Chapter 1415 It Was only Then that All Palanga Refugees Realized that Kretinga Was Not Home
【The Rise of Rurik】 【】
Egliskiai mound, centered on this hill, a town protected by Emu walls rose from the ground. It is the city of Kretinga itself. (It is on the southern outskirts of the modern city of Cretinga)
Its core is the residence of the ruling family since ancient times. After hundreds of years of tepid operation, the low walls originally built to resist the cold wind were destroyed and rebuilt, so a hexagonal city that resembled a honeycomb was constantly repaired. Buzhong was born in the world and was incompatible with the surrounding environment.
Directly west of the hexagonal city wall, a small river makes a huge bend to form a river bend area. Adjacent to the river, local people have opened up a number of farmlands, and some small farms exist hazily in the mist just outside the city, leaning on the river.
Life seems to have always been peaceful, and the residents of Cretinga have always seemed to be honest and dutiful farmers for hundreds of years. They then built an economic exchange network belonging to the Kurland people with some nearby settlements.
With the city of Kretinga as the center, Palanga City is to the west, Gandinga Gandinga and Plunga Plunga are to the east, and due south is adjacent to the ocean, a large coastal city called Koup stands on the lagoon spit. .
In 843 AD, with these large settlements as the core, and some small villages attached to them, almost all the Kurland ethnic groups in the narrow sense were constituted. Even many Kurlanders still consider themselves to be Semi people (people of the lowlands), and they are completely the same race as Semigalia and Samogitia.
The vast majority of people just want to live a peaceful life, but iron ore or salt mines have not yet been discovered in this place in the hands of the locals.
Although people could raise livestock and grow wheat and flax, key living utensils still needed to be obtained from outside. Trading with the Varangians was a shortcut, otherwise one would have to go east and do some trading with the Semigalians and the Okshtets in the south.
Selling amber, grain, and cloth to obtain salt and iron is the most traditional barter method. Several settlements on the coast are doing this, so in the tone of the Varangians everywhere, especially the Danes, "Curlanders" have their name.
Koup means "making a deal" and Kopping means "trade market". This popular word in Scandinavia has suddenly become a synonym for the Kurlanders. Kurs, became "people who are good at making deals", and became Kurland, the meaning is self-evident.
Being given a name by others does not matter to the local people, because the vocabulary is neither praise nor derogation, so it is accepted by everyone.
Living in the land of Cretinga, the locals are proud of their hometown, even though the name actually comes from the name of the ruling family that immigrated here three hundred years ago.
No one bothers with this, because they don’t write history books and many ancient things only exist...
As people passed it down by word of mouth, history turned into legends, but everyone grew up listening to the same set of stories. Cretinga's generation of chief Jomonus was able to unite the people, and he was still not a big one. Cretinga has absolute real power - just like the king of a small city-state.
It's not long before the wheat harvest, and people are looking forward to August in the Julian calendar.
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【The Rise of Rurik】 【】
The people were busy polishing sickles and taking advantage of the time when the water and grass were at their most abundant.
They had to graze cattle and sheep as much as possible. They were already in a state of summer famine. Fortunately, there were wild animals to catch in the nearby rivers and forests. The harvested summer vegetables at least prevented everyone from starving to death.
The population of the entire settlement is only 3,000, and this is the only big city in a huge area. It is not difficult to feed so many people. As for the high quality of people's lives, don't be delusional.
But the peaceful life of the villagers with a very low limit was suddenly broken by some refugees from the West.
At first, the shepherd boy who was busy herding cattle noticed some people in a hurry. The shepherd boy was on guard and deliberately rode his cow to avoid them.
The women struggling to mow the grass could not ignore the men who had begun forcing their way across the creek!
Although the world is vast, after crossing the river, you enter the core area of Cretinga. Here are the wheat fields and flax fields that people rely on for their livelihood. It is not accessible to outsiders. When the harvest season is approaching, any outsider who enters will get full benefits. Arrows were fired, and even militiamen were dispatched to drive them away.
The vigilant woman carrying the sickle did not directly negotiate with the people crossing the river, but trotted all the way back to the city.
"Act quickly, people from the west are going to steal our food..."
Erroneous news spread throughout the hexagonal city wall. The men and women staying in the hayloft room came out one after another to find out what was going on, and ended up participating in increasingly outrageous discussions.
In a town that lacks stories and fun, a small thing can cause uproar in the city, especially when the wheat harvest, wool harvesting, and flax harvesting are approaching. The three major agricultural and animal husbandry operations related to people's survival are about to take place. No wonder everyone is on high alert during this special period. .
The news soon reached the chief Jomonus
in the ears.
Jomonus himself was the largest landowner in the city and maintained a group of serfs. From these slaves and his family's ancestral property, he could obtain enough benefits to meet his own needs, and there was no need to ask for tribute from his fellow clansmen.
The family does not demand tribute, but the servants of the Cha Cha organization protect the safety of others.
Therefore, the women saw their chiefs as if they were relatives, and now they report their findings.
"A group of people from the West dragged their families into our farmland and pastures. Are they trying to plunder our farmland and pastures? Or are they taking refuge because they encountered some disaster? Wait, are they Palanga people?" Could it be that pirates destroyed their homes and forced the villagers to flee? These people... also...
Allow me to gather them and develop them into serfs of my family..."
Jomonus, who was over middle-aged, was unwilling to demand tribute from others to arouse public dissatisfaction, so he could only continue to demand from his own serfs. The only way to obtain more wealth seemed to be to obtain more slaves.
Wage war to claim kinship in other settlements, or even establish a unified Kurland nation. Jomonus had never had such ambitions, and he had no courage to launch a unification war.
But if there are others who dare to covet their own ancestral property, then they will do their best to drive away the enemies. He did not have the courage to expand to establish a country, but he had the courage to surround his homeland, and it was great.
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【The Rise of Rurik】 【】
A man is angry!
"Come here! Bring my armor and saddle my horse! Inform all the servants to mount their horses and follow me!"
The chief transformed into a cavalry captain, and Jomonus spent a lot of money on building his own small
Enter the cavalry.
His cavalry was no more than forty, and all the horses he rode were purchased from the Utvins (Lithuania) in the southeast. The Utvins sold a very small number of stallions and mares at high prices. At least they had the ability to reproduce. Jomonus' family started their own breeding after obtaining the horse breeds, but they soon fell into the vicious circle of inbreeding and deterioration. , the family had no choice but to spend a lot of money to buy new horses, and finally established a small-scale horse breeding industry for the family.
There are only about 200 old horses and foals. Due to the stubble caused by previous inbreeding, there are a lot of crooked melons and cracked dates in the stable. Some are busy shaking their heads, and some are the best at sticking out their tongues. Fortunately, these are all old horses. Although they seem to have brain problems, their muscles still have sufficient strength. Hanging a wooden plow and driving the land is the last use of such bad horses. This shows that when you get older, you should kill the horse meat and share it with him...
The quality of the newly bred horses is good, but only forty are really suitable for riding.
Militiamen who can move on horseback are not equal to infantry. Even if they don't even have stirrups, Jomonus urgently led the horseback servants to kill the strange man crossing the river, and quickly completed the interception.
He took a closer look and suddenly felt the subtlety of the situation: "Strange! If they are really gangsters, why did they lie down on the grass to rest after crossing the river? Shouldn't they try to rob our cattle and sheep?"
In fact, the serf cavalry under his command did not feel that they were of low status. It was just that everything they had was given by the chief, and it was natural for them to work for him. Besides, the family's life has always been good. Now they are riding on horseback to drive away the invaders. No matter how you think about it, this is a noble act.
Because, can be praised more.
"Chief, don't be merciful when dealing with these invaders." Some serf warriors were eager to show off, and the implication was that they hoped to get a chance to kill the enemy.
Jomonus assessed the situation and raised his hand: "You are not allowed to act rashly, and you are not allowed to kill anyone without my order, unless they are violent..."
Resist. Now follow me and capture everyone alive. listen! Those who obey orders honestly will be rewarded. "
Hearing this, all the serf soldiers screamed and ran away after the chief...
In fact, the straight-line distance from Palanga to the city of mounds in Kretinga is only ten kilometers. There are usually limited exchanges between the two places, and the people in the two places at least understand each other.
never had! It seemed that a group of nearly a hundred people had left their homes. After crossing the river, they were lying in a mess by the riverside.
The refugees had been fleeing all afternoon, and now they were hungry and hungry under the setting sun. What was even worse was that the weather was already too cool.
Even in midsummer, as the global environment turns colder, the summer nights in Courland are only more than ten degrees Celsius. If you do not wear thicker clothes for outdoor activities, the weak may freeze to death.
The appearance of the cavalry cheered up all the sluggish people. They were not happy at all. It was precisely because of the strong fear that they subconsciously got up and wanted to escape. Then they were coerced and driven away by the cavalry, and all escape routes were blocked.
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【The Rise of Rurik】 【】
"Who are you?!" Chief Yomonus Hengjian, who wore a gold-plated iron hoop and curly brown hair, immediately asked all the refugees.
Because the words were spoken in the local language, not the Norse language that the refugees now fear the most.
Under the setting sun, the phantom of a great man changes into a golden figure in the soft orange light.
Becoming more and more stalwart.
Suddenly, several men knelt in a row. The leader heard the news loudly with a mournful face: "Is it... the great leader of Cretinga? Please protect us."
"Protecting you?" Jomonus put down his sword slightly: "Who are you? Can you really be from Palanga?"
"Yes! It's us." The leader of the speaker saw the hope of living. He knelt and squirmed forward until he reached the horse's hoof. He looked up at Chief Jomonus as if he was his savior.
"You? Why did you enter my farmland without permission? If you are doing business, you should come here openly. Could it be..."
"Sir, please save us..." The man in the lead burst into tears, and then there were women crying and children making noises. No matter how you look at the chaotic scene, these are all refugees who have fled after their homes were catastrophic.
"Forget it. I see how pitiful you are, stand up now! I can let you into the city, but... you must make a contract with me."
It was not until this time that all the Palanga refugees realized that Kretinga was not their home!
Their belongings had been confiscated by Jomonus, and now they had to sell much if they wanted to survive. Jomonus was only a "saint" in the eyes of the locals. He was not holy enough to regard the residents of Palanga, Gandinga and other settlements as one of his own.
Under the armed escort of cavalry, Jomonus happily obtained a group of serfs.
If you want to survive, you must...
They had to sell everything they had, after all, they no longer had any property to pay for the leader's "hospitality", not to mention that the leader did not blame them for trespassing in the territory.
Disaster
Is it a good thing to become a serf? Being a slave to the Varangians was not a good thing, but it never meant that being a slave to the Kretinga was a good thing.
They have been controlled without any choice, and their families are still firmly controlled by the local leader. The men are really upset, and many of them began to regret: "If I had known that the leader in the east was also a bandit, it would be better to risk going to Koup in the south. Take refuge in the city.”
That night, Jomonus gave the newly recruited serfs enough food to survive, then gathered all the men and made them sit in the hall of his mansion. In the soft light of the dim oil lamp, the chief sat suddenly. These men were interrogated in person, openly or secretly.
After hearing the news, the refugee men's explanation really puzzled Jomonus.
He could guess that Varangian pirates attacked Palanga. As for Palanga, it was a settlement with a relatively small population. As for its poor armaments, Jomonus knew this.
He knew that the people of Palanga were always laxly armed, and he just wanted to keep his family and live a rich life in Cretinga, but he never thought of annexing it.
Unexpectedly, an unprecedented scale of pirates entered Palanga. The enemy included cavalry and ships. The docile, sheep-like coastal city became a slave of the Varangians in an instant.
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【The Rise of Rurik】 【】
Everything is said by the refugees, and I am afraid there is serious exaggeration here. Because the various descriptions they described were completely different from Jomonus's understanding of the Varangians.
His old face dropped, showing a sense of terror under the dim oil lamp.
"Tell me!" He asked again in a low voice: "How many pirates are there? At least give me an accurate estimate.
quantity. "
The men looked at each other, and one of the brave ones continued to mutter: "A lot! A lot."
"How many are very many? A thousand people?"
"That's...that's a thousand people. There must be another thousand people." The speaker was trembling with fear, even because they fled in a hurry and only saw the powerful phantom of the approaching Russian army. After hearing the fallacy of the great traitor Dapkus, there was no After thinking too much, the whole family fled.
Because they believe that as soon as the Varangian army said to be named Rus arrives in Palanga, they will immediately tear off the hypocrisy and start looting.
"It's really Ross? Did you say that word correctly?" After repeated questioning, Jomonus was finally able to determine the identity of the Varangian.
Things have become more subtle.
There are many Varangians, and among them the Danes have the most contact.
However, in recent years, a group of Varangians named Rus has risen strongly. Although Jomonus stays in his inland mansion and becomes a wealthy man, as long as his people communicate with the outside world,...