Rise of Rurik

Once the busiest spring plowing is over, farmers' lives will always enter a state of leisure.

The large-scale Slavic farmers compare their lives now with those in the past. Their living standards have been slowly improving and they are easily satisfied with the status quo.

Of course, they need to find ways to further increase their income to make their lives more fulfilling and colorful. However, the means to efficiently accumulate wealth are extremely expensive or the returns are not ideal. For example, doing handicrafts and making various homemade daily necessities.

You do it and I do it too. Every farm will weave rattan baskets and make wooden utensils. The handmade products that can be shipped to the Novgorod market are all the same. And as life becomes more stable, the output of these consumer goods is also increasing. That pair of looks The invisible hand kept the price very low.

It seems that participating in the war is the only way to get rich quickly, but the risks are also staggeringly high.

Ironically, whether it is a Russian immigrant family or a local Slavic family, children are important but not particularly important. If one child dies unexpectedly, it would be better to have more children.

Rather than worrying about the destruction of war and the death of family members, they are more concerned about natural disasters and personal accidents.

Slavic farmers pray for good weather every year, at least the temperature will not be too cold and the rainfall will not be too much or too little. As long as there is no shortage of food, there is a high probability that family members will not die unexpectedly.

The Russians and other immigrants from Scandinavia are not particularly keen on farming. It seems that their bodies are born with adventure genes. They have to consider that their children will encounter accidents due to excessive impulsiveness and performance.

But true warriors choose to ignore some disasters. The Rus people focus more on exploring the vast world, hoping to discover wealth from the new world.

What is wealth?

There are foxes, squirrels, and martens running around in the forest, and their leather can be sold at a good price. If you hunt a bear, you can make a lot of money.

There are always some strange things in the forest, and there are also some fantasy legends.

There are also some Others hiding in the forest who are isolated from the world, and they are brought out and brought into the rule of the Rus Kingdom. This is not only done by explorers, but Medvet, the governor of Novgorod, personally supervises this every year. In 842 No different from other years, this time the expedition looking for the "Hidden Man" decided to go further east.

Because King Rurik of Rus had already outlined an extremely vast eastern picture in the form of an oracle.

"Continuing to the east, there is not a dark world, nor is it the edge of Midgard (the human world). There is no abyss. There is only a huge Ural Snow Mountain. Beyond the mountain, there is a vaster world. Rose will become the new Lord of the world.”

The old Russians have not had the shackles of farmland since ancient times, and this year is no different. With the rise of the Valdeskoye town in Slavic language on the shores of Valdai Lake in the east, it has become an extremely critical base camp for exploration. After the spring plowing is over, we are facing The fact that there was no war in the kingdom made Mstisk and the Russian immigrants in Youth City so bored that they were digging their feet. This time, under the leadership of Arik, they rowed a boat to explore, hunt and plunder.

"Soon, you will find the correct main channel of the Volga River. Brother, I hope you can help me complete my exploration feat this year."

Rurik had great expectations for his cousin, and he also had great expectations for his two nephews.

The eldest nephew Askard led a group of new leaders to the east with the expeditionary force. Only God knows how much this kid can gain. Rurik is not worried about the brat dying in battle, after all, his name is "Askard"! His name was never given randomly, unless the gods ordered another "Askard" to complete a great deed that made history in the future.

The younger nephew Gil was taken by his father Arik to explore the world in Valdai. Compared with his elder brother, there would be less risk in seeing the world with his father.

The Eastern Expedition in 841 only had 500 people, but this time it has reached 1,000 people. The reason why there are so many people is actually that a large number of women have joined the mighty expedition.

However, a large number of young Russians were forcibly detained by Rurik with royal orders.

They were not allowed to participate in this year's Eastern expedition, and they were not allowed to lie down and sleep.

Twelve years old!

Any Rus's who has reached the age of twelve, regardless of the proportion of the Old Rus' tribe in his bloodline, is an "Old Rus'" in the legal sense and must fulfill the obligations of a Rus man - to become a warrior.

The school, a new institution founded by Rurik in Novgorod, is now in its fifth year of development.

It was first used to educate the elite descendants of the old Rus' people, and now it has been expanded to target all the descendants of the old Rus'z, the nephews and nephews of the Slavic elite, and all the children of all kinds of people who can afford it.

The education for children only lasts for two years. Although the total amount of knowledge learned is not much, the amount of knowledge taught is always slowly increasing.

The examination system is not a new thing that old Russians admire. When Rurik described it as a "tournament to compete for the strong", people could easily think of the tournaments that competed for tribal chiefs in the past.

The last winner of the tournament, the old chief Otto, is still alive, but he is extremely old.

Otto was still recognized as the Supreme King, even though he no longer made political decisions. The old man was happily enjoying his family life. He was surrounded by grandchildren, and it seemed that brand new grandchildren were still born.

But what else can he do for his grandchildren and granddaughters? It seems that he can only slowly tell the energetic cubs his glorious past in a hoarse voice and teach them to be a warrior.

All the main settlements of the Rus have a strong martial ethos, even though they are actually distant relatives with similar blood, and fighting has become a pastime among the children. Generally speaking, "fighting in the wild" is not allowed. Young people have a more public platform to vent. It is called bringing wooden shields and swords, asking friends to form a team and fighting with another team.

Fighting is not simply used to vent young people's violent emotions. Even if there is no conflict on weekdays, it is necessary to form a queue to fight.

What they receive in school is never pure physical training, or the ultimate goal of all training is to become soldiers who can be recruited at any time and can go to the battlefield after simple training.

Boys often begin to receive training in "correct group fighting" when they are nine years old. Secondly, they must learn archery, javelin throwing, swimming and other necessary subjects.

From 841 onwards, horse riding also became a necessary subject.

The number of horses in the Kingdom of Rus is growing at an alarming rate. However, because it is a business starting from scratch, the starting point of the horse breeding industry is very low. Because the horse base is too small, Rurik still cannot expand a very large team. A huge cavalry regiment.

Although the Russian-Danish-Saxon coalition defeated the Frankish Cavalry Corps at the cost of blood on the Elbe River, Rurik did not think that he had really restrained the cavalry, making the cavalry no longer particularly important.

Just like the forest-steppe environment with the characteristics of Eastern Europe, the land is too flat and only the cavalry power can help Ross expand in this area.

After the spring plowing, Rurik selected the boys who graduated this year and ordered the boyar nobles in various Slavic villages to hand over some more related nephews. The latter were extremely positive this time because they had experienced huge benefits.

All the personnel quotas add up to 600 people! The minimum age limit for young people is twelve years old, and the maximum age limit is only fifteen years old. They look very young, but with their tall bodies placed here, viewers generally do not believe that they have just reached adulthood.

It is only June, and all these boys have been brought to the training camp outside Novgorod. Pecheneg instructors are waiting for these cubs, and a small group of docile horses for training are also waiting...

When they arrived, a short period of intense and rigorous training began.

The six hundred men were to be divided into two parts, and they had been informed that they would form part of the recently formed Third and Fourth Cavalry.

Since the First Cavalry, under the leadership of "Bald" Fisk, was ordered by Rurik himself, it has continued to fully assist the Duke of Ostara, Carlotta, who is expanding southward. The unit had already gone to Velikiy Luki and would theoretically end up at the Polotsk settlement on the banks of the West Dvina River.

Rurik only has the second cavalry with Brody as the flag captain. Even so, the three hundred cavalry following Rurik himself can fully support the king's dignity.

Because the veterans among them have all been on the battlefield and performed meritorious services. The veterans shape the military soul, making them a majestic killing machine.

Even though the soldiers of the 2nd Cavalry are too young, now they are standing on the grass training ground outside Novgorod, facing a group of newly promoted "quasi-cavalry", and everyone has a natural attitude toward this group of young cubs of the same race. arrogant.

The most noble person here is none other than Rurik himself!

It is still June, and the climate has begun to enter the warm period. The best time of the year is now, which is very suitable for the training of new troops.

The young people didn't have enough horses yet, so all the newly promoted six hundred children stood together, eventually forming six centurions side by side in a square shape.

Look!

Deliberately riding on the captured tall Frank war horse, Rurik deliberately fluttered his golden ponytail, wore his own golden laurel crown on his head, and had a well-groomed beard. He held the reins with both hands and gently pinched his legs. Holding the horse's belly and directing the horse's walking with regular kicks.

He personally rode past the new recruits, inspecting them with blue eyes in his deep sockets. All the young people raised their heads high and greeted the young king.

At the same time, the Novgorod people who lacked fun in life once again dragged their families to the edge of the training ground to watch the excitement, and even stood on the city's wooden city wall to look into the distance.

The whole city is talking about it!

"The king's promise that there will be no large-scale war is actually a lie. He has now expanded the new army, and the expansion is still the most capable cavalry. Only God knows how big the scale of future battles will be."

"Your Majesty also launched a huge ship this year, and now he is expanding his cavalry. Who will the future war target? Continue the western expedition to fight the Franks? Or go south to get rid of that guy Vadim who escaped?"

"In my opinion, the king is planning to attack the Smolensk people. Anyway, sooner or later, we have to defeat those guys."

…

Various discussions were going on. No one in Novgorod was war-weary, or everyone was looking forward to a new war.

War, many things that were not easy to solve in the past, can be solved through a big war.

It is true to a certain extent that the Slavs living around Lake Yilmen do not feel that they are related to the residents of Smolensk.

As the saying goes, there is no such thing as unreasonable hatred. Although all the farms live on the shores of Yin'ermen Lake, their origins are different.

At first, the White Tree Manor was pushed to the fringes, and a group of forest dwellers had to live in the dense forest. This was essentially because they immigrated on foot from Pomerania and were genetically related to the Polotsk people. Closer relationship.

It was the farms in other areas of the Great Lakes that truly broke away from or betrayed Smolensk. It is precisely because of the betrayal in ancient times, passed down from generation to generation, that both sides still have a negative attitude towards each other, but no one can explain the origin of this attitude.

It is obvious that the Smolensk community has been obstructing the trade route in the past. If the people of the Great Lakes want to buy or sell something to the southern world, they must pass through the Smolensk-controlled area. The other party will take cards or even intercept them. As is often the case, this has become the most realistic conflict between the two parties.

Now the offensive and defensive momentum has shifted - the Russians' colonization of the entire Yin'ermen Lake has been completely completed.

I'm afraid it can no longer be called colonization.

In ten years, it went from the annual extortion of tribute to the core ruling area of ​​the Rus.

】

A more powerful nation has formed and continues to expand, and residents around the lake can now call themselves Rus.

The greatness of the kingdom must be maintained by a strong army.

No, after reviewing the new recruits, Rurik turned his horse's head and continued to stand proudly in front of the young man.

He suddenly pulled out his sword, and the sword pointed straight at the sky and buzzed in the sunlight.

The warriors could only squint and look up at the majestic figure of the king, because the summer sun was rising high in the sky. Such a scene seemed as if Odin was giving the king new power.

"Young warriors!" Ryurikkan said excitedly: "Now, I have given you a great mission! You are a brand new cavalry! The third cavalry! The fourth cavalry! You will be directly loyal to me and become The sharp sword of Ross, under my leadership, destroy the enemy, defend our homeland, and bring more people who are interested in naturalization into the rule of Ross. This king will lead you from victory to victory, now! Everyone kneel down!"

In fact, from the beginning of school, all children receiving education are required to be loyal to the Rus royal family. This is easy for people to accept, after all, those who are now qualified to receive education must have some blood relationship with Rurik himself. Tribal ideas did not disappear in a short time. They were very willing to accept Rurik's rule. It is obvious that Rus under Rurik's rule has been winning.

As soon as he finished speaking, all the recruits knelt down on one knee, covering their hearts with their right fists, and lowered their unruly heads, declaring their submission to Rurik.

Rurik's sword swept across them and continued to order: "You, like the first and second cavalry, are my king's extra arms. You must be worthy of your new identity, and you must hurry up and train in the future. I tell you clearly! The new war is not far away, and you will soon fight in the new world under my leadership! What I want is not only your loyalty, but also your loyalty, and I want you to become brave and good soldiers. You are already the ones who stand out. Leaders, now develop your abilities in the training ground, and then prove yourself on the real battlefield. You will go through the most terrifying training, you will bleed, and I will not allow you to cry. Now, I give you two flag captains!"

The most critical thing in the army is the military soul, and the military soul must also be shaped by veterans.

Just as the soul of the 2nd Cavalry came from the 1st Cavalry, the two newly formed cavalry teams were currently in reserve status. Rurik judged that these boys were not far away from going to the battlefield.

Rurik lectured a lot, and when his mouth was dry, he kept the most crucial words in his heart.

Of course, the Kingdom of Ross will further get involved in the Frankish Civil War. If those noble princes can continue the civil war for a long time, Ross can fish in troubled waters for a long time, and even directly cut off piece after piece of land to become the actual control area of ​​the Kingdom of Ross, which is upgraded to a territory. .

No matter how hard Frank fights, she is still a behemoth, and her civilization level is relatively mature. She is so careless that the cost of invasion is still too high. Besides, in the final analysis, Frank is not an enemy that must be destroyed.

The Kingdom of Rus does have a great enemy, and that is the Smolensk community.

From Rurik's point of view, he didn't have much hatred for Smolensk, even if the other party harbored the escaped Vadim and in the end the boy became the chief of the community. He is very interested in destroying the community, but not in annihilating its inhabitants. Eventually, Rus will annex Smolensk and make it a key component of the Rus Kingdom. At that time, the ruler will become his own blood descendant, and Rus will be able to continuously obtain wealth from the local area.

In the final analysis, the core contradiction between the expansion of Rus and Smolensk is just that-you are blocking the way.

The answer is so straightforward. A tribal alliance with a large population that has no good intentions towards Rus is right on the edge of the north-south inland river trade route (Amber Road) in Eastern Europe. It must die or be conquered. If it wants to remain independent, Smolensk is not qualified now. .

Rurik's two expanded cavalry teams were the new standing army. He calculated that he could afford to expand a mere 600 cavalry. Even an additional 1,000 cavalry would be theoretically possible, but it would not ensure a huge cavalry warrior. Completely out of work.

The biggest problem is that there are not enough war horses in service.

The number of horses is increasing year by year, and the rate at which foals will increase in value will continue to expand in the future. Training a war horse is not difficult, but training a qualified rider is difficult.

Also, these two young soldiers were actually from the First Cavalry and had experienced surprise attacks on Cologne and Bonn in the 840 War. They were appointed as the new flag captains.

One is called "Mustache" Carl, and the other is called "Pig-nosed" Swain.

The two have distinct facial features, the former has a special beard, and the latter is just a mild facial deformity with turned-in nostrils. Their names are very common, but when they mention their nicknames, the soldiers of the First Flag Team immediately think of these two people.

In the past team, they were only the captain of the ten-man team. Now, based on Fisk's recommendation, Rurik promoted him to the flag captain.

Are these two really good at fighting? Brody, who was also from the First Flag Troop, had after all captured Duke Ludwig of Bavaria with his own hands. This was a great achievement that he could brag about for a lifetime. He thought highly of himself, but it was undeniable that Brody himself was indeed capable. He had doubts about the two brothers.

No matter how the promotion has been implemented, the two newly promoted flag captains must be responsible for the king. In this critical summer, under the training of the Pecheneg instructors, each soldier becomes a cavalry that can mount a horse and fight immediately. The flag captain This ensures that the two teams can participate in the battle as a large group.

The problem of soldiers has been solved, and it is even a very good thing to solve.

What about the horses equipped for each warrior?

This is why Rurik brought his second cavalry team and marched to the city of New Ostara in the south of the Great Lake.

He came here to observe the horses and look for war horses. This time he was even ordered to station Rus as a de facto diplomat and the brother of the Khan of the Pecheneg Khanate, Quetzal.

Rurik's thoughts were simple. Carlotta was one of his wives, and it was not easy to get the horses from her hands.

Besides, his other wife, Princess Beyachil of Pecheneg, did not go south with Carlotta's Ostara cavalry army.