"Push hard guys! Just get out of this mud and everything will be fine."

A middle-aged Ross man named Haffin was leading his friends to push the longboat together, struggling to move forward in the mud.

Everyone tried their best to push or pull the cable to drag, and even used the oars as crowbars to get the longboat out of trouble as soon as possible.

They are all residents of Mstisk, an old Russian colonial city, and this time they followed Arik "Double Swords" to explore Lake Valdai.

The purpose of the expedition is to capture the strange and small animals in the eastern forest, and plunder their exquisite leather to exchange for money.

They also all knew the oracle issued by King Rurik, the so-called existence of a great river named the Volga River, as long as people continue to explore the east, they will be able to find its river channel, and then Ross and the Pecheneg allies in the distant grasslands will be able to fight together. Waterway direct contact.

The gray-bearded Hafen was also a veteran of the Second Banner Team back then. He and the guys were too old, and now they can only retire after several battles. Although they are getting old, it does not mean that their physical strength suddenly loses. They are unwilling to obey the old age. Many people hope to participate in a big war in their twilight years, and finally die in battle to get the final glory.

Otto, the former chieftain, became the supreme king, and even with all the honors in his body, he could not be inferior to the waste of time.

What's more, Haffin and his buddies, their sons have inherited the glory of their fathers, some have become glorious cavalry, and some youngsters are now organized into the Seventh Banner to expedition to Frank. Those who stayed in their hometown brought their elderly wives, older daughters, and even toddlers. They were unwilling to stay at home after busy farming, and they were embarking on a great adventure.

Of course, there are still many explorers like Hafen and his group. There are thousands of people who followed Alec to explore the surrounding lakes and forests of Valdai Lake, and among them there are even scribes who are directly loyal to King Rurik himself.

However, Valdai Heights is indeed a highland, and the altitude of many areas has reached 200 meters.

A mere 200 meters high is worthy of the name of a highland?

However, the average altitude of the area around Lake Yinlmen, where Novgorod is located, is only 20 meters.

There are trivial lakes in the highland area, and the large and small lakes are generally connected by small streams. In the "expedition of five hundred men" in 841, individual teams also launched a successful exploration to the south like Haffin's team. The difference is that one team touched the correct creek, although the shallowness of the stream is not suitable for long boats to rush directly. But the ship can be quickly towed by manpower pulling the cable.

Haffin failed, he didn't find the right stream, and had no choice but to imitate the clumsy method of the Ross people-by brute force and rowing on dry land.

It is not a purely dry land, the oak keel moved slowly through the mud soaked by the lake water, and countless grasses were crushed into the mud, leaving a deep rut behind the boat that was soon filled by the seeping water, accompanied by the water on both sides It is the deep water seepage footprints stepped on by flip leather shoes.

"This place is very humid. If the king can organize people to dig a water channel here, we won't have to work so hard."

"Forget it! Only God knows what this place is." Hafen was out of breath, and he still didn't forget to turn his head and yell at the accompanying young man with great dissatisfaction: "Hey! Boy, what about you, don't hold your paper Keep writing with the pen, and help your uncles push the boat."

But the young man didn't appreciate it, and still scribbled and drew with a quill pen.

"Forget it. He is the king's man." Someone persuaded impatiently.

"But he's also a Ross. How can he stay out of the way when he's going south in everyone's boat?"

Hafen was furious, so he left the team temporarily and urged the young man to suspend everything at hand and push the boat.

"Hey, don't you push and push. What I write has to be presented directly to the king." The young man was dragged to the side of the boat before he could put away his pen.

Hafen continued to be harsh: "You can tell the king directly about anything! Boy, you have to be worthy of your blood."

The young man's name was Gorm, a very common Norse name. He is the scribe who is directly responsible to Rurik. Like many of his colleagues, after receiving a higher education, he was ordered to conduct geographical surveys with the eastern team this time.

Gorm's biggest task is to find the correct waterway for the Volga River, but the endless area east of Lake Ilmen is extremely unfamiliar to the Rus and even the local Slavs.

It is best to find the Volga River, and the expedition discoveries along the way must be recorded as much as possible to provide the most basic records of geography, hydrology, and vegetation for future pioneering.

"I'm not a warrior, why should I be like a warrior?" He was very reluctant. Now the leather shoes are full of water, and with the foot wraps, it feels like stepping into mud.

This is indeed the case. Every time I lift my feet, I can bring out a lot of mud, and my hands are still pushing the boat. It is really a difficult experience.

"Boy, don't complain. You are weak to do the job you are doing now. In the past, people like you are the trash of the tribe."

"You? You scolded me."

"It's good for you to scold you!" Ha Fen was worried that he had nowhere to vent his anger, and he continued to yell: "If you were my son, you would be whipped by me for being so cowardly."

"But I have a big task ahead of me. When I find the Volga River in the prophecy, I will be a hero. You have to be polite to me." The young Gorm curled his lips in disdain.

"A hero...you deserve it too? If you don't have everyone's protection, if you stay here directly, bears and wolves can tear you to pieces."

Gorm was really worried about this and had to keep his mouth shut.

There are indeed bears in this area. The hungry forest brown bear can hunt and kill any living thing as food, but the bear's IQ is also enough to prevent it from attacking a group of boat pushers.

After a arduous journey, the longship, purposefully stripped of its sails and masts, finally reached a brand new lake.

"Ah! It's a brand new lake, it looks trivial and big." Hafen finally stopped, looking at the sparkling lake surface under the setting sun and sighing.

Someone laughed and shouted: "Is this the great lake that other brothers discovered last year?"

"Maybe. Where is the source of the Volga River predicted by the king? I really hope this is here." Hafen continued to sigh.

"But you have no evidence." Gorm, who was so tired that he could hardly stand still, retorted angrily.

"Boy." Hafen turned his head slightly: "Just continue to explore the lake, don't be obsessed with finding the Volga River, other rivers are worth exploring as well. How do you feel now? The uncles can train you to be an excellent fighter."

"Forget it. I..." Gorm sat down directly, took off the sackcloth and lay down among the reeds, "Are you going to camp here overnight? Forgive me, I'm too tired."

In an instant, the thirteen-year-old boy fell asleep with such a scruffy image.

They pushed the boat all day, thanks to the muddy ground that made it possible.

The huge and extremely trivial Lake Villiers officially appeared in front of them. This is the second largest lake in this area after Lake Inlmen, and it is not as prosperous as the former.

The dense forests around the lake cover all the lake bays. In fact, there are many streams and waterways that can easily enter the lake from the north. After all, it is too trivial. Multiple expeditions set off at the same time. Even if they arrive at the same time, it is difficult to quickly find each other.

In the boundless world, Hafen's expedition team seems to be the only existence in the world. They can shout in the face of the sunset, and the only response is the sound of the lake wind and water splashing on the muddy lake shore.

They lit a bonfire, and this was the only light in the silent world. In order to prevent the tired people from being attacked by bears at night, Haffin deliberately lit more flames. Under the night, a small village seemed to appear in the north of Lake Villiers .

In fact, only twenty people slept around the campfire.

They stuck their swords and harpoons directly into the soil, kept their handaxes in their belts, and even crossbows, even though they were unstringed, had their arrows slotted in slots for immediate use.

They were on guard against a bear attack, but luckily the night was safe and sound. Except in the early morning, some people who endured sleepiness and took turns to keep watch at night claimed to have seen green light spotsthe eyes of wolves.

They rested well all day, just to relieve the extreme exhaustion caused by pushing the boat.

On the third day, Haffin's expedition continued.

It is everyone's task to explore the correct course of the Volga, but it cannot be forced. If it is a great river, its beginning must have been a small river. As many rivers flow into Lake Valdai, there are bound to be more rivers flowing into the unnamed Great Lake before us.

The names of lakes and rivers are often given by the discoverers, or they are named according to the characteristics of their environment.

Valdai means "a lot of water", and as the longboat drifted southward, Haffen and his fellows couldn't help feeling collectively: "Sure enough, the new lakeside is even bigger than Valdai."

"What can we call it?" Huffin excitedly held the paddle with both hands and kicked Gorm, who was busy writing: "Boy, what is the name of this lake? Is it the great lake discovered last year?"

"Don't kick me! Maybe..." Gorm looked left and right: "I don't know the general environment here. Maybe it is."

"What is your name?"

"Villiers."

"What's that? Weird name."

"The name given by the Slavs is called more water."

"Inexplicable." Hafen thought it would be named after a certain god, but it turned out that the naming was so simple and rude, so he didn't want to talk nonsense.

The lonely longboat has been drifting south along the western shore of the Great Lake. At this moment, the southerly wind is constantly blowing. Although the oarsmen feel very comfortable, they have personally removed the masts and sails that are in the way. Now they suddenly feel that they are too stupid .

"Damn, if we can lower the spinnaker, why do we need to exhaust our arms by paddling? Sailing against the wind and breaking the line, we can easily touch the southernmost tip of the Great Lake."

At first everyone thought they would reach the southern end of the lake by continuing south, but in fact they chose the wrong direction.

The trivial lake suddenly tightened in the central region, and everyone suddenly faced the choice of three routes.

It seems that it can lead to three bays, which one is more worth exploring?

People need Haffin to make up his mind, after all, he is the boss of the operation, and the boat is also the property of his family. Hafen, who is also undecided, simply maintains the established route, and he chooses to keep the same in response to all changes.

Hafen thought so, and he continued to head south along the lake shoreline, so that they inevitably got into a large lake bay.

"It looks like there is a river ahead!" Someone with sharp eyes simply stood up and pointed at it.

Hafen squinted his eyes and stared, then asked the young Gorm: "Boy, do you know anything about this place?"

"I don't understand. It seems to be a new place. I should draw the environment here and present it to the king."

A well-regulated answer is not the answer Halfen desires.

"Forget it, let's go and see, I hope the gods will give us something different."

The long boat has already plunged deeply into the twisted river bend. It is like a nine-turn fat intestine. People who enter this place can easily lose their way.

The distorted environment won't bother Haffin, because now Rose has mastered the "compass" technology.

He halted the longboat, and it was barely swaying on the lake. The whole world is very quiet, only the sound of companions chatting, and the slight rustling of the forest not far away.

A bowl of water was scooped up in a small wooden bowl and a delicate leaf was placed on it. A thin steel needle is placed on the leaf after being rubbed vigorously on the magnet, and this is followed by the direction of the needle's slow rotation.

"Understood." Hafen patted his thigh and pointed to the obvious river mouth not far away: "The river mouth is in the west, and we are already drifting southwest."

Natural magnetite is not uncommon, and with it, the compass that has long been floated on water has become the first compass of the Ross people under the popularization of Rurik. are extremely important.

"We're camping at the mouth of the river?" Gorm said anxiously. "You'll have to give me some time to map."

"Alright. Brothers, it's time to rest."

But Haffin who spoke didn't yet know what his resolution meant, because the estuary was not ordinary.

As the longships gradually entered the estuary, the situation changed dramatically. At first, everyone believed that countless rivers were pouring water into the winding lake in front of them. This is true, but not absolute.

The Great Lakes certainly have outlets for the flow of water, perhaps linking it to the legendary main course of the Volga.

As a result, the estuary was a leak at all, and people were shocked to find that the boats drifted slowly towards it without paddling at all.

"What's going on here? We're going to drift into the river. Gorm! Do you know this river?" The surprised Hafen panicked, he looked left and right, and the boat completely entered the unnamed river, obviously facing The west drifts away.

"I don't know! Uncle Hafen, where are we going?"

"Damn it, I'm obviously the one asking you!"

The water flow in the estuary is relatively turbulent, and there are large and small stones at the bottom of the river with the naked eye.

Although the ship in such an environment would not be dangerously drifting in the rapids, the speed at which the ship hit the west could catch up with the horse.

"Now we can't dock at all." The well-informed Haffin had to order everyone: "All draw up the oars, and we are free to drift."

The bottom of the river is full of stones. Fortunately, the draft of the longboat is very shallow, and the keel and bottom ribs are made of oak, and a small bilge keel is installed to prevent the side-to-side swaying.

Gorm couldn't write anything for the time being, so he had to use his eyes to see everything that happened to him as clearly as possible.

They were still forced to drift in the setting sun, but fortunately the water flow finally eased and the river became wider.

The most reassuring thing for everyone is that all the boulders at the bottom of the river have disappeared, and it has been completely replaced by silt.

They finally got safety and built a camp in no man's land. For safety reasons, Hafen asked everyone to light more bonfires.

What to do next? Where did everyone drift to? Where does this river end?

Hafen is the boss of action, and no one likes such a fantastic drift, but everyone can only listen to his arrangements when they fall into this world.

By the campfire, with the water float he was able to make sure the river was still heading west.

The river channel is indeed wide. If you continue to think about it, some wonderful possibilities come to mind.

Haffn called men, women, and children to him, and that little boy, Gorm.

"Don't worry, any river will eventually flow into the sea. No matter what kind of trouble we encounter, the worst thing we can do is to enter the ocean and find our people easily. Now the river is extending westward, I have some doubts..." said There was a pause, and he looked to Gorm.

"What do you see me doing? I don't know anything about this place."

"Maybe we can drift all the way like Inlmen Lake."

This idea immediately aroused everyone's excitement, of course it is just a beautiful idea.

After a night of rest, considering that they would not have to sail with oars for a long time in the future, they did not get a good rest, and pushed the boat into the Weiming River again in the early morning of the next day.

The river had to have at least one name, and Haffin, as the leader of the operation, had the right to name it.

He leaned on the bow and looked around leisurely. At this moment, only two people were using the paddles to fine-tune the course.

Seeing that Gorm was busy writing, he thought of something. "Boy!" he yelled.

"What are you doing? Leave me alone, I'm busy."

"Still writing documents? That's fine. You just write it like this. The brothers discovered this strange river under the leadership of me, Hafen. If we can go back, tell the king that the name of the river is Hafen!"

"Well, I also want to record the Gorm River."

Halfin could see this was the kid's rebellion: , he went on yelling, "Boy, you're just a follower. Mark my words, this is Halfin River."

"Okay! Spell your name however you like..."

So Gorm recorded the name of the river "hjavoen" on birch bark paper.

But the soothing drift was only temporary, and in the afternoon they encountered rocky rapids, and the river had become extremely treacherous.

"Attention! Avoid colliding with rocks! Be careful to dodge!" All Hafen could do was to keep organizing the crew to adjust the ship's position, and had to toss and turn among the rocks.

After the thrilling voyage, they tried to rest on the shore again and found that the oak keel of the long boat had been bumped and pitted.

"Okay, don't break the boat!"

"Halfen, what shall we do next?"

What else can Hafen do? He also knows that the risks in the future will increase, and he can only grit his teeth and persevere in the face of the worries of the guys. "We've all come here, we turned back and said we're going to die, listen to me, let's keep sailing! If the ship is destroyed, we'll just build rafts and we'll keep sailing."

The next day, the long ship, whose keel was obviously damaged, continued to sail. People were uneasy, fearing that they would encounter rocky beaches again and the ship would be destroyed. For this reason, everyone stared wide-eyed.

Yesterday's dangerous river had a clear name. It was named damen, which means rocky river in Ross's Norse dialect, and it was also extended to a dam.

The "dam area" almost killed everyone, but the dangerous section of the river that everyone was most worried about never appeared again, because as multiple rivers flowed into the river, the river surface became wider and the surrounding environment became significantly lower.

Maybe it will become a big river, and it will meet another big river, and to everyone's surprise, the wide channel will start to run like a northwesterly direction. So, that good enjoyment seems to be no longer enjoyment.

Because, they have entered the river, the so-called "Swamp River", this river does not flow directly into Ilmen, but it is the last major tributary of the Lovati.

The world has become completely relieved, and the ship seems to be really drifting to the sea.

Suddenly, the group of sunbathing people is attracted by the white flowers of the narrow meadow area on the shore.

Is it actually a flock of sheep? Where the **** is this?

Until, a person with too sharp vision saw a shepherd riding a horse, and the shepherd actually had a bull's head?

No! Obviously a strange decoration.

"Bless the gods, didn't we drift to the territory of the Ostara people? Only their herdsmen like to wear horns."

Soon, speculation became reality, and more shepherds and cattle herders appeared in the city of Ostara~www.mtlnovel.com~.

There was indeed a huge body of water in the distance, and all the real dragon-headed longboats floating on the lake.

No one paid any attention to the drifting mastless longboat, which is so common in Ostara, they are regarded as ordinary fishermen.

"It's really the city of Ostara. The gods guided us to discover a new waterway!" Hafen felt that his experience was guided by the gods, but the most important thing was to enter the port here to rest and start repairing the ship immediately. Find the local nobles and report the great discoveries of the expedition to them first.

As a result, this seemingly ordinary long boat sailed into the pier on the Lovati River in the Principality of Ostara without being particularly noticed.

What they didn't know was that Rurik was in town.

Apparently Rurik knew nothing about the fantastic visitor either.

Until a soldier suddenly reported that a scribe named Gorm suddenly appeared and claimed to be seeking an audience with important Eastern intelligence.