Chapter 1,350 Rurik’s Sudden Murderous Intention

Still using the same sleigh, Orafin and the leader of the village happily returned to the temporary camp of the Russian army.

In a short period of time, the Ross army had set up a camp, and they also cut down some pine trees on the spot to use as tent supports and fuel. As usual, the soldiers dug holes in the frozen river, trying to get some fresh fish from the river to grill. They soon happily carried perch and six-bearded catfish from one ice hole after another, and after dissecting the fish, they Barbecue on tree branches.

The melted snow water in the cauldron is already cooking the wheat, and it will take a while before it is fully cooked.

Each flag team still set up its own camp in a organized manner along the river. They were busy building, thinking that when the tents were set up one after another, the brothers could eat with their bowls.

The width of the river and the riverside meadow areas on both sides is about one kilometer. It is wide enough, and the reindeer with their saddles and bridles immediately freely graze on the dry grass under the snow. The Russian army is more particular about their horses. The existing horses eat the same oats as the soldiers. They are so important that even Night accommodation requires special care.

So some felled small trees were quickly put together into simple fences, which served as a barrier for the war horses to keep out the wind and cold. The war horses would sleep on all fours and on their knees. In order to avoid damaging their stomachs, the soldiers even carried shovels to clear a large area of ​​snow.

While the Ross army camp was busy, Orafin came happily in the evening with the surrenderers.

A middle-aged man with a brown beard sat huddled on the sleigh. He was the leader of the village of Poklutisie.

According to Olafin, King Rus is a Varyag nobleman who is a hundred times more noble than Boss Gower.

Dress up as decently as possible, only then can you be qualified to meet the noble King of Rus.

The village leader is not noble, he is just a man who is young and powerful and is recognized as having some strategy and has seen the world recommended by everyone to be the talker. Of course, the so-called "seen the world" here only means that the leader has met and talked with Gal himself in Pskov.

This man was wearing a robe made of floral fabrics. He looked particularly bloated but had a skinny face with visible cheekbones. This was so weird because underneath the robe was a variety of leather-sewn warm-weather clothes.

He looks very glamorous and even wears a necklace strung with amber and shells.

A Frankish-style broad-bladed sword hangs from his belt, and this sword is also the only rarity in the village - it has almost become the treasure of the whole village. Only the elected leader is qualified to use it but it is not hereditary.

The man dressed up as much as possible as a warrior, because Orafin claimed that the most important thing in Russia was a warrior.

But he is not a soldier, he is just a villager. The most telling thing about his life is that he once led a team of more than ten villagers to kill multiple bears. The bear meat was sorted by the villagers, and the bear heads, Bear paws, hides and bones were all sold to Pskov in exchange for good stuff.

Completely because of the obstruction of the woods and the fact that the north wind obscured the noise of logging, when the village leader saw the huge camp of the Ross Army, he couldn't help but feel the huge boulder pressing on his chest. He was so shocked that he was suffocated for a time.

Ross's blue and white flags were planted on the sleigh, and the bells hanging from the reindeer's necks rang as they walked. As usual, the soldiers who were on guard outside always felt that the king had more arrangements.

Yu, but setting up sentries when setting up camp was a military rule that was established ten years ago, so the brothers followed it.

These soldiers received direct arrangements from Rurik: when they saw Olafin coming back, they took the man back to the Chinese army's tent.

Isn't that man back now?

The lazy soldier patted himself and stood up. The commander (squad leader) took a closer look and immediately ordered: "Cheer up, everyone! There is someone else."

other people? Are they not the target villagers?

The whole army knew that Ross could easily take over the village. It all depended on the king's benevolent brothers not to kill him.

The chief gave another look to his subordinates, and he led two men to stop Orafin's sleigh.

"Has everything been done? You... also brought the villagers with you?"

"That's right. The village of Poklutis intends to surrender to the king. You see, this man is the leader. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Lead us to see the king quickly."

Of course, the chief couldn't do as he was told. He looked at the strange man who seemed to be frightened, and suddenly noticed that this man actually had a sword twisted around his waist? It's actually a Frank sword?

It's really weird. Is there such a weirdo hiding in a poor village?

The king naturally wants to see him. As for the man who is said to be the leader, he must take off all his weapons as usual.

Orafin communicated with the sentry in Norse, but only the leader and his three followers knew nothing.

What all four villagers didn't expect was that the Russian soldiers could actually speak Slavic that they understood. There was no communication barrier between the two parties. Since King Rus only allowed a "bare-handed audience", everyone did so.

Naturally, the four of them were accompanied by their tributes.

A welcome gift - a bundle of flax rope.

Several strangers appeared in the camp. Among the blue and white Russian soldiers, a few people wearing floral robes suddenly appeared, which really looked too eye-catching.

"It's just ahead." Orafin accompanied the village leader and his entourage, and continued to give instructions: "Keep your humility. Don't worry, the King of Ross will speak your language, and you can report any problems truthfully. Don't make any wrongdoings to the King of Ross. Thoughts, because this determines whether your whole village can still see the sun tomorrow."

Although Olafion was well-intentioned, it was this statement that made the group of people tremble with fear.

Of course they were afraid, because they were surrounded by people with iron weapons. The iron glowed orange in the sunset. There was iron everywhere. Facing such powerful weapons, the small village was like a fish on the chopping block.

The noise outside had attracted the attention of Rurik, who was waiting for the meal.

The so-called central tent was his wing-style sled. Some tents and curtains were built around this sled, and it became the shogunate of the Russian army during the war.

Accompanied by Beyathil's obedient companion, Rurik appeared in a more casual dress with a smile on his face.

This made Olafine a little uncomfortable, and he saw this person approaching the king very smoothly and kneeling down on one knee to perform the warrior salute.

"Your Majesty, I have succeeded and the whole village has decided to pledge allegiance."

"Oh?" Rurik ordered Olafin to hurry up. He noticed a few unfamiliar faces in the corner of his eyes and basically understood everything. "So those people behind you..."

After saying that, Orafin quickly gave a gesture to the villagers.

I saw the somewhat dull four people hurriedly imitating Olafin's appearance, and even imitated the Varyag people's behavior clumsily.

He ceremoniously knelt down on one knee and swore in Slavonic: "The village is loyal to the King of Rus."

It was inevitable that things would go smoothly. Rurik believed that his method of making no mistakes and giving some gifts could quickly win over people's hearts, but he didn't expect that it went too smoothly.

"You all stand up!" Rurik ordered in Slavic: "I am the ruler of Rus, the noblest and most powerful person you people who live in the forest can see in this life. You good people The village of Rope will be brought under my rule.”

At the first moment of contact, Rurik intentionally kneeled down to the village leader here, Boyar, which was a point of pride for him. And when he made this plan, he didn't even bother to know the name of the village leader. In his opinion, no matter how domineering the name was, it was far less noble than his own. This was where his arrogance lay.

Now Rurik had another form of reception.

The noble King of Rus, wearing a golden crown, sat on the sled, his feet in the rutted snow.

He gave four villagers leather mats and made them sit cross-legged.

The most beautifully dressed man must have been the village chief, who had a very beautiful calico robe, not significantly different from the Ilmen Slavs in the way it was woven.

"It seems that it really proves that they are all part of the Krivic people." Rurik thought for a moment.

In the formal interview, the village leader finally had the opportunity to report his name.

This middle-aged man's name is Manchico, which means very simply - boy.

Manchico was the eldest son in the family. His mother later gave him several sisters. As the only boy, his parents, who were not good at naming their children, simply called them

Call the eldest son "boy".

After all, everyone in the village has such plain and even boring names.

"Okay! Manchico, since you are the leader of the village, you surrender to me on behalf of the entire village. I can immediately make you a noble and make you a boyar. From now on, your village will be loyal to Rus and attack every year." Give me some tribute, so that I will always acknowledge your submission."

Mentioning the tribute, Manchico's eyes visibly trembled.

Rurik noticed this keenly: "Oh? Do you have something to hide?"

"Yes! There is indeed one." Facing Rurik, the king of Rus, who was much younger than him, the leader Manchico did not have any arrogance in terms of age. After all, he was as tall as a giant, and he did not look like a mortal in any way - nor even taller than him. Pskov's Gall has more charm as a strong man.

"what is that?"

"I...I'm scared. You gave us a lot of iron tools, and I don't know how much tribute I should repay your kindness with. The king looks down on us people who live in remote areas, but we have already paid tribute to Pskov Old Minister Gao Er is convinced..."

"Shut up!" Rurik scolded: "Are you negotiating terms with me?"

"I can not."

"Forgive me, continue talking."

"Yes." Suppressing his inner panic, Manchico explained his concerns carefully: "Now that we have surrendered to the Russians, we can only surrender to the Russians. Doing so will betray the boss of Pskov. If you If our army leaves, Gall of Pskov will cause trouble for us. In order to survive, we will surrender to Pskov again, which will become a betrayal to you."

Rurik couldn't help pinching his beard, thinking that this old guy actually knew that one minister could not serve two masters. It may be that this person is upright and puts everything on the table. Such an honest person may not have much power. The more such a person treats himself, the better. This is exactly the case, and this kind of person should not be allowed to suffer.

Rurik knew his long-term plan, which was to directly rule the Pskov region.

There are many ways to rule, such as signing a contract with the existing local ruler and annexing Pskov to Rus in the form of an ally.

Or perhaps they used military force to force the local rulers to surrender to Ross, and then granted the legendary Gower a noble status.

These two methods have a major drawback, that is, Ross did not directly rule it at the first time, but actually formed a ruling alliance with the local nobles, which is equivalent to saying that Ross transferred a lot of power, which delayed the time, and Ross's control of Complete rule in Pskov was difficult to implement.

Of course, there is a third method, which is also the most direct and straightforward method-Gol's beheading operation.

Directly slaughter the local powerful nobles, and Ross will support another puppet. A weak puppet must rely on the strength of King Ross to protect it, so that Ross will not worry about Pskov's rebellion for a long time.

It's just that this method is too violent. Ross used similar methods in several large-scale expansion wars, but when it was actually implemented, the cost was a lot of killings.

After directly getting rid of Goul and destroying the top management of Pskov, Rurik had murderous intentions but would never tell anyone clearly, at least for now.

It all comes precisely from this reminder of Manchico!

Gall of Pskov and his men who are descendants of Danish immigrants. Their armed group has about 200 people. With absolute and organized armed force, they go to various Slavic villages every autumn to collect goods. tribute.

The essence of what these descendants of Danish immigrants do is Sorgon. According to Manchico's introduction, Rurik felt a strong sense of déjà vu.

Rurik asked with a deliberate smile: "So, you give Gower a batch of made ropes every year. What has he done for you? Did he help you eliminate some wild beasts that broke into the village, or did he help you resist the enemy? Or help you arbitrate the unfairness between villages?"

"None of them." Manchico shook his head and said bluntly: "We don't want to give him tribute, but we have no choice. Ah!" Suddenly realizing that what he said was inappropriate, he hurriedly lowered his head to make amends for himself: "I was definitely not right. The King of Rus is disrespectful. I am... willing to pay tribute to Rus."

"Not necessarily." Rurik smiled maliciously: "Actually, I know you don't want to suffer losses, and you don't want something to be lying on you all the time to suck blood. Ross is different. Do you have a lot of ropes in your village?"

"some."

"Give me all the tribute! Now! Immediately!" Rurik strengthened his tone, and immediately changed to a soothing tone: "Of course, your tribute is not in vain, I will reward you with some food and some iron tools."

"Ah?! The king is kind, and these rewards..."

Rurik waved his hand: "The things I gave you before were just to see your attitude. This is my gift.

, nothing more. Let's just do this. From now on, you will pay tribute every year, and Ross will give you rewards every year. How about we maintain this relationship? "

If that's the case, what kind of tribute is that? Isn’t this a consensual business transaction? Or is it that the King of Rus, who holds a heavy army, is just trying to get a good name?

Manchico, who was full of doubts for a while, realized that what King Ross said was not just for fame and reputation, but... hidden murderous intention.

Because Rurik already understood the hidden meaning behind Manchico's statement that "one minister does not serve two masters", just because the local Danish community in Pskov is a ruling group, they elected this leader Gower, he In terms of grasping power, he went too far than previous leaders.

Rurik felt that a "prince" was rising, and that Gore was going to be the prince of Pskov!

Little Pskov is spatially surrounded by the Kingdom of Rus! Rus does not allow a state within a state to exist. If anyone dares to do this, he should be killed.

Gower began to emphasize power. This man no longer liked the Nordic-style democratic system. Some people who could not understand him moved out of the community one after another and established small communities in more remote places. However, everyone was very sensible for safety. Leaders are no longer elected to fight against Gower.

Among the Danes who moved away from the larger community was Olafen the "Nightcrawler". Only at this juncture did Rurik learn of the subtle secrets. Co-author Olafin and some of his associates were also considered frustrated in Pskov. .

Only then did Rurik think that he had made this man a count and asked him to build a city in a bad land that was prone to flooding. There was a reason why this guy was so happy. Think about it

Look, a frustrated person becomes a noble in the country. A noble status is the most important. As for whether the place of residence is poor, just choose a good land in the territory to build a settlement in the future.

So, I thought I could easily accept the affiliation of "Nianzhuang", give the leader the title of Boyar, and buy all their ropes.

Unexpectedly, this incident is directly involved in the current situation of this large community in Pskov.

It was as if all the local Krivi Slavic villages and the frustrated Danes had "suffered from Qin for a long time", as if they all wanted Gower to lose power.

Now, a problem actually faced Rurik.

"My noble self, do I really need to form an alliance with that Gore? At first, I thought this guy was the absolute ruler of Pskov, but now it seems that he is just a chief who gathered some thugs to collect tribute in his lair. . If I attack it, will those Krivic villages help him to die? Absolutely impossible. The frustrated Danes are afraid that they will come to my camp in large numbers if they learn about the title I gave Olafin. Well. So Gower is qualified to form an alliance with me. Why should I think highly of him? Even if I get rid of him, Mrs. Pskov will still live the same life as before..."

Rurik already had the answer in his heart, but he didn't say it on the surface, but a sensitive person could see murderous intent in the king's eyes.

He immediately accepted the tribute brought by the village leader Manchico in a surprise attack, namely some bundled flax ropes.

Rurik checked and determined that these ropes could meet the needs of the Russian army, and he was immediately delighted.

He promised to take the whole village's rope reserve tomorrow, euphemistically calling it "tribute"

, and what is the further reward? When Rurik spoke, it was still an iron ax and an iron spear.

This is actually a reward of low-quality trophies. Originally, these iron tools were intended to be transported to the capital to be refurbished, but now they are used very well to win over people's hearts.

Maybe it's too strange to reward a village with so many iron tools. Do they deserve it?

Rurik felt that he was indeed too generous, but the villagers did not give it in vain. The people of "Nianzhuang" are genuine Pskov Krivich people. They are not from the same family as Olafin. Regarding the situation in Pskov, the local people's honest opinions are probably more true.

Now, four villagers, including Manchico, have to enjoy a sumptuous feast of boiled wheat. At least in the eyes of these four people, King Rus is extremely generous - it is the first time they have eaten a reward from a powerful ruler. A delicious meal that is enough to fill your belly.

As night falls, the image of King Ross until now seems like a god in the eyes of Manchico and others!

Orafin, who was accompanying the four to eat, responded to this speculation with a smile: "King Rus is not a god, but he has been blessed by the northern gods. He is half a god. So as long as you obey him, you can live your dream." There are still good days in the future. You eat slowly and stay at the Ross camp tonight. Just wait a little longer, and King Ross will ask you to discuss some things later."

"What's going on?" Manchico asked alertly.

"Who knows? Maybe it's a big thing! A big thing...that I don't even dare to think about." As he said that, he looked at Olafine, who was holding his rice bowl and looking at the bonfire, and his eyes became confused.

At the same time Rurik was indeed not idle.

He is cute

I had an idea and kept muttering in my heart, and finally convinced myself that Gore of Pskov had extremely limited power and was not qualified to be on an equal footing with Ross.

He summoned the captains, centurions, and thirty-man captains of each banner. In addition to the most junior commanders, officers of multiple levels gathered in front of Rurik, and the request he issued was only concise and concise: "Comfortable and stable The march has ended, and everyone is ready to fight."

Who are you going to hit? Everyone was confused.

Ryuri ordered everyone to go back and continue eating and drinking, but only the captains of each flag stayed on standby!

Just because the Ross Army was about to hold a pre-war military meeting under night.