Although the eldest nephew Askad was only thirteen years old, he was already tall enough, and all that was left was to expect him to grow tall and strong in a few years.

Seeing this nephew, a wonderful idea hatched in Rurik's head.

He personally summoned the child. There was no outsider in the house, only Rurik was waiting here quietly.

Askad, who was dressed thickly, was very happy to have an intimate conversation with his uncle. As for what his uncle was going to talk about, he could probably already guess.

But in terms of age, the difference between Rurik and his nephew is only nine years, and in the eyes of others, both uncle and nephew are young in appearance.

Young people are really young, and they have experienced things that many old people have never experienced in their lives.

Are you willing to be a fisherman and farmer for a lifetime in obscurity? Or take up arms and go to distant places to explore and fight in search of opportunities to make a fortune?

Many warriors chose the latter.

But it is also undeniable that those who choose to fight are either so poor that they have only one life left to give it a go, or they already have a lot of wealth and want to organize stronger forces to go far away to grab greater benefits.

Rose started out as one of the former, and now is the latter.

The young man passed the guard's post alone, he was greeted with a sword, and entered the room prepared by the king in the image of a young warrior.

He slowly opened the door, took off his velvet hat, beat his heart with his right fist and straightened his body to salute.

"King."

The slightly dim oil lamp illuminated the young man's face clearly, and Rurik nodded with satisfaction: "It's just in time. You don't have to call me king, just call me uncle."

"Yes! Uncle..."

"Sit down now. There is no need to be polite here. Let's seize this opportunity to have a good chat. Hey, let's talk about your affairs..."

"My business?" The ignorant Askad felt without hesitation that his uncle wanted to choose a marriage for him? Thinking of this, I am really shy and excited.

He quickly approached Rurik, and immediately sat cross-legged on the leather cushion, facing his uncle across the wooden table filled with candied fruit and dried meat.

"Drink some hot ale first to warm yourself up."

"All right."

After drinking the warm wine, Askad felt much better, with joy written on his face: "Uncle, what is the big deal."

"Of course it's your big business."

"Hey? Could it be that Uncle is planning... to marry me a woman."

"Oh? You think so?" Rurik was taken aback suddenly. He didn't think so at first, so he grabbed his beard and pinched it thoughtfully: "It's not impossible. However, my nephew is born with a rich stomach and is ordinary. Your peasant woman is not good enough for you."

"If...if it's the daughter of Boyar, a nearby village, I'm actually willing to accept it."

Askad's words were a little shy, and Rurik could see that this child, like himself, would naturally have a strong desire once he reached the age when he was very keen on matters between men and women. On this issue, Rurik couldn't be harsh on the boy, because everyone knew that King Ross had a lustful reputation, so there was nothing to be ashamed of.

"Hey..." Rurik, who was pinching his beard, thought of a lot, this matter is not the topic of today's secret meeting: "Boy, you have grown up, you can go for a beautiful woman to be your wife, and even win the hearts of more female nobles. But that's not what you need right now."

"Huh? So what do I need?"

"Glory! You need glory. Now!" This is the key point, Rurik suddenly slapped his chest like a gorilla, and then deliberately said in a low voice: "You have to make meritorious service in the war and prove that you are true man!"

"War! I wish for it!"

The young Askad slapped his thighs excitedly and stood up, straightened his body and solemnly assured his uncle the king: "I long for war, and I want to take my brothers to make great achievements. I heard that in the past this area There is a great traitor, a fellow named Vadim, who fled to Smolensk. It is unreasonable that the villain still intends to attack us. I want to kill this man. According to my father, the man's body should be killed. The head is made into a drinking bowl."

"Hey boy?! Courage is commendable." For a moment, Rurik was speechless. Didn't expect his nephew to be so brave? Wait a minute, anyone will say big words, has he remained calm on the battlefield?

In the War of 840, Askad proved that he could sit still in the face of large-scale battles, but at that time he was a part of a larger system. Would it be okay if he was given the chance to fight alone?

Young people need opportunities. Today, Rurik wants to give his nephew a chance. It was just the target of attack mentioned by my nephew, not my own will.

"You plan to attack Smolensk? You sit down first, and we will talk slowly."

"As ordered."

Rurik whispered again, poked his head and had to ask one more question: "Is it your own plan? I saw that the brand new infantry flag team has been training for a long time. This is Arik's idea. Could it be that the attack on Smolensk Is it his idea too?"

"Actually, including Aunt Carlota, Uncle Fisk, and even those people from Kiev and grasslands, have such a plan."

"Oh?" Things were beyond Rurik's expectations.

He just came back from the capital, and planned to have a meeting with the nobles to discuss the war after taking a break. They have already decided a strategy in private?

Wait a minute, I am afraid that this matter is actually more of the wish of the Principality of Aostara.

The current southern stronghold is more than Lukiholm (Great Luki), and the southernmost permanent stronghold is already Vitebsk. In addition, Ross's soldiers have rushed along the West Dvina River all the way to the port city of Riga. In line with the old pattern of violent beating by resisters and gentleness by submitters, Ross has conquered the main body of Latvia in theory.

These things can only be known by talking with Carlota and others in detail, and they should not be discussed with my nephew today.

Rurik can't deny the plan to conquer Smolensk, even if no one mentions it, he will personally conquer it when the time is right.

Obviously now is not the time at all.

Rurik spread his hands: "I will tell them. The king has no intention of attacking Smolensk, at least not this year."

"Huh? Uncle..."

"You!" Staring at the face of the nephew who was suddenly slightly disappointed, he stared at it for a while, then slowly became happy again, and subconsciously patted the face of the nephew: "Boy, what's the point of attacking those savages? In my opinion, the real Brave hunters dare to kill bears with bare hands. Don't think about attacking the enemy in the south, let's attack Frank."

"Could it be that the large-scale war will continue?"

"When did you get through it? A whole year ago, we just signed a peace treaty with the Eastern Kingdom. Don't you think this is peace? They are obviously very rich, and we still have many opportunities."

"But...we are not with the defeated king..."

"It's another king." Rurik sternly corrected: "So I arranged for an army to continue to destroy in the west. Our new enemy is the Middle Kingdom, and it is also the most powerful king in Frankley. He is stronger and richer. .Moreover, we can get a lot of support from friendly troops by attacking him. My king's plan is to send troops to intervene in their war, and I will give you a chance to make meritorious service. What do you think? Take the brothers or not.

"I go!"

"very good."

After all, Askad also participated in the Battle of the Elbe with the army, and his only role at that time was to act as a crossbowman in the army formation. He was considered to have participated in the war, because he had never fought like an ordinary soldier, so he was not considered to have really participated in it, and his young heart was very sad about this.

He agreed to his uncle's arrangement without even thinking about it, and only after he finished speaking did he start asking for specific details.

"You will form a team with the warriors of the First Banner Team of the Standing Army, and about a thousand people will rush to Nassau in the depths of the Rhine River. You will meet with the black fox Gouldsson. Everything is arranged by the king... "

Rurik said a lot, he answered his nephew's questions, and by the way, he also hoped that this kid would remember and tell Arik what he knew.

Thus, a brand new flag team was officially born.

The kingdom's seventh flag team, a flag team composed entirely of Ross's new generation. The additional establishment is still 500 people, and the captain of the banner will be Askad.

The biggest feature of the flag team is that the parents of the members are all men from the old Ross tribe. Their parents either died in battle or still serve in the First Banner.

In fact, after the 840-year war, the First and Second Banner Corps had already recruited a large number of recruits. The sources of recruits were mixed. The earliest batch of Ross mixed-blood fighters had already been recruited, and young people from other Swedish tribes immigrated to join them. Regardless of the origin, everyone's common identity is Rus, and the language they use is Norse.

Even the old Ross people don't have much scruples about the matrilineal blood of their offspring, and the children of mixed blood are still Ross people. It's just that Rose's marriage partners at that time were often from the same family in Sweden in Lake Mlaren, and the newborn must have golden hair. The situation has changed drastically now, almost all of them have half Slavic blood, and the change in hair color is already very obvious.

All of this is not a problem. Everyone still speaks Norse and still believes in the seven main Nordic gods defined by Ross.

It is undeniable that they are indeed very different from the Swedish fellows living on the shores of Lake Mlaren. Whether they are really strong is also a matter of great concern.

Rurik undoubtedly also used aggressive tactics over the identity of his nephew.

"Your mother was an ordinary Slavic peasant woman. Some people say that only pure northern warriors are really powerful. This must be nonsense. But there are indeed such sayings. The younger sisters all have doubts about this. It's really unreasonable!"

It is fair to say that the bloodline issue can indeed be talked about by people. In the past, the old Russians also thought that the Slavic warriors were not very good, and leading them to fight was more to gather strength.

The Third Banner is a purely Slavic military unit, respected only when they have proven their strength in battle.

"Someone uttered wild words to question my identity? Maybe I should challenge this person to a duel!"

"No need. You are the captain of the Seventh Banner appointed by the king. In the future, you will also get a suitable title. Listen, your origin determines that you are weaker than some nobles. Don't be depressed, you are the real Men, fight for glory and wealth by yourself. This year, you will fight against the forces of the Middle Kingdom. Maybe you can **** a noble noble woman from the west as your wife, and then grab a lot of gold and silver coins. You have a chance to become famous in one battle! "

Rurik drew a dreamlike soldier for his nephew, and the brat was completely convinced, so he started gearing up.

Due to the war plan revealed by Rurik, Carlotta, Fisk, Arik, and other nobles staying in Novgorod were either mentally or psychologically prepared, or were already preparing for battle.

In contrast, the blue fox and red fox brothers arrived in Novgorod with only a few entourages. The two brothers knew the king's strategy well. They came here to see the new army prepared by the king for the western expedition, and also to investigate the current situation of the local textile industry.

Most of the Flanders wool was sold directly to Cologne, and the good quality part was transported thousands of miles to Novgorod.

The two brothers were already frightened by the prosperous local textile industry, because the goods they shipped were sold out in a short period of time, and the textile raw materials fell into the hands of buyers immediately to start spinning.

This is true in state-run garment factories, and it is also true in people's homes.

What's different is that families of Ross and other northerners focus more on leather weaving, while Slavic families focus on wool and hemp weaving.

Although it is cold winter, the Slavs basically have workshops in every family. Although the daylight hours are short, women and children in the family will light up the lamps and fight at night.

The advanced textile machine technology has not yet spread to Eastern Europe, and people still maintain the oldest set of primitive textile machines. The women sat on the leather cushions, propped up the looms with hands and feet together, and operated the shuttles with their heads hooked for frequent threading operations. Its production efficiency is very slow, but the huge demand in reality forces all the labor force in the family to work together, even children who are just four or five years old have to help.

In the past, the population of the area around Yinermen Lake was only one-tenth of the current population. Today, the large-scale land reclamation movement shows strong production capacity and remarkable agricultural results.

Not only the population of the Rus is expanding, but also the most populous Slavs in the region are expanding at an equally rapid rate.

People need food and clothing to live, and land reclamation is not only asking for a large area of wheat fields from lakes and forests, but also a large area of flax fields and pastures for sheep.

For ordinary families, leather clothes made of large livestock leather are still expensive, while the price of soft linen clothes is much cheaper. Ordinary people can simply complete the whole process from flax planting to final weaving by themselves.

Each village adheres to the ancient community agricultural customs. They collectively reclaim wasteland and plant collectively, and reserve a batch of newly cultivated fields with poor fertility for special planting of flax. What is used, the surplus is sold. Facing the ever-increasing demand for textiles from all walks of life, the people's enthusiasm for production is very high, and the winter that should be for recuperation is also used. It can be said that every household is a handicraft workshop.

The more this is the case, the more raw materials are needed. Novgorod urgently needs sources of raw materials and a sales market.

Linen is used as a lining, and a large amount of cheap squirrel skins are sewn together, or squirrel hair is used as a stuffing to make characteristic cotton-padded clothes, which become affordable winter clothes for ordinary people.

The villages also continue to maintain the old tradition. They collect a variety of grass leaves and grind them into juice to dye the degreased and decolorized twine.

Among them, the fabric with alternating blue and white stripes has become a new fashion favorite.

The clothes sewn with it are called sea soul shirts. According to the king, warriors who wear such clothes can conquer the ocean better, and after extension, they become the battle robes for victory like amulets.

The people already know the news that the king is planning a new war, and it is necessary for the general public to make a fortune by making use of the war.

On the surface, ice and snow are suppressing the people's enthusiasm for life~www.mtlnovel.com~ In fact, all kinds of people are working in the smoky woodcuts.

The blue fox and the red fox visited and traveled in a reindeer sleigh. The two businessmen were very concerned about the commercial value of this place. The instinct of the businessman drove them to make a clear judgment: this place has huge human and material resources and huge wealth.

Restricted by the king to develop here, Blue Fox inspected it for himself to see the truth, and inevitably a little bit of displeasure in his heart.

It's hard for him to say anything, he's here for tourism.

The most important thing was to contact the king's new army. The original plan was to form a new banner team as soon as the king arrived, and along with the standing army, form a thousand-strong army and head west.

The current situation is very good, the new flag team already exists, and the flag captain is that boy Askad. The flag team will be recognized by the king. As for whether they can show their ambitions when they go to Nassau? It should be possible.

Fortunately, the king has already arranged for an insurance policy, and the standing army will also send out a powerful force. It is very clear who will play.