Chapter 140： Humbly man

The White Tree Manor is the second richest. After all, it has a population of two thousand people, even in an era when the level of material production is low. So many people, a natural village condensed by the blood of a common ancestor, can still produce some wealth surplus.

They should have used the surplus of these wealth to make their lives better, or used these materials to raise more children.

The Ross people came with their axes and swords.

The White Tree Manor is like a sheep, and all the wool that has been swollen through hard work has been cut by the Ross people.

In this regard, the manager of the bank, Ligus, was helpless.

The Ross people come twice a year, and those people in Pine Needle Manor can be seen every few days.

If it weren't for being oppressed by Pine Needle Manor, how could White Tree Manor settle down in a place that was still seven kilometers away from Lake Ilmen in a straight line?

In fact, the fertile fields by the lake were all occupied by the people of Pine Needle Manor. With its own strength, White Tree Manor could not reverse the disadvantages in the competition.

The current White Tree Manor not only has to give the Ross people a tribute twice a year. This routine of collecting tributes was also learned by Pine Needle Manor.

Pine Needle Manor learned from the Ross people playing the tribute strategy. They are crowded and powerful, and they were originally the focus of the Ross people. In order to recover the loss, after the Ross people left, it was the turn of the Pine Needle Tribe to circle the Lake Ilmen to collect. Tribute. This tribute to Pine Needle Manor is not much, and when it is handed over to them, White Tree Manor has been deeply insulted.

Every family in the White Tree Manor provides a wealth, which is finally counted by the manor chief's family, and finally handed over to the Ross people.

The head of the estate, Rigus, is a tax collector serving the Ross people in a realistic sense.

What the Ross people are searching for is not the wealth of the manor chief family alone, but the wealth of the entire manor.

The most powerful family of the manor chief inherited the position of manor chief since ancient times, and some descendants of the manor chief inherit this position, and other manor members are branches. They all think that the manor chief’s family are noble people, and the days go by like this. Now it can be said that the manor chief wants them to do what ordinary people do.

As for the manor who took the tribute from other families and packaged it to the Ross people, but he didn't pay a single copper coin. Ordinary families did not have such a concept, or because they had nowhere to vent their dissatisfaction, they simply ignored them selectively.

The various manor houses generally developed continuously in this way, and the manor chief family of each manor really became aristocrats.

So what are the Ross people? Of course it is the noble among the nobles!

It's such a factor, it's really the right choice for a large number of ordinary people to choose to hide.

The bad news of the arrival of the Ross people reached the ears of the manor Ligus. The "old man" who was a few years younger than Otto suddenly stood up from his bearskin seat, his aging body seemed to fall apart.

"Where are they?!"

"The Ross people are already on the street." One of his nephews answered cautiously.

"It's really bad. You go and inform Medwitt to get him to come to me. The others are ready to go and go with me to meet the Ross people. Oh! I hope the Ross people can search less."

After a while, a 30-year-old man named Medwit stood in front of the manor Rigus, who was the eldest son of Rigus and the manor of the next generation.

Rigus has many children, but this one is still the eldest. By now, Rigus didn't feel that he would be able to survive 60 years old. Maybe it was the right choice to transfer the power of managing the entire estate to the eldest son as early as possible.

Rigus still has a lot of appeal, but he must personally participate in any major event.

Especially the relationship with the Ross people, for at least ten years, the warchief named Otto has come twice a year. Ordinary people believe that it was the correct negotiation of the manor Ligus that prevented the White Tree Manor from suffering a **** disaster for more than ten years.

The old Rigus was fifty years old, his figure was already a little rickety, and he had to hold a walking stick when he walked around on weekdays.

He also lost a lot of teeth, and his old chin could hardly refuse the dry Leba, so he had to eat some pulpy porridge and waited quietly for the end of his life.

Now, the leader of the Rus has suddenly arrived!

He quickly put on his decent clothes. Considering that it was still a bit cold outside, he had to put a big bearskin cap on his head and a black bearskin coat.

Wearing bearskin clothing will make a man look very Kong Wu, but unfortunately, this good clothing can't show anything when worn on an aging person.

People from the core family of the manor gathered behind Rigus, as well as the children of the family.

Seeing that the manor and his family had walked out of their well-built wooden house, other people also came out of their homes.

In the evening, there were dark clouds again, and Otto really didn't like this terrible ghost weather.

But in the eyes of the people in White Tree Manor, the dark clouds in the past few days are indeed a bad omen!

No, the army of Ross people who searched for wealth came with the billowing clouds.

The Roths are holding their own swords and shields, and each of them wears an iron helmet that covers half of their face. Everyone wears leather armor, and there are also fierce men in chain mail.

Their tall image is the most shocking, and Rigus himself is always very jealous when he sees such an army stepping on the dirt roads of the White Tree Manor.

Because as long as the Ross people are willing, they can easily wipe out the entire manor, and finally burn all the houses.

Rigus settled down, signaled the eldest son to take care of the other family Cheng Yan calmly, and then stepped forward with firm eyesight, intending to face the leader of the Ross people in person. An entourage who knew some Gnostic language followed close behind.

People are indeed different, and Rigus can't imagine that the leader of the Ross people is actually older than himself. He felt that he was dying of old age. The other person was still tall and strong like last autumn's posture. He has strong arms and a gray beard that proves aging.

Rigus trembling his mouth, slowly raised his head: "Great leader Ross, we welcome you."

Rigus knew some respectful words in Norse language, and his respectfulness satisfied Otto.

"Rigus, I thought you were going to die of old age. After a winter, you are still alive!" Otto said contemptuously.

The entourage hurriedly translated Otto's words. These remarks disgusted Rigus, so what could be done?

Rigus deliberately complimented: "It must be God's will, allowing me to continue to live, just to continue to serve the great Ross."

"Haha! You are good at talking! Now show me the way, I want to go to your residence and talk to you about this year."

"Yes, great leader."

Rigus turned around to lead the way, and was hurriedly stopped by Otto.

"Hold on! There is one thing you must solve for me now."

"Yes, my leader." Rigus murmured in his heart, still extremely submissive on the bright side.

"Very well, I want you to settle my people. All of us will stay at your manor tonight."

"Ah?!" Rigus was taken aback subconsciously, and the walking stick fell to the ground.

The servant quickly picked up the walking stick and stuffed it into Rigus' trembling hand.

"Are you not happy? Or..." As he said, Otto's eyes were dangerous, he held the hilt of his right hand, and quietly drew out a blade to show a threat.

"I am willing! We will all be willing, but I am worried..."

"Put away your worries, I won't embarrass your people too much." Otto's sword can scabbard, and his face is kind again. "Compared to other manors, you are the most cooperative. White Tree Manor is a tamed dog, and other manors are only half domesticated. In this way, give us some vacant wooden houses and my people will live in. You see too Now, this bad weather is about to rain. If my person gets wet, you will be responsible."

Rigus quickly understood, nodding his head like garlic, he quickly explained: "We have some vacant barns, I hope the great Ross people can appreciate their faces. I will also provide the food your people need, if you need women to serve. , I will...I will try my best to be satisfied."

Otto looked down on this old guy's humbly appearance, but to be fair, this old guy saved the lives of his people very well.

Otto nodded: "You are a loyal dog. I want you to provide one pound of bread to my people immediately. As for women, we need women. This is very important. I will give it to my people in a while. You explain."

The man is the knife and I am the fish, and Rigus's humility is to ensure the existence of the manor.

Of course, his humiliating image made some young White Tree Manor males quite dissatisfied.

Fight back? forget it. Do you dare to attack the Ross people by weighing the stone hammer and stone spear in your hand? To provoke them is to usher in destruction.

In this regard, Otto certainly knew the fear of these weak people.

The deterrence of the sword and the axe can come to an end, and now it needs some sweet comfort.

Otto clapped his hands, and the Ross crowd quickly gave way. Some heavily armed young men from the Ross tribe led their pregnant wives out.

Among them was Peravina, who approached Otto very wittily.

"Look, Rigus, our promise. These are the women from your White Tree Manor. They are pregnant with our Ross children. We treated them very well!"

"Yes..." Rigus was really surprised at this moment, and the onlookers were also surprised.

It is not surprising that a woman is pregnant. It seems that she has just changed from a thin woman to a thin woman with a big belly.

These pregnant women are really different, they are all a lot fatter, and their faces are rarely ruddy.

Some women's parents were in the crowd of onlookers. They recognized their married daughter at a glance, and their hearts were filled with relief.

Those young men from the Ross tribe who had to pay a huge amount of bargaining chips to get married, paid a small amount of silver coins to embrace the beauties, and they became fathers one after another. Of course such a man will not treat his wife wrongly! They will give their wives the fattened liver of the big fish they have caught, and provide their wives with the fat and large pieces of fresh meat from the seals.

This kind of diet is completely different from Novgorod. What a farmer lacks most is fat. After only half a year after marrying the Rus tribe, they ate more salt and fat than they had eaten in their lives for more than ten years. . They were basically ordered by their husbands to stay in a warm home, waiting for the cold winter to pass.

After a winter, there must be fat in their diet every year. How can they not get fat? !

In this era, chubby posture is recognized as a proof of good life.

Seeing the sisters of the same race who had married in the past, some of the women from the manor poked their heads out of the crowd of onlookers, unexpectedly showing a look of envy!

Darkness soon enveloped the land. At dawn, bad news about the arrival of the Rus had begun to spread in the various manors in Novgorod.

Not surprisingly, this time the purpose of the Ross people is still to collect tributes, and at most to marry a few more women. For the sake of completeness, it is obviously necessary to cut the meat with pain.

Each manor has already begun a final count to buy peace tributes from the Ross people.

And here in White Tree Manor, the situation tonight is truly unique.

After all, it is spring, and many of the once full barns have turned into empty wooden houses. A large number of wheat fields near the estate, in Novgorod's agricultural concept, the wheat seedlings are growing well. As long as we wait until the end of August in the Julian calendar, we will be able to harvest the wheat.

Many Ross people who have been paddling for a long time now hope to have a good rest first, and they quickly rushed into the barns provided by White Tree Manor, and then lay on the wooden floor arrogantly.

Unlike the Rus, the Novgorod region has more water network structures. In winter, this area is basically frozen, and in spring and summer, the frozen soil becomes muddy again.

The construction of all the houses in White Tree Manor involves first laying down a large number of wooden piles, then laying wooden floors and building wooden walls.

They also slept on their own wooden bed, and often had to lay some withered and dry reeds for comfort. After that, the family slept in a wooden bed and clothed them.

This is the case for ordinary families, the most powerful Rigus family, he has the financial resources to build a real estate for himself. For safety, there is also a wooden fence for protection!

The wooden wall is not to resist the Ruths or other enemies, it is to resist wild animals.

Even White Tree Manor, a large settlement with two thousand people, threw it back and encountered the patronage of wolves and bears.

Most of Otto’s subordinates stayed in the barn, and they began to eat their dried fish. Soon women from the White Tree Manor came with a large number of bread cubes, and they threw down the stuffed rye bread. The sacks ran away quickly, as if they would be caught by them when they ran late, and it was hard to predict afterwards.

Most young people have no attitude towards a group of older local women. Many of them really want to choose a woman in Novgorod to be their wife. If you want to choose a wife, you must choose young and beautiful!

As for the pregnant White Tree Manor women who returned, they did not hesitate to bring their Ross husbands back to their natal homes.

Novgorod has its own wedding and funeral culture, as do the Rus. Even if there are a lot of factors in the Rus culture that emphasize fighting and expansion, they still like to love and be loved.

When they returned to their wife's house, they felt like they were coming home. The brothers and sisters of the father-in-law and his wife's natal family had close contact with a Rose's son-in-law, and the grudge in their hearts quickly dissipated.

And when they took out one or two pieces of amber with poor color as a gift, they could immediately exchange the joy of their parents-in-law.

Their joy is really reasonable.

The Ross son-in-law took out a bit of bad-quality amber as a financial aid for his wife's family.

Let’s look at this amber. If you sell it in Smolensk in the south, you can also make a lot of money, and then you can exchange it for some rations that are necessary for life in the local area. The value of the tribute quota allocated by the manor to all families is completely lower than one or two pieces of amber.

Some families even hurriedly promoted their young daughters to their son-in-laws, hoping to make an appointment soon. In addition to the fact that their daughters can indeed get a rich material future, it also depends on the fact that marrying their daughters seems to be able to last long To get the benefits.

The tribute offered was fifty pounds of rye or oats.

Compared with the poor agricultural situation in Novgorod, the harvested wheat can only reach about one hundred pounds on a 15-meter by 15-meter acre. , which is the so-called 80 catties. The people of Novgorod did not fertilize the fields, and at most used the original irrigation system to fetch water from the lake during drought years. As for how much wheat can be harvested, everything is reckless.

In order to reach this one hundred pounds, they still need to invest thirty pounds of wheat seeds.

A family will take care of their own field with an area of ​​up to 20 acres. Because only the wooden plow gnaws out the groove, a lot of seeds are sprinkled at hand, and the children in the family will use the wooden rake to flatten the groove, and the planting will be finished.

After sowing the seeds, they hardly care about them. The long slack period is nothing more than raising some sheep and chickens to subsidize the family.

It is incredible to want a good harvest in such a rough way of farming.

However, their agriculture is enough to hold their lives, except for the tribute given to the Ross people of 100 pounds of wheat each year, and the sown grains, on average, the whole day's ration for a family can barely exceed three pounds. Save a bit and add wild vegetables. With mushrooms, some goat's milk, milk and eggs, or even fishing for fish, life is not too hard.

This night, the Ross people had three different situations.

The people who lived in the dry barn, they went to sleep wrapped in animal skins soon after eating the bread. They didn't feel any embarrassment to sleep like this, because in their hometown, their wooden houses didn't even have wooden floors.

Those Ross people who lived in their wife's natal family, because of the gifts they took out, immediately made them embraced by their in-laws' family as if they were heroes.

And Otto, he and several of his important subordinates, completely as masters, entered the "mansion" surrounded by wooden walls by Rigus, and sat in the meeting hall lit by oil lamps in the White Tree Manor.

After Otto performed five nibbles and cooked chicken in public, he belched and confided his request for tribute from the White Tree Manor.