Chapter 478： Rurik Bjorn

"The Rise of Rurik (

Bjorn, who was covered in wet clothes and braided his beard, could not have imagined that the inner wooden castle on Gould Island where he entered for the first time was warm and dry.

He once resisted the trembling of his body with his willpower. When he thought that he might meet the leader of the Rus, he had to pay more attention to his demeanor and let these ruthless people in the north regard him as a warrior.

Good news came from the escort. The Duke of Ross was in the wooden castle, there was also the legendary boy Rurik, and the familiar "fat Gould".

Bjorn unloaded his wet leather coat and gave it to his entourage for safekeeping, and his few servants were taken away by Ross soldiers wearing white bear skin coats. The air is filled with a faintly attractive fragrance of wheat. Presumably the generous Ross people will wash themselves out of the dust?

Bjorn’s servants did each reward a wooden bowl of porridge. The seemingly generous reward was just the usual routine of the Gould family. The so-called let anyone who comes to negotiate business know that the Gould family treats them. It is important.

So when Bjorn officially met the Duke of Rose and other elites, he himself also got a breakfast of oatmeal, dried meat, wine and dried raspberries.

The scene of the meeting was really novel. When he entered the largest house in this wooden castle, he was enveloped in warmth, steaming mist from his wet linen clothes.

He naturally sat on a wooden chair, and placed in front of him was a large table made of wooden boards.

This is completely different from the situation at home. Isn't the Roth actually sitting on the ground? They also learned something from the Franks?

I stepped on the hard oak floor, sitting on the wooden chair, in front of the wooden table, on the table there are a large number of silver plates and crystal plates (glass), the plates are full of delicious food.

The wine vessels include silver cups and walrus ivory cups inlaid on a gold base. What's even crazier is that the noble figure of the Ross people has a precious crystal glass with dark red wine in the glass, which exudes a charming aroma.

Bjorn's eyes looked left and right. Although the outdoor light was very dim due to rain and rain, the indoors were blazing brightly.

The Ross people lit a fire in the house and built a stove with stones, but there was no choking smoke in the room. He saw a stone fireplace for the first time. If he observes carefully, he will find that almost all the houses in the wooden castle have stone chimneys, and there are heating fireplaces under the chimneys.

There were as many as twenty white bear heads hung on the wooden wall, and Bjorn even felt a little scared when he thought of the bear skins worn by the Ross warriors.

Above the bear's head is a bronze oil lamp holder, and the flame is burning peacefully.

Just above the wooden table is a huge chandelier, the lights on it are as bright as stars.

All of this can be owned only by the Russ in a trading stronghold on Lake Mälaren, so what is the home port of the Russ? Think about my own home, even Carl, it's like a sheep pen and bull shed.

Bjorn used his courage, and the Ruth's imposing manner overwhelmed him invisibly.

Ottoli said with a sullen face: "You are Bjorn? I am the Duke of Ross. I came to Mellaren ten years ago, and now I am here again. I don't know you! Then, Bjorn , Why did you come here in the rain?"

Otto asked this knowingly. He deliberately left Bjorn at the door for a while, taking this opportunity to order Gould to explain something to himself and his son. At this moment, Otto already knew that this person did represent the interests of a large number of big landlord families, and this person rushed over in a hurry, nothing more than food.

After all, in September in Mellaren, the lake was boiling over food-related matters.

Bjorn does not have any arrogance. The strength of both parties lies here. He respectfully said: "I am Bjorn. I have a group of fertile wheat fields and a group of farmers who are good at farming. I work with other families. After the discussion, everyone elected me as a representative to discuss the sale of food with you. I have been following you all the time, so even if the weather is bad, I am here now."

Otto remained unchanged, his squeezed face was full of beards, if he covered his right eye, it would be the image of the legendary **** Odin.

Otto was sitting in jeopardy and pretending to be a wise man, and now that the issue of food trade was involved, he immediately retreated to the second line.

"It's a grain trade? Very good. We in Ross are going to conduct extensive trade with you on this trip. I like your wheat, your vegetables, and your linens."

Things went so smoothly, Bjorn’s tight face was now relaxed.

"Next, let my Rurik have a good talk with you. Bjorn, you have to remember that anyone dealing with our Ross people should also understand that my Rurik is the Duke of Ross.”

Is he Rurik? Sure enough, exactly the same as the legend, really a beautiful boy.

The child is very neatly dressed, he has a unique temperament, and the jewel decorations on his clothes only further set off his nobleness. He is not a child of a rich family, nor is he necessarily inheriting the power of the old leader of Ross because of his blood relationship. There are extremely complicated and profound things in his blue eyes. Obviously this Rurik is the master behind the Ross tribe.

Just as Bjorn left Rick with a lot of surprises, Ruck made a speech, and he was astonishing when he opened his mouth.

"Bjorn, who do you represent? Do you represent the Swedish King Karl? Or the entire Mälaren clan? Or some of your big families? Or is it just your family?"

Four choices were placed in front of Bjorn, and he suddenly realized something.

"I...represent my own family, and also represent twenty large families with a lot of farmland."

Rurik nodded. This is the answer he wants to hear, but he is still a little unsure: "So, your relationship with Karl... You are against Karl? Or you don't like him?"

Bjorn hesitated and said deliberately: "Karl, after all, is the great king and the leader of our tribe. How can we oppose the king."

"No. Your eyes are floating, you are lying." Rurik stretched his head: "If you really support Karl, why come alone? You landlords, we know that we Rus are here to the heir to the royal power. The food trader. If you really admit Karl, you shouldn't negotiate with us behind his back."

These words hit Bjorn's heart, because the fact is that it is true that Bjorn has gone crazy to oppose Karl.

Bjorn strained his face and sat upright: "Carl is the king, of course we have to support the king."

Rurik believed in his own judgment, the attitude of this Bjorn and the guys behind it was very obvious.

Rurik followed suit with his body, and smiled slightly: "Yes! Karl is the king, how can we oppose the king?"

The atmosphere has become extremely subtle. This is a wonderful diplomatic occasion. There is a very obvious thing in front of both sides, but the reality forces both sides to not openly oppose it, even if everyone is against it in their hearts.

Otto and Gould were fully aware of this situation. It was supposed to be a happy business negotiation, but they were confused.

Rurik shrugged again, he had no worries: "Well, Bjorn, tell me about your price. You know, as my father said, we Ross people like your produce very much."

At the most critical moment, Bjorn was not nervous, because before he set off, the big landlord's attitude was completely unified and he came up with a set of food price negotiation plans.

"We plan to take out 300,000 pounds of wheat, all of which are new wheat this year. We can use our reputation as a guarantee. Every wheat has been hulled and dried. They have a good quality guarantee. The porridge smells tangy. So, ten pounds of wheat for a silver coin."

"Really? That's the price?"

"It's exactly the price." Seeing that Rurik and others looked calm, Bjorn subconsciously felt that the Ross people fully agreed.

Of course this is not the case, because the left-behind of the Ross people are fully aware of the numerous incidents that have occurred in Lake Mälaren in the past month. One of the major tasks of these left-behind people is to monitor the price changes of various bulk goods, make statistics and finally report The Duke of Ross reports.

Rurik paused deliberately and said calmly: "This price is too crazy. It is completely based on the famine year. I heard that all the farmland around Lake Mälaren is a good harvest. Are these statements wrong? Or, did you deliberately set this price just to make a lot of our money?"

This is the end of the way of speaking, Rurik no longer hides it, and continues to calmly say: "I thought you would have a high opinion when you came to our island at the risk of getting sick. I can't think of just coming and telling me, you think. Carrying food for self-respect?"

"No! We don't!" Bjorn couldn't think of it. This Rurik already knew some key inside information. His denial was really weak, as if he had admitted.

Rurik was mentally prepared when he heard the report from the left-behind yesterday. Unable to think of today's wonderful experience, the landlords of Mellaren really licked their faces and asked for money.

Isn't it asking for money? They know that the Ross people are the biggest and craziest buyers, just like slaughtering this big fat sheep?

The Ross people are indeed furry, that hair is not wool, but polar bear hair!

Rurik calmed down with fierceness: "This price is unacceptable to us in the Rus. But we still need your food. I heard that the price of food in Mälaren is like this, which is very abnormal. I can only think that This is a dirty betrayal. The Ross people have been betrayed by the Mellarians. Listen! Bjorn. If I can't get food comfortably, I can only organize an army of three thousand men to fight. You I know, our army wiped out 10,000 people on Gotland at a very small price, and the consequences of angering us..."

When Rurik saw the glass in front of him, he first sipped a glass of low-alcohol wine, then smashed the glass to pieces.

"This is the consequence. War!"

This was really the most serious threat, and Bjorn was shocked for a while, but fortunately he had come up with a plan.

"Honorable Ross, please calm down. We are not maliciously offending you, but someone forced me to do so."

"who is it?"

"It's King Carl. It is the price that Carl set. If we don't follow suit, Carl will attack with troops. All landlord families are very jealous. In order to avoid disasters, we can only do this..."

Such rhetoric is nothing but a dumping, and of course there are some facts in the rhetoric.

"In that case, can we continue to talk?" Rurik deliberately said, "I know what you have done. You have almost drained the rations of ordinary farmers, and you have ordered the surrounding tribes to increase prices, just to let us The Ross people are being taken advantage of. So, is your goal to sell food to earn silver coins? I tell you explicitly, I don’t accept this price. If you refuse, I can only understand that Mellaren’s betrayal and the civil war started Prime culprit."

"We don't want war, it's all Karl." Bjorn continued to throw the pot and took the opportunity to propose a preset condition: "We are also willing to lower the price. We only have one condition."

"Go ahead, I will consider it."

"We are really afraid of Carl's revenge. If he takes revenge, please support us from Ross."

shit! It's all bullshit! Now Rurik has understood that these big landlords are simply pretending to be weak. They are not afraid of Karl at all, but need a man who takes all risks. Karl is the king, so naturally this person bears everything.

"I can assure you. So, we Ross people demanded that the price be reduced to seventeen pounds a silver coin."

"Ah! This...maybe."

"Why? You are obviously buying a silver coin at a price of 20 pounds, and you are selling it at a price of ten pounds. You earn too much, so what's wrong with me letting you earn less?"

"Fourteen pounds, it can't be lower," Bjorn said hurriedly.

"Then fifteen pounds! It's like the price of an ordinary harvest year. In this way, you will make an extra silver coin by selling sixty pounds of wheat."

"Deal."

Fifteen pounds of oats sell for one silver coin, which is the bottom line price negotiated by each family. They really hope that the Ross people will be taken advantage of, and if the other party is unwilling, they will sell the price. The big family believes that the bottom line of the Ross people is probably also in this price range.

However, each family also determined that once the Rus decided to buy grain, Bjorn, as the representative, immediately stated that the grain sold was as high as 400,000 pounds.

"What? Four hundred thousand pounds?" Rurik was finally taken aback. "Do you have so much food?"

"some."

"Are you really crazy about searching for the farmer's grain?"

Bjorn didn’t take it seriously: “Many farmers owe my family’s debts, and they have to use grain to repay the debt. Each of our families can take out 20,000 pounds of high-quality oats at the price set by us. When the rain ceases, we Then the wheat will be transported to the island. I now need to understand whether we can get the silver coins as soon as possible."

"High-quality Frankish silver coins? Don't worry about it. We pay the money and deliver the goods with one hand. For our peaceful trade, we in Ross are willing to set up a banquet to celebrate our happy cooperation."

Rurik, who had just issued a war threat, is actually going to make a happy conversation now?

In Bjorn's view, the child was not artificial at all, and what he said and did was not a performance. Rurik, maybe he only has the appearance of a child, and his heart is very mature.

Regarding Rurik, Bjorn already had a high evaluation in his heart. He urgently needed to inform the big families of his experience and tell them that the Ross people would never be taken advantage of.

Rurik randomly dispatched a maid dressed in plain clothes and revealing gorgeousness (he came to see the world again with ten Slavic maids under his command), replaced with new glasses, and poured new wine.

His free and easy sense of raising his glass was indeed not childlike, and the rest of the people also raised their glasses one after another.

Bjorn looked at the crystal glass in his hand thoughtfully, and then raised it.

In this way, they agreed with the wine and confirmed a trade contract. As for engraving the contract on the wooden board, let's forget it.

Through this negotiation, Lurik has completely determined the grain trade of Lake Mälaren and has completely turned to the buyer's market. The Ross talent, who controls 10,000 pounds of silver capital, has the strength to destroy so much grain.

Bjorn left again in the cold rain, and he did not leave empty-handed.

He took away the wine glass as a token.

Bjorn certainly knows that the Ross people have been selling glassware in large quantities in recent years, as well as a lot of weird utensils. Although the glass is expensive, it's just too much lower than the sky-high price in the past. He doesn't know how the Ross people get a lot of glassware. In short, they sell it every summer and amass a lot of wealth.

This kind of precious treasure is naturally the more the better. Bjorn knows that his family needs to sell a lot of food to make money from the Rus. He can spend money to buy rare things from the Rus. But now, he needs to recruit private soldiers. Purchase weapons.

Now is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Every family believes that through the transaction between the Ross people and Karl Karl's family will make a lot of money.

Probably this is the case! After Carl's strength expands rapidly, he will organize more troops!

The Ross people want to buy 800,000 pounds of wheat from Karl! This news has long been leaked, and every family knows it. Carl will have to earn more than 400 pounds of silver coins!

However, until now, each family still does not know a very crazy inside story.

Carl really sold 800,000 pounds of wheat to the Ross people? On the contrary, the 800,000 pounds of wheat is a debt, or a debt established after political mediation! It was the secret talks between the two parties on Gotland, and the big families of Mellaren didn't know it at all, unless Karl himself revealed it by himself.

Carl was indeed selling wheat, and he was sure to raise the price to only ten pounds for a silver coin. It is said that the Ross people will be taken advantage of, or they may cause the other party to jump into a rage.

how can that be possible? Carl’s pricing itself is not aimed at the Roths, but the people in the tribe who need to buy commodity food. How can the Roths get angry without a direct stake?

The windless world is densely covered with haze, and the dense cold autumn rain spreads over the entire lake area, and the settlements around the big lake are undercurrents.

Carl is not a pure reckless man. He found that his power was threatened, and he was trying to use the Rus to suppress the rising opposition forces within the tribe, and he was also actively establishing and restoring his power.

The various families of the Mellaren tribe tried their best to get money. The purpose of making money was to expand the private army, make the "anti-Karl alliance" stronger, and find the right opportunity to get rid of Karl. Of course, it would be great if Karl was beheaded after angering the Ross.

But Rurik, he had planned to lift the table. The instigation work against ordinary farmers and fishermen in Mälaren is being carried out under the rain.