Rise of Rurik

Remember [new] in one second! The big fat white fox used greasy delicacies to cleanse Rurik, and even rewarded the sailors with fat meat.

Are they still sailors? That was until Rurik revealed that Rus's dedicated navy had been established and all sailors were recognized as marine warriors.

No, Goedelund, who has the status of Marine War Chief, can participate in the king's banquet as an accompanying elite for the first time in this capacity.

Roast lamb is a specialty of the Gould family feast. The lamb is marinated and then braised. The emphasis is on the charred outside and tender inside, the greasy and fragrant meat.

Its existence seemed to dull the spirits Rurik brought.

But wine is an important cargo to be placed in Stockholm.

Being slightly drunk, Rurik was full of energy. He asked Baihu not to submit any written documents, but to just talk about the situation with his mouth to prove his truth.

The white fox who had something in his belly really opened his mouth: "I know that the king is very concerned about the grain trade in Melalen. Haha, there was no trouble in the past summer, and the king also rewarded tax-free and tribute-free gifts, and now they can give more of food!”

"So? What's the price of food now?"

"Hey, a hundred pounds of oats is only six silver coins."

"Huh? So cheap?"

"It's that cheap."

"Did you use some tricks?" Rurik couldn't help asking.

The white fox shook Yao Yao's fat head and big ears: "This is fate, or the invisible hand that the king said. God's arrangement, what can I, a mortal, do? As you estimate, I am buying as much as I can."

"Yes, you did a good job." Rurik clapped his thigh, "I remember this is the lowest price here in Lake Mälaren."

The white fox shrugged again: "It would be great if five silver coins could buy a hundred pounds."

"Maybe more people selling food will do the same."

Low grain prices hurt farmers more than this. The weather this summer has been relatively smooth, and ordinary homesteaders have been blessed with plenty but have no ability to eat the excess grain. They lacked the ability to store excess grain stably. After storing enough grain, they used some of the excess to brew a load of ale, and almost all the rest had to be sold for cash.

Who is the rich man here? Only the Governor has a lot of cash in his hands, and the big white fat man Bai Fox is the biggest buyer. Behind him is King Ross, who has a huge backer. He has a huge amount of money, and no bad guy dares to make any plans.

The nobles of each tribe are all big landowners, especially the largest tribe, the Melalen tribe. There are a number of landowners during this period. Pulling one out at random is a prestigious task for other tribes.

They have the most surplus grain in their hands. If they can't sell it quickly, it will rot in their own barns, or even the barns can no longer hold it.

For Bjorn, Duke of Mälaren, he is the abdicated King of Sweden and has now fully accepted his status as a wealthy man. This year has been a bumper harvest, at least in his eyes, his warehouse has been sold out.

Have mercy on the tenant farmers? No! No amount of rent should be collected, and all debts must be paid. As for the large number of debt serfs and simple slaves, no matter how high the food production is, what does it have to do with these talking cattle and sheep.

The Swedish grain market in Lake Mälaren has been oversupplied, and the big nobles have to lower the price and rush to sell. The involution of the nobles from all sides has forced ordinary farmers to participate in the low-price sale.

Even Bjorn would feel pain in his body. He had no choice. If he didn't sell it at a low price, the low-priced food of other tribes would be bought by that big white fat man. The boy preached that "Russ will buy one million pounds this year", but the amount of grain on the market exceeded this amount, and the poor abdicated king Bjorn could only accept a low price.

Unless, he organizes the Melalen fleet to rush directly to sell food far away.

Sold to the Danes? Then you can't get many silver coins.

Sold to the capital of Rus? Firstly, it’s the cost of shipping, secondly it’s just that this old guy can’t save his face, and thirdly, he’s just too lazy to do it.

Therefore, in theory, 60,000 silver coins can buy these surplus grains. Rurik made some calculations, and optimistically estimated that he would only spend this amount of money on buying food, and he would still be able to make a profit after including labor costs and transportation costs.

There is a market for pure grain trading between 60,000 and 200,000 silver coins. The former is a good year and the latter is a famine year. Rurik, who has a huge amount of cash at his disposal, now doesn’t think it costs much to buy food.

"I calculated that my investment in the new flagship has exceeded four hundred pounds of silver coins. That is 40,000 coins, and there will be more in the future! Unexpectedly, the cost of buying food on Lake Malaren is only equivalent to building a large ship ?”

Hearing what the king said, the white fox was not surprised.

"It's absolutely impossible for them to get rich just by selling grain!" As he spoke, White Fox held the glass and stared at the transparent wine in it. "Let's talk about the king's spirits. I can easily sell a bottle of vodka for two pounds of silver coins in a wine shop."

"Oh? I remember it was just a pound at first."

"Yes, but your supply is limited. Besides, those leaders are willing to compete no matter how many people they have and their strength. Otherwise, how can they prove that they are dukes?"

"They're willing to spend big bucks."

The white fox smiled. He was embarrassed to say that the king was ignorant and sighed, "So I dress up gorgeously all the time. My guards and patrols are also decorated with amber, their clothes are exquisite, and their weapons are all high-quality steel swords. Are those Dukes willing to be compared to me, a businessman?"

Rurik thought about it. Louis XIV personally led the fashion trend, and relied on his extravagant and lewd methods to win over noble ladies from all over the world. This then attracted all the nobles to compete in Paris. In this way, the king made a fortune and centralized power.

Maybe the white fox also realized a similar truth? If the Swedish nobles were busy being arrogant, wouldn't they have any evil thoughts? After all, Ross has been separated from the Swedish world for a long time. Even though the two countries have merged, it is impossible for the local nobles not to have the idea of ​​​​leaving the system to live on their own.

These nobles are indeed willing to spend a lot of money to sell Ross's eastern and northern specialties in Lake Mälaren, but the only goods they can provide are: grain, flax, and dried fish. Of course, there are also livestock and dairy products, but the total amount is too small and will not cause quantitative changes to the trade.

Rurik was slightly drunk and his mind was high. He thought a lot: "So, White Fox, how much did you earn here in the past warm season?"

"This...I dare not hide it, about two thousand pounds."

"That's two hundred thousand silver coins. So how much will we import in the fall?"

"I'll think about it again." The big fat man's delicate white hands were like bear's paws and there were many gemstone rings on them. He counted with his fingers naively: "Grain and flax are the main ones. We don't care about fish. We can buy cabbage and onions." More. There is also Hjermalen cheese, not a large amount. These things are not very valuable. We will pay at most 100,000 silver coins this year. But I spent a lot of money on the construction here, and I will make a net profit of 80,000 at most this year. pieces."

"Huh?" Rurik couldn't help but put his head forward with an exaggerated expression: "Trade surplus? We have a surplus of 80,000 silver coins?"

"That's probably it. There are some discrepancies in the specific number."

"Ah? If you don't do a lot of construction, wouldn't it?"

"Exactly..."

A trade surplus sounds like a good thing. If Sweden were another country, Ross could suck blood unscrupulously. But Rurik is the King of Sweden!

He had to consider one thing. If he continued to indulge in this kind of blood-sucking, the Swedish Dukes, who realized that they were quickly becoming poor, would either be willing to be poor and sit back and watch the trade market here shrink rapidly, or they would rebel.

The white fox really gave Rurik a chance to think carefully about how to make these Swedish nobles rich. As for ordinary people, if they are willing to immigrate to the East, various benefits are waiting for them.

The method of bringing people to immigrate is actually to poach the nobles, and this matter can only be done secretly without making it public.

As long as these nobles give them the opportunity to make a fortune, there is no doubt about their enthusiasm.

Rurik can be sure that the economic prosperity and food harvest they brought to Lake Mälaren in 841 was largely due to last year's war dividends!

No, they can continue to get some bonuses, and in exchange, they can go to the Frankish world for a while.

Rurik led the northerners to victory against the Franks. He has a great reputation in Lake Mälaren. Although which leader becomes the king of Sweden has nothing to do with the people, the people really like Rurik as the king. , this is evident from the crowded scene in the market.

The fiery prestige makes the local nobles quite fearful, especially Bjorn, Duke of Malaren. The abdicated king has been facing the dilemma of the tribe's slow population loss.

Population loss is a big problem, and Bjorn cannot send troops to control the departure of those tribal farmers. After all, the Melalen tribe is a behemoth made up of large and small families. Some small families want to immigrate. How to stop this?

Before immigrating, they would definitely sell their farmland and houses, exchange them for cash, and then move to the nearby Tombstone Island on the sea with the necessary production and living tools.

Tombstone Island is already Ross's core territory and a maritime fortress. Immigrants can work as fishermen, or they can rest here and continue east to New Rossburg.

Bjorn himself was the largest landowner in Mälaren, and he purchased large amounts of land left behind by settlers. But he is not the only buyer. Governor Bai Hu has more cash in hand. Although he will not buy it at a high price, he can definitely pay immediately without any delay. How about Bjorn? Raise the purchase price a bit and pay as much as possible to prevent your tribe's acres from being taken away by others. In fact, other landowners of his own clan were the worst competitors.

The land annexation of the Melalen tribe has entered an active period. The big nobles are not taking advantage of it, but they will not let the farmland be abandoned. They have a lot of slaves in their hands. These tool workers operate the curved shaft plows imported from Russia. With the improvement of agricultural technology and the face of larger-scale farmland, Bjorn has spontaneously implemented large-scale farms, which objectively increases the efficiency of agricultural output. increase, food prices will inevitably fall.

Oversupply will cause prices to plummet, and Bjorn is not a traditional businessman. Many businessmen cannot understand these truths, and he is even less clear about them. Besides, all the nobles are selling food now! Bjorn was nervous.

"Ah! Fortunately, Rurik is here. I can organize the nobles to talk to him about anything."

Bjorn wanted to take the opportunity to talk to Rurik, and Rurik also wanted to talk to him. The two sides hit it off immediately. As Bjorn's envoy personally visited the Governor's Mansion, the date for the meeting of the Swedish nobles was set.

It would take some time for the nobles who lived far away to arrive in Stockholm by ship. Before that, Bjorn had a chance to negotiate alone.

The sailors wearing felt tricorn hats took on the new identity of naval soldiers as Rurik's nurses. They did not wear heavy armor and wore thick and neat clothes.

White Fox brought his own heavily armored bodyguards to escort the king and his wife to a high-profile visit to the Duke of Malaren.

They deliberately made a big show of it, and even some navy kept beating the snare drum just to attract attention.

Many flags were fluttering in the cold wind, and the feathers on the soldiers' heads were trembling violently. Today was a crisp autumn day and the sun was quite bright, making this colorful team extremely valuable.

Ordinary Melalen people wearing gray-brown linen and leather rushed to admire King Rurik's style. They gathered on both sides of the road and took off their hats to signal, and kept cheering and making strange noises.

The noise outside reached Bjorn's mansion and the public meeting hall in Mälaren.

The old Mälaren Market is almost abandoned, with only some small traders left doing small business, and the straight lanes lead directly to the Russian wine shops. Rurik came here to revisit his old place. Standing under the building of the wine shop, he found that just as Bai Hu said, this place had really undergone a large-scale expansion.

"You made some reliefs. Very good! Very characteristic of us. In my opinion, you should also use some white clay and blue dye to make decorative paintings, and try to find some whitish stones to make some sculptures. This is just A little bit of advice from me.”

The white fox was flattered when he heard this. His fat face trembled violently with laughter and he bowed slightly: "The king's suggestion is an order. Since you like this style, I will do it soon."

"Ah, since you are so thoughtful, that's fine. To be honest, when I walked through the market streets in the past, they were still as dilapidated as I remembered. You, the governor, have not done a good enough job. You should make the roads straight. Finally, It’s better to pave the road with stones.”

"Huh? Well, I'm about to do it."

"Very good. Then demolish and renovate the buildings on both sides of the road to make them uniform in appearance. I will destroy those ancient adobe longhouses and replace them with pure wooden structures. You should go to the capital and take a closer look at what prosperity is."

Rurik didn't mean to be bossy. He pinched his waist and pointed, simply because what he saw was regrettable. He knew that this place actually belonged to the territory of the Melalen tribe, and most of the land on both sides of the streets belonged to a certain person. Is it a problem to spend some money to forcibly demolish them as compensation? No. This semi-abandoned old commercial street should be integrated into the new market system.

The king wants to make Ross's power rooted in the soil, preferably in the largest settlement in Melalen, and more and more of the buildings will become the property of the Governor's Palace, or the property of Ross.

It would be stupid not to guard against the abdicated King Bjorn of Sweden! A man who once served as a great king, to put it bluntly, his existence is a threat to the royal power of Russia.

Rurik couldn't really kill him, and as the largest noble of the Melalen tribe, this man must still have great prestige. What annoyed him was that yesterday the Duke actually just sent an envoy to visit and announced the date of Bjorn's so-called "noble meeting".

With such an attitude, Rurik agreed with a smile on his face, but in his heart he cursed Bjorn for his transgression.

That is to say, this man who is the king feels that he still has the power to convene a meeting of nobles across Sweden. The only one who can do this is King Ross! Because King Rus is the real King of Sweden.

Leaving Rick without any rude words, he showed his displeased attitude to Governor White Fox. It was up to the fat white man to figure out what to do.

What is arrogance? As a Duke, Bjorn never visited in person, but claimed that he would silently wait for the king with all twenty big landowners in the tribe's meeting hall.

"Could it be a fraud? Absolutely not. I have three hundred guards now, and no one dares to do anything wrong." Rurik thought silently. Anyway, he was very skilled. The queen and children were placed in the Governor's Mansion. He dared to tackle any problem.

Bai Hu reorganized most of his guards and patrols to serve as the king's guards. He himself did not appreciate those armed sailors who had been upgraded to real warriors. He felt that they were wearing gorgeous clothes and fighting in a war today, which was probably a waste of money. Those who can truly protect the king are carefully selected by themselves, and some are even burly men born as servants who have been leaders at a very young age and have been trained continuously.

These guards and patrols all wore face masks and leather helmets, and wore standard blue and white patterned Ross cloth robes, which were wrapped in the chain mail underneath. They all carried round shields with blue patterns on their backs, and arm-length steel swords hanging from their waists, all of the same style.

With such an imposing manner, the civilians of Mellaren who were watching not only did not feel dangerous, but instead waved their arms as hard as they could. Many young people with relatively thin bodies hoped that the king would notice them and then work on some errand under the king's command.

This is the people's choice. They are very discerning. Although their family is from Mälaren, they cannot make a fortune living with these landowners. They heard that serving as soldiers for the king has always provided them with food and wine, and young people with only one body of strength will defect to the Ming Dynasty. .

Because they all saw that many of the mail guards in front of them were originally from Mellaren. Their lives quickly became better after they were selected by the fat governor. They were all playmates who fished and caught squirrels together when they were children. It was because some of the brothers were strong enough that they were selected and still enjoying the entertainment and entertainment in front of their eyes. The other brothers were envious and wanted to join.

It is precisely for this fundamental reason that Bjorn, the Duke, has no real authority.

"There's a noise outside, and the king is showing off his power."

"Is it appropriate for us to just sit like this? Maybe we should go see the king in person."

"Meet the king now? Let Rurik see our joke?"

"I don't want to go anyway. Rurik deceived us into going home last year, but ended up sending troops south to attack Frank. He made a fortune there, and he just didn't want to share it with us."

"Forget it! We have already lost a lot of people. If we continue, we will only lose more. We obviously evacuated ourselves."

"Bah. I think the Russians also suffered a lot of losses. They just gritted their teeth and persisted. Damn it, it makes us look like cowards. It is true that no more people died, and we did not continue to get a lot of money, nor did we get any glory."

The landowners were all talking, but Duke Bjorn couldn't get a word in. He was a duke, but he was not consecrated by Rurik. The strength of the landowners present is not absolutely inferior to Bjorn's, so there is no need for everyone to just follow his arrangements. After all, everyone can easily choke his throat with one sentence: "If you lead everyone to retreat, we will lose the opportunity to make a fortune again."

Although the North language does not have proper nouns to describe "trade surplus" and "trade deficit", after the war, the Malaren nobles could feel that although they had enjoyed the privilege of being free of tribute for ten years, they wanted to earn money from trade with Russia. Interest is wishful thinking.

To be fair, the products offered by the Russians are very good, and the prices paid for them are relatively high. Of course, you can choose not to buy it. Common people need it to improve their lives, and nobles need it to prove their wealth. However, the goods available to everyone are cheap goods. Coming and going is like a piece of sawdust stuck in the skin. The people of Malaren are slowly Bleeding.

The power of the Mellaren tribe was actually divided between more than 20 local nobles, and Bjorn was never a strongman. His marriage to the son of the white fox was not for the entire tribe, but everyone said it was for himself. He was as weak to the governor as he was to the nobles of his own tribe, and as long as there was a first compromise, there could be countless times. Although the nobles did not ignore Bjorn, he felt that he would only be a rich man in the future.

For this reason, the title of a duke seems like a joke.