Rise of Rurik

Ella carrying a heavy suitcase is a bit funny, but all the suitcases are filled with important things to Rose.

Documents and even simple papers with recorded contents were wrapped in impermeable leather and stuffed into oiled backpacks.

Bags of all sizes were hung on the saddles, and Ella and the ten accompanying scribes also rode with the cavalry.

For this occasion, the cavalry team's horses were more prepared. Those foals that have just grown up or even just been conceived, Rurik will not give these horses a chance to rest. It is precisely the mares that are the first choice for war horses. The horses must undergo more rigorous long-distance training to prove that they are indeed high-endurance Turks. horse.

Today's Ross simply can't achieve the true appearance of one person, five horses or even ten horses like the Mongolian Empire. The Mongolian army can advance at extremely high speeds precisely because each cavalry member can change horses at any time. They sleep on the horse and drink the dried meat that comes with the horse's milk when they are hungry. They have no logistics troops, or a large number of accompanying war horses are logistics troops.

If Ross's cavalry flag force can have one man and two horses, the speed of advancement will exceed that of the longship, and the cavalry does not have to use the inherent waterways like the fleet. The cavalry can go directly in a straight line, through shoals, rapids, muddy lands, and even forests. , can hardly be a real obstacle.

Ross's horse administration is still in its infancy, and the kingdom certainly has a promising future. For the sake of national defense and security, all suitable war horses currently have owners. In theory, Ross can mobilize a thousand cavalry of varying quality to go into battle.

At least there is no large-scale war now, which gives the kingdom a very important period of development for horse administration.

Taking the "second waterway" back to the capital was actually Rurik's personal exploration as a king. He didn't have to worry about guides. Karl Brand's team was the best guide.

The canal excavation work has begun in an orderly manner. In order to excavate as quickly as possible, civilians from the Slavic Flag Team have used the resources at hand to manufacture human and animal-powered cranes. In fact, concave wooden piles are erected on the ground, peeled tree trunks are placed as crane arms, and the mud in the trench is brought out using the principle of leverage. The cattle at Calf Manor immediately became an excellent source of motivation. The cattle pulled the ropes and the mud piled in the baskets was quickly discharged.

All excavation work has been handed over to Governor Medvet, and Rurik no longer cares about this.

What he is quite concerned about now is the small agreement he made with the businessmen who are watching the excitement. These merchants actually came from Lake Mälaren, so that they could promote the existence of a waterway to Novgorod in the capital and in Sweden. Rurik gave them enough time to ferment public opinion in the capital, and it was best to cause a big discussion in the city. In the end, when the cavalry took the overland route and appeared on the western coastline of the capital, his goal was achieved.

In any case, it doesn't matter that he can't participate in the summer festival in the capital. After all, the summer festival is not a major festival throughout the year.

Once there is no large-scale war, life in Russia will return to its former peace and even laziness.

In the agricultural era, a large number of farmers followed the lifestyle of working at sunrise and resting at sunset. They have no clocks, no concept of detailed time, and no need for it. Even though they are still doing manual production voluntarily, because they just want to improve their lives, they are not willing to work harder as long as their lives are better.

Who wouldn’t want to take it easy if they could?

Rurik considered that he was still in the East. What was the current strategic layout of the Western world? Whether the Blue Fox brothers who had arranged to go out were really "doing something big" in the territory of Central Frank was unknown until the news came back.

Out of their own heart and to protect their horse power, the whole team formed a column on the right bank of the river after passing the newly built wooden bridge on the Reed River and rode freely.

The three reconnaissance teams sent out all came back, and they brought back very unified news - there were birds and animals in the nearby area, but there was no human habitation.

This is exactly the same as the report of Carl Brand's expedition.

However, it is impossible to be truly uninhabited. The way forward must be to conquer the so-called Savok village that speaks Finnish, and then to permanently manage it.

A very simple reason is that the "second waterway" needs some nodes that serve as service areas, that is, stations and ports. Building a rest stop from scratch is not as good as using existing settlements to transform it.

Although Rurik believed that he was free to rein his horses, and the horses carried young wars without armor and stomachs, the overall load was not too severe. The horse team could still walk for five kilometers in one hour, which is equivalent to ordinary people walking at a brisk pace, but for The horses can be described as walking at a friendly pace.

It can advance up to forty kilometers in one day. Compared with the two long boats accompanying them, the speed of the horse team is even a little faster.

It was an ordinary night. The ship docked and the horse team rested on the spot.

The young warrior cut down some small trees and smashed them into pieces to serve as firewood. They brought their own charcoal, tinder and fire salt to support the fire, and quickly started a fire by using a bow drill to get the fire. After the fire started, it gradually ignited the freshly cut moist wood, and soon the camp was filled with bonfires.

The iron pots unloaded from the ship were special cooking utensils, and the sacks filled with oats were unloaded, and the army cooked the wheat on the spot.

There is no need to feed the war horses now. It is the peak season for all kinds of pastures, and there is almost endless pastures along the narrow river. Medicinal herbs can be seen deep in some grasses, and the varieties are probably some rushes. Although it is far inferior to alfalfa, it is actually the most common weed in the back. It is the best choice for raising cattle, sheep, and red deer.

These war horses have lived in human society for a long time. They are very young and well-informed. They are not afraid of fire at all, and they are also adaptable to the noise of people talking loudly. Even if they let go of the reins, they just eat grass on the spot, without any desire to become wild horses.

There are only four women in the whole army, and they are the queen and concubines. If you look closely at their identities, they are all prominent nobles. Lanna hugged Prince Osborne and gathered with her three sisters to eat, talk and laugh.

"This is a bit like life in the grassland. When hunting, we also have hundreds of warriors working together. There is no grassland here." Beiyashir sighed silently.

Her description of the grassland was refreshing. Nolen cleared his throat: "The hometown where I live faces the sea, with tall snow-capped mountains behind me. There are only some small coastal flats for grazing in my hometown. The grassland is as big as the ocean, and I am very excited. I want to go see it.”

"We will all have a chance." Lana hugged her son tightly. "Rurik said that as long as we find the channel of the Volga River, our ship can directly reach Sister Beyashil's hometown."

"Ah... that would be great." Of course, Bayahir could not ignore her eldest brother Kagan who became a Khan. She did not want the separation to be a permanent farewell. Ross and Pecheneg would become a country of brothers. As long as Contact should be strengthened whenever possible.

"I just don't know how my sister is doing in the south." The quiet Ella showed a slight timidity. In this situation, she couldn't help but worry about her sister Carlotta.

"Of course she will be safe." Lana's eyes were full of confidence.

"Okay. I heard that the swampland at the source of the Lovati River is the source of many rivers. It would be great if there was also the source of the legendary Volga River. At least we are still exploring eastward. If Arik and people have A major discovery is even better. The scribes under my management will participate in it. My people will try their best to record what they see and hear, and finally it will be carried down by my plane. So I will also take good notes on everything I see and hear during this trip... "

Ella said a lot, which made the other three women quite speechless for a while.

Ella is responsible for keeping the map of the area drawn by Rurik himself and marked with as many acquaintances as possible. This is her job. Therefore, she surpasses others and is the second person besides Rurik to know the truth about the world.

The world is a big ball, and everyone lives on it. Ella still doesn't quite understand how someone standing on the "ball" can't fall into the abyss outside the world? Anyway, Rurik has an obscure explanation.

There are large and small landmasses on the earth, some known and some unknown. Compared to the vast world, Northern Europe is only a small part of the world. Ella can feel the vastness of the world and her own insignificance, and is even more aware that those unknown areas are full of infinite possibilities. Ordinary people simply cannot learn this profound knowledge from Rurik. It is said that all this is rewarded by Odin. She fell into a state of great happiness, driven by an ever-increasing thirst for knowledge, as if she too was blessed by the gods and deeply loved her work.

Lana smiled to ease the embarrassment and simply talked about their children.

So, what can men talk about? To put it bluntly, the young cavalry soldiers are a large group of brave and ruthless young men. They have all received cultural courses, know how to read and write, and understand general arithmetic, geometry, and even some physics knowledge.

At their core, they are still men. They laugh and talk about dirty jokes together, and then discuss hunting and war. and a very simple horse racing competition to see who is the best cavalryman.

Rurik, on the other hand, gathered all five men from Karlbrand's team together, and simply brought ten Savak children bought by the expedition to the campfire.

At first, these children were timid, but after eating salted wheat and a lot of fish, they began to let down their guard against their masters. Due to the need to communicate with other Finns, learning the Suomi dialect of Finnish is a coursework for every old Russian family.

These little girls are equally ignorant about marriage, but they are very accustomed to doing housework for the main family, just like their life in their hometown village.

slave? No. When they give birth to a child in the future, the child will be the third generation of Rus after entering the Kingdom Era. Mixing in some Finnish blood is not a big problem.

After giving these children good food and drink to make them let down their guard, they will most likely talk endlessly about all kinds of things they have seen and heard.

No, after hearing the news about Rurik's strange accent, and after having a full stomach, they really started to talk about their hometown without a story.

They were all chattering away, but Rurik was able to extract three very key pieces of information.

The villages of the Savok people were small, weak and poor.

A small community of less than 300 people seems to live by fishing, hunting and simple planting. In principle, it even actively refuses to communicate with the outside world. If such a village can be hidden for a long time in a deep mountain col or on a cliff top, it is only a matter of time before outsiders find them in areas where there are flat lands but also forest areas where people live next to rivers.

Rurik then said to the leader of the expedition: "Hey!"

"King?"

"They are indeed weak. Oh, thank you that we discovered them. I am worried that if others discover them first, they will launch a massive attack to capture slaves."

"It's not too late to catch him now. If the king is willing." Karl joked, he was sure that the current king had a good heart.

Is Rurik really benevolent on this issue? The matter has nothing to do with morality, everything is based on geopolitical considerations.

He gave Karl a reminder: "You and the other brothers are all old Russians, and we have a common ancestor. You are the initiator of the expedition, so the expedition has achieved great results. You need to be commended. I want to give it to you The opportunity to be a boyar.”

"Hey?! Thank you for your attention, Your Majesty. I just don't know where Your Majesty wants to canonize me."

"What?" Rurik looked at him and smiled: "You seem to be absent-minded?"

"No. My family is too ordinary, and the past was simply a shame for Ross. That's why I responded to the call early and became the first settlers of New Rossburg."

"This is obviously merit." Rurik shook his head. "My father was still in power at that time, but it was indeed my suggestion to immigrate to New Roseburg. You are a loyal person, so continue to show your loyalty! I want Conquer a Savok village and build a new town there, and you! I appoint you count (war chief) to govern that village."

"Thank you very much." After saying that, Karl hurriedly knelt down and performed the warrior salute.

Counts under the Ross system were war chiefs. The difference was that war chiefs in the past only had the power to command tribal warriors to fight, and the title was automatically lifted after the war. In the new era, those who receive the title of war chief must be responsible for managing the security, taxation, and human resource mobilization of an area, and become earls.

They are all earls, and their strength is extremely different.

Nolen, who was accompanying the cavalry, was the Earl of Narvik. The local residents still exceeded 10,000 people, and his son was the first heir to the title.

To be a count in a Savok village with only two to three hundred people is a title for nothing.

In any case, at least with the title of "Earl", the Karl family immediately turned over. The family may still maintain a status of neither rich nor poor, but the title of earl is real. Karl's title was "Count Reed", which was meant to be boring and even funny. He himself had no complaints. After all, he felt that it was an overly domineering name and he felt that it was not suitable for him.

Rurik said: "Since you are already a count, take the first step to recover the village. I will arrange some dismounted warriors for you, and you take forty warriors to control the entire village and try to persuade them to surrender immediately."

"This is easy to handle. I have given them a Ross flag a long time ago, and they do not resist our existence. I am very confident."

"Very good. You guys will go first tomorrow, remember to be quick."

So the next day, three small groups of cavalry dismounted. They were temporarily commanded by Karl. They put on their weapons and paddled collectively towards the village in the most traditional Viking way. The speed was beyond the reach of the cavalry.

The flow of the Reed River is very slow, and the two boats are paddling at high speed. When the Savoks, who were living an ordinary life, saw the ships flying the Ross flag approaching, they hurriedly showed the flag in their hands.

The simple villagers thought that the outsiders were here to trade again. Based on the reward experience, they also wanted to exchange more iron tools from the outsiders. For this reason, they simply made some smoked and grilled dried fish, intending to use these foods. In exchange for something useful.

The villagers' vigilance was better than nothing, and Karl and his party who landed quickly took control of the entire village.

The villagers were surprised to see so many people disembarking from the boat. They were all uniformly dressed, and they completely lost their ability to resist in an instant.

The old man personally held Ross's flag and boldly stepped forward to ask the familiar Karl: "Are you... going to trade with us?"

"Deal? Yes. It is indeed a deal. You will be safe forever and no one will attack you. You will also live a good life in the future and get more salt and iron tools."

"This..." The old man heard it like a dream, but also very pragmatically realized that there is no free meal, "Then, what is the price?"

"Submit to me. Especially you, hand over your power. From now on, I am the leader of this village."

Karl's words immediately caused an uproar, but in the face of a large number of foreign armed men, the villagers did not dare to resist. What's more, these outsiders don't seem to really intend to use force. The little girl who was sold is now wearing new clothes and her whole person has changed. Only their parents can clearly realize that it is their daughter.

The villagers had no choice. If they had chosen to fight, the Karelian people would not have fled. Now they have no chance to fly.

It is said that the supreme ruler of Rus is on his way, and soon the ordinary villagers will meet the "Lord of the Northern World" in person.

"Submit immediately. When King Rus arrives, the king will reward the surrenderers with some gifts. I can guarantee that as long as you surrender sincerely, no one will be harmed." These words were heart-warming, and finally began Karl's final words , completely conquered them: "The Karelia people who caused you misfortune have collapsed! The one who defeated them is King Rus! King Rus helps you get revenge, and you should be loyal to Rus."

They also seek advantages and avoid disadvantages, not to mention being grateful. They noticed that since Ross could defeat Karelia, wouldn't it be easy to solve their own village?

They surrendered completely, and Carl showed enough peace. The Rus' army temporarily lived with the Savoks, purely because the army looked down upon the food of the locals, not even the dried fish they provided. On the contrary, the Savoks were shocked by the fact that the Rus used large iron pots to cook wheat. That dark thing is actually iron!

Karl also took the opportunity to point out: "Do you like it? After surrendering, you will soon have an iron pot."

The Savoks' vigilance was completely dispelled, and on the afternoon of the next day, a strange flag-bearing team suddenly broke out of the cover of the forest.

The villagers were shocked! They had never seen horses before, but now they saw cavalry for the first time.

Rurik saw the village and the Ross longship docked in the distance.

"That's the village. Brothers, hurry up! We're camping in the village."

The soldiers received the order and the cavalry charged.