Rise of Rurik

The Great Temple of Uppsala has welcomed a new priest, and many of the artifacts that originally belonged to the temple have been returned to their places.

The old group of priests who could not figure out the situation until their death actually gained dignity after their death.

The reason for their death is very simple. The Kingdom of Rus does not need this group of old forces that hinder the ruling power. If they were ordinary people, just drive them away. However, they have held the power of belief for a long time and have the right to explain "what is Odin". As a monarch, Rurik's job is to help them meet Odin in advance.

The bodies were collected and piled together, covered with large amounts of pine wood and burned, and the final ashes were buried in the earth.

King Rurik showed his ruthless side to all the Swedish nobles. In the eyes of the nobles, it was not that the king did not choose human sacrifice when he ascended the throne, but that he did more outrageous things than previous Swedish kings.

Because of those human sacrifices, with a group of priests!

The attitude of the nobles towards the king became quite subtle. Those nobles from small tribes who had unlimited friendly illusions towards Rurik had to carefully consider their future behavior. If they offended the king, they would definitely be killed. disaster.

The current Uppsala temple does not satisfy Rurik. The temple will be demolished and rebuilt, but not now.

This temple can still be used for a few more years, and it still has the value of reinforcement and improvement.

Local Uppsala people came to work. They carved wood to make precision relief panels to add beauty to the temple architecture.

The wooden platform in front of the sacred tree has also been retained. Although the statues in the shrine have been removed, the shrine itself must also be retained.

The high priest designated by the king brought new rituals, and a group of lower-level female priests were selected in the villages of Uppsala. Rumia, the high priest of Rus, accompanied Uppsala priest Lumi to do this. The recruitment of female priests has achieved unprecedented success. No matter what the purpose, there are not a few families who are willing to push their daughters to become priests. . A team of twenty lower-level priests was quickly recruited, and there happened to be plenty of time for Rumia, who knew the most about rituals, to personally train them.

The core task of the so-called discipline is to tell them which god is the greatest and most praiseworthy.

That is Odin, King of the Gods!

In the huge Rus' kingdom, although Slavs have the largest population, North Germanic people like Sweden and Rus also have tens of thousands of people. The Russians have the highest power in the country, so the gods and customary culture that the Russians believe in are also strong. And all Swedes and Russians are highly consistent in belief and culture. In this way, both Slavs and Finns must respect the beliefs and culture of Rus.

The multiple ethnic groups in Russia were forcibly formed into a national group relying on the strong force of the Russian army. There are differences in each other's language and living habits, so the unity of the entire group must be maintained with the same beliefs, and a stable existence must be created through continuous marriage and interbreeding.

Everyone must believe that the greatest god is Odin! This is unquestionable in the western Swedish world. The problem is that various tribes in the Swedish world have diverse understandings of sacrificial rituals, and the Kingdom of Rus must determine a unified set of rituals.

The "Sacrifice" has not yet been written into an explicit code, but the conditions for establishing a unified sacrificial ceremony have been met and are being implemented.

In fact, only the young John Invar, who was canonized as "Bishop of Rus", and the "Northern Saint" Eskil, who became abusive because of the unfair treatment, were aware of Rurik's move.

Ross is imitating Catholicism.

The capital high priest corresponds to the pope, and the local high priest corresponds to the diocesan archbishop. The lower-level priests next to the high priest are targeting the lower-level priests.

The current Kingdom of Rus de jurely controls a huge territory. The population is indeed highly concentrated in a few areas, and the total population is not large. Several large temples with some small temples attached can make Odin's traditional belief popular and operate throughout the country.

The Nordic mythological stories are already being compiled and published, and it will take time before they are compiled into a book called "Odin Saga".

Today, the faith of God is still difficult to spread in Denmark. As this faith spreads in the more northern world, Rurik is convinced that because he viciously humiliated "Saint Esquier" twice, Frank will not send any more priests to the north to ask for trouble in the short term. eat. This leaves enough time for the Kingdom of Rus. Within a few years, the Kingdom’s temple system based on the belief in Odin from Norse mythology will be completed. Along with the education of children, the Kingdom’s belief will be stable. Come down, and then it’s up to the descendants to defend their rights and qualifications as Odin’s warriors.

In the central temple of the Great Temple of Uppsala, the three statues of gods were repaired by Rurik before they were returned to their places.

The three statues represented Odin, the sun and the earth, but the statue had to have a whole new meaning. One of the statues of Odin was doused with a layer of gold water. For this layer of gold plating, Rurik also used his gold coin inventory. The other two bronze statues were poured with silver water, which made them clearly different from the statue of the main god Odin, and the distinction between noble and inferior was clear at a glance.

The temple was paved with solid wooden boards, and the floor was polished very smooth. A square table was specially erected in the temple. Gold and silver plates, bronze lamps and other utensils were always placed on it, and the sacrifices were always placed.

Other rooms in the temple have also been improved, and dormitories, kitchens and toilets have been opened. The newly recruited priestesses will live here and start a new life.

They are all unmarried girls who continue to work in the temple until they are at least twenty years old, and then "retire". During this period, they were not allowed to have relationships with men, and the only thing they lived was worshiping God.

Originally, priests held this position and remained priests for the rest of their lives.

Rurik established a new system many years ago when he organized a new team of priests of the Principality of Rus. Candidates for lower-level priests must be pure girls, and they can return to secular life after working for a few years. In this way, the sacrificial team can always maintain metabolism, and it can also ensure that the priests will not form a group that is too big to lose and compete with the king for power. In any case, this generation of high priest is one of the king's wives, and the next generation of high priest is the king's eldest daughter. The future high priests of all generations must also have a blood relationship with the king.

Can this system last forever? Of course, if any system is implemented for hundreds of years, big problems will occur. For the current Rus, Rurik needs the high priest to give a mythical explanation of his royal power. As a king, he must also ensure that he is "Odin's spokesperson in the world." faith is solid.

Repairing the Great Temple of Uppsala and establishing the local priest system are the first things Rurik must do when he is currently staying in Sweden.

Another major event was the convening of a general meeting of the Swedish nobility.

The venue of the meeting was not in the temple, nor in the mansion of the Governor of Uppsala, nor in the meeting hall in the village of Uppsala.

The Ross garrison built a castle-like military camp. After becoming king, Rurik moved all the Ross nobles to live here.

The parliamentary chamber made of pine wood, which serves as the local "Russian Duma", is a long and narrow house standing on a large number of wooden piles.

Now all the wooden windows on both sides of the longhouse were opened, and many Swedish nobles entered. They had just seen the assembly of the mighty Russian army, were impressed by its power, and were also quite worried about the upcoming meeting.

They sat next to each other on the wooden benches placed by the window. There were no hierarchical wooden chair seats, and the nobles could sit on their own.

There are a total of twenty-five Swedish tribes in the Swedish area or the Ring of Mälaren. Except for the giant Mälaren and the three tribes of Onkras, Uppsala and Hjärmalen, which have thousands of people, the others are all villages of three to four hundred people, and even miniature villages with more than a hundred people. village.

At that time, Olegin refused to be the leader of the alliance and insisted on becoming the king. In order to show that he was used by a large number of nobles, he made a mess of it. He was really a cat and a dog, and he had few soldiers. This kind of miniature chief could be given a duke (Princip) title.

In fact, according to the custom of the Frankish Kingdom, baron titles are enough for most of the nobles here, and it is even more appropriate to give some people knight titles.

Rurik was too lazy to confer a second title, and kept a large group of dukes with famous names and shabby people who looked like a joke. They were also a check and balance to Bjorn, Duke of Mälaren who abdicated and was demoted.

A tall, strong young man was walking steadily in front of the Swedish nobles. He was none other than King Rurik.

Her golden hair was tied into a golden ponytail, and a golden laurel wreath was placed on her head.

He was very high-spirited and ordered the Dukes to listen attentively to the decree he announced, and they were free to ask any questions after the announcement.

Of course, some propaganda will hurt the interests of some vested interests. Since I am the king, I can't help it.

Rurik knew that the nobles were worried about the issue of paying tribute to the new king. The tribute was not a big issue, but the ownership of a special area became very delicate.

"Port of Birka! This was originally the market of the Mellaren tribe. The abdicated king Bjorn named it after himself. But now that I am the new king, I have the right to make decisions about this market. !I want to change his name!"

It seems that Rurik wants to name it after himself, such as "Rurik"? No! There was a more fitting name for her.

Bjorn was very nervous at this moment. He still felt that he had been humiliated and was waiting uncomfortably for Rurik to announce the new name of the market.

“Let’s call it Stockholm!”

This name? Why is it called this name? If it were this name, wouldn't it have nothing to do with Rurik himself?

The nobles stuck their heads and continued to listen to the king's arrangements.

Birka was renamed Stockholm, which indeed had an element of Rurik's bad taste. But the new name is by no means exchanged. It is a mixture of the words stock and holm. Because Birka itself is close to the estuary of Lake Mälaren, Stockholm in another dimension has grown to cover a huge area with a radius of thirty kilometers centered on the estuary of Lake Mälaren. The city of Stockholm has completely covered the old Birka, and to a large extent the new city has covered the old city.

The new name is neutral, and its meaning is very simple. It is exactly the "material distribution center in the coastal lowlands", which is very consistent with the fact that it is the largest trading point in the Ring of Mälaren.

Originally, the nobles were dissatisfied with Bjorn's renaming of the market. The new king gave the new name "Stockholm", and now everyone had nothing to say.

Rurik explained the meaning of her name and then asked about everyone's attitude. Seeing that many nobles were satisfied, they even asked Bjorn's attitude specifically.

"You ask me what I think? Of course I support it."

Bjorn did speak out in support, and the pain in his words was obvious.

So, Rurik decided to make him more upset.

"I am very happy that you all support changing the name to Stockholm. Although this port has long belonged to Mälaren, but I became the king, she is mine! The port of Stockholm is the city of my king, and I support all of you nobles to do business . I have unlimited expectations for you to row your boat and arrive safely with your goods. In fact, I know what you are most worried about. Don’t worry about anything. The brand new Stockholm welcomes all Swedish businessmen. I can assure you that this is a A tax-free city!”

duty free? King Rurik’s intention is very clear. If you come to Stockholm to do business, you will be completely exempt from tax in the future? ! No need to pay tribute to the Mellaren people anymore? That's a great thing.

Losing control of Birka Market, or Stockholm, meant that the people of Mälaren lost an income. Bjorn himself is the Duke of Mälaren recognized by Rurik. There is no need to worry about the power he possesses. However, he has lost control of the largest trading port and the wealth in his pocket has been greatly reduced. If he hesitates anymore, Rurik declares that he will Does the absolute rule of the port mean that I have to pay taxes to the king?

Paying tribute or tax to the king was something that all nobles were extremely worried about.

Rurik repeatedly emphasized that Stockholm would be a tax-free city, or that it would only be tax-free for all merchants affiliated with the Rus Kingdom.

To develop a port's economy and trade, the privilege of being wealthy and tax-free in the early days was conducive to economic development. The top priority now is to attract businessmen from all over Sweden and encourage them to build shops. As for tax collection, we will wait for a few years. As the saying goes, if you want to cut the wool, you must at least wait until the lamb grows up before using the shears.

The Port of Birka has been controlled by the Malaren people for a long time, and the only tax-free privileges are Ross Shops. The situation must change. The renamed Stockholm Port must be a commercial city with firepower.

Then the topic of "tax-free" concept opened up, Rurik no longer waited, and used this as a breakthrough to announce his major decree.

He looked around, then walked in the corridor of the longhouse in front of all the nobles and preached: "Everyone, you are all Swedish nobles. You are all concerned about whether to pay tribute to me and how much tribute to pay. I am the king of mercy. I declare that all of you do not have to pay any tribute to me within ten years! Remember! Within ten years, yours will be completely tax-free! After ten years, whether I charge you tribute or not depends entirely on my wishes. I swear to Odin that I will not accept even a copper coin or a grain of oat from you as tribute within ten years."

As soon as these words came out, more than a dozen dukes from extremely shabby small tribes stood up with great joy, then raised their hands high and knelt down excitedly, covering their hearts and shouting: "Your Majesty is so wise! Your rule will last forever. Save." Similar praises came out one after another, and more nobles also joined in kneeling.

Bjorn, who was confused by the incident, was speechless. Seeing that even Ungreef of Unclas with a white beard knelt down happily, he just knelt down on one knee and saluted.

Rurik wanted to laugh out loud at the whole scene. As expected, talking about money hurts feelings. As long as they don't talk about money, they are good brothers.

In fact, there was one person who was holding back his words, and was about to report a very important matter, and even issued a clear crisis warning to Rurik.

This man was Longstall, the actual ruler of the Yermalen tribe. He never imagined that King Rurik could beat his chest and swear to Odin that he would not want tribute from the nobles within ten years. Did Rurik really follow through on his oath? He cautiously held a wait-and-see attitude, but after witnessing the huge spectacle caused by the new king's ascension to the throne, he was willing to believe in Rurik's promise.

As a smart man, Longstall felt that Rurik was a good man, but not a purely good man. It can be said that the past two kings, Olegin and Karl, demanded tribute from the tribes that surrendered because of their aggressive military behavior. The abdication of Bjorn as king was illegal, and the tribes did not dare to object openly, so they stopped paying tribute, and did not even go to Birka to do business, and directly went to the Russian Tombstone Island in the ocean to trade.

He also felt that Rurik did not collect taxes. To a large extent, he felt that Ross could not make a lot of money in Sweden. Wouldn't it be possible to gain a good reputation by taking a step back and declaring tax exemption?

Other nobles were more simple-minded and were happy to hear that they would be exempt from tax for ten years.

Longstall was indeed a smart man, and he guessed part of Rurik's thoughts. What about the essence? There are no trade barriers in Sweden at all, and it is one-way and transparent to the Rus. The economic entities in the Eastern Baltic Sea and the Rus' Principality part of the kingdom further east have extremely strong economic strength. Compared with the benefits of tax collection, they rely on annual With a trade surplus, Ross can continuously suck blood from the Swedish Lake Mälaren region. After all, this secret blood sucking has been going on for almost ten years. Whether to collect taxes or not does not have much economic significance, but has the greatest political significance.

But if a strict tax system is really implemented, it will also mean Rus' direct rule over the Swedish region. This governance cost will be too high for the current kingdom. At present, the most cost-effective method is economic control. As long as the nobles declare their loyalty to the king, are willing to do business every year, and allow the king's troops to travel freely in their own territories, this is enough.

Originally, the many big families of the Mellaren tribe wanted to take a share of the tax profits from the Birka Market, and the Bjorn family took the largest share before they abdicated. It is also beneficial for the renamed Stockholm Port to be completely tax-free, so that Bjorn himself no longer even needs to maintain a security force in the port area, and his family only needs to focus on doing business.

In the past, part of the tax revenue from the Birka Market was used to maintain stability in the port area and hire patrols. Even if the name is changed, Stockholm's patrol system must still be retained, and even the person in charge of the city or the governor must retain it.

The nobles strongly supported the tax-free policy, and each one of them pointed out from the bottom of their hearts that they would bring the newly harvested grain to Stockholm for trade this autumn.

In this way, the next appointment measures will be a matter of course.

Rurik solemnly appointed Snoleva Gouldson, also known as the Russian businessman nicknamed White Fox. This fat man was an old acquaintance of many nobles. This man succeeded his father Gould, inherited Gould Island, and was ordered to take root in Lake Malaren to do business. Find Shuyuan www.zhaoshuyuan. com The nobles have known this for a long time.

White Fox is a real person who sticks to his old ways. He cannot dare to rush to the Alps and drift on the Danube River for a while like his younger brother Blue Fox, or even transform into a businessman who is good at fighting.

If his face were not slightly different from his father's, he would be the businessman Gould from twenty years ago. Ungreave of Unclas knew this best. For emotional reasons, Angreef wanted the fat man of the white fox to do it. It's better, after all, the guy's ancestry is from Angklas. Bjorn married his youngest daughter to White Fox and made him a concubine. Although he lost control of Stockholm's financial power, he was still able to benefit from his in-laws.

White Fox was appointed governor of Stockholm City, with the power to train garrison troops to maintain public security and commercial order, and even arbitrate commercial disputes. At the same time, he is still the only designated big businessman installed by the king in Sweden to oversee the royal family's business in Sweden.

As for the already impressive Ross Store, it is indeed a big store. But the fortress on Gould Island was transformed into the Governor's Palace, and the recruited guards were transformed into the Stockholm garrison. In a sense, they were Rurik's local garrison.

Please remember the first domain name of this book: . :