Chapter 849 Going to the Holy Land
There is no need to discuss with the Uppsala people any more about how to hold the ceremony for the Prince of Rus to be crowned king.
Rurik came here to tell these people that it would be a fact that he would become king. The Russians could handle all the matters before and after becoming king. However, many other Swedish nobles had to come to support them. Anyone who dared not come would be immediately regarded as an act of hostility. In this autumn, the Ross army and a powerful fleet went directly to punish those who refused.
The first-arrival meeting was not a real meeting of nobles. In the mansion of the Duke of Uppsala, several big nobles from all over Sweden held discussions with Rurik.
Although Sweden has been dominated by these large tribes since ancient times, the meeting would not be perfect without the presence of a group of small nobles.
Rurik set a perfect day for the king's enthronement ceremony.
The twenty-eighth day of June in the Julian calendar is the summer solstice in the legislation. It is the right time to worship the sun and Odin on this day.
The noisy house finally settled down, and the two generations of Rus princes, as well as the old king Bjorn and other big nobles left one after another.
Swined, the ruler of Uppsala, deeply felt the majesty of the young hero, and wished that the great hero would leave as soon as he became king.
Since it is not an informal meeting, everything will be discussed in a formal meeting regarding what responsibilities the Prince of Rus should perform when he becomes queen, and what obligations the various Swedish tribes as vassals should perform.
"There will be a major meeting, and our little lake will become very lively." Swynedd was a little afraid to face the future, instead of being full of caution.
The high priest took off his antlered helmet and stared seriously at the wooden door covered with leather curtains.
"The Rus have brought their own high priest, and my position is meaningless. Chief, is it really advisable to let them perform rituals under our sacred tree?"
"You don't want to? What can you do?"
"Rurik of Rus is very arrogant and did not listen to my advice. Odin blessed him in the past, but as for the future..." The high priest shook his head and said no more.
"How? Can we still punish him?"
The high priest, who didn't want to say anything more, stomped his boots a few times: "They treat me as a fool! Just let them do it themselves! My priests and I are not involved. Now the holy tree is under their control , the big temple is also under their control. The venue for this year's summer sacrifice has been stolen, and I will take the priests to the altar in the forest to perform summer rituals. Chief, you stay here and watch that man become the king. gone!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the high priest indeed left the house with heavy steps and anger.
The Uppsala priest group has served the sacred tree of their faith for generations, and they hold the power of faith, while tribal leaders (duke) like Swinnede have long been in charge of the power of general affairs.
The high priest behaved in Rurik's presence with great submissiveness. Rurik left, and he became surly again.
Swynedd reached out and tried to persuade him to stay and chat with her, but he left in a hurry, so he just let her go.
The next day, the Russian army officially began construction of the temporary city in Uppsala.
People who had rested for the night were more motivated to enter the forest area to cut trees. More big trees collapsed, causing earthquakes that did not stop at all. A number of temporary sawmills appeared in the forest. The roughly processed large trees were immediately cut into materials of different sizes, and a large number of waste branches also attracted a large number of Uppsala people.
There was no economic output from building the city. Thanks to Rurik carrying a large amount of dry oats, wheat and rye in advance, the sufficient logistical support provided the men with no worries.
And Ross's construction actions are also good for the local Uppsala people.
Since ancient times, real estate has been a good way to stimulate economic activity.
Thousands of Rus warriors were busy with construction, and a group of Uppsala people came spontaneously to provide logistics in order to obtain benefits.
Those women cooked wheat porridge for the Russians, and they could also take their children to get a share of the pie.
The women washed clothes for the Russians, and the men polished logging axes for the Russians. Many fishermen can work longer and sell the extra fish they catch to the Russians in exchange for silver or copper coins.
At first, only a few people had the courage to come here to find some work in the city of Ross. Ross showed good intentions, or Zyryurik was really willing to pay. Within a week, there were already hundreds of Uppsala people. Started the logistics of the Russian army. If the fishermen who sell their own fish are also included, the Russian army's logistical support will be even greater.
At first, people thought that the Russian army that suddenly entered the Neihu District was an intruder and would destroy the great temple and put everyone's lives in danger. Now anyone who is willing to cooperate can benefit from the Prince of Rus becoming king. Why not support a new king?
The construction process of Ross City was very fast. After all, Rurik's first consideration was to ensure that everyone could move in safely, and there was no need to consider the details of the buildings.
A summer heavy rain suddenly fell, and the whole world became muddy. The reeds near the lake were already quite lush, and there was black mud everywhere. Anyone who ran around in the rain would have their feet covered in mud.
The situation in the city is much better. A large number of wooden slats are laid on the ground to serve as paths. Each residential house is erected on a large number of wooden piles to isolate the mud and water. The roof is in a herringbone shape, and a large number of wooden boards are arranged at special angles. Stacked, they become tiles, channeling accumulated water into trickles to the outside.
The air is extremely humid and the temperature has dropped significantly. Thousands of people were hiding in the houses they made with their own hands, huddled together in fur blankets, one by one like giant caterpillars.
Several large houses were put together with rough logs in a mortise-and-tenon style, and Rurik placed all his wives, concubines, and Russian nobles here.
It was a happy thing for the family to huddle together and protect the children from the rain, but this incident exposed the discomfort that Rurik's nobles had to endure before he could ascend to the throne and achieve glory.
Three days of heavy rain caused the entire Pan-Mälaren Lake to swell, and finally the weather cleared...
When the ground finally became drier, Rurik, who was no longer too lazy to supervise the work, finally decided to take a look at the sacred tree first.
He gathered his young wives and concubines outdoors. The women knew that today they would personally appreciate the big tree that was clearly visible on the boat more than ten days ago, and they all looked happy.
"My women!" Rurik was so happy that his tone became vulgar: "Put on gorgeous clothes! Remember! When I ascend the throne, you will all serve as priests. Now follow me to visit Uppsala. Temple, go visit the sacred tree. Let’s go investigate and start building the altar immediately.”
The wives and concubines remained silent, and the smiles on their faces hinted at the endless words they could say. They were all dressed up today. Because it was too cool after the rain, they wore white bear fur coats and a lot of jewelry. Some Slavic-style complex striped clothing styles made the clothes even more gorgeous.
Simple-style clothing is not suitable for this era at all. What the people of this era need is a combination of as many colors as possible. The more chaotic the colors, the more noble they are considered.
Even their hats were decorated with feathers dipped in colored ink, and their bodies were covered with shiny glass beads.
Rurik's clothes were equally gorgeous, but the difference was that he wore chain mail to show his identity as a warrior. As for the golden laurel crown kept in the box, it is still preserved, and this thing will crown his head on that day.
More than a hundred warriors were dressed in costumes without losing their martial prowess. These were hundreds of tall and strong men, with a stature equivalent to 185cm. This height is really rare in Sweden today. They carried bucklers on their backs and carried halberds. Each halberd was hung with blue, white and red cloth strips, and the leather helmets on their heads were also filled with blue-dyed feathers.
There is also a small group of special elite troops, all of whom wear bear heads. The concept of "berserker" has been embodied in Ross, and the teams with bear heads are all berserkers. Of course, the shields of these people are also different. The shields are painted white with chalk clay and have the same slightly abstract raven pattern painted on them.
As for the twenty cavalry, they further demonstrated the nobility of Prince Rus.
The Russians made a big noise here. Some people who were nominally "working" for the Russians, but were actually spies, hurried to the large settlement village of Uppsala and informed Prince Rurik of Swined. measures.
Let's look at the two secret talkers half-kneeling in the house, Swined yawning and listening impatiently.
"What other big things can the Russians do? Are they going to tell me that official envoys from other nobles are coming?"
"My lord. This is Prince Rurik of Rus." Mi Tan suddenly raised his head and said.
"how?"
"Rurik is coming."
Suddenly getting out of bed and getting angry, Swynedd suppressed the evil fire and reprimanded: "Don't talk nonsense, speak quickly!"
"Yes! We heard that Rurik summoned some elites to visit our sacred tree. They are already in action, and a small army from Ross will arrive soon."
"Is this happening?!" Swinned was no longer sleepy at all now.
Logically speaking, it was just a big tree, so why was the Duke of Swinnede so surprised?
The reason is not complicated either.
Just like the Rus people in the tribal era in the past, the old temple of Rus was just a big long house. It was called a holy place, the residence of the priests, and an area where sacrifices were performed. People who know it know that there is nothing special about the house, but for most people, it is a restricted area that cannot be entered even half a step.
This situation is even more bizarre in Uppsala. The Great Temple is not only a complex of buildings surrounded by big trees, it is a restricted area! On ordinary days, people would not dare to set foot in the restricted area. Trespassers, regardless of age or sex, will be caught and even killed, and their blood will be sacrificed to the sacred tree to atone for their disrespect to the gods.
The tattooed high priest of Uppsala is not as harmless as he seems. He always sticks to his beliefs and even takes some drastic actions.
This is what Swynedd is afraid of! He was afraid that Rurik would lead his army to break into the holy place of worship on the wrong day and directly conflict with the priests. Originally, it was Swinned who led the troops to deal with those who trespassed on the Holy Land. It was actually the Russians who were about to set foot on the Holy Land, and he didn't dare to stop them in the slightest.
"Come on! Go and mobilize the brothers!" he shouted.
Someone immediately came up and said, "Sir, what should we do? Do we really want to prevent the Russians from entering the Holy Land by mistake?"
"Bah! We are going to mediate, I'm afraid those priests will get hot..."
The high priest himself is old, and a group of lower-level priests are indeed priests on the surface, but they pick up weapons and transform into warriors. They have also mastered the cooking techniques of special mushroom soup. After drinking a bowl of "Holy Red Mushroom Soup", they immediately become berserkers and will kill anyone who accidentally enters the Holy Land without mercy.
When it came to battle, Swynedd was convinced that his priests were no match for the Rus.
He hurriedly woke up all his private soldiers who were sleeping late, and cursed at the large group of lazy people standing in front of him. He clapped his hands desperately to attract their attention. When everyone realized that there might be an armed conflict, they all became nervous.
Swinned went out with his private soldiers, and the people of Uppsala saw their Duke running in a hurry with his men, but they just watched their backs run away.
After Rurik, the entire team walked with great interest on the wilderness path that was forcibly trodden by someone. The wind blowing in the face carries the fragrance of earth. If you look closely, you will see blue-purple flower bones starting to emerge from the green grass after the rain.
Having lived for sixty years, Otto never thought that he could live for such a long time. Now he also understood why the high priest Vilia's legs and feet were not in good condition. His current situation is not bad, but his body can no longer bear heavy armor. When he was old, he used a wooden pole with the halberd head removed as a staff. The warrior's arrogance refused anyone's support.
The cavalrymen held high the flag of Ross, and the men in costume formed a single file.
Rurik was in a good mood, even though there was a lot of mud on his boots.
A gray team hurried towards them, immediately arousing the vigilance of the leading cavalry.
"Sir, there are armed men running towards us."
"Armed men?" Although Rurik thought it was ridiculous, he immediately ordered everyone to be on alert.
The team immediately calmed down, the soldiers took off their shields and drew their swords one after another, and the warriors holding crossbows immediately unstrung their bows. The female relatives were protected by the group, and they all held the hilt of the sword.
Old Otto admired the quick response of his young tribesmen, and cleared his throat vigorously: "There will be no danger, don't be too alert."
Even so, the crossbows were already equipped with arrows, and the cavalrymen dug their flagpoles into the mud and pulled out their long swords.
Swinned, who came with the people, was startled. When he saw the Russians setting up a shield wall, he immediately opened his arms and walked away.
Swined's private soldiers showed enough peace that he simply ordered his men to stand where they were, and he walked alone to Ross's team who was on guard.
Facing the cavalry with their swords drawn, he felt even more worried, and the rapid reaction speed of the Russians made him even more convinced that these people were really well-trained. He was quite pathetic. After gathering fifty private soldiers, he had to slap them one by one to wake them up.
"Russians, don't be nervous, it's me! Swined."
"Is it the Duke of Uppsala?" Seeing that he meant no harm, Rurik immediately got out of the shield wall and put his steel sword back into its scabbard. "What's your purpose here?"
"You... where are you going?"
"You..." Rurik hesitated: "You seem to know something?"
This question made Swined quite speechless. He was sure that Rurik knew that he had sent his eyes and ears. Rurik asked this question, which made things so embarrassing.
However, since the matter was serious, he simply said bluntly: "I know you want to go to the Grand Temple, but this is not appropriate."
"Is there anything inappropriate?" Rurik also opened his arms to express peace: "I want to ascend the throne there. Now if I go to see the venue, I can't say it is wrong."
"But this is wrong."
"What did you say?!"
"Ah! I mean. It's inappropriate for you to take your men to the Great Temple now! Those priests will fight to the death to prevent you... from trampling on the holy land at the wrong time."
Swinned also took the risk, and the result was obvious. Rurik became furious because of this description.
"Ridiculous! Your priest can still stop me. You? Are you trying to stop me too? Tell you, I must go and take a look today."
"However, your army will easily defeat those priests. The blood of the priests spilling on the Holy Land will bring disaster to us Uppsala people."
"Disaster? Your priest dares to stop me? Didn't that high priest say he would be used by me?! You'd better get out of the way!"
In his desperation, Swynedd couldn't care too much: "That's true, but only on the right day can the priest really be used by you."
Rurik had already heard everything. He paced in front of everyone for a while, shook his head and said fiercely: "You can't stop me! Swined, stay away! I have to go to the Great Temple today. ! I even brought a rope, and I’m going to measure how thick that big tree is today!”
He said this as if he was King Wu of Qin who wanted to measure the weight of the tripod.
The fact that things can make Swined so nervous reflects the importance of that big tree to Uppsala. Because of this, Ross wants to go even more!
He let out his last harsh words: "Swined, the matter is actually very simple. You take your people to convince the priests to stay away for the time being. I visited the big temple, measured the circumference of the big tree, and then left on my own. As for it being easier if they don't want to leave, what I want the most is those who agree on the surface but oppose behind the scenes. After all, my enthronement ceremony does not need your priest group. It is unreasonable for a priest group to not listen to you, a noble. Why don't I help you? Clean it up, you are training some obedient priests, what do you think of Shuyuan www.zhaoshuyuan.com?"
That's all, Rurik laughed.
These words really pierced Swined's heart. Regarding the departure of the late Russian high priest, all the priests died mysteriously, and were eventually burned to ashes in a fire. With the vivid description of the businessman, he also had some thoughts. Hear. He is now completely sure that it was the Rus who killed their old priest group and later supported a new group of priests who were very obedient.
He believed that the Russians could really do it.
Seeing that he could no longer resist, Swined had no choice but to obey his orders. Even if they were tied with ropes, he would take away all the priests and force them into confinement until the Russians left with satisfaction.
Of course those mortals do not dare to enter the Holy Land area, their most immediate worry is the fear of encountering sanctions. It just so happens that the sanctioner is Swined. He and the private soldiers he maintains are in principle the guardians of the Holy Land and can arrive at any time.
He then turned the direction of the team and ran towards the large temple area not too far away, which was visible to the naked eye, towards the giant tree that looked like a dark green mass hanging alone on the ground.
Please remember the first domain name of this book: . :