Otto had no intention of disturbing the miscellaneous people in the village, and didn't even bother to spend the night here.

Kaijas, as a landlord, wants to take care of these unaffected Ross people. He complimented: "Leader, I invite you to live in my village. I will... offer women to reward your warriors. ."

woman? To be honest, Otto was suddenly excited, and he thought about it carefully, this should not be done, at least not in the current juncture.

"Don't say this, I only want leather." With that, he looked at the sun in the sky, "It's not too late. Let's get the leather and leave. Let all the people you hide behind come back."

"Oh! You are so kind." Kaihas was sober that he would not encounter other evils. He is actually prepared. If the Ross people make some rude requests, as a weak person with extremely weak strength, he is willing to lose some dignity in order to survive.

All the leather is placed in the hill fort, which is the fort on the mound that was quickly breached by the Rus.

Otto took a group of brothers this time, holding swords and axes, and carrying some empty sacks, intending to revisit the old place.

Another group of soldiers, led by Rurik, were actually mercenaries, and their characters were to watch the returning ships.

Kejas himself has no power to restrain the chicken. Otto doesn't have to watch out for this dying old guy, but those young people really need to watch out. If there are young people in Corvin who are dazzled by anger and wait for an opportunity to destroy the ship, the return journey will become a hassle.

"Let's go, brothers." Otto said hello, followed by the cheerful soldiers.

Kejas coughed for a while, and then spit out the old phlegm, he was obviously suffering from some diseases, so Otto felt that this person was really going to die? No, can he die? Kejas is a tool man. If this man dies suddenly, who will cover tax in the future?

Otto asked spoiltly: "Are you really sick?"

"No, it's just a bit of wind and cold." After all, Kaihas coughed again.

"Then you are not dead. Listen, if you are really dead, you have to recommend a successor to me before you die. If you don't do it, I will pick someone from the gray squirrel tribe."

Hearing, Kehas's face suddenly paled, and he shook his cane: "Don't do this! I choose! I will choose a puppy who is loyal to you."

"Count you smart."

In fact, all of Kaijas's sons have died, either because of illness, or died in the war with the Ross people last year. He became a complete lonely family, and even his last little daughter was taken away by the Rus as a slave.

Who is the right successor in this situation? There are not many men in the tribe, and there are even fewer strong and promising men. Since a large number of people in the tribe are his own distant relatives, there is nothing wrong with choosing a nephew to succeed him. What would this successor think of the Rus? At least, don't think of stupidly resisting them.

Otto couldn't be more familiar with the path to the mountain fort. After speaking, he took his brothers up the mountain.

"Come on, Kejas, I hope you can still walk."

"I'm leaving now!"

Kejas was physically weak and he was far from dead. He hurriedly led his tribe to catch up with the Rus army, just when he noticed a pair of boys and girls out of the corner of his eyes.

The two children were surrounded by a group of mercenaries and gathered near the Rus ship. A bonfire has been lit, and this group of people are surrounding it to warm the fire.

Needless to say the boy, the beautiful golden ponytail impressed Kejas as early as last year. That was Rurik, a beautiful and magical boy.

As for the girl, Kaijas is also very familiar.

She is the youngest daughter of the hostile gray squirrel tribe leader, Saiporava. Seeing that the two children are so close, it is like a stone is pressing on her heart. How can Kaihas be uncomfortable to describe.

He burst into power while on crutches, and hurried to catch up with the team, he didn't dare to ask Otto himself directly. Now that the Finn mercenary serving as the translator was in the climbing team, he boldly leaned forward: "My daughter, Lumi. She is okay."

"You? You actually asked me?" Jeflo was surprised. "You should ask the leader."

"I dare not embarrass him."

"So you embarrass me?"

"Then... leave it alone. Let's continue on our way." Kejas was a little frustrated. The last daughter was taken away by them. Now Rumi is still alive.

Seeing Kehas's frustrated face, Jeflo was a little bit overwhelmed: "That girl is fine, she will be a priest."

"Huh? Is this true?"

"It's true."

"I... thought she could only be a slave."

It was inconvenient for Jeflo to answer this matter. The little girl named Lumi did not see him again after the team returned to Roseburg. Because the priests always stayed in the long room, he only saw this little girl in a plain robe, Kewen, in previous sacrifices.

Jeflo didn't want to disturb Otto, much less to disturb Rurik.

He deliberately said: "Your daughter is very clever, she will be a good priest, and now she is a servant of the Ruth people who believe in gods. The Ruth people pay attention to contracts. As long as you truly surrender, you can get security and even some rewards. ."

So far, Kehas did not ask any more questions. He wanted to see his daughter again in his lifetime, maybe it was a luxury.

A large amount of leather and food are stored in the cold cellar in the mountain fort. The cellar basically achieves constant temperature and humidity throughout the year. It is a natural refrigerator. First, it stores the smoked fish meat from the Salmon Lord tribe overwintering, and secondly, it stores the leather that is exchanged for daily necessities by the Southern Finns.

So far, after being exploited by the Rus, how much leather can the tribe still bring to the south for trading?

The tribesmen of Kewen are good at catching squirrels with trip nets. They will spread traps widely, and the harvest is often a large number of stiff corpses that die from exhaustion in the struggle. Compared with the gray squirrel tribes who are forced to emigrate and are good at shooting squirrels, the Salmon Lord tribe can only catch them by this method. Fortunately, the squirrel skins peeled off are all top-quality goods with no holes.

Otto once again saw a huge number of squirrel skins.

To count 10,000 pieces of leather is actually very easy, because the locals obviously processed the leather first and made a little "packaging" for the convenience of air drying.

They cut off the squirrel's head and all claws, and cut off the leather with the highest efficiency.

This kind of leather is first scattered to air or dry, and finally stringed together in groups of ten with hemp rope.

All squirrels are "Eurasian red squirrels". The weight of wild species is usually only 300 grams. The thick, extremely soft and dense fur is brownish-red, hiding in the rotten wood piles in the Finnish forests, which is the best camouflage. color.

Shooting these vigilant squirrels has tested the level of bow hunters, and a wide range of traps is a good way to catch them.

Living squirrels are very light, so how heavy can the peeled fur weigh?

Last winter, the Ross people of Sorgon brought back thousands of squirrel skins, and they were weighed by the balance. It was often twelve lengths of leather to make up a pound. Therefore, a string of leather does not even have a pound, and the weight of as many as a thousand strings of squirrel skins together is over three hundred kilograms. Measured by the Roman pounds that the Ross people are accustomed to, their total weight is close to one thousand pounds.

The Ross people took these leathers easily, and they saw a large amount of dried fish that the Corvin people used to accumulate in the cellar. After all, they are the chief salmon tribe, and they are obviously better at catching fish than catching squirrels.

Standing in the mountain fort, Otto also learned of what Kejas did not long ago, that is, laying a large number of nets on the river, and catching a batch of salmon upstream, almost a package of food for the tribe to survive the winter. problem.

It's all because of Lake Oulu in the upper reaches of the river, which is a spawning ground for large salmon populations. The Salmon Lord tribe has a small population, and the amount of salmon needed to feed hundreds of people is not large, and the harm to the entire population is minimal.

However, Otto learned of the news, and a thought came to his mind.

They actually fished so efficiently? Or did the fish suddenly emerge from the sea? So why don't I set up a big net at the mouth of the river to fish for fish? Oh, the salmon tide is actually September.

In terms of food alone, Otto knows that the long-term food source of the Ross people is all kinds of fish. Grains and vegetables are a long-term addition to life.

Even if the Ross people begin to have the ability to obtain a large amount of wheat, fish meat is still an extremely important part of ordinary people's recipes, even those shark meat that tastes extremely abnormal, ordinary people do not want to discard it.

Otto recalled his son's idea of establishing a settlement in the estuary, maybe he really had to consider it.

Just as a group of people stood on the mountain fort, a small group of daring tribesmen quietly slipped from their hiding place to the village. Those were women with children. They were afraid to approach the small group of Roths among the lakeside wanderers.

Rurik naturally saw them too. He had no idea about this group of women and children, because he was thinking about another thing, that is, the "art of governance."

The sun is still hanging in the blue sky, but it has a tendency to sink.

Do you want to stay in this village for one night? Rurik knew that Dad didn't plan to do this. He understands the old man's thoughts. After the so-called night, who knows whether there is a daring scientific man to launch a sneak attack? With so many people dead, would all the scientific and scholars be willing to kneel down?

Rurik can believe that Kaihas is willing to surrender. He believes that this guy will not act rashly because of his daughter Rumi being a hostage, and other Kewen people are not aware of it. The night will stun the eyes of the Ross people, and the tiredness will weaken the strength of the Ross people. It is not a good choice to stay here overnight.

As for the place to spend the night, there are many small and soothing meadows on both sides of the Oulu River, and there are inexhaustible pine trees in the surrounding forest, which is a good place for camping.

But the Rus must rule here for a long time. Otto completed the conquest by force. Of course, military deterrence cannot make the conquered completely surrender. They need to eat a little carrot to rest assured. To give them some rewards, especially material rewards, Rurik felt it was very necessary.

His azure blue eyes naturally saw the three bags of wheat in the cabin that were used as food for the journey.

Every soldier and mercenary carries some wheat cakes with them, which is dry food that will not leave their hands to help soldiers not starve to death in a short time under crisis conditions.

Three packs of wheat are really too much, and Rurik doesn't doubt that his people will open their stomachs and eat them thoroughly in the only sleepy night.

Rurik made up his mind. After seeing and accepting the 10,000 pieces of leather, he could reward Kejas with some wheat as a gift.

They finally came back. The sack full of leather was carried by the Ross soldiers. As they were thrown into the cabin, Rurik persuaded his father to inspect the goods beforehand.

"Huh? Are you still worried about them cheating?" Otto asked in surprise.

"Nothing, I just want to touch the leather."

The knotted sack was opened, and the delicate touch of the soft squirrel skin made Rurik's whole body crisp.

Without him, the skin of squirrels is thin and delicate. The biggest disadvantage is that the area is too small. It is usually processed into linings such as gloves, boot pads, and even hard leather clothing and leather armor, which is really not mainstream leather. It is an excellent auxiliary leather, but once the quantity is huge, the leather is washed, cut, stitched, and put together into a soft blanket. It is very comfortable to sleep wrapped in it.

"Have you seen enough?" Otto saw that his son was very serious, and couldn't help but continue to excitedly say: "Look, this place can provide us with a lot of squirrel skins, and we can make a lot of money if we ship them to Mellaren!"

Rurik felt that Dad was showing off, but his words seemed very low.

Rurik deliberately sighed: "I just don't know if they can keep the tribute of 10,000 a year."

"Of course they can. They know the cost of betrayal."

"So they are all smart people?" Rurik stuck his pocket in, picked up the sack that was not heavy and threw it directly into the cabin, and directly ordered Jevlo to jump into the boat and take out a bag full of wheat.

"You... is this?"

"Dad, I think I need to give them some rewards. I changed my mind. Those rewards to be given to the Iron Squirrel Tribe should also be given to these people."

"Huh? Why?"

"This is called a strategy. We have defeated all the Corvin people. Now the Corvin people in Elronburg are making a lot of iron for us. According to my agreement with them, I will exchange wheat for more iron. That's why I Brought some wheat."

Otto shook his head angrily: "I thought you had something to show kindness."

"Benevolence? There is no mercy for no reason. I only hope to use this method to encourage them to continue making. Dad, you forgot, we promised to the people here to exchange ironware for a batch of their squirrel skins. We forgot to bring them. I'm afraid it's not really necessary to carry it."

"Of course you can't give them iron!" Otto said bluntly, "We must always maintain the advantage of iron."

"Yes! Compared to forcing them to pay the tribute, in my opinion, it is still through the means of trading, our gains are greater."

"Why see?"

Rurik felt that Otto should be very clear about this kind of thing, "Ah, people have the greatest enthusiasm and courage only when they feel that they are fighting for themselves. Besides, I learned at the Mellaren market that a squirrel The price of skin is often maintained at one silver coin. There is also the price of wheat. A silver coin can buy 17 pounds of wheat in a good harvest year. The actual price of Mellaren this year is eight pounds. In my opinion, one pound of wheat is exchanged for ten. Squirrel skins and other leathers are clearly priced. Are they willing to eat fish, squirrels and mushrooms forever? They must be eager to eat wheat."

Of course Otto knew the power of trade. He had experienced many battles and was old, and his mind became a bit stubborn. He really looked down on these science and scholars, and allowed them to pay tribute to save their lives as a reward given to them, should they still trade? Are they worthy? Or does it mean that my son has discovered the potential of this group of people?

Rurik's explanation really made Otto alert: "Wonderful, is there a hundred times the profit here?"

"Taking our food, I am afraid they will be grateful for our generosity and will catch squirrels harder. I am even worried that they will catch all the local squirrels in a few years."

For many things in the future, Otto's biggest thought is that his sons will grow up earlier, and the girls who have been raised will grow up smoothly and give birth to children. As long as you see your grandchildren, it means that the future of the Rus tribe is bright! That's what Otto thought.

Otto waved his hand: "You are free, after all, you have to inherit the entire tribe."

Rurik nodded understandingly.

Kaihas didn't understand a large bag of wheat, and what he didn't understand was that it was not Otto that gave the wheat, but the beautiful Rurik.

Isn't this a precious reward?

Because of geographical reasons, it is extremely rare for the Corvins to eat wheat. They can only exchange a batch from the southern Finns at a high price, so they regard oats as a treasure.

Rurik is fully equipped with the language ability to talk and laugh with Kewen people. He proudly said: "This is the reward for you. You did a good job!"

"Oh, honorable... Rrik, thank your father for me."

"No! You should thank me!" Rurik stomped his feet vigorously. "This is my personal reward for you. Now, maybe we should make a second rule. From now on, you will provide 8,000 per year as usual. A tribute of squirrel skin. Besides, for every ten more you provide, I will reward you with a pound of wheat. Don't worry, we Ross people have a lot of wheat. How about you? Do you have a lot of leather?"

"Ah?! I..." Kaihas looked flattered.

"Can you do it?"

"I can!"

"Okay, we are settled. You keep these wheat, and you may get more next fall."

The deliciousness of wheat is really unforgettable once you have eaten it. Kejas dreams of wanting to eat wheat all at once. It is really not limited by the environment. Who would be willing to eat fish every day?

Seeing that Rurik is so kind, he couldn't help but boldly ask his most concerned questions: "My...my Rumi, my daughter. She's okay..."

"She? Of course she is very good, and she eats wheat every day, and the child even ate fat." Suddenly, Rurik had an idea, "You give me a good catch of squirrels, as long as you make me happy, I will treat you Brought her daughter back. Oh~www.mtlnovel.com~ I hope you still know your daughter."

"Huh? She really eats wheat every day?"

Rurik felt that Kejas was surprised and bored, "Of course, those loyal servants, both male and female, eat wheat every day. This is my reward to the loyal. Kaijas, do you have a hound? ? Will you abuse your hound?"

"Oh! You...really kind."

What Rurik explained was a fact, especially for children who were destined to be priests like the girl Rumi, and the food level was always good on weekdays. A large amount of wheat entered Roseburg, and a considerable part of it had to enter the mouths of the group of children raised by Rurik. Grain, fat, meat and some vegetables were all indispensable.

Rurik didn't clearly state the standard of food, and merely suggested that "Lumi drinks oatmeal almost every day", which shocked an old father's heart.

So what does Kaihas think?

At least this Rurik is a more benevolent conqueror than Otto. As Finn Jeflo said, Rurik talks about contracts, so he must cherish this hard-won contract.