Rise of Rurik

The wife and children are still alive, and their condition seems to be fine. As for the death of the slave, Swinder can't care about it. His wife and children are all alive, and he has no more worries.

He pinched his waist and raised his chest. After letting go of his wife, he shouted in a rich voice: "You are stubborn! The Russ ask you to surrender!"

As soon as these words came out, the people on Shiqiu who were already swayed were even more swayed.

However, the powerful patriarchs of the big families, based on their own life experience, will not descend so smoothly. If you want to surrender, everyone has already surrendered, so why insist on it until now.

An old guy leaned against the stone and stuck his head out, shouting, "Swinder! You are the one who led the way and brought the Rus people here!? You are a traitor, and you made the whole island suffer!"

Swinder was not to be outdone: "Sounds like Holmsund? I expected you to say that! My friend, I'm not a villain, and! The Russ don't want to be a villain!"

"Absurd! We chose you to make peace with the Rus people. You betrayed everyone! We all thought you were dead, but we didn't expect this to happen. If we knew this, we might as well chop off your wife and children."

Swinder reckoned that if his family hadn't come down without authorization, it would have been a bargaining chip for them to surrender. Even if the people from Shiqiu said harsh words, they would still be rhetoric.

"But you don't have a chance." He said proudly: "Look at your own situation! Do I know how much food and water are stored on the stone hill? The weather doesn't look like it will rain soon, as long as Ross If the siege continues, you may die of thirst tomorrow. As long as the Rus are willing to fight, you will die too. But! The Rus want you to surrender. Surrender, my friends! Neither do we nor the Rus. A reason to keep fighting."

These words are provocative, because what Swinder says is true.

There is still a little food on the stone hill, but the fresh water is really gone.

Escape to the stone hills seems like a really bad move now, but no one thought of this when they first fled, and no one thought that the Russ army would be everywhere, like a net trapping the struggling cod.

The chiefs of the big families are in a dilemma, and the Danes in exile are even more tangled.

They showed indecision, but the large number of heads exposed from behind the stone fully proved the strong shaking of mentality.

Considering the past friendship, Swinder didn't want these old friends to die in vain.

He continued to shout: "If I had landed on the island early, this misunderstanding could have been avoided! Friends,

We are all misunderstood. There is no need for war at all, as long as we surrender Ross everything will be fine. It is because you took the initiative to attack a few days ago, which made Prince Ross misunderstand that you were going to fight desperately. Why bother! We used to surrender to King Hafgen of Denmark, now that Hafgen is dead, the new past despises us. Since we once surrendered to Denmark, what's the problem with surrendering to Rus? Moreover! The conditions offered by Prince Ross to our brothers are very good! "

Hearing, someone else simply leaned out: "You say! What do the Rus want to do? If we descend, what will be the benefit? This is our island! This is our island!"

"so what?!"

"We have to accept our terms!"

Swinder's head is buzzing, a group of old guys are going to die from internal friction, and they still want to negotiate terms? He was unmoved and continued: "Negotiate conditions? Yes! I am just a messenger appointed by the Rus, and I can only tell you the conditions of the prince of Rus. You surrender! The Rus will guarantee your safety. Rosnagon, publicly declare against King Horrick of Denmark, and hand over some slaves, that's all! The Russ want these."

From the standpoint of the Rus, ordinary warriors feel that the prince has given too high conditions to a group of dying idiots. How can they get peace? It would be better if the brothers swarmed up and slaughtered the islanders to pieces.

Rurik himself made huge concessions, and he was reluctant, but in order to resolve the situation as soon as possible, let Swind describe it as such.

It was said that the people on the stone hill should surrender after receiving such a promise, but on the contrary, the patriarchs of those big families were still hesitant.

For no other reason, these men don't seem to be controlled by others.

Even if it was ruled by Denmark in the past, it was ruled in name only. The lord, or king, of Denmark did not ask for any tangible tribute from the islanders of Bornholm, if there was some herring. There are two reasons for the falling out between the islanders and the new king of Denmark. One is that the comer is a de facto agent of the Franks, and the existence itself does not represent the interests of Denmark. The other is the biggest contradiction - the new king announced tax collection. .

After all, the new Danish King Horrick was an actual vassal in Frank. Even though Frank's tax system was primitive, it was a clear tax system. Naturally, as the king of Denmark, the means of making money has been upgraded to relying on taxes to make a grand request. The tribes under the new king of Denmark must pay the poll tax, and the ships must also pay the berthing tax and trade tax when doing business.

The Frankish kingdom has not yet invented many kinds of extortionate and miscellaneous taxes. Even the talented Charlemagne is often faced with the problem of lack of money in the treasury, so that the king has to rely on the uniform of the taxpayer and ask the local real power nobles to regularly find ways to provide enough money. Tribute to pay for the army, thus continuing the war of expansion of the kingdom. The nobles also participated in the war after paying for it, and the spoils of war often offset the tribute. But this system has huge loopholes, local nobles can go their own way, and when the hero is about to die, the kingdom has already been effectively divided.

The new Danish king Horrick was the servant of the tribal leader, and he got the Danish throne today by doing things for the Franks.

Horlick had to rely on taxation to stabilize his finances and then consolidate his royal power. Because of his disobedience, he attracted the ambitions of the Franks. He lost a sum of money and consumed the state money, making the already insufficient money even poorer. It is clearly reasonable to ask for taxes from various tribes, but the tax should be applied to even the babies of the tribe, which is challenging the bottom line of the Danish people! It stands to reason that the poll tax is not a big problem, and the tax standard is very low, so the public can obviously afford it.

From the standpoint of ordinary people in Denmark, this is not a good thing. Many Danish people regard this kind of poll tax as an insult, as if even babies are to be slaves to Horrick. The tribes in those remote places simply rowed longboats to find other settlements, and some tribes rose up to resist, such as Bornholm Island, the most remote place, which has effectively separated from Denmark.

These are major economic interests that have kept the islands out of Denmark, listen to Swinder again! If everyone surrenders, they still have to pay tribute or pay indemnities. What is the difference between the conditions proposed by the prince of Ross and that of the Danish Horrick? Even the two monarchs have similar names.

Because Ragnar had been there, the name of the Raja Russ was mentioned as Rurik Ottoson.

The new king of Denmark is Horrick Haraldsson.

What kind of business is this? Because Horrick and Rurik are both variants of the name "Eric" and are no different from each other.

The names of the two monarchs are about the same, and the conditions put forward cannot be said to be similar, but can only be said to be exactly the same.

But the big problem of reality is also in front of you - the brothers are really going to die of thirst and starvation.

Swinder continued the nonsense again, and even if it took some words, it would be good to convince them to avoid the killing. His mouth was dry as he spoke, so he had no choice but to unpack the water bottle and drink water freely.

He deliberately made the action very exaggerated, and after he was full, he publicly poured out the remaining water.

"Come down! Friends, the Rus will not treat the surrenderers badly. You see, those who came down first are already eating fish and drinking water..."

Ragnar and Arik, who were present, maintained the greatest restraint, and they really felt that Swinder's mouth was a waste of emotion.

Ragnar stepped forward and patted the guy on the shoulder: "Enough! Maybe those men finally realized that they still have the courage of warriors and planned to fight to the end."

"No! Let me try again."

"Enough is enough. Your good intentions seem to them to be crows. Let me do it. I will convince the Danes."

No, Ragnar appeared publicly.

He unhurriedly took off the robe given by the Rus, and took off the inner shirt, showing his chest and arms. He showed his tattoo to the people on the stone hill, and raised his fist to indicate that he had a special ring.

It's "Ragner of the Skulled Pants"!

The Danish exiles were the lords of Denmark. They were defeated by the new Danish king and the Frankish allied forces, and they fled to Bornholm with only a few troops. Some suffered some damage after a very ugly battle with the Rus army, and in the days when Shiqiu was trapped, another brother died of thirst.

Ragnar's nickname is very loud, after all, at the young age of fifteen, he could cut off the head of the snake-playing leader alone in a duel.

Ragnar also spoke nicely: "Danish! Why do you want to mix with Bornholm Islanders? Just for asylum? Me! Ragnar Sigurdsson, me and the Rus The leaders are close, our Stonewall tribe is allied with the Rus, and my people are living a very good life. The Rus appreciate you very much! The prince of Rus asked me to give you a message! The enemy of the enemy is a friend! As long as you are against Denmark King, the Rus people are willing to make friends with you. Come down!"

Yes, why should the Danes give their lives to the islanders. A group of big, doomed families in the old days only allowed exiled Danes to live. They were de facto partners, and now that the Rus were targeting the people of the Islands, wouldn't it be absurd for the Danes in exile to intervene in the campaign.

The Danish exiles, who figured it out, are restless, but they're still not entirely sure they'll be promised safety.

Someone asked loudly: "Ragnar! We can go down. You swear! You swear to Odin! If the Ruth people take revenge on us, you will be cursed by the gods, and heroes like you will never enter Vallaha."

Ragnar is a true believer. He firmly believes that he has his own place in the Hall of Valor, so he must abide by the principles of warriors, such as not betraying his companions. He believed that Rurik's so-called new policy toward Denmark was true. After the new king of Denmark was sorted out, the peace between Denmark and Rus, or even expanded, would bring peace to the entire Baltic world.

"Okay! I swear to Odin! If you come down to the Rus and kill you, let Odin take my life, let Thor cleave me to charcoal with thunder, and let Freya curse my heirs. die."

Enough was enough, the swearing was enough for the Danes at Stonehill to be sure that Ragnar was real.

The Danes didn't care about the feelings of the big families and private soldiers, and staggered down through the stones of the barrier.

At the same time, the Ross army is paying attention to the persuasion to surrender here. Rurik kept squinting and staring, he let out a long sigh, and after a few twists and turns, it seemed that things could be resolved peacefully?

Arik led the shooter unit to remain on alert. He ordered that no one should escape. As long as the people who came down did not try to fight, the crossbows held by the brothers were upright in the sky.

There were hundreds of Danish exiles who came down, and they were not a strong force.

Ragnar bumped their fists, patted some on the shoulders, and continued to promise peace.

But Arik stopped them: "The Danes, hand over your weapons first."

As soon as these words came out, the exiles who had just come down were instantly alert and drew their swords one after another. Although they were exiles from different tribes, the speed of drawing their swords was fast and their movements were unified.

The Ross army was more tidy, Xiangtian's crossbow suddenly flattened, and Arik's team set up a Ross arrow formation.

"You still don't want to surrender? Recalcitrance is a dead end!" Arik ordered, baring his teeth.

Those exiles were not to be outdone, even though their bodies were seriously dehydrated, they still put on the shield wall and looked like they were stubbornly resisting.

The two sides were at a stalemate at a distance of about twenty paces. The Ross people did not attack, and the Danish exiles were completely defensive.

Seeing this, Ragnar was alone in the middle of the two armies, spreading his arms to mediate.

"Brothers Arik, why bother? They are sincere surrender, don't scare them. Hey! Friends of Denmark, you can avoid misunderstandings by handing over your weapons first. When Prince Ross thinks that you are no longer a threat, everything will be easy. Besides. Now, Prince Ross is still recruiting mercenaries. Wouldn't it be good for you to join together? For my sake, both of you should exercise restraint."

It was rare for Arik to give in first. As his elder brother, he didn't want to cause trouble to his younger brother on this crucial issue.

The crossbow-wielding warrior relaxed, and the Ross Army on the scene disarmed.

The Danish exiles looked at each other, and since the Rus were already there, there was little choice. They put down their shields and swords one after another, and handed over their lives to the Rus.

Soon, the temptation to eat meat and drink water trumps everything. Rurik is also very interesting. He can see that the people who have descended the stone hill are full of doubts, which adds some material to the materials provided to these people. More than grilled fish? Danish exiles also ate biscuits made from wheat. This cake is unusual, with a little honey on it, making it a delicacy that exiles have eaten for the first time in their lives.

When the unarmed Danes began to openly drank water and gulps, the people on the rock fell completely.

The patriarchs of the big family have been unable to restrain others except their own family.

The slaves rebelled! They did not turn to their masters, but threw their swords and axes, blatantly the warriors' own empty hands, and fled to the arms of the Rus.

The slaves have all run away, why should the private soldiers rely on them? The big families can't get their salary, so it's better to go down and join the Rus people. The brothers are mercenaries in essence, and it is a good choice for anyone to work for the Rus people. Just because they saw it, the Danes, who were clearly fighting hard, were drinking water happily in the Rus camp.

Losing slaves and private soldiers, the so-called big families have turned into bare veterans.

So far, they have lost even the strength of the last fight, and then looking at the large area of ​​fishermen on the stone hill who have no strength waiting to die, they simply announced their surrender.

Rurik saw that the big families were the last surrenderers. He had already despised these idiots, and now he despised them even more.

Of course, he still publicly welcomed the surrender of the big families on the island, and emphasized: "We will hold a Nordic meeting with each other to discuss matters after your surrender."

Is this Prince Ross? The Danish King Horrick was a short, round-faced guy, and this Rurik was a handsome young boy. Handsome men are more friendly. As Rurik really provided drinking water and food, people who were dying of thirst were brought back to life. Rurik only had good feelings in the hearts of the patriarchs. It seemed that the previous siege had really become his misunderstanding. Caused by asking for trouble.

But they were not what Rurik valued. Do you have to invite the patriarchs of a group of big families to be guests, what use is this group of guys?

On the other hand, those who were dying on the rocky hills and had no strength to come down to contribute, they really had nothing and were very easy to control.

The Ross soldiers carrying the water bags began to rush towards the stone mound, kicking the "corpses" first, feeding those who were able to move, and then carrying them down.

This kind of saving action is absurd. Ragnar feels that it is fate for those people to die of thirst and starvation, and even Prince Rurik does not need to save those people. He did not express his objections, and he forbade his lads to speak up, so as not to arouse Rurik's dissatisfaction.

An astonishing number of the dying were transported down, first with water, and then with honey. Rurik used the honey used by the military to save people, and the effect was immediate.

They came to life and ate the food given by the Rus army. After an opportunistic general count, as many as 1,200 islanders of all ages survived.

The top of the stone hill is already a giant tomb! When the living were gone, a group of crows took the opportunity to fly over and began to eat the flesh of the dead.

Thousands of people died there, a large number of young children and the elderly, and most of the survivors were young men and women, and more women.

It is this kind of person who is the prisoner Rurik needs most.

"Young men are thrown into the mines of the north, and young women are sent to Novgorod as a reward, that's all." Rurik was satisfied, so the situation of those blood-related family members of the great families who surrendered changed their situation. very embarrassing.

The slaves and private soldiers who used to be attached to big families, Ross can quickly incorporate.

As for those people...

For the time being, Rurik still showed a kind smile, but now...