Rise of Rurik

When the huge fleet approached Groningen, the locals hid nervously.

If the local baron had not personally seen the flags flying on those ships and personally comforted the people who fled to the villages and towns, the panic would still have simmered.

Groningen is already the northernmost settlement in the Netherlands.

The huge Ross fleet, with hundreds of long ships, followed the six large warships with sails set all the way south along the coastline.

Soon, large and small fishing boats began to appear on the sea. They all had pointed ends and they all came from the north.

Now the Blue Fox standing on the flagship has two more "entourages", Regraf and Bruno. They have different identities and have complicated moods about the future.

Reglaf, who rarely went south, faced the endless sea. He didn't know how far to the west Mercia was. He only knew that he was indeed the king of Mercia.

"The world is vast, where am I going?" He murmured to himself as the salty sea breeze blew.

"Boy, what are you talking about?"

"Nothing. Ah, I don't know what kind of person that Earl of Yingao is."

"What don't you know? It's not like you haven't seen your father's defeated general before." Blue Fox said casually.

"Already somewhat forgotten."

"It will become clear to you soon. Remember, you have more to do."

"I know."

They talked in Norse, which made Bruno feel quite passive. Drifting on the sea, accompanied by the ups and downs of the waves, this young man faced a strong seasickness reaction, and now he just endured the discomfort in his abdomen and insisted on standing.

Most people can bear the bumps on the sea. Fortunately, the weather is not bad these days. Maybe the blue fox will need to take advantage of the good weather to get on the road as soon as possible.

The mouth of the Rhine River is criss-crossed with the mouth of the Rhine River, including the Maas River as the target. Its mouth is mixed with the Rhine River, and it is easy for people who are not familiar with hydrological data to confuse them.

Fortunately, Red Fox does not live a restful life in Rotterstad. Although he is the youngest in the family, his ability does not amaze everyone, but as long as he does things step by step, he is enough to meet Rurik's needs.

With Ross's Shop as its center, a small seaport city that was different from the Danish settlements was born.

Red Fox has stationed a small army here. They are usually fishermen, and when necessary, they jump on the long boat and become warriors.

More fishermen stared at the eye-catching flag of the Ross people and settled here. They also planned to follow the Ross people whenever there was a robbery operation in the future. This is why Red Fox claims to be able to recruit a group of soldiers in Rotterstad.

Now the real Ross fleet is coming! The existing pier could barely accommodate two large ships, and the other four had to anchor in suitable calm waters. There was no mission to go deep into the inland area for the time being. The whole army needed to go ashore to rest. A large number of long boats simply followed the tide and washed up on the muddy beach. Then the crew of the whole ship pulled the ropes to tow the ship.

The army stopped at Ross's store, and then the unloading process of a large amount of food began.

The elder brother patted the younger brother with his big hand: "Before we engage in a large-scale war, this place will be handed over to you first. Remember your mission!"

"I understand." Red Fox responded with a simple smile. He himself is equally ambitious, because simply raising supplies is by no means a trivial problem, as it is related to the army's combat effectiveness. Secondly, the value of the Ross store here is a distribution center for supplies. What Red Fox needs is not military exploits. The more supplies he can hoard, the more he proves his ability.

This strength is not only needed by Rurik, but also Nassau, controlled by the black fox deep in the river, and even the Earl of Flanders, its neighbor to the south.

Red Fox has informed Rurik that Baudouin of Flanders is planning to marry his daughter. Now that he has been welcomed by the king, he has no intention of publicizing the matter in a big way.

Now that the army will be stationed here for a period of time, a smart man like Baudouin who can take advantage of the situation will definitely have to investigate the situation personally. Maybe the wedding can be held this year.

Marriage is a great thing. Firstly, I am ordered to convert to Frank's god. Secondly, I can marry my wife and become a real man. Thirdly, I can get a helper, even if that guy often behaves like a thief.

Blue Fox was the commander-in-chief of this expedition. He took Rurik's appointment letter and scolded Fang Qiu. In this regard, old guys like Bjorn, Duke of Malaren, could only accept the arrangement and stay in Rotterstad. , those many noble leaders from the Göta River could only do as they were told. Even for the latter, because they did not bring enough food, they needed to replenish food nearby facing the sea.

At first, Gom and others had some concerns. Until the day when the fishing operation was launched, taking advantage of the longer and longer summer time, a large number of large herrings as white as silver and as long as forearms were unloaded from the boat that night. .

All the longboats had a good harvest, and people were relieved to find that the fish they caught in trawling mode at one time were enough for everyone on board.

Of course, check your own fishing net. The crazy struggling fish will inevitably burst some holes, and the work of mending the net must be carried out quickly.

The Russian army had wheat to eat, and the others ate fish on a large scale.

Ross's large ships will not be idle, so the next day, the four sail destroyers transformed into large fishing boats after completing their unloading. Now the time has come for the fishing nets to scrape the bottom of the sea to sweep the cod schools on a large scale.

The small team of longboats began to head north. They had a guide from the Netherlands. They accurately listened to the Little Rotter River controlled by the Danes, then found the correct waterway, and successfully arrived at the city of Utrecht along the water of the Rhine River.

At this moment, seeing the blue fox flying the flag, Count Henry Nassau felt as if he had met his own relative.

To a large extent, Blue Fox did become related to Henry Nassau.

Even just for a show, the Blue Fox and the Red Fox first symbolically participated in a small mass celebrated by Archbishop Arbery at the local church. Blue Fox gave a small bundle of birch bark paper as a gift to the bishop who had been trembling with fear, and emphasized in sacred Latin: "This is given to you by King Rus." He was too lazy to say anything else. .

This visit to Utrecht was also a routine for Blue Fox and others. He wanted to tell Henry and the Nassau family that he was coming with a large army. As for what he was going to do next, he had to tell Henry only in a secret place.

At nightfall, after dinner, the chosen room is empty.

Henry felt a little guilty for welcoming his relatives with a simple meal. Hearing Blue Fox's so-called "secret event", he was shocked and quickly selected a place for secret conversation.

Henry even closed the wooden door and bolted it in a dignified manner, and the wooden windows were sealed tightly.

There were only three people in the room, namely him and Brother Fox.

"I asked the guards to stand guard at a distance. Don't worry, even rats can't roam around."

Blue Fox nodded with a dull expression, just like in Hamburg. The oil lamp here also illuminated his face, which made him look a little gloomy.

The atmosphere in the room seemed to contain some murderous intent, which Henry could feel.

He sat down and said: "The Ross army has arrived, and this time you are going to use force against Frank. I admire my son-in-law Black Fox very much, but he captured Coblenz and even wanted to capture the entire Liyingau thing." … Even after the whole winter, I still think it’s crazy.”

"Crazy? Really crazy?" Blue Fox asked.

"Of course. So you came with an army. How many people? Two thousand? Or three thousand?"

"As of now, we have the possibility of gathering five thousand people. If you send more people to join us, we can also gather six thousand people."

Blue Fox said it very lightly, and then pointed out with his fingers how he said "six thousand people can be gathered".

Henry Nassau was sweating all over his body as he listened, and his eyes were as wide as bells: "There are really six thousand people? With such a force, are you going to loot Aachen?"

"Hey! How do you know?!" Blue Fox was shocked, "Did someone leak the news?"

"What?!" Henry slammed the table, and then the two sides fell into an extremely strange silence.

After being embarrassed for a while, Henry trembled and said: "Are you really going to attack Aachen?"

"Don't we deserve it?"

"I knew you were going to do something big this year. I didn't expect it to be this?!"

"Why not?! Are you against it?"

"No." Henry had nothing to say. He knew that most of the men in front of him would not lie. Maybe there were not six thousand people, but at least three or four thousand people. With such a large army sneaking into Aachen, the Normans had no psychological grudges. They were If you really dare to do it, you also have realistic action capital. "I dare not object. Besides, I still need some cooperation."

Blue Fox then raised his head and said, "You are a smart person."

Henry covered his heart, acting like Liudov who had just learned the news: "Are you asking me to send troops?"

"if you are willing to."

"Send troops! Risk moral risks. I...I don't dare."

"What do you mean? Could it be that because Aachen has Charlemagne's tomb, you feel uncomfortable sending troops to attack there?"

"I didn't take the initiative to join the civil war." Henry shook his head, "Especially for Aachen, which is the capital of the Franks and New Rome! My ancestors were favored by Charlemagne, but my generation sent troops to destroy his I can’t live with my conscience in the city.”

"Hypocritical." Blue Fox pouted disdainfully: "If you really have a hard conscience, why would you cooperate with us?"

"But I don't like Lothair, and I don't like Ludwig either. I am now a vassal of Saxony, and I only have nominal allegiance to Frank."

"Oh, that's easy to handle." The blue fox banged on the table, causing the lamp oil to splash out: "The Duke of Saxony supports this action. Your lord is like this, so you must obey. Even his son Bruno Jump on our boat and join us."

"Huh? Even Bruno?"

"He's in Rotterstadt. How about taking a boat and taking a look?"

"I believe it. I believe it all! The Saxons have a grudge against the Franks, and Liudov has a motive for revenge. But... I still don't want to break up with the Franks."

"I won't force you either." Blue Fox seemed to take a step back.

"what can I do for you?"

"Food. Give us 200,000 pounds of wheat to solve the current military ration problem."

"This... you know, there are more fish and less food in the Netherlands."

"I can't see." Blue Fox shook his head: "It's only 200,000 pounds, but you can't get it? Besides, it's not for nothing. When we win the war, will you share the victory bonus if we win the war? You Think about it, you didn’t really send troops, you just lent us 200,000 pounds of grain. Now that you control a larger population, it’s more than enough to provide these? Even if you complain, it’s the farmers who complain. What do you lose? What’s your final share? Don’t all the war dividends belong to your family? Imagine who gave you the good life you have now! It’s definitely not the Frank nobles.”

Thinking about it carefully, Henry was completely convinced.

Henry Nassau has never been said to love his people like a son. Even in his hometown, he is a traditional lord who lives a step-by-step life. In his eyes, although farmers are not cattle, they are definitely not ordinary people. They are more like serfs.

He immigrated to Utrecht and never changed his mind. Twenty knights, a Baron of Groningen, and his "big Mac"-like Earl who rules the big city of Utrecht, a system of nobility that controls the entire Netherlands is naturally quite stable and settled. The Frisians here only need to pay taxes continuously.

Henry was moved, but then he thought again: "Do you want me to raise taxes immediately? I don't have a deep foundation here. If I raise taxes rashly..."

"It doesn't matter." Blue Fox simply responded: "What you are doing is a war investment. If you invest so much, I will repay you two hundred pounds of silver coins. I think you should know that if you traffic food to the north, you won't be able to sell it." With such a high price, if you go to the south, you will not find a market. Because the nobles of the Middle Kingdom will rob your trading team. Only us! I can pay for your wheat in cash."

At this moment, Henry said bluntly: "Then take out the cash now, I need money! Give me the money, and I will raise wheat for you right away."

"So refreshing?!" Now it was Blue Fox's turn to be a little surprised.

Originally, Lan Hu wanted to give this guy a trick, saying that he could collect a few years of food tax in advance and promise to be completely tax-free for the next few years.

Henry chose a more direct approach - raising taxes.

This trick is very simple and crude, and the premise for it to be implemented is that Henry can reach an agreement of interest with those knights, especially to make them feel that they have made money. Threatening them with "the existence of the Ross army" is better than using white silver coins to buy them off, because the knights need cash more.

The problem came again. He felt that two hundred pounds of silver coins were not enough.

"I have twenty knights. They control villages large and small. Most of the farmland is also in their hands. What I completely control is the city of Utrecht and several nearby villages. You want food. In fact, It’s what those knight lords are asking for, and there’s nothing better than paying for it. I want three hundred pounds.”

"Haha. I have one hundred pounds of silver coins in my mouth. Do you think I am quite rich?" Blue Fox pinched his beard and sat still. No matter how he looked, he was really rich.

"if not?"

"Two and a half million pounds, I advise you not to bargain any more. If you agree, I will give you cash tomorrow, and then you go and raise 200,000 pounds of oats or wheat, preferably wheat, for me as soon as possible. You must do it within five days Complete all this before the end of the month, and then hand it over to my brother Red Fox. You should understand that I am very contract-minded."

"Okay! Deal."

No, the next day Blue Fox did not hesitate to come up with a huge sum of money, including two hundred and fifty Roman pounds of Frankish silver coins. Each one was printed with Charlemagne's face, and most of the corners were not worn or missing. , which is actually of good quality.

Henry's eyes widened when he saw the money, and he danced with excitement. He took the money and promised to complete the transaction in advance.

The Blue Fox is not afraid of this guy breaking his promise. Henry Nassau has no way to arm-wrestle with Rose on the issue of strength.

Are two hundred thousand pounds of grain essential? This matter was also done intentionally by Blue Fox.

Even if it is oats, a soldier eating one pound a day is enough to ensure sufficient combat effectiveness.

The Rus' army headquarters is not short of food. The trouble is that the Götaland army, Yinvar's one hundred Danish warriors, and Kelha's two hundred Finnish warriors are short of food.

If you rely solely on fishing to obtain food, you must consider that the catch is not durable enough to be stored, and spending time fishing will inevitably lead to a significant reduction in war effectiveness.

With the addition of 200,000 pounds of oats from the Netherlands, Blue Fox estimated that Henry Nassau and the local nobles would definitely plunder the local farmers, forcing the farmers to row their own boats to fish until this year's autumn harvest. This food is enough for the newly added Jotalan army to consume for four months at a rate of one pound a day. Of course, in a real fight, it is not uncommon for tired soldiers to eat two pounds a day. So coupled with the large amount of logistics provided by King Rus, it makes The army can maintain sustained high-intensity combat effectiveness for two full months.

Blue Fox started to plan carefully, and he was determined not to consume the food now even if he bought it. At this moment, the businessman's thinking prevailed, because the businessman was very risk-averse. After all, it was a sneak attack on the Frankish capital, and the logistics had to be as good as possible.

In order to avoid the possibility of food shortage during the war, the entire army is currently trying to survive on fish. All the unloaded food is transported to the granary of Ross Shop and is heavily guarded.

As for him, the Earl of Gothenburg, arrogantly taking out silver coins to buy food, this is not a problem.

When his father passed away, the eldest brother Bai Hu took away most of the wealth, and the remaining cash was divided equally among the brothers behind him. His father accumulated a lot of wealth while he was still alive, so the more the better if Lan Hu inherits some. But he himself is not short of money. Last year alone, he made a lot of money by transporting Nassau wine. In addition to his past business life, Blue Fox's assets on hand have also accumulated to the level of 500 pounds of silver.

It can also be said that he is gambling heavily with his own money. He is full of hope for the future and firmly believes that business activities will allow him to make money back quickly, and even this military operation! Blue Fox estimated that he might be able to grab a bunch of lead ingots from the village called Sageul. They could also be used as currency in a sense.

As the Earl of the Netherlands, in principle, Henry could only claim wealth in the areas he controlled. For those knights and barons, they almost only had military service obligations. If you want them to come up with food, even the earl has to spend money to buy it.

Nobles generally do not make things difficult for each other. The Netherlands is currently very short of cash. The two hundred and fifty pounds of cash brought by Blue Fox is enough to bring a strong boost to the local economy.

Henry took the money to visit the nobles in person, and started his plundering journey based on the principle of buying ten thousand pounds of grain with ten pounds of cash.

What a chicken thief, Henry just didn't take action on his own city of Utrecht, and the people under his personal control continued as usual. Let the knights torment their own villagers! In this way, fifty pounds of silver coins were paid into Henry's arms as a special payment. In the end, he had no losses in the area under his control, made a small fortune, and also made war investment for the sneak attack jointly carried out by Ross and Saxony. Enjoying a certain loot bonus is actually killing three birds with one stone.