Rise of Rurik - Chapter 806

[Chapter 807 Ambition in the Bay of Riga]

When the Ross Fleet anchored at Saaremaa Island, the islanders finally had the style of the Ross Principality’s navy.

They are extremely grateful that they have made the right team. This huge navy is not an opponent, and they themselves will row their boats to join it.

Do you want to be a pirate who sneaks up and loots again?

The Prince of Ross obviously disdains to do such a thing. Noble people have noble ways, such as leading an army to kill directly.

The islanders of Saaremaa Island almost all mobilized, and Tralang, who was in his prime, led his islanders to organize a fleet to join the Ross Navy.

It was also this opportunity that Rurik cruised around the island on his flagship, and went to the villages on the island himself, so he had a very intuitive understanding of the entire Saaremaa Island.

That being the case, the sea area to the south of the island naturally attracted his attention.

The entire army is going to take a final rest on this island, and the rest time is extremely short. However, the trawl equipment brought by the fishermen from all walks of life has already fished tentatively, and the fishermen with a try mentality quickly reaped unexpected catches.

What is scale effect?

This is the scale effect.

Braururik did it himself, and more than 400 large and small ships who came with him began to plunder the herring resources in the waters near Saaremaa Island.

But it was Rurik who took the most ruthless action. The twenty official large fishing boats that signed the contract, that is, the ships numbered RFB01 to RFB20, cast their big nets and cruised like blue whales with their mouths wide open. That’s it, use the winch to recover the giant hemp rope net, collect the herring that is as long as the forearm on the deck, and then use the wooden shovel to shovel it into the basket.

Because Saaremaa Island is already the territory of the Principality of Ross, fishermen from all walks of life have no psychological burden to fish here.

Even the original islanders were shocked. They never imagined that there are so many fish in the waters near their islands!

With very backward fishing technology, how did the people of Saaremaa achieve prosperity?

With Ross trawlers joining the fray, herring herds appear to be doomed?

In fact, it is not the case, because even if the Principality of Ross goes all out, the search for the fishing industry in the South Baltic Sea is still called scraping.

Instead, they started an organized “big sweep” of a small area of the sea.

Their fishing on the first day has already satisfied the daily food of the entire giant fleet. With the more rampant night fishing after nightfall, a large number of catches were sent to the shore in the early morning.

“Saarema” originally meant “island”, and now it may be more appropriate to call it “Herring Island”.

This is a big island, the widest point reaches 80 kilometers, but there is only one fishing village, which is located in a small bay in the north of the island.

Also yearning for Saaremaa is Hiiumaa, which is also a big island.

The narrow sea area between the two islands is used by Rurik as a berthing place for large ships. In this small strait, the two islands seem to be connected. In a sense, this is already a lagoon. The main force of the fleet is moored in a clear water Among them, where is it appropriate not to be a berth?

It is no problem for tens of thousands of people to live on such a huge island, but there are only a few hundred islanders staying here.

There are undeveloped areas everywhere, and the forest resources on the island are lush, and there are many good materials for shipbuilding, such as oak trees.

The beach is dense with bonfires, and Ross fishermen who have landed are already building their makeshift shelters.

They began logging on a large scale, and the spruce, red pine, white oak, red oak, and ash trees fell.

All kinds of wood have various uses. Spruce is very suitable for building houses. Red oak is the so-called most common Nordic oak. It is a pity that ash tree is not used to make bows because of its strong elasticity and toughness.

Fishermen are cooking fish and meat on a large scale, and over-lit bonfires set up wooden poles and tie hemp ropes. On the ropes, there are herrings with their heads and tails cut and gutted.

The fresh fish will be gradually dried to become a characteristic smoked fish with no taste.

The purpose of their coming is to plunder herring, and there is no difference whether they are in the more southerly waters or on Saaremaa Island.

But the purpose of Yevro leading his men into the forest on the island was simply to find books. He found a thick oak tree and marked it, leaving it for the Ross people with double saws behind him. He was mainly looking for the so-called “ash tree” .

The ash tree has a grayish bark, its shape is too straight but generally smaller than the red pine, it is easy to identify, this point Yevro has been very experienced.

As long as he found an “ash tree”, he ordered his men to cut it down. After the branches were stripped off, the trunk, no matter how thick or thin, was carried on his shoulders. The brothers carried it to the coast and took good care of it.

According to his idea, if these unexpected treasures are to be brought back, they will be placed in the house to dry in the shade for a winter, and the large-scale bow-making project will start around summer next year.

The sea breeze blows the overcrowded coast, but a rain interrupted people’s good mood.

The fishermen scolded the damn rain for coming so suddenly!

The rain in summer always comes suddenly, it falls violently, and it always stops abruptly.

The downpour fell, and the previously processed dried fish was too late to guarantee due to moisture-proof problems, which made the work fall short.

People hid from the rain in simple wooden sheds, and the sheds naturally leaked everywhere, making people wet on a large scale.

But Rurik was a top nobleman, so he didn’t have to be in such a mess.

A large house of the islanders was designated by him as a palace, and the council chamber of the islanders was still the council court.

Spute was canonized as the governor of the island, and a walled fortress was completed, and the buildings inside the walls began to be Rossized.

The place here is still crude, but Rurik and Svetlana are in a good state of mind, even though there are big fish out there.

On this day a dank crowd gathered in the council court of the islanders.

Prince Ross is the absolute protagonist. Everyone is looking forward to another generous speech from him, and when the rain is over, he will rush to Bornholm Island.

Pairs of eyes watched Rurik waiting for him to preach.

“Saarema is a good place!” His exclamation made the slightly tense atmosphere relax.

He continued: “The way I see it, some people don’t plan to continue going south, they just stay on the island and go fishing. That’s fine, I’ll definitely take a lot of vultures to fight, our army doesn’t need it yet There’s a lot of unmanageable and complex people on the tail at all times. Instead of plundering the catch off Bornholm, let them stay here. Trarang!”

“Ah?” The grown-up islander Tralang raised his head hastily.

“You are a native islander, what do you think?”

“I… I don’t know…”

“Are you stuttering again? I have already decided that Saarema will develop well. As long as the people of the principality taste the sweetness, fishermen will rush here to fish every year, and your fishing village will quickly prosper.”

“It’s a good thing.”

Rurik shrugged: “I’m here to inform you, and I hope you don’t feel disgusted. You and other islanders should understand that the moment you ask to join Ross, this island is mine, and how to develop it is mine. Willingness. Now, I am happy to develop it into a southern fishing base.”

However, Tralang was baffled by Prince Rurik’s explanation.

Although the islanders established a settlement in Saaremaa, they never claimed sovereignty and just happened to live here like migratory birds.

If only Rurik was talking about these things in the chamber, the meeting would indeed make the audience drowsy.

Rurik slapped his thigh violently: “Telang! Do you know the situation in the waters south of the island? I think the south is a huge bay.”

Tralang was taken aback suddenly: “Prince! Do you know that the south is the bay?”

“Yes. It’s called the Gulf of Riga?”

“Gulf of Riga? If it’s the name of a huge bay, it’s all right, you’re the one who named it.”

Telalan’s reaction was very subtle, giving Rurik the feeling that this group of islanders who lived for generations had no interest in the Gulf of Riga, and even simply called the Gulf of Riga “a bay”.

“Since it’s a bay, it’s the coast. Do you know anything about the coast deep in the bay? Are there other people living there?”

“Yes!” Tralang replied decisively.

“who?”

Suddenly, this Tralang laughed in public.

“Just say something, why are you laughing?!” Rurik questioned slightly displeased.

“Because those people are on this island. They are by your side.”

“Oh? What does this mean?”

Rurik didn’t understand it for the time being, and things became delicate as some seemingly dull people were brought into the council chamber and let them speak out.

There were not many people in the parliamentary courtyard, and the few new guys who entered the room were still stained with rainwater. They all had black hair and their clothes were not decent.

They definitely do not speak Norse, let alone Slavic.

Rurik tentatively communicated with them in Old Finnish, expecting some words to be understood, not to mention, the other party could only understand a little bit, and just muttered some difficult sentences.

“What are they talking about?!” Arik who was listening was very impatient.

“It’s their language.” Tralang shrugged and said with a smile, “Obviously I should be the translator.”

“Just speak for them.” Rurik ordered helplessly.

Because Saaremaa Island was originally an uninhabited island, and various Vikings exiled by the tribe set up settlements here. Because of their despicable status, they basically lost contact with their homeland, so they could only find a way to go to the south to see the situation. Contacted various Baltic tribes along the coast.

The Baltics could only build canoes, and a few followed the Viking exiles to Saaremaa.

Others simply forcibly drifted onto the island in canoes.

People from all walks of life gather on the island. Their bloodlines are different, but they have the same origin on a large scale-the exiles.

Tralang himself was of mixed race, with brown and yellowish hair.

There are Estonians, Randals (Livonians), Latgals (Latvians), Kurtzes (Curlands).

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Some nouns Rurik could understand, while others were unfamiliar.

However, he is well aware of the geographical structure of this sea area, because the Bay of Riga is indeed a large and quiet bay.

Now that there are new ethnic groups, what is their situation?

“You come from different tribes? Now you are all Ross people and my subjects. Please tell me, what is the local situation in the tribe you or your ancestors belonged to?”

Rurik continued his hearing, and the questions became purposeful and to the point.

For example, how many people do those tribes have, what they live on, the tools and weapons they use can be metal, whether they know how to weave and so on.

He quickly got the answer. Those tribes all knew how to make ironware, farm and fish, and weave hemp to hunt animals.

Just the population is unknown.

They only have the words of their parents and grandparents about their ancestral homeland, and they have not contacted for a long time. God knows what is going on there.

They still provide a very critical description-the tribes form clusters in the form of a large number of small villages, and there is no largest ruler such as the Prince of Ross.

Tralang kept patting his chest and claimed that the translation was correct. No doubt such a description immediately aroused the ambitions of people of insight.

Arik looked up to the sky and laughed loudly: “This is the opportunity that Odin gave us! God is suggesting that we expand a larger land and conquer new people. Rurik, you must not miss this opportunity.”

In this way, Yefro also persuaded: “Since they form their own villages, we can organize an army to defeat each of them. Prince! You should rule more.”

At this moment, a wise man yelled the loudest.

This person is none other than Bornholm’s emissary and speaker Swind.

If it can bring disasters to the south, how is it not a good thing?

Swind raged wildly. He didn’t know what was going on in the south, so he pointed out that there were fertile farmland, high-quality trees, and endless small animals, all that the so-called Ross people needed.

How could Rurik not understand the implication?

Isn’t it just urging myself to immediately send troops south to rob, and at the same time spare Bornholm’s life, and if the war is delayed, as long as there is delay, Bornholm still has a chance.

Rurik pointed at the man’s nose and told him to shut up first.

Even Ragnar joined in, persuading Rurik to expand his territory.

But what good does this do for Ragnar, an exiled Danish lord?

As the saying goes, if the horse is photographed well, he will gain Rurik’s further trust, and it will also be beneficial to the revival of the tribe. In short, there is absolutely no harm.

Rurik looked at everyone, his heart was beating wildly.

He paused for breath: “My dream is to conquer a large territory with Ross’s sword. Does anyone think that I will give up this opportunity? Tell you! Impossible! But!”

Once you get to the “but,” things get complicated.

“Don’t think about the short-sightedness of those who followed our army. Saaremaa’s fishing resources are very rich, so they stay and don’t want to continue to attack Bornholm. Our goal is to conquer Bornholm Mom, you can’t change this now.”

Arik immediately followed his brother’s words and continued: “So we should make a plan. After solving the Bornholm problem, whether we go to the southern bay and recover those people along the coast. I know you don’t know I am willing to kill a lot, and if the locals surrender quickly, everyone will be happy. But I believe that they are also courageous tribes, and I can help you conquer the people of the southern bay of the island.”

Arik is here to ask for a job, but when Rurik thinks of the bravery of his cousin, he is worried that this guy will lead his brothers up, just like chopping melons and vegetables to kill all the available labor force.

Seeing that the timing was about the same, Rurik set the tone as a prince: “This year solve the Bornholm islanders, and next year we will solve the issue of the Riga Bay residents in the south of Saaremaa together at the earliest. Saaremaa Island will be like a tombstone Like the island, it has become a key maritime trade node. We will contact those newly conquered people. We live a good life, at least let them live a good life. In the future, we will have more trading partners and more alliances military.”

“Who knows?” Arik laughed, his attitude clearly showing distrust.

Today’s Rurik is naturally not too naive.

He patted his thigh and made a conclusion: “Those guys need a master, and that is me! They, together with the land they settled, must be incorporated into Ross.”

History has entered this time point, or this is the inevitable trend of history. As the ruler of Ross, Rurik has stepped on the wheel of history that is going on.

The so-called Rus’ plan to conquer the “Three Baltic States (currently just a large group of tribes)” has been drawn up, and the rest is only a matter of time.

[End of this Chapter]