Chapter 1318 Governor of Novosmolensk

Could a hot meal force serfs and tenant farmers to be grateful?

Rurik did not expect this at all.

These people witnessed the killings of the Russian army during the day, and now they are also under the surveillance of the powerful Russian garrison. They still don't know what the future will bring.

To break an old order, it can be easily accomplished with the help of a fast horse and a scimitar. Establishing a new order is not easy, especially since the Russian army entered the upper reaches of the Dnieper River as conquerors and relied on brutal killings, so it was really unable to convince the local people.

Now that the main settlement of Smolensk is integrated with Gniezdovo downstream of the river, Rurik intends to complete his radiating rule over the entire region by firmly controlling these two settlements.

Of course, Rurik himself couldn't be the governor here, but he couldn't just walk away after killing them.

It's not too early and I don't want to play, but it may be a little late to start back to the capital city of New Roseburg to participate in this winter's High Priest.

It has been a while since that long snowfall, and the long period of sunny weather has given rise to some illusions. Since there has been no snowfall for a long time, it will definitely be sunny in the future, but the temperature will still be very low.

It is simply inevitable that the weather will change.

The sun gradually fades away, and the world returns to its gray appearance.

All people stationed in Smolensk are sure that a new snowfall process is not only brewing, but also that heavy snow is coming, and everyone must find suitable houses to escape the snowstorm.

Several days have passed since the raid and killing, and the time has entered December in the Julian calendar.

Hanukkah is approaching. It is a big festival that routinely worships Odin. Due to the changing customs after Rus moved eastward, it is also a festival that worships the Slavic god of fire.

"Why don't I just welcome the year 843 in Smolensk?" he thought.

At first, the serfs and tenant farmers who ate the food given by the Russian army thought that the reward would be only once. They never thought that starting from the next day, they would begin to enjoy regular food quotas.

They really don't understand that their family's identity in the past was just a serf who dug the land for the master. Why does the new master continue to provide food to everyone in the country now?

When you are given food, take it. When you get it, cook it and enjoy it immediately.

For many days, the people have been receiving food from the "Russian gangsters", and the troops have no longer invaded the shabby villages. They only occupied the mansions of the former nobles and set up the blue and white flag of the Russians in them to declare that they were independent. *.

Rurik did not want the army to offend those inferior people, so Rurik showed subjective goodwill and verbally restrained the army soldiers for this reason.

Objectively speaking, the Russian army and allied armies do not intend to attack those poor and thin serfs, at least not now.

A very practical reason is that the biggest purpose of the army in capturing prisoners of war is to become slaves. If all the captured slaves are sick, doesn’t it mean that the masters must give them good food to replenish their health? People are not willing to pay for the upfront investment in food.

Besides, King Rurik had already declared his ownership of the slaves.

No money, just slaves and granaries. Rurik was not really generous to the soldiers. The loot he asked for was very purposeful, and it was not a short-term plunder of gold, silver and gems from local nobles.

Gradually the slaves relaxed their vigilance towards the conquerors.

Some slaves who escaped earlier came back one after another after seeing that the riverside plain area was actually peaceful, and that villages large and small did not suffer military disasters, and began to receive food gifts from the Russians.

Giving food to poor slaves was unthinkable and incomprehensible to the free farmers.

Are Russians stupid? Are Russians kind? Or is there a hidden conspiracy?

This has been observed for several days in a row. The free farms in remote areas are in a dilemma. They envy the rebels for getting food, but they are also worried that if they surrender, they will still be destroyed. As for fleeing, they will immediately face a crisis of survival. At this tangled moment, local people had to make a choice.

"Perhaps taking refuge with the Russians is not a bad thing. Even if the new Russian nobles are the same as those descendants of Rome, they will

It’s also possible for everyone. "Many free farms have reached such a collective consciousness, and they also subconsciously hope for a peaceful future.

One after another, the speakers they recommended began to adopt the attitudes of the villagers, and they had private conversations and secret meetings in the woods to discuss.

These serial actions were not under the control of the Ross Army, and no scouts were even informed of this situation.

Villages of all sizes are hidden in the forest. They must have settled adjacent to the tributaries of various rivers. The tributaries of this section of the Dnieper River are densely packed, and the villages are relatively well distributed.

Rurik and his army knew almost nothing about the people's sentiments in this area. Even if there were surrenders like Hagen, because the small communities organized by Varyag merchants were close to the main settlements, they had no intention of exploring various rivers and ditches. , and nothing is known about the size of the Slavic population in this area.

But it is undeniable that with the vast area of ​​​​the riverside plain, the large tracts of farmland and clusters of buildings that are already visible to the naked eye, Rurik is willing to believe that 30,000 people can live at the top of this place.

As for the current population shrinking to what it is now, it's all because of the war.

A new snowfall process has begun, and before that Rurik has ordered the army to complete the diversion.

A group of troops, especially the wild and untamable Pecheneg troops, happily returned to the Gniezdovo camp with their share of the spoils. Beyathil and her people withdrew. As a woman of the king, she now has to exist as a female general.

Even though she was married to Rus and her identity was recently updated to Countess Demyansk, she was still the biological sister of the Khan of the Pecheneg Khanate. It is her identity that can calm all the prairie brothers who come all the way to the north.

Instead of capturing new slaves, the prairie cavalry captured a large amount of grain and a large number of very practical daily necessities. Naturally, they also captured a number of iron weapons, such as hand axes and short swords, which immediately became the secondary weapons of the cavalry.

Some Eastern Roman silver coins and Eastern dinar silver coins were divided between Bejahir and Quetzal. Ordinary steppe warriors must obey their masters, and the two Pecheneg nobles here basically divided up the most valuable spoils.

Beyathil took the money and used it to fund the construction of his Earl Kingdom. With the money, Quetzal would naturally go shopping in Ross's market and deliver urgently needed supplies to his hometown on the grassland.

The steppe people left, and now the steppe cavalry, the most subjective and difficult to control, left the populous Smolensk.

Five thousand soldiers attacked the army, and the stationed troops were cut in half.

Even so, the most combative and destructive cavalry unit in inland warfare was led by Rurik himself and firmly stationed in the large settlement on the Smolensk Riverside Plain.

And another nobleman from Old Ross is also here.

He was none other than Arik Ogiersson, Rurik's cousin.

A new snowfall has begun...

The north wind howled outside, and it snowed heavily overnight.

Fortunately, all the occupied noble residences have become Ross barracks, and each flag team has sufficient rooms to live in. The war horse is the glory of the cavalry. In order to protect these outstanding comrades, the war horse is directly invited to a house that is supposed to be occupied by people, and continues to feed oats, so that the soldiers and war horses can stay in the warm room and directly participate in the snowfall process of this round. Finish.

Day after day, as long as the wind and snow don't stop, people hide in their rooms and hibernate like bears.

The Russian army can continue to eat and drink in the warmer old aristocratic mansion. Although staying with the war horses has to face the smell of horse manure every day, it will be fine if you get used to it. After all, when it comes to the smell, it doesn't matter if you don't wash your clothes for a long time. The smell of sweat and body odor on everyone who takes a shower is bad.

Things were as bad as ever for the serfs, but faced with completely new circumstances, it was fair to say that the situation they faced was greatly improved.

Because it started to snow, the Russian army distributed more food to these people. It was estimated that there were five members in a serf family, so each of them was given an average of twenty pounds of grain. On weekdays, these people don't eat much. Twenty pounds of food is enough to feed a family for a week.

Can the snowfall last another week? Maybe.

Rurik since

Based on my own experience, it is estimated that large-scale snowfall will last for at least a week. The Smolensk region is further south but also deeper inland. The winter here will be colder. One thing that is different from the hometown in the north is that the hilly areas and dense forests greatly weaken the harshness of the Arctic wind. Overall, it is actually colder. Slightly better than the Gulf of Bothnia in the north.

At least the Ross army had some crowd games.

Playing card series, or playing cards that Juerik has completed the reproduction. Since the Kingdom of Rus mastered the "birch bark papermaking technology", birch bark, which had long been discovered by the Slavs to have writing potential, was promoted to a serious paper.

The printing technique of wooden movable type was subsequently replicated by Rurik, and new things derived from printing techniques also became popular, such as playing cards. All this happened many years ago, and after years of development, it is now showing a trend of hundreds of flowers blooming.

However, the Danish brothers from the Gulf of Riga brought a chess-like game called Talf. It is more popular in the Danish world, but it is novel in the Mälaren Lake District of Sweden today. The Ross tribe who lived further north also knew little about it in the past.

Men's happiness is often very simple. Ross's standing cavalry, who owns war horses and is good at riding and shooting, does not hesitate to play arrow and pot games in addition to playing cards. These games are bound to have a lucky draw, and the blocking comes from everyone. Silver coins plundered from the hands of nobles.

Games make the boring snowstorm gathering more fun.

Rurik is naturally not exempt from vulgarity. Everyone can always find some fun playing cards, throwing pots, competing with flying axes, and throwing daggers with his subordinates.

Of course, he had a motive for leaving his eldest brother Arik and a group of veterans of the First Banner Corps in Smolensk, and Arik had somewhat guessed his intention.

Otherwise, I would not have asked myself before marching: Are you willing to defend the newly conquered land and people for Ross?

At that time, Arik won casually. Thinking about it after the war, this might not be a bad thing, but staying in Smolensk was actually a bit far away from his hometown.

So what if it’s far? Real warriors, real explorers don’t dwell on this one.

But Arik still had some regrets. If he really stayed in Smolensk, he would definitely miss next year's expedition to Frank. The eldest son Askard has been fighting in the Frankish world, so that boy may grow into a real man immediately, but...

Arik envied his eldest son very much. As for him, he was actually in Smolensk in the far east. One father and son were in the west of the known world, and the other was in the east. Could it be that this was the arrangement of the gods.

The youngest son Gil is still with him. After participating in long expeditions in the summer, this boy participated in the large-scale winter war at a young age. Gil has never killed an enemy, and he is indeed unable to do so at such a young age. But his experience of working with the army can really be cited.

Suddenly, Arik felt that he was being marginalized.

Not only was he deliberately marginalized by his younger brother who was the king, but he was also inferior to his three sons. The eldest son Askard went on an expedition to the Franks, the second son Gustav, who was born as a concubine, was destined to become a big businessman, and the future of the younger son Gil was also immeasurable.

"Only me. I'm not young anymore..."

Arik is a full twelve years older than Rurik, and he is already thirty-five years old. Even though he is now in the prime of life, this peak state has inevitably gone downhill. A man who can live to be seventy years old must be blessed by the gods. He believes that the old leader Otto, who carries the mission given by the gods, has also been blessed with a long life. He is still alive today despite being extremely old.

According to traditional wisdom, a man who lives to be fifty should consider his own affairs. It is not common for a man to live to be sixty.

Since he was nineteen years old, he led most of the strong youths of the Ross tribe to launch the first revenge operation. Now Arik has been fighting continuously for sixteen years.

Such great achievements have not received a clear title of nobility. Until now, he has only been the flag captain of the first flag team of the citizen soldiers and the lord of Mstisk City. Although he is the city lord, because Mstisk is like a replica of the old Rossburg, the folks in his hometown live a life that is basically the same as in their hometown. As the city lord, Arik does not need to yell at all, everyone can do it themselves.

You can take care of yourself well.

He does not hold real power. Although he has the nickname "Two Swords" in the kingdom, everyone knows him as a famous berserker, not only because he is the nephew of the old king and the cousin of the new king. He has not yet truly become the leader of a party, and everyone knows this.

It was a calm snowy night.

The little boy Gil was very attached to his uncle the king, and he also ran into the arms of his father Arik, running back and forth like this.

Sitting on the floor in the room were all the cavalry flag captains. As always, everyone sat together, eating meat and oatmeal.

They also seized a batch of ale, which had a rather sour taste. As expected, they found many large oak barrels containing kvass. Obviously, the nobles are very particular about it. Even the raw material for brewing kvass is rye bread. Its sour, sweet, sticky and foamy taste adds joy to any life.

Rurik summoned his brothers for this matter, especially his cousin, who was the first to announce the important event in the small circle.

Everyone drank some wine and kvass, and when they felt comfortable, Rurik started talking.

"Now that we have ruled this place. After taking control of the residence of the nobles, the next step is to force the free residents nearby to surrender. I don't want to force them to surrender by force. I believe that time. Time will make them accept the new order."

Arik was very alert and immediately asked: "What kind of order is it? Establish a new principality and entrust the nobles to govern this place."

Looking at his cousin's eyes, Rurik guessed something: "Brother, I won't say any more! The matter is very simple. I hope you are brave enough to station in Smolensk with some troops."

"Me? Haha, no problem."

"Answer so simply?"

"What else?" Arik winked hard at his brother: "Of course I will help you if you are brave. Don't worry, I will guard this place firmly. Those who surrender are our cattle and sheep, so they must be protected naturally. As for rebellion Anyone else will be killed by me. I think that’s what you want me to do.”

"That's true." Rurik nodded: "Now that you know everything, brother, things will be easier to handle. I will not establish a principality or county in Smolensk. The land here is more fertile and has a large population, and it is adjacent to the Dnieper River. It can be developed into an important trading city. All the past grievances between the Smolensk people and the Yinmen people in the north should end here! I will be the Governor's Mansion here."

"Governor's Palace? So, I am the Governor? Haha. I have no complaints." Arik smiled.

"Very good. It seems that you really listened to what I said a few days ago."

"Of course. You... often hide something when you speak, which makes me have to think about something. Then..." As he said, Arik pulled his youngest son Gil to his side: "As a rule, the governor cannot be hereditary. Look at how cute you are. My little nephew, he is so cute. He participated in the Eastern expedition at a young age and was really at the source of the Musta River. Now he is standing in Smolensk again. I am already old. When my beard turns gray, your My nephew will grow up. In my opinion, he can succeed as governor, what do you think?"

"Oh?" Rurik narrowed his eyes slightly: "Brother, you are obviously very young."

"Since you want me to be the governor and stay here far away from my hometown. You have to fulfill this little long-cherished wish of mine. At least my youngest son must be the next generation governor. Just like Cornuson's son..."

The Connuson mentioned by Aric is an old man. As the governor of the capital city of New Roseburg, his position has been replaced by his eldest son.

Young Konuson manages the security of the capital very well, and this is not hereditary. As a descendant of Old Rus, Young Konuson is indeed one of his own family. He does have management skills, and he does not hesitate to lead the Second Banner during the war. lake.

It was Rurik who appointed Konuson the younger as governor, and he always had the power to appoint the governor.

Rurik nodded, waved his hand, and summoned his nephew Gil, who was smiling and didn't know what was going on. He held him in his arms to prove his affirmation to his cousin. "Of course. Gil is very talented. He can manage Smolensk well in the future. He will be a very good governor. Of course! Brother, you are also a very good governor. I trust you.

, everyone must also trust you. "

The king had spoken, and the cavalry captains who were born in Old Ross naturally laughed and congratulated each other.