Rise of Rurik

Those land aristocrats do not feel that the free trade zone created by the Russians has any negative impact on their business and life. Trade with the Russians continues as usual, and the trade volume this year is larger than usual.

The business transaction between Rurik and this group of nobles went very smoothly, because the two sides completed the negotiations more than half a year ago, and now is a good time for one party to deliver the ship and the other to deliver food.

Especially the nobles of the Melalen tribe, they envied the large ships of the Russians, but suffered from the lack of the ability of the tribe's shipbuilders to build large ships. In other words, there were tribes in the first place, and talented people with skills immigrated to Rus one after another in pursuit of profit and stability. The loss of talents caused the Melalen tribe to lose its capabilities.

Eight standard armed cargo ships were anchored near the Stockholm port area. These ships drifted from the far east, and they all participated in Rurik's enthronement ceremony in Uppsala.

These experiences are the best sea trials, and each ship proves its seaworthiness.

Of the eight ships' armaments, the only torsion slingshot installed on the bow was removed. Each ship has become a pure cargo ship. As for whether to continue transporting cargo, fishing, or even going to war, these are the wishes of the buyer.

As the king, Rurik is fully aware of the wishes of the nobles. They will not hesitate to weaponize and transform the big ships after buying them at a high price. Although they are not capable of possessing the heavy weapons of the Ross ships, there is still no problem in placing a group of archers on the ships.

When it comes to weapons, these armed cargo ships are a supplement to the Ross fleet, and selling eight ships has no impact on the king's strength.

Their excitement can be seen from the smiling faces of the people who bought the house. Holding this kind of ship cannot pose any threat to the Russians. It is enough to deal with other forces. This is exactly what the great nobles in Sweden need.

They used the newly harvested oats as currency, and the delivery of the eight ships was quickly completed. The total price of the ships was equivalent to 1,600 pounds of silver coins. After the buyer bought it, he placed his own sailors, and after using the winch to winch the anchor, it was like Those who control the sails of a traditional longship usually steer a large ship, slowly drifting toward their tribe along with the wind.

Naturally, they took out 1,600 pounds of cash in one go and completed the transaction with 160,000 pounds of oats. The price of this oat is much higher than the current market price. Since the negotiation was done more than half a year ago, it seems that the Russians suffered a big loss.

Four large tribes in Sweden purchased a total of eight ships, and the nobles knew that the current market price of oats was one silver coin for fifteen pounds of wheat. The price of currency wheat for buying ships has increased by more than 30%, and the nobles feel that they have made a profit.

Ross suffered a loss? not at all.

The comprehensive selling price of the armed cargo ship was also deliberately raised a lot by Rurik, which offset the high price of this food.

The oats, along with the huge sacks containing them, were thrown into the giant scales. A "grain spy" made by curling an iron sheet is poked directly into the sack to spot-check the color and quality of the wheat.

Rurik could tolerate the moisture in the oats, and even the weight of the sack itself, but could not tolerate soil, sand, or even a pile of wet things inside.

As the king, he particularly emphasized this point and used false military threats to force the nobles not to dare to deceive the king.

It took three days to transport all 1.6 million pounds of wheat from the sale of ships to the warehouse at Gould Island Fortress.

The warehouses have been piled up like mountains, and the existing warehouses are completely exhausted. The extra oats can only be transferred to the cabins of the ships that are still parked as soon as possible.

People's faces showed the joy of a good harvest. Although Ross did not produce food in the Lake Mälaren region, everyone was indeed happy to welcome a good harvest.

"To a good harvest! Cheers!"

The huge mansion was brightly lit, and the top nobles of the Rus Kingdom gathered at the Gould Island Fortress.

Rurik smiled broadly, and his many wives and concubines were looking forward to tonight's feast.

A group of children were openly playing in the banquet. They were all children of top nobles, chasing each other and screaming.

They are their own flesh and blood, their nephews by blood, and their nephews by blood.

Some children are already very aware of their noble bloodline, especially Velika. At the age of six, she knows her identity best - the successor to the kingdom's high priest.

Velica now behaves like an ordinary, lively girl, being chased by a group of younger brothers, and she is also chasing her own cousin.

Arik's eldest son Asgard is nine years old. He is a very big boy, less than three years shy of the traditional age of twelve. This boy has grown into a fierce and ruthless man like his father in all aspects. Being mixed with the blood of the Slavs has not made him lose any of the aura of a Nordic berserker. In other words, he has inherited the former and also possesses the "Slavic warrior". Bear Power”.

Asgard Ariksson was trained as a warrior by his father Arik. He can show a fierce look in his face. Although he has never killed anyone, he has taken a reindeer to practice his skills.

However, the six-year-old Gustav, as his half-brother, seemed much calmer because he was raised as a businessman by his mother, Asraqi.

Gustav did have a very good associate, Kuzneslav, the eldest son of the royal blacksmith Kavi. The two parties had no direct common blood, and were distant relatives through marriage.

The smart Aslaki built her family's business territory in the Kingdom of Rus. One day Kuzneslav will become an extremely successful blacksmith, or the leader of the kingdom's iron smelting industry, and his son will become a close friend with him. If there is a It would be a beautiful thing for the two families to get married in the future.

Regraf is only five years old this year. He already knows very well that he is the designated heir to the throne of the Kingdom of Mercia. Unfortunately, his biological mother is dead. He is in Rus. Although the King of Rus is his father, after all, this is not home. Although he is young, his eyes always show caution and fear.

Osborne Slav, the de jure first heir to the throne of the Kingdom of Rus, was the real eldest son. He was just an infant. Although Oleg, the son of High Priest Rumia, is three years old and can run around, he is too weak.

The son of Carlota, Duchess of Ostara, is about to turn three years old. He has learned to walk and his blond hair is exactly like his parents, especially his father Rurik.

The children are growing, and soon more will be born.

It is obvious that when the time entered the autumn of 840, a large number of top Russian nobles were born.

Not only the top aristocratic group, but also the Rus Principality part of the entire kingdom has experienced a baby boom in recent years. Infant mortality rates dropped significantly, and more food was produced and stored, making it possible to raise more children.

How will the grain harvest be in the East this year? This can be seen only from the wheat harvest in Lake Malaren in the west!

The children continued to play until the soldier entered the warm house carrying a large urn full of cooked oats on his shoulders.

All the children then obediently returned to their seats, clasping their little hands and waiting for their delicious meal to be served.

The aroma of wheat filled the entire large room, making people salivate when they smelled the aroma.

The men who had drank some ale talked freely. Otto, who was blushing after drinking, raised his glass high again: "Okay! This is this year's new wheat! If we eat it, we will be happy."

"Then stop dawdling? Let your subordinates deliver the goods to everyone." Rurik glanced at the white fox and urged.

At this moment, the white fox has a lot to report to the king. Everything is a good thing. What he needs most is that King Rurik explains the great harvest in Sweden this year when he is feasting.

Sprinkle some salt on the cooked oatmeal, stir it and eat it.

This kind of food is called "wheat porridge", and it is the second most traditional meal in Sweden after eating herring raw.

The Russians were from Sweden, so it was not surprising that they ate wheat like this, but as nobles, even eating this simple traditional delicacy had to include some luxury.

Honey is poured on the wheat, and everyone chews it with relish while waiting for the hard dishes of the barbecue.

Mothers feed their children after giving birth, like Reglaf who lost his biological mother, or Queen Svetlana who takes care of Osborne while taking care of her own.

The men here were eating wheat and drinking wine, as if they were separated from the women and children.

Rurik started eating and drinking more and more. Fortunately, the room was a little hot, so he only wore a white soft linen shirt. He rolled up his sleeves to reveal the golden hairs on his arms.

For example, Arik was even more rough. He took off his shirt to reveal the soldier's somewhat exaggerated "golden chest hair" and the proud achievement on his arm - a terrifying scar. This is the glorious medal after the Gotland campaign.

What about the white fox? He didn't care too much and also showed off his chest hair and even his round belly.

"You! You are just a fat white seal." Arik, who was slightly drunk, spoke rudely and his words were even more exciting: "I don't know how much oil you have in your belly."

"Oil? I'm afraid it's not oil, it's just a baby! It's a pity that I'm a man and can't have children."

The white fox's self-deprecation caused the whole audience to burst into laughter. Even old Otto was as excited as a monkey. He waved his wine glass vigorously while laughing wildly, splashing the unfinished ale everywhere.

The white fox thus livened up the atmosphere, and saw that King Rurik was in a happy mood, and it was time for him to report what he should have.

After laughing enough, before the barbecue dish was served, he pulled out the folded paper from his waist and displayed it publicly.

"Friends, come and see me. Look at what I have in my hands."

"What is that?" Rurik, who was slightly drunk, raised his head and asked.

"King! This is... our harvest statistics in Sweden this year. I tried my best to count them. Is this a surprise for you?"

"Is it a wonderful list?" Rurik understood what he meant and ordered: "Share the surprise with everyone."

"As you command!"

Bai Hu showed a long statistical report. He was also slightly drunk, so he sat cross-legged and spread out the paper to read out the data.

Ross's sales of glassware, soap, leather goods, and ironware products are very good, and the profits earned by these products for Ross have increased compared with previous years.

In particular, he pointed out that there has been a sharp increase in ironware sales this year, and all the mass-produced iron axes that might have been unsalable were actually sold.

The statistical report pointed out a very clear reason. Most of the so-called ironware transactions took place in the free trade market. It was the farmers who had surplus food at home who purchased the ironware.

Rurik nodded, his joy was beyond words.

"It seems that the local people, no matter which tribe they are from, have a huge demand for our iron tools."

The king seemed to be repeating a nonsense statement, but that was not the case. Rurik immediately added: "The free trade zone we established in a surprise attack has more room for development, White Fox!"

"exist."

"Starting next year, you will expand the free trade zone and plan carefully to make the trading venue even better."

"Ah? This... follows your orders! That is, how should I expand? Some areas are already occupied by big businessmen."

"It doesn't matter. You can open a new trade site and fill the existing trade site with lake land. You also need to plan the dock carefully. There are still many things to do. Do you need me to teach you these?"

Bai Hu was deeply satisfied: "I promise to do good things. Then..."

The white fox laughed for a while, then deliberately scanned the room full of people, then grabbed the paper with both hands and raised it high to reveal the text on it: "Except for the 1.6 million pounds of oats we obtained from the deal with the nobles, we and Ordinary farmers also traded as much as half a million pounds of wheat.”

"Five million pounds?" Rurik was overjoyed.

"Exactly! It's absolutely true."

"Isn't this...impossible?!" Rurik slapped his forehead hard, "Don't make a mistake in your statistics."

The white fox straightened his back and winked, which made his round belly look even more comical. "I have honorably vouched for the fact that this is absolutely true. How dare I deceive the king? King! Don't you appreciate the warehouse on the island for yourself? The warehouse is completely full! We had to transport the food that could not be loaded to the clothes in advance. , Where has this happened in the past?”

"That's true. But, five hundred thousand pounds..."

Rurik was drunk but not stupid. He had no idea about the transactions in the free trade market, so if Bai Hu manipulated the transaction data, he would not be able to learn about it for the time being. However, it is a fact that the island’s granary is bursting, which has caused trouble for the transfer of personnel and supplies this year.

Rurik took a sip and asked a very pointed question: "I learned that those farmers had difficulty in trading with us directly in the past. Now that I have given them an opportunity, have those farmers really given up their five hundred thousand pounds of surplus grain?"

"That's right. All the materials in our inventory have been sold. For this, I also paid a batch of silver coins in cash." White Fox pointed out.

"That's not what I mean. What I mean is, do they really dare to use their surplus food? Don't they live in order to buy our goods? What will they do if they don't have enough food?"

"You can only catch fish?" the white fox shrugged. Since the king asked this, he said: "The other identity of those farmers is fishermen. They can survive by catching fish in advance and making dried meat. As long as they have it first The food managed to survive until next year’s planting season, so everything is fine.”

"Aren't they afraid of spring famine?" Rurik asked urgently.

"Then after they sow the seeds, they row a boat and the whole family fishes or even goes hunting. According to my investigation, those farmers are in urgent need of our iron tools, and they are willing to put their current lives at great risk in order to obtain iron tools."

"It's so crazy." Rurik hit his forehead again, but he could understand.

Iron tools are not consumer goods, but means of production that far exceed stone tools. In particular, axes are a model of multi-functional tools and have been snapped up.

"It seems that next time we will have to bring more iron axes for them to buy." Rurik's words were meaningful.

The harvest season in the Lake Malaren region has ended, and the Ross fleet anchored in the lake is about to leave.

It is already September, and the autumn harvest has been completed in the eastern part of the kingdom. This time is also the time when the kingdom collects agricultural taxes in the east, so the fleet's triumphal return comes at the right time.

More than two million pounds of oats were traded in one fell swoop. To be fair, Rurik underestimated the grain output in the Lake Mälaren region and admired the local people's choice.

As long as this batch of oats is properly preserved, it can ensure that 10,000 people can eat it for 200 days without dying of hunger. Of course, it is not a problem for men who are engaged in heavy physical labor to eat three pounds of oats a day, so ten thousand strong men can maintain the heavy labor for a month.

What is hard work? War is one.

Considering that the conquest of the Jotaland region will begin next year, the Rus Kingdom army is bound to form a large army. Ten thousand troops is not enough, but three thousand is still possible. Based on past war experience, Rurik could not trust his allies to provide adequate logistics. In the end, the Russian army had to support the Allies. Besides, there are logistical supply issues. After the war starts, no one will dislike having too much food on hand.

However, the quality of this batch of imported grain from Sweden is not good. They did not have enough time to dry, and the moist wheat kernels put great pressure on storage. The wheat will be put into normal daily consumption immediately and sold at a slightly reduced price, mainly to New Roseburg. High-quality feed for people and even horses. Find Shuyuan www.zhaoshuyuan.com As for the reserve of war rations, they will be allocated from the output of the East.

There were only one Ross ship anchored in Lake Mälaren, and the cabins were stuffed with supplies ranging from food to flax rods. Plenty of onions, carrots and cabbage were also thrown into the cabin.

The fleet became a complete food and vegetable transport fleet, and most of the cabins were full, forcing people to stay on the deck continuously.

Thanks to the reinforcements of ships from the homeland of Fort Ross, the transfer of personnel and materials can be carried out in an orderly manner.

The huge Ross fleet also pulled anchors one after another amidst the sound of the magnificent horn, tilted the jibs one after another, and drifted eastward in the north wind.

The huge fleet was followed by a small fleet, no more than twenty traditional rowing long boats, trying to keep up with the Russians.

They were the Granites who had sold off all their assets and officially implemented their immigration plan under the leadership of Duke Svalgard. They will eventually return to their old way of life and settle together with the Ostara people who immigrated long ago. They became the queen of the fleet and were the last to leave Lake Mälaren.

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