Rise of Rurik

Robert is not old, he is in his thirties, but he has experienced too much wind and rain in the past few years, and he looks too old.

He wears a beard to show his sincerity and hides freckles and pimple marks, and even some scars.

His eyes are deep, and his eyes lack a sense of fiery. He seems to be worried a lot, and his whole person looks very sad.

Obviously not old, at first glance, he will be fifty years old.

Perhaps, because his father died of illness ten years ago, and he was heartbroken for the interests of the family after inheriting the title, his predecessors did not pave the way for him, and his fief was often visited by top nobles, so he had to consider a lot, Now it is even more important to consider the future, to think and do too much, and the whole talent will appear old.

It is precisely because he is not old, and there are still choices in life, otherwise this body will continue to sink under the Taunus Mountain, and even the strength of the entire family will be extremely reduced, and even the strength of the descendants will be so weak that they will become extinct.

Many great nobles think that Robert is an old guy. If he can't regain a certain strength in a few years, it will be too late to think about everything when he reaches forty, and he will really become an old guy with no cure.

The returning blue fox and his party urgently need a good rest, and the soldiers need to eat and drink before they sleep well.

Although the fox brothers wanted to have a good talk with the Robert family who broke in privately, he had to choose a day because he was not in good spirits, and as the local lord, he naturally had to bring out good wine and meat to entertain this down-and-out great aristocrat.

The latter also expressed understanding.

The riches looted from Trier open eyes to locals in Nassau village!

All the boxes were opened, and the silver coins inside shocked everyone. The soldiers who sailed in fatigued to sleep in for three days in a row, but the thought of sharing the money soon made everyone excited.

The money is controlled by the lord. In principle, before distributing the spoils, the black fox with the status of the housekeeper has the ownership of all the money. He had a huge amount of money at a young age. Even though he came from a big businessman's family, his father never gave him the opportunity to manage such a huge amount of money. Now he is so excited that he is in a hurry.

He had no choice but to ask for the advice of his elder brother Lanhu, and simply broke into his resting room with an oil lamp.

The blue fox, who had drank some wine, was already sleeping soundly, and when he heard the movement, he slowly got up with his slightly dizzy head.

"It's you. I'll talk about anything tomorrow." After that, he slammed down and closed his eyes.

"Brother. It's about dividing money." Heihu continued.

"Spend the money? The money we grabbed? What."

"I am…"

"Fool. It's the first time I have a huge sum of money, but I can't make up my mind." The blue fox with his eyes closed was obviously a little perfunctory.

Heihu said, "There's too much money and food. I just thought about how much money I should give to the brothers. Not less, not more. I... I'm too young, so I'm afraid I won't be able to deter them."

"So you still have to beg me? Well, it's really embarrassing. So...you should lose weight, play with swords and bows more, and it's best to really kill a few enemies on the battlefield, so that those guys will really convince you."

"However, you stopped me. I should have killed a few enemies in action."

The blue fox opened his eyes again, sat up again and laughed naively: "If you have a chance in the future, how much money do we have now? Is it a thousand pounds?"

"Not so much. There are more than nine hundred pounds. There is a lot of grain."

"Just give each of the brothers one pound of silver coin, everyone involved in the operation will have a share, and the rest will be yours. As for the food, no one will give it! Oh, it's not right." Heihu thought for a while: "Give Fifty pounds of silver coins for the church, and put all the relics in our monastery. Well, give the church another thousand pounds of wheat."

"Huh? And for those guys, they're not doing anything at all. I mean, that old guy Conrad doesn't deserve it."

"He's not worthy." Blue Fox shook his head, "but, you really need the support of the monastery if you want to live a good life here. If you give them money, they can live normally. If the church doesn't obey, you will threaten to interrupt the money. , so that Conrad and his successors will only be able to speak well for you in the future, act according to your needs, and provide legal proof for whatever you do."

"This...isn't it a bribe?"

"It's just buying. You don't end up with a lot of money, and I think it's quite enough. Remember, we will start selling wine on a large scale next year, and we will make a lot of money from this industry in Nassau. When I rest, I will be myself tomorrow. I'll go to appease my good brothers." That's all, the blue fox fell asleep again.

Having experienced too many things in the past few years, even the old Gould had to admire that his second child was more legendary than when he was young.

The next day, the sleeping blue fox held a massive rally in Nassau Village with much fanfare. The distant and low Viking horn wakes up the sleeping village, and in the autumn sun, the soldiers walk out of the barracks in the riverside fortress and gather on the flat ground outside the village.

As more and more people gathered, a large number of villagers with good deeds also came to watch the fun.

Even Robert himself, with his wife and young son "Little Robert", came to see the "Assembly of the Savages".

What can a Norman rally have? It must be the implementation of the identity division meeting.

Just because he knew the conduct of these ruthless people, when he learned that they plundered and burned the ancient city of Trier, Robert was not surprised at all, and even took it for granted.

They are savage and scheming, which doesn't mean they can't be approached, on the contrary, these savages are fair in some ways.

Robert's status is noble, and his wife's status is even more heavyweight. The daughter of the Count of Tours, Edleda (nicknamed El), first married the semi-independent Duke of Burgundy, then divorced due to various problems, and then married Robert, Count of Leyingau. Al was five years older than Robert. She was an elderly woman who arrived at Leingau with a generous dowry and bore Robert with a son in the second year of their marriage.

After all, she is a divorced female noble, and there are very few candidates for the great nobles who are willing to accept her again and who are qualified to accept her. Reluctant to commit herself to marrying, she even made psychological preparations to spend the rest of her life in the monastery. At that time, Robert's father died, and the fief was a mess, and the site was coveted by all parties, especially the Marquis of Thuringia longing for a piece of land to belong to him. Marrying the divorced El of Tours means having the support of the Count of Tours in Aquitaine.

This is a marriage that both men and women need. After the marriage, he knows the beauty of this marriage, because El of Tours knows the style...

However, in a series of wars, Robert lost his actual power and money. He could not give up the glory of the past and the reality factor could only live in seclusion in the countryside. As a divorced noblewoman, Eyre believed that if he abandoned the poor Robert again , it is impossible for a third great noble to accept an old woman as his wife. Went to a monastery but survived? Do not! If Robert went to the West Kingdom, everything would turn around due to the relationship between the Robert family branch in the West Kingdom and the Count of Tour family.

even…

As a wife, El is more calculating than a husband. She is a woman, and it is not convenient for her to stand out among the Frankish aristocracy, and she cannot participate in any military operations. She can do some conspiracy to help her husband.

Now, the two were to see what the Normans were going to do.

A slightly fatter warrior stood tall on the cart facing the hay, surrounded by more than 300 Ross warriors who had returned to Nassau Village.

This person is the blue fox. He first shouted a few words in Norse, and then pulled the little fat black fox up together.

Then there was the public announcement of the plan to distribute the money, and then there was a great stir from the onlookers.

The distribution of money after the war has long been agreed, and the blue fox does not care how much property the brothers plundered on the battlefield without permission.

Soon, the wasteland was made of stone and wooden boards to form a table. Lanhu specially asked his younger brother, Heihu, to send money to everyone. People who were in desperate need of money lined up happily.

Of course, the bronze balance can be used for accurate measurement. Since all the captured Frankish silver coins are of good quality, they simply follow its casting settings, and one hundred coins are delivered to the soldiers for one pound.

The soldier who got the money counted it again by himself, and he didn't bother to struggle when he lost money and ran away happily.

This matter must be carried out by the black fox himself, and even the little girl Sophia is sitting on the side watching the good show quietly. The so-called in nature, this is the baron to pay the loyal soldiers, the black fox is responsible for the payment, and Sophia is responsible for acting as the supervisor and mascot.

The money is in the pocket, and the money sent to Eric "Big Tooth" and his gang based in Koblenz will be delivered.

All the food of the garrison does not need to be purchased by everyone, and is steadily consumed from the plundered food. The money distributed to the brothers is a pure war bonus, and you can spend whatever you want with the money, although there is also a lack of consumption opportunities in this area.

A pound of silver for an ordinary soldier? Robert and Al were dumbfounded!

First of all, the salary of the Frankish Standing Army is less than a pound of silver a year, and a considerable part of this money also pays for weapon maintenance, supplementary meals, medical expenses, new clothing, etc. Frank's standing army was exhausted, but the supplies of the standing army were always the best. They asked themselves that in his heyday, Robert could only support five hundred heavy cavalry, and he had to use his wife's dowry to buy equipment for them, and his salary was not much.

An earl has 500 private heavy cavalry, and if necessary, he will be able to quickly mobilize 2,000 peasant soldiers or even more. Such aristocrats must be the targets of the civil war, but unfortunately, Robert was defeated.

Although the defeated great nobles are not like a lost dog, he has lost his desire to go to the Eastern Kingdom after experiencing the humiliation of prisoners, even if the land of Yingao is the birthplace of the family.

"They actually gave ordinary soldiers a pound of silver. That little fat man is the real Baron of Nassau. This baron is stained with Norman habits. It's really different. It's more dominant than the previous one." Surprised Al Madam pointed out the big problem in a straight-forward manner.

"That kid is Paul Black Fox. How many things can a kid do? It wasn't his brother Blue Fox who taught him."

"You despise him?" The lady glanced at her husband and smiled contemptuously.

"You? You seem to be looking down on me?"

"Of course not. If that's the case, I won't suffer with you at the foot of Mount Taunus. I just think that this pair of brothers in the north can make good use of it, and our plan can be well implemented for them."

"I hope so. But how can you see it?"

"You?" The lady looked at her husband again: "You have never acted so kindly. My father was in Tours, and he had never been so kind to his subordinates. I chatted with the priest when I was in the monastery, and those who followed The farmers who attacked Koblenz were indeed exempted from the 11th tax, and the priest was worried that there would be insufficient food in the future. It is fair to say that these people are doing evil, but it is good for the loyalists.”

"Yeah." Robert gritted his teeth when he thought of his series of experiences, followed by a feeling of slump and powerlessness. "To win over a group of wicked people with money, and even to deceive ordinary farmers. They attacked the city of Trier and made ill-gotten money, and then sharing the money, it means that people in this place have become bandits."

"You can't say that." Madam clicked her tongue: "I think King Ludwig is no more virtuous than them. Almost all of your fiefs have been deprived of taxation rights by him, and Ludwig himself made peace with the Normans. , he is more noble than you, and he does nothing different from these Normans."

"It's barbaric! Those bewitched peasants dare to do anything, and they don't want morality in order to get money."

"What's the point of saying this now. You have too much hope for those ordinary peasants?" Madam continued: "Now you need to make a deal with those two foxes."

"Yes. For God's sake, I'll do it, but not sell my soul to the devil. I'll never consider being friends with them."

"I can't say it absolutely. I think that little fat Paul Black Fox is very promising. Anyway, his son must be the Baron of Nassau. At least give our son a chance, and maybe we can contact him in the future."

"As you please. The little lord abandoned me, and Layingo also abandoned me. I can only rise when I reach the West Kingdom. I need money now, a lot of money."

In today's continental Europe, any disputes are often resolved in the simplest way, such as war, plunder, and assassination. It is extremely rare for nobles to be willing to sit down and negotiate, unless the two sides have lost both sides and have no time to gather military forces in a short period of time, which leaves room for negotiation.

Now, Robert, Earl of Leyingo, can no longer talk and laugh with even a baron in terms of military strength. His current strength can only require the legal allegiance of two knights living in the mountains. As for the other vassals, they are all in the physical sense. Taken by King Ludwig and directly involved in the brutal battle of Kaiserslautern.

This is how Mrs. Al has the opportunity to walk to the front desk.

Promise and implementation are two concepts. The fox brothers promised and implemented it. The soldiers who got the money immediately began to spend time and money in the small Nassau village. They don't have much entertainment either. The biggest fun is drinking, and then playing some games behind the scenes.

The game of "grabbing the clay pot" is a very popular sport among the Nordics. More than a dozen strong men from both sides go into battle shirtless, vying for the jars filled with kippers to be placed on the other side's defensive position. This is the original version of rugby. As a savage game, it can be considered immoral in the Frankish world, but Nassau has been completely occupied by the Rus, and the conquerors can naturally do whatever they want.

It is indecent, even for men, to play around naked. The Ross army was playing here, hooting and booing and betting to squander what they had just earned. Nassau Village has never been so happy. Villagers who lacked entertainment came to watch the fun. Some even secretly joined the gambling game set up by the Rus. Some smart people rushed to carry wine barrels and took the opportunity to sell ale and wine at high prices to make a quick buck.

The once honest villagers were assimilated by the Normans in just four months?

Father Conrad has nothing to say. He has self-knowledge. It is best to shut up about the current situation of Nassau Village and his current situation.

After all, they were short-handed. The Rus gave 50 pounds of silver coins in cash, placed the holy relics that Trier grabbed in the small Nassau monastery, and provided 500 pounds of wheat for the priests to live on. The ten priests do not need much food. Blue Fox promised that in the future, the monastery would not have to worry about food, nor the safety of life and property. In exchange, the villagers would no longer pay the 11th tax to the monastery.

take? This is ill-gotten wealth. Don't take it? Then the sacred object will be melted and destroyed by them. As for the issue of the priests eating and living, Conrad had to compromise and comfort himself with "the conditions they gave at least ensure that we have no worries about food and clothing."

The cross made of gold and silver is also inlaid with rubies. At first glance, the gold cup containing the holy oil in Trier Cathedral is intact. There is also a bronze urn plated with gold wire on the surface. There is a strong smell of rose oil in it. It used to be a holy urn for holy oil.

Even sterling silver candlesticks are plentiful, and bronze gilt gilt utensils are even more numerous.

The priest and the young priests had never seen so many precious relics, and it was a miracle that some parchment documents were brought back by the Blue Fox gang. These signs show that although they burned Trier, they still retained a very low bottom line~www.readwn.com~The cathedral was burned, a large number of people were exiled, and even Archbishop Heto was released. Relics, documents were seized, and finally to be placed in a monastery.

Father Conrad realized that it was inconvenient to speak out directly. Considering that the attack on Trier was actually secretly approved by King Ludwig the Great, if the reason was made public, it would be tantamount to a catastrophe in his life.

Father Conrad comforted himself: "I am not stealing, but protecting them with my devout faith. I protect the lost relics for Trier Cathedral, and if they ask for their return, I will return them in the future. Now , I'll use them first for Mass, for a new baptism..."

In this way, Conrad's acceptance of the spoils is a legitimate act, and he also knows that he has taken the money and food given by the Rus, and will do more for them in the future. "As long as there is no sabotage in Nassau and Koblenz, all is well."

Nassau Abbey and Koblenz Abbey clearly made in-depth deals with Ross's fox brothers, and it seemed that the clergy had also been paid for by money.

It's not easy for Robert and his wife to say anything about this, maybe it's just because the godfathers of these two foxes are both Northern Archbishop Eskill.