Rise of Rurik

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When the lake ice becomes brittle, all farmers should be ready for spring ploughing in the new year.

The frozen Lake Ilmen was the first to thaw, and all the fish that had been holding back for a winter began to stick their heads out, swam to the surface of the water for more abundant oxygen, and even jumped out of the water.

The snow covering the entire world then melted, and a large amount of snow soaked the land. The muddy situation everywhere made it difficult for people to move around.

The southernmost settlement of the Duchy of Russ, New Ostara, where the snow melted first. As soon as the snow disappeared, the grass seeds in the mud couldn’t wait to germinate. The cattle, sheep and deer that endured the winter became thinner, and the livestock waited. The grass germinates and gnaws desperately, and people are anxiously waiting for the cattle and sheep to be full to improve people's lives.

Undoubtedly Carlotta knew that his man had organized an army to fight against Karelia. Because of the distance, when the messenger conveyed the message, he had already lost the opportunity to gather troops.

The settlement of Nova Aostara has been fortified. Although the livestock stables are all on the periphery, if there is a serious war, the safety of the livestock will naturally be handed over to others, and everyone will withdraw to the fort and insist on resisting.

Regarding the town of Bear Sacrifice, a settlement on the northern shore of Ladoga Lake, and the large-scale war that accompanies it, when Carlotta knew the news, he had to think about whether his fortress could stand still if he encountered the same situation. The strategic value of New Ostara is important, and the Principality of Ross has a great probability of encountering the merchants of Mrs. Krivić from the south in this direction. Peaceful trade is acceptable, as long as those Krivic people find it profitable, they will invade along the Lovati River.

The contact between Lake Ilmen and the Southern Clivicians could not be cut off because of the Conquest of Lake Ilmen by the Duchy of Ross.

The Lovati River has thawed, and the snowmelt in the spring has turned into a flood, making the rather calm river violent.

Five flat-bottomed rowing boats floated on the turbulent river. The current river water is obviously freezing cold. Once someone plunges into the river and thrashes for a while, they can be frozen to death. Merchants would rather take risks for the benefit.

More than a dozen leather-wrapped men formed a trading gang. They were transporting horses, an important commodity that would probably be popular with northerners.

Their boats are not big. In order to avoid a team from falling behind and to ensure the stability of the boats, the boats are simply connected by ropes, forming a long snake formation on the surface of the river.

They just sell ten horses, two stallions and eight mares.

Compared with the horses in the hands of the northern people, they sell real Turkic horses bought from the Pechenegs. The merchants are pure Klivic people, but the source is not Smolensk. Community, but the more southern Kiev community.

The news about a group of Varyags named Ros establishing a powerful power in the far north spread like wildfire. The name of the Ros has already spread to the Dnieper River basin, but whether they are rich and profitable to do business with them. All are unknown.

Although it is unknown, the biggest variable comes from a group of fugitives and free mercenaries' descriptions of the Rus.

"Ross have a lot of wealth, they have very good ironware, and you can get some good things by bringing the right goods."

Businessmen in the Kiev community would have this attitude, but the Smolensk community felt more military pressure from the so-called Rus Principality and the fertile land controlled by the other side.

At least the leader of the Smolensk alliance took in Vadim, a victim from the north, and he described it as coveting the northern lands and also ordered the tribes and other alliance tribes to exercise restraint. The so-called greatest restraint is to sever trade with the north. contacts.

Smolensk adopted a "trade blockade" against the north, and the Krivicites in Kiev were forced to not dare to advance too aggressively.

Because Kiev itself is a "big altar of blood" standing on the river, this is the original intent of Kiev, and it is also the original intent of the Krivić people. The people living near the altar faced a more complicated international situation. They exchanged a group of horses from the Pecheneg people, but they could not buy ironware of reasonable quality from Eastern Rome, nor could they buy good salt.

Eastern Rome’s attitude towards all Slavic merchants was subjectively repulsive. One reason was the difference in beliefs, and the other was the main reason. It was the Slavic Bulgarian Empire’s war behavior against Eastern Rome, which caused Eastern Rome’s opposition to all parties. The hostility of the Slavs. Even the Slavic immigrants who submitted to the emperor in Eastern Rome had many restrictions. The Greeks and Romans were ordered by the Roman emperor to move to various cities, throwing poor rural areas to the Slavic immigrants, and the empire squeezed the wealth of the peasants to make the cities. The Romans here, especially the Romans of Constantinople, continue to live their days of prosperity.

A Krivic Slav businessman in Kiev, named Sakyi, decided to make a bold move. He took his brothers and some friends, and rowed northward with the horses he bought. In winter, there is no ice in the center of the main channel of the upper reaches of the Dnieper River. They dared not enter the city of Smolensk. They found a small river covered with thin ice and plunged into it.

They moved forward in the Valdai icy marsh, feeling the icy mud. For the sake of business interests, they would rather risk freezing their legs and freezing their toes, and forcibly found the upper reaches of the West Dvina River.

The important goods being transported are horses, and now these horses are beginning to pull ships on top of the ice and snow.

This was a rather difficult journey. Thanks to the season is the tail of winter, they were stunned by towing a boat on the snow-covered swamp for nearly fifty kilometers and successfully found the upper reaches of the Lovaj River.

The journey that followed finally became smooth. When people saw the river channel that could sail and extend northward, everyone rushed to tears of joy.

Sakyi knelt on the snow and washed his face with ice water, ignoring the cold mud on his body and screaming, guys: "Push the boat down the river so that we can float to the territory of the Rus and Irmen."

The five boats are connected in a line, the river in front becomes wider and wider, and the current becomes turbulent.

Both sides of the strait are extremely dense forests, and people are always vigilant, for fear of awakening bears, and to beware of crushed pine trees destroying sailing ships.

After all, this is the first time that the Kiev community has taken the initiative to conduct business with the Rus. Some of them are full of unknowns, and their actions have not been officially authorized.

This is a tentative trade, if Zhongdao is blocked by force majeure, everything is over.

Suddenly, the world he went to was clear, and a huge water area appeared before his eyes.

"What's that? A huge camp?" someone squinted and shouted.

The vigilant Sakyi looked up, and it was clearly a wooden fortress, which resembled the large altar surrounded by wooden walls in his hometown of Kiev.

Another excitedly asked, "Is that the village of the Rus? No matter how bad it is, it is also the village of the Ilmen."

"It should be. Brothers, we have traveled for a long time, we should be able to get hospitality in contact with them." Sakyi is on guard, but everyone is too short of supplies, they are willing to buy some supplies peacefully in the hands of the locals.

Only as the voyage continued, they not only saw the walled city clearly, but also noticed several boats cruising on the lake.

The bow and stern of the ship are tilted up, with a mast in the middle.

That is a unique ship of the Varangans! This is indeed the walled city of the Rus people!

A fleet of ships floated down from the south, they carried some large livestock?

The Ostara people who are very good at raising cattle have keenly noticed that the horses standing on the boat are actually horses. Looking at the sailors, they have nothing to do with the hostile forces.

Carlotta has a big belly now. In theory, her baby will fall to the ground in April. Rurik gave Carlotta the right to name the child, and for this the woman thought of a variety of names, and was still undecided.

Her physical fitness is very good, otherwise she would not be able to take her sister to endure the leg disease and escape for life many years ago.

It was also the disaster. She had always had old problems in her knees, and she couldn't see anything on weekdays, but now she had an astonishing belly, and she needed a wooden staff to help her walk.

A group of strange people with horses land on the pier outside the city? Has a man controlled those guys?

"Probably it is a businessman. Pass my words and quickly tell the men not to be rough, I want to meet them in person!"

Carlotta was holding a wooden staff on her belly. She put on a fat polar bear robe and white fox fur to show her bravery and magnificence, and she also covered her belly.

She arrived at the dock under the **** of a group of women, speaking in Old Swedish accented Gnostic.

Obviously, these languages ​​are not understood by the Sakyi group.

The visitors were gesticulating with hands and dances, and spoke all the incomprehensible Slavic languages. It is indeed Slavic, which is somewhat different from the Irmen dialect.

There is no real language barrier between the two parties. There are local Slavs temporarily staying in New Ostara for the purpose of trading. The necessary exchanges between the two sides made the locals also learn some Gnostic languages.

Finally, Carlotta clenched his brows and almost heard some doorways from the description of the translator.

"Kiev? A city in the far south? Are you looking for Rus for business? Think I am the territory of the Russ?"

These things cannot be explained clearly in a few words. Carlotta simply did not explain, and ordered translators who understand their language to send a letter: "Show your products, show your gold coins and silver coins, and I can trade with you."

They sailed and walked, traveling thousands of kilometers on the land of Eastern Europe in order to trade.

Sakyi hurriedly showed his most precious horse. As for the price, he glanced at the people here with clever eyes, suddenly changed his tone, and asked very politely: "Young and smart female leader, you will take out What price can I buy my horse?"

This question stopped Carlotta.

She said casually: "A horse and a pound of silver can't be more."

"Huh? Are you there for my entertainment?"

"Why? The price is too high? Here, a good milking cow is a pound of silver coins. Is your horse more valuable than a cow?"

"That's natural. If cows are used as a measure, according to our Kiev people, a horse is worth ten cows!" Sakyi's words are firm and his eyes are full of fortitude, reflecting the pride of a businessman.

Can merchants be rebellious? Carlotta was not fooled by this acting skills, but one thing she can be sure of is that merchants from foreign countries care about their horses.

"I want to look at the horse first."

After all, Carlotta simply checked the horses. She examines these horses with her family's experience in raising cattle and sheep, stroking the delicate down cap and slender mane of the horse's neck. The delicate touch proves the horse's health. What surprised her was that these horses were all tall and tall, and the stallion among them had an even more amazing shoulder height.

When it comes to height, Carlotta is not low. She is a pure Nordic blonde woman. She lived in the top aristocratic circle of the Ross people and entered puberty. She has been delicious for so many years. She is actually 175 cm tall. . Looking at these horses, including the mares, they are close to their shoulder height, and the horses are even taller when they raise their heads.

There were some horses in Mrs. Ilmensla's hands, all of which were far inferior to these.

Carlota's eyes widened, her thoughts full of thoughts. First of all, his tribe is still in the turbulent period after life is stable, and there is no financial means to buy these horses. Secondly, these horses arrived in the Duchy of Ross, and they must be absorbed by the Duchy! The merchant explained that Carlotta had already understood that these horses were not animals for spring ploughing and plowing. They were riding horses and were born as war horses!

And even the merchants rushed to sell horses when the ice and snow just melted in March, and they still sold two males and eight females!

The special parts of the two stallions have undergone specific changes, and no one knows this better than Carlotta, who is good at animal husbandry. "April Bull" describes the **** of a man in Norse slang, and the same goes for a stallion in April. The merchant is simply selling ten horses? Selling ten horses that are about to enter the breeding period and most of them are adult females. Is this a business? Carlotta has never seen this situation.

There must be a huge hidden secret, presumably the motives of these businessmen are not pure.

Carlotta backed away with his back on his back, casually inviting cronies to whisper a few words, and after a while, more than 100 male and female spear-holders surrounded the merchants with their goods and horses.

"Ah! What does this mean? We are peaceful merchants who just want to sell horses." Sakyi insisted on explaining, although he felt that he might be stabbed to death by the opponent and plundered.

The translator stammered and described the attitude of the Duchess of Ostara: "Your motives are very complicated. You will be detained, and you will be escorted to Novgorod, north of the lake. You will have all of Russ. The prince interrogated himself."

Will you be detained? Do not! Only under house arrest.

Carlotta temporarily locked the merchants in a small warehouse and provided them with jerky fish, oatmeal, and even some ale with honey.

With such a meal, smart businessmen immediately wake up from their initial fears. The food is quite salty, which is only enjoyed during New Years and holidays in the hometown of Kiev. They even provide sweet wine. Obviously, the young and clearly pregnant Varyag female leader is not a villain.

Even if the horses are impounded, can they take care of them properly?

When it comes to taking care of horses, there are horses in New Ostara, but they are some local horses, and they are all pony horses with a height of 130 cm or even shorter. The pony brought from his hometown by the Swa River, even though it immigrated to Lake Ilmen, is still a pony.

The merchant’s horses would be bought by the wealthy Prince Rurik.

But the horse fell into his own hands, and Carlotta felt that he would suffer a big loss if he didn't use prostitution.

Even the native pony, the mare enters the breeding period when the snow melts.

The overall intelligence of horses is very high. Ten horses have been tossed along the way and did not eat well along the way. Naturally, even the thirst for reproduction is languished by hunger, and they all show obedience. Carlotta picked up the baby, and the two stallions were fed a lot of oats. The weak stallion immediately became manic. It took five or six people to pull the reins to barely control it. When the stallion calms down, knowing that these humans will provide food, the mania hints to subside.

The stallion is so majestic, how happy Carlotta looks!

The warm wooden shed was used as a temporary stable, and she happily motioned to her men: "Go! Bring all our twelve mares."

According to the original plan, New Ostara used local horses for spring breeding. The arrival of the extremely high-quality southern stallion was clearly a gift from the gods. Excellent horses can be matched with better foals, which can greatly improve the quality of local horses. All kinds of domestic animals breed in this way, and the Ostara people are good at it, but they have reached these conclusions based on experience, and the biological principles are not known.

The twelve mares moved in one after another, and the stallions really couldn't hold them anymore. Under everyone's eyes, everyone witnessed the connection between horse and horse with laughter, and everyone was also talking about it, looking forward to the birth of high-quality horses in February next year. Although it is still very cold in February, the risk of the foal's birth is very high at this time. Everyone knows that it’s just that the time when I can control two high-quality stallions for free is too short, and I can only wait until next year to take good care of the foals, and even pull them into the house where people live for protection.

Carlota's goal has been achieved in this way. All the businessmen under house arrest are released~www.readwn.com~ Now the climate has become warmer, the snow has entered a rapid period of melting, and the entire spring plowing around Lake Ilmen is about to begin.

As a female leader, Carlotta knew that he was about to become a mother, and the child's father would inevitably be in Novgorod, so let the child be born by his father's side.

A small Ostrava fleet was assembled together, and the merchants would be personally treated by the female leader in front of the supreme ruler of the Duchy of Ross. Any commercial activity or other purpose, only the supreme ruler has the right to decide.

People and horses are floating on the lake, and it is so wonderful to be able to go in the same boat with the authentic Varang. Really close contact with them, Sakyi and other Kiev businessmen increasingly felt that the Russians were a little rougher, and they were still good trading partners, and even warm and hospitable.

During the period of house arrest, it was delicious and delicious. Sakyi and his group did not pay even a copper coin, even if they stuffed some Eastern Roman copper coins and Russian silver coins in their pockets.

In other words, Carlotta has already collected the profit, and the mare she controls will breed higher horses. In theory, the Ostara can even train their own cavalry for this, and this will not be too far away.