Rise of Rurik

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Once it enters the wet season, the length of the Radilovskoye River in the watershed of the Luga Highlands will soar to 20 kilometers, and its maximum width can also expand to five kilometers.

It is the highest lake in the region, although its altitude is only 140 meters.

It is like a water tower and is actually an important source of water for the Schellen River that eventually flows into Lake Ilmen.

But its depth is very shallow, and the deepest point is just enough to submerge an adult's head. Especially during the flood season, there are lakes everywhere that can cover people's knees, and the mud on the lake bed can swallow a person whole.

There are some fish in such lakes, but living on the shores of such a muddy lake is a huge challenge.

This is why the former Pskov explorers discovered it but stopped there. On the one hand, they felt that they were in the wrong place when facing the endless mud ponds, and on the other hand, they were driven away by the endless mosquitoes while camping. Walk.

Only things in such a bad place are the only way out.

The entire army assembled on the frozen lake. Rurik issued an order requiring each flag team to rectify their troops immediately after leaving the forest. The order must be implemented by everyone!

The most popular one is that the personal conditions of the soldiers are reported step by step. Who is injured, who has a stomachache, or other miscellaneous problems are sorted out by the captains of each flag and reported to the king.

Some people injured their sprained feet, did not cover their limbs while sleeping and suffered frostbite, or even boldly took off their velvet hats, causing their naturally large earlobes to become red and swollen from the cold.

All kinds of wounded soldiers rushed away, all with minor problems.

"Fortunately, no sleigh was lost and no one was missing. Less than ten horses died, and fifty

A deer, the loss is not big. "

If there was any loss that distressed him the most, it was the loss of his horse.

The horses, whose saddles had obviously been removed, were completely pulled by the reins and moved along with the sled.

Apparently the Turkic horses, which are good at running on the grasslands, are more resistant to the cold, but the path currently being traveled by the entire army is obviously more suitable for the reindeer's habits. Perhaps for the as many as 5,000 reindeer serving in the army, they really regarded the operation as a winter migration.

During the annual winter migration of wild reindeer herds, they make large spatial shifts in the forests of the far north. It's just that their migration movement is quite slow, but now they are always facing the charioteer's whip. They have to maintain a high altitude while dragging load-bearing materials, which is really a lot of pressure.

These big animals all injured their legs due to falls. In the current environment, such injuries are fatal.

Reindeer were killed immediately and spare deer were immediately replenished.

Once a war horse breaks its hoof, Ross will immediately kill it happily according to the habits of the prairie people. But unlike the injured reindeer who were executed, the leather and venison would be used as food, and the death horses were abandoned on the march. After all, the warrior who cherished his mount could not bear to divide its muscles. The death horse merged with this huge Luga Forest...

Excellent war horses did not die in battle, but died in the forest march. If the road was smooth, they would not stumble and eventually die.

And this, in Rurik's view, was the biggest price paid for this expedition.

In a sense, it is indeed a considerable price.

Thanks to the ice and snow all over the world, the Ross army was able to camp in the lakeside area for the final push

of rest.

The lake was simply named "Niba Lake". People now believe that as long as they go all the way east and find the waterway at the eastern outlet of the lake, they can go home in one step.

Although the soldiers had endured a lot of mental torture after many days of marching in the forest, now that they were in the open space, everyone felt refreshed and no longer had to chew dry food. After taking a bite of the hot cooked meal, their morale returned.

The wide ice surface made it unnecessary for the army to resume its march to line up in single file.

The Russian army formed a wide formation, and Rurik kept each sled apart from each other.

After all, the overall climate is picking up. After investigation, the average thickness of the ice surface of Niba Lake is actually not ideal. How deep is it? You can find out by inserting a wooden pole after cutting the ice.

Although the water depth is very limited, once the entire sled sinks, there is no way to escape. Only the personnel can save some cargo and then squeeze it with other sleds.

In order to avoid this dilemma, the sleds still maintain a large distance between each other, just to prevent the ice from breaking under the overall pressure in a small area and causing tragedy.

So the cavalry all mounted their horses, and each hundred-man team dispersed.

The cavalry formed a wide formation to lead the mighty sleds from behind. The Ross army gradually became dispersed, and finally created an "offensive front" about a kilometer wide.

Of course they were not fighting, but they seemed to be fighting in the air.

The whole army set out in the morning, and by noon had completely left the eastern edge of the lake in the wet season.

Finally, there is no need to worry about the sled getting stuck in the ice cave, because there is already solid snow-covered ground under the horses’ hooves. In other words, this

It is a meadow area on the banks of a small river with an obviously extremely twisted channel.

Reeds and rushes are covered with snow, and the soft meadows have been frozen hard.

In such an environment, by the time the mud plowing season begins in early April, this slightly wide riverside area at the end of the river will become a painful muddy area.

At night, the entire army camped at the creek near the location.

After investigation, it was found that the water in this river must come from Niba Lake, and its water direction is also towards the east.

Optimism permeated the entire camp, and many people became anxious because people were talking about one thing - within three days, we arrived at Lake Ilmen.

The campfire was crackling, the soldiers were chatting happily, and the air was filled with the aroma of cooking porridge.

Beyathil stayed close to Rurik, waiting with other cronies for the wheat to boil in the iron pot.

The whole day's action can finally come to an end, and everyone finally has time to reflect on today's fantasy adventure in the sunset.

Now everyone can be sure that the future is bright, but our current position is indeed unknown.

Olafion and Bohm both became Rurik's guests and were qualified to dine with the king.

This seems to be a great honor, but now Rurik feels like an explorer to them. In addition, the light on the king's body had worn away a lot of the hardships of the journey. Just like this, the sense of vicissitudes gained by Rurik made the two senior explorers admire him even more.

"If your team arrived at Niba Lake with a small boat, they could continue to move eastward. Maybe they could reach my city." Rurik muttered with interest.

He tried to open up the chatterbox to break the futility of waiting for the meal.

Chat, since the king intends to chat, everyone here will also follow suit.

Orafin shook his head and pretended to smile pitifully: "If it weren't for the damn mosquitoes, we would have cut down the wood to make a raft and go to the east."

"But who knows what will happen? If nothing happens, won't those of us who want to do business be busy in vain?" These words were said by Bohm, who couldn't help but recall his youth.

There is a huge force called the Ilmenslavs. How can such a force that is entrenched in one place not be known to outsiders?

The Danish immigrants in Pskov all came from the direction of Riga. Their behavior was not a natural population expansion like the Krivi Slavs, but had always been purposeful.

The immigrants wanted to find a new way to communicate with Lake Ilmen and complete transactions with the locals.

In fact, these Danes had already found the right way to reach Lake Ilmen half a century ago - to reach the vast Valdez Zee, or go west to Smolensk, or go north to the Lovaj River and enter Ilmen. Gate Lake.

Slavs everywhere generally refer to them as Varangians, but they are almost all Danes and are inextricably linked to the largest Danish community in the Gulf of Riga.

On this issue, although the Russians have the name of Varyags, they have been a minor player for a long time.

Until the great migration of the whole family that happened in 831.

The Rus did not abandon their homeland, but the elite population migrated on a large scale, thus participating in the grand event with the Slavs of Lake Ilmen and forming a new ethnic group.

A large number of boys and girls grew up vigorously. When Olafen and Bohm learned from Rurik that there were already three boys and girls on the shores of Lake Ilmen.

With a population of 100,000, this number is somewhat beyond their understanding.

A thousand shield-bearing men are already a giant, but what about ten thousand such warriors? They can only think that "the Russian army is like Jormungandr in the sea, powerful and unpredictable."

Ordinary people from all Viking tribes are Mu Qiang. In the north, where the living environment is harsh, one can only live well by relying on powerful leaders.

It seems that the area under the rule of King Rus is as wonderful as the legendary Asgard. On the one hand, "painting the pie" is one thing. Now these people from small Danish communities who intend to immigrate have been feasting on the food along the way. Everything shows the wealth of Rus.

In a sense, Pskov and Ross are going in both directions.

Hearing these two young guys reminiscing about the past, Rurik gradually felt a little regretful in his heart.

"If I had known this, I might as well have plotted to assassinate Gore and directly recruit the remaining personnel. Now that I have killed too many Danish immigrants, Pskov has really taken advantage of the locals. Anyway, the thing has been done to me. No regrets. Besides, I don’t have time to waste time there." Rurik thought silently...

The wheat is finally boiled, and every grain of wheat is boiled until it bursts.

Pour some mashed dried salted fish in and stir it vigorously with a wooden stick. Everyone waiting for the meal will get a big bowl of this delicious salty porridge.

Rurik held a wooden bowl that was not hot and chatted happily with his brothers while eating. The last treasured wine has no meaning in preservation, and now it’s time to take it out and share it with everyone.

After a few sips of strong wine, his whole body felt extremely comfortable. Olaf and Pom became more talkative in their dizzy feeling.

"I hope your Majesty will allow me to

The family plans to live in the legendary Novgorod. I want to live a comfortable life and continue to work for the king in the future. "Then he was drunk and Bom spoke the truth.

"Very good. You were a messenger in the past, and our encounter at the Luga River was also a fateful encounter. By conquering Pskov, you have established your merits. Are you just... just an ordinary person living a comfortable life?"

"Your Majesty, do you intend to reward me?" Bom raised his head warily.

"Not just you, but also the brothers you are close to. The rebels have died in the rebellion, and the king intends to sacrifice the few who survived who have been to Fort New Ross. You!" Rick suddenly pointed at Pom's face and said with a smile: "You can be a boyar! A boyar with a territory and some servants."

"Oh! Thank you so much, King." Bom responded with a smile. After all, he felt that the King who drank strong alcohol might have made the decision to slap his thigh. Besides, his understanding of the concept of "Boyar" was still vague. .

This word mainly exists in the meaning of "the leader's trusted bodyguard", but in Rus it became the name of a lower-level noble. It was precisely because he had lived in New Roseburg for half a year and experienced the customs of Rose that Bohm knew very well the power behind Boyar.

It's just that Olafion, who achieved great success, was awarded the title of earl. In the end, King Rus entrusted this guy to the muddy settlement on Lake Lubans. There is no benefit at all from such enfeoffment. In the end, this guy is not going to lead it. Taking some people to the road?

Presumably the King of Rus named himself and his good brothers Boyars because he planned to assign the brothers to develop the bad land.

Bohm's guess

Che didn't dare to say it face to face, but his guess was actually completely correct.

Rurik noticed the old man's trembling eyes and asked deliberately: "You... hesitated for a while. Do you have objections to my plan?"

"I can not."

"It doesn't matter. I won't force you to say that you are free to have any objections. Compared to Orafin, your merits are not as good as Pom's, so you are not entitled to the title of earl. But you have indeed made meritorious service, so I will grant you the title. As a hereditary boyar, you may suffer some hardships, but your children will always enjoy the glory and wealth, isn’t it wonderful?”

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your favor." Bom forced a smile. Since King Ross guessed everything but refused to reveal it, he had no choice but to apologize.

Objectively speaking, Rurik's conversation around the firewood was a whim, but conferring new hereditary nobles in new areas and entrusting management were also part of Rurik's plan.

As long as the army continues to run along the unnamed river towards its end point, it must reach the west bank of the huge Lake Ilmen.

The geographical structure of Lake Ilmen determines the distribution of residents along the lake. Today, the majority of residents are mainly distributed in the three major cities of Novgorod, Mstisk and Youth City on the north coast, and there are more than thirty Slavic collective farms on the east coast. On the south bank of the lake is the city of Ostara and as many as ten old boyar manor houses.

However, on the east bank of the lake there are only the Fisherman's Manor and the Calf Manor.

What is quite subtle is that the two manors themselves were also designed to avoid the dangers of war, moving north from the southern shore of the lake along the safer eastern shore.

If the east coast of the Great Lakes was a good place, the Pine Needles Estate, once the hegemon in the region, would have developed it long ago instead of

In the northern region, they built their huge settlements at the mouth of the lake on the Musta River.

The reason why the east side of the lake is a muddy land is that its overall environment is exactly the same as the muddy lake that the Russian army just passed through.

The east bank of the entire Lake Ilmen has the most muddy areas, and it is also the east bank that has the most and densest number of small rivers that flow into the lake. Among those rivers, there is only one larger river, the Xielong River. However, there are many small rivers and streams. These small waterways have the strongest nourishment ability, which makes the east of the lake a series of meadows, which are completely uninhabitable.

In the end, the two manor houses, Fisherman and Calf, had a combined population of just over 2,000. They lived together on the banks of the small river Valonda. Because the river backed up a pine forest, a rare large-scale camp was really suitable for a new settlement. .

As for the areas on both sides of the Xielong River, forget it...

Therefore, if he wanted to arrange for the local Slavs to explore and establish settlements at the Selon River, Rurik knew that if he forcibly immigrated those people would definitely go back, but the resistance they would encounter would be huge.

When a group of young men and women were moved to the south to build Greater Luki, they already encountered great resistance from the villagers. Without these young men and women, the family suddenly lost a labor force, until Rurik said, "They must eat the food from the treasury and grow up "Repay the favor" blocked many people's mouths.

Rurik's plan was consistent. He still planned to move some young people who had received education and were rich and well-off, to explore and settle in the Sheron River. This plan will be implemented sooner or later. It would make sense to start preemptive action in 843. The most critical issue is who should be sent to explore the site for the new settlement.

The locals were resistant and difficult to serve, so they sent a team

It would be a good plan for these newly surrendered people to explore. Wouldn't it be possible for them to gain real power after exploration?

People like Bohm were once marginalized in Pskov in the past.

In Rus, only such a prince can grant his family the power to become a hereditary minor noble. He was asked to lay the foundation stone first, and then distribute it to some local young people. Then a small boyar manor was built.

In the past, this plan was to develop the environmental resources of the Selon River. Now it has new value. The so-called "Pskov Novgorod Inland Transportation Line", this line with development potential needs to be guarded.

It's a new day and the whole army continues to move forward.

Everything was completely within Rurik's prediction. Small and large rivers flowing eastward would eventually flow into either the Luga River or the Seron River.

In fact, the unnamed river where the Ross army marched was the small river Sitnia, which was just an ordinary small river.

Until the river merges into a wide river.

"Where is this? Luga River? Sheron River?" Rurik, who was riding a horse, suddenly faced a wide waterway that obviously extended to the east.

"Maybe it's the Sherron River?" Cavalry Captain Brody hurriedly suggested: "We can dig through the ice to determine the direction of the water flow."

"No need." Rurik waved his hand, "Order the entire army to continue moving forward. Let us see where the river flows."

At this point, the Ross Army, which was not exploring the unknown, finally came to the end of its adventure.

Because there were obvious fishermen on the ice, it was those fishermen who showed no fear in the face of the scout cavalry, and even tried to wave.

very

All the truth will be revealed soon.

The fishermen were carried back to Rurik who was marching quickly by the cheerful scout cavalry. When they saw the king himself, the fishermen were also shocked and asked: "What a miracle. Why did the king appear in the Sheron River?"

All speculations have been settled. This river is the Xielong River, and these fishermen are from the fisherman's manor.

Just like the name of this manor, the locals will never forget their old livelihood of fishing.