Chapter Five Hundred and Forty-Six Ross Trading Company Rises From the Ruins

The speed with which the nobility of Melalen gave an answer was astonishing, and they seemed to agree to Rose's request without a second thought.

"Could their bottom line be any lower?" Rurik regretted not asking for more.

They actually responded the next day, so that Rurik immediately took his brothers to visit the Birka market again.

It was already the third day after the secret meeting, and this time the meeting was public.

Ross signed a written contract with Mälaren, or Sweden, at the mansion of the old king Oregin.

The document is engraved on the wood in rune, and the contract is in duplicate, signed by Rurik and Bjorn.

"In this way, our alliance remains strong. With your support, my Melalon clan can still hold the throne."

Hearing the public remarks at the Bjorn meeting, Rurikxu and Visser's blunt support, but he still has means to use.

Rurik suddenly publicly stated, "I only support Bjorn and his descendants or designated successors as kings of Sweden. If his family perishes, the contract will also collapse."

This is a very serious word. Whether it was Bjorn or the wealthy nobles present, their rosy complexions instantly turned pale.

They guessed that the Rus people are provocative here, but no one dared to make a statement.

Bjorn squeezed out a smile in embarrassment, and then spoke loudly about his covenant with Rose.

Quietly their expressions and attitudes, Rurik knew that his plan was successful.

Bjorn is a complete usurper, how could he not prevent those nobles from his own family who own a lot of land from rebelling again? If they can be suspicious of each other and fight internally, the whole of Sweden will no longer be an obstacle to Ross's future development, but only a place for Ross' property and dumping.

Now that the oath of negotiation has been completed, Melalen immediately began to implement the treaty.

They're not really particularly aggressive, it's just Russ pushing hard.

Rurik strongly demanded that before the fleet heading north to go home left, Melalen must take out five hundred slaves, and all the inhabitants of the taverns and subsidiary areas of the Birka market must be expelled.

The nobles of Melalen played the villains, with private soldiers and armed slaves,

Aggressively rushed to the market.

Bjorn took away all his own people in the tavern, and also took away all the ale in stock, leaving the empty shell of the house to the Russ.

As for those nobles, their weapons wielded wooden sticks and axes, forcing the settled merchants near the tavern to leave immediately, without any room for negotiation.

The merchants left with the money while crying, and they would be beaten if they moved, and a household who was stubborn and refused to withdraw was directly killed.

The Melaron nobles saw those houses being cleaned up and then deliberately demolished while their own people cursed or watched.

A crowd of strays appeared in the fair, merchants who had lost their houses, and their goods became fat with nowhere to save.

Melalen's "vultures" acted immediately, creating yet another humanitarian crisis.

A group of bandits, even gangs, popped up in the market.

In other words, it wasn't a gang either. The so-called gang was originally the opponent of the late King Olegin, and also the opponent of the great nobles. They want to build in Melalen to their advantage and want to replace it.

In the past, Olegin used power to suppress these bandits, but now in an era of political instability, they are taking advantage of the chaos to expand.

In the Melaron tribe, in addition to the foreign forces of the Rus, a third force is also rising.

Rurik didn't care about this at all, or the bandits didn't hurt Ross. The bandits have no such courage, because there is a legend in the public opinion that the Rus people simply do not want to be the king of Sweden. When they think about it, Melalen will be occupied by 10,000 Rus soldiers in one day, so it is better not to deliberately provoke it. them.

Displaced merchants are now literally poor, the weather is about to get cold, and many are forced to enslave others.

And their former home has been turned into ruins. Within three days, the Rus people with blue flags on a white background came!

When the Russ came, the battle was unusual.

Gould was ordered by Rurik to stand on the wooden platform built by the mercenaries and built on the ruins. Under the escort of many heroic warriors, he shouted loudly to the gathered Melalen people.

"Merlaren! From now on, this area will be our Ross Chamber of Commerce. You don't have to go to the island to trade, and future trade will take place in this market! Now, the Duke of Ross will reward you. Thank you, Duke of Ross, Liuli Grab it!"

Gould shouted this many times, and he felt that the time was right, so he ordered his subordinates to hold two large sacks and threw copper coins to the gathered more than two thousand people.

Yes, copper coins.

Compared with the Principality of Ross, which is overly rich in silver coins, the people of the entire Lake Melaren region lack transaction currency.

If it wasn't for Rurik's authority to force the prices of certain bulk goods to stabilize the basic prices, and his madness against restrained money, the Russ people would have long since been crushed by the influx of huge hot money, causing the economy to collapse and the hearts of the people to wither.

Rurik and his family are already the richest and most powerful in this sea area. Of course he wouldn't throw big silver coins. Why would he portray the poor Melalen civilians as a generous coin collector? Old Roman copper coins that are too big, useless and not in good condition (in circulation for four hundred years) are enough. .

The poor people were looting, and Gould, who was standing high, couldn't help laughing.

"Haha! It's like a bunch of sheep fighting for fodder, so much fun!"

No one thought it was inappropriate, the Ross warriors who were maintaining order and surrounded by a shield wall were all smiling and looking at this wonderful scenery.

They scrambled for copper coins, men and women fought for it, and the scene became a pot of porridge!

Gould could predict what would happen if he did this. He was afraid that the madman would charge his tower, so he ordered the martial law mercenaries to kill anyone who attacked him with excessive money grabbing.

The mercenaries received orders without fear. What battles have these old warriors on the battlefield never seen before? The shield wall's hedging and slaughtering are not false, what about these rabble?

In order to grab money, gang members did not dare to rush to the "position" of the Rus people, and they did not dare to rush to the big businessmen of Rus who had the money. They suddenly drew their daggers and used force openly in the snatch.

Some people fell directly in a pool of blood, but once the stampede accident happened, the gang became victims even drawing a knife.

A bloody farce ended. People fled with blood-stained copper coins in panic, leaving behind a piece of chicken feathers that the Russ had to clean up.

There were more than fifty corpses lying on the ground. Gould felt distressed for a second, and then cursed: "Don't the nobles of Melalen exist? No patrollers to clean up the mess? In the end, it is up to us to maintain order."

A mercenary muttered, "Sir, Olegin's men are all dead, and of course no one maintains order."

"Damn. We are free. There is no Olegin's men in black. We have to maintain order and ensure our safety. Forget it, Rurik doesn't expect those Melalen nobles at all."

Ross mercenaries began to carry corpses, and the construction of Ross shops began in ruins and blood.

Gould appointed his second son Stein to be the keeper of the shops and islands, nailed here for the benefit of Ross and his family.

"Father, I will do it well, just like you used to be."

Gould didn't give much encouragement: "Continue to grow and operate here, give yourself a nickname and let the locals remember you. Let them mention you as your name, not Gouldson."

Compared to the elder brother, Snowreva, the other brothers seem to be the lack of attention from father Gould.

Stein knew that the real name was mostly used within the family, and it was the nickname that really made people remember.

"The big brother is the white fox, and I am the blue fox. In my opinion, the brothers use the fox as a nickname."

"Alright. I'll talk to Rurik about this." Gould thought for a while, "Blue stripes on a white background, the flag of Ross. It depicts a blue fox head on the flag, and you hang up such a flag, Symbol of your existence."

Gould prides himself on making good arrangements, and even finds the second son's ideas constructive. He was originally a little-known businessman in Ankras, and he spent most of his life working hard to save his family business, and he flew directly into the sky on the big ship of the Rus! Should your family have a clear name to continue, such as the "Guldrevas" golden fox family?

Indeed, Nordic snow foxes are cunning and alert, a trait that traders really need.

Gould's side of the Rus people's brand-new business situation is very good, and Rurik is on Gould Island, facing a large number of goods and transported slaves.

Goods have their own warehouses, but slaves are people!

These guys are all skinny, the so-called "adult men", Rurik thinks they should be enough to take up arms, but in their condition, they are afraid that they will be tired from ploughing the land.

"Damn. Bjorn, you smack me? You can just give me the worst person? I have to restore some of their bodies before I can use them."

Helpless, helpless, men, women and children have arrived.

Rurik ordered the immediate distribution of food, and set up ten large tauons on the island, where oats were boiled over a high fire, and a large number of chopped onions and carrots with yellow roots were thrown into it. Seeing that the timing was about the same, a lot of salt and even the seal oil that lubricated the cables were thrown into the urn.

The air was filled with a strange fragrance, and slaves holding wooden bowls prayed for the blessing of their masters.

Standing on the tall wooden castle walls are warriors in extraordinary clothes, and Rurik is even more gorgeously dressed and standing high.

The empty field in the wooden castle was full of slaves, waiting for the master's instructions, but all eyes were on the urn.

"Are you hungry? These delicious meals are given to you. Now, you are all my slaves, and after eating my reward, you must always be loyal to me.

I promise you two things. First, any time you do what I command, your life will be guaranteed. Second, disobeying my orders will be killed! "

How dare the slaves complain? The crowd murmured constantly, some people shed tears while watching the delicious meal, some looked blank, and some were quite happy.

They were driven to line up by mercenary soldiers, and each received a bowl of boiled sloppy salty porridge and drank it.

What is a good meal? Rurik felt that for those suffering from chronic hunger, the combination of carbohydrates, salt, and fat was the right solution.

Huge numbers of slaves poured into the island, and it took a lot of energy just to cook.

In addition, the work of material handling once made Rurik feel that he should recruit a group of temporary workers.

The mental state of the slaves improved, and both men and women changed their clothes. Especially when the weather is cold, they each have a simple-cut leather jacket and quick-stitched leather boots.

When his spirit recovered a little, he threw himself into the tense material handling.

Even if they shouted about Ross's greatness, Rurik would not be easily moved by the cheers. From a utilitarian point of view, these people are all tools, and raising them to be strong and healthy is for better pioneering.

Gould returned to the island, and he no longer had to worry about the shore.

Another day will be the day of departure. With so many major events happening in just ten days, Gould consciously witnessed a major milestone in the historical process, and his aging body also cheered up.

It is night, and there will be another banquet on the island.

Looking at the feast of roast sheep, Rurik's heart has drifted back to his hometown.

"How are things going? It should all go well." Rurik asked casually, breaking the ribs of the lamb.

"It's all done. Although my second son is inexperienced, now I give him a chance, he will develop the industry well and serve Ross."

"Very good. I heard that there is a lot of trouble in the market these days, there are bandits and thieves, and many people are killed."

"It's nothing. If we are violated, my son will not be soft-hearted, nor will the soldiers stationed there."

Rurik nodded and said solemnly: "The people stationed must spend the whole winter to establish the trading company. I want to build a fortress on land, so that any possible bandits will be discouraged."

"It's natural. I instructed my son to recruit local craftsmen to build a fort after all the clutter was removed."

"Very good. A lot of supplies are expected to arrive here next year, and I'm even worried that I won't be able to buy them all."

"This... my lord, are you worried about the Mellarens?" Gould asked again.

"Or talk about your eldest son, the news that Snowleva hasn't come back?"

"Yes. Your lord, are you worried about him or about our layout in Denmark."

"Of course they're all worried, because!" Rurik paused, looking at the closed wooden door, "There's something I haven't told you, it's a very important thing."

"Speaking."

"You put down your precious wine glass first." After a while, Rurik said again: "I! I'm afraid I will kill the king of Denmark on the way back."

"Ah!" Just as Rurik was worried, Gould suddenly lay down.

He hurriedly got up again, holding the low table: "Is this true? You didn't take the Balmers to fight Britain, why did you go to attack Denmark?"

"It was an inevitable battle, and I won. It will be revealed when your son comes back. My old friend, as I see it... it is detrimental to treat Denmark as a permanent enemy. We should catch it. Take a chance and see the changes in the political situation in Denmark. If the new Danish leader lacks ill will towards us northerners, we Russ should send envoys. Besides, in my opinion, it is impractical for Sweden to send troops to attack Denmark.”

Only the last sentence is the most important. Gould slapped his thigh: "I see, let my eldest son go wool. This is... very dangerous."

"Yes, it is dangerous, but the Danes are not fools. You have many sons, and if your eldest son dies for Ross, your family remains, and I will take revenge in Ross's name. Noleva has no intention of rejecting my request."

Gould nodded and drank another glass of wine, which was no longer sweet, but bitter.

"Okay... everything is ready," Gould said frankly. "Even if we support Bjorn as king, the Meralen tribe is still in a mess. Bjorn is probably not as good as Carl's governance level, that guy is completely It's letting go."

"This is what I hope for. If Olegin II really appears, the forces in the entire lake area will be twisted into a rope, and we Ross will not be able to fish in troubled waters. Don't think about it anymore, I'm going to take a bath after dinner. Tomorrow everyone The personnel and supplies are on board, and we will go home."