Rise of Rurik

"It's you, Gould!"

"Oh, honorable leader, please be sure to call me Gould Uncles." While speaking, the guy who was clearly dressed as a rich man, with his left hand on his leather jacket, strode closer Otto.

He glanced at the soap on the table again, and couldn't help but marvel at its special yellow-white color.

"Chief, like the other day, are you still selling these soaps? It seems that your tribe didn't buy them right away."

Otto nodded, and at the same time his guard was gone, he also deliberately showed a hint of embarrassment.

Because this Gould is unusual, anyone with no brains can tell from his clothes that this young guy is rich.

Although this man is rich, trying to beat him is really an act of death.

Not to mention that Rosberg will take a protective attitude towards the merchants who live in the guest house, among which the wealthy merchants always have a group of shrewd and capable guards. The origins of these guards are various, and even the Fen tribes from the east of the sea. They are only loyal to their patrons, and are happy to help them do various things for the money.

"Looks like you're in some trouble, your merchandise is out of stock."

"Yes, if..." Otto paused and stepped forward to introduce deliberately: "Look at these beautiful sopas, they are different from the previous ones. If you can buy them, I will be very happy. ."

Gould replied very happily: "Of course, I will buy it, thank you for your permission my honorable chief. Besides, there are other things I really want to talk to you about."

"Oh?" Otto couldn't help narrowing his eyes, he naturally felt that it would be a good thing.

This Gould Uncles is indeed unusual. He is a wealthy businessman and has an elite guard of about fifty people.

Uncles is not the surname of this person, or the owner of the Viking world in this time and space, and there is no clear concept of surname.

If you insist on having a surname, it is the name of the tribe to which it belongs.

Ankras, which means "antlers", is a tribal name.

Hundreds of years ago, some people who went north to land in Scandinavia rowed their boats into a large coastal marshland. They saw that there are a large number of islands and fresh water that can be directly drunk. Settle down.

They settled in a group of lakes named Lake Mälaren, and the population developed accordingly.

For hundreds of years, a large number of people settled in a large area along the lake, clearing the land to grow wheat and grazing cattle and sheep on small flats. They were called the Meralen tribe, and the lake was named after that tribe.

Lake Mälaren is truly a place of feng shui, and hundreds of years from now, a trading city will arise at its mouth and become the heart of everything in the region: Stockholm. Of course now Stockholm already exists as a small settlement.

More tribes migrated north and west, stopping in the towering mountains.

The Ankras tribe is in the northwest of the Melalen tribe, and there are many waterways that lead directly to the Melalen Lake.

In addition, tribes such as Gavle and Ladina are active in this area, and they are all powerful tribes.

Although it is extraordinary in strength, it also depends on the object of comparison.

What's very bad is that the total population of the entire thinking sub-tribe alliance is now less than 100,000!

That's because they are being strongly suppressed by the Danes at this stage, and the main body is huddled in the Svealan Plain.

However, even if they occupy the entire Gotaland Heights, conquer Gotland Island, and incorporate all Gotland people, the total population will only increase by 10,000 or 20,000 people.

At the same time, the population of the Danes has exceeded 200,000.

Add in the Norwegians living in a large unconnected bay, and the pioneers in some Baltic settlements, and the entire Viking world has a population of less than half a million people. starter

The British one-vote kingdom, which had begun to be looted by them, and the huge Frankish kingdom had a combined population of 15 million!

The thinking sub-tribe alliance will eventually develop into a feudal country, no matter how they develop, it is impossible to rapidly develop powerful agricultural technology. In the hundreds of years after the Viking Age, agricultural technology did not change significantly, and population development was slow.

So the real historical trend, until the early sixteenth century, the total population of Swedes living in Svealand, Gotaland, and Gotland was only more than 400,000. Even including the Finns who were servants, the population was no more than half a million people.

Neither is their centuries-old rival, Denmark, with only 600,000 people.

At the same time, the population of France was as high as 15 million.

In the ninth century, the Danes and the Thinkians both spoke the same language and were devoted to trade and raiding. Population has undoubtedly become the first key element to be born in the competition.

The current Roseburg has truly become a wonderful flower of the Alliance, not because of how weird it is, but because a fjord has actually filled 7,000 people, and Roseburg is truly a behemoth. starter

What kind of concept is this?

In another plane, in the mid-16th century, Stockholm, the core of the Swedes, was just a trading port with a population of 9,000. At that time, the ownership ratio of the bourgeoisie was extremely low, and the peasants were the main body of the Swedes.

The same is true for the Danes. Copenhagen is a land of feng shui, which is particularly suitable for business development. Therefore, the city has a population of up to 20,000. It is this city that is a "large-scale countryside" in the oriental concept, and is already the largest city in northern Europe in the 16th century!

At the same time, London had only 60,000 people, while Paris had a population of 200,000. France, whose population is five times that of the United Kingdom, takes advantage of her population. As long as a king is not stupid in intelligence, it is not difficult to win continental hegemony.

By the ninth century, Roseburg had grown into a behemoth, and the fjord was approaching its population limit. The Rus' plundering of materials in the surrounding area has achieved the result of completely eliminating the wild reindeer in this area. In order to obtain more wealth, the northern expedition in the winter of 828 was an adventurous and radical action.

Will famine break out because of huge population?

The answer is no. If the clan people feel hungry, they will leave the clan voluntarily, give up all the power of war dividends, and find their own new world.

So Otto insisted on establishing a new stronghold in the east, and now he is just simply hoping to set up a material transfer station on the east trade line, and developing it into a new settlement has an element of windfall.

What about the facts? This is also a manifestation of the subconscious.

As the elite of the clan, Otto persuaded the other elites that new strongholds must be established, in fact, to disperse the pressure of the terrorist population in Roseburg.

They have never been relocated people, they are homeless everywhere.

That night, Otto was very happy to invite Gould to his home.

Poor Otto, he has never wanted Gould to have his own bodyguard like this, because he doesn't need it in his daily life. In order to express his majesty as a leader, he deliberately gathered more than a dozen of his close friends.

The next time is purely a meeting of men, women and children, and even servants, must be avoided.

Rurik was relieved, and continued to teach Rumia some knowledge in the longhouse, which was also a pleasure.

What will they talk about? Rurik had been informed that it was about business dealings.

Rurik had a clear hunch that this so-called Gould from the Ankras tribe was a big businessman who wanted to buy all kinds of goods from the Ross tribe!

Gould, the name itself means gold.

Otto recruits the distinguished guest with traditional mead and brown bread, and asks Gould bluntly about his wishes.

"Since the honorable leader has asked, I will say it bluntly." Gould paused, took a sip of sweet mead, and couldn't help but admire; "Mead is really delicious, and we always have to pay for it. Big price, even so everyone is happy to buy it.

Now you Ross tribe are making a bath kit called sopa, and I asked my servant to buy one the other day. I tried it at my own home and it worked really well. Hey, maybe you don't know, I'm a different person, I always feel like I'm stuck in greasy. I always take a shower, eager to wash off the damn oil and always fail.

sopa saved me and my hair felt dry for the first time. "

"Oh? Is it? It's my pleasure then."

Otto himself is not fat, he is not young, and he still has strong muscles in his arms and legs. Thanks to these muscles, he can still run far distances on foot with arms like a young man.

Gould is different, he is really a greasy middle-aged uncle. Because he is a big businessman, he has extraordinary assets, he has to hire samurai to keep his family wealth, and he has to raise more maids and concubines in order to give birth to more children to expand his family's business strength. appetite.

Gould likes to drink mead, ale, and even grilled meat. While many peasants of the Unglass tribe were actually living a life of hunger and fullness, Gould had eaten himself out of a fatty liver.

This time he was a guest at Otto's house, and when he took off his plush ferret hat, his shiny bald head was truly shining under the light of the oil lamp.

He is an old guy with strong sebaceous glands, and he doesn't think his belly is very harmful to his health. The greasy feeling made him uncomfortable, and the soap changed this situation, and he instantly realized the business opportunity here.

Because, although Rosburg has a large population, they do not have huge wealth.

The rich people are all in the south, especially the Melalen tribe, which has the best farmland, the best pastures, the most rich people and the most fat people.

They are sure to pay a fortune to wash away the lingering oil.

Gould didn't hide anything, he was glad that the leader Otto allowed him to build a larger wooden house here, and he did not discriminate against him and his servants.

Gould was more than happy to stay because of the legend about Rurik's "Blessed Odin". Recently, he asked his servants to inquire about the clear news. Not only the matter of Sopa, but also the matter of the steel sword that caused the entire Ross tribe to be uproar recently, it was Rurik who spread the "wisdom of Odin".

"Great leader, I will buy all the yellow and white sopa you gave birth to now. I heard that the price is three silver coins. Thanks to your love for so many years, I am happy to buy it for four silver coins each."

"Really?" Otto and his friends cheered.

"I'm a man of integrity, and I'm willing to pay the price, it's worth it. I'll tell you my purpose, and I'll sell it to the Great Lakes in the South, and I'll sell it for a higher price."

Otto responded: "If it were just that, we would just sell it ourselves, and we would sell it for a good price."

"Oh, great leader, maybe I have an advantage over you on this issue." Gould, who was sitting cross-legged, bowed slightly, with a round face full of fat, I really couldn't tell that this guy was almost fifty. Years old.

"Leader, I think you need me. You Ross clan is long in the extreme north, and your direct trade with your brothers in the south is not ordinary. With all due respect, many southerners have forgotten that there is a group of people in the north who call themselves Brother of the oar master. If you rush south to sell a lot of novelty, I am afraid you will need some trouble. At this time, my value will appear."

In fact, Gould's meaning is very straightforward, that is, to act as a big comprador to help the Ross tribe dump goods.

Gould made it clear: "Not only do I want to buy your soap, I want to buy your steel swords. Your back action last year was huge, and now I'm more than happy to do whatever I can to buy your tanned furs. Plus For some other goods, I would gladly take out all the silver I have in Roseburg and exchange them for a lot of merchandise."

"Oh? Is this true?" Gould's decision really surprised Otto and the others.

"I've made a decision and I won't change it."

"You are such a delightful businessman. So how much are you willing to pay for our goods."

"Um...probably..." Gould squeezed his chin where all his beards were carefully shaved, and said, "I will probably spend five thousand silver coins on various goods. What do you think?"

"Wow! So many?"

"I can afford the money, and now I just want to ask, great leader, can you provide goods of corresponding value?"

A tanned adult reindeer hide, depending on its softness, can be sold for two silver coins in a good quality and large area. Others such as ferret and forest cat are more expensive.

As a large number of processed animal skins are already in the sales stage, merchants from the entire tribe are rushing to buy them.

They still sell half of their furs openly, except for what the tribesmen use themselves.

Commodity sales, since ancient times, those with higher prices are easier to buy. What Gould did was very simple, he bid a little higher than the other competitors and got a lot of hides.