Chapter 343： Audience of tailors and boat builders

The meeting ended in one day, and Rurik returned to Gould Island with the plank engraved with the contract.

It seems that by now, Rurik and his guys only need to wait for the approaching harvest season.

But the problem is probably not that simple.

After all, a big deal was finalized, and the entire Gould Island was plunged into happiness. To celebrate the joy, several old sheep bought from the market were slaughtered, and as usual, the sheep’s skins were cut off. Even the most inferior old sheep’s skins can be kept as protection from the cold.

The woody and thin old mutton is a reward to the ordinary, like Rurik. He was at the dinner of Gould's house. As the most distinguished guest, he naturally wanted to taste the most beautiful delicacies.

The misfortunes of the Melalen people naturally have nothing to do with all the Ross people on the island.

Gould was slightly drunk, and Arik also blushed.

"This time, we finally finalized the business. Haha, don't worry about anything, we just wait for them to deliver the food."

Rurik's mind is always sober: "Gould, do you really believe them? I think..."

"Are you worried? Worried that the food won't be in place?"

"Yes! After all, it is half a million pounds, which is double the amount of grain we transported last year. The condition of the farmland is indeed not good this year."

"Are you worried about that fellow Olegin? Haha." Gould smirked for a while, and drank a glass of strong wine. "That man would like to raise food for his own face. You don't even have a deposit. Give it to him, if he really relinquishes the bill, what are we going to lose?"

"That's true."

"But!" Gould suddenly straightened a serious face emotionally: "He will exploit his tribe and force them to hand over the food to him. Rurik, do you know such a thing?"

do you know? Although Rurik had never seen him before, adhering to his cognition of the concept of "landlord", of course he could guess what kind of extreme measures Olekin, as a super landlord, might take.

"I can think that even though the farmers have suffered, we Ross people don't have to be hungry anyway. We don't lose a silver coin for eleven pounds of wheat."

"Hey, we still made some money, at least saved nearly 6,000 silver coins. Rurik, you did a good job, and you succeeded in bargaining with him."

After being flattered by Gould, Rurik naturally sprouted a hint of pleasure.

Rurik's face was sullen: "I don't like that Karl, a stupid man."

"Oh, you mean him?" Gould is another kind of hehe: "A guy who likes women, to be honest, I am quite envious of him, but I am old. It is not wrong to like women, and it is stupid to humiliate allies stupidly." Right here, Gould himself criticized Arik. Considering Arik's noble status, he just wanted to stop.

Gould held the glass in his right hand: "Brave Arik, I salute you."

Arik blushed and filled himself with another glass, and the two men drank the glass.

Drinking a glass of spirits, Rurik learned that Gould sent a messenger at the market again. Some farmers sold home-brewed ale. The first time the ale was bought with wooden barrels, it was in the warehouse on the island. No less than a hundred barrels have been piled up.

However, these wines seem to be a lot, and the distillation is really completed to get combustible spirits, and each barrel is poured into nearly seven blow-cast small glass bottles. In the merchant's intuition, Gould estimated the spending power of the wealthy Mälaren. Mellaren is indeed the largest tribe in the alliance, with a population of about thirty thousand, which is already a behemoth in everyone's common concept. But for businessmen, this population only maintains a very narrow market.

Large-scale brewing and selling of spirits may not make much money. But wine is wine. Why should the people of Mellaren take the lead in enjoying such rare delicacies in the world? Of course, the Ross people tasted it for themselves.

Gould is inseparable from spirits. He always saves his inventory and just drinks a few cups a day.

I saw that Arik finally couldn't stand the power of drinking, combined with the physical and mental things he experienced during the day, and now he simply lay down on the skin of the animal, unconscious in the snoring.

The confused Gould put down the glass, he shook his head, and asked listlessly, "Rurrik, there is something else...you should prepare."

"what's up?"

"There is also a master shipbuilder about Fodgen who makes leather jackets."

"Oh, it's them!" The sleepy Rurik cheered up.

"I will...Send someone to tell them in the near future that the son of the leader of the Ruth National People's Congress will meet them. Haha, I have already sent someone to tell them what our Ruth people think. Guess what they think?"

"how to think?"

Gould laughed stupidly: "They are like me, they are merchants themselves. They said, as long as the price is high enough, they will rely on it, if they become a Roth... you can get more benefits, they don't mind. what."

"Wow! That's great. I want to meet them. I can represent the leader and recognize them as my master. You know, I treat all kinds of skilled people for my use."

"This is the best. I will arrange it, at least not today. Oh, I'm so drunk." Gould just finished speaking, and the wine glass in his hand fell to the ground, like a fat pig with a full feed. Sleeping on the leather.

What else can Rurik say? He looked at Carlotta who was bored with the dried fruit and smiled.

Three days later, more wheat entered the heading state.

The farmers have been busy for a year (in fact, they did not spend much time caring for the farmland), just waiting for the moment of the autumn harvest. For them, fishing for fish and wood is a means of living. Only after harvesting the wheat and selling the surplus grain at the market can they exchange for cash that is very important to the family.

In fact, this year’s situation is very special.

Olekin and Rurik signed this year's food agreement. He has taken the news of collecting huge amounts of food and issued orders to this tribe through his private army system. This is incredible! A group of businessmen who are waiting for Xinmai to go on the market and gather together to plan this year's food prices, what else can they do when they see this scenario?

What the merchants buying grain do is to buy at a low price during the harvest season, and then sell it at a high price after the spring famine, in order to make big profits. This year's harvest is destined to be bad, but they have a lot of silver coins! Farmers and merchants are naturally competing for the right to set prices. The farmers of Mellaren are scattered, and the merchants have not formed a grain merchants guild. If the price is set too low, farmers will not squeeze out rations in exchange for money. If the price is set too high, the grain merchants will lose money.

As a result, the Rus people’s order was like a bolt from the blue, giving the grain merchant a heavy blow, but it also gave ordinary farmers who did not know the specific content a glimmer of hope. Those self-cultivating farmers who own acres are willing to believe that their leader will offer a very good purchase price. Although their harvest is bad and biting their teeth, they can still get a sum of money for selling food. After all, they always need to reserve a sum of silver and copper coins in case of emergency.

The peasants have hope, and the limited number of professional craftsmen of the entire tribe, they have seen the maliciousness contained in it.

Potters, carpenters, blacksmiths and even boat builders have alienated themselves into pure craftsmen. They use their own fishing boats at most and occasionally go to catch a little fish. For the most part of the year, they are accepting orders and selling their own products to make money. They represent the industrial and commercial practitioners of the Mellaren tribe. In today's era, they are indeed more vulnerable than farmers.

What conclusions did some craftsmen get through the information disclosed by the leader?

First of all, Chief Ross began to actively participate in Lake Mälaren’s own trading system as never before. They will never retreat behind the scenes as they did in the past and be represented by their own merchants.

Secondly, the leader of Ross is rich and wealthy. After they intervene, they will inevitably disturb the turbidity of Lake Mälaren. It is not something ordinary merchants can do to fish in the muddy waters.

third. This is a crisis and an opportunity. Since the Ross people are also recruiting talents, if they are willing to accept the most critical conditions they put forward, just join them.

After a real investigation, Fodgen was thoroughly prepared for immigration.

The slaves and servants on the island he controlled have been ordered to suspend work.

Very interesting thing, this guy Fodgen is really an active person in buying slaves. Different from those wealthy households, they can live a good life by relying on a large amount of land and rent paid by tenant farmers. Their purpose of buying slaves is mainly as slaves of the farmland and maids serving daily life.

This is not the case for Fodgen. He loves the Briton slaves brought by the Norwegians, and he pays particular attention to the female slaves. This is by no means a concern for women's looks. In fact, he deliberately preferentially chooses something a little worse, so as to keep the purchase price very low.

What he needs is the tailoring ability of slaves. After some contact, he understands the status of the female slaves who have been raising for many years, and even the new female slaves who are slowly increasing year by year.

When the female slaves began to understand the Gnostic language, they began to mention some small place names and even larger place names.

Northumbria? Bamburgh? Kent? West Saxony?

It is a rare female slave with orange-red hair, describing a Pickett title.

Fodgen doesn't matter, these are probably the names of the tribes on the remote island. He noticed that these women were carving some wooden blocks, becoming interlaced existences, making necklaces and hanging them on his chest. Every morning, these women would gather a crowd to say strange words in the language of their hometown.

This is their belief, that is, the belief spread by the men in black from Rome in the legend.

If they chant something to make them settle down and work, Fodgen will naturally not say anything.

Anyway, these captured women are peasant women in their hometown. In addition to cutting wood and fetching water, they also assist men in farming. Their greatest ability is weaving and sewing. Their sewing experience is extremely rich.

Up to now, Fodgen’s weaving workshop not only continues to work hard to purchase leather sewing leather clothing, but also trains female slaves to complete the one-stop work of ramming linen rods to make fibers, weaving linen, and tailoring into linen.

What he paid the most for his slaves was to ensure that they had enough rations. The slaves ate more than they did in their hometown. This is by no means any kind of compassion for Fodgen. He is really a calculating businessman who knows if his slaves How can I get more quality output when I am hungry?

After experiencing the horrific experience in the South last summer and the field trip in Roseburg in the winter, the move must be moved. With the old friend of Gould sent a messenger to deliver the official summoning order of the son of Chief Ross, he has already Well prepared.

The harvest of the wheat will be the next three or four days. Although there is no possibility of heading in a large amount of wheat, those heading wheat are rapidly turning yellow. A small number of oats have become more cold-tolerant because of genetic mutations. The farmers in Mellaren have no such idea at all. They can only passively collect the ears of wheat and reserve part of it for planting. This is a passive "scientific selection", so that year after year, the oat varieties in Northern Europe can only become more and more hardy.

Why doesn't Fodgen want to live a good life eating bread every day? He had already saved enough capital, and the silver coins he had saved were not 20,000 but also 10,000. This is all the belongings he has accumulated throughout his life. He can rely on this money for the rest of his life. Now that he is old, he naturally has to consider the things behind him and the prosperity of his children and grandchildren.

He had to think more about it, if the Ross people really, as the messenger said, as long as they pay a tax every year, they can get the security promise of the Ross leader and even the military protection of the Ross warriors. Why do you need to spend a lot of money every year to support a group? Where's the private guard? After all, the money for hiring mercenaries is a very expensive expense in one year, even higher than the so-called taxes.

In the final analysis, his change to a hard-core immigrant is mainly in pursuit of market and interest considerations.

However, a group of aspiring shipbuilders, they are not only pursuing profit, but also admiring the lofty goal of Liurik. After all, as craftsmen, they are eager to create miracles in the shipbuilding industry in this life.

They are eager to build big ships, and their children and grandchildren are eager to build big ships one after another! They are admirers of Thor, eager for a challenge.

In this way, two groups of people boarded Gould Island on the day of the appointment provided by the messenger, on the eve of the wheat harvest.

Those who came were gorgeously dressed Fodgen, and there were as many as ten mature men of various ages in simple and capable clothes. They have one thing in common, that is, their beards are tied into a variety of braids.

Yes, even for people like Verdegen, he braids his short beard so that he won't get in the way when eating bread and soup. All have never thought of cutting off their beards. Of course they have tools to cut their beards, just because they follow a very simple logic of dealing with things-they have no hair on their lips and are not strong enough to do things.

What awaits these people is a feast given by Rurik.

At this point, everything is within Rurik's calculations, and Gould suggested well. Those merchants from all walks of life who were invited to come to pay a visit are in the final analysis seeking wealth and stability.

If the Ross people want to stabilize these talents, they must put on a grand show in public, so that their most fundamental demands can be met in the first time.

Gould Island was deliberately arranged to be busy, and the hired sailors, slaves, and even the crowded children were all arranged to work. In fact, it means moving all kinds of goods packed in wooden boxes, and there is even nothing in the boxes. They deliberately move at the pier, just to show visitors what a "busy pier" is.

Mercenary and Ross warriors, Rurik made them wear chain mail, a shield hung on their backs, a sword and axe, and a short spear that can be thrown in their hands. In order to show their luxury, Gould also hung some white furry fox fur on their bodies, and temporarily glued gray geese flying feathers with pine resin on the top of the helmets.

They fought fiercely in the waters for the role of the fishermen in Gotland a few months ago. Everyone's eyes can show fierceness. They also basically received queue training (Otto once ordered), this time they completely played the role of the Ross people. Guard of honor.

They formed a passage and went straight to the gate of the core wooden fortress on Gould Island.

The brightly dressed Rurik brothers, and even Carlotta, were waiting at the pier with Gould and his son, and saw a few paddling boats.

"They're here! Attention! Stay alert!" Rurik yelled, and the well-trained soldiers straightened.

In a short while, three boats came to the shore, and the gorgeously dressed and plainly dressed people boarded the trestle one after another. They were the invited people.

However, they couldn't help being timid when they saw the array of Kkhwufu. That's incredible? Everyone has never seen such a soldier! Is this the style of the Ross Warriors?

Fodgen quickly saw Rurik and Carlotta. Even though they were wearing gorgeous clothes and hats, the two of them grew much taller for half a year. Because they had been in close contact, he recognized it at a glance. Two people.

Acquaintances are here, and he doesn't have any comfort. It was the first time that the ten shipbuilders saw the Ross warrior. As for the two short gorgeous children, they should be the sons of the legendary leader Ross? One of them must be Rurik!

The boat builder cautiously followed Fodgen, and saw him approach a boy, take off his hat and salute: "My friend, here I am."

"You are finally here. Have you figured it out?" Lurik asked with a smile Of course! I will take all my family and servants with you. I hope that after arriving in Roseburg, I can get your recognition as soon as possible, and I will also be a new Roth. "

Rurik nodded in satisfaction, he was actually ecstatic, because the fellow Fodgen was a snobbery, and the people under him were all master tailors. "You will. I can represent the leader and recognize your mental identity now."

"Oh! That's great."

Rurik thought that this guy would kneel down and bow, but he never thought he would turn around and smile and introduce his cautious new friends.

Fodgen also changed his title in an instant: "My leader, please allow me to introduce them. These ten are the shipbuilders of Mellaren. I can say that they are the best shipbuilders."

In fact, Fodgen was bragging, and Rurik didn't feel it at all. His eyes widened, and the joy in his heart could no longer be suppressed.

He became emotionally rare, and he stomped his feet suddenly: "Okay! Boat builder! Boat builder who can build big ships! I need you so much! Quick! Come with me."