Rise of Rurik

Soon, the three of them got together and explained the matter clearly.

The so-called Britten women around Gould, their obedient appearance opened Rurik's mind.

Is there still such a plundered servant in the society of the southern allies? To be honest, Rurik felt some pity for their tragic experience, and even moved with pity.

Now, Rumia, who lost all her relatives, was easily trained to be an extremely loyal servant by herself, and Rurik's success was not so much about her sincerity, but more about a stable supply of materials.

If the captives of Ali had committed suicide long ago, becoming slaves meant fear of death. Slaves are willing to compromise if they can get food, clothing, and lodging from the master's house.

By giving a little help to the miserable, Rurik naturally gained a sense of psychological satisfaction. Of course, what he needs most is the greater benefits brought by more servants. He provides food and housing for a group of servants. In exchange, the servants must pay a lot of labor.

In order to fully and efficiently exploit the labor value of the servants, the servants must consume a lot of physical strength. In order for them to work better, they must provide more food. For this reason, each servant is bound to be more than ordinary Ross. Clan people need to consume more food.

Rurik could imagine that after his decision was really implemented, he would definitely be chewed by his clansmen and say, "It's unbelievable that the master's family is so kind to the servant." However, the big project that I have launched this year is that it requires a lot of cheap labor to work.

As the so-called crazy capitalist, he can't wait to monopolize all the profits of the entire industry chain by himself. For example, to make soap, is it always dependent on the work of the priests? Pooh! Does the signed document say that future soaps can only be made by priests. Besides, when it comes to some large sacrifices and priests are busy with related work, the soap industry is bound to suffer a catastrophic shutdown.

As long as you also have a group of absolutely loyal laborers, you can create a "soap factory" by yourself to realize the complete industrial process of boiling oil, burning plant ash, and saponification, and even train a few servants as professional "salesmen". Being the big owner of this soap company also prevents others from constraining the entire industry.

The lucrative soap trade can be done like this, and the brewing industry to be built also needs a large number of servants to do it.

Thinking that there are still fifteen deer in hand, last year's plan was to try to multiply this small group of deer into a huge herd!

Counting on a Rumia to herd? too crazy.

What's more, Rumia is now able to do four arithmetic operations within 1,000, and memorizes multiplication formulas very fluently.

Such a "mathematical genius" to herd, it is really a condescending talent.

For this it is also necessary to make some servants professional deer breeders.

When the number of servants is large, it is a particularly huge appetite. If there is a problem with the most basic food supply, all industrial plans will be seriously affected.

After figuring out the situation, the big businessman Gould has fully understood, and he can't help thinking, once Rurik's plan is successful, and he leads a group of servants to manufacture a large number of high value-added commodities, it will make more money than being a pirate. .

Gould thought for a while, then said: "Rurik, I understand your plan completely, and I can get you some servants who can understand Norse. Every year the southern fair sells some from Denmark. Most of the poor people brought over by people are Britons from the western islands, and there are even prisoners of clan wars. How many people do you want me to get?"

"Probably, get me thirty? Or fifty."

"so much?!"

"Ah! Too many?" Rurik just said casually, thinking about it now, maybe there shouldn't be too many people at first. "Then twenty people, preferably all men, I need strong men, I need their strength."

"Man?" Gould pouted and shook his head. "You think too much, I can get you some women at most."

"Why? Are those Breton men worth a hundred gold coins?"

"Of course not! You don't know, boy, that the Danes who attacked the island had no time to catch men. They looted gold and food, and local women. They didn't want local men, and they couldn't take captives."

"why?"

"Because those Britten men are fighters! They'll all be killed by the Danes on the battlefield. Besides, the Danes need more women, and so do we think the Asian Union. My lovely Rurik , you are still too young, when you grow up, you will know the benefits of women. Ah~" Gould couldn't help laughing, glanced at Otto, and said deliberately: "Rurik, I hope you grow up when you grow up. Like me, you can have at least five sons! Want a stronger and stronger power? Then have more women and more sons."

Rurik wanted to laugh when he heard this.

He must think about Gould's words. If everything is fate, it is the process of history, and the Rurik chief in another plane has given birth to a lot of children, and many children are eager to be divided from their father's power. If you get a piece of the pie, you have to accept the fate of being arranged to be the leader of various Slavic tribes in the field.

Rurik's descendants really blossomed all over Eastern Europe, from Karelia to the shore of the Black Sea, Rurik's descendants led the local people to integrate the various Slavic tribes that were constantly at war into a large feudal country. One of the descendants became the lord in the small village of Moscow, and eventually the descendant of the lord became the emperor of the huge empire.

But Gould's words revealed a stark reality.

Perhaps the geographical location of the Swedes determined that in the Viking Age, it was impossible for them to go to the wealthy parts of Britain to kill the Quartet.

Due to geographical reasons, Norwegians are more likely to turn to Ireland when they go to the northern seas. The Danes crossed the North Sea all the way west and landed in Northumbria. At this stage, the Danes attacked Britain for robbery. Although the British kingdoms in the melee lacked the ability to resist the sudden strongman, they still tried their best to organize troops to resist.

The kingdoms of Britain were themselves in a state of melee, and the total population of the entire archipelago barely reached two million, with ordinary inhabitants living scattered in small villages, growing grain and raising livestock and paying taxes to their lords.

The Danes suddenly appeared in long boats, they came and went without a trace, and the coastal countryside, especially those of Northumbria and Kent, faced a great threat. Immediately after the Danes landed, great victories began. They killed men and kidnapped women. They ransacked churches and took away gold vessels. They also kidnapped the nuns.

The Kingdom of Kent has organized several battles. The recruited peasants brought their own wooden spears and dung forks to face the well-organized Danish army. The result of the melee was that the Kent army was washed to pieces. mercy? impossible. The kingdom of Kent was hit hard by this, and the Danes began to act more daringly.

There were also some Danes' partial divisions to attack the island of Ireland, and they even encountered the Norwegian robbery army in the North Sea. Of course, all of them immediately broke out in a naval battle.

Ireland also began to be looted, and local populations began to be taken captive to the home of the Vikings and tied up with ropes to appear in the fairs of course.

According to their culture, many baby girls who could not be turned into warriors were abandoned at birth, a phenomenon that kept the female population of the various Viking tribes low. Many young warriors yearned for marriage, and reality forced them to try to marry foreign women they had captured.

However, whether it is the Kingdom of Kent or the Kingdom of Northumbria, the ancestors of the local people landed in Britain by boat from Jutland 400 years ago. Four hundred years later, the Danes, the Norwegians, and the captives were the same ancestor. Four hundred years have changed so much!

Those who immigrated to Britain had become the Lamb of the Lord, and those who had not left believed themselves to be warriors of Odin.

The Danes call all the captives "Brittons". In fact, some of the captives are Celts, and some are peasants of the Kingdom of England. A small number of captive men would be transported further afield by the Danes for silver, and women were quickly digested by them.

Some women were transported to Lake Mälaren by various means, and fell into the hands of the great merchant Gould.

The purpose of needing a large number of Briton servants is to train them into workable workers. Rurik heard Gould's detailed description and learned the reason for the lack of male servants in the South Market, and couldn't help but be shocked.

"Forget it, even a woman is acceptable to me. Those priests are women, and they make thousands of soaps. I ordered a bunch of Brittan women to do the same thing, and they were fine. If you If you can get me a servant, that would be the best. Listen, money is not a problem, I want people." Rurik said firmly

Gould nodded deeply, then greeted the two well-dressed maids to come, knelt beside him, and proudly introduced to Rurik: "Each of them is three gold coins, they are young Worth the price. Too young or too old to be cheap.”

"What? Just three gold coins for a living person. Your glass wine bottle is twenty gold coins."

"Haha, they're servants, they're a tool, that's all. You have to admit, some tools just lack value."

Hearing such words, Rurik did not scolded a few words in his heart.

But thinking about it carefully, this guy Gould and others all believe in the existence of rank in people. To talk to them about equality, or even to introduce the knowledge of equality to the servants, is all absurd and absurd.

Rurik stopped talking nonsense and continued to ask: "Your servants have been trained to be very obedient by you? They never thought of running away?"

"Is this possible?" After that, Gould rudely pulled a woman, dragged her face to her fat stomach, and asked rudely, "Annie, do you dare to escape?"

"I... I don't dare, my lord." The woman replied weakly, her eyes full of pleading for mercy.

"That's right." Gould let go of the woman and said proudly, "Rurik, the problem is actually very simple. Why didn't your servant run away? I think she knew that if she ran away, she would be eaten by the wolves. fate, and my servant is just as wise."

Rurik took a deep breath. It was really that simple.

"They are a herd of docile sheep, perhaps trained, and a group of Breton servants to be good workers. How many would you like? Twenty? You would pay at least six hundred silver coins for it."

Rurik nodded: "Go and find twenty for me, and I'll give you two hundred silver coins as a reward after this is done. What do you think?"

"Wow! You are so generous, and I will do well in this business."

"Well, I still need someone else."

"Huh? More servants? More? No problem."

"No! I want some warriors who are only under my command, and I want to build an elite guard. Gould, like the guard you paid for, I will follow."

"You... do you think you have reached the point where you need to form a personal guard?" Gould asked incredulously.

"Of course, I feel it is necessary now."

Hearing his son's discussion with Gould, Otto felt more and more daring in his son's plan!

Until now, Otto has supported his son's decision, even if it's about having a large group of maids. He had never thought about the possibility of having twenty slaves, his son had a big goal, and he had nothing to say.

But recruiting a private bodyguard? is it necessary?

Otto had to interrupt his son's words, and asked in a harsh tone: "Rurik, what do you mean? You want to recruit an elite guard. Are your hundred subordinates not enough? If you need strong warriors , there are at least a thousand of our tribe. I can easily organize a guard for you."

"No, Dad, I know what you mean. But now... I really need a group of warriors who only obey my orders, serve my interests, and have a strong combat power."

"Really? You can recruit from the clan."

"No." Rurik shook his head deeply, "I'm sorry Dad, I trust our people, but people's hearts will change. I can assure you that when my agreement with Gould is fulfilled, I will become very Rich. In order to protect this huge wealth, I must have a force of my own. If I recruit our tribesmen, I am worried that they will naturally think of the distribution system of the tribe, and then collectively ask me to distribute the wealth to everyone. Dad Don't you worry about such a future?"

"You... actually think so."

The son's words actually stopped him! Otto sank and thought about it carefully. Looking back on the biannual tax collection actions of the tribe against Novgorod over the past few decades, the situation has indeed changed a lot.

According to the old high priest, the Ross tribe went to the east to collect taxes, and this matter lasted for at least forty years! The tributes collected at the beginning were equally distributed to all families. Forty years later, it has become whoever participated in the "Sorgon Voyage" now has the most wealth. The families of the participants can get 80 to 90 percent of the total tribute, and those who stay behind are considered to be sitting on the sidelines. Throwing away the tribute to the priest, the remaining families may receive a few pounds of wheat kernels.

Everyone can see that the Sorgon voyages are now getting worse every year. It's not that Novgorod has become a poor ghost, but that people who go to collect taxes are increasingly reluctant to share their tribute with other tribes.

Times have changed, and I hope to stay in Roseburg and wait for the good days of dividends, which will become history forever as the previous generation grows old.

What's more, there has been a new change in the situation. Those families who married Novgorod women are embarrassed to collect taxes from their parents-in-law.

The Sorgon voyages in the new spring no doubt began to be mixed with family visits, and young warriors who married local women received a fortune from their parents-in-law, which they must not share with the rest of their clan.

Otto believed in his brothers, but his life was coming to an end. If the new generation of young people are like Rurik, it seems increasingly impossible to expect to maintain a large clan with blood relatives.

You can't use the relationship of blood relatives, that is, the relationship of money.

Although Otto could not be persuaded by his son in an instant, he did not express his objection with a sudden outburst of temper, and this time he adopted a tacit attitude.

Rurik continued to look Gould in the eyes and asked, "You claim to have at least fifty warriors to protect your wealth and family safety. Where did you recruit so many reliable people?"

"It's at the fair of the Melalen tribe. Maybe you don't know, there are strong people who long for a master and earn wealth by selling their power."

Sounds like a professional mercenary. Thinking about it this way, Rurik became more and more interested in the "Merlaren Market", which he had only heard of and had never seen before, as if that big market could buy all kinds of typical medieval goods.

"So, how much do you pay your samurai?"

"I pay them according to the month. On the first day of each month in the Julian calendar, I pay them ten silver coins. In addition, their accommodation and food are additionally provided."

"Huh? Is it the same price for hiring warriors? Fifty warriors, you spend five hundred silver coins every month, which is not a small amount of money."

Gould smiled, "Son, you can also give a lower price, so you won't be able to recruit brave people. If my guards participate in the fight, I will pay them an additional bonus after winning. War dead, I will bury them too. Without these measures, who would sacrifice their lives for you, a stranger? Listen, if you want to defend your huge wealth, you can't be stingy with your money! Five hundred silver coins are nothing to you now What. You want fifty personal guards too? I can try to help you with that."

"This... it can be tried. Suddenly there are so many people, I just worry, I can't control it very well."

Gould immediately slapped his thigh and said on a whim: "You don't have to worry! Just like this, I will give you my captain of the guard, and give you five more. You will pay them from now on. Not much money, guard Chang gives twenty silver coins every month, ten ordinary ones."

In this regard, Otto was more vigilant than Rurik: "Gould, are they reliable?"

"Of course it's reliable. If they weren't for money, how could they leave their tribe to work for others? You may not know the composition of these people. Some are captured slaves, some are poor people who are begging for a living, and some owe money to the chief. As slaves, they were sold by the leaders. In short, they are mostly people who can't help themselves, and their common characteristics are strength and loyalty."

Gould looked at Otto with interest again, and boldly said what he said: "Great leader, maybe you really want to support your son from the bottom of your heart to build a guard with money. You can doubt the guard bought by money. You can't really believe that blood relatives who are maintained by affection will never betray. Relatives will become estranged in a few generations, and your guards and masters are not relatives, they are just for money. I firmly believe that in this world, except for the time of life, money can't buy anything else!"

Money can turn the wheel, and Rurik marvels at Gould's knowledge of this.

Rurik grabbed the right to speak and continued to ask: "What about your captain? He is strong and good at fighting? Where is he?"

"My captain of the guard, Yevlo, has always been in my hometown. In fact, you can't imagine that he is actually a Savo?"

"Savor? Who is that?"

"It's some people from the eastern land of our waters." Otto explained.

"A Finn?"

"It's not Finns, it's Savo. Different from Finns."

There is no clear national concept in Finland at present. In that area, tribes calling themselves "Fin" are active near the sea, and there are a group of Savo tribes in the inland areas. Numerous tribes speaking a very similar ancient Uralic language continued to develop, and eight hundred years later a unified Finnish nation was formed.

The Savoys were perhaps more combative than the Finns, and the fighting between the two clan groups was no less intense than the internal fighting of the Vikings. Some tribes of the Siasian Alliance, as well as people from Gotland, also dared to land in the land of Finland, and take the captive local people away when they were looking for the beast.

Gould claimed that his captain of the guard was kidnapped when he was very young.

"About fifteen years ago, when I was relatively young. I disguised myself as a Dane and ran to the south to do business, and I met a rebellious boy at their fair, and I paid a fortune to get it. He. I take good care of him, and after years of training, make him a loyal captain of the guard. Ah! If that child is not my servant, but my eldest son. What a pity, my eldest son is like me Fat, all my sons are probably masters in business, they are all idiots who cry in battle, and without a strong guard to protect, they are all big fat sheep waiting to be cut."

"Ah! Can't think of you and your captain of the guard have this past?" Otto couldn't help but admire.

"So as long as you're good enough to your servants, they'll be loyal. Especially your guard, Rurik," Gould said, "I trust you, and that's why I give you my most trusted captain of the guard. Rurik, you will eventually become the leader, and I think the close alliance I have established with you will surely give my family unprecedented prosperity."

He actually thinks so highly of himself, and Rurik feels very comfortable being flattered by some powerful ass.

Gould continued his efforts: "My mentality has changed, Rurik, and I will sign a bigger deal with you. You will make a lot of money, and I will make a lot of money because of you. And my wealth will get your Ross. The protection of the clan, I think I should consider moving my home from the Unkrath clan to you."

Otto's eyes lit up: "Are you planning to move?"

"Great chief, I am not drunk, and my mind is very fortunate now. I can guarantee that I am telling the truth, and if you think about it, if my wealth is more and more, will the chief of Unkrath take me As a fat sheep? Even if my fifty guards fight to the end, they are not the opponents of the warriors of the entire tribe. If I move to you, it will be different. My interests and Rurik's interests are tied."

If a powerful businessman wants to be stable, he can either cultivate his own power to become a commercial organization with an army, or even establish a country for it. Either to belong to a power, help the strong to become stronger, and at the same time get the protection of the power of the strong.

The geography of Europe determines that it is easier for her to form a commercial civilization. Many ancient city-states were actually created by a large group of businessmen. Together with the original Rome, there is also a strong commercial culture. Those members of the Senate, a large vote itself is a big merchant.

The matter about the Guards was quickly settled, and as soon as Rurik counted his money, he insisted on the formation of fifty guards members. people.

The agreement also adds new terms.

Clause 3: If the Gould family wants to transport food, vegetables and livestock as much as possible by the Russ leader family, the Rus leader will pay coins slightly higher than the market price and pay for transportation.

Clause 4: The Gould family is obliged to find various servants and foreigners who intend to settle in the Ross tribe, and the Ross leader should pay the Gould family money for this.

The planks left a large blank, only to be added when new terms were thought of.

There is also a signature at the bottom of the board, that is, "In the name of Otto, the leader of Rus, to prove that this agreement is valid."

The agreement has been completed!

Rurik was very convinced that in this era, human resources represented the strength of a force. As long as the Ross tribe had more population, it would be able to burst into a powerful force through reasonable organizational planning. Selling high value-added products is to make money and to make life better for the tribe. Money buys the necessities of life, especially imported food, to ensure the survival of a large population.

It was Rurik who could feel that even if the future really went as smoothly as he expected, the biggest problem of the Ross tribe was always the food supply problem.

The stable supply of food is always the foundation of long-term stability. If the situation changes, the tribe can no longer import food stably, and its huge population will become a heavy burden. In order to avoid the worst possibility, build a second base early, a cultivable base is the right way to plan ahead.

Therefore, Rurik had to feel that his father Otto had a plan.

My father was going to build the "Second Rose Fort" at the mouth of the Neva River, and the feng shui of that place was actually pretty good. Rurik had really heard of another plane, and the location of St. Petersburg was perfect for growing wheat.

Don't ask how gratifying the wheat yield is, the climate is enough to ensure planting and harvesting, and the production capacity is just enough!

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