Rise of Rurik

A wooden tower is being built in full swing next to the Ross Barracks outside Hamburg.

It harvested materials nearby, and tall pine trees were cut down one after another. The collapse of the big trees often caused the earth to shake violently.

The place did not have the conditions to build a huge tower, so under Rurik's instructions, the army went on an expedition to celebrate Hanukkah for the first time. The soldiers were very tired, so the wooden tower did not need to be too huge.

The big tree is cut and then piled up in a tic-tac-toe pattern, eventually reaching an exaggerated height.

The oil-rich pine branches will be attached to it, and some fish oil boiled nearby will also be used as a combustion aid for the final ignition.

The Russians building a fire tower with great fanfare seemed strange to the local Saxons, but it was a matter of everyone working together to do one thing, and everyone welcomed the lively atmosphere.

They ignored the scattered snow and worked hard during the increasingly shortened daylight hours, relying on cables to drag downed trees over the snow. There was a busy scene everywhere.

Since building a wooden tower and then burning it was a gift to Odin and the gods, the Russians said this, and the Danes immediately agreed.

Because Ragnar is the high priest of Hanukkah who has seen the Kingdom of Ross, they made it very loud and lively. The festival started in the flames and gradually ended as the flames were extinguished. Who doesn't love that kind of exciting scene?

In other words, no one can refuse a fire in winter.

However, if anyone wants to reject this "winter fire", that person is none other than the monster in the wooden cage.

As the formal peace talks approached, Rurik adjusted his negotiating proposition. He also basically understood Ludwig's side's proposition, and was even more certain that the other party also roughly understood what he meant.

If the two sides have communicated with each other before the peace talks, then there will probably not be loud quarrels over some conflicts during the negotiations.

Rurik felt that Ludwig and Hardbold would make compromises for practical reasons. In exchange, he also compromised on behalf of the entire North.

A peaceful treaty requires both parties to exercise restraint. If either party is aggressive, the treaty will probably become a piece of paper in a few days.

Rurik had an unknown bottom line in mind: the peace treaty should last at least ten years.

Ten years later, the Kingdom of Rus will be strong and strong. If there are changes in the south, it will be worthwhile to fight the entire Frankish world.

Rose has only begun to show her ferocious claws. She is an eagle that has just learned to fly, and its wings are not yet full.

What Ross needs most now is the morality of the northerners. In order to consolidate the king's power, Rurik decided to use human sacrifice as planned.

The airtight wooden house is quite warm, and the only furnishing here is empty and is a wooden cage.

There is a monster curled up in the cage. It only has cloth to cover its face and looks like a ball of flesh at first glance.

On this day, Rurik came again with his entourage to see the sacrifice.

The guard who held the handle opened the wooden door, and a warm current hit his face, but the air was mixed with an unspeakable stench.

"Damn it, did this wild boar peed or peed?"

Rurik subconsciously covered his face and motioned to his subordinates to go in with oil lamps to find out.

I saw that the lump of meat in the wooden cage was squirming, but there was fishy filth directly underneath the cage.

Seeing this, the guard hurriedly felt ashamed: "I'm sorry, Your Majesty, we neglected to check, and actually..."

"Don't blame yourself." Rurik stretched out his hand to signal with a sullen face, then lowered his head to observe.

Apparently this piece of meat sensed someone coming. He kept twisting his body and his throat kept making gurgling sounds. No one knows what he was mumbling, and no one will ever know.

"Very well. Horik Haraldsson. I thought you were dead, but it seems you are still holding on. You must be in great pain now, right? This is what everyone wants to see."

"I'll tell you a secret, you have been completely given up by Ludwig."

"You still don't know who I am, right? I am Rurik, King of Rus. I have captured Ludwig. I will talk to him soon. And you will become a sacrifice, and I will burn you to death. "

"You have betrayed Odin, you have betrayed the Danes, and you have brought unrest to the whole north. You must die! You will die soon."

"If you bear with it a little longer, I will light the fire myself."

The defeated Horik was destined to die in a humiliating way. Before his death, he lost his sword-holding hand and even his walking feet lost their meaning. It is impossible for his soul to go to the Hall of Valor. The soul can only wander forever in the void outside the legendary World Tree. People in the north believe that this is a punishment for those who have committed heinous crimes.

His eyes were stabbed, the tendons of his hands and feet were cut, his tongue was cut and his throat was burned.

Horik's only sound ears were that he heard everything but was unable to make any refutation.

"Okay, if I continue to stay here, it seems that I like to torture this pig." Rurik sighed deeply and ordered his subordinates: "We must see him. Only if he is sacrificed alive can we have this year's Hanukkah." significance."

The original plan was to bring the captured Horik to Fort New Rose as a sacrifice. The man had been slaughtered and no one believed he could survive much longer.

The captured Ludwig was fully aware of this matter.

Ludwig and Hardbold knew this person, and they only thought about it from the perspective of faith. They both felt that the wooden cage fire ceremony that the Normans had been asking for was not a good thing. After all, Horik converted to God, but he was still defined as a heretic with "heinous sins." According to the treatment of heretics by the Roman tribunal, he should be crucified first and then burned to ashes.

The two sides have similar attitudes towards Horik's handling, and they have used this matter to get closer to each other.

Therefore, for Rurik, the material conditions are ripe for holding a Norman Hanukkah sacrifice in Saxony this year.

All that remains is the successful conclusion of the peace talks.

So in the stone room of the parlor of the fortress in Hamburg, all the wooden tables used for dining were removed, and the stone room at the top was empty except for two four-corner wooden tables put together and a map laid on them.

All the nobles attending the meeting had long been entrenched in the city of Hamburg. On this day, ordinary people watched the nobles enter the castle, and the people immediately began to talk about it.

Once upon a time, priests claimed that Danish pirates were guilty of heinous crimes. Now the Archbishop of the North and the Archbishop of Cologne are personally involved in the peace talks. They have compromised with Denmark, Ross and other Normans, which means that the priests' statement is no longer worthy of belief.

A new idea gradually awakened among the Saxons.

"If the Normans just want to do business, then trade well with them. After the peace treaty, we must not lie to each other."

Those smart people have noticed that when peace returns, Hamburg, the only city in Saxony, will become a trading center where people who fled the war will find new opportunities here.

People no longer think that their faith in God is the only criterion for their lives. Since the king, nobles, and regional archbishops cooperated with the Normans, it was absolutely legal for ordinary people to do business with the Normans, and there was no need to worry about going to hell after death. Because God not only failed to kill this group of Normans, but tragic death came to the Frank army, which explains the problem.

The city of Hamburg has survived the disaster that destroyed the city, and the Saxon refugees also suffered huge losses in population. Fortunately, the dust has settled and people's lives are recovering. They were very pleased that the salt-deficient living conditions of the Saxons were now a thing of the past. They could directly and safely boil seawater to make salt at the mouth of the Elbe River, and use it as hard currency for transactions to make money.

After all, the Saxon tribe in Europe has a huge population of half a million people. The Saxon refugees in the Hamburg area won the war, which meant that the Saxon villages in the entire region would be freed from Frankish rule. The people relied on the lords. The lords were loyal to the Duke Liudov family, and had the belief endorsement of the northern archbishop of Saxon origin. They could be their own masters.

All the Saxon local nobles realized this after receiving the news after the war. They rushed to pledge their allegiance to Liudov. Even if it was foggy and snowy, the village lords either personally or sent messengers to come to Hamburg to pledge their allegiance to them. The owner swears an oath.

Therefore, Liudov was not completely hiding from the defeated Ludwig who was running around in Hamburg in civilian clothes. He had to spend a lot of time to rectify the ruling structure of his all-Saxon "Burger King City", especially to promote himself from the West. Valia's subordinates who escaped. The second step is to meet with various small lords, and all village owners will be canonized as barons.

It was still a cloudy day today, and it was extremely cold outside. The wooden barrels placed outdoors were all covered with thick layers of ice, and some sheep that were not well cared for froze to death.

The interior of the High Castle Stone is quite lively, and there is no tension here like when facing negotiations.

Here, Rurik could look directly into Ludwig's big eyes, and so did the other party.

There was peace on each other's faces, as if this was not a humiliating peace talk between the victor and the defeated.

Rurik looked around and saw nobles wearing leather clothes.

"Ludwig, can we start?" Rurik asked in Latin.

"You are the winner. Let it be announced by you." Ludwig replied.

There was no need to say any more polite words, and Rurik had no intention of reading out a long paragraph to show off his dozens of noble identities.

He took out a piece of paper, or a list.

Then he read out what was on the paper, and pointed at the open map with a wooden stick in one hand.

Compared with the map of the known world owned by the Holy See, Rurik's map covers the entire Europe. This map was drawn by her herself. Due to her advanced knowledge, the details of the map are quite detailed.

Rurik's move was to represent the victor's side, especially to safeguard the power of the Kingdom of Rus, and to outline on the map the new political territory of northwest Europe and Northern Europe that he supported.

So, the new territory looks like this.

It is bounded by the Great Wall of Schleswig in Denmark, the world of God in the south, and the world of Odin in the north. The sovereignty of Schleswig belongs to the Kingdom of Denmark.

The Duchy of Saxony, with the Weser River as its southern border. The entire territory north of the Weser River is the territory of the Principality of Saxony, and only the area from Bremen to the west to the south bank of the Ems River specifically belongs to Saxony. The eastern territory of Saxony directly borders Thuringia.

The County of the Netherlands, a coastal lowland to the west of the Ems River and north of the mouth of the Rhine River, was the territory of the County of Henry Nassau. The Netherlands was in principle a vassal of the Duchy of Saxony. The Netherlands continued to enjoy dominion over the village of Nassau on the upper Rhine.

The County of Flanders lost the area north of the Rhine, but other territories remained unchanged. Count Baudouin became a vassal of the Duchy of Saxony.

This was Rurik's request, and now it was Ludwig's turn to play his cards.

"You...are this just a request?" Ludwig, who was listening attentively, was surprised by some of the territorial arrangements, especially since they were clearly the victors, but they deliberately gave up the possession of some land.

"I can probably guess what you are thinking?" Rurik showed an intriguing smile.

"Do you really know?"

"I guess you are wondering why Saxony doesn't ask for Westphalia. Obviously it is most appropriate for Liudov to say it himself." That's all, Rurik immediately showed his eyes.

At the negotiating table, Liudov had a great say as a party to the war. He had already communicated with Rurik before the negotiation, and after some mediation, the two of them had unified their opinions, and even made some decisions that surprised Rurik.

No, Liudov's eyes were on fire.

"My King," he called Ludwig, "Actually, I never wanted to betray you, but... you are persecuting me. In order to protect myself, I can only fight with you. Now you are defeated, this war In the final analysis, this is not my original intention. I just want to get back the power that originally belonged to my family. Now that I have got the power back, I intend to...continue to be loyal to you."

Ludwig's eyes were determined not to flatter him, and Ludwig was shocked. He didn't expect that the rumors he learned were not rumors. He really didn't understand that the victor would surrender like the defeated?

Ludwig, who couldn't understand such a thing, didn't know what to say.

Liudov continued to explain that he had no intention of playing any emotional cards and would never say any flattery. He said seriously and bluntly: "My Principality of Saxony can pull Flanders and the Netherlands to be loyal to you. We are only nominal vassals of East Francia. I swear that I will not be an enemy of you unless you take the initiative to provoke it." Offensive war. We still regard you as king. If the Middle Kingdom attacks you, we will send troops to support you as appropriate. But we will no longer pay the taxes and tributes we paid in the past."

"You..." Ludwig was not angry at all. On the contrary, he was extremely happy. "You don't want Westphalia? I took back your fiefdom, and now I can give it back to you."

"No need, I'm very satisfied with the current situation."

Ludwig nodded, "Let me tell you my attitude..."

Ludwig and Hadbold had a joint idea. They did not expect that Liudov and the Normans behind him would jointly make concessions. Their move showed their sincerity for peace. For this reason, Ludwig lamented that he had done so. Good preparations come in handy now.

The Archbishopric of Cologne expanded, absorbing all of Westphalia. The Eastern Kingdom underwent a comprehensive strategic contraction, and the Kingdom recognized the semi-independent status of the Principality of Saxony, the County of the Netherlands and the County of Flanders. The kingdom's absolute rule retreated to the Alemannic region, which included the Rheingau, Mainz, and Worms. The Kingdom recognized that the House of Nassau, which owned the Netherlands, still had the right to rule over the Barony of Nassau, which was located in the County of Rheingau.

The issue of determining territorial rights, which should have been a matter of spit and fly, has completely become the issue that needs no discussion at all.

The plans of both sides were almost consistent. The winner, led by Rurik, exercised restraint, and the loser, Ludwig, also saved his face.

To be fair, the Russians and Danes currently have no ability to rule northwest Europe. They can at most establish some coastal colonial trading points. Whether to expand their control areas in the future depends on the current situation.

The total population of the Saxons was already large, but war broke out on their territory. After the war, the Saxon people were extremely poor. What they needed most was cultivation. Liudov, who was not yet firmly established, was forced to compromise due to reality.

Speaking of compromise, no one needed it more than the defeated Ludwig and Archbishop Hardbold of Cologne. Both men saw the great military strength of the Normans. They were first extremely afraid of it, and now they had plans to exploit it.

The territorial scope was divided, and all the nobles present were witnesses. Since no one raised any objections or objections, the determination of the territorial rights of the winning and losing parties has been completed.

Therefore, the arrangement of economic and trade activities based on the division of territories is what needs to be further discussed at the peace talks.

On the one hand, they are eager to extend their business tentacles to the mainland of Europe to seize greater profits. After all, doing business is lower risk than robbery.

One side has lost troops and generals, and is in urgent need of some means to make up for the financial deficit and the loss of troops.

So Rurik was surprised to see that first, the Archbishop of Cologne completely opened all river rights of access in the Diocese of Cologne, and then saw Ludwig allow merchant ships to enter all channels of the Rhine.

This is just the beginning of the surprise.

Ludwig made a huge "concession": "Rurik, do you know the Danube?"

"Danube? I... know."

Ludwig pointed directly at the map. Under the attention of many nobles, he pointed directly at some points on the map.

"This place is probably Lake Reichenau and Lake Constance. If your ships are capable, you can go upstream to get here. After you get here, go north and you will reach the Danube River. I think Joseph (referring to the blue fox) knows this very well. Lu, I will not refuse your request for trade this time.”

Wait! what is this? Could it be that a war completely turned the Eastern Kingdom on and off from the Viking world? Is there such a good thing?

Rurik, Ragnar, Biyongni, Blue Fox, etc. were all shocked. Especially Liudov and Nassau, they did not expect that Ludwig would make such an outrageous concession, which was simply unbelievable.

What Ludwig said was true. Now Baudouin, who had already defeated the still aggrieved Flanders, did not feel for a moment that he was ashamed of being a man who took advantage of the situation.

In the ecstasy, Rurik tried his best to suppress the excitement in his heart. He reluctantly put on a suspicious posture: "You are making such concessions because you are entirely focused on commercial interests. I don't believe you know much about our Norman business. .”

"But I understand your military skills." Ludwig shrugged, "Now that my body is controlled by you, what else can I do. I know you don't want me to die, but my eldest brother Lothair I wish I would die. If I die, there will be no Frankish nobles to sign a peace treaty with you. So, you have to protect me."

"Are you asking me to establish a military base in the core area of ​​your territory?"

"So I give you permission to establish a base in Nassau Village. As long as you meet my first small request." Ludwig's attitude suddenly became more pleading.

"any request."

"At least you disguise yourself. All your ships entering the Rhine have to do is display the cross flag."

"Why bother?" Rurik pretended to be angry, "We are Odin's warriors, and my Rose wants to fly our flag."

"Then hang up an additional cross flag. Rurik, I am willing to ally with you. You can do business in my kingdom and help me fight as mercenaries. I will not charge you a single copper coin in taxes and will also pay Don’t plunder me any more for your military expenses. You flying the cross flag just proves that you are my friend, so that you can attack the Middle Kingdom wantonly. I will ignore any unprovoked killings and plundering of the Middle Kingdom. However, if ..." Ludwig deliberately kept his breath steady: "If any of you are willing to convert to God, that would be great."

Hearing this, Rurik's eyes had to glance at Harald Clark, who was standing aside like a follower.

"Do you think of us as Harald Clark and his people? Do you think of us as a potential mercenary group?" Rurik laughed.

"If you can help me attack the Middle Kingdom, defeat my eldest brother Lothair, and help me consolidate my throne in the Eastern Kingdom, why don't we cooperate?"

"You are very smart." Rurik nodded. The development of the situation has far exceeded his expectations. "It's just that I didn't expect that in order to defeat your eldest brother, you would rather form an alliance with barbarians like us."

"But, do I have a choice now?" Ludwig had no choice but to smile bitterly, and then played the emotional card again. "Rurik, you are wiser than any noble I have ever met. Maybe you can be the Augustus of the North. If you converted to God everything would be perfect! Of course, I know you won't do this. God does not Punishing you Normans, God is punishing me. I want to make an alliance with you, and if it is wrong, God will shed tears and kill me, but if I do not die in the punishment of God, this alliance is right."

Rurik looked at the nobles present. If the Eastern Kingdom opened the Rhine and Danube rivers to Ross, it would also be equivalent to opening up the entire Northern Alliance.

This is so stupid! The Eastern Kingdom simply gave up on national defense.

Wait!

Rurik probably figured out the inside story - Ludwig was probably worried that the Middle Kingdom's army would destroy its remnants in one battle and then wipe out the entire Eastern Kingdom.

Months of war are now over.

After several battles, more than 5,000 heavy cavalry, 6,000 heavy infantry, a total of 13,000 armed peasants, and 5,000 slave soldiers in East Francia were wiped out. I am afraid that Charlemagne could not stand this outrageous war. loss!

Ludwig's family fortune was about to be wiped out. Just from the perspective of maintaining his royal power, Rurik admitted that this guy's logic was reasonable and helpless.

The pragmatic Russian army has done tactical deception by displaying cross flags. In the future, peaceful trade with the Eastern Kingdom and direct armed robbery with the Middle Kingdom are really two beautiful things.

Therefore, Rurik announced in a high-profile manner: "This king only represents the Kingdom of Rus and is willing to form an alliance with East Francia. We can discuss any terms of alliance in detail."