poll tax, business tax, commodity income tax… water tax, food tax.” Humans have ten fingers, so Hunter casually named ten tax names.

The blue fox tried hard to suppress his anger, Zhou frowned and asked with a sigh of relief: “Does the Ross businessman have to pay the suction tax when he arrives in Bremen?”

“Coincidentally, I’m going to set up this tax.” Hunter slapped his thigh, and then aimed at the blue fox with unreserved eyes.

Just aiming at this expression is more aggressive than verbal insults.

Blue Fox cursed secretly in his heart, the Earl of Bremen is playing with fire, the Ross Navy is fully capable of killing Bremen, and it is not an exaggeration to use force to punish the arrogant provocateur.

Only the Rus people have ever collected other people’s taxes (tributes). When will the Rus people have to pay taxes?

The Earl of Hamburg made some unreasonable demands and could still bear it, but the Earl of Bremen was so arrogant.

The blue fox wanted to end the conversation, but Robert, the Earl of Hamburg, hurriedly persuaded his old friend not to treat the Ross people like big fat sheep.

Because unlike Hunter, Robert knew that the elastic sword he liked to mention was made by the Ross people, and saying that it was “a gift from the Lord” was just a good way to say it.

The Ross people can export a lot of excellent weapons, even if it costs a lot of money to buy them, it is worthwhile, not to mention the fat man Joseph Blue Fox claimed that Ross is willing to exchange things for rye.

Because of Hamburg, Bremen, and Flanders, the counties in the northwest corner of the three kingdoms are macroscopically a salient part, and as a lowland area, there is a serious lack of minerals.

If ironware can be obtained from the Ross people, it will be good for the three counties.

Hunter didn’t realize this. He didn’t want to form an alliance with Ross, but he didn’t prohibit doing business.

Most of the ten taxes described by clasping fingers before were invented by him on the spur of the moment, in the hope that Joseph Blue Fox would shut up in disgrace.

City entry tax, customs duty, business tax, the three taxes must be collected, even so Hunter did not let go of his mouth after thinking about it.

After all, Bremen is a special existence. This is the bishopric appointed by Charlemagne, and it is the core stronghold of the kingdom in the north. As a vassal, he has the title of “Von Bremen”. The foreign barbarians are friendly and trade.

On the contrary, Hunter was very happy about the infighting among the Normans.

Such an unexpected night meeting has fully enhanced Ross and Bremen’s understanding of each other, but in fact, the blue fox is so angry that his teeth itch.

This self-esteemed aristocrat who loves hunting and suppressing bandits dared to ask for tribute from Ross. This is a serious crime and requires a huge amount of wealth to make amends!

The meeting came to a different conclusion, but there were still intentional results.

In a sense, Blue Fox is an outsider even if he is the envoy of Ross. After realizing the major threat from the Normans, Hunter naturally has to strengthen his defenses to guard against the sneak attack of the self-proclaimed king pirate Horik, because the quietly flowing Weser River Straight to the sea, the gangsters under Horik have also made sneak attacks against the current before.

It was for this reason that when Robert sent the alarm, Hunter really believed it.

Now that the Earl of Hamburg was going bravely to Regensburg, it would take some time to go to Frankfurt in the south. The team needed a batch of food, drinking water, clothes, especially materials for building tents, and Hunter was willing to finance these materials.

Not only that, a letter on parchment from Hunter, Earl of Bremen, was also stuffed into the wooden box, stuffed with a few pieces of amber, and the box was unlocked but sealed with wax.

The letter was to be sent to Prince Ludwig, and the words were full of vile words against King Horik of Denmark.

Yes, who would give a good word to a group of bandits who looted their territory?

[End of this Chapter]