Rise of Rurik

The fishing boats were bought, but when Rurik started to inspect the boats the next day, he somewhat regretted his hasty decision.

Jeflo recalled his duties as the captain of the mercenary, and now his biggest job is to act as a personal guard for Rurik.

He followed Rurik, and there were more than twenty mercenaries, dragging the ropes on his shoulders, and shouting chants to tow all the fishing boats to a unified position.

It was already afternoon, and the gentle sunshine was shining on the entire fjord. The climate was very pleasant, and the many ships in front of Rurik made him a little unhappy.

Let’s look at these fishing boats. They are of course built using the usual shipbuilding techniques of the Viking tribe. The layers of dry wooden planks are soaked in seawater and swelled, and the gaps are coated with rosin to keep the whole boat closed.

When Rurik's little hand touched the old dark hull, he could clearly see the large number of scratches on the plank, and even signs of aging and cracking.

What made him even more annoying was that the hull was generally too thin.

Under Jevlo's gaze, he circled a small fishing boat about five stikas in length (nearly five meters), and soon noticed some unusual holes in the boat's board.

"Yevlo!"

"in!"

"These ships..." Rurik wanted to say something, but now he didn't bother to say it.

"My lord." Yevlo asked tentatively, approaching him.

"It's nothing, you take me aboard, I want to see the structure inside."

"Yes."

If there were no ladders, Rurik could not directly climb onto the boat on his own strength. He was lifted by Yevlotto, then turned over and entered the cabin.

Rurik sits on a relatively flat plank at the bottom of the boat. This is not a real deck. It is just a plank laid so that the fishermen can stably stack their catches and even have a flat place when they float at sea. Rest on your side.

Although the interior of the ship was not completely straight, a standing column full of wood debris immediately attracted Rurik's attention.

He immediately grabbed his hands on the side of the ship and asked Jeflo: "What's the matter? Where's the mast of the ship? Did you chop it off?!"

Yevro was shocked, and hurriedly replied: "My lord, we cut it."

"Why?! The fine sail fishing boat is now a rowing boat."

"This..." Yevlob wanted to say that this was ordered by Arik. Considering that the man was his master's elder brother, it was obviously unwise to blame Arik.

Jeflo had a good reason, and it was exactly Arik’s reason: "My lord, we don’t have the ability to take care of so many sailboats. In order to avoid the chaos on the return voyage, all the masts were cut off. As for the canvases, the brothers from Tombstone Island cut them off. Take it away to make clothes."

"Making clothes? It's amazing." Rurik was taken aback, then Hunter grinned helplessly. "They are already so poor? How many good things you haven't looted? How is it possible."

"My lord, they are indeed... really poor. I'm sorry, I offended them."

"It doesn't matter." Rurik waved his hand, then raised his head and sighed to the sky: "Oh! Twenty ships are all broken ships. Those Gotlanders, are they fishing with these broken ships?"

"Yes, their ships are terrible. My lord, maybe you spent four thousand silver coins..."

Rurik immediately stopped Evlo's words: "I know you are going to say that I wasted money. It doesn't matter, I have always been a trustworthy person."

In the looting battle that lasted for more than two months, Arik and his straightforward Ross army were the main combat forces, and Jeflo and his mercenary brothers supported the forces in principle. Based on this principle, even if 20 of them carry a crossbow and approach the enemy fishing boat to launch a salvo, they will basically hit a fishing boat that has no actual deck, thin planks, and no effective defense in one blow. Permission to share loot.

During the long battle period, Jeflo and his people were completely toolmen under Arik.

After all, he was a mercenary, and he had to obey the master's orders to do this job.

So Arik really used Jeflo and others as tools. They floated at sea almost every day, and the so-called rewards they received were only fish meat and distilled fresh water. For the other Ross people, they can often rest on Tombstone Island and digest the spoils they have caught for the first time.

Anyway, it is to be a mercenary, and Jeflo and his brothers are more willing to be the mercenary of Rurik. As for the bitterness, blood and sweat, and unfair treatment in Arik's hands, they swallowed this bitterness by themselves.

In any case, Yevlo didn't like these captured fishing boats.

Although in the looting battle, most of the enemy ships were destroyed in the battle immediately, and the best quality ships became the treasures of the settlers on Tombstone Island, and the remaining piles of relatively inferior goods were all thrown away. Rurik.

Jeflo regretted his master.

"These boats are too bad. If you need a boat, why not directly hire a local boat builder from the tribe? The mountains and forests here still have a lot of wood suitable for shipbuilding. You can make better ones. Why use the broken ships of the Gotland people. ."

"I just need it urgently now," Rurik pointed out.

"My lord, don't you... do you expect me to take my brothers and drive these boats to fish? Oh, you can't afford me too much." Yevro smiled heartily.

"Then why not? You are a Finn, and almost all of your other brothers are from Merlaren. You all know how to row and fish."

"But we are fighters."

"I know. But you all have an old day! When you are old and can't use weapons to fight, what do you do? You don't have to continue fishing to feed yourself."

"Then fight to death in the last battle." Jeflo joked, "Those people's beliefs are about fighting to death."

"Can you? You are Odin's warrior?"

"I don't care. You know, I am a Finn, thanks to your care, if I am too old to lift the sword, please let me stay with those science people. I have a more common language with them."

Rülik resisted a smile. He still lay on the boat gang and looked at Jeflo: "These broken boats can continue to be pushed into the sea to fish anyway. You can paddle without sails. Jeflo, you and your brothers have both. The old day, if that day comes, you can rest assured that I will not forget your achievements in your youth. I will reward you fishing boats, and you can fish by yourself and continue to live. If you are really old to the time when you can’t even fish. , You still don’t have to worry. I will send someone to reward you with fresh fish every day, until you naturally come to the end of your life."

Rurik’s remarks by Yevro were really unheard of. He was a little touched, but he still found it absurd.

The conversation between the two gradually attracted some mercenaries who had finished towing the ship. They gathered and soon realized the wonder of Rurik's words.

Because my master is talking about a thing that everyone has never considered-pension.

Talking about pension in ancient times? It is an unrealistic luxury.

It's not that Rurik didn't know this. Regarding this matter, in fact, it is not unwilling to do it more often because of the poor productivity of the era.

There are clouds in the ancients of the East, and the widows, widows, loneliness, and disabled people all have support. This is a philosophical idea put forward by the Eastern world very early, and it is also the theoretical basis for exploring the feasibility of building a harmonious society.

However, the Western world has been living in the “jungle ecology” for a long time. The so-called concepts of social relief and old-age care are really magical to the kingdoms established by a group of barbarians. Even if they generally believe in God, they also believe that it is the work of the priest to relieve the poor, and the weddings and funerals are all managed by the priests. Finally, nobles, they are more concerned about whether the land tax has been obtained.

Therefore, for a more backward-civilized tribe like the Rus tribe, Rurik was already trying to change something.

Now, Rurik is too lazy to mention his attacks on tribal governance to Jeflo, such as organizing a group of widows and poor women to buy their tailor-made labor; hiring a group of older men to buy their logging and Construction workforce.

Especially for the orphans of the entire tribe, and even all the young children, regardless of men and women, Rurik controls them all, trains their physique, educates their minds, and grants better food.

Because men and women in the tribe have a rapid increase in mortality after the age of fifty, the Ross people do not need to consider the issue of pension.

Therefore, an old woman who looks like a haggard like the high priest Veria, she is now seventy out of four, which is really a miracle of life.

But Rurik had to think about something in advance, that is, the tribe under his own rule. As people's living standards began to improve, their lifespan was also rising. Especially with the widespread use of soap and the emergence of a new, warmer Novgorod woodcut, the health of the tribe has improved significantly.

Although everyone still believes in the life of each person, now the leader can properly take care of the children of the tribe. If he can also take care of the elderly of the tribe, then the power of the leader can be further supported.

From the beginning, Rurik did not trust the myth of the so-called "son of Odin" to maintain his prestige for a long, long time. Perhaps he is indeed the "son of Odin", but what the real people need most is always adequate food and warmth. Home, clothing.

Seeing that his mercenaries were gathering, Liu Rick was a small chatter, and now he had to take it seriously.

In the past, it was indeed an imagination, but now Rurik feels it is necessary to give these guys who are working for themselves, to draw them a giant pie before they get old.

Rurik stood at the bow of the ship and said loudly, "Brothers, you are young and strong now, but you have to think about what to do when you are old."

Everyone looked at each other, because no one really thought about this issue.

"What do you care about?" A mercenary said with a grin, "We will sell your lives, and you will give us money, that's it. If we get rewards from your lord because of our military exploits and become a member of the Ross tribe, we will be the biggest one. with pleasure."

"What's that? What's your requirement?"

"Otherwise?" Yevlo shrugged. "My lord, do you really want to implement your words? Reward your brothers every day in a few decades?"

As soon as Yevlo finished speaking, everyone burst into laughter.

It was clear that these guys obviously had an indifferent attitude towards their future.

Then someone laughed and said: "We are all fighters, how can we have an old day? Maybe we will die in the next battle."

"Yeah! As long as we can bury the dead or burn them to ashes, that's fine."

Of course, some people think that if they are lucky enough to survive the day when they can't use an axe or a sword, and get a reward from the master of Rurik, then they will bless the master's family forever in another world.

Therefore, no one suspects that the rich Rurik is bragging. They really don't think so much about their future. The so-called passing day is a day.

Only one young mercenary said carelessly: "My lord, as long as you give me a woman, I will fight for you for a lifetime, no matter what kind of battle."

I'm afraid this is the only thing that mercenaries can't mention!

Jeflo directly slapped the kid on the head: "You are an idiot. How do you make such a request to an adult?"

"What he said makes sense!" Rurik slapped the boat gang to attract everyone's attention: "Don't you just want women? All right! You are loyal to me. Now you are my fighters, and you will also be my fighters in the future. Now I want to You promised that when you have fought for me for five years, I will look for beautiful and young women to be your wives. You give me more boys, and your sons will continue to be my fighters. When you get old, Don't worry, you will keep getting some food until the end."

Everyone believes that Rurik will not break his promise. This kid has never been a liar. He has already fulfilled too many promises, and he will surely fulfill what he said solemnly now.

Evlo was very happy about this, but he didn't show his excitement on his face.

However, the other mercenaries stomped their feet and yelled at Rurik's name, praising his greatness.

After the inspection of the fishing boat encountered such an episode, Lurik thought about the feasibility of implementing these matters afterwards.

Anyway, in this era, what everyone thinks of the highest level of pension is that people who are too old can get some food that will not starve to death. After all, death is something that everyone does not want, everyone wants to live forever. Once strong and proud fighters, they would rather die in battle than commit suicide when they were old.

If some fish are rewarded, it is considered pension, and the economic expenditure of such pension is too small.

According to Rurik's calculation, according to this standard, he felt that he could simply build some nursing homes, especially to gather up the old guys who had been fighting for his life, continue to take care of them until they died naturally, and finally enclose a plot of land as a cemetery for veterans to bury.

In the final analysis, Rurik feels that only by doing so can he get his own psychological satisfaction and the support of the elite fighters.

Yes, a young soldier recruited for fighting for his master, got his own woman, house, and even a living industry that he could engage in after retiring from the old age. The master is really incapable of taking care of the last period of his life.

With such good things, Rurik didn't believe that they didn't work their lives.

Rurik saw that the young fighters of the tribe were all supporting Arik, the cousin of the battle hero. What could he do? The little warriors under his command, even if they are girls, are currently only more than 300. They are all children!

Facing his cousin, Rurik really felt a hint of worry. All he could think of was to recruit more fighters, especially fighters from other tribes from the same alliance, and give them good treatment, so that they could die.

The more he thinks this way, the more he feels that the ancient general's slogan of encouragement will be, "grab money, food, and women", which may seem crude or even ugly, but actually has a low-level logic. Especially a bunch of tribal warriors of the Ross tribe, not so much warriors, but more appropriate to describe them as pirates.

After all, the order had been given to Gould, who had gone south to do business, presumably this year the old guy will arrive at Roseburg with a large amount of living supplies and a group of people at the end of August and early September. At that time, there will be a new batch of mercenaries joining the team, as well as a batch of poor children.

I am afraid there will be another problem by then. Rülik is a little worried that when the old mercenaries see newcomers with the same salary as their own, they will inevitably have opinions, even if they don't say it in their hearts.

what to do? Raise wages!

As a result, Rurik quickly increased the salaries of his mercenaries. The so-called monthly salary of ordinary mercenaries is ten silver coins, and now it has risen to fifteen. For high-ranking people like Jeflo, the salary has risen to thirty silver coins.

Of course, to get more salaries means that mercenaries have to continue to do hard and boring work in peacetime. Generally, they have to do the work of logging, so that they have exercised their physique, and they can make a little money for Rurik through wood processing and sales, thereby reducing some net expenditures.

The mercenaries have a new job, which is to use the captured ships to go fishing in the sea.

After all, most of the mercenaries themselves were fishermen. They were too poor in their hometown of Melalen. Because they couldn't compete with their elder brothers for the family business, and were not recruited by the Mellaren leader to become private soldiers, they had to go out alone. In their hearts, the Ross people are giving themselves a chance to develop. Even if the master is a child, there are magical legends. Anyway, the master really gave tangible silver coins and even a good weapon. They thanked themselves. Master.

Therefore, when Lurik asked them to take turns as fishermen in peacetime, everyone was very satisfied. If there is any dissatisfaction, the boat you are using is too old.

Everyone complained that the Gotland people used the poor quality wood on the island to build broken ships, but they only had such a ship on hand.

In fact, Rurik arranged all twenty ships out!

There are some elderly men in the Ross tribe. They are really only in their forties, and they are getting more serious. They can no longer go to the battlefield, and the work of logging and fishing is not very influential.

Lurik quickly signed a contract with some people, that is, as many as fifteen fishing boats were rented out. As for the rent, half of the fish caught were used to pay.

For the time being, because of the simple folk customs of the tribal residents, Rurik does not have to worry that these charterers will only pay less than half of the fish without their conscience. If they are really greedy, Rurik does not intend to attack them immediately.

As for the other five ships that were used by mercenaries in turn, all the catches naturally belonged to Rurik. Even so, the mercenaries are still working hard, because they know that they are not fishing for their masters, but the mercenary brothers' rations are what they catch! They feel that it is reasonable to fish for the brothers, so that in future battles, because of the friendship established in life, their backs will be guarded by their brothers.

The captured fishing boats are finally beginning to show their value!

Rurik’s charter party also personally selects the tenants. He chose the fishermen who only had worse boats at home. Their desperate fishing is actually saving money to order new fishing boats. Now they can lease Rurik’s boats for a long time. They think it is. Fortunately, I have calculated an economic account and found that my living standard will improve. So is there any reason not to sign a contract?

Renting fishing boats to obtain catches ~www.readwn.com~ Rurik is such a purpose. It can be said that only in this matter, Rurik has become a real "classical landlord". But Rülik does not need to sell the fish caught by the fishermen, and even Rülik also gives priority to buying the remaining catches of the chartered fishermen. All the catches were eaten by the children. What kind of results did this bring?

Its benefits are obvious.

Even due to the underdeveloped technology of the fishing industry in the current era, the number of stacked fishing boats can increase the catch.

The total amount of food Lurik gave to his children has not changed, but Lurik’s economic expenditure has indeed dropped significantly!

What's more interesting is that all the fishing boats captured by Lurik’s messengers were nailed with strange letters with wooden slats, and the bows of all twenty boats had ship numbers.

The so-called ship number is from "RFB01" to "RFB20". The meaning is very simple, R stands for Ross and FB stands for fishing boat.

They are Lurik’s boats. In order to avoid suspicion, other fishing boats did not dare to disturb the operations of these fishermen. This has another interesting effect-the average catch of the fishing boats under Lurik is more than that of their peers. .