Rise of Rurik

Count Baudouin of Flanders was just a slippery fish in the eyes of the three Frankish kings.

This guy is even more tactful than his late father. He clearly has no clear stance, or in other words, his biggest stance is his own interests. He can kneel down to any nobleman who is nobler than himself. It seems that he doesn't care about face, as long as he maintains his interests and the wealth of his family.

It was this flexible diplomatic relationship that allowed him to deploy troops in the border town of Brussels and maintain restraint, and to confront King Lothair of the Middle Kingdom but never take the initiative. On the other hand, he actively did business with the Rus, selling wool in exchange for wealth, and even military protection from these Normans, euphemistically saying that he "bought a group of powerful mercenaries with wool."

He also has moves three and four.

Directly south of the County of Flanders is the County of Paris, which has a good relationship with Count Gerard II. The Gerard family that occupies Paris has been a Frankish noble since ancient times, and the current civil war family is loyal to the Middle Kingdom. Although the Count of Paris and the Count of Flanders currently have different positions, it is impossible for a war to break out.

There was no benefit at all from attacking Flanders in the north, and to the south of the County of Paris was the huge and populous Aquitaine.

Now in 841, Charles the Bald has not yet secured his loyal Paris. In Orleans, he gathered a large number of southern nobles loyal to him and actively expanded his army. However, the army of the Western Kingdom had not yet broken out into a decisive conflict with King Lothair.

Baudoin decisively sent a messenger to negotiate with the young Western King. He bluntly claimed that he would not be loyal to the Western Kingdom, but they could maintain military cooperation and even do business quietly.

Charles the Bald was under house arrest by his brothers a few years ago. Now that he is released, it is really sad that he has a fiefdom but no direct control of a standing army. If it weren't for this noble status, how could he gain the support of many local nobles? He could only use the power of these nobles to ensure his own power. He was young and vigorous, and faced with the unfavorable reality, what he wanted was to follow the three-part rule of the world established by his father during his lifetime and win his own large fiefdom.

Each noble has his or her own position, and the position can change suddenly.

The wife of Gerard II, Count of Paris, was the daughter of Adalbert, Count of Metz. Not surprisingly, this woman's son would inherit the title of Count of Paris. Because of this marriage relationship, Paris stood on the side of the Middle Kingdom.

However, according to the regulations of the late king, even if the two counts are married, Charles the Bald, who is not yet bald, must get his loyal Paris.

Apparently the Gerard family felt that King Lothair would definitely agree to completely dominate the Franks in the civil war, so they abandoned the treaty and went to pay allegiance to Lothair.

Lothair, the eldest, Pepin, the second, Ludwig, the third, and Charles the Bald, the fourth.

Originally, Aquitaine was supposed to be the fief of Pepin, the second son. Unfortunately, the prince accidentally fell off his horse while hunting and died. The fief was then transferred to the fourth son, Charles, by the late king. The old king's preference for his younger son made Pepin II, the only son of Pepin who died violently, extremely angry. Only then did he lead the Provence forces to stand firmly on the side of King Lothair. After all, only by winning the civil war would Pepin's family lineage be To become a Duke.

The three living kings plus their nephews were involved in the three-way melee, and the Normans intervened.

Charles the Bald learned that a "situational earthquake" had occurred in the north because of his contact with a messenger from Flanders. The result of the severe shock was that King Ludwig's strength was severely frustrated, but the Norman forces had made a historic intrusion into the Frankish hinterland.

Norman? The group of savages who were critically attacked by Grandfather the Great?

The Norman ax has not hit Charlie's head yet, so he doesn't care. After all, his eldest brother Lothair and Chen Bing in the northeast have to guard against him.

The West Kingdom and the East Kingdom have formed a secret alliance. As for launching a joint operation to launch a two-sided attack on Lothair, not only is the time not yet ripe, but the opportunity is even gradually fading.

"Can he still take advantage now? The army in his hand is buried in the north, can he really win?" Charlie is full of worries about the future of his third brother, so his current actions are becoming more conservative.

No matter what the decision was made on a large scale, even if Lothair really unified the Franks in the future, most of the nobles would still live their lives as usual.

But Baudouin felt that once the Eastern Kingdom was defeated, his County of Flanders would definitely be settled by Lothair in the future.

No Frankish county was more actively involved in the civil war than he was, and now large amounts of wool were piling up in the port of New Antwerp, which was beginning to take shape. And here, a large number of Viking ships also gathered.

Since Blue Fox left, Red Fox, who stayed in Rotterstad, concentrated on running his Ross shop. A military stronghold was built. The trestle built was enough for twenty long ships to dock at the same time. There was also a large trestle along the The river course of the Rhine River is inserted into the river channel, and a large boat can be parked on the left and right here.

The small Rotter River in the Netherlands has Danish colonies on both sides of the river. They prefer to call this place "New Durist", build an altar for the priest Odin, and resume Viking rituals. , even though it’s not far away from Utrecht’s cathedral.

The Bishop of Utrecht was furious, while Henry Nassau, Count of the Netherlands, was indifferent.

However, due to the grudges of the past long time, fishermen from Sweden, Götaland and even Old Rus came from the Baltic Sea. They rushed out of the Denmark Strait and headed south along the coastline. The first thing they wanted to do was to find the place in Rotterstad claimed by King Rurik. Ross Stores.

They came with their own long boats, and after completing the meeting with the red fox, they immediately used the shops here as their home port and went crazy fishing for Atlantic herring in the fertile estuary area.

History has entered its inevitable course! 20% of the population in the United Provinces of the Netherlands relies solely on herring as their staple food. It is precisely because of the extremely abundant fishing resources in the nearby waters that they can support a very large population.

The northerners who came with trawling technology were shocked that they could catch more fish than the fertile southern Baltic Sea, and the sea water in this sea was saltier, and the traditional fishing business of various Viking tribes could be made again.

You can pickle and dry the fish, eat it yourself as a kind of reserve grain, and then sell it to your brothers in the north to make money.

As a local lord, even though he converted to God, just like Red Fox who lived as a Viking for more than ten years, his faith was still in the jingling silver coins.

It was those subjects who legally belonged to the Kingdom of Rus. They came to the mouth of the Rhine River to fish, and the long boats they brought just made up for the shortage of Red Fox's boats.

He has already made an agreement with the steward of Flanders County, and now is the day to harvest wool!

Red Fox had made a desperate move. He checked all the funds on hand, took all the silver coins on hand, organized a fleet and rushed to Antwerp in a peaceful manner, which had been burned by King Rurik himself.

Baudouin had been waiting here for a long time. After some detailed negotiations, a joint business operation was launched immediately.

"No matter what you believe in, money remains the same. The total value of my wool far exceeds the funds you have on hand. You can buy part of it. I will borrow the remaining wool from your fleet and we will go to Cologne together! This time, I I have to go there in person!" Baudouin had an impulse because he thought of the possibility that he had direct and close contact with the Archbishop of Cologne. So is there a possibility that one day the Russian fleet can be bypassed, and Flanders can find a way to organize an effective fleet to achieve direct sales of materials with Cologne?

This idea is currently unrealistic, but the first step must be taken. They also set an example to make the Russians believe that they are truly fulfilling their obligations under the peace treaty signed in Hamburg at the beginning of the year.

A batch of wool covered the freight, and Red Fox and Baudouin even reached a price alliance.

As a result, the mighty Norman fleet rushed into the Rhine River, with multiple longships towing a large ship. This armed cargo ship still retained the torsion slingshot position on the deck, but there were only a few passengers, and its cabin was full of people. A burlap bag contains wool that has been compressed to an extremely solid state and has been preliminarily cleaned and degreased.

The mighty fleet hoisted the cross flag. In order to make a fortune and quickly regain strength, Baudouin personally went into battle.

It was the Count himself who took action in person, and the Cologne people, who were once again reminded of the fear of being plundered by the Normans, quickly lowered their guard.

Archbishop Hardbold was eager to get wool. After all, a large number of handicraft workshops in the city had gone out of business, and the diocese's tithe collection situation was already quite bad.

Just as the wheat harvest was approaching, wool from Flanders arrived on a Russian ship, creating a first in history.

Is Cologne poor if he pays a war indemnity of five thousand pounds of silver? This extremely ancient parish, which had collected tithes for four hundred years, had amassed astonishing wealth. There was still a large amount of silver coins buried in the parish treasury. After hearing the total amount and quotation of wool from the two nobles, Hadbold readily planned to use his money to purchase it.

However, there are some minor "nature issues" here.

Cologne is a mighty city. After all, it was an important northern town during the Roman Empire. The stone city wall was the thickest wall that the old Russians had ever seen! The red fox also had to admire its sturdiness.

Every one of the members of the fleet that arrived in Cologne this time has been legally converted. Even though many people are still dressed in Viking style, the resourceful Red Fox has prepared brand-new outfits for his men. A robe made of plain white burlap is worn on the outside, with "crosses" sewn from black cloth strips on the front and back.

The Crusaders do not yet exist, and the costume of this classic Crusader garb is just a spontaneous disguise for the Red Fox, who still holds the flag of Rus high to declare his true identity.

After all, we arrived in Cologne, and the church in the city with a strong Roman flavor stood tall and honest.

"A magnificent temple? Ah, well our Ross's New Rossburg First Temple is bigger, but it doesn't have gems." Looking at the church, the red fox sighed with emotion.

Also paying attention was Baudouin. This elderly nobleman really never left his fief for anything. He had little contact with Cologne in his life. Only this time he arrived in Cologne for the first time to sell his wool in person.

Now that they have converted to their gods, even if they are just putting on a show, they have to do it to the fullest.

To be fair, Red Fox learned Latin, and Ross also seized several gospels in the past ten years, including Ross's ancestral parchment book "Exodus." He was able to understand for himself what the tree book said without having to listen to the priest's nonsense. Justification by Faith has nothing to do with the red fox, but the story in it is quite interesting and just enough to kill the boredom.

In the final analysis, what Red Fox knows best is the book "Exodus" that Ross has. It is obviously an interesting story from another world, but it is of great value for thought.

Coincidentally, the fleet arrived in Cologne in August, and the fifteenth day of this month was the annual Assumption Mass.

Play as a devout Christian and participate in this mass to win the favor of the local "high priest", which will pave the way for closer trade in the future.

Red Fox easily compared everything he saw in Cologne with Ross. The cathedral was the big temple, the mass was the high priest, and Hadbold, who was not young and had a bald head and covered his head with small melon skins, was the big one. priest.

Hardbold, Red Fox, and Baudoin specially held secret business talks in a building in the Cathedral of the Principle.

According to the precepts, with such a noble status as Archbishop Hadbold, this top priest in Western Europe who is qualified to be promoted to the Western Patriarch, should be clean and self-sufficient, and should not be interested in war, let alone business.

According to the commandments, war and business are both blasphemy against faith. One is the crime of killing, and the other is the crime of getting something for nothing.

However, Hardbold holds the power of explanation, and he can have all kinds of strange reasons to justify his actions. Anyway, the huge number of people in the city rely on the textile industry to make a living. It is good to have pure beliefs, but no one is willing to be an ascetic.

So Hudbold still had to be conceited: "With my noble status, I am not suitable to negotiate with businessmen. Unless you are not businessmen. Then, are you businessmen?"

Red Fox heard this inexplicably, but it was true. He was indeed not a businessman.

He didn't know the old man's plan, so he said: "I am the governor of Rotterstad appointed by the King of Rus. According to your Franks' knowledge. I'm probably... a count."

Baudoin opened his mouth and said: "Noble, I am a count! I am not a lowly businessman."

"Very good, so we are not sacrilegious..." followed by Hardbold's complicated and boring explanation.

In any case, if other archdiocesan bishops, especially the Archbishops of Reims and Worms, heard that he was personally acting as a big businessman, then his hopes of being promoted to the Archbishop would collapse.

You must not get something for nothing! Unless bartering.

Can I barter? sure. For example, interpret silver coins as a kind of goods. To play with words, how come silver coins, the most precious metal, are not goods.

Things couldn't be so straightforward and ridiculous, so he proposed a plan: "The wheat harvest season is just around the corner. I would like to exchange grain for a batch of your wool, and the remaining wool will be purchased with silver coins. You can also purchase it directly from us in Cologne. supplies, and even buy the ready-made clothes we sew locally. I want to avoid straightforward cash transactions as much as possible, so that the faith is pure.”

I really don’t understand why these Franks focus on the red tape in this area and insist on focusing on whether the “nature” of something is contrary to their beliefs. Red Fox thinks this guy is stupid!

forget it! Anyway, one wonderful feature of their faith is that they have an almost instinctive rejection of bargaining.

Red Fox and Baudouin actually partnered to inherit the final quotation from the merchants who transported wool by land in the past, and then informed Bishop Hadbold of the higher price. Although the latter was dissatisfied, the price was naturally not outrageous, so he accepted the offer.

Commodity trading is a part of life, but how can two commodities be accurately exchanged for equal value? It's hard. Even if it is interpreted by the priest as "profit without work", because you can profit from it, it is the driving force behind Cologne's economic prosperity.

In this way, buyers and sellers are unwilling to bargain directly. The seller discloses the price, and the buyer lowers the price without buying. They try to maintain a silent understanding and finally reach a balance between the two parties.

This is very surprising from the Viking world. After all, the northern world has a strong commercial meaning. Price negotiations even advance to signing a written contract, just to prevent one party from regretting the price...

The transaction of wool exchange for various supplies in Cologne has begun, and silver coins are still irreplaceable as a general equivalent, even if the Archbishop wants to minimize its role.

The wheat harvest coincides with the Mass of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the red fox also participates in this Mass.

Mortals did not notice the fat man Red Fox. Everyone learned that the Count of Flanders came to Cologne in person and attended the mass, which made this year's mass of great significance. Ordinary people have a strong suspicion in their minds that it was actually the Earl who brought the wool personally, and the Normans only provided the convenience of the ships. It will take time for the mortals to get rid of their grudge against the Normans. They were unsuspecting of the old Frankish vassal Baudouin and were even grateful for this act of sending wool.

Men harvested wheat in the fields outside the city, and new wheat was continuously transported into Cologne where taxes and trade were conducted. The once-closed textile workshops in the city have regained their vitality, Flanders wool is stuffed into manual woolen mills, and large-scale sweater knitting operations have begun.

Although Red Fox is young, his eyes are sharp.

"This Frankish city clearly has a commercial atmosphere that is no less than that of Novorosberg and Novgorod. I have already made a lot of money by purchasing a large amount of local new wheat, and I will make a lot of money every year in the future! The king is really A good errand has been arranged for me! This way I can send a messenger to the capital to announce the good news."