Chapter 835： Cavalry crowdfunding

The Pecheneg people are very sincere in trade, and the Ross Principality should not hide it.

But no matter what Rurik thinks, raising goods worth six thousand pounds of silver is still very troublesome for the country. Ross can of course raise such a huge amount of goods, but the East and North Baltic Seas are completely frozen, although land transportation exists, but the capacity is poor, it cannot be transported by ships from Roseburg’s hometown and Elronburg to high-quality iron in the warm period.

The Principality must rely solely on the output of Novgorod and Novgorod in exchange for up to 600 good horses of the Pecheneg people.

The blacksmith got the order, and the royal blacksmith took over the ironing day and night under the personal leadership of Kamnier. Objectively, this continuous project has greatly stimulated the city's economy. Because the raw material for iron smelting is not ore, but pig iron ingots smelted directly from the blast furnace town of Roseburg. These iron ingots with amazing carbon content were smashed into small pieces in advance and shipped to Shilla Fort.

The main task of the blacksmiths in the East is essentially to share the production capacity of the former site of Roseburg, where the steel-making method is implemented on a large scale, and finally large and small carbon steel blocks are forged into a whole.

This work uses a half-person high furnace, relying on the air bladder blower to do normal processing operations, the only focus is the stable supply of fuel.

The charcoal made from pine wood is a perfectly suitable fuel. After Rurik gave the order, the demand for fuel in the city suddenly exploded.

The state-owned smithy has a large number of staff, and that is a "golden-swallowing behemoth". In order to achieve greater output, Lurik must invest more costs.

Food is always hard currency! He did not hesitate to take out a large amount of wheat from the warehouse, so the whole city of charcoal-burning craftsmen boiled.

The waistless snow after the snowstorm is no longer an obstacle, and the pine trees have been cut down one after another. Smart charcoal workers deliberately choose small pine trees to cut down, so-called so that better charcoal blocks can be burned.

Those who are good at loggers also participate in the feast. They don’t burn charcoal, they are just material movers.

Logging-burning charcoal-frying steel-forging, the existing industrial chain is obviously extremely prosperous.

The treasury of the Rus Principality is quite rich in food. Of course, it is not that Rurik has a lot of food on hand, but the population of the whole country is too small, which makes the treasury full.

The Principality is in a window of development, and the Principality must seize this opportunity for foreign trade.

For this reason, Liurik would rather be quick and quick, and some adventurous ideas need to be tried.

Queen Svetlana can still walk quickly, wearing a thick leather coat as if she has never been pregnant. She is now in a state of being kept behind closed doors, with a group of women taking care of her, and as many as ten experienced midwives recruited from the city who are always on standby.

The child is born either at the end of January or at the beginning of February. That child is the eldest son and heir to the throne based on tradition.

But Rurik has no time to gather with his beloved wife every day. As a monarch, in order to raise a huge sum of money to buy a horse, it really makes people worry about it.

"Ah! Why not crowdfunding? I don't believe those guys won't invest in their eldest son!"

Maybe his whimsical ideas will startle the people yelling. He thinks of the smart people in Shilla Fort. He must realize that making a major deal with the prince will be a huge benefit to his family.

After all, who doesn’t want to climb up?

Especially the Viking people who are not from the old Rus tribe. Who doesn't want to get the same social status as the old Rus? Although their generation is not good, sons and grandsons always have a chance.

Lurik estimated that people’s daily appeals were buried in their hearts, so they sent a new announcement to be posted in Harvest Square.

It’s not over yet, he asked Grund to take the guys to beat the drums and go around to publicize the prince’s "recruitment order".

The announcement was written very truthfully. The so-called prince wanted to make deals with the wise among the Russians.

"Donate your treasure, take out ten pounds of silver coins or equivalent leather, and other treasures. In this way, you can hand over a son to become the equestrian warrior under the prince, and become the most powerful land warrior in the Principality."

The announcement immediately caused an uproar, and the propaganda made by Grund's drums and gongs also excited the people in the city. Because the prince’s elite mercenaries had too many casualties during the decisive battle of the Danish king himself, the prince wanted to reshape an elite soldier. Now the new soldiers are selected from the people’s heirs.

To be a personal soldier to the prince, get ten silver coins per month allowance, free food and lodging, and weapons and equipment provided by the prince. After ten years of service, the prince can help solve marital problems. If he died in battle, he would be honored and his family would get Compassion. The number of recruits reaches 100 people, and the age is limited to sixteen to twenty years old.

Rurik’s actions seemed to be a whim in the eyes of others. The city’s responders were everywhere, so that Fengshou Square was quickly filled with people. It was all parents pulling their children and bringing treasures to offer to them. Prince,

In the eyes of the public, a majestic man in a bear skin stood on a wooden platform in the square, struggling to take off his down hat, showing a golden ponytail flowing in the wind and a deliberately garnished golden beard.

The cute little boy disappeared, and now he has grown into a very reliable Nordic warrior. He is tall and king, and the people believe that he will bring happiness to everyone.

Who doesn't enjoy the feeling of being embraced?

People spontaneously chanted "Prince Priulik", of course, standing in the position of Rurik, he even hoped that the people chanted Ullah.

He looked down at everyone until most of the people present were actually Mellaren, Balmerks and Slavs who had immigrated. Shilla Fort is the capital of the Duchy of Roses. However, according to the basic principle that old Roses must enjoy the greatest benefit, most of the Old Roses have obtained the fertile farmland in the southern temperate area. The old Roses who stay in Shilla Fort are a group of conservative and simple Fishermen orion. The proportion of old Rus people in this city is too small, and the proportion of Mälaren immigrants and Slavic immigrants is large.

Even the leader of the Mälaren tribe and the unabdicated King Bjorn of Sweden is in the city. The immigrants of Mälaren don’t take this man seriously. Are the Mälaren people who left Lake Mälaren still considered to be Mälaren people? They have been registered by the Duchy of Russ as New Russ. But they are not the real Rosses in blood, and low self-esteem always exists.

And those Slavic immigrants, nominally this is a large group of people who betrayed Lake Ilmen and moved to the Neva River as similar to slaves.

They all need more means to prove their loyalty to the prince in order to obtain a higher social status.

Lurik let them shout for a while, spreading their hands and gradually calming down the excitement of the people.

He raised his chin and yelled: "My people! I see your enthusiasm, and today you have made the most correct choice! Although your own life has been too ordinary, I can guarantee, your son We will get glory and wealth. We will expand to the endless land of the south. Your son will be my cavalry and lay a large territory for Ross. And the bravest will be my personal soldiers. Let’s start now! Bring your belongings and I will write down your names..." Gu

Lurik had to repeat it many times. He kept emphasizing the big words such as "honor", "courage" and "wealth". Smart families are all excited.

is obviously the coldest gathering, and the Harvest Square is very lively.

The immigrant families with some financial resources have put their money to use their own savings, preserved leather, and even borrowed money. They collected ten pounds worth of goods and donated a cavalry to their eldest son or second son to make up for the quota.

The eager for money Rülik can’t take too much care. It is clear that the child looks rather thin before his age. He took the money and ordered his wives and concubines in charge of the bookkeeper to give the child’s real name, his parents’ names, and family names. The address of the city was written on the hard paper in detail, and the amount of money that the family had donated to this place was marked.

The family that paid out twenty pounds of silver coins would have two places, and so on.

Look at what kind of property they took out! Ferret and bear skins are real fist goods, and the other is the clinking silver coins. Families who are willing to donate places are generally not wealthy, and donating a place means doing their best.

But once the name is written, everything will be fine.

After being selected, their sons will arrive in Novgorod on a sled in February. There, the children’s clothing, food, shelter, and behavior are all covered by the Principality. Not only do they have to learn basic cultural knowledge, but the rest of the time is to learn how to train and ride horses. When the study is over, the children settled in Novgorod. It is well known that the majority of the people of the old Rus tribe enjoy the Novgorod region's property, and their children are in fact absorbed by the old Rus.

Of course, according to tradition, the boss inherits the family business and the second and third are free to go, but the real situation is often that one brother gets rich and will support other brothers based on brotherhood.

If the prince’s promise is completely true, he donated a quota today, and the whole family will flourish in the future.

It was a risky move to raise funds, but Liu Lik never expected that a family in his early 200s had collected goods and money equivalent to more than two thousand pounds of silver.

There are as many as 800 pieces of white bear and brown bear leather provided by the private sector.

The giantness of the bear skin also surprised him. Rurik only paid attention to the number of bears hit by the royal hunters. He only knew that there are too many bears in this area in this era. many. Not only bears, but also mink and white fox skins, because the market price is high at all times, it is logical to pay for the goods.

Originally, after buying a good horse, the cavalry selection needs to use their brains. Of course, the priority is to choose a good family from the descendants of the old Ross tribe. In this regard, it will not make money, but must always invest money to raise the army.

Now it’s really great. The people of Shilla Fort theoretically provided one-third of the funds for the horse trade. The change is that the people crowdfunded good horses. Then, as an exchange, the people naturally have to get dividends, and he feels pressure on himself. Plummet.

There are more than two hundred boys aged between twelve and sixteen. They may be reluctant at first, but it is the task of their parents to make them willing to be cavalry in the future. They will leave Novosibirsk in February and start a new life in Novgorod.

It is another hundred people who also want to start a new life.

To select a new guard, he must first be strong enough or have the potential to become strong. The kid must be twelve years old, and his family status must be Sweden, Ross, or Slav. It is also best for families to be quite poor, with few brothers and sisters, so that such children will be easy to control in the future.

Being in the guards means fighting bad battles, daring to be bloodthirsty and not afraid to die, it means that the prince’s orders must be resolutely executed, and it means that the prince must finally die without the prince.

Although a hundred people have been selected, Rurik gave Grund an order: "Send the children to take off their shirts and run in the snow, let them kill the rabbits with their own hands, and order them to drink the deer blood. I am. I want you to use ten days to select the most powerful fifty people as replacement fighters, and you will also be you in the future. You train them to become elites."

He essentially gave Grund a lot of power. As long as the corporal punishment is not for killing the cubs, then do it!

Grund obeyed the next day, so the people saw such a wonder, a group of pretty boys with red backs running in the snow. Someone quit on the same day, or a tired person quit passively. This is the loser who must quit. Similar to rigorous training, Grund was merciless. He himself was a madman who crawled out of a sea of ​​blood. Naturally, he didn't want his future guys to be a bunch of stupid cowards.

The training is rigorous and terrifying, and Liu Lixue simply ignores it. What he and Grund need are berserkers. The loser can be a fisherman or a lumberjack in the future, and be an elite soldier who earns monthly salaries. It really gives a chance to be useless and can only give up in this life. .

The future cavalry warriors who have donated places waited silently in their homes. Their father took out his axe, sword and shield to encourage his eldest son to become a real man. Continue to encourage that once you develop in the south, you must not forget to help other brothers.

The sled team began to gather, and the scale this time was amazing.

The iron and rivet-reinforced sled board can carry more weight. A sled is designed to be hauled by four reindeer, and its load can be increased to one ton without any problem.

A large number of bear skins are piled on top of each other, and the unfolding of each skin is extremely huge. Rurik didn't care too much. He assembled a thousand bear skins. Whether the giant mission south of these leathers could be taken away depends on their ability. He only cared about transporting the bear skins to Novgorod.

A large amount of table salt is slightly bitter due to the incomplete removal of magnesium chloride, which is very reasonable. Those Pechenegs have limited access to salt due to the blockade of hostile forces. These slightly bitter salt are better than none, and Rurik concluded that his Kagan brothers would not be picky. A large amount of salt can be loaded into a carriage, and the slightly blue salt in sacks will be able to scare the prairie people once it appears.

The large number of iron sleds shipped is another spectacle. The state-owned smithy has reached the limit of human capacity day and night. If you want to continue to expand production capacity, you must either increase manpower or industrialize. It is natural to increase the manpower, but it will take a period of training and will not increase much. Industrialization is too outrageous. The Principality of Ross does not yet have such magical capabilities.

Even so, within a month, Kamnier and his guys, who were instructed to forge sword embryos madly, consumed most of their inventory and gotten 500 simple forged sword embryos. They themselves were carbon steel. Embryo, as for the amount of carbon content, depends on the craftsmanship of the craftsman. The sword embryo has passed the basic quality inspection, which is to bend it to a certain arc without breaking, and then it can instantly rebound with force, which is considered qualified.

This is like the ring first knife sent to soldiers by the Han Empire It is a very long piece of iron with only a ring at the end. The work of sharpening and polishing is done by the soldiers themselves, and the handle of the knife is often the soldier who finds a long linen to wrap it around. In this way, the Han Empire reduced the working hours of the craftsmen, as if the army could be effectively armed.

Rurik will do exactly the same thing. He will not let his craftsmen bother to sharpen the steel sword. The blade has been forged flat and straight. The Pecheneg people have the skills to smelt iron. Throw them all their tossing time, whether it's directly making a double-edged sword or forging and bending a single-edged sword to make a saber, it's all their own business.

Five hundred sword embryos and one hundred crossbows without arms are neatly stacked in wooden boxes one after another.

The trip to Novgorod in February was also a great opportunity for exchanges. Not only did Shiro Fort take away a large amount of goods, but also normal trade that was only seen between the two cities should be carried out.

Besides, the delegations of the Swedish aristocrats who are staying here will also visit the south side.

The cargo army, the guard soldiers, the selected children, the Swedish mission, as well as a large number of small businessmen, hunters, and even the First Banner soldiers who came to the north to hunt, gathered into a huge group, so in the ice and snow. They are taking care of each other and running wildly on the ice road. The number of people may reach 1,000, and the total number of sledges can reach 200.

It can be said that everything is under the control of Rurik. At the beginning of January, Rurik was quite worried that he would not be able to get a huge purchase price for horses. Now it is the end of January. Not only is there nothing wrong with things, but the enough money is still too much. If you target a strategic increase in the price of materials, the money raised will far exceed the plan.