Rise of Rurik

It was as if a horde of wild beasts had rushed into the city, which seemed to them to be filled with wealth.

The city is quite cramped, the roads are narrow and winding, the ground is black, and there is a faint stench in the air.

Of course, some residents of this city will throw their feces and urine directly onto the road. If this is the case, the whole city will soon stink.

Because it is adjacent to a river, more people still throw all kinds of filth into the river.

The odor comes from many large urns, which are not only visible to the naked eye, but also have pieces of wood underneath them.

Obviously, the sudden attack interrupted the work of the locals. The Russian army that invaded the city saw that there was not a lot of wool cooked in Wengli?

Newly cut wool has a smell, and the unpleasant smell will dissipate after it is boiled and degreased.

The soldiers had no time to take care of the wool. They thought that since the locals were doing such work, there must be more wool in the local warehouses.

All the rumors are becoming true, and every soldier can't wait to take away a bag of wool processed by the locals. Just roll it into yarn at home and have the women in the family knit it into decent sweaters.

Grund's sword was dripping with blood. He had no intention of checking the dead body, but ordered his men to act as quickly as possible.

"Don't miss any house, search for gold and silver first, and finish it as soon as possible before the Danes."

The Ross army had completed the perfect hunt, so naturally they wanted to eat the fattest meat. The remaining minced meat will be shared among subsequent Danes.

The large forces of the Ross army have completed their landing, and the looting in the city has also reached its peak at this moment.

Those fleeing people still had obvious backs, and Grund was unable and unwilling to pursue them. He occupied the highest building, which was evidently the residence of the great nobles of the city.

In this wooden double-story house, he found a large number of metal utensils. Unfortunately, except for a few gold and silver tableware, there were no better utensils.

But he still found a special treasure - the wardrobe.

In the wardrobe in the aristocratic living room, there are rows of woolen fabrics. There are men's robes and women's gowns.

The wardrobe was swept away by the Russian soldiers and immediately became the soldiers' spare clothing.

Since it was a noble residence, there should be something like a secret room to hide gold and silver.

One of the maids just hid, and when she finally tried to escape, she discovered that the Normans were everywhere. The maid was immediately insulted when she was discovered by the soldiers, and finally she was dragged in front of Grund like a dead pig as if she had lost her soul.

"This woman was killed by you? A group of young brats, they did it lightly." Of course, Grund didn't mind what his brothers did at all.

The standing army was full of men in their prime who were close to twenty years old. Someone claimed: "Boss, maybe this woman can tell us the secret she knows."

"Secret? It's enough to tell me where the nobles hide their money."

Grund had spent the first half of his life wandering around the world, and he already knew a bit of Frankish vocabulary, which came in handy now.

He half-knelt down and patted the half-conscious woman's face vigorously. When she woke up, he asked sharply: "Gold! Silver! Tell me where it is?"

However, the woman's deep voice begged, "Kill me quickly."

"We won't kill you. Tell me where the gold is hidden and you can live."

The woman responded immediately and slowly stretched out her right hand to point at a line of defense, which immediately made Grund happy.

"Very good! Brothers, take this woman with you. Oh, and give her some decency."

Seeing his subordinates lifting the girl up, Grund suddenly remembered something and asked: "Which of you tortured this girl the most just now?"

But I saw a group of young people laughing and pointing angrily at a brother.

"Alal, is it you? Okay. This woman will be your wife and concubine, take her away."

"Huh? Didn't the king say that he would be killed without mercy?" the soldier asked doubtfully.

"Keep it for now. Your Majesty should acquiesce to the fact."

The maid was carried into the cellar, and Grund discovered the treasure on the underground floor of the residence. He longed to discover large amounts of gold and silver, even though he knew King Rurik actually preferred wheat.

Whatever comes to mind, there are indeed some wooden boxes placed in the cellar.

After the box was pried open, the shiny coins inside also showed their graceful brilliance.

"Everyone settle down." Grund waved his hand, "Follow the rules, this is dedicated to the king. You light all the oil lamps, and we will take a good look at what these are."

The light outside was already very dim, and the flames blazing in the cellar revealed the true form of the coin.

Grund grabbed a handful with his own hands and took a closer look. All he saw were copper coins. He suddenly stamped his feet in anger and cursed: "Damn it! Are the nobles here poor? The so-called treasures are actually copper coins? It has What’s the use?”

The number of copper coins was extraordinary. After counting, there were twenty boxes, each of which seemed to weigh a hundred pounds.

But the situation is not really shabby. There are still three boxes that have been pried open. They are all genuine silver coins with a uniform image of Charlemagne on them. They are all in good quality.

So, Antwerp, a land of wealth, is really so poor?

This is not the case.

Although the sudden death of the baron caused a collapse of the city's defenses, the nobles did not forget to carry away all the boxes of silver coins from the cellar when they fled. The copper coins were indeed worthless. The soldiers were pressed for time and simply ignored them. They only carried more than ten boxes of silver coins to the carriage and joined the fleeing team. They also took the opportunity to make a fortune.

Only the three silver coin boxes discovered by the Rus' army were picked up by the conquerors because the fleeing nobles failed to pack them.

The clouds made up by the sun were only dark red, and the Russian army had entered the city in large numbers.

However, Antwerp is a small city. Before Rurik's attack, the city had barely 800 permanent residents.

The number of residents killed in the city was not large, so it was quite unlucky for them to die. After the soldiers went into the city to search, they left the city carrying some of the captured goods and set up camp near the dock to light a bonfire while guarding the ship.

However, the only two warehouses in the city have been firmly controlled, and the work of transporting grain and wool has already been carried out.

The soldiers may push their own trolleys and start transporting them after assembling them on the shore. The wheelbarrows that the locals had no time to take away were put to work as were the carts.

Grund presented his gift, and all the money boxes were placed in front of Rurik. His armor clanked as he beat his chest: "All the boxes are coins. Brothers present them to the king."

Rurik nodded: "Loyalty! There are silver coins inside."

"There are only three boxes, and the rest are copper coins."

"There are only three boxes? They say Antwerp is very rich. I did see a lot of wool and grain. How can this not be the case with silver coins?"

"We dare not be greedy." Grund beat his chest again.

"Forget it!" Rurik shrugged and immediately ordered the inspection. Seeing that there were three boxes full of silver coins, he immediately made an exciting decision - to divide the money.

The purchasing power of a silver coin in the Ross tribal era twenty years ago was extremely amazing. Of course, it was only because the Swedish tribes at that time were strongly hostile to the Danish forces and were simply amusing themselves economically. Silver coins are such precious metals. As a natural hard currency, the amount in circulation is too small.

As things changed, Ross conquered large tracts of land, and the currency that once circulated throughout the Baltic trade circle was being enriched in the core settlements of the Kingdom of Ross.

These young soldiers of the Ross standing army grew up with the rise of Ross and with the increasing accumulation of silver coins.

Even if Rurik ordered the money to be divided, more than a thousand brothers divided it completely, and each person's share was quite limited.

But this is indeed the king's reward.

Ragnar's Danish army almost touched the night, aiming at the dense array of bonfires as bright as stars in the distance. The Danish army finally arrived in Antwerp. They missed everything.

The belated arrival made all the Danish warriors very upset. They wanted Ragnar to praise the strength of their Rurik brothers, but there was no chance tonight.

Especially when he saw the Russians distributing trophies on the shore, he became even more jealous.

Ragnar angrily found Rurik who was sitting by the campfire and was busy eating grilled fish, and complained: "Congratulations on your victory. You were too fast and didn't wait for me."

"What? Are you unhappy?"

"You should wait for me." After saying that, Ragna sat down, took the other grilled fish handed over by Rurik, and calmed down a little.

Rurik betrayed his personal favor and publicly blamed himself: "We were eager for quick success. So originally our plan was to attack the city tomorrow, but I grabbed the time. Now Antwerp has been defeated and the looting has begun. I grabbed some good things. I can give you a lot."

"No need." Ragna waved and shook his head, "That's not my trophy. I can't bear to accept your gift. Anyway, this battle is over, and we should have no new battles in the south. Hurry up and end this, I will march along the Rhine, that is my battle."

"Okay. But... there are many villages nearby. You can go there and plunder and take a look, and maybe you can take away a lot of cattle and sheep. I won't rob you from these actions. Whatever you rob is yours. The spoils of war. If you encounter resistance from local farmers, you will be responsible for killing them."

"You have a conscience." That's all. Ragna laughed out loud and took a big bite of the grilled cod, even though it was not even salted.

The joy of victory was written on everyone's face, and the soldiers of Ross could not sleep. They still held torches and searched for treasures in the city.

They still kidnapped a small number of women. The reason why they were not killed immediately was simply because they were women.

The soldiers did not fully implement the king's order to kill without mercy. Seeing this situation, it stands to reason that Rurik could turn a blind eye and acquiesce that he is a slave to his subordinates.

But this time, there is no room for mercy.

Being played by multiple warriors together, the maid with devout faith could no longer seek death. It was precisely because of her faith that she could not commit suicide, even if she begged the conqueror for death.

Until Rurik puts an end to these farces.

The soldiers reluctantly let go of their "toys", and the women, who had been tortured to the point of being ragged and mentally broken, were given a clean death.

That's all. Rurik summoned all the centurions again, grasped the hilt of his sword and ordered rudely: "I told you that the enemy will not leave any men or women in this battle. We don't have time to capture them, what we want is revenge killing. Tomorrow Just carry all kinds of trophies and materials, no prisoners of war!"

All the centurions said so. Some people lamented that it was unbelievable that the king issued such a cruel order. Obviously, this battle is really of special significance?

On a new day, it started to rain lightly.

Could it be that the autumn rain season has already begun? Rurik had predicted the rain a long time ago, and he had taken the risk of rain to make a surprise attack.

The rain hindered the army's siege. Fortunately, Antwerp had been defeated the day before the rain.

The Russian army wasted no time in the rain to transport the loot. The tarpaulins that were originally used to cover the ship's torsion slingshot were now used to cover the carts carrying wheat and wool.

Supplies are loaded onto small boats at the pier and then transferred to anchored ships. The decks of large ships are designed with drainage holes. Although the entire cabin does not have a high-tech design of watertight compartments, it is like a closed oak barrel. The captured materials are stuffed into the cabin to completely isolate the rainwater.

The cold autumn rain undoubtedly greatly interfered with the transportation of the trophies, but there were so many trophies. In this regard, Antwerp truly proves its wealth.

Although it was cold, Rurik deliberately stopped to bring good luck.

He has been mentally prepared. The so-called war has started so far, and the army may not be able to reach the capital, Fort Neuros before the Gulf of Finland freezes. He has already designed Plan B. The so-called army can be directly stationed in warm places for the winter. Temporary stays in Denmark, as well as on the islands of Bornholm, Saaremaa and Tombstone in the Åland Islands, are preferred. Sending a small force to spend the winter in Utrecht and sending part of the army to station near Hamburg to continue supporting the Duke of Saxony are both options.

Thinking about it from this, there is no need for the army to go all the way back to their hometown.

For Vikings from all walks of life who were good at sailing, it was considered normal to live in other places or even settle down. This is really a life test for the Slavic Army soldiers who are old farmers. Of course, the Slavic army was in the minority, and the flag captain was still his brother-in-law. Rurik was sure that he could suppress their dissatisfaction with his majesty. Just promise each of them a large sum of wheat and wool as so-called compensation, and that's it.

Thinking of all this, Rurik felt that he had a little more time.

Ragnar led his troops to a nearby village. Even though they braved the cold rain, the brothers ignored the cold rain when they thought that everything they grabbed was theirs. They simply ignored the risk of illness and just wanted to rush into the village to find gold.

However, all they found were empty villages. Except for some poultry in cages, they found nothing good. And those poultry were obviously taken away in a hurry by the fugitives.

But it was said that in the village where the Norman fleet was first discovered, the fief knight, in line with his obligation to be loyal to the baron, took his army that was almost a joke and resolutely joined the defense of Antwerp.

But when they saw the city from a distance, they realized that the Normans had already taken action. The shouts of killing turned into rumblings, and the knights immediately gave up all support plans.

All the villages were fleeing, and their escape was so well-trained that the only casualties in the villages were some unlucky ones who ran too fast and sprained their legs.

Ragnar did not find many high-value treasures, but he did collect a large number of usable daily necessities. His men were not picky either. They made makeshift bags out of linen they found, threw pots and pans of loot into them, and carried them on their shoulders to "welcome a good harvest."

However, the sack of Antwerp was like a stab in the heart to the Count of Flanders.

When a city is robbed, it is essentially the economic collapse of a large area. A large number of people gathered with their families in the city of Ghent, and the sudden appearance of tens of thousands of refugees caused panic in the more densely populated Ghent area.

Refugees spontaneously told the people they met about their horrific experiences, and many of them added fuel to the fire out of subjective assumptions, describing the Normans as demons that ate people without spitting out bones, and were monsters that spewed fire.

When asked if they really saw it, they said it was absolutely true.

Even if this description sounds outrageous at first, all doubts can be put to an end with first-hand information brought by refugees coming directly from the city of Antwerp.

Because the count's relative, the Baron of Antwerp, had been killed in the defensive battle.

The Baron's wife and son, the Count's sister and nephew, managed to escape the trap. They fled in the cold drizzle, but when faced with their sister's frantic cries, they were like Count Baudoin who was struck by lightning and couldn't make up his mind at all. All the count could think of was to strengthen the defense of Ghent and gather the men, because Ghent was just upstream of the Scheldt River, and the Normans, who were good at sailing, came from the cold north. They could ignore the cold rain and bring death and killing. When brought to Ghent, it is necessary to be prepared immediately.

However, his sister had this plea: "Avenge my husband! You must avenge my husband! Everyone is our father and a coward, but you are definitely not! Now you are the count and the protector of everyone. Hurry up. Organize an army to avenge my husband."

It was the sister's tears that moved the count, and it was her words "You are not a coward" that made Baudoin feel that he had to stand up and prove that he was a real man.

He was furious: "You are right! This is the second attack on Antwerp! The Normans' greed will never end. We must launch a counterattack and let them see how powerful we are!"