The successive marches did not wear away the experience of the soldiers, because the river was gradually widening and everything was getting better.

Even the snow showers stopped, and the sun, which had disappeared for many days, reappeared, and the soldiers had to put on their dark glasses again.

Finally, there was a wide river in front of the Ross army!

Rurik jumped off the sled and took off his sunglasses. He looked at the right bank from the left bank, estimated its width by feeling, and couldn't help feeling: "It's unbelievable, this is the Velikaia River? It feels as wide as the Rhine River."

"This is Vilikaya, it's a long river," Olafin added.

Olafin is also extremely excited, the river is basically running north-south, his big hand is pointing north: "Let's continue walking, and finally we will reach the great city of Pskov." His big hand is pointing south again: "If you go south, We also encountered multiple small Krivi settlements."

"Crivitch?"

"That's them."

"Sure enough, they are everywhere." Rurik couldn't help pinching his beard. So far, he has a deep understanding of the power of the Krivich tribeit seems that only they are the main force of the Eastern European Slavs blooming everywhere.

He thought about it again: "Then, are we now downstream...or upstream?"

"This is already downstream. My lord, if we continue going south, we will soon encounter a village." Olafin pointed out.

"Village, if we start now, can we arrive today?"

"No. Tomorrow will be the soonest."

Rurik felt that this guy was just bored from traveling, and he spoke as if he was joking. "What does it mean to be fast? Aren't we going to walk another day?"

Ola

Fern could see that King Ross was holding back his laughter, and he smiled kindly: "That's true. But it's not a big deal to walk for a day and come across a village. Besides, we haven't been groping in no-man's land in the past days? Your Majesty Take my word for it."

"Okay. Huge Pskov..." Rurik turned his eyes to the north again, and couldn't help muttering to himself: "It seems that you and I quickly understood two meanings. The density of your villages is too scattered Nowhere near as populous as my king's Lake Ilmen."

Olafin pricked up his ears like a rabbit, and he heard King Ross's muttering clearly. "I know there is an existence named Ilmen. Since the king mentioned it and said that it is the lake of the king, maybe I should find a chance to take a look for myself."

"Oh? You've really heard of it." Rurik turned his head suddenly with joy on his face: "Could it be that you Mrs. Psko have been to Lake Ilmen in the past? Strange, if you have really been there, more than ten times in the past I don't know how many years."

"I'm telling the truth. It's just what I heard." Olafin answered simply.

The world of Eastern Europe is vast and vast, and every settlement is precious, and it is also because settlements are relatively rare, so the people have to build settlements that are far apart from each other along the river, with each settlement as the center, and another Groups of small villages exist like a planet surrounding them, forming a larger settlement.

According to Olafin's self-report, Mrs. Psko knew that there was a group of Ilmen in the north through the people of Riga, Polotsk and Smolensk.

The local Slavs in Pskov have a little affection for those Ilmens, everything comes

From the description of the Smolensk people: a group of rebels from the tribe fled the village. They are Krivich people, but they live with the locals of Lake Ilmen.

Olafin recounted these pasts, and couldn't help asking: "My lord, are there any Krivichs in your great lake?"

"Yes. Of course there are." Rurik almost burst into laughter, casually recited the names of several obviously Slavic males to the cavalry who tied their horses to their sleds.

Most of the soldiers had to leave the temporary camp where the army rested, and stood in front of Rurik one after another.

"Look," he said to Olafin, "these are my favorites. They are the descendants of the Creviches in the north, as you have heard. The chiefs of their villages are all sons of boyars. They will also inherit the Boyar title in the future."

"Ah?! That is to say, I am marching with them these days?" Olafin did not expect it to be so.

"That's right." Rurik said proudly, and then ordered these people to step back and rest.

He looked at Olafin's face again: "Let's talk about anything at rest tonight, now you just need to tell me, if our army goes down the river, will the village we encounter accept us? I mean , I am very worried that they will instinctively run away when they see the army."

"It's something the king is worried about, but I can act as a lobbyist to reassure them. And the king...maybe it should be the same as when Riga was treated, the army camped in the open space outside the village."

Rurik nodded: "I won't disturb the birds in the forest, those villagers can rest assured. By the way, what's the name of the village?"

"Thank you Pokrut."

"Twisting the name.

what for? "

"It's just... twisting multiple strands of flax into one strand. The locals grow flax and are good at making rope."

Hearing Olafin's description, Rurik pondered silently: "Twisting hemp thread into a rope is an important craft! Isn't their village just Nianzhuang?"

Rurik gave the phased goal a concise and concise name - Nianzhuang.

Or in Nordic terms, it is directly called "Rope Village".

"Could it be that those villagers live by making rope?"

"Naturally they also cultivate the land." Olafin hastily added, "How can they survive only by making ropes." He suddenly thought that since King Ross asked about this, he might have something for that village: "So, Your Majesty intends to get the rope from the locals?"

"Not bad. Besides, my expedition does need a lot of rope. I don't care who produces it, as long as it can be made and I can own it, this kind of person should be rewarded."

Olafin knew a little bit, and immediately patted his chest: "Don't worry, my lord, please appoint me as an envoy, and I will persuade the village of Pokrutishe to surrender to you. Moreover, I will also persuade them to sell all the ropes to Ross .

"Very well, let's wait and see."

Because for nautical behavior, cables are extremely important consumables. Thin cables are woven into large nets, which can be made into giant net bags for trawling fishing operations. This is one of the most efficient means of catching the Baltic cod in today's era.

Countless material products need to be tied with ropes, and the sails of ships need it to be realized. Sailors sleep in sleeping bags made of ropes at night, hanging like cocoons to sleep. even it is

Part of the weapons of war! Because the torsion slingshot, the most widely used heavy equipment of the Ross army, its power comes from the torsion of the hemp rope.

In every large-scale battle, the Ross Army must consume a lot of rope.

Although in the Ilmen Lake District, some boyars led the people in their territories to plant flax extensively, and various villages in the Lake District also started flax planting, but all people of insight realized that the flax produced by Rose could not satisfy the needs of the people. own needs.

In particular, flax production capacity could not fully meet the needs of the army.

It is also thanks to the leather skills of the Kingdom of Ross since ancient times that the production of clothes has not been inclined towards linen weaving like the most populous Slavs. The reduction of wool textiles and leather has greatly alleviated the insufficient supply of linen for the garment industry.

As long as Ross continues to develop the Ilmen Lakes, flax, which is not demanding on the soil, will grow wildly, and time will heal all troubles.

It's just that times wait for no one.

"I don't know how much inventory that Nianzhuang can have. I treat them with an attitude of peaceful transactions. Those villagers should not be afraid of my army. Anyway, these people will accept my rule in the future, and they don't show obvious hostile attitude, I have no reason to be violent with them." Rurik has such a mentality.

Adhering to this mentality, when the army camped on a flat riverside in the evening, he recruited the captains of the various banners under his command to the bonfire where he kept warm, and declared his "kingdom claim" to his beloved generals.

Extremely banner captains and even lower-ranking officers, all of them are young talents educated and promoted by King Ross. They have been educated since childhood and now serve the king.

They grew up eating the wealth of the country, and what King Ross ordered them to do, the brothers just listened and did what they were told.

Everyone swore: "We will never act recklessly, and we will never enter the village without the king's order. Those who violate it are willing to die!"

The generals spoke with certainty, and Olafin, who continued to stay by Rurik's side as a leader, was really shocked. It stands to reason that an undefended village would be robbed by the army wherever it came. What does King Ross mean? How about spending money to trade with the villagers?

Although Olafin won the request of King Ross, he himself has no malice against the village and knows the situation of the local villagers well-the villagers are all loyal to the boss of Pskov, Gore, relying on the military forces of the local Danish immigrant community. Power protection.

However, in the event of a war crisis, will Boss Gore really lead his brothers to stand up for a small village?

In the past era, it has never been heard of an army attacking a village. The first thing the villagers do is to prepare some weapons to fight against the bears that sneak into the village to eat and attack people. In addition, a batch of grain and ropes are prepared every year as tributes to Boss Gore.

In a sense, Boss Gore regards that village as a sheep that is regularly mowed.

Olafin doesn't feel sorry for Pokrutisie Village, what does the life of those people have to do with traveling businessmen like himself? It never occurred to him that King Ross could force the locals to pay a sum of tribute with his military power, and it would be too kind to spend money to buy it now.

This kindness was not even the king's personal attitude, and the whole army was forced to be kind. "Could it be that King Ross's men have become kind and good people? It is said that they have just been in Sri Lanka.

Did Molensk do a brutal killing? I really don't understand..." Olafin couldn't understand, and he didn't have the heart to understand now.

Now the entire army camps and rests as usual, and the soldiers are already extremely skilled in technology, and can quickly set up individual tents, and quickly dismantle them and pack them up when they leave. He was very happy to have the Ross warrior set up a tent for himself and his companions, and there was a big pot to cook delicious porridge for the guys.

You don't need to do anything yourself, you can live a comfortable travel life with a meal.

And the price... was simply to tell King Rus's travelers everything they knew about Pskov.

Olafin noted that the king of Rus was particularly interested in finding out what settlements were around the Velikaya River, the Mother River of the Psko Lady, along the river and its main tributaries.

As a result, Olafin listed the names of several settlements on the upper reaches of the river where the Russian army is currently camping.

Ostrova, a village built on an island in the river.

Freve, a village built on the top of the hill on the right side of the river upstream.

Vierje, a riverside village at the end of an upper tributary.

Rurik also wanted Olafin to explain more villages, but the old guy could only explain these three.

"Isn't there more? Or... are you keeping something?"

Facing King Ross's questioning, Olafin had to swear: "These are the upstream villages I know. Maybe when the king's army reaches the head of the Vilicaya River, you will find more villages. And there I've never been."

Rurik doesn't make things difficult for this man, I'm afraid he really doesn't know, after all this man

The main business of his guys is to do salt business in Riga. If this group of people is hunting for their occupation, they will have the motivation to drill into the dense river forest.

Perhaps the upper reaches should be off the beaten track.

According to what Olafin said, the vast majority of Mrs. Psko lived in the city by the lake, where there was a large piece of fertile grassland washed out by two big rivers. Over the years, she did not worry about the lake flooding and damaging the site. A large number of villages have sprung up on a flat road.

This explanation is very sufficient. A flat and fertile farming area by the lake is the most fertile farmland that the Slavs in Northeast Europe can find in this era.

A new day comes in peace.

The climate is still cold, but it is no longer as harsh as before. Everyone can feel that some kind of abnormal change is taking place in the earth, as if spring is coming.

In fact, spring in Northeast Europe will not come until a full two months later.

Counting the days, it is indeed the end of January in the Julian calendar.

The long land action, even if the reindeer army is running wildly on various frozen rivers, it still wastes too much time, which is far less enjoyable than sailing in warm periods.

The Russian army kept running at a constant speed towards the village of Pokrutische that Rurik had learned about, which was Nianzhuang, which he jokingly called.

Orafin and his men went ahead and rushed into the village on a reindeer sleigh.

There are only four hundred people in this village, and the Pskov area in this era has been called a "large settlement".

Since ancient times, the villagers' attitude towards winter has been to stay at home as much as possible to keep warm, because they are immigrants from Krivich, and they are obsessed with building wooden houses, but they are hindered by the inferior production tools.

The quality of the wooden houses they built was too leaky. The people used moss, withered grass and even broken ropes to plug the gaps, but because they were not good at making chimneys, they always made a mess when they cooked wheat and frozen fish in winter. The house was smoky.

The villagers have long adapted to this kind of life, they don't know that the locals in Novorosberg, Novgorod in Ross live in nice houses with wooden floors and fireplaces, what they know is that they live in Pskov The Gore boss, the powerful man, also lives in the big longhouse that the Varyags are used to.

Maybe the gods treat everyone equally, even the noble boss Gore usually sleeps on the ground.

The difference is that the villagers sleep on thatch and linen blankets, while the elder Gore sleeps on leather blankets.

The villagers are quite familiar with Olafin and his group, or they are familiar with all the traveling merchants.

Bringing a batch of iron axes, spearheads, and even a pack of iron arrow clusters (broken arrows from previous wars) that King Ross planned to reward, and silver coins weighing about one pound (the color is not good), Olafin, for the success of the operation, rate, also took about five pounds of salt, into the undefended village.

At the beginning of the period, some villagers working in winter were wary of the sudden appearance of reindeer sleighs. It can be seen that a familiar face immediately turned vigilance into happiness.

Pokrutisie Village is the result of many small families holding together to keep warm. There is no village head family with real power here. Every family has a person from each household, and everyone sits together to discuss.

"Hey! Isn't this Olafin the Nightcrawler? Didn't you go to the far western world to buy salt, why did you come back in winter?"

"how do you

On a sled? Where did you get the reindeer? Where is your boat? "

"Did something happen in the west? You seem to be in a hurry."

"Brothers, don't make things difficult for him. Hey! Brother Olafin, what good things did you bring this time? How much can we buy?"

After hearing the news, the villagers left their residences one after another and surrounded Olafin who had brought a batch of supplies into the village. The old guy did hide a lot of things from Rurik, and the so-called villages he could accurately mention were those he had personally visited.

In this empty world, the villages would not be so stupid as to attack the traveling merchants with their goods. They would especially exchange a large amount of local products in exchange for salt. From the standpoint of the villagers, they wish businessmen would frequent their remote villages.

Olafin and these villagers are just in an ordinary relationship of buying and selling houses, but the simple villagers don't regard this lucky star as an outsider.

However, when the old guy mentioned that the huge army had already left Chen Bing's village, he undoubtedly surprised the villagers.

Since they had never seen Bingxuan before, all the villagers could imagine was that a so-called stronger group of Varyags was coming, and they would come and demand tribute like the boss of Gore. The hateful thing is that everyone has already paid a batch of tributes during the autumn period, so is it necessary to give a batch of tributes to the new foreign strongman?

Facing the increasingly pessimistic discussion, Olafin stood on the sled and appealed to all the villagers: "Everyone, don't panic. What you are facing is the conqueror of the northern world, King Ross of Varyag! Ross The king is benevolent, that's why his army is stationed outside the village. The king swears to the gods that he will not enter your village and will never invade your life.

you

Let's see! Everything I have here is a gift from King Ross to you! King Ross likes you very much, if you can swear allegiance to King Ross, you can get them. Let's see! There are iron axes, spearheads, arrowheads, and salt. There's even money! "

Olafin showed what he brought one after another, emphasizing "this is a gift" each time he showed.

Every time he showed, the crowd would cry out, and the initial atmosphere of astonishment would gradually disappear, replaced by cheers.

"However, you still have to pay a batch of tribute to prove that you sincerely surrender to King Ross. What the King wants is very simple, that is rope! Anyway, you have to sell the rope to Pskov in the spring, UU Reading www.uukanshu. comAs long as you bring all the ropes in your hands to the Ross army camp, King Ross will give you more good things. My friends! For the sake of our business for many years, please believe me once, as long as you surrender to Ross Your Majesty, everything is better."

For villages that are extremely short of iron tools, no one knows the significance of iron axes and iron spearheads better than them, and these two items alone are extremely heavy gifts. For this reason, some families would rather pay the price of selling their own flesh and blood in order to get the axe.

After all, in the eyes of the villagers, raising a new child means consuming more food, and a good ax can turn countless big trees into firewood, which can keep the whole family from freezing to death in winter. They think this kind of deal is a good deal.

However, the amount of ironware displayed by Olafin has exceeded the imagination of the villagersit seems that every family can get a share, and the price is only to swear to surrender to King Ross and hand over the worthless rope to the king.

this is a great thing

! The villagers had no doubts, so they immediately asked the village chief mentioned in the previous picture to be the speaker, and asked him to follow the old traveler Olafin to the Ross army camp not far upstream to swear allegiance to King Ross on behalf of the whole village.