Rise of Rurik - Chapter 837

[Chapter 838 Banquet]

Osborn was sleeping soundly, he didn’t know anything, and for the time being he could only follow the baby’s instinct to get close to his mother.

He has personally experienced a long winter journey since he was born. Although his effective body has been protected by warm swaddling clothes, people say that the young prince has been able to overcome the severe cold like his father and grandfather.

He just slept peacefully, unaware that the whole of Novgorod was cheering for his birth.

The Slavs by Lake Ilmen, especially the people of the White Tree Manor, are not satisfied with a girl from their own tribe, Svetlana, seeking benefits for all the Slavs as a queen.

Now Osborn was born, and his father, Rurik, dismounted from the sleigh before the eyes of the whole town, and soon announced the baby’s identity.

The spokesperson of all Slavs or the lineage of the Slavs on Lake Ilmen was born, and it was him, Osborn Slavs.

The joyful atmosphere in the entire Novgorod city seemed to be a grand festival, and people talked about the prince.

Some people say that the child will stand on the side of the Slavs and seek more benefits for everyone.

Some people also said that the child was born extraordinary, and they even vowed that they had good eyesight, and they happened to see the child’s appearance clearly and judged it accordingly.

People are full of compliments, especially since spring is not far away. Who would not be happy to be so happy more than a month before spring plowing.

When it comes to happiness, old Ligus passed out from seeing his grandson Osborn, as Rurik estimated.

After barely waking up, the old guy took the initiative to tease his grandson.

Although the father loved the child, Svetlana was so scared that she hurriedly defended her fault, preventing her old father from accidentally hurting the child due to excessive intimacy.

Of course, Osborn was not Rigus’s first grandson, but he was the most distinguished grandchild.

The Slavs naturally do not have the custom of confinement, but Svetlana has actually returned to her natal home with the child in her arms, and there is no reason to leave here for a long time to come.

Naturally, her biggest task is to take care of her son, and by the way, to allow her body to cultivate for a long time, which is equivalent to confinement.

Rurik was completely assured that his natal family took care of the mother and child with the best resources.

Because compared to myself, purely out of political considerations, none of the Ilmen Slavs around the lake would oppose such a half-blood prince. healthy growth.

But Rurik will not pin all his hopes on an Os himself.

My first wife is very young, and the extremely smooth birth process also proves that she has excellent physical fitness.

She is such a healthy woman, it is unreasonable not to have more children in the future.

The long journey of the sled team came to an end, and nearly a thousand people who were exhausted by boats and cars needed a good self-cultivation.

Those young men who were selected were immediately incorporated into Rurik’s cavalry, even though this group had never even stroked a horse?

The replacements of the cavalry and mercenary guards entered the reserved houses in Novgorod on the spot. From this day on, they were the ones who could eat the king’s salary and had to serve Rurik and the princely family.

They took a sauna and showered in hot water in the cold weather, and changed into new uniform clothes after they were done.

They were formed immediately, and the cavalry replacements stayed in the cavalry’s centralized dormitory, under the supervision of cavalry veterans.

Those fifty young mercenaries who were selected as replacements began to receive training from Captain Grund the next day.

**Their future is bright and tense, which is a shortcut to becoming a brave fighter, which means that it is likely to die in a bad battle.

Everyone’s life is short, and those who have a long life are saints chosen by the gods, such as the old priest Vilia of the Ross people. After a long sound, his soul directly becomes a Valkyrie.

They were convinced of this, and they all figured it out during the long journey through the ice and snow.

Whether it is voluntary or the request of their parents, the brothers are now the confidantes of Prince Rurik, and everyone must accept this fate and take it as a lifelong creed.

At night, the palace of the Prince of Rus in Novgorod is brightly lit!

“To the majesty! To the heroes who defeated the Danish king!” It was none other than Governor Medved who raised his glass and cheered.

This strong Slavic man named after a bear, the more he thought about the birth of his nephew Osborn, the happier he was. He even poured himself a few glasses of strong wine, and he drank a big blush in advance.

He raised his head, and everyone else raised their glasses high.

This is a feast for men. Since they are relatives, in-laws, sworn brothers, and even honored guests who came from thousands of miles away, their performance now is even more casual as there is no red tape.

Rurik held his wine glass high, and the transparent glass swayed with honey nectar.

The room was warm enough due to the fireplace and the matrix of oil lamps, so he was wearing a plain white shirt, and he was free to tie up a few openings at will, exposing some of the golden chest hair on his chest.

The behavior of the others is also quite similar, they are all men, and now is a good time to drink a lot of wine.

“Cheers! The glory belongs to us! We will not get drunk today!” Rurik said cheerfully.

Barrels of hopless ale and kvass are brought into the house one after another, as well as carefully packaged spirits and mead for people to enjoy.

Rurik was so happy tonight. He blushed, talked and laughed at his old father and father-in-law, and winked at his old friends.

Although there is no culture of persuading wine, Rurik, who is in high spirits, frequently raises his glass and asks everyone to have a drink with the prince.

Who dares not to give face to the prince, even old Otto, he never imagined that his grown son can drink so much, this is one of the beauty of a real man, his old bones must be accompanied by him.

Poor Kagan was forced to drink more than a dozen glasses in a row, with spirits but mostly ale.

Ale with a bitter aftertaste is a delicacy on the prairie.

As the son of the prairie, he also brought some prairie kumiss this time. Although most of them were sold, he purposely left a barrel for the present occasion.

The drunken Kagan had already had a full drink, and obviously served exquisite cakes and barbecues, but he only ate some dried raspberries and sliced meat as appetizers, and he really couldn’t eat other delicious meals.

Kagan’s head was still half awake, just looking at the people in the room, all of them were really blushing, and many men took off their shirts because of the heat from drinking.

Look at this group of strong men in the north, their white skin has turned red like boiled crabs, everyone is still drinking and chatting in Norse.

Kagan slammed the table abruptly, using Jiu Jin to make a big move.

Rurik had been paying attention to Kagan for a long time, and he was very happy to see him drinking with everyone.

Why is this guy slapping the table now?

Kagan, who was naturally short, stood up slowly, and explained to everyone in a very broken Norse language: “I brought kumiss from my hometown, let my people come in and offer it now.”

“It’s kumiss?! Hurry up! Bring it up quickly.” After saying that, Rurik also knocked on the table, and the others followed suit.

Some turbid and whitish kumiss exudes a strong milk aroma in addition to the smell of alcohol.

Rurik poured a little honey into the glass, and after stirring evenly, it was a wonderful concocted wine.

He tasted the flavor slowly, and saw that Kagan was already walking towards him with a wine glass.

Kagan was sitting in front of Rurik’s square table, holding the wine glass high with his single right arm as if doing a ritual.

“Rurik! He is my good brother! My father said that he wants to marry my little sister to my brother Rurik! Brother, what do you think?! My sister, be your concubine! This year , you can no longer shirk!”

Kagan’s movements were extremely large, because he knew a little about the Norse language, so many words were barely put together in his speech.

“Your sister? Good! It is… my honor to be married to your sister.”

“Oh? You don’t shirk anymore?”

“Since it’s Pecheneg Khan’s idea, why should I shirk it? Also, the matter of the horse…”

“I’m going to have a discussion with you. Come!” After finishing speaking, Kagan put down his glass and knocked three times on the square table in front of Rurik: “For our friendship, cheers!”

This clean-up banquet seems to be a simple reunion of friendship.

The strange thing about the venue was that although King Bjorn of Sweden and other Swedish nobles were involved, they didn’t get a chance to strike up a conversation.

Today, during the daytime, Bjorn saw the huge Novgorod city and a large number of people in the city. He also really noticed a huge lake area, and subconsciously felt that this place was indeed quite similar to his hometown, Lake Mälaren.

But night fell quickly, and he and other Swedish nobles or envoys had no chance to take a closer look at the city.

But everyone was proud of the face they stared at Otto at this banquet.

“The warriors of yesteryear are old now. Your son is a real man now, and he’s done better in your place.” Sorrow floated in Bjorn’s mind.

But when it comes to sadness, isn’t Angreve of Unclas even more sentimental?

No matter how you look at it, Otto is no longer the heroic warrior of the past, but an old man with white hair and age spots that cannot be concealed.

Otto was dying, and his own condition was just as bad.

Also present were the eldest and second eldest of the Gould family from Ancras.

Needless to say, the big white fat man in Baihu, the other man who is only slightly fat is actually the second son, Blue Fox?

It is said that the Gould family even bought the female slaves who served the bed as skinny women, and within a few months they could grow into fat women. The statement is certainly an exaggeration. Their family should be as fat as elephant seals. Fat people.

King Bjorn of Sweden didn’t dare to say anything, and the others were too busy drinking with the Ross nobles.

They were all quietly observing, for example, watching the nobleman from the grassland in the far south.

Kagam wanted to seize the opportunity, and negotiated with Rurik about buying horses without doing anything. As a result, everyone was busy drinking and eating meat, and finally drank to pieces, and the matter had to be shelved for the time being.

An extravagant and carefree banquet really made everyone vent. The next day, Rurik slept through the day, and when he really planned to do something, it was already the third day back.

The rulers of the north and the heroes of the grasslands of the south meet in one place.

After a blissful banquet, Kagan vented his bitterness.

Both he and Rurik had regained their spirits, and the two men did not delay any longer. The purpose of meeting today was to settle the horse deal.

First of all, it was Kagan who was the guide and took his sworn brother to visit the densely populated horse herd that was temporarily kept in captivity.

Before reaching the place, Rurik heard the neighing of the horses.

“Haha, this is one of the pens where I put reindeer, and now all of them are housed with horses?!”

The attendants of the deer breeders who accompanied him hurriedly introduced to the prince the proficiency of the horses sent by the Pechenegs, as well as the feeding conditions during this period.

“There is no need to report in detail, you have done a good job.” He signaled his subordinates to be quiet for the time being.

The entourage reported the key information. The grassland people and the Kyiv people sent a total of more than 600 horses, among which the mares were the most.

The horses to be sold had long been assigned to the treasury of the Principality of Ross, so the horses had been fed with a daily ration of oats in accordance with the regulations set by the prince himself.

All of a sudden, there are six hundred more horses. They are not like reindeer that can graze in winter. The whole is a huge appetite for consuming wheat.

But everything will be fine in the Spring Festival, because the prairie people, either out of wit, good intentions or even political flattery, drive a large number of mares to conceive in the spring, and then they can graze wantonly.

The fence was opened, and Rurik, who entered the enclosure, petted the prairie horses one by one.

“Very well, all good horses.”

Kagan took the opportunity to speak: “The horses are all carefully selected by our tribal alliance. The nobles have negotiated, ten pounds of silver coins for the mare, and five pounds of silver coins for the stallion.”

Rurik nodded: “I fully accept it.”

“Oh? I was worried that you would think it was a bit expensive. But I have seen the prosperity of the Principality of Ross, and anyone who doubts your financial resources is stupid.”

“Naturally.” Rurik shrugged, the price was within his expectations, and there was no need to bargain.

Because silver coins are a natural medium of exchange after removing the properties of precious metals.

It is the pricing standard of commodities, so as long as the pricing is negotiated, both parties to the transaction can bypass the real silver coins and use the actual virtual silver coins as a medium to complete the transaction by barter.

All you need to do is exchange the goods of equivalent value for these 600 horses.

Rurik inspected the goods carefully, and every horse he touched seemed docile.

There are also some obviously inferior horses, shorter in stature, and the horses sold by the Kiev people over there. Because of their relative disadvantage, the Kyiv people offer a 20% discount.

Kyiv Horseman is a full-power horse seller appointed by the local people in Kyiv. He followed Kagan. When it comes to selling horses, this prairie nobleman is better at trading.

“They are all good horses. I want to trade them right away.” Rurik looked down at Kagan. It had only been a year, and his stature was even taller, making Kagan appear shorter.

“I know you brought other things besides horses, how about the **** I need?”

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“There are a hundred.”

“Well, less.”

“It’s a little less. Brother, it takes some time to make good bows in our grasslands. Every bow is very good, and it’s just right to exchange it for your crossbow.”

Rurik nodded: “That’s true.” Someone asked deliberately: “You bought a crossbow from our country, I’m sure that when you bring it back to the grassland, you will immediately dismantle the bow arm and replace it with your gun. Brothers, we are all men, and the pursuit of excellent weapons is innate.”

Kagan felt that there was no need to cover up, so he laughed foolishly.

He confessed: “It is true. We Pechenegs face too many enemies. We need good weapons because of our small population. With your assistance in the future, we will be safe.”

“So you need to buy more goods, and the goods I exchanged with me are naturally not limited to horses and guns, as well as some kumiss and cheese.”

“There are still some prisoners.” Kagan said with obvious pride.

“Captive? What’s the situation? Are you going to sell me a slave?”

“Sold. If those women are slaves…”

“Oh? What’s going on here?”

Just when Rurik had a question, Maksakyi, who kept quiet, immediately explained: “When we came, we attacked several Smolensk villages and captured some women.”

“Bought by people here?”

“Exactly. I’ve heard that the Ilmonites have come to have friction with the Smolensk men. Once the men of both sides come into contact, it’s a fight. I’m from Kyiv, and I don’t care about their fights, and you Varyags rule Ilmen Men, I think you are also hostile to Smolensk. Those female captives were bought by the nobles of Ilmen.”

Things have become quite complicated, and Rurik asked again: “How much do you offer?”

Kagan hurriedly explained: “I’ve inquired about your slave prices, even though you don’t seem to be trading slaves here. Those female captives are all young, and each half-pound silver coin is very good value.”

“It’s a good deal. It’s just… you are provoking the Smolensk people.” Thinking of this, Rurik sighed: “I’m a little worried that you are making yourself uncomfortable. They may send troops to intercept and kill you .”

Hearing that, Kagan looked up to the sky and laughed fearlessly: “It’s those farmers. The cavalry facing me is no match at all. Brother, I brought 200 cavalry this time, each of which is our Pecheneg elite. In my opinion, those Smolensk people are very weak, you… if you send troops, you should be able to take them easily.”

Listening to Kagan’s words, he seems to be urging Ross to send troops to the south.

Sending troops to conquer Smolensk was already in Rurik’s plan, but he just felt that the time was not ripe and shelved it for the time being.

Because it has been rumored for a long time, the rebels in the Ilmen Lake area have not been completely eliminated, and some people have fled to Smolensk.

Continuing to go south to clear up the remnants is the perfect excuse to conquer Smolensk, and most of the local Ilmen people are not emotionally resistant to going south to fight.

Because the Smolensk people covet the fertile lakeside soil of the Ilmen Lake District for farming, they have always intended to go north to annex it.

Now that they could go north, the Ilmenites could go south.

This matter can be discussed in detail, but Rurik has this intention: “Kagan, and you, Sakye. Please tell me about your experience in Smolensk, and we can get together before starting. A little meeting. Come with me now, and show you what I have brought. Please wipe your eyes, keep calm, and don’t faint with joy…”

[End of this Chapter]