Departing from New Ostara City at the southernmost tip of Lake Inlmen, the boats went straight along the slow-flowing Lovati River to the Great Luki City built by Rurik. For rivers, because the distance is still too far, the cost of communication between the two places is inevitably higher.

The large area at the southern end of the lake has not been developed for a long time, and the non-local Slavs have no interest in it. On the whole, it is a huge lakeside grassland area infiltrated by many rivers. It is too wet, and As for the soft and watery soil, the wheat seeds can be soaked.

This place is very suitable for grazing, but the Slavs who migrated from other places are more willing to open up farmland in the north of the lake to grow oats.

The land that was voluntarily abandoned by the locals is now the base camp for immigrants from the Swedish regions of Ostara and Glen who are good at animal husbandry, and it is also the residence of a group of grassland immigrants.

It has been two years since Rurik last explored here, and now that he is standing here, he intends to go south to see for himself the achievements of the kingdom's expansion in the inland area of Eastern Europe.

The first thing to do is to get a good look at the city of Ostara and the surrounding area.

He came with the second cavalry, and the soldiers were fully armed, so that the military strength could fight a small-scale war. Rurik did not come here to fight. He wanted to take this young cavalry team to practice again. After all, a long-distance march is a very necessary tactical training.

As for the weapons they carry, they are for self-defense, but if the opportunity is ripe, it is not inappropriate for the king to take the young warriors to take the initiative to hunt bears.

In fact, Beja Hill acted as the lord of the city of Ostara. Since the king wanted to visit, he was happy to be a guide.

Moreover, she also enjoyed the opportunity to be alone and intimate with the king.

The summer breeze blows through the whole world, the great lake sparkles, and the waves of the lake keep rushing up to the muddy lake shore to beat the wild reeds.

The cattle and sheep are supervised by the riders to graze the grass. They shout loudly from time to time, fast horses surround the running sheep, and watch them not to accidentally fall into the river.

The flat environment has long raised the rather wide Lovati River. Although its flow rate is slow, the total amount of water flow is not small.

The city of Ostara was built in a very clever place.

The city is located on the left bank of the main course of the Lovati River, with the Polistya River downstream and the Lydia River upstream. In fact, the city has become a peninsula area surrounded by three waters. It is already huge enough that there are shoals nearby that can be directly waded through, and there are enough boats for people to easily cross the river.

The Boristi River is not a separate river. Before it is about to flow into the Lovati River, the Borussia River forcibly flows in with a large amount of water.

The existing lakeside grassland area is not enough, and most of those new immigrants who joined the Principality of Aostara were assigned to log jobs. Almost all of them were Slavs who had immigrated, and they were very happy with the axes they received, and they had great enthusiasm for asking the forest for cultivated land.

One big pine tree after another collapsed, and after all the branches were cut down, the trunk was dragged by cables to the nearby Boristi River and pushed directly down. The river pushes the big tree to float directly to the city of Ostara, and the waiting boats here will receive it directly.

But now, in order to more efficiently log and open up wasteland, the people of Aostara forcibly built a small pontoon bridge with pine wood on the river channel as wide as 100 meters!

The current of the Polisti River is not fast, and the bottom of the river is thick with silt. Using the old technique of masts installed by the northerners, a batch of pine logs were inserted into the mud vertically. Then relying on a large number of cables and vines to tie up all the pine wood prepared for the bridge deck, but no matter how slow the water flow is, the bridge deck will be washed into a huge arc.

Hearing that this is the latest masterpiece of the Ostarans, Rurik specially led all the cavalry here to find out under the leadership of Bejasir.

The 100-meter-wide river was wide enough, and the sudden arrival of three hundred Russian cavalry shocked the few fishermen stationed at the bridge to stand up one after another, taking off their leather felt hats just to see who was coming.

The vast majority of people have never seen Rurik's true face. They live in the south of the closed Great Lake. As Slavs who were forced to immigrate, the one they see the most is their master, Carlo, the Duke of Ostara. The Tower and Bejasir, acting castellan.

They at least saw the mighty army, and they couldn't help but retreat again.

Rurik had no time to pay attention to these ordinary people, he raised his chin and looked around.

"There are forests everywhere, this place is not suitable for grazing. Beja Hill, how can you think of it? To build a pontoon bridge at this location?"

"But it's very suitable for blocking the pine logs from the upstream." She smiled and pointed to the village not far away: "My sister (referring to Carlota) built a timber factory there."

"She's pretty smart. Come on, let's see."

The cavalry rushed into the factory that was busy processing wood, and the scene in front of them really surprised Rurik.

He originally thought that this was a small construction site, with a large amount of wood stored on the soft ground, which would present a very dirty image, and there were not many residents.

In fact, its true appearance is covered by the nearby pine forest. Only when you enter it along the riverside road, do you find a village rising.

If you look carefully, some logs are deliberately buried on the dirt road, and part of them are deliberately exposed, which looks like a huge slideway.

At the end of the slide is the village itself, where there is indeed a large amount of timber piled up. Near the timber placed in the open air, there are already various wooden houses. It seems that at least two hundred men, women and children live here.

"A village suddenly appeared in the forest? It's in the woodland near the lakeside grassland? I've never heard of this from her."

"It's because you didn't ask Sister Carlota." Bejahir, who was holding the rein, said with a smile.

"That's right. People will move out of the forest one after another. Is this the village of new immigrants?"

"yes."

"Did Carlotta give the settlement a name?"

"Already taken."

"What's that?" Rurik asked impatiently.

"Trastadt is called Drevonisk in Slavic parlance."

(Drevonesk, geographically located slightly downstream of the river where Stara Russa is today.)

Rurik's head was a little dizzy: "She's quite ambitious, she's obviously a village and yet she uses the suffix of her superior."

Beja Hill shrugged: "If the forest near here is completely cut down, the new immigrants will not feel at ease to graze, they will grow wheat. This is no longer a meadow area, and it is said that it can be well cultivated. By then it will Let's grow into a big city."

"It will be so." Rurik sighed, and he thought of a lot for a while: "Our population will increase in the future, and the area around the lake that seems to be full of usable land will become crowded. Now It is a critical period, we must hurry up and build settlements in unknown areas."

Rurik said some incomprehensible words to Bejacier, of course she didn't know what Rurik was thinking now.

The pontoon bridge is not only convenient for traffic, but its biggest purpose is to intercept the fine timber floating down the upstream.

Wood is different from wood. There are also high-quality pine and beech trees in the forests of the lakeside area. They have actually been cut down, and the rest are small trees. Instead of using them as good materials, it is better to cut them into pieces. firewood.

Beech, oak, and spruce are extremely important tree species for Ross, and they are directly related to the quality and durability of ships built.

After cutting down the good trees near the settlement, the loggers had to go up the river with axes. The biggest purpose is to cut down high-quality trees, and you can get some precious furs by hunting with weapons.

The endless forest in the south of the Great Lake is a dark green ocean, full of danger and riches. The Slavs who were forced to relocate, they lived in the forest before, as people who have dealt with trees for a long time, they joined the Principality of Aostara to obtain a new identity, and those who are willing to be herdsmen have already lived in the lakeside meadow, and Some are still used to the forest days of the past.

As long as you find a tall and straight beech tree, cut it down and try your best to bring it to the river, and then carve a clear mark on the trunk to let it go down the river and block it with the pontoon bridge.

This technique is used by loggers looking for good trees to try their luck in the forest, and finding the right big tree can eventually turn into a satisfying income. The family can be supported by logging alone. Such a good thing prompts them to devote their main energy to forest exploration, and the economic stimulus continues to stimulate the expansion of Delevonesk.

All this happened in the forest area on the left bank of the Lovat River approaching the mouth of the lake.

Now Rurik understands that the Neihu shipyard in Novgorod has never worried about not being able to get good wood. He has never paid attention to these things specifically. Condition.

After all, the Ostara tribe still retains the spiritual core of the Swedes. Under the leadership of Carlota, this rapidly expanding principality is trying to find new ways to open up new industries.

Existing ships carrying native products have turned into tugboats one after another, dragging the roughly processed wood to the shipyard in the north of the Great Lakes, in exchange for more income than directly transporting the logs.

More than wood? The old line of the Principality of Ostara is a variety of dairy products, and horse milk products have been added to the dairy products of cows and sheep.

The future of this principality is limitless, and Rurik feels that her military strength is already considerable, and now she is the most dynamic force in the era of Ross East expansion. The fly in the ointment is that the Principality of Ostara is a great vassal of Ross, and its control area is not directly controlled by the royal family. Rurik has no idea how many people she has.

This is a hidden worry, but it will take a hundred years to become a real problem, not to mention that there is still a Beya Hill standing here.

Taking the army to visit Delevonesk surprised the locals who were completely unmotivated to work. Although they were afraid, their curiosity finally prevailed.

The children boldly approached the cavalry, and Rurik dismounted just in time. He casually recruited a bold boy, held him high in his arms, and said loudly in Slavic in front of the worried parents and the surrounding villagers: "I am King Ross! This boy is not afraid of me! It seems that the future will be a warrior!"

After all, the living conditions in the forest were harsh, and those who were forced to immigrate were generally shorter in stature. Rurik stood in front of them like a blond giant, and it was this giant who spoke very kindly.

He didn't know the boy's name, so he raised it high with both hands under his armpits, and said casually, "Your name is Shirner (a)." The most critical element of a player, and a person with great strength will also be a good player on the battlefield.

The cavalry came and went in a hurry, leaving a good story in the logging camp in Drevonesk.

People talked a lot. They saw the husband of the Duchess Carlota, but they didn't expect that King Ross himself would like to stay in a small and remote logging camp.

They were not moved to tears because of Rurik's show-like behavior and clamored to do a good job for the king.

They saw the majestic cavalry, which was a completely different texture from the equestrians in the headquarters. It was not only from the uniform beauty of uniforms and weapons, but also from an indescribable arrogance.

Rurik didn't explore the depths of the forest anymore. He didn't know where the ultimate source of the river named Polisti was. It must be a no-man's land. The population of Eastern Europe in this era is too small, and the people do not actually live scattered. Therefore, most areas of the vast world are full of dangers and opportunities. The pure original ecological environment there is unoccupied. As long as the Ross people do it first. Be the first to declare ownership.

"Ah! It's still comfortable to be back in the city."

Rurik lay comfortably on the soft and wide bearskin cushion. Living in the temporary king's palace in Ostara, the open wooden windows allow the gentle summer wind to blow in the hall, and it is the setting sun. After exploring the environment on the left bank of the river, he learned many things that he did not know in the past, and that was only It is the left bank.

"Are you tired?" Beyahir came personally carrying a glass bottle, which was filled with pale liquid, tightly sealed by a cork.

The setting sun shone on Rurik's lazy cheeks through the window. He raised his head slightly, resting his hands casually on the back of his head, squinting his eyes and muttering: "I'm really tired. What did you get?"

"Kumiss. I made it myself."

"Hey, do you still make wine?"

"I'll just give you a little shock from the grassland." Saying this, Bejasir sat down and pulled out the cork with all his strength, and the wine couldn't help splashing on his face. Immediately, the aroma of milk and wine is wanton, and there is even a little honey aroma when you smell it carefully.

Rurik, who was a little thirsty, snatched the bottle away, drank half of the bottle with a big mouth, and even hiccupped.

"It's delicious! It's comfortable! It's really sweet. You put honey."

"I did it on purpose. And..." Bejacir lay lightly on his side, simply using Rurik's thigh as a pillow.

Rurik gently stroked her soft cheeks, enjoying the somewhat languid tenderness under the setting sun, he couldn't help but yawned.

"When do you plan to go south?" she asked suddenly.

"Huh? Want me to go?"

"I dare not. I... just want you to stay with me more. But I... I can't go. I still have to be responsible for Ostara, for her."

"Hehe, you really regard Carlotta as your own sister."

"It's really like my sister." She fell into a faint thought, sat up slowly, and put her cheek directly on Rurik's forehead: "You still owe me."

"I owe you? I understand! I understand..."

Then there was another joy.

Beja Hill is not an ordinary woman. She was born as a grassland noble and she had no chance in the past. Now watching Carlota become bigger and stronger, the ambition deep in her heart is also sprouting.

She is at the mercy of Rurik, and now she is panting slightly: "I also want to fief. Give me a piece of land, and I can train a group of cavalry for you. Besides, Hasal will grow up in a few years, you still ...to give him a title."

Rurik, who was lying next to her, lost all tiredness when he heard this. He really wanted to think about this practical issue.

"Is it okay if I give you some Slavic population?"

"Yes. Give me some people and give me a piece of land, preferably near the area of Ostara. I think I already have a second son in my belly. The children are all your soldiers, I will Train them to be the best cavalry chiefs."

"I promise you." As he spoke, Rurik slowly stood up, UU reading www.uukanshu. com tidy up the clothes and stand by the wooden window. Behind him, Beyahir also hurriedly put on his robes, and the corners of their eyes looked towards the east of the main channel of the Lovati River, the so-called right bank area.

"Over there! Does Carlota have a construction base on the right bank?"

"No, but that place is not a good place."

"It doesn't matter. In the future, you will build a good place there, but not now. The conditions are not yet ripe. When I feel that the time is right, you will take your children and lead the subjects given to you to move to the right bank area."

"Okay, that's fine too..."

Beya Hill is not picky, the powerful female nobles are not new in the Kingdom of Ross, and she also heard that even the wives and concubines who were born as ten maids in the lower ranks, their children will be enshrined and given fiefdoms in the future, and she herself His status is much higher than theirs, and he still has to rush to get this once-in-lifetime opportunity.

Now, she is satisfied.

As for the endless forest in the right bank area, that is indeed not a problem. In the future, it will be good to organize large-scale logging. As long as it takes some time, a large grassland for grazing can be artificially created.