Rise of Rurik

Those slaves seem to be just tools. They have men and women. Men are tools for the master’s business. Women have special uses as tools.

　　 They are in the back row for their future, thinking that they will be directly decapitated if they are pulled out of the prison.

　　 Unexpectedly, a gorgeously dressed man stood in front of them. They raised their heads nervously. Isn't that the Lord Rose? !

　　 A pair of cringing eyes revealed the prayer, and Rurik could guess the people's desire for life.

　　 "Your master has committed a serious crime!" He sternly reprimanded, "According to the traditional rules, you will also die with your master. But you are just slaves. It would be too wrong to kill me so simply. You..."

Rurik pointed at the slave's head: "You! And you! Or you! Your master is opposing me. As slaves, do you know more details?! Now I declare that you are exempt from death! If you can Tell me the details of your master's rebellion, and you will immediately regain your freedom, and I will reward you with a fortune."

　　 They listened like dreams, and when Rurik confirmed, they all raised their heads and talked about whether their master was wrong.

　　They became slaves for various reasons, and it is normal for them to become slaves because they are unable to exchange debts for farming debts and bankruptcies. They are not fools. If the situation is not forcing them, how can these peasant and peasant women who were also born in Melalen be slaves? They seized this opportunity quite cleverly, regardless of whether it was true, added fuel to what they had heard and heard, and decisively described their masters as the great villains opposed to Prince Rose.

　　 There are even more convincing words: "My old master said something like this. He said it was illegal for Prince Ross to be the king of Sweden. If the prince insists on this, they will..."

　　 "How? Can you still do assassination?" Ruriek asked in a furious rage.

　　 saw this person firmer his attitude: "Exactly."

　　 How is this not a major piece of information? One person said so, and the others echoed it. They were clearly biting each other, but in the current situation, Rick didn't bother to tell the difference. This matter was of great importance. I would rather believe it than believe it.

　　 The slaves are still sitting on the ground collectively, both men and women holding their heads up and showing imploring smiles.

Looking at them again, Rurik nodded deeply: "Well, I will reward you to eliminate slavery in the name of the prince, but that is five years later. I will immediately arrange you in my workshop, and I will give it to you. For food and clothing, you have worked for me for five years, and you are Ross people."

　　 They listened with gratitude and tears. It is great to be free, but the problem of eating must be solved to restore freedom. If you want to be a slave, it seems better to continue to be a slave to Prince Rose.

　　The slaves are still slaves, and Rurik has no intention of talking nonsense with these people. Now he has a lot of evidence at hand, and he just brought the evidence to summon the fellow Bjorn.

　　 The slaves didn’t explain that King Bjorn had participated in any conspiracy against him. Maybe Bjorn was confused all the time, but after the snowstorm, the guy will pay a visit in the future. How can you not make people suspicious?

　　 On the other hand, regarding the Ross patrol captured the deceitful people, the soldiers sealed up all the merchants’ houses temporarily, and all the slaves involved in arrears were confiscated. These conditions are also causing turmoil throughout the city.

　　 All the merchants who were caught were merchants from Mellaren. Those merchants who had not been captured were trembling. Merchants from other tribes from Sweden were busy watching the show, but they were also a little worried.

　　 After several bulletin boards in Harvest Square posted notices in traditional Luen, Romanized Nosse, and Romanized Slavic, the onlookers learned the reasons for arresting people and sealing up shops.

　　 The matter is very simple. The arrested person participated in the conspiracy against Prince Ross.

　　 The people think about it with their toes and know that all this is related to the rumors that went viral the other day. It turns out that it is not "punishment by the gods" at all? Is it just a small group of wicked people making trouble?

　　 The public documents calmed the hearts of the people, and the struggle against the documents was directed at the restless and self-serving businessmen from outside.

　　The atmosphere of Fort New Ross has become very subtle. The attitudes of the old Russ and the new immigrants to the New Russ are becoming strange to those visiting merchants. The people know where their good days come from, and they have no feelings for those foreign businessmen. The people voted plainly with their feet. Since the papers were posted on the bulletin board, the market on Harvest Square gradually became more and more deserted by the stalls of foreign merchants. Unless the merchants sold the goods very low, someone would chew their tongues. Buy it from the line of defense.

　　 In their minds, Prince Rurik is a complete saint, and they also have the pride of being a Rose. Why can't his own prince be the king of Sweden? Because of this, there are wicked people who want to be against the prince? Maybe the enemy is mixed in with the merchants.

　　The King Bjorn had intended to pay a visit to Rurik himself, but mainly talked about buying a ship. He needs a secret transaction to avoid other aristocrats, so that he can place a big order and try to finalize a "group purchase discount."

　　His people heard those rumors, although Bjorn was not willing to abdicate, nor was he so stupid as to secretly conspiracy, that would be contrary to the pride of the soldier after all. He chose to dormant for the time being, hoping that the bad news would slowly subside. Then came even more breaking news that Prince Rose had arrested all the rumors and villains, and his relatives were Merlaren merchants.

　　 This situation really surprised Bjorn, and he became hesitant. During this period, the messengers of Uppsala and Yilmalun also heard about the situation. The so-called whether King Bjorn was dissatisfied with the abdication, the messengers also brought out their own attitude, the so-called "What do you think of Mellaren? It doesn’t matter. We are willing to recognize Rurik as a new generation of King of Sweden. If the Rus people want to continue to pursue this, we will stand in the position of the Rus people.”

　　This is the slap left and right to Bjorn’s face. He has no words to tell. First he did not dare to furiously oppose Rose, and secondly, he still hopes that the deal with Rose can continue to be implemented.

　　 It seems that nothing is more important than visiting Rurik himself!

　　 The messenger of Leurik came one step ahead, and the move was in Bjorn's arms.

　　 The kings of the East and the West are determined to meet in private. This is the opportunity Bjorn dreams of, and it is also Rurik's insistence.

　　This matter is of great importance, and people who do not have the right to know the contents of the private club. Rurik not only made a good calculation, but also set an attitude-a real man has something to say, and he must not hide it and cause a misunderstanding.

　　 But the location of the private meeting is not in the city at all.

　　 On the day of the appointment, the daytime was extremely short. Outside the city, just where the cremation was hit, a larger wooden tower composed mainly of pine was being piled up. Hanukkah is not far away. People need a giant fire tower to replace the sun to illuminate the world. Especially in this snowstorm year, people need the heat of the fire tower to melt the snow.

　　Lurik took a dozen of his cronies and sled out of the city while the sky was still dark.

　　 After a while, King Bjorn also took his entourage and left the sponsored mansion on a sledge.

　　The private meeting place of the two sides is the so-called Kronstadt naval port at the warship berth outside the city. The warships in the warm period are all frozen by the sea. There are a lot of dark yellow spots on the ice of this frozen sea. It is a group of night fishing madmen who chisel ice and cloth bait to fish for cod, and the plump frozen fish in the Shilla Fort market also come from this way.

　　 The dim light concealed the phantoms of the two sled teams, and Rurik chose the private meeting place directly on his flagship Aflora. The specific location was in the captain’s lounge directly below the bow deck.

　　 More than ten oil lamps were lit, all the entourages left, the side wooden windows were closed, and the wooden doors closed.

　　 There are only Rurik and Bjorn in the cramped room, and the two eyes are facing each other.

　　 "You and I are the only ones left here." Rurik was straightforward, "Since you opposed me becoming the King of Sweden, why pretend to agree before? If you object, just say it."

　　 Bjorn had expected Rurik to ask this, and he denied it: "I never meant it."

　　 "Oh? Are you fooling me as a fool?" Rurik was already murderous.

　　 "I dare not lie to you, I have never opposed you."

　　 "But, some businessmen in your tribe have been promoting me, and now you tell me it has nothing to do with you?"

　　 "It really has nothing to do with me."

　　 It sounded that Bjorn’s explanation was full of arrogance. Rürich felt that the matter really had nothing to do with him, but his denial was so decisive without verbal modification that it could not help but be suspicious.

Rurik slammed the plank hard: "The problem is actually very simple. You and I will fight on the ice. You are the king, and I am the king. I killed you and won the Swedish throne. No one will question you. You killed me. , Your throne can be secured."

　　 Bjorn's face turned pale when he heard it. It was obvious that the room had been warmed by the flames, and he still felt a bitter cold all over his body.

　　Liurik, who is this bastard, the old guys who have seen this person say that this boy's figure now looks exactly like Otto of the year. Rurik is a tough guy who is still growing up, weighing his somewhat aging body, it is a match between the two, Bjorn estimated that he will be defeated and killed.

　　 Besides, why did the two sides have to fight each other? It was a duel, and he had a high probability of being killed. At the same time, the Ross people also had an excuse to fight directly. In the same way, if he missed and injured Rurik, Rose would have even more excuses to go to war. Even if he assassinates Rurik, everything is over, the Rus army will exterminate the entire Mellaren tribe for revenge, and other tribes will definitely stand on the sidelines and even join the Rus army.

　　 Bjorn hurriedly covered his embarrassment and fear with a smile.

"Duel? I don't dare. I'm an old man. You can easily kill me. Besides, I never thought of being an enemy of you. I can be the king in Sweden and it comes from your support. This kindness to me Don't dare to forget."

　　 "But those nasty merchants..." Rurik continued to beat the wooden board and asked sharply.

"That is the spontaneous behavior of the merchants. They are destroying the friendship between you and me. If I catch this kind of person, I will be stabbed to death as soon as possible. They are the instigators of crime. I... I heard that you have arrested them. Here we are. I beg you to kill them all."

　　 "What are you telling the truth?"

　　 "It's true."

Rurik slightly narrowed his eyes: "Indeed, you dare not lie about the current situation. My Rus Principality has more population than you, more troops than you, and more ships than you. You are a wise man, knowing the possibility of winning. Those businessmen are a group of provocateurs. They expect us to fight so that we can catch the profit in troubled waters. Since you are going to kill those people, I also have this intention. Currently there are nine businessmen in my hands, and their family members are already in my hands. They were executed secretly by me. I will publicly execute these wicked people on the eve of Hanukkah. This is a statement to the gods and a statement to the people."

　　 Prince Rurik has killed a group of people first? This matter was unexpected by Bjorn.

Bjorn chose to admit it but didn’t feel ashamed. After all, the Mälaren tribe is a hodgepodge of people. They live in a very wide area on the northern shore of the Great Lake, with a large family as the backbone, and a large number of self-employed farmers and free fishermen. Attached, with Birka Bazaar as a trading base, piece together a tribe.

　　This situation is completely different from the old Ross. The core of the Duchy of Rus is the thousands of old Russ. Bjorn has been visiting Fort Shilla for a while. He learned that there are a large number of children running in the city. His father is an old Russ and his mother is mostly Slavs in the east. . According to unconventional, some of these mixed-race children, who have grown to ten years old, are still Russians.

　　 The young children of the Ross people are obviously taller and healthier than those of the Melaren tribe, and there are more cubs in this group. Bjorn learned that Shilla Fort is the capital city, but it is not the most populous city. The Rus Principality is located in Novgorod in the east. There is a large settlement by the Great Lake. The geographical situation is similar to that of Lake Mälaren, but the climate is softer and the settled population is not only large, but also accepts the rule of the Rus Principality.

　　 Bjorn can easily inquire a lot of news. Some of the news sounds like bragging by the locals. He has to trust because of too many people.

For example, there are more than 10,000 mixed-race Russians in the Duchy of Ross. Although they are still children, thousands of them are about to grow to 12 years old, which is the age at which they become adults in the Viking tradition. At that time, women are eligible to be mothers and men are obliged to do so. warrior. With the traditional Viking head of Bjorn, he did not hesitate to be convinced that Rurik would soon have a new army of thousands.

　　Lurik naturally knows this point best, so the formation of a brand new flag team is also planned. The victory of the Rose-Slavic marriage appointed by the old Otto that year has begun to show, and the Principality of Rose will begin to officially enjoy the demographic dividend.

The group of the old Rus people has become larger. This group has had a common ancestor since ancient times, and they have stronger cohesion through blood ties ~ www.readwn.com~ but the Mellaren tribe does not have this, even since Olekin After the king was defeated and killed, no one had the power to rally the entire tribe. My own so-called great king mainly relied on the support of the big family in the tribe and other tribes to make do with identification.

　　 The main tribes have already released their attitudes, and their support for themselves has ended here, and they have all supported Rurik. Things have been like this, what else is there to entangle?

　　 Bjorn basically guessed what Rurik wanted to do by himself, so he said: "You can put them to death, but I suggest you kill them in a safe and decent way."

　　 "How? Have you fully supported it?"

　　 "I don't want to ruin the friendship between you and my tribe because of some idiots. We have to do business in the future! For example, I plan to order your five armed cargo ships, and the prices are all negotiable."

　　 Order five boats in one go? Rurik was very excited, and he brought the topic back: "Those guys must die. Since they are from your tribe, you also think they must die, so you can set their way of death to prove your friendship. ."

　　 "Then hang them, their blood is not qualified to flow to your territory."

　　 "Good too."

"At the same time, I will announce to your subjects that I Bjorn has never participated in the incident. I will announce that it was me who took the initiative to abandon the throne. At the All-Swedish Conference next spring, you, Rurik, must be king. "

　　 The secret meeting of the two kings cleared up the misunderstanding, Rurik was satisfied, and Bjorn was relieved.