Rise of Rurik

The curly-haired Osten took his two sons cautiously to Rosduma in the city of Riga.

Here, standing under the tall long house with carved beams and painted beams, everyone becomes insignificant.

"You? Are you one of those amber merchants?" The guard on duty looked relaxed with his hands behind his back, and his manner of speaking was quite kind.

"Yes. Your big shot...is here?" Ostan remained cautious.

"Three adults are already waiting for you."

"Is there actually three of them?" Feeling that he had received permission, Ostein took his sons and moved forward.

The soldier on duty walked over leisurely as before, put his slightly hunched body in front of him, and tsked: "Take off your arms and go to see the Lord empty-handed."

"Empty hands? Even the knife we ​​use to cut meat must be removed?"

The soldier rolled his eyes: "Everything."

"Really all? I don't know when Lord Stekander became so cautious."

"You're not used to it, are you? You'll get used to it from now on. This is a rule set by the Russian people. From now on, when you come to Riga to do business, you must do this if you have the opportunity to meet the adults."

But he said that this soldier was a bit older. He was from the Danish community in Riga. He was no longer young and strong enough to find a job in Rusduma.

Although Spuyut moved his residence and office to Riga, his daily job is still organizing ships to cruise in the vast southern Baltic Sea. He did not hesitate to hire a group of local Norse-speaking Danish descendants, especially the older men, who cherished the job of getting a stable salary.

The newly promoted Latvian Earl Stekander recognized this.

They believe in the same gods and say the same thing

With this kind of language, it is more reasonable that the former homelands of Jutland and Zealand, where Denmark is already in alliance with the Rus, are highly mixed with the Rus.

In Riga, two great nobles co-ruled the city and reached a republic with the surrounding lower-level nobles of Latvian origin.

Riga has never been as harmonious as it is today, and has never had the same hatred as it does now.

Then, people who arrive in Riga to do business in the future must follow this new order and accept some new etiquette.

After all, Stekander, who had been promoted to earl, derived more of his power from the canonization of the Ross royal family, and the support of the people became secondary. This change of situation is still in a state of good for you, me, and everyone. The well-informed Stekander has already understood the meaning of hereditary. As the first generation of a hereditary noble, do you still want to allow other lower-class people to be equal to you?

The Ostein trio had to disarm all their weapons. He was a little angry and had to remain humble in order to survive.

At this moment, there were indeed three strong men sitting idle in the long room.

Fisk, Spuyut, and Stekander now hold an army. As long as they give the order, a team of 3,000 people will appear in Riga, including 900 cavalry. The combat effectiveness is already extremely strong. .

They must obey the orders of the superior King of Rus, but the sky is high and the emperor is far away. If Fisk and the three want to do something, Rurik will not know about it until they have done it, and they can only ratify it afterwards.

For military-related matters, the three of them can get together and hold a small meeting to settle the matter.

After all, for a mere conquest, we still need to ask about the Latvian farmers.

Attitude? The boyars in those villages only had to take care of their own farms and sheep. The real battle had to involve people speaking Norse.

It was not surprising that an amber caravan arrived at this time, but the path it took was really concerning to Stekander.

He knew what kind of inland river route the amber merchants would take to reach Riga, so is there a possibility that when the follow-up cavalry promised by King Rus arrived, the land troops followed this "Amber Road" to reach what Riga people call " West Coast”?

This is very practical. As a cavalry general who must participate in land operations, Fisk is really interested in being a party involved.

However, this will have to face a challenge on the journey - the Semigalians.

The appearance of a businessman is like a gift from the gods. If the land plan is implemented, a reliable guide is really needed. The guide is here now!

Alert Ostein walked into the newly built Althing, which was said to be called Rosduma. There were three people sitting on tall wooden chairs.

One of them is none other than Boss Stekander.

"It is indeed you. Why bother, Stekander? Brothers came to Riga to sell stones. We are not slaves or servants. Now that you have voted for Rus, why are you yelling at us? Please put away your arrogance, Otherwise... no one will come to sell stones in the future."

If he had been told this in the past, Stekander would have laughed it off, but not now.

"Quiet! I recognize you, Ostin from Cherbourg on the west coast. It doesn't matter what you said to me in the past, but you can't be so presumptuous in the future."

"You..." Looking at the current situation, the cunning businessman suddenly felt that there was something wrong here.

Boss Kander is no longer the top guy.

Among the remaining two, one is a Russian nobleman named Spyut, and as for the other...

"Him? Could it be the bald general?"

Ostein could remain calm, lowered his head slightly and whispered: "Why did you summon me? Who of you is the leader here?"

"Who's the leader?"

The speaker was the bald man. The hook-headed Osten rolled his eyes upwards to feel the change in the situation. I saw the bald man and the other two whispering a few words, and one said: "Let me be the leader for now!"

"You? Are you the legendary bald general?" Ostan raised his head sharply.

"It's me. It's strange. Has my nickname become famous among you businessmen? Let me tell you, I am Fisk, Bald Fisk, the cavalry commander of all Russia, and the most loyal servant of the King of Russia. And! I He is indeed a distant relative of King Rus."

Fisk was showing off his identity. In the final analysis, he was an old Russian who was only twenty-five years old and in his prime. It is true that he is related by blood to Rurik himself, and the same is true for Sipuut who is sitting here. The latter is already an old man and can't help but lower his head and secretly enjoy himself.

Fisk's words somewhat frightened Osten.

"Ah? Are you a relative of King Rus? So King Rus gave you a lot of power? So the gems I paid tribute should be given to you?"

"You still have tributes?" Fisk and everyone were surprised.

"Yes. Isn't it what you want?"

"Did you really bring it?" Fisk asked again.

"Of course." Osten said with a sullen face as he took off a bulging penis from his belt.

He pulled away the hemp rope from the bag and showed the carefully selected crystal clear amber rough stones to the three adults in public.

They are all rough stones of good color, which can be made into fine jewelry after some carving and polishing.

Gems cannot be used as food, but noble ladies and powerful men are willing to decorate their treasures. If they are sold to Rome, they can really be exchanged for a large amount of food and even some rare items.

In his heart, Fisk wanted to accept these tributes. Logically speaking, Riga under Ross has no plans to tax foreign merchants now. The king's tax-free policy is universal, and Fisk is a little worried whether he will be blamed by the king if he takes this tribute. Besides, if he really gets it all to himself, the two people around him who seem to be so nice on the surface will probably have a grudge in their hearts.

Fisk had an idea, narrowed his eyes and pretended to be harsh: "Who asked you to pay a tribute?"

"You ask that? Isn't it you?"

"Why me? Did I speak? Or did I speak for the cavalry sent out?"

Osten was embarrassed for a moment, and he did not put away the stone. After all, he had already come to this point. As long as he handed over the gift, these big shots would probably give him a favor. He thought it was acceptable to pay a tribute in exchange for an absolutely safe business environment and thus earn a steady amount of money.

Osten continued to look at Fisk's face: "I voluntarily pay a tribute. Don't you want it? Anyway, I am willing to give the tribute directly to King Ross, and I also ask three adults... to help me transfer it properly. King."

Hearing this, the three people above them all stuck their heads out, and for a moment everyone looked at each other and giggled.

In the formation, only Ostein with a serious face watched all this silently.

Fisk put away all his smiles: "Your name is Ostan, right? Your decision is very good. Is this a tribute to King Rus? There is good news for you. You don't have to entrust me to give them to King Rus. You As long as you wait in Riga, the king's navy will arrive in Riga soon. I think you have also discovered that Riga is building a port just to accommodate a large number of large ships. Do you... know the real intention of us calling you here? "

After dawdling for a long time, it’s still not your turn to get down to business? Although Austen was holding back his breath, he thought on second thought that he was probably being observed by them just because he was talking nonsense with them.

"You...especially you, what are your plans?"

"Relax." Fisk waved his hand: "Put away all your guard. In fact, we can be friends." In order to show sincerity, Fisk took off the sword from his waist and put it aside, and deliberately spread his hands. Leave from high position.

It is indeed not good for a warrior to leave his sword for a while, but Fisk felt it was necessary to do so to show his sincerity.

In this Ross Dumari, except for a few high seats, the rest of the seats are benches of equal heights.

Fisk set an example, and the other two followed suit.

For a time, everyone in the house was able to talk face to face. Of course, Ostein would not feel that he was being treated politely. On the contrary, such an equal conversation was normal. It was precisely for this reason that Ostein was willing to tell these outsiders what he had seen. The Russians.

"You! Where did you come from? Did you have such a journey along the way? Have you experienced Semigalia?

Human settlement? "

Fisk asked Ostein to answer a series of questions, and he also had to give an explanation to Ostein for these questions of his - what was the purpose of Ross obtaining this intelligence information.

To show his sincerity, Fisk took the lead in explaining: "King Rus's army is about to conquer Frank. Rus will advance by sea and land. Only in Riga, a larger cavalry force will directly cross Courland and reach your so-called west coast. In Riga, a larger cavalry force will directly cross Courland and reach your so-called west coast. After the land-sea rendezvous there, Ross will continue heading west along the coastline..."

Fisk has given clear explanations, but these explanations are too informative for people like Ostein.

"Frank? Are those rumors true? Have you attacked Frank in the past?"

"Of course. I fought against the Frankish nobles and won. Stop talking nonsense and answer me as soon as possible." Fisk urged.

"You...you mentioned Kurland? What was that?"

"You don't know?" Fisk scratched his beard. The name of the place was clearly marked on the map by King Ross. He only learned about this place name from the king. Since he happened to have a map in his hand, it matched the "West Coast" .

Fisk had an idea and soon unfolded the folded paper.

This was the first time Ostein had seen paper. He subconsciously thought it was a very thin birch bark or weird parchment. The writing material itself doesn't matter, the key is that the textures outlined here are refreshing.

The Osten people's Rune text clearly marked Riga, Polotsk, Saaremaa, and even Stockholm on the paper.

Ermo... they are all names of settlements, and the most colorful one is New Rossburg, the capital of the Ross people.

There are also a lot of nouns he has never heard of here. The old guy with the understanding of abstract graphics suddenly slapped his forehead. He realized that the so-called "West Coast" in his hometown had been outlined and marked by the Russians, but expressed in Kurnd.

In an instant, Ostan suddenly realized it. His rough hands pointed directly at a point: "Courland you are talking about, could it be Kupu?"

"Coop? What is that?" Fisk suddenly became interested.

"It's right here. It's really strange. Do you Russians know that there is a huge coastal lake there? It is also a treasure trove for us to dig stones. It's strange, since you Russians know it, why have we never met you?"

"Ah? Could it be that what you call Kupu is what our King of Rus calls Kurland?"

A breakthrough suddenly appeared, and Courland, which was relatively unfamiliar to the Russians and Riga locals, gradually became cleansed.

Because nd is a place name suffix, its root is "ko". Words with root words are not uncommon in the Swedish world. The word "kopping" known to the Russians has the same meaning as the so-called "koup" in Osten. Meaning - exchange of goods.

It was as if a behemoth was already pressing in front of us, but ordinary people were stupid enough to ignore it. Osborne realized that his hometown was probably being targeted by the Russians. As long as they wanted to, they would conquer it immediately. As for them not taking action yet... No! Aren't they planning to take action now?

Conquest of the Franks

? Maybe. As long as they decide to walk along the coastline and sweep across the three settlements where Danish immigrants gather on the "West Coast", the conquest will be completed in an instant.

Everyone speaks Norse, and the northern ocean is at peace. There is no need to conflict with each other. It is better to cooperate directly.

As a result, the names of the three settlements were solemnly given by Osten, namely: Koup (Memel, Klaipeda), Seeburg (today's Jelipa-Grovinia) , Liva (now Pavirosta).

Among them, Kupu's situation is the most special. There are a group of people living there who speak a language very similar to the Latvian tribe. Since they guard the entire undefended trade market, Kupu is what describes them. There is a Danish community in the local area, and its living situation is very similar to that of Riga, but in terms of overall strength, it is only a fraction of Riga's.

As for the other two settlements, they are the primary distribution center for amber rough stones. The local residents all speak Norse. They are mainly Danish immigrants, with a small number of Gotland immigrants from the old times. Maybe given time, a new tribe will form, but their size is too small.

Osten has a deep understanding of his hometown. The people in his hometown do not have any strength to dominate the Baltic Sea. They are just fishermen and gem traders. They have never had great ambitions. It was a fluke that they were not attacked by stronger ones in the past era. However, good luck It looks like it's the end.

Wait! Perhaps surrendering to Rus will lead to a better start.

Osten can continue to provide information, especially extremely detailed information about the Semigalians.

He had already said a lot and was deliberately trying to show off, so he asked Fisk: "If the King of Rus really comes, I will surrender to him on behalf of my hometown people and provide convenience for his army to lead the way. Can this contribution bring us success?" What are the benefits? We don’t ask for much, we just want a peaceful business and life.”

"Huh? That's all you pursue?" Fisk really wanted to laugh when he heard this.

"how?"

"Don't worry, my friend. If you do this, you will be heavily rewarded. After all, we really need a guide, especially..." As he said that, Fisk's eyes finally showed a fierce look: "The Semigalians They may be blocking our way. I want to attack them before the king arrives to clear the way for the army. What do you think? We really need information."