Rise of Rurik

Chapter 682 Boyar Conference in Early Winter

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During the busiest period of surveying and mapping farmland, the Boyar nobles from the farms around the lake arrived at Novgorod in a boat or a carriage.

They all saw what was happening in the farmland, and all at once understood that Prince Ross was actually implementing his decision in person.

The current measurement of the acres of Baishu Manor will fall on him sooner or later.

They had to bite the bullet and face it, not knowing whether it was good or bad, it had already happened and they were powerless to change it.

When all the Boyars had gathered, Rurik washed the dust off his body and put on a splendid dress to restore the duke's nobility.

A wooden hut was designed as the seat of the parliament. It is currently rather rudimentary, but as the highest noble, Rurik intends to entertain these local nobles who have been delayed for a long time.

People like Usky and Tori who have participated in the counter-insurgency war have high self-esteem, and they accept the invitation very happily.

The other manor boys, the Boyars, remained vigilant and suspicious of the Rus conquerors.

A group of people gathered in this simple wooden house, and they all wore fox furs and hats with fox furs. The hats were punched with some holes, and some mottled feathers could be inserted into them to decorate it.

Many boyars are furs made of bearskin, and it is obvious that wearing it to the meeting is a kind of courting death.

Who can wear bearskin clothing? Ross warriors are entitled and worthy.

Although the house is simple, a group of deerskin cushions are placed inside, and square tables are placed in front of the cushions. What does this mean? Could it be that the prince also arranges meals?

When they were bored, they chatted with each other. The boyars were the only one missing the old man, Ligus. Everyone exchanged the news they had inquired, and even some rumors.

"Hey, have you all heard about it? I heard that the prince brought all his women here this time, but I don't know if the young man's body can stand it. Haha, maybe he can."

"Of course he can. Friends, I heard that Rigus' youngest daughter has a big belly, and when a cub is born, that cub becomes our master."

"So what? Let me complain?" Someone muttered regretfully, "That guy Regus is a conspirator, and he succeeded. My daughter is obviously prettier than his daughter, but it's a pity..."

"Let's talk about serious business!" Uski interrupted the conversation of a group of old guys.

"What's a serious business? A matter of fields?"

"Exactly. I dare say that the prince called us to explain this matter, have you thought about it? Then we will have to pay wheat or something according to this. I don't believe that the Rus people are really kind, and the pine needle manor is finished. , the rest of us are a group of poor cows, how much milk is squeezed, that is what the Rus people want."

People looked at each other, and no one was there for a long time.

Finally, someone was waiting for the table in front of him and whispered: "Pine Needle Manor was our master in the past. At that time, we had to pay tribute to them, and also to the Rus people. Now we only serve the Rus people, and the situation will not be very bad. They are coming now, and they have obviously defeated the enemy of the Great Northern Lakes. As you all saw, there is no one alive in the entire Pine Needle Manor! Let's not talk about complaining, and worry about angering the Rus people and they will suffer."

This person was already trembling when he said that, and many people's eyes were inadvertently indifferent to King Uski and Tori, because they were also participants in the killing.

Tori was not happy, he raised his head: "What do you see me doing? That Vadim is an idiot, and following him is death. I only have today with Ross, you should feel your conscience, if you lead troops to follow sooner The Russ can also get the land. You are afraid of the Russ looting? In my opinion, the Grand Duke Rurik is a good person."

They were chatting again and again.

Finally, there was a commotion outside, and the sitting boyars got up one after another.

I saw the young man who thought he was able to hold his head high,

Wearing a furry white bear fur robe, holding a sword hilt, he walked arrogantly.

Lord Rurik, the Prince of Ross, is here!

Numerous Ross warriors wearing iron reinforced chain mail guarded them. They no longer had to cover their armor with burqas, which was clearly to prove to witnesses that they were indeed covered in iron, and they were indescribable.

He was also followed by two people. One of the tall and strong men was Governor Medwait. This guy had been intimate with the Ross people for many years, and his whole person had become Ross's appearance.

The other boy was pretty and slender, dressed neatly and slightly close to the body, with a saber hanging from his waist and a velvet cap on his head. Who is he?

When the prince arrived, the people who had been chattering just now showed their signs with smiles.

"You all sit down." Rurik said casually in Slavic language: "I called you all, and I saw you all coming. Very good! I don't want to hear any polite words, and you have no right to ask, only listen to I have the qualifications to preach, and now I will read and sit down."

After taking a note of Ma Wei, the Boyars had to sit down obediently.

They all know that Old Otto has been staying in this Novgorod city. When they entered the city for a meeting, they glanced at the pier and saw those familiar ships docking quietly. The Duke's ship was actually firmly fixed? ! Apparently the duke planned to spend the winter here.

Rurik sat cross-legged, Medved sat down with a sullen face, but saw the handsome young man sitting on his side sitting on his side, standing up and slowly taking off his hat.

The braided hair fell down, his face became clear, and Boyar was surprised.

Rumors that Rigus' youngest daughter has become a pot-bellied woman are all absurd. She was sitting here, dressed as a young Ross warrior, if it weren't for this face, no one would dare to call her Svetlana.

Seeing the eyes of the Boyars, Rurik was the only one who actually held back their words. My time is very tight, and I have to conduct surveying and mapping in the old pine needle manor, so I don't have time to spend time with these boyars.

"My order has already been given, and you have come too late. I know that the roads and waterways are not good, so I will not blame you. You must have seen that you came to my Novgorod, and I have begun to understand the land here. Take detailed measurements. I've finished calling you today, and I'm just going to preach about it."

He paused and didn't give the boyars a chance to interject at all. He said, "You'd better put up your ears like rabbits and listen carefully. This is my order."

(Rurik repeats to the boyars what he said to Rigus before...)

"Do you all understand now? The consequences of not cooperating are very dangerous, and you can rest assured that I am a just ruler. Whoever has more farmland and who has more livestock will pay more taxes. Whether you are Whether you live in a remote forest or around Novgorod, the tax laws are the same. Those who pay taxes will be protected by Rus, and those who do not pay will be punished by Rus. As long as you pay taxes, you will be punished by Rus. Recognized New Rus people can call themselves this."

Do you have a Roth name as long as you pay taxes? Zhong Boyar did not feel that the so-called honorary title actually had much effect.

Because they have been calling themselves Slavic, it is "Glory" itself, they have been calling themselves the glorious family.

The Boyars are also smart. They are the leaders in the competition of this community, so they can control the identity of the manor owners. The land is their lifeblood, and all matters related to the land will arouse their extreme vigilance. Rurik, the prince of Rus, swore an oath this time. He swore to Odin, the chief god of Varyag, and Peron, the great god of Slavia, that the eleventh agricultural tax would be implemented and the tax rate would not be raised again. The tax base for taxation is the area of ​​farmland, and the prince also guaranteed that only mature fields that have been developed for at least one year will be counted, excluding wasteland and newly cultivated land, and the area of ​​farmland will be re-measured every five years to revise the tax base.

This time, the prince clarified two principles: fairness and contract.

This is a meeting of fairness and contract, but before they were truly implemented, the Boyars couldn't really believe it, and now they can only face Rurik with a smile.

Rurik just wouldn't let them intervene, on which he, as the highest nobleman, had to do his own thing.

After all, these native Boyar nobles are a threat to the Duchy of Ross itself. When they are purged, the Duchy of Ross should directly rule every family around Lake Ilmen. This is not to destroy the inherent farm system, on the contrary, it is to build a farm that can be directly controlled by the principality. For example, one hundred peasant families are formed into a collective farm, and one person is elected as the village head every few years, and then the duke will give him administrative power after examination. This kind of village chief is different from the Boyar nobles. He has no foundation and no shackles. For the sake of personal glory and wealth, he has to do things well for the duke. Even if a few Lindenwans might pop up, it would be nothing more than petty trouble. Unlike the collective rebellion of tens of thousands of people in Pine Needle Manor that just happened, the preparations for the conquest of Karelia have been anticlimactic for more than half a year.

From this, Rurik concluded that even if the local boyar nobles were very loyal, their descendants might rebel, because they had enough throbbing resources to rebel.

Setting up farms directly under the control of the dukes, relying on layer-by-layer bureaucratic degressive governance, this model is more advanced than entrusting the Boyar nobles to rule, but it is completely unsuitable for today's era.

Rurik has thoroughly felt the extreme backwardness of rural life in this era through a few days of surveying and mapping activities at the grassroots level. Is this a rural area? Living people are like "apes who can farm". There is no paper, the information is recorded on processed boards, and the ink used by the Rus is a technique learned from Rome a long time ago. Writing itself is not a problem, the carrier of writing is a big problem.

The carrier for recording information is a heavy wooden board, and there are only a handful of people in the entire Principality of Rus who can dance and write. The absolute lack of talents and information carriers makes it impossible for the Principality to accurately manage the people under its governance.

Entrusting the management of these native boyars is really impossible.

It is even a question mark whether Medved, the governor appointed by himself, has always been loyal. After all, this person is a very substantial foreign relative to the Principality.

So far in the preaching, Rurik believes that they have all understood. Due to the bad traffic conditions, although they were all residents around the lake, it was not easy for all the Boyars to gather in Novgorod, the northernmost part of the lake, and they should be treated with hospitality.

The long-prepared meal is now served!

The fine wheat flour preserved by Rurik, mixed with butter and honey, is baked into a deliciously creamy and glutinous meal.

Bread was placed in front of the Boyars one after another. As long as you smell the fragrant smell, the halazia will be like a spring.

For a moment, the aroma of the wine is filled with the aroma of the wine, the exquisite crystal cup has a bizarre shape, and the extreme wine aroma is overflowing when the cork is pulled out.

These two delicious meals make the new roast meat no longer a delicacy. In fact, the Boyars saw that all the plates provided by Duke Rurik were crystal plates!

The tableware is actually glassware, and the wine bottles are also blow-cast products. These utensils are now mass-produced.

Rigus had come on crutches, and his son-in-law eloquently preached that he was silent. Now, seeing the group of Boyars studying the glassware for a long time, they glanced at them with contempt.

Because Rigus already knew the whole truth, although he did not understand the principle, it was certain that most of the glassware at the scene was actually made by the eldest daughter who married Ross. The eldest daughter Lilia must have mastered magic, or the wisdom bestowed by Odin.

The boys didn't go back empty-handed. They all finished drinking a bottle of vodka and drank half a pound of spirits. They devoured the sweet, pastry-like bread and licked the glass jar clean with their tongues. The barbecue was also finished, and Rurik ordered his subordinates to put more salt on the meat on purpose. He wanted to see how uncomfortable this group of people was eating something salty, but this was a prank to have fun, but unexpectedly, the group of guys ate them all. clean.

How much sodium is their body deficient? !

Rurik could understand after a little thought that the salt sold to them before was too little. Facing the huge market around Lake Ilmen, and even the unconquered Free Farm in the surrounding forest, this is a huge market. , salt and iron are a hard currency.

They took away the glassware, which, conceivably, would become the exclusive treasures of the Boyars.

This is the meeting of the all-Novgorod boyar nobility in the early winter. It is also the second meeting of the all-boyar nobility after the rebellion was quelled. From now on, life will be on the right track, and it will be the autumn harvest next year. Grain taxation, a new peaceful life under Ross's rule.

As soon as the convention was over, Rurik threw away his ornate robes and showed the frugal and capable linen clothes inside which were convenient for Shimoda's work.

The fur-covered Boyars had all left, and he beckoned Medved to come beside him.

"Sir, do you have a major order?"

"Yes. My mother and daughter are coming. In the past few days, you should organize the flag team and let the soldiers dress up like real Varyag soldiers. The old lady should see a mighty team. army."

"Yes." Medvedt smiled.

"Oh, one more thing. Send me to cut down five hundred birch trees, remember, don't cut down small trees. I will peel off the bark after I'm done."

"Peeling the bark?" Medvedt sounded too fresh.

"You must be questioning something. Don't question it, just ask me to do it. Also, try to go as far as possible to find birch trees, I don't want to cut down the birch forest outside the city in a short time. "

Only Ligus had something to say about this matter. The old guy coughed twice and interjected: "Sir, those birch trees have been planted by our generations. There is no need to worry about the disappearance of the birch forest. If you cut down a tree, We just replanted one. The birch (white tree) is the symbol of our farm, we need these high-quality wood to live, and we are good at carrying these trees.”

Rurik didn't know about these things, and what Rigus said surprised him: "That would be great."

"Then, my lord, can you tell me why the bark is needed? Five hundred trees, and you'll get a lot of bark. What's this for?"

Since Rigus asked, Rurik might as well express his long-held decision: "I will make a very soft wooden board (referring to paper), which is as thin as cloth, can be folded like cloth, can be used Ink writes eternal words. But it's also a special kind of wood, and it needs bark to make it. Since you like birch for everyday use, birch bark is the best cork board."

How could Rigus and Medved be able to understand in the abstract the unseen? Instead, Svetlana, dressed as a warrior, cheered, and she wrapped her arms around her husband's neck enthusiastically: "Those heavy boards are disgusting. If they are as thin as cloth... cork boards. Can we write a lot? That way you don't have to pull up a bunch of planks on your wagon, and a small box can hold these writing records."

"Of course." Rurik laughed, he had already decided to make paper!

He believes that Medvedt's action is the most readily available raw material for papermaking, and the Novgorod governor is about to do it for himself.

Just before that, and before the first snow fell, Rurik also decided to convene all the surveying and mapping teams, concentrate manpower and material resources, and win a "tough battle for the surveying and mapping of the old pine needle manor".

Rurik and his men are already doing their best.

Medvedt and his subordinates had also received orders, carrying a double saw and a big axe, and went deep into the forest to target the white birches in the Korean pine, and the bark began to accumulate continuously. As for the peeled tree trunks, there was no waste at all. The charcoal craftsmen in the city began to act, and the people of Baishu Farm were already making and storing charcoal blocks for heating in winter.

So their actions also explain why birch is the favorite of the farm. The obvious reason is that the burning of pine and pine charcoal is accompanied by a very pungent smell. Who would like this? Then the birch, which has a large number and low burning odor, has become the most cost-effective material for heating.

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