Chapter 1,330 The Priests of New Roseburg

Year after year, compared to the hustle and bustle of the city, the place of the temple should be a sacred and refined place.

Although the temple of the Ross tribe in the past was simple and the priest's residence and other residential buildings were not too special, it was defined as a "sacred area". It is the so-called holy territory. If anyone wanders into it by mistake, it will be disrespectful and they will be punished by the gods. Punishment may not be carried out at the moment of setting foot in the forbidden area. Even if there is no sudden bolt from the blue, the gods will definitely bring disasters in the days to come.

For example, using a blizzard to overturn the house of the disrespectful person. The disrespectful ones will be lost in hunting, attacked by wild beasts, and their fish will be devoured by Jormungandr.

However, Rose is no longer the Rose he once was.

A magnificent temple was born in New Roseburg, with gilded statues of seven gods erected high.

As long as they pay a silver coin, people can enter the worship room in the temple to worship the statue and tell their prayers. As for whether it will be effective or not...

A woman who prays to God Freya to give birth to a son will claim that the prayer is correct and the god is great if her wish comes true. If she gives birth to a daughter, she can only say that it is a joke of the evil god Loki. But the child still landed safely, right? The gift of a silver coin is meaningful.

Every day, people visit the largest temple in Rus. The "incense" here is very strong, especially the women who pray to the goddess Freya to bless the safe birth of their children. They are really a huge praying group.

Although there is not a huge line of prayers, people come to pray to the gods on ordinary days. Even on the days when it continues to snow, people come in the snow to pray that Odin said that the snow will not collapse their homes. House of.

The current purchasing power of a silver coin is officially stipulated by Rurik as being exchangeable for ten pounds of wheat. The actual purchasing power is not like this. At least in the capital city in the center of the kingdom, its purchasing power is the lowest. However, in remote areas of the kingdom, one silver coin can Buy a lot.

Most of the wealthy people in the kingdom, and even some small leaders and family heads from Denmark, are willing to buy a house in the capital of Rus as a mansion, buy some small industries, and buy some goods here every year to transport back to their hometown.

Ten years is a short time. It seems like the era of conflict among the Baltic tribes still happened yesterday, and it seems as if the Danish port of Hezeby is still prosperous.

Ten years is also a long time, so long that people have greatly underestimated the purchasing power of a silver coin, so long that people think that the Russians have been a people who have eaten grilled fish and bread since ancient times.

Silver coins continued to enter the money box of the great temple, and the priests were passively amassing wealth. As for who had the final power to control it, it was naturally King Rurik.

This was Rurik's intention. High Priest Rumia always remembered her identity. In countless prayers, she completely believed in her mission.

It was destiny for Rumia to become the high priest of Rus. The people reached a consensus and the nobles believed it. After all, the most respected woman, the former high priest Vilia who died but turned into Valkyrie, identified this little slave girl as her only heir.

At that time, it was a shocking arrangement.

It has been more than ten years, and Rumia has been working diligently in office. She was a deer herder by trade and was King Rurik's first slave, and remains so to this day.

No one dared to mingle words. Rumia was the high priest, the king's eyeliner, and the symbol of royal power in the capital. There is nothing wrong with the high priest being a black-haired deer herder. The daughter she gave birth to was the eldest daughter of the king and was destined to be the next generation of high priest.

The Great Temple is no longer mysterious. It has become a bit philistine. The aloof gods can be worshiped by any mortal. The influence of the Seven Gods of Rus radiates to the entire kingdom. With the spread of the continuously printed "Russian Saga", this Russian scripture was sold nationwide with a vivid and interesting collection of stories, and Nordic beliefs were further strengthened because of it.

Although the blond Nordic people, the dark-haired Finns, and the brown-haired Slavs in the kingdom still adhere to the belief in animism, they now support Odin as the greatest god. status, even in the Lake Mälaren region of Sweden, people believe more in Thor, the god of thunder.

As for the only Slavic god, Peron, the god of fire and light, her image is similar to that of winter.

The towering fire tower of the High Priest of Hanukkah equates to the solstice. Because there is no clear god of fire in Nordic belief, borrowing a god from the Slavic world made up for one's own shortcomings and united the relationship with the largest Slavic people in the kingdom.

After all, no one can resist a bonfire in the cold winter.

"Today is another ordinary day."

Rumia got up early, put on her clothes, and hung the huge gemstone necklace Rurik made for herself on her chest.

Compared with other Russian, Swedish and Danish women, she is still short at the age of twenty-seven - her height is only equivalent to 150 centimeters.

It is this shortness that brings about a special mystical effect. It is said that when Lumia wears a deerskin coat and an antlered helmet, her whole face looks like a sacred deer standing on the altar (after wearing the helmet, the total height resembles a stag).

It turns out that the antlered helmet that the Ross tribe has treasured for generations has been put on display in the new era, but its essence remains unchanged. In principle, it will be worn by the ten-year-old Verika who is currently the deputy priest at the right time. inherit.

She tidied her clothes one last time and gathered all the lower priests in the spacious longhouse, including her daughter Verika, who was also Rurik's eldest daughter.

She arranged some work as usual, and the priests began to start today's work step by step.

There are only women in the priest system of Rus, and in principle, this system does not recruit men to join. Just because the priests are the servants of God, and the servants of God are the Valkyries, and they are all women. Now that Rurik is a person blessed by Odin, and the priests are loyal to the king, there cannot be a man.

Now, most of the people standing in front of Rumia are girls who are no more than sixteen years old, and the majority of them are around thirteen or fourteen years old. Except for Rumia, the adults here are only old women who can be counted on one hand and are trustworthy.

The old priest system of Rus was purged fourteen years ago. The deputy priests who were greedy and usurping power were executed, and the remaining priests were killed. At that time, it was the leader Otto who implemented this decisive measure, and Arik was the most decisive killer. At that time, it was announced that all priests had committed suicide to follow the death of the high priest Vilia.

Only one woman survived, the current high priest Rumia.

With Rumia as the core, a new Rus priest system was born under Rurik's design.

Those wealthy businessmen, military nobles, tribal leaders, and wealthy people are all willing to consider sending their relatively beautiful daughters to the temple for further training.

They must be beautiful, and after being selected, they can work in the Grand Temple until they reach the age of sixteen before retiring. After reaching the age, they can continue to work unless they have extraordinary qualifications.

As for those girls who brushed down, there is no need to worry. During every major festival, the Grand Temple will recruit them. Therefore, during Hanukkah, Spring Sailing Festival, and Summer Solstice, there are more than 200 women wearing plain white clothes and wearing jingles. A grand spectacle involving the priests.

The girls' parents regard this as a special training for their daughters. After retiring from the temple, they may have some divinity in them. In addition, girls who can enter the temple to work must be young and beautiful. After they retire, they are like elves in mythology. Girls are the best tools for marriage.

It's just that when parents betroth a girl to a noble or wealthy family, they don't care about the girl's intentions.

The daily work in the temple is quite ordinary. It is necessary to keep the temple area clean and tidy. The girls wearing uniform winter clothes keep it clean and tidy. Their top priority is still to clear the snow.

Others include daily maintenance of some equipment, such as refilling the oil lamps in the worship room and wiping all the idols with linen cloth soaked in seal oil to make them shine.

During the rest of the time, they cannot be idle. It is important to study "Rossaga" to strengthen their faith. At the same time, they continue to learn Latin and Slavic languages, so that such girls are theoretically qualified to be arranged as local temple priests.

It's just that Rurik can't take care of full implementation at the moment.

Deputy Priest Verika, the little girl was sent to look at the money box listlessly today, supervising those people who wanted to worship the gods to actually stuff the silver coins into the wooden box.

. She wasn't embarrassed, it was just that the job was boring. She had to dress up and sit on a chair to stay stable. She wore thick clothes to resist the wind and cold, but her face turned red from the cold.

But today is no ordinary day - the blue fox is back.

But the priests did not pay attention to the affairs in the port area for no reason. On the contrary, Verica, who was sitting quietly, opened his eyes wide. He saw some noble people walking towards the Governor's Mansion. The man with a round face is very familiar. Isn't he Uncle Blue Fox? !

…

On the other hand, the actual ruler of Finland, Javlo, arrived belatedly with his entourage. He met the blue fox just as he was about to leave from the dock.

The old comrades-in-arms met each other very cordially. They hugged each other and greeted each other, and then went to the Governor's Palace in the capital to chat again.

It was not until this time that Blackbird Telesia, who had been disguising himself as a servant, finally attracted the attention of others.

The so-called Governor's Palace is the large longhouse that Rurik first built in the capital to serve as a palace. Now it is given over to a towering four-story attic.

For the little girl Blackbird, she was surprised that she seemed to be stepping on absolutely flat ground.

Harvest Square is paved with a layer of cement pavement. Even though the cement is relatively primitive, the vast city square is incredibly flat. Blackbird never thought that a square could be like this. The snow on the cement floor has been cleared as much as possible to reveal its dark background. At first glance, it looks like a flat stone.

This is the first time in Blackbird's life that he has seen "a flat area under a wide area". I heard from Blue Fox that this is called Harvest Square, which is a place of worship, a market, and a common place for drying grains during the autumn harvest every year. . Looking carefully, there is indeed a group of people gathered on one side of the square, it seems that they are people doing open-air trading.

Entering Harvest Square, there was more that struck her eye.

The heavily reflective building called the First Temple of Rus seems to be a large building with a spherical dome. The reason why it shines is because it is covered with a layer of glass. It's not a blackbird's fault in this regard, since it's not surprising that the Aachen Palace and the cathedral next door are glazed, but the luxury of glazing an entire building is still too strange.

Recalling everything else she had experienced since entering this city, she and other nobles walked grandly on a straight road, which is said to be called Nevsky Prospekt. The houses on both sides of the road gave her a sense of familiarity, but the bustling people were almost all blond-haired Normans. I am afraid that she was the only Falak here.

The sense of familiarity dissipated instantly after entering the square, and then everything became strange and unfamiliar.

There are thick wooden buildings here and high-rise attics. Comparing it with the city of Aachen, Blackbird also knows that what comes into view are some public buildings. The attic is said to be the palace of King Rus.

Is that considered a palace? A house made mostly of wood?

"Russian people really like wood." She muttered silently.

She always carefully followed the blue fox, but was stopped by the guards when she was about to enter the Governor's Palace. It was at this time that she finally could no longer be "invisible".

"It seems that your attendant is not smart enough." Little Conuson teased the blue fox with a hint of displeasure.

Blue Fox glanced at Blackbird, who was still cocking his head, and an idea flashed in his mind and he explained briefly: "It is true that he is not a smart enough servant. However, I like him very much."

"He? He's obviously a teenager." Yevluo was startled: "Why are you still not married? Could it be that what you actually like is..." Afraid of offending others, Yevluo hurriedly shut up.

"You will all know in the future. It's just that I have come back from a thousand miles away, is it not too much to satisfy my small request? Brothers, I brought a lot of wine."

Little Cornuson was quick-thinking, and at the same time he did not want to cause any kind of unpleasantness with the popular man around the king. "Forget it, if you like your attendant, then bring him in."

"Thank you, my friend. I have to give you a barrel of wine." Blue Fox thanked him.

"It doesn't matter, after all, we brothers are drinking and having fun."

Blackbird didn't dare to speak the whole time. She just followed Blue Fox. After entering the Governor's Mansion, she didn't dare to look left or right. She followed her into the lobby with thick wooden floors, and then entered the reception room of the Governor's Mansion, which was actually Liuli. The bedroom that Ke arranged back then.

They drank and ate meat here, and the blackbird who took off her hat looked like a handsome young man. She was treated as a male attendant and had to muster the courage to drink with these great nobles of the Kingdom of Rus.

And this was really a crazy experience. After all, she was just a child. Even though she was drinking wine from a glass mug made of pure crystal, which was known as the "Blood of Jesus" in Frankfurt, she soon passed out.

I don’t know how much time has passed, but at least it’s getting dark outside now.

They sat on the floor, and many cold meat platters had been taken away. The drunken Blue Fox was talking loudly, and was still introducing Frank's things to the old guys here, especially the sacking of the capital Aachen and seeing the coffin of Charlemagne himself. Talk big.

So the expeditionary force continued to have great victories, and the boy from Askard even captured a female slave there?

"Female slave? Is that boy planning to take the slave as his wife?"

"I think it's very possible. Hey, I don't know how many young people captured their own women in this battle. Frank's women became the wives of us Russians. How could we imagine this before?"

Everyone was talking to each other, sometimes clinking glasses, and sometimes laughing.

The blackbird, who had been ignored for the moment, had already fallen asleep on his side, using the blue fox's left thigh as a pillow.

The governor-general Cornuson, who was drunk as if his face was smeared with cinnabar, jokingly shouted: "The attendant you chose was also kidnapped from the Franks. The little boy is very beautiful, but he doesn't drink well. Since you like this, you may not be able to serve him well. And you?"

"Boy?" Blue Fox almost told the truth, and hurriedly shook his head with his remaining rationality: "It was my choice anyway."

Jevro blushed and shook his head: "It's up to you. Your attendant looks almost as old as my son. Since that boy is fighting in Frank, I'm very dissatisfied that he didn't capture a few women. If you go again next year Frank, you have to tell that kid. Tell Kelha, you must capture at least one woman for me. Haha."

Everyone was drunk, especially old Cornuson, who had been asked to leave because of his drunkenness. The three grown men who stayed here were still insisting, and only the grape lees at the bottom of the barrel of wine was left.

According to the past agreement with the king, the Gould family, who was born as a blue fox, could not do business in the capital, but handed it over to Aslaqi's family. It doesn't matter that Blue Fox no longer cares about this. His eldest brother, White Fox, has been guarding the traditional industry in the Lake Malaren area of ​​his ancestral home. At the same time, as the local governor, he has no energy to think about things far away.

Of course, the Gould family owned property in the capital and hired people to clean it regularly.

Blue Fox has legally separated from the Gould family. He has established his own business. He temporarily bought a property in the capital last year. Now this building stands within the capital wall and has a longhouse-shaped building surrounded by independent small wooden walls. It's his property.

As night fell, Blue Fox and Blackbird were helped to arrive at his mansion, and the accompanying sailors also entered the mansion to make beds on the floor to rest. Poor Blue Fox just used this place as a dormitory, so there was naturally no furnishings in it. His requirements are not high, as long as he has a decent resting place of his own.

The thick fur blanket made a big sleeping bag, and the still-drunk Blackbird Theresia curled up in it to sober up quietly. She was still too young, her body's resistance to alcohol was too weak, and people did not mean "children should not drink alcohol." As for accidents, they could only be attributed to God's arrangements.

She exhaled quietly and looked calm. He stared at her face under the oil lamp and looked carefully. It did look like a boy.

After all, she had a cut with her past self, and her curly long hair was cut into a square inch. Maybe she could go a step further and get a tattoo on her scalp.

"You... Gisla. Oh no, it's the blackbird. Blackbird, others say you are a boy. If you were really a boy, you would not be left in the Aachen Palace. You should be in Strasbourg, This way I won't be able to meet you. You are such a pitiful woman, but since you have chosen a new life, accept it tomorrow."

Lan Hu had sobered up a lot. He talked a lot, and the girl seemed to twist her body after hearing it.