Rise of Rurik

Baron of Nassau, this title has been hereditary for hundreds of years.

The small barony has hardly changed in a hundred years, and no one has recorded the past era. Henry Nassau only knows the names of his ancestors, and has no idea how many interesting things have happened in this land.

Even for nobles, it was impossible to live a prosperous life in the era of great turmoil that followed the destruction of Rome. It was now 841, and village life had not improved much. Henry Nassau was the largest and almost the only large landowner in the area, and his family You can get support from farmers completely legally, and your life is reasonable but has nothing to do with prosperity.

Now, a new era of turmoil has arrived.

Henry could not come up with a luxurious meal to entertain the blue fox who was attending the banquet. The only feast he could think of was to take a lamb from his own pen and roast it wildly.

Days for eating barbecue didn't come often, and to be honest he was envious of the Russian side during the war. They were once enemies out of necessity, but now they are allies.

Even on the battlefield, the Rus monarch is very concerned about whether his troops are well fed. Ensuring a supply of grain was a big concern for the young king, and the opportunity to obtain meat would not be missed.

Henry was even lucky enough to attend the banquet hosted by King Ross as an ally noble, and the delicacies from the north were eye-opening.

Once you taste something delicious, you can't go back. If you can eat delicious meals from time to time, the boring life will be a little more exciting. How to achieve all this? He could only immigrate to Friesland and become the Earl of the Netherlands.

The lamb was roasted rather ferociously, and the professional chefs raised by the Nassau family were only average.

The Baron usually ate bread, but the peasants ate rough whole-grain wheat bread, brown bread, and boiled wheat flour, while the Baron ate fine white flour that had been screened.

Even so, the master would still take his cavalry retinue to hunt in the upper reaches of the Lan River. The euphemistic name of collective hunting is to train the army, but in fact the main purpose is to hunt for meat and leather.

If they successfully hunt a bear, they can make a lot of money, but usually they can't hunt European wild deer and bison.

So seeing the roasted whole lamb on the table, Blue Fox was embarrassed to criticize them for not knowing good food.

Roast lamb is roast lamb, even if you don’t even sprinkle thyme on it, its authentic burnt aroma is enough to make you mouth-watering.

According to tradition, when nobles gather, the nobles and their wives naturally sit down to dine, while children are excluded.

This time, Henry wanted to arrange a marriage for his daughter Sophia, so he took this opportunity to let the blue fox take a good look at the little girl.

tableware? No, there are no explicit cutlery. If so, it's a knife.

Henry's hands were covered with mutton fat and he ate the mutton with great vigor.

Everything returned to the past era. Seeing this, the blue fox was too lazy to be polite. He put the two wooden sticks and silver forks aside and started to chew the meat with both hands.

The same goes for the female nobles. Little Sophia didn't have many opportunities to eat meat, so she got this opportunity and turned into a little wolf. Of course, the blue fox admired the way she gnawed on meat.

"It seems like your daughter likes eating meat very much."

This was said unintentionally, but when the baroness caught a glimpse of her daughter's oily mouth, she immediately cast a scolding look. Little Sophia also got excited and became a little more graceful. She didn't dare to look directly at her parents, so she sat upright and chewed slowly.

Henry was slightly embarrassed: "She's actually pretty good."

"That's fine by me too. She's like your gem, so your two sons weren't even part of this party."

"Maybe it's not necessary. As long as you feel good about it, the marriage can be settled."

"Okay. I only have one request for her now."

Henry was startled, fearing that this blue fox had any strange request. "Speaking."

"Just like what you did just now, you let her open up to eat meat, and it's better to be rough. To hell with all that elegance! We women in the north are not cowards, and your daughter must also be like a wolf. My sister-in-law Gotta be strong.”

Indeed, most of the so-called female etiquette was taught by priests. Sophia was taught that she needed to keep quiet at all times, but this was obliterating her innocent nature. Those priests paid attention to the days of austerity and abstinence, and even had to eat very simply, using this asceticism to get close to God.

The Barony of Nassau belongs to the diocese of Worms (Mainz), adjacent to the huge suburb of Cologne, and de jure to the larger northern diocese. Unlike the extravagance of the high priests in the Diocese of Cologne, the Diocese of Worms, along with the northern dioceses, pays more attention to asceticism and purity.

They advocate asceticism. As for whether the priests in local monasteries can implement this initiative, it is difficult to say...

At least based on the current situation that the Barony of Nassau is not wealthy, the local priests cannot be extravagant even if they want to.

Little Sophia was shocked that her parents actually wanted to eat as much meat as possible. She was ignorant about marriage, and she completely compromised on her instincts when it came to satisfying her appetite. Little did he know that the more vigorously she ate meat, the more Blue Fox liked it. What is a Gould woman? If you can't be wild in eating meat, how can you qualify to marry?

When Blue Fox happily told Henry and his wife this wonderful story, they were very surprised. I also heard that Blue Fox was actually an anomaly in the entire Gould family. The fat little boy was once ordered to run around the vast world, but he lost a lot of weight because he couldn't eat well or sleep well.

The whole family is fat, which proves the family's wealth since ancient times. In this era, no one must be sure that obesity is harmful to health. On the contrary, only being obese can prove that nobles are truly noble.

Blue Fox took this opportunity to take a good look at Sophia. This little girl was also very innocent. After accepting the beautiful amber given by Blue Fox, and seeing that the slightly fat uncle looked kinder in comparison, he felt relieved.

She could never control her future. It was this kind of family education that made her accept her fate smoothly.

It was when she learned that her parents and brothers were leaving Nassau Village with a group of people, almost forever, but she was not part of this kind of departure.

As if she had been abandoned, Sophia cried bitterly in confusion when she learned the news at the family dinner. Unfortunately, nothing could be changed.

…

The banquet was over, and after a night of sadness, Sophia's face was once again full of melancholy. I just welcomed my father back, but I never thought that my father would leave again.

She had a good feeling about the blue fox, and was full of fear and wariness towards the men carrying bucklers. As a result, she was told: "What are you afraid of, girl? From now on, you will still be a local noble, and these soldiers will protect you."

Although it does not comply with any laws, Joseph Blue Fox Gouldson Goldberg, Count of Gothenburg of the Kingdom of Rus, will become the temporary "guardian" of Sophia Heinrich von Netherlands-Nassau.

In a sense, Henry (or Heinrich) hoped that his daughter would have a qualified teacher who understood life. He thinks this blue fox is very good. Now he can adapt to the real life of the northern nobles in advance, and he will be able to adapt immediately when he marries his biological brother in the future. Even this move is a more radical form of voting.

Henry is her father, and the priest of Nassau Village is Sophia's godfather. Even this name was given by the priest by looking through the manuscript "Gospel". Legally, the godfather is now her guardian.

Therefore, when Henry Nassau's family immigrated to the Netherlands, the remaining mansion was inherited by his daughter in principle, and then by his combined family.

Blue Fox can live here in the future, and part of the army can also be stationed. In this way, the entire Nassau Village is actually occupied by Blue Fox's Ross army.

They must be reliable occupiers. Anyway, Henry no longer has much nostalgia for this homeland. He believes that many farmers will choose to immigrate after learning that they can live a better life in the Netherlands.

Immigration is a big deal! There is no need to discuss this matter with the farmers. Henry's family must leave, and the other person who needs to be notified of this matter is the priest of the monastery, the middle-aged man named Conrad.

Now, Father Conrad basically understands the situation.

When Blue Fox claimed that his godfather was Eskil, the Archbishop of the North, this identity really aroused Conrad's awe. After all, Conrad was only a summer priest in the Diocese of Worms, and being assigned to the Barony of Nassau meant he was marginalized. Unexpectedly, his life, which should have been so miserable, would turn around. He really didn't expect that this fat northerner was actually an earl.

The count does not seem domineering. Maybe it is the famous ascetic Esquier who teaches well? No! No matter how you look at this count, he has nothing to do with a poor life. His clothes alone are enough to judge that his life is luxurious.

What shocked Conrad most was that the man spoke halting Frankish and miraculously fluent Latin.

There was no communication barrier between the two parties. After learning that there were many troops under his command who had not been baptized, and that he would achieve the honor of collective baptism for them, Conrad was convinced that this was a huge achievement and he could not wait to do it.

The date for the collective baptism has been set. Before that, Henry Nassau, Blue Fox, and this Conrad identity held a small meeting to decide the entire barony.

The outcome of the meeting would change everything, and the surprised Conrad almost fainted.

"This matter! I...I must inform the Bishop."

The fundamental reason that shocked him was Eskil's letter. From now on, the Barony of Nassau would no longer be legally classified as the Diocese of Worms and would become an enclave of the Northern Diocese.

This was also a small clause in the results of the great peace talks after the war. The so-called new Netherlands and the Principality of Saxony were all included in the Northern Diocese. Nassau and the Netherlands are far apart but they are one. Nassau, which is caught between the diocese of Cologne and the diocese of Worms, must keep pace with the Netherlands. This matter was recognized by both the Northern Diocese and the Cologne Diocese. The defeated King Ludwig didn't care about these matters at all, and he agreed because he didn't feel any pain for him anyway.

"Even if you write to inform me, nothing will change. From now on, this will be the northern diocese, and the north will be responsible for the funding. Don't worry, your dilapidated monastery can be repaired, and the buildings in this village can be rebuilt. Our army Stationed here are brand new guards. We will not be greedy, but we will not be greedy for you." Blue Fox promised, and used words to cover up some of his ambitions.

How could Conrad not believe that outsiders did not harm the villagers these days. He was looking forward to the ceremony of baptizing these northerners, and as for the future...

"If a noble from the north settles here and marries Sophia, it would be great if Sophia's son inherits the title of Baron of Nassau. There will be no turmoil and everything will be fine. You... are like angels from the north."

Father Conrad was willing to support the Blue Fox group out of reason and emotion, so he also promised that when Henry Nassau publicly announced the Great Immigration, the priest would build momentum for it.

Of course, news of the Great Immigration does not just leave.

The first servant of the Nassau family passed on the news, and the immigration caused a sensation in the entire Nassau village. Migrate away from home? This year's wheat has just been sown. Are there any benefits to immigrating? The Baron has added a new title of earl and a new fief, but what does this have to do with ordinary farmers? Could it be that the master can recruit some more people to be his followers?

The village with no story naturally made immigration the most eye-catching topic of conversation.

People must make their own choice!

As technical personnel, the craftsmen in the village only depend on the noble masters for their livelihood. The population of this kind of people is extremely small, and they are basically divorced from pure agricultural production. They cannot live without their masters, so immigrants have no choice.

Ordinary farmer families are in trouble. Most of them are tenant farmers, but there are also a group of farmers who pay taxes. The tenants had no choice. If the master made a request, they would be forced to obey.

The only people who really had a choice were the homesteaders, who were also in a dilemma based on little information.

However, in Nassau Village, where most of the population is gathered, it is quite easy to recruit the men who can speak in the village. Henry Nassau easily gathered all the men and informed them of the immigration in detail.

He was only responsible for informing the public and giving the public three days to consider it.

There is definitely enough time for people who intend to leave to pack up their few belongings.

In fact, Henry's family will never leave alone when they immigrate. His destination is Utrecht at the mouth of the Inn River. The area is full of Frisians. When he goes there, he will not be able to see his old family members who are not familiar with him. , it’s really a bit lonely. So he ordered that all current debts owed by families who were willing to immigrate should be forgiven, and he promised that they would be allocated new land after immigrating, and this year's taxes would be exempted. As for the immigrants' rations this year and their crops next year, they would all come from the immigration area. of taxes.

Is this a favor? Not just a favor, but a new type of shackles. Although immigrants canceled old debts, they also added new debts. They were tenant farmers before immigrating, and they were also tenant farmers after immigrating. However, these farmers can calculate. They will find that participating in immigration will eventually reduce a certain amount of debt. Why not?

Homesteaders who are not in debt will definitely not go! Immigration means adding a new debt, and only fools leave. What's more, the Barony of Nassau has not been abolished, and everyone's life will continue as usual in the future.

It was during these three days that all the soldiers under Blue Fox who had not converted were gathered. He brought five hundred people, but more than a hundred gathered at the door of the simple monastery.

Looking at these people, Father Conrad was not as wary as he was when he first saw them. Now he was like looking at a group of lost lambs.

"My children. The light of the Lord shines on you! Come with me! Accept the call of the Lord..." In some obscure Latin, Conrad gradually called the waiting people into the house.

He held the Gospel in one hand and pressed the person's head into a huge bucket filled with rose essential oil with the other hand, letting the holy water flood the person. It takes six times for the head to be submerged, and the last time it emerges, it is called becoming a human being. This is a kind of emphasis, the so-called "seven days of creation".

The etiquette tested Conrad's physical strength. The middle-aged man gritted his teeth and persisted. After baptizing everyone, he was really exhausted.

He was tired and relieved that such a major achievement was accomplished by himself, so everything would be fine...

The three-day period has come, and during this period, Henry Nassau's family was in a state of panic.

The so-called broken home is worth tens of thousands of dollars, and because he can rent a large Russian ship, Henry wants to remove as much of the belongings from the house as possible, including the cattle and sheep in the pen. There was no need to put the cattle and sheep on the ship. Blue Fox paid for them and bought them directly, so Henry sold some property that was not suitable to be taken away in exchange for jingling silver coins.

Sofia was completely marginalized during the entire moving process. She felt abandoned by her parents, but a big hand gently pressed on the girl's shoulder.

It's a blue fox. Now, Sofia is no longer afraid of this fat man.

"You have to leave them sooner or later. Fortunately, this area is your territory. You are the local female noble."

Female nobles with real power are not uncommon in the north. The Kingdom of Rus has two powerful female nobles, the Countess of Narvik and the Duke of Ostara. Their power is of course based on their young sons. In the same way, Sophia's control over the Barony of Nassau must also be based on the sons she will give birth to in the future.

People who decided to immigrate gathered at the crude dock that had just been built. They were initially shocked by the so-called "Ark", and now they are about to ride it all the way to the mouth of the Inn River. People who have never left this area for several lifetimes really have to leave forever. They are the ones who owe the most debt to their hometown. In order to make a living, they chose to leave with the noble master, and when they left, nearly a thousand men and women left.

The number of people is large, but this includes infants. Blue Fox's armed cargo ship tried its best to load it and cram three hundred people into it. There was no problem, but the living conditions during the voyage must be terrible.

Riding on a boat is hundreds of times better than tedious walking, and by simply drifting, you can reach your destination in just one week.

Therefore, Blue Fox decided to separate ten longships with a total of 300 people to escort this huge army of 1,000 immigrants to the Netherlands. The main task of the six long boats is actually to connect the ropes of the boats in series and row against the current to bring them back after completing the transportation task. He contributed almost all the ships in the entire fleet. Once the operation started, Blue Fox only had 200 people stationed in Nassau Village.

In this way, even if he has ambitions for the city of Koblenz, the current situation of the few troops on hand and the lack of ships also determines that any ambitions must be suppressed for the time being.

Now, the historic migration to Nassau Village begins!