Rise of Rurik

Those slaves seemed to be just tools. They were both male and female. Men were tools for managing the family's property. Women, while being tools, also had special uses.

They were in the back row for their future, and they thought they would be beheaded directly when they were pulled out of the prison.

Unexpectedly, a richly dressed man stood in front of them. They raised their heads nervously. Isn't that the Prince of Ross? !

A pair of shrinking eyes revealed prayer, and Rurik could guess the desire of this group of people to live.

"Your master has committed a serious crime!" He shouted sternly. "According to traditional rules, you will also die with your master. But you are just slaves. It would be unjust to be killed by me so simply. You..."

Rurik pointed at the slave's head casually: "You! And you! Or you! Your master is against me. As a slave, do you know more details?! Now I declare that you are exempt from death penalty! If you can Tell me the details of your master's rebellion, and you will be free immediately, and I will also reward you with a sum of money."

They heard it like a dream, and when Rurik confirmed it, they all raised their heads and talked about their master's faults.

They became slaves for various reasons. It was normal for them to be slaves because they failed to farm and went bankrupt and could not afford to pay for their debts. They were not fools. How could these farmers and women from Mälaren become slaves if they were not forced by circumstances? They quite cleverly seized this opportunity, regardless of whether it was true or not, they added fuel to what they heard and heard, and decisively described their masters as the great villains who opposed the Prince of Rus.

Some people even said more conclusively: "My old master said this. He said that it is illegal for the Prince of Rus to become the King of Sweden. If the Prince insists on doing so, they will..."

"How? Can you still assassinate?" Rurik asked in anger.

But he saw that this person was more determined: "Exactly."

Isn't this important information? One person said this, and others agreed. They were obviously biting each other, but in the current situation, Rurik didn't bother to distinguish. This matter was of great importance, and it was really better to believe it than not.

The slaves were still sitting on the ground collectively, both men and women holding their heads high and showing pleading smiles.

Looking at them again, Rurik nodded deeply: "Forget it, in the name of the prince, I will reward you with the elimination of slavery, but that will be five years later. I will immediately arrange you into my workshop, and I will give you If you have enough food and clothing and work for me for five years, you will become Russians."

They burst into tears of gratitude. It was great to be free, but the problem of food must be solved to regain freedom. If you want to be a slave, it seems better to continue to be a slave to the prince of Rus.

Slaves are still slaves. Rurik has no intention of talking nonsense with these people anymore. Now he has a lot of evidence in hand, and he just takes it with him to summon Bjorn.

The slaves did not say that King Bjorn had participated in any conspiracy that was detrimental to them. Maybe Bjorn was confused throughout the whole process, but the guy didn't come to visit him after the snowstorm, so how could he avoid making people suspicious?

On the other hand, regarding the Ross patrol who captured the deceiver, the soldiers sealed all the houses where the merchants temporarily lived, and all the slaves in debt were confiscated. These situations are also causing uproar throughout the city.

Those who were arrested were all businessmen from Mälaren. Those who were not captured were trembling with fear. The businessmen from other tribes in Sweden were busy watching the show and were also a little worried themselves.

As notices in traditional Rune, Romanized Norse, and Romanized Cyrillic were posted on several bulletin boards in Harvest Square, the onlookers learned the reasons for arresting people and sealing down shops.

The matter is very simple, the person who was caught was involved in the conspiracy against the prince of Rus.

The people thought with their toes and knew that all this was related to the rumors that went viral a few days ago. It turned out that it was not a "punishment from the gods" at all? Is it just a small group of bad guys causing trouble?

The public document calmed people's hearts, and the document's struggle was directed at those outside businessmen who were restless and self-defeating.

The atmosphere in the city of New Rossburg has begun to become very delicate. The attitudes of the old Russians and the new immigrants to New Rossburg towards the visiting merchants are becoming strange. The people know where their good life comes from and have no feelings for those foreign businessmen. People simply voted with their feet. After the documents were posted on the bulletin board, the market in Harvest Square and the stalls of foreign merchants gradually became more and more deserted. Unless the merchants priced the goods sold at a very low price, some people would risk talking. Line of defense to buy it.

In their minds, Prince Rurik is a complete holy king, and they are also proud of being Russians. Why can't my own prince be the King of Sweden? Because of this matter, there are evil people who want to harm the prince? Maybe the enemy will be among the merchants.

King Bjorn originally intended to pay a visit to Rurik in person, mainly to talk about buying a ship. He needed a secret deal to go without other nobles to get involved, so that he could place a large order and then try to finalize a "group purchase discount".

His people inquired about the rumors, and although Bjorn was not willing to abdicate, nor was he stupid enough to conspire behind the scenes, it was against a warrior's pride after all. He chose to lie dormant for the time being, hoping that the bad news would slowly subside. After that, more exciting news came. Prince Rus arrested all the bad people who spread rumors, and the only one who had his right relative was a Meralen businessman.

This situation really surprised Bjorn, who became hesitant. During this period, the Uppsala envoys and the Hjälmälän envoys also heard about the situation. It was said that King Bjorn was dissatisfied with his abdication. The envoys also expressed their own attitudes, saying, "What do you think of Mälaren?" It doesn’t matter, we are willing to recognize Rurik as the new king of Sweden, and if the Russians continue to pursue the case, we will stand on the Russian side.”

This was a slap on Bjorn's face. He couldn't tell the pain. Firstly, he didn't dare to get angry and oppose Rose. Secondly, he still hoped that the deal with Rose could continue to be implemented.

It seems that nothing is more important than visiting Rurik himself!

Rurik's envoy arrived first, which played into Bjorn's plan.

The kings of the East and the West decided to meet privately. This was the opportunity that Bjorn had dreamed of, and it was Rurik who insisted on it.

This matter is of great importance, and idlers have no right to know what is involved in the private meeting. Rurik not only made a good plan, but also made a clear attitude - a real man has something to say, and he must not hide it and cause misunderstanding.

But the location of the private meeting was not in the city at all.

On the day of the appointment, the daylight was already extremely short. Outside the city, just where the burnt blackened hard ground was, a larger wooden tower mainly made of pine wood was being piled up. Hanukkah is not far away, and people need a giant fire tower to light up the world instead of the sun. Especially in this snowstorm year, people need the heat source of the fire tower to melt the snow.

Rurik took a dozen of his followers and left the city on a sleigh while it was still dark.

After a while, King Bjorn also left the sponsored mansion on a sleigh with his entourage.

The private meeting place between the two parties was the so-called Kronshtadt military port where the warships were parked outside the city. The mighty warships during the warm period were now frozen solid by the sea ice. There are a lot of dark yellow light spots on the ice of this frozen sea area. They are a group of night fishing madmen who use ice cloth bait to catch cod. This is how the plump frozen fish at the New Roseburg Market comes from.

The dim light concealed the ghosts of the two sled teams. Rurik directly chose the place for the private meeting on his flagship Avlora. The specific location was the captain's lounge directly below the bow deck.

More than a dozen oil lamps were lit, all the entourage left, the side wooden windows were closed, and the wooden doors were also closed.

There were only Rurik and Bjorn in the narrow room, and their eyes looked at each other.

"There are only two of you and me left here." Rurik got straight to the point, "Since you are opposed to me becoming the King of Sweden, why did you pretend to agree before? Since you are opposed, just say it."

Bjorn had already expected Rurik to ask this question, and he denied it: "I never meant it."

"Oh? Are you trying to fool me into being a fool?" Rurik already showed murderous intent.

"I dare not lie to you. I have never objected to you."

"But some businessmen from your tribe have been promoting me, and now you tell me that this has nothing to do with you?"

"It really has nothing to do with me."

It sounds like Bjorn's explanation was full of arrogance. Rurik felt that the matter really had nothing to do with him, but his denial was so decisive without any modification, which made people suspicious.

Rurik hit the wooden board hard: "Actually, the problem is very simple. You and I are dueling on this ice. You are the king, and I am also the king. If I kill you, no one will doubt that I will get the Swedish throne. If you kill me , your throne can also be guaranteed."

Bjorn's face paled when he heard this. Even though the room was already warmed by the fire, he still felt a chill all over his body.

Who is this kid Rurik? Old guys who have seen him say that his current figure and appearance are exactly like Otto's back then. Rurik was a tough guy who was still growing. Considering his somewhat aging body, even if the two of them competed, Bjorn estimated that he would definitely be defeated and killed.

What's more, why did the two sides reach the point where they had to fight? It was really a duel, there was a high chance that he would be killed, and at the same time the Russians would have an excuse to start a war directly. Similarly, if he accidentally hurts Rurik, Ross will have even more excuses to start a war. Even if he assassinates Rurik, everything will be over. The Ross army will exterminate the entire Melalen tribe for revenge, and other tribes will definitely stand aside and even join the Ross army.

Bjorn hurriedly concealed his embarrassment and fear with a smile.

"Duel? I don't dare. I am already an old man and you can kill me easily. Besides, I have never wanted to be your enemy. My ability to become the king of Sweden also comes from your support. This kindness to me Don’t dare forget.”

"But those hateful businessmen..." Rurik continued to knock on the wooden board and asked sternly.

"That is the spontaneous behavior of businessmen. They are destroying the friendship between you and me. If I catch such people, I will stab them to death immediately. They are evil instigators. I... heard that you have arrested them Here we are. I beg you to kill them all."

"Are you telling the truth?"

"Absolutely true."

Rurik narrowed his eyes slightly: "Indeed, you don't dare to lie about the current situation. My Rus Principality has a larger population, more troops, and more ships than you. You are a smart man and know the possibility of winning. .Those businessmen are a group of provocateurs. They hope that we will fight so that we can fish in troubled waters and seize profits. Since you want to kill those people, I also have this intention. Currently, there are nine businessmen in my hands, and their families have already I will execute them secretly. I will publicly execute these evildoers on the eve of Hanukkah as a gesture to the gods and as a gesture to the people."

Prince Rurik has already killed a group of people? Bjorn didn't expect this.

Bjorn chose to give in but didn't feel ashamed. After all, the Mellaren tribe was a hodgepodge of people. Everyone lived in a very wide area on the north shore of the great lake, with a group of big families as the backbone and a large number of homesteaders and free fishermen as the backbone. Affiliated, using Birka Market as a trading base, pieced together a tribe.

This situation is completely different from that of the old Russians. The core of the Rus' Principality is the thousands of old Rus's. Bjorn has been visiting New Rus'sburg for a while. He learned that there are a large number of children running in the city. Their fathers are old Rus's and their mothers are mostly Slavs from the east. . According to ancient tradition, these mixed-race children, some of whom have grown to ten years old, are still Russians.

The children of the Rus people are obviously taller and healthier than the children of the Melalen tribe, and there are also more children in this group. Bjorn learned that New Roseburg was indeed the capital, but it was not the most populous city. The Principality of Rus is located in Novgorod in the east. It is a large settlement next to the Great Lake. The geographical situation is similar to the Lake Mälaren area, but the climate is milder. The settled population is not only large, but also all accept the rule of the Principality of Rus.

Bjorn could easily get a lot of information, and some of the information sounded like the boasts of local people. Because there were so many people telling him, he had to trust it.

For example, there are more than 10,000 mixed-blood Russians in the Principality of Rus. Although they are all still children, thousands of them are about to reach the age of twelve, which is the age when they become adults in Viking tradition. At that time, women are qualified to be mothers and men are obliged to do so. warrior. Bjorn, the traditional Viking head of this guy, did not hesitate to believe that Rurik was about to have a new army of thousands of people.

Rurik naturally knows this best, so the formation of a new flag force is already in the plan. The successful results of the Russian-Slavic marriage approved by Old Otto are beginning to show, and the Principality of Rus is about to officially begin to enjoy the demographic dividend.

The group of old Russians has become larger. This group has shared common ancestors since ancient times, and they have stronger cohesion through blood ties.

But the Melalen tribe does not have this. Even after King Olegin was defeated and killed, no one has the charisma to unite the entire tribe. As a so-called king, he mainly relies on the support of the big families in the tribe and the approval of other tribes.

The main tribes have already expressed their attitude that their support has come to an end. They all support Rurik. Things are already like this, what else is there to worry about?

Bjorn basically guessed what Rurik wanted to do, so he expressed his position: "You can execute them, but I suggest you kill them in a safe and decent way. Find Shuyuan www.zhaoshuyuan.com"

"How? Are you fully supportive?"

"I don't want to ruin the friendship between you and my tribe because of some idiots. We still have to do business in the future! For example, I plan to order five of your armed cargo ships. The price is easy to negotiate."

Order five ships at once? Rurik was very moved, and he brought the topic back: "Those guys must die. Since they are from your tribe, and you think they must die, it is you who decides how they die, which proves our friendship between you and me. .”

"Then hang them. Their blood has no right to flow into your territory."

"That's fine."

"At the same time, I will also announce to your subjects that I, Bjorn, have never been involved in the incident. I will announce that it was me who voluntarily gave up the throne. At the All-Sweden Assembly next spring, you, Rurik, will definitely be the king. "

The secret meeting between the two kings cleared up the misunderstanding, Rurik was satisfied, and Bjorn felt relieved.

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