Rise of Rurik

It's a good thing that the Baron is back safely, but what's going on with those strange ships and strange people?

The entire lower reaches of the Lan River Basin belong to the Barony of Nassau. Legally, the Nassau family owns a large area, but the vast land is in sharp contrast to the sparse local population. The territory is indeed large, and there are only three truly effective settlements: lahnstain, badenems and Nassau village.

Lancun is just a small fishing village located where the Lan River flows into the main channel of the Rhine River. Quanbao is located inside the Lan River. It is a small settlement next to the river. The hills behind it have the remains of a Roman-era fortress. It has discovered hot springs, but the settlement's most distinctive feature is its existence as a small quarry.

Eventually, the largest settlement was just a little further upriver in the village of Nassau. The Lan River becomes very gentle here. The river bends in the hills and breaks out into a fertile river valley plain. The unique geographical conditions make it very suitable for agricultural development.

In Lancun, a simple fisherman welcomed back his baron and became the first locals to learn about the real existence of the Rus.

These people live in a rather isolated way, and they will not risk leaving their place of residence without the Baron's request. There are bears, wolves, and wild boars in the forest. These ferocious beasts will attack ordinary people who are alone. Hunters must always be careful, and hunting must be done in groups. As for rowing out of the settlement, be careful. If you accidentally enter the territory of other nobles and are found to be a stranger, you may be treated unfairly.

Unless it's a priest. Only the clergy could move freely.

Blue Fox and his people released Ludwig in Lan Village, and he was able to stay briefly and "appreciate" the village.

Ludwig and his entourage left on foot along the river with the remaining belongings. Nassau knew that he did not need to show any favors, but he was still worried that the Lord of the Eastern Kingdom would be attacked by wild beasts along the way.

Blue Fox persuaded him to feel at ease: "If a bear or wolf kills him, it will be his fate. Besides, this man kills without blinking an eye on the battlefield. Maybe if a beast suddenly pounces on him, he can decisively draw his sword and kill it." .”

Henry Nassau was not convinced by this explanation and had no time to think about it.

On the same day, people who were tired of traveling and traveling came ashore collectively.

The sporadic people stationed in Lan Village welcomed back their compatriots who had gone to the north. The soldiers of Nassau Village who survived the disaster did not want to go to war. If the Baron had not followed orders, they would have continued their peaceful life in the past.

Ordinary people did not dare to ask the Baron personally because of their humble status. After all, there were rumors that the Baron might die in battle, so the Baron's eldest son would naturally inherit the title.

Now, Henry Nassau is a living person standing here alive. Some of the soldiers who went out to the expedition have died, and the remaining people are enough to tell the fellow countrymen what happened in the north.

When the real reality was described by these returnees, the people in Lancun felt that the whole world had become bizarre and magical.

Because everyone knows that the entire Barony of Nassau is loyal to the Frankish royal family, and since the Earl of Ingol is loyal to the Eastern Kingdom, Nassau also follows suit. Now everything has changed, the Baron of Nassau has been upgraded, and even the name of the territory has changed. What does Count of the Netherlands mean? In this war, the Baron of Nassau received the spoils of a large piece of land at the mouth of the Rhine River. The new Earldom of the Netherlands was a suture of Friesland, Utrecht and Nassau. Even his hometown of Nassau became An enclave.

But how do ordinary people know the terms and customs of distant places? Lord Baron has a new identity, will his life be better?

What is certain is that the other side of the war, the rebellious Saxons and the heretical barbarians they invited from the north, won the war, and now the barbarians are here.

Are they really barbarians? It is difficult for returning warriors to change their past titles in a short period of time. The so-called non-converters are "barbarians". Even if the other party is very powerful, they always have some contempt in their hearts.

The villagers consciously kept a distance from the foreign troops who landed, and felt anxious after learning that these people had made an agreement with the adults to legally settle in Nassau. They are just ordinary people who cannot influence the decision of the nobles. They can only pray that the people who come are not despicable strangers.

After a long journey, Lancun was filled with the aroma of cooking wheat.

The blue fox brought the "high technology" from the north, which was a big iron pot. This was the marching pot used by the Russian army. He only brought one pot with him, and the rest of the cooking utensils were all pottery urns.

The captured military rations, the demanded Saxon grain tribute, and even the grain tribute received from Britain, some of these supplies are in the hands of Blue Fox's squadron. He is essentially a businessman who is good at calculations. Now that he has an army in his hands, he has to calculate the food and drink expenses of these people.

The food he had on hand was enough to support the army for a period of time after arriving in Nassau. After the food was exhausted, he had to find a way to get supplies.

Obtaining supplies from the Baron of Nassau seems to be a reasonable choice, but the army of 500 people faces only more than 2,000 Nassau people, and the locals are simply unable to support them.

Therefore, when the blue fox came up with the idea of ​​​​plundering Coblenz nearby, it was not surprising. It seemed to be a fat sheep waiting at the door of the house, waiting for food supplies to be insufficient.

At present, food is relatively abundant, and for the sake of long-term stability, Blue Fox intends to show its kindness to all ordinary people in Nassau.

The bonfire crackled, and Blue Fox, holding a batch of silver coins in his hand, immediately bought out today's catch from the fishermen in Lancun. The villagers provided the largest amount of local seabass. Blue Fox showed his generosity without mercy. One seabass was worth a silver coin, and of course he wanted to enjoy it with his cronies. Such a large sum of money shocked the fishermen's hands to tremble.

Because some fishermen have debts to the nobles, and today they just sold a few fish. In disguise, the Russians from outside helped them settle their debts.

To hell with impure beliefs and all that! Outsiders are good people if they have money and are willing to help poor people solve their economic problems. Besides, as long as the foreign Russian leader is not blind, he can see the sterling silver cross hanging on his chest. This... is actually a friend.

From now on, Henry Nassau does not understand Blue Fox's behavior. He simply thinks that this guy does whatever he wants because of his wealth.

Henry Nassau and Blue Fox casually got together to heat the fire, waiting for the grilled fish to mature.

European seabass bones are good. After scraping the scales, you can process the spiny back and tail and skewer them before grilling.

The fish is grilled until blackened on both sides, sprinkled with some salt and served.

Henry Nassau held the grilled fish in his hands. He was so excited that he couldn't help but sigh: "You get one silver coin for one fish. You are really generous."

"It doesn't matter." Blue Fox answered casually.

"Okay. I'll wait for the wheat porridge you cooked. Ah... it's really a nice night's stay. I'm very pleased that you maintained restraint and didn't disturb my village." After that, Henry started to eat.

The blue fox looked at this guy again, smiled slightly, and continued to eat the fish.

Blue Fox has never been a kind person. He has to calculate whether everything is profitable. Unsurprisingly, he learned some tricks from Rurik, such as showing some kindness to the poor and then accepting them as dogs. .

Therefore, he has many such "loyal dogs" under his command. Except for a very small number of real Vikings from Rus and Sweden, there are a group of Viking Saxons who cannot survive in Denmark, and even a group of Saxons who converted to God.

There is also a rather reliable Slavic entourage, Oberlidit Vadi.

As the Earl of Gothenburg in Ross, Blue Fox deigned to develop in the Frankish hinterland on the order of the king. He would leave after the mission was completed. However, there was no need for the team he led not to leave. Instead, the "other members of the Gould family who arrived later" A fox" takes over.

Therefore, based on the principle of complete voluntariness, one must make a commitment to join the Blue Fox team-to convert to God.

The already full Blue Fox patted his belly: "It's great to have a priest in your village. Just take a look..."

"How?" Henry glanced at him.

"There are still many people who have not converted to your god. Just find your priest in your village and hold a public baptism ceremony."

"You...you...are really willing?"

Henry Nassau was a little excited. After all, he was not a priest, but after these outsiders converted to God, he would not be embarrassed as a noble.

"Of course. This is the first priority when I arrive in your village. I also want to talk to your priest. That man must speak Latin, and we will have a great conversation."

"That's true."

Some words should be buried in the heart. Henry Nassau was convinced that even if these ruthless people converted collectively, they would still be able to be robbers with peace of mind, but they would just do it so that the rabbits would not eat the grass on the edge of the nest. That's fine too...

The next day, the people who suffered from the fatigue of boating and traveling slept until noon. They had another meal and kept enough energy to officially plunge into the Lan River in the afternoon.

That night, the fleet camped ashore at Quanbao.

The current existence of this place is a quarry. There are less than fifty people living there. They dig rocks, cut them into pieces, and transport them back to Nassau Village. Their work can be said to be extremely leisurely.

The name of Spring Castle comes from the Roman ruins on the hill. The hill was originally a permanent Roman fortress hundreds of years ago. The available building stones were gradually moved back to their hometown by the Nassau people, and they continued to build thin films locally. Excavate granite beneath the soil. It is precisely in the gaps between these rocks that there are spouts that heat the groundwater, and the hot springs can flow by themselves.

The hot spring has not been developed and utilized because it is too hot and far away from large settlements. Only mining workers can use the resources here to wash clothes and take a bath.

As the weather gets colder, the hot springs gushing from the ground form a stream. The water cools quickly and finally flows into the Lan River.

It was the first time Blue Fox learned about the hot springs here while living here.

The hot springs are not surprising. Henry Nassau pointed out very directly that the huge Mainz area where the East King's army was mainly stationed. The small town Wiesbaden is famous for its hot springs. In Worms, not far to the south, which is legally Ludwig's core territory of Bavaria, there is a hot spring area in the hilly area near Worms, which is simply named Baden-Baden. The so-called place There are many hot springs.

The entire area was once the garrison of a Roman legion, and there were fortresses along the lower Line River where Nassau sat, with clusters of fortresses extending to Mainz, Worms and Frankfurt. At that time, the Roman legions were wary of the Franks and Alemanni in the north. In the end, it was the Franks who had the last laugh.

No one in the Nassau family recorded history, and villagers could only learn fragments of the past through word of mouth. For Henry Nassau, his family seemed to have been allied with the Franks since ancient times, but in his generation they betrayed them for a better future.

Therefore, the three settlements of Baden-Ems (Spring Castle), Wiesbaden, and Baden-Baden on the River Lahn have long existed and are all named after the springs. They are geographically close to each other. Directly below the river's course is a geothermal active area.

In an era of plenty, this geographical feature was ideal for building a sanatorium. In fact, it was explorers from the Roman era who discovered this feature. The Romans who loved bathing first built a hot spring bathhouse in Wiesbaden, which was actually the supporting infrastructure for the Roman legion camp. Later, these facilities were inherited by the Frankish nobles. Frankfurt am Main was a palace built by Charlemagne as a base for his expedition to the East and a holy place for bathing and recuperation.

King Ludwig of the Eastern Kingdom is still in the mood to enjoy a hot spring bath and relax? He didn't have time for this.

Even though Spring Castle near Nassau Village has hot spring resources, Blue Fox is keenly aware that it can be used. Now is definitely not the time to renovate a hot spring bath.

People only think about enjoying themselves when they are wealthy. He learned that the lives of Nassau villagers have always been relatively poor. People are busy improving their livelihoods, how can they be in the mood to enjoy it?

Do the Nassau family really love their fellow tribesmen? He has always done a decent job, no different from other little lords.

In the past, the Baron of Nassau and the Earl of Landingau were allies. The weak Nassau had to pay tribute to Ludwig, the great nobleman of the Eastern Kingdom, and Yingau had been helping to transport supplies for many years. The amount of tribute was not large, but the entire Barony of Nassau only had this small population. They could not grow much food on the relatively barren land, so they had no choice but to find other ways to develop.

They have been developing agriculture, but cannot be prosperous for various reasons.

Even so, the people's spiritual world is full. Ordinary people don't have to think too much. They work every day, go to church once a week, participate in festivals, and live a simple life.

Why is this so?

It's because of the geographical structure of this place. Hot springs are a treasure, but the soil here is thin, and only the valley plains between the hills are suitable for farming. Reclamation is also a kind of risky investment. If reclamation has a high probability of bringing in profits, the public's enthusiasm cannot be restrained at all. Nassau Village adheres to the rough agricultural methods of the past, and coupled with the lack of fertility of the soil, there is not much surplus of wheat and oats grown every year, and it is normal to have poor harvests for many years in a row.

But in such an environment, grapes can be grown on the hills and cattle and sheep can be raised on the wasteland in the valley plains. All of these require upfront investment. A large number of farmers who are already short of money have become tenants of the Nassau family. They lack the motivation to invest in buying cattle and sheep, so it is fundamentally unfeasible to open up acres of land in the mountains to develop grape plantations.

Because the entire Barony of Nassau is the territory of the Nassau family, and the hills are the property of the nobles. "We have graciously given you the right to hunt in the mountains and forests, so don't think any more." The Nassau family thinks they are very kind, but unfortunately, this "kindness" has not turned into a lot of wealth. If the people were not wealthy, small families would have to have a large number of children to increase the agricultural population. However, many children died at a young age, and the number of births was high and casualties were high. This was why the entire Barony of Nassau only had more than 2,000 people.

In the final analysis, the area is both fertile and barren. If it does well in livestock raising and growing grapes, it will naturally make a fortune, and then the money earned from trading dairy products, meat and wine can buy food so that it becomes rich.

The Nassau family lacked business thinking and investment motivation. If it were not for the war, Henry Nassau would have lived a peaceful and mediocre life, and he would not even have left his own name. He could only be labeled as "Baron Nassau of a certain generation" by his descendants, and his descendants would continue to be barons. and continues.

But the history belonging to this family has completely changed! The Nassau family no longer had to wait until the 13th century to develop with the help of the HRE. Now, the family had to develop in the Netherlands overnight.