Rise of Rurik

The Daugava River flows peacefully in the flat plains of Northeast Europe. It meanders and, together with its many tributaries, nourishes the entire region like the veins of a leaf.

An ancient "Amber Road" runs through the Eastern European plains, connecting the Baltic Sea and Egypt. The Daugava River is an important inland waterway of this thousand-year trade line.

Amber and beeswax can be dug out of countless pebbles on the beaches of Pomerania, Prussia, Courland, Semigalia and Riga, and after being carved and shipped to distant places, they can be sold at a good price.

There is demand in the far south. Even if times change, there are always adventurers traveling on this path.

Egypt had long since been destroyed, replaced by Eastern Rome. The rough amber stones and processed products excavated in this way were transported to Odessa at the mouth of the Dnieper River and Kherson at the southern end of Crimea. Merchants from these two important northeastern towns in Eastern Rome could directly purchase them.

The merchants knew that by continuing to row into Constantinople and Thrace, the amber could be sold at a better price. However, due to the orders of the Roman emperor, those pagan barbarians had no right to pass through the northern border.

Roman merchants and chartered Bulgarian Khanate merchants could bring northern goods into the hinterland of the empire. Even though they were brave enough to fight, the northern merchants lacked the strength to cause trouble in Rome. They do not even have the ability to challenge the regional overlords, the Khazars, perhaps simply because these northern Varyags do not originate from Rus.

In ancient times, Phoenician and Greek adventurers struggled to maintain this trade line. The nearest two hundred, fair-skinned savages completed its monopoly.

Even the Khazars, who controlled the lower reaches of the Dnieper River, were always unable to target merchants crossing the border.

The highly maneuverable Viking ships ignored the low water levels of most streams, including but not limited to being towed by travelers overland, and were seized and carried by a group of people.

The Khazar cavalry wanted to collect taxes, but most of them could only stand by the river and yell. The extremely wide lower reaches of the Dnieper River are like an ocean. Especially in the area south of Kiev, there is a long, narrow and extremely wide lake. This is where Dnepropetrovsk is located. The existence of the natural large lake is also the geographical basis for the construction of the Kremenchug Dam. .

In today's era, both sides of the river are almost no-man's land. There are two important supply stations on the way. One is the Kiev community of the Krivich people, and the other is the Derevlian community in the west of the Pripet Swamp. (Today Mozyr to Turov). The two communities have an ambiguous attitude towards these foreign Varangians. On the one hand, they will wait for opportunities to rob the population, and on the other hand, they also bring cheap salt from the north.

The vast Dnieper River is open to everyone, and the Varyags sailing on the river come from many places.

For the people of the Kiev community, times have completely changed. The Rus are one of the Varyags, and they are also the most cooperative Varyags.

The traditional trade route of the "Amber Road" is no longer the only road. The "Salt and Iron Road" connecting the capital city of Rus on the Neva River and the estuary of the Volga River was not only born, it is developing rapidly.

The Kiev community voluntarily displayed the flag of Russia, especially at its own small pier, just to attract the attention of ships passing by, hoping that the visitors would also be Russians.

The "Salt and Iron Horse Road" is a strong competitor to the "Amber Road". As the former becomes more prosperous, Smolensk, which is located in an important transportation line area, is increasingly hit. This blow does not come from commercial competition, but simply from traders treating the people of Smolensk as wild animals that can be captured.

Slave snatching was the characteristic economy of the "Salt and Iron Horse Road", and it emerged in an extremely barbaric form.

Because all this comes from the arrogance and active imperial majesty of the northern giant Rus Kingdom.

What is arrogance?

A new city was built just upstream of the Lovati River. The huge Valdez Zee is the water source of many rivers in Northeast Europe. A new military town belonging to Russia was established here. Although it is essentially a trading node for the Russians, to others, it is a sword hanging over their heads. .

But what does my business have to do with you? The Rus' army is here, and the trade line must be on the Rus' monopoly.

The Ross standing cavalry and the Ostara cavalry began to explore the Great Swamp. They were divided into ten-man combat teams. The order they received was first to explore the surrounding terrain and hydrology in order to find suitable pastures and hunt local animals. and river fish resources.

Of course, if you find someone appearing, rush up and investigate immediately. If they are people from Kiev or Pecheneg, they are the guests who should be entertained.

As for others, they can be arrested directly and all goods confiscated. If you dare to resist, killing them immediately is not a problem.

In Lukiholm, a whole new town has sprung up.

As its name suggests, there is a huge bend in the Lovati River near its source. The land here is relatively hard, so at least there is no problem in building a large number of wooden houses and tall wooden walls.

More than a thousand people moved south from Novgorod, and most of the young men and teenagers from the Principality of Ostara participated in the construction of the new city. This matter was greatly funded by King Rurik of Rus, who also sent some soldiers of the 1st Cavalry who had experienced many battles to participate in the construction and protection.

Axes and two-man saws continue to transform the forest, and a huge construction site forms in the river bend area. The peasants dug a large pit with shovels, and then dozens of people worked together to push and pull the huge pine wood into the pit, which became the main pillar of the wooden fence.

Nowadays, building walled military fortresses is not a big problem for the Russians. They have accumulated a lot of experience in the past era, and now they are not only copying the technology, but also further improving it.

Some people suspected that apart from the working civilians and patrolling cavalry, they might only encounter allied caravans from the south. There is no threat here, so why are the king and the duke worried about the enemy? If you just want to prevent wild animals from entering the settlement, you can build a low wooden wall. There is no need to build a large wall that requires a long ladder to climb directly.

Ordinary people just need to live their own lives. They finally put their doubts behind them. After every day of intense work, what everyone longed for most was to have their own wooden bowl filled with cooked wheat.

However, some people began to complain: "Wheat with little salt is not delicious. We brought too little salt."

Carlotta, Duchess of Ostara, who personally supervised the construction of the city wall, stayed at the construction site and could clearly notice the complaints of her subordinates. Those men and teenagers, they always work shirtless in this warm summer, cutting down big trees and transporting wooden poles. The wooden walls were piled up, and people's bodies were wet with sweat and covered with a lot of soil and sawdust.

Almost all the people here are men. When they are dirty, they jump directly into the Lovati River to bathe. Soap is no longer a rarity. Even if soap made from various oils and fats always stink, there is no more cost-effective washing utensil now. Wearing fig leaves or linen pants, they sat together around the campfire, eating wheat rice and drying their washed clothes.

If you eat little salt and frequently engage in heavy physical labor, a healthy person will suddenly become comatose if things go on like this.

Carlotta has already experienced hundreds of battles. She is a qualified tribal leader. Although she is a duke, she still manages her country in the same way as in the past. She tried her best to gain insight into the conditions of her men and listen to their complaints.

There are also ships going down the river, just to carry dried salted fish and brand new two-man saws and axes from the rear.

At least because of the sufficient oat reserves, the meals were meager but at least sufficient. Everyone continued to work hard with patience, and a military town with three sides facing the river took shape due to the outline of the outer wall, and its square shape was already clear. Obviously the next thing to do is to continuously stack wood on the established framework, and finally create a majestic wooden fortress. Lukiholm will build enough before winter to sustain an army over the winter.

An unconventional longboat sailed on the Daugava River for a long time. Twenty people carried their cargo and continued their journey to find the source of the river through pure paddling.

They all have blond hair and blue eyes, except for the guy at the head.

The guy's name was Harold, and his blond hair had faded, and his increasingly gray hair and beard were evidence of his age.

Some people stick to their unchanged life even at an old age. Harold is such a person, a traveler who is good at adventure.

But from another perspective, this person is also a money-hungry snobbery and a vicious robber.

There is no arbiter of the complex trade routes in central Eastern Europe. There are of course multiple communities of settlers here, but their living areas are extremely scattered. In most areas, there are no human beings within a radius of hundreds of miles, but various wild beasts are often seen. Travelers don't mind raiding the villages they pass by, plundering their people and selling them off.

For example, they raided Polotsk villages at night, kidnapped the villagers, and transported them to Smolensk to sell them.

No, there were three women tied up on the boat. Their eyes were empty, and simple linen cloth covered their trembling bodies.

They had been toyed with by Harold and his group of Varyag bandits for many days. Now the brothers were tired of it and just hoped that these three women would not go crazy so that they could be sold at their destination.

As the leader, Harold naturally does not have to row the boat himself.

They came from Riga. Harold's subordinates included local Latvians in Riga and Danish-Varyags who had lived a settled life. The latter were actually of mixed race.

Harold, an old guy, had been to Kherson in Eastern Rome many times in his life, and he also pinched his nose and paid heavy taxes to do business with the Khazars. The serious local nobles in Riga like to make deals with this guy, but are unwilling to contribute their daughters to marry him. After all, "marriage with a bandit" is not decent.

But Harold was not an old bachelor. He spent money to buy a young woman in Smolensk, so he had a son and a daughter.

Not all well-informed old Varyag pirates are willing to die on the battlefield or sacrifice their lives on the voyage. He is old and has accumulated some wealth from wandering for most of his life. It is time to find a comfortable place to retire.

Maybe it's all fate, and a perfect home is Novgorod!

The boat drifted quietly, the current in the upper reaches of the Daugava River became more and more gentle, and the young travelers faithfully fulfilled the secret of voyage - non-stop paddling - just like their fathers.

The physical fitness of young people is the envy of aging guys. Their endurance is amazing and they are brave enough to fight. They were very eager for wealth, so they all believed Harold's preaching in Riga and believed that what the old man said was not a boast.

"First Evolution"

The long hours of paddling are always accompanied by boredom, and it is difficult to stop discussing the gains and losses of the sneak attack on the Polotsk village. However, the ship is about to reach the source of the Daugava River, and the brothers just listen to the old man Harold. shouted arrogantly.

"Listen! Back then, those guys from Ross tore apart the Yin Ermen Lake in the north. The leader there killed thousands of people, but I took the guys and sent the leader's son to Smolensk. I am His savior"

"That boy really deserved his fate. He actually became the son-in-law of the leader of Smolensk. Now it's even more incredible. That boy is already the leader of Smolensk."

"You young guys, be smart and don't rob the locals when you get there, otherwise... I will personally chop off the head of the person who committed the crime."

"Oh, you may ask why I do this. I am the benefactor of the big leader. Without this relationship, how can we enter Smolensk tax-free? Boys, follow me and I guarantee you will get rich."

Everyone was stunned by Harold's words. The white-haired old man here was so well-informed that they had no choice but to continue to listen to his bragging.

But for people like Harold, if he can do business with peace of mind, he will naturally be welcomed by the residents along the entire "Amber Road" route.

The source of this person's purchases is the Gulf of Riga, which is rich in amber and salt. Amber can be transported directly to Kherson. Roman nobles like northern gems very much, which is the hard currency of the route. As the people of the communities passing by the route are located in inland areas, it is extremely difficult for them to obtain salt, and they are happy to buy it at high prices from outside merchants transporting salt. He even handed over his daughter in exchange for a valuable sum of salt.

Even the Slavs of the Kiev community had this extreme situation of handing over their manor girls to Varyag merchants in exchange for salt. The destination of these girls is still Kherson, and eventually they will appear in Constantinople in the form of geisha dancers, maids, and wives.

This long ship had no mast, and the three captured Polotsk village women were "extra wealth." The most important cargo was salt and rough amber stones.

Finally, the upper reach of the Daugava River finally came to an end, and the keel of the longboat began to eat the mud at the bottom of the river, finally reaching the point where no matter how hard you paddled, you could do nothing.

"Boss, what should we do?!" A young boy asked loudly.

"Then get off the boat! Didn't I tell you when we set off? Now tie the ropes to the bow and sides of the boat, and we'll tow them through the swamp."

It is said that this is very reliable. When they were in Riga, the brothers listened to the old guy's cheerful words and thought about how much they would gain from Kherson's trip to Rome to see the world, completely ignoring the hardships of the journey.

They took the prisoner off the ship, happy that the prisoner had not gone crazy. Then, under the command of Harold, the young man towed the ship rationally and headed south in the watery Valdai swamp.

This was not a boat trip on dry land. The lighter boat was towed by twenty people, its keel gnawing on the soft grass. They deliberately looked for ready-made puddles and creeks in order to further reduce the fatigue of towing.

Even so, when they found a flat spot to rest at dusk, everyone gathered together and had to complain about their exhaustion.

"Don't complain! I never complained when I was young like you. Many of my old brothers either had accidents or died of old age, and were even hanged for robbing the Romans. You see? Why did I complain? If you want to get rich, We have to face difficulties. Don’t worry, after we towed the ship for three days, we reached the upper reaches of the Dnieper River, and there will be no need to tow the ship after that.”

Three more days of towing? How outrageous is this?

At least young people feel there is hope.

They lit a bonfire on a hard ground in a swamp with few trees. As night fell, the bonfire became extremely eye-catching.

Then, the Ross Cavalry, who was also resting at night, noticed this absurd light.

Maybe a horse team from Kiev? A patrol saw the light, and after some discussion the brothers decided that they must rush back to the patrol camp to report the news, so the news reached the ears of the dozing "bald" Fisk.

Maybe that's the guests, and the guests must understand that a new supply depot is being built quickly and is tax-free to Alliance merchants.

"One more night's rest! We will ride over at dawn and lead them to the north." Fisk ordered.

In addition to the team led by Fisk, he was convinced and organized a team of twenty people. Discussions continued until the initial estimates were accepted as fact and people were fully convinced that it was a caravan coming from Kiev.