Rise of Rurik

The annoying snow in Roseburg turned into a snow-capped mountain on the shore of the frozen coast. In the open space near the coast, those merchants who came from afar rushed to set up their stalls during the short day, selling products from the Lake Mälaren area. brought goods.

The entire commercial scene was like a temple fair, with vendors wrapped in furry leather huddled into balls, showing off their wares for the wealthy Rus people who heard the news to buy them.

They mainly sell daily necessities, pottery and wooden wares are the mainstream products, and some vendors are selling small statues carved from stone or wood.

Individual merchants are doing big business, they are gem merchants, and they are selling rough ruby, amber, calcite crystals, crystal blocks, zircon rough, and even extremely precious lapis lazuli.

The most precious gems are of course dedicated to the richest!

At first Rurik didn't care about this at all, until Kravassen, who had finished making glasses, presented gifts in the evening, as well as important information about a group of peculiar merchants.

Klavassen boasted that he had completed the task given by Rurik, and that the people of Beishou were about to dispatch together, and his son was also among them. He wanted to go to the winter market to have a look and buy some interesting things. He saw a stall that was crowded with people, and he was surprised that there were rare treasures here.

Among the many treasures, lapis lazuli has an elusive noble blue. The Rus worship blue, which is the color of the sea and sky, and of course there is pure blue stone, it is extremely rare, and its origin is puzzling.

Everyone knows that the gems in this place are precious, but they don't know how precious the individual gems are.

Clavatson opened his arms, and all those who greeted the mast retreated.

At this moment, the businessman in bear skin sitting on the snow took off his velvet cap and raised his bearded head: "Are you a craftsman? Do you have enough money? Do you know how precious the things I sell are? ?"

"Of course." Clavason smiled knowingly: "I'm also a jeweler, and I really can't think of a sky blue stone to reproduce the sky."

"Oh? You know this?"

"Of course. It's lapis lazuli!"

The businessman and the strong man who stood up all had their eyes trembling. "It's amazing, since I opened, you Rus people have been pointing the finger at the price I'm selling gems for, and criticizing me for charging too much. I thought the people who lived in this great city were not only rich and well-informed, I was a little disappointed at one point. Now it looks like I was wrong."

Clavason smiled again,

I thought that these strange businessmen had never seen the wisdom of Lord Rurik.

"Businessman, it looks like..." Clavason put away the sale, he also sat cross-legged on the snow, stretched his head and asked in a low voice, "You guys, aren't you from Mellaren?"

"Of course. The leader there asked us for too many tributes. We heard that you Russ people can open if you need a tribute of fifty silver coins, so we came here."

"Oh, so you're not from Uppsala, much less from Yermalen."

"They?" The old businessman's eyes trembled even more, and he deliberately asked, "What do you think?"

"I see." Cravason narrowed his eyes, nodded slightly, and pretended to be scolding: "Do you think it's interesting to continue selling gems in the cold wind? You know that ordinary people can't buy them at all."

Clavason's implication was already very obvious, and the old businessman suddenly came to the end: "Can you recommend a good buyer for us? If you don't mind... take a step to speak."

Before long, Clavasson came alone to the house sponsored by this strange group of businessmen.

This house is not very good-looking, it is clearly a longhouse abandoned by a Rus people. A large number of Ross families have completed the replacement of their houses. They subsidize each other to build better woodcuts. Most of the old houses are used as warehouses. Today, a large number of old houses are rented by new merchants.

This was a hidden place, and as the wooden door closed and a batch of exquisite bronze oil lamps lit up inside, Klaverson saw a strange little world.

The merchants removed their rough hides to reveal their frugal and noble clothes. There are obviously several female relatives in the room. Judging from their young appearance and cautious form, they are not the wives and concubines of the merchants, but their servants.

Merchant Mellaren? Absolutely not! The Gould family, the most wealthy Melalen merchants, have immigrated to become Ross people. Besides, Gould bought real estate in Roseburg before he immigrated. That is what the Melalen merchants still have.

The merchants treated this old blacksmith in a working leather coat with courtesy, and the exquisite silver cups were filled with fragrant mead, served with dried fruit snacks, and all were placed on a low table.

As usual, the businessman greeted a young maid to surround Clavathon, who was already sitting cross-legged.

"Let her go." Clavason waved his hand impatiently, making the woman feel embarrassed.

The old businessman held a wine glass and laughed: "We are all men. Why? Why are you the only one who doesn't like women? By the way, I still don't know your name."

There was a sarcasm in the businessman's words, and Kravason was not angry. Looking at the things in front of him, the once precious fine wine and dried fruit are not uncommon now. What is the silver cup? It is the only glassware manufacturer officially designated and authorized by the Duchy of Ross!

"You are low-key outdoors, but you are quite extravagant in the house. You are coming to our Roseburg for the first time, and of course you don't know me. I am Clavathon of Rose. My family has been a blacksmith for generations and is highly regarded by the Duke of Rose. People. Danes! Please remember that."

Hearing this, the old businessman suddenly tightened his face, and he slowly put down the wine glass with another meaningful smile.

"There's no disguise. Yes, we're all from Denmark."

Clavasson shrugged: "You are the only ones who dare to sell such precious gems. Ordinary people don't understand or understand, but those gems can't deceive me. But, you are Danes!"

"Really? Do we have to fight against each other?"

"Not necessarily. Because the rich Duke of Ross is very interested in any merchant, but you friends from the south suddenly appear in our market, and you must know a lot. Tell you! The only one who can buy generously The only person who mines is the Duke of Ross. You can choose to spend the whole winter in a low profile and leave quietly, but you insist on me being a bridge, but you must be mentally prepared. You may be beheaded. "

These Danish businessmen were obviously a little flustered, and the old businessman headed by pretended to be calm and forced not to panic: "If this is the case, then Duke Ross will lose the opportunity to trade with Hazelby."

They came up with a very important term, and Clavasson was stunned: "You are from Heideby? The richest place in Denmark?!"

"Of course! What do you think of us? I'm just an ordinary businessman in Hazelby, amassing a small sum of money. I'm Eric of the Eric Torulf (Thunderwolf) family. You see now There are also my four sons, we are very willing to do business with the leader of the Rus, if we are killed because we are Danes, it will prove that our prediction is wrong, and the mind of the leader of the Rus is overestimated."

"Eric Torulf? I see. But you're still Danes, and your identity puts you in great danger."

"Just as we go to the far east, to the country called Rome, to the hot desert, to the far east to buy precious blue stones from strange natives, we know the dangers, and we are willing to risk it for profit. It's like you Russ used all your strength to defeat the Gotlanders, and you are also risking the future of the entire tribe for the sake of profit. We are all the same."

Clavasson's heart was beating wildly. He was not interested in the businessman's commercial confession. He paid special attention to this. This group of Danes knew very well the military operations carried out by the Rus.

Just because they know this is a huge sin, they can claim to be doing business with peace of mind, and any secrets of the Rus people will not be revealed to the public, but who believes?

Clavasson pointed this out without hesitation: "You have been in the legendary world and experienced many adventures. But you know too much, you will tell the lords of Denmark our strength, and finally the Danish army will launch a battle War against us."

"Maybe, if the Danish leader is willing to gamble with his power! Remember, we are only businessmen, we don't want war, we just want to do business with peace of mind. I still hope to meet the leader of the Rus, I will enter Offer some treasures." The old businessman Eric winked a few times: "These women are all Saxons, they are trained slaves, they know how to serve men very well, and they are just dedicated to the leader of Ross."

Hearing Clavasson laugh: "Oh, our real leader already has more than ten wives and concubines, and the most beautiful wife is my daughter-in-law's sister. You know, the me sitting in front of you is also A noble man. It's just that I don't use fancy clothes to show my nobility, and I'm not interested in these boring women. I like your gems, and presumably my chief will like them too."

"That's it. I want to meet the boss of Ross, not only I want to sell all the gems, I am eager for deeper cooperation. I hope that the boss of Ross will not be full of anger because of our identity." Eric stretched out The head, from the moment he landed in Roseburg, was ready to die. There is a saying that wealth is at risk, and he is betting on the life of the family, betting on prosperity and wealth.

In order to make things go smoothly, the old businessman Eric took out a small piece of rough lapis lazuli with a little chalcopyrite attached to it and handed it to Kravasen.

Not to mention that this rough stone is only the size of a fingernail, its value in the current era can be equivalent to twice the weight of gold, or 20 times the weight of silver!

Clavasson left the seemingly simple old longhouse with mixed feelings. With a solemn expression, he came to Duke Ross's mansion alone, and went directly to the door to be released by the guards.

He entered the Duke's house and saw Otto, who had just drank a glass of freshly distilled spirits and was a little dizzy.

He reported the matter truthfully, and Otto's violent actions and words were also within his expectations.

"A group of daring Danes? It's a meticulous work! Take their gems, and then... kill them to avoid future troubles."

"Lord Duke, you have to think twice!" Cravason hurriedly advised; "Those guys are not afraid of death at all. They want to sell the gems and ask for a cooperation opportunity."

"Oh? Is it? It's really boring. We'd better cut them off just in case, so the gems are still ours." After that, Otto waved his hand and shouted, "Have you finished all the wonderful glasses that Rurik made you do? A lot of brothers know about this and they are all waiting to buy! Don't talk nonsense, get your glasses ready, tomorrow I'm going to order a stall for sale. The hunt is coming soon, for the eyes of the brothers, I need these treasures ."

Otto didn't say any more, but lay down directly on the leather, enjoying the wonderful feeling of the world spinning.

Clavasson sighed deeply, and he decided to continue to wait. The short day was about to end, and Rurik, who was out with a group of children to cut wood, was about to return.

Soon Rurik returned from exercising enough, and it was surprising to see Kravassen waiting at home before dinner.

He explained that all his daughters were going to rest, and he didn't care about the old man who had not sobered up. He sat beside Clavathon and asked straightforwardly about glasses.

"Everything is done? You must be here to report the matter."

"It's all done, and tomorrow we'll be able to open the field. It's just..." Kravason frowned deeply.

"Something happened?"

"There's a wonderful group of visitors who brought this." Clavason took out the little gem.

The moment he saw this stone, Rurik jumped up like a cat with blown fur.

"It's lapis lazuli! It's actually it!"

"It's it." Clavason's face was solemn, "and these people have obviously been to its mysterious origin."

"What? It's! Afghanistan? They're... Vikings..."

Rurik uttered an extremely unfamiliar word, and Klavathon heard it, and it was obvious that Lord Rurik used this word to describe the origin of lapis lazuli. Moreover, Lord Rurik obviously knows more!

The so-called lapis lazuli, which Rurik used to describe it as "the stone of the blue sky", is to say the word "azur", which itself is also derived from the classical Latin word Lazuri. All Indo-European language groups have more or less commonalities, and the words describing some common things have their origins.

The wonderful color of lapis lazuli, anyone who sees it will think of two things, the sea and the sky.

It is produced almost exclusively in Central Asia, which, considering the present era, is dominated by the Great Food.

Rurik had a strong interest, only because Kravassen said that these Danish merchants brought a lot of gems.

"Let them come to see me!" Rurik's excited face showed no killing intent.

Clavasson still wanted to suggest: "Whether they want to or not, they already know many secrets about us Russ. Please don't kill them rashly."

"Let them come first! By the way, it's tomorrow. You go and deal with the sale of sunglasses with Arik, and I'm going to host those Danish businessmen at home."

"Okay, they live here..." Kravasen pointed out the current residence of the Danish businessman. Rurik did not hesitate to assign his own elite mercenaries. More than a dozen people were ordered to monitor those people for one night, and the next day dawned immediately. "Arrest" it and send it all to me.

After all, they are Danes. At present, the relationship between Sweden and Denmark is tense. The attitude of the Rus to the Danes is also simple and hostile. Although many people forget where the source of hostility is, in short, hostility is hostility.

The Duke showed politeness to the Danish merchants, which was a wrong move that hurt the feelings of the people.

However, Rurik didn't intend to make things too absolute. For example, he had no plan to kill him at all, even if this group of people had a high probability of being a whistleblower.

How is that? Could it be that the Russ are powerful, and the confident Rurik doesn't care what secrets are leaked. Even accidentally revealed the true strength of the Rus people, let the authorities in Denmark know, not to mention making the other side jealous, at least let the opponent know that there is a powerful Rus Duchy in the Kingdom of Reddy.

If war was inevitable, Rurik was not afraid to engage in naval warfare with any enemy. After all, in the spring of next year, the Principality will have three Avlora-class "Caravel-type warships". The actual combat has proved that Avlora is basically a naval battle with obvious generation differences for traditional Viking longships.

Rurik is not afraid of war at all, but he does not want to take the initiative to provoke a war for the time being. The Principality of Ross is still actively preparing for the future, and most of the looted money will be invested in armament expansion and the improvement of military and civilian physical fitness. In the final analysis, any commercial activity must serve the rise of the power of the Duchy of Ross under the overall planning of the Duke of Ross and Rurik himself.

The Principality must use all its strengths to enhance the Principality's comprehensive strength, especially the development of its military strength.

Think about next year's scene! Three Avlora-class warships, and as many as forty converted armed cargo ships, each of which is taller, wider, and heavier than the average longship, each has a terrifying bow ram, and is on the deck. Both are equipped with torsion slingshots. The soldiers on the ship basically gave up the tactics of jumping gangs, and replaced them with the means of ramming and shooting various long-range weapons, chasing and beating local ships with no deck.