Chapter 1,345 Mrs. Pskov "Nightcrawler" Olafin

Rurik himself would not stay in Rigado. He took the time to observe the city that surrendered to him, and stood on the frozen coast with his trusted followers. Behind him was the frozen Daugava River (Sidvi Na River) and the entire large settlement covered with snow, in front of them is the vast frozen ocean.

"It's so similar. It looks like New Roseburg in many aspects. It seems that this place can indeed develop into a good port."

His mutterings were naturally heard by Stekander who was accompanying him.

The old guy who returned home and changed his clothes now just wants to serve King Ross well as a landlord. "What the king said is absolutely true. I will definitely improve the port of Riga, and... we can even do some things that we didn't dare to do in the past."

"What?"

"Hehe." As he spoke, Stekander pointed to a frozen river in the west, "That river."

"It? Doesn't it look like it's part of the Daugava River?"

"It looks like a river branching off as it approaches the sea, but it's actually another river."

"Oh?" Rurik subconsciously became alert: "Could it lead to another tribe? To Semigalia? I learned that the local Latvians are very afraid of their attacks."

"Yes, but not entirely. This river will pass through the territory of the Semigalians, and nearby are their friends the Okshtet. They covet the prosperity of Riga and hope to occupy this city and occupy it. trade resources.”

"How bold!" Rurik glanced at Dongfang with contempt and sighed softly: "Then, they threaten my interests. It's just that I don't have the time to deal with them now, and I don't have the energy to negotiate with them for the time being. "

"This... maybe if the king sends out his army, he can pacify Semigalia as easily as you pacified Smolensk. I think there is no problem, after all, they are very weak. If the king is willing, he can send out troops to fight now, and the victory will surely be the same. Exploring the bag to retrieve something.”

If it were a hot-headed monarch, he would just go with the flow.

Rurik's knowledge of Semigalia came from other people's opinions. If they said so, I'm afraid all their opinions had some purpose. What the Ross Army needs most now is not to continue fighting, but to carry out large-scale rest and reorganization of the main force, precisely to avoid unnecessary wars. What's more, if the war goes wrong, it will interfere with the expedition after the spring of this year.

"Very weak?" Rurik thought for a moment, then turned to look at the newly named earl: "Stekander, since you are an earl, you have the ability to recruit troops freely. This is the power I give you, You can recruit warriors from the Latvians, and since those enemies are weak, you can defeat them yourself."

Stekander shook his head and put on a wry smile. He sensed that King Ross had no intention of sending troops rashly, so he simply stopped making direct instigations. He continued: "Is there anyone more powerful than the Russian army in the world? Even if I recruit troops, I can't win alone. Besides, the Latvians are afraid of the people on the other side of the river. The Latvians are not even willing to organize their own powerful villagers' armed forces. , they have always relied on our Danish businessmen to ensure their safety. To put it bluntly..."

"You can tell me whatever you want."

"Yes. Without us Danish merchants, Riga would have been occupied by Semigalia. We don't like those people because

Because they were unwilling to pay us commissions, if they occupied Riga, our Danish community would have to pay tribute in order to do business. so……"

Stekander did not say any more, but the clever Rurik had already understood everything. He was afraid of patting the earl on the shoulder: "Then we will be on the defensive for the time being. We will deal with the Semigalians, but not today. I am now I came to Riga with another project in mind.”

"Yes. I understand, it's Pskov."

"Yes. Now that the news has spread in the city, let's wait and see! Let's see if the Pskov businessman you mentioned dares to come to the Rus community to meet the king."

Because unlike the scattered village alliances in Latvia, the Semigalians living in the area along the Lielupe River have already established their chiefdom, thus surpassing nearby neighboring tribes in terms of organization. They have elected their own chief, and the entire tribe is on the path of natural evolution, and is not far away from becoming a true "Grand Duchy."

The main settlement area of ​​the Semigalians is only 40 kilometers away from the city of Riga in a straight line. In this era where travel mainly relies on feet and rowing, forty kilometers is not difficult for people who are used to hiking in this way. Its difficulty lies in the dense forest and a number of mud ponds sandwiched between the two.

Travelers can easily get lost in the forest and beware of attacks from wild animals, especially bears.

If the two sides really want to have peaceful exchanges, boating by water is the preferred way. Naturally, if a military conflict breaks out, the Semigalians will join forces with their friendly army Oakshtet, take a large number of canoes and rafts, and the militia

The armed forces landed directly in the city of Riga.

There have been such sneak attacks in the past, but with Latvians hiring Danish immigrants as armed bodyguards, Riga finally has a safe business environment. And it’s all connected!

When the Franks strongly intervened in the political situation in Denmark, the local nobles in Denmark had differences in beliefs and even a civil war broke out. This forced a group of Danes to leave their hometown and make it possible to build new settlements in the Gulf of Riga and nearby amber collecting camps.

Now Stekander is very grateful to King Rus, because Rurik provided these uprooted people with a new identity-the County of Latvia was born, and the dominant people were almost all Danish immigrants.

The people spoke the same Norse language as the King of Rus himself, and believed in the same Nordic gods as the Rus and Swedes who continued to migrate. No one in Riga denied the beliefs of the local Latvians.

Everything is getting better, and it is quickly stimulating the expansion ambitions of the Countess of Latvia. After all, the real rulers here are the Danish Varyags. They only bear the name of "Latga". Expansion and plunder is a shortcut to make a fortune. Now with the backing of the powerful Rus Kingdom, they can attack Semigali Ya may not be able to rob their wealth now, but he may have to do it in a few years.

On the other hand, those Pskov businessmen who were waiting and watching actually appeared in the Rus community on the second night after the arrival of the Rus army.

At first glance, these people look like the Rus people in the community. They have similar faces and all speak Norse. The most obvious difference is that their clothes are a bit rough.

certainly

This roughness is just an appearance. They have no intention of further modifying the fur coats to keep out the cold. These coats made of reindeer skin can even be used as quilts. A person can lie down in a snow nest and curl up in a ball while wearing them. As long as there is no cold wind blowing all the time, travelers can sleep all night without freezing to death, because reindeer sleep like this in winter, even if they are covered with snow. When someone discovers this secret, they imitate it.

Ross did not have such an extreme need to keep out the cold during his tribal period. Even if he did, the real cold-proof coat was sewn from bearskin. This is the case now. The cold-resistant outerwear of the Ross cavalry is mainly made of polar bear skin sewing, which makes the soldiers appear to have a large-scale white tone.

These strange visitors also look like Danes, or they are another group of Danish immigrants - the Danish community living in Pskov, and the boss of this generation, Gower, has become the local king.

A man took off his coat, revealing the intricately patterned lining.

He raised his robe and shouted loudly: "We are the Pskov ladies! I want to see King Rus!"

If he hadn't yelled, probably no one would have paid attention to these freezing fools on a cold day, but they yelled the word "Pskov", which aroused the vigilance of the lazy soldiers.

The Rus' warriors on guard duty inspected the ten people who arrived, talking to them first in Norse and then suddenly in Slavonic. This surprised the Pskov businessmen present. At this point, the leader changed to Slavic.

Do we still need to question their identity? Isn’t the person in front of me the Lady Pskov that the King needs?

As usual, it will be

The king-faced man disarmed, and considering the dignity of the man, the sword was temporarily removed and kept by the Russian army, while the dagger they used for self-defense and as tableware continued to hang on the belt.

Slavic tribes from all over the world were very good at sewing floral fabrics. At this time, they did not know how to print and dye cloth, but they could dye the twine at the source, and then rely on the skillful hands of women to weave cloth with various patterns.

Because such floral cloth undergoes complex processing, its price in Pskov is also relatively expensive. Those who can wear floral cloth are not considered aristocrats, they are also local wealthy families.

It is precisely the wealthy households who have the ability, energy and financial resources to run the Pskov-Riga trade route. It is also they who maintain the economic exchanges between the two places and make money by purchasing some of Riga's key specialties.

Rurik has been waiting in the Warm Palace. If he can't wait for Mrs. Pskov to pay him a visit, he will go to bed.

In his opinion, even if there are no merchants in this field in Riga, and he leads his troops to the Seron territory again, Ilbert will definitely be able to find a few villagers who know the way to Pskov, even if they can provide a general direction. That's fine, the rest is up to the Russians themselves to find. Rurik has sufficient confidence in this regard. After all, he has an overview of the map of the large region and is clearly aware that Latvia is not far from Pskov.

Don't worry about getting lost, just go all the way north, even if you find Pskov, you can rush all the way to the frozen coast of the Gulf of Finland, and then you can easily return to the capital.

Just then, the guard came to report happily: "Your Majesty, Mrs. Pskov has arrived."

"Oh? Great, how many people are here?" The embarrassed Rurik immediately stopped feeling sleepy and returned

Ask Beyathil, who is preparing to go to bed, to put on all the clothes and decorations.

"Only...ten people."

"Ten people? No more, no less. Go tell their leader that the king allows them to enter the bedroom to meet. As for the others, they will be given some food and wine after they are brought in, and everything will be done in accordance with the standards for entertaining distinguished guests!"

"As ordered." The guard bowed and retreated, and soon all ten people were led into the king's palace.

For the first time, Mrs. Pskov entered the inside of the "Count's Palace" of the Rus' community, which only saw the outside but did not know the inner meaning. Of course, it is now the palace of the King of Rus.

The defense here was quite tight. The uniformly dressed warriors stood as straight as pine trees, with pairs of alert eyes looking at him. The businessman leader Olafin had to whisper to his companions not to look left or right.

Suddenly, the warrior leading them to the meeting stopped.

This warrior with a blue decorative feather on his helmet was a centurion. Just from his appearance, Orafin realized that this man was a mission.

"Just come here!" the centurion ordered: "King Rus also ordered that your leader enter the king's bedroom as an official envoy to meet the king. The rest of the people are waiting. You go to the side room to wait. King Rus will give you wine and meat. Don't be nervous about anything. , King Rus is friendly to you Pskov ladies."

The well-informed Olafin immediately stood up and signaled: "I am their leader, I am Mrs. Pskov, and I am a friend of our boss Gower. I think I am indeed qualified to represent Pskov Husband, formally meet with the great King of Rus."

It was as if Olafion was the real messenger, his words were quite formal, and to the senses the centurion felt

This is a decent man, even if his clothes are simple, but in spirit he is a true warrior.

"Then come with me."

No more procrastination, just meet up as soon as possible.

Then, in Orafin's view, King Rus and his women were dressed gorgeously and neatly, and the king's golden crown was still shining brightly under the dim oil lamp. They sit cross-legged, and their form of meeting each other is based on northern tradition.

King Rus did not show his arrogance and was very polite to his envoy.

"Wait a minute, how is this a courtesy given to me?! If I were not Mrs. Pskov, it would be more than that."

Olafin is very self-aware, and he knows that he represents the entire Pskov here at all times. In Riga, he had already seen the might of the Russian army, and he also knew that the visiting army was only part of the Russian army. He also knew that this army came with a victory in the crusade against Smolensk.

They conquered Smolensk! Mrs. Pskov was neither deaf nor blind. Everyone knew that it was a big southern force, and they were conquered by the Russian army like a child's play.

After witnessing with his own eyes King Rus's benevolent policy towards the surrendered Riga and Latvia, Olafin knew exactly what he should do, and also knew what his boss Goll would do - he who knows the current situation is a hero, and the top priority now is to surrender.

So, Orafin knelt down on one knee facing King Ross, holding her right hand on her chest, and lowered her head deeply.

This is a common warrior etiquette in Northern Europe. It is a great gift for lower-level warriors to express their loyalty to their leader. It is worth a thousand words.

"No need to be rude, I will give you a seat so that you can talk to me face to face." Rurik felt greatly refreshed.

"As commanded." This

Only then did Olafion really sit down.

"What's your name? Do you... have some great nicknames?" Rurik tilted his head slightly and asked.

"Yes. I am Oven Nattfure."

"Oh? Your nickname is Nightcrawler? So you have as sharp night vision as an owl?"

"Maybe not as good as an owl, but better than an average person."

Orafin is not bragging. A person's nicknames and nicknames are generally not chosen by himself. They come from the opinions of his companions and are considerable descriptions of certain behaviors of a person.

Olafion was nicknamed from this, which naturally shows that this man is a rare ruthless person who dares to walk at night!

Rurik asked with great interest: "So, I guess...you like to eat seal liver? Or fish liver?"

Orafin raised his head sharply: "How does the great King Rus know this?"

"I guessed it, and it seems that I guessed it right. However, seal liver is indeed delicious, even if it has a strong fishy smell, we can taste its deliciousness after overcoming this. I like to eat roasted seal liver and then slice it. Throw in some chopped thyme and salt and it’s delicious.”

Rurik was conceited. He didn’t really like eating seal liver, which had a strong smell of blood, but he knew that the reason why Olafen had good night vision must be because of its extremely sufficient vitamin A supplement. Bye-bye, he was not young but his skin quality was very good. Yes, the rosy color under the oil lamp must also be due to the help of vitamin C in seal liver.

Rurik talked eloquently, and Orafin secretly drooled when he heard it.

“It’s really an honor for me to meet a fellow like-minded person in Riga, and the great King of Rus’.

fortunate. "The serious scene was gone, and Olaf laughed softly.

If you want to know the general situation of Pskov, the attitude of the locals towards Ross, and even the possibility of reaching some kind of alliance in the future, which will then continue to develop business, Rurik feels that everything will start from tonight.

Everything started with this "Nightcrawler" Orafin.