Rise of Rurik

King Bjorn of Sweden insisted on standing alone in the middle of the Harvest Square in New Roseburg!

The entire square has basically been laid with Portland cement. Although the workers who laid the floor did not lay it out very well, for people who are used to seeing mud and rough roads, the square is already too smooth.

Now the whole world is covered with snow, and with a pair of feet and a wandering reindeer sleigh, the square is covered with a layer of hard ice and snow.

King Bjorn looked around and sighed with wide eyes that the Rus had a great city.

There is a winter market in the square, where leather and cold fish are always traded.

On one side of the square was the palace of the Prince of Rus, which was still under construction. What surprised him was that the building had reached the third floor. A group of men continued to carry wood and hammered nails with hammers. The foundation and first floor of the palace are made of stone, and the second floor is made of pure wood.

Pure wooden buildings are not surprising in Hjärmalen, but the Russians want to build a four-story building, and maybe even taller. This is incredible.

"Do you plan to see the sky and connect directly with Asgard?"

The tall building will replace the current residence of the prince and become a real palace.

The Russians built a large temple near the palace. What is shocking is that this brick and stone building actually has a crystal clear outer layer. For the divinity of the temple, they did not hesitate to spend money to decorate it with precious stones? Because the sun shone fiercely on it, it was so sacred that it didn’t need to say anything. As a result, the Great Temple of Uppsala in Sweden has been completely inferior.

At this point, the Uppsala messenger was more shocked than Bjorn.

The Great Temple and the Rus Duma Council Chamber are the most important public buildings in the city.

The highlands in the center of the city are the most unusual. A large number of special buildings are surrounded by stone and wood walls and guarded by soldiers. It is said that that is the granary of Rus, the place where the young man Rurik made his fortune.

Before Bjorn came, he had a certain arrogance as a king, but now he feels that his arrogance is a joke. Therefore, it was a misjudgment for the Swedish people to only be inferior to Ross in the navy. Now it seems that Sweden is inferior to others in every aspect.

Not to mention anything else, the Ross people only have a large number of winter workers, which is simply impossible in the Lake Mälaren area that freezes in winter.

In Sweden's Lake Mälaren region and the trading center of Birka, people generally stay at home to "hibernate" and enjoy the Hanukkah carnival for three days on the winter solstice. The prosperous trading port was sluggish due to winter, but the Rus's here was completely different. It is possible that Rus's port prospered all year round.

Rurik is now in his loyal capital, and all the main ships of the Russian Navy are staying at the so-called Kronstadt anchorage.

When King Bjorn broke through the thin ice and passed Kotlin Island with the large ship Rolos, he saw large ships parked in clusters at the anchorage at the mouth of the Neva River. Ice and snow will freeze the sea to an extremely solid state, but the ice will not break up the hulls of ships, and ships of all sizes will be unable to move.

Bjorn didn't know how many large and small ships the Russians had. He asked the white fox who was accompanying them. The white fox didn't know this question either.

"There are about five thousand ships. Some are built by ourselves and some are trophies. Ships are not rare in Rus." The white fox's casual words were like a war hammer, hitting Bjorn's heart hard.

It was Rurik who allowed a group of old friends and envoys from his hometown in Sweden to visit New Roseburg freely, and they visited everywhere, each with different focuses.

There are too many reindeer, which are rare in the Lake Malaren area. Ice and snow covered everything, but large areas of farmland were still clearly visible due to the obvious boundaries of field ridges. They still showed a clear grid shape and seemed to have the same area, which surprised the envoys.

In the city, not only the princes and families enjoy multi-story buildings, but ordinary people also build tall houses on both sides of the road.

The Swedes are not all small fish hiding in Lake Mälaren. Envoys who have seen the world are convinced that the Russians must have learned the skills of building houses from the Franks.

This is indeed the case, because stone and clay bricks are the strongest, and with the continuous supply of Portland cement from the prince's cement workshop, building double-story stone, brick and wood mixed houses has become inevitable in this city with an increasing population.

Several Swedish princes, who were theoretically at the same level as Rurik, came in person. Now that they had seen so many new things, their inferiority complex reached an unbearable level.

All the Swedish envoys have low self-esteem. At the same time, some people brought their previous thoughts to the table. The so-called brothers no longer want to recognize Bjorn's Mellaren tribe as their boss!

After all, he is a messenger from his hometown, or even a comrade who fought side by side many years ago.

Although his biological father, Otto Sr., is still in Novgorod, Rurik intends to raise a toast to nostalgia with this group of people on his father's behalf.

Due to Rurik's eastern soul, he rewarded these envoys with comfortable residences, clean new clothes, special meals and wines, and the enjoyment of bathing and saunas. Except that there is no Meiji to sleep with, all other treats are provided.

All this seems to be free, but it is all part of Rurik's calculation.

Although he has never had the ambition to become king in his hometown of Sweden, he also knows that as long as he is willing and sends his army to Lake Malaren, princes from various tribes will come to negotiate in-depth cooperation.

Even if he does not become king, economic and trade relations with his hometown will still be deepened. Now the North Baltic Sea is completely peaceful. Tens of thousands of people died in a catastrophe. Those who are alive can enjoy the peace under Rus. Although the land is barren, the marine resources can still support a large population.

Once people from all tribes in Sweden have free access to the estuary of Lake Mälaren, Sweden's population will rise rapidly due to the income from a large amount of fish. This new population will be able to purchase Rus' supplies, and Rus' massive output requires these new buyers.

The Principality of Rus should have the right to dump goods unscrupulously in Sweden. Rurik believed that only by shocking this group of old world nobles in all aspects could they accept the fact of the hegemony of the Principality of Rus.

The former King of Sweden, Oleksin, was very domineering. He relied on the army to extort tribute from tribes, and suppressed or expelled those who disobeyed. Why should Ross imitate this old bastard? Relying on the trade surplus, Ross can reap huge benefits and gain a reputation as a good person.

Rurik patiently waited for them to finish admiring the whole day. The waiting time was a bit boring, and he would not be idle.

The eldest daughter Velika ran around in front of him, and his son Reglaf also learned to speak.

Let's talk about Reglaf, who was born after experiencing "Caesar's Cut". The story of his birth and the fact that he was named by the Pope of Rome have been brought to Britain by the royal pirate Spyot. Rurik can be sure that Nono The Armless King of Sembria already knows this, and Ella, who is about to take over the throne, must also admit that the future king of neighboring Mercia is this Reglaf.

Caesar's deeds were widely spread throughout Europe, and even the barbarian countries in Britain were aware of this Roman hero.

Caesar was born by caesarean section, for which his mother died. The birth of Reglaf is exactly the same!

Spyot clearly explained to Rurik the expressions and feelings of the Broken Arm King. In addition to being shocked, he was also shocked.

But the situation in northern Britain has stabilized, and a large number of Norwegians are rushing to the Viking Kingdom of York, just as the Angles used this route three hundred years ago to establish Greater Northumbria in this area. History is repeating itself in the same area. Immigrant Norwegians are wildly fishing for North Sea herring in Hunter Bay and other waters facing the east. Norwegian immigrants are also pioneering and farming.

Dururik, the sworn brother, learned that his two brothers had suspended expansion, so there was no further military friction with Northumbria and Mercia, whose territories had been severely reduced.

He looked at Reglaf who was running around: "Poor kid, when you come to Mercia, you will cause a bloody storm."

Reglaf was raised by the pregnant Queen Svetlana. Rurik deliberately did this, not only to pity his de facto eldest son, but also to give his beloved wife an internship as a mother.

After all, this child is the eldest son, the de facto eldest grandson of old Otto and his wife, so they prefer him more.

It's just that Reglaf was already facing a big problem when he was growing up - he had to learn to speak Anglo.

Spyot brought back a young priest along the way, and Rurik knew with his toes that this man was appointed by the Broken Arm King. The old guy who is about to die is not good at military, but his political skills are good. The legitimate monarch of Mercia, who sent men from his own kingdom to guide his future neighbor, was ultimately in the interest of his country.

As it happened, Regrave needed a male teacher of Anglo and also needed to keep a priest by his side.

Children's education should start from childhood, and Rurik decided to teach his children Norse, Latin, Slavonic, Finnish and Anglian. It would be troublesome to learn so many languages, but for the sake of the family's rule, especially Latin, the children must learn it.

It would be too early for a three-year-old to learn Latin. But six-year-old Velika must start school. The opportunities now are very good. Rurik has a lot of time to educate his eldest daughter.

Velika must study hard, because the next high priest of Rus must be a wise man.

The visit and inspection of the noble envoys has ended, and everyone including King Bjorn knows that the Prince of Ross will hold a conference tomorrow.

The meeting was supposed to be held in the council chamber, and it was never thought that the boy Ryurik would do this in the old palace. The messenger made it very clear that the prince wanted to entertain everyone with a state banquet of the principality. The lunch would be extremely sumptuous and would be held at noon.

New Roseburg's latitude is much lower than Lake Mälaren, even so the current daylight hours are only seven hours.

The long nights are also the reason why Vikings from all walks of life find it difficult to live in winter. For the sake of profit, the Russians have developed the habit of giving birth in winter.

The sun has not yet risen, and King Bjorn, who was sleeping wrapped in extremely comfortable wool, could hear an extremely clear tinkling-ding-dong-dong sound in his ears. That was the Russian shipbuilding workshop, and it was also the purpose of coming here.

But for other envoys, especially the elderly Prince Angreve of the Angkras tribe, this old guy has already thought about it!

Late at night, he explained to his followers: "I have decided that when we see the boy Rurik, I will recognize him as a venerable."

"But he's still a child." Someone muttered, implying something inappropriate.

"It doesn't matter. I'm going to die, and for our benefit we must choose a new backer. Look at the Gould family, living with the Russians, and now they have made a lot of money and are in a great position. We Anglas people can no longer Let this opportunity pass.”

The followers looked at each other and reached a consensus. If everyone was worshiping Old Otto as the venerable boss, no one would think it was inappropriate. Now I have to worship an eighteen-year-old man...forget it! Living a good life is more important than anything else.

The envoys from all tribes have similar thoughts. Some micro-tribes are really small and poor, and they have no psychological concerns about worshiping a new venerable. They can even immigrate directly with hundreds of people from the tribe!

They each had their own ideas, and Rurik's royal kitchen was busy cooking.

Many of the cooks were women captured from Britain and Frank before. Rurik did not want to do any bad things. These female captives continued to work as cooks, servants and other colleagues, and they were also rewarded for serving the prince. A bunch of Slavs and deer herders.

They are all salary earners, their children have the right to receive free education, and their economic life is completely tied to the royal family. Life is better now than in the past, and they are not willing to betray their class.

A lot of ingredients are piled in the kitchen. Some people are responsible for grilling meat, and some are just making noodles in a single cycle. Cabbage, yellow root carrots, onions and a handful of peas are processed, and dried Agaricus bisporus is foamed…

How could such a state banquet not include Aslaki's mill and bakery? As the prince's sister-in-law, in addition to undertaking the production of rations for the military expedition, she also had to make desserts for the prince.

Egg whites, milk, butter, and honey foam into sweet cream. Mix sifted fine flour with eggs to make cake. Although it was not exquisitely made, Rurik still saw the tiramisu cake that he thought was just right.

Indeed, the Russians should be as good at making tiramisu as they have historically been.

There's tiramisu, honey bread, cheese bread, and even venison pie.

Because supplies are more abundant than last year, Ross can play huge tricks at the state banquet. After all, cooking requires imagination. As a "big Oriental foodie", Rurik is indeed "full of imagination" in this regard.

They loved ale, so give them ale, vodka, mead and kvass.

They love to eat wheat, so they are given various breads and cakes made from wheat.

They like to eat barbecue, so they give them traditional hard vegetables and roast deer.

Rurik had prepared more than twenty kinds of side dishes, hot dishes, hard dishes, staple food and drinks. You must prepare more, and the patterns must be large and abundant! To use the ingredients in stock, this state banquet requires a strategic hemorrhage! In terms of eating and drinking, we must make our old friends in the old world deeply feel that they lived like beasts in the past, and make them desire to live a good life like the Russians.

All this is a sugar-coated bomb prepared by Rurik. He is not worried about a group of big eaters eating him up. On the contrary, Rurik wants to entertain this group of distinguished envoys throughout the winter, so as to achieve the goal of "not thinking about Shu". The purpose is even better.

As a result, many distinguished envoys got the news and came to the banquet happily. Several Swedish princes have already thought about it. They will publicly respect Rurik as a venerable. Even if Rurik does not become king, they will declare that Ross is one level higher than themselves and promise that Ross will send troops to help if there is a war.

King Bjorn's excited colleagues are also worried. He is not as arrogant as the two previous kings, but Ross's amazing strength makes him afraid. If he wants to remove his throne, it is not impossible to make Rurik of Rus the king, but Melalen wants to get benefits, and the purchase of Rus's ship must be done well.

Before everyone arrived, they smelled the intoxicating aroma in the air.

They entered Rurik's old palace for the first time and entered the main hall. They were shocked to see a dazzling array of delicious food, as well as a ferocious bear head that hung in the entire room, perhaps as large as two hundred, and a slow-burning bronze oil lamp on the top of the bear's head.

The delicious meal was nothing more than side dishes, but even so they felt it was extremely rich.

Two young men, a man and a woman, were sitting at the desk at the deepest part of the hall, looking for the bookstore www.zhaoshuyuan.com. They were none other than Rurik himself, and his queen.

Rurik also clapped his hands in time, and a group of Russian elites appeared from the side door! The men were mighty and the women were well-dressed, all sitting on Rurik's side.

The remaining positions are for many messengers.

Table seats are about dignity. At this moment, King Bjorn of Sweden realized that he had to take a seat. Needless to say, he felt a little unhappy and helpless. Obviously in the eyes of this brat Rurik, he is not a king at all, he is just on the same level as other Swedish princes!

So what? The business had to continue, not to mention that he didn't want to compete with the Russians for Baltic hegemony.

At this moment, Rurik shouted politely: "Old friends from Sweden, please take a seat. Whether you are a noble or an envoy of a noble, you all represent a principality, and I treat you equally. I will give you endless food. Delicious meals and endless wine, just tell me if you have any questions, and we can chat while eating and drinking.”

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