Rise of Rurik

The Pechenegs are very sincere in trade, and the Principality of Rus should not hide them here.

But no matter what Rurik thought, raising goods worth six thousand pounds of silver was still quite troublesome for the country. Of course Ross can raise such a huge amount of goods, but the eastern and northern Baltic Seas are completely frozen. Although land transportation exists, the transportation capacity is poor. It is impossible to rely on shipping to transport high-quality iron from Rossburg and Ellenborg as in the warm period.

The principality had to rely entirely on the output of Novorosberg and Novgorod in exchange for up to six hundred good horses from the Pechenegs.

The blacksmith received the order, and the royal blacksmith took over the blacksmithing day and night under the personal leadership of Kamne. Objectively speaking, this continuous project has greatly stimulated the city's economy. Because the raw material for iron smelting is not ore, but pig iron ingots smelted directly from the blast furnace town of Roseburg. These iron ingots with astonishing carbon content were smashed into small pieces in advance and transported to New Roseburg.

The main task of the blacksmiths in the East is essentially to share the production capacity of Fort Ross, where the steel-frying method is practiced on a large scale, and finally large and small carbon steel blocks are forged into a whole.

For this work, a half-person-high furnace is used, which is supplied with air by a bladder blower. Normal processing operations can be carried out. The only thing that needs to be focused on is the stable supply of fuel.

Charcoal made from pine wood was a perfectly suitable fuel, but after Rurik gave the order, the city's demand for fuel suddenly exploded.

The state-owned blacksmith shop has a large number of employees, which is a "gold-swallowing behemoth". In order to achieve greater output, Rurik must invest more costs.

Food is always hard currency! He did not hesitate to take out a large amount of wheat from the warehouse, so that the whole city's charcoal-burning craftsmen were boiling.

The waist-deep snow after the snow disaster was no longer an obstacle, and the pine trees were cut down one after another. The clever charcoal burners deliberately selected small pine trees and chopped them down, so as to produce better charcoal blocks.

Those who are good at cutting wood also participate in the feast. They do not burn charcoal, but are only the movers of materials.

The existing industrial chain of logging, charcoal burning, steel frying and forging is obviously extremely prosperous.

The principality of Rus's treasury is quite rich in food. Of course, it is not that Rurik has a lot of food on hand, but because the country's population is too small, it seems that the treasury is full.

The Principality is in a development window period, and the Principality must seize this opportunity for foreign trade.

For this reason, Rurik prefers quick success and quick success, and it is necessary to try some risky ideas.

Queen Svetlana can still walk quickly, wearing a thick leather coat as if she had never been pregnant. She is currently in a closed-door state. She is surrounded by a group of women to look after her, and as many as ten experienced midwives recruited from the city are always on standby.

If a child is born either in late January or early February, that child will be the eldest son and the heir to the throne based on tradition.

But Rurik really didn't have time to get together with his beloved wife every day for the time being. As a monarch, it was really worrying to raise a huge sum of money to buy a horse.

"Ah! Why can't we crowdfund? I don't believe those guys won't invest in their eldest son!"

Maybe his sudden idea would make the people scream. He thought that the smart people in New Roseburg would definitely realize that making a major deal with the prince would be a huge benefit to his family.

After all, who doesn’t want to move up the ladder?

Especially the Viking people who are not from the Old Rus tribe, who doesn't want to obtain the same social status as the Old Rus people? Although their generation is not good enough, their sons and grandsons must get a chance.

Rurik estimated that the people's demands were buried in their hearts, so he sent someone to make a new announcement and post it in Harvest Square.

That's not all. He also asked Grund to lead his men to beat drums and go through the streets to promote the prince's "recruitment order."

The announcement was very factual, saying that the prince wanted to make deals with smart people among the Russians.

"Donate your treasure, take out ten pounds of silver coins or equivalent leather or other treasures. In this way, you can hand over a son and become a mounted warrior under the prince's command, becoming the most powerful land warrior in the principality."

The announcement immediately caused an uproar, and Grund's publicity by beating gongs and drums also made the people in the city excited. Because the prince's elite mercenaries suffered too many casualties in the decisive battle with the King of Denmark himself, the prince wanted to reshape an elite army. Now the new members of the army are selected from the heirs of the people.

Serving as a personal soldier for the prince, you will receive a monthly allowance of ten silver coins, free food and accommodation, and weapons and equipment provided by the prince. After serving for ten years, the prince can help solve marriage problems. If you die in battle, you will receive honors, and your family members will also receive Compensation. The recruitment quota reaches 100 people, and the age limit is between sixteen and twenty years old.

Rurik's move seemed to others to be a whim. Responders were everywhere in the city, so that the Harvest Square was quickly filled with people, with parents pulling their children and bringing their treasures as gifts. prince,

Under the gaze of everyone, a majestic man wearing a bearskin stood on the wooden platform of the square, struggling to take off his velvet hat, revealing his golden ponytail flowing in the wind, and his deliberately golden beard.

The cute little boy disappeared and now grew into a Nordic warrior who looked very reliable. He is tall and has the aura of a king, and people believe that he will bring happiness to everyone.

Who doesn’t enjoy the feeling of being supported?

People spontaneously chanted "Princip Rurik". Of course, from Rurik's point of view, he wanted the people to chant "Ula".

He looked down at the crowd until most of the people present were actually immigrants from Melalen, Balmoks, and Slavs. New Rossburg is the capital of the Principality of Ross. However, according to the basic principle that the Old Ross people must enjoy the greatest benefits, most of the Old Ross people have received the fertile farmland in the temperate southern region. The old Ross people who stayed in New Ross Fort are a group of conservative and simple people. Fishermen and hunters. The proportion of old Russians in this city is too small, and the proportion of Malaren immigrants and Slavic immigrants is quite large.

Even though Bjorn, the leader of the Malaren tribe and the unabdicated King of Sweden, was in the city, the immigrants from Malaren didn't take this man seriously at all. Are Mälaren people who leave Lake Mälaren still considered Mälaren people? They have been registered as New Rus' people by the Rus' Principality. But they are not true Russians by blood, and their inferiority complex always exists.

And those Slavic immigrants, nominally a large group of people who betrayed Lake Ilmen, immigrated to the banks of the Neva River as near-slaves.

They all need more means to prove their loyalty to the prince in order to gain a higher social status.

Rurik let them chant for a while, and gradually calmed down the excitement of the people with open hands.

He raised his chin high and shouted at the top of his lungs: "My people! I saw your enthusiasm, and you made the most correct choice today! Although your own life has been too ordinary, I can guarantee that your son You will gain glory and wealth. We will expand to the endless land in the south, and your sons will serve as my cavalry and conquer a large territory for Rus. And those who are the bravest will be my personal soldiers. Start now! Bring your belongings and I will write down your names..."

Rurik had to say it many times. He kept emphasizing big words such as "glory", "courage" and "wealth", and all the smart families were excited.

It was obviously the coldest gathering, but Harvest Square was bustling with activity.

Some wealthy immigrant families spent all their money, taking out their savings, saved leather, and even borrowing money to collect ten pounds worth of goods, and donated a cavalry reserve spot for their eldest son or second son.

Rurik, who was eager for money, didn't care too much. It was clear that the child was not yet old enough to look quite thin. He took the money and asked his wife and concubine, who was in charge of the scribe, to give the child's real name, the names of his parents, and the family name. The address in the city was written in detail on a piece of cardboard, and the amount of money the family had owed to donate the quota was noted.

The family that paid the equivalent of twenty pounds of silver coins was entitled to two places, and so on.

Look at what kind of property they brought out! Ferrets and bearskins were the real deal, along with jingling silver coins. The families who are willing to donate a quota are generally not wealthy, and donating a quota means devoting all their efforts.

But once the name is written, everything will be fine.

After their sons were chosen, they would arrive in Novgorod by sleigh in February. There, these children's food, clothing, housing and clothing are all provided by the principality. Not only do they have to learn basic cultural knowledge, but they also spend the rest of their time learning to tame and ride horses. When their studies are completed, the children settle down in Novgorod. It is generally known that most of the people of the Old Rus tribe only enjoy the industry in the Novgorod area, and their children joining them are actually being absorbed by the Old Rus.

Although according to tradition, the eldest brother inherits the family business and the second and third brothers are free to roam, the real situation is that one brother becomes successful and will support the other brothers based on brotherly feelings.

If the prince's promise is completely true and he donates a quota today, his whole family will be prosperous in the future.

This was originally a risky move to raise funds. Rurik never expected that more than 200 families would come up with the equivalent of more than 2,000 pounds of silver.

There are as many as 800 white bear and brown bear hides provided by the private sector.

The hugeness of the bear skin also surprised him. Rurik only paid attention to the number of bears killed by the imperial hunters. He only knew that there were too many bears in the area in this era, and he never thought that the bears killed by the folk bear hunters would be even greater. many. Not only bear skins, but also mink and white fox skins, because the market price is always high, it is logical that they can be used as payment for goods.

Originally, after buying a good horse, Rurik needed to use his brain to choose the cavalry. Of course, priority should be given to selecting good family members from the descendants of the old Rus tribe. Not only would he not make money in this aspect, but he would have to invest money to raise the army.

Now it's really great. The people of New Roseburg theoretically provided one-third of the funds for this horse trade. The alternative is that the people raised good horses through crowdfunding, so in exchange the people will naturally get dividends. He feels the pressure on himself. sharp decrease.

There are more than 200 boys aged 12 to 16 counted here. They may be reluctant at first, but it is the task of their parents to make them willing to become cavalry in the future. They will leave Novorosberg in February and start a new life in Novgorod.

There are another hundred people who are also about to start a new life.

To select a new candidate for the Guards, first he must be strong enough or have the potential to become strong. The cub must be over twelve years old, and his family identity must also be Swedish, Russian or Slavic. It is also best for the family to be quite poor and have few brothers and sisters, so that such children can be easily controlled in the future.

Being a personal guard means being able to fight evil wars, it means having the courage to be bloodthirsty and not afraid of death, it means resolutely carrying out the orders of the prince, and it means that the prince must die before the prince.

Now that a hundred people have been selected, Rurik gave Grund an order: "Let the children take off their shirts and run in the snow, let them kill rabbits with their own hands, and let them drink deer blood directly. I I want you to use ten days to select the fifty most powerful warriors as backup warriors, and it will be you in the future, and you will train them into elites."

He essentially gave Grund a lot of power. As long as the corporal punishment is not beating the cubs to death, then go for it!

Grund complied the next day, and the public saw such a spectacle, a group of barebacked handsome boys running in the snow. Some people voluntarily quit on the same day, or some people who were tired and paralyzed passively quit. These are the losers who must quit. Grund was merciless in such rigorous training. He himself was a madman crawling out of a mountain of corpses and seas of blood, so he naturally didn't want his future colleagues to be a bunch of idiots and cowards.

Although the training was harsh and terrifying, Rurik simply turned a blind eye. What he and Grund need are berserkers. The loser can be a fisherman or a lumberjack in the future, and he can become an elite soldier with a monthly salary. If the opportunity is useless, he will have to give up in this life. .

The future cavalry soldiers who donated their places waited silently in their homes. Their father took out his axe, sword and shield to encourage his eldest son to become a real man. Continue to encourage that once you become prosperous in the south, you must not forget to support other brothers.

The sled team began to assemble, this time on an astonishing scale.

The sled boards reinforced with iron sheets and rivets can carry greater weight. A sled is designed to be pulled by four reindeer, and its load capacity can be increased to one ton without any problem.

A large number of bear skins are piled up one on top of another, and each skin is extremely huge when unfolded. Rurik didn't care too much. He gathered a thousand bear skins. Whether the giant envoys in the south could take away these leathers depended on their ability. He only cared about transporting the bear skins to Novgorod.

A large amount of table salt has a slightly bitter taste due to incomplete removal of magnesium chloride, which is very acceptable. Those Pechenegs had limited access to salt due to the blockade by hostile forces. Some of these slightly bitter salts were better than none. Rurik concluded that his Kagan brothers would not be picky. A large amount of salt can load a carriage, and the appearance of the slightly green salt in sacks will definitely scare the grassland people.

The large amount of ironware shipped to sleds is another spectacle. The state-owned blacksmith shops are running day and night to the limit of human power. If they want to continue to expand production capacity, they must either increase manpower or industrialize. It is certainly possible to increase manpower, but it will take a period of training and will not increase by a lot. Industrialization is too outrageous. The Principality of Ross does not yet have such magical capabilities.

Even so, within a month, Kamnier and his men, who were ordered to frantically forge sword embryos, consumed most of their inventory and produced 500 simply forged sword embryos, which themselves were made of carbon steel. The carbon content of the embryo depends entirely on the craftsmanship of the craftsman. The sword embryo has passed basic quality inspection, that is, if it can be bent to a certain arc without breaking, and can rebound instantly with force, it is considered qualified.

This is like the Huanshou Dao issued to soldiers by the Han Empire, which is a very long iron piece with only a ring at the end. The sharpening and polishing work was done by the soldiers themselves, and the handles were often wrapped in long linen cloth that the soldiers found. The Han Empire did this to reduce the working hours of craftsmen so that the army could be armed efficiently.

What Rurik will do is exactly the same. He will not let his craftsmen go to the trouble of sharpening the steel sword. The sword embryo has been forged flat and straight. The Pechenegs themselves have iron smelting technology. Find a book苑www.zhaoshuyuan.comｍ The rest of the time is left to them. Whether it is directly cutting the edge to make a double-edged sword, or forging and bending a single-sided edge to make a saber, it is all their own business.

Five hundred sword embryos and a hundred crossbows without bow arms were neatly placed in wooden boxes one after another.

The trip to Novgorod in February was also a major communication opportunity. Not only did Novorosberg have to transport a large amount of goods, but normal trade between the two cities also had to be carried out.

What's more, the mission of the Swedish nobles who are visiting here also wants to visit the south.

The cargo army, escort soldiers, selected children, Swedish envoys, as well as a large number of small businessmen, hunters, and even the first flag soldiers who came to the north to hunt, gathered into a huge group, so in the ice and snow They looked after each other and ran wildly on the ice road. The number may reach a thousand persons, and the total number of sleds may reach two hundred.

It can be said that everything is under the control of Rurik. At the beginning of January, Rurik was quite worried that he would not be able to get the huge payment for buying horses. Now it is the end of January. Not only is there no problem, but the enough payment has exceeded the amount. If he strategically increases prices for materials, the amount of money he raises will far exceed the plan.

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