Chapter 288 Ross's Children! Towards a Turbulent Distance
The waves return and the sea ice melts.
Some ice floes are still floating up and down, don't worry, they are no longer dangerous. Even if the big sacrifice has not been carried out, the ocean fishing of Ross fishermen has begun, and a large number of fresh fish have appeared in the revived fish market.
Going to eat last year's smoked dried fish again? Completely unnecessary.
Those merchants who paid taxes did not leave Roseburg immediately. The sea is unforgiving, and any voyage is at risk. It is common for merchant ships to travel together, and the owners of the same ships are also superstitious.
Everyone is looking forward to the sacrifice of the Rus, and everyone knows that when the sacrifice is over, the Sorgon fleet of the Rus will set sail.
Year after year, the caravan followed the Ross fleet, and that was the perfect escort.
Everyone waited for the auspicious omen given by the priest, the auspicious omen that everyone longed for, and it was only revealed to everyone when the liver of the reindeer was cut open on the altar.
The ritual was held as scheduled, and the place was on the beach.
Hearing the sound of the waves, all the Rus people who were watching the sacrifice gathered together. A large number of young people flexed their muscles and clenched the ropes of the boat with their hands. On this day, all the young and strong men were assembled, and they would use all their strength to drag the boats that were towed to the shore, and then drag them back to the sea.
Before the sacrifice, Rurik led his young men to put on a real show for the people of the tribe.
"Left! Right! Left!"
"Left! Right! Left!"
...
Rurik, who was standing at the head of the team, kept shouting his horns, and several of his proud subordinates were also in charge of the team behind him.
There are more than 300 children, they have boyfriends and girlfriends, they wear highly uniform clothes, and the "weapons" in their hands are also highly uniform.
The boys held wooden shields in the left and wooden swords in the right.
The girls had quivers made of burlap on the hemp ropes around their waists, with five arrows stuck in each of them. They held their own short wooden bows in both hands, and according to Rurik's taste, they held the bow in a unified manner as if they were holding a firearm.
Rurik even wanted them to raise a flag, but he really couldn't think of a flag that would represent his power. Could it be made of that "oars" totem of the Rus that is printed on the sails? May be.
But everyone is Russ after all, maybe a more appropriate flag is needed.
No flag bearer, no drummer, no trumpet player. Even so, Rurik appeared on the beach with his troops in neat steps, and it completely became a beautiful landscape. As he expected, the children's parents are happy for their children to join this great team.
Completely out of the intuition of warrior concept, the warriors of the tribe saw what it means to be strong from this uniformity.
There is a square for boys and a square for girls, and they are arranged on both sides of the altar.
They are completely the guardians of the sacred sacrifice!
Rurik changed into a plain gray-white sackcloth, and his golden ponytail was put down. A hemp rope was wrapped around his head, and a belt was tied around his waist.
It was entirely because of the ridicule that Rurik heard, saying that he was a "very beautiful boy". If that's the case, then let's really show the so-called "beautiful"!
He was dressed a bit like a girl, except that the waist was tied with the belt, showing what it was like to be handsome.
Rurik was clean, and his shiny golden hair was like strands of white gold in the soft light of the rising sun.
The ten little maids from Novgorod also served as lower-level priests.
Even Rumi, the little Kowen girl who followed Rumia.
In a sense, priestly activity has become very strange. The key priests, most of whom are not native Rus, are indeed serving as priests, but their real identity is Rurik's servants.
Given this reason, no one felt that there was anything wrong with this year's priest.
In the final analysis, the priests of the Rus people expressed an attitude to the great god Odin and prayed for peace and victory.
The eyes of the tribe are sharp, normal priests, and it has evolved into a ritual for Rurik to communicate with his "Heavenly Father". The onlookers are always lacking in conversation. They are watching the ceremony being held and chatting constantly.
The tribes compared the three hundred children who guarded the altar to the "heroic warriors of Valhalla". Compare the dozen or so young priestesses to "Valkyrie". Undoubtedly, Rurik, who was beheading and slicing the reindeer sacrificed belly with a steel sword, was an "Odin" in a certain sense. Under the strong sense of ritual, the Rus people are proud of their identities.
In particular, some businessmen who were watching the grand occasion were communicating. Although the Rus people forced themselves to pay a so-called tax, it seemed that the Rus leader was not fascinated by money. The Rus people are the most revered gods in the entire alliance, and they hold sacrifices far more than the powerful Melarens.
Some businessmen made their own judgments in shock—Russians worship God, so they will pay more attention to contracts.
Among the onlookers, there were also some sneaky eyes.
It was the meticulous work of a make-up merchant sent by Olekin, the leader of Mellaren, and they remembered the real situation of the Rus in their minds. They also wrote down everything about the northern hunting and eastern expedition of the Rus people. There are also some magical weapons, the generosity of the leader of Ross.
The top priority is none other than Rurik, the future leader of the Rus.
Seeing that the beautiful boy cut off the deer's neck without hesitation, and calmly took out the deer's liver, the craftsmen couldn't help but get nervous. After all, they were just spectators, and they didn't reveal themselves. They just silently recorded everything they heard and returned to Melalen to report to their master.
Some rituals of the sacrifice were carried out in an orderly manner, and ended as Rumia obeyed the orders of the high priest Willia and announced in her high-pitched and shrill voice that the sacrifice had obtained auspicious omens.
It was as if Rurik had asked God for a blessing. In the next year, those who received the blessing would be safe across the sea.
Large numbers of ships scrambled to be pulled into the sea, and from May 10, the stagnant sea trade resumed.
The business behavior of Roseburg is like a thawed sea, and it has recovered completely.
People throughout the settlement acted and started their work according to the established plan.
In an orderly manner, on the third day after the sacrifice, Otto led a team of up to 700 people, took up to 30 ships, and started the route to Novgorod. Among them, there were actually only three hundred real warriors, and the rest were either the Novgorod tribesmen who decided to emigrate to the mouth of the Neva River, or the Novgorod women who returned to their parents’ home with their newborn children and husbands to visit relatives.
Otto kept his promise. Those women were grateful for the leader's integrity, and with a strong sense of pride, they set foot on the blue line with the mixed-race child they gave birth to, and some production tools that must be useful to their family.
Naturally, it was followed by a huge army of merchants, and among them, the fleet of the great merchant Gould was the most crucial.
This time, Gould was carrying a lot of rarity among all the cargo he was carrying. There are as many as two hundred of various forms of glassware, and they are a kind of beautiful container, and the target customers are the wealthy people of Melalen.
In addition, there are as many as 10,000 bars of soap. In order to recognize Gould's activeness in paying taxes, Rurik deliberately reduced the price of soap. All soaps are deliberately made to a Roman pound size, these external sales soaps are not mixed with sulfur powder, just saponified seal grease. Granting the object recognition was relatively simple, and Rurik offered a price of only one silver coin.
Of course, Rurik still made a lot of money compared to its actual cost. He really gave Gould a great deal of profit. What kind of price this batch of soap can be sold for in the end depends on Gould's ability. Rurik's thoughts on this matter are simple, and perhaps continuing the limitations of the times, he really cannot properly formulate a tax rate, and he can't expect to organize a special team in an instant to check accounts for businessmen and crack down on tax evasion and other behaviors. . He just thought that when Gould made enough money in the new trade season, he would just lead people to rip it off.
Gould, who went south, of course also shouldered the many missions that Rurik explained. The most important thing is to continue to collect those beggars living in the dark streets of Melalen, or bankrupt farmers. Rurik asked the old guy to find a way to win over those tribes in the south who felt that life was too hard to survive, and asked them to sign a contract to emigrate to the Rus.
What else could be the simplest solution to the arrangement of such people? The settlements of the North, the settlements of the East, where labor is always needed! As long as they can work and decide to follow the Ross leader, the pragmatic Ross leader father and son don't care much about their identities.
As many as 4,000 people left Roseburg in just one day. The settlement, which once had a population of over 8,000 people, quickly fell into a trough after a short period of extreme excitement.
is not that right? Most of those who went out to work hard left, and those who stayed behind also stayed temporarily.
Rosberg in AD 830 was destined to become something extraordinary, and she was bound to enter the moment of its lowest inhabitants in history. It's not that the population is withering, it's entirely because the Rus people have built too many stalls, making the mother city no longer strong, and temporarily degenerating into an ordinary Nordic tribe.
Because after Otto and the fleet that followed him left, six more ships left the fjord in a very special way.
That's six dragon-headed warships! The bow of the boat has been installed with the latest chiseled relief with a lizard head, and the relief is also soaked in blue water boiled with blue lichen, making the relief also bluish.
Arik led his crusade to the expedition, and Yevlo bid farewell to his master for a while, and started a new war as Arik's general.
To be honest, Yevlo didn't like Arik a bit, and the only reason was that he seemed too arrogant. It's not that Arik's attitude toward others is unreasonable, on the contrary, he doesn't even object to a Finn serving as his subordinate, because he really understands that on the battlefield, as long as you are in the same camp as a buddy, that is brother, you Guard his back, and he will guard your back.
Arik doesn't see the Gotlanders as strong enemies at all, which makes Yevro a little worried. Fortunately, this experienced mercenary holds a weapon of cutting-edge technology. He trusts the crossbow developed by his master, and even more trusts his mercenary comrades who are born and die.
Two hundred Rus soldiers, probably the most elite, rushed to Tombstone Island with an infinite desire for victory, and then to the south of the Åland Islands, where the island was located, to the unknown battlefield.
Everything seems to have returned to calm, and the clansmen who stayed behind did not feel any peace at all.
The leader's house became quiet again. Nia had some expectations for the future, but when she thought that her precious son would lead a group of clansmen in a very unique capacity, and those servants who spoke the same language as Rumia , to go to the "unknown land" in the north, she thought of her two sons who died, but until Rurik couldn't experience such power, even with a noble identity, she couldn't be completely convincing.
Under the oil lamp, she sewed a snow fox fur coat for her son. Seeing her son sitting at the table in her own hall, Rurik, who was concentrating on muttering something, she felt it was like a song, and she couldn't help asking, "Are you getting ready?"
"Huh?" Rurik was taken aback.
"I mean, are you ready for the expedition? You have to choose some children to follow you on the expedition. You are very bold."
Rurik didn't seem very excited, as if it were fate: "Of course I'm ready. I know, you're very worried about me."
Nia's nose was sour, and then she wiped away the cheap tears.
At this time, Sister Carlotta, who was busy stitching up rabbit-skin gloves with imported precious steel needles, approached Nia, who was crying.
"Mom, you don't have to worry. We will take care of Rurik. We Ostarans are not afraid of anything. We will not encounter any danger. We will build Elrond well." When it came to the effect, Nia cried even more.
Her rough hands stroked Carlotta's little face. At this moment, she really regarded this little girl as her own daughter.
In an instant, the children of the lively family left one after another, and only Rumia, the priestly girl, would stay.
Rurik even had to take away the ten little maids from Novgorod, and actually trained them as warriors, just like the existence of the Valkyries around Odin.
Many children who are valued by his son have to participate in the action. Niya does not understand why his son has to select a large number of children to participate in it. Could it be that this is a kind of military training?
Niya's speculation was not explained, but the fact was that Rurik wanted to lead a group of his subordinates to train his subordinates in the name of the construction of Fort Elrond to excavate the value of the mine. In a sense, this is literally "Summer Camp for the Rosburg Scouts". Of course, this so-called "summer camp" must be dangerous, otherwise Rurik wouldn't be determined to bring thirty crossbows in one go.
Rurik kept explaining his dreams, emphasizing that after the development of Elrond Castle, the Ross tribe had a steady stream of iron of the highest quality, and even claimed: "In the future, my warriors will wear chain mail. My warriors will wear chain mail. In any battle, at most, there will be only minor injuries, and no one will be killed. This is the reason why I must mine the iron ore, and it is also my promise to the Kowen people who have surrendered to us.”
"I understand!" Niya cried in relief, "And that girl, called Seporava."
"And Telavis, that boy is my chosen future... leader of Elrond."
Niya was taken aback: "You believe him so much? He is from Kewen."
"No! He is my subordinate and my servant. But I am more than happy to be his brother. I want to let those Kewen people, especially those Kewen children, know that I am their most reliable leader."
Speaking of excitement, Rurik simply said, "Mom, you know what? I just made up a song."
"You... you can still make up songs?" Niya asked with relief, "Did you just hum it?"
"Exactly! Let me sing now."
Rurik cleared his throat and stood up, singing softly in Norse under the flame of the oil lamp.
Always remembered by us,
is a great dream.
May my dear hometown be beautiful,
May Holy Rose be honored.
Hear the wind and snow whistling and watch the aurora fly.
My soul calls to me,
To the turbulent distance.
Even difficulty after difficulty,
Nor can we retreat.
Let us be brothers,
We are full of power.
Hear the wind and snow whistling and watch the aurora fly.
My soul calls to me,
To the turbulent distance.
...
Rurik sang softly the famous song "Singing Turbulent Youth", whose lyrics he changed some of the lyrics. Of course, the core idea has not changed at all.
The tunes of the songs are beautiful and full of vigor, and there is also a hint of the deep feeling of the vast Eastern Europe. In his opinion, this song may be the only one that best corresponds to Ross's young people.
Yes, after all, this song was originally composed by the descendants of Rus in history, but its intention is even greater, calling on young people to build their own country for a great and glorious ideal.
Nia was stunned, and Carlotta and Ella showed smiles on their faces. Not only is the song's lyrics full of hope, but because it was sung by Rurik himself, the meaning becomes extraordinary.
"What? I can't sing well?" Rurik asked his mother deliberately.
Niya let out a long sigh of relief; "You sing so beautifully, there is no song more tactful than it, there is no song that makes me happier than it. Rurik, just like your lyrics, you... Do you want to be brothers with those Kewen people?"
Rurik was caught off guard by his mother's question, and without any hesitation, he said bluntly: "Yes! Kewen people, deer farmers, or other tribes that I have conquered, as long as they surrender, they are all of us Rus people. I'm going to recruit those kids to be my minions and I'm going to make them proud to be part of the Roth clan. And this song, I've decided that before I go, my minions must all be able to sing it! "
Niya's thoughts are constrained to this era, her perspective is narrower than Otto's, and she even instinctively feels that her son's dream is too idealistic. After all, it was his only son, and out of love, he had to fully accept Rurik's decision.
"Hopefully, they can be your most loyal brothers."
Rurik responded decisively: "This time, I will lead the subjects of the Kovins to build their new settlements, and I just want to win their favor. In the future, those Kovins will also be our warriors."
In this era of lack of entertainment, children's fighting and wrestling have become important entertainment. Today, including the oldest game of rugby for "leather dumplings", and archery competitions, are important entertainment for children.
They were never born purely brave [Liancheng] ruthless, they also have the pursuit of literature and art in their hearts. Boys and girls will spontaneously hum some songs, the so-called folk songs.
The folk songs of the Rus are long and long, corresponding to the vast land after winter, and the singing is long and ethereal and even a hint of coldness.
Suddenly, Rurik's "Singing of Turbulent Youth" quickly became a favorite for children to learn. Not just because the song was spearheaded by Rurik, but because of its beautiful intent.
Even children, they know what a great journey they are about to embark on, and this song is so timely before they leave.
It is a hymn to the young Ross of the expedition!
It is also a hymn to dreams.
The children no longer feel that their goals in life are only to become rich and married, and they are brothers to each other. The higher ideal of everyone is not just to achieve their own happiness, but to work hard for the Ross tribe to become stronger.
In an instant, the action to build Elrond Castle to the north was raised.
The children finally ushered in their first "great career" in their lives.