Chapter 1342 News From Estonia and Pskov

In Stekander's original imagination, his neighbor in the east was Polotsk, but unexpectedly a group of Seron people suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

He knew something about Seron. Because he was weak and poor, the entire Danish community in Riga did not ignore him, but he still had a sense of superiority as a strong man. Now, do they deserve to be on an equal footing with him?

But this is how King Rus arranged it, and it is indeed not fair on this issue.

The Seron people are too weak to be worthy of being an uncle, and Yin Erbet is not worthy of being a war chief no matter how you look at it.

King Rus's arrangement is absolute. Stekander has long passed the age of impulsiveness. He asks his people to be polite to the Seron people in the future. At the same time, he is also polite to these village leaders, especially Yin Erbet himself. .

He must think about the future, not for those Latvians, but for his own title, the Danish community in Riga, and the future Danish community in Polotsk, and even the Danish communities in Vitebsk, Orsha, and Smolensk. Plan for the long term.

After all, the core of the Rus' people is a bit far away from the Daugava River, and the King of Rus may be beyond his reach. At that time, it will be the Danish immigrant brothers who will make all the changes on this long Amber Road under the banner of Rus.

So nominally, Stekander and Seronite Yin Erbet have the same level, but their strengths are two different concepts.

Stekander wanted to play a full role for King Rus, so he made many useful promises to Yin Erbet. In the future, the Seron people can freely enter Riga, the transaction will be absolutely fair, and there will be no one who dares to attack the Seron people. Reinforcements will be dispatched immediately.

It is equivalent to saying that the weak Seron people directly enjoy the military protection of Riga.

Rurik decided to stay in the newly built town of Yilpils, and he had to wait for the arrival of a group of children.

For those village leaders who were awarded the title of boyar, they still do not know the meaning of this word. Each village received some benefits from the Rus. The leader hurried home and immediately organized a meeting for all men.

How are the Russians? Is it a conspiracy to give small favors? Could it be that if the child was handed over, he really wasn't going to be a slave for them?

Doubts were heard endlessly, but these objections were quickly destroyed by the cold reality - if it entered the stage of military confrontation, the villagers would not be able to resist the Russians.

Besides, I'm afraid other villages completely agree with Ross's rule. Can some unsociable villages still survive?

"If it doesn't work, let's run away!"

In a village in the north, a deafening voice was shouted.

A pair of vigilant eyes paid attention to the shouting, and the leader who had obtained the status of Boyar had to look down on this young man in the village.

"Escape? Where else can we escape?!" the leader asked sharply.

"Just run away! Let's leave with everything we have."

"To put it lightly, where can we escape to? To the north?" The leader's words resonated with all the men present.

This small semi-crypt house is the village's meeting hall and the only public building besides the small altar. There were only fifty able-bodied men in the entire village who could speak. They were dressed in furry clothes and looked like a large group of hibernating brown bears huddled together.

"Who can completely trust the Varangians?" It was the same speaker who stood up and called: "It's not that the Semigalia side cannot surrender, it's just that we are not willing to do this. Go to the east and find Pus Kokov, the boss there is also a Varangian, we cannot and should not go. As for Riga and the Rus, I don’t trust them. The only place we can go... is to the north."

"Going to Esti? (Estonia)" the leader asked.

"Maybe it's best to go there."

"This..." The leader stroked his beard and thought about it. He really didn't want to send his son to Ross as a hostage. After all, including him, he knew nothing about the size and strength of Ross. No matter what the young King of Ross said If you can't guarantee everything, it's just a lie.

"Let's vote! Those who agree to go north to Esti, stand up. Those who agree to stay and submit to Ross, sit down." The leader made the final arrangement.

This is a very traditional village democracy. The leader acts as

The village chief is at best an elected speaker and does not have the power to plan the future of the village.

The results of the vote were immediately revealed, and those who were hesitant saw that their companions had stood up, so they stood up too.

Because only the leaders who went to the meeting saw the Rus' people, some of the others even just learned about the existence of a Varyag group named Rus'. Based on the past perception that the Varyag people were not good, the villagers valued their relatives and fellow tribesmen more than these foreigners who had promised benefits.

The world is big, but in the eyes of the majority of villagers, it is complicated.

It seems that as long as they escape to the territory of the Estonian tribe in the north, they are escaping to a remote place. Everyone hides and continues to live a normal life. As everyone knows, this method of escaping just breaks into Ross's sphere of influence.

The village made its own decision, and in order to avoid being exposed, they quickly started dragging their families northward.

In fact, there were three villages that did this. They clearly made a promise to Rurik, knelt down and declared their surrender. After returning home, they ended all the drama and marched toward the Estonian territory with their tribesmen through the snow.

It will be a long journey, and moving forward in the extreme cold will be a huge test for the entire village.

The three villages did so, and met again at a section of the Gauya River in the north, and then traveled together. The three villages formed a northward march of up to a thousand people. Their population was nothing to Ross. If they all safely entered the living space of more than 20 tribes in Estonia, it would be a very strong population injection.

After all, the population size of the entire Estonian family in this era was only comparable to that of their close relatives across the sea, the Suomi people (the main body of the Finnish Countess), with a population of just over 30,000, and they lived quite scattered.

The three villages would enter Estonia after a forced journey equivalent to 200 kilometers. In their view, the long expedition has already traveled half the world, so the Russians would not follow the traces and crusade, right?

On the other hand, Rurik was not aware of the fact that three villages refused to perform the contract. The newly appointed Count Yin Erbet felt unexpectedly and under great pressure. He wondered if Rurik would be angry after reporting this matter to Rurik.

The new city along the river continued to be built. The Ross Army cut down many trees and built some wooden sheds to replace tents. Even if they were crude in the future, they would be permanent buildings in the city.

The city of Yirpils was in a prosperous atmosphere. With better fishing tools, the Russian army replaced the Seron people who dug ice for fishing, and they began to plunder the Daugava River's bass resources.

The village leaders arrived one after another with hostages, and one boy after another was sent to Rurik, and was asked by his father or grandfather to kneel down and pay allegiance to the king who was as tall as a giant.

The child had boiled oats with a little honey and fresh grilled fish sprinkled with salt. Rurik really knows how to get children to let down their guard - giving them a sweet and greasy meal.

Ordinary children have an instinct to crave sweets. In today's era, this instinct engraved deep in their genes is deeply suppressed due to the scarcity of supplies. All the children who are about to be taken away as protons have to enjoy two meals a day, and they can eat every meal to have a strong stomach. This is something that cannot be seen in their hometown.

Being friendly to children puts the leaders at ease.

Only Yin Erbet was nervous.

People outside the shack are still busy transporting wood, and the aroma of grilled fish continues to fill the air.

Rurik temporarily stayed in a newly built shack with his Beyathil.

She is the only wife and concubine left by her side so far. This Turkic woman's aesthetics are relatively more in line with her own preferences.

The status of a noble woman is ultimately determined by the number of children she has. One of the family educations Beiyashir received when she was in the grassland is to give her husband more boys who can fight in the war after getting married.

Compared to those prairie men, King Rurik of Rus was a northern giant and looked a little dwarf compared to him.

With his wife by his side, even if Rick stayed in a simple place, he would feel comfortable. If the two took the opportunity to have sex, no one would say no.

But on this day, Beyah Hill sat in the hotel as a countess.

Rick's side, just because he wanted to summon Yin Erbet for the last time.

The latter took off his hat and walked into the shed still looking very bloated.

Seeing that something was wrong with his expression, Rurik asked with interest: "You are so smart, have you realized something? You look a little nervous?"

Immediately, Yin Erbet couldn't hold himself back and apologized repeatedly: "Your Majesty, I am guilty."

"Guilty? Then I will atone your innocence. Tell me, what happened?"

"Yes." Yin Erbet cocked his head and explained: "I have learned that the king will go to Riga tomorrow. The king will leave with all the children. I know that the king will be able to provide countless benefits to the children."

"So? I don't like people who mince words."

"Yes. There are three villages. They did not hand over their children, and their leaders refused to come to make the final arrangements. I am guilty because my married daughter actually chose to leave."

"Oh? What's going on? Let me think about it." Rurik pinched his beard and roughly understood the whole story, and his face suddenly darkened: "It seems that some people deceived me. The surrender was fake, and they chose to escape? !」

"That's right." Sitting Yin Erbet hurriedly kowtowed: "I am guilty."

Rurik was indeed a little angry. He curled his lips and said contemptuously: "Get up. You are not the guilty one. I can also see clearly that you Seron people are indeed a mess. I made you an earl and you do not have the strength to restrain everyone." Village. No problem, do you know where those escapees went? Are they really not afraid of the cold if they dare to leave on such a cold day? Or are they more afraid of us than the cold?"

Yin Erbet had already organized some language, and he immediately analyzed: "There is Pskov in the east, and I heard that a group of Varyags live there..."

"Wait a minute!" Rurik burst into tears: "What did you say? What is there in the east?"

"Pskov."

"That's it! Do you know Pskov very well?"

"This..." Yin Erbet has never been there, and his knowledge of it is extremely limited, but he has some indirect connections with Pskov: "Because some Varyag people from Pskov have been there. Riga, I had contact with those people in Riga. I learned that those people had to follow the river outside the mountainous area in order to successfully reach Riga."

"Oh?" Rurik's solemn face showed a smile: "I originally planned to go to Riga to find someone who knows the way. It would be best to directly find the guest lady Pskov. Unexpectedly, you Seron people can also have a guide? "

"I don't know. However, I generally know the direction. Could it be that...your Majesty is still planning to go to Pskov?"

"That's natural. I don't need to tell you about this. Since you mentioned it... If you Seron people can provide a guide who knows the way, it will be a great service to me. Listen!" Rurik tried hard Stomping his feet, he deliberately attracted Yin Erbet's attention: "Those who perform meritorious services will be rewarded. If you can bring out the messenger to take me to Pskov, I will be rewarded with a large amount of food in the future, and a batch of better iron tools as rewards."

Hearing this, Yin Erbet was so excited and trembling that her bones were about to go brittle, and she almost forgot about the dereliction of duty she was supposed to review.

But compared to the new achievements he might make, those dereliction of duty would probably be nothing in the eyes of King Ross.

He continued his analysis.

The three evacuated villages were able to analyze the pros and cons and choose the escape route. As a member of the same clan and as the head of the village, Yin Erbet also knew this.

"They fled because they did not understand the kindness of the king and mistakenly believed that all Varangians were difficult to communicate with. So they would never escape to Pskov or enter Riga. As for heading to Semigalia in the south It’s even more impossible, because the king’s army is guarding the river, and any abnormality has not been seen for many years. The only place they can go is Esti.”

"Estee?" Rurik was both familiar and unfamiliar with this word.

"It's the people in the north, maybe..." Yin Erbet said boldly: "The king knows about the Esti people."

"Could it be Estonia? Those guys are the only ones in the north of Latvia. After all, there is the sea further north.

, that is the sea area controlled by this king. Speaking of which, Rus had a history with Estonia, and our troops landed and attacked their villages. Haha, those are a group of people who can throw javelins, but they are a group of weak people. They are as poor as you and are not qualified to be ruled by me yet. "

Rurik couldn't help but recall the past more than ten years ago, and he was afraid that fourteen years had passed.

At that time, it was the eldest brother Arik who led the brothers to take unauthorized actions. Because he had a rough map of the area that he had sketched, it was like the "battlefield fog" disappeared from the perspective of the Ross tribe at that time. Because there was actually an indigenous people named Estonia in what he once thought was a no-man's land, in line with the principle of not grabbing anything, Arik led his troops to tentatively land in Dacao Valley. As a result, he encountered determined but desperate resistance from the local villages.

"I am not a participant. I learned from our army that those Estonians were very brave, but unfortunately they were not strong enough. We killed hundreds of them and fled. Maybe that battle should not have existed. There should be no such battle." Who would have started a battle for the spoils of war if they had known this? So..." Rurik glanced at Yin Erbet with a slightly sinister look: "You should thank yourself. If you were richer, you would have been captured by the Danes in the Gulf of Riga. Arrive. Now you surrender to me, and I will give you some gifts to help you survive the years of poverty. You should be grateful for your poverty, but in the future, I will find ways to make you richer. Because only when you are rich can you have Give me the extra property as tribute."

The last sentence highlighted Rurik's purpose, and also made Yinlbert suddenly realize: It turns out that King Rus is "raising sheep"? !

If he was really wealthy, it would be nothing to pay Ross a tribute every year.

Yin Erbet had never heard of all these past events of Rose. The amount of information was too much and required a lot of time to think about. He didn't think much about it and continued to kowtow and thank him.

Even though they live in a remote place, Rurik never expected that the seemingly isolated Seron people would actually have connections with the Estonians in a corner of the north? Or even know the way to Estonia?

Since they know the way, I'm afraid they also know the tribal structure of Estonia.

In such a big era, it is impossible for Ross to allow an area "shrouded by the fog of the battlefield" in his huge control area, just like Zhou Luoyi did not allow the nearby Lu Hunrong not to be under his control.

Rurik immediately made a request to Erbet, saying that if there is an expedition to Estonia in the future, the Seron people do not need to send troops to participate in the war, but they must send out leaders.

Meritorious service was rewarded, and Yin Erbet hurriedly thanked him.

"Then, hurry up and prepare! I don't know if you can find an envoy who can lead the way to Pskov. You'd better find such a person. Tomorrow the Russian army will set off for Riga. I will give you ten days to You should seize the time to recruit talents."

"As commanded."

"I will arrive in Riga soon, and I will also find someone there who has been to Pskov as a guide. You'd better work hard, and don't let the credit you are about to receive give way to others. For the sake of the food reward , I think you won’t neglect it.”

"Yes, I will do my best to do it." After that, the old guy kowtowed again.

So far, the King of Rus is indeed practicing the principle of reward for meritorious service. During the brief contact with the Rus' army, the villagers did not find these strange Varangians to be stingy. On the contrary, they were actually very generous.

Why is this? Even the boss of the Danish community in Riga, a man named Stekander, actually spoke kindly to him. This was impossible in the past. At that time, Yin Erbet went to Riga to sell limited goods and met the local Danes. They had to go around, and even more extravagantly went to see their boss.

Maybe it can only mean that King Rurik of Rus is the supreme king.